Memories of a Knight

Novah helped Vanwë put the last corpse on the pile, the body of the Garrison's Captain, after they threw it with the others she grunted in pain while grabbing her left shoulder, the body of the Centipede Thing was burning in the background, looking at it even after it was dead was still very dangerous, it was torture, so they burned it.

— We need to do something about that shoulder Miss. The Reaper suggested

— I'm fine and don't call me "Miss"

— Stop being stubborn Vanwë of Dreadwood, let me help you. The Reaper had his hands on his waist

She sighed

— Fine, go to the supplies chest on the carriage, if the God of Luck is not dead, they might have alcohol

— I have good news for you noble knight, Lakadewa the God of Luck is amongst the Gods that were corrupted. Said the Reaper while going to check the supplies chest on the carriage.

Vanwë had her helmet in her right hand, she goes to the broken carriage while taking off the upper part of her armor, first the gauntlets, then her arms armor, then her torso armor, she also removes her chain mail, leather vest, and finally her cotton chemise, she was not using a bra but had several chest binding bandages over her breasts, much more practical for combat, her left shoulder, was torn open, but the blood flow coming out of it had slowed down.

— I hope you like Gin dear Knight. Novah had found a bottle of Gin 30% alcohol in the supplies chest, likely to be used as an anesthetic in case of a wound, exactly what they were going to use it for

— Anything alcoholic would already be great, I remember Mead used to be my favorite drink, but I don't even remember how it tastes anymore

— A Knight having access to alcohol? That's new. Novah took the entire chest and was bringing it to Vanwë

— Being friends with the Princess had it's advantages. She gave Novah a sarcastic smile, kinda trying to ignore the pain

Novah, noted the visible effects of malnutrition on her body, but even then, she still had very well defined muscles, and there were magic marks tattooed on her body, similar to those in her sword, Novah took a good look at them, some of the symbols Novah recognized, and others he didn't.

— So you can use combat magic noble knight

— Huh? My magic seals? Not all of them are for Combat Magic

— Why didn't you use it against the guards?

— Not worth it, I would just waste mana. Now that fact that she was trying to hide the pain became perceptible on her voice

Novah took from the chest the Gin bottle, a bottle of water, needle and suture thread, after that, Vanwë sat on the chest, Novah gave her the Gin bottle, while going behind her, to check the damage on her back, Vanwë took a generous sip and handled the bottle back to Novah.

— How I wish it was Mead, but it's good to drink something to drown the sorrows nonetheless

Novah first cleaned her wound with water, then with the Gin to sterilize it, and then he begin the long and painful process of suturing the back of her shoulder, but during the whole process, Novah realized how incredibly resistant to pain she was, but after he took a better a look at her back, seeing it was full of scars, he was not so impressed anymore.

After finishing suturing the back of her shoulder, where the wound was bigger he went to the front of it, where the tentacle of the centipede thing had entered, this time was a little bit harder, since Vanwë would try not to get her faced stabbed by Novah's antlers, but in the end the work seemed pretty good, a medic would certainly have done a better job but both Vanwë and Novah found it pretty decent.

— It looks good, I think my shoulder will not fall. The effects of the Gin were starting to be visible on her, but still, she kept her posture

— You were right, you really have many uses for a Reaper on a leash. Novaherian allowed himself a sip of the Gin after the work was completed

Vanwë was quick to put her cotton chemise, then her leather vest, then her chain mail, and finally put back the upper part of her plate armor, she still doesn't put her helmet on though, as she goes to the front of the carriage, making quite an effort to stand up, she sees that the remaining horse ran away during their battle with the Centipede Thing, as she expected

"We will find it later when he retake our journey, but now we need to rest"

The Centipede Thing was almost entirely burned out, so she says to Novah:

— I gues we can set camp here and rest.

— I think it's an amazing ideia

They together set up camp and a fire pit, Novah needed to rest his body, Vanwë needed to rest her body and mind, forgetting about the Centipede thing was a crucial process on the healing of her sanity, and it would sure help the healing of her shoulder as well

— I guess we can formally introduce ourselves now. Vanwë needed to distance her mind from the Corrupted creature and she knew that, thinking about it could be as damaging to her sanity as directly looking at it, remembering old events and resurrecting memories could help doing that, and there wasn't a better way to do this if not, talking with her new servant, but it wasn't only that, this time, she genuinely wanted her companion to know her and vice versa

— Yeah, I guess we can. Novaherian seemed to smile again. — So… you're from Dreadwood. The Reaper took the initiative and started the confabulation

— Yes, I was born and grew up in Wollea, the capital of the province of Dreadwood, in the Ember Kingdom, I didn't know who were my parents at that time, and I didn't want know, because I was expecting them to be prostitutes, drug addicts or beggars, so I grew up in the streets, committing any short of crime in order to survive

— And how someone from such humble origins became a Knight?

