After losing the six young knights a week ago, there had been no other reported cases of the sickness that wiped out a quarter of our squadron. Since the service we had to honor the ones we lost, I kept to myself this past week as I did my jobs and barely talked to any of the knights, other than Wilbur. My mind was having a hard time accepting the loss of Jason and would constantly think back to all the memories I shared with the kid, making me want to dive deeper into solitude. What made it even worse was that I had to choose two more men to become a part of the inner circle. One to fill the next open position and the other to become my right-hand man, the spot that was previously occupied by Jason. Those were the two hardest decisions I had to make.

In other news, the Ogres had been traveling farther away from the kingdom, thanks to the new deal I made with the Dark One a few weeks back. Because of this, my squadron, as well as many others, settled down a bit and lost their nervousness of an upcoming Ogre attack. Even though the Dark One stayed true to his word thus far, I continued the train into the late hours of the night, knowing that the imp that I bargained with could change his mind at the drop of a hat. Or he could find a loophole. The knights weren't technically in the kingdom after all.

Like every other day around the camp, all the knights were doing their daily jobs of sharpening their swords to grooming the horses. After taking a look around the camp to make sure everything was going smoothly, I made my way to join Wilbur and the rest of the inner circle to work on battle strategies against the Orges.

"We can have the first line go in five minutes early so that they can clear as many of the Ogres as possible before sending in the rest of the troops," Ben suggested as I closed the tent flap behind me before joining them around the table in the center of the room.

"But the first line is only fifteen men," Derek stated before looking up at the former speaking next to him with a look of disgust in his eyes, "there's no way fifteen men can take down more than one Ogre."

"I think that we should all attack at once, four groups coming from different angles, excluding the reserves. They'll hang back just in case we need back up," Jeremy told them while moving around the small pieces of the board to show us his idea before looking up at the rest of us, "if we use this strategy, we'll have about one hundred men attack at once. Should be about ten to twelve men per one Ogre."

"That could work," Wilbur responded as he studied the board in front of him before his eye met mine, "what do think, Sammy?"

After staring at the man in front of me for a short moment, I broke eye contact with him to look back down at the board. As I analyze the plan in front of me, my head races with thoughts and images of the youngest surviving knights, knowing that we couldn't drag them into a battle when they weren't even close to being ready.

"As long as we keep the young in the reserves back in camp, I think it will be successful," I stated before looking back up to meet the emotionless eyes of the men that surround me, "they aren't ready to face a battle with those giants if they aren't needed."

"I agree, for now. But as soon as you feel they can hold their own, they join one of the lines. Are we in agreement?" Wilbur said, causing everyone to nod in response before a small sigh escapes his lips as he looks back down to the map in front of him. Silence surrounds the six of us for a long moment, no one knowing what to say to keep the conversation going. When the silence became too much for us to bear, Wilbur looked up from the map to look at each of us in the eyes before a wave of determination flashed across his features. "Let's hope the Dark One stays true to his word and we don't have to use this plan."

★★★

After leaving Wilbur's tent a few hours ago, not much else happened throughout the rest of the day, nothing worth remembering anyway. Like every other day, I spent the evening training the remaining five young knights to prepare them for any upcoming battles. As I watched them spar with one another, my head began to fill with memories of how Jason and I first met before the feeling of relief hit me like a tidal wave. Knowing the rest of these boys won't see the light of a battle until I deem them ready gave me a hint of hope that they'll make it through this war.

Just as I was about to dismiss them all so that we could get ready to turn in for the night, the ground began to shake before a distant growl filled the air around us. Chills ran throughout every inch of my body as I turned in the direction of the noise, only to see the treetops on the horizon shaking unnaturally. After watching the trees for another short moment, realization flooded through my veins as I forced myself to stay calm before I turned back to face the group of young knights to see terror plastered onto their faces. My eyes scanned them all as I dismissed them with an unwavering voice before calmly walking out of the small clearing and towards Wilbur's tent. As soon as I got inside, I found him sitting on his cot, staring down at his laced fingers, before his eyes flashed up to meet mine.

"You felt it, too," he stated in a tone that made my blood run cold.

"It's distant. The wreckage of trees is barely visible to the point that you actually have to look for it. Unfortunately, it's getting stronger," I told him as I sat down in a chair across from him before letting out a small sigh, "should we prepare the troops?"

