Knights of Rhimellot (Day 1)

The whistling winds of the forest gave me chills down my body. I was freezing, even under my armor. Katli, the High Orc by my side, was content with the cooling temperature around us.

Katli towered over me at nearly 3 meters tall. She had tanned brown skin, and was wearing nothing but a bikini made of cow hide, an eyepatch, and the skull of a large wolf.

We had been sent on a quest by the king of Rhimellot to kill the beast of Blackholde with the promise of financial success. Of course, Blackholde was dozens, if not hundreds of kilometers away. Being his go-to soldiers, we took the task.

I looked down at our map, the small village of Deepcrest was only a few kilometers up ahead. All we needed to do was arrive there before nightfall and continue our journey in the morning.

“You got any more food an ya?” Katli growled.

“Just wait a bit, we’ll arrive at a village in a bit.” I barely finished my response before she grabbed me by my head.

“Now.” I guess she wasn’t herself when she’s hungry. Despite us working as soldiers and guards for King Graham, we didn’t know much about each other.

“Fine. Dig through the bag, there might be some apples or a bit of fox left.” She did just that as she followed. I had stumbled across a small clearing in the woods. A small river was flowing in the way, but there was a wooden bridge to cross.

Inside the clearing was a small black tent, fire wood, an axe, a small campfire that had long been extinguished...

and a corpse.

The knight (or what I presumed to be one) was dawned in a black tunic with a picture of a red boar. It was coated in dry blood. The metal cylindrical helmet covered the entire head aside from a groove for the eyes. That’s what was in tact.

Near meters away were his dismembered arms and legs scattered on the dirt. A rusted broadsword was still clutched in his right hand. The body had to have been dead for at least a year, as the smell was abhorrent. I gagged at the stench and tried not to vomit.

“Try not to spit up lunch, Erdik!” Katli shouted from behind me. She must’ve caught wind of where we were.

“It’s Eric.” She rolled her eye. “C’mon, the village should be through these woods.” We continued on our path over the bridge. Its shoddily tied together knots and decaying planks wobbled under our feet. I was sure it was going to break. And it did.

I began to plummet into the murky waters below us, and possible sharp rocks. It was about a 5 meter drop until I hit the water, so I prepared for impact.

“Eric!” Katli yelled. I saw her bend over to try to reach out for me, the the bridge collapsed under her weight, too. We were in freefall for a few seconds before we splashed into the water below.

In other circumstances, most wouldn’t have trouble swimming. But I had 10 kilos of armor on while not being the best swimmer in the first place.

I resurfaced and began to paddle the best I could towards land. The impact was hard and water got into my lungs, so I gasped for air as well. I was then hoisted up into the air by Katli, who waded through the weak current and carried me to dry land.

“Are you ok?” She asked, taking my helmet off.

“I-I’m fine, I think.” I tried to let myself down, but she held tighter.

“Which way to the village?” She asked in a worried tone.

“Should be that way, just a kilometer or two.” I pointed out. She ran as fast as she could in the moonlight that had now shined down.

********************

Katli ran into an inn on the outskirts of Deepcrest. We rented a room for the night to settle down after a long first day.

The problem, there was only one bed.

“Well.” Katli said. “I guess we’ll have a chance to get closer together.” She threw off all of my armor and tossed me onto the bed. I hoped an prayed she’d go easy on my pelvis, but instead, she just cuddled up to me. I could tell she was exhausted like me.

“Hey Katli?”

“Hm?”

“Thanks for saving my life back there. I don’t know what could have happened.”

“Yeah, whatever.” She yawned before closing her eyes. The sound of crickets lulled us to sleep.