Once we had patched up everyone, and they were safe from the fire and dark knights, we set off on our quest like we would have before the interruption I’d caused. 

Hours droned by as we clomped on horseback through the hills and valleys of the kingdom. It was beautifully vibrant, peaceful, and gave me time to think about what had gone wrong. I wondered what would happen when I had to make those choices again. 

Ugh. I hoped it would be some time before I had to face it.

When the sun set over the horizon, and the dark of night took over the land, we dismounted for a rest. Mostly because Pip insisted we had to stop for dinner. 

“I’ll get a fire going and make something reeeeeal tasty. Just wait!” Pip said and hopped off to collect some wood from nearby trees. 

The rest of the squad took leave in various positions around the area, ready for a break and some food.

“I don’t see why we need rest. The quicker we get to fighting the next thing, the better,” Blaze said as he picked up a rock to start rubbing along the edges of a small dagger. How many different sharp things did that man have on him?

Leo stretched out his enormous arms and laid back into the grass. “Oh, don’t stress so much! It’s a beautiful night. Nothing wrong with enjoying a little nature, the stars above, a bite to eat, and good times with friends!” 

“We are knights, appointed by the king to take on a potentially world-ending task, not friends, Leo,” Vincent said. He was the only one who hadn’t sat down, and instead practiced with his sword by slicing at the air.

Poorly.

No form. 

His footwork was a mess.

How had these guys survived as long as they had?

Not to mention being called ‘elite’.

I guess… because the author wanted them to. But still…

Even though I wanted nothing more than to keep to myself and sulk in the metaphorical corner, I couldn’t stop myself from making a comment.

“You should really keep your sword closer to your center, you know. It’s better for your balance, and defense.”

Vincent dropped his sword and stance to look at me like he couldn’t quite comprehend what I was trying to say. Maybe it was something Tiara wouldn’t have said and it electrocuted his brain like what seemed to happen to Sir Zantar a few times.

“Then why don’t you show us, Sir Krystal,” Sir Zantar said from behind me. “You did promise a lesson or two. As second in command, it is your duty to keep these men fit for fighting.”

“Oh… I–uh… sure, I guess.” My confidence wasn’t exactly at its peak, but sure. Whatever. 

I got up and pulled out my shimmering new sword to face Vincent. Leo sat up to watch us, and even Pip took interest as he began creating a fire pit with rocks.

Blaze didn’t bother to look up from his sharpening work. “Oh yes. Learning to fight without killing. Can’t wait for this.” 

I ignored Blaze’s comments and took a starting stance. I lowered my gravity to have weight equally distributed between my legs, my center steady as a non-cooking rock. I took my sword in front of me, breathing in deeply, and placing it a bit out from my body with steady arms, just between my eyes.

“This is your starting stance,” I told Vincent. Then I took a steady step forward, not moving my center. I made sure I didn’t rest on solely one leg while slowly swinging the sword down.

“When you’re alone,” I said, taking up the sword for another swing, “just practice how to move with the sword without opening yourself up for attacks.” I stepped forward with the other leg, faster, swinging the sword down, faster.

“But if you’re training with someone, going through this slowly and speeding up to also learn how to dodge is a safe way to get better at real combat,” I used the word real loosely, but my point stood.

“And then you won’t end up killing your comrades before the battlefield.”

Vincent seemed to lock on to my advice, and mimic my moves as we progressed. We practiced the steps, and several others, over and over for nearly an hour.

When we were done, and he had a grasp on the basics, Vincent sheathed his sword with a smile on his face. “Thank you Sir Krystal. I think we all learned something useful here today.”

I could practically feel Blaze’s eyes rolling. “Oh yes. She’s so great. At least I can kill people,” he muttered just loud enough for me to hear, but not loud enough for me to have to respond. He swiped the rock up his blade once more then tossed it to the side and stuck the knife in its holster.

Leo jumped up to grab his sword and start practicing the same moves with Vincent as I sat back down next to Sir Zantar and Pip, who now had food sizzling in the fire pit.

I didn’t know what he was cooking or where he had gotten it from, but it sure smelled better than a protein shake.

Leo and Vincent went at it for a while longer—with much improvement, and no casualties—before Pip called everyone over to eat and we all began stuffing our faces. 

There was some kind of meat, some kind of green, leafy thing, and some kind of yellowish slop, and I didn’t give two shits what any of it was because it was all delicious.

“Pip, this is so good! Isn’t this so good everyone? Man, I’m so hungry. I can’t stop eating. I don’t always eat like this,” Leo said while downing his fourth plate. I could imagine it took a lot of food to maintain that body.

Something was still off about him, though.

Pip pulled his shoulders back with an ear to ear smile. “I told you I could cook! I looove cooking! I’ll cook for us every day.”

“And I’ll do the hunting,” Blaze said, spearing a hunk of meat with his dagger and slamming it into his mouth.

