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I loved magic too much to be able to fully understand the Knights. They said that they were in our Lands, but not of our lands.

Kayal paused, seeming to suddenly recollect her audience. Her colour rose a little and she gave a short laugh to cover her confusion.

Kayal stood and curtsied deeply to Darius, saying "Forgive the presumption, my Lord. You know far more of the Knights than I could ever know. Is it wrong to go on?" The child was confused by this aside, until Darius replied. There was a tightness in his voice, though his words were still evenly measured as he said "No Kayal. They deserve to be remembered somewhere. None of us are ashamed that once we were Knights." Darius looked very mortal and vulnerable as he said those words, so the child understood why Kayal moved closer to him. She watched as Kayal gently placed her arm around him and drew him closer. If she'd dared, she would have hugged him too. This was not a fearsome God after all. He cared, and he cared deeply. Kayal's words were barely audible as she said "You are perhaps the last of the true Knights, my Lord. Yes, they deserve to be remembered."

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Kayal continued to hold Darius, as though to shield him from the hurt that the memories she now invoked might cause. Kayal did however turn back to face the child and her words were almost musing as she continued the tale.

The Knights were a strange clan. When they first appeared, we thought it was the old Crimson returned. The old Crimson, under their God, Chance, had been mischievous and fun-loving. They had been trouble-makers and thieves. The Crimson Knights were far different. I do not believe they came from this land. Their ways were too different. They had some strange belief that magic was corrupting the land. They refused to follow the paths of magic and instead drew on their inner strengths and somehow drew power from blood. Their belief seemed to be that this was a cleansing, healing way of drawing on innate powers from within. I think they believed that using external powers upset the natural order of things.

Kayal paused as though deep in thought. Kayal glanced at Darius as she said One day child, someone may be able to explain it better for you.

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At first, I feared the Knights. I am magic, it runs in my blood, in my veins. I feel the power in the land, in the elements. I only come truly alive when I feel it channel through me. For Blade, the leader of the Crimson Knights, to believe that I should never feel that again, that I was corrupting the land, was something I could not accept. When I fear something, I try very hard to understand it. I had long talks with Blade.

The child could see the glow that lit Kayal's face as she spoke of magic. A delicate rainbow aura seemed to light the room and it was a peaceful, beautiful aura that embraced them all.