[i] So all day long the noise of battle roll’d Among the mountains by the winter sea; Until King Arthur’s table, man by man, Had fallen in Lyonnesse about their Lord, [/i] [hr] [color=yellow]SHINING KNIGHT: FRAGMENT I PIETY 1.3 [/color] “ Trouble a stranger for a game of chess?” Justin looked up from the sports section he was reading and rolled his eyes. Of course, it had to be him. The man before him cast no shadow. His cheeks were sunken around his chiseled face with a smirk tilting the edges of his tightly pinched lips upwards. A navy blue trench-coat with gold trimmings cloaked most of his body and the brim of his blue bowler shadowed his eyes. “ You. ” Justin gently folded the paper before setting it down on the bench he was sitting on. “I can’t remember the last time we conversed. Help me recollect. Was it when you were idling by during the Salem Witch Burnings when I arrived on the shores of the New World for the first time or during the Battle of the Somme when I was drowning under German artillery fire? It’s often hard to see you under all your facade of impartial cowardice that you call neutrality. The man snapped his fingers and Justin’s paper flashed into flames. Wisps of smoke danced up as it curled upon itself into an ashen pile. Justin rubbed the ashes absentmindedly between his fingers whilst giving a rank look of annoyance at the man. “ That cost fifty pence. ” “ You’ll find that what I have to offer is more stimulating than the tabloid rag you were reading. ” The man’s accent was rich with a sonorous baritone that reverbated the air around his head. A chess board appeared in his hand out of nowhere and he shook it invitingly at Justin. Justin shook his head in disbelief before motioning over towards an empty picnic table for the both of them. The Stranger waved his hand and the litter simply faded away like a drop of water on a summer’s day. Justin’s skin shivered. It was a simple miracle that was only a small sliver of what he knew this unassuming looking man could do. Both of them sat down opposite to one another whilst bystanders walked around them, enjoying a walk in the sunny day. “ I haven’t played in centuries since the Crusades.” Justin said while helping set up the board. “ I might have forgotten the basics.” “ You’ve forgotten more than just that.” The man’s words made Justin briefly bristle in anger as he moved his pawn first. “ I’ve watched you for centuries, Justin of the Hebrides. You’ve changed in the last sixty years and not for the better I’m afraid.” “ The world’s changed.” Justin said bitterly. He thumbed his pawn forward haphazardly, considering moving his knight before settling on the bishop, moving it amateurly close to the other side of the board. “ It’s as simple as that. I’m just being less naive about it now than I was before.” “ If that’s what sheltering yourself away from the world is now.” The stranger continued to make headway into Justin’s side of the board, slowly plucking material off piece by piece. “ Pray tell, what exactly is your plan? You’ve been living as a homeless man in the Thames for the last fifty years and you’ve never taken the opportunity to kill yourself. You’re waiting.” “ I’m waiting to die. ” Justin grumbled bitterly, moving his queen into open view of the stranger’s pieces. “ Or maybe Justin Inse Ghall died when Camelot fell. It feels like the last nine centuries were me just pretending that every problem was a dragon that could be slain. I feel like a jester on Arthur’s court.” The stranger seemed to consider Justin’s open bait, his lip curled in contempt, before flicking his king over. “ You forfeit?,” Justin’s brow arched in confusion as the stranger stood up, adjusting his lapels tightly. “ There is no meaningful victory to be gained here.” The stranger spat out his next words in disgust like he had eaten a lemon. “ I came here to converse with a warrior of yore, a defender of justice, a good man that once fought for all. Where is the Shining Knight who ventured with Percy of Scandia to retrieve the Ebony Blade? Where is the Shining Knight who defended Jerusalem from the Crusades? Where is the Shining Knight who was a beacon of light for all in the cruel and unjust world? I now see that I was mistaken. Perhaps, you weren’t as brave as I thought you were. You hide here while the world screams for help. That’s all you’ve been doing. Hiding and rotting away in your past to avoid the present.” Justin flipped the picnic table over to the side, planks of wood crashing on the sodden dirt. The stranger was unfazed as Justin stabbed his finger into his chest several times. “ The world doesn’t deserve help!,” Justin hurtled the sentence out in one ragged breath. “ I was born in simpler times where thieves were sentenced by kings and everyone spoke to everyone face to face. Now, thieves rule as kings and whispers have become the new way of conversation. I’m an old relic of the past, nothing more!” The stranger didn’t speak as he gently removed Justin’s finger from his chest and placed his hand on his shoulder. “ You’re wrong. The world has much to learn from the Shining Knight and you must learn to gain what you have lost.” “ How?,” Justin shook his head, hopelessness on his face “ I can’t even use a bastard sword, much less an epe-” “I’m not talking about your skills.” The stranger traced a line over Justin’s chest, eventually stopping at his heart. “ I’m talking about your faith.” “ What do you expect me to do?” The next words out of the stranger’s mouth seemed to slow down time to a crawl, the sound of Justin’s heart beating in his ear. “ Find the lake to find yourself again.”