We have some problems.

Those were the words Alce said to us before we reached the surface. Rather than explain it to all of us in a cramped underground tunnel we made our way back up. The captives reunited with their families and our party gathered once more. Dem and Silent got out of their disguises and back into their usual clothing while Ilme took up her war hammer once more. Sylvia also joined us at the farmhouse.

“So what are these problems, Alce?” Dem asked while plopping down into a chair.

“A small platoon of soldiers are heading straight towards us. I kept my distance but I counted roughly thirty soldiers,” she reported.

“Soldiers? From where?” Anna asked.

“Sandervile. They were flying banners from a local lord along with Sandervile’s. That disgusting burnt orange can be seen from leagues away.”

“Thirty troops from Sandervile? I thought they gave this quest to us? Why would they be coming now?” Anna questioned.

“It’s simple,” I said.

Everybody turned to look at me and Dem rolled his hands for me to continue.

“We knew they had a connection with either Sandervile or Whieland’s military. We found the connection. And they are marching right towards us,” I said flatly.

“That’s a dangerous accusation, Voker. Attacking some people because they might be bandits is one thing but attacking a group of soldiers flying a country's banner might cause a crisis,” Dem said sternly.

“I agree with Voker,” Alce said confidently while crossing her arms.

Dem whipped his head around to look at Alce. He must have been gauging her reaction since eventually, he nodded his head, “What makes you so sure that he is right?”

“I mean, other than the obvious fact that a random platoon is marching towards a farm in the middle of nowhere? The lord’s banner makes me pretty confident that these are the moles,” Alce said.

“Which lord are these troops from?” I asked.

I should know just about every lord in Sandervile. At least the important ones.

“It was just speculation at first. It could have been anyone from either country after all. I actually had my money on it being somebody from Whieland considering most of the banditry has been in Sandervile territory. But Lord Stav has some nasty rumors surrounding him. Apparently, he has his hands in all kinds of dirty business. Drugs, slavery, and embezzlement are just some of the rumors,” Alce responded.

House Stav, huh? That’s Dillian’s family name. The same kid whose hands I just chopped off and stole this ring from. I thought they were just a merchant family… Not good.

Dem kicked back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, “I see… House Stav has grown at a rapid pace these last few years. Wouldn’t surprise me if he is running smuggling and bandit rings…”

“Speculation is fine but how much time do we have, Alce?” Ilme chimed in.

“Huh, after this little talk and the time it took me to get back here… less than twenty minutes?” Alce said calmly.

That is not enough time…

“That’s not a lot of time,” Dem mused. Dem rolled forward in his chair then rubbed his face aggressively and let out a grunt of frustration. “Okay, what are we going to do? We can fight or we can try to run. But I imagine they have horses, Alce?”

“At least ten, not including their commander.”

“Great… Our horses are meant to plow fields or pull a cart. They would chase us down and it’s not like we have anywhere to hide,” Dem groaned. “Okay well let’s put it to a vote then. All in favor of making a break for it raise your hands.”

The room remained silent as Silent. It seems nobody was in favor of running. Or at least they understood that running was not an option. Being chased down by war horses would be a nightmare. Especially…

“Do they have a mage?” I asked Alce.

“Most definitely. Their commander is a mage, robe and staff included.”

That complicates things. If it was just a wild open field battle I could wipe out thirty soldiers given enough time and protection. With our group that would be possible. But if I have to fight another mage…

I felt Dem’s gaze lock onto me. I looked up and matched his eyes, “Well it seems we all want to fight. Voker, can you beat that mage?”

The last time I fought a mage head-on was my battle with Cerila. Even back then she beat me. But this is now. Things aren’t the same. I promised myself that I wasn’t going back to that hell.

“They are as good as dead,” I said confidently. I stood up and shook out my tired bones. “I’m going to go prepare.”

I have over half my mana to work with today so I just need to kill this mage before they can kill me. And I have just the idea…

—

“Voker? What are you doing?” Anna asked as she approached me.