"Better safe than sorry."

After sharing another look with the man in front of me, we got to our feet before heading out of his tent and into the main clearing of our camp. As soon as we reached our destination, Wilbur climbed onto the large boulder then called for the squadron. While we waited for everyone to gather, murmurs could be heard from the small crowd already there before it slowly died down as all attention turned to our leader.

"I'm sorry for disturbing everyone but Sam and I fear that the Ogres are approaching. We need to prepare ourselves for when the time comes," Wilbur told them, causing the atmosphere around us to fill with pure terror as they waited for orders from the man in front of them. Just as Wilbur opened his mouth to continue speaking, the ground began to shake stronger than ever before, causing everyone to look into the woods to see the surrounding trees crumbling to the ground.

Once the realization of how fast the Ogres were approaching hit the knights, everyone sprinted to prepare the catapults. No one made it in time. The first Ogre came running out of the woods, taking out anyone in its path. And it didn't stop there. Two more followed the first, copying its leader's movements. Even with the swords at our waists, we didn't stand a chance.

"What should we do Wil?" I questioned as we dodged an Ogre's foot. When there was no response from the man, my blood ran cold before I turned to look where he once stood, only to see Wilbur lying on the other side of the clearing.

The sword in my hand slipped from my fingers and fell to the grass beneath my feet before I sprinted as fast as I could in the direction of Wilbur. When I finally reached the man, I instantly noticed his closed eyes and shallow breaths before I collapsed to my knees at his side. After taking in the state of the man who changed my life for the better, I looked around the clearing to find the Ogres gone, as if they just vanished, and no movement as far as the eye could see. Pure terror filled every inch of me as I let the silence surrounded me. After what felt like hours of being greeted by the unnatural stillness of the world, I let out a shaky breath before looking back down to Wilbur to see his breathing becoming slower than before his eyes flutter open to meet mine.

"How many are left?" he whispered then let out a groan in pain, making my heart skip a beat as I watched the man before his eyes snapped open to meet mine once again. After studying Wilbur for a short moment, I break eye contact with him to look around the clearing, only to be greeted by stillness and silence.

"I think it's just us, Wil."

"No. It's just you." At the sound of his words, I quickly looked back to him with fear in my eyes. After staring at him for a second longer, I opened my mouth to argue, only to be cut off by the man once again. "No matter what happens to me, I want you to remember that there's always room to change and grow. There's always an opportunity for second chances. Don't let the past stop you from doing something great with your life. And, always remember, chivalry is the most important thing a knight can have."

"Thank you, Wil. For everything."

"No, Sammy. Thank you."

The two of us shared one last smile before Wilbur took a strangled breath then all life faded from his eyes.

A tear slide down my cheek as I looked around the clearing once again, desperately searching for any sign of movement. When I came up short, guilt flooded through my veins. Guilt from knowing that none of them deserved what they received. Guilt from being the lone survivor amongst a group of the bravest men to walk this earth.

Through the silence that surrounded me, a soft screeching noise could be heard. Confusion filled every inch of my body as I looked around for the source of the sound before I unconsciously looked up to the sky. At the sight of a black figure came closer and closer to me, my breath got caught in my throat while my body became fixed to the ground beneath me. After flying around in circles above me, it came to a stop three feet away from me before staring at me with its white glowing eyes. The two of us watched the other for a long moment before it slowly held its hand towards me.

When I didn't reach out to it right away, it let out another loud screech before the shadow grabbed me by the shoulders and carried me into the sky. Panic replaced the confusion that was once within me as I struggled against its grip until a blinding white light surrounded us. My struggling ceased as I looked away from the shadow to see clouds surrounding us before they cleared to reveal a huge moon-shaped island in the distance.

"What's going up?!" I shouted as I looked away from the island and back up at the dark figure forcing me in the direction of the island, "where are you taking me?!"

The only response I receive from the shadow is silence before it dropped me onto the beach then flew out of sight. After the initial shock within me faded, I quickly got to my feet to take in my surrounding. Just as I finished analyzing the sandy shore, the rustling of the bushes in the distance broke the stillness that came from the island before my eyes locked on a girl running through the forest and away from what sounded like howling. Before I could make a move to follow her, a force came out of nowhere and hit the back of my head, sending me crashing to the sand beneath my feet before I was greeted by darkness.