I opened my eyes with a splitting headache to see the remnants of a glow leave the weapons, the memories of what happened before I passed out, how I died, how Anna had died came to me, but I wasn't lost anymore, I couldn't remember everything in the dream I had but I remembered the Life we had together. I remembered that in the dream I was contented, I knew never really loved her but was contented with what I had and I was Loyal, but I didn't love her. Though the life I had in the dream was safe, easy, but it was boring, it was exactly what I needed after the shock of her death stopping the shock from messing my mind up however if I had stayed in it I would have lost myself to the comfort and may have never woken up. Which explains why the weapons made it and broke it.

Ignoring the pounding in my head I pushed myself up to examine my body, my injuries were gone, and except the headache there was nothing wrong with me, turning my head around I caught sight of Vali sleeping not far from me as the campfire in front of us burned, with a little thought I concluded that someone must have saved us, but that they didn't take us back to the Village means there isn't a Village to return to. Pain hit my chest again as tears threatened to leave my eyes but I held them back.

A sound from the bushes outside the camp drew my attention back to the present, I looked in the direction to find out what it was when I saw him, He was tall, very very tall, though I was lying down, I knew that even if I was standing there wouldn't be any noticeable difference, the depressing part is in spite of his height he was full and well muscled, looking like a sculpture that came to life, his jaw was straight, his hair and stubble brown, his eyes blue. I couldn't tell his age, but from the way he carried himself I knew that if he wanted to kill me and Vali any resistance would be pointless, he was wearing a black cloak with the hood off, his clothes were the typical peasant clothes i'd gotten used to in the village, a wooden bow was slung over his shoulder while his arrows were in a covered quiver he wore on his belt beside a worn metal short sword, in his hand he held two dead rabbits and a chicken, all recently killed from the blood dripping down. When he saw me awake he dropped the game, and moved with such speed I didn't have time to be shocked before he was there kneeling In front of me.

By the time the shock registered he'd been kneeling for little while with his head bowed before me, Nervous I cleared my throat and said

"Thank You for Saving us."

"You Honor Me My Lord."

His reply was formal, I understood that much from the Language, as the words he was using were words I'd only heard from Melly in Vjoirstead before we got to know each other, she let me know that was the way Knights spoke to their liege, She had been a servant to a Noble house before she moved here, so while she hadn't formally learned any of it, she had been in contact with it and the Knights who knew it to pick up a little

Though I knew he was a Knight from the fact that he could use the 'Lord's Speak' the normal people called it, but I didn't understand why he was using it and kneeling before me, Knights never bend their Knee to any but their Lord, and They don't use such formal language except in Formal gatherings, speaking with their Lord, or their fellow knights.

My headache had mostly faded by this point allowing me to think clearly, so I asked

"Who are you?"

He seemed a little shocked at the question, then he thought for a while before answering

"I was Von the Butcher of Vjoirstead, but I have been Reborn Thanks to the Blessings of my Lord, And ask the Honor of Being Named anew."

His reply stunned me, I remembered the Only time I had seen him after the birth of the Weapons, he had been tall but not as tall as this man, he had some muscle and a large body but most of it had been hidden by a belly and fat, he had hair but was losing it in the middle, this man before me had such a bright full mane that I was wondering whether this world had gotten to the Point where they used hair attachments, in summary he was nothing like the man before me, but somehow I knew he wasn't lying, so I asked

"Why do you call me Lord?"

Without hesitation he answered "Your power has granted me, Life anew, made me better, given me Purpose, and thus I pledge myself to you as my Lord."

I didn't know much about Medieval Knight Culture, or Knight Culture In this World but, I felt how solemn he took the words, plus I was in this world with out any support or Power of my own, my recent brush with death showed me how easy it was to die, so though I had no idea how far I could trust him I decided to accept his Service, Remembering a Knights pledge i'd seen in a movie, I decided to make it more formal

I stood up disregarding the screams my body threw at me to Sit the fuck down, Picked up the Sword and unsheathed it and Pointed it at him, he didn't even flinch at my action reassuring me. So Drawing a memory from a series i'd been seeing before coming to this world I asked

"Will you Shield my back, Keep my counsel, And Give your life for me If need be, Do you swear?" with each word, I could feel the stirrings of power that I had come to recognize move and seethe, like water would in a kettle, but there was no discomfort, and the world although calm now had a slight energy crackling in the air around, the campfire jumped and raised like it was being fed, but I didn't react and neither did he, we ignored everything and he answered

"I Swear, by the old gods and the new."

