Opening Moves (The Lion Knight Book 1) Read online

  Prologue

  Deep within the Umbra Forest a lone figure clad in white ran through the night. Waist length ebony hair whipping in the wind, framing a face glistening with half dried tears. Amber eyes puffy from prolonged crying stared ahead blankly.

  Exhaustion seeping into her bones, she was fully aware that collapse was imminent, each breath drawn was harder than the last and exponentially more painful. Breaths growing ever more ragged as she ran, her vision blurring and fraying at the edges.

  Still she ran on against all odds, guided only by the reassuring sight of her falcon flying just ahead of her. At this point her vision consisted entirely of shadowy blurs in a mad dance. Her guiding light a sole speck of white in an endless void.

  Stumbling over yet another unseen root in her path, the girl continued trying to put as much distance between herself and her pursuers. She couldn’t see the flickering of their torches but she could hear them trudging through the underbrush.

  Hoping against hope that whatever miracle that was keeping her from running off a cliff or falling into a pit continued to hold. Her heart was rapidly falling.

  Muffled sobs escaped her between breaths as she recalled the events of the past two days, the destruction of her world and virtually everything she held dear.

  Two of her closest friends had already sacrificed themselves to ensure her escape and a sizable bounty was now on her head.

  To compound her problems, the Umbra Forest was completely monster infested and most were nocturnal. Aside from the mercenaries hunting her at the orders of her traitorous uncle, half the forest was out looking for their next meal.

  As a regular human with no weapons or armor to defend herself and fear radiating of her in waves, she might as well have be broadcasting the location of an easy meal to the beasts out on the prowl.

  “Yulia, Aria I-I'm so sorry.”

  Blinking away a fresh wave of tears she drove on, the howling of nearby wolves spurring her self-preservation instincts to grant a surge of adrenaline.

  Vision fading in and out of blackness, she was no longer able to see the path or her guide. The maiden failed to see the sharp drop-off rapidly approaching.

  With one final misstep, her foot found nothing but air and she began to fall.

  With no way to stabilize her uncontrolled roll, a long and painful tumble down the hill awaited the unfortunate soul.

  Ending in a dip into a surging river, the girl had no chance to take in so much as a mouthful of air before being dragged under by the currents.

  Lacking the strength to fight to the surface she offered up a single prayer for the deliverance of her friends from their ordeal before unconsciousness claimed her.

  Her limp and battered form continued to be borne by the torrent, bound for destination unknown.

  -*-

  Quaking in his boots while standing in front of his boss, Fareux cursed his men's ability to mess up such a simple job.

  He was thoroughly questioning how in all the lands he was supposed to escape this with his head firmly attached to his neck.

  Grab the girl, her friend and the accursed bird before bringing all three to the boss, simple and easy. How the hell did everything go wrong?

  Despite fifty men joining in the hunt for the trio, one girl had somehow escaped with the blasted bird and inflicted a score of injuries on his men.

  The sole captive the iron wolves brought in didn't come quietly either, putting up a spirited fight against overwhelming odds. His mercenaries sustained one fatality and five wounded before the girl could be suppressed.

  At that memory, Fareux scowled once more, if it wasn't for the capture alive and unharmed order, the situation would have been vastly different.

  Silently damning his orders for the loss of his men, the cost of the operation left a foul taste in his mouth. One dead and eleven wounded for one target out of three. As if fate wasn't quite done spitting on the Iron Wolves though, the sole prisoner wasn't even the main target of the operation, just a decoy.

  “So...” a voice brimming with barely suppressed anger shook Fareux out of his ruminations

  “We paid ye thirty thousand gold pieces for the capture of two girls and one bird, enough money to live like kings. All the food, wine and women ye desire for the rest of ye lives for such a trivial matter. Are we not generous?”

  A wine glass thrown from the shadows shattered against the back wall and the voice turned silent and sinister.

  “And yet... You fail us. We gave ye arms, we gave ye armor, we gave ye everything ye needed to succeed. Here ye stand before us, a whipped dog beaten by two girls barely into their late teens and a bird armed with only kitchen utensils. Kitchen. Utensils.”

  Fareux did his best to stammer out an explanation

  “Si-sir th-they escaped into the Umbra Forest a-a-and the it was too dark to se-”

  “SILENCE!” the voiced boomed once more, completely outraged this time. “You impudent swine! How dare ye interrupt our royal selves!”

  At this a second goblet flew out of the shadows, smashing into Fareux's face. It shattered into a thousand shards and knocked him to the floor.

  Fighting off a surge of anger, Fareux stood once more, continuing to listen to his current employer's spiel.

  “Ye misbegotten wastes of space brought us the wrong girl to boot! We require the real one not this… this worthless maid. Fortunately for ye, we still have use of the sow as a hostage.”

  The fury in his voice subsiding as quickly as it rose, Fareux's employer continued in a more even tone

  “For that ye men get one more chance to retrieve the girl. We will suffer no further failures, a message will be sent to the rest of ye lot regarding the price of failure. Now, be gone from our presence cretin, barbarians like ye offend our sensibilities.”

