The Two Knights

A new dawn was born, and it reminded them that they were far away from North, where even the sunniest days brought a chill breeze now and then. 

It was early in the morning, but the roads were already packed with farmers and shopkeepers marching. The many townsmen released their animals from their stables. The crows cawed, cows mooed, and pigs oinked and roamed freely on the streets. 

Yin gently opened his eyes and saw the inverted face of Lars looking down at him, his head covering the view of the ceiling. 

"Is she your girlfriend?" Lars asked.

"What? What are you sa…" 

Yin instantly realized that Vegas was still holding onto him like a koala on a tree. 

"Oh man! Vegas! Wake up! He shook her violently.

After several attempts, she finally opened her eyes, sat up with a hunchback, and scratched her head.

"Did I snore?" She asked, yawning while stretching her arms.

"Oh, not at all." Yin replied sarcastically. He was woken up by the snoring countless times and barely slept last night. 

Lars had a cup of fresh milk served to him by the maids, but they were nowhere to be seen.

"A merry dawn to my dear guests!" An elated voice greeted them.

They instantly grasped it.

It was the sweet voice of Lady Pamela. She had a gorgeous lilac robe on, and Vegas couldn't take her eyes off it.

Lady Pamela caught Vegas looking at her and smiled.

"Good morning." All three of them wished at once, but with varying energy levels.

Lars was delighted.

Vegas sounded drunk.

And Yin was subtle. 

Vegas jumped up, tightly buttoned her top, and wore Juno and its sheath across her thin body. She then picked up the black scarf and wore it around her neck. 

Lars finished his milk and wore his brown cloak over his red shirt.

"I've sent the maids to call the men you asked for. It's only two of them. But trust me when I say this. They are good men. Loyal and strong." Lady Pamela informed proudly. 

"I do trust you, Lady Pamela." Yin responded as he nodded his head.

After a brief minute, the door opened.

Colt barged in first and Neilus after him, arguing and quarrelling with each other while they were walking in.

"I need you to trust me! I saw her." Neilus said it with a stubborn tone.

"It could've been a dream! Stop pissing me off!" Colt reacted even more stubbornly. 

"What's the matter, my dears? Lady Pamela asked first.

"What happened?" Yin asked next.

"He's talking about the same girl he claimed to have seen in the market, with green hair and green eyes." Colt gave them the context. 

"Ugh! Not that again." Vegas sighed as she slapped her forehead.

"It's okay. Leave it for now. It could've been a dream. We all have that. I too have that." 

"No, I didn't dream. I didn't even sleep last night. I saw her…I..."

"Neil!" Yin stopped him at once.

"Leave it. That's not important now. We'll talk about it later." Yin ordered. 

Neil nodded with an upset face.

"Poor kid." Lady Pamela whispered to herself.

Just as the squabbling concluded, there was a knock on the door, and Lady Pamela rushed to attend.

It was the two maids, and behind them were two knights, tall and fully armored. They held their helms in their arms. One had golden hair just like Lars, but not as bright as him. The other knight had dark hair and a patchy beard with a worried face.

Colt looked at them and sighed.

"Come on in, my warriors and my queens." Lady Pamela ushered them inside.

She first held her maids and kissed them gently on their foreheads.

They smiled and bowed.

And then Lady Pamela turned to the knights.

"My warriors, I'm pretty sure you know what you've been called for. This is the man you are pledged to serve. Yin Kang. The god."

The knights turned to Yin and bowed in respect; their heavy armors made metallic clashing noises as they bent. 

"Thank you." Yin said.

"Yin, he is Brody, a shy fella. But don't let that fool you. And this one with the golden hair is Mathen; he is the one I sent to kill you. Look how the tables have turned." She introduced them.

"Thank you, Lady Pamela." He said it wholeheartedly with a giggle. 

"Brody and Mathen, you're part of our team now. Meet Vegas, Lars, Neil, and Colt, a fellow strong knight like you guys." Yin introduced them to his friends.

Colt looked away from their eye contact and walked out of the door.

The two knights shrugged.

"Well, we better get moving then."

Yin walked over to Lady Pamela and hugged her tightly.

"I will never forget this, my lady." Yin promised.

"Do visit once again when everything is over." She requested it worriedly.

"We will." He said.

The six of them approached the door to leave.

"Wait a minute. I almost forgot." Lady Pamela stopped them and ran to her room. 

There were sounds of things falling from the room. And after a few seconds, Lady Pamela walked out with a white gown in her hand. 

"This is for you, my dear." She looked at Vegas.

"I made this for my daughter years ago, but she passed away due to a terrible fever. Now, I want you to have this." 

