The White Knight

Chapter Five-Utofamia's Beginnings

Maria walked slowly to a tree and slumped down to the ground, resting her back against the trunk  She took her helmet off her head and set it next to her on the ground.  Wiping the sweat from her head, she drank from her canteen and poured some water on her head.  She thought, "Why did I even agree to do this?"
         She had been training for almost two weeks and was building up her strength, speed and confidence.  Once again, even while wearing chain mail, she was one of the fastest female runners.
         “See, I knew you could do it!”  Geoffrey said, striding side by side with her.  “I can barely keep up with you.”
         “Excellent shooting!” another Kingsbane had exclaimed when Maria sunk ten of her arrows into the hay bale.
         “All it took was just some practice,” Geoffrey said.
         This was a week ago.  Maria felt that, even though she had a long way to go, she would become a good warrior.  Yet, she still did not know if she would be a Kingsbane or a knight.  Osondria, provided the answer shortly as she, Geoffrey and the other Kingsbane were gathering up her arrows.
         “I see that you are becoming quite the expert,” she said as Maria returned with her arrows.
         “Thank you, Osondria,” Maria said.  “I could never have made it this far without your support.”
         “Good evening, Osondria,” Geoffrey said pleasantly.  “I think Maria is an expert with the bow.  What torture do you have for her next?”
         Osondria laughed, but then became serious.  “We have a shortage of knights, we lost three overnight.”
         “Were they...?” Maria could not finish the sentence, afraid to know what fate had fallen upon these individuals.
         “Were they attacked?” Geoffrey finished for her.
         “No, they just left,” Osondria said.  “Their tents and bedrolls were missing also,” she finished angrily.  “If they wanted to leave, all they cold have done was to say something.  We would have let them go willingly.  Sir Peter and I would have tried to convince them to stay.  It just gets me mad when they sneak off in the middle of the night.  Cowards!  At least none of the female warriors have done that yet.”
         “That because you scare them half to death, Osondria.
         “Geoffrey!” Maria exclaimed, shocked.  “That is not a nice thing to say.”
         “It is okay, Maria,” Osondria, said laughing.  “Geoffrey is only joking.  At least I hope he is, aren’t you?” she added, glaring at her.
         “Yes, Osondria,” Geoffrey said, pretending to cower in fear, “I was only joking.”
         “Good,” she said.  “That is the answer I want to hear.”  She turned to Maria,          “While it looks like you will make an excellent Kingsbane, you need to improve on your fighting skills.  You must build up your strength.  Hold out your arm.”
         Maria held out her arm in front of her.  Osondria felt her biceps.
         “No, no,” she said, shaking her head and making a tsk tsk noise with her tongue.  “This will not do.  You will not hold a sword long with those puny arms of yours.  Geoffrey, you are good with the sword, aren’t you?”
         “All the Kingsbane, as you should now, receive the same training as the knights do.  You never know when you need to rely on a sword in a battle.  Maria, you only rode a horse a few times, didn’t you?”
         “Yes, when we went to get the chain mail and a few other times.”
         “That is my fault.  You should have been trained sooner.  Obviously, we do not have enough horses for every warrior.  Still, you should learn.  It is not the horse riding part that is not hard; it is learning to be coordinated while fighting with a sword or using a spear to unhorse your opponent.”
         “Oh that is like multi-tasking,” Maria said.
         “Excuse me,” Osondria said, “I am not familiar with that term.”
         “I’m sorry,” Maria said.  “It is a term used in my world.  It means doing several tasks at the same time.”
         Geoffrey burst out laughing, “Maria is going to be the first multi-tasking knight Utofamia has seen!”
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         Thus began Maria’s serious training.  Geoffrey, relieved of his training responsibilities, returned to pulling guard duty during the night.  “At least he is not going without sleep,” Maria thought to herself.  She longed for the time when she could spend antoher night with him pulling guard duty.  He was a good person to talk to.  Even though she did not see much of him, he did drop by once in a while and give tell her what mistakes she was making.
