In the name of love. Part 1.5.

Welcome back one and all, to the wondrous gates of Enverdolmal!

*Authors note* 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am sooooooooooo sorry! This Chapter Part should have dropped on March 14th/15th and I JUST spotted it in my trash bin... I have no idea how that happened, but here it is for you! The crazier part is that it was posted in Spanish but this version ended up in the trash?? Man oh man... I am so sorry. Please enjoy this chapter as you have the others!" 

I hope as always that this latest installment finds you all well and healthy and safe and all of the most positive things possible. 

I mean that will the whole of my heart.

You all have been my driving and inspiring force. You have no Idea. 

I would also like to give a HUGE shout-out to several Readers who have either added One Last Knight to their library/collection! or provided Power Stones -for those who read on Webnovel!- 

Thank you kindly to:

Yacira_Hernandez

DaoistzKZDN3

And DaoistxQohlu

(I am truly sorry if any of these are spelled wrong!)

I don't know exactly what the Power Stones are used for but I am super appreciative to even have some thrown my way lbvs. 

We just hit 15K English Readers!

I can't believe it! 

Just four months ago, I sat at just over 6.4K!

And the Spanish Readers have just passed 7K when we were at just over 3.5K four months ago! 

Oh how much we have grown here together, you all and I!

It is starting to come full circle folks!

I won't keep you, I know what you are here for!

I will see you all back here soon enough!

Enjoy. 

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"In the name of love. Part 1.5."

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-A week prior to present day.

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Governor Telith sat with his chubby hands folded neatly before him in the low light of the candles on his desk. His face a mask of calm that hid his true feelings of rage, disgust , and what he hated to admit was a hint of curiosity. 

Before him stood one of his Guard Captains, a loyal and headstrong man named Grom.

Beside Grom stood a muscled, dirty, uncouth creature.

An Orcis Underchief who called himself Boongaloot.

A foolish name is Telith had ever heard one...

Captain Grom knelt swiftly, snapping his fingers as he did which signaled the uncivilized brute to do likewise. 

Had the settings been different, Boongaloot would have surely smashed the mans head into his torso with a single blow...But alas, they stood together this night in pursuit of the same cause. 

Both Man and Monster had similar ambitions. 

Both involved the death of one man in particular, but both had very different reasons for wanting said person dead. 

Telith waited several seconds, eyeing the bowed heads of the two beings that knelt before him.

His first and truest impulse had been to call for his guards and have the ugly thing killed on the spot, then order this "Captain" stripped of both his weapon and rank and tossed into a dark, moldy dungeon...

Instead, he would hear the man out and perhaps discern why on all of the Hellz had he been so bold as to present him with an Orcis in his private chambers at such an ungodly hour.

"Speak and explain yourself, Captain Grom..."

Telith said.

An edge of irritation crept into his voice, betraying his lack of patience this evening. 

"What 'Grand and important' reason do you have for this...gathering in the middle of the night."

He said as he waved his hand dismissively in the direction of the Orcis whose head had risen just enough to catch the movement.

A short, low, nearly inaudible growl left Boongaloot's throat. 

To his left, Grom's hand moved to the hilt of his sword. A subtle threat that the proud Orcis Brawler would not soon forget.

He would wait...

He would act when it was in the best interest of his kin.

He was no stupid Orcis.

Grom wasted little time, for the time that he had was already not much at all.

He would plead the same case that he had been pleading for the past 17 years.

The cities need for more HUMAN guards, and less of the demandable Gatemen Automaton that the Scientist and Inventor Davien and his wife had presented to the Governor and the Council of Bant. 

Grom was an older, grizzled Veteran.

At 55 years of age, he had seen more than his fair share of both physical battle and political war fair. 

He had established bonds with mean and women on the field of battle.

He knew the importance of critical thinking and choice fueled by what one could feel. 

One of Grom's main gripes with the Automaton was the fact that they could not feel.

They could not judge a situation based on morality or empathy.

They could only fight.

Kill.