“If all you miscreants are quite done, we do still need to go over the plan,” Vincent said and pulled out a parchment and placed it near the fire for light. He started to unfold it onto the grass, revealing a large map. “We will be out of the Kingdom by nightfall tomorrow, and there are several places we could head from there.”

Blaze finished his last bite and tossed his rock-plate to the side like a frisbee. “I can get us wherever we need to go without some map.”

Vincent shut him back up with nothing but a glare. “There will be other’s looking for these key pieces, so picking our route is crucial. There is no way to know if we have made the right choices until we get there.”

Oh? 

But wasn’t there?

The book resting in the shoulder of my armor started to burn a hole through my skin. Last time, I messed things up because I didn’t know. I didn’t bother to check what I was supposed to do. 

This time, I could.

All I had to do was follow the plot—whatever the book told me to do—and everything would go according to plan. I couldn’t fuck anything up.

“Actually, I have an idea,” I said as I reached for my shoulder… then I remembered that Zantar hadn’t been able to see the book before. What if someone else could? It didn’t seem like a good idea to let them have a peek at their own fictitious story.

Everyone was staring at me, waiting for my response. “A–actually. I have to pee first.” 

I jolted to my feet and ran towards the trees where Pip had gotten wood for the fire. The biggest tree was right in the middle of them all, and I swung around behind it.

Now that I thought about it… I hadn’t had to go to the bathroom at all since I got here. Story book characters didn’t need to, I guess.

Didn’t matter. Book. Look at the book.

I flipped through the pages until I found approximately where we were in the story, and I started to read as quickly as I could, squinting my eyes to read in the dark of the night:

As soon as we exited the Kingdom of Danflow, rigorous weather hit us, forcing us to take shelter in The Magical Forest. 

“This was not in the plan, but we are here and might as well make the most of it,” Sir Vincent said, as he used the trees for cover from rain ruining his map. “Somewhere here there is a well that holds at least one key piece.”

It was a good place to start, if nothing else. 

I held my trusty sword Knightshade and looked at Knight Commander Zantar, who had given it to me before we left. I was grateful to be on this quest with these trusty people. I truly felt like we could save the world.

Knightshade? The sword had a name? And the kingdom had a name, too? What the fuck kind of name was Danflow? That didn’t sound like any fantasy kingdom I’d heard of.

In fact, all the names here were a bit strange, weren’t they?

I went back a few pages and found the scene where Sir Zantar had given the sword to Tiara.

“Thank you, Knight Commander Zantar, the sword is beautiful”, I said as I received it.

“It is also strong, like you, Sir Tiara,” Knight Commander Zantar said, gazing into my eyes.

“Thank you.” I said, looking down at my new weapon, “I’ll name her Knightshade. She will strike from the shadows and protect our knights. It is my duty. No man will die under our command.” I vowed, holding out Knightshade in front of me.

Knight Commander Zantar gave a curt and respectful nod. “That is a beautiful name for a beautiful sword,” he agreed.

Oh. So that’s why he was staring at me so intensely. He was waiting for me to name the sword and make my vow. It seems like I accidentally skipped another pretty significant scene in this book. 

What else was new?

I walked back to the squad with my head held high. This time, I got this.

Nothing could go wrong as long as I followed the exact path of the book. I’d get through this, come out the other side alive, and maybe go home in the end? I could only hope.

With a plop, I landed back in the grass beside Vincent and looked over his shoulder at the map with the words, “Kingdom of Danflow,” at the top in fancy cursive. 

It really was only Tiara’s name that changed here, huh?

Didn’t matter. I poked my finger at the map where I saw a bunch of trees as “The Magical Forest”

“We have to start here. There’s a key piece in a well,” I said like I was the smartest person alive. Wasn’t so hard with a prophetic book in my armor.

“You’re sure that’s where we should start, Sir Krystal?” Sir Zantar asked with a dose of skepticism in his voice.

All right. I knew I fucked up the fight, but this time I knew what I was doing.

“Yes. I am sure,” I said confidently.

Vincent nodded. “There is, indeed, speak of a key piece in a well there. Excellent intel, Sir Krystal.” 

“Wow! Strong and smart. Sir Krystal, lady, you’ve got it all, don’t you?” Pip squeaked as he stomped out the fire with his boot.

Blaze opened his mouth to say something but Leo put a big, meaty hand over him before he could talk. “This sounds like a wonderful, perfect idea. I’ve always wanted to visit The Magical Forest. I’ve heard it’s magical!” He let go of Blaze to wiggle his fingers.

“Then that is what we will do. Thank you, Sir Krystal,” Sir Zantar said and dismissed us all to sleep for the night. 

Prince gave me a hard time while I tried to set up my things for camping. He chomped on my bedroll, and tore up my things every time I laid them out. I didn’t know what had gotten into him, but after a few sugar cubes he relaxed and slept next to me for the night.

Everything would be fine from now on.

Follow the book.

I just had to follow the book, and everything would be okay.