Gideon walked with haste away from the kitchens, still holding onto the large glass bottle. He was running out of time; he knew Dorian would eventually call back the Knights hunting him, but at the moment, headquarters should be relatively undefended.

He was grateful for an ally in Rikter, and was glad he had given him the benefit of the doubt. The student was still worried about his safety, but knew that at this point, he couldn’t do anything about it. Gideon still had to make it through the library, down an elevator, and through a maze of passages to get to the Knights’ base and cause some damage. The part that scared him the most was the leader of the Knights of the Silver Moon himself, Bernhard Dorian.

Tall, with lean muscle, slicked back black hair, and piercing dark eyes, Dorian had zeroed in on Gideon within his first week at Grenfield. He told him about the Knights: a group that hand-picked recruits that he knew would achieve a level of excellence the rest of the student body would dream of. And Gideon ate up every word, many naive men did. Getting stronger, faster, more deadly. Mastery of Gifts and the Nine Stances, even the forbidden Tenth. More and more needed to be done to prove loyalty, and leaving was not an option.

It was close to graduation, and although he was getting wary of his involvement with the Knights, Gideon didn’t know what else he would do once school was over.

“Come work for me!” Dorian had suggested, after Gideon had confided in his trepidation. He then looked around, making sure no one else was around to listen. “I need someone strong like you around if we’re going to collect Destined Objects.”

Gideon paused, confused. “I’m sorry,” he replied. “You want to collect them?”

“Of course!” his master answered charismatically, before noting his student’s concern. He put his arm around his shoulder.

“Look, you know that as a Knight, we have a duty to be strong and powerful,” he began.

“Yes.” Gideon replied.

“Well that’s how we do it!” Dorian continued. “I wouldn’t share this with you if I didn’t trust you completely. You have so much potential, and if you stay with me, you’re only going to reach that potential that much faster.”

Gideon thought. “I suppose…”

Dorian smiled. “I knew you were a smart boy. Did you know that all the Destined Objects in the world go back to the very first, extremely powerful one?”

Gideon gawked. He didn’t know that.

“It’s true. It’s taught that glory comes from Destined Objects, but how do you think Destined Objects become vessels for glory to begin with?” he asked.

“We’re told that the gods bless objects that are pure enough, and that allows them to turn the morning sun’s energy into glory,” Gideon answered.

Dorian shook his head. “Yes, that’s what we’re taught. But it doesn’t make sense, does it? Why do some golden things turn into Objects but others don’t? Gold hidden in far away lands doesn’t become a Destined Object, only ones around people who have glory in the first place. It’s a cycle, my boy. And it all leads back to…well, let me show you.”

The master led the student down into the underground storage, the dank, cold stone walls echoing their footsteps as Dorian gracefully led them along. He nodded at two doormen who let them pass, and walked through a door into a surprisingly large chamber. Gideon had been here many times, the headquarters for the Knights of the Silver Moon. While Gideon’s mind was still whirling at the developments Dorian was teasing, his muscle memory still let his feet through several winding hallways, eventually coming to the master’s office door.

“Since you’re about to graduate and officially take your oaths, I wanted you to get a view of the whole picture,” Dorian said, as he fished a key out of his vest pocket and plunged it deftly into the door’s lock. He turned the key then pushed the door inward, revealing a plain, yet somehow intimidating office. The walls were lined with bookshelves, and a large table full of maps and scrolls occupied the back corner. The room smelled lively, despite being so far underground, and was well-maintained.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Dorian walked quickly up to a bookshelf, and pulled out a thick volume with a blue cover and spine. The language on the cover wasn’t one that Gideon recognized, but he only got a glimpse before his master opened the book and started leafing through the pages. He stopped, then pointed to a diagram. Axeton heard the telltale pop of Dorian’s knuckles, a subconscious thing he did when he became too excited.

“I found this book years ago,” he began, as he lightly dragged his index finger around the page. “It’s in a dead language from Garesh.”

