I Will Be the Greatest Knight

Alone on her horse, Irene sat waiting for the others with her helmet in her lap. She had to assure Bren a few times that she didn't need help with her things, and neither did the other knights who would be joining them on their ride towards Nickron.

"Act like a knight," she assured him.

If the Commander didn't need his help, then the apprentice needed to focus only on his own tasks so that he wouldn't fall behind and continue proving himself.

Shortly, Bren and Trenton were on their horses and beside the woman. Soon after that, Felix, Sven, and Siverly joined the group.

"Where is the Commander?" Irene asked the others, wondering if they knew something she didn't.

"Last I knew, he was checking on—" Trenton began, but couldn't finish.

There was a thump outside of the forest, and the group looked at each other with widened eyes. Without needing further explanation, they all began rushing their horses between the trees and to where the northern border of Idona once stood.

The Idonian mages had assured it was left open, considering something had certainly changed. However, they also explained that the border would go back down once the group was no longer in view. They wouldn't have a chance to get back inside until they returned in a few days.

It was becoming a familiar sight to see their Commander fussing over a dragon. She had brought out something that the Knights of Chemois were unfamiliar with seeing, but it seemed that they would see more of as long as the dragon stuck around.

The large creature stomped around in front of the forest, almost seeming stubborn and impatient about something.

"We're off!" Henry shouted when the others were finally at his tail.

With his order came a gust of wind as the dragon took off, which caused them to pull down their visors or cover the eye slits on their helmets with their gloved hands. Since Bren and Siverly were the only two not wearing helmets, they had to take other routes to keep dirt from flying into their eyes and mouths.

"She's joining us?" Bren asked in disbelief before they could take off as well.

"I don't think the Commander has much of a choice," Irene joked.

Only once the dust settled did the others finally take off, leaving Idona in the dust both literally and figuratively.

Occasionally, Irene would pull her visor up to see what Sylaron was doing. It was hard to see straight above her with a helmet on, but each time she found the dragon going back and forth in the sky. The magical beast would occasionally disappear into the trees, but she would always reappear shortly.

Irene silently wondered if anything could harm the dragon. There were a lot of creatures who had specific weak points, but she doubted any of the monsters in this area of the world could even come close to a dragon.

Since they had started their journey late as it was, the travelers only made it for a few hours before they were forced to camp.

The time went by quickly, considering they had such enthusiastic entertainment in the form of a massive dragon. She was no longer at the forefront of only Henry's thoughts, but of everyone traveling with him. She brought out a childlike curiosity in everyone.

Those who felt like they had seen everything there was to see in the world were finding wonderment. It was a strange feeling for the weathered knights to experience for the first time in ages.

As they settled down for the night, Irene, Sven, and Bren were occupied with dinner while the others went to the forests to hunt. Siverly had been reading in the meantime, and no one wanted to bother him because he looked particularly focused.

"Hopefully they arrive with something substantial before the salted water boils," Irene commented. "I don't mind jerky stew if we're forced to, but it reminds me of the war."

The woman made a faint expression of disgust and crossed her arms as she settled against a rock.

"The pot is quite large and the fire isn't strong yet," Sven responded. "I'm sure we have time."

For once, Bren didn't look so dutiful because he flopped onto his back, no longer able to wait patiently. Irene imagined it was because the Commander wasn't around; the thought caused a small smile to pull at her lips.

"I'm starving," the teenager complained. "I'll take the jerky if you don't want it."

"Emergency rations, kid," Irene taunted, knowing he wasn't that much younger than her. "Stop eating so much. I'm starting to get scared about how much taller you'll get than I."

Sven chuckled and shook his head at that.

"If a kid's going to grow, they'll grow. Even when you were starving during the war, you shot up like a weed," he reminded Irene. "You're taller than quite a few women. The Princess is at least a hand shorter than you, I'd imagine."

"Is that right?" Irene asked. "Although I suppose the guarded doesn't have to be as tall as the guard."

Sven merely nodded.

She was still licking her wounds over the Commander's preference in women. Perhaps being as far from the Pricness as she possibly could was for the best. Then she would never have to be confused about anything.

It would never happen, she reminded herself.

Something about that man was making her insane, she decided as she stood up suddenly to check on the water, knowing already it wasn't boiling but needed a distraction.

As she went to sit back down, there was suddenly a burst of activity from the forest as a deer rushed out of the brush and fell onto its knees. It caused all the fighters to grasp their weapons, not realizing what it was before it was there.

However, Siverly had a more surprise response as he threw his book and conjured up his silver mana to pin the animal to the ground.

He seemed peeved at the interruption, but he managed to wait patiently until Felix, the Commander, and Trenton were all out of the forest with their shoulders heaving as if they had chased the deer for a long time.

Deciding it was best to put the creature out of its misery, Felix rushed forward with his hunting knife and mercifully sliced the animal through its lungs and heart so that it would die quickly. Only when the animal stopped moving did the second in command settle onto the ground in a heap.

"Thanks, Siverly," Felix muttered as he looked towards the ceiling of trees that were causing their campsite to seem darker than it actually was outside.

"What was that?" Irene couldn't help questioning as the others began preparing the deer. She removed her gloves so that she could help Trenton. The knight was fast with the game and had already taken the deer to one of the trees so that it would bleed out quickly.

"Sylaron scared some animals," Commander Henry commented. "She's not the most subtle hunting dog I've ever met."

Irene couldn't keep from lifting a hand to her lips to hold back a laugh. It seemed she wasn't the only one who thought the dragon was a bit like a dog.

"Well, we got dinner. That's all that matters at this point," she responded with a shrug. "Bren is impatiently starving, but the rest of us are alright."

She shot a sly smile at Bren, who had already straightened himself at the sight of the Commander. He was too obvious, and she had to tease him just a bit.

The Commander was the one who laughed at that.

"I was like that when I was a teenager as well," the young Duke responded. "I could never eat enough."

"Well, you were starving before," Trenton added. "Only when you started sword fighting did you realize just how much of an appetite you have."

"To Commander Lothian's chagrin, I'm sure," Henry responded.

"He likes to see his knights eating," Trenton argued. "That's what he spends all of his money on anyway."

The Commander smiled fondly, thinking upon his history in Hydrogia, but he couldn't help the slight that came out after, feeling the moment get too serious. If he started reminiscing too much, he would start thinking about Alix, who wasn't there with them at that moment because of how badly he had been hurt.

"He enables you, after all," the Commander shot back.

"These muscles won't feed themselves," Trenton retorted quickly and flexed one of his massive arms.

Irene couldn't help the glance towards the massive red-headed knight. His bicep had to be the side of her waist. She was always jealous of a man's ability to grow muscles, while on the other hand, she remained muscular for a woman, but lithe, no matter what she did.

The Commander shook his head, holding back his own smile.

Irene walked to the deer and felt its side, wondering how long it would take to bleed out. They were far enough away from their camp that it likely wouldn't attract predators if there were any; however, it also brought up another question that had been plaguing her.

"Commander, the dragon keeps away predators and monsters, doesn't she?" she wondered. "Even on the way here, we saw more monsters than this despite there being fewer than what is supposedly usual."

"In Polona, we didn't see monsters at all if she was around," the Commander admitted. "There's a natural order in the monster, and it seems she's at the very top. Nothing hunts her, but she hunts everything."

"How interesting…" Irene admitted, trailing off thoughtfully as her thoughts ran.

However, there was another aspect to having a dragon around that she also didn't consider.

The sleeplessness.