All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 226: A Knight’s Oath

The Nighty Knights let out a snicker. Evidently, the idea of their mothers being upset made them laugh rather than feel guilty.

Felix moved to the front of the group, standing as tall as he could manage. "Miss Bee, we did what we had to. They couldn't expect us to just sit here while our home's threatened. We have the skills to do somethin' now. We have the levels. You know as well as we do that we're some of the strongest fighters at the castle. We aren't gonna sit there like a bunch of scared adults when someone comes to threaten us. Not again."

The rest of the Nighty Knights grumbled their agreement with his statement. Bee frowned. Evidently, the loss of their homes had impacted these kids more than anyone had realized. The fact that no one saw this coming spoke to how much they'd underestimated the kids, as well as how well they'd been handling the frankly traumatizing events up to this point.

"And we did leave a note," Bradley added as if that excused their actions. The Knights were silent at that. "What? We didn't run off without saying anything!" He looked around but received no support on that front.

Bee just sighed and gave him an exasperated look. She guessed that they likely just weren't aware of the plans already made to sabotage the incoming army. Why would they? Those were high-level military discussions. And so, the Nighty Knights struck out, determined to do their part when they saw nothing being done. She couldn't help but respect them for it, in a way. But at the same time, it was incredibly naive.

Void had done well, instilling them with a sense of responsibility and restraint. But there was only so much that could be done. The fact that they had the levels and the abilities of someone well into adulthood didn't really help with their maturity.

Bee sighed and ran her hand down her face. "I am disappointed in you, Felix." She said, turning to their commander. "Disappointed that you have so little faith in me and Void to take care of this ourselves."

Felix looked appropriately guilty but slightly confused. "But it wasn't. Maybe the castle's gettin' more walls and stuff, but the army's not goin' out to meet them. Everyone's just holin' up at home."

"There are hundreds of ambushes and acts of sabotage planned, but they were planned in better locations than this." She said, gesturing to the wide open plains. "We wanted to lure them deeper into the forest, where they'd be more vulnerable, so we could hit them harder before they started to prepare for us. But now? Now, they'll be on guard and wary."

To be honest, she was making it out to be a bit of a bigger deal than it really was. It's very unlikely that the army was going to be unprepared when they were strung out on a road and vulnerable, but one could always hope. The reason they hadn't been hitting them too hard was that most of their scouting units still hadn't made it this far, and those that did weren't willing to risk being caught on the open plains. If they had been in the area ahead of time and had time to prepare, that was one thing. But when the enemy was just as they were about to enter the forest, it didn't seem worth it.

The Nighty Knights could attest to this based off of their own troubles escaping after a single assault. Assuming this was their first.

The Nighty Knights shared an uncomfortable look as they processed her words. Eventually, one of the younger children broke the silence. "But, but we hit them good. We did good. It was worth it."

Bee looked at the speaker, a young girl, probably around six years old. She met Bee's gaze without flinching. The cold anger in the girl's gaze made her shiver involuntarily. "My squad got the horsies. We cut each rope and set each horse free. We also got all the saddle straps n' stuff before they even noticed us. They thought we were just some stable boys, taking care of the horsies for some coppers." She pulled out a handful of shiny coins. "They even paid us."

Felix nodded as she finished speaking. "We've got a good in here. No one's gonna suspect us, even now. There are a lot of children besides us running around from the women's camp a little ways away. And soldiers are constantly complainin' about em' getting underfoot. But they don't do anythin' more than just maybe yell at us a bit."

As much as she hated to admit it, Felix had a point. Children running around in Arthur's camp might've received slightly different treatment, especially after the men's experiences in the arena. But of course, anyone reasonable wouldn't expect such a thing from children normally. Because they were supposed to be innocent. Sabotage, burning food, freeing horses, and setting tents on fire usually involved killing people. She hadn't seen any deaths that night nor any intentional harm to the soldiers other than from the fires. But if they decided to keep at it? She wouldn't be surprised if some of these children ended up taking a life, intentionally or not. That was not something she wanted on her conscience.

She stared at the group before her, thinking. More than ever before, the memories of these children playing catch with Void warred with the elite fighting force standing before her now. Most children didn't have the ability to pull something like this off, much less pull it off. But these Nighty Knights were different. They had been personally trained by a god, so their abilities were far and above what anyone could expect from them. They took on burdens far beyond what they should be concerned about, yet at the same time, they did so with a childlike innocence that had them acting unpredictably.

