July 8th, 875

Metirine Castle

Empire of Sedina

Silver flashed and a line of blood splattered on to the wall as another knight was cut down.

“Foolish, I thought Imperial Knights were better than this… Perhaps their training has gotten lax with time. Simply charging the moment the intruder is located instead of trying to contain the threat until reinforcements arrive to guarantee the threat is properly eliminated.”

He nudged a helmet loose with his shoe to get a better look at the wearer.

“That would be why, he is young. The desire for glory and victory blinds them. Lust for glory and arrogance in their own strength prevented them from making a calm evaluation of what they faced.”

It had taken them too long to find out something was wrong. The alarm had only been raised a few moments prior.

He resumed walking, stepping over the body of the knight. Soon he would be outside, then he could escape this place. After that he would have to find her. She would know how to get him home once more, assuming she was still alive. She should be, but this world wasn’t as peaceful as his homeland. Of course she wasn’t one easily killed, many a fool had already learned that she was more dangerous than she appeared.

As he rounded the corner he could see the corridor ended in a T shaped junction ahead, but what caused him to smile was the arrow slits in the wall. Arrow slits were generally only applied to the outer walls which meant all he had to do is follow the wall and he would find a door leading out.

He walked forward quietly and with caution. Now that the alarm had been raised more toops and knights would be looking for him. Although they didn’t know what he looked like, his appearance was different enough to show that he didn’t belong and that would be enough to be stopped, or in the case of young fools attacked for being suspicious.

Once he arrived at the junction he looked right and left checking for enemies. Upon finding none, he looked both ways again this time a little closer to see details. To the right was a long corridor with the arrow slits appearing regularly spaced along the left wall. To the left, it traveled for only about 15 meters before ending with an iron reinforced door.

“Perfect, exterior doors are always reinforced incase of attack. This also makes finding an exterior door much easier. Well, that or it leads to the roof or a room of importance. I hope it's not the roof, I don’t have any repelling gear.”

As he approached the door, he readied his sword. Once he got to the door he listened carefully but didn’t hear any sounds of armor or movement. He grabbed the handle and slowly pulled the door open just far enough to see out. What he saw was both good and bad.

The good part was that it did indeed lead outside, the bad was that it was the castle wall ramparts. Which meant that he still had to find a way down and do it while exposed.

Then he heard it, boots on stone and the rattling of arrows in a quiver. An archer, probably a wall guard on patrol. However, where was he?

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The good news, Sildraxic had told her, was that he knew a way out. The only drawback was that it was the route that he had been brought in on when he had first arrived. Which meant it would be a roundabout route (which was good) but he had no idea what security would be like or what was in that area to know what foot traffic would be like (which would be a problem).

Oh well, we will deal with that when we come to it. Should be able to bluff our way past them with a hologram.

That thought of Heidi’s turned out to be true but between the holograms and her acting, it worked a little too well.

When she had encountered them, instead of challenging her like she had expected they instead informed her that the intruder was headed for the west gate and that she needed to join them as all available knights were to capture or kill the intruder. Now she was in the process of coming up with a new plan as she followed the trio of “knights” or whatever these soldiers in plate armor were called.

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She could see a T shaped intersection ahead when she caught the scent of blood. She started to slow down and moments later the three knights did as well. Upon reaching the intersection the knights cautiously stepped in and looked around only briefly before the one to the left muttered something and the others focused on that direction. Their posture shifted from vigilant to a mix of resignation and anger. Only after they started walking down the left path did she approach the intersection and check each way to assess the situation.

Five meters to her left were what looked like two bodies. As she approached she confirmed that it was in fact two dead bodies. One of which had been decapitated and the other had been pierced through the throat.

As she followed the knights past the bodies she looked at the decapitated one, noting the clean cut. Who ever killed him had done so in one swing and had cut clean through the bone.

The knights advanced down the corridor towards a wooden door that had what looked like iron strips bolted to it. Next to the door there seemed to be someone sitting next to it. As they approached, one of the knights called out to the person but there was no response.

Upon arrival at the door it became obvious that the person, who was dressed not in metal plate armor like the knights but in what looked like leather, was in fact dead. A single stab through the heart. On the other side of the door, which was not completely closed, they could hear the sounds of a fight.

As the two knights turned and started towards the door while reaching for their swords, she spoke in a commanding voice, “Wait.”

The two halted and looked at her with questioning looks.

“Why should we wait? The enemy is outside!”

“Are they? How many of them are there? What weapons do they have? Are they watching or waiting at the door to kill anyone that comes through? Before you blindly rush in and get yourselves killed or worse make the situation worse by distracting your allies at a critical moment and get them killed. You should assess the situation calmly. Bottle that anger, the hate, save it and use it when you need that extra push.”

“You,” she pointed at the one closest to the door, “look outside and observe what is happening and tell us what you see. However, no matter what you see, do NOT go out there until I say so.”

“You,” she pointed at the other one, “stand behind him and be ready to support him if he is attacked.”

“Once we know what’s happening and where, we will strike swiftly and decisively. Now get in position… MOVE!”

As the two knights moved as she directed, she watched and waited. Whether they did what she told them due to the authoritative tone to her voice or because they agreed with her didn’t matter as long as they did it. She needed information, like who was who and where they were. She didn’t know who the intruder was or how to tell them apart from those that occupied this place. The knights would know, they lived and worked here.

The first knight carefully opened the door and reported his observations. “Archers on both walls flanking the courtyard but they seem to be waiting for a clear target. Intruder appears to be an old man in strange clothes wielding a sword. He is in the courtyard fighting several knights. Several have already fallen to his blade. The gate is still barred so he won’t be able to unbar it to open the gate to escape without being pierced by arrows from the archers. We should make our move before more die.”

“Yes, we should make a move” she said as she stepped forward drawing her combat knife. She moved to the second knight reaching from behind him, covering his mouth with one hand as she thrust the knife up under his jaw and into his brain. With a quick shaking of the knife, slicing a Z shaped cut through the unsuspecting knight's brain, she then withdrew the knife and tossed the body to the side and lunged for the other knight closing the distance before the now dead knight even hit the ground.

She clamped her free hand over his mouth as he turned towards her to respond to her comment. He was given no time to act as she slammed his head into the stone wall. Before he could regain his bearings she slammed the knife up under his jaw, killing him just like the other knight.

She withdrew the knife, wiped it clean on his tabard and sheathed it. As she started to unbuckle his sword belt she heard an explosion outside and an irritated voice yelled out; “ENOUGH!! Otherworlder, cease your violent and destructive actions! Continuing in this manner will only result in your brutal death. Surrender now and that can be avoided.”

With sword belt and sword in hand she peeked around the corner to see what was going on, as they shouldn’t know she was there. She hadn’t made THAT much noise, the fighting in the courtyard should have covered it.

What she saw made her pause and change her plans. The “intruder” as the knights had referred to him must be the “otherworlder” that the voice yelled at. The reason for that belief was the fact that the old man in the courtyard was dressed in normal civilian clothes with a backpack that would fit in on either some of the more backwater planets that tend to be decades behind in fashion or from a historical show. Either way it didn’t really matter, he was human and probably from the United Terrain Planets, which was all she needed to know to decide on what her next course of action was.