  Too angry and afraid to think straight anymore, Fareux turned on his heel and walked away from his employer with every bit of dignity he still had in him.

  “Grrrr….” If not for his guards I'd gut him like a fish before taking my money. No matter once the job's done and payment in hand, I'll deal with him. Paying off the stooges will be easy with that much money.

  Resolving to execute the bastard once full payment was made, a chill ran down his spine and Fareux turned to look back.

  A sense of dissonance overtook him and for a brief moment, weightlessness was all he felt. For the life of him he couldn’t figure out why the world was inverted.

  Finally noticing that he was staring at his body crumpling to the ground, all he could process was a brief ‘huh’ before darkness claimed him.

  A second figure stepped from the shadows, a hulking brute of nearly two meters clad all in red and armed with numerous over-sized cleavers. Ambling over to the rapidly widening pool of blood the giant paused before bending over and lifting Fareux's decapitated head from the mess.

  A strangely childlike voice squeaked out from behind the giants face mask “Heheheh... well boss, shall I deliver the package to them now?”

  Once more the figure in the shadows spoke in an even tone.

  “Ye have our full blessing to do so. Ensure those philistines understand that we shall tolerate no more mistakes from them, ye have leave to exterminate a few of the vermin if they fail to get the point.”

  The figure quipped nonchalantly. A brief silence and then he added a second order as an afterthought.

  “Oh, and do dispose of the trash on your way out Red, we have guests arriving later this day and we do not wish to offend their sensibilities with the carcass of a worthless dog.”

  Hefting the rest of the body over his shoulders Red begin moving out of the room, pausing only to remove the bl
oody cleaver embedded in the wall. Giving a low chuckle he called back in the same morbidly child like tone.

  “Whatever you say bossman, your will be done. Hehehehe.”

  -*-

  Golden light streamed over the mountains, the first rays of dawn illuminating the countryside and banishing the chill of the night. This particular morning saw a peculiar group walking down the highway.

  A band of four mismatched travelers strolled down the road, an aged gentleman with a cane, a young boy with his traveling hood drawn up and two knights. By themselves the boy and the gentleman might have drawn little more than a cursory glance.

  After all a master and his apprentice on the road is hardly something extraordinary. The two knights with them though, they demanded attention and they received it in spades.

  One blue and one silver, they were a study in contrasts.

  The blue knight was of average height, lightly armored with a long sword strapped to his waist and bore a silver lion on his chest piece. His armor was a little fancier than most knights but nothing too extraordinary.

  In comparison, his silver companion was a hulking brute standing at over two meters. Easily towering over the rest of the bunch.

  He wore ornate silver plate armor that gleamed in the sun. A red cape billowed behind him and a full face visor with a cross shaped viewing port obscured his features. By his side hung an eastern sword and on his back a great axe was strapped.

  His appearance was striking to say the least.

  “So this is Brune huh? Nothing but farmland as far as the eye can see, hey gramps, you sure this is the right way to Bose, last I checked large scale mining and farming don't exactly go hand in hand.” The boy piped up after surveying the landscape.

  Letting out a long suffering sigh, the old man replied in an exasperated tone.

  “What am I to do with you Leon? This is why I keep telling you to brush up on your geography. Or… at the very least read the map of Albion I gave you before we crossed the border.”

  Shaking his head in frustration, he continued to lecture his errant pupil.

  “Bose is in north Brune, we’re still in the sou- ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME BRAT!”

  Looking up at his companion without a hint of shame on his face, the boy answered back in a disinterested tone.

  “Hmmm what? Oh you're done? You lost me at geography, ya know Libra, for someone who's a really great teacher, you suck at lecturing.”

  “The hell was that you brat!”

  “And he's deaf, wonderful... I should start preparing the funeral rites now I think.”

  Libra's face did an excellent job of emulating a ripe tomato at that comment.

  “BRAT!”

  The silver and blue knights continued marching on in silence several steps behind their charges. And so the party continued on their way, Leon and Libra bickering every step of the way and the knights trudging on without contributing to the conversation.

  Before the sun could rise very far into the sky, the small group arrived at a town.

  “Well brat this is where we part ways for the time being, I still have things I need to do before I can join you again. Fear not though, your great mentor shall return in a few days.”

  A lecherous smile spread across his face and he picked that moment to give yet another valiant effort at teaching his disciple about the finer things in life.

  “Now my boy, go find yourself a girl to ehem, have some fun with. And maybe by the time you're twenty you'll have a reputation as a lady killer half as grand as that of your master. Muahahhaha!”

  Giving Libra a deadpan stare, Leon couldn't resist poking fun at his mentor's supposed lady killer skills.

  “No thanks, I'll pass. The idea of being scorned by women everywhere doesn't appeal to me one bit. On that point, you ever manage to get laid without needing to empty your pockets?”

  Face developing an uncontrollable twitch yet bereft any way of refuting his protégé’s claim Libra snorted and looked away.

  “Whatever brat try to keep a low profile yes? Lord knows enough trouble finds you on its own without you going out of your way to attract it. We don't need another international incident. Especially not so soon after the Kariya debacle.”

