F-A-D

Chapter 5: Jazz - A knights trial

It was a rainy day as i could see a city slowly dooming up in front of me as i walked the old and in some places tattered stone path. I could hear the squeaky wheels of a carriage behind me that quickly whirred past me. "Someone is in a hurry" i mumbled as it splashed my already wet body with more rain water. I sighed as i could now clearly see the front gates wich happened to be wide open. Most cities had their doors closed unless anyone important entered or exited the city. On special occasions like during festivities the doors would be open. At least those were the rules in the kingdom i grew up in.

As soon as i arrived at the gates one of the guards a young lady not much older than myself suddenly yelled in exitement "oh you must be one of the knights trying out to be the royal protector!" I looked at her confused "i'm sorry but what are you talking about" the other guard sighed as the lady pushed a phamplet in my hands "everyone who thinks they are strong enough can enter !" She smiled as i frowned and looked at the phamplet "trial to become a knight huh? Well i suppose i could enter." I paused for a moment before continueing "it's not like i currently have anything better to do. I'm just gonna need a more appropriate outfit" i looked around "oh i know there's an armory not far from the castle.. though it is expensive" i nodded "i think i'll manage" i started to walk still clenching the pamphlet in my hand.

As soon as i entered the armory i could see a few other people standing around the shop waiting for the smith to either repair or to buy some armor. One of them seemed to be glaring at me though i ignored them completely and walked over to the counter where a child stood behind the counter "what can i do for you mister ?" I smiled as i explained to them i wanted some armor to participate in the trials and that i needed a suit of armor made or edited to fit me seeing as any old armor would simply not fit due to the wings i was born with. The child turned around "um dad ? There is a customer with a special request !" I could hear a man mumbling in the background as a man with dark hair and green eyes stepped into sight. "Allright what is this special request of yours" he leaned on the counter as i unfolded my wing showing him what needed to be done "so what you want me to cut them off for you" the man laughed as he grabbed a piece of paper and started to draw some armor on it.

I frowned as the man thought for a moment then looked up at me "how much do you have to spare ? So i will know what material i can use". I nodded in understanding before rummaging trough my pockets a bit "now where are you?" After about a minute of taking out useless junk i finally pulled out a gem "there ya go" i smiled as the man looked at it in awe before nodding and hurrying off back into the back of the shop "just wait here for a bit" so i waited

After a while the man came out from the back again and told me to come to the back. I could hear the same customer that glared at me sigh before mumbling something under his breath. As soon as i entered the room i could see several smelters and a whole family working on weapons and armor. The man handed me a full set of armor and brought me to a side room so i could try the armor on. After making a few extra corrections and me paying with the gem i showed the man before i left for the castle to sign up for the trial wich would be held the next morning