The Nighty Knights looked at her with unapologetic resolve, waiting for her to give a reason why they shouldn't be out here. They seemed to understand why their parents were upset, all besides Bradley. Maybe he was a bit too idealistic, thinking that a note would calm them down. But she could see that they were not going to go home without a fight. They believed in their cause, in defending their homes and families. It left her with no real good options.

To be honest, Bee wanted nothing more than to drag them all home that very instant. She supposed she could order them as their high priestess to go back home in the name of Void, but would that work? Or would they sneak out again, act on their own, and get into an even worse situation? That being said, she couldn't just allow them to be involved in a literal war.

She closed her eyes. What would Void do? Would it protect their innocence as it had protected their lives when they were young? Or would it respect their honest desire to protect their home, to put their training to use?

Opening her eyes, she made a decision. No matter what, she couldn't let them be here by herself. That was just too irresponsible of her. But... compromises could be made.

"Okay," she sighed, finally making her decision. "You all made a mistake to come out here on your own, especially without consulting me. But," she continued before they could interject, "I understand your frustrations. How much you want to help. So. I will stay here with you and assist until the scouts and saboteurs from Susan and Captain Major's divisions arrive. After that, we're all going home to prepare for the siege and leave the fighting to the army. Alright?"

At the restrained excitement in their nods, she hardened her gaze. "But there are conditions. First: no harming any people. You got lucky tonight that those tent fires didn't kill anyone. We are only going to do nonlethal sabotages. These aren't undead or monsters. I don't care how competent you all are, no one is taking a life at this age." Her eyes swept across the group. "You get into trouble, you run. You only hurt someone as an absolute last resort, in self defense, if there are no other options. If you can't agree to that, then we're going home right now."

She met the Nighty Knights' eyes with a stern look that promised that if there was any dissent, she would be dragging them all back physically, and there was nothing they could do about it. Felix looked a bit chastised but nodded, accepting the deal. A few of them appeared almost annoyed at the lecture, but most of them seemed to easily accept the terms.

Bee relaxed. The reaction reassured her. Thankfully, it didn't seem like they were here to seek glory or battle itself. They really did just want to help protect their home. But their willingness to retreat when someone else was stepping up let her feel slightly more at ease.

"Good. With that settled, let's go through an after-action report. What was your plan, and how did it go?"

Bee nodded, seeing their explanation of how it had gone down. She was rather satisfied with their plan. She couldn't see any obvious problems with it, and they'd put in a surprising amount of contingencies and backup routes. But maybe someone with more experience would be able to do better. To her relief, all of their targets had been supplies, maps, reports, and other similar items. Not people. They hadn't planned for any loss of life or obvious aggression. "All right. So what went wrong?"

They looked at each other and shrugged. "Well." Bradley said, "it was harder to get through the camp than we thought. Once everything was stirred up, at least. There were just so many people running around that it was hard to tell what was going on. And they are a lot taller than us, so it was hard to see very far."

"I tried my best to coordinate," Felix added, "but I can only broadcast messages right now. I couldn't get info back from all the squads, so I was kinda limited too."

"Yes, communication is one of the most difficult parts of battle, according to Arthur." Bee nodded. "That's why it's best to always have someone watching over the whole thing, some way to communicate across an entire battlefield. That's why trumpets and horns are so useful, though colored flags and lanterns work as well. They provide the enemy a bit of a target though. You're lucky to have Felix's skill. Give me some ideas of what you could use as a signal to get info to him, though."

People looked around, and someone spoke up. "Well, we could use something like the fireworks? To get our timing done better."

They tossed out a few of the suggestions, and Bee eventually indicated Cliff lying near Tanu. "You have a very effective scout and signaler right here, don't you?"

They looked at the wolf as she explained. "See, wolf howls carry long distances but are also perfect for blending into the rest of the environment. No one will think twice about a wolf howling in the distance, especially in the evening. And if you work out a set of signals ahead of time, you won't have to worry about them being confused with actual wolves. That can probably help get info to Felix."

The Nighty Knights were nodding, considering her idea. "Good. Now, let's talk about tomorrow's plans."