“Trying something new. Just make sure you don’t stand around this area. Or be anywhere near this spot.”

“Uh, okay…” she said nervously.

I stood up and wiped the dirt off my hand. I’ve never cast a spell like this before nor have I ever maintained a spell for this long. I wasn’t sure how long I could maintain a custom spell but I needed to try. Most mages can sense if a spell is coming at them but if it’s already there then they might miss it, at least that’s my theory.

The spell might just go off early and everything will be ruined and I’ll be short on mana for the fight. But if this pays off then I’ll be thinning their numbers greatly. In the future, I hope I can maintain a few of these spells for longer periods of time. Perhaps I should add maintaining spells for long periods into my training regime? That would be a good idea.

“Voker, are you okay? You seem different?” Anna asked me.

She reached her hand out to me but I moved my arm out of the way. “Please do not heal me. I’m fine. I consumed a small amount of Magic Lily pollen so I don’t want you to purge it from my system.”

“Voker! That stuff is addictive! You shouldn’t be taking it. You are far too-”

“It’s fine, Anna. I understand what I am doing and the consequences that may occur. I can’t afford to die at some backwater farm. I’ll use anything at my disposal if it means success.”

“Voker… We are putting too much on your shoulders. I’m so sorry.”

“I agreed to all of this. It’s just how things are so don’t beat yourself up over it. If I didn’t think I could win I’d be on the back of a horse right about now.”

Anna had a complicated look as she struggled to say whatever it is she wanted to say but Dem interrupted,

“Here they come. Alce is in position and the farmers are in the process of digging out the rest of the escape tunnel just in case we fail. Are you ready, kid?”

“Ready. We need to move back from this position.”

Everyone followed me as we moved closer to the farmhouse. The dust cloud brought up from the marching soldiers became more and more clear. At first, they were nothing more than a speck on the horizon but they have been keeping a steady pace.

I’m a little tired from a long day of being on edge and fighting while this mage should be fresh. Marching takes a toll but not all that much if you are on horseback. I also have no idea how strong this mage is. If they are leading a platoon of soldiers, they must be at least an Expert ranked mage. I also don’t know what kind of mage they are. But I guess they don’t know what I’m capable of either.

A smaller cloud of dust broke off from the main column as ten soldiers on horseback galloped down the dirt path. At the front was a man riding a black horse wearing orange and white mage robes carrying a golden staff. At the end of the staff was a gem so blue it seemed to be swirling like a vortex. A vortex that you just couldn’t look away from less you be swallowed by it. Where have I seen a gem like that before? Was it on Dad’s armor? Seems just like yesterday…

But this was unfortunate news. I was hoping the column would stick together in an attempt to intimidate us with overwhelming numbers. That just means we need to stall for longer. I don’t want to use this spell too early. It’s taking a considerable amount of effort to maintain it from this far away and I need it to take out more than just ten soldiers to make it worth all of this mana. Although taking out the calvary and the mage might not be a bad idea either.

The riders stopped short of us as Ilme and Dem moved forward to greet our guests. The men on horseback were wearing light leather armor and carrying short bows along with swords. The soldiers didn’t look particularly strong. I suppose it was a good thing that these men were from Sandervile and not Whieland. Whieland was known for having soldiers that were better equipped but fewer in numbers. But they weren’t the problem…

The Human mage was older than I was expecting. His shoulder-length wheat-colored hair had streaks of gray but he was far from frail. If anything he was surprisingly well built for a mage let alone a man on the back end of his youth. That wasn’t the only thing, this old mage is strong.

“How can I help you today, My Lord?” Dem asked with a friendly wave.

“I’ve gotten word that a group of bandits was operating out of this area. And it appears I’ve found them,” the old mage said matter of factly.

His deep voice was gruff and his swirling brown eyes never wavered in the face of Dem or Ilme’s gaze. Bloodlust rolled off the old mage and his soldiers but Dem didn’t retaliate.

