Sentria: The Knight Prince (Book 1)

Chapter One: Relic

Somehow, I had gotten lost along the way. What embarrassed me most was that I had been in this wood hundreds of times since my youth, running alongside streams and climbing the thick thornberry trees, and I had thought that I knew it as well as the back of my gauntleted hand, but alas, I was confounded.

I rode upon my white horse at a steady pace through a lonely trail in the Old Wood, adorned in the strongest Sentrian armor. My white cloak with the Sentrian sigil of the silver griffin flapped in the wind behind me. I cursed myself for having been so foolish; My lust for adventure took me away from the company of knights charged with overseeing my well-being. Such cravings were beyond my control. My dream was to become a knight of valor, but my princely duties only permitted mere glimpses of storied conquests. Instead, I endured mocked jousts and battles with underlings who would lose to me on purpose. They would sooner cut their own necks than cut a strand of my midnight black hair, and I resented them for their restraint. I needed distance from all the coddling and attention and wound up damning myself in the process.

I came to a narrow path with rows of perfectly aligned trees at either side and I spun my horse around to look for any familiar sights. Nothing struck a chord and I huffed in frustration. This was like a completely new land. It didn't make sense. I snapped the reins and sped through the tree lane and dismounted when I reached a small pond, washing my face and cooling down, more from frustration than fatigue. I looked down in the waters upon my pale reflection, as if to remind myself who I was. I had been told by peasant and noble alike that I was the most handsome prince in all of Askeran, but I never took these words to heart, for words are oft wrapped in hidden agenda.

I hopped on my horse and kicked the heels of my boots into his side. "Hyah!" I said, inspiring him to trot down the narrow dirt path. I listened for any sounds of my clanking guards who were surely searching for me, but all that I heard was the sound of woodland creatures scurrying about and the faint whispering winds. The path became hilly with ups and downs and twists and turns and I worried that the further I went, the further I would get from my Sentria Castle. It was still light out, but if I stayed for a few more hours, the dark would come and overtake the wood and it would become that much harder to navigate. Southern Bears liked to rummage through the woods at night and they wouldn't have a care that I was High Prince Darren of the noble family Colress, worth more gold than could be imagined. They would have only seen me as fresh meat.

The trail ended and I made it to a small clearing where I heard the light sounds of music. It was hauntingly beautiful, like a nightmare painted in pastels. It was so incredibly strange that I at first thought that I was hearing things untrue—a trick of the wind. I grabbed the rose-gold swirling hilt of my long Lorian blade in preparation for battle. Perhaps this wood had driven me mad, or the dreadful spellcasting relics had wandered past the boundary and were playing some mischievous game. My family had driven them out many decades ago and they weren't permitted in this hallowed land so close to the civilized kingdom of Sentria, the greatest kingdom in the realm of Askeran.

I snapped the reins and rode in the direction of the sound. It was difficult to claim. It seemed to be moving in unpredictable ways—sometimes it sounded like it was in two places at once, sometimes close, sometimes far. I kept turning and moving and racing and none of my choices prevailed. Even my horse was confused by it, but I wouldn't give up so easily. If I ever wished to prove myself a knight, then every confrontation needed to be met with triumphant vigor. Nothing less.

My searching eventually brought me to a cave in the form of a monstrously craggy face with its mouth open wide as if it wanted to devour all of creation whole. There was something unspeakably morbid about it. I had never seen anything so ghastly, and I thought to blame the relics for its creation in this peaceful place. They were known for terrorizing the villages in the Sentria Kingdom and the surrounding kingdoms in olden times, killing off cattle, sending bugs to devour crops in the western farmlands, and creating temperamental weather conditions, making travel a wearisome affair. If they were responsible for this crime, they would be held to account.