Knight Errand, chapter four

   
After a whole day's worth of walking, the next afternoon Antoine and Stormblaze finally arrived in the tiny hamlet of Rose Creek. The town was surrounded by an old-growth forest, and as such many of the trees were tall and the underbrush very sparse.
   
Eventually, they came upon the former Order of Ixis member, who Stormblaze had said was an aardvark named Tomlan, gathering wood in the forest. Nearby was a large hill that had what appeared to be a wooden door resembling a cellar door built into its side. It must have been someone's dwelling, but whether it actually was Tomlan's or not could not be determined just then.
   
"Good morrow, sir." Stormblaze called out as he and Antoine approached.
   
Realizing he was no longer alone, Tomlan whirled around to face them, dropping the armful of sticks he had been carrying as he did. He scrambled towards the hill, making for the door, only to be blocked as Stormblaze, naturally being faster, made it there first and placed his bulk in front of it. Antoine ran in behind the aardvark just in case he decided to make a run for it in the opposite direction.
   
Seeing he was trapped, Tomlan covered his eyes and broke down, sobbing piteously as he fell to the ground.
   
Antoine and Stormblaze exchanged glances of confusion and guilt as they stood over Tomlan. The poor fellow was clearly terrified.
   
"S'il vous plait monsieur, we are only being here to speak with you." Antoine hastily explained.
   
Tomlan looked up at them, eyes teary and red. "Y-y-y-you mean you aren't here to kill me?"
   
"Do not be absurd." Stormblaze scoffed. "No assassin in their right mind would hail you before slaying you. Who did you believe we were?" He already had his suspicions, but wanted them confirmed.
   
Slowly rising to his feet, Tomlan cast fearful glances about the area as though he was expecting more Mobians to appear. "I’d rather not say. You two said you wanted to speak to me -- why?"
   
Stormblaze nodded. "Yes. Your help is needed in apprehending one Matthias Poe."
   
"Oh no. No no no no…" Tomlan began edging away from the pair, slowly shaking his head.
   
"Right now, you are the only Mobian who can aid us," Stormblaze empathically said, following him. "I know that you were once a member of the Order of Ixis. Poe has stolen some very powerful mystical artifacts, and it is feared that he will wreak much havoc with them if not stopped in time." He levelly stared down at Tomlan, who had been backed against the side of the hill. "Well? Will you turn us away, or help us stop Poe before he brings ruin to all of Mobius?"
     
"It's real easy for you to act high and mighty, mule," Tomlan retorted, glaring at Stormblaze. "You haven't got a single clue what Poe and the others would do to me if they ever learned I told outsiders about the Order. I'm guessing you heard all the stories about them before? Well, the truth is far worse."
   
Antoine's blood ran cold at Tomlan's ominous words. If this Order of Ixis was so bad, then why hadn't he or the other Freedom Fighters ever heard of them before? "Perhaps we could be protecting you from the Order?" He offreed.
   
Tomlan glanced between him and Stormblaze. "Are there more of you? Because two Mobians aren't going to cut it. The Order will cut the both of you down and then get me."
   
"We have friends who can assist us." Stormblaze said, still maintaining his calm demeanor. He wasn't quite sure what to think of Antoine's spur-of-the-moment promise to Tomlan. He disliked making vows he might have problems keeping, but supposed that if it got Tomlan to open up to them, then he would be willing to go along with it for now.
   
After a moment of further hesitation, Tomlan finally answered, "Very well. Follow me." He still didn't seem especially convinced that they would be able to protect him. Going over to his front door, he opened it and allowed the pair to enter first.
   
The interior was sparsely decorated, with only the basic necessities and a few pieces of furniture, such as a table and a single chair, filling the small space. The walls were bare. It looked as though Tomlan planned on living out the rest of his existence as a hermit.
   
For Stormblaze, the house proved to be a rather tight fit, so he had a seat on the dirt floor. Tomlan offered Antoine the chair, which he started to take but then turned down, choosing to sit on the floor adjacent from Stormblaze instead. He would have felt rather strange getting to sit in a chair while Stormblaze sat on the floor, even though he knew the reason why Stormblaze wouldn't take the chair was because it wouldn't support his weight.
   
For a moment, the sight of the unicorn awkwardly sitting there with his long legs closely pulled in to his body so they would not be in anyone's way made Antoine want to laugh, but the seriousness of the situation curtailed that impulse. He addressed Tomlan first. "Excusez-moi monsieur, but if the Order is being so horrible, then why did you join them?"
   
"Hey, I didn't realize what they were when I joined them," he retorted, sounding a little offended at having such a question posed to him. "They just told me that they were devoted to overthrowing Robotnik. Who wouldn't like the sound of that? I lost my brother to that Overlander scum's roboticizer."
   
Antoine had to nod. When Tomlan put it like that, he could better understand why someone would want to be part of such a group. He couldn't help but wonder that if he had encountered the Order and they made him such an offer would he have joined them.
   
"Anyways, I think they actually do want to stop Robotnik. It's just the way they plan on going about it that's so disturbing." Tomlan continued.
   
"How is that?" Stormblaze asked.
   
"They want to return to power so they can rule Mobius themselves. The only Mobian they think can lead them to glory is Ixis Naugus."
   
"Ixis Naugus?" Antoine echoed, frowning. He knew some Mobians had a penchant for gracing their children with odd forenames (how fortunate he was that his own parents had chosen such a noble name for him, he thought), but what parent would be cruel enough to name their child Ixis?
   
