The Black Knight Box Set

by Christian J Gilliland

  “I knew him as well as I know you," Card replied frankly. “We have spoken in passing and our squads have fought alongside one another from time to time. I never had the honor of getting to know the boy on a personal level and that I deeply regret… I do know his father well,"

  “He was a great swordsman," Alec noted, pointing at Crinnan’s sword. It laid at the foot of the altar with the handle pointing up toward the sky.

  “That I was well aware of," Card nodded slightly. “The sword, it was at one point his father’s, correct?”

  “And his grandfather’s before him," Alec informed him, “The blade was his favorite possession, he spent more time with it than he did anything else.”

  Lord Card stepped forward and took a closer look at the weapon, "General Jamiso..." he reflected as he touched the blade with a pale finger, “He is a great leader. His blood is rich with honor. Back in Exgrane, he fought like no other Humaan I have encountered. His speech this morning was riveting, do you agree?”

  “Yes," Alec nodded his head. “A good memorial. I imagine you would know the details better than I but from what I hear, Commander Jamiso is doing very well with the underground army in Canrom City,"

  “Canrom City will be the next Exgrane," Lord Card smiled, turning to look at Alec. “Govia is weakening, we have held Exgrane for over twenty years now. Your Century and my Millennium will spearhead the assault. We will take the city and the glory will be ours...”

  “I have heard," Alec said, “Lady Milinka Emmal of Kamlot has overcome her sickness I hear?”

  “Correct," lord Card affirmed, “My betrothed. She has... overcome her ailment and is stronger than ever,"

  “Congratulations," Elia chirped, smiling at Lord Card. “It is good to hear some people are still making the best of things in this bloody world,"

  “Thank you," Card returned her nod. “She will be my fifth, my how the years have flown by,"

  The three stood silently for a moment as they stared into the weak flame. Elia could not help but wonder how Card had gone through four wives already, she had heard he was many hundreds of years old but she did not know the exact number.

  “While we are here," lord Card finally broke the silence, “I may as well give you the heads up," Alec looked curiously over at Card. Card did not meet his gaze and stood instead calmly staring forward into the flame.

  “While we are on the topic of my betrothed and of her squad I may as well tell you of an upcoming mission that Supreme Commander Xian will be assigning you. I have spoken to Captain Bran regarding the matter and he informed me that you, Alec, will be leading a small team to Base 11 in Eastern Kamlot to retrieve the new members of Century Squad,"

  “New members?" Alec repeated, looking back over at Card. He did not know how he felt about that; he did not like the idea of the others being replaced so soon. “Are they someone I have heard of?”

  "One undoubtedly is. He completed the Future Centurions program in Base 11’s Academy," Card said, “You most likely have heard the name, Cris Jamiso,"

  Lord Card was right; Alec had heard the name before. Cris was Crinnan’s nineteen-year-old brother.

  “Cris…" Alec pondered over it in his head. “Well, I think he would be an appropriate replacement then. Who will be replacing Jeph Scaven?”

  “Another graduate. A Vampre by the name of Jymantius Thyms,"

  “Jymantius," Alec repeated. “I have not heard of him. When are we leaving?”

  “As soon as you have finished here Captain Bran will give you the details," Card replied. “You will leave this afternoon."

  “Very well," Alec returned his gaze to the flame. He ran the thought through his mind again and sighed. Card nodded his head at them and turned to walk away.

  “Again, I am sorry for your loss," he repeated as he left, giving Alec's shoulder a light squeeze. Alec and Elia lowered their heads and Card was gone.

  “Cris Jamiso," Elia said when Card had finally gone, “I did not know he was enrolled in the program,"

  “Their father’s doing no doubt," Alec replied. “He definitely had a hand in Crinnan getting enrolled in the Future Centurions program just as our fathers did," Alec looked down at Crinnan’s sword. “Do you think he would want Cris to have it?”

  “He would probably want it melted down," Elia replied with a smile as she knelt down and touched the weapon.

