Evelyn looked back continuously, she had reservations about leaving and thought about going back. She couldn’t fathom what possessed Adrith to do as he did. Was Maidrin not a knight captain of his order? Would he not wish to return to his order? She had many questions. That may have been a very constant thing when she had been with Adrith for this time. His actions, his thoughts, and the things he knows always seemed like a mystery. She could not begin to understand his actions at this point, she could sometimes have insight, yet sometimes it felt like her knowledge of him was superficial.
“What is it?” Adrith broke the silence they had been walking in for the past few hours. Noticing the constant glances and the silence.
“What?” Evelyn was lost in her own thoughts and didn’t have enough time to process what was said.
Adrith did not repeat himself, he gave her the time she needed to respond properly and recollect herself.
Evelyn looked at Adrith like he was crazy for a moment before she realized what he was doing. Evelyn cleared her throat, “Nothing”.
Adrith nodded his head, “Good”.
Evelyn looked at Adrith like he had just insulted her mother. She was hoping he would have said the same thing when they were at the bottom of the dungeon. Trying to force her to say what she had in mind rather than to keep it hidden. She was trying to set him off balance by making him invest himself in the conversation. Evelyn gritted her teeth for a moment as she said, “No there is something. I need to ask you something”.
“Which is?” Adrith asked plainly as he never broke his stride.
“I know you said that we were going a different direction to Maidrin, but why not go with her? She is a living member of your order, why would you not follow her and rejoin the order?” Evelyn asked the most forefront question. She wanted to know why he chose this path instead of following what she expected to be his knight's honor.
Adrith left the two in silence, a longer silence than Evelyn would have preferred, she looked at him as she then asked, “Did I ask the wrong thing?”
Adrith shook his head, “No, I am just trying to find a way to explain this. It’s simple to me, yet I wish to make sure nothing is misunderstood”
Evelyn nodded her head as she allowed him the time that he needed to try and speak his mind. It felt weird yet comforting to Evelyn, this time he was spending to think makes her feel as if she was being respected. Something that sometimes feels lacking with Adrith’s plans.
It was another minute of silence for Evelyn as finally Adrith broke the silence, “The best way I can think of explaining this is that I am a knight, well a trainee. Yet I did not swear fealty to any lord, in truth”.
Evelyn nodded her head as she interrupted him at this moment, “Wait, then whom did you swear fealty to?”
Adrith looked at Evelyn, “The people”.
Evelyn tilted her head, “The people?”
Adrith nodded his head, “The people. The people of Fellwinter to be exact. I swore fealty to protect them”.
Evelyn nodded her head, to her it seemed corny to say such a thing, yet something came up that surprised her, “Wait, Fellwinter?”
Adrith nodded, “Yes Fellwinter”.
Evelyn continued, “I thought you might have been from the time of Fairhaven. For when did Fairhaven fall from what you remember?”
Adrith thought for a moment as he said, “I think it was 300 years when I learned about it”.
Evelyn recounted her knowledge. ‘In his time, he was 300 years after Fellwinter’s founding. I remember it was nearly half a millennium’. Evelyn then realized what that meant.
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“Wait, so you are from the last Crusade”. Evelyn realized he was one of the last remnants of what Fellwinter had of heroes and warriors. They had risked life and limb to enter the dungeon to clear it.
Adrith shook his head, “If you could call it that”.
Evelyn tilted her head as she asked, “What do you mean?”
“That ‘Crusade’ was formed under the pretext of clearing the dungeon and saving Fellwinter from the fate Fairhaven had suffered, that is true. Yet why it was formed and done was because the lord of the time had the fear of mortality as he became ill”. Adrith spoke calmly, yet Evelyn could feel that he could be venturing into possibly upsetting territory.
Evelyn nodded along, “So he believed that he could attain something to cure him?”
Adrith shook his head, “No, from what I found out from his son, the one leading the ‘Crusade’, he wished to find something even greater. He wished to find immortality and never fear death again”.
Evelyn was skeptical if that thought was even reasonable, “How could he come up with such a conclusion?”
Adrith responded quickly, “We had received news from an Awoken, he referred to himself and other Awoken as the Chosen, that in a far-off land, the Round Table, a group of Chosen had gathered together and had cleared a dungeon, completely and with no monsters left”.
Evelyn was taken aback, “I remember hearing about some legend of the Round Table, however, I never knew they were true. What did they find?”
Adrith continued, “He spoke of a grand artifact that would help the world. So, with that knowledge, the Lord wished for us to enter to find him immortality”.
Evelyn nodded as she tried to continue the conversation, since this might be the only time she could hear this through an organic means, “So, why did you enter? I wouldn’t assume you entered because of the pretext”.
Adrith shook his head, “No, that was exactly why I entered. Why I and many others entered”.
Evelyn looked confused. She never would have thought a man like Adrith would have done such a thing. She had thought of him as an intelligent man with a solid understanding of things. “Why, it seemed more like an elaborate suicide rather than a possible goal”.
Adrith shook his head, “No. It may very well have been the best chance we would have ever seen in our time”.
Evelyn looked to Adrith now even more confused, “How could a Crusade built upon lies and greed possibly been the best chance?”
Adrith spoke with slight reminiscence, “It was exactly why that would have been our best chance. Through that lie, people had hope. From that greed, countless amounts of funding, resources, and aid flooded into the city from the lord to obtain this immortality”.
Evelyn nodded along, she thought for a moment and had to agree, that with those kinds of support, it could have been considered a great push with beneficial means. Sadly with history's hindsight, Evelyn knew that after the Crusade the fall began for Fellwinter. Much of the resources within the land, many fighters, instructors, trainers, and even craftsmen and laborers who traveled with the Crusade to make sure the Crusade would succeed were lost.
Adrith continued, “It was the only time, we could have in our lifetime, performed the wishes of those who came before us. And to save those who would come after”.
Evelyn let the moment settle as she listened, she didn’t think Adrith had such an emotional side. The moment was cut when Adrith then asked, “Let me ask, why did you not try and talk to Maidrin about joining?”
Evelyn stiffened up, she didn’t know how to answer that question. She had been following Adrith all this time, yet she found it out of convenience. However, now? She had no clue why she followed Adrith and not Maidrin. She had more resources, Evelyn knew that, she could probably learn more magic while studying under some mage who might be among the order. Yet as Adrith said they would go separate ways, she almost felt inclined to follow him.
She couldn’t understand it, yet as she saw him act and travel, she couldn’t help but think of him like a new star. Shining on its own, one day eventually to become its own constellation.
She answered simply, “I didn’t think they’d have much for me”.
Adrith nodded and a few moments after Evelyn gave her answer he said, “That’s fair”.
Evelyn then asked another question, since the past seemed to be opening, she wanted to know, “Why did you become a knight?”
Adrith continued walking, but Evelyn realized his steps became lighter, “I was an orphan, like many during this time, as the Awoken were few. Me and multiple other youths who were taken in by a knight who would train us”.
Evelyn nodded her head as then she realized, “Wait a knight? Not a knight order?”
Adrith nodded his head as he continued, “Yes, his name was Danse Corwin. He was a knight of the order, yet he was more of a wanderer. He had taken a liking to Fellwinter and dedicated himself to the city. He taught us many things. Etiquette, how to carry oneself, how to fight, how to care for another. He was what made us who we were. And our one wish was to fulfill his”.
Evelyn tilted her head, “Which was?”
“To save the world”