The Shadow Knight

Chapter 14

Trust me when I say Elizabeth Berkley is by far the most annoying girl who ever lived. Her sheer voice sends shivers down my spine. Oh, and that death glare of hers? It's so creepy that it'd give clowns a run for their money. Why am I saying these horrible things? Well, maybe it's the fact she almost killed me.

I did nothing to her, she was holding MY hand. Regardless, I had to sit in bed, looking at this half-naked girl, as she attempted to stab me with her incredibly sharp blade. She ran out of the room in impunity, and now I'm sitting with Carleton, having a pretty basic conversation about bloodball. Bloodball was a sport that dates way back, and is a combination of soccer and football. It has the kicking part of soccer, but the end zones and positions of football.

I was on the bloodball team, though it wasn't really my sport. I was significantly better at fencing, but I still made the team. Carleton was the captain of the bloodball team, and he was discussing some plays with me. I wanted to ask him about some more offensive plays, and it seems that he was more than interested to talk about anything other than the events that just took place.

We spend a nice 20 minutes discussing, though I began to feel nauseous and began shaking. My body was on fire and I wanted to cry and vomit and yell all together. I disregarded it and continued with my conversation until my mother and Elizabeth made their ways back into the room. She began to cough and whimper in her robe, and I looked at my mother suspiciously. I felt a wave of dizziness as well, and leaned back, placing my hand on my forehead.

I kept my gaze on Elizabeth, her eyes still having that sparkle in them, even with all her cuts and bruises all over her body. She looked worn, but still gave off an aura of confidence that I envied. She looked and acted as badly as I felt, and I wondered what was happening to us. She took a seat in another chair across from the bed, though my mother made a clicking noise with her tongue.

"You two are feeling ill, no?"she says in a motherly tone. "Get in bed with him Elizabeth, you two need to be close if you want to feel better. The Bond is still solidifying and you need to be close in order to complete it". Elizabeth grumbled a few curse words my mother pretended not to hear, and crawled into the bed beside me. I was rather uncomfortable having a girl sitting beside me like this, and I tried to not overthink it.

"Now you two, I think we must discuss the matter at hand. I told you before the story between you two. What I didn't tell you, is that someone is after your powers. The two of you have a special Bond, and with that comes special abilities, which many covet. The man who want's your powers the most is Erador, the sorcerer of the underworld." She says, and both Elizabeth and I lean in, filled with curiousity. "Hades couldn't rule the underworld alone, so he had Erador, the son of a demon and a mortal, become his apprentice. Erador grew up to be an amazing man, using his sorcery to solve miraculous problems in the world, and deal with the naughty souls of the underworld. Then it all changed when he fell in love" my mother sighs as she speaks, clearly this being a touchy subject for her.

"A beautiful maiden was born in our own kingdom, and one day, she went for a simple walk in the mountains. Though, a  goblin grabbed her and pushed her off the mountain, it being afraid she would take his gold. Erador was watching the maiden for a long time, and when he saw her falling, he disobeyed all the rules and saved her life. The two went into hiding, and slowly fell in love. He completed her, and she him. Hades did not approve of this, since Erador had meddled with the proper balance of life and death. As his punishment, Hades found and killed the maiden, and sentenced her to always be reborn in a new person in a new kingdom, so Erador could never find her again" After this, my mother pauses, lost in thought.

"Okay, poor guy. But what does this have to do with us?" I ask, unamused by another sad love story. If I wanted to hear one of those, I'd go ask Ms.Milton, always spending her lunch times sobbing over some silly romance novel. My mother shifts her gaze to us, and says "Well children, your Bond allows for anyone who is lost to be found. This is all Erador needs to find that maiden again, and he will come for you. That is why you must go. I am going to send you two to a kingdom far away. It is roughly two fortnight's journey on foot, but anything is safer than here" sadness lingers in her voice, and she touches my hand, clearly sad to lose me.

"I will be back to run this kingdom mother" I say, matter of factly. She grins at this and then says "Rest up tonight young ones, for your journey begins tomorrow". She gets up and gestures to Carleton, who I had completely forgot was there. He nods at both of us, and the two walk out together, discussing the logistics of our new adventure. I turn to look at Elizabeth, and I see she's fast asleep.  

Though I wasn't interested in sleeping with her, I doze off, knowing that my life would never have a calm moment again after this.