One Last Knight. A Series of Short Stories.

Hey!

Welcome one and all, back to the gates of Enverdolaml!

I hope you all have been well in these trying times.

I know the world is in a wild place right now...at least America seems to be.

I hope that all of you have food and shelter and warmth/cooling of whatever sort you need in your current environment.

I love you all, and I want you to be in the best place possible in your lives. 

I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE BEEN DOING AMAZING!

I am not...

But these stories give me life.

YOU as my small yet loyal reader base give me and this series life...

You have no idea. 

O.L.K. Just rolled past 27K Views in English and another 17K in Spanish!

That blows my mind beyond even the borders of Enverdolmal! 

I will let you all get to what you came for lol.

See you all back here at the gates soon enough yeah? 

I present to you:

"Diamonds in the dark. Part 1.5."

And off we go!

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

Lorenza was perched rather precariously atop the parapet.

Only her heels were atop the wall.

Her right hand was up and over her shoulder, tightly grasping the hilt of one of her Quarts-core short swords.

Her left holding firmly to the edge of the wall, keeping her from tumbling over said wall, and into the darkness below.

"Bah..."

She huffed softly to herself.

She knew she had seen movement out in the distance...

She wasn't tripping. 

She hadn't imagined it. 

She was proud of very few things in her life, and her eyesight was one of those things.

One of the other things was her ever-dependable "Feels."

She had FELT something before she had even seen it.

"Bah and bah again..."

She whispered as she forced all of the air from her lungs slowly.

She held her breath, trying her best to maintain absolute stillness. 

Trying to keep her vision from shifting in the least.

So still was she, that she could feel her heartbeat thumping softly, calmly in her strapped and armored chest.

Her "Feels" had flared up but a moment ago, and although the feeling had come and passed just as quickly, it was not for nothing.

It never was.

She knew herself.

She knew even better how annoyingly accurate the stupid sixth sense of hers tended to be...

After staring off into the dark of the night for quite some time without having moved so much as an inch. She turned her head slowly from left to right, scanning the lightly fogged crop fields that surrounded the better part of the city of Theodora. 

The wind whistled in her prominent, rounded ears softly, ruffling her short and curly black hair as it did so.

Her highly trained hearing picked up sharp and short sounds from nearly everything in the night around her.

Chains and flags both rattling and waving in the faint breeze.

Humans and humanoids behind and below her, moving about the dozing city, conversating softly as they did.

A strange and distant cackling...

She squinted her caramel-colored eyes and refocused her efforts on the area in which she had thought she caught the movement.

THERE! 

Decently far off into the night, a light source of some sort.

A shuttered lantern? 

Will-o-the Wisp?

There were no roads in that direction...

There were no scheduled traveling merchants, hunting parties, or external patrols for this evening.

Suddenly, the singular light became two,

And then six,

And then twelve...

A raid?

But who or what would be foolish enough to try the walls of Theodora?

Lorenza would find out for herself.

She did not doubt that she had not been the only one to spot the "lights" or whatever they were, so if anything, she wouldn't be the only one to respond.

Then and there, her mind was set.

Hearing a shuffle from her right, she turned just in time to see two Squires jogging in her direction from further down the wall. The one who led had a hand raised in urgency, his grip on the shaft of a lantern pike. His other hand was encumbered by his round shield. He called out to Lorenza just as she made to leap from the wall and be off to assess the threat at a more "comfortable" range.

"Knight Sentry Lorenza!"

He shouted just as she went to loosen her grip and be off.

She caught herself and spun to face the two young men.

"Something lurks at the edge of the Northwestern boundary just beyond the crop field, alert the Knighthood and point them in my direction!"

She shot back before the Squire could deliver his message.

She would scout ahead a bit and lead the assault if she must.

She was sure that whatever or whoever it was, she could handle it, if not hold them at bay until her backup arrived. 

Should the situation escalate beyond words.

The Theodoran Knighthood did not tarry. 

Besides, what could it be at this time of night, at this time of year but roaming bandits, Gobins, or maybe even -if she was lucky- and handful of Orcis? 

The Squire's words caught in his throat leaving only a partial stutter to pass in response to her hastily delivered report.

