"Relax," he said. "I not gonna to hurt you." He stood up.

"Then what do you call this? A welcoming gift?" John gestured to the knife.

"If you're not an enemy, you must be a new prisoner, but we don't take any chances."

"Stay back!! I've killed before, and I won't hesitate to do it again."

"I'm a prisoner here just like you."

"That means you're a convicted murderer just like me. The minute I drop this knife you'll pick it up and go right at my throat. I'm not a fool. That was why you were hiding behind me in the shadows."

"Listen here you have it all wrong. I was on guard. when I saw you walk up I thought you were an enemy." John didn't put down the knife. "I had to get close to make sure."

"You must think I'm a fool to believe you were on guard. A murderer can't guard others. He would kill them to assure his own survival."

"That was how it was when I was first here, but then it changed when Varius showed up. He showed us that by killin' each other it only made it harder for us to defend ourselves. The more we kept each other alive the easier it is to survive." John stood still with the knife in his hand. "All right if you don't believe me, I take you to see Varius. That will prove I'm not lying."

It was hard for John to decide what to do. If this man was lying, the minute John walked over with the rest of the criminals they would attack him and kill him instantly. But what if he's not lying, John thought to himself. It didn't matter if he is lying or telling the truth, I'm going to have to go to the cabin anyway. John directed the man to lead him to the cabin. John made sure to keep his distance.

The inside of the cabin was spacious. It had an open living area which held doors to what looked like two bedrooms. John kept his senses on full alert. He didn't want to be caught off guard by a figure hidden in the shadows. They walked towards one of the bedrooms. John let the man go in but decided it was safer to wait outside in the living area.

"Varius wake up," spoke the stalkers voice.

"What is it?" said another man in a rough voice.

"We have a new prisoner who doesn't have much faith in our system."

John could hear the soft ruffling of bed covers followed by feet hitting the wooden floor. The footsteps grew closer as a figure arose from the darkness of the room.

It was an average sized man both in height and build. He had a scruffy unshaven face. His eyes were red begging for sleep. He let out a loud yawn and stretched his arms above his head. He rubbed his eyes to clear his vision.

"I see Clarence was right. You don't agree with our policy," he said gesturing toward the knife John still held poised. "There is more than twenty men in this lodge. If you were to be killed, we would have done it a long time ago. Now put the knife down so I may explain the system to you."

John gave it some thought, decided Varius was right and laid the knife on a table. Varius then ushered to one of the chairs at the table and sat down. John in turn did the same.

"I know exactly what you are thinking," said Varius. "You think as prisoners we are all evil hearted murders and thieves. I bet right now you believe it is every man for himself on this border." John was amazed by the accuracy of Varius' perception. "Well I'm disappointed to tell you you're wrong."

"I wouldn't consider it naive to believe were just murderers. Actually it was like that for some time. At least until I was imprisoned here." He shifted to a more comfortable position. "It started about a year ago. I was put on trail for my involvement with the Rogue Knights."

"Who were the Rogue Knights?" asked John.

"You must know who the Rogue Knights were. Everyone in Dunlock knows who they are."

"I'm sorry. My village is small we rarely heard any news from the capital."

"I'll tell you anyway." He sat back in his chair and began his story. "The Rogue Knights were started about thirty years ago during the reign of King Odin. I was just a boy when my father joined with them. It was started by group of rebellious Dunlock Knights who left the service of King Odin. They didn't agree with his imperialistic attitude, so they started the Rogue Knights in an attempt to protest Odin's reign. The protests started as peaceful rallies and speeches until Odin became fed up with it and hung several of the Rogue Knights including my father. Now it was all out war. Young and full of hate, I joined the Rogue Knights. My hate gave me power and soon enough I became leader. I grew up a lot when I was chosen to lead. I took a raggedy group of fighters, and organized them into a small army. Together we pillaged villages and raided castles of citizens who strongly supported Odin. Odin was furious and sent out his best knights to capture us, but under my leadership, they were never successful. He finally gave up and resorted to placing a bounty on all our heads. He choose to let the citizens bring us in. Too bad most of them were on our side."