Vanwë took her mind back to when she was a kid, running through the streets of Wollea in Dreadwood. The sky was blue instead of black, white clouds would paint it, and the sun stood high in the sky, instead of the Penumbra, during those times

— Have you got the knife Vanwë? Heylar asked her

— Yes, where the fuck is Duman? She put the stolen knife inside a bag to hide it

Duman showed up in the alley that they were hiding, signaling with his hands that he was there, he would not speak, as his tongue had been removed by his previous owner, below his left eye there was a tattooed mark in the Southern Language, that he would try to hide at all costs, it meant: "Slave, return me to my owner if I escape". They were all around 11 years old during this event, Heylar and Duman were Vanwë's only actual friends, so they were to only ones that knew that Vanwë was actually a girl, if the other street kids knew that as well, she would certainly be raped.

— Where were you?! It's almost time. Vanwë was already very impatient

— Do you have the stuff? Heylar patiently asked, his black hair was longer and more "girl-like" than Vanwë's what she found very fun

Duman nodded affirmatively, his olive skin, curly grayish brown hair and dark green eyes indicated that he was from the desert in the southern region of the continent, beyond the domains of the Ember Kingdom, sometimes, Ember nobles would make illegal military incursions on this desert, with the objective of taking tribal people to serve as slaves, Duman, used to be one of those

— Okay so let's go. The three of them got off the alley into the very busy streets of the periphery of Wollea, in the direction of the street market

Just in the next street, being escorted by several soldiers, Princess Karmellia Halfleer III got out of the Royal Carriage, the knight chief of the Royal Guard, Sir Maythur, gave her his hand like a gentleman, helping her get out of the carriage

— Thanks May

— It's my pleasure to serve you my Princess. The Knight said with modesty. — But… it's not appropriate for your majesty to call me "May" in public, I'm pretty sure your father the King and your older brother the Heir would find "Sir Maythur" way more appropriate. He whispered

— Oh shit I forgot. Princess Karmellia immediately covered her mouth with her hand once she said a swearword

They both laughed out loud, ignoring the several soldiers around them

— So, what made you choose to go to Wollea next, my Princess? The Knight asked with curiosity. He had a shiny silver armor with details in gold, it was so shiny that almost looked like the knight was wearing a mirror and the armor had a long white cape with the coat of arms of House Halfleer, the white of the knight's cape would match his white hair and beard

— The social problems of the province of Dreadwood have been known for generations, I want to stay here for a more couple hours, so I know what to do to improve them once I gain political powers

— You know you will only receive your political powers once you marry right?

— I know. She looked very discontent

— Your father know how close we are, so he asked me to…

— To ask if I had liked any of the suitors he presented me?

— Yes

She did a vomiting face as mockery, they both laughed loudly again

— Oh common! Not even Lord Nachery? The Knight asked sarcastically

— Lord Nachery?? She was indignant by Maythur's suggestion, even knowing he was joking. — That disgusting guy is like 4 times my age!

They laughed out loud again and continued their path.

Back to the Market.

The street market was a full of people, market sellers would assemble several tends side by side, selling street food, vegetables, meat, religious objects, weapons etc, they weren't looking for any special tend, any of them would serve, but they would never ever rob the tend that sells religious objects, it could offend the Gods, when they found a tend, that they judged decently far from the others, they approached it.

— Greetings kids! Welcome to my shop, I hope you can find something that will please y'all. A bald, fat market seller welcomed the kids

— Greetings Sir. Heylar politely greeted the seller, Vanwë was on his left side, with a closed face, Duman was already behind the seller, stealthy taking that coins he could find

— "Sir"? That's new. He laughed. — But it's true, if I was to become a knight I would sure be a popular one, imagine kids, the tales of "Sir Bommen of Dreadwood, destroyer of nobles and whores" he laughed again, this time louder. — So what are you kids looking f- wait what?! The seller had noted Duman robbing the coins from his balcony

Vanwë hot headed like always grabbed the collar of the seller's shirt and threatened him with the knife

— Look here you cunt! You better pass the money over or I will shred your whole face

— You better do what she's asking, she's insane. Heylar giggled, Vanwë smiled to him in return

— Utterly insane. Vanwë confirmed

Duman nodded with his arms crossed, also agreeing with his friends

— B- but… hey guards!