I felt a some energy leave me and enter him, travelling around his body before settling at his heart, and then I could feel him the way I did my Weapons, also I felt his feelings in that moment, the Loyalty that felt boundless, making me feel guilty about doubting him and planning to take advantage of him, so I gave him a pledge of my own

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

"Then I vow,

You shall always have a Place by my side

Food and Drink at my table

And I will ask nothing of you that you cannot give.

I swear this, by the old gods and the new."

I could feel my Power clearly now, it didn't react to my pledge as it had his, but I disregarded that to do as he had asked before and name him. Pushing the power I channeled it to the sword I held and changed its form from a shortsword to a Longsword fit for a Knight(like that but with round pommel and lion face), with a golden Pommel bearing a Lion on its face.

I touched each of his shoulders as i'd seen the Queen of England do during a Knighting I watched online and said

"From this Moment forward I Name you, Alexander of Winter" I chose the name because it means to Defend, an I want him to defend me, I named him of Winter because of the Vjoirstead, it had always been snowing. Turning the blade to the side I held it to him and continued  

"I grant you this Sword for use in my service, Arise, Knight Alexander of Winter." As I finished I felt the energy leave me again and swirl to him, a blue light burning through his clothes into the pattern of a Lion, with his name underneath it in English, they formed a tattoo on his Left shoulder while the light faded, he rose, and in his bearing I saw the kind of nobility that you only find In a person confident of himself and his purpose. He had received the Sword while he was still kneeling, now putting it in its sheath which he slung over his back, a shortsword on his hip and a long one at his back

With the Ceremony over I asked the questions that had been on my mind

"Where are we?"

"A weeks walk from the Village, My Lord"

"How long was I asleep?"

"Nine Days. I crafted a sled to carry you and the boy"

His reply was unexpected so I asked

"How is Vali? The boy there"

He replied as quickly as always "He has no wounds I can see, but he has not woken since we left the Village"

"What is wrong with him? And is the Village fine?"

"I do not know, but the Village was destroyed. Only the boy survived."

I expected as much before I asked, but it still brought me pain to hear it, so I focused myself on Vali, he was the only one I could help now.

I walked over to where he was lying, I saw how his thin figure looked skeletal now, how his breaths were shallow, and how he struggled to pull each one, I wasn't a doctor, so I couldn't diagnose him, but I didn't care.

Drawing on every little bit of Power I could, i found it easier than I ever had, the power obeyed and surged to me, I felt the air around me turn heavy as the plants and fire surrounding us began to die, soon the air was as thick as syrup and moving was difficult, I didn't know what to do so I simply pushed my will into, pushed my desire for him to heal and poured it into his body, but nothing happened, the energy circled his body, it filled out his form which was emaciated lack of sustenance over the few days, removed blemishes from his skin, and gave him a healthy glow but he still didn't wake up, after a while the energy stopped being depleted and was simply circling his body before coming out, almost like a dog who was told to fetch but failed to find a ball

I knew it wasn't working but didn't know what else to do, I could feel myself losing control over the power as it returned to wherever it had come from, in a few minutes I wouldn't be able to draw on anything again, I still didn't understand enough of this power to use it freely. Thinking fast I concluded that what was wrong with him wasn't his body but his mind, he probably couldn't handle the shock of everyone dying in front of him and he himself almost dying as well, so his mind had shut itself down, I didn't have enough time to think about what to do because who knew when I would be able to summon this much power again, I'd already killed quite the number of plants to draw the energy here and at this point I was barely holding on to it so I did the first thing that came to mind

I made him forget

I pushed the power to wipe all his memories of the village's death, but it I left it at that he'd want to return, so I pushed it to make him want to stay, but it failed, I wasn't able to affect his will, I felt that I could control his body to make him stay, but I couldn't control his will without damaging his soul. I realized that I almost did something unforgivable, but there was no time for guilt the power was slipping away faster now, so I pushed again, to make him forget all about the Village, then I willed it to make him dream new memories, of how I and Alexander had found him as a baby and raised him till now, as we wandered the Forests, how we visited a Village named Vjoirstead and stayed there for a while until we left recently.

At this point I had used up all the Energy I had held, but I needed to continue to provide energy until the dream completes itself, so I kept supply as fatigue filled me, so I could feel myself aging, my skin wrinkling, my bones settling, white streaks appeared in my hair on the left, and my body lost the glow of youth, I felt years pass in an instant.

The drain finally stopped as Vali let out a breath, by this point I feel I was somewhere in my Forties, and was now the Oldest looking one in the group. I slumped in weakness as the drain stopped, but Alexander was there to catch me, he helped me to my cot where he set me down, using the last bit of energy I had I thanked him, my voice sounding foreign, aged and tired to me, but I would have to bother about that when I woke up

I slept.