Amy stepped out into the hall wearing a clean shirt and trousers, both made of a light but surprisingly durable cloth. It all felt so surreal, she knew she was in a castle atop a giant flying island, but it felt more like some modernized palace. The bedroom had an attached bathroom, complete with a warm shower she spent a good half hour using to scrub away every bit of dirt and blood that had dried to her skin, desperately removing the evidence of the hours she’d spent hiding in the mud as monsters killed her family. Her clothes had been torn and unrecoverable, so she’d left them in a pile on the tiled floor of the bathroom, opting to change into the clothes laid out for her.
“Feeling better?” asked Lady White who was awaiting her in the hallway.
“A bit,” Amy nodded, looking to see a number of the other knights in training waiting as well, all of them dressed much like she was while looking freshly showered, “I’m sorry I took so long.”
“Don’t be,” White dismissed, “There’s no rush.”
The young girl nodded but didn’t say anything as the instructor lead them down the long, confusing hallways of the castle. Dozens of men and women, all dressed like they were in some fantasy roleplay, rushed down the halls.
“Normally we’d introduce you to Lord Orlan as a prospective knight, but he’s busy right now,” Lady White explained, walking with a calm confidence that Amy found impressive. Maybe it was her recent traumatic experiences but the instructor radiated a sense of cool power that Amy found herself desiring.
“You said one of the other knights went missing?” Amy asked.
“Yup,” White nodded, “he can be quite protective of us.”
“But you’re so strong,” said Amy slowly, “isn’t it… insulting for a man to feel the need to protect you when you can protect yourself?”
“He’s our Lord Protector, ultimately he’s in charge of us and, thus, he feels responsible for our wellbeing,” shrugged Lady White, “looking out for those you command is part of being a good leader.”
“I personally think it’s sweet,” another trainee named Ruby said with playfully overdramatic swoon, “even though we’re stronger than most people he’s willing to rush to our rescue at need.”
“Ignore her,” a second trainee who went by Topaz said, giving Ruby a playful push, “my sister is a hopeless romantic.”
“it’s natural for girls to want to feel protected,” Ruby protested with a giggle, “just like it’s natural for men to want to protect.”
“I was taught that a strong woman doesn’t need a man,” Amy said softly.
“What a foolish thought,” Ruby snorted, “no wonder Master Orlan took to the other side so well, if this one tells him he’s unneeded.”
“Just because we’re strong doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate a knight in shining armor,” Topaz said, giving her sister another push.
“It’s not an issue of male or female,” White interrupted, “he’s responsible for our wellbeing, and he takes that responsibility seriously. Your father did the same when he sent you to hide.”
“But… why take my brother with him?” Amy asked softly.
“He probably insisted he come,” Ruby said, clasping her hands together and swooning playfully again, “how touching, father and son working together to protect you, I can just-.”
“Stop it,” Topaz snapped, flicking Ruby in the forehead to stop her. Ruby looked about to protest until she saw the tears in Amy’s eyes.
“Oh,” Ruby squeaked, “I’m sorry.”
“The point,” White said slowly, glaring over her shoulder at the two sisters, “is that if you want to protect someone, anyone, you need power. You need the strength to bare that responsibility.”
“And you’ll give me that?” Amy asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“We’ll show you how to gain it yourself,” White said, leading the group out of the castle and into a training yard, “we can’t start your awakening until we’re sure the magic won’t kill you, so for now we’ll do some simple weapon training.”
The older instructor motioned to the side of the hard dirt yard where a number of racks held wooden weapons of all kinds. Amy slowly approached the racks, looking over the weapons. After a minute she reached to pick up a wooden training sword only to grunt as it refused to budge. Grabbing it with both hands she strained to pick it up, only getting it a few inches before losing her balance from the surprisingly heavy weapon. Instructor White’s hand reached out to snatch the weapon before Amy could fall over.
“That’s a tier three weapon, probably a bit much for you,” White said, putting the weapon casually back on the rack, “mundane weapons are at the far end.”
“You can use that thing?” Amy asked, looking at White in shock, “that thing had to weigh at least, like, forty pounds.”