         Osondria, while she was friendly off the field, was brutal to her during the training.  “Your arms are too puny,” she kept reminding Maria.  “Drop and do twenty push-ups!”  Maria’s arms felt that they were ready to fall off.  How she even managed to fight with a sword for a minute without tiring out, she did not now.
         “You have been slain,” she heard countless times when she did not protect herself with the shield in time.
         “You are off balance!”  Osondria constantly yelled at Maria, when she rode on the horse.  “You will never be able to race towards your opponent with a spear, let alone unseat him!”  The last rush at the opponent she fell from the horse to the ground.
         “I didn’t even touch her!” her opponent yelled the last time she fell.
         Osondria came up to Maria as she struggled to her feet.  “Now I am in for it,” Maria thought.  However, she only saw concern on the warrior’s face.
         “Maria, are you okay?  That was a bad fall.”
         “I am not sure what happened.  All of a sudden I was light headed.”
         “Sit over in that shaded area.  Make sure you drink some water and pour some over your head.  You haven’t been drinking water like you are susposed to, are you?” Osondria asked.
         “I thought I was drinking enough,” Maria answered.
         “Even if you do not feel thirsty, you need to drink at least once every ten minutes.”  Osondria looked up at the sky and wiped the sweat from her own brow.  “It has to be over a hundred degrees today. You probably are not drinking enough.  Now go over to the shade and make sure that you keep drinking water.  We don’t want you to be a casualty this early in the game.”
         Every muscle and bone ached in her body.  She was exhausted.  At least sitting it the shade made the heat seem bearable.  Maybe Osondria was right, she probably wasn’t drinking enough.  Just pouring the water over her head revived her.  If it wasn’t for the fact that she ached all over, she would have went back to the training.  She barely had the strength to climb into her bed each night, too tired to even think about the next day.  She put her head in her arms and closed her eyes.
         Somebody sat down next to her.  She looked up.  It was Sir Peter.  "I know what you are feeling," he said.
         "Oh really you do?"
         "I understand.  I was frustrated when I first began.  I did not think I would make it.  Believe me; it gets easier as the training progresses."
         "I feel like I have been run over by a semi," Maria groaned.
         "A what?"
         "Never mind; let's just say I think I have been trampled by a pack of horses.  I hurt all over; it even hurts when I think.”  Then she laughed, “At least I am not thinking about giving up.  I am going to keep trying until I succeed or get killed.”
         "I think you are doing great."
         "Are you serious?"
         "I am.  I see you picking up on the skills quickly.  Some of these knights took a lot longer to learn what you did."
         "I am just so tired.  I have not even had the chance to do any of the reading that I am required to do.”
         "I have already talked to Osondria.  We are canceling training for the rest of the day.  When it gets to be this hot, we don’t want anybody to get heat injuries.  Osondria is concerned about you.”
         “I feel fine now,” Maria said.  “Tell her, I promise to remember about drinking water.”
         “She has been pushing you and believes that you need a break for a couple of days.  She is also pleased with your progress.  After lunch meet me in the library."
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         "Do you expect me to read all this?" Maria asked in surprise at the pile of books on the table.
         "Just do the best you can," Geoffrey said.  "It actually looks like a lot.  However, if you notice, the writing is very large.  You can probably get through the first book in no time at all."  Maria opened the book and saw that Geoffrey was right. 
         "Just read until it is time for to eat."  He left Maria alone in the library with the pile of books in front of her.  She picked up the first volume of The History of Utofamia and looked at it.  Even though this book was at least a thousand years old, it looked brand new.  Even the drawing of the falcon on the cover, the book looked like it could fit in on the shales at Barnes and Noble.  She began reading.
