Thief & Knight

The first thing I feel is stunning pain.

It explodes in my side, and everything spins.

Green. Blue. Gray.

The colors blur into focus as I regain my footing.

Something heavy is in my hand. My chest is tight and there’s a pain in my legs.

I stumble along brown grass and find blonde hair falling in my face.

“What?”

‘What?’

Loose dirt shifts beneath my feet. What’s on my feet? There’s annoyingly tight sandals clinging to them.

And there’s a sword in my hand. Two feet of steel and a leather bound handle. Huh?

‘Why can’t I move?’

That voice again. Who is that?

I raise my arm slightly, just to see if I can.

“I can move.”

“Who are you?”

“Tatiana!”

A figure rushes up at me. Red hair whips in a braid and the body is clad in leather.

“Drop the sword!”

She swings a sword of her own.

The sword slips out of my hand.

“Wait!” I yell.

The woman skids to a stop in front of me. Her big orange eyes drop with my sword, narrowing as it hits the ground.

What’s wrong with her?

A pane opens in front of her. Neon blue like the one from the ice. Words quickly move across it.

‘Annandale Wystern: Your first opponent. Previous winner of the Stonewall Ceremony.’

‘What’s going on?’

The pane vanishes.

“Tatiana withdraws!” Someone yells. “Annandale wins!”

I raise my head and find an entire coliseum of people staring down at me.

‘No! No! You can’t do this!’

A roar, hundreds of voices rising at once.

Across the arena, a man with black braids shakes his head and turns away.

On a podium wreathed with colorful banners, a man in velvet robes scowls down at me.

A woman sits at his side, massaging her temple.

“Does none of this matter to you?” The redhead demands, dropping her own sword.

‘What are you doing?’ The voice in my head yells. ‘Who are you?’

My brain is making connections I don’t like.

I died.

What sort of place is this?

“What… what’s going on?”

The redhead blinks and tilts her head.

“Tatiana?”

A figure appears at my side and a pair of molten gold eyes settle in my peripheral. They seem less like eyes than pools of shifting metal on her face.

Her black and pink dress billows around her bare feet as she lands. Blonde hair settles on her back.

Lands? Where did she come from? Some part of my brain recognizes that she’d been in the podium by the velvet man a moment ago.

Did she jump down? How?

Another pane.

‘Povenna. Standing Queen of the Fifth Realm. Elemental who walks as a woman.’

A Queen?

“Lady Povenna?” The redhead pipes up.

The woman raises a hand and the redhead goes quiet. She moves so smoothly that I nearly don’t recognize her other arm extending toward me.

‘Mother!’ The voice in my head jumps an octave and I flinch. ‘Do something, I can’t move!’

“I… I didn’t mean to,” I stammer. “I don’t know what’s going—”

Her face is next to mine and those eyes bore into me. Her hand snaps around my wrist, her skin hot through the cloth.

“We will have to postpone the fight!” She yells, stepping back and pulling me along. I’m nearly yanked off my feet. “My foolish daughter has is unwell!”

‘I am not!’

I stare stupidly at the woman, unsure what to do.

“What do you mean?” The man with dreads marches up to us. “Povenna, you can’t just decide things. This ceremony is—”

“My daughter is ill!” Povenna declares again. “We will have to postpone it!”

“What’s wrong with her, then?” The man demands.

I almost ask why it matters to him, but I decide to keep my mouth shut.

But a pane appears before him.

‘Parthen Walkwake. A knight. He’s responsible for overseeing the ceremonial fights.’

It seems more personalized. Almost as though it’s responding to what I want to know.

Povenna leans in, getting in the man’s face.

“She is bleeding from her genitals!” She hisses under her breath.

The man blanches and steps back.

“We only need a few minutes,” Povenna adds. “Please, Parthen.”

The man gives a slight nod.

“The match will be temporarily postponed!” He yells, earning a wave of yells from the crowd. “There is merely a small… issue! Only a few minutes!”

“That fool!” someone yells.

“She’s stained this ceremony!”

“She shouldn’t have been out there to begin with!”

“Now. Come along.”

Povenna yanks again and I’m dragged across the arena.

I glance over my shoulder and find the redheads head low, her eyes are squeezed shut and her hand moves through her hair.

‘What have you done?’ The voice in my head, presumably Tatiana, mumbles. ‘Why have you done this to me? You’ve ruined me.’

I died. I’m sure of that. I made sure.

And now I’m here. Am I ghost? Am I possessing this girls body?

Are you serious?

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I didn’t want this.”

“Hush,” Povenna snaps, as we approach a metal gate.

The gate slowly rises, revealing a torchlit corridor.

Two figures in armor stand on either side of the inside. They step back as we enter.