“Bandits? In that case, you are in luck, good sir. As you can see my party of adventurers here have just removed the bandit operations from this area, permanently,” Dem said while flashing his Ruby adventurer tag.

Just in case we were misunderstanding the situation, Dem ordered for all of us to have our adventurer tags out in the open. Everyone else had their Amethyst tags hanging from their necks while I had my Opal tag. Adventurer tag’s had information like race, sex, age, and roll engraved into them.

“Really? Because that’s not what I see,” the old mage said flatly.

“What?” Dem said with a strained chuckle.

“The only thing I see is a bunch of brigands wearing guild tags around their necks pretending to be something they aren’t. Don’t resist.” The old mage increased his bloodlust along with his soldiers.

So that’s how things are going to be? Guess this was just inevitable. Too bad we couldn’t stall for longer. At least with this mage dead we can- Huh?

Boom.

What? Why did my spell go off? I didn’t release it? And I didn’t lose control of it either? What happened…

The ground shook and caved in behind the riders’ formation. The explosion of fire that should have appeared was also nowhere to be seen. My mine spell had failed for some reason.

The old mage began chuckling, “Not only that, you surround yourself with filthy tricksters, brigand.” Then the mage's eyes turned to me, “You High Elves consider yourselves to be so smart, so clever. The cleverest and the smartest of all the races… But you never learned, no I don’t think you can take the sticks out of your asses far enough to learn. It’s been too long since I’ve had the pleasure of crushing your kind.”

How nice of him to hold a monologue for me. These types are always so full of themselves. I’m not sure what you did with my spell but let’s see you stop this.

A ball of orange fire appeared in my outstretched hand and began changing colors at a rapid pace. The once orange fire flicked into a blazing white-hot, I launched it at the soldiers. This fireball had the strength of five fireballs and was far hotter than a normal one. They wouldn’t even have the oxygen to scream. Or at least they shouldn’t have.

My fireball soared off towards the mage but in a blink of an eye, a purple hexagonal barrier appeared before the soldiers. My upgraded fireball crashed into the barrier but didn’t explode. No, instead the fireball came flying right back towards us.

Ilme dropped her war hammer to the ground and outstretched both of her arms, “Dragon Barrier!”

Ilme’s solid red barrier appeared before us just in time. The heat from my fireball made it difficult to breathe and the fireball impacted the barrier. The explosion was massive as it kicked up all the dirt around us. All of us let out grunts or shouts as the shockwave’s impact rattled our bodies. I stepped back with my bad leg and nearly fell over. Even with Ilme’s barrier taking the brunt my spell was still dangerous.

“Haha! You are pretty strong for a little knife ear! This is going to be worth all the trouble of coming out here,” the old mage said with an odd amount of fervor.

Thankfully it didn’t seem anybody was harmed. Ilme and her barrier stood strong. The Dragonkin snorted, “I knew it. You are the Anti-Mage aren’t you?”

The old man’s eyes turned to Ilme giving her a savage grin, “It seems my reputation precedes me if a fearsome Dragonkin knows me. But I don’t remember fighting with any Dragonkin… So that means you must have been on the other side? How unfortunate.”

“At least my side didn’t lose,” Ilme half chuckled and half snorted.

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This seemed to piss off the old mage as he narrowed his eyes at Ilme and bathed us in his bloodlust.

“You’ll regret that lizard.”

Ilme turned her head and looked at me. Her dragon eyes narrowed, “Voker, don’t cast any spells at this guy. He is an Anti-Mage. He can only use magic that is cast against him.”

“I can’t do that, not yet. I have an idea but I’m going to need to cast another spell. Swap your barrier to a directional one,” I said quickly. I mentally thanked her for her warning but I couldn’t just do nothing about this situation.

