Nights in Knightsen #1

A Knightsen short story featuring two Necromancers, Stephen and Jolisa, and a shade who would really prefer to ride shotgun

“I'm really nervous,” I said hesitantly, “I mean, I'm not sure I'm going to do it right.”

“Don't worry,” Stephen reassured, “Everyone is nervous the first time.”

“But what if something goes wrong, and I don't know what to do?” I worried, “I mean, what if it breaks or something?”

“Trust me, it's not going to break,” said Stephen, “Do you want me to go over everything again?”

“No,” I took a deep breath, “I think I'm ready.”

“Good. Just go over everything I taught you. You should do just fine, I'm sure of it.”

Shade patted my shoulder, “It's okay. I'll be right here behind you if you need me at all, doing my thing.”

“Alright then, here goes,” I turned the key in the ignition. The lights inside Stephen's car came on as it quietly hummed into life. I flicked on the headlights, and everything outside was flooded with the beams from the Prius.

“Now we want to go into reverse, so we can get out of the driveway,” Stephen stated, “So what do we do?”
Shade waved his hand wildly from the backseat, “Oh! Oh! I know! Pick me!”

I ignored Shade, “We put the car in reverse like this,” I switched the gears and turned my head around, looking down the long driveway that led to Eden Plains Road. However, the shade in the backseat winking at me was a bit of a distraction.

Stephen cleared his throat, “You should also make sure that all passengers have their seat belts buckled before the vehicle even moves.”

“Aw come on!” Shade whined from his reclined position, stretched out over all the back seats, “It's not like I'm going to die when JoJo gets us in a horrific car accident due to her lack of driving experience!”

“Shade!” I barked, “I'm not going to get in an accident! And buckle your seatbelt!”

“Fine, fine,” he slid into a seat, strapping himself in, “Now let's get moving. It can't be that hard.”

I took another deep breath, and carefully stepped on the gas. The car started inching backward at a snails pace. I could hear Shade drumming his fingers with anticipation, so I stepped on the gas a little harder, only to slam on the breaks when the car lurched in reverse a lot faster than I had expected.

Stephen had briefly turned pale, “Make sure you tap on the gas gently, dear.”

“I know, I'm sorry,” I tried it again, and this time the car moved backward at a decent speed. Soon I was backing into Eden Plains Road, and I shifted into drive and we were off, “I can't believe that I'm actually driving down a real road. This feels kinda exciting!”

“Yeah, just be careful,” Stephen looked out the passenger window into the darkness of Knightsen, “And don't get caught, I'm going to be in so much trouble if you get pulled over and you don't even have a learning permit.”

“Whatever,” I said, keeping my focus on the road, “Like cops ever come around here at night.”

I could hear Shade going through my purse behind me, “I'm going to use JoJo's phone to call the police right now to alert them of a dangerous driver. What's the number for 911 again?”

We had reached the stop sign where Eden Plains ended, and I had to choose between going right or left down Chestnut Road. Since I didn't want to end up in Brentwood, I signaled left and turned very carefully down the street.

“That was great, Jo!” Stephen cheered, “See, it's not that hard to drive at all.”

“I guess you're right,” I smiled, “I suppose I will go down to the DMV and get my permit after all. It feels a little liberating, doesn't it?”

“That's one way to put it,” Stephen leaned back in his seat, finally relaxing, “Just wait until you're alone for the first time. It feels like the world is opened up to you.”

“You're okay with this, right?” I asked, “I mean, this is the first time you've sat comfortably since we got in the car an hour ago.”

“Yeah,” he shrugged, “It just feels a little weird to be sitting here and not in the drivers seat.”

Shade leaned forward, sticking his head between ours, “You mean, it feels weird to be sitting in MY seat.”

“I have to sit shotgun, Prince Shade,” Stephen explained, “I have to show Jolisa how to drive. Or else we'd all be dead.”

“Correction,” Shade smiled, “You would both be dead.”

I grinned, “And that would make three dead people in the car, right?”

Shade whistled, “Burn, JoJo. That was a major burn.”

Stephen smiled, “I would high five you if you weren't holding a steering wheel. Oh, don't move your hands from ten and two o'clock!”

