I Will Be the Greatest Knight

Even though the Commander had dodged the concerned knights and stood up on his own, they all remained at his side until it was certain that the Commander had stable footing.

"Siverly, is it wizard's magic?" the Commander wondered, his voice strained.

Irene had removed her helmet as well and turned towards the mage.

"There isn't another explanation," Siverly stated. "Although in this region of the world, there is a constant buzz of magic in the air. It's impossible to sense the magic of one single object as I would be able to further out."

The female knight's green eyes scanned the surroundings. It was completely invisible to someone like her. A small corner of her wished she were a mage so she could understand the feeling of sensing mana all around, but she had her own struggles to worry about.

"Can you tell us where the border begins?" the Commander asked. "It would be helpful if we could move sideways around the border in case we find—"

"Who goes there?!"

Towards the east, and deeper into what was seemingly a magic barrier, the knights turned their heads. The man's tone caused them all to unsheathe their swords at that point.

From between the trees, an older gentleman stormed through. His expression caused Irene to step forward, having the desire to defend their Commander who had just been taken out so unceremoniously.

However, the Commander advanced even further forward, ensuring he was in front of his men and responsible for each and every one.

"We're the knights of Chemois, and I am Commander Henry Mattson, Duke of Tenetium. Our presence was requested by the Knights of Hydrogia, who are on their way here as we speak. If you need my identity plate, I have it."

Irene turned towards Bren, who was solely responsible for the plate since they left the eastern edge of Chemois. It was wise to have someone guarding it at all times because many would steal such a thing to gain access to places only someone like a Duke could gain access to. They also had to be subtle about who was in charge of this piece of identification. Thieves could pick it off if it were obvious.

However, the man, with his mistrustful gaze, searched their group until his eyes landed on Siverly, who was very obviously a mage amongst all the knights.

"Who do you know in Idona?" the man asked, more to Siverly than anyone else.

Unfortunately for him, Siverly was unlikely to step forward and be responsible for a bunch of knights. He was surprisingly loyal to their Duke and wouldn't step out of line because of that.

"I know a mage named Katerina," the young Duke responded. "She would be more than happy to confirm my identity."

That received a few glances from his knights, but the Commander stood strong.

The man behind the invisible barrier seemed like he had more to say, but suddenly, a shrill screech was heard from deeper in the forest towards the east. Every single knight, apprentice, and mage present knew exactly what that noise was.

Goblins.

Would they finally be able to see the entire picture of what had happened here?

"The other side of the forest!" the stranger from behind the barrier shouted. "You must get to the other side of the forest if you're intent on helping us."

Bren retrieved the Commander's helmet as he instantaneously ordered, "Then let's go!"

By that point, Irene and the others were moving to their horses. They mounted them easily and went in the direction of the goblin noise.

At first, they were retracing their path to the edge of the forest, but soon they broke new ground as they rounded the edge of the forest.

Irene's gloved hands tightly gripped the leather reins as she prepared for the worst but hoped for the best. As she got closer, the goblin noises multiplied, and she knew that there were many.

Finally, on the other side of the bend, she and her brothers saw that it certainly was the case.

However, rather than going towards the village, it seemed as if the body of goblins was going around the outskirts. It didn't seem as if their goal was the village at all, just that anyone in their path was collateral damage in their strange stampede.

Amidst the chaos, there were two wagons caught in the swarm, and they were trying, but failing, to stop the goblins to the best of their abilities. Two wielded swords, one had mage abilities.

"You know what to do!" Henry shouted above the noise.

"Yes, Commander!" Irene cried amidst the noise of the other knights shouting their own affirmative responses.

Irene dismounted Sammy and drew her sword. She sprinted towards the chaos as her heart began racing, rearing up for the thrill of battle that always made her feel like her sword was lighter and the metal plate armor on her body weighed nothing.

She forgot this feeling each time she was off the battlefield, then it would strike her again, and she'd recall that it trumped all fear.

All she thought about was slaying those who hurt the innocent. Even though, strangely enough, it didn't seem like the people were the goal, just that they were in the way.

To the sound of others' blades, Irene lifted her sword, taking down the first goblin as it rushed towards the front of one of the wagons. Even though the man towards the front was wielding a sword, the efficacy of his blade was far below that of a knight.

Before he could even swing once, Irene had thrust her blade forth and forced the creature onto the dirt road.

She met the man's eyes and nodded before she moved on to the next goblin and the one after that. For a time, she was taking two at a time before one that even trumped her height challenged her with a spiked club, and she had no other choice but to dive forward with her shoulder and slice one of the monster's legs clean off so that it was a more manageable height.

Once she had her blade deeply embedded in its chest and skewered against the ground, she stepped on the monster's body and pushed it off her sword.

Since the fighting, by this point, had died down, Irene found a patch of grass and wiped her blade on either side, getting off the dark blood so that it wouldn't cause an issue when cleaning it at some point that evening.

Now her focus was on helping the other knights and apprentices who were taking care of the bodies and body pieces.

She walked up to Felix, seeing him dragging a couple of goblin bodies on his own.

"We didn't get them all," she observed. "They were all set on escaping rather than fighting us. I almost want to chase them down so they aren't a problem for someone further up the mountains."

"There isn't much in that direction," Felix insisted. "Our best help will be dealing with what's right in front of us. We are still unaware of the state of those inside of Idona."

Irene relented as much with a sigh.

"I suppose you're right," she admitted. "Who knows what awaits us?"

All she could do was continue stacking bodies until the pile was high enough and they started another one. They were all so eager to get a break that even Siverly started helping them light the fires as he had done towards Polona.

He wouldn't admit it out loud, of course, but the mage seemed rather eager to get inside Idona and explore it a bit himself.

It didn't take long, but they had three piles of burning goblin bodies and a small stack of human-made weapons confiscated from a few. There were plenty still worthy of use, and others that were merely carrying arrows and using them as swords that some of the bow-wielding apprentices could have for themselves.

Satisfied that Felix was overlooking the current burn piles, Irene decided to go to the Commander and force herself to ask him what was next. She justified it by the fact that they were directionless otherwise. It also wouldn't be such a bad thing to make sure he was alright after hitting a magic barrier so hard.

However, as Irene approached the Commander, who was close to what Siverly established as the magical barrier, she saw a woman appear from between the trees, walking with the man who had stopped them before. Even though the woman seemed harmless, Irene found her next words grating.

"Henry!" the woman called. "Is that really you?"

Irene recognized instantly that this woman, although her clothing was unlike anything Irene had ever seen before, was certainly not a noble.

After seeing the woman in the last village at the end of Chemois treating her Commander so casually, Irene couldn't help the next words that fell from her lips after she removed her helmet.

"You ought to consider using his title, miss," Irene insisted. "He is the Duke of Tenetium, after all."

She decided to call Chemois by its kingdom-friendly name, not entirely sure of the Idonian's loyalty to the King.

Irene didn't want to look at the Commander, but she momentarily sought his response and was shocked to see a glint of amusement hidden somewhere deep in his expression before he quickly de-escalated the situation.

Irene's heart thudded, and she regretted getting close to him at all rather than merely waiting for his next order.