I used to be a young knight in a knight order, I was supposed to help transfer another knight to the border. Then he disappeared into the night, during the morning when we were about to set off we found his body, murdered in cold blood. After witnessing that I couldn't stand going to the battle field so I was sent to be a knight for a noble lady. She was eccentric in her own ways, always followed me around, I could see her in the corner of my eye everywhere I went. I simply thought maybe she was looking after me in her own way. So I never asked about it, then I was supposed to be her escort to a ball, I didn't mind at all, she was a lot nicer than I thought. We talked on our way to the ball, she changed my perspective about noble ladies, when she went out of the ball to find something she found a thief. She didn't wait to challenge him at all, in the end I had to rush in to save her but she still stood strong in the end. I led her to a room she could wait in, while I talked with other knights about what to do with the thief. After the decision was made, I went to find her but she was gone. I searched the area for the lady, telling her father, asking anyone where she could have gone. My search ended in failure until one of the servants looking for wine on a noble request found the young lady in the wine cellar.
She was frozen solid, her body torn, people suggest that she banged on the door bitterly until her hands broke, then dragged her fragile body away. It broke my heart to hear what happened, I failed my duty just like before. I couldn't take it, going back home to my family helping them on their farm, after discharging myself from the knight order. Everyone told me not to but my heart couldn't handle any more failures to protect those who I was sworn to protect. If only peace would last for longer, if only I could stay with my family, war broke out with the Atingkok kingdom bringing war everywhere across the kingdom. I was pulled back into the knight order after it broke out many men were pushed into becoming a knight. Getting thrown to the battlefield like lost little lambs, many men died, my mental health took a downward curve. After entering the battlefield my clothes were always stained with blood, swords would always clash everywhere you went. Regular people were robbed for their food, clothing, and women were not spared in the glory mess.
I believe the only reason I stayed sane in that war was thanks to my captain; he was a bright fellow, always making sure everyone was okay. He even helped me push past my worries that haunted me every time I slept on that dreadful battlefield. He kept our backs and that's what we did for him, many men went insane for blood, killing our comrades, he always did the final blow. This lasted for 2 years straight until we finally lost the battle, many men were lost, the main reason I was spared was because I became a war slave. My fellow knights in the knight order were killed, the captain was put onto show intel in front of all the war slaves, with his head rolling across the ground. It sent shivers down my spine seeing that, but I was alive, I could live on to see the next day. I might never be able to see the bright blue sky again down here in the mines and that's fine, at least I can talk and get enough food to live. Living down here mining away at the walls might seem horrible, I could be worse off, I could have been made one of those slaves that get sold away to nobles. It's all thanks to a scar that runs on my face, if I didn't get it from war I would have been from one noble house to another. Or well that's what people down here say, I got real lucky, I heard from others that sometimes those that go in never come back out.
Sounds horrible, sometimes they are never fed to keep their slimness, but I also heard some are kept very well fed as long as you landed yourself in a good noble house. That's a roulette with a chance of death though, pushing through a hard day in these mines, sounds better to me. Even though I might not be very knightly down here, at least I have some brothren from other knight orders. We sing old imperial songs that were passed down through the knight academy, sometimes we fight with the picks like swords. Hey, someone was even able to score some cards from the guards that watch over us, so we play cards down here now. I've been down here so long that I barely know what time it is or what day it is, good thing their guards down here, at least they usually answer what day or year it is. I might have lost my titles, but down here there's no use for them at all, this is my life now, a mighty knight has fallen far.
I got up from my chair, after all my break is over if I were to stay sitting I would be whipped to the death or maybe worse. Picking up my pick and heading back to my station, walking past everyone heading deep down, passing what we call the crevices of death, walking over a piece of board that's rotting away covering a pit fall of 678ft. Hopefully they replace it soon, but knowing them that would be until someone fell through it, walking past the dump ground for those who couldn't stand the hard work. Finally reaching my work zone, few people were here after all, this place has a high hazard rate. The funny thing is, if I or anyone were to be able to mine enough we could get out of here. What a load of bull, no one ever has, and no one knows how much you have to mine for that to happen. Swinging my pick up and slamming it on the rocky wall, those that work in these areas get extra food though, it's really worth it considering the amount of food they give out is barely nothing. Doesn't feel you up and doesn't have enough nutrition to keep your body running for long, not in this type of work. That one saying you don't work you don't eat really is true down here, slamming my pick again down on the hard rock. If I were to ever strike gold down here and be able to get out would I? At this rate would I be able to live a normal life in the Atingkok kingdom, would I be able to stand working alongside those who have killed my brethren? It's something a lot of us wonder though I bet that we would in the end, no point dying over something like that. All of us are down here, alive, because we are the ones who wanted to live, I just wish that none of this would happen, if only we could have won.
