BLADES AND BONES

Chapter 2: The Hunt is on

A dozen of knights were dispatched under Kesk's supervision for the quest to search for the culprit and the missing horse. They started with the interrogation of possible witnesses to the crime — from the workers inside the castle, the nearby citizens, the squires, to foreigners. Yet, nobody gave a damn about the horse. Others laughed at the knights. All this reactions might be because there was no reward money to begin with, so not one of the townspeople cared on the poor animal. An old woman with muddy clothes and long skirt, barked at them, "Why don't you just buy another one! Silly dogs of the king!", then she walked away laughing loud. The soldiers would have mauled the woman to death, to make her beg for forgiveness, if not for Kesk who stopped them. He expected the unpleasant answers. The mission lasted the whole afternoon, furthered to late evening after dinner until reaching the point of dead end. Kesk was utterly disappointed. For a man whose curiosity is a bottomless pit, the farmer felt a driving force to solve the puzzle. This was one of the few times he had failed to find a solution to a problem. Rather than sulking, he had the habit to think through things, over-analyze it and end up with sleepless nights. That night, the moon was full. The blond decided to stay in the stable with the horses to confirm traces of markings he might have missed at daylight. Although dark and cold, he had an efficient tool, the lantern powered by fire seemed to be enough. And there he was, the over achiever. Checking every nooks and crannies his eyes could reach. An hour passed, still, no clue. 'Whoever it is that stole the horse was simply incredible. But that's for tomorrow.', he thought.

"Oh well, did you find clues? You've got to rest, Kesk." The knight on patrol said in a cheerful tone upon seeing Kesk stepping down the stiff, wooden ladder. A shook on the head as his answer. This made the young knight laugh sarcastically at the farmer who won't also let the rooftop untouched, that a horse might be 'up' there. But the farmer just responded a chuckle to the young guard whose face was covered by a head armor, merely the eye part was open that the peasant could see his dark blue eyes. He was rather thankful for the additional acquaintances other than his fellow farmers. After the reported incident, King Pejulo assigned bodyguards to watch over his domestic animals at day and more at night until the investigation ends. However, the albino strongly believed that he had to keep a watchful eye on the poor herbivores for the moment as well. He treated them as his pets anyway. 'Perhaps just a nap.', Kesk suggested to himself. The search was tiresome. Drowsiness started to bother him. He walked to the haystack and inspected it for ants and insects. Once he made sure that it was clean and safe to lie down, he placed the lantern on the ground near him. He used his hat as a pillow, further doubled by his folded left arm under the head while the right arm rested on his stomach. He did change positions sooner than he expected. It was certainly uncomfortable but he was accustomed sleeping on different kinds of bed during the times he worked on his various researches and inventions. He yawned. Soon, the man fell asleep.

The crackle of burning wood in the bonfire lit by scouts on duty was music to the ears. Further added by small chatter between the soldiers during unholy hours to fight the growing silence. Darkness keeps their senses awake and their minds to imagine things like ghosts and wolves. It was human nature to challenge each other to test who's the bravest of them. Seemingly, this warriors in thick metal armors were proud bearers of the King's insignia to the chest, an embossed side view of an eagle's head to the left and front view of its body, the wings and legs spread apart then it was further designed with a long sword to fit the middle part of the bird. The sword symbolized the letter "T" which is the first letter of Trazavan, the family name who ruled San Tima over the past decades. Also, green was the trademark color of the country known to have grassy plains. Their main exports were milk and wheat.

A group of three knights decided to sit down around the bonfire to warm themselves while the rest continue the patrolling.

"Why do we have to search for the missing horse and make this investigation like a big deal?!", one of the older knights having a blubbery body built complained and grunted. "We are paid to do this anyway. What's the point?", the other knight with the same built replied. "Well, we are knights! We should be guarding humans! NOT animals! Let the lazy farmers do their jobs." He gritted his teeth in anger. This man who complains a lot was Johnny Madrick. He was from a middle class family who vowed to become a knight to grow as the next king. The other two sitting opposite him were his buddies, Aaron, a skinny guy, and Jehrry, Johnny's younger brother who was also as fat as him but he frequently contradicted his kin's ideas. "Nah, king's orders are king's orders.", Aaron spoke in his nasal voice. He was the middleman. "But why do we have to work with Kesk and follow his orders, too?!", the annoyed man sneered. "Because he knows about the horses.", his brother answered like saying it was an obvious fact that doesn't need to be questioned. The thin male continued, "Look, I know you hate taking orders from persons lower than your rank but that doesn't mean we should disobey the king's order." Yes, he was right. That moment, Johnny can't accept defeat. He frowned and turned his back with crossed arms on the chest after uttering, "You guys don't understand me at all!" Expecting an apology from his friends, he stayed that way for about a couple of minutes. But they didn't say anything. The angry knight started to wonder. The surrounding got darker and quieter. He turned to face his friends only to find out they're gone. His immediate response was to stand up and search for them. "Guys, it's not funny. Why did you kill the fire? You know we need it..." Then he realized that even the other guards have disappeared. For Johnny, this was the worst joke ever. And the scariest. Adding up to his horror, he didn't had a lantern. The frightened soldier held tight to his pole weapon, trembling as he treaded carefully on the grassland. Until, the huge formation of clouds covered the moon and the lands were swallowed by darkness. As it passed, the moon reappeared shining brightly in the darkest blue sky. And... the knight was no more.