For Stormblaze however, the oddness of the name Ixis Naugus was the furthest thing from his mind. Instead he quietly reflected on what Tomlan was telling them. According to the records he’d read about the Ixian Wars when he was last on Avalonia, Ixis Naugus had suddenly arrived on the scene decades ago, rallying the remnants of the Order to him as he attempted to bring mayhem and destruction to Mobius in the form of a cataclysmic natural disaster referred to as the 'Days Of Fury' before seeming to mysteriously vanish as quickly as he had appeared. It was quite possible that the Naugus Tomlan spoke of was the very same individual. Most magicians did have longer life spans then mortals typically tended to, due to the effects of the magic they wielded.
   
"'Ixis' is a title bestowed upon the highest ranking and most powerful member in the Order." Stormblaze informed Antoine.
   
"That's right," Tomlan nodded to Stormblaze. "No one in my sect ever saw Naugus before. But I did hear that you could recognize him the instant you saw him. He was apparently a very… distinctive-looking character. Had a horn on top of his head, a long beard, and instead of a normal right hand, he had a single claw."
   
Stormblaze remembered the records making mention of Naugus' bizarre appearance. The sorcerer's appearance matched up with no known species of Mobian, mortal or legendary. Some Mobians had theorized that it was some sort of glamour designed to strike fear into Naugus' enemies, or the result of some magical accident or experiment. Meanwhile, Antoine's own expression could be summed up as a blend of repulsion and bewilderment. Distinctive wasn't quite the word that entered his mind when it came to Tomlan's description of Naugus.
   
"You keep saying 'was'," Stormblaze pointed out. "How can this Naugus fellow return the Order to power if he is no longer around?"
   
"He never died in the first place. Well," Tomlan paused to scratch his head with a sturdy claw, "At least we're pretty sure he's not dead. See, eleven years ago, he went to the Kingdom of Acorn to become the king's court magician. But what he was really planning to do was manipulate the king for his own gain."
   
Antoine's eyes went wide with shock. "What?" Naugus had actually been in the Kingdom of Acorn? But surely he would've remembered seeing such a bizarre character around before. For his part, Stormblaze cocked an eyebrow at Tomlan's revelation, but stayed silent.
   
Tomlan glanced over at Antoine, apparently not pleased at being interrupted. "Something the matter?"
   
"Er... pas." Antoine shook his head quickly. "Please be continuing."
   
"Anyways, Naugus had been experimenting with creating… doorways, if you will, to other worlds. During one of these experiments, he stumbled across a strange dimension he named the Void of Silence. He made the mistake of getting Robotnik to help him further study the Void, but Robotnik trapped him in it instead. Then he turned around and told King Acorn that Naugus had left the kingdom. When the Order didn't hear anything from Naugus for a while, they went out looking for him. It was only after they’d sent spies to the Acorn Kingdom that they learned about Naugus' imprisonment and started looking for a way to free him. From what I understand, they're able to contact and communicate with him by means of a Dark Power Ring, so he's still alive. He just can't return here. If I had to guess, the Order is going to use the Deep Power Stones to try and return Ixis to this world."
   
"It would seem that you already possess some knowledge of the Deep Power Stones' capabilities." Stormblaze noted.
   
"Considering that the Order mainly consists of magic-users and the Stones are magical artifacts? Yeah, I do." Tomlan replied somewhat sarcastically. Stormblaze's eyes narrowed slightly, but he restrained himself from coming back at Tomlan with an acerbic comment of his own as the aardvark went on.
   
"Now, for the Order to successfully pull off a stunt like that… why, it'd require a tremendous amount of powerful or dark magic. The kind that requires a living sacrifice."
   
A sinister silence followed in the wake of Tomlan's words as Stormblaze and Antoine digested everything he had said. Then Stormblaze urgently asked, "Do you have any idea where Poe might go?"
   
Scratching at an ear, Tomlan thought a moment. "Soledad, Sierra Verde. There's a large cave down there nicknamed 'La Boca Del Infierno'. The native tribes are very familiar with it. The Order likes holding their ceremonies there because the site runs over leylines."
   
Stormblaze gave a sharp intake of breath. "This is direr then I initially thought," He looked to Antoine. "We must make haste to Soledad. The entire world is in grave danger."
   
"But how will we be getting there? Sierra Verde is being all the way down on the southern coast!" Antoine exclaimed. "What if we cannot be getting there fast enough? What if -"
   
Stormblaze held up a hand to stop Antoine. "I cannot answer those questions at this point, but I would rather we at least attempt to find a way to get there and do so, rather than worry about whether we can or not."
   
Embarrassed by his fit of anxiety, Antoine managed a nod of agreement. He knew he shouldn't have allowed himself to become so worried, but well, he had always been a worrier.
   
"So these friends of yours' who are supposed to help protect me… who are they?" Tomlan asked, eying Antoine and Stormblaze with skepticism.
   
"Have you been hearing of the great Princess Sally Acorn and the Knothole Freedom Fighters?" Antoine asked. He couldn't resist sounding a little smug, though a warning glance in his direction from Stormblaze reminded him not to take it overboard.
   
"Oh yeah. King Max's kid, right? Never did keep up much with all that royal stuff." Tomlan said, sounding a little less than impressed by Antoine's announcement before his face suddenly brightened as if he remembered something important. "Hey, wait – that Sonic kid is with the Knothole Freedom Fighters, isn't he? He's a big hero."
   
At the mention of Sonic, Antoine's cavalier air deflated like a balloon that had just had the air let out of it. Could he never escape the constant mentions of his rival and how fantastic he was? "Oui, oui…" He huffed, annoyed. "But I am being a member too!"
   
"You know, if you two could get Sonic to protect me, I think I could help you out some more." Tomlan continued as though he hadn't heard Antoine. He seemed a lot more affable then before.
   
