The knight dropped his weapon on the lush plains of the field. He stood in the middle of battle as dusk approached. He glanced from his fallen sword to the fire-breathing dragon. Raising his hand, he tried to cast a spell, however nothing left his palm. There was no thrum of magic flowing through him. He lowered his hand and sighed. The red dragon opened its mouth, preparing to incinerate him
Moments ago he was fearing for his life, about to cast an ice spell from the tip of his blade against his enemy. But instead his mind wandered off and he wondered: why do dragons breathe fire? They were just fat, enchanted lizards. Magic made little sense sometimes.
Especially now, when his magic left him and he didn’t care. The knight thought of his what he would eat tonight. When the dragon’s flames rapidly scorched the Earth in it’s path towards him, the knight realised he didn’t care much for his dinner either. He had no magic, no appetite, and soon: no life.
“God has forsaken me. Huh,” he said aloud to no-one.
“Renato! Get out the way!”
Somebody charged at the knight, shoving Renato to safety before the flames reached him. The somebody was Pepi, Renato’s twenty-one year old squire. Pepi’s unkempt beard and frizzy hair made him look like he’d been away from civillation for years. He’d been much too busy helping Renato and the townsfolk these past few months to take care of his appearance. Upon seeing the knight dodge the attack, it paced and snarled, roaring so loudly it shook the ground.
Pepi’s eyes looked back and forth between the dragon and Renato, who he lugged along while running away. Night was approaching quickly and stars peppered the sky above. The dragon turned its attention to the town’s defense walls, beginning to climb.
“What the hell were you- nevermind. How do we get rid of this dragon? It’s trying to get inside the walls and eat the cattle!”
“Tell it to go home,” Renato suggested.
Pepi rolled his eyes. The situation was hopeless. None of the knights had come out to help Renato due to their incurable illness. It was just the two of them on the field. Renato was the only one who knew how to fight but now, for whatever reason, he couldn’t. There was no time to ask why. Pepi stood up and jogged towards the dragon. He waved his arms to get its attention. The dragon coiled its tail and narrowed its eyes at the human with a clear death wish.
“Please!” Pepi shouted. “Leave us alone! Our cattle are underfed, you wouldn’t want them! They’re walking skeletons!”
The dragon’s entire body froze, no longer attempting to climb over the wall. Then it wandered closer and closer to the human and blew flames through it’s nostrils, burning the grass in front of Pepi. Its bright yellow eyes looked directly into Pepi’s hazel ones, with its thin pupils dilating into ovals. The dragon raised its neck and unfolded its great wings, blocking out half the sky and the stars. With a huge gust of wind the beast propelled itself into the air. Was it going to fly into the town? Everyone would be doomed.
But the dragon flew away. Pepi lowered his arms from his face after the wind of its wings faded, placing a hand over his pounding heart. The dragon flew far into the distance and into the night.
Pepi returned to the rock where Renato sat.
“Is it gone?” Renato asked. “That was quick.”
“Maybe I suddenly developed the ability to talk to dragons. Or maybe the dragon left because the temperature dropped. Lizards hate the cold no matter how big and fiery they are.”
“I don’t understand why they’re in Etral. This country isn’t the warmest place for anyone, let alone big lizards.”
“Let’s go speak to the posh folk and tell them the dragon’s gone.” Pepi began to guide Renato by the shoulders towards the Lord’s manor.
A couple of Farmer Dunn’s sheep stared at them as they drew closer to Llantry’s South Gate. Renato and Pepi were let inside by a guard and reached the main path, leading to the town center.
“What were you doing back there, standing there doing bugger all?!” Pepi yelled.
Renato trudged along absent-mindedly. “Thinking ‘bout lizards, food, magic, God. Quite a few things,” he mumbled. “I have a lot of thoughts in me head.”
Pepi shoved Renato, grabbing fistfuls of his own frizzy hair. “For someone with a load of thoughts, you haven’t got any damn sense! We could’ve died!”
“Hey,” Renato said.
“Listen, I’d say sorry for overstepping boundaries but you hired me to keep your butt out of danger.”
“I can't…” Renato whispered as though he couldn’t physically speak any louder. “I can’t use me magic. It’s gone.”
Pepi turned to Renato; his fury fell away as he kneaded his forehead with worn fingers, letting out a hard sigh.
“First the townsfolk and the knights, now you. I swear there’s a curse on this town. It also doesn’t help that you’re the only experienced magic healer too- hold your horses, how come you look different? You sound different too.”
Usually, Renato had wavy gold hair, a dazzling smile, and a chiselled jaw befitting the hero people knew him to be. At present, Renato had short brown hair, large buckteeth, and acne riddled cheeks. Renato’s speech had become heavy with an accent similar to the townsfolk.
“I use glamour spells every day. S’pose they aren’t working either. It was fun being handsome while it lasted.”
“What a waste of spells. We’ll have a chat about vanity and misusing magic later.”
