“Again,” Felix said.


    He backed up from Kaesyn, spinning his sword around his hand. Kaesyn grinned at him, the sweat dripping down her face. She twirled the spear around as she moved away, preparing to attack. Suddenly, she launched forwards, Felix raising his blade to catch the flying spear.


    Everyday for the past week, Felix had spent the morning training with Kaesyn. He soon realised, however, that she needed little training. She was already a powerful warrior with immense potential. Felix had just seen to it that she utilised her full strength and skill with fighting using any weapon.


    They had spent the afternoons strolling through the city together. Felix spoke of all he knew about Wardom, and of all the people in it. He taught her about the city-states of Challter, the barbarians of the Isles of Hardunes, the ruthless Kroanians who sprawled across the land to their east, the cunning Prollans who reigned in the south. Kaesyn took in all the information, and she seemed to remember everything she was told..


    Felix had grown to rather like his apprentice over the past week. She was smart and interesting, and he enjoyed the discussions they had together. She was quick at learning and in arguments presented points Felix had never thought of before. He knew someday she would make a fine Paladin.


    Felix ended their practice when some palace guards began to come out for their training. He wiped the sweat from his face, tired from the session. He scooped up two flasks of water from the dust, tossing one to Kaesyn. He poured half the bottle onto his head, gulping down the rest.


    Felix wandered over to Kaesyn and sat down beside her. He stretched out his legs, feeling the ache in his muscles. It felt as if he had done more work in the past week of training Kaesyn than in a long time before that, but that was probably a good thing. In front of them, the palace guards were beginning to spar slowly.


    “You did well today, Kaesyn,” Felix said. “You are very good.”


    Kaesyn grinned. “Thank you, Master.” The title of master still felt weird for Felix, but that was what he had become when he had taken Kaesyn to become his apprentice.


    “Soon, you shall become a full Paladin. You are good enough to become one in only a couple of years, when it takes most others much longer.”


    “What do I have to do?”


    “You will continue your training here for a while, then you shall come with me and we shall travel the land for a bit, testing how you are in the real world. Finally, Master Braydan will give you some task to do, and you will have to do it yourself. If you complete this test, you will become a Paladin. After a few years, if you continue to do well, you shall become a Master Paladin and be able to take an apprentice of your own.


    Kaesyn was silent. Felix relaxed happily, casually watching the training soldiers. They were not properly duelling, instead only performing simple drills. Felix had every bit of confidence that Kaesyn could take any group of guards in a fight.


    “Master,” Kaesyn said, drawing Felix’s attention. “You have spent the last week training me, talking about how I will join the Paladins. But you have yet to explain to me what the Paladins actually are, or what they do.”


    Felix smiled. “Come with me.”


    He stood up, reaching a hand down to pull Kaesyn to her feet. Together, they entered the palace. Felix led her through the long twisting tunnels, past beautiful artefacts and intricate paintings. They entered the small wing of the palace that belonged to the Paladins. Here, they had everything they needed. They had their own rooms, armoury, and mess. The only thing they shared was the training arena.


    He led her past their rooms, into a part of the wing she had not been before. He pushed open a heavy oak door. A huge chamber lay on the other side. Tall shelves stretched up to reach the roof high above. Scroll after scroll lined the shelves, some gathered by the Paladins recently, others taken from before they were allied with Lorr. A few old tables were scattered throughout the library. A thin layer of dust was everywhere, footprints clear from when other Paladins had been there recently.


    “Welcome to the Order’s library,” Felix said. “Where we keep all our scrolls, both old and new.”


    Felix walked Kaesyn to the far end of the chamber. There, stretching across the back wall, was a beautiful painting. A tall man stood in the centre. He wore little armour, an elegant black cloak hanging from his shoulders, an intricate silver lion forming the clasp around his neck. One leg rested atop a fallen foe, a giant of a man cut down. All around him, dozens of other enemies lay. And in the man’s raised hand, he held a sword. The sword had a blade of purest black, a black darker than the deepest night. An aura of darkness seemed to shroud it. Felix stared at the painting in wonder. Despite having seen it so many times before, it still amazed him. He had often wondered if the sword had been that black in person, but he would never know.


