It took a few more minutes for the boy’s results to be calculated. Trance couldn’t help but feel nervous. He knew that there was a chance that he could win. Every victory he had achieved this year had led to this moment. Had he done enough? He wasn’t sure, and after all there were many boys that had done well in the tournaments. Maybe Rex had done well enough to win the boys top honors again for the second year in a row. Perhaps Hamon had scored high enough to achieve victory and become the second boy in his school’s history to win top honors at the tournaments.
When the results came out the crowd roared with shock. No one suspected how the results would come out. There was confusion as Trance looked at the scoreboard and saw the results. He was caught by surprise and shocked and then overcome. Hamon had made history. Trance looked toward his friend and started toward him and found that he would have to wait as Hamon’s team surrounded him congratulating him. When Trance and his team got up to Hamon to congratulate him, Hamon and his team turned and in turn congratulated Trance.
In the shock of seeing Hamon’s name at the top of the boy’s standings he had not noticed the other standings. Orazior had come in second with Trance in third, Talthor was fourth, Baltaise was fifth, Rex was sixth, Kintrell was seventh, Ator was eighth, Holok was ninth, and finally, Zam had made it to tenth place. His team, friends, and competitors who had come to respect him suddenly surrounded Trance.
The celebration on the field could have lasted for hours, yet their coaches, the officials and the referees allowed them only a half hour before urging them to go to their locker rooms so they could change. They would have to be back out in an hour for the awards to be given. Trance relaxed; finally the tournaments were over. All of his energies and efforts had paid off. He was happiest for his team and friends. At last he could relax and enjoy the awards ceremony. Since the Boulthorian ships had been in the area the awards ceremony would be greatly shortened and most of the schools, including the Gray Mountain Warriors, would be leaving tomorrow.
Chapter 26
Graduation Gifts
Trance was exhausted as he sat in his suit waiting for the awards to be handed out. Corena and Hamon got the top honors for their overall performances. He had stood and clapped and cheered loudly as they received the very large trophies. When his name was called for the first of his many awards he felt his face burn. Torn between truly enjoying his victory in the Swordsman’s Challenge, and trying to remain humble, was a real struggle. After he was awarded his individual trophies for the Swordsman’s Challenge and Swordsman’s Joust he took a deep breath to relax.
As the crowd cheered for him, as they had all through the tournaments, his mind suddenly turned to graduation. Since he had completed his last year of school, he was now thinking about his future. In his mind he was still quite young, only eighteen years old. But was he ready to join the military? Kyle had helped him earlier with the initial paperwork back home when Kyle had a day off from his own service as a knight. Before the awards ceremony there were registration tables set up for those who were about to graduate from school and were ready to move forward with the enlistment process.
Trance and his friends approached the tables with nervous excitement. Now the moment was here and he wasn’t sure. Competing in the tournaments in front of this huge crowd playing as a knight was one thing, actually serving as a knight where he could be killed was something altogether different. As he looked with his friends he saw that the tables were set up by planet, and then by kingdom and then by military division.
“Well, here we are,” said Gracer. “What we have talked about and planned all year.”
“I’m ready,” Zam said as he headed toward the line for the Golden Griffins.
Trance fondly thought about the troop of Golden Griffins he had met after the battle at the Markem’s farm, the same ones that were escorting King Maximus and the royal family of Cator.
“I’m ready too,” said Hamon as he got in line behind Zam. “My great granddad was a Golden Griffin under King Maximus’ father, King Hezz. My dad is just a knight; he missed being a Golden Griffin by seven points. He was disappointed and thought gramps was disappointed; however, gramps was relieved. Gramps told me privately that he had been really glad that dad was a knight and got stationed at Fort Kelven, five miles away from our town.” Hamon was rather proud that he came from Celtoria, one hundred miles southwest of the capital city Caldora.
“I’ve been thinking of this all year long,” Trance confessed to his friends, “This is what I’ve dreamed of all my life, to be a knight.” He remembered looking around at that moment, making up his mind and saying a silent prayer that God would look after him. A moment later he was behind Hamon and Mandor in line to officially enlist as a Golden Griffin.
Patiently Trance waited behind his friends as they slowly moved up in line. As usual he looked around and saw a few of his other teammates in line with him, some in line to be an ordinary knight and even a couple in line to be naval knights; and one, Belton, was in line to be a knight in the space fleet.
Suddenly he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Swiftly turning around he couldn’t help smiling as he saw Corena standing behind him with two of her friends. “Hi, I thought you’d be enlisting as a Golden Griffin,” she said proudly.
“As I have said this before, I’ve been thinking about this all year. I’m not sure if I’ll make it, but I’ve got to give it all I have,” Trance said. “This is my dream come true.”
“Well, like you said, this has been my goal since I was a girl. Don’t worry I’m sure you’ll do fine. I believe that you’ll be a great Golden Griffin,” she said warmly.
Trance smiled and turned around so he could move up the line. Not long now. He was feeling reassured by Corena’s positive words yet felt his stomach give a nervous growl. The friends talked pleasantly as the line moved and soon it was Trance’s turn.