Without questioning me Ilme nodded. Her solid red barrier changed shape into a hexagonal pattern. I felt a small flame of happiness spread through my chest. I could feel the trust she was giving me and it had been ages since I’d felt that. And out of all people, I didn’t expect it to be her.

But this was troublesome. An Anti-Mage, huh? I had read about them but I knew little. They were odd mages that had an affinity for a school of magic that allowed them to counter other schools. The drawback was that they lacked the offensive power that most mages boasted. Essentially this man was a direct counter to mages but was barely a mage himself. But I wonder if he can counter this?

Fireball.

Nothing special, just a simple fireball spell. The old mage’s laugh rang out once more as he reared back in satisfaction. I moved quickly but so did somebody else. Maybe she was just taking the opportunity or maybe she knew what I was going to do, but I heard the wind rustle as an arrow flew past me. The dagger I had looted from that dead adventurer flew at blinding speeds as it passed through the red barrier. My fireball impacted the purple barrier and began heading towards our group once again but this time…

A piercing sound of an injured animal cried out in pain along with the yelp of surprise from a man. Before I could see what happened, the returned fireball crashed into Ilme’s barrier and exploded. It was just a regular fireball so it lacked the heat and destructive power of my last one. But I didn’t cast it to hurt the mage, just distract him.

As the explosion cleared I got a good look at the scene. Anna’s arrow had taken out the mage’s mount and my dagger had missed its target. I won’t say it was because of Anna’s arrow killing his horse before my dagger reached… but it has been a while since I’ve thrown a bladed weapon and it was of poor quality, hardly made for throwing. The mage was on the ground with a hand on his bloodied shoulder that now had a dagger sticking out of it while the corpse of his steed pinned him to the ground. I had missed the mage’s heart.

But unfortunately for him, I wasn’t going to give him time to recover. “Ilme, keep your barrier up,” I ordered.

I prepared a barrage of fireballs. I didn’t need them to be powerful, I just needed them to be numerous. I fired fireball after fireball. Some I aimed directly at the mage and others I sent towards his forces. I even arched a few high to maybe hit the incoming foot soldiers if I was lucky enough.

The old mage erected a countermeasure over and over again but unlike the first two times, my spells didn’t come directly back to us every time. The fireballs bounced off his purple shields and soared off into random directions away from his squad. The horses reared and cried out in fear as the riders tried their best to calm the animals. The battlefield turned from a peaceful farm into a blazing hellscape as my reflected fireballs destroyed the area.

It was how I imagined. He might be able to counter my magic but he is still a mage. Mages still need to be able to concentrate to form spell cores. With his troops panicking and a dagger sticking out from his shoulder the old mage is finding it difficult to focus on his spells. I’ll just overwhelm him until he makes a mistake or until I run out of mana. But I had a bad feeling it was going to be the latter.

Sweat poured down my face and arms profusely as I continued to launch spell after spell. I felt my body weaken and my breathing strained as I continued to fire magic. Anna placed her hand on my shoulder and I felt the familiar feeling of light magic entering my tired body. It would only help with some of the symptoms, however. It’s not like she can transfer her mana to me.

I lost count of how many fireballs I summoned or how long I had been casting for. I fell to my knees and gasped for air. It seemed no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t force enough air into my lungs. I reached for my mask out of instinct and nearly ripped it off of me but stopped myself. Anna continued to heal my fatigued body and I looked up at the destruction I had caused.

It was lucky that the fields surrounding the farm were nothing but soil. If crops had been present I would have burned everything to ash. However, the orange fire still burned bright everywhere. The retinue of soldiers was disorganized and struggling to rein in their steeds but they were still alive and riding atop of their horses. But not all of them remained and most of them weren’t unscathed.