“This is for the best,” Povenna says. The gate comes down behind us. Her voice reverberates off the walls. “I didn’t want you participating in that nonsense, anyway.”

‘I had to!’ Tatiana yells in my head, making me flinch again.

“No, you didn’t,” Povenna says.

“You can hear her?” I ask, raising my head slightly.

“My daughter?” We reach an intersection and Povenna pulls me to the left.

Ahead, stairs lead out into light. Povenna turns, pushing me against the wall.

“Of course, I can hear my daughter,” Povenna says. “She’s my daughter. Who are you?”

I stare up at her, my breath quickening.

‘It’s stolen my body!’ Tatiana complains.

“Hush, Tatiana, I’m speaking to it.”

“I think…” I raise my hands, unsure how to put into words what I’m feeling. “I came from another world.”

Povenna let’s out a slow groan.

‘Another realm?’ Tatiana asks. ‘Which realm? I need this body! Don’t you understand?’

“No,” Povenna says, straightening. “This nuisance is dreadfully familiar.”

I raise my head, meeting her strange eyes.

“Your father was the same way… sharing a body with a spirit from far away. Somewhere beyond the ten realms. He’ll kill you if he finds out.”

‘What?’ Tatiana shrieks. “Why?”

I double over, clutching my head.

So this is just something that happens? Why is she so calm about this?

“He claimed that if he found out of any other beings like that spirit, he would wipe them out.”

“Can’t you get me out?” I demand.

“Tatiana,” Povenna says, ignoring me. “From the stories I heard, that spirit gave your father immense power. If you are serious about your… Intentions, this could be an opportunity.”

“But…” I mumble. “I don’t…”

‘I am serious,’ Tatiana says. ‘This is my chance, mother. To prove that I am just as capable as Kann was.’

Povenna takes a heavy breath.

“I suppose,” she says. “But you will have to learn how to use this thing. Your father was said to be a man of two minds. They each had control of the body at different moments.”

“Listen to me,” I say. “I don’t know—”

Povenna’s hand clamps over my mouth.

“You’ll have to learn to control this spirit,” she says. “And use its power. I’m sure whatever world it came from is far more powerful than ours.”

I push her hand down.

“I don’t have any power!” I snap. “I’m from Detroit!”

Povenna stares at me. At least I assume she does. Her eyes are blobs of gold. I really can’t tell where she’s looking.

‘Give me my body!’ Tatiana declares. ‘And let me use your power!’

I rest my head against the wall.

“You aren’t listening. I don’t know anything about any of that. I just know that I…”

I trail off, unwilling to finish. I really don’t want to talk to these people about how I killed myself.

“We have little time,” Povenna urges. “You must help my daughter.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” I say. “I don’t think I can!”

‘What sort of spirit are you?’ Tatiana asks.

“A weak one!”

Povenna raises two fingers to her temple and lets out a low groan.

“Well,” she says. “May my daughter have her body back, then?”

“I…” I look down and raise my hands. “I don’t know how.”

“Lovely. I suppose that’s it, then.”

‘Mother!’

A green line appears on the air beside Povenna’s head. It stretches into a pane. It’s about a foot across and two feet long. Vaguely green and slightly transparent.

Tatiana Malvey

Stats (30 Points available)

Strength (4/100)

Agility (10/100)

Magic (0/100)

Intelligence (10/100)

Charisma (15/100)

Defense (0/100)

I stare at it, struggling to understand what I’m seeing.

These stats. They’re for Tatiana. They’re terrible, right? I don’t know what an average persons strength scales to here.

Povenna turns her head slightly. She waves her hand in my face.

“What are you looking at?”

“You don’t see that?”

‘See what?’

I reach for the pane.

“I have something,” I say. “I might be able to…”

What would happen?

Heavy footsteps approach. Povenna backs away as one of the knights from the gate rounds the corner.

“Lady Povenna,” a feminine voice comes from the knight. “They won’t wait much longer.”

‘If you won’t give me my body, you’ll have to fight Annandale!’ Tatiana announces. ‘And you better win!’

I gaze into the pane.

“Um.”

‘I can beat Annandale! And this is my body! So you can win, too!’

“She’s ready,” Povenna says, pushing me towards the knight. “Go on.”

I’m in a sort of daze as I follow the knight back through the corridor.

The pane moves with me, and I scan the stats.

Why couldn’t I just disappear? Why did something absurd like this have to happen?

It’s like some sort of video game. But these people feel too real.

It sticks out to me that the stats are listed as Tatiana’s. Even this isn’t mine.

‘Surely you know how to use a sword at least?’ Tatiana asks.

I shake my head. I probably shouldn’t speak to her out loud in front of the knight.

‘What sort of world are you from?’