“Hello,” said the Golden Griffin sitting at the table with a stack of recruitment folders and a small computer set-up. “Ah, you’re Trance aren’t you,” he asked politely as he extended his hand.
“Yes,” said Trance in reply, surprised that this knight in his dress uniform knew his name.
“I’m Zak and Gracer’s older brother. They told me all about you. So you want to be a Golden Griffin? That’s great. Well,” he said as he took a folder and opened it up. “Let me get some information from you. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask me,” he said as he looked up at Trance professionally yet hopefully. He had heard a lot about Trance from his brothers and he’d heard more when he had arrived with the assignment of running the enlistment table for the Golden Griffins. What a coup for him to sign up one of the most promising knight students at the tournaments.
Patiently Trance talked to the knight, Zxane, and they filled out the forms. When Trance didn’t know what something meant he asked for clarification. “Now I see you had already sent in your initial paperwork applying to the Golden Griffins. I just have a few details that I need to put in and you’ll be all set. Now the legislature passed a couple new regulations that have been proposed from the General Council of Golden Griffins. I see that you have a sword for your main weapon. I think you’ll be great there from what I saw here. The ax is your secondary weapon. Once again you won’t have an issue qualifying. But you might need to work a little on your archery to qualify for the bow.”
“That sounds okay,” Trance replied. “I can do that for the next couple months.”
“Great,” said Zxane. “The new qualification is that you’ll need to qualify with a fourth weapon. What would you like to try for?”
Trance thought a moment and said, “I’m fairly good with a spear.”
“That’ll work. Have you done much with a spear? You’ll need to learn how to use it as a lance as well as be able to throw it accurately.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem.”
“One more thing you need to know. If you have a robot warhorse now it needs to be compatible with a Muster Type 21 D. And your horse is a Muster 18 B, so you may need to get a new or more recent model,” Zxane explained.
Trance frowned at this. The last time he checked his research on the computer he had learned his horse should be compatible with a Muster Type 20 H. As he thought it over though, he realized he had actually done a lot more with Odin than just make him compatible. He had intentionally done enough to improve Odin so that he was better than the new models. With his additions to Odin, the horse should definitely qualify. “Well, I used the most current book on upgrading Musters, and I’m pretty sure that Odin will pass the inspection.”
Zxane looked a little skeptical. However, after Trance’s performance in the tournaments, he thought that maybe Trance had really improved his horse. He thought about it a moment more and figured that Kyle would have given Trance some assistance with the horse. Maybe the horse was as Trance claimed. He made an entry on his comp. “Just a couple more things and you’ll be all set.”
Two minutes later Zxane gave Trance the initial obligation and had him sign an electronic signature pad. Zxane hit a button and printed out a paper document for Trance to take with him and hit another button to submit his form digitally.
Now in his seat he patiently watched and waited as the awards were given out. With humility he went forward to receive more awards for his swordsmanship. He felt that more of his team needed to go with him when the team awards were given out. As team captain he had to go forward to collect them. Finally after the ceremony he found his family and showed them his awards. While he stood with them he noticed Zak approaching them.
“Hello Mr. Sonderson,” Zak said as he approached. “I’ve been asked to tell you that you and your family are invited for a celebration party with the royals tonight. Someone will come and escort you to the royal suite.”
“Thank you,” said Mr. Sonderson. Even though his family had been with the royal family quite a bit, it was always a surprise for Trance’s parents to find themselves associating with them. Trance knew that his parents were in awe and still humbled by the attention they seemed to be getting.
Trance’s evening was a blur. His family had a great time as they visited with his teammates and their families. King Maximus was a gracious host as well and greeted everyone equally. Trance knew that Corena’s parents, King Maximus and Queen Kayna, seemed to approve of him. With hopeful pleasure he prayed that they would be the best in-laws he could ever be blessed with.
The night seemed to go by too quickly and before he knew it he was with his family back in their room and getting ready for sleep. On awaking Trance got busy packing and getting ready to head to the spaceport to head home. The return flight was more relaxed for everyone. Trance looked around at his teammates as they talked about the tournaments and their futures.
Many of them planned to become knights. Since Trance had joined the team and set his sights on joining the Golden Griffins, his four best friends, Zam, Mandor, Gracer, and Hamon had decided to enlist with him. In a moment of nervous panic he thought about what training would be like. But that was some months off. He could relax for now. However, a thought slightly troubled him. Why all of a sudden had rules been changed for qualifying for the Golden Griffins? And why make it harder to qualify his horse? He took a free moment to pray that God would be with him and that all would work out in the end.
Trance smiled as Corena took a seat next to him. She smiled back at him that beautiful smile of hers that always got his heart pounding. He greeted her warmly as she showed him a new board game that required him to move his pieces through a maze that had moveable walls. They laughed as he lost twice before winning for the first time. Around them other games were being played, including a good chess game between Mandor and Gracer.