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Chapter One
Of the Beginning of Beginnings

         Before there was anything else, there was Rem.  One day he saw something that was unusual for the continuous darkness.  Though this thing was in the distance, his eyes were hurt as he continues to stare at it.  However, his curiosity got the better of him and, shielding his eyes, he walked towards this thing.  Finally, he reached the edge of the darkness and found himself staring into a ball of fire.  The glare of this thing made Rem turn his head.  He was able to see because of the glare.  He had to wait some time for his eyes to adjust because of living in constant darkness.  He noticed the land around him for the first time.  The ground was parched because of the glare.
         "What are you that blinds me so yet makes me see?”
         “I am the sun,” answered the ball of fire.
         “How is it that I am able to see?”
         “I provide light and heat.”
         “Can I get some light so that I can see my land?”
         “Take all of it,” another voice spoke up.  “The sun is destroying my land.”
         Rem looked towards where the voice had come from.  Soon he was able to see a person.  As he got a closer look, he realized that he was an exact replication of himself.
         The sun spoke, “Both of you need light and darkness, compromise and share.”
         The sun became silent.  Then the two men, the Rem of Darkness and the Rem of light, joined and became one.
         Then Rem looked around the land.  It was a wasteland.  Half of the land was scorched and incapable of growth because of the constant light, while the other half had poor and undeveloped growth because of the constant darkness.
         "This land is ruined," Rem thought to himself.  "It will take a long time to restore it.  Right now, it is nothing more than a void."
         When he thought this, Rem smiled to himself.  The beginning of an idea began to form in his head.  However, he still had to work on problems before starting on the plan.
         One problem was with the sun.  Even though the darkness prevented the land from continuous light, the sun still parched the land severely.  As Rem walked along under the glare of the sun of day, pondering what to do, he tripped on a rock and rolled down a hill.  He rolled right into a lake.  Upon getting out of the water, Rem noticed how cool and refreshed he felt.  Then he realized that he might have found a solution.
         "If I take some of this water and sprinkle it around this land every few days, maybe it might solve the problem."
         And it was done.  The occasional wetness helped cool the land and allow vegetation to grow.  Rem saw that it was good and called this dampness rain.
         One day, as Rem was walking along, he came across a hole.  It was so black that he could not see the bottom of it.  Very carefully, he climbed into it and began to descend.  After a long time he reached the bottom-if it could be called a bottom.  Looking through it, he saw nothing all around.  Then his idea developed more.
         He said, "Let this land that I am presently standing on be called The Void.  Let many black holes appear in this land.  These will lead to different worlds."
         This was done and Rem was pleased.
         Then he went to each of the different worlds.  At each one he said, "Let there be vegetation and let it be healthy."  He gave each world part of the sunlight and darkness.  He provided rain for each of these lands and vegetation grew.
         Rem looked down on these worlds and smiled in satisfaction.  Then it faded from his face.  Then he realized what the problem was.
         He said, "Let a person to rule each land, appear in my image before me."
         This was done and men appeared before Rem.  He looked upon them and yawned.
         "This will not do," Rem said to himself.  "It is boring to have all these men look exactly alike.  I will change the appearance of each, with the exception of one.  He will remain in my image."
         Rem waved his hands.  The men fell to the ground and slept.  Rem walked to each of them and changed their appearances and gave each a name.  Finally, he came to the last man.
         This will be the one who will remain in my image.  His name will be Bellerophon."
         And they awakened.  And Rem called them together and spoke to them.  He told them how they came to be.  He told them about the different worlds.
         He said, "Each of you has a responsibility to rule a world.  You will be given the power to create things in your world.  Use your choices wisely."
         Then he said, "Let a mate be created for each man, so that many offspring can be produced."
         This was done and Rem saw that it was good.
         Bellerophon looked upon his mate and saw she was beautiful.  He said, "Your name shall be Romana Marlena."
         Then Rem said, "Depart.  Go to your worlds.  I shall aid you all."
         The men and their mates departed.  They set about to create their own worlds.
         Then Rem said, "Make it possible for people from different worlds to visit each other."
         This was done and Rem saw the progress of the worlds.
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         Bellerophon came to his land.  He looked upon it and then turned to Romana Marlena.
         "I wish that I did not have this responsibility.  I do not even know how to start."
