Knights Apocalyptica

Chapter 126: North Star

The noble stag was pausing now

Upon the mountain's southern brow,

Where broad extended, far beneath,

The varied realms of fair Menteith.

With anxious eye he wandered o'er

Mountain and meadow, moss and moor,

And pondered refuge from his toil,

-Walter Scott, The Lady of the Lake, (1810, 2nd Era)

When Enide asked for a chat, Erec didn’t have a clue what it’d entail. There was tension at the idea of being alone with her. He thought they might find somewhere quiet to talk and joke around. Not that she’d walk up to her father with him in tow, swipe his car keys and loudly declare she’d be taking his car.

Yniol, a proud car owner and father, had scarcely processed that before Enide told Erec to grab his axe, then meet her at the car.

Less than two minutes later, he’d hopped in the passenger seat, and Enide kicked off the ride with a wild laugh. Her gun and his axe strapped down as they sped away from Worth into the desert.

If Yniol was a reckless driver, there wasn’t a word to describe Enide’s style. She came straight from hell.

Her foot didn’t let off the pedal, and one of her hands was out the side of the car the entire time. It waved up and down with the wind. To start, Erec held on for dear life. The vehicle jerked around and threw them every which way.

But the smile on her face. That compelling joy radiating off her infected him.

Erec, let go of the brace, of his fear of crashing and dying. Instead, like her, he embraced the wind. They flew across the desert.

Within, Fury sparked a confusing sensation to go along with joy. It was a pure unadulterated euphoria that contrasted the normal hate and anger it sprang from.

Erec yelled, climbing to his feet to better feel the wind as they rode. Further and further, the city retreated behind. With it, the Armor, those monsters, and the rest of the Knights and his identity with the Kingdom. Melting away into the sand and distance.

Eventually, Enide pulled the car over on the side of the road.

The sun sank on the horizon, and Enide climbed out of the car, digging in the trunk for an old ratty blanket. With a bit of swagger, she tossed it on the dirt, threw an old-world insulated cooler on top, and invited Erec to join her.

She’d planned for this. Stuffing the cooler with jerky, veggies, and a couple of beers. It wasn’t the most impressive meal, but it hit the spot.

There was the typical small talk as they ate, then drank, letting the sun go down completely.

All the while, a sort of tension lingered between them. Erec’s hair stood on the back of his head; he felt keenly aware of everything she did, so much so that his worries slid away.

Tomorrow, he’d deal with the vault. Might die or come close again. But tonight was his.

They stretched on the blanket, staring up above. His hand brushed against hers, and he slid it away, feeling a swelling in his gut. Only for her to reach back out and grab it, holding it in place, with his heart hammering, she kept on talking.

“Little Dipper,” Enide said, pointing out a formation. “See how they connect? Picture the lines in your mind, and it looks a bit like a spoon. My mother used to say it was also called Ursa Minor, whatever that means. One next to it is the big dipper… and that over there is the dragon.”

Erec squinted as he looked far above, though she kept pointing to a specific part of the sky. It was hard to tell. That, and his mind kept going back to the feeling of her hand and his. With a great deal of will, he focused. It looked like a spoon if you gave it a lot of leeway. But it was more like a box with a string attached to it if he looked at the same thing. He didn’t even try to find the ‘dragon.’

Her hand felt so warm. She ran her thumb along the underside of his palm, tracing the lines.

“…But you don’t care much for the stars, do you?” she shook her head. “Blows my mind you’ve got a set of fancy Armor, praise the bitch-who-shall-not-be-named, but don’t even know your constellations.”

“Wasn’t uh… All too important. I know how to navigate from them. Mostly that star right there.” he pointed at the end of the ‘little dipper,’ the brightest star in the formation. “That one’s north; you can base your direction on it. During the day, you have the sun. In practical terms, though, you’d probably have a compass or navigation from your Armor. A lot of wasteland survival lectures are about redundancies in case the worst happens.”

“The Academy’s hard then?”

