Kingdom Fallen

Volume 1 Part 2: The Purple Eagle Squadron

As I was being distracted, there was another ruffle in the bushes. A thought went to the baby boar, but this was a sound louder than the baby boar could have produced, then came the clanking of metal as they came into the clearing.

It was a group of five, each wearing silver armor and on the right side of the breastplate was a purple eagle. The group of five seemed lost, I could tell by the way they frantically looked about and indecisive way they moved, they seemed to have been walking for quite a while as the boots were soaked in mud and their armor covered in dirt and grime as if they had been sleeping in the forest. It was pretty easy to get lost in this forest as the path was unwieldily which made people prone to go missing. There was no path formed in the forest, only mud, dirt patches and thick foliage. It was even harder to move during the night as a thick mist formed at night and many have claimed to be haunted by illusions. That's why it had been nickname the Wandering Forest

A thought came to my mind to assist, but I soon remembered that my covering was off. To ensure none of them had the chance to see my eye I immediately looked down to the ground and threw my hands over my head. Mister had warned me never to show anyone my eye. Mister was a stern man and he was especially strict with this one rule above all the others and he promised severe repercussions

"Where the hell are we now?" one of them cursed

"Somewhere new it seems," another responded

"I know that smartass, we're still lost,"

"And we got separated from the captain," the feminine voice commented

"We need to get the hell out of this damn forest," he cursed again

"There's no use cursing. You're just wasting the little energy you have left," another one said

"I think we should wait for the Captain here," another of the group suggested

"Or we could just ask that brat for directions," the first suggested, unfortunately acknowledging my existence,

"YOU GUYS SEE HIM TOO?!" the female exclaimed

"Of course, I do. I have eyes, don't I?" the first mockingly said

"Be careful, it might just be another illusion," another warned

"You guys are still on that crap?" he groaned

"You still don't believe us?" the woman huffed

"Of course not, you were obviously just sleep depraved,"

"Sleep depraved?" another scoffed

"You guys haven't slept for three days," the first said

"Well not everyone can sleep anywhere like you," the girl argued

"Well, if you had gotten some sleep then maybe your imagination wouldn't be running so wild," he spat

"How can everyone, except you, be seeing illusions?"

"Because you're all sleep depraved," he snorted, "Why else would you be talking about illusions like some idiotic Sultani street performer?"

"Eric, you can't call them that, you jackass," the female argued

"The hell did I say? And don't say my name in armor, b***h," Eric argued

"Don't call me b***h, you jackass!" she argued back

"That's enough, you two. You're just wasting energy," another stepped up and spoke

"Look, I'm the new Vice Captain, so until the Captain returns, I am in charge," the Vice Captain spoke

"So, what do we do 'Vice-Captain'?" Eric mockingly asked

"We don't know what that thing is, so just try to call out to the kid and see if it's real or not," The Vice-Captain said.

It had been quite a while that they were arguing and I was stuck in place hoping that they would have just believed I was just a illusion created by the forest

"Hey Kid," Eric called out. I tried to remain as still as possible, though outside of hunting with Mister, I had no experience in a situation like this. I tried to refer to Mister's training. He had told me patience was a virtue of any good hunter and that there would be a time when I had to be as still as a statue. Unfortunately it seemed like today would be that time

"See I told you it was an illusion," the female boasted

"We should just get going. It doesn't seem like a threat to us and we still have to find the Captain and get out of here before night falls again," the Vice-Captain said

"Argh, do we really have to go wandering in the forest again?"

"Honestly, I'm really tired myself," the female added

"Fine, we can rest up here and wait to see if the Captain comes here. If he doesn't then we'll go look for him," the Vice Captain said

"Okay, since we're resting here, don't you think we should start a fire and start cooking that boar we just caught," one of them said.

In that moment, I realized that they captured the little boar and in that brief momentary lapse I had released a spasm, the moment I realized my mistake I stopped and hoped none of them noticed

"Hey guys," Eric said

"What is it?" The Vice Captain said

"Your supposed illusion just moved," Eric said

"What?" The Vice Captain said

"That 'illusion' just moved," Eric reaffirmed

"You i***t, illusions can't move," the female jeered

"I know what I saw," Eric said

"Huh, doesn't that sound familiar?" she teased

"Oh, screw this," Eric growled and then I could hear the sound of clanking metal coming closer to me

"What are you doing?" the Vice Captain said

"I'm checking for myself," he said. For a momentary instant a new sound had been added to the clanking of the metal, and then a unsettling sound of SHIIIING

"Why the hell did you draw your sword?" another of them said

"Shut it Four-Eyes, what's the matter if I draw my sword if it's just an illusion?' he scoffed

"Eric, you i***t," the female said

"You there, child, I am a Knight 508 from the Purple Eagle Squadron. By order of the Eldorian Knight Core, I command that you get up and face me," he ordered.

I heard every word that had come from his mouth and it made my heart race with anxiety. I tried to calm my heartbeat and steady my breathing like Mister had told me. Though I need not be a genius to know that man was planning to attack me

"See Eric, you're being idiotic," the female said

"This is my last warning," Eric said, but still I remained unmoving

"Fine, then don't blame me," he said, and the clanking resumed. It had crossed my mind to pick up the arrow and fight with it, but it would have been hopeless. I was both outnumbered and outmatched. Fighting the five of them would be akin to suicide. Maybe I could just run into the forest, though it was common for others to be lost, I was practically raised here. I just needed to make it into the bushes before they caught me. They were exhausted and in such heavy armor there was no way that they could catch me, right?

I had decided that was the only option I had for the moment, so I took a deep breath and prepared to charge out of the clearing, however I soon heard a splashing sound. It seemed that the one named Eric had made it to the stream. My time was running out, so I decided to risk it. As I was about to reach for the arrow a loud sound filled the air with a WHOOSSH then came a loud crash accompanied by the sounds of BOOM!! And SPLASH!! As I looked up, I noticed a large wall of water blocking vision of the knight, yet I could see through the blanket of water with my right eye. In the middle of the stream where the water had been just moments before was one of Mister's craved arrows. It had been covered in cracks as if it would splinter at the slightest touch and there also seemed to be a clear white mist that had been raising from the arrow

There was momentary confusion in the faces of the knights who had no idea what was happening. Despite being none the wiser myself, I did not have the luxury of time to think about it so I quickly grabbed the arrow by my side and dashed back into the bushes. Once I was deep enough, I unwrapped the cloth from the arrow and placed it back on my face. The brightness of the color around me seemed to fade and everything had returned to normal. Finally letting out a sigh of relaxation, I decided to just go back to Mister for my scolding.

I returned to where I had left Mister, where he had been sitting on a boulder glaring coldly at me as I returned

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Published on October 18, 2025