The Black Knight Box Set

by Christian J Gilliland

  03:00 - Belhaasi Weald

  The storm was coming...

  The rain fell harder and faster; lightning danced through the cloudy sky and occasionally illuminated their path. The mud splashed beneath their feet as their tired legs carried their aching bodies as fast as they could toward their destination. The day had been long, and from what they had experienced thus far, it seemed the night was only going to be longer.

  All the running and fighting they had needed to endure was leading them all to the point of exhaustion. They wished the night could be over; they just wanted to live to see the Brothers rise the next morning. To have an opportunity to continue their lives.

  They were fearful of what was pursuing them. Crinnan thought back to the danger that was moving toward them. He had seen them at Pado; he had fought one of them after their encounter with the Reapers. He thought of the Govians and of Eon’s army and feared that the night had only just begun.

  Crinnan ran only a few paces behind Freyja. He kept a watchful eye on the boy to make sure that he stayed out of danger. The Lycaani child was covered from head to toe in the blood of the Reaper that he had viciously decapitated only moments before. Crinnan was mildly bothered by the sight, the idea that someone as young as Freyja had to live the way he did wasn’t right. The child had endured so much in his short life, and all his pain had finally exploded into the violent slaying of the Reaper. He wouldn’t have freely admitted it, but he wanted better for the boy.

  The snarls of the Thirst-stricken Vampre played again in Crinnan’s mind, and he pondered over the mysterious voice that had beckoned the Black Knight to join him. He thought about Eon's words, how he had spoken about being together in the Hells and what that meant if it were so. By that point, Crinnan had realized that what everyone was saying was probably true. Why couldn't he remember any of it though, what had really happened to him?

  With the death of Sage, he felt like he had lost his opportunity to find answers. Something told him that the Elf had known much more than he admitted to, that he could have explained everything if he still lived. Crinnan sighed at the very thought of him.

  To say that he mourned the death of Sage Lynx would be a bit of an overstatement. He had, after all, only known him for a day… as far as he knew. Perhaps it was more a pinch of sadness mixed with a heaping spoonful of confusion. Sage had not only brought Crinnan back to life, as strange as that sounded but also died protecting him. What compelled him to do either of those things?

  He felt a wave of depression come over him. It was like something was missing, something significant that seemed so close to being realized yet when he felt like he was about to grasp it, it slithered away. He wondered if Eon held the answers to the questions in his mind if the time he spent in the Hells was the key to the strange emptiness he felt inside him...

  A rustle in the brush to his right snapped Crinnan away from his thoughts. In the darkness, he could not see what was making the noise; he could only hear the sound that was made. He heard breathing: wheezy, animalistic breathing that may as well have been a growl. Crinnan stopped, spun his sword in anticipation, and reached for his pistol. Whatever was waiting in the bushes, Crinnan knew it had to do with Eon.

  “Come out, fucker,” Crinnan beckoned as he readied his blade. He pulled back on the hammer on his revolver, and as he stood on guard, he pointed the gun at the brush. For a moment, nothing happened. Crinnan felt compelled to step closer but could not give up his defensive stance. He stared into the darkness and waited.

  “Come out,” He whispered again as he squeezed the leather wrapped handle of his sword and held his revolver at the ready, “Let’s get this over with.” His companions hadn’t noticed he wasn’t with them and were long gone by then; he was left alone in the rain with whatever was growling at him from the bushes. He felt his hand begin to tingle and the sword he held glowed with a blue pulsing electric light. Crinnan, only barely moving his head, glanced over at the electrified blade and took a deep breath.

  With a high-pitched battle cry, a strange and terrifying beast charged from the brush, swiping wildly at Crinnan with his sword arms. Crinnan saw the nightmarish creature in the light that was cast from his blade and fired his revolver as he stepped backward. Crinnan had never seen anything like it; the very image of the grotesque monster was enough to make him wish he had kept running.

  Crinnan fired again, noting that the first bullet had only barely slowed the Maas’Eon down. His second shot made contact square in its chest, but it kept moving. Crinnan couldn’t believe it; bullets didn’t slow the Maas’Eon down. It was as if the beast were impervious to pain for, despite its wounds, it kept coming. Crinnan had no other choice. He abandoned his revolver and braced himself for the attack holding his sword tight with two hands.