    Felix pointed to the painting. “Magnificent, isn’t it? That painting has been with the Order for a long time, kept with us even as we moved from base to base.”


    “Who is that?” Kaesyn asked in amazement.


    “Honestly, we don’t know. A former Head of our Order, his name lost in the depths of history. But the sword, the sword we do know. That is the Grim Reaper, the Black Blade. It is an ancient weapon of the Paladins. For a long time, it was passed from one leader to another. Each holder was more powerful than any single warrior could ever hope to be. In all our tales, it is mentioned. I have never heard of its like.”


    “Where is it now?”


    “It was lost, years ago. Its last wielder went out on a mission, and never returned. Now, we are not even sure if it is anything more than a legend. You wanted to know more about us? The scrolls in this room tell our story. They have been collected by our members over the years. Our ancient history is lost, our founders forgotten. All I know is we came from the south, from beyond Prolla, landing in this land centuries ago. Since then, we operate as we do today. We are a family, all of our members siblings to one another. We make decisions as one. We ally ourselves with one leader, one we believe is worthy of our assistance. Before I came, Master Zoran, the previous Head of our Order, allied us with Caedan. We have been loyal to him ever since, and will continue to be loyal to him until the time when we as a group decide it is time to move on.”


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    “How did you come to join the Order, Master?”


    Felix took a seat at a table. “Ah, that is a long story. For I was not always friends with the Paladins. Once, I was their enemy….”


    ***


    “Block the doors!” Felix bellowed. Soldiers rushed to obey his command, though he did not know how much good it would do. Caedan’s army was at his door, and there were rumours that the king was already dead. Felix refused to believe it. The captain of the personal guard had been killed already, and it had fallen to Felix to take command.


    Felix silently cursed the damned Paladins. He knew they were to blame for this assault on the city. It was only with their aid that Caedan had gained so much support, and now they were close to defeating the king.


    The door to the hall flew inwards, shattering before Felix’s comrades could barricade it. A group of soldiers rushed into the room, slaughtering Felix’s men close to the doorway. Felix drew his sword and retreated with his two remaining soldiers.


    The enemy spread out before him, five soldiers against three. The leader of the five wore elegant clothes and light armour, a cloak of deep black draped from his shoulders. A silver lion clasped the cloak around his neck. Felix growled. He recognised the Paladin symbols.


    “Stand down,” the Paladin said.


    “Never!” Felix shouted.


    “Your king is dead, soldier. Your city is in our hands. Surrender.”


    “I will die before surrendering!”


    “There doesn’t need to be any more fighting.”


    Felix swung his sword around his hand, preparing. “I will not surrender to you, Paladin!”


    “You recognise me for what I am? Do you think you can withstand all five of us?”


    “Your four comrades are simple soldiers. You are the only Paladin here. This is not an impossible challenge.”


    The Paladin sighed. “We already have victory.”


    Felix laughed. “But you have yet to learn the cost of that victory!”


    “One last chance. Surrender.”


    “You first!”


    The Paladin’s four soldiers leapt forward. Felix and his men moved to meet them. Felix caught a blade on his sword, swinging around to slice the warrior’s stomach. The first of Felix’s allies died as the second killed an invader. Felix moved quickly to cut down another. He turned in time to see his last soldier die. Felix’s sword flashed forward to bite deep into the enemy’s chest.


    Then it was just Felix and the Paladin. They circled each other for a moment, before Felix leapt forward to make the first attack. The Paladin parried the blow, not launching an attack of his own. Felix swung again, and again he was blocked. He launched into a flurry of quick attacks, the Paladin blocking each of them as he retreated across the room.


