Written by Talmid, posted on 25-05-2016 [incomplete]
In the weeks after Perpetual Doom...
Part 1
Defeat, loss, and sorrow. Sir Talmid felt all of these. His friends and allies, he did not know what became of them. They could be lost, escaped hopefully, or smashed pray not! Or held captive like him. In the three weeks since his capture, after the failed battle at the Skyfalls, Sir Talmid had been moved from jailhouse to jailhouse, as the Rogue army was spread thin. Judging by the sun, the shadows, and the sounds of the wildlife, Sir Talmid figured they were slowly but surely moving him north. To the castle, where the usurper thedude sat on King Mathias's throne.
At one point Elepharian guards were part of the contingent, but they were soon sent off to where, Sir Talmid did not know. Eventually it was a force so small, just three Rogues guiding him to his chariot - he got a chariot, woohoo! Such luxury, NOT, there were no benches, the windows were tiny, and the walls were moldy.
Sir Talmid could see nothing of the outside world from the inside of the chariot, except for a beam of sunlight through the small door window, whichever one faced the sun at the time - so he tried to listen as he had before. He heard the Rogues' chatter.
"Hey, Joe!" one Rogue said, "Joe, my man! I haven't seen you since we stormed the castle!"
"Oh, hey Jay." another Rogue said. "Yeah... I got sent to Elepharia. For thedude's surprise. You hear the news?"
"No, what?"
"The Knights of the Old Speech got defeated - at Elepharia. I probably shouldn't be saying this, but that's what thedude's surprise was. We got the Elephanters to join us, and we defeated the Knights at the Skyfalls. It was crazy. That gravity..."
"What gravity, bro?"
"Exactly. It's like the gravity just turned off, and we were flying!"
"Bro, man, whoa hey, bro! That's impossi-"
"Shut up!" the third Rogue finally said.
Part 2
Now that they were silent, Sir Talmid heard more birds, more buzzing creatures now than before, and they had distinct calls he recognized. He was in Morcia now. Their destination was close.
Suddenly, shouts and clanging was heard. Sir Talmid sat bolt upright, a mistake, as the carriage shook and he fell down to his side again on the floor. He heard the spin of a wormholer preparing to fire, and it did fire, but it was cut off in an instant. Then keys jingled as they were jammed into the lock, and the door swung open. Sir Talmid shielded his eyes from the intense burst of light. He saw two thin silhouettes.
"He doesn't look like a rich man!" a tinny girl's voice squeaked.
"No, he -ack- doesn't!" a high-pitched boy replied in between cracks. "Nor does he -ack- travel in a rich carriage! Nothing to plunder!"
Who were these people? Sir Talmid wondered. He began to climb out, but then the girl aimed a stubby sword at his chest. "Don't move!" she said.
Sir Talmid held his hands up and open. "Apologies, good lad, and lass... I wish only to get some air. And then run away."
"To tell your superiors that we -ack- slaughtered your soldiers?!" the boy shouted. "No! You can't find us!" He too held a small sword, a shortsword, and it too was aimed at Sir Talmid.
Sir Talmid began. "I intent to do no such thing. I'm not with thedude."
"Who?"
"I'm with King Mathias!" Sir Talmid clarified.
The girl pushed her sword closer to him. "See, he is with the authority! We should smash him!"
"Haven't thou been in touch with any current events?" Sir Talmid asked, flabbergasted. "Mathias is dethroned, thedude is taking over, and the longer thou detain me, the closer he is to destroying the world!"
The boy demanded, "Who is this thedude?"
"He is an outlaw, and he is trying to rule Morcia."
"Like us!" the boy said. The girl elbowed him sharply and he dropped his sword. Sir Talmid noticed, but the girl's sword was still on him.
Part 3
"Don't worry, it is obvious by your demeanor," Sir Talmid said, but the boy was no longer listening to him.
"This is great," he said excitedly, "if the authority is gone, no one can stop us from raiding the city!"
"Quiet!" the girl hissed. "Sshh!"
"And then we can rescue-"
"BRENDAN!" she shouted. "Shush!"
He stopped, then shrugged at the girl. "Why, this guy is -ack- not going to be alive to tell on us!"
"Soldiers." she said.
They both darted into the woods and out of sight, leaving Sir Talmid in the carriage. He got out of the vehicle and listened. Footsteps were echoing up the path. A patrol? Sir Talmid noted the Rogue soldier closest to him, knocked out and on the ground. Thinking quickly, Sir Talmid picked up his Wormholer and inspected the weapon. It was live and did not need a reload, so he could fire it as soon as he needed to.
A platoon was headed up the path, and as soon as they rounded the bend, they saw the stopped carriage and ran over to investigate. They did not see Sir Talmid hiding in the treeline. He watched carefully, aiming the wormholer from soldier to soldier, unsure of which to target. He mentally rehearsed his moves, and then he jumped out, squeezing the trigger and letting loose a hail of energy blasts.
The weapon thudded in his arms and the recoil made it hard to aim - but he had the element of surprise and in a second half of the platoon was smashed!
He darted for cover behind the carriage and reloaded, then rounded the corner to blast the next Rogue. He heard rustling and a Rogue jumped out behind him, only to be knocked out by a swing from the Wormholer's heavy bow.
Sir Talmid checked the remaining ammunition. There was plenty, in the weapon and waiting to be picked up. He collected provisions from the various felled or unconscious troopers, then noticed the boy and girl watching him.
"Wow." the boy said. "You can really use that thing."
"I have knowledge of Nexus Force technology." Sir Talmid affirmed.
Part 4
The boy and the girl exchanged glances, some silent agreement, and then the girl stepped forward and said, "I'm Blair, this is Brendan. There's a penitiary in a town not far from here. We're trying to rescue some people inside, and we were wondering, could you help us?"
Sir Talmid contemplated the predicament. "I am a Knight," he said, "it is my duty to help people. Where is this jail?"
"Evereed. It's not far."
"Good." Sir Talmid said. "I have business there. And whoever it is you're, you say, 'rescueing,' does it involve more ambushing carriages?"
"With you with us, no!" Brendan said.
"We were trying to get stuff to trade for better weapons, and healing potions, and things." Blaire explained. "But if you can use that magic thing, and you'll help us..."
Sir Talmid shrugged and joined them. Whatever they were doing, he figured he could bail as soon as he wanted to, or regrouped with other knights. He was free and on the move now, so nothing could go wrong, right?
[This is where the writing stops]
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