User blog:Galeforce's Wrath/The Knights of Old: Prologue

“Sir, I have dire news!”

I looked up from the map that I was studying and gave the soldier a curious glance. “What kind of news?”

“Ah.. erm… w-well, Maxwell has b-been slain!” The soldier stammered. I rolled my eyes and let out an annoyed sigh.

“So, you interrupted my battle planning just to tell me news that is long overdue?” I asked the soldier. He nervously shook his head. “N-no, sir. There is more…” The soldier replied solemnly.

“Oh… you don’t mean…?” I asked nervously. The soldier simply nodded. “Then it’s settled, have everyone ready for battle right away.” I said sternly. The soldier gave me a salute and rushed out of the tent. Whatever was going through my head a few moments prior had completely been pushed out of my mind and replaced with a slight panic. With Maxwell gone, they’d be here very soon….

I took a few deep breaths and regained my full composure. Now of all times would be bad to look weak. I ran over to the edge of my tent and to the weapons rack. The tent that I was in was quite basic with only a cot, a table, a desk, a weapons rack, and a small cabinet. Even though I was a leader, I thought it would make me more approachable if I didn’t act like I was better than everyone else, I had decided that the only way to make myself like my comrades was to live like them. No big fancy house or anything… just the necessities. My comrades respected me much more for that.

I picked up the cot and moved it to the side. Where the cot had lain moments ago was a small chest dug into the ground. I crouched down and burrowed my fingers through the dirt floor near the chest and felt the latch out. I grabbed it and pulled, opening the chest with a loud creak.

One of the soldiers outside of my tent called “Are you alright in there, Captain?”

I replied with a plain yes and told him to continue as he was. I then looked into the chest and began to pull out its contents. I produced a sheath for a sword, a shield-shaped bundle of rags, and a suit of light armor. I then placed the items on the table located at the center of the tent. One of the few female soldiers in the group entered my tent, probably to ask a question, but simply stood in silence watching from the entranceway. I ignored her and continued what I was doing.

I rolled up all of the papers cluttering the table and carried them over to the chest. They were all just standard battle maps and other useless pieces of paper, so they were easily replaceable and not very important.

The girl that had come by finally walked up to the table to look at the items that I had placed there. She eyed the bundle of rags curiously before looking back to me. I smiled to her in acknowledgement before walking over to the table. I pointed to the armor on the table, the girl nodded, and turned away. I quickly changed my clothes to the armor and gave the soldier the signal that it was safe to look. Even though I still wore shorts and a T-shirt under my normal clothes (so I was never in my “underclothes” while changing), everyone acted like I was getting naked or something. Taking off a vest and putting on armor isn’t so bad that everyone has to freak out about it… right?

Pushing the thought out of my mind, I looked down at the armor that I was now wearing. The suit was light red with the insignia of the group in green at the center of my breastplate. It was surprisingly light for how strong it was. The armor was much more defensive than most types of heavy armor not because of its’ materials, but its enchantments. This specific set was a few centuries old, but looked almost exactly the same as the day it was smithed. The soldier nodded in approval, as if complementing that it looked good on me.

“Sir, you look like you’re getting dressed to meet a king, not fight a battle…” The girl said jokingly. I rolled my eyes and proceeded to unwrap the shield.

After tugging away all of the rags covering it up, the shield came into full view. The shield was a dark green with the insignia in blue plastered at the center. The rim of the shield was dotted with bolts and reinforcing strips of metal. The area that the insignia was located on was just a large plate of metal welded onto the shield. Like the armor (and the sword) the shield was enchanted from ages past.

It looked like a buckler, but the only difference was its abnormal bulging shape. This abnormal bulge in the shield was caused by an unlikely addition. If a button on the backside of the shield is pressed, (other than the button the only other interesting thing on the back of the shield is the strap used to hold it in place on one's arm) the shield nearly doubles in size and becomes comparable to a tower shield. Because of an intricate network of gears within the shield, this was actually possible.

