The White Knight

Chapter Two-Utofamia

Chapter Two
Utofamia

         Maria lay in darkness.  She could no longer feel Luke's fingers crushing her windpipe.  She lay there suspended in numbness.  “Am I dead?” she asked herself.  Then the pain returned.  However, it was not the pain that she expected.  Her body was cramped with cold.  It felt like she had walked barefoot in the snow.  She opened her eyes and could not see anything.  Maria felt panic and then quickly calmed down when she realized that it was naturally dark.  She must have been unconscious for some time.  It was too dark to notice if Luke was near by.
         The temperature had dropped since when Luke had attacked her.  "Maybe he left, thinking he had killed me," she thought to herself.  She slowly reached out her hand and felt her throat.  There was no pain there.  "I have to get to the police.  He must get arrested before he hurts somebody else."  Reaching out her hand, she slowly pushed herself to a sitting position.  Then she froze.  Her hand was in something wet and sticky.  "Did he stab me also?  Is this blood?"  She quickly examined her body.  However, she could not find any stab wounds. 
         Then what was the dampness her hand had touched?  Maria searched the ground and found out that she was lying in mud.  Slowly Maria's eyes adjusted to the dark.  She was still outside, yet this was not the place where Luke had attacked her.           "Where did he bring me?"  She was in some type of woods.  She glanced at the trees.  They were tall pines where their lowest branches were way above her head.  Maria glanced upwards to see if she could see the tree tops.  However, they were too tall.  The trees were close together, but she was still able to see the star-speckled sky way above.  Yet there was no Big Dipper.  In fact, the constellations seemed different from the ones she knew.
         Maria shivered with cold.  She still had her backpack slung across her back.  She looked for her sweatshirt, but it was gone.  "I left that back at the apartment.  I thought it was too warm outside."
         She examined her body again.  Finding no injuries, she decided what she must do next.  She had to find out where she was and get a place to warm up.  She also had to call the police and tell them what Luke had done.  The sooner he was behind bars, the better.
         Maria could hear sounds of people laughing and joking to her right.  "They might help me.  But what if they are involved with all this?  What if Luke and they are planning other things?  No, I do not think Luke had any friends.  Well, it is better to be safe.”  She reached down with her hand and picked up a large rock.
         By the sound of the voices, it sounded like four to five people, mostly men's voices.  Moving slowly, she headed through the trees towards the sound.  Within a few minutes she was able to see a campfire, with several men sitting and eating.  Maria was hungry, since she had not eaten anything since early afternoon.
         She was almost to the clearing, when a man's voice to her left startled her.
"Do not move!"
         Maria froze and started to turn slowly towards the voice.
Even though she only moved slightly, the person owning the voice saw her.  "I said do not move!  Drop that stone!"
         A person cautiously moved into her sight.  She only could see him in the corner of her eye.  The men sitting around the campfire had started to rise.  There was only one thing she could do, run.
         The man came completely into Maria's view.  "Do not think of running.  We are the Kingsbane.  We never fail in shooting.  I said drop that rock!"  Maria dropped the rock in surprise.  The man standing in front of Maria was clothed completely in white, all the way from his boots to the chain mail covering his chest.  “That can’t be,” Maria shook her head in confusion.  However he was still standing there wearing his white boots, tight chain main and a cape.  An arrow was notched on a bowstring, drawing back on the string; he was aiming for her heart.  The other men approaching Maria were all wearing the same type of armor.
         "Please, I have done nothing wrong!  I was just looking for help!"
         "SILENCE!” the bowman yelled at Maria.  "Are you a spy for King Christophe?  How did you get so close to King Alexander's hunting grounds?  You are a spy!  You will be dealt with harshly!"
         "Please!  I do not understand!"
         "SILENCE!  James, check her for weapons.  If you make one move," he told Maria, "you are dead!"
         "Geoffrey, take it easy on her.  Can't you tell that she is scared?"
         "We will wait until morning and let Sir Peter decide.  He is a harsh man," he said to Maria.  "You better be telling the truth.  Throw me her bag," he said, after he lowered his bow.  Searching through it, he found only a book.  Too dark to look through it now, he would check it out to see if she had been writing notes to King Christophe. 
         "Bring her to the fire," Geoffrey said.  "She looks cold and I guess we can get her something to eat."
         Sitting down by the fire Maria was grateful for the warmth and the chicken that was offered her.
