Part 4 Tales of the Universal Knights

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Recap from Part Three:

Kirstein awakens in the hospital wing of the Universal Knights headquarters in St. Gorge, Utah. She doesn't know how she got there or why. She expresses her concerns for the Nahadian people because they don't want help from the knigts in fighting off the drageels.

Part Four:

"Kirstein," Someone called for me, "can you hear me?"

With heavy grogginess, I did my best to respond and voice a yes. The response was strained, but I managed to croak out a yes.

"I am doctor Flipper, I have been observing your health for the last several hours." He told me in a matter of fact tone.

"Why am I here?" I struggled to say as I fought to open my heavy eyelids.

"Patrick informed me that the portal between Naha and Earth was becoming unstable, we could have traped you on Naha. Your lucky to be in this good of health after all that." The doctor said as he rummaged around behind me.

"Unstable?" I repeated with confusion.

"The portal nearly fully collapsed on both of you." He said as he attached a bag of liquid medication to a rolling IV stand.

"Wait, both of us? I was the only Knight assigned to Naha."

"Patrick monitored the status of your portal personally. He cares a great deal about you as if you were his own. He went in after you to save your life." Doctor Flipper stated.

"Is he okay?" I blurted out.

"Relax, Patrick will be fine. I'll make sure of that."

"Is he here in the hospital wing too?" I asked nervously.

"Yes, he is currently being treated for atomic displacement shock. His prosthetic arm caused electricity to pulse through his body. He was a magnet for it. He should have thought to remove the arm before diving into the portal, but he acted on pure instinct alone to save you, Kirstein. He's so brave that I wonder if he is a bit reclass at times."

"Patrick is a creator. He wants to push the limits of humanity." I replied.

"I just hope it doesn't get him killed one of these days." the doctor mumbled before coming back to stand at the bedside.

"I will need to infuse you with hydration liquid." Doctor Flipper explained as he held up a needle to stick me with.

I hated needles, and I also hated hospitals. I hated the rubbing alcohol sterilization smell too. I wanted to get out of here and get back to school instead of starting at the tiled ceiling.

****

When I awoke again, several hours had passed. I didn't remember anything past the needle being inserted into my left arm's inner elbow. My head felt like cinder blocks had been dropped on it. My mouth was so dry that my toung stuck to my inner gums. I painfully pryed my sticky toung away from my teath.

As I gained consciousness, my thoughts turned again to Patrick. I wanted to see him. I felt guilty that he was hurt in my rescue effort. I tried to come up with what I would say to Patrick, but, my words seemed so empty in thanking him. He gave up everything to get to Shyelle years ago, yet Shyelle has never really repaid him for his service. He became the second in comand with the univercail knights with duty and honor, yet he also lost the trust of his son, Andrew.

I didn't have to look too hard to feel the pain of Patrick's loss. It was my loss too. Andrew was my best friend, but, he chose to break his oath with the knights. Andrew gave up his Shyellian gift, his double life, but also, he relinquished his own honor.

I loved Andrew once, it was beautiful. But good things can end when you least expect it. People can change, some even go as far to take advantage of your light. I had trusted Andrew far to quickly. It left me with a tragic ending to the relationship we once shared. Remembering Andrew made me sad and angry all at the same time. However, I learned that I couldn't save him.

My thoughts refocused to Patrick. I needed to know that he was going to be alright in all of his heroics. He was there to help me when his own equipment failed, but I felt that I was in a position to not be able to return his favor.

"Patrick?" I managed to call out from my bed.

"I'm here, Kirsten." He replied in a raspy, barely audible voice.

"Are you feeling better?" I asked, still unable to see him because of the curtain between us.

"Not really, but the experience was quite rare, according to Doctor Flipper." He chuckled.

"You always seem to find humor in the darkest hours we've faced together."

"I'm still human, I still feel the weight of the universe counting on me too." He replied before being overcome by a coughing fit.

A moment later he said "We have to remember what makes us human, Kirsten. We can't afford to lose our own culture."

Part Two: Tales of the Universal Knights

 Missed Part One? Just click the in-text link to catch up on what you missed!

Something caused a rather large splash in the street just to my left side around the building corner out in the main street. Snaping my attention back to watching over this world, I became alert, ready to pounce.

