Knight of Endrell Book One: The Red Empire

Chapter Four

Chapter 4

At last Kinai entered the Morovaust district where his family resided. There was not much to be said of this area, generally speaking. The homes were simply made of wood, rocks, and hay and the people there were quiet and minded their own business. What made this place so significant was that this was the district were the temple of the knights stood, and like them, all who lived in this district consisted of those who wanted no part of the new kingdom, without making such disloyalty known to Abominias. The knights’ temple was a huge two-acre estate, constructed as a fifty foot tall, octagon shaped, stone fortress with one of its sections acting as a one hundred foot long main hall. There was an outer court in the center of the octagon where the soil was well kept so that gardens could be maintained and onsite crops could be grown. There was also plenty of space for sparring practice.

The knights’ temple was originally devoted to housing many of the knights of Endrell who at once were great in number, but had been whittled down to fifteen over time. There were smaller temples built for similar purposes throughout the entire city, one per district, and all served as outposts for the knights so that they could be present all over the city. As the primary outpost for all, the temple in the Morovaust district served as the meeting grounds for when collective operations were to be implemented, where after the knights would return to their separate outposts. That was when the knights' order was still a respected one. But now all of the remaining knights live out their days in hiding, while most of the temples are now used for the worship of strange gods, child sacrifice for certain children that are not thrown away, and the whorish indulgence of the dead. There are but a few temples left vacant in certain districts along the edges of the city and no one knows why they go unnoticed, or avoided.

At this point the Morovaust outpost seems the only active location where any knight still dwells, however underground mostly. The knights at once had a mind to bring in the poor and even the children left to die so that they could be safe. But that idea was forfeited for fear that the knights might put them in even greater danger if it turns out that the guards and law abiding citizens happen to notice too many persons missing from normal living habitations. However the knights still make their rounds to accomplish what good they cannot engage within the walls of the temple on the outside. If necessary, there was also an underground tunnel system that ran from temple to temple, which could be used for secretly transporting goods or people safely from one district to another. But just before the war on Endrell, the knights made sure that such passages were completely cut off and their entryways hidden or destroyed so that Abomin would never become aware of them. The temples along with their underground tunnels were built at the request of king Michamsai, who had Sidonin's siege on the city in mind from the beginning.

Apart from the temple, the Morovaust was also one of the few places Abomin did not care to invade or was too afraid to try in public. No, instead he would send the people there occasional nuisances, namely tormenting spirits to cause them distress, whispering things into the air to instill fear in them, especially in Kinai's brothers. But such attempts usually failed, quite strangely because there was something about Machaiah, of all individuals, that repelled them and ran them out of the Morovaust, particularly when he became aware of them. It was never as if he did anything noticeable to scare them off. Still, whenever they came around, his big blue eyes would glisten like sunlight against a sapphire diamond, somehow causing the spirits to fall ill with fear to the point where they literally looked sickly and deformed. When they were gone, Machaiah's eyes returned to their natural blue flare.

Upon returning to Abomin, the spirits would often seem to die at his feet, one or two with recorded memories of their encounter in their eyes, yet only retaining the image of the boy before passing out. Abomin would in turn retain their memories and their fears, falling ill himself for a time without a cure, until his fears wore off. Abomin hated the people of that district all the more each time he sent his tormentors to hound them, the house of Aminseth above all, and sought to someday rid the city of Machaiah and all children like him. His bitterness grew many times worse with the thought that he was unsuccessful in acquiring all the children of the unknown arts.