Pointing The Finger

"What were you doing at the blood storage when you are not one of it's guards!?" Charles asked, his voice filled with hostility. His greying hair and goatee made him appear slightly older than the two beside him, giving him the feel of an older and calmer man. The fierceness in his voice proved that his appearance did not do his personality justice.

A suffocating force pressed down upon Aurik, as though ten men were trying to press his body to the ground. It took all he had to keep himself from falling out his wheelchair, especially when his lower back could do virtually nothing to support his posture.

"Give him a chance to answer, Charles." A calm voice echoed through the quiet room and the pressure quickly subsided.

Aurik struggled to catch his breath as several drops of sweat ran down his face. He hadn't even realised that from the moment he felt the pressure he had completely stopped breathing.

He slowly lifted his head as his breathing began to steady and the first thing that caught his attention were Knights on either side of the room. Many of them appeared to be struggling the same way he was, while some were even kneeling down on one knee as they tried to recover.

When his gazed shifted back over to the Nobles he saw that Charles was staring at Yuval with eyes filled with annoyance and frustration. Yuval maintained his cheerful attitude and simply gestured for Aurik to speak as he ignored his fellow Nobles' stare.

"I... knew the attack was going to happen so.... I went to warn the guards." Aurik was still out of breath so he could say everyone he wanted quickly enough to calm the tension in the air so he decided to say just enough to have them ask more questions. The truth would come out eventually after all.

"You already knew?" Khan frowned, causing his eyebrows to dip low enough on his face that they were almost in line the scar across his nose. "Why didn't you report it? This isn't something a Soldier could have taken care of on their own dammit!"

Along with Khan's anger came another wave of pressure but it was gone just as quickly at it arrived. He wasn't sure but Aurik could've sworn that for a brief moment the air around him rippled.

Khan shot a quick look at Yuval before scoffing loudly and looking back at Aurik with the same look of annoyance on his face that Charles had. 

'Looks like Nobleman Yuval is giving me the benefit of the doubt. Horace mentioned that he belongs to that mans clan... he must have said something so I would at least have a chance to defend myself.' Aurik silently thanked Horace before speaking again.

"I did report it." Aurik's words caused absolute silence within the room. "The moment I learned of the attack I rushed back here to speak with the Knight on duty but after explaining everything he claimed that I was lying so I could take credit for stopping an attack that never existed."

Like a brick being thrown into a tranquil pond, Khan stood to his feet and slammed a fist down onto the table, sending cracks along its surface. "WHAT! Are you saying that a knight ignored a report as important as this!? Who was it! Which fucking Knight was it!?"

The entire room was engulfed by an immense amount of pressure that made the previous instances seem like a joke. The Knights all dropped to their knees as they desperately tried to take a breath and keep themselves from falling flat onto the ground.

Surprisingly, Aurik felt no such pressure over his body and once again the air around him seemed to ripple. He couldn't help but glance at Nobleman Yuval and was immediately met with a kind smile and a nod of acknowledgement.

"Calm down, Khan." Charles said while raising a palm towards the angered Noble to show that he wasn't trying to order him around and was simply making a request. "Let the new Soldier tell us who it was so that we may direct our anger at the culprit."

"Aaarrgh! Fine!" Khan sat down but his anger hadn't subsided. Fortunately for the Knights, the pressure that was affecting them was a different matter. Most of them slowly stood up after a few moments but there a small number of Knights that were lying on the floor unconscious.

Aurik assumed that those who passed out were the weakest among the Knights and he was right in doing so. He was concerned for a moment that the man he was about to name would be one of those Knights but after scanning the room for a moment he found who he was looking for and pointed right at him.

"It was Knight Ivan."

All eyes turned followed Aurik's finger and fell upon an elderly looking man wearing dark grey robes that covered his entire body. The gazes settled on Knight Ivan for a moment before all eyes shifted towards the Nobles, or more specifically, Nobleman Charles.

Aurik, having to make assumptions once again, guessed that Ivan belonged to the same clan as Charles. Since the Nobles are responsible for the actions of their Knights, this meant his reputation would likely take a hit, similarly to how a manager gets in trouble when his worker makes a mistake.

All three of the Nobles had sour expressions on their faces, even Nobleman Yuval was no exception, however, the anger that was present in Nobleman Charles was at least a hundred times more intense than that of his peers.

Instinctively, those near Ivan backed away without any delay, leaving the Knight isolated. They had no desire to be hit by whatever punishment was about to be dealt out, be it verbal, physical or magical. 

Knight Ivan looked at Aurik with blame filled eyes as he desperately tried to think of what to say. 

"I-I truly thought that-" He had barely begun speaking when an object flew past his head, leaving a cut across his cheek and forcing him to stop his words. The object slammed into the wall on the other side of the room and exploded, sending a splattering of black ink onto the wall.

"Do. Not. Speak!"