"Considering the time frame, I am not sure if we can manage that, but we will see what we are able to do." Stormblaze honestly answered.
   
When Tomlan excused himself to step outside, recalling that he needed to bring in the firewood he had been collecting before being so "rudely interrupted" (his words), Stormblaze turned to Antoine with something like wonder in his eyes. "Truly do I believe that our meeting was fate. There are too many curious connections between us to be just mere coincidence."
   
'It is curious...' Antoine thought – the fact that the both of them shared a connection to Sir Connery, the fact the villain Stormblaze and the other unicorns wanted to stop had once worked for King Acorn, Antoine and Stormblaze being outsiders in places where they should have been accepted...
   
"Oui. Are you thinking that perhaps the Source was wanting us to meet, so we could be stopping the Order?" Antoine carefully asked. He had heard some knights say they had felt a higher power calling them to duty. He hadn't felt anything like that (or at least didn't think he had), but what if he and Stormblaze were supposed to meet each other? He was actually aware that some Mobians weren't quite as religious as he was, so he was unsure whether Stormblaze would think his idea mad or not.
   
The unicorn shrugged. "Who can say? He moves in mysterious ways." Though admittedly Stormblaze found the idea of the Source choosing a couple of outcasts like Antoine and himself to save the world to be a pretty remarkable one. 'Stranger things have happened, I suppose.' he thought.
   
He decided to switch topics, as there was a specific element of Tomlan's story he wanted to comment upon. "Forgive me, but it would appear that your King Acorn either had the worst fortune imaginable or extremely poor taste in cabinet members."
   
Antoine wasn't quite sure how to respond to that statement. Before, he would've argued with Stormblaze on behalf of his absent liege, but now even he found himself questioning how on Mobius King Maximilian could have ended up with two traitorous sociopaths in his employ.
   
"Anyways, it would seem that we’ll have to take him with us." Stormblaze went on, plainly referring to Tomlan as he jerked his head at the door.
   
"Are you sure that is being the wisest court of action? He is seeming to be terribly scared of the Order."
   
" 'Course of action', little wolf. And I am afraid so. It would simply take us too long to escort him to Knothole or to Avalonia, and we need to catch up with Poe."
   
"Why not get the aid of that militia you and Sir Connery started?" Antoine suggested.
   
Stormblaze made a face like he had just caught a whiff of something disagreeable. "That is not an option either. After Sir Connery's demise, the group's lieutenant and I had a… er, what would you call it? Ah, a falling out." Realizing Antoine didn't quite understand what he meant by that term, Stormblaze clarified things for him. "It is a long story that I will share another time, but there was a disagreement between us and harsh words were exchanged. I decided it would be best if I left the group."
   
Antoine lapsed into a thoughtful silence. He tried to imagine what their quest would be like with the addition of Tomlan. Because of his older age and species, Tomlan didn't seem to be as spry and active as Stormblaze and himself were, and he could be rather… touchy at times.
   
When Tomlan hadn't returned after ten minutes, the two found themselves growing restless. "Perhaps we should check on our would-be traveling companion." Stormblaze suggested.
   
A look of concern passed over Antoine's face as a troubling thought occurred to him. "Are you thinking he has run off?"
   
Stormblaze shrugged. "I would hope not, but with him, who knows?"
   
"I will go see." Antoine volunteered, standing and going outside. As he shut the door behind him, he tried to see if he could spot Tomlan anywhere, but saw no sign of him.
   
"Monsieur Tomlan?" He called out. Receiving no answer, Antoine guessed that he might have gone further into the woods, and headed that way. However, his search there didn't turn up anything either. Returning to the house, he was wondering if Tomlan really had decided to leave on his own when he happened to notice a brown mass on the ground over on the far left side of the hill. Curious, Antoine ventured over for a better look at it.
   
When he was close enough to discern what the strange object was, he leapt back with a terrified yell. It was Tomlan, and he was lying flat on his stomach. His eyes were wide open, like he was surprised, and a scarlet dart was protruding from the back of his neck. Antoine didn't need to get any closer to determine if Tomlan was alive or not. The glassy, unblinking look in his eyes told him all he needed to know.
   
Becoming aware of the possibility that the assassin could still be lurking around somewhere, Antoine threw himself to the ground and crawled over to the protection of a small cluster of boulders. Where could the assassin be? He scanned the area for any indicators that might give away the killer's presence, but saw nothing. Just as he started wondering if he should try making a dash for the house, Antoine thought he spied what appeared to be a small patch of black amidst the leafy green crown of one of the tall sassafras trees across from Tomlan's house. Whatever it was, it vanished in the sliver of a second.
   
Back inside Tomlan's home, a bored Stormblaze wondered what was taking Tomlan and now Antoine so long to return. Walking over to the door, he opened it and ducked his head out, looking for the absent Mobians. He was greatly surprised to see Antoine crawling around in the dirt over by some rocks. Something had to be wrong. From what Stormblaze knew of his friend, Antoine shunned getting dirty. Mystified, he stepped outside to find out what was happening.
   
Meanwhile, Antoine had been closely observing the sassafras, trying to see if he could spot anything else unusual, when he noticed Stormblaze coming his way. At the same time, he heard a slight rustle and then what sounded like someone softly drawing breath. It had come from somewhere close by, from a place moderately high off the ground – one of the trees, most likely. He had a horrible idea of what would follow that sound.
   
Antoine knew that even if he threw all of his weight at Stormblaze he would still probably not be able to knock him over. So he did the only other thing he could think of: he threw himself right into Stormblaze's path, tripping the surprised unicorn. His balance suddenly thrown off, Stormblaze let out a startled cry as he fell and hit the ground with a heavy thud. Antoine had to quickly scramble out of the way or risk being crushed. In that same instance, something small and red whizzed straight over their heads.
   