I very carefully drew my sword from its sheath. It made a slight clink against the tip of my blade. I waited for a moment in the silence before dashing into the street to meet my fate. This was more my style of a night watch now! Adrenaline pumping I commanded my legs to carry me forward and I soaked in the air rushing past me for those few seconds of wondering what would be around the corner from me.

As I rounded the corner to clearly see my potential foe, I found nothing there at all. The absence of someone or something should have bothered me, but I had gotten to used to Andrew’s power of invisibility that this occurrence didn’t feel so unusual to me as it probably should have. Andrew had startled me many times with his Shyellian gift, yet, this place was different, and there was no magical crystal to activate the special genetic code that is present in those of Shyellian decent.

“Andrew?” I called out, but as the word left my lips, I knew it was a mistake. Possibly even a fatal one.

I listened again, trying my best to find the source of sound that would indicate movement, but, it was to no avail. There was nothing there. The street was empty, the only sound to be heard was the rain still steadily falling on the cobblestones. I wished that someone was with me here now because at least their presence could warm me up from the unrelenting rain. I stood there with no one else around for a long moment, completely cut off from the Knights, and totally alone in a world that wasn’t even mine.

I wondered why I had been so drawn to rejoin the Knights. All I felt here was regret, and the sting of dreams that had fallen through. I knew I was meant for something more, but whether it was on or off-world I also feared that I would never know. I had seen so much in the past five years, yet, nothing had changed me more than my time as a Univercail Knight. Nothing had shaped me more than being entrusted by Uziel, the king of the Ice Kingdom with leadership in his kingdom. He was more than a creature to me, Uziel is my friend, my verry best friend in the form of a dragon. I could only wish he was here with me now because I needed his guidance. His wisdom could calm any fear I had ever experienced in duty.

Coming back to myself again, I realized that my hand was shaking as my sword trembled in my grip. After five years, I still had my moments of panic. While the panic seemed to come when it was more reasonable, it still affected me. I don’t think that anyone can really ever grow out of having anxiety, even if they wanted too. It doesn’t become less bothersome as you get older, nor with the passage of time.

I heard the footsteps behind me this time. I whirled around to face them, steading my shaking body with a deep inhale of humid air. The rain here had a strange smell to it, a touch of sulfur, a rotten kind of smell that could only mean one thing. There was a large amount of volcanic activity near here. Possibly a highly geothermally active planate in general.

“Who are you?” I asked, hoping for a good impression, yet still unwilling to sheeth my weapon.

“You are not of this world, human.” replied a raspy male voice.

“How do you know that?” I asked a bit startled, still unable to see the owner of the odd voice.

“Your clothes give you away. Your a Knight, a guardian, aren’t you?”

“I am,” I replied cautiously. “I’m here to help you.”

“How can you help those that you have yet to understand? We don’t need help from the Knights. Leave us to our home, we will leave you to yours.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to offend,” I answered. “There were reports of unwanted drageel guards on this world.”

“You have no place here. Nor do they, and we are prepared to deal with them. You should go, my people will not treat your presence with grace. ” The man said stepping away from the shadows until I could see his scally face.

“What are you?” I asked curiously.

“I am a native here, I’m a Nahadian.”

“Why are you not afraid of me?” I asked, taking a step closer.

The Nahadian man took a step back. “I am warning you for your own good, I have respect for the knights, unlike the governers of my people.”

“So you read the texts about our formation and mission?” I asked, probing carefully for some information on the Nahadian culture.

“Yes, but it wasn’t easy to get them. Such texts are banned on Naha.” He replied in a low growling whisper as he reached into what I could now see was a cloke that kept the rain away from him.

He pulled out a printed book, a copy of the Universal Knight recruitment and mission statement. It was just a pocket-sized hardbound booklet, but it contained information about our influence on the Universe. I stared down at the booklet in his purple-tinted hand. I wondered why this Nahadian man would carry the book if it was contraband on Naha, but I also wondered why it was contraband in the first place.

“How did you get the beautiful purple pigmentation in your skin?” I asked the man as he carefully concealed the booklet in his cloke again.