“Wood gets denser and heavier as it tiers up, these weapons are specifically made to mimic the weight of steel weapons of their tier,” White explained, holding out another wooden sword that Amy gingerly accepted once she realized it weighed as much as a wooden object that size should, “the added weight makes it easier for us to apply our enhanced strength, you can’t strike something as hard with a blade of grass as you could with a stick.”
Amy simply nodded, taking a few awkward swings with the wooden sword. She’d never used a weapon before, but it felt powerful, like she could crush the ant monsters that killed her family with it as she swung the sword.
“No, hold it like this, keep the blade aligned with the swing,” White said, reaching in to adjust her grip, “and fix your stance, you want your legs about shoulder wide with knees slightly bent out.”
Amy did her best to keep up with the flood of instructions, setting her jaw and imagining she was slashing at those monsters with each swipe of the wooden blade.
\-\-\-\-\-
“You’re certain about that?” Theodor asked one of the analysts in a demanding tone, “the white house knows nothing about the missing knight?”
“That’s what they told me,” the younger man said, nodding rapidly.
“What about transportation,” Theodor spun to face another group of interns, “any flights that could have carried the girl?”
“There was a private jet that flew from Jefferson to DC in the right time frame,” the intern said, still holding a phone to his ear, “I’m still trying to track down who the owner is.”
“The flying ship is on the move!” another shouted, pointing at the TV, instantly silencing everyone in the room as they turned to see the flying ship while Theodor turned the volume up.
“It seems the ‘sky cutter’ is on the move,” the anchor said, “does this mean the missing knight has been located?”
“Hard to say,” another voice responded, “looks like its headed for the south-western side of DC.”
“Will they respect the capitol’s airspace? In the past they’ve always landed outside restricted air, but could they be intending to ignore it?”
“Again, hard to say Casey, it looks like they’re planning to land south of Arlington. Perhaps near the Army Navy Country Club?”
“Damnit!” Theodor cursed, muting the TV again, “I hope he’s not headed where I think he is.”
“Where is he heading?” an analyst asked.
“If he lands at the Country Club, that puts him less than a mile from the Pentagon.”
“Shit,” the analyst agreed.
\-\-\-\-\-
Orlan and the first lance were on the ground before the Cutter even stopped, rushing alongside the highway, nearly keeping up with the traffic even though they were on foot. None of them said anything as sirens began to sound around them, police mobilizing to try and contain them. But caught off guard and headed for somewhere unexpected they weren’t stopped, arriving outside the imposing structure of the pentagon only a couple minutes after landing.
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“Well?” Orlan asked, looking at Nallia who held what looked like a large compass, in it a dowsing rod wrapped in a hair from the missing knight spun lazily. After coming to a stop she pushed some mana into the item and the needle swung to point directly at the Pentagon. It waved back and forth slightly, but this close to the target even the weak aether of this side was enough to give a decent reading. Nallia simply nodded, prompting him to sprint directly into the grand structure. Building security were unable to so much as react as Orlan and his knights tore through the entryway at superhuman speeds. They’d only just begun to receive warning that Orlan was headed their way and were utterly unable to do anything as security doors designed to stop explosives shattered, barely slowing the angry protector lord down.
Nallia too the lead, guiding them down the confusing maze of hallways that was the Pentagon with the compass. It took them several minutes to navigate the odd building until they reached a dead end where the compass begun to spin in place. Nallia turned the compass on its side and the needle pointed down.
“A false floor?” Orlan asked.
“Feels solid,” she replied, tapping the ground with her foot, “could be a hidden door.”
“Then there should be a switch around here, right?” Lailra asked, feeling along the walls, “that’s what the adventurers say isn’t it?”
“That’s what I’ve heard,” Nallia agreed, starting to put the compass away as Orlan knelt down to inspect the ground where the compass had pointed. Before she could begin searching he lifted a fist, the purple flames of the void covered his gauntlet as he punched down, striking the ground with immense force. The entire building seemed to shake as his fist cratered the ground, the energies of his void strike tearing through the mundane materials, quickly reducing the carpet and concrete to a sandy consistency.
Unwilling to wait he raised his other fist and struck the ground again, his hand once more covered in the dark flames of his void strike ability. This time the concrete cracked and fell away into another hallway. Dropping down it was virtually identical to the one they’d just been in. Fluorescent lights illuminating plain blue carpeting and dull whitish walls, it looked indistinguishable from anywhere else in the structure.
