Vane and Havoc

Another person dead by my hand. Sometimes I wish that I hadn’t earned this curse. You know better than to think that. This other personality - Havoc! - haunts me, controls me even. Makes me live longer than any human should. It’s a gift, one that you earned. One I sometimes wish I didn’t. Death hounds me. You are death, in a way. Silence, you do not comfort me. I’m not here to comfort you, only to be a guide as you serve the Balance. Yes, power for service, father always did tell me that power needs responsibility to be wisely used.

I sheathed the black crystalline long sword that is the second Apocalypse Crystal and closed the eyes of the dead assassin before me. “May Saint Shadow accept you into his cold embrace bold assassin.”

I then looked at the two guards that had watched me slay the contracted assassin. Such a shame that skilled men such as this assassin have to sign blood contracts to accept a job. Shut up. “Clean up the body, and the blood. Leah can not be allowed into this room until that is done. Do you understand?”

The guards nodded and began to gather others to assist in the disposal of the assassin’s body and cleaning of the room. I left the room and began the short search for Leah, the little girl that I was hired to guard until her father returned to protect her himself. I still don’t understand why you wish to keep her safe, she’s unimportant to the Balance. She’s the last in my bloodline and she will be a very powerful Weaver, why do you think I want to protect her? I know that, I still don’t understand the point, if you wish to create a new bloodline you can. That’s right, Havoc, you can’t understand.

When I found Leah, she was in her other play room curled up in a corner, crying. As I approached her, she sobbed. “Why do people want to hurt me? What do the evil people want from me?” Evil is relative, sweetheart. Shut up.

“Leah, I wish I could tell you why, but your father told me not to, but I will ask him to tell you when he gets back.”

“But I want to know now.” Tell her, you’re wasting your time and her life if she doesn’t know. So now you’re offering advice on this? Make up your mind, you support my choice to protect her or you don’t. If you’re not going to change your mind on this then I suppose I have no choice to support you. There’s always a choice, but I appreciate your decision.

I smiled. “Let me make you a promise. If your father doesn’t tell you when he gets back, then I will come back in one year to tell you everything you need to know. You’ll be fourteen by then, and old enough to know.”

She wiped her face off and nodded. “OK.”

You intend to keep that promise? My word is my bond, you know this. A foolish bond. “Let me get you that painting you were working on.”

She grabbed my hand. “No, stay. I can paint later. You remind me of Daddy and I feel safe with him around.”

I smiled. “OK.”

There was a knocking at the door and I turned to see a courier standing there with a letter in his hand. “Come in,” I gestured to myself.

He scurried in. “Message for you, sir,” he then turned around and left quickly.

Something about this is off. I opened the envelope and pulled out a letter.

Dear Vane,

I will not be able to return home, ever. I had learned that the guild that hired an assassin to kill my daughter, also sent an assassin after me. I managed to kill him, but not after I was poisoned by him. I can feel myself fading as I write this. Tell Leah I’m sorry, and keep her safe. Do not tell her of her ability until she begins to manifest it. There will be other assassins coming after her, so the best thing for you to do is take her with you on your travels. You will have access to all the funds of this family as payment, there is my broach in the envelope, with it you will be able to access the currency. Please accept this last job from me and once she turns sixteen you may be free of this job.

Thank you.

This is not what I expected. Finally, something we can agree on. “Leah… I have something to tell you. You need to listen to me, and do as I tell you afterwards.”

The Last Job

Damn it! I had to get shot on a job. By the Saints this arrow is agonizing. Damn it, a contract is a contract. I only wish now that I hadn’t agreed to it, because now this blasted job is going to be the end of me. I’ve got to keep moving. They’ll have begun moving the target if they’re intelligent. I just got to quickly snap this part of the arrow and take it out. By the Saints this hurts, but at least it went cleanly through… I hope. I hate these magical contracts. This job was supposed to be quick and easy, but he had to be here.

That cursed Vane had to be here. How could they manage to hire him? Him and his freakish senses, I swear he’s magical too. Now I’ve got to find the target and kill him before I get killed. Curses this leg hurts. Why didn’t I follow my instincts and say “no” to this job? Right… the money, I need it. Saints, I don’t want to die. Why do I have that gambling addiction? I swear if I get out of this alive, I’m taking the money and never gambling again.

I’ve never seen a royal house like this with so many guards. There’s no way they’d be guarding just one kid. There has got to be something else here. I think I’ll try to find it. First I’ve got to tourniquet this wound. Ugh, not used to seeing so much of my blood. Never mind about finding that thing, I’ve a job I need to finish before I get killed and the longer I’m here the more likely