Billy couldn’t remember how long he had thrashed around while unconscious. He only recalled his body alternately burning like fire and then becoming so cold that his teeth chattered. Occasionally, when he looked up at the dark ceiling, a blurry haze seemed to come and go.
“Billy, can you see my face?”
It was Suvel’s voice. Billy blinked several times, trying to focus on his face, but something sticky seemed to be covering his eyes, making it hard to keep them open for long.
“Where is this?”
“A tavern in a village not far from Gold Gate.”
“How far from the gate…?”
“Not even an hour’s walk.”
Amidst it all, Billy still expressed his concern.
“No, that’s not good. The soldiers from Gold Gate… they might come.”
Suvel wiped Billy’s sweaty forehead with a wet towel and said,
“There are no other villages nearby. And moving you in this condition would be too much.”
“Then leave me…”
“Don’t talk about leaving. You didn’t leave me on the cliff. I won’t leave you either.”
Suvel stated firmly.
“Besides, this is what Black wants. If Aranthia’s soldiers come for you, we’ll fight right here. So don’t worry.”
Suvel wet the towel and ordered another man in the room.
“Change the water. And bring some warm porridge too.”
The man left the room with a basin.
“Who is he?”
“Nail. The last survivor among our men. Joffrey died yesterday too.”
“I see.”
Billy’s mouth felt parched. Suvel held a cup to his lips, but he could hardly drink and spilled most of it. Suddenly, Billy wondered how much time had passed.
“How long… since I was stabbed?”
He recalled the fight with Jaymer.
‘Was I really prepared to risk my life? He was sharp and ready to die. Always facing death as a hunter? If that’s the case, I lacked the resolve compared to him. I talked about risking my life several times, but in reality, it was no different than a training instructor doing practice matches.’
Billy endlessly replayed the fight with Jaymer in his mind. He was technically superior by several times. Jaymer was a novice who knew nothing beyond stabbing and slashing.
If Jaymer had been his apprentice, Billy could have instructed him while fighting. But he had lost in a life-or-death battle. Surprisingly, he felt neither wounded pride nor regret.
“It’s been a day since that incident. Time is…”
Suvel continued in an uncertain voice,
“We don’t have a bell to tell the time here, but it feels like about six o’clock.”
“My injury…?”
Billy, unable to see his own abdomen while lying down, asked Suvel. It felt more like having a cold than particular pain in the belly, so he half-expected the injury to be minor.
“I’m sorry.”
Suvel said after a long silence,
“I won’t offer you cheap consolation, so I’ll be honest. It’s hopeless. Two doctors came and went, both said it would be difficult to make it through tomorrow. Frankly, the first quack was surprised you’re even alive now. So I gave him a good punch.”
Billy managed a weak smile.
“Should have given him two punches for me.”
“I saved one for the medical bill. Just relax for now. Despite what the doctors say, I don’t think you’re going to die.”
“You say it’s hopeless, yet…”
Suvel gripped his hand tightly and said,
“Let me know if the pain becomes unbearable.”
Not fully understanding what that meant, Billy slowly nodded his head.
☆ ☆ ☆
“Excelon’s Welch is dead!”
The news of the war spread frighteningly fast. Billy, who had joined the training program dreaming of even just being around the stables operated by the knightly order of Excelon, couldn’t believe the news that had reached the order.
‘Welch is dead? The great knight who dominated the continent?’
Staring blankly next to a hay pile, Billy waited for more news. But no matter how long he waited, no news came to refute the rumor or to say it was a falsehood spread by the enemies.
“He died well.”
One day, when Lontamon’s defeat was announced, Billy overheard the imperial knights talking.
“They were just going to die anyway. Having them in the order was a mistake. Now, at last, Lontamon’s knightly order has the right structure. Excelon should have been eradicated long ago.”
Billy, just a trainee, had beaten up one of the royal knights in response to these words and spent over a year in prison. It was on the day he heard he might even lose his trainee status that Captain Loren came to visit.
“You have excellent skills. I’m offering you knighthood. Start over.”
“I refuse.”
Young Billy replied, looking at the harsh sunlight coming through the bars.
“I’ve heard it all. What the original Excelon really was. A group of criminals. Just a bunch of filthy bastards… made up of death row inmates…”
“Disappointed, are you?”