"B...b...but your g...g...grace I..."

He started, shifting his pike to his left hand and reaching for the scroll that was strapped to his right hip.

Lorenza winked at him just as his head rose and their eyes met, a sly grin across her face.

The startled young Squires before her went from thus to stunned in an instant when suddenly she leaned backward and away from them, letting gravity take her over the wall, and down into the darkness below with not more than a squeak. 

A strange and distant cackling found the pair's ears.

They turned tail in unison and sprinted off back towards the Knights barracks from which they had come. 

The message from Knight Vanguard Bretani would go unread. 

For now.

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

-22 years ago- 

Bretani stood as near to the edge of the great and deep canyon Kraak as her courage would allow. 

The drop off was steep and immediate, and one would definitely have time to ponder ones greatest mistakes in life should one find themselves on the wrong end of the cliff.

Today would not be the day that she would ponder such a thought.

She swore that she would never let a fall be her way of leaving this plane of existence if she could very well help it. 

She shuddered and took a cautious step back. 

At her right stood Vraylin, her squads leader and her Mentor.

He was a tall, lean and valorous Elfym who had been an intrical part of her life for as long as she could remember.

He had helped raise her from a very young age, as her parents had been not only killed by something foul and unknown within the depths of the accursed swamp known as Enfresecca, but their bodies were never and could never be recovered due to the powerful and binding curse that entombs the land. 

Vraylin was steeped in thought, the day grew older with each passing minute which in turn meant that the night would be upon them soon enough.

This was only a problem due several factors that he was nearly powerless to do anything about. 

Firstly: The Klepsiens...or "Stony boys" -as the locals would refer to them as- were a crude, uncouth, battle-minded species one and all. While any Troll would be unpleasant enough a fight in general, Rock Trolls were composed nearly wholly of hard and compressed minerals and compounds that made their skin and muscles incredibly tough. They were a nocturnal creature type, preferring to move about and hunt after the sun had set since the heat tended to make them sluggish. 

And that time was steadily drawing nearer. 

Secondly: Their group was simply to far out from Onlydebar to turn back now. The trip from the Dwarven city and back to the western edge of the Basador land bridge had taken just over a days time, and they had not the time nor want to undo that portion of their journey just to do have to repeat it all over again within the next day or so. It would throw everything off of schedule and leave them right back here if they once again didn't time their departure just right.

Thirdly: Camping even within a half-mile of Kraak was a commonly known "bad idea" for lack of better words. One that Vraylin didn't care to partake in and thus unduly endanger his group. The Rock Trolls were far to active came nightfall, and not prone to stay in their deep and daunting holes. 

The fourth and final problem was the most important and pressing of them all: Rock Trolls notoriously had a thing for Elf blood, and their little group just happened to be composed of two full-blood Elfs and Vraylin himself who was a half-blood.

The veteran Knight and Squad Leader seemingly had but one choice: They had to move, and they had to make it quick.

If they could make it to the opposing side of the Valley Kraak, they would be just fine. If he pushed the horses for just a bit, he was sure that he could clear the half-mile zone on the Eastern side just in time for them to set camp.

Just in time to be out of range of the dambdable Trolls...

He stroked his chin as he went once more through all of the possibilities. 

They all seemed to come back to this.

Move, and now. 

It was a gamble.

But one that he felt that he had little other choice but to take.

Vraylin turned, catching the attention of both Bretani and Kit with a soft snap of his fingers as he did so.

Bretani spoke first. 

She had been watching him closely and know him as she did, she was sure that she was on to his thoughts and plans just as he had been contemplating them. 

"You've chosen to cross sir?"

She said, her arms uncrossing and her hands finding her hips in unison.

"What of the Trolls?"

Their squad was a unique one. Vraylin was a very open and flexible leader. He didn't see his Underlings questioning him as insubordinate or rude, but more so as inquisitive and thought provoking. His squad was both respectable and humble, so he never minded when a question -or several- would surface. 

Kit was not so far off in her train of thought either, her grip tightening on the pommel of her Dual-headed Quarts-core axe. 

She was a Hunter by trade and training and she knew well the dangers that came with doing battle with a Troll, let alone a potential group of Stoney-boys while in the company of their favorite meal so to speak...