  “Shit!” Crinnan shouted as two serrated blades bore down on his own. The Maas’Eon hissed and spat as it tried to rip into Crinnan. It reeled back to attack again, and Crinnan leaped out of the way. The arm blades swiped through the air where Crinnan had stood, and before he knew it, another Maas’Eon leaped from the woods, ramming its scaled shoulder into Crinnan’s side and knocking the wind out of him.

  Crinnan gasped and staggered out of the way. He was not wounded, and he knew it, but for the moment he could not breathe. He needed to fight though; he needed to win. With that in mind, he abandoned the idea of breathing and spun out of the way of the first Maas’Eon, finding himself behind the beast. He drove his sword through the back of the monster’s neck, severing its spine, and pulled it out in time for him to dart out of the way of the second.

  The remaining beast clamored over the body of the first, and Crinnan did his best to avoid the threat. It adapted, however, and made a ninety-degree turn, lunging with his right sword arm. The blade ripped through Crinnan’s right side, causing him to wail with pain, but he knew he was only grazed. He pulled his second revolver from its holster, and while the Maas’Eon had its back to him, Crinnan planted his sword between its shoulder blades and fired three consecutive shots through the back of its head. The Maas’Eon fell forward and crashed to the ground, dead.

  “By the brothers…” he gasped as he holstered his revolver and checked the wound on his side. He had been right; it was nothing more than a deep scratch, nothing lasting. He panted a bit, and as he caught his breath, Cade and Flox appeared, both with their rifles raised.

  “What happened?” Flox asked as he looked down at the dead Maas’Eon, “What are those?”

  “I saw one of those earlier…” Cade replied, pointing to the one Crinnan had nearly decapitated. “One attacked me outside of Pado. I got lucky, his swords got stuck in a tree trunk, and he was immobilized. Easy kill.”

  “Good for you,” Crinnan grumbled as he knelt to retrieve the revolver he had dropped, “These fuckers are tough.”

  “You killed them,” Flox nodded, “So I am not worried about there being more of them.”

  “They are fast,” Crinnan noted. Cade nodded in agreement, “Bran would probably have trouble with more than one of them at close range, any Gaian might…”

  “Let us get to the rest of the squad,” Flox stepped forward and motioned in the direction that they had come from, “I feel that we will have a better chance of surviving the night together with more firepower.”

  “Right…” Crinnan looked down at the Maas’Eon once more and then nodded, “Lead the way.”

  The trio took off in the direction that Cade and Flox had come from. The area they were in was horribly overgrown; it did not even resemble a city anymore. Garb pushed through the thick brush in front of him, and as he emerged on the other side of it all, they finally saw Racon Tower. They hurried forward toward the building and Crinnan came to a stop as he saw a Govian HAPT and a group of people standing on the ground next to it. For a moment he readied his sword to fight again, but after he realized who he was looking at, he finally for the first time that night felt comfortable relaxing his sword arm.

  “There he is!”
Elia squealed as she frantically squeezed Alec’s arm and jumped up and down in place. She let go and sprinted toward Crinnan; gently crying as she crashed into him. Crinnan grunted from the impact but quickly closed his aching arms around her and held her tight.

  “You are alive!” She cried as she buried her nose into his neck, “By the Brothers you are fucking alive!” Crinnan ran his hand through Elia’s thick brown hair and rested his chin atop her head.

  “I am,” He whispered, feeling a bit overwhelmed with emotion. He would not allow himself to cry, not after everything he went through that day. Instead, he kissed the top of Elia’s head, and she stepped aside revealing one of the few people he would ever call his brother.

  Alec Flinn did not share any family or blood with Crinnan Jamiso, yet the two were more connected than Crinnan ever had been with anyone else. Alec was merely, yet ever so importantly, the only person Crinnan had ever truly trusted. He was his battle buddy, his friend, and most of all his brother.