Loren just continued to speak,
“I didn’t ask for your opinion. Welch became a death row inmate for killing several prisoners to protect himself in prison. But when he became a knight and defeated dozens of knights, massacring hundreds, he was hailed as a hero. If he had killed thousands more, he would have remained a hero till the end. But he couldn’t.”
Billy knew what Loren was talking about but just listened without any response.
“You have no other choice. Either finish your sentence and go back to cleaning stables or join the order and become a murderer of dozens. Those are your only options.”
Still, Billy remained silent. Loren got up without any hesitation.
“Disgusted by yourself for idolizing an order made up of criminals? You’re no different from those imperial knights.”
As Loren walked out the door, Billy suddenly shouted,
“How am I the same? What are you saying?”
Loren put his hat back on and said,
“Aren’t you judging by background too?”
The prison door closed.
Billy watched dully and then belatedly shouted,
“Captain Loren!”
Loren’s faint voice came from outside the door,
“In a month, go wherever you want. To my office, or to your parents’ house.”
☆ ☆ ☆
When there was no pain, memories from the past haunted him like nightmares, and when he woke from these nightmares, pain followed. The intervals between the bouts of pain grew shorter.
Billy screamed out several times as if he were about to faint, and each time, Suvel would tightly hold his hand. They tried applying herbs to his stomach wound and feeding him pain-relieving herbal concoctions. Initially, the remedies seemed to work, but eventually, they reached a point where Billy couldn’t even ingest them. Suvel was unable to do anything more.
In the middle of the night, well past midnight, the pain subsided for a brief moment. Billy, with Suvel’s help, drank some water and said,
“Can you take my sword to Lontamon? Find Captain Loren and tell him about me.”
“Alright.”
Billy’s swollen face was so pitiful that Suvel couldn’t help but shed tears.
“Isn’t revenge necessary?”
“It was a legitimate outcome of a fair fight. No regrets… I’m more worried about you.”
“Why me?”
“Because of me… you haven’t achieved what you came here for.”
“I’ve waited five years, a little detour to Lontamon won’t delay things much. And being here, I realized even more how lacking my skills are.”
“What about Excelon? There are knights there more skilled than me. If you want, you can… get help from them.”
“If you become an instructor, I will. When you recover and start teaching, then I’ll learn.”
Billy chuckled weakly and then asked,
“Where is Black? I have something to say to him too.”
Billy sensed his time was short. However, Suvel shook his head.
“He came to check on you while you were asleep. But when I told him it was serious, he left without a word and hasn’t returned.”
Billy was a bit disappointed that Black wasn’t there, but he didn’t seek him out. For now, having Suvel by his side was enough.
Suvel spoke,
“Black, well, he wanted so much to reach Gold Gate, but once we arrived, he seemed clueless about why he came here. Well, Black always has that expression. But his hope that everything would become clear here fell apart, and then one of his followers ended up like this, so I guess he’s feeling down.”
“I see.”
Billy felt a bit guilty towards Black, but right now, he felt the most apologetic towards Captain Loren and Suvel.
‘I couldn’t repay either of them for their trust in me.’
Billy gripped Suvel’s hand tighter.
“Thank you.”
“For what all of a sudden?”
“For everything.”
“Sure, sure. It’s before dying, what can’t be said? Say anything. I’ll listen to everything. Just don’t confess your love.”
Billy laughed out loud, but his belly hurt too much to laugh long. That seemed to signal the return of his pain.
The pain continued until dawn. As breathing became harder and his mind grew foggy, Billy saw something very strange.
At first, what he saw was Black. Black looked down at him from the darkness. Initially, Billy thought Black had returned out of concern and wanted to thank him. But he couldn’t open his mouth.
‘Is this a dream?’
There was no pain, only haziness. He reflexively looked around, but objects swayed as if walking through a mirage. However, the items he had seen in the bedroom before passing out were still there.
‘Is it not a dream?’
The evidence was Suvel, who was dozing off in a chair beside the bed.
‘If it’s not a dream, what am I seeing?’
Black looking at Billy seemed like a messenger announcing death. It wasn’t particularly frightening. He gently touched Billy’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry. You won’t die.”
For some reason, Billy thought he could see a human face inside Black’s helmet.