I know it's wishful thinking, picking up my pick again to swing, there's nothing else to do but mine and think, ponder and eat, maybe I could find a nice little cave with so much food, I could just live there. Without having to do the work, even if it's just a small amount of time I could rest, that would be nice, those days out on the farms are taking its toll these days. The back pain every day is much more horrible than doing drills in the academy, what else could I think about today or night. The insane heat, that feels like my body is burning to crisp? Reminds me of someone boiling an egg and ripping off the outer shell afterwards, that sounds good, just thinking about it is making me hungry. Food, I really want food right now, looking around at the guards, it doesn't even seem close to the time for food to be served out to us. Looks like I'll be staving off this hunger for a while until the food bell rings, slamming my pick down. Picking it back up again, maybe I'm getting too old these days, I guess that's what they mean when people say I wish I was in my prime again.
I do wish I was in my prime but I've reached quite the old age, there's no going back, I know that, not to those days in rookie training or the days I worked on my fathers farm. Or when I first joined the knight order, I have to keep going, as long as I live, maybe I'll get out of here and make a name for myself again. They might let me be a knight again, really big on the might, but just dreaming about it sounds wonderful. Slamming the pick on down, something shines through the cracks, maybe I finally hit the jackpot. Slamming the pick nearby not to scratch or break it, unearthing the beauty of a gem, yelling out to the guards I found something, I could finally get out of here. Or that's how it would go, picking my pick up again and slamming it down, sounds like a gamble that would never happen, then the guards called out to me. "You, the one named Phalton, you're going home." Home? What do they mean home? Two guards came over to me pushing me out of the hazard zone, pushing me past the crevices of death, pushing me past the pit of 687ft. Pushing me back into the resting zone, what is happening, why is this happening? Am I going to die? I looked over and around to others, they looked as confused as me about what's happening. This never happened before, no one has been taken out of the mines, pushing past the tunnel of gates, opening the door to the outside. It's blinding, no it hurts my eyes, they hurt badly, falling to the ground covering my eyes, blinking, until they're fixed again. I could see the bright blue sky, the amount of people out here is quite insane. I thought there were a lot of people down there but the amount up here is more questionable. The guards pulled me towards, what looks like a quickly built wooden deck raised up off the ground, climbing up the steps. Many people were looking at me, am I being executed?
I got positioned right next to a man in full noble looking clothing, no armor, no weapon to protect himself, he grabbed me by the shoulder. I'm not sure what he said but he started saying something in another language, it seems the onlookers understood though, so will I go home? The noble looking man pushed my face over to a carriage and nudged me over to it. It seems like they wanted me to get in it, so I did. It set off quickly making its way out of the mine, pushing past hordes of knights all saluting, what's going on, it's making my head hurt. I'm not sure why but I felt severely tired, sitting down in the carriage, I closed my eyes. Banging my head against the side of the carriage, I awoke, I looked outside and I was back home, so it was true? It doesn't even look ruined at all, the carriage passed by trees quickly making its way back to my fathers farm. My anticipation is making me shake, stopping just outside the farm I immediately jumped out without the guards needing to tell me. One grabbed my shoulder just in case I started to run though, pushing me towards the home that sat right in the middle of the farm. Right towards the front door, it slowly opened to someone I didn't know, "So is this fellow the one to be working on my farm then?" "Ah yes, pulled him from the mine he's got the perfect amount of muscle." The old man observed me for a few short moments and nodded. I got to go home that's for sure, I'm not sure what I was expecting. The old man pulled me inside, throwing gold coins towards the guard. Closing the door, he quickly pulled me through his house, calling out for the others. People came through the back door wiping away their sweat, "so is this the new meat old man?" "More of an older meat but you can bet your buckets." I got pulled outside again, "Well no time to get to know each other, pull the hay from over there and put it over their alright old bucket." "Old bucket?" All of them rushed away, leaving me here to get to work, I could run away you know?
Walking over to the hay, staring at it for a short few moments then getting to work picking hay up, moving it over to point b. Pretty easy job to do, thought it would be worse, I did that until the end of the day, then I got called out to come on in. Following them inside, "get washed old bucket then eat, sleep." This work seems easy enough, we get hot water and a rag to wash, good food that we can fill our stomachs with, then a pretty good place to sleep. Blankets and an actual pillow, they said they'll make a bed frame for me soon, it's a pretty nice place considering where I worked before. Way better, in fact many days passed by of me doing farm work washing the dirt off and filling my stomach, reminds me of the times when I worked here before, for my father. I hold those memories close to my heart, I also learned why they all call me old bucket, turns out I've gotten a whole lot older than I thought. The bucket part though is still iffy as to why but the other people here are pretty funny. Way nicer than they look, we even got neighbors, the old building that never got used, is now being used to bake stuff that we make here. Which in the end gets taken to the capital of Atingkok, where it gets sold to people passing by, I wish I could see that. My time was cut short unfortunately, one dark night I caught a cold or something, casually working on the farm, with my brethren. Then I felt dizzy, the next I was in a room that couldn't be on the farm, the old man opened the door and only took a step in. "It's not looking good old bucket, we all believe you're at the end of the line." Closing the door after he finished saying that, all I could do was lay there and await my demise, gripping the blanket covering me, staring out the window just beside me. Just a few hours later I lost my life, didn't think I would be put down thanks to an illness.