         "You should wear warmer clothes for this time of year," Geoffrey said.  "Here drink some of this.  It is Ydnarb.  It will warm you up."  Maria sniffed the bottle that he gave her.  A pungent odor reached her nostrils.  Since she had seen Geoffrey drink from it just before he handed her the bottle, she knew that it did not contain poison.  Tilting a head back she drank.  A burning liquid went down her throat.  Sputtering, she said, “What is this?  Are you trying to kill me?”
         “Drink some more,” said Geoffrey.  “The first is always the hardest.”  She drank some more and did find that the liquid was smoother than before.  Instantly warmth came back to her body, chasing the chills away.  “I can get to like this stuff,” she thought to herself as she started to relax around the men.  She looked closely at the person who was called a Kingsbane.  Even though he had been harsh to her, now he appeared to be kind. 
         "I know I am not dreaming," she spoke to Geoffrey.  "Maybe I am losing my mind.  But can you tell me one thing.  Where am I?"
         "Maybe you are just lost and not a spy.  These are the Hunting Grounds of King Alexander."
         "I mean what is the name of this world?"
         Geoffrey laughed, not un-kindly.  "The Ydnarb must be getting to your head.  This world is Utofamia."
         "I am not of this world," Maria said.
         Before Geoffrey could say anything else, Maria fell asleep.

         The dawn was just breaking through the skies.  Geoffrey looked upwards at the red sky.  "Beautiful," he said to himself.  He preferred to pull his guard duty at night for the purpose of seeing the sun rise.  This would remind him that he survived another day.  With the rising tension between his knights and the Knights of King Christophe, he was not sure how long his life would be in Utofamia.  He glanced down at the still sleeping female next to him.
         "Who is she?" he asked himself.  He gently reached down with his hand and brushed off some leaves that had fallen on her face.  He felt bad that he had yelled at her the way he did.  When he first spotted her, he had no idea she was a female.  The ones he knew wore dresses with the exception of the ones who were warriors; they wore armor like he had.  Still, she was a stranger and not to be trusted.  Well, maybe this book might give a clue to what she was doing within the Hunting Grounds.
         He had pulled out a book from her backpack.  That was the only thing the bag contained along with some tools that looked was similar to the quills he used when he wrote.  The book had hand written notes in it.  It looked like a journal, similar to something he kept.  Looking through it, he could not make any sense out of them.  The female was starting to wake up.
         Maria sat up and looked around.  The strange men were starting to clean up around the camp site.  The one called Geoffrey was sitting near her.  "If he had not been so mean to me, I probably would like him.  He is very handsome."  It had been too dark during the night to get a good look at him.  Plus, she was also so angry at him for the way he treated her that she would have struck him if he had not had his arrow aiming at her.  His chain mail barely covered his chest; his tan arms were clearly visible to her.  She could not help but admire the large biceps and triceps.  His windblown dark hair hung down covering his eyes and fell to his shoulders.  She had the feeling that she had seen this man somewhere before; he looked very familiar.  He was stroking his goatee while he looked through her notebook.
         "What are you doing with that?" she asked angrily.
He looked at her with his dark eyes and said, "I am looking for clues that can prove your guilt or innocence."
         "Why do you think I am even a spy?  Why can't people just believe me?  That is personal things you are reading.  They are not intended for anybody else to read."
         "Forgive me," he said putting the book back in her bag.  "I only read a few things.  I can see now, there is nothing for me to be concerned about.  If I am wrong about you being a spy, forgive me.  However, you must understand, you never can know."
         Maria was ready to retort back to Geoffrey.  Then she suddenly knew where Geoffrey was coming from.  She never would guess that Luke "The Can Man" had it in him to be a violent person.
         "You are forgiven.  Yet I don't understand how I got here."
         "You mentioned something about being from a different world."
         "Yes.  This place is like my how world was centuries ago.  We had knights fighting to protect lands.  Rather than using swords and arrows today in our wars, we use more complicated and dangerous weapons."
         "Sir Peter will be here shortly.  You can talk to him."
         "Who is Sir Peter?"
         "He is the leader of the Knights of King Alexander, or the White Knights."
         "What about this world?  What is the name of it again?"
         "This world is Utofamia.  Bellerophon is the creator."
         "He is          a God?"
         "No Rem is the Supreme leader.  He created many different worlds."