"What in the name of the Source?" Stormblaze thundered, staring at Antoine in disbelief. Frantically, Antoine pointed at something behind him. Turning to look for himself, Stormblaze's eyes went wide. Embedded in a tree trunk was a dart.
   
Stormblaze cursed himself for leaving his longbow inside. "What has happened here?" He asked, keeping his head low as he tried to spot anything suspicious.
   
"Tomlan is dead! Murdered!" Antoine shouted, flailing his arms about in his alarm.
   
Not wanting the frightened coydog to make a target of himself, Stormblaze grabbed Antoine and forced him to stay down. They didn't have to wait long for the mysterious killer to show up. As Antoine and Stormblaze watched, a dark figure leapt down from the boughs of one of the trees it had been hiding in and walked out into the open, towards Antoine and Stormblaze. The lithely built stranger's most distinctive feature was their three arms, which indicated him or her as being a Mobian spider. What wasn't immediately obvious to Antoine and Stormblaze though was its gender. Something about the spider's costuming struck Antoine as being vaguely familiar somehow. He, or she, was clothed from head to toe in black. Scarlet wrappings swathed its wrists and ankles, and a scarlet sash was wrapped around its slim waist. The spider's face was completely covered by a cowl, aside from a small opening for its eyes which allowed it to see.
   
It suddenly became clear to Antoine as to why the stranger's dark garb seemed familiar. He knew Tails was a big fan of comic books and had several in his possession. The two-tailed fox kit liked showing his comics to Antoine and the other Freedom Fighters and talking about the various characters featured in them. Antoine remembered that some of those characters included stealthy warriors who dressed in dark clothing and wielded eastern-style weapons. What were they called again?
   
By now, both Stormblaze and Antoine were standing. Stormblaze's eyes were narrowed dangerously as he glared at the spider. "I take you are the one who slew Tomlan? Are you in the employ of the Order Of Ixis?" He demanded.
   
Silence. The spider merely stared at the duo.
   
Stormblaze remained undaunted. "So, the strong silent type, are we? I suppose one would have to be to slay another in such a cowardly manner."
   
This finally seemed to provoke the arachnid into reacting, though not with the blind infuriation Stormblaze had been wishing for. Coolly and deliberately, the spider extended its right arms – all three of them - towards Stormblaze and Antoine. Palms facing upwards, it simultaneously waggled all twelve fingers at them. It was a clear invitation to come and fight.
   
A grim sort of smile on his long muzzle, Stormblaze knelt down. Gathering a bit of earth in one hand, he rubbed both hands together until his palms were coated with dirt. As Antoine watched, when Stormblaze had completed that curious ritual, he stood and drew his spatha. In turn, the spider reached behind its back for its own weapon, which turned out to be a unique-looking straight sword that tapered to a chiseled point. It easily slid out from the scabbard the spider wore with a light metallic ring.
   
The oddly matched fighters carefully circled one another, blades raised as each searched for an opening to strike. Then, everything exploded in a flurry of movement.
     
Stormblaze attacked first. But the spider was much quicker than he was, jaw-droppingly so. Antoine barely registered the spider dodging the thrust of the spatha and vaulting right over Stormblaze's head, using his shoulders as leverage. Landing out of his reach, it made some sort of hand gesture at Stormblaze, who was only just then turning in his foe's direction.
   
The fight continued on much in this same manner. Stormblaze would slash at the spider, but it always managed to evade his attacks and sometimes used its own blade to parry them (but just barely at times, as Stormblaze definitely held the advantage of greater strength), all the while making those odd gestures when able to. Once, after nimbly bounding over a sword thrust aimed at its midsection, the spider spun in midair and cut Stormblaze right across his chest, forcing him back with a pained grunt. Antoine grimaced in sympathy. He knew the wound would heal quickly, but it still looked painful. He hoped the healing wouldn't sap Stormblaze's energy too much.
   
'Ninja!' Antoine suddenly remembered with a jolt. She – or he, whichever the spider was, was a ninja. It was then that Antoine also noticed there was some sort of silky white thread entwining Stormblaze's legs and right arm, mainly his wrist and upper arm. Webbing, he realized. At first it was barely even visible.
   
Stormblaze had noticed the webbing too, and struggled valiantly against it, trying to cut it with his spatha, but it held strong. The substance was hindering his movements.
   
The spider, who was standing back and holding a line of webbing attached to the webbing which was tangling Stormblaze up, gave the line a strong tug.
   
Stormblaze's right hand suddenly jerked up and back – straight at his face. It connected with a sickening thud. More yanks on the line resulted in the same action. Soon he was struggling to keep standing on his wobbling legs and looked like he had gone ten rounds with a dragon.
   
Now that it didn't have to worry about staying out of its enemy's reach as much, the spider shot a new line of webbing out from each wrist at Stormblaze. As each strand struck Stormblaze's webbed-covered legs, the spider wrenched back on the lines with all of its might. The dazed unicorn was pulled right off his feet to land squarely on his back.
    Antoine didn't realize that he had been holding his breath for nearly the entirety of the fight. He never would have believed that someone as powerful as Stormblaze could be defeated by an opponent not even half his size if he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes. He supposed it was now his time to step up. It would be shameful to not to avenge Stormblaze after all.
   
Unsheathing his sabre, Antoine rushed at the spider, shouting out a challenge as he pointed his sabre at it. "En garde!"
   
