The Knights Brilliant

The campfire flickered in the darkness as we huddled around it hoping to fend off the night's omnipresent chill. The gruff knight sitting across from me looked as if he was going to say something but, stopped short as if he thought talking would be useless. Then the knight that i had assumed to be their leader began to speak. "Don't worry Steiner, we'll make it back to Chivalry's Bastion soon enough. once we reach there, we'll speak with the high council to find out the source of this problem." The knight called Steiner just continued to stare at the dancing flames of the campfire as if he didn't hear anything. To me it seemed this small group of knights didn't feel very compelled to do anything then resign themselves to their fate. The fate i speak of is the mysterious "hunting of knights" that began about a fortnight past.

No one is sure what started it but, it soon spread like an infectious plague causing people to slaughter innocent knights wherever they were seen. Not only was it ordinary people trying to kill knights, but monsters and the undead worked side-by-side with these peasants. Many knights tried to flee to safety but were cut down as they trekked towards Chivalry's Bastion. After seeing this happen many times, knights started to band together to fend off the plethora of enemies that hounded their every step. this is how this group of knights came to be.....out of the necessity....to live. At first we numbered 11 warriors but our last campsite was overwhelmed by a mob of skeletons and zombies. Lucky for us, the two paladins with us were able to prevent the unholy warriors from rising again but the damage had been done, and four knights now lay dead. Now that we are down to seven men, we always keep at least three men standing guard. One of the knights who were standing guard walked towards the fire and stopped once within its radius of light. He then said "Time to switch the sentries, Steiner, jack, and Alphonse the Black. You three are to keep the next watch." The lead knight Jack and the knight clad in midnight black armor stood and then walked off to their posts while Steiner just sat there. "Steiner?" inquired the sentry. Steiner just sat there with glazed eyes mesmerized by the dancing flames. I figured Steiner could use some extra rest since one of the slain knights from the previous night was his brother. "Let me go in his stead." I offered. "Sounds like a good idea to me. I'll keep an eye on Steiner over here." Replied the sentry. I stood up, adjusted my sword belt, and placed my helm upon my head. I then whispered an ancient spell taught to me many years ago. "Crepusculum Acies ab Inanis Servatororis."

The night lit up as if now cast in a bright blue glow. The sudden shift in perception caused me to fall to my knees and double over from the excruciating pain caused by it. I never learned the rest of the spell which prevented the pain because my master died not too long after teaching me the first part of this incantation. As always, the pain soon subsides but, it's always quite unpleasant. Even at this hour the forest was alight with life and i watched the majestic yet tragic dance known as survival. A furry little squirrel popped its head out from a mass of gnarled tree roots to observe our misbegotten campsite. With its eyes focused so intently on our campfire he was caught quite unaware of the owl's untimely warning followed by razor sharp talons into his throat. Screeching in what seemed like unbearable pain for the poor creature it slumped and expired almost as quickly as it took notice of our campfire. I tried to relate this little drama of nature to our own situation in which we seemed to look just like that fuzzy little squirrel. It changes after that though as we may be the squirrel and have heard the owl's warning but we don't know whose talons are about to lift us up to heaven.

Like i said in class JESUS CHRIST THATS GOOD-eMILY

Yes, and we can learn how JC's narrative creates these effects on readers by remixing it. eMILY, you should volunteer to do a remix of The Knights Brilliant!

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