         His wife looked upon him.  "We can leave the world as it is.  It is perfect the way it is."
         So for some time Bellerophon and Romana Marlena lived by themselves.  They were happy.  However, he got bored.
         He said to his wife, "It is not right to have all this to ourselves.  We must bear children.  Before that, we must find out how to feed all of them.  We have fruit, but that might not be enough.  I will visit other worlds and get ideas."
         So Bellerophon departed and visited several worlds.  He discovered many forms of animals.
         He said, "Let a male and female form of each animal appear in my world.  Let them be able to breed and multiply.  These animals will provide meat for my people.  Let there be unique animals too, so our world is different than the other worlds."  Therefore, the first unicorns and centaurs appeared.
         This was done.  Then Bellerophon went back to his land.
         Then Bellerophon said to Romana Marlena, "We shall bear children.  And our children shall do likewise."
         Children were born and the first men occupied the land.
         Then Bellerophon said, "The name of this land shall be called Utofamia.  In some of the other worlds, the people age; let the people of my land stop aging at thirty years.  Death will only come to them from illness or when great harm is brought upon them.
         "Let the land where Romana Marlena and I live be known as the Realm of Bellerophon.  Any people or animals that are killed will be brought back to life here."
         This was done.  Utofamia became populated.
         Bellerophon was satisfied in his progress for a while.  Then he had a yearning to do more for the land.
         He turned to Romana Marlena.  "I want this world to be the best.  I will visit other worlds and get more ideas.
         Romana Marlena noticed the look in his eyes.  It was the first signs of greed she had seen.  She did not like it.  "Why don't you just leave Utofamia the way it is?  It is perfect.  The people are happy.  There is peace."
         "It is not enough.  I will never be satisfied knowing that other worlds are better than mine.  I will depart for a short while.  Keep things in order here."
         And so Bellerophon departed.  He visited a few lands and saw no difference in them.  Then he decided to visit one more land before returning to Utofamia.
         Bellerophon walked along the void until he came across a hole that was separated from the others.  He decided to see what this world was like and stepped into the world.  He found himself in a forest that was degenerating due to a lack of care.
         Bellerophon was about to leave, feeling that Utofamia was better than this world.  Then all of a sudden he heard horses' hooves pounding on the ground.  He looked towards the direction where he had heard the sounds.  As he expected, he saw many horses.  However, he saw men riding them.  What was surprising was that the men were encased in some type of red metal.
         Bellerophon's curiosity got the better of him.  For days he observed these men.  He kept out of sight of the ruler and his mate.  Finally, he found out what was happening.  These men were known as knights.  The metal they wore was called armor.  The ruler, Lucius, and his wife, Melisande, were training these knights to be great fighters.  They were planning the conquest of other worlds.
         Bellerophon decided to return to Utofamia.  He decided not to allow his land to be conquered by the Red Knights.  Upon returning to Utofamia, he divided the land into the eastern and western halves.  A kingdom for each half was established.  He made it mandatory for the people to serve either ruler.  Through years of hard training, the people became great warriors.
         Bellerophon was not satisfied with their fighting abilities.  He felt that they did not get enough.  Then he decided to have the two kingdoms wage wars against each other.  Sure many deaths would be involved.  However, it was necessary, according to Bellerophon, to have the inexperienced and unskilled fighters be killed off.  He felt that an army of competent fighters would defeat the Red Knights.
         Then different types of armor were made for the two kingdoms.  The eastern half of Utofamia wore white armor and the western half wore black.  The two groups of knights were informally known as the White and Black Knights.  The formal names told which kings they served under-which were the Knights of King Daniel for the eastern half, and the Knights of King LeRoy of the Western Half.
         Romana Marlena was saddened by the death of so many. 
         "It must be done," Bellerophon said.  "Besides, the ones who die will live with us in our Realm."