The spider turned in his direction. One swift flick of its wrist, and Antoine stopped, startled to suddenly find himself minus one sabre. The spider had used a strand of webbing to snag the blade, which was now securely clasped in one of its six hands. Not only had Antoine been disarmed ridiculously fast, but now he was completely vulnerable. Outside the scant amount of sword training he had received when he was younger, he had no other forms of combat training to fall back on. Princess Sally had never tried to teach him any self-defense techniques like she had Bunnie.
   
Swallowing hard, Antoine began  to slowly back away from the ninja, ears flat against his skull in submission and his hands out in front of him as he did. The spider's violet eyes studied him in a decidedly calculating fashion before she approached him in a leisurely manner, like it was out for a stroll in the park or something. Unnerved, Antoine now turned to run, but the spider performed a neat flip that carried it over Antoine's head. It landed right in front of him, cutting off his escape route. The last thing Antoine saw was a foot flying right at his face before being knocked into unconsciousness.

________________________________________
   
In the next few hours, Stormblaze was the first to stir. Since his injuries weren’t severe, his healing abilities allowed him to recover at a speedier rate then Antoine. Seeing the smaller Mobian lying there motionless on the ground, he panicked at first before realizing that Antoine was still breathing, and carefully awakened him. Aside from some bruises and a tender and rather swollen muzzle (all of which Stormblaze took care of), Antoine turned out to be fine. Physically, at least.
   
A Mobian whom they had promised to protect had died on their watch, and the murderer had beaten them both quite soundly. To add insult to injury, the spider had driven Antoine's sabre point-first into the ground right beside his head.
   
Like Antoine, Stormblaze found it difficult to believe that Tomlan had been alive and speaking with them only hours ago, but now lay lifeless on the ground, covered by a white sheet. Stormblaze concluded that the dart Tomlan had been shot with had been coated with some sort of poison. The poor fellow might have been a bit rude, but he didn't deserve such a fate.
   
Neither was in a very talkative mood as they solemnly scraped away at the earth outside Tomlan's house, digging a grave for him. At first they had tried locating digging tools to use, but apparently Tomlan hadn't believed in owning any, probably due to his being an aardvark and therefore already having natural digging tools - his claws - at hand. Fortunately, thanks to the spring rains, the ground wasn't especially hard. Stormblaze was a little surprised to see that having to dig, especially with his bare hands, didn't seem to bother Antoine. In truth, Antoine wasn't particularly upset by it - he felt it was the least he could do for Tomlan. Plus, sometimes he would tend to the flower bed that grew outside Princess Sally's hut (in hope of currying her favor) and had poked around in Knothole's vegetable garden as well, so by this point he was used to getting dirt on his hands.
   
The one brief bright point of the evening was that Antoine actually got to witness Stormblaze utilizing his healing powers before they began the grim task of burying Tomlan. The last time Stormblaze had healed him, Antoine hadn't been watching. He found it to be a rather fascinating procedure. On Stormblaze's orders, he rolled up his sleeve to expose his right arm. Stormblaze lowered his head and carefully tapped Antoine's bare arm twice with his horn, then placed his hand on the limb. His horn and his hand began glowing a silver color, bathing their immediate surroundings with its' cool radiance. In the same instance, a wave of warmth flowed through Antoine. When both the silver light and the warmth subsided, so too had any aches and pain. Afterwards, Stormblaze wasn't quite as drained as he had been when he cured Antoine's hangover the other day, though he did appear slightly winded and needed to sit for a moment to gather his strength.
   
When they finally had a hole that was deep enough and the right size, Stormblaze placed Tomlan's corpse in it. Antoine had made it exceedingly clear that he was very uncomfortable having to deal with a dead body. The entire time he had tried not to look at it. With the corpse in its grave, they started the process of covering it with the loose soil. Once that task was concluded, Stormblaze placed a marker, a white medium-sized oblong stone that he and Antoine had chanced across in the woodland, at its head.
   
They stood over the grave, staring down at it. Stormblaze began speaking in his native tongue. Antoine had no clue what he was saying, but correctly figured that he was reciting some type of prayer. He thought the language sounded somewhat lovely in its own odd, ancient way.
   
Once Stormblaze was finished, he raised his head and studied the sky. Already a deep shade of cobalt blue, it had grown increasingly dark due to the heavy cumulus clouds that gathered forebodingly overhead, matching their respective moods. He turned his attention to Antoine. "It is time to leave. We have lost precious hours here." He said, firmly but not unkindly.
   
Antoine lingered, gazing forlornly at the grave for a few minutes more before going to the house to retrieve their gear. Stormblaze waited quietly, knowing better then to rush him. It was obvious why Antoine was so rattled. He wondered if Antoine had ever seen a corpse before. Based on what he had said about being a Freedom Fighter, then surely he would have had to at some point before. He decided he would have to ask him about that, but at a better time perhaps.
   
Stormblaze knew that death was neither a pretty or trivial thing. He recalled the time when he slew his first flesh-and-blood foes. They were two mercenaries employed by Robotnik who’d attacked Sir Connery and himself as they were preparing to settle down for the night. He recalled how it had taken him some time to get over the image that had been seared into his mind of the mercenaries' crimson blood staining his blade, even though at the same time he felt some satisfaction that such vermin were no longer free to go around terrorizing innocent Mobians. Antoine would have to get over his own squeamishness at some point if he was going to become a knight, just as Stormblaze himself had.
   
Antoine returned, his knapsack slung across his back and carrying Stormblaze's longbow and quiver. Though the items were unwieldy in his arms, he managed to bring them to Stormblaze without much trouble.
   
Now that they had their belongings, the pair proceeded to go back the way they had come down the trail. After a while, Stormblaze could no longer take the silence that hung in the air between them like a winter fog. Discussing what had occurred might help to clear the air.
   
"None of this was your fault, you know."
   