"When Odin's reign finally ended and Davias took the throne, we celebrated a great victory, and decided to end our terrorists acts. It took us a year to realize how impossible it was to return to normal lives. Broke and still fugitives from the law we all reunited and started again. It wasn't long until the Dunlock soldiers captured me. If Odin was still king, I would have been sentenced to death, but now with Davias' trial by jury, I was sentence to ten years here on the northern border."

"When I arrived here the prisoners were wild and out of control. They were too busy holding knives to each others throats they forgot to protect themselves from the Dark Ones who periodically attack here. I taught them to defend each other. They laughed at me for a while until I explained to them that if you kill all of the other prisoners you will be the only one left to fight the Dark Ones. It made perfect sense to them, so we swore an oath to protect each other at least for the duration of our time on the border, and it has stayed this way since."

"It sounds very interesting, but it doesn't matter. I'll be out of here in a day anyway."

Varius let out a chuckle. "And how do you plan to do that?"

"The princess has promised me if I teach her how to fight, I can leave here in a day. So I promised."

"With how ugly she is, I'd rather stay here then help her."

"Have you ever seen her?"

"Well... uh... no actually I haven't. Why have you?"

"No I haven't either. When she spoke to me her face was hidden in some shadows. She can't be that repulsive. She is a princess. You haven't even seen her anyway, so how would know for sure."

"I don't, but think about this. Everyone in Dunlock has told me she is repulsive to look at, and she is locked in a tower probably by the king. Don't you think it would make sense that he wouldn't want the leader of a foreign country or citizens of his own to see how ugly his daughter is."

"I guess you do have a point there, but I did make a promise, and I can't go back on my word."

"You're right about that." He stood up and stretched out. "Well enough talk for tonight. We'll finish this in the morning, but for now I think we better go to sleep. Clarence will show you where to sleep."

The armor fit John very snugly around the torso. John refused to wear the full armor. He felt it would make him sluggish. Once they agreed on the armor, they looked for a suitable weapon.

"A sword would be nice," said John.

"Yes it would be nice against normal humans, but we rarely see normal humans here. You must remember that here on the border we are always fighting the Dark Ones," answered Varius.

"But what does that have to do with what weapon I choose."

"The Dark Ones are a lot harder to kill than normal humans. If you strike one with a sword it will only pause for a moment. If you cut off one of its limbs it will continue to fight without it. It is as if they feel no pain. The only way to kill them is to slice them six or seven times or cut off their head. A normal man would die in one or two hits from a sword, and it is difficult to cut off a man's head with a sword." He shoved aside several sets of armor until he found the weapon he was looking for. He bent down and picked it up. "Now an ax can do it in one shot and will do more bodily damage." He handed the heavy ax to John.

"Why are they so much more powerful than all other men?" asked John.

"I don't really know why. I have always believed that it is dark magic, yet others say that they are the bodies of departed soldiers. Their souls have been taken from them so they fight without pain or emotion. They body and the mind is all that remains."

"You mean their zombies."

"Not quite. Zombies are mindless, but the Dark Ones fight with the skill of warriors. The rumor is that they fight with the mind and skill Of the soldier who's body it is, but there is no individual soul. I don't really care who they are. They have killed a lot of good people and deserve to die for it." They exited the equipment shed. Varius locked the door, and the two walked back to the main house. They sat down at the table and partook of some bread for an early afternoon lunch.

"I just heard about what you did to get here," said Clarence who had just awaken after a long night of watch.

John paused for a moment. "Who me?" he asked pointing to himself.

"Of course you. I heard about you killed a boy at the knight school and then proceeded to stun ten Dunlock guards."

Varius had been listening. "Is this true John?" he asked.

"Yes it is."

"I heard you took on all ten of them at once with only a quarter staff as a weapon."

"Well that's not totally true they kind of came at me one at a time."

"Where did you receive training prior to school?" asked an interested Varius.

"I didn't receive any training. My father was a blacksmith."

