Legends (The Revival)

Chapter Two

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"General Baibars!"

"Sire"

"Begin assembling the children of every Lord, the males will be Knighted to set an example for the youths...we must start preparing for the Revival of Layrim’s knights at once"

The General bowed and exited the king's presence.

"Henry, see that the retreats in every tribe are cleaned and prepared for the recruits, the Lords must begin training, they will be knighted only after"

"As you wish Sire" the Advisor answered bowing low to the king.

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"Lord Conrad! Lord Conrad?" a servant called knocking on Conrad’s door.

Conrad opened the door and flashed a flirty smile at the beautiful maiden. She blushed and forgot the message she was to bear to the young lord, only staring at the ground shyly, it was in this awkward moment that the lady Isabella appeared on her way to the throne room.

"Come on Conrad father calls, and quit messing with dear Vivian"

The maid bowed low and excused herself from them as the nobles made their way down the stairs toward their father.

"How did the meeting go?" Isabella asked as she approached her father (they had not stayed up in wait for him), she made her way to the Lord and knelt before him. He gave his hand to assist her in rising before answering the question.

"It went well. Conrad is summoned to the retreat of Khalon, General Baibars will be here to take him, but you must go with him and watch over your brother" Lord Anderson announced eyeing his son skeptically.

"For what purpose father? Why have I been called on?" Conrad asked.

"At the meeting, we decided to revive the lost, by building a new group of elite Knights for Layrim, really we should have done this long ago, every Lord of the three tribes are to be enlisted to show their support for Layrim" Anderson explained. When he perceived Conrad was about to object he added.

"And you Conrad will go because you are my son and will lead Lalin after my demise"

Conrad sensed the seriousness in his father’s voice and he bowed in submission, at the same time he felt confused because it would take no less than two years of intense training and war drills to hone elites at the level of the old knights.

"Now Isabella, you will go with your brother, you are to watch over him and make sure he does not get in trouble, there will be no quests breaks and you will stick to the routine the royal Advisor gives"

"Yes, father" the two replied unanimously. They went to the upper chamber of the castle to prepare before the arrival of General Baibars. As soon as they entered the room where their father couldn't hear them, Conrad thought it safe to begin his rant, he didn't like this, he had no desire to be a knight, he felt he wasn't worthy.

"Why does it have to be the Lords, well if we died then who would rule the people. That's a flaw in their plan now eh?" he looked to his sister who seemed to be in thought.

"Conrad this is different from royal responsibility, think about it. You know how much danger Layrim is in already, the legend of the Lost is now upon every ear outside our boundaries, I tell you even now King Rolin the second must be preparing his army...who knows? They may march to Layrim's boundaries by morning, this is a task of great responsibility, and I know not of any swordsman or archer better than yourself in all of Lalin...well that's except me" she shrugged.

"Nice speech but with a very bad ending..." Conrad paused staring at his Armor, his father had built it for him (it was the armor of the lost and only he had it in the kingdom), even his horse Maje was a rare gem in many kingdoms, only he had a Maje in Lalin and there were only six in all of Layrim, one belonging to the King and another to the Lady Elizabeth of Taliha. Indeed he was considered a great Lord.

"So you think I am worthy of Knighthood?" he asked uncertainly.

"Sir Conrad has a nice sound don't you think?" she joked...

"Conrad, you are a good swordsman, and archer, that I know. And if you're asking if you would pass the test of the Legends? I do not know about that, but I do know brother that you have a good chance, one I wish I was given" Conrad noticed the expression of his sister fall from excitement to disappointment.

"Tell me something Isabella, would you accept if given the chance to be part of this Revival?" he questioned, he knew her to be one who loved Layrim, the Legends and It's people, surely she would do anything to protect it, but for being a girl this chance had passed by her.

"Conrad that is a question I cannot answer...or maybe I can. Think about it, the future of Layrim on other's shoulders?" she dropped the gown she was holding and looked to her brother who was staring at her with inquisitive eyes.