Black slowly turned and walked towards the door. Billy wanted to ask where he was going, to say he had things to talk about. But his mouth wouldn’t open. Instead, his body moved.
It didn’t hurt at all.
“I have something to show you.”
Black opened the door and went outside.
“Follow me.”
Without much thought, Billy sprang out of bed. Suvel was still asleep and unaware of Billy leaving. Billy followed Black, who had gone out first.
As soon as Billy stepped out, he stopped in his tracks. Instead of the dark hallway, wooden walls, wall-mounted candle holders, or the cliché paintings that usually adorned the walls of a tavern’s corridor, there was none.
He saw a vast meadow. Beyond the meadow stood a white bridge made of marble, under which flowed a deep and blue river.
Billy turned around. There was no door or inn. He was outside.
Looking ahead again, he saw Black walking towards the bridge. Black was mounted on a horse, surrounded by knights dressed just like him. Unlike Black, their faces were visible under their helmets. It was the very armor Billy had worn tirelessly in Lontamon, a sight very familiar to him, worn by all his comrades.
Across the bridge lay a massive wall extending north to south. Black, leading the knights, picked up the pace and crossed the bridge. Despite the many knights crossing, the bridge held firm. It was Alaya’s Bridge.
Billy suddenly realized he was not conscious of his body. How he was following Black on horseback, how he was observing the knights crossing the bridge – it all seemed inexplicable. He should have been floating in the air to do so, yet he didn’t ponder over it. He didn’t struggle with whether what he was seeing was a dream or reality.
Billy was utterly captivated by the unbelievable scene unfolding before his eyes.
Black spoke to the knights following him, his voice distinctly different from before. It wasn’t ear-piercing, nor was it the strange sound that instilled fear just by hearing it. Yet, the commanding presence and deep tone in Black’s voice remained unchanged.
“We toppled Irophis’s royal knightly order of Acrand, said to be the strongest, in the Brookdam Valley. We lost too many comrades then. Everyone said our advance would stop there. But we didn’t, and we even managed to hunt dragons, something even our allies doubted, and eventually, we stood here.”
As he shouted, the knights in black armor let out a spirited cheer.
The air vibrated. The ground vibrated. The river water rippled.
“And we have now passed the Red Gate, which has never fallen in a thousand years. The Gold Gate too will crumble before our strength. Do not fear Aranthia’s magic. No human force can stop us now.”
Another round of cheering erupted from the knights, and they began to chant Black’s name. Did Suvel have any inkling of that name? Maybe Kassel knew. Billy had once guessed it too, albeit with some disbelief. But hearing that name made his head spin.
Black had kept insisting they should turn back just before meeting Captain Wolf. Even after capturing Captain Wolf, he seemed like someone with lingering regrets. It wouldn’t be because of High Lord Talrund.
Then why?
There was no evidence, but Billy instinctively knew. Captain Wolf, he didn’t have Aranthia’s sacred sword. A fake? No. He had left it behind. What Black perceived as a key to reviving his past wasn’t Kassel but Aranthia’s sacred sword.
It was evident that Kassel had left the sword in Talrund’s carriage.
From the direction of the Gold Gate, the sound of trumpets rose in response to the cheering. The knights in black armor ceased their cheering and watched as the gates of the fortress opened.
As the trumpets ceased, knights in white armor burst forth, gallantly charging as if they were already celebrating a victory. It was the same armor worn by Berol Wolf, leading Highlord Talrund’s guards.
Billy realized the significance of the scene before him and what was about to unfold, leaving him breathless. How many times had he envisioned this battle in his mind since the day he accepted Captain Loren’s offer to join?
The Battle of Gold Gate between the Wolf Knights and the Excelon Knights!
Both knightly orders stood facing each other for a long time. The number of knights in white armor was not large, but the way they stood in a line was majestic and grand, even in Billy’s eyes. Neither side seemed intimidated by the other.
There were no shouts or signals. Black began to ride slowly forward. From the opposite side, a knight also charged. And simultaneously, both sides rushed towards each other. Unconsciously, Billy followed them.
The well-trained horses of the knightly orders galloped with all their might amidst the tremendous tension. Billy still couldn’t comprehend how he was keeping up with the fast horses and didn’t feel the need to understand. He was too afraid to miss even a second of the unfolding spectacle.
