The Royal Knight Academy

Chapter 13: A New Quest

The next morning, I awoke to the cloud covered morning light brushing against my face as it came through the window. I took the covers off and got up and out of bed. I decided that I should start to get ready for the day. I went to my closet and changed into some new clothes and my armor. As I put on my helmet, I gave myself a little pep talk.

"Let's see what today has got in store for me, but whatever is thrown at me, I can do it."

Finally, I grabbed my sword of steel, walked over to the door, and opened it. I was shocked to see that Xavier was standing there. He looked like he had something to tell me. I let out a small high pitched scream when I saw him.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking confused.

"You just startled me," I answered quickly in a deep voice, hoping my scream didn't give anything away.

"Sorry about that, but coming to your room to scare you isn't why I'm here."

"What is it then?"

"Well, that's the thing. I don't know why, but Duke really needs us to go back to the training room right away. It sounded urgent when he told me he needed you there. Everyone else is already there, so we have to go! NOW!"

He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of my room without warning. The two of us ran to the training room. As we sped through the long corridor, my legs felt like they were on fire, burning with every stride. However, there was only one thing on my mind, "Why does Duke want me to come right now?"

When we finally came to the door that led into the training room and opened it, I saw the others waiting. Elijah was pacing around the room worriedly, Blake seemed to be deep in thought, Owen didn't look all that interested in being there, and Duke looked like he was getting ready to make an announcement. As we entered the room, it didn't take long for everyone to notice us.

"I can't believe we had to wake up this early," Owen said, annoyed. "It better be important."

"All right everyone. Settle down," Duke said. "Let's get started."

We all stood in a perfect line and faced him as we stopped talking, giving him our attention.

"Thank you. Now you're all probably curious why I have called you to start your training so early today. I have an important announcement to make."

"Are you going to inform everyone that you already know I'm the greatest knight?" Owen joked.

"No," Duke responded with a glare. "I gathered you all here this morning because I have a special message straight from the King."

We all looked at each other surprised and in awe when he said that. I couldn't believe that the King himself had something important to tell us. (Well, not quite THE KING, but still.)

"The King has requested us to make a special elixir for him. He needs it as soon as possible, and you five are the only knights available to complete this very important job." 

"But we're here to be knights, not chemists," Blake interrupted.

"I know that, but if the King asks, we do it. It won't be an easy task though. We have to first gather all of the ingredients and some of them can only be found being guarded by the most dangerous creatures in the land. The ingredients are the; Blood Red Rose. Forever Golden Flame, Water of Purity, Cloud of Fate, and Sun and Moon Stone. We don't know what we're up against, but we must face it to complete this task."

Then he walked over to me.

"And you will be the leader of this mission," Duke continued.

"Why me?" I asked, knowing Owen wouldn't be happy that he wasn't going to be the leader.

"Because, you show great strength and power when you wield that sword of yours, like a leader should. You have the qualities of a true leader, so that's why I chose you."

I wanted to thank him, but I decided to remain quiet, so I just nodded.

"You will retrieve each ingredient individually and will go with only one of your teammates to get it to bring back to me."

Then he walked back to his original position.

"For the first mission, you and Blake will take your horses and venture into the Forbidden Woods tonight to retrieve the mysterious Blood Red Rose," Duke said, pointing to us. "You will travel at night when it is hard for the guardian of this beloved flower to see you."

As he said that, I could see the fear and fright in Blake's eyes behind his glasses. Doing something this dangerous so soon in our training made it even riskier, but we had to do it, for the sake of the King.