I Will Be the Greatest Knight

"Thieves! The whole lot of them! Don't trust the mages!"

An old man was moving as quickly as he could—though not very quickly considering the walking stick he was heavily relying on—and he made his way to the edge of town where he raised the cane and began shouting at what seemed to be an abandoned building on the outer edge of town. 

Irene let Gunnar take the lead and dutifully followed him. A cautious hand was placed on her dagger once they were at the edge and looking where the man indicated the thieves were. 

"What happened, sir?" the knight wondered, his eyes going off to the distance and then drifting back towards the old man. 

"The irreverent mages who occupy the old mill stole the church's relic!" the man shouted. "The voice of God is within that stone and it belongs in the Church, not in the hands of the damned magicians!" 

As the old man turned, Irene saw the robes of the church and she knew right away that the man was likely a priest. It was a familiar image she had gotten used to having been raised by a churchgoing mother.

"We will do what we can to help," Gunnar responded, his tone taking on a serious edge so the man would know he could trust his word.

Irene tried to remain as confident as the knight but, considering what Irene saw of the mages when she went to rescue her father, she knew better than to think she could fight against magic. How would the manal stone in the handle of her sword react to real magic? Would it protect her then? 

Seeking Gunnar's knowledge, she looked up at the knight and asked, "This is something we can do?" 

If he confirmed, then it must be so.

"A knight isn't meant to approach each situation violently," he admitted. "We may mediate other ways." 

At that, Irene let go of her dagger, allowing it to stay sheathed but unlatched and she nodded at the knight. 

"We will return shortly, Father," Gunnar assured the man. Then he turned to Irene, "Come. We will solve this quickly." 

"Bring it back to the church, sir," the man said. "I believe that God's will shall prevail!" 

Irene had to divert her gaze because she knew she was going to start staring. There were biases between mages and the Church that she didn't fully understand. While mages seemed intent on minding their own business and sticking with their own, the church was insistent on making every place uncomfortable for them. 

Yet she recalled how useful her mana stone was and how helpful the mages were in fixing her hands and blowing the collapsed rocks away to save the knights. 

As she looked towards Gunnar, she wondered what he thought of mages but, as they covered more ground and ran towards the abandoned building away from town, she knew that it wasn't the time for chatting. 

The girl's eyebrows lowered and she focused. Her only job was to follow Sir Gunnar's lead and hope that the outcome of that day was positive. 

They slowed their pace when they neared the building. 

"It may be the natural urge to draw your sword in a situation like this, but keep in mind they haven't physically harmed anyone," the knight reminded the apprentice. 

"Yes, sir," she responded. 

The path they began to take was a large circle around the property. Only when they saw a door would they approach the building. It was better not to sneak up and show their cards openly so that the mages wouldn't feel threatened. 

However, as they finally approached and the knight was able to raise a gloved hand and knock on the rough wooden door, Irene heard a gasp for air and realized the knight was frozen. 

"What is it?" she asked urgently. 

There was no answer from Gunnar but the door opened and pushed the knight to the ground. He was frozen in the same position that he knocked the door in. 

"Who dares approach this keep?" a deep voice asked. 

A large figure wearing a grey hood stepped forward. 

Irene decided then that she was allowed to grab her sword. 

"Please, let go of the knight!" she pleaded. "We come here with pure intentions!" 

Her fingers remained close to the dagger on her belt. Would this be considered physical harm?

"State your case," the man said. "The knight will suffocate if you don't hurry." 

Her green eyes darted to Sir Gunnar who was still frozen and her heart began to race. She was being tested so abruptly, but she had been told many times that the hands-on training the apprentices would be subjected to was the only way for them to truly learn. 

"We have been sent by a priest," she quickly explained. "He claims that you stole a relic containing the voice of God and we are here to help." 

The mage pulled the hood off of his head. Revealed to Irene was a man with long white hair and a braided beard that went down to his chest. 

"What do you think?" he asked. "Do you believe that we stole the relic?" 

"That is what we're here to figure out, mage," she answered, her tone still rushed. "I would like to hear your side of the story." 

"What side is there?" the mage asked the girl. "I only took back what was originally ours." 

The 'ours' he was referring to was revealed when he pushed the door open even further and revealed more mages in greyish robes standing further back. A few had mana surrounding their hands as they waited with alarmed expressions. They were on edge. Their worry was palpable. 

"Please, let Sir Gunnar out of your magic!" she requested. "We mean no harm. He was the one who told me not to draw my weapon." 

To her relief, the old mage gestured for one of the other mages to walk out of the door. With their fingers tracing through the air in a methodological circular pattern, they released the knight of his bounds and he gasped for air as if he had been underwater for a long time. 

However, the old mage who seemed to be their leader stepped closer to Irene. 

"You have a magical weapon, don't you?" he asked. "I can sense mana coming from you. What are you truly here to do, young one? Answer quickly or you will find yourself in more dire straits than the knight." 

The mage raised his hands and a greenish glow flew out like smoke before taking on a more geometric shape in the form of three connected triangles. 

The girl's stomach dropped.