Space Knights: The Arrival by Gregory Samuelson (buy e reader .TXT) 📕

loyal to Boulthora and its history and heritage than Axlor its king. Bruise was next, a huge sadistic general who had appeared to show mercy to one division of prisoners of war by giving them more comfortable sleeping arrangements and better food, three days before ordering their executions.

There were a couple of admirals beginning with Courak and Rattell. Together they had led many missions in space defending their home and expanding the Boulthorian Empire. Then there were four lower admirals and five lower generals, most with ambitions to move up and become closer to their king.

On Vengethor’s right was his best friend and ally, Roamer. Together they had gone on many missions and battled for the glory of Boulthora. They were the most successful tandem and won nearly every battle they entered, except for the mission they had just returned from. Next to him were six more generals and finally seven more admirals.

“Now that you are all here, let’s get to business,” said Axlor as he gazed around the room and got all of their attention. “First off, let’s hear from my son. So how did your mission go, did you fulfill your assignment and retrieve the treasure I sent you after?”

Vengethor took a couple moments to prepare his reply and then leaned forward and began. “Roamer and I were sent to retrieve the treasure that you desired. We arrived on Arathon as planned and were met with rather heavy resistance. We battled them back and advanced on them.” With a quick look he saw that all eyes were on him and that he had their complete attention. “We proceeded to search the area for the treasure and soon located it. The story we had heard was true; the treasure was indeed guarded by a very great bat. It rose up and quickly killed seven of my men in just moments. We also had to tend with a renewed attack by the locals, though our superior knights outmatched them. I moved into position to attack and slay the bat when a Griffin swooped down and slew the bat and then streaked ahead to where the treasure was hid and removed it before we got there.” He stopped and looked around to gauge the reaction of the gathered generals and his father.

“Are you saying that a group of Griffins showed up and beat you to the treasure?” asked Tork.

“No, it was just one lone Griffin. It was very strange. He came from out of nowhere and struck the bat down before I had a chance at it, and then he just raced ahead and removed the treasure before we could get to its hiding place,” Vengethor replied. He had known that this news would not be received well. On his flight back from Arathon he had prepared his report with Roamer and went over exactly what had happened so he could give an accurate report, even though it would be a negative report. In his experience and upbringing he knew that it was always best to tell the truth at the beginning even if it was painful and nobody wanted to hear it. Also he’d never have to constantly remember the details of a lie. Now the whole matter was on the table and nobody could say he was covering something up or hiding something.

“Very well,” said Axlor. He was disappointed that the assignment hadn’t been completed. Vengethor had no idea why he’d been sent by his father to retrieve this treasure. Axlor hadn’t even told him what it was, he just told him where it was probably hidden and that it was guarded by a great bat and that Vengethor was the one the “prophecy” said was to slay it. This matter of the mysterious Griffin was very troubling. But this issue could be resolved latter; there were other matters at hand that needed attending to.

“We’ll move on. There’s nothing more we can do about that treasure at the moment, we have two other matters to discuss,” Axlor said regaining his composure and taking command. “How are our efforts to locate this new enemy general?”

Bruise was the first to respond. “Sire, my men and I have made several raids on Althora and talked to prisoners, and nobody seems to know of any new general as you described. Most didn’t know what we were asking them. Either they truly don’t know of this general or they are hiding it very well. Many died without giving any information at all.”

Axlor scowled. This meeting was not going well. First Vengethor failed and now this. What next? “Does anyone else have anything to add?” he asked, trying as best he could to maintain his composure.

“Yes,” replied Kass in a smart controlled voice. “It could be that this general has not yet joined the military on Althora. We know what the “prophecy” in our Bible says, and maybe he hasn’t realized his destiny and hasn’t joined yet. It could possibly be that he may even be in school learning to be a knight right now.”

What Kass said seemed to get more positive remarks. He went on. “We all know that the sign of the birds around the Crown Mountains of Althora signals his coming, but that is only the first sign. No other signs have come to pass, so he may not be in position to take his place yet. It is time for most of the schools on the planets aligned with the Griffins to have their knight classes gather on Caldar for their end of year tournaments. Maybe one of the throng of young men there is the one we are looking for. Has anyone checked with the schools to see if there is a promising new knight among them?”

“Yes,” replied a general sitting three chairs from Roamer. “I have received a rather interesting report from one of our spies close to the capital. There seems to be a lot of excitement and interest in the new captain of the boy’s knights where