  “You stupid son of a bitch,” Alec choked as rainwater dripped from every inch of his body. The two collided with a force that should have knocked each of them over. Alec’s soaked beard scratched against Crinnan’s neck, and the two embraced harder than they had ever embraced anyone before. Crinnan dug his fingers into Alec’s back as they hugged and let out a sigh. He could hear the Humaan gently sniffle and when they let go and stepped back, Crinnan watched him wipe something away from his cheek, just under his visor. They looked at each other, and Alec shook his head and laughed.

  “You’re alive!” He reached out and slapped Crinnan’s arm, hard, “Crinnan, you’re fucking alive!”

  “Yeah,” Crinnan nodded his head. He did not know exactly what words to say or how to effectively communicate how happy he was to see them. He knew that no matter how relieved he was to see them, that they were feeling an even more immense level of joy. His brain was still telling him that it had only been one day since they had last seen each other whereas theirs were saying that they had been without him for ninety days.

  “Where have you been?” Alec asked, firmly grabbing each of his shoulders. Crinnan snickered and looked back at Cade, Garb, and Freyja for a moment and then back to Alec. He briefly thought of Sage and Nora and Guntz; he saw the faces of Minister Xydos of Pado and Jethro the innkeeper and realized they were most likely dead. He recalled for a moment the sound of Eon’s voice and of Eshan’s and of all the many voices he had silenced that day. He stared directly into the visor over Alec’s blind eyes and shook his head.

  “We must go,” Crinnan declared as the feeling of urgency returning to him, “We must leave before they arrive.”

  “Who?” Elia asked, stepping up beside Alec, “Are you running from someone?”

  “We are,” Crinnan replied with a nod, “It seems that everyone is after me.” He thought of how to explain his encounter with Eon to them but could not seem to find words that made sense.

  “I have been fighting all day,” He explained, “Govians, monsters… Eon… There is a large group of unfriendlies that will be on top of us soon. We need to leave.”

  Matalo and Dierlok both walked up behind Alec and gave Crinnan a nod, “Glad to see our time wasn’t completely wasted,” Matalo smirked, “Hopefully you can make Kelso’s death worth it.”

  “Kelso died?” Crinnan asked as he looked over at his friend. Alec somberly nodded his head in response and looked away.

  “He did…” Alec sighed. Kelso’s death was obviously weighing on his mind, so Crinnan decided not to ask any more about it. Instead, he walked forward toward the HAPT.

  “Is this what we will use to get out of here?” Crinnan asked, looking at the vehicle. “It looks a little rough.”

  “Watch it!” An old robotic-handed Humaan wearing a visor like Alec’s snapped, “Without this vehicle, we’d have never gotten here!” Crinnan stared at the old man for a moment and looked to Alec.

  “Don’t tell me that’s...” He looked back and forth between the two Humaans.

  “Yes, it is,” Alec replied with a faint smile, “My grandfather.” Dauid nodded his head and adjusted his breathing mask.

  “Your brother says hi,” Dauid waved as he popped a cigarette in his mouth. “Ol’ Rubaan, that is.”

  “My brother…” Crinnan thought of his twin. The last time he had seen him was shortly after his nephew had been born. At the time, Crinnan could not remember the child’s name, but it was not important. Dauid and Crinnan clasped hands, and then he turned back toward Alec.

  “The HAPT will not be taking us anywhere else Crinnan,” Alec informed him with a defeated sounding tone, “We were only able to get enough fuel in it to get here. It is nearly dry now. We are going to have to trek it.”

  That was not what Crinnan wanted to hear. He felt a wave of panic spread over him and looked nervously back at the tree line. He knew that Eon’s group had to be getting close to finding them by then considering all the time they had wasted with the Govians.

  “Well shit, we need to go now!” Crinnan shouted, nearly panicked as he waved for everyone to follow him, “We need to get out of here!” He heard some rustling in the bushes, and his sword began to spark.

  “What is that?” Elia asked, noticing the electricity emitting from Crinnan’s body. Everyone watched, and he shook his head.

  “No time to explain, they will be here any minute!” As if by command, a figure tumbled through the brush and crashed face first into the ground next to Cade. Cade jumped back and aimed his rifle at her, but lifted it once he saw who it was.