The first knights who started the battle collided with their weapons. Almost simultaneously, the knights following them lunged at each other with spears, axes, and swords. Horses crashed into each other; shields and broken sword blades flew like a hailstorm. Stones on the ground popped like corn in a frying pan, and dust spread as if a whirlwind had struck.
Billy, having lost all sense of time, simply watched the battle endlessly. He even felt dizzy. The level of the battle was so high that each knight seemed to represent their order.
Billy had long imagined himself in this battle. There were times he boldly claimed that if he had been there, the outcome would have been different.
How naive had those thoughts been?
How arrogant?
Embarrassed, Billy closed his eyes. He had wanted to see this battle so badly, but now he wished to see no more. Suddenly, two horses entangled and raced from one side of the field to the other. The two knights on them clashed their spears and halberds chaotically. They were the very first knights who had started the battle.
One of them was Black. He demonstrated incredible strength, even more than when he had faced Suvel and Billy. However, all his attacks were being blocked by the knight in white armor. Gradually, the battle shifted to focus on these two. Some knights even paused their own fights to watch the duel.
Finally, Black landed a decisive strike, breaking the spear of the knight in white armor. At that moment, the knight in white quickly drew a sword from his waist and stabbed Black’s shoulder, catching him off-guard. Black staggered and fell to the ground along with his horse.
The knight in white raised his sword and shouted,
“For Her Majesty the Queen!”
At his cry, all the knights in white echoed,
“For Her Majesty the Queen!”
Then, unbelievably, a white light burst from the sword he held, filling the entire battlefield…
“Billy, Billy.”
Someone was calling him. Billy opened his eyes, utterly confused. How could he have just opened his eyes? What about the eyes he had been using until now?
Billy saw the ceiling and Suvel, who was dabbing his face with a wet towel. He couldn’t feel whether the towel was cold or warm.
Billy was in so much pain that he could barely speak and only managed labored breaths.
“Black is…”
He whispered hoarsely as he tried to rise from the bed. Suddenly, his head went blank, and his body, halfway up, tilted and fell off the bed.
“Billy!”
Suvel, alarmed, helped him up. Holding on to Suvel’s shoulder, Billy managed to stand, but his legs were too shaky to hold him up for long.
“I have to go.”
“What are you talking about? You suddenly started flailing in your sleep, so I woke you up, but you can’t get up now! You need to lie down.”
“I have to go, to Black.”
“Why Black? You don’t even know where he is.”
“I know.”
Billy flailed his arms foolishly as he spoke.
“He’s calling me. He’s calling for me. I have to go.”
“You need to lie down. Your body…”
Suvel tried to stop him again. Billy, with hands too weak to exert any real force, grabbed Suvel’s collar and spoke with a barely intelligible voice.
“You said I’m going to die anyway! So, please… do as I say.”
Suvel hesitated for a moment and then supported Billy’s shoulder, helping him out of the room. Opening the door, the usual sights appeared, not hundreds of horses and knights cleaving through a meadow, but the pale walls, wooden pillars, and an old, indistinct painting.
Billy stumbled and fell while going down the stairs. Suvel, trying to help him, shook his head in resignation.
“It’s going to hurt, but this is better. Nail!”
With Nail’s help, who had rushed out in alarm, Suvel carried Billy outside the inn.
Cold dew fell like rain. The morning sun was still far from rising, but the surroundings were sufficiently lit.
In the twilight, Billy saw Black again. Unlike in his dream, he wasn’t freely moving and observing everything. He felt Suvel carrying him and saw Nail following. Yet, at the same time, he also saw Black’s apparition.
It was as if only visible to Billy’s eyes, like a ghost.
‘Yes, a ghost. Memories of the dead flowing into my mind.’
Black, without his helmet, revealed his wet, brown hair. Billy saw his face, covered in wounds. Although it was the first time he had seen this face, he immediately recognized it as Black’s. If there had been a face under Black’s helmet, it would surely have been this one.
Another knight in black armor, an Excelon Knight, stood beside him and said,
“Captain. We can no longer expect support. At this rate, we will be annihilated. We must retreat with the main force.”
Billy recognized the face of the knight reporting to Black.
Black, looking towards the eastern sky, spoke bluntly,
“Our orders were to support the rear so our forces could escape to Carnelock. There were no other orders.”