    Felix grew tired. He was already weary, the battle having started early that morning. He had not had a rest all day. It was then the Paladin launched his attack. His blows were swift and strong, and Felix was forced to retreat backwards. The Paladin was a better warrior than Felix had ever faced, and Felix was unable to combat him, especially after such a day.


    Eventually, the Paladin knocked the sword out of Felix’s hand, the blade crashing to the floor. Felix knew he was beaten. He fell to his knees and looked up at the Paladin’s blade held over his head. He refused to beg for mercy.


    “Kill me already,” Felix snarled, waiting for his second life to end.


    Instead of striking him, the Paladin stepped back. He returned his sword to a scabbard at his side. “I will not kill you, soldier. My quarrel was not with you, but with your master, and he is already dead.” The Paladin strode over to Felix’s fallen sword and scooped it up. “You don’t need to die now. It would serve no purpose, and it would be a shame to waste a skill such as yours. You are an amazing warrior, and my Order needs one like you.”


    Felix could barely understand what he was hearing. “I am loyal to my king,” he managed to say.


    “Loyalty is a great thing, but it must have an end. You should not be loyal to a dead man. Join me. I am Zoran, head of the Order of Paladins, and I can show you how to use your skills for the good of all.”


    “Your Order is made up of monsters.”


    “My Order is the fear of all monsters.” Zoran held out Felix’s sword hilt first. “So the question is: do you want to kill monsters?”


    ***


    “…. I trained under Zoran for over six years before I was made a full Paladin. A few years after that, and I became a Master Paladin.” Felix fell silent, still thinking of all those events. It had been almost two decades since the fight with Master Zoran, and yet he remembered it so clearly.


    Felix was brought out of his thoughts by a knocking at the door. “Enter,” he called out, standing up.


    A palace guard entered the room. “Excuse me, Master Felix, but Master Braydan said you would want to know when General Erion has returned.”


    “He’s back?”


    “Yes, sir. Just arrived in the courtyard.”


    “Thank you.” Felix moved for the door. He turned back to face Kaesyn. “Try reading some of these scrolls. You never know what you will find.” Kaesyn nodded.


    Felix left the room and made his way through the corridors of the palace. He slipped in a guards’ door into Caedan’s throne room. Caedan was waiting silently on his throne, not looking up as Felix entered. Felix took a place off to the side. He could see Caedan’s guards around the throne, as well as Rolan, who was currently on duty for the Paladins. Braydan was beside Caedan’s throne, nodding at Felix as they waited. Like Felix, Braydan was interested in learning what Erion had been working on in the mountains to the south of Lorr.


    The door to the throne room swung open. Xavier and Erion walked in side by side, striding towards the throne. Erion looked tired, but pleased. He nodded a greeting to Felix as he strode past. Felix returned the nod. Of all the Four Generals, Felix thought Erion had always liked the Paladins most, compared to Cyclops, who despised them for reasons he kept to himself.


    Erion bowed before the throne. Caedan leaned forward. “You took longer than expected, Erion,” Caedan said.


    “Yes, sire, but I am here now, and with good news,” Erion said, straightening up. He was a tall man, and well built. His skin was as dark as Caedan’s and Xavier’s, but he didn’t look quite as old, despite them all being the same age.


    Caedan smiled. “Things went well?”


    “Even better than could have been hoped.”


    “That is good, Erion. And you are not alone in having success. Cyclops too is doing well.” Felix had heard Cyclops was up by Camelot, but he wasn’t sure why.


    Erion frowned. “Are you sure it is wise to have both these plans going at once, sire?”


    “You need not question my judgement, Erion. All will go exactly as planned. Come, let us discuss this more in private.” Caedan rose from his throne and turned to leave the room. Erion, Xavier and Braydan went to follow him. Caedan halted at the door, turning back. “You are dismissed, Braydan. We shall manage fine without you.” He exited the room, leaving Braydan staring after them.