To Grom, it was only a matter of time before they would be used against Bant with the correct person at their head... 

They could become the greatest threat to all that he had fought for decades to protect should their creator simply will it so.

Grom had campaigned against the Gatemen since the very first demonstration that was put on by Davien Jakon and his wife Amoura just over 20 years ago.

He had argued that the Bant City Defence Force could be just as effective in battle had they the proper psychological training to be able to endure the trials of war and higher grade equipment.

Equipment like the Flex-steel crafted armor that the Knights of Naeri were issued or the Quarts Core weapons that were exclusive to and made famous by the Theodoran Knighthood. 

It wasn't that he had anything against the B.D.C.F standard issue Diamond-bladed sword that hung at his hip, he just knew that he and his men required more if they were to become once again the primary defence force of the city of Bant. 

For that, he needed a better budget.

For that better budget, he needed the Gatemen out of the picture.

Their decommissioning would result in the freeing up of resources, resources that could then be reallocated to his cause. 

He raised his head and spoke.

"Good evening Governor Telith. My apologies for the late and unannounced visit." 

At his side, the Chieftain stood having grown tired of the human politics that he felt had little to do with him.

Grom stood as well, doing his best to not draw his blade and lay the thing low on the spot.

He cleared his throat and went on. 

"Sir, the time is finally upon us." 

He began.

"Davien's Automatons have graced the walls and halls of our great city for long enough!"

He said, his voice rising just a bit, his pale face flushing red with passion. 

"Is it not time that we again let HUMAN flesh and blood soldiers do what they do best? What they are trained for? Our men grow fat and weak, lazy and uninspired as the days, weeks, and months go on...We must act or those...things will be all that stands between us and the pits of oblivion should our enemies come!" 

Governor Telith shifted his position in his chair. 

His face was still a mask of nothingness. 

He slowly bent one arm at the elbow, bringing his cigar to his fat lips. With a snap of his fingers, a tiny ball of flame appeared before him, hovering in place inches from the cigar. He leaned forward, letting the tip catch light as he did so.

Leaning back in his chair, he drew in a single long draw from the cigar before filing half of the small chamber with dank, thick smoke. 

Boongaloot liked the smell of the burning tobacco. 

It reminded the Orcis of a similar plant that his kind indulged in. 

A plant that made them go into a berserk rage and fight one another for hours on end!

He figured he would have some just as soon as he was rid of the human and back among his own kind. Away from all of this hard stone, and back to the soft and ever-shifting sands of the Suidelain desert. 

Telith spoke, drawing the Orcis attention back to the matter at hand. 

"Grom...what could you possibly need to tell me at this late hour that you could not simply tell me in the morning, and without this Orcis at your side?"

He said, his face shifting to show his no longer hidden irritation at having his sleep interrupted. He had heard a hundred different arguments from the begrudged Guardsman, and he doubted that this nights plea would bring anything new. Outside of this, he held little care for the Orcis kind in general and wondered still why the man had even bothered to bring this one around...

Grom looked to the Orcis and gave a simple nod which the monster returned.

The Captain turned back toward the waiting man with a confident smile.

"Sir, a demonstration would likely go a lot further than my simply words ever could. If you could summon one of your Gatemen... eh, kindly?"

For nearly two decades Captain Grom had tried and continuously failed to find a weakness or point of vulnerability for the Automatons. These ventures and obsessions had also hindered the mans ability to climb the ranks, hence his rank of Captain at 55... 

Debunking their rumored infallibility was key to convincing the Governor and therefore the Council that the Gatemen were no longer the way to go when it came to protecting their beloved city.

Grom was 100% convinced that he had figured out just that: a way to make the infallible, fall. 

With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, Telith pulled a tiny red bell from somewhere within the folds of his night robes and gave it a quick, sharp jerk. 

The bells tone was nearly silent. 

From behind one of the many curtains that lined the exterior of the sleeping chambers stepped a lone Gatemen. 

His Arcadian wood armor shinning even in the dark as the candlelight bounced off of its polished surface. 