What Heylar, Duman and Vanwë's hadn't realized was that, the guards patrolling that section of the city, had changed their turns, so there were a small brigade of guards around. They saw the kids threatening the seller with a knife and immediately knew what was happening.

Princess Karmellia and Sir Maythur, as well the soldiers accompanying them, were coming closer and closer to where all of this was happening.

The seller tried to take the knife out of Vanwë's hand while they were looking at the guards, Vanwë's body automatically tried to avoid that, accidentally slicing the seller's face in the process, he grunted in pain and put his hand over the wound, the kids had already fled.

— HEEEEY STOOOP!!! One of the guards yelled while chasing the kids

The kids avoided the obstacles in the streets with ease, flying through the people and the market on parkour, they had lived their entire lives there, they knew the terrain like the palm of their hands.

— You didn't need to slice the face of the dude Vanwë! Now they can execute us without a trial. Heylar understood the seriousness of the situation

— The idiot sliced his own face, don't worry they will never catch us.

But she was wrong, in front of them, they saw more guards, way more guards, they were escorting Princess Karmellia through the periphery of the city, being accompanied by Sir Maythur who was his early 50s at the time, he was the Chief of the Royal Guard, the Guard responsible for the security of the Royal Family of the Ember Kingdom itself, so he was easily one of the most skilled swordsman in the continent.

Princess Karmellia Halfleer III was the second in the line of succession to the Emberian Throne, and in her 15th birthday, she decided that she wanted to visit the poorest places of the realm, and hear the story of the people that lived there, and how she could help them, of course her father, King Delore Halfleer I, didn't like the ideia very much, but he knew how stubborn his daughter was, and that she would end up going by herself if permission was not granted, so he appointed the best Knight in his Royal Guard, Sir Maythur to protect her.

— Shit! Shit! We are dead, we are fucking dead. Vanwë and Duman had never seen Heylar so desperate, which really scared them

— Let's stay and fight, at least we die together. Vanwë was already accepting their fate but the ideia of dying with her friends comforted her

Duman was the one, the only one who didn't accept, he was also scared, but was not even close to giving up

"Do you cowards give up so easily?" He signalized with his hands in sign language

Heylar sighed, his face full of anguish, he would try the last thing he could come up with to save his friends, he would sacrifice himself

— Duman…

Duman turned his equally anguished face to Heylar

— Take Vanwë out of here, helping each other you guys can climb that wall right there, avoiding both groups of guards, I… will distract the guards as long as I can

— What?! Are you crazy Heylar?? We started this together we are going to finish this together

Heylar smiled in pain

— I always loved this tough side of you, use it to protect Duman now. Heylar gave Vanwë a kiss on the cheek, when he did this, tears started coming out of Vanwë's eyes, Heylar took the opportunity to take the knife out of Vanwë's hand, he looked at Duman with his eyes wet, Duman who was also now crying nodded, and took Vanwë by the wrist running away with her, once they were gone, Heylar finally let the tears come out as well, and assumed combat position

The initial group of guards reached Heylar first, the guards that were not escorting Princess Karmellia, Heylar fought with three guards at the same time, then four, then five… with only the knife he took from Vanwë, one of the guards advanced, attacking Heylar with a vertical blow of his halberd, Heylar jumped backwards to avoid the attack, when the guard's halberd was stuck in the ground, he stuck his knife on the guard's knee, he screamed, one more guard tried to attack Heylar from the back with an halberd, this time with an horizontal attack, Heylar quickly removed the knife from the guard's knee rotating and passing his knife through the second guard's face, he also screamed and dropped his weapon to put his hands on his face.

Two more guards almost immediately substituted the positions of the wounded guards, one of them punched Heylar in the face, he fell on the floor with his nose bleeding, the guard that punched him on the face tried to impale him on the floor, but Heylar hold onto his halberd and pushed it back to the guard's face, breaking his nose, one of the two non-wounded guards got Heylar by surprise, holding his arms behind his back, breaking them, while the other begin to severely punch his face and torso, he was then disarmed and a spear was stuck through his belly, he vomited blood, one of the guards prosecuted:

— By directly harming an Emberian citizen during an armed robbery, as well as resisting prison by wounding several law enforcement officers, me a guard of your majesty's kingdom can condemn you to death, without the need of a trial… die you ducking scum. He guard spat blood on Heylar's face

Heylar was looking eye to eye with Vanwë on the distance, the entire scene was in slow motion on Vanwë's perspective, one sword hit in the neck was enough to kill Heylar, nobody there could see it, but black flames manifested above Heylar's body, from which a Reaper manifested and took Heylar's soul with his Bone Scythe and then disappeared in the same black flames.