The two of them walked by the temple, a quiet haven for meditation and rituals. Townsfolk went there often these days. But sitting in silence for hours on end hadn’t done anything to cure their magic loss.
Three people stood by the entrance looking as if they’d just buried somebody in the temple’s cemetry. None of them noticed Renato and Pepi. Across the street, the stone-mason Anier wept by the statue of Lidion - god of protection - begging for forgiveness. You knew things were becoming desperate when the town’s most stoic citizen had tears and snot on his face. They took a right and walked through Crystalcoin Borough where the gentry lived.
“Don’t suppose you’ve suddenly regained your magic, have you?”
“No I don’t think so.” Renato searched for the pulse of magic in his arm and found none. “Ah, I don’t want to see the Lord. I want to go see if me mam’s made any pie.” His stomach grumbled as if comedic timing was the only magic he had left.
“Pie? That’s the last thing you should be worrying about.”
“I’m not worried, it’s just that she makes a nice apple pie. I haven’t seen her in months. I’ve been so busy since I was chosen by Lidion at the beginning of this year. But then again, if I saw her, she would be disappointed that I lost me magic.” Renato’s face showed no emotion.
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“Listen pal,” Pepi sighed. “We have to speak to Lord Paule and tell him his so called Chosen Protector of Llantry isn’t much of a protector anymore. You can’t protect them from illness when you’re like this. Even when we asked healers to come to town, you had over four-hundred people to tend to.” He shook his head with dismay. “When they’re gone you’re left with a thousand patients at night. You also can’t protect the townsfolk from creatures outside the walls that need more than a metal stick to defeat them.”
“You’re right. I want to keep them safe.” Renato stated in a flat voice. “They don’t deserve to suffer. Lord Paule hasn’t been much help thus far, so I don’t think he knows what to do.”
“Right, but we’ll talk to him anyway.”
At the end of the street, the walled manor was guarded on top of the gatehouse by a single knight. He hadn’t been much of a knight lately as the illness had taken its toll on him. Pepi frowned. The knight looked at nothing and half-heartedly changed posture when he noticed the pair.
“Halt. Who goes there?” The knight called, aiming a crossbow towards Pepi. The pointed end of the arrow was facing the knight’s chest.
“Careful Dumpster, you might shoot yourself with that thing.”
“It’s Sir Dempster, not Dumpster. State your business Squire.”
“Well, we live here so that should be reason enough to let us in.” Pepi rolled his eyes. “But right now we need to speak to Lord Paule. Your head knight’s magic buggered off.” Pepi knocked on Renato’s armour. Renato jolted like he’d just been awakened, then went back to looking dazed, and thinking of apple pie.
“I see. That’s not good at all. The town is now in a state of emergency.” Dempster pulled a lever and opened the drawbridge for them.
The knights hadn’t been fun to tease from the moment Pepi stepped into this town. The illness began spreading since the end of last year, according to Renato. Possibly the only excitement they’d had this year was two months ago when Pepi arrived as a merchant while travelling South.
During his travels, someone gave him a job hiring poster. They told him a knight needed his help, and a picture of him was shown below the text, which described the job duties. Next thing he knew: Pepi arrived in Llantry with only vague memories of how he got there. The town had no life when Pepi arrived. Animals in the fields greeted him with silence. The gate’s guard let him inside the gate without a glance. Buildings loomed over empty streets.
Wanting to find the knight, or anyone for that matter, Pepi sang a catchy song; an advertisement of his candies. Eventually, people poked their head through doors or looked out of windows. Children were his first customers as they raced outside, trying to sing along to a song they didn’t know. When the crowd was at its largest, he saw the knight from the poster. He walked with four other knights, heading for the gate across town, opposite the one Pepi went through.
“Hey, mister knight!” he called out, but the crowd was too loud for the knight to hear. “Alright folks, that’s enough for today, got to be on my way now!” Pepi bellowed, swerving his cart around the crowd, towards the knight. “Wait!”
The knight stopped, turning around to find the source of the shout. “Oh hello, did you need something?” The knight said with a softness that matched his sky blue eyes, but contrasted his well-built face and body. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Renato.” He smiled, showing a perfect set of white teeth, and held out his hand.
Pepi shook his hand, letting go of the cart. “I’m Pepi, I just arrived in town.” He showed the poster to Renato. “This is you, right?”
One of the other knights said “Renato, we haven’t got all day. That hoard of trolls won’t wait forever before they break down the gate again.”
Renato read the poster, growing more confused the further he read and furrowing his brow. “Where did you find this? I’ve never made posters asking for a squire. I think you have the wrong person.”
“It has your face on it! And the name of the town! Are you sure you don’t need help? I wouldn’t have travelled this far South if it wasn’t for something important.”
“Well… I do need help, these two are barely on their feet. But,” Renato shrugged. “I don’t have the time to train you. I’m sorry.” His eyes lowered, he seemed to be truly sorry that he didn’t know what Pepi was talking about. He handed the poster back to Pepi and walked away.