Clarence let out a loud laugh. "No training! Come on now! A boy can't just kill a boy twice his size then beat ten Dunlock guards. I find that hard to believe."

"I don't," replied Varius. "There was someone who fought well and was also untrained. I found him when I was head of the Rogue Knights. About seven years ago we found a small cabin out in the country. The cabin looked as if it had been pillaged prior to us. When we went to check out the cabin my men were ambushed. I turned to see a young boy standing armed with merely a stick. I also saw my five comrades unconscious on the ground. He then charged at me screaming 'Die dark knight'. I parried his blow and tackled him to the ground. I explained to him that I wasn't a dark knight and I actually convinced him to join us."

"Ahh... you're full of cow dung, Varius," responded Clarence. He got up from the table and walked outside.

"What was his name?" asked John.

"I believe it was Kain, I think. I'm not really sure he never talked much just kept mostly to himself. He..." Suddenly they were interrupted by a loud horn. "Were under attack. Looks as if our day isn't going to be as peaceful as I planned."

Fear ran through John. What he had just learned about the Dark Knights had terrified him. He grabbed his ax and made a mad dash out of the cabin. John tried to quiet his fears. His mouth was dry, and he could hear his heart pounding in his ears. His sweaty hands held his ax. All the warriors joined each other in the middle of the camp. Each looked to Varius for leadership. He began instructing his band of fighters on how to line up.

"John you stay in back since your new and young at this." The other men looked at John. John knew they looked on him like a coward.

"I'll fight up front," John insisted.

"No you stay behind and keep safe."

"I do need everyone else to keep me safe. I can protect myself. I'm not a coward."

"John we have no time to argue. Just do what I say." Varius turned and rushed off with the other men deep into the valley.

"I not going to stay behind like some wife or child." John checked to see if his armor was snug, grabbed his ax, and hurried after the group.

Fifteen dark forms approached in the distance. They made no sound as they approached. There was no traditional battle yell as in the beginning of most battles. All that could be heard was a few solitary birds singing through the valley, and the hoof beats of one man in black armor riding behind the fifteen.

John stood back trying not to be seen by Varius. He decided once the fighting was underway he was going to sneak into the thick of it. All of the prisoners drew their large weapons. Most of them had axes, but he noticed some had large maces. He also noticed Clarence carried an oversized, four foot long, two handed sword. I guess I could have really got one if I was persistent, he thought to himself.

As they approached John's pulse began to quicken. He pulled the ax from his back and readied it. The Dark Ones picked up the pace and began to charge. It was strange even when they charged they still remained quiet. As they shortened the distance, they sped up.

"Steady," called Varius, "steady, hold your ground until they come into attack range."

They were incredibly close. John began to shake with anticipation. Everyone else remained calm.

"NOW!!!" screamed Varius. With the blink of an eye all of the battle ready warriors broke from there still poses and rushed the Dark Ones. The waves of black and gray crashed into each other creating a flood of battling men.

John fell into a trance as he watched the on going battle. He had never been so close to a real battle before. He shook the dizziness caused by his adrenaline rush. He refocused his senses, gripped his ax, and rushed into the crazed fighting.

He tried to find a place to enter the carnage and noticed a lone Dark Knight standing uncontested. He rushed the dark form with the ax held high above his head. The knight readied his sword expecting John to swing first, but John was patient. The knight took advantage of the initiative and swung at John. John was quick to parry it, but the blow was so strong it knocked John to the ground. While on the ground, the knight took another shot at John. John quickly rolled clear of it and hopped back on to his feet. It was difficult to be quick with such a heavy weapon.

The feeling began to fill his body once again and he could feel his senses heighten.

