Stories of the wandering knight - 1. Camp stories

Stories of the wandering knight
Sir William the Oathkeeper
and his faithful squire
Samson Face-club


1. Sir William and the camp stories

Sun was already far below the horizon when Sir William realized futility of his attempts to fall asleep. He tried everything – counting all the good deeds he did that day (and that was quite a big list, mind you), reading codex of wandering knights (this huge tome always forced William to yawn, but this time it only made him more miserable and sleepless than he already was), he even tried the peasant trick of counting sheep that Samson taught him the other day. Usually sooner or later with the flock came the shepherdess and knight would find himself peacefully dreaming the night away. But this time instead of shepherdess there was only sheep and shepherds – rude, drunk and smelly man, who wouldn't leave Sir William head even after he asked them very-very nice.
So, obviously, there was nothing else for our noble knight to do then open his eyes. The camp fire was still burning, spreading warm red light all around the ancient ruins in which the Oathkeeper and his companion stopped for a rest.
-Maybe it was not such a good idea after all... - mumbled noble sir, raising from his bedroll.
Samson warned that sleeping in the ancient ruins can be dangerous, but sir William wouldn't listen. He was absolutely sure that Sam's nervousness was nothing more than a common folks superstitions. Now he wasn't so confident.
First night watch was on Samson, and knight decided to join him near the fire.
-Having trouble with sleep, sire? - Asked squire, carefully feeding wood to the fire.
-Quite right, Sam. Perhaps I was wrong, not listening to your advices. Who know what kind of foul magic is left in this shambles.
-Can't know that, sire. Just know some legends that my grandma told me, she did. She was quite wise and experienced lady, you know, and I always try to keep in mind what she said.
Sir William just nodded in comprehension and joined his companion in staring at the fire. Couple of minutes passed in silence, disturbed only by crackling fire. Then knight thoughtfully said:
-You know, it is thought that you can watch fire eternally...
-Dunno about that, sire. I think that you'll be bored pretty fast that way.
-Quite true Sam, Quite true... - replied William and laughed.
Another couple of silent minutes slowly ran away, accompanied by sir fading smile. Meanwhile, a question formed in his mind and man asked:
-I've seen many times as folk were gathering together at nightfall near the big fire. I was always wondering -  what do you do then? Just talk?
-Pretty much, sire. Telling some news, or some gossips. Singing songs. Sometimes we tell each other stories – mostly scary stories, the kind that chills you to the bone, you know?
-No, I really don't know, Sam. And why in Gods name would someone like to listen to such stories?
-It's kinda traditional thing. For me it was always calming – to hear about all those horrors and to know that they all are somewhere far away, and that there ain't a thing near you.
-Can you tell me one of those stories? Just out of general interest in lore, you must understand.
-Sure thing, sire. Let me tell you one of my favorite – about the king of nightmares! So everything happened long-long time ago...
… when magic was powerful force and only few were to stand up and confront the tyranny of mages. In one distant land, far from the heavy populated cities, on the edge of the Dark Forest small town was standing, full of proud and independent folk. They had neither king nor lord to command them – only a town mayor, who was chosen by voting system among men of the right age. They led a good and peaceful life, quite happy of their independence. 
But one day, as it always happens in stories, a strange things started to happen in the town. Children were disappearing from their beds in the middle of the night, while adults were seeing terrible nightmares. Magic was quite common those days, as you understand, and many have seen what some mages are capable of. As children kept vanishing with every passing day, panic and paranoia swept the city, bringing it into a complete chaos. Naturally, a witch hunt erupted, and everyone, suspected in magic, was shortly afterward burned, drowned, hanged or beheaded by the hands of parents, lost in sorrow, or afraid for their child safety.
Mayor, who was not able to deal with this situation no more, called out for help from every corner of the world – but none was brave enough to challenge a mage. Finally, when all hope was thought lost, one wandering knight answered the call and came to town with his brave squire. The knight calmed people down and traced the source of evil magic to some ancient ruins deep in the forest. He fought his way through many minions until he faced the evil mage himself. Once a man, there was nothing human left in his appearance. Terrified by the will and power of noble sir, mage tried to reason with him, and that's where knight made a grave mistake, by spending too much time talking to evil creature.
Mage wasn't going to surrender. He used children remained alive, clouding their minds and making them to attack brave warrior. Knights heart filled with sorrow and doubts, as he was forced to make his way through the corpses of innocent. By the time he reached self-named king of nightmares, his mind was already corrupted by the dark magic, and though he fought violently, his death was imminent. But when noble man fall on the ground, his squire bravely picked up his sword and killed weakened monster. After that he returned to town where knights body was laid to rest in the ground and a huge statue was build above, to remind everyone of his bravery and to serve as a warning for everyone who will dare to set foot in free town with evil thoughts...

… And thus squire ventured forth, to tell the story of brave knight and his victory over the wicked mage in every corner of the world! - proudly finished Samson and faced his sire to see his reaction.
Sire was not pleased. He was rather furious, actually, when he said:
- What a shameless lie! Who even dared to turn this known and famous fact from wandering knights history into such a terrible tale! I tell you, Sam, I know this story and I know exactly how it went, so let me pull you out of this dark and deep pit of ignorance you are currently quite happy living in! This is how it actually went. So, there indeed was a so-called “free town” (yeah, much good their freedom did to them) troubled with a presence of foul mage and people went mad enough to start killing its own neighbors on a slightest suspicion of using magic! And one day...

…  One day brave Sir Ronald the Bane of Evil came into the town with his squire and loyal servant,  James Smith. Before venturing into the lair of great evil he gathered everyone at the main town square and, skillfully using both persuasion and intimidation, he raised the fallen moral and folks started to forget about the madness of past days as they joined together again in cleaning the town from all the signs of murder and destruction. Only after that  warrior faced the nightmarish mage army and cleansed the old ruins from evil presence. In the final battle, scared monster tried to reason with the knight, but he only yelled - “Die, foul creature” and rushed into the battle with his legendary sword – the Dawn Tide. Soon it was all over and Sir Ronald returned to the town with all the children stolen – alive and in a pretty decent health. He stayed after that and helped folk in rebuilding. Seeing that their freedom only led them to life of misery and fear, citizens willingly crowned brave knight to rule over them and he, in few years, made a strong and prosperous little kingdom and named capital city Hope as a reminder for future generation that even in the darkest times, there is always hope...
… -And that's the real story, the one and only, - finished sir William and add,- though the kingdom itself perished later in the last Great Mages War, the legacy of Sir Ronald lived and gave birth to the whole profession of wandering knights. Now you know the truth, squire, and I hope that from now forth you will not change a word from this great tale of valor and tell all those ignorant peasants the truth behind their so-called “scary story”. Sir Ronald was a great man and he deserves to be remembered for his deeds, not by some foolish lies!
-Of course, sire.
-Good then. This talk tired me enough, so I think I will have some decent sleep in the end. Good Night, Samson, stay vigil.
-Good night, Sire.

And so the brave knight in just a couple of hours learned many new things about common folk, and restored the vital truth. Or, at least, something he believed was a truth...