Year 932,
Viryl studied the emblem of the Kingdom of Zelfiria engraved on his badge illuminated by the light of the White Moon, while, stretched out supine, he held it suspended above his face. The brass outlines of the royal globe and the shield depicted on it were barely distinguishable. After remaining motionless in that position for a while, he tossed it carelessly onto the chair next to the bed where he had hung his uniform and lay down on his side, hiding his face in the pillow.
There, now he was a knight. A knight of the Royal Order of Zelfiria. And now what? Presumably, he was expected to do knightly things. Yustass expected him to do knightly things. When he had come home dressed in his respectable attire, with the silver Exoplion prominently displayed on his chest, Yustass had looked up from his pristine economics newspaper and said, "Do you think you'll be staying long?"
Bastard, bald, and bastard father. Yes, he thought he would stay for a long time. You're just getting started, boy, it's not time to rest on your laurels in this miserable little town in the most remote corner of the kingdom. You can't stay here killing little monsters that don't even concern the villagers: you have to travel, face calamities, make a name for yourself. “Oh, what the hell do you know about how it works, old goat? If they need my services at Headquarters they'll send me a registered letter.”
That conversation had taken place only in Viryl's mind, but Yustass could think whatever he liked, even if he thought that Zelfiria's walls were enough to protect it, it certainly wouldn't be his arrogance that would make him move out. He would stay at home to enjoy his knight's pension and raise a little extra cash by taking on the ridiculous assignments that were posted on the police station's bulletin board. And if they wanted him to move his ass to hunt down a colossal Fekoro or to confront foreign knights who were trespassing or a galleon of treacherous pirates, let them be the ones to call him.
Viryl tried to chase those thoughts away and closed his eyes to sleep. He was lying in his comfortable, bourgeois bed under silk sheets that Lady Lurtinia had diligently washed and ironed. They still smelled of laundry. He hadn't slept in it often in the last ten years, but his childhood memories confirmed that this was the smell of his bed. For Viryl, there was no safer bed in the entire kingdom of Ferlonia. Yet the anxiety in his chest burned like he was breathing in the fumes and sparks of an incandescent brazier. After an incalculable amount of time, Viryl's consciousness flew away, but his sleep was far from restful.
*****
When he reopened his eyes, Viryl had to reflect again for a few moments before being sure that he was indeed in his bed. Then he was struck by the melancholic thought that it was as if he had just turned a page, and that now he had before him a completely blank sheet on which to write the story of the rest of his life.
He put on his knight's uniform and, in order not to run into his father's ugly mug, who at that moment was surely having breakfast in the dining room, went up to the fifth floor, came out onto the balcony overlooking the street, and, after casting a muffling spell on his boots, jumped down. Even if the sun had been up for less than an hour and the street where his house was located never saw large crowds, being on the edge of the urban center, the astonished faces of half a dozen villagers were fixed on him after seeing him fall from the sky. Unconcerned by those looks, Viryl got to his feet and straightened his uniform.
The fresh and lively atmosphere that lingered in that morning of the month of Caducicus filled him with energy, and he went trotting towards Crucifixion Square, skirting the familiar white stone walls of the Zelfiria citadel. He was a bit peckish and thought that maybe he could stop by Ledomor the Fat's bakery, buy a cream donut for breakfast and a stuffed focaccia to keep for lunch, and then buy a copy of the Ferlonia Echo at the old Jaba's newsstand, and have his breakfast sitting on a bench in the square while reading the newspaper. Then he would go and choose his first assignment, the quietest one they had to offer, a little business to be concluded within a day.
While he was still fantasizing about what ridiculous enemy he would defeat during his first adventure, he had a vision that left him bewildered: the rough and neglected door that gave access to the baker's workshop had undergone a drastic change, revealing a caring feminine touch. The planks of the shutter had been oiled, the spartan sign that once simply read "bakery" had been replaced by a much dreamier one, which in sinuous and curly characters read "Ledomor's Delights", at the side of the steps that descended into the basement room hot as hell, where Ledomor sweated and cursed baking and taking out of the oven from dawn to dusk, pots of lush violets had been placed.
“Damn, this one came unexpected,” thought Viryl, descending the steps. He pushed the door, and its movement was accompanied by the silvery jingle of a wind chime. Behind the counter where one would expect to find the busy, old fat man, Viryl saw a dazzling deity. A blonde maenad with lilac eyes, wearing a white apron over a black wool sweater and a white handkerchief on her head, was humming and swaying loosely while arranging some dry biscuits on display on the counter. Seeing Viryl enter, the girl snapped to attention and blushed slightly. Maybe she was expecting to see a simple housewife come in instead of a big shot like him, Viryl thought. He didn't realize that the one who was red as a tomato ready to be made into sauce was him.
«I... I would like a don...donut with cream and a fo…focaccia, please,» Viryl asked in a shaky voice.
