The Ruby Empire

The Red Knight

The Red Knight was half asleep and sagging in his horse's saddle. He had been riding for days and doing little else. When the horse shook him to his senses, nearly toppling him into the river he had stopped to drink from. He groaned and removed himself, wobbling at first from riding for so long and hard. He pet the horse's mane, a silent thank you for having taken the hard ride.

The horse wasn't as young as she used to be, but she still rode as hard as if she was. The knight had a small worry this could be his trusted companions last ride. He led the mare to drink as he crouched down and sat on the cold bank of the river. He stretched, his back cracking mercilessly and he collapsed on the slightly damp earth.

He stared up through the trees, the dappled light through the green leaves reminded him of his childhood in the thick forests. It was there that his home had been ransacked. His parents were killed, and he was dragged off, sold to become a knight of the Rusted King. The knight shivered, then he felt the mare's wet lips and snout nipping at the top of his head.

"Stop that you bloody fucker," he snarled and pushed at her gently. The mare kicked and huffed before turning her head to a patch of grass.

"Food," the Red Knight thought as he watched his mare ea., "I can't remember the last meal I had. I can remember the last gulp of wine but..." He laid there for a while, his body screaming, his mind still a horrified blur of fire and then some more screaming. He hardly felt human, not that he had ever felt entirely that, but in this moment he felt like some panicked beast that had been stabbed and shot through, waiting for whatever the gods had in mind for him.

After a spell he sat up, his bones groaning and muscles burning. He braced against the mare and managed to set himself up. The Red Knight didn't want to ride in the saddle for now. He took hold of his reins and walked alongside her. He let the mare lead him, any place a horse went was better than from where he came. The Castle of Rust was probably gone by now. The Rusted King was probably hanging from gallows, a sharpened stick going up his ass if he was lucky.

The Red Knight had been a child of healers and shamans, he was never meant for war, never intended for bloodshed and smoke. His place was in the woods and the damp of the earth. His colors should be heavenly browns and godly greens. Not the red and black of a Rust Knight. Now that he had no claim, no place, and nowhere to go, he knew the mare wouldn't lead him astray.

The Red Knight knew he would have to find shelter and food eventually, he couldn't sustain himself on water and grass like the mare did. He needed meat and wine, possibly an excellent woman to warm him for a night. The Red Knight checked his pockets for what money he had. He would need to find some coin as well if he wanted to survive. Perhaps there was a small farm somewhere he could strong arm.

The Red Knight had survived worst conditions though, he thought as his hand pet up the mare's stiff neck. "As long as you stay by my side, girl," he growled, kicking a rock from his path, "I don't think I'm in too much trouble." The Red Knight forced a smile. "A woman has never lead me wrong."

The mare snorted and turned her head away, suddenly changing her course.

"Fucking idiot," he growls as if forgetting his previous words. "Where are you going?" The Red Knight snarled, tugging the reins but unable to stop the mare's new direction.

He followed regardless, seeing the mare take him into a clearing in the woods. It looked like an old campsite. There were signs of men there, footprints and hoof prints, several snuffed out campfires with logs around them. At the back there was a campfire still lit, several sticks skewered into the earth with fresh fish cooking on them. He took the mare and tied her reins to a tree as he approached the fire, checking over the fish and reaching to take them for himself.