“Hey,” I said, “You never have your hands set like this when you drive, honey,” they were resting near the bottom of the steering wheel.

“Yeah, but you're learning. You have to learn how to do things right. Are you checking your mirrors?”

“Yes.”

“Are you obeying the speed limit?”

“Yes.”

“Are you letting the shade in the back seat that's rifling through your purse distract you?”

“Absolutely not.”

Shade took that moment to hold a tampon from my purse in front of Stephen's face, “I found this. What is it?”

“PUT IT AWAY!” the both of us cried out. I had a more of an embarrassed yell, whereas Stephen's was more in horror.

“Shade,” Stephen reached his hand toward the back, “Give me the purse.”

“But...”

“Shade!” Stephen was now speaking in his necromancer voice, “Give. Me. The purse.”

“Why should I?”

“Because I will hurt you if you don't, that's why.”

Shade laughed, “Like you could hurt me.”

“Boys!” I yelled as I turned left again down the Byron Highway, “No fighting in the car while I'm driving!,” I chanced a quick glare at them, and they both looked disappointed.

“Sorry Jo,” Stephen apologized, “I should be paying more attention to you. Now, do you remember where all the important things are, like your emergency lights?”

“Right here,” I pointed.

“And what if you needed to ever open the hood or the trunk?”

“There, and there.”

“Great. And gee, wouldn't it be nice if there was a button to make SHADES STOP KICKING YOUR SEAT?”

“What makes you think it's me?” Shade said innocently, “Hey, can we have some music?”

“No,” I said.

“Jo,” Shade leaned forward again, and tried to imitate Stephen, “Where is the button for the radio?”

“I'm not going to turn on the radio, Shade. So just keep to yourself, okay?”

“Fine,” he finally sat back, “I can just sing on my own. Do do, do do do do, do, do do do do, do...”

“What is that?” Stephen asked.

“It's 'Don't Stop the Music' by Rihanna,” Shade answered, “Duh.”

“Why don't we change the title to “Please Stop Singing, Shade'.” Stephen suggested.

“Hmmm,” Shade thought for a moment, “Nope, I like Rihanna's better. Besides, the rest of the song wouldn't be... LOOK OUT!”

Shade and I saw it at the same time. A short, bearded man with some kind of light in his hands was standing in the middle of the road. Everything happened at once. I slammed on the breaks, the car squealed, Stephen grabbed the steering wheel, the car lurched out of the way of the man, Shade screamed, the car jerked to a stop, and my heart sped up to beat a million times a minute.

“What the...” I gasped.

Stephen and Shade just looked at each other and said resolutely, “Duergar.”

“A what?” I asked, but before I could say any more the boys had unbuckled their seat belts and were out the door. I hastily turned off the car to follow them.

“Pop the trunk!” Stephen called out, and I did so. I saw him reach in and grab two flashlights, handing one to me. Shade was running over to the spot where the man had been standing, and called out, “He's gone!”

“Well he won't be too hard to find,” Stephen muttered as he slammed down the trunk. He shined his light around us. To our left was just empty property, and to the right was someone's horse stable.

“Which way do you think he would go?” Shade asked, “Toward the water or toward the horses?”

“I'm thinking horses,” said Stephen, “We should be able to still spot his light if he went the other way,” he turned to me, “Who lives here?”

“I don't know. I'm not sure how far we've gone down the highway. And what's going on? Who was that man.”

“A duergar,” Shade replied, “Now come on, he shouldn't be out here, in this realm. Must have snuck through one of your Doors when you weren't looking.”

“What is a duergar?” I asked Stephen, “Those aren't in the Necronomicon, I'm sure of it.”

“That's because they came to be after the Necronomicon was written,” Stephen explained, “A duergar was someone who dabbled in the Dark Arts when they were alive. Someone who studied the Necronomicon and the Winterland and its creatures so much that they became a part of it. They would isolate themselves as they devoted their lives to the land of the dead. Once they died, their soul would just slip into the Winterland as a duergar.”

“And what does a duergar do?” I asked as we climbed over the fence and followed Shade into the horse stable.