Pepi noticed writing on the back and he read it aloud; “By the saving grace of Lidion, we ask for protection; from disease, famine, and war. We know that death is nigh, but let us live a long and happy life, and we will become people worth protecting.” He scratched his head. “That sounds cheerful yet dark at the same time.”
Hearing footsteps, Pepi jumped when he looked up and saw Renato standing over him, who grabbed Pepi by the shoulders.
“Lidion sent you! He must have!” Renato hugged Pepi, twirling him around, and began laughing. “It all makes sense! He spoke to me through a reflection of myself in the river, though I’ve heard of gods taking the form of humans.”
Squishing Pepi’s cheeks together, Renato beamed. “I wonder why he didn’t just introduce us, but who knows what great plans go through Lidion’s head. Come on now! We have trolls to scare away!” Renato dragged Pepi away from his cart, which was looted bare by the time they reached the South Gate.
What he lacked in strength, Pepi made up for in quick ideas and even quicker feet. Renato relied on his help more as the remainder of the knights fell ill. Thoughts of home crossed Pepi’s mind when the days were too long to bare. Even so, he stayed. Because he knew it would be beyond unbearable for Renato, who desperately needed help from someone with good health, who never complained, despite his magic fading.
“I’m tired.” Renato droned.
The knight never complained. Until today, that is.
Pepi and Renato walked through the gate then the courtyard, heading to the dining hall. The manor didn’t look as noble as it once had, given the fall in tax collections and lack of servants willing to maintain the building. Old tapestries lined the walls showing scenes of knights fighting creatures that had tried to attack the town.
In the dining hall Lord Paule wasn’t in his usual seat at the head of the table. Instead, he was a few seats down. At the table were Lords of neighboring towns, the Baron, the Count, and various other noblemen who constantly fought over who had the higher rank. They wore ridiculous clashes of colours, showing off the expensives dyes they could afford. Visitors were rare enough as it was, but high ranking visitors were unheard of. At the head of the table sat the Duchess, who was the only person speaking.
“Lord Paule, if you are not able to provide a sufficient number of knights with magic who can go into war when the King requests it, you will have to pay more taxes to cover your lack of support.” Her voice gentle but firm.
“Your Grace. With all due respect. The vast majority of my people are unable to work. They are sick with something. But it’s not something a doctor or magic healer can cure. The healers said they can only cure the ill effects of magic, not a loss of magic itself.” Lord Paule leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.
“We know magic can falter due to lack of rest. However after resting, they said they were still tired,” he explained. “The number of spells people were able to do in a day got smaller until it reached zero. People can’t get rid of sewage waste without magic, so they live in filth. Without magic, they can’t disinfect water to drink or cook with. However, those without magic seem to have this illness as well.”
Lord Paule stared at his untouched wine glass with vacant eyes. His hair was matted and his clothes had stains all over. Judging by the noblemen next to him who covered their noses with their sleeves: Lord Paule really needed a bath.
“Everyone has severe shifts in mood; from apathy to despair, from paranoia to rage. Not many want to eat, so they’re not motivated to farm the fields or tend to livestock. Those who do eat have several meals at once; they start fights with the farmers who won’t harvest more food and steal from others. People move slowly, talk slowly, like they’re in a dream. We’re not able to support the King until we can support ourselves. Even if someone else took my place, they would have the same issues.”
“I see,” the Duchess replied.
“Oh,” Lord Paule noticed Renato. “The chosen protector of Llantry. I wasn’t expecting to see you until tomorrow morning. And uh, you look a little different. I thought you had blonde hair..? Ahem. I take it you’re here to announce your defeat of the dragon destroying the countryside.”
Pepi’s lips tightened. Perhaps he should’ve waited until the noblemen and Duchess were gone so he didn’t embarrass the Lord. But then again, maybe if he sounded desperate enough they’d actually help Llantry.
“My Lord, I’m afraid Renato is out of commission. That means nobody in town has magic.” Everyone stared at Pepi and sweat formed on his forehead.
“Sorry for dropping in so suddenly, Lord Paule. And nice to meet you, uh, Miss Graceness. I don’t know what they call posh folks like you.” His eyes darted around the room as he planned an escape route. “Bet you live in a castle nicer than this dump. Aye, I’d sure love it if I could stay the night at your place.”
Pepi hadn’t met any nobles as high ranking as the Duchess before and prayed he hadn’t made a bad first impression in his awkward moment of timidness. The Duchess glared at him. Ah, his prayer was unheard. Lidion sure seemed to pick and choose who he protected.
“Who are you?” she said, standing up. “What is a lewd peasant like you doing next to the chosen knight of Llantry? Leave this room unless you have something substansive to say!”
Pepi jumped as she began to march towards him. He blurted out a sentence he would soon wish he’d never said; “I know someone who can cure the townsfolk.”