The old mage had wavered somewhat and allowed a handful of his mounted troops to succumb to my fireballs. Or maybe even a redirected fireball had killed a friendly. I couldn’t be sure. I also noticed a few of the riders hadn’t been done in by fire but by a well-placed arrow. In total four riders lay dead while many were injured. It seems Alce had been firing from the farmhouse the entire time. The farmhouse…

I turned behind me and was pleasantly surprised to see that the farmhouse was unharmed. Ilme and her barrier had seen to that. The Dragonkin stood strong at the front of our group, never wavering. She didn’t even seem all that tired.

“Charge them! Don’t let all of his hard work go to waste!” Dem bellowed.

Silent and Dem rushed out to attack the remaining riders while Ilme dropped her barrier and reached for her war hammer. With a great roar, the Dragonkin vanguard rushed off into battle just behind her comrades.

The riders didn’t manage to get their horses in check before the wave of destruction rolled over them. Perhaps these horses weren’t as well trained as we thought. But maybe explosions and fire are just good tools.

Dem was the first to reach the targets. With his bastard sword in hand, he took the life of a rider with a well-placed thrust into the chest from underneath the armpit. The horse took off with its master still dead in the saddle. Dem flowed towards his next opponent.

Next was Silent who went straight for a group of two. The man from the Mists leaped onto the back of a horse and went for the neck of the rider. The mounted soldier barely managed to twist his body in time as he brought his sword to block. Instead of thrusting with his other sword, Silent continued to leap and kicked the rider in the back of the head. The rider jolted forward but Silent was already in mid-air heading to the next mounted troop.

Unlike his partner, this soldier was ready for Silent. Silent went high with a double overhead slash. The soldier smiled as he blocked Silent’s twin short swords but he hadn’t accounted for Silent’s momentum. Silent crashed into the man bringing him off of his horse and onto the ground. With a quick slash, the once smiling soldier found himself choking on his blood.

The first rider had regained his composure and rode towards Silent and his dying comrade. Silent rolled up from the ground with the rider’s sword in hand and threw it straight at the oncoming soldier. The blade was moving fast, enhanced by Silent’s mana enhancement as it pierced the rider’s sternum. The man slumped forward onto his horse as it continued on harmlessly.

All the while Anna continued to heal me but I was still completely drained. I didn’t have mana sickness but I was damn close. Far too close for comfort.

I could only watch as Ilme joined the fray. The Dragonkin vanguard rushed straight into a mounted troop who was attempting to unsling his bow. But Ilme wasn’t aiming for the soldier. Her massive war hammer came down on the skull of a very unfortunate horse. The horse didn’t make a sound as its head was turned to red mush but the rider falling from atop of it sure did. The man yelped in surprise but he wouldn’t be yelling for long as he ended up suffering the same fate as his steed. Ilme crushed the man’s chest with another swing of her hammer. She didn’t even bother to look down at the man as she charged off to greet another rider who was barreling down on her.

She stepped to the opposite side of the soldier’s sword and went low. She aimed for the legs of the horse and with a screech of pain and the sickening sound of broken bones the horse toppled over with rider in tow. The horse and rider were a pile of limbs and it was safe to say the rider was out of commission. But Ilme didn’t seem the type to be merciful as she finished off the soldier with a spear tip at the end of her war hammer’s shaft.

And that brought an end to the mounted riders. Only the old mage remained still pinned beneath his horse. The three of them approached the mage cautiously.

I went to move to go assist them just in case but Anna stopped me. The warmth of her healing magic faded and was replaced by a different kind that spread across my back.

“It’s fine, Voker, rest. You did well. Thank you,” she whispered softly.

So soft… Wait, what?

I’m not sure what thoughts entered my fatigued mind but they left as I dispelled them. I shook myself free of Anna’s hug not because I wasn’t grateful but because I would most likely be needed. Even if I could only cast one more spell it would be enough to thin the numbers of the foot soldiers. Which was odd considering they should be here already swarming us. Did my fireballs connect with the column?

Dem, Silent, and Ilme stood with weapons ready as they faced down towards the road. Alce had left her perch from the farmhouse and regrouped with me as she asked,

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” I said, my voice sounding shaky and ragged.