Gideon was amazed. Garesh, as he understood it, was the capital of the continent over a thousand years ago. A coup d'etat from the king of Garesh’s brother, using Morwell’s much more abundant resources, destroyed the capitol and it was rebuilt at Morwell. Any artifacts of that age were extremely rare.

Dorian continued, excitedly. “It shows a cycle of a Destined Objects giving glory to people around it, which in turn creates a new Destined Object. No gods involved!”

“Incredible…” Gideon mused. “Wait…you said it all leads back to something? The first one?”

Dorian smiled broadly, a mischievous look in his eye, as he gently turned the ancient page. Another diagram showed some kind of device, with undecipherable words written above it. Dorian tapped the picture.

“This is the Destiny Engine,” he answered, barely able to contain himself. “At least, that’s what the ancient people who discovered it called it here. The source of all Destined Objects. It emits so much glory that any gold nearby becomes not only a new Destined Object, but one of incredible power..”

The master pointed a finger at Gideon. “And not only that, it never needs to be recharged by the sun.”

Gideon blinked, his mind gone sideways. “Wait…I…what? That’s incredible! Do you know where it is?”

“That’s the thing,” Dorian replied. The location has been lost for millenia. But based on these diagrams, if we collect enough old and powerful Destined Objects, ones with ancient ties to the Destiny Engine, they’ll somehow guide us to it. I’m still studying this text, but if I’m lucky it’ll lead me to knowledge that’s been gone for a thousand years. Can you imagine what the Knights could do with an unending and self-sustaining supply of Destined Objects? Every Knight gets their own. Hell, they can have as many as they can carry. And we’ll lead them.”

The calm voice streamed gently through the student’s head.

Lead them to what?

Gideon’s brows furrowed. “What would we do with this power?” he asked his master.

Dorian hooked a thumb into his belt, using his other hand to make vague gestures into the air. “Pfft…whatever we want. We’ll build a place where the strong and Gifted have limitless power, as it should be. You’ll be one of them, one of my generals.”

The student thought about his Giftless mother and brother, his friends, and the scores of others who wouldn’t fit into this plan.

“And everyone else?” he asked.

Dorian leaned closer, matching Gideon’s eyes with a stone cold face of indifference.

“They can serve us, or go somewhere else.”

KILL THEM, the violent voice supplied in his head. THE WEAK HAVE NO PLACE.

Gideon gulped, his mouth dry. He knew his master would never let people, let alone a society full of Giftless, ever get a chance to enact any kind of change if he was in charge. He was lying, to placate Gideon’s sensibilities.

“You don’t have a problem with that, do you son?” his master asked. He had grabbed his arm in a flash, and tightly squeezed.

Gideon did his best to maintain his composure, but Dorian would be able to tell he had an elevated heart rate the way he was gripping his arm. He always got the information he needed.

“No…I don’t have a problem.” he replied. “That’s what the Knights are all about, right? We get stronger for the betterment of mankind”

“Right,” Dorian soothed, removing his grip from Gideon’s arm. “I’m so glad I trusted you.”

The student nodded nervously.

You can’t be a part of this madness.

“Well, I have to get to class,” Gideon remembered. “Professor Corvo will be upset if I’m not in the sparring ring in a few minutes.”

Dorian slowly nodded. “Yes. You don’t want to be late. You know the way back.” He said suspiciously. Gideon left his master’s office, and looked behind him one last time as he closed the door. The man was staring at him, his head slightly turned up and to the side, as if performing some forbidden calculations.

His master’s tone of voice was so unnerving, Gideon couldn’t put it into words. He was also so nice to him, but was he? As he quickly made his way back to the campus proper, Gideon thought about his interactions with his master. He always promoted brutality, strength, and cunning above all. But he wanted to be included so badly, he didn’t think anything about it at the time.

The plan Gideon had just been told about didn’t sit right with him at all. He needed to get out of the Knights before it was too late.