Nallia pulled her compass out again and the needle now pointed resolutely down the hallway, they were getting close.
A minute later Orlan barged through a thick steel wooden door like it wasn’t there, revealing a larger room with steel cells along one side. A man in a normal business suit and tie looked shocked as Orlan rushed him. To Orlan’s surprise, however, the man leaned back, narrowly avoiding the punch Orlan had aimed at him. He hadn’t been planning to kill, the blow had been to knock the man out but for a normal person to dodge was impressive enough that it caught Orlan off guard.
The man scrambled backwards, pulling a card from its lanyard and pressing it to a reader attached to one of the steel cages. The reader beeped and the cage popped open, revealing a tall, lanky gorilla-like monster with the head of a boar. Orlan recognized it as one of the monsters from the rift he’d come through. The monster was weakened, barely alive, but as its restraints popped open it let out a raspy roar as it charged the first person it saw.
Orlan ducked the sloppy swing, stepping in and countering with enough force to cave in the monster’s rib cage. Confirming the monster was dead he turned to see to the man, only to catch a glimpse of a door swinging shut. Before he could give chase a hand grabbed his arm.
“Orlan,” Lailra said, restraining him gently and pointing to another cage, “look.”
He turned to see a woman in one of the cages, one of his training knights. The man forgotten he took two steps through space ending up within the cage before where she sat, unresponsive. There was a tube leading to her arm that Orlan pulled out, careful to not injure her. Behind him Lailra ripped the door to the large cage open.
“Her bindings,” Orlan said, pointing at the oddly colored leather straps holding her in the steel chair, “do you feel at too?”
“Feel what?” Lailra asked, reaching out to touch the leather, “oh, its magical, tier one? Maybe a low tier two?”
“Tier one,” Nallia confirmed, analyzing it with a spell, “looks like it came from a monster. The processing is crude however, the monster it came from was likely tier three.”
“Any enchantments?” Orlan asked.
“No.”
Nodding Orlan pulled a knife to cut the leather, freeing the unconscious girl from the chair.
“She’s uninjured,” Lailra said, inspecting the knight with a healer’s eye, “just some mild sedative. She should wake in a few minutes now that no more is being pumped into her.”
“Boss?” Dalia called, her and the other knights of the first lance inspecting the other cells, “what should we do with the monsters?”
Orlan scowled, finally turning his attention to the other cages in the large room as he picked the unconscious knight in training up. There were a dozen other cells, and most of them held one or more monsters, all heavily restrained. There were a couple ant creatures from the Jefferson rift, one other gorilla thing from Boston, and some he recognized from previous rifts that had occurred on this side before he arrived.
“Kill them,” Orlan ordered, “if you have room in your personal space take the bodies, but our goal is to get out of here safely now.”
\-\-\-\-\-
“You’re certain he’s still inside?” Theodor demanded over the phone, the harried national guard commander on the other side responding quickly.
“Yes! He went in ten minutes ago and hasn’t come out yet,” he repeated angrily, “I have orders from the President to detain him.”
“Don’t!” Theodor cried, “if his kidnapped knight is in there, we’re in the wrong.”
“I don’t answer to congress,” the national guard officer snapped, “I’m only even speaking with you because I was told you’ve been conducting an investigation of this Orlan.”
“And I’m telling you, you won’t be able to stop him.”
“I don’t care how strong this supposed magic is, I have a dozen fifty cals trained on each side of the building.”
“Which might be qualified to give him a back massage,” Theodor snapped, “listen, don’t think of him as infantry, he’s a main battle tank shaped like a human. Perhaps even a light cruiser. And that’s alone, he has a dozen of his knights with him.”
“Right, maybe you should leave the combat analysis to the military,” the commander audibly sneered before the line went dead.
“Fuck!” Theodor roared, throwing the phone across the room, “someone get the president on the line!”
“Afraid they won’t be able to stop him?” one of the analysts asked.
“I’m afraid they’ll force him to respond with deadly force,” Theodor said, desperately typing on his laptop, “the missing knight was supposed to be a knight in training, meaning she is likely weaker than him or his other knights. So while they might not be at risk, she might be, especially if she’s injured from being in captivity. And if she’s injured…”
“The podcast,” the analyst said eyes widening in realization. Clips of the cast had already started going up, and one of the more viral ones was of Lailra explaining how dangerous Orlan could be if one of his knights was injured. If she wasn’t overstating his power, and he really could reduce a small city to a burning crater, he was in the middle of DC right now.
