Eques Tempus

Eques Tempus, the Knight of Time and the holder of the prophecies past, present and future. Damon has an idea with regard to a couple prophecies. One which was the reason they set on this journey of reclaiming the throne. But another. A silent one. One which no one was ever supposed to find out. He only wished that this one would define his fate alongside his Princess' without causing too much harm. He was ready to carry it out no matter the cost. No matter the loss. He would make sure the Princess would reside on her throne and once again restore the peace to her country. Whether he would be by her side or not. This was the promise every Frater of the Knighthood would promise themselves when they came to arms for the Princess.

Lost in thoughts over the future, the young Knight failed to notice the rise of the moon through his windows. The light entering the small window of the attic shone bright almost blinding the entire vicinity of the Eques Noctis. Damon shielded his eyes only to open them to the chirp of crickets only to realise that he was back in Atleana but only this time he had no idea as to where the Princess had seeked protection during the daylight. He looked around trying to locate any marks or tokens left behind by the Princess but none met his eyes. His trust in Eques Lux faltered as he couldn't help the gnawing feeling grow in his heart. His doubts on Eques Lux grew further as he wandered a bit further into the darkness looking for any signs or sigils which may point to the Princess's position but none were visible. It had been around II horas since he began his search for any presence of the Princess. Unfortunately, he found none and could only conclude that either his trust had been betrayed or the Princess and Eques Lux had found a clue to Eques Tempus. He hoped for the latter to be true but that did not stop his heart and mind thinking of the worst. His fear of losing his Princess could come true at any moment based on the number of attacks they had faced over time. Steeling his mind and keeping a stone on his emotions the young knight wandered through the woods in search of the Princess until he finally found the sigil of time carved into one of the trees. He looked around but could only notice shrubs and bushes along with thick trees. It was as if he was lured into a clearing which now that he saw it, it looked like a trap. The young knight trained his eyes in search of a way which might lead to the Knight or even the Princess and Eques Lux, but Deam Fortunam did not favour him. As he worked out how to find a path out of the clearing, he lost sight of the most important thing, his surroundings. His wandering eyes and his impatience to find the Princess made him lower his guard. Taking advantage of the distracted knight, an ugly and vulgar Thur beast attacked. Thurs were known to have excellent sense of presence and understanding of their prey's mental balance. The young Knight fought with elegance and speed causing the Thur to fall within a few strokes of his glaive. But something about the beast was off putting. As he walked closer to it the Thur swept the young Knight's feet off the ground. Surprised but not letting his guard down again he skated the Thur. But once again the Thur awoke. 

The fight was somewhat unstoppable at that point but Eques Noctis had yet to be outdone. This soul focus was the safety of the Princess and if he had to fight this creature till dawn only to let her gain more of a distance from this place he would. He also came to the realisation that if one Thur could react to a death slice in the way it did, there could be a probability of more mutations in the species which might endanger not only the Princess but also the Kingdom in the future. In the midst of evaluations and understanding what our brave knight had failed to notice was that every time he killed the Thur the sigil of Tempus lit up. He had failed to see that the sigil became a form of energy for the Thur to revive or rather it reversed the time for the Thur. It was complicated magic which should have affected the young knight as well but for some reason Eques Noctis was immune to such magic. And so he kept living in the present rather that been given a chance at redo he fought the creature in real time. This may have been amusing to the external eye but this mere experiment from the Tempus Knight could have a probable fatality to the young knight if not stopped. It helped him understand and improve his stamina and his parry but after the 35th kill the sigil yet unbeknownst to the knight disappeared and the Thur stopped rising. The Knight was sceptical at first as he walked cautiously towards the now finally dead creature but he was even more alert than before. He used this glaive to push the Thur a bit to ensure that it was really dead. He raised his glaive from the the beast's body when he felt a light breeze blew through his hair. A presence he had failed to notice throughout his fight. His eyes widened in realisation as he turned and pointed his weapon to the source of the wind which was standing right beside a burned sigil. 

There stood Eques Tempus, with eyes completely white and a raised eyebrow with a smirk on his face and by his side stood the one and only person who he swore to protect, his Princess. The young Knight's expression softened on laying his eyes on the Princess. He was glad she was safe but he had a gnawing feeling that as the number of knights in their encampment increased it would cause more problems. Shaking his thoughts out the young Knight stepped forward towards the Princess when the Eques Tempus raised his hand and locked him in a shield. The young Knight's eyes narrowed this time as he attempted to break through the shield but could not do so. His anger flared up as he came to a realisation that the possibility of one of the future Knights causing a problem and potential harm to the Princess may not be far away. As new knights would enter their company his position would always be questioned for, he was not known to many as a protector of the Princess. His name was a myth to most. And if that caused a problem for the knight, then the glue binding them together would weaken and the person who would suffer the most in this would be the Princess. With this thought in mind the young knight once again attacked the shield but this time he could break through it completely, shocking Eques Tempus. Before Eques Tempus could re-erect his shield, the Princess stepped forward towards the young knight. She had a hand on Eques Tempus' arm preventing him from stopping her but also controlling his actions towards her Knight. As she stood in front of Eques Noctis she asked,

"What is your name? And who are you?"

The Knight although confused bowed to the Princess on his knee. Glaive turned down and the blade touching the wet ground below him. He silently uttered his name, Damon, so that only the Princess may hear him. The Princess' eyes softened as she turned signalling her Knight that he was the one. All this while the young Knight had yet had his head bowed and did not want to raise it unless instructed. He would bow for all eternity if it meant his Princess was safe. The young Knight suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and although it did not have any strength enough to actually hold his weight or so him harm he got up looking straight at his Princess. She was smiling at him but he stepped to the side of the Princess effectively turning her around behind him and standing against the knight in front of him. His protecting stance was something that made Eques Tempus surprised. He was angry and worried and a bit of fear had entered his heart for a moment. His doubts against the behaviour of the Knight resulted in him failing to locate Eques Lux. Even if he had he wouldn't have been able to pay attention to him because his first priority was the Princess. Eques Tempus bowed curtly and raised his hands in front of him to show that he was harmless and said,

"Welcome Eques Noctis to the Woods of Time, I do understand that you have a few doubts regarding my inappropriate behaviour but one can never be too sure about reality." 

The young Knight did not understand the meaning behind his words. Watching the confused aura of the young Knight the Eques Tempus continued,

"The Thur kept coming back to life because of the Sigil of Time. It was a test for the young Knight to understand your determination to protect the Princess but also must have made you realise that you failed to notice your surroundings. If you had merely destroyed the sigil the Thur wouldn't have been able to come alive. At the same time, we wanted to ensure that you were Eques Noctis and not some imposter"

The young Knight closed his eyes and took a deep breath when he realised his mistake. He then felt the Princess' hand on his back as he calmed himself down while also asking a silent apology. The same emotion was reciprocated from within the young Knight's eyes which she readily accepted with a smile. This reunion was cut short by the rustling noise of bushes followed but the presence of Eques Lux. Eques Tempus explained to Eques Noctis how Eques Lux had to face the same adversary while the Princess giggled at the interaction but more so over the expression of the young Knight. The young Knight may have shaken his head but the Princess could understand his chuckle as silent as it may be. She had a deep understanding of him as he did of her. As she sat on a nearby root, she was glad that she had at least found three Knights among the seven she required for the war. But little did she know that there was an Eques 'Octo' whose name was etched into Eques Noctis's mind. For the prophecy would require not seven but eight knights to fight on the battlefield but that was a talk for another time. For the next stop would be …