The gate glows with daylight as it rises. Beyond it, the redhead waits.

Annandale.

The sword is still on the dirt between us.

The braided man looks at me, looking a bit nervous.

‘You need to understand,’ Tatiana says. ‘This fight is my only chance. Once you pick the sword up, dropping it is a gesture of surrender! You can’t drop the sword!’

I step out into the arena, squinting in the daylight. The rumble of the crowd floods my ears.

I didn’t ask for this.

The pane is more transparent in daylight.

‘I need this,’ Tatiana says. ‘You have to understand how important this is.’

I didn’t ask to survive my death. I just wanted to disappear.

A glance at the podium reveals that Povenna has returned to the side of the man in velvet robes.

What is his deal? Assuming that’s the father Povenna spoke of, does he still have someone in his head?

A pane appears on the air before me.

‘Castor Malvey. Tatiana’s father. A man of two minds.’

Who was the person in his head? Was that someone from the same world I am?

“It isn’t too late to surrender,” the braided man, Parthen, says as he hurries over to me.

‘I’m not surrendering!’ Tatiana yells. ‘We can win!’

I just shake my head at him. He steps away, yelling something to the crowd.

My eyes meet Annandale’s, then they fall to the sword.

I’m here. The least I can do is try.

I pluck the sword off the ground and point it at Annandale.

“I guess,” I mumble. “I don’t really have a choice.”

Parthen yells something.

Annandale breaks into a run. A pane appears as she does.

‘Annandale Wystern. Newly enraged by your disrespect.’

It wasn’t my fault! What is this bias?

“Just who do you think you are, Tatiana?” She calls, rushing for me. “I won’t let you get away with making a mockery of this ceremony!”

‘I’m going to be a knight!’ Tatiana yells. ‘Nothing has changed!”

“Just tell me what to do,” I hiss.

I set my eyes on Annandale’s sword as she swings it.

‘Block!’

I jerk the sword into Annandale’s. Mine is instantly repelled, yanking my arm with it.

‘Put more force behind it than that! If you get it right, you can disarm her!’

“I’m trying—”

Annandale’s foot snaps out, shooting into my ribs.

I stagger back and land hard on the ground. A choked noise tearing from my throat.

“You can’t hide behind Lady Povenna forever! Just accept that you aren’t strong enough!”

‘That isn’t true!’ Tatiana yells. ‘All of you… I don’t care about the prophecy! I don’t care how weak I am!”

“Shut up,” I hiss without thinking. “You obviously don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Annandale’s expression sharpens.

I push off the ground as she advances.

‘Hit her legs! With the sword!’

“Won’t that…” I get to my feet. “Be bad?” How serious is this fight? To the death?

“You’re a disgrace!”

Annandale catches my face in her hand and pushes. Hard.

In an instant, the world flips. I’m hardly aware that I’m airborne before I’m hitting the ground and rolling.

‘You’re just pissing her off!’ Tatiana barks. ‘Fight back!’

I groan, rolling onto my side. The sword is still in my hand and luckily hasn’t cut me open.

Everything hurts.

Okay. The stats are either lying or a 0 in defense is far more durable than I thought.

Maybe people here are made of tougher stuff than where I come from.

The stats. I should be using them, right? The available points.

The stat pane appears again while Annandale rushes.

Strength? Right?

Instantly, the available points drop to twenty-nine. Strength goes up to five.

“Hey!” I blurt. I hardly formulated the thought, and it took the point. Touchy.

Annandale thrusts her sword through the stat pane and I drop to the side. I jerk my sword upwards at her, and she swings into it.

The swords meet, and I’m pressed back. Annandale lets up and swings again, and again.

I focus on the movement of her blade, moving mine into its path to block each time. I can’t help but feel like I’m learning this.

More strength! I can’t see if the state pane responds.

“You aren’t even…” Annandale grabs for my face, but I duck under her arm and hit it with the flat of my blade. I’d meant to cut her, whoops. “Take this seriously!”

It can’t have been half an hour since I met this girl. This noisy brat. And if there’s anything I can tell about her, it’s that she wants to do this.

Who cares what this woman thinks? What gives her the right to talk down to Tatiana like that? I’m the one getting pissed off. To hell with her.

I block a few more of Annandale’s swings, grab her arm and yank.

Annandale allows it, using the momentum to propel her leg into my side. I stagger and swing, aiming the sword at her face.

She recoils, narrowly dodging the swing. Her eyes widen for a moment.

‘Don’t kill her! Get the sword out of her hands!’

She’s fine!

‘Do you know how to do a disarm?’

I hop from one foot to the other, struggling to regain my footing. What part of ‘I don’t know how to use a sword’ did she not understand?

Annandale lunges and I step past her, ducking out of the way of her sword.