  “For the last time you geezer, that wasn't my fault, how was I supposed to know the chamber pot was full or… that the minister happened to be right below the walkway at that instant. I had two choices, either chuck the pot or get knifed in the heart... guess which option I chose.”

  Looking away from Libra, Leon gave a simple hand wave before walking through the village gates.

  “Whatever, try not to die yourself, I'd prefer to be there when you finally kick the bucket.”

  Turning away from his apprentice with a wry smile, Libra shot back at his snarky apprentice in a fond tone.

  “Insolent child, I'll beat the manners into your head yet. Anyhow don't get so caught up exploring the place that you forget what you're here for. Investigate the Vitae Tower and verify the rumors of Jaeger activity.”

  A complicated expression adorned Libra's face, equal parts frustration and worry.

  “I have my own work to do and if I do happen to miss you in Albri, move on ahead. I'll meet you in Bose if that happens. The lord willing both of us will meet with success”

  “I guess this is another one of those jobs that you can't tell me about for my own 'safety' huh? I still don't get all the secrecy involved, it's not like I'm any stranger to having people out for my head. Hell, that's kind of how you found me in the first place all those years ago.”

  Tilting his head towards his mentor who happened to have developed a sudden interest in the dirt beneath his feet. Leon sighed before starting his rant again.

  “Case in point, you're sending me off to investigate monster infested ruins... monster infested ruins with a virtual guarantee of Jaegers showing.”

  Cutting off Libra’s protest before it could leave his mouth, the hooded boy continued in his drawling tone.

  “Come now gramps, you and I both know that any rumor you decide to look into is basically just unconfirmed facts. I'm not the brightest out there but I am most certainly not dumb.”

  Pausing in his tracks for a moment, Libra took a moment to consider his pupil's words before agreeing with him.

  “You're not wrong I guess, but at this point, Jaegers aren't something you can't handle. Even if you can't beat them, you are more than capable of escaping if you must.”

  A shrug and then, “There are plenty of threats out there that make the Jaegers look like cupcakes in comparison. If you go up against them… hell if they just find out that you have knowledge of them… end of the line. I can't protect you from them since a good deal of them can and have handed my ass to me in the past. Frankly, this conversation is only happening because of their mercy.”

  The party of four made the rest of the journey to the village inn in silence before Libra booked a room for two.

  “This is as far as I go with you, from here on out you are on your own. I'll cut you a deal, once this is all over and your skills have improved to a point where I think you are capable of taking care of yourself, I'll let you in on my jobs among other things. Deal?”

  Leon barely suppressed a chuckle at that statement

  “Of course it's a deal, I'll keep improving and you'd best watch yourself old man. I'll have surpassed you by the next time you see me. I'll be holding you to your word then.”

  “Excellent, I will be expecting great things from you in that case. Well then, it is time Genox and I take our leave. Again try not to cause any international incidents yes?”

  Giving a theatrical bow Libra and the silver knight Genox turned and left the inn, leaving Leon behind.

  Chapter 1: First contact

  The sound of metal rustling filled the room with a low ringing noise

  “Tools check, weapons check.” Leon muttered to no one in particular as he did inventory on his supplies. “Everything seems to be in order.
”

  Closing the case and shoving it under the bed, Leon withdrew a second larger box from his rucksack. Face scrunching up in frustration as he opened up the box and beheld the contents.

  “Damn, spare parts are running low again. I’m almost out of flux weave as well. Ceph crystals are virtually non-existent now… hmmm I think there’s some dust leftover though. Maybe I could…” he trailed off.

  “Ah who am I kidding, there’s nowhere near enough to last this job!” reaching up to tear his hair out in frustration, Leon began growling.

  “Ugh, resupply is going to cost me a bomb, Libra didn’t leave me enough cash to settle it all. Shit I knew I should have asked him to leave me with the emergency cache before he left. Damn. Just damn.” He swore.

  Letting his arms fall to the side, and giving out a big sigh of resignation. Leon fell back on the bed, staring at the ceiling wistfully. “So much for living the good life for once.” He half shouted.

  “I want my vacation!”

  The one chance I get to live it up when Libra isn’t around, I don’t have enough cash to do so. Shit.

  Closing his eyes in painful acceptance of his situation and the terrible fact that he wouldn’t be eating any local delicacies until he managed to scrounge up some cash, Leon sighed in regret.

  “Well this job is certainly off to a wonderful beginning.”

  Reluctantly opening his eyes once more, Leon turned to the other inhabitant of his tiny room. His faithful companion the blue knight sat quietly on the chair in the corner, staring straight ahead without a care in the world.

  “Well, what do you think hmm? Think things will go according to plan despite these mess-ups?”

  The blue knight failed to give a response and simply continued staring ahead blankly with sightless eyes.

  “Ah, I keep forgetting, you don’t talk unless the uplink is active. Combat sentience isn’t all it’s cracked up to be huh? Tsk, why couldn't you be more human? It’d make life so much easier.”

  Still the blue knight remained silent and completely unresponsive.

  Turning back to face the knight while scratching the back of his head, Leon sat quietly and observed the knight.