I strapped the shield to my arm and grabbed the sword. The girl eyed it, but I simply fastened the sheath to my belt and strolled out of the tent. Whatever she came to me for seemed to have either left her mind or wasn’t important as she followed me in silence.

The camp wasn’t anything too special. It was set up with several other tents circling the center of the camp for the soldiers to live in. Like my tent, every tent was the same size (meaning that everyone shared a tent with at least another person), the same color, and made of the same material. Two outhouses were located on the opposite edges of the camp and several campfires were scattered around the camp for the soldier’s use. At the center of the camp stood a tall metal flagpole with our group’s green insignia plastered on a grey flag. I personally washed that flag and cleaned the flagpole every week as part of my chores… even though nobody ever asked for it to be done in the first place. Group pride!

My mind continued to wander as I walked through the camp. I felt the gaze of the other soldiers bear down on me as I walked with the girl following me. It was easy to tell that everybody knew what was going down very soon. They were going to wipe us out once and for all.

I arrived at the last tent in the camp and pulled back the entrance flap. I stepped inside and was greeted by the three soldiers inside all standing at attention and saluting to me. “Stop that.” I said quickly. The soldiers all went back to getting ready for battle.

The soldier in the far corner of the tent watched me as I walked up to him. Once I got within five feet of him, he simply asked, “What do you want now?” He glanced at the girl next to me and then asked “What’d you need from sis? Did she do something and you’re gonna tell me about it?”

I smiled and cleared my throat.”Nobody did anything wrong. I just need you ready as soon as possible and at the flagpole with everyone else.” I said bluntly. He sighed and nodded his head in acknowledgement. I spun on my heel and turned to the door. Without another word, I walked out of the tent and into the clearing.

The soldiers that were sitting around and watching me a few moments before were already fully armed and ready for battle and standing in their positions. I pulled out my blade from its sheath and looked at it. The blade was a faint green and was by all means a regular looking sword. Other than it’s enchantments, it could easily be labeled as a normal soldier’s sword.

As I was thinking this, my thoughts were interrupted by the loud pounding of footsteps behind me. I spun around, blade at the ready. The soldier stopped a few mere inches from the arc that my blade had cut through the air. He gulped nervously as he saw the glint of my blade in the light.

“Uhm… sir… we have a… problem.” The soldier said nervously. I gestured for him to continue. “They’re here. They’ve just passed by the camp borders and they’ll be here in a few minutes.”

I cursed. “ALRIGHT EVERYONE! TO ARMS! WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!” I yelled. Everyone in the camp scurried to their battle stations if they weren’t already there. As they ran around, I heard shouting from nearby. The people in camp and I tensed up as the voices grew nearer. The girl and the soldier that I visited moved to my side. “Get ready for them-”

Before I could finish my sentence, the summoners stormed the clearing. In mere moments, the first three to enter the clearing were dead, ambushed by the soldiers hiding behind the tent. The blood sprayed the tent and the ground around them. The next round of attackers entered the clearing and engaged the soldiers that had shown themselves. They all bore the uniforms of the Summoner’s Hall.

The two sides were almost evenly matched, although the soldiers had the bare upper hand. Just then, two summoners walked into the clearing. The two walked past most of the soldiers and simply cut down any that stood in their way. As the battle raged on, the two stopped in front of me and readied their weapons for a duel.

The two summoners were quite strange compared to the others. They were a boy and girl pair. The boy had light-ish blue hair, wore blue and white armor, and wielded a halberd. The girl had brown hair, wielded a sword, and wore red and white armor. The two held their weapons towards me, ready to attack.

I was outnumbered.

Yay! A new series! Um... if anyone has a better name suggestion then put it in the comments below please XD But, on a more serious note, this is the unofficial-yet-sorta-official-side-story-thing for Lost Souls. I just put out this to see how it went and I suppose it went well... ...Bu it's my assumption.