“They're one of the things that absolutely cannot sneak out of Doors, at any circumstance. They're like encantado or banshees or vampires, they will kill humans at any possible chance. The light they emit lures humans in, and once the duergar leads them to an isolated place, it will kill and eat the human.”

“Fantastic,” I rolled my eyes, and we slipped into the door of the stable. Five horses were staring at us, confused. Shade was nowhere to be seen.

Stephen looked at me, and put his finger to his lips. I nodded. We tip toed around the stable, looking for anything that could show us where the duergar was hiding. I stepped on a board that creaked, and one of the horses started whinnying, alerting its master that there were intruders.

        In the blink of an eye Shade was at the horse's side. He gently stroked its forehead and made reassuring sounds, “Shh, it's okay, shizukani, daijoubu, we are friends,” and in no time at all, the horse was in a quiet, relaxed state.

“How do you know how to calm down a horse?” I whispered to Shade.

“I... don't know,” he answered, looking surprised at himself.

A flickering light in the corner of the barn caught my eye. All three of us turned to it, and the duergar was facing us. His long, white beard made his face look dour. Stephen closed his eyes and began chanting.

        It was as if the duergar realized that we were both necromancers, and not normal humans, very suddenly. He high-tailed it for the door of the stable. Shade and I quickly exchanged a glance, and we dashed after it.

The duergar was putting up a good chase until it reached a fence. As he tried to climb over it, Shade sped up and lunged for it, grabbing his legs and tossing him onto the ground. I started reciting a binding spell that would keep him from running away, and soon Stephen was behind me, continuing his own chant to send it back.

Like most creatures that killed humans whenever they ventured into Earth, the duergar seemed to be mute. It looked angrily from Shade to me to Stephen. In one last attempt to escape, he put his hands in front of Shade's face, and the bright light that erupted from them caused Shade to grab his eyes. The duergar jumped to his feet, growling. I let my instincts take control, and I forcefully wrapped my arm around his neck, getting him into a choke hold. The creature scratched at my arm as it tried to breathe, but before it could do anything else, it started vanishing. Stephen finished his chant, and the duergar was gone.

Stephen and I were both breathing heavily, feeling the adrenaline of the chase surging through us. We looked at each other, and I couldn't help but smile. Stephen looked incredibly sexy and ruffled every time we fought an evil creature, and this time was no exception. Judging by his grin, he was thinking the same thing about me. I winked at him, and he mouthed, “I love you.”

Shade stood, moaning and rubbing his eyes, “Are you kidding me? That was horrible. I'm blind, I'm sure of it,” he removed his hands and blinked furiously, “There are spots everywhere. Are you guys seeing spots? I'm seeing spots.”

“How many fingers am I holding up?” I said as I put three of my fingers in his face.

“Spots,” he answered.

“I think that's enough for one night,” said Stephen, putting a hand on Shade's back to lead him toward the car, “I'll drive us all back home.”

“Shotgun!” Shade announced.

“You can't even see!” I grinned.

“It's the principal of the matter,” Shade explained, “It's like a privilege. Besides, calling shotgun is a sacred institution.”

“Fine, ride shotgun,” Stephen gave in, “But next time Jo is up front with me.”

“Well, I don't know where you're all going,” I said, “Since I have the keys.”

Stephen and Shade stopped. My boyfriend smiled at me, “Then I suppose you're driving then.”

“Unless,” Shade offered, “You want me to wrestle them out of her hands. Which I will gladly do. Jo, if I touch your b***s, it was a complete accident. I can't see, you know.”

I laughed, “Yes Stephen, I am definitely driving.”

Reviews

[Euphoric Sin]

This is a very well-written story. Even though nothing was really explained about who they were, and about the kind of world they live in, it still made sense. Sometimes it's hard to do that with these kinds of stories.

One other thing I noticed, is that you used the wrong break/brake. The one you used was break, but you want the other one, brake.

It was a very interesting story, not too long, the wording was easily understandable and fun to read. Your characters were believable, especially Shade and Jo. Although, to me Stephen seemed a bit too perfect. The plot flowed nicely, and ended well, and your ideas seem solid. Overall, a very good story. My only question: Is there more?

Good work.