Children of the dragon 1: The crimson knight

The tournament

At the same time they move, synchronized and he can only step back offering them the tip of his blade. They are three, an impossible match, but Leon knows how to take them.

When the battle ends all of them are sweaty, breathing heavily. The only one standing is Leon while his parents and their guests clap their hands, delighted by the spectacle and his extraordinary skill. None of them know of all the hours Leon spent to perfect his technique.

“Extraordinary! You have defeated my men without even sweating! Wonderful!” the man of copper skin and black hair says. He is more than six feet tall, muscular, with a noble expression on his face. He is the reason why Leon fought three men at the same time, the reason why his parents organized that meeting. He is no other than Lord Davis Montgomery, the leader of the knights of Titania and he is offering his hand. Leon answers the gesture at once. “What’s your name?”

“Leon Drako, son of Lucan and Sara,” Leon answers.

“You don’t fear me, everyone here fears me, but you don’t. I like that,” the knight says.

“You are not here to attack, are you?” Leon replies.

“Leon!” Sara lets out.

“Wait,” Lucan stops her.

Davis looks at Leon in the eye. Silence invades the backyard, all the guests staring at the knight and the boy.

“Would you fight me to defend this town?” the knight asks.

“If necessary, I would,” Leon replies without an ounce of doubt.

“You would die,” Lord Davis adds.

“If necessary, I would,” Leon repeats, holding his stare.

“Your son is impressive, Lucan!” Davis declares. “If I don’t find anyone better tomorrow, consider him my apprentice.”

“What? Why not now?” Lucan asks, confused.

“There are rules and laws, Lucan, and laws bring order, and order is the blessing of our gods,” the knight turns around and explains. It would be so easy for Leon to take him down.

His father is about to protest but Leon speaks first.

“It intended to take the trial like the others, I’ll win the tournament,” Leon declares, casual.

“Is that arrogance?” lord Davis asks, their eyes meeting again. Leon avoids eye contact, Davis thinks it’s a sign of weakness, then he remembers who’s behind him, in the same direction Leon looks at, before looking back at him. Then men he defeated.

“You think so?” Leon dares to say. His tone has been calmed since the very beginning. The kid doesn’t fear the knight and the knight finds him fascinating.

“If you win the tournament, I will be your opponent and if you show that you can match me you will become my indisputable apprentice!” he proclaims, he smiles when he pronounces the words. He expects a fight with Leon in a week.

“I will be honored,” Leon answers, keeping his mask while inside he is more than satisfied. Everything as planned. He smirks, thinking of the future, thinking of the possibility to recover what he has lost. He finds Maria between the people who clap their hands in approval. She’s the only one who doesn’t clap her hands.

The reunion goes as expected, they have dinner, they talk of the capital, of the achievements of the knights, of the king, the politics of the nation and its neighbors, and the conflicts with the Dwarf-lords of the seven kingdoms. It’s a lovely night that Leon doesn’t make an effort to remember. He leaves them as soon as he can, saying that he has to train early.

Maria follows him, moved by her curiosity, bored by the party, and discovers him singing in the night, sitting in one of the branches of the big oak in his big backyard, away from the crowd. The song is incredibly beautiful, a tale of the lover of the moon and the tragedy that separated them. And when tears roll in her eyes as she feels that night is so cold and lonely. Maria feels her heart truly moved. She doesn’t think he’s a loser anymore, but he probably doesn’t care what others think of him anymore.

“The moon has a lover…” he whispers. He stays there until midnight, and Maria stays there too, hidden behind the roses that Sara grows. A rose between roses. When Leon enters the house she stays there for a while, thinking that he looks sad, extremely sad, tired, and old, even though his young appearance doesn’t change.

The next day school is officially suspended due to the tournament and the men and women from Bonaventure town, from sixteen to twenty-two years old, go to the stronghold of the knights to be tested, and be admitted in the tournament, or be rejected.

