Chapter 40: Go Forward
Sir Gunnar took out another goblin before the storm died down and no new monsters were coming down from the foothills—there was simply the mess they were dealing with already and nothing more.
His dark eyes scanned his surroundings and he didn't find any further threats. There were already plenty of knights deeper in the fields past the barracks and doing a fine job of slicing down monsters.
The Knights of Tenetium were well-practiced. Even if Duke Arlin didn't care much about the state of the order, Gunnar and Arthur made sure that they weren't long without having a blade in their hands or helping others.
The fruits of his labor weren't for nothing.
The man reached downward and lifted the apprentice. Iro was small. It was easy for the knight.
"Forgive me," she pleaded. "I wasn't thinking. The shield made me slow. I wouldn't have been able to do anything against a goblin so fast."
It was then that the old knight realized the apprentice was trembling. Perhaps she knew that she had been close to a much worse outcome.
However, the reality of dying at the hands of a goblin struck her at the strangest of times. Even the ache in her ribs wasn't nearly as bad as the fear of dying again.
The pain of being stabbed through her chest and feeling herself bleed out was like nothing else. It continued to make her question if it was a reality she lived or simply a vivid dream. Her truth was no less clear because she behaved as if she truly had been murdered by a goblin at one point.
She couldn't compose herself or rein in her body's response as she normally could. Even when she was in the forest hunting rabbits for her father and stumbling upon goblins, she didn't experience such palpable fear.
Gunnar realized his approach was harsh and his original reaction was out of fear of having to witness another apprentice die when he was a mere short distance away.