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         Rem looked down of the lands and saw what was happening.  He was satisfied with the work of some rulers.  However, he did not like what he saw in some of the lands.  He noticed in some of the lands, the rulers did not care and these lands began to degenerate.  Then in other worlds, the people were going through a lot of pain.  This Rem did not like.  He had to put a stop to this.
         So Rem visited the worlds.  And it came to pass that he arrived at Utofamia.
         "What is this?” he said angrily to Bellerophon.  "Have you been overcome by greed, having many people die for your cause?"
         "Have you any idea that these men are training to protect themselves from those Red Knights?"
         "If you had not interfered, I would have destroyed that world.  Now I know what to do.  You must be punished for your acts."
         "What is wrong for training people to fight?"
         "Nothing; however, your ways are wrong.  Children, just barely able to stand, have swords in their hands.  You force the people to be knights.  You must be punished.  Some time from now, whether it will either be a short time or a long time I will make uncertain, the Red Knights will invade Utofamia.  Your punishment will not go eternally.  Your knights will be able to defeat them in the end.  You knights will be allowed to train only if they want to.  If the people would rather want to live a normal life, you must let them live in peace.  You will find that many people will still serve your world as knights.
         "You are a stubborn man.  This punishment is not enough; you will not heed my warning.  Therefore, your wife Romana Marlena will be punished also.  Then you will be willing to obey me."
         "No!  Not my wife!  Please!  Have mercy on her!  She tried talking me out of doing this.  She must not be punished because of my wrong doings."
         "She will be punished.  However, it will not be eternal.  Do you remember Melisande?"
         
         "Melisande is an evil sorceress.  She has a lot of power.  She will be the cause of the Red Knights invasion.  What I plan to do with Romana Marlena is have Melisande invade her body.  For some time your wife will be known as Melisande.  She will be very evil and will have no recollection of her goodness."
         "You must not do this to her!"
         "It is my will.  This will be done.  However, the spell will not be eternal.  A visitor from another world, not from the ones that I created, will be able to drive the evil from Romana Marlena and restore her goodness.  The visitor will not know how to end this evil; He or she will have to find a way."
         With that Rem departed.  Bellerophon ran to find Romana Marlena, but it was too late.  Melisande had taken possession of the body.  She looked at Bellerophon and let out an evil laugh.

         "Romana Marlena! Bellerophon moaned.  "What have I done?"  He then turned and ran, weeping.
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         Maria closed her book.  The light was failing inside the library.  She looked out the window.  She must have been reading for a long time, because the sun was almost set.  Sir Peter entered the room.
         "How is the reading?"
         "This history is interesting.  I read the first chapter, telling of the creation of Utofamia and the downfall of Bellerophon.  I did not realize that he was such a bad ruler."
         "He is not a bad ruler.  He is loved by most people.  He was young then and scared of so much responsibility.  He learned his lesson; alas, it was too late."
         "What happened between him and Romana Marlena?"
         "She is now referred to as Melisande.  She is the cause of evil in this world.  She caused the invasion of the Red Knights.  To this day she remains her evil self.
         "As for Bellerophon, he was very distraught over what had become of his wife.  After he got over his grief, he set about helping people.  Many people remained knights and others went to live more peaceful lives.  He lives on the land with people.  He had the power to change into any animal form he had created.  Then he traveled the land to find answers to his problems.  He then set aside a group of people called the Wise Ones.  They currently reside in the Great Desert of Utofamia.  These people collect knowledge from Bellerophon and Rem throughout the years.  It has been said these men aged because of all the knowledge they have."
         Maria thought about something she had read.  "Am I supposed to be the person to stop Melisande?"
         "It is hard to say.  It is possible since you are from a different world.  However, if you are that person, it is your choice whether to help the land or not.  You can not be forced to fight and destroy Melisande."
         "I will tell you what I will do.  I will continue training to be a fighter.  However, if I want to quit, you can not prevent me from doing so; I will refuse to train."
         "I understand.  Just remember when you get used to this training, it will become easier.  You are doing well for a beginner.  Also, if you are the person Rem has chosen, the training may be easier for you."