“This is an order for us to die.”
The knight, tears in his eyes, grabbed Black’s shoulder.
“Captain, only your defeat is known to the royal court. No one is left to acknowledge the great achievements you made after the battle at Gold Gate. What are they sacrificing you for? It would be better to surrender. If you defect to another country, you will be received as a hero. Captain…”
“I am a knight of Excelon.”
Black gently patted the subordinate’s head.
“And my duty is not to surrender.”
Black slowly put on the helmet he had tucked under his arm and picked up the halberd resting against the wall. The weeping knight tried again to persuade him.
“Yesterday, Aranthia sent me an unofficial document stating they would not participate in the Nenadros Plains battle. This is a message from Quain, the captain of the Wolf Knights.”
“What did he say?”
“He said that his honor was diminished by defeating you in battle while you were injured at Gold Gate. ‘Do not fight and come to Nadium. You are not meant to die there… Captain! Go to Nadium. The knighthood that recognizes you is not in Lontamon but in Aranthia.'”
“My place of death is my choice, and it is not in the Nenadros Plains. I will go to Nadium soon. As long as there is something left for me to do there, I will not die… Convey these exact words to Quain, Loren. This is an order.”
Leaving Loren behind, Black mounted his horse, followed by his other subordinates.
“Captain!”
Loren shouted, following Black’s horse.
Black turned to him and said,
“You should escape Aranthia and return to Lontamon. Keep the knighthood of Excelon from ending. Temporarily take my place as captain.”
“I cannot be the captain! I know that better than anyone.”
“Good that you understand. Then use that judgment to find the next captain. I hope for someone who can wield the sword of Lontamon that I never could.”
Loren couldn’t hold him back.
Black entered the battlefield. The grandiose vision seen in the dreamlike place was nowhere to be seen. Only a few knights in black armor were visible, followed by soldiers, all injured and exhausted, lacking any will to fight.
“Let’s go. Our friends’ burdens still remain with us. We must win this battle and return to the Gold Gate. We must!”
Their procession walking toward the east faded away like ghosts. Billy, overwhelmed with pain or sorrow, shed tears.
With Suvel’s help, Billy got into the wagon. Nail led the carriage, and Billy leaned his head on Suvel’s shoulder.
“Are we really going to Gold Gate?” Suvel asked cautiously.
Billy nodded.
“But it’s fully in battle mode now. If we go there, you’ll die!”
Billy didn’t respond.
“Do you really think Black is there? Are you hearing him calling?”
Understanding Suvel’s skepticism, Billy replied,
“Maybe I am seeing hallucinations as I near death. But it made me realize why I came to Aranthia. To see these visions.”
Billy leaned out of the wagon. Another battle, seemingly ghostly, became visible through the morning fog.
The knights in black armor no longer intimidated their enemies. Instead, they became targets for the black-clad soldiers descending from the northern hills of Irophis and prey for the charging Carnelock cavalry from the west. Soldiers already injured before the battle were preparing to flee. But the knights in black armor stood still.
“Don’t flee! This battle is for us.”
Black shouted. His subordinate knights raised their swords in response.
“Don’t think of it as a sacrifice. We’re here to erect our own glory. Don’t fight to die. Survive as knights. Knighthood needs no justification.”
Billy tightly gripped Suvel’s shoulder and pulled himself up. Then, he gazed at the last march of the few remaining knights.
Suvel also looked in the direction Billy was staring. However, he saw nothing. Yet, he did not disturb Billy. The Gold Gate slowly emerged in the dissipating fog to the west.
Billy was watching Black, left alone on the battlefield with all his subordinates dead. His helmet was shattered, and instead of tears, blood flowed from one of his eyes. Flesh torn from his shoulder hung tattered, and two arrows were lodged in his back.
Around him lay a mountain-like pile of Irophis and Carnelock soldiers’ corpses.
‘I do not die here.’
Black did not open his mouth, but his voice resonated in Billy’s head.
‘I must return to Nadium… to the Queen of Aranthia. If I return to Gold Gate, I will not lose to the White Wolves. I, who have come this far on the sacrifices of my knights, cannot stop here.’
Both armies, having given up on capturing him alive, were drawing their bows, aiming at Black alone. The number of arrows targeting him was beyond count.