Alce looked down at me and gave me a pat on the back. “Voker, that was amazing. I had no idea you could do all of this,” she said with a wide-armed gesture.

The fire from my spells was still raging in some places but it seems the fighting had stopped. But even though the sound of fighting had ceased and only the steady breathing of the living and the crackling of fire could be heard, the atmosphere was still tense. Maybe even more so than before.

I tried to hobble my way towards Dem but I faltered. It seems I’m even more drained than I thought. Alce hoisted me up and Anna assisted her. The two helped drag me towards the others who were still standing on guard.

When we reached the others the scene before us was not what I was expecting. The old mage remained trapped under his horse yelling in pain and cursing us all the way, but he wasn’t the problem.

No, it was the tall figure in all-black plate with a large knapsack strapped to their back. They were standing in the middle of the dirt road. Blood was splattered across the warrior as their sky blue halberd stood at attention. The light blue and gold weapon contrasted heavily with the large black and bloodied armored warrior standing before us. They were wearing a full helmet that covered their face so I couldn’t make out their race or even gender.

Everyone seemed on edge. The Knight’s presence was palpable but they weren’t emitting any bloodlust towards us. The foot soldiers from Sandervile were nowhere to be seen either. I hadn’t noticed it before but hanging from the neck of this unknown warrior was a green guild tag. An Emerald ranked adventurer. It would explain the overwhelming presence. This person was the equivalent of a Human War God.

“Demais Beatrix the Wyrm Slayer,” the black knight said. His voice sounded male but it was calm, almost eerily so.

Wyrm Slayer? Demais Beatrix?

“The Twilight Knight. I take it you killed those soldiers?” Dem asked.

“Yes, they attempted to take my life so I defended myself,” the Twilight Knight said coldly.

“I see… And what are you doing all the way out here?”

It seemed like Dem was on edge. Even Silent and Ilme were holding their weapons tightly. This Twilight Knight was two whole ranks above Dem and three above the others. If we had to fight this man I wasn’t sure if we could win. I was out of commission and his strength was equal to some bodies who stood upon the pinnacle of their race. Not good.

“I came in search of bandits. Care to explain why you and your party are in a battle with these soldiers, Wyrm Slayer?” The knight asked.

“We too were in search of the bandits. We found them earlier today out on the road and killed them. Afterward, we freed some prisoners who were being used as bait and found out they were hiding out at this farm. We killed the remaining bandits and when we returned topside, these soldiers were already riding towards us. They refused to listen to us and this bastard,” Dem said while kicking the downed mage in the nose. “This bastard refused to listen to us. Said we were bandits and attacked us.”

“Uhgmph!- mah!- mahose! You!”

“Shut up,” Dem whacked the old mage over the head with enough force to knock him out or kill him.

The Twilight Knight didn’t even seem fazed, “I understand. Then I am to assume these soldiers are the ones affiliated with the bandits?”

“We believe so. Say I thought we had this quest? Where did you come from?” Dem asked curiously.

The tension had broken down if only a little. It was hard to tell but this Twilight Knight person didn’t seem all that interested in fighting us. For now at least.

“I picked this quest up in Nactus. It seems you came from Anderfield, yes?”

“Yes, we did,” Dem confirmed.

I was surprised to see Dem spill all this information out. I couldn't tell if it was because he was afraid of this knight or if he was trying to gain favor. Either way, it seemed to be working.

“I see. Then it appears I am too late. How unlucky of me,” the knight responded.

“I mean you did help us? We can give you a cut-”

The Twilight Knight raised his palm, “There is no need, Wyrm Slayer. The quest was to kill the highwaymen plaguing this area. I did not kill a single bandit, only their accomplices. The quest is yours.”