Frowning, Antoine glanced away. "I was being the one to tell him that we would be protecting him. I did not do that."
   
"You had no idea that there was an assassin lying in wait for him. In truth, yes, we both could have stood to have been more vigilant. But at the same time, you must accept the fact that a knight cannot always keep everyone safe. Death takes who it will. Do not allow yourself to be consumed by regret."
   
Antoine didn't respond and kept his eyes averted, only nodding woodenly instead. He still looked miserable.
   
"You did save one life today. My own."
   
Antoine gave Stormblaze a puzzled look, so he took the liberty of refreshing Antoine's memory for him. "Do you recall when I was nearly struck by that dart, but you tripped me and it hit a tree instead? There was no knowing what kind of poison it had on it. It could have been something potent enough to interfere with my healing abilities. For that, you have my gratitude."
   
Stormblaze could see Antoine considering that. "You are being welcome." He finally replied, a little awkwardly. Stormblaze surmised that having people actually thank him wasn't something Antoine experienced very often. He could sympathize.
   
Even after Stormblaze's attempt at consoling him, Antoine still wasn't in a very talkative mood. Stormblaze tried striking up conversation a few times, but it would always gradually peter off at some point and they would return to silence. Eventually, Stormblaze decided that it would be best to give him some time to himself. It would probably be a while before Antoine was back to his old verbose self.
   
When the rain-heavy clouds finally burst, drenching the earth with their cold wet contents, the two travelers were sent scurrying for the nearest rain break they could find, which just happened to be a rock shelf jutting out from the side of a tall rocky hill that bordered a narrow meadow. On the other side of the meadow was a forest.
   
Once he was beneath the rock shelf, Antoine looked at his soaked clothing and fur in dismay. He didn't hate water, but did dislike getting his uniform wet. In an effort to be rid of the loose water, he shook himself off, sending water droplets flying everywhere. He was forced to quickly spring back or risk being soaked all over again when Stormblaze did the same.
   
Sighing, Antoine leaned back against the rock wall, arms crossed as he peered out at the rainstorm. 'Could this day get any worse?' He wondered. "I am hoping this will not be going on all night. This is not being a good place to sleep." He said aloud.
   
"I can keep watch for the night." Stormblaze volunteered as he pulled his tunic hood over his shoulder and wrung it out. "I can abstain from sleep for an entire day if need be."
   
Antoine gave him an appreciative nod in response. Back in Knothole Village, there were times when he had been affected by insomnia for assorted reasons (usually his brooding or worrying over something), especially the week prior to his leaving. But as of late, the strenuousness of the journey often left him tired and caused him to fall asleep much quicker than he could before. He didn't think he could stay awake the whole night.
   
Stormblaze settled down on the ground, his back to the rockface as he too observed the downpour. Antoine decided to remain where he was for the time being. Wanting to take his mind off their dreary circumstances, he decided to talk to Stormblaze.
   
"There is something I am not understanding. Why did the ninja not kill us? He was certainly having the chance to." Antoine didn't really like bringing that humiliating incident back up again, but the question had been nagging at him like a mosquito buzzing about his ears for some time now. Still though, he certainly was thankful the spider hadn't finished either of them off.
   
There was something else Antoine found curious. After they both had regained consciousness, Stormblaze didn't seem upset at him for allowing himself to be knocked out by the spider, which was surprising. Most everyone else Antoine knew would have been. Princess Sally wouldn't have been able to disguise the disappointment in her eyes whenever she glanced his way. Sonic would have acerbically remarked that he needed to leave the fighting up to the real heroes. Antoine wondered if Stormblaze really was displeased with him, but was a good actor and just not showing it.
   
"The only thing I can think of is that he did not wish to kill us in the first place. Or perhaps he did not get the opportunity to do so." Stormblaze replied, not taking his eyes away from the scene outside their shelter.
   
"When I was seeing how the ninja defeated you," Antoine saw Stormblaze wince -- he didn't like being reminded of their trouncing either, "I was wanting to avenge you, so I prepared to fight him myself. Only… um, he was taking mon sabre away. Then I was being kicked and knocked out." He turned his eyes from the unicorn, humiliated by yet another failure in a long line of many on his part. However, Stormblaze's answer not only left him astonished, but mystified as well.
   
"I do not expect you to be able to take on combatants of that caliber and win. That would be like expecting you to know how to steer a ship when you have never been taught how to do so. And by the stars, that… ninja character defeated me. So do not feel guilty."
   
Wondering if he was serious, Antoine stared at Stormblaze. Stormblaze returned his gaze, wearing an expression that held no annoyance or anything of the sort, just serenity and sage understanding.
   
Relieved that Stormblaze truly wasn't disappointed or cross after all, Antoine finally relaxed. He came to sit beside Stormblaze, listening as the other Mobian went on speaking. "I will train you just as I said I would. There will be more opportunities in the future for the both of us to achieve glory and mete out justice to the Order."
   
"I am hoping so." Again Antoine found himself baffled by the unicorn’s behavior. Why did Stormblaze seem to believe he was worth bothering with? Sometimes Antoine himself didn't even think he was worth bothering with. Aside from a select few Mobians, no one usually wanted to spend any time with him unless they just had to for some reason. Most were content to dismiss him as the annoying one, the idiot, and other labels in that vein, and leave him to himself. He had believed that constantly talking about himself and how extraordinary he was would help him feel better about himself and get others to like and admire him, but that empty ache that had been inside of him for some time now had only lingered and grown even worse. Antoine couldn't help wondering if Stormblaze was only allowing him to tag along with him out of pity, but… was there more to it than that?
   