Vegas glanced at everyone's face in embarrassment. She had always hated being the centre of attention.

Her eyes teared, but she did not let them fall.

She reached out her hands and received it. Her fingers gently brushed the fabric of the gown, then she rubbed it against her cheek and smiled. 

"Thank you very much, my lady. This is beautiful." She said with sparkling eyes.

Vegas went near Neilus and opened his backpack to safely shelter her gift.

Lady Pamela smiled at her. 

"You are very kind, my lady." Yin blurted.

"Safe journey, you all." She said.

Everyone thanked her, waved her goodbye, and closed the door behind them.

Colt was waiting outside, like a watchman.

"Let's go," Yin said.

The two knights walked in front, leading the way. They knew the entire layout and routes of Rovestone. They all kept marching forward, and they finally reached the exit gate of Rovestone. It was just like the other one from the entrance, guarded by two archers, but here there were also soldiers with swords who stood on the ground. 

The guards saw Brody and Mathen and immediately opened the gates. There was no talking, no question, nothing. 

The gates opened, and that was where the beautiful town of Rovestone ended.

The sight in front of them had nothing. No trees, no people, no animals, or anything. Just an endless and plain stretch of sand and dirt. There were a few vague and disappearing views of rocky mountains and hills in the far distance.

They all swallowed their saliva at the depressing sight. 

"Oh boy, this will be a walk to remember." Lars sighed.

…

It felt like many hours had passed, yet it was still bright and burning like the hottest day. The wind that was blowing at them brought the dusty sands with it. And they all pushed against the power of the wind. They held up their hands to cover themselves from the wind and the sand. It was a sandstorm. 

"This is the reality of East." Lars informed everyone.

He then quickly kneeled down to the sand and rested his palm on it. 

"Shield!" He screamed.

An incredibly strong and rigid wall of sand was erected in front of them, and it blocked the sandy wind.

"Move!" He chanted again, and the wall started moving forward, protecting them from the harsh wind.

"Good work, Lars!" Yin was impressed and congratulated him.

"Thank fuckin' goodness." Vegas took a moment to catch her breath. 

The two knights looked at each other in disbelief. 

"You're the kid with that ring." Mathen spoke finally.

"And a bounty on your head." Brody added.

Lars looked at them and said nothing.

All of them marched luxuriously with the help of the walking wall. But still, they were all sweating and panting. They may have escaped the sandstorm, but they can never escape from the heat of the East.

After a few minutes, everyone stopped.

"Look over there!" Lars yelled.

"That's Wolkcaster! That's the city of East. That's my city. We've reached East. Finally." Lars informed.

"Finally." Yin repeated it in response.

The city of Wolkcaster became visible from a distance. They were still hours away, but that was way better than having to only see the red sands and dirt for so long. Big watchtowers and bigger castles were seen, and they had flags and banners. None of them had seen anything like this before.

"I'm sure they have horses in the East." Mathen said.

"Yeah, that would've made this travel way easier." Brody reacted.

"Why don't you guys have horses in Rovestone?" Yin asked them.

"One of our town's traders, Mr. Flint, recently died. He was responsible for buying and bringing in the horses." Brody answered him. 

It made Yin wonder.

"Lars, when you fled from East, how did you run all the way to the North in less than a day?" Yin inquired curiously. 

"I did. I did run. When I ran a little further away from East, I entered the town of Pagos. There I asked riders for a lift, and they dropped me close to North." 

"Jeez! How did you convince them?" Vegas asked.

"I just told them, take me somewhere far from home." He answered.

The magical walking wall was starting to break, but thankfully, the sandstorm was gone. 

…

Suddenly, 

"CRAW!"

A wild crow screamed in the air, and everyone looked up. It was gently soaring above them. 

Yin's eyes were sensing something off. 

"Something doesn't feel right…" He warns everyone.

"What do you mean?" Vegas asked.

The crow flew past them and suddenly fell to the ground, just a few meters away from them. As soon as it landed, the bird turned to ashes, and...

"CRACK!"

In front of them, the ground started to shake violently, and it was slowly cracking open and making a hole. And from within the hole, a beam of blood-red light was seen. 

"What the fuck is going on?" Vegas cursed.

Everyone ran back as far as they could from the hole.

…

And then.

A hand from the hole grabbed the opening, and another hand followed. It slowly rose from the hole, and revealed itself.

It was a Molten Giant, its black body cracked with the lines of molten lava, and its eyes red as death. The body was flaming and smoking. 

Every time it breathed, visible smoke came out of its nose and mouth.

It was monstrously big. Nearly thirteen feet tall.

And it grinned. 

…

Everyone froze.

Even Yin. 

He began to shake with dread.