‘I must return to the Queen of Aranthia…’
Hundreds of arrows filled the sky, then plunged down towards Black like a dark cloud.
‘Your Majesty.’
As the arrows rained down, Black’s voice faded. Tears streamed down Billy’s cheeks. He trembled and said to Suvel,
“Here.”
Breaking free from Suvel’s embrace, Billy nearly tumbled out of the wagon. Suvel could not stop him and only followed.
Billy staggered forward, falling several times, yet continued until the end. Blood from his wounds marked his path.
In his childhood, the knight who was his everything stood in front of Alaya’s Bridge. Black, who should have held the sword of Lontamon, was instead holding his usual halberd. Billy, without wiping his tears, knelt before him.
Trying to catch his breath, Billy attempted to speak, but no words came out.
Suvel also followed but did not come too close.
“Do you know what knighthood is?”
It was the question posed to Billy when he first became a knight of Excelon. He couldn’t respond, worn out. Black asked again,
“Would you stab an unprotected enemy in the back?”
Again, Billy could not answer.
“Had you joined forces with Suvel, you would have defeated the hunter guarding Captain Wolf. Why did you fight alone?”
He thought he knew then, but now, he was unsure.
“Speak, Billy. You know the answer.”
Billy barely managed to speak,
“There is no reason in knighthood.”
Black gently placed his hand on Billy’s head.
“I have been waiting for you, Billy.”
With hands barely able to muster strength, Billy drew the sword of Lontamon from his waist. Holding the sword with both hands, he offered it to Black.
“Loren sent it. He told me to find its rightful owner and sent me to Aranthia, Welch, Captain of Excelon.”
Black slowly took the sword.
“Now I understand why I headed to Gold Gate. I had a duty to fulfill. Until I fulfilled that duty, I could not die. The only place that could awaken that sense of mission was here.”
Surrounding Black, knights in enormous black steeds, resembling monstrous figures, began to rise from the ground. Initially appearing like mist, they soon took form and lined up in a row behind Black. There were well over a hundred of them.
Billy, though not surprised, watched in awe, while Suvel, completely taken aback, slumped to the ground. Nail, who had stopped the carriage and was walking towards them, froze in shock, mouth agape.
“The friends of the past have followed me to confront a new challenge ahead,” Black spoke in a jovial tone as he turned to look at them.
“If there is work to be done, allow me to follow you, Captain Welch,” Billy said, wobbling to his feet.
“The living have no reason to follow the dead, Billy. It’s the dead who follow the living,” Black replied, placing his iron hand on Billy’s head. A black aura emanated from his hand, enveloping Billy’s body. Instantly, Billy regained his balance, and the wound in his abdomen disappeared as if by magic. He felt more alert and invigorated than ever before.
Black handed the sword of Lontamon back to Billy.
“The rightful owner of this sword has always been you. Keep it,” Black stated.
“But this sword can only be held by the captain of Excelon…”
“My name is not Welch, it is Black. Therefore, I am no longer the captain of Excelon. All of us here are mere phantoms who have forgotten our names. You must guide us.”
Reluctantly, Billy accepted the sword.
“Loren has been fulfilling my last order all this time. It’s a pity I can’t thank him in person. Now, lead us to the White Gate, Captain Billy.”
Billy hesitated, stepping back as he saw the hundred black steeds and knights all looking at him.
Then, Suvel approached from behind. Billy turned to him, and Suvel knelt on one knee.
“If you accept…”
Suvel planted his sword in the ground, bowing his head.
“…I will serve under you as captain, Billy.”
Billy paused, looking down at Suvel, then closed his eyes briefly, reflecting on the numerous events and dilemmas he had encountered on his journey. Reopening his eyes, he addressed Black.
“Then I will lead everyone, standing at the forefront.”
Black nodded once. Without any signal, three black steeds slowly rose from the ground, taking on the form of real horses and neighing mightily. Black mounted one of them, which showed no fear of him.
Suvel and Billy also mounted the horses Black had provided. Billy sheathed the sword at his waist and took the lead, looking towards the Gold Gate. The giant defense wall, constructed at the founding of Aranthia and never once breached by an enemy, slowly cleared of mist. The warm morning sunlight from the east gently enveloped the nameless knights’ procession heading towards the gate.
–TL Notes–
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