The knight stepped back as John readied himself for battle once again. This time John felt more confident and held the ax high as if his next move was to swing down with it. The knight anticipated this, but thought wrong. Instead of swinging down, John pulled his ax down and jabbed the knight in the mid section with the spear pointed tip. Blood rushed from the wound. Before the knight could recover, John swung the ax in a wide vertical arc and came down on the knight's right shoulder. The severed arm fell to the ground still holding a sword. The knight stumbled backward. He didn't even utter a scream as would a normal man who lost his arm. He just re gained his balance and charged at John. Davias was right, John thought. John swung the ax in a wide horizontal arc and struck the knight in the abdomen. The knight keeled over on to his knees. John put his foot on the knight to gain leverage so he could pull his ax since the wound was incredibly deep. The knight struggled to get up. With an overhead swing as if he was splitting a log of wood, John decapitated the knight.

He took a long breath to try and cool down. He was sweating profusely, but he didn't stand around long. He knew there was no time to stop and relax. He turned to face the battle. He saw Clarence struggling with a Dark Knight. The knight struck Clarence, sending him to one knee. Then, without hesitation, the knight stabbed Clarence through the chest up by the left shoulder. John stood too far to help, but that didn't stop him. He held the ax high and then swung down and let go. The ax spun vertically in the air and struck the knight in the middle of the chest. The hit knocked the knight flat on his back.

John rushed over to Clarence. He struggled to stand, but the sword was still lodged in his chest. He moaned in pain. "Clarence, don't worry I'm here," said John.

"Don't worry about me. My time has come."

"Don't say that. You will be all right."

He laughed, but stopped quickly as he clutched the sword and gritted his teeth in pain. "You must… LOOK OUT," he yelled. John quickly jumped to the side as Clarence stabbed the forgotten knight through the helmet. He fell to the ground and laid motionless. "You must stop them. You cannot let this evil concur the world. We are just a small part here… of something… much larger. You… have… to…. stop… them… or… we … will… all… per…ish…" His eyes rolled to the back of his head as his body collapsed to the ground.

John pulled the sword from the dead knights head. He scanned the battlefield for the next victim. His blood began to boil with anger. His rage was combining with his adrenaline creating a powerful mix. He decided he would go after the leader on the horse. He started toward him when Varius' voice stopped him.

"John what are you doing," yelled Varius.

"I avenging Clarence and putting an end this," responded John.

"Don't be foolish. There is no need for vengeance."

John kept walking toward the one knight on horseback. Varius noticed where he was heading. "John stay clear of him. He is too powerful. He'll kill you." John kept walking ignoring Varius' warning. "Foolish boy. His emotions are going to get him killed," said Varius to himself. Varius started to run over to stop him but was confronted by another knight.

"Come on you bastard!!" yelled John to the knight.

The knight turned on his horse and began to charge toward John. John prepared himself to absorb the blow. The knight pulled his sword form its sheath. It was strange, but it seemed as if the sword made John feel cold with fear. The knight struck John with such force that John spun two full turns in the air before he fell to the ground. He stood and looked at his sword which was broken in two. His mind began to flood in panic. He didn't know what to do.

The knight turned his horse and charged again. John stood in total fear and shock. The knight spun the sword in the air, and it felt hypnotizing to John. The knight and sliced John along his left shoulder. The pain shot through John like an inferno. His head began to spin. He fell to his knees clutching his shoulder. The blood ran down his hand and arm onto the grass. He gasped for air and tried to focus his concentration on the pain trying to stand, but when he tried he just fell back his knees.

Varius swung his ax downward on the center on the knight's head. It collided in an explosion of blood. He twisted it back and forth as he tried to dislodge it from the knights skull. Once free he looked to find John. He saw the knight strike John on the shoulder, and John fall to his knees. "John!!!" he yelled.

He turned to the rest of his men. "Come on!!! We have to help John!!!" he yelled to them. Most of them had finished their fighting. In fact their were only two Dark Knights left standing. All of the free men turned with Varius and rushed the knight on horseback.

The knight was beginning a second run when he noticed the knights rushing at him. He looked around and found he was beaten. He turned his horse and retreated.

John's head was spinning. He began to feel tired. The pain started to disappear. It felt as if all of his energy was being pulled from his body. He sat back on his heels. Suddenly everything went dark.

Varius turned to see John collapse, face first, into the grass. "Oh no," he said to himself as he broke into a dead sprint to John.