“Very few people get in. Mostly higher-ranking nobility. If you borrow loaner armor, you stand a chance as a low-ranking noble or even a commoner…” he trailed off as she folded her fingers in his. Where was he even going with that?

When he slipped off into quiet, Enide laughed mockingly, letting go of his hand and sitting up.

“Focus issues, huh?”

He blinked and looked at her. That wild black hair hung, and she wasn’t staring at the stars anymore. Without her hand, it was almost like waking up from a dream; only this was real. Her gun and his axe were in her father’s car, and anywhere out there, might be a monster.

“You didn’t take me out here to talk about the stars,” Erec said since it was true.

“No, not really.” She leaned back and frowned. “I’ve wondered quite a bit about you. The way you act so reserved at times. But you didn’t act like that all during soccer. A reserved person isn’t the type to get torn to shreds so haphazardly in fights or act so aggressive. What was stranger is that when they dragged you back, you had a smile.”

There it was, digging in. Inevitably she’d want to know why. “My Divine Talent, it’s… Well, called Fury. From the name, I think you can take a guess about what happens.”

“They say that your talent is a reflection of your soul. Of who you are deep down. Are you furious at this world, Erec?”

“I… Maybe. We shouldn’t be forced to live within our walls; these monsters have no right to trespass.”

“That isn’t it.” Enide smiled, “There are all sorts of monsters in life, and not all of them are the kind that wanna eat you. But, I want to know you, including that side of you, the honest one deep down. I wanna see this Fury as it was meant to be. Not held back.”

“Why?” Erec squinted at her.

“I think people are at their most beautiful when they’re themselves. Along those lines… Your ‘Master Knight’ isn’t going to be too happy about this, but I heard what they were talking about. I know our pack leader. No matter what you say, that’ll be his tipping point before forcing your hand. I’m sure we’ll be going with you to this vault.”

Erec frowned. Boldwick wasn’t one to roll over to other people’s demands, let alone a group like this. What possible benefit could the Pendragon’s offer that might make him reconsider?

Seeing his hesitation and seizing on the moment of weakness, Enide threw herself on top of him, her hands pressing down on either side of his shoulders, her hair hanging freely around him, those piercing brown eyes locked on his own.

His heart raced miles in his chest, and a shock of pure adrenaline ran through as Fury ignited within once more. That flame burned within him, the feeling of her pressing down a similar fire sparking him and burning him alive. She smelled like the wind, a free and unconstrained force that wouldn’t let anything tie her.

Gradually, her head lowered, preciously close. Those eyes held him in a trance.

“Show me who you are, Erec. And I’ll show you who I am.”

Her eyes closed, and with a feeling like he was going crazy, Erec followed suit. She shifted on top of him, her lips barely brushing his, then suddenly, that pressure weighing down on him was gone. Surprised, Erec opened his eyes, and Enide was nowhere to be seen. He looked around twice. But there was no sign of her.

On the third desperate moment of searching, there she was, on the hood of the car, reclined with an evil smile.

“Excited to raid a vault, slinger?” she asked.

Erec pressed a hand to his chest, gasping in relief. For a moment, he’d thought some horrible creature had found her and torn her away. That fear inside burned damn near as bright as Fury, which was still glowing in his chest. But with all of this… His head was a mess.

“What the hell was that?”

“Fun and games, Mr. Hero.” She shrugged. “How about you hop in my car, and we drive back? Pa’s bound to start getting really pissed right about now, and I need to make sure to seal the deal and get a spot cracking a vault. Luckily, I’m pretty useful, so don’t think convincing my pack will be hard.”

With that, she got off the car, walked to the driver’s seat, and turned the ignition. The headlights flooded their little picnic site.

“Oh, mind picking up everything and throwing it in the back? Appreciate it!”

Erec stared at her, hand still on his chest, the thoughts going through his head maddening. She was playing with him, maybe. Or maybe not. He knew this was the type of person she was, and this whole thing was a dare. A new game she’d invented. One designed to test his limits and see who broke first.