  “Inside,” Nora said weakly as she panted heavily. She grabbed her bloody stomach with one hand, and pushed herself up with the others, “We all need to get inside! They are almost here!”

  Chapter Ten

  Sarasin XII

  23rd of Ramlia - 346AG

  19:00 - Village of Empyr

  The Black Knight HAPT touched down just outside the village of Empyr and Pancho heaved himself up and slid the hatch open. Sarasin stepped out first and shielded her eyes from the Brothers light with her bound hands. Gerard followed close behind, and Pancho slammed the hatch shut as he joined them.

  “Welcome to Empyr,” He grinned, once again showing his sharp teeth, “We pretty much run this town so just stick with me and you’ll be okay.”

  “Why have we stopped here?” Sarasin lowered her hands and turned her head toward Pancho. “What are we doing?”

  “Picking up a truck,” Pancho replied, “Rendezvousing with another Black Knight, heading to Base 21.”

  “A truck?” Sarasin repeated with a confused tone, “What do we need a truck for?”

  “This HAPT stays here,” Pancho told her, “We don’t keep it at the base with the others. If anyone somehow put a tracker or something on it while we are out, it’ll take them to Empyr and not us.”

  “That is unfortunate for the people of Empyr,” Sarasin commented.

  “We have people here to protect them,” Pancho rolled his eyes and gently pushed her forward. Gerard’s eyes opened wide at the contact, but Sarasin shook her head at him.

  “What will happen to us at the base?” Sarasin continued.

  “You’ll probably go to a cell for a while,” Pancho shrugged, “I don’t really know, that is above my paygrade. They just sent me to fetch you… that's what us dogs are good for, right?” Sarasin did not answer him, only looked around at the town. There was not much to it; it was mostly a train station and a handful of houses. A general store sat next to the train station and parked in front of the store was an old green Billings 4x4 with a lifted suspension and off-road tires. Sarasin looked at Pancho, and he pointed at the truck.

  “Well get moving, not much longer to the base,” He popped a toothpick in his mouth, “Suns will be going down soon. We want to get home in time for dinner.”

  “Ah yes,” Sarasin groaned, “I bet your bread and water is to die for.” Pancho grinned widely and let out a small laugh.

  “Funny lady. No
doubt you are Crinnan’s sister with that glowing personality. Let’s get to the truck.” He led Sarasin and Gerard to the vehicle and opened the back door for them.

  “Get in,” Pancho ordered. He helped Gerard into the back and shut the door behind him. He hopped into the front seat and turned to look at the prisoners, “Comfy?”

  “As best as can be expected,” Sarasin sighed as she looked down at the seat next to her and saw little Sarasin sitting there looking up at her. The girl had been absent for quite some time; Sarasin was beginning to think she wasn’t going to see her again.

  “It’s okay,” Little Sarasin comforted, “They won’t hurt you.” Sarasin chuckled and looked out the window.

  “Whatever,” She whispered after an eye roll.

  “Lady and gentleman, your driver today is none other than Sergeant Kavin Preast of Century Squad.” Pancho leaned over and punched Kavin in the shoulder. Kavin turned around and grinned a wide yellow-toothed smile at the two Govians.

  “Pleased to meet ya!” He declared. Kavin was a muscular Humaan who looked to be in his late forties. He had thick salt and pepper hair and a receding hairline, but his most notable feature was the giant brown mustache growing above his lip, “I hear you folks got yourselves into a bit of trouble!”

  “To put it lightly, Sergeant, yes,” Sarasin confirmed, not moving her eyes from her window.

  “Well don’t you fret little lady. You got yourself a rocky past but you found the light, and you took some Govians with you on your way there. I’m sure Commander Xian will go easy on you when he gets back.”

  “Commander Xian,” Sarasin sighed, “To think, yesterday I could have held the world in my hands.”

  “Life’s funny like that, ain’t it?” Kavin turned around and started the truck, “One day at a time, friends.” He threw the truck in reverse and pulled out of the train station, “You ever been to Base 21?”

  “My parents brought me when I was a child,” Sarasin recalled, “I met commander Xian and Lord Card.” At the mention of their names, Kavin glanced over at Pancho and Pancho shook his head.