"Would be best if we made way now then yeah? Those beasties ain't keen on waiting for dinner from what I be knowin', and I don't think our slumberin' friends are keen on feeding em! " 

She chimed in before Vraylin could began to get the words out, while simultaneously shifting her axe onto her right shoulder and turning to gester in the direction of the wagon with a chuckle that sounded like pebbles tumbling on stone.

Vraylin was both pleased and a bit taken aback.

They had learned well. 

Both the world around them, and their Mentors thought patterns.

He beamed with pride. 

Yes, they would be just fine.

As Kit turned with a wink and made her way back to the wagon, Vrayin spoke directly to Bretani in hushed tones as two of them watched her jog towards the wagon in which slept the siblings Mira and Calt. 

"While I appreciate the courage and bravery that you two both possess and display, this my not be as easy as you imagine...we are on quite the tight leash here and Rock Trolls are no small matter should we come to cross paths with a group. We should-"

But at that point Bretani cut him off with a wave of her hand and a wry smile. 

"Vraylin, Sir...with all do respect, mayhap you are overthinking this whole thing." 

She said as she crossed her arms over her chest once more, turning as she did to follow Kit back to the wagon.

"And with even more respect Sir, daylight is wasting as we delay further with such worries."

She stopped suddenly, turning on her heel to face the Elfym locking his eyes with hers.

"We will make the crossing. We will clear the other side. We will be on our way. Simple." 

And with that she was on her way to further brief the rest of their small band on what the three of them had hardly discussed themselves. 

Vraylin had to stop and wonder for a moment who was really in charge amongst the lot of them.

With a smile and a shake of his head, he made his way over and with a single motion, leapt into his driving position at the front of the wagon. 

He trusted and had faith in his squad. 

He would not lead them astray. 

Suddenly he felt a firm yet subtle vibration at his hip.

As did Bretani...

 As did Kit...

 As did Mira...

 As did Calt...

The small sapphire satchels that they had been gifted by the Dwarven king Giafray Darkerstone had began to vibrate and then pulse at a strange and alarming rate, Aether emanating from within each palm-sized bag in a brilliant golden light. 

Eyes wide with alarm and realization, Vraylin shot up from his sitting position and gave a shout, turning as he did so.

Bretani gave a startled yelp from atop the wagon as the left side suddenly lurched upward. The side that she happened to sitting on. She was tossed nearly straight up into the air and into the branches of a tree. 

Kit was jolted off of the right side and to the edge of the trail with a muffled groan and a haphazard roll.

Mira and Calt were slammed against the inner right wall of the wagon, Mira's left arm snapped in two placed above the elbow as Calt smashed into her at a full speed.

Her eyes rolled back in agony, flashing fiery red before her consciousness fell away. Calt's head slapped against the same wooden beam that he had inadvertently pressed his jostled sister into, sending him into the very same state of unconsciousness. 

The ground beneath their wagon suddenly began to fragment into great and jagged slabs of dirt and stone. 

From beneath that, rocks and rubble and roots shifted.

A massive stone-like arm began to emerge. 

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

I hope that this newest Chapter Part both finds and leaves you in good health!

I will see you all back here soon enough yeah? 

I have been very busy with my full-time work and trying to etch out a Podcast for you all, and writing/working on O.L.K. AND spearheading my Poetry series!

I hope that all of you have hobbies and such to keep you both busy and fed lbvs.

With that being said -and if you feel the want or need- you can find my cash app link at the end of some of my chapters (and in the Authors notes below!).

I would never say no to a bit of support, and your pennies are always welcomed!

I would love to be able to continue to pay the amazing artist who does all of the concept art for the series (Over on the O.L.K. Facebook page!)

And I would love to be able to take a few days off to start a coloring book for O.L.K. and even work on the world map so that you all can further immerse yourselves in this wild, weird little world that we are journeying through. 

Thank you kindly for anything and everything and even NOTHING if that suits you as well! 

I will see you all back here soon enough yeah?

Safe travels folks!

And as always:

Stay Safe.

 Stay Healthy.

 Stay Vigilant.

-Redd.