«How would you like the 'fo...focaccia', sir?» replied the girl with a smile, making fun of him a little. Viryl tried not to mind too much.
«Um, that one there, with ham and caciocavallo,» Viryl pointed, regaining his composure.
Humming, the girl began to wrap the requested food. Viryl noticed that behind her a brick wall had been erected and that the oven was no longer visible. With genuine curiosity Viryl asked: «What happened to the old man?»
«You mean Uncle Ledomor? He was old and had a bad back, so my cousin Dermor took over the business. He had a lot to do to freshen up this place.»
«Oh, I see. He's still doing well, I hope.»
«It wasn't exactly easy to get him retired, but I'd say yes. Are you from around here? It's a story from four years ago now.»
«Zelfirian to the core, but it's been a while since I've been around.»
«I understand.» said the girl, observing Viryl's Exoplion, then added cordially: «Well, I hope we'll see each other again, Mr. Knight!»
Viryl was tempted to reply something like "I hope so too!" or "Yes, we will definitely meet again!" or even something really cheesy, like "For sure I won't miss the occasion to admire your beautiful eyes again!", but he held back. Simply, after turning with the bag in his left hand, he raised his right in greeting and exclaimed: «See you soon!»
*****
«So, dear cousin. What did you think of this first experience as a knight?» Tolomer began, uncorking his beer on a concrete corner. The sun was setting over Zelfiria, but the street lamps had not yet been turned on, and its winding alleys from their elevated position looked like a dark tangle cut in half by the last sparkles reflected by the stream that flowed through the center of the citadel. He and Viryl had made an appointment on the top floor balcony of the abandoned villa that had once been the den of the Daredevil’s Congregation. Viryl had brought some cold beers to celebrate the success of his first assignment, purchased with the carlini of that first collected bounty.
«That’s hard to call it a knight's experience. It was just a ferenkelt. A spiny boar that was giving trouble to the potato growers in the villages to the north.»
Tolomer spat out the sip he had in his mouth and exclaimed: «Suddenly this beer tastes like blood!»
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
«Don't be melodramatic. What did you think the duties of a knight in Zelfiria consisted of? Going mushroom picking?»
«Okay, after all, ferenkelts aren't very nice, and spiny boars even less so.»
«Look at it this way, the monster had already attacked four or five peasants who had desperately tried to chase it away with their pitchforks, which resulted in some very bad lacerations that became infected. It's not certain they'll make it. Would you have so much more consideration for a crazy killer?»
«No, no, of course not.» concluded Tolomer, trying to drop the subject. He would have had a thing or two to answer back, but on that debate they could have been stuck for hours. To bring the conversation elsewhere, he asked: «How does it feel to be back home? How are your folks doing?»
«Same old, same old. Yustass is the same pain in the ass, Lurtinia the same ball-breaker. But on the other hand, Zelfiria... has improved, let's put it that way. It gives me positive vibes.»
«You've been smoking good stuff.»
«No, seriously. It seems livelier and more vibrant than usual. Like, you know Ledomor the Fat's bakery?»
«Well? You mean his son renovated it? Big deal.»
«Yes, but, I mean, they fixed it up with refined taste. And then, that sweet maiden at the counter... she brightened my day.»
«You mean Darlah? Come on, then you just have another crush. And you couldn't have a worse one.»
«You know her? Her name is Darlah?»
«Dear cousin, leave her alone. She's not for you. I'm serious, she's a woman of ill repute and a respectable knight shouldn't be seen around with someone like her. And for the opposite reasons, I don't think she's safe by your side.»
«So what? You are a "man of ill repute" as well, yet I show up with you.»
«Do you think I'm a blasphemer? You have no idea what that witch is capable of.»
«Get lost. She is a seventeen years old girl, eighteen at most. And then she seemed anything but possessed to me.»
«Yeah, a year younger than me. So what? Do you think we're still in primary school, Viryl? Do you think that at our age professing the cult of pagan gods is a medal for alternative people to proudly appoint on our chest? We are no longer children, and if something about our dark passions leaks to the public, it takes a moment for the Inquisition to find us and burn us in the square. I tell you that she, in the grip of her hormonal mayhem, would let the very devil fuck her and carry his child in her womb, if only the devil had time to hear her.»
«Why the hell are you so mean tonight, Tolomer?»
«I'm not mean, Viryl. I was there when she transferred to the Zelfiria high school for classical studies. We had the same circle of friends, before I went to continue my studies at the University of Leapoli. I saw her do unspeakable things.Therefore, for your mutual good, I tell you to leave her alone.»
«Even if so, what does it matter? Do you think I could betray the woman I love?»
«No, that’s not what I’m concerned about. You wouldn't betray her, just as you wouldn't betray me. But she wouldn't return your love. If she were to play along, she would only do it to drag you into abysses from which you would then struggle to get out. Strange I have to explain these things to someone who studied at the Academy of the Spheres of Lazul.»
«Maybe that's the problem.» Viryl said enigmatically.