"Why are you really saying that? Are you just trying to be nice, or are you pitying moi?" He asked, staring hard at Stormblaze.
   
"Why? Well for one, it would be foolish of me to become angry at you for not being able to do something you were never properly taught how to do in the first place. Secondly, I consider you to be my friend. I know you need someone who will stand at your side, little wolf. And truthfully, I need somebody like that too. More so," he added, "You need a mentor, someone who can help you realize your potential and guide you through life's storms. You forget that I too know what it is like when no one will take you seriously and treats you like a laughingstock. My teachers believed me to be lazy and willful. Their doubt inspired me to work hard and excel at my duties, and when the time came, I was able to graduate with the other young unicorns."
   
His speech left Antoine silent. Having others tell him that they thought of him as a friend was not a common occurrence for him. The fact that Stormblaze actually considered him one made him want to start grinning with joy and never stop, but he only allowed himself a small but content smile. He began feeling guilty for having questioned Stormblaze's motives the way he had. Since they had resolved the business of Antoine's propensity to stretch the truth and put the incident with Bogg behind them, Stormblaze had done nothing to give Antoine cause for mistrust. Granted, he did tend to tease Antoine a little, but his joking didn't bother Antoine the way Sonic's did. Stormblaze's teasing had a significantly more playful and good-natured tone to it.
   
"I... um... merci beaucoup. I have never really been having very many good mon amis before or a mentor." He confessed. "But I would like to have both. I will do whatever you say if it will be making moi a great knight!"
   
The unicorn laughed appreciatively, liking Antoine's eagerness. "That's the spirit. Stick with old Stormblaze, I'll give you a helping hand."
________________________________________
   
Antoine stood still as Stormblaze finished tying the blindfold in place around his head. In his left hand Antoine clutched a shaved tree branch, the end of which was pared down to a blunt point that was presently pointed at the ground. Sunup had only arrived about an hour and a half ago. They were still near the rock shelf where they had spent the night waiting out the rainstorm. Antoine's lingering sleepiness was gone, replaced by excited nervousness when Stormblaze had explained the reason why he had awakened him so early.
   
"Stormblaze, are you being sure of this?" Antoine asked, uncertainty infusing his tone. Stormblaze had told him that now was as good a time as any to begin his sword training before continuing their trek. He had gone on to say that they would no doubt be attacked many more times during their travels, so Antoine should at least have something of a fighting chance at protecting himself. After leaving the Watering Hole, Antoine had noticed Stormblaze trimming down two long tree branches he had found in his spare time, and realized he was making practice swords for their usage. Antoine only hoped that he wouldn't look too incompetent when he squared off against Stormblaze. "What if I am accidentally hurting you?"
   
Stormblaze couldn't help chuckling at that as he crossed to the other side of the clearing and turned to face Antoine. "Do not fret. I can heal myself, remember?"
   
Still somewhat anxious, Antoine used his free hand to tug at the strip of white cloth covering his eyes. "What is being the meaning of this blinderfold?" He couldn't understand how he was supposed to fight when he couldn't even see anything. He had never trained in such a manner before. It didn't help that his stick was rather heavy. When he had asked Stormblaze why this was, he replied that Antoine needed to develop his strength and stamina, and having to wield such a heavy training tool would help with that.
   
"Blindfold. It's how we train on Avalonia. It helps hone one's senses," Stormblaze held up his own stick, which was longer then Antoine's was to match his larger size. Pointing it at Antoine, he grinned and shouted, "Now then, have at you!"
   
Taking a deep breath, Antoine ran in the direction he’d heard Stormblaze's voice come from, "sword" raised in the air. Stormblaze awaited his charge, and easily blocked the first few clumsy attacks aimed his way before scoring a direct blow to Antoine's right side with his branch. He took care not to hit too hard, but it still smarted Antoine.
   
Gingerly, Antoine rubbed his ribs before lashing out wildly, hoping to just get lucky and hit Stormblaze, but he succeeded in deftly parrying each and every one of his strikes. They might have been coming fast, but Antoine was acting rash, and as a result, his attacks were sloppy and wild. Seeing an opening, Stormblaze counterattacked, this time hitting Antoine on his left shoulder.
   
Gritting his teeth against the stinging pain, Antoine swung out with all his might, but still wound up missing.
   
"Stop! Use your senses to locate me!" He heard Stormblaze call out. That time, he sounded like he was standing somewhere off to Antoine's left.
   
‘This is hopeless!' Antoine thought, nearly tripping over his own feet as he tried to turn in Stormblaze's direction. 'It's harder than trying to find a blind Mobian in a haystack!' Believing he had Stormblaze now, a sense of anticipation arose within him. He lunged. A sharp crack rang out as the practice swords clashed together. Dismayed at being thwarted yet again, Antoine tried to suppress a growl of frustration.
   
"Focus, little wolf!" Stormblaze warned, sensing the growing irritation that was rising off his student in hot waves. "Lose yourself to anger, and you lose the battle!" Antoine's latest attack had succeeded in forcing him to act fast to avoid getting hit. So far, it was the first time Antoine had actually even come close to landing a blow. Now, Stormblaze stood only four feet away from Antoine, watching as he flailed around haplessly. Time for him to reengage his "enemy" before Antoine wore himself out attacking air, Stormblaze supposed.
     
A swift rap to the hand forced Antoine to drop his stick. Hastily, he dropped down on his hands and knees, trying to feel for it, but the stick he felt jabbing him in his back just then told him that the exercise was effectively over with. With a dejected sigh, Antoine removed his blindfold and sat there on the ground.
   
"Take heart," Stormblaze reassured him. "This was only our first session. One lesson isn't going to instantly turn you into an expert. But with the help of yours' truly, you could become a fine swordsman."
   