“Oh, okay… Thank you…”

Dem let out a sigh that he had been holding on to. Even Silent and Ilme relaxed slightly. However, his presence didn’t abate and the Twilight Knight did not turn to leave. Nor did he say anything. He just stood there, staring at us. No… he wasn’t looking at us, he was looking at me.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Sylvia asked from behind us.

She must have thought everything was clear as she came over to join us. I felt the Knight’s gaze leave me and turn towards her. But surprisingly enough Sylvia didn’t flinch under the presence. It seemed she even met the man’s stare.

The black-armored knight took a single step forward and the tension rose to maximum once more. His armor didn’t even make a sound as he continued to step closer towards us.

“What are you doing? Stop,” Dem barked. But his voice gave away his uncertainty.

The Knight stopped. “This doesn’t concern you, Wyrm Slayer. My business is with the two masked High Elves.”

“Not happening,” Ilme growled.

The knight tilted his head slightly. It was an awkward movement for someone wearing such a large helmet. “It seems you misunderstand me, Dragonkin. I mean no harm to you or those Elves. I merely wish to have words with them.”

Although the Knight was speaking cordially, his dispassionate voice made it hard to trust his words. And it seemed Ilme was having none of that.

“I said it’s not happening. Stay away from them.”

“Are you going to stop me?” he said coldly.

“If I have t-”

“It’s fine, Ilme. A few words won’t hurt,” Sylvia interjected. Her soft voice was the complete opposite of this Knight.

Ilme huffed as she snarled but she didn’t refute. The Knight, taking this opportunity, strode towards us. I felt both Anna and Alce tense as they held me tighter. Alce placed her hand on a dagger at her waist but the Knight didn’t falter.

The man was standing before me. His large frame dwarfed mine and his black armor seemed to be an endless void. At least the parts that weren’t dyed red with blood. His armor… it’s definitely Mithril, the entire set is just like that War God’s axe and just like… Dad’s armor and spear? Did Dad really have a full set?

His halberd is formed from cobalt as well. This man isn’t just strong, so is his gear. I wasn’t afraid of this man, just wary. His presence was strong, but it lacked any kind of bloodlust. He was either so confident that he didn’t feel the need or this was just his natural state. I didn’t think he was trying to intimidate me either.

The Knight bent down and the words that flowed from that cold voice made my heart sink in my chest. It was the worst request that could have ever come out of his mouth. Completely unexpected.

“Take off your mask.”

I had expected a lot of things, for him to ask me if all this fire was my doing. Ask me why I was wearing a mask. Even ask if I was okay and needed help. But this was not what I was expecting.

I was frozen from the shock to my brain. My words caught in my throat and I felt far more tired than I did previously. But I managed to hold myself together. With a deep breath, I answered the Twilight Knight before me,

“No.”

I said that no with as much conviction as possible. I couldn’t fight this man. Even if I wasn’t drained and crippled I might not be able to beat him. I let my will be known and hoped… I hoped that if it came down to it somebody would defend me. I needed help. I wasn’t afraid of him. I was afraid of going back. Of missing my chance to see my family again. I’m so close… not like this, please.

The Knight stood tall and nodded his head. "Ok.”

Huh?

That’s all he said. Just “Ok”. His presence didn’t abate but he continued on and moved towards Sylvia. He tilted his head, “Take off your mask?”

Why did he phrase that request like a question? Was he being nicer to her? What the hell is that all about?

“Uh, no?” Sylvia responded with a hint of annoyance.

“Ok,” the knight said with his never-changing voice again.

With that, the knight shuffled his knapsack on his back and shouldered his halberd. Without so much as another word, he gave Dem a nod and turned to begin walking off down the road.

A few moments of silence remained while we all watched the Twilight Knight walk away. Everyone had a look of bafflement on their faces. I’m sure I did too. So many emotions crashed into my tired mind that I was overwhelmed. It was like being strapped to a rocket ship that went for a loop. I felt more confused in the last ten minutes than I have in a long time.

Dem who was slack-jawed turned around and looked over at me,

“What just happened?”