  Alec lowered himself to her level and grabbed the sword.

  “I will see," he lifted the weapon. “Crinnan would want it to be used; he would hate the idea of it gathering rust on the ground,"

  The broadsword was light in his hands. It was made of Humaan Steel, an alloy that was very light but was known for its durability. Both Black Knight and the Agra Triangle Corporation had tried to imitate the alloy in the past and failed. The only sure way of creating a Humaan Steel weapon was by melting down ancient relics and forging a new weapon.

  “Kamlot," Alec rested the flat of the blade on his shoulder. He thought for a moment about the journey to the western country and hummed. “Well, no sense in delaying any more. We should go and get ready," Elia nodded. The two of them took one last look at the burning coals and walked away.

  Chapter Five

  Crinnan XII

  The First Hell

  Crinnan had not seen a demon or another prisoner for what could have been hours or days… he knew not. All he had done since he killed the succubus was walk through the burning ground by himself. He had not heard the mysterious yet helpful voices of Sage or Lucaas. He had begun to feel like his own personal hell was giving him exactly what he desired when he had been alive, to be completely alone.

  In the days that Crinnan walked he had thought of many things. He, of course, thought of his mother, a surprising and perhaps instinctive source of unexpected comfort. He thought of his friends, Alec and Elia and of how terribly he missed them. He wondered if he would ever see them again. On and off he thought of his father, he thought of how he never treated Crinnan wrong but at the same time how he had never had time for him… and finally, Crinnan thought of his brothers and his sister. He wondered if he would find his sister Sayraa and Kiersen down there, the ones who had gone missing so long ago.

  Crinnan’s twin brother Rubaan and he rarely talked due to the security risk involved but they, of course, loved each other. Crinnan wondered how he was doing with his wife and new son Roc. He had not yet seen his nephew and the more days he walked, the less he felt like he was ever going to see him.

  The Empire considered Crinnan a terrorist. Crinnan had only seen Rubaan once since he left the army and became a Govian citizen, but he did not look down on his brother for it. He was doing what he felt he had to do to be happy. Crinnan was glad that Rubaan was at least able to try.

  “Crinnan!" Sage suddenly called out, “Crinnan can you hear me?”

  Crinnan’s trek came to a halt and he looked to the darkness above, “I hear you!" he shouted, “Hello, Sage? Are you there?”

  “Yes," Sage replied with an audible sigh, “I should say that I am quite sorry it took so long. Shaking the Empire is a risky business, though I finally feel comfortable transmitting again."

  “Well I am glad you feel comfortable," Crinnan sarcastically snapped, “The last thing I would want is to inconvenience you."

  “I should say there is no need for hostility my boy," Sage commented, “Though your frustration is understandable."

  “My frustration is understandable?" Crinnan snorted and jammed the point of his sword in the ground. How could Sage possibly understand his frustration? He was there, probably in a nice cool house with something to drink and people to talk to. What about it all was understandable?

  “How could you ever understand any of this?” Crinnan shouted as he searched the sky for any possible source of Sage’s voice, “Tell me when was the last time you were in the Hells?”

  “The last time I escaped was nearly one hundred years ago…" Sage casually answered, “For the first time in our lives, the o
ne known as Eon and I worked together."

  Crinnan sighed and shook his head. That was not what he had expected, “Fine. I guess you must understand then." He sulked and plopped down on the flaming ground.

  “I do," Sage said reassuringly, “And I am sorry for the silence, I know the Hells can be a lonely place."

  “It is fine," Crinnan grumbled.

  “Dear Crinnan it will be a bit of work and time before we can get you out of there," Sage regretfully informed him, “We are going to have to rip that dark sky completely open and pluck your data out. The weakest point is going to be the oldest zone… the seventh level of the Hells. Today I hope to get you to the second level."

  “The second level," Crinnan repeated, “How do I get there?”