         "Maybe my world is part of one of Rem's worlds."
         "What is the name of your world?"
         "Earth."
         Geoffrey thought for a few minutes.  "No I have never heard of it."
         At that moment, James yelled, "Sir Peter rides this way!"
         Within a minute, a knight appeared, riding on a large chestnut brown horse.  Maria almost gasped aloud when he saw him.  While it was strange to be accosted by men in chain mail, it was unreal standing in front of a real knight.  He looked like a powerful man in his white plate armor.  He took off his helmet and wiped the sweat from his brow.  Even though his blond hair was longer than how most men in her world wore hair, it looked like it fit in this world.  Even Geoffrey's dark brown hair was shoulder length.
         Sir Peter looked upon Maria with kindness.  He turned to Geoffrey.  "I received your message.  Is this the stranger?"
         "Yes, Sir Peter."  Geoffrey told the knight about finding her within the Hunting Grounds.  "She says that she is from a different world."
         Sir Peter looked startled.  "Can this be the person after all these years?" he asked himself.  "Bring her up to the castle.  Meet with King Alexander in the Corner Stone Room."  He rode off quickly.
         "The Corner Stone Room," Geoffrey said, amazed.  "The last time that room was used was over a hundred years ago when I had spotted some Red Knights."
         "That is impossible!" Maria said.  "You cannot be that old!  You only look a few years older than me!"
         "We will talk as we walk.  The castle is just over the hill.  I guess things are different in your world.  We only age as we are children.  When we live for thirty years, we stop aging."
         "Are you immortal?"
         "Goodness no," Geoffrey said laughing.  "We can still die, usually from sickness or from being killed in battle.  However, Bellerophon chooses to bring people back to life if they die bravely in battle.  Other times he brings them to the Realm of Bellerophon, where they live forever safely.  The people in this world may only look thirty to you, but some have been on this world for many years.  There is a group of men who live in the Great Desert of Utofamia.  They are the only one who I know to age.  They are known as the "Wise Ones."  They are known to have many secrets of Utofamia, some of which Bellerophon has no knowledge.  As they collect information they get older.  However, when they share secrets with people, they tend to get younger."
         "I see," Maria said.  "I guess that would be good.  Except with most people living for a long time, perhaps forever, and babies being born, wouldn't Utofamia get overcrowded?"
         "Bellerophon makes Utofamia bigger as more people populate the world."
         "I heard you refer to yourself as a Kingsbane.  Are you a knight?"
         "There are two groups of warriors with both our knights and the Knights of King Christophe.  They are also known as the Black Knights. They are the knights and the Kingsbane. I am a Kingsbane.  I am better at archery that at fighting.  So I am used to send out patrols around King Alexander's borders.  I do fight with a sword, but that is as a last resort where we have to use every man possible in a battle.  Our battles with the Black Knights are minor compared to the last battle with the Red Knights."
         "The Red Knights?"
         "They are an evil group of warriors that have terrorized many worlds.  When they attack Utofamia, the White and Black Knights become allies."
         They were just cresting a hill and Maria stopped in surprise.  A massive white castle, with many towers and turrets loomed in front of her.  It was as if she was viewing an entire city.  A moat surrounded the entire castle, with the drawbridge down.  There was a tall tower at each corner of the courtyard.  High walls connected each of these towers.  From the ones Maria could see, there were sentries watching through the windows.  “This would be impossible to impenetrate,” Maria thought to herself. Beyond the walls, the castle was made up of many more towers; some of them were so high that the clouds concealed the tops. 
         A large moat surrounded the castle.  Crossing the drawbridge, she looked over into the water to see if there were the typical alligators and crocodiles she usually read about in her books.  Some men and women were bathing in the water.  Blushing, Maria looked quickly away.
         Maria looked around the courtyard.  It was littered with bedrolls and tents.  The smells of cooking meat and smoke hung in the air.  Unfortunately, she could not enjoy the smell of it because body odor and horses mixed with it.
         “Do you stay in these tents?” Maria asked indicating the bivouac.
         “Yes, our army of warriors is large.  We do not have enough rooms to keep everybody.  We rotate the warriors each month.  However, when it is my turn to get a room, I usually let somebody else have mine.  I prefer staying outdoors.  The castle is too big for my taste.
         “I must say that it is impressive,” Maria said, looking up into the sky. 
         "Follow me," Geoffrey said as they came to the castle door.