"You… you really are thinking so? You are not just saying that?" Antoine asked. The slightest glimmer of hope, mingled with incredulity, had crept into his voice.
   
"Indeed I do. If you can just get those emotions of yours' under control and hone your foot and blade work. In a real battle, you will not have the opportunity to correct such errors should you happen to make them. Because you will be dead by then." To drive home his point, Stormblaze stared seriously at Antoine, earning a nervous gulp from the younger Mobian. "But you have a most extraordinary sense of hearing. That is what I was trying to get you to utilize. And if I did not know any better, I would say that you were ambidextrous."
   
"Amber-what?"
   
"Ambidextrous. You can use both hands equally well." Although Stormblaze wasn't even remotely winded, he strode over to the edge of the clearing, where he seated himself on a large tree stump and set his stick aside.
   
"Oh." Antoine had never considered either of those things to be anything special, especially when compared to say, super-speed or the power to breathe fire. His hearing… well, a lot of the time it seemed to be more of a curse then a blessing, especially when he was on edge. Then it was like his hearing was amplified a hundred times over. Even other Mobians, who could hear far better than any Overlander or human could, didn't seem able to hear the things that he could when he told them what his ears perceived. Sometimes he wondered if he was just being paranoid, or even going mad.
   
He shrugged as he came over to take a spot on the grass near Stormblaze. "I am being left-handed, but mes papa and mes teachers at La Vallete were teaching me to use both hands. And sometimes I am wishing that I was not hearing all of the things I can."
   
Stormblaze's ears perked up. "Heard some things you did not wish to hear, did you?" His voice sounded somewhat softer then it typically tended to be.
   
Antoine shuddered. "Too many times. If it is not something scary like all the big machines and robots in Robotropolis, then it is… Sonic making the jokes about moi." All though he liked having someone to confide in about his personal problems, since that meant he no longer had to bottle everything up like before, it was still hard for him to discuss more painful subjects.
   
"Do not concern yourself with that hedgehog," Stormblaze said, the curt edge in his tone indicating that he didn't think much of Sonic. "From personal experience, I find those who derive pleasure from tormenting others are weak and without honor. And no, I do not care that the rest of your little club believes he is the greatest thing ever. I stand by my words." He added when saw Antoine about to speak again. "So, even your old nanny believes this Sonic fellow's behavior is acceptable?"
   
"Rosie is liking all of us the same. But she is not knowing that this has been happening. She is either sleeping or busy somewhere, and Sonic is being too crafty to do anything nasty when she actually is around. But I cannot be saying anything to her about it anyways." He threw Stormblaze a significant look that basically said 'How pathetic would it look for a seventeen-year old knight-in-training to go running to his nanny for help?'
   
Catching the meaning behind that look, Stormblaze thoughtfully stroked his beard. "Yes, good point. I was placed in the same position myself back on Avalonia. But at least your nanny would likely act if she were to discover what was really happening. Most of the other unicorns did not even care that Rience and his friends treated me like something foul they had stepped in. Or did not care to know."
   
"I am curious about that, actually. If you are not minding my asking, if hardly anyone there was liking you, then why did they trust you to find the Deep Power Stones?"
   
"That would be the doing of my old friend Raventail. Now, he is what should come to mind when you hear the term 'noble unicorn'. He’s a fine fellow indeed." Stormblaze smiled as he reminisced about Raventail. "It's a wonder he became involved with a rogue such as myself. He's more scholar then warrior, you see. He was the one to convince the queen and the elders that I would be the creature best-suited for the task."
   
Antoine hoped to be able to meet this Raventail someday. If Stormblaze liked him, then he must have been an upstanding person. His thoughts then returned to what they had been discussing prior to the topic of their respective friends and adversaries. Something Stormblaze said before had raised a question in his mind. "Um, shouldn't you be teaching moi how to actually be fighting? Why are we focusing on mon hearing instead?"
   
"Because swinging a sword is not the only way to win a battle. You must also take into consideration things such as gathering intelligence or evading the enemy. Superb hearing is a most useful ability for a warrior to have. With it, you can detect the approach of your foes before they see you and find out how many of them there are in advance, or, if they're hidden, find them. Why, if you trained long enough and hard enough, you may even become capable of fighting with your eyes shut, since you would still be aware of where your foes were and hear them as they’re about to strike."
   
Antoine was greatly intrigued by this. He imagined himself taking part in a great battle, locked in furious combat with several enemy soldiers all at once and soundly defeating them without even having to see them. Such an extraordinary feat would almost certainly win him the respect and admiration of others. The other Freedom Fighters would finally start treating him with respect and not like a burden. Maybe he would go on to be even better then Sonic - better than anyone else!
   
"How am I going to be fine-honing my hearing?" Antoine asked, eyes bright with zeal as he gazed at Stormblaze.
   
"I suppose the same way one learns how to do anything new, really - practice. Though I admit to never having taught someone how to utilize one of their senses before… Then again, I’ve never mentored anyone before either. But there's always a first time for everything, isn't there? We will practice every day if possible and see how it goes. Now, shall we try it again?" Picking his stick up, Stormblaze looked expectantly at Antoine.
   
Antoine rubbed his sore ribs again, imagining himself black and blue from repeated sword training sessions with Stormblaze. He had forgotten just how rigorous this sort of training could be. But if it meant improving his swordsmanship, then the pain was worth it.
   
Nodding, Antoine finally picked up his own stick and rose, the fire of determination in his eyes. "I am being ready when you are."


Translations:

French:

En garde: On (your) guard.

S'il vous plait: Please.


Spanish:

La Boca Del Infierno: The mouth of hell.