The Black Knight Box Set

by Christian J Gilliland

  “The… the way I see it,” he belted as he found free breaths, “I don't even exist!” He fell down in his chair and laid his head on the table, pounding on it with his hand for he could not stop any of it. Card looked over at Blaze, and the two quickly stood.

  “It appears that you all need a moment yourselves,” Card’s tone was confused and mildly irritated, “Blaze and I shall excuse ourselves.” At that, they walked out of the room leaving the Jamisos and Emerald behind.

  The room was tense as the broken family all dealt with the situation in their own way. Ladia wore a look of pure horror and anger; Commander Crinnan had wholly shut himself off to everyone. Rubaan had lost himself to hysterics, Emerald looked embarrassed and concerned for everyone, and Amaria was uncomfortable and ready to get out of there.

  Nobody spoke in the moments that they sat alone. Everyone silently processed the situation as best they could in what time they had. Commander Crinnan had held the secret for his wife for so long, he tried to put on a happy face and convinced himself that he had forgiven her for her treachery… but he could do it no longer. Sage was back in their lives, and it opened all of the emotional scars that Crinnan had tried to bury.

  “Not my father…” Rubaan’s laughter had finally stopped, and he turned and looked at Crinnan. Crinnan removed his glasses and set them on the table in front of him. He ran his fingers through his long graying hair and shook his head.

  “I am your father Rubaan,” Crinnan extended a finger toward him and gave him a solemn and stern expression, “I raised you, I built you into who you are today. I gave you all the love a man could; I was there when you were sick and when you were hurt, just because I wasn’t present at your conception doesn’t mean I didn’t give you everything I had!” Ladia looked at Rubaan, and Rubaan scoffed at her.

  “You… kept this from me?” He was bewildered by what he perceived were lies from his mother. “To spare what, your feelings?”

  “Rubaan that is…” Ladia started to speak but was cut off.

  “No, shut up mom!” He shouted, “I don’t want to hear your excuses. You forced dad into silence; you made sure that your secret was buried so that nobody thought less of you. Don’t you dare say that you did this for me! My entire life I was lied to so that you wouldn’t feel bad.” Ladia closed her mouth and nodded her head. Rubaan felt like a well of rage inside him was boiling, and quickly, he turned to Amaria.

  “And you!” Amaria looked like she had been hit by a ton of bricks. She glanced around nervously and held Roc a little tighter. Rubaan bit his lip and shook his head, waving his finger at her as he did so.

  “I am Rubaan Jamiso,” He did not shout, he did not talk down to her. He looked her square in the eye and said exactly what he was thinking, “I married you. I was fucking there. I made Roc with you, I remember that night vividly, but I’ll spare everyone the description… I crawled out of those damn trenches and watched you murder your kin, I drained your blood and cut myself open so that you could be mortal again. You’re mad at me because I’m back in the army? Fine. But you’re not mortal anymore either. Shit changes Amaria, but my love for you never will.” She took a deep breath through her nose and tried to hold her own tears back. Rubaan stepped closer to, and she looked up at him.

  “I would never give up on you Amaria. I am going through shit darker than the Hells themselves right now, but I keep going because I want to grow old with you and our son. Maybe my skin is made of different… whatever skin is made out of. Maybe this body isn’t even a month old, but this brain, these memories and these feelings in my heart? This pain and love? It is all real Amaria, and you can’t isolate me anymore. I am here, and I love you more than anything, and you need to realize that the… the other Rubaan is not coming back. I’m the same, I will never leave, and you need to get used to that because we are a family.”

  Amaria burst into tears and stood to meet Rubaan. Cautiously, he stepped forward and slowly opened his arms. Between sobs, Amaria nodded at him and as his weeping began again, he wrapped his arms around his wife and son.

  “I am sorry,” She cried, “I was scared, confused…”

  “I still am baby,” Rubaan replied as he gently rubbed the back of her head, “But I promise you I will never abandon you. I am here to stay.”

  At that, the door to the room burst open and a Black Knight hurried in and approached Lady Ladia. She immediately stood, and the soldier spoke.

  “My lady, your daughter is here! She needs you.”

  “Sayraa…” Ladia said as she turned toward the door, “Why are you out of breath soldier.”