"Though I get to stay away from the front lines, but then... It would not be the same as giving my best to keep my people safe... these look to us...you want to know how I would feel when I see a young man taken away to Sirve in the league? How I would feel to see a maiden say goodbye to her husband wondering if she would see him again? While I sit in the castle and merely say all will be fine? You know the answer Conrad, why ask?" 

She turned away from him and put her clothes into a box. The young Lord took his armor and box and they went down to meet their father

"Bella?" Conrad called as they were about to descend the stairs.

"You are a great archer....and with the sword? You are good, only next to me who in turn is only next to the king"

"Why thank you brother, great speech with a very bad ending" she shot a warm smile at her brother who gave it right back, and they continued their descent down the stairs.

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"Welcome Lords and ladies to the retreat of Khalon, as some of you may know this is the very last place the legends stayed before they disappeared, now you have been given this grand privilege of building back for Layrim what was lost. Years from now may our children remember these names as the Revivals of the Lost. But this will only be you after you have passed the test and training of the Lost, are you ready for this task?" The Royal Advisor asked after addressing the Lords before him.

A thunderous "Oha!!" rang through the retreat followed by the bowing of every male as they rested their arms on one knee and rested the other on the ground, this they did in recognition of the entry of King Julius.

"Now every Lord will be trained to use the sword by me, and archery will be taught by Lady Elizabeth of Taliha (or Arena)"

As the King addressed them Conrad heard his sister whisper behind him...

"So she gets to be part of this while I sit and watch?" he chuckled and turned his attention back to the King.

"The Lady Isabella will be trained alongside the Knights, but will not be knighted since women with Knighthood was unheard among the Lost. The others will be trained in the royal barracks and will be so by the Lords and Ladies and of course the battle masters and by Lalin may Layrim raise Legends of the Revival"

The trainees moved to their grounds after the King addressed them, Conrad and Isabella were to remain in the retreat with the other Lords and Lady Elizabeth of Taliha, her two brothers were among the Lords to be trained but she was chosen for her vast knowledge and skill in archery, it would be Isabella to train the knights in archery but it was a long time since anyone saw Isabella with a bow, except Conrad that is (they were the best in archery in all Layrim) The chance to teach passed by her. The King himself was the best swordsman, wielding of the sword was an old tradition of Layrim's Kings, every King trained his Lord as they also learned from the soldiers in the barracks, it was due to intense training sessions that Layrim had their kings excel in this art. Conrad was not trained by soldiers or Nobles, he was gifted with this skill and he only got better once he began his work as a mercenary, taking quests and fighting bandits in kingdoms far away from Layrim. In assignments outside of Layrim, he would be the one to lead the Knights due to his experience, for the first time his father Lord Anderson was proud of his son though he still felt it was too low for a noble and Conrad was too young to be a mercenary.

One day after intensive training in archery as the other Lords retreated to their quarters, Conrad stayed behind to have fun with the bow, he rode around the training ground on Maje, shooting at targets two, three arrows at a time, whereas during his training he would usually pretend to have no experience with the bow, he claimed to only know how to wield the sword and was not born for archery. On this evening the sun hid behind dark clouds leaving a mild dark theme on the training ground beside the retreat, Conrad raced through the fields having fun with his bow. Lady Elizabeth approached to gather her arrows when she saw the Lord in this state of great ecstasy, he would jump down from his horse while giving commands to it and firing arrows at the inanimate targets, while still running alongside the horse he would flip on boulders and jump back on the horse shooting arrows midair, laughing and petting Maje as he did. Elizabeth was amazed not just at his skill in archery but at how creative he was with his moves, she did not know of any routine like the one she saw before her yet she studied archery and knew the art like the back of her palm, these moves she was reprimanded from creating years back when she first began, her father believed it to be childish and of no rhythm thus was not the way of a noble. It was also amazing how Conrad who she did not know could aim, hit targets with ease. When the Lord ran out of arrows he jumped down his horse doing a double flip in the air before landing with a bow for the knights -resting on one knee with the other on the ground. She clapped, for sure he did wonderfully! Conrad turned immediately at the sound, and as soon as he realized his instructor had seen his act he knew he had been discovered and bowed low in submission. He walked toward her to explain himself and restore his honor which he felt was stained.