Tolomer, who had perched himself on the parapet during the conversation, turned to look at his cousin with curious eyes, but did not want to investigate further. He simply closed this second bickering by saying: «In any case, you are free to do as you please. Take what I told you as simple advice from a friend.»
«Do you think you will stay in Zelfiria for a long time?» Viryl asked, as he also wanted to change the subject.
«No. In a few days I'll be back in Leapoli for the new academic optamester.»
*****
As anticipated, Tolomer left and Viryl found himself in his native citadel without friends to distract him from his work.
His routine settled down and in the following weeks he began to live it with greater lightheartedness, not caring what Yustass thought. He would accept an assignment in the area, usually something that could be solved in less than three days, go and do it, come back and pocket his reward.
When he was in Zelfiria, he didn't have much to do. He walked, he read. Sometimes in the evening he would have a drink, but having no one to share the drunkenness with, he never went overboard.
He often went to Ledomor's bakery with the sole purpose of chatting with Darlah. She was nice and pungent, and they started making recurring jokes. She had certainly noticed that he was interested in her, but she neither held him back nor pushed him to make more explicit advances. They simply had a few laughs together, then he thanked her and left. In any case, their conversations always revolved around the news of Zelfiria, sometimes about the government, sometimes about what they were planning for the future, but Darlah never gave any signs that confirmed what Tolomer had said about her. In Viryl's eyes, she was just a girl with a lot of spice and very attractive, and every day he wanted to spend more time with her, and she seemed to reciprocate his interest.
Towards the end of the month of Caducicus, school started again and Darlah part-timed only in the afternoon. It became more difficult to intercept her, but if he was free, Viryl found a way to visit her whenever he could.
The month of Funereo began and ended. The days grew shorter, the leaves on the trees turned yellow.
Viryl was returning from a hunting assignment. A man-eating hare had developed quite an appetite in anticipation of hibernation and had begun to spread panic in the hills surrounding the Firello River valley. He had volunteered to take care of it. Flushing it out had been complicated, but then it hadn't proved to be a great adversary. He had skinned and butchered it, and now he was walking up the main road to Zelfiria with a bulky fur on his shoulder and a saddlebag full of fetid predator meat. The rest of the carcass he had left to the villagers to do with as they pleased.
While he was proceeding swiftly towards the gate of the white citadel, he began to hear the clatter of numerous horses behind him, which was getting closer and closer. Being completely focused on settling the bounty issue before "Ledomor's Delights" closed, he had moved to the side of the roadway so as not to be run over and had not even turned around to see who it was. However, when the group reached him, the man at the head of it signaled the others to stop trotting and they began to proceed at Viryl's pace. The party was formed by four knights of the Royal Order of Ferlonia. Viryl, slightly annoyed by their nosiness, continued to advance without even looking at them.
«Is this how you decided to waste your talent, Viryl son of Yustass? By tormenting the sickly beasts of these insignificant lands?» asked the knight who had stopped the entire group in a polemical manner that approached mockery.
At that provocation, Viryl could not help but exchange glances with him. The man's voice was familiar, his accent was Sanchirian, but Viryl couldn't recognize it. Judging by the almost beardless face, he must have been about the same age as him. Studying more carefully the locks of medium-length wheat-colored hair combed back and the proud look, Viryl understood that it must have been Radios. In fact, he had asked for news of him a month and a half before, when he had arrived in Leapoli for the Extraordinary Adoubement ceremony, and had been told that the new recruits had already been sent on missions, so he had not had the opportunity to meet him on that occasion. Although he hadn't seen him for over ten years, he could be reasonably sure it was him.
«How a man decides to waste his talent is his business, Radios,» Viryl said sourly, and added, «I'm surprised you decided to return to these insignificant lands.»
«Force majeure, my friend,» Radios replied with genuine kindness in his voice, as if he wanted to immediately reconcile after that approach tantamount to a surprise slap. He then began to explain: «Headquarters has issued an urgent assignment to be carried out at Lake Ophania. Does that ring a bell?»
Viryl shuddered and replied sarcastically, «Insignificant lands, huh?»
«Every now and then even insignificant lands can have their ten minutes of fame. Anyway, since I know the place, I volunteered to lead the expedition with three other rookies. We're already four, but a fifth man would be useful. Why don't you join us?»
«Ten minutes of fame and they send four rookies? Tell me more about your assignment. I've been paying attention to the local news lately, but there's nothing that made me think of headquarters being activated.»
«Because the request comes from the archbishop of Corlona, who has recommended confidentiality on the matter. Three inquisitors who had been sent to investigate an alleged sect of Demon worshipers, spotted while celebrating rituals on the shores of the lake, have disappeared. They arrived in Zelfiria incognito ten days ago and since then there has been no news of them. We need to find them, dead or alive, and eliminate the cultists.»
«How is the reward?»
«Good. Thirty ducats for anyone who participates.»
«Well, I think I'll join your expedition then.»