Halfway back to Althora Trance got up to use the restroom and as he passed a small group of the Golden Griffins he overheard part of their conversation. “There is a couple of Griffin Galleons flying with us,” said one of the men.
“I wonder why. I heard the ship’s navigation officer say that we already had four Flying Crosses,” his companion stated. He referred to the dedicated Althorian heavy escort frigates that were armed with a vast array of crossbows and anti-ship bolts. They were half the length of a full battleship yet they were better armored and faster and they carried a compliment of ten flying horses and hornets, single pilot fighter craft that resembled the flying stinging insect with two powerful crossbows firing explosive tipped bolts.
“I wonder why we have such a heavy escort. Usually there are just two flying Crosses that fly escort.”
“I don’t know. It may have to do with the Boulthorian ships that were spotted during the tournaments.”
Trance paused only a moment to process the conversation. Why would the Griffins add to the escort the ship had? Could it be because of the royal family on board? They didn’t have this many escorts heading to the tournaments. He had heard a few times on the trip that King Maximus preferred to fly as incognito as possible while still being protected. The king did not want any unfriendly forces to know his exact location or how long he would be off planet.
Trance pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind on returning to his seat. A grin played across his lips as he saw Corena resting with her eyes closed and a gentle smile on her face. She needs the rest he thought as he sat next to her and put his arm around her. Contentment flowed through him as she nestled into his shoulder. Before he leaned back to rest he caught sight of his mother looking back at him with an approving look.
Trance knew his parents, both of them, were very proud of him. He knew that they loved him and his siblings equally. Of his siblings from Earth, Heather, his sister, was very independent and was equally close to mom and dad. Sammy, his younger brother, was growing to be closer to their dad. Trance loved his father dearly, yet he had always been closer to his mom. Of course, he had learned that his adopted older brother Kyle adored all the Sondersons equally.
The ship and its escort arrived back on Althora without incident; however, in passing, Trance heard Zak say to Bear that two Boulthorian battleships had been detected during the flight but when they saw the massive escort they took off. He also heard that the escort was larger than first reported. Along with the two Griffin Galleons there were four Raptors, the Griffin equivalent of a heavy gunship, and one massive Terrothox, a massive raptor-shaped ship nearly three and a half times the size of an Althorian battleship. What was so valuable to warrant this many escorts? He could only assume that they were there to protect the royal family.
***
Trance awoke early on his graduation day. The house was dark and silent as he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. In a way he could hardly believe graduation was here. He had sent out invitations to all of his family and most of them would be there. Most of his male cousins were older than him and had good jobs. One was a deputy magistrate and two of them had gotten into manufacturing carriages. Another had actually started a small holiday decoration company. His female cousins were just as diverse, ranging from nurses to teachers to four younger cousins still in school like Heather and Sammy. His youngest cousin Kameron, a year younger than Sammy, wanted to be just like him.
What a year this had been, he thought as he sat there. He almost couldn’t believe all of the adventures he had already had. From being found in the woods outside of the Markem’s farm and staying with them for a few precious months to the Boulthorian invasion of their town. Vividly he remembered defending the Markem’s home and separating from them to escape the invaders. How blessed and fortunate he felt when he met the Golden Griffins, mainly Zak, Bear and Major Marlett. Most amazing was just meeting Corena for the first time. Then there was having them take him to his family. What a day that had been. His eyes filled with tears as he remembered seeing them again for the first time since being placed in the d
eep sleep chamber on the global escape ship Sparrow XIV. And finally there was school.
All of his classes and teachers had been fascinating. He had always performed well in school and this year he had studied harder and longer and his grades showed his improvement. He had even enjoyed his band class and performing in the seven full-band concerts. The last one was only the week before the trip to the tournaments and those were over now. Now he was about to graduate from school. How he had strived for this day. He remembered back when he was on Earth and he had first learned about the approaching planet and had thought then that graduation would never happen. And to top everything, he had fallen for Corena, the royal princess.
He marveled at the fact that they were a couple. Their romance this year was beyond anything he had ever dreamed. They had talked on the last half of the flight home about today and what their future might hold. Unfortunately they wouldn’t see a lot of each other today. They would be together through the graduation ceremony since he was her escort. However, afterward he would be with his family for a graduation party and she would be at the palace for a royal party with her family, a number of ruling families from Althora and a few from a couple of nearby planets.
Oh well, he thought, they would see each other for a few months before having to report for duty at training camp for the service. Then, he thought, when I’m established as a Golden Griffin I can ask for her hand in marriage. At least he prayed that was their future. Now he needed to get up and get ready.
He was almost completely dressed before Heather came past his door on her way to the restroom to shower. Her look of surprise that he had cleaned up and was almost dressed made him swallow his chuckle. “Good morning sis. What a great day. The shower is ready for you.”
Her eyebrows rose in slight surprise and then a small smile started to form. “Alright, thank you. By the way your shirt is buttoned wrong,” she said as she turned and disappeared the last few feet, turned into the bathroom and shut the door.
Space Knights: The Arrival Page 33