  “Emergency… she is… giving birth.”

  “Birth?” Ladia looked to Emerald, who immediately stood. Amaria thrust Roc into a surprised Rubaan’s arms and pulled her hair back as if it were second nature.

  “You’re going?” Rubaan asked, looking from his wife to his mother. Amaria nodded and caressed her husband’s cheek, “Yes. Take care of our son… I love you.” Rubaan smiled, for he felt like he finally had his family back. He held Roc tightly, and Amaria leaned in and kissed his cheek.

  “You taste good,” She joked as she ran to join Ladia and Emerald. Rubaan watched her as she ran and as the ladies exited the room, Rubaan was left alone with Commander Crinnan. The man stood from the table silently and approached his son and grandson. He placed his hand on the side of Rubaan’s head and quickly wrapped them up in a hug.

  “I mean it, son,” Crinnan assured him in as sincere a tone as he could muster, “I love you as much as you love that boy in your arms. Never doubt that, you hear me?”

  “Of course dad,” Rubaan replied. Crinnan squeezed him one final time, hoping to transfer as much love as he could to the boys. He stepped back and took a deep breath to compose himself.

  “Your… true father, Sajinious,” Crinnan mumbled, shaking his head as he did so, “There is much history to the Elf. In truth, he is a remarkable person. He fought the Empire before it was even the Empire… he is an Ancient and is very powerful.”

  “How do you know so much about him?” Rubaan asked as he patted the back of Roc’s fuzzy head. Commander Crinnan circled the table, running his finger across the wood as he did so. He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses before he looked back up at his son.

  “I have access to the remnants of the Ancient interweb. It is a great wealth of information. Now, I have not had much time to devote to learning how to use it properly and to be honest I rarely know what to search for, but there is so much information on Sajinious Lynx. My son, though it pains me greatly, I feel that you deserve to know who your father truly is. To know what you come from.”

  “Dad I don’t want to hurt you,” Rubaan sighed and looked down at Roc as he rested in his arms. He was curious about the Sajinious person who kept coming up. He wondered if he really had watched over him somehow. He wondered if Sajinious would help break him out of the Hells if the time came, or if that was just for Crinnan. If he were frank, and he wasn’t about to be with his father, he would say that he was very interested in learning more about his real father.

  “Rubaan, I will be fine. I am a tough son of a bitch,” Crinnan took in a deep breath and slapped his son on the shoulder, “I am just glad to get that off my chest after all these years…”

  The door to the conference room opened, and Card and Blaze walked back in. The Jamisos turned to face them, and Card held out his hands, gesturing for them to relax. He stepped up to the father and son and looked both of them over, analyzing the situation he was walking into.

  “I trust your emotions have died down, Commander?” Card asked. Commander Crinnan nodded, and Card looked to Rubaan.

  “A very… unexpected revelation for you I imagine. Lord Crinnan, this information that you have shared, why did you withhold it from the leadership for this long? Do you not understand the implications of having a being such as the legendary Sajinious Lynx allied with Black Knight?”

  “Vice Commander Card, I am the leadershi
p,” Crinnan rebutted, turning to the Elf, “Do not forget that I outrank you, and while I appreciate your concern, I ask that you stay out of my family’s matters.”

  “Commander Crinnan, while you may outrank me, this is my base and Rubaan is one of my soldiers,” Card said coolly, “I trust that you can respect that. If you cannot, I would ask that you return to your own base where your word can go uncontested. For now though, with this recent information, I see it fit to dispatch your son so that he may find Sajinious Lynx and bring him back here. An Ancient of his strength, holding the type of knowledge that he undoubtedly does could turn the tide of this war. If he harbors the… love as you implied, for his twin sons then I have no doubt that he would feel compelled to join our cause.”

  “You cannot be serious,” Crinnan hissed, turning to the Vice Commander, “You want to use my son’s emotions to bring an Ancient here?”

  “I want to use both of your son’s emotions, Commander,” Card replied with a matter-of-fact tone, “As soon as Crinnan returns, he and his brother are to travel to the Belhaasi Weald to fetch Sajinious Lynx and bring him back here. That is an order.”