  “You have to kill more demons and level up," Lucaas piped in, “Killing the succubus helped you, but she didn’t give enough experience for a level. She was a low level, a newer player. The higher level player you kill, the more experience you will receive. As you gain experience, you will level up. You need to be level five to access the second level."

  “If you say level one more fucking time, I am going to find you and strangle you," Crinnan growled as he swiped away another message, “Why are there all these rules, isn’t there something you can do to just get me there?”

  “Crinnan…" Sage sighed. He knew the boy had no idea what was going on or how to explain any of it in a way that he would understand, “There is just so much you do not know."

  “So tell me," Crinnan insisted, “And make it simple."

  “The Hells…" Sage tried to explain, “They are not a real thing I should say. It is... How should I put this…”

  “They are a sick videogame!" Lucaas chirped and interrupted Sage, “A twisted version of the utopia we created so long ago."

  “What is a video...game?" Crinnan asked. He had seen videos before on televisions; he knew what games were but did not spend any time playing them, drinking or training was more productive in his opinion. The word videogame, however, was foreign to him.

  “In Govia, it is something that young people do to pass the time," Sage replied, “You see a video game is a game that the Govians play on their computers."

  “A game for a computer?" Crinnan repeated, a bit dumbfounded by the concept, “Young people have computers in Govia?”

  “Young people have everything in Govia," Sage chuckled, “Cars, computers, communicators… you name it Govians have access to it."

  “So the Hells is something people... play?" Crinnan was having trouble wrapping his mind around it. How did anyone play any of what he was experiencing? His idea of a game involved cards, dice, paper…sometimes a knife and a rabbit. What was going around him seemed real.

  “I will try to explain,” Lucaas chimed in, “People step into a big silver egg thing that’s called a Hellpod. It’s completely dark inside and they essentially go to sleep. When they wake up, they are here, in the Hells. The see it exactly the same way you do, except they can just click a button, wake up and go back to their lives. It is not real to them… well, not until now.”

  “Yes…" Sage agreed, “You see, long ago in the Ancient times people lived and died just like they do today. However, in those times there was something called the Afterscape. Basically, after the Humaan aliens arrived, they revealed to the Ancient people that beyond the clouds there was no god, no goddess only dark. This rocked them to the core as they were a heavily religious society whose entire infrastructure was built upon the idea of being rewarded or punished after death. As the Ancients learned the ways and technology of the Humaan people, they decided to create a virtual afterlife… one that could be guaranteed to people upon death. "

  “So people died… and went to a computer?" Crinnan asked.

  “Exactly," Sage replied, “You see, all over Duraan there exists small machines called the NaNe. You may know it better as magic or sorcery but I will tell you that it very much was the greatest technology that the Humaan people gave to us. Rather, it could have been… anyway, one thing that these NaNe do is they record everything about us. They record our memories, our physical features, our way of reasoning and communicating and everything that makes us a person and stores it in an ever-updating file called a blueprint. Back in Ancient times when a person died their blueprint would be uploaded to the Afterscape server and they could live forever digitally with their loved ones doing the things they enjoyed. This, of course, was all before the Church won the war and started the Empire. Once the Church took hold of the world, they redesigned technology and changed the Afterscape to Heaven and the Hells."

  “So you are saying, that not only is there no Goddess but also right now I am walking around in a computer?" Crinnan could not believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. It sounded like absolute nonsense.

  “Yes, a bastardized version of what it once was," Sage’s tone had a hint of resentment in it.

  “What about… my soul?" Crinnan asked.

  “I do not know anything about any of that," Sage replied with a dismissive chuckle, “I should say if such a thing exists it is long gone by now."

  “So how will you get me out of here?" Crinnan asked, “I mean, what will happen to me once I get out if all I am is… computer stuff?”

  “Data," Sage laughed at the poor ignorant boy, “Computer stuff is called data… anyway, we will take your NaNe and put it back in your body and then you will regenerate."

  “Bullshit," Crinnan spat, “That’s just so… unrealistic sounding."