‘Now! Disarm her!’

I turn, swinging at Annandale’s arm. But she twists, stepping back.

‘You’re doing it wrong! If I could just… take control…’

Stat pane, come back! The pane appears beside me, shockingly obedient.

Strength is still at five, so it must only work when I’m looking at it.

I’m just as fast as she is. I just have to focus. She’s being very straightforward with her attacks. Would more strength be better? What about magic?

The sword blurs out from under her arm, clipping the side of my face.

I shriek and fall backward, grabbing the gash opened up on the side of my mouth.

“Bitch!” I yell, swinging the sword blindly.

Annandale steps back, leveling the sword.

Blood gushes down my face, and I double over, hissing through my teeth.

“Drop the sword,” Annandale demands. “It will only get worse. Someone like you. Someone born to die. You can’t be a knight.”

“You don’t know the first thing about… me,” I snarl, leveling the sword at Annandale. “So shut up about all that shit and fight. That’s what we’re here for, right?”

“The first thing?” Annandale growls. Her throat moves, several slits in her skin opening and fluttering.

I wince, raising a hand to my throat. What’s with that?

‘She’ll scream, don’t let her—’

Annandale leans forward, and her mouth drops open. Her jaw extends, and she lets loose a piercing shriek. It’s so loud it

It hits me like an invisible wall. The world distorts around me as I’m pushed backward and my heels dig into the dirt.

The sound ripples, drowning everything out.

I’m aware of Tatiana yelling, but it’s like static in the back of my head.

I tuck my head, trying to step into the force of her scream. My hair whips around my face, blinding me.

What is she? Some kind of Banshee? Can people just do that here?

The shriek stops.

I raise my head and find Annandale charging. Her jaw hangs low, seemingly disclocated from her head.

My arms won’t move. Every muscle in my body feels numb, and my head is swimming.

My grip on the sword tightens.

The stat pane is there.

I start pumping points into magic. Surely, it’ll mean something.

Fire rushes through my body. It starts in my chest and spreads all over me. Everything is buzzing.

‘I have to take control! I can’t die here!’

A new pane appears, slapped over the stat one.

New spell unlocked: Reinforce.

Oh.

“I know everything about you,” Annandale barks, slamming her sword into mine. My arm is jerked to the side, but my grip holds. She whirls, whipping the back of her hand into my face.

I step backward, tripping over the crater that’s formed around me.

Annandale catches my sword arm, holding me up by it.

“You can’t make yourself into something you’re not,” Annandale says, raising her sword. “If you won’t release the sword, surrender your hand for your arrogance!”

I jerk forward and drop, using my weight to pull Annandale off balance as she swings. Then, I plant my foot in her knee.

She yells, dropping slightly.

Reinforce. The spell! Use the spell!

“Reinforce!”

A cloud of black blooms from my hand and stretches out over the sword. Without another thought, I swing it at her.

Annandale blocks and her blade breaks. Bits of steel scatter along the ground as the black smoke fades.

There’s a rumble from the crowd above. I’d almost forgotten how many people are watching us.

“Magic?” Annandale gasps. But she doesn’t release the blade. She knocks my arm aside and lunges.

Pain explodes in my gut. I hardly register the fact that her blade is in me.

“Reinforce!”

I swing again, but Annandale catches my wrist.

The blade twists beneath my ribs and I double over, grabbing onto her steady myself. I can’t move my arm. Her grip is too strong.

The pain is too much. I can’t see straight. I’m going to die. Everything feels so distant all of a sudden.

“This is the difference between a knight and a child,” Annandale says as the black smoke fades from my sword. “Someone like you cannot endure. You can only flail and cry.”

She thrusts the blade and I let out a sharp cry. Hot tears trail down my cheeks.

“Release the blade.”

“How dare you.” The words come out of my mouth, but I’m not speaking.

I realize, It’s not Annandale’s grip preventing me from moving. I can’t move at all. I’m not in control.

“Enduring is all I can do,” Tatiana says through heavy breaths. “And I’m sick of it.”

Annandale’s eyes widen slightly.

“That’s why I’m here!”

Tatiana lunges, smashing her forehead into Annandale’s nose. The woman flinches but doesn’t recoil. But her grip on Tatiana’s arm loosens.

Tatiana swings, and her sword meets Annandale’s broken one. Then, Tatiana twists, jerking her blade and knocking Annandale’s out of her hand.

The sword lands on the ground nearby.

The crowd grows louder, nearly matching Annandale’s scream.

“Annandale has been disarmed!” Parthen yells.

Annandale stumbles back, staring at us.

“I…” Tatiana covers her wound with a hand. Blood gushes through her fingers. “I will be a knight.”

The last thing I see is Povenna landing as Tatiana collapses.