         The door was opened by two sentries.  They greeted Geoffrey with salutations.           They looked at Maria with interest.
         "We are to meet King Alexander in the Cornerstone Room."
         The sentries' eyes widened in surprise; they did not believe what they had heard.
         "Do you remember the way, Geoffrey?"
         "Yes, even though it has been over one hundred years, I remember.  This way," he told Maria.  He led Maria to a large room and they entered.
         "This must be the library," she told Geoffrey as she noticed the shelves of books.
"Yes.  In addition to fighting, we are required to read about the history of past battles.  We learn about mistakes that were made and discuss ways not to repeat them again.  A mistake can cost the lives of many individuals.  He walked over to one wall of shelves and pulled out "The History of Utofamia, Volume 900."  The shelf swung outwards, revealing a long tunnel.  Geoffrey took a torch from the wall and lit it.  The flames lit up the dark passageway.  He held the torch in one hand and grabbed Maria's hand with the other.
         "Nothing to worry about," he said, as she tried to jerk her hand away.  "I just want to make sure you don't get too far behind.  Nothing will hurt you in this tunnel.  Yet, it is dark and you can accidently go do the wrong passageway and get lost."
         "Fine," Maria said and let Geoffrey hold his hand.  Actually it felt nice.  He was holding her hand gently.  Even though his hand was rough from years of hard work, he held her hand in a way that she did not want him to let go."  He led her down several passages and eventually came to a large door.  It opened and a sentry allowed them to enter.
         "The others are here.  The King will be coming soon."
         Maria found herself in another large room.  Sunlight was pouring in the windows overhead.  "This is the only way to get into the Cornerstone Room," Geoffrey told her.           "It is only reserved for top-secret information."
         Several people were sitting around a large table.  Sir Peter got up and walked over to them.  "Sit over there, King Alexander is on his way."  He led them to a few empty chairs.  A large woman sitting across from Maria looked at her in interest and smirked.
         "I highly doubt if she is the one.  She is so small.  Yet, I might be wrong."
         "Osondria," Geoffrey said, "you have been wrong many times."
         Maria kept her eyes on the floor, intimidated by the woman.  "Do not worry dear," the woman said.  "I am like this to everybody.  I will not bite you."
         Maria looked at her and smiled shyly.
         The guard opened the door and spoke, "King Alexander is coming!"
         "Rise!" commanded Sir Peter.
         Everybody stood up.  The doors opened outwards and the King was the first to enter.  Maria glanced at him as he walked to the head of the table.  She was expecting a man in the velvet robes and jeweled crown she was used to reading about in her world.  Yet he was wearing the same white armor as Sir Peter.  While he wore a crown, it was a simple one.  It reminded Maria of the ones kids got at Burger King.  She compressed her lips together so she would not laugh out loud; she was face-to-face with a real king and had to show him every last ounce of respect.
         The queen entered the room next.  She, like King Alexander was dressed in a similar fashion.  "That is Queen Marjorie, they have been ruling for almost one hundred years." Geoffrey whispered to her.  As Geoffrey had told her earlier, she looked no older than thirty years of age.
         Maria almost gasped when the princess entered the room.  She wore a simple dress, yet she was still very beautiful.  "That is Princess Astaire."  Maria looked closely at her.  She looked younger than her.
         "How old is she?"
         "Eighteen."
         "Everybody, please sit down," the King said.
         Everybody sat.  The King looked down at notes he had written down on a paper.  "Even though we have a stranger here, I believe that we should proceed with our meeting as previous ones.  Then we will attend to the matter at hand.  Marjorie, you can begin."
         The queen spoke, "In the last meeting we discussed issues regarding shortages in weapons and horses.  Sir Peter how is the inventory of armor?"
         "We have a good supply of plate armor.  Geoffrey said the chain mail was in good condition.  However, we did order several of each from the blacksmith.  We also did an inventory of the swords, shields, spears and should be getting new ones within a week.  Geoffrey said the biggest concern is the arrows.  They get used up too quickly to meet the supply and demand.  While some can be recovered, many get broken once they hit the target.  We also have purchased horses from local farmers.  They have been worked with and are ready for battle."
         "It is a good thing the Kingsbane are expert archers," the King said.  "Osondria, I know it is frustrating with the training situation."
