Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Nineteen Years Later

Acrid smoke stung Knell’s nostrils. He opened his eyes just instants before the mental alarm he’d prepared went off with a loud ding only audible to him. Knell grabbed the staff at his side and stood, gritting his teeth as pain shot through his lame right leg.

A faint metronome started ticking away in his mind. Knell’s lips curled up in a grin before his features returned to their normal, unreadable expression. He walked out of the tent with all the confidence he could muster, his staff thunking against the packed ground with every step. He had a schedule to keep.

Thick pillars of smoke curled into the air and fire danced across the tents at the south of the Brennan Army’s camp. His team had heen right on time. He wasn’t a huge fan of rescue missions – there were too many shifting variables. Too many possibilities for things to go wrong. But, to repay his father’s last favor, Knell had made an exception.

Just a few tents away, a large tent towered over its brethren. The captain’s – he’d made sure the night before.

A woman’s scream for help intermingled with the smoke as men rushed to the scene of the fire. Knell stepped over a man curled in a fetal position, surrounded by a pool of his own vomit, and wiped some soot across his face, smudging it even further. The metronome ticked away in his mind. He was still on time. He always was.

Knell paused for a moment, working his expression into a terrified rictus and hunching his back to look cowardly. He threw open the captain’s tent flap and staggered in, his breath coming in fake ragged gasps. “Fire, captain!”

“I can tell, you bumbling fool!” a large man midway through donning his armor snarled, pounding a hand into the wooden desk before him. He’d only managed to get the top half of his suit and the greaves on. “Why aren’t you doing something about it?”

Knell didn’t immediately respond. A small girl was chained to a chair, and the Captain’s sword rested just beside her neck. She stared at him with wide, terrified eyes. Her face was streaked with tears and dried blood from several minor injuries.

“I asked you a question, you crippled bastard! Who let you into the army?”

“I did my best to stop the fire, but the Hilldancers are attacking!” Knell exclaimed, giving the captain a shaky salute. “We thought this was just a supply raid, but they’ve somehow infiltrated our army. The men are turning on each other. I couldn’t trust any of the officers with the information, so I had to run here immediately. We need your help, sir. We’re getting slaughtered.”

Yusef let out a series of curses and stood, taking the blade away from the girl’s neck. “Godsdamned Hilldancer rats. They should have known better than to dare attack my camp directly. Where are they, boy?”

“I’ll lead you to them, Captain,” Knell said, turning and heading out of the tent. Pain racked his limbs and his lungs groaned in protest from overexertion, but he ignored them. The captain followed him towards the flame, roaring orders at the panicking men as they went.

“Move faster, boy!” Yusef ordered. “You walk like a cripple. What platoon are you part of? You’re pathetic.”

“I’m not, sir.”

“What?” Yusef asked, his bushy eyebrows furrowing in confusion as Knell stopped walking. He turned to look back at the soot covered youth, his eyes narrowing. At the edge of the camp, the fire started to recede as the soldiers managed to bring it under control.

Knell twisted his staff, pulling it apart to reveal a thin blade that had been hidden within it. With a calculated strike, he drove the sword up through the captain’s stomach and straight into his heart, ripping it free and stepping to the side to avoid a flailing hand.

Yosef turned, his eyes wide in disbelief. He clutched at the wound, then up at Knell. “Please–”

Knell’s sword flashed and Yusef spoke no more.

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“I’m not in one of your platoons,” Knell finished, sheathing the staff once more. The metronome came to a stop. Right on time.

“You should have put the rest of your armor on, Captain. Leaving such an important part off just gives me a target.”

Sparkling white energy flooded from the fallen captain’s body, spiraling around itself as it entered Knell’s body. A trickle of adrenaline spiked his heartbeat and he let out a satisfied breath.

The gods have granted you experience for besting your foe! Welcome, Knell Twist, Scion of the Goddess of Death. I was wondering when you’d join our little game.

You have leveled up!

Knell suppressed a grimace as the melodical words rang out in his ear, heard only to him. He’d taken care to avoid killing before today for this exact reason. Mordrigal had warned him of exactly what would happen once he claimed his first kill. Now the pieces were all on the table.

You have defeated an entity more powerful than you. Experience Gained. Your Level has been adjusted accordingly.

Well, almost all the pieces.

The metronome started again. Knell had given himself a few seconds for this exact reason. Training was one thing, but it had been a long time since he’d killed anything. He pressed his wrist, activating the magic link that every human possessed.

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