  Commander Crinnan threw his hands up in defeat and turned away from Card. After a moment of deliberation, he finally nodded his head and turned back around.

  “Fine, but I will go too.”

  “Commander I cannot prevent you, but please if you do go, be wary of your Humaan emotions and do not let them get in the way of your mission.” Crinnan smiled widely at Card.

  “Fuck you, Card.”

  “Thank you, Sir,” Card nodded his head and turned to leave, Blaze followed behind, “We do expect Century and Commander Xian to return by morning. Please prepare for your journey. I will instruct Marka Nelson that she is to join you as Rubaan’s master. Have a pleasant evening Jamisos.” Card walked out the door and left the father and son behind.

  “Shithead,” Crinnan muttered when Card was out of the room. He looked at his son and smiled. “Well. Let’s get something to drink.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Crinnan XXI

  23rd of Ramlia - 346AG

  04:00 - Belhaasi Weald, Racon Tower

  “Bar the door!” Nora shouted as she desperately worked to pile whatever debris she could find in front of it. The tower was dark and full of molded decay, fixtures and furniture within had collapsed to nothing more than dust and splinters long ago. Large cockroaches crawled through the crumbled ruins and scattered as Crinnan, and his party neared them.

  “They are coming!” She frantically screamed, “They were... everywhere! I cannot fight, I… I...” Nora bent over to grab a fallen beam but it crumbled in her hands and she lost her balance. She tumbled forward and crashed down face first into the rubble. Blood poured from the wound on her stomach and onto her hands, she trembled and cried in pain as she looked at it.

  The fact that she had gotten away from the Reapers alive was something unbelievable. They had impaled her with one of their hydraulic hooks, and even though Sage had cut the line that had skewered her, she still had a gaping hole in her stomach and no NaNe to heal it.

  “Can you help her?” Crinnan quickly turned to Elia and asked. She was one of Century Squads medics, a Faire capable of using healing spells. Or as he had recently learned from Garb and Sage, restorative NaNe abilities. Elia looked down at Nora and began to kneel.

  “She… will not be able!” Nora coughed up a mouthful of blood and turned her head as she spit it away. She was growing closer to bleeding out on the ground by the minute, something needed to be done, “I’ve been purged… by the Reaper. My NaNe is gone; her abilities will be useless on me.” She grimaced and held her long pointed nailed fingers over her wound and turned her head to the side, “I do not... have much time.”

  Crinnan looked around the room for an answer. He was not going to lose another person, not another Ancient. Finally, he had an idea and turned toward Cade.

  “Kiersen, do you have another flood?”

  “Do not call me that,” Cade coldly replied as he glared at his little brother, “And no… all I have are the NaNe I purged from you.”

  “Well give them to her!” Crinnan nearly shouted as his eyes grew wide, “She’s an Ancient, she can help us.”

  “Crinnan, I purged your NaNe so that they could not track you.” Cade reminded him, “That would be extremely… not helpful.”

  “Like they can’t track them in that little tube anyway. Just fucking do it! We need her!” Cade shook his head and knelt down next to Nora. He reached in his pack and pulled out the syringe that he had used to purge Crinnan’s old NaNe.

  “Hold still,” He grumbled at the writhing Ancient. He planted the needle into Nora’s neck and injected the NaNe into her. He tossed the syringe aside before he leaned back and waited.

  “This is going to straight up suck some balls,” Nora groaned as she rested her head against the floor, “I’m getting your NaNe Crinnan. Your memories, your life… it will all be in my head.”

  “Oh,” Crinnan replied grimly. He really didn’t like the sound of that; he didn’t want some stranger to know him on that level. He turned and gave Cade a nervous look, “I wish I had thought of that…”

  “Well if you had a shred of common sense, you would have been able to figure it out for yourself.” Cade snapped back at him. The President didn’t realize that his little brother had grown up to be such a ditz. He rolled his eyes in frustration at the idiot before him and turned away.

  “Come out!” Crinnan quickly spun to face the others as he heard one of the Marauders begin shouting from outside. Everyone looked around nervously at each other and then toward the door at the front of the building. They raised their weapons, squared their stances, and everyone whispered some kind of curse, “King Eon comes, little ones. He is looking for you!”