         "I will say it is," the large woman said.  "We teach the new trainees the different techniques.  Then when we try to use what we learn in battles, it is as if they forget everything they learned.  I am not sure if they do not listen or what.  Then we get fewer and fewer people in the female echelon.  I sometimes wonder why I even bother."
         "Do not fret, dear.  You are doing a good job.  Astaire, we must improve our recruitment efforts.  Go to several of the leaders and make a recruiting and retention plan. I think if we offer better benefits, it will draw more individuals' attentions." 
         "Yes father," the Princess said, writing down some notes.
         The King looked over towards Geoffrey and Maria.  "This brings us to the matter at hand.  Geoffrey, will you and the stranger please stand up?"
         They rose.  "Geoffrey, will you tell us what had happened last night.”
         "I found this female wandering in the Hunting Grounds."
         "You think she is a spy?"
         "At first I thought she was.  However, she just was lost, confused and scared.  No, I doubt she is a spy."
         "What you said to Sir Peter, about her being from a different world, is that true?"
         "Before she fell asleep last night, she mentioned this.  If you remember the prophecy..."
         "I have read the History of Utofamia."  King Alexander turned to Maria.  "How did you get so close to my castle?"
         Maria had a lot to say, but she found herself tongue tied.  She felt awed to be actually standing in front of a real king.
         Geoffrey laid a hand on her arm.  "It is all right.  I was nervous the first time I was in his presence."
         Maria took a few breaths and began.  "I really do not know how I happened to get in this world.  I should just tell myself I am dreaming.  Yet, I know I when I am awake and when I am sleeping."
         "Still," the King said, "you must tell us as much as you can remember.  You see, many people have claimed that they were visitors from a strange world.  The prophecy states that only a visitor from a world not created by Rem will help Utofamia.  As far as I am concerned, you just may be a spy for Melisande."
         "Who?"
         "I can see by your expression on you face, that you do not know who Melisande is.  Just try your best to remember."
         "From what I see already from this world, Utofamia is similar to our world centuries ago.  We had Kings-and still even have them and knights.  However, our technology today is so far advanced that it will take too long to talk about in a short time."
         "I understand," said the King gently.  "Please go on."
         Maria told the King and the others in the room about what had happened to her just before she found herself in Utofamia.  When she described how she was attacked by Luke "The Can Man," several people gasped.  Even Geoffrey had a look of shock on his face.  Still shaken by the attack, Maria slumped down in her chair and started crying.          The Kingsbane gently put his arm over her shoulder.  "Nobody will hurt you here," he whispered to her.
         Osondria, red in the face, exclaimed, "That Pig!  If I was there, I would have taught him a thing or two!"
         "Silence, Osondria," spoke the King.  "Whether she is the one the prophecy talks about, we are not sure.  However, I am very positive she is telling the truth."
         After a minute, Maria calmed down.  Geoffrey's arm around her shoulder comforted her and, even though she would not admit it, pleased her.
         "The question remains," said the King "is how we know if she is the one?"
         "We can train her to be a warrior," suggested Sir Peter.
         Maria laughed.  "Please, Sir, do not think I am disrespectful for laughing.  I do not think I would be a good knight."
         "We can not force you to be a knight or a Kingsbane.  That has to be your decision.  However, do not think less of yourself until you try it.  I have seen many people who did not feel confident at first when they began training.  However, some formed into excellent warriors.  Am I not correct, Sir Peter?"
         "Yes, Sir."  He unsheathed his sword.  "Maria, please hold my sword."
         Maria stood up and took the knight's sword.  Grasping it in her hand, she was amazed.  While it was heavy and she was afraid she would drop it when she first held the weapon, Maria felt comfortable with it in her grasp.
         "Look at her stance!" Osondria exclaimed.  "She stands like a true knight!  She is a natural!"
         "That is true," said King Alexander.  "Maria, I mentioned that we can not force you to join our order of knights.  However, can you please consider training with us for a few weeks?  We will allow you to leave if you do not want to continue with the training.  You would be training with Osondria.  She trains the female knights.  We will also have Geoffrey train you in the Kingsbane skills.  You will have a room to stay at the castle."
Maria thought about the King’s offer.  She would have a place to stay.  If she left, where would she stay?  It might even be exciting; she always loved the stories of King Arthur.  Plus, she seemed thrilled at the idea of Geoffrey training her.
         "I accept your offer.  I want to be trained to be a warrior.  I hope I do not let you down."