The tests begin with physical skills, making the contenders run thirty kilometers. Only the first sixteen will be admitted. The race lasts hours, and around five thousand contenders see how the first man named Luis wins the race, followed by Carlo, Vincent, Raphael, Leonardo, Brad, Leon, Lucas, Andrew, Ronald, Roman, Samuel, Steve, Robert, Alex and finally Samson. The five thousand won't become knights, but if they impress the jury, they could become well-paid soldiers and be accepted in the stronghold. Many quit after the winners are announced, many more stay and finish the race

During the night, the people go to the streets and celebrate. There is a party in honor of the knights, it's a celebration to have them in the town. The mayor offers food, drinks, and all that he can to his guests and they find women to enjoy with. Everyone is happy, everyone celebrates. Maria tries to find a particular man at the party, but Leon is not there. He is training.

"Would you dance with me, my lady?" a deep and powerful voice, behind her, asks. She turns around and finds the giant, lord Davis himself, smirking, with his eyes on his prey. Maria holds his stare.

"Yes," she answers.

The next day is the first stage. Each contender is given a random number from one to eight, then the numbers are written on paper and put into a closed box from where the princess of the flowers will put them out, one at a time, announcing the number. Two numbers make a match. There will be eight. But the first thing is to find the princess of the flowers, for that, Lord Davis is in front of a man, another knight, Lord Karl Xar, a man known as the second most powerful knight, and also the oldest man in the order.

The crowd roars, excited, impressed, hysterical because of the skill of the two knights. Their hits are flashes of light for a few seconds, then they stop, and adopt a new stance for their next movement, and they begin again. The score is seven to seven, to win they need ten hits. The battle is intense but in the end, lord Davis takes the victory, leaving the crowd speechless. Then they roar as the winner takes the crown of flowers and walks towards the audience, and they get silent again when he chooses one woman, the young woman he danced with last night.

He kneels before Maria, offering her the crown.

"Accept my humble gift, divine princess of the flowers," he declares.

Maria holds his stare, she doesn't fear the giant at all. She takes the crown and the audience can only clap their hands, knowing that the knight has his eyes on the young daughter of the Mallorem.

The princess of the flowers sets the four matches. The first is Leon against Luis. Luis is good, but he doesn't have a chance of winning. Leon's victory is absolute and fast. Lord Davis energetically cheers him next to her.

Samson and Brad defeat their opponents two, and somehow she ends preoccupied because she learns that Samson will fight Leon on the next stage. She knows that Samson is dangerous and that he and Brad don't like Leon at all. She fears Samson could harm Leon, or even kill him.

The last fight ends at dusk.

"Come, let's have diner together, my princess," Davis declares. Maria looks at her mother, her father ignores her. She knows he heard the knight. Kara nods, affirmatively.

"See?" says lord Davis. "They don't mind. Please, come with me."

What if I say no? she thinks for a second.

"It's an honor, my lord," she answers.

She doesn't fear the giant that even her parents fear. She goes with him willingly, thinking of teaching him a lesson. She might not be a knight or skilled in combat, but she had learned that her weapons are more than enough.

The dinner is fabulous, and after that, they move to the room of lord Davis, laughing, speaking about the people of the town, the tournament, and the anecdotes of the knight. Flirting. They are drunk.

The view from here is gorgeous, she thinks looking at the lights of the town from the room. They are on the seventh floor.

"Have you ever been here?" Davis asks, getting closer.

Yes, she thinks, reminding her bodyguard. He brought her here once, but not to the same room.

"No, I haven't," she answers. "It's so beautiful."

He smiles.

"Not as beautiful as you are," he replies.

"Thank you," she says, her cheeks are painted of soft and tender pink. She is so beautiful.

The maid arrives with more wine, but the soldiers don't let her get close to the door. They have been given the order to not let anyone disturb the leader of the knights. His orders are their mission. They know him very well, they have scars that made them very obedient. They will fight to complete their mission, they will stand there, they will protect the dreams of their master. They will protect the door from where the moans of the young lady and the groans of their lord are heard all the night.

The glorious and righteous leader of the knights, father of three children, and happily married, well known for his loyalty towards his wife, will not be sleeping, and neither will the young Maria who trembles between his arms and his lust, as lustful as he is, encourages him, to take her with all that he has, to not stop.

Maria doesn't return home that night.