After signing up and having spent the night in the local inn i headed over to the castle in my armor and with the great axe i was once given by my older sister who was told to hold onto it for me for when i would be old enough to wield it. I kmow it was my mothers wish to give it to me before my father fell into the spell of a witch whom would never have allowed me to have anything. I walked towards the front gate of the castle as the castle's wizard brought me and some other participants to the trial to the castle's inner courtyard where i could see some cages lined up with beasts of various sizes in one of them was a troll i assumed that this would be what the finalists would have to battle as i lined up next to the other contestants. After waiting a few minutes the king appeared together with the queen and his daughters the king didn't look to well as a servant even had to assist him to his throne wich was on the upper ballistrade looking over at the courtyard below. As soon as he sat down he let out a hackling cough and he seemed to whisper something to the queen who walked forward before beginning to talk "As some of you might know the king is in dire state and with the recent vanishing of our old head knight we had to arrange this trial in haste. For the rules" she cleared her throat as another servant gave her a note she nodded then continued to speak "you will all start off battling each other. There is no need for any casualties and those who end anothers life will ultimately be disqualified the same goes for anyone that continues to fight after another has already told them to stop the fight for they know the other is stronger than them. After there are only about five contestants left we will unleash the troll against whom you will have to work together instead of against each other. Now for the other animals, they will be released at random to make the battle less predictable as a real battle would not be predictable. Whomever scores the most points and stands strong till the end will ultimately be chosen as the new head knight. Are there any further questions?" She paused for a moment as everyone went silent then nodded "Then let the competition begin and may the best prevail and be chosen as the new head knight" the queen sat down in her throne and the competition began the man from the day before immideately headed for me yelling at me "A freak like you should not be allowed to participate" he shouted as he brought his sword down about 5 centimeters next to my face "Says the boy who can't even handle his own sword" i struck him in his side with my axe and he immideately toppled over "i expected more from you" i said as i moved onto another participant "don't turn your back on me !" The guy yelled behind me and i chuckled "i bet you couldn't hit that troll even if you tried your hardest, give up you will most likely be struck down harder next time than i just did. You'll end up as wolf fodder if you keep that overconfident attitude" the same moment a wolf ran straight at me from one of the cages, i kicked it hit the other contestant with my axe then continued my swing to kill the wolf. After a while of fighting only five of us were left standing me being one of those five and they released the troll. I could see the guy i had struck down before sitting at the sidelines obviously pouting after he was crushed by the hammer called reality. I looked over to the other contestants as one of them immideately charged in "idiot what are you doing ? Don't just charge in on a troll" a man in red-ish armor shouted. I chuckled "working together is probably not in his dictionary. Let's just follow him reckless move or not we can't leave him hanging" i said as i loosened up my shoulders. One of the others a blue armored guy who hadn't said anything the whole match nodded and followed the one who charged in. I could hear the man in the red armor sigh as he reluctantly followed "you're not scared are you red ?" I said as we got closer to the troll. I could hear him grumble "i'm not scared also my name isn't red!" i noticed i was smiling as i took the first strike " whatever man anyways let's focus on the legs first though be careful to not be crushed beneath it's feet or body if it decides to start dancing or to take a little nap" i noticed the blue guy holding down a laugh as we continuously struck the troll's legs wich in time caused all of our armors to appear red after a while because of all the troll blood we started to get covered in after a while the toll fell down and we could end the battle.

The Queen got up from her throne and walked to the side to look down at the five who were still in the middle of the courtyard. She smiled "Wonderful truly wonderful! You even defeated the troll honestly and by working together" she looked over at her husband who was making his way down slowly to choose a winner. As soon as he stood in front of us he had to regain his breath once he did he begun to speak "if you all would please remove your helmets, there is no need to be so formal" he coughed as i removed my helmet wich seemed to shock a few. After all white hair and eyes of the same color aren't exactly common. However i wasn't the one who shocked the king no, the one next to me in the now stained red blue armor wasn't a man at all. I looked over at her as the king spoke again "princess what in the world do you think you are doing ?" She looked at the king "sorry father but i had to prove to you that even a princess can be strong. I do not wish to sit around all day long and do little to nothing i want to travel and meet new people i know i can't be the head knight and it was never my goal to become head knight i simply wanted to prove to you that i am not some weak damsel in distress and that i can look out for myself" the king nodded "well before i knew who you were i considered giving you that role. Though i suppose i will then turn to one of the other contestants" the king looked over at me "you" he coughed "what is your name?" He squinted a bit as if his eyesight was failing him. "I'm Jazz" i said as i noticed the girl besides me walk away and over to the queen and other princesses. The king nodded "Jazz eh?" He fell silent and coughed again "Where have i heard that name before" the king had a puzzled look on his face and i shrugged "hmm.. i'm not sure though that doesn't matter now, i'm sure i'll remember it sometime. Anyways you certainly caught my eye back there and not just because of your wings. No it's the way you battled and then switched over to working together with the others. You gave them directions like a head knight should in a manner only a born leader could do. Therefore i hereby grant you the titel of Head knight!"