Equally horrified with the scene, Princess Karmellia saw everything.

— WHAT??! indignant she stole the horse of one of her guards, and ride to the direction of the scene

— Princess what are you doing? Sir Maythur quickly took a horse as well to accompany her

When the guards that had executed Heylar saw who was coming to their direction, they all kneeled

— Your majesty the Princess, there's no need to worry, we just purged the crimin-

Karmellia slapped the guard in the face

— You just executed a child you monster

— But my Princess they-

She slapped him again

— That's why the people from the lower classes are rising up against the realm, it is this type of treason that I plan on removing from my kingdom

— Treason?? Do you call this act of justic-

She slapped him once more, this time he even felt dizzy and shut up

Vanwë jumped on the guard that executed Heylar, sticking a sword on his left arm, a sword she had stolen from one of the kneeling men, she was soon followed by Duman, who stole a spear

— YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!! Vanwë yelled as hard as she could while attacking the guard right in front of the Princess

The kneeling guards stood up and begin to fight Vanwë and Duman, they fought with even more ferocity than Heylar, but soon Duman was overpowered, the only thing preventing the guards from executing him too was the presence of the Princess, but Vanwë, Vanwë stood fighting, she even managed to overpower the guards, at this point, Sir Maythur intervened, and begin to duel Vanwë

With their swords clashing, Sir Maythur could not think of anything besides

"For the Gods! What a boy like this is doing on the streets?! This balance, usage of leg strength, quick perception and response to attack, he should be training to join the Royal Guard!"

But of course, he could have ended the fight any time he wanted, Sir Maythur was just testing the ability of the kid, just like Vanwë was testing the ability of the Garrison's Captain on the Wastelands, suddenly their swords were stopped by the grab of Karmellia's hands on their shoulders, she looked at them with seriousness.

The princess was using a fancy and long red dress, with golden details, which was seen as very strange as they were in the poorest region of the city, she was tall for the age of 15, and had a long dark amber hair that would go all the way to her waist, two hair braids, contouring her head were giving support to her crown, a thin black crown with rubis, her dark amber eyes looked at both

— That's enough Sir Maythur.

— As you wish my princess. Vanwë fell on the floor with Duman

— They are now absolved from any accusations raised again them, they've already suffered enough. She looked at Heylar's body with pity

Sir Maythur went to the guard that executed him and spat on him

— You lack honor… The look of despise in his face was very obvious

Princess Karmellia bent down in front of Vanwë and put her right hand on Vanwë's cheek, her Amber eyes were penetrating, mesmerizing, for a moment Vanwë contemplated how beautiful the Princess was, Karmellia cleaned the blood from her face.

— Are you okay boy? Princess Karmellia asked with compassion on her face

— Vanwë was honest, and shook her head negatively

Karmellia stood up and went to the direction of Duman, to do the same for him, but he reacted like a raging wolf that had been hurt by a hunter, he practically growled at her, as if he was saying:

"Don't approach me"

"You killed my friend you bitch"

Karmellia understood the message, knowing he had all the right to feel that way and then she stood up

— You're both free to go, that's the Royal Promise of Princess Karmellia Halfleer III

Karmellia turned and started going back to the horse she stole from her guards

— Let's go Sir Maythur, there are other kids like these that need our help

— My Princess if you allow me… Sir Maythur sounded like a child about to make request to his parents

— Yes Sir Maythur?

— These boys showed immense talent and skill in combat, specially the one with blue eyes, if they were trained…

— My father won't like the ideia… She smiled, she really loved the fact that Maythur suggested that

— You can convince him. He smiled back, a big and sincere smile

— You know I can. She turned back to Vanwë and Duman

Duman stood up trying to ignore the pain from the hits he took

"Let's go Vanwë, Heylar deserves a proper street funeral" he signalized in sign language

— What do you think boys? Do you want to become Knights? Princess Karmellia smiled at them with hope

The words reached Vanwë's ears with glory, her eyes opened up as she couldn't believe what she just heard, she was feeling sorrow for Heylar, but her sorrow was slowly overwhelmed by the hope that the proposal of the Princess brought

"Vanwë let's go, NOW" Duman signalized

Vanwë turned her head to Duman, who was behind her, Duman was disgusted by the look on her face, as he realized she was really considering accepting the Princess's proposal

"Vanwë, you can't possibly be thinking about accepting that"

— We can become knights Duman! We can finally leave this shit whole and live on a castle, serve to a greater purpose!

