Chapter 06

I had never seen my father wield a sword in my life.
But the Drezir and now Arthur are talking about him like he is some kind of legend? I am starting to think I didn't know much about my father. "The Drezir mentioned he was the former captain of the knights... this is really all very surprising news to me. My father was just a farmer."

Arthur smiled warmly and reached into a drawer. He pulled out a familiar wooden platter. It was the same platter my dad made this year to commemorate the knights. "Your father was a great man, Torin." I instinctively reached out to the platter and felt the grooves of the special design my father would add around the edges. "Can you tell me more about my father?" Claire sat up in her bed hugging her pillow, she had a look of utter awe and excitement as she waited for Arthur to share a story. Byron even glanced our way as if he had heard stories about my dad before.

Arthur wet a cloth and started to tend to my burns, it stung. "Declan Fairbright, the right hand knight of the king. He had many titles but this title was by far the most prestigious. Only few knew of his accomplishments until after the tyrant king took control." I listened intently, but held in my questions till he finished. "As for the captain of the knights, its true. Declan was an extremely skilled swordsmen. He and the king trained together often and he even shared the same sword style as the king."

I remembered my father fighting the Drezir and seeing his skill. "My father was fighting the drezir on his own and even killed 10 of them before..." I didn't want to say the next part out loud, it was too painful to remember his face, bloodied and tired. Arthur noticed and continued his story. "He was a great man. I fear that his skills will become extremely difficult to overcome if we ever come in contact with the Drezir again... I noticed that they Raised him, but his moves were still sluggish and uncoordinated. A new Drezir struggles to move since their body is still fresh and may resist the Raising."

I whispered so my voice wouldn't crack, "What did they do to him?"
Arthur looked at me with sad eyes, "He is now in the immortal servitude of the tyrant King. The Drezir used to be knights. But the day the King of Flame disappeared, everything started to change."
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A young Declan was marching with the 20 knights behind him. They road on their noble steeds and entered the palace to report to the king. The village surrounding the palace celebrated loudly and laid down leaves for the knights as they returned home. They had just returned from the marching of the knights where they survey the land and report the prosperity of the kingdom to the King of Flame.

"Dismount!" Declan ordered the knights to dismount from their horses so they could enter the throne room and address the king. "So Declan, are you going to report the ice?" The king's brother, Ferdinand, stood next to Declan. Ferdinand was a good friend of declan's, he was royalty but since he was not in line for the throne he was to assist the knights in their march. He had long black hair and a cunning smile. He acted a little shady but he always treated declan and the knights well.

"I must, you may think it wasn't such a big deal, but if the ice magic is spreading through the country then we may need to go and find out why." Ferdinand looked a little disappointed. "Ah Declan, always by the book. Why worry my brother with the finer details when this is clearly just a simple change in the weather. The days are starting the get colder."

Declan had considered that the ice was not magic at all but instead the weather, just as Ferdinand said. Something about it bothered him but he didn't know what. He sighed, "I guess it hadn't affected the villagers yet but if it ever did become something big then I would feel responsible."
Ferdinand yawned as he casually approached the king.

The king was a large man with red curly hair. He wore a golden crown and a royal red cape, the edges of which were on fire. He was holding his great sword, a beautiful legendary sword called Agnir, and resting the tip on the ground as his knights approached. The knights knelt down and bowed their head, including Ferdinand. Declan spoke, "My lord, we come to report our findings in your land."

The king descended from his throne and lifted up Declan, "At ease my brethren." His voice was warm and kind. He approached Ferdinand and hugged him, "My brother, thank you for joining their quest."

Just then Ferdinand held a dagger made of ice and plunged it deep into the King's chest. "Ah!" The king staggered and knelt on one knee. The knights each drew their weapons.

"What's the meaning of this Ferdinand! This is treason!" Declan shouted and approached the king to check on his wounds. The knights instantly surrounded Ferdinand and each held their swords at his neck. He didn't flinch,

"A little present for my dear brother is all" He lowered one of the knights' blades with the tip of his finger. The knight's sword became frozen and when the frost touched the knight's hand he instantly dropped the sword and held his hand in pain, then he fell to the ground and stopped moving. His body had become cold, so cold that you could see frost dissipating in the air from his lifeless body.

The king stood up again and held out his hand as if to cast a spell, but nothing happened. "Ah dear brother, I forgot. Your heart is frozen, you won't be able to use that annoying Flame anymore!" The king dropped his hand and grabbed Agnir, the great sword.

"Why have you done this?" The king scowled at his brother. The knights had backed away from Ferdinand in fear that he would flash freeze them with a single touch as well.

"It's really not that hard to understand Tristan. I want the throne, and I'm tired of sitting in the sidelines while you bow to your subjects in servitude. You should be worshipped! Like a god! But NO! You squander your power and authority and you put yourself beneath the people! All for what? I can't take it anymore Tristan! You are not worthy of the crown you wear."

Ferdinand walked step by step towards the king. Declan stepped in between the two, but the king stopped him and looked him in the eyes with a nod. "Go now, you know what you must do." Declan quickly ran off without a second thought. "Hah! Declan, where are you running off to now? Are you scared!?" Tristan, the king, stepped forward and held Agnir towards his brother.

"So you think you can fight me now, even when your powers are gone? You won't even last a second. And your brave knights are cowering with fear in the face of my power. What can you possibly do?"

Ferdinand grabbed Agnir with his entire hand, clenching his fingers around the sharp blade. His fingers started to bleed, and no ice formed around Agnir. "What is this?!" Ferdinand released Agnir and whinced in pain. "You clearly don't know much about this sword. And it shall be your undoing." The king started to breathe short breathes, with an ice dagger stuck in his back. Then he and his brother charged toward each other in a fierce battle.