“Our blue sun causes purple pigment to become more prominent. Though it is darker depending on genetics too. Some of our people do not believe that purple pigmentation is desirable as you do. The light-skinned like me often have lesser powers here. The light-skinned people come from a line of albino humanoid invaders that mingled with the natives. We are not considered to be pure Nahadians.” He explained.

“So are you wanting to leave Naha?” I asked, trying to find someone that would help me determine the man’s intentions here.

“Naha is my home, why would I leave everything I know here?” He growled with frustration at my question to him as he shot back his own question for me.

I stood silent for a moment, waiting for him to expend the flaming anger in his dark seemingly hollow eyes. He watched me in return, searching me thoughtfully with his gaze. I felt every muscle tightening under the pressure of nervous energy. My armor began to feel much heavier against me. Yet, feeling the onset of panic, I tried to visualize the weight being lifted from me. When my visualization failed, I shifted my stance and gathered my oozing thoughts.

“You’re people have outcasted you. There is more to the universe than oppression. I can give you peace off-world.” I finally spoke, breaking the awkward tension between us.

“You want to take away my home! To think I was the one who called the knights here, it was foolish.” The man growled as he turned away from me.

I was alone once again, cold, wet, but most of all, feeling I had let down my fallow knights in this mission on Naha.

Part 1 Tales of the Universal Knights

Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five

 Kirsten is now a 22-year-old college student. (The same character form the Shyelle Series) These stories take place after the Shyelle books in the timeline.

Audio File: Part One

Part One: Tales of the Universal Knights

When most people think of space travel, they typically don’t associate it with dragons. Well, what if I told you that dragons figured out how to become just as advanced as humans are in 2085? Would you dare to believe me that I voyaged with them?

Well, welcome to the journeys of the Universal Knights. We are a band of knights sworn to chivalry to protect the universe from injustices. We protect the week, fighting off those who threaten the freedom of others. I’m Kirsten, a leader among the Universal Knights. Not by choice, no, but by duty. It’s my job to find others worthy of the responsibilities I hold and that I must keep away from public knowledge.

I was soaked from heavy rain, even with my armor covering most of my cotton-based black clothing. Even though my armor was light and quite comfortable, it was definitely not waterproof. I was a bit worried about rust, but the metals were made to withstand the weather. Nonetheless, I was cold and soggy on an unfamiliar world past sunset.

My tiny emergency flashlight did little to help me see my navigation system on the small screen of my watch. I wore it on my right side, screen on the inside of the wrist. It went over my gomulets. Intergalactic transmissions were not entirely reliable, not yet. Patrick was working on placing satellites to run the routing through, but progress was slow.

Frustrated, cold, and a bit on edge, I decided that navigation would have to be done in a more primitive manner. I gazed up at the night sky, hoping to find a star or something to point me in the right direction to the portal. I worried that it had been left on, that the natives on this world would wander through the active gate. I wasn’t sure what kind of life forms existed here, but one thing was for sure, I didn’t want any more hostile life rampaging earth. Not after I had witnessed the dragon king of fire Ezekien kill many of my own kind and left them without warning of his declared war.

The sky didn’t provide me with much help. I didn’t know the star charts for this world, none of the Universal Knights would know more than I did from the surface of the planate. Still, I wondered about this strange place, but fear of being discovered confined me to the shadows. I definitely wasn’t up for being interrogated by a species I’d never before encountered.  I wasn’t even sure if I had been given the right coordinates by Patrick for the world I was to be guarding today. Well, of course, today was relative, given it was getting later in the evening hours of darkness here.

It was only twenty or thirty minutes into my assignment, and I already had my regrets about accepting it. It was miserable conditions like this that caused me to question Patrick’s judgment in making assignments. Our purpose was to protect other worlds, not sit around and wait to be attacked. I felt a tinge of nervous energy travel up my spine and into my shoulders with this thought. I didn’t want to be a target and die off-world. Besides, I was expected to be in an exam tomorrow.

Exam! … great. I forgot again. This whole deal with keeping up a double life was doing a number on my studies. The universe never seemed to need saving when it was convenient. Yeah, don’t even get me started about the drageels, they are never considerate of my study schedule. Drageels, the nasty cross bread eel dragons where mightily ruthless too, with a craving for destruction.