"Greater purpose?? They killed Heylar"

— You know they didn't, you saw how the Princess and her Knight scolded the guards who did this, that's what Heylar would want for us

"Heylar loved you" Duman started crying again, but his face was filled with way more anger than with sadness

— I know he did… She started crying again as well

— But… there's nothing left here for us, please Duman, you're the only family that I have left, don't leave me, please… I need you

"You promised Heylar that you would take care of me… you promised!"

— I will, just come with me. She raised her hand to Duman, for Duman that was the most disrespectful act someone had ever done to him, even considering the abuses that he served as a slave

"You're right, we should all have died as friends when you suggested" he turned his back to her and started leaving wounded and limping, with his left eye closed because of the blood coming out of. Vanwë fell to her knees, now crying like never before

— Duman please! You're the only family I have left

"You have a new family now"

— Pleaaassee- She was begging him with all her strength left, eyes red and tears dropping

Princess Karmellia grabbed Vanwë by the shoulders, Vanwë looked at Karmellia's mesmerizingly beautiful eyes, Karmellia helped her stood up

— You can't decide for him. Karmellia assured and conducted Vanwë to the Royal Carriage, Vanwë took a last look behind, but Duman as not there anymore, they both sat inside the Royal Carriage, Sir Maythur was going to enter the Carriage as well but

— Please, we need a time alone Sir Maythur

— As you wish my Princess. He closed the Carriage's door

— To where my Princess? One of conductors of the Carriage asked

— Back to home, to the Royal Capital, I think we've done enough traveling for a birthday

— Finally! The conductors and the soldiers escorting the carriage cheered

When the carriage started moving, Karmellia focused only on Vanwë, the Princess couldn't hold the thought that she found the boy very cute (she still thought that Vanwë was a boy at this point), she was already 15, and the Court Advisors of her father, had presented her to some nasty, ugly, old suitors, as much as her dad loved her, she was still part of a Noble House, which meant that she was still a political bargaining tool, as marriages were essentially political alliances between Noble Houses in Emberian culture.

Vanwë seemed desolated, looking to the floor of the carriage with the marks of dried tears in her face, Karmellia bent down in front of Vanwë just like she had done before, and started cleaning the tears from her face

— What's your name sweetie? The Princess asked

It took a while for the Princess's voice to reach Vanwë and take her out of her thoughts

— Vanwë...

The Princess smiled

— One day, when you become a famous knight, you will be know as "Vanwë of Dreadwood" and they will know that you died wearing silver, gold and blood

Duman threw his back at the wall of a random alley, and his back slowly slipped along the wall until he was sitting on the floor, he had both his hands on his face and was compulsorily crying, he simply couldn't stop, he had lost absolutely everything, he was feeling guilt, sorrow, sadness and betrayal all at once, but one emotion overcome all of them, trivializing the others like if they were nothing, anger, pure anger, so much anger that even the God of Rage started paying attention to the poor boy, he took his hand out of his face and looked at them, they were full of dirt, sweat, tears and blood, he strongly closed them in fists and looked at the sky, tears still coming out of his eyes, and he started laughing, it was a mute laugh, a laugh like every other only without the sound, he finally stoped

"I see… yes, I see…"

— So then Princess Karmellia took me to Reivamosh, the capital of the Ember Kingdom, there I was trained and I became a knight, later I joined the Princess's Royal Guard, and then… The 3rd Nightbringer and the Penumbra came. Vanwë concluded her story

Novaherian finally realized that the story made him cry, he would cry a glowing golden liquid, the same liquid he would bleed if wounded

— I'm tired, that's enough stories for today, I need to sleep… do you sleep as well? Vanwë's eyes were dead, but she had forgot about the Centipede Thing

— Sleep for a Reaper is an option, not a requirement, we Reapers used to sleep just for the pleasure of it

— Good, can you sleep beside me then? only this time

— Are you ordering me as my master?

— No

He tilted his head a little to the right

— Of course I can

Novah lay down beside her and closed his eyes, they stayed like that for a while, eventually they both slept and they both had nightmares.

But while trying to sleep, Novah couldn't get one thing out of his mind

"Duman"

"But that's… that's the name of the 3rd Nightbringer…."