  “Yet here we are," Sage hummed, “I am talking to you, in the Hells, through a computer and you are somehow hearing me. I should say Crinnan, what is it you believe you have to lose by trusting me?”

  “Fair enough," Crinnan replied. “So… how do I do this “level up” thing?”

  “Well, you kill people and monsters… and that's the thing about your situation,” Lucaas sighed as he spoke, "The demons you fight are real people. They upload their NaNe into these avatars and fulfill their sick fantasies. It was never intended for demons to be killed in this game you see. Sage and I, we wrote this script, completely modded the game. We gave you an ability we created called Demon Slayer; basically what it does is once you reduce a demon’s health to zero, their in-game status changes from “demon” to “prisoner”. Nobody by default has the ability to change what is coded in people’s NaNe. Well, nobody but us. What I am trying to say is, if you kill a demon here, they stay here.”

  “So if they die in the game they die in real life?" Crinnan asked.

  “In a sense," Sage replied, “If you kill them in the Hells, their NaNe will respawn as a prisoner in the Hells and will not return to their physical bodies. Their real bodies will stay alive; they will just be devoid of consciousness.”

  “What a stupid game," Crinnan said, “Why would anybody play a game like this when they could die?”

  “As we have explained… There has been no risk until now," Sage sighed, “The player versus player feature ensures that hit points never go below one and renders the losing player unconscious instead of dead. You are the first to have the ability to actually kill a demon."

  “Do the other demons know what they are doing?" Crinnan asked, “I mean, do they realize they are torturing people?”

  “It is well known in Govia, yes," Lucaas answered, “They feel that if a person is in the Hells, then they deserve whatever happens to them. It’s kind of part the appeal. In Govia, sin is illegal in all its forms. The Empire encourages occasional use of the Hells so that its citizens can sin here instead of causing trouble in the real world. It is pretty effective."

  “Then it sounds good to me," Crinnan said. He was not too keen on Govians in the first place, the idea that even the Empire’s citizens were as twisted as its government made him hate it all even more, “It takes a sick fuck to do this to people. I’m fine with killing as many as I can find."

  “Then we have to go for now," Sage informed him, “We will leave you with
a quest that will help you find demons kill. Kill enough of them to transport to level two. Remember, the only thing that truly threatens you down here is yourself. The demons can knock you out and make you respawn but that is all. Do not succumb to the psychological bombardment that awaits you. If you get captured, lock your NaNe down to protect yourself, I know it sounds strange, but if it happens. You will know what to do."

  “How long will you be gone?" Crinnan asked.

  “Probably a similar amount of time," Sage replied. “We have to go now…. we will talk again."

  “Bye man," Lucaas said.

  At that, Sage and Lucaas went silent once again. Crinnan closed his eyes and sighed. He wondered how long he would have to stay in the Hells before he could get out. He wondered when he would find another demon, and how many it would take for him to level up.

  An orange arrow suddenly came into view above Crinnan’s eyes. He went cross-eyed when he first saw it, but quickly adjusted. He noticed that the number 2100 was displayed below the icon and as he moved, so too did the arrow. With the arrow pointing to his left, he walked forward and the number grew larger. Curiously, he turned so that the arrow pointed in front of him and began walking. The number grew smaller. He realized that the arrow was pointing to something and the number was the distance to whatever it was. He took a step with his bare foot and followed the arrow that floated just above his vision.

  The distance indicator below the arrow shrunk as he walked, it seemed that every step he took caused the number to go down by one. He remembered in one of his survival classes long ago he was taught that the average stride was about two and a half feet. He thought for a moment and realized that if the number under the arrow represented the total number of steps, then he had roughly 5250 feet to his destination; almost exactly a mile.

  As Crinnan walked, he thought more of his mother to pass the time. He recalled a memory of when he was young, three or four he imagined. His eldest brother Kiersen had pushed him down a flight of stairs and as he tumbled, he knocked down his twin brother Rubaan. His mother was quick to tend to him and slapped Kiersen on the back of the head as she ran past him.