Sometimes getting off-world was a relief for me I’ll admit. It was after all nice to get away from my routine for a while, but lately, even my off-world travels have been a bit dull. I’d rather make contact with a friendly species for once who appreciated the presence of the Knights rather than a hostile one who told Patrick and Uziel to stay away from them and their galactic affairs.

My mind worried about something that wasn’t of any relevance to this planate, yet to my future, grades determined everything. They determined where I could live, what I could eat, how I got around. Grades where a direct link to lifestyle on earth. I don’t suppose any life form here in the darkness who was entrusted into my care would understand that though. 

Part 3: Tales of the Universal Knights!

Part One

Part Two

 Hi there readers, it's me, Kirsten, I took over the blog for Amanda Evergreen momentarily. It's me who that cuningly brilliant author has placed in the path of danger! She last left you wondering if I'd get off of Naha alive & having accomplished the Mission of my fellow Knights! I'm here to continue my own story today!

Anyway, this is how the story should actually be told...

I felt that I had failed in the mission that Patrick had entrusted me to do here on Nada as the native man stormed away from me, anger fuming from his splashing steps down the cobblestone road. I was frozen in foggy confusion mixed with the physical numbness of the rain that still drizzled from the night sky.

I needed to find the dralcons and drageels. It was high time that I put them all back on their own world, far from civilized systems. I was tired of the trouble makers interrupting my studious endeavors. Not that these creatures would care about respecting my will to learn at college. They were more trash the place with parties type. Known for bending and breaking the rules so far that there were no punishments pre-determined for their actions. So that's why I'm here, babysitting duty level like literally five million! I didn't have the patience for this at all today if you can't already tell.

Yeah okay, so mabey I'm not as good of a writer as my author, but, I'm taking control now! Whatever you do, don't let Amanda edit my work! I can't die okay! Seriously, I am too important to the story.

So, here I am, coming back to write, only to discover that my character has taken over my story!

Kirstein was unsettled by the man she met, she wanted to know why he would even bother speaking to a knight if he didn't like the Universal Knights. His purple skin was so new, it was both a wonder and an anomaly to her all at once. Space is a big place, a very big and very lonely place at times. No life can survive in space without being prepared to meet it head-on. These people would rather take matters into their own hands-on Naha. Though, I, Kirstein, doubt that Patrick would be listening to me.

I tried to connect to Patrick's communication frequency, but to no avail. Only static. I was panicked before the Nahadian told me that they didn't approve of the knights, but now the panic was rapidly confining me. The cold rain mixed with my shallow breaths made me dizzy until I felt myself falling.

I (Kirsten) awakened at the control center of the Universel Knights in Southern Utah. I knew where I was, but everything else was foggy. I didn't know how I got here. My eyelids dropped, trying to push me back into the realm of sleep, my appendages felt heavy as if there were weights placed on top of me. My arms stung as if thousands of needles had been placed into them. Then, it felt as if my skin was burning with hives, an itching sensation so strong that it burned with pulsing pain. There was an odd metallic taste in my mouth, the unpleasantness of it made me feel a bit queasy. I wondered if I had been put under by the doctors at the facility, but it seemed unlikely given that the knights had pulled me off of Naha.

Still, I couldn't get the Nahadian man out of my mind. He seemed to have lost hope that his own world could defend itself. I felt it was my duty to help them, even if they didn't want the help. My oath as a Univercail Knight was to protect all species across the universe, not just my own. I had a sense of belonging because of my oath, and I would die if neccicairy to defend the values of my Shyellian family lines. I didn't fight for the glory of war, I was a Knight for the honor of helping others. I joined the Knights for the purpose of saving my own people of Earth, and the innocent on Shyelle. If I was going to defend these people of Naha, I needed them to want my help though. Otherwise, they could turn on me.

It's kind of ironic that the very people I am trying to protect could be launching plans to kill me and my friends simply because we are part of an intergalactic union that is built on values of honor and bravery. I suppose it is also time we respected the wishes of those who don't want our influence, but I hate to leave the Nahadians defenseless against the drageels.

I wished that I could talk to Uziel now as thoughts swirled in my unsettled mind. I longed for his strength, especially for a time as now when I felt that my own strength was fading. I knew that Uziel could assure me that I had done my best on Naha, and I honestly needed that reassurance now more than ever as I considered all the things I should have done.