“No one at the white house is answering,” an intern said, already attempting to dial again, “all the lines are busy.”
“does anyone know any personal phone of someone who works there?” Theodor demanded, “or knows someone who knows someone? We might have minutes before things get messy.”
“Should we… evacuate?” a scared intern asked.
“We should be safe here,” Theodor said, “but if any intern wants to run then feel free, just don’t expect to keep your internship.”
After a tense moment no one in the office moved before Theodor nodded, turning back to his laptop.
“I have an idea,” an intern said slowly, drawing Theodor’s gaze.
\-\-\-\-\-
Orlan walked out into the deserted entry lobby of the Pentagon, carrying the still unconscious knight himself. The parking lot to the building was filled with military and police vehicles, dozens of weapons on the exit to the building as they saw movement in the trashed lobby.
“Looks like about a hundred people out there, all armed with firearms,” Nallia reported, “some quite big, I believe you called them machine guns?”
“Those might not be much of a threat to us, but for Sara,” Lailra said slowly, gesturing to the unconscious knight in Orlan’s arms.
Orlan opened his mouth to give orders when a phone in the lobby began ringing. Scowling Orlan looked at the phone, it was directly in front of him, surely the call couldn’t be a coincidence. Seeming to understand his thinking Lailra stepped forward and picked the phone up.
“Hello?” she asked, the person on the other side muffled by her ear. Her eyes seemed to widen slightly in surprise and held it out for Orlan, “it’s for you, my Lord.”
“Hello?” Orlan said carefully as she pressed the phone to his ear.
“Orlan? I’m Theodor from the congressional committee on… well, it doesn’t matter,” the man on the other side said.
“I’m not holding any hostages or anything,” Orlan said dryly.
“I know! Look, I’m assuming you found your missing knight, correct? And that you’ve seen what is waiting for you outside?” the man said quickly, “they have orders to bring you in, direct from the president apparently.”
“So what do you want?”
“I want to avoid violence, my team was assigned to investigate you and, unlike many, I believe you are more than capable of dealing with the forces outside,” Theodor explained, “but I’m afraid that doing so while protecting your trainee things could get… deadly. I want to avoid that.”
“And why should I listen to you?” Orlan growled, “your people took one of mine hostage, bound and drugged her alongside a dozen monsters in a hidden under level. If she was injured I would have already reduced this building to rubble.”
“They what?” Theodor gasped, “monsters? Like those from the rifts? They had some held underneath the Pentagon? Why? Wait, it’s not important right now. Look, if you step outside right now, things will turn violent. It could lead to war between us.”
“You think I’m afraid?”
“I think you’ll do anything for your people, while I don’t doubt your power I’m sure you know how powerful the US military is.”
“Sounds like you’re threatening me,” Orlan said.
“I’m not! But surely you can see where this is headed as well?” Theodor pleaded.
“Then what are you offering?”
“I have a way for your people to get out safely and allow us to avoid conflict.”
“I’m listening.”
“If you surrender yourself then you-.”
“I refuse,” Orlan interrupted.
“Listen to me! I promise if you let them arrest you, your people will be allowed to go home safely.”
“And all I have to do is become a prisoner?”
“I don’t think we have a cell that could possibly hold you,” Theodor explained rapidly, “but this is the only way for this to end without violence.”
“So you expect me to surrender myself then break out later? How does that make anything better?”
“For one your people will be safe, but, more importantly, the media is all over the Pentagon right now. If you willingly turn yourself in to save your people, to prevent violence, there will be a massive outcry against the government. I doubt they’ll be able to hold you more than a week even if you don’t break out.”
Orlan paused to think, looking at his increasingly anxious knights. This Theodor was spot on, surprisingly. He wanted to avoid combat, he just wanted his people to be safe. But to let himself be arrested for that, was he willing to sacrifice his pride like that?
“I agree,” Orlan said, it wasn’t even a question, his pride meant nothing if it allowed him to keep those he cared about safe, “but if anything happens to my knights…”
“Then at least I can say I did my best,” Theodor said, clearly relieved, “now give me a minute to call the national guard and explain the situation.”