  “Elia, hurry up and heal her!” Crinnan sharply whispered. He spun his sword in his hand and pulled one of his revolvers from its holster, “We really need her.”

  “I am on it Crinnan,” Elia fell to her knees next to Nora and closed her eyes. She extended her arms and held her hands over the gash in the Ancient Faire’s stomach.

  “Your technique is not good,” Nora groaned as Elia worked to heal her, “Curl your pinky, attach it to your palm to enhance circulation. You are using too much NaNe.” Elia gave the Ancient a flabbergasted look. Was that bitch really criticizing her when she was trying to save her?

  Elia wrinkled her brow, touched the tip of her pinky to her palm, and white light pulsed from her hands and downward into Nora’s wound. Elia realized that Nora had been right; she felt much less of a drain on her power when she used the Ancient’s technique.

  “Defensive positions!” Alec shouted at his team, “Matalo and Flox, upstairs. Dierlok down here with me. Cade, can you take orders?”

  “Nope!” Cade quickly and very confidently replied, “But I will go upstairs with them.”

  “Fine,” Alec turned toward Garb and Freyja. “What can you guys do?”

  “I killed one of the big metal guy things,” Freyja proudly replied, holding out his sword for Alec to see, “I cut his head off with this. People have a lot of blood in them.”

  “He needs some therapy.” Crinnan frowned and looked over at his friend. Alec nodded in agreement and pulled a pistol from his hip.

  “Can you squeeze a trigger?” Alec held the pistol out to Freyja.

  “Yeah, I think so,” He sounded a bit unsure but grabbed the gun anyway. He looked it over in his hands and held the barrel up to his eye.

  “Nope!” Crinnan reached out and snatched the pistol from Freyja. He handed it back to Alec and nodded at the sword that the boy had set down.

  “Use that,” Crinnan ordered, “No guns for psychos.”

  “Grandpa?” Alec asked as he turned to Dauid, “You have been surprisingly quiet this whole time. Are you okay?”

  “I’m just stayin’ the Hells out of your way son,” Dauid replied as he shook his head and held his p
alms out, “I’ll leave the fighting to the fighters. Truth is though, I am scared to shit of what is going on right now. I've never been in a situation like this in all my years... You got something you need me to do?”

  “Just stay alive,” Alec answered with a worried smile, “I don’t want to lose you yet. I just finally found you again.” Dauid moved his mask out of the way and popped a cigarette in his mouth. He lit it, took a drag and nodded at his grandson.

  “I’ll do my best,” He wore a cheeky grin and Alec handed him his pistol. Dauid took hold of it with his good hand and grabbed a wrench from his belt with his better hand, “You know son, I’m gettin’ old. I can’t keep doing this living thing forever.”

  "In my eyes, you can Papa," Alec reached out and grabbed his grandfather's old shoulder. Too much of his life had been wasted without the old man. He wanted to make sure the two had some kind of future together.

  “Demon!” the sound of the Marauder shouting broke everyone's concentration. Alec and Dauid ducked down, and Crinnan turned toward one of the windows. He was sick of hearing that name; even the Marauders were using it, “Let’s see what you look like boy!” There was laughter outside, and a couple of Marauders whooped, “Let’s see what King Eon is so desperate to find!” Crinnan readied his rifle and looked down at Elia.

  “How is she?” He asked as he stood over her.

  “I am fine,” Nora replied with an angry-sounding tone. She held her head between her hands and rocked back and forth for a moment. Elia had healed her wound nicely, Crinnan could see the scar through the hole in her shirt. When Nora finally opened her eyes and stopped rocking, she shook her head angrily and gave Crinnan an angry look.

  “There was somebody in your fucking head, boy!” She scowled and pushed herself up off the ground, “What kind of shit were you mixed up in to have two NaNe images in your network? He will not shut the fuck up!”

  “Oh no,” Crinnan ran his fingers through his hair as he remembered Eshan the Govian. He had completely forgotten about him, or rather he had not expected Eshan to transfer to Nora. Weirdly, Crinnan felt relieved that Eshan was fine, “Look he’s probably really mad. Tell him I’m sorry; his name is Eshan.”