"Your commands sir?"

It questioned, its Aetheral voice echoed slightly as it poured forth from the grill in the Automatons face where its "mouth" would be. 

The Automatons made Grom uncomfortable. He didn't like or understand the science and High magics behind what made the things work.

He didn't care to understand, they were taking good jobs from his men...

He hated them for that, and for that, he would do what he thought best. 

"Be on with it then!"

The Governor barked from behind his desk, his already low patience wearing all the more thinner. 

Grom bowed at the waist and motioned to the Orcis to his side.

Boongaloot looked once to the Captain and then to the Gatemen before him before he reached behind himself, drawing forth from a poach quite the sizable stone.

It sparkled softly even in the low-light of the chamber.

Telith sat up and forward quickly, his cigar falling from his mouth and to the desk before him as his jaw dropped in awe and shock. 

"Aetherite!? But how!? From where!?"

The genuinely surprised man nearly shouted. 

Grom smirked, as did Boongaloot. 

"No average Aetherite."

The Captain said, looking again at the Orcis.

Without hesitation, Boongaloot stepped forward and thrust the stone toward the Automaton.

In the split-second before impact, he pushed some of his considerable Aether into the core of the stone.

There was a flash of stark purple light as the stone struck the Gatemen's chest plate...

Nothing happened.

Governor Telith was literally on the edge of his seat.

"What have you done?"

He said to both the man and the monster before him. 

Neither answered, both wore knowing grins upon their respective faces. 

Telith fumed.

"Fine..."

He said, crossing his arms with another sigh.

"I'll play along...to me my Automaton!" 

He said. 

The Gatemen began to move, seemingly unaffected by the strike, and whatever the strange Orcis stone had done.

It turned towards its master, took two steps, and teetered forward while attempting a third awkward and imbalanced step before the Aetheral light faded from its "eyes" and all of its many gears and the likes suddenly came to a halt within its wood and metal body.

The Automaton fell forward and struck the ground face first with a resounding thud. 

Governor Telith stood so quickly that his chair flew out from behind him and struck the fall with an equally loud bang. 

From behind the curtains that lined the room, three more Gatemen stepped forward, each with a long and menacing polearm braced and at the ready. 

Telith raised an open palm to halt them in their tracks. 

He stepped from behind his desk and walked over to the first Automaton, circling it as he eyed every inch of its prone form. 

He turned to Captain Grom with a deep frown.

"What. Have. You. Done?"

He asked again, this time with less surprise and much more irritation. 

The Orcis Chieftain answered before the man could:

"He found me."

Boongaloot said with an evil grin, drawing the attention of both men as he puffed his muscled chest out proudly.

He didn't care about the Captains ambitions.

He cared about getting the Mecha out of the picture...

If he could help the human do that, he would gain their trust.

Even if that trust would be temporary.

All he needed was an opening in the window. 

An opportunity. 

It was time to start the negotiations for his part of the deal. 

-------------------------

*Present day.

Davien lowered his left arm from before his face, his sleeve was covered in sand and dirt.

The Gatemen's sudden arrival on the scene had been not only abrupt, but jarring. 

His heart leapt in his chest, his resolve boosted by its presence. 

Davien's personal Gatemen needed no instruction.

No directive.

No external input.

It was truly autonomous in it's actions.

It's plates and gears shifted upon it's impact, absorbing and redirecting the kinetic energy from the landing into future fuel. 

It's top half whirled around to face the startled Davien. 

Having analyzed the entire situation from the air on it's approach, the Gatemen had already formulated a counter strategy for the remaining threats, including the singular Orcis who was on fast approach from just over 25 yards off in the distance. 

It snapped an arm up immediately, catching an on-coming sword strike from it's right. 

"You were beyond my visual abilities master. I sensed danger."

It's voice was one of the best things that Davien had heard all day.

The stunned Orcis Brawler had simply let go of the weapon and turned to flee with a fearful shout of:

"MECHA!!!" 

The creature hadn't made it more than five paces before its own sword perforated it. clean through.

The crude Orcis blade was launched by the Gatemen at such speed and with such power that the flimsy light armor that the Brawler wore stood little chance.

The sword sliced through its spine and its tip burst from the monster's chest with a soft gush of green blood.

On came the second of the two Orcis.

It had been pushed back by Davien and slammed into a tree a few seconds before the cursed Mecha had arrived.

Davien had in fact used just about the last of the Aether that he had at his disposal on that last attack, and it had left him all but defenseless in the face of the first Orcis assault.

His Gatemen's arrival was exactly what he had needed. 

After stopping the attack of the first Orcis and dispatching it all in a matter of seconds, it's gears and levers clicked and shifted and turned, snapping it's bottom half around 180 degrees so that it's top and bottom half's were now properly aligned. 

The second charging Orcis had made its move mid-way through this transformation, and the Automaton's reaction was nearly immediate so fine were its tuned reflexes.

Its right foot had shot out and connected with the monster's chin with a devastating and lightning-fast roundhouse-like kick.

So mighty was the blow that the creature's neck was snapped instantly and it's forward momentum halted. 

The corpse tumbled past Davien in a tangle of muscles and armor straps. 

-------------------------

Amoura slid to a stop while still on her right knee with the assistance of her blade, that which she had slammed into the ground as she was flew backwards.

Before she could fully straighten and fix her stance, the Orcis was upon her, and she was forced into an awkward back paddle. 

He swung his rusty, jagged sword in great and sloppy arches, trying as he did to use his size advantage to generate as much power as possible. 

The thing was faster than Amoura had remembered the average Sand Orcis being, and even a far bit stronger.

Her left shoulder ached fiercely. Pain shot down her arm and into her hand with each shift and block. 

It was all that she could do to hold the monster at bay, each heavy impact taxing the strength in her blocking arm further and further. 

She had to turn the tables, and fast.

Amoura fell back into her training.

She had been a Knight within the ranks of the esteemed Theodoran Knighthood before she had relocated to Bant. 

Before the event that had cause her to be forced into an early retirement...

Before she had lost the ability to access and use nearly 70% of her Aether pool...

She had served proudly.

She had served.

And fought.

And won.

She refused to fall to a single Orcis!

She have have been "diminished" in some ways, but she was not "crippled" or "disabled" or "diminished" as the Knighthood had seen her. 

She didn't see it that way.

She didn't allow others to see it hat way.

She wouldn't let it hold her back here or ever!

Amoura deflected one last blow from the brutish Orcis and let the momentum of the blow force her into a rotation to her right.

She leapt and pulled her legs up and in, before snapping he foot out in a clean roundhouse to the monsters face upon the completion of her first arial rotation.

As she continued to turn in the air, she punched out with her Buckler shield, catching the stunned Orcis on the right side of its face with a well-placed blow to its temple.

The blow had been spot-on, but her strength had been by this point, cut in half. 

The Orcis staggered several steps to the side before it recovered and launched a powerful backhand swing toward the still airborne Amoura.

Both of its hands gripped its nasty sword.

It had recovered far too quickly.

Amoura thought to herself as the blade closed in.

She simply had no time to react.

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Welcome back!

Shame to see you all go, but alas, this is no Narnia lol

If only, right?

No, but I love my world.

OUR world.

I can't imagine that I would have gotten any of these characters this far had you all not been around to inspire me just by returning to read every week.

I can't express the amount of gratitude I have.

I look forward to eventually hearing from some of you lol

Your opinions and such would be amazing, and are always welcomed.

I will leave you with that. 

I have many more things coming down the pipeline for you all. I haven't forgotten about the world map either for anyone who is still interested in that part of the book, and I am working on and working up the nerve to start recording on the O.L.K Podcast over on Youtube.

Thank you all for being so patient as I work these things out!

I hope to see you all back here at the gates just as soon as you can make it.

Until nest time and as always, safe travels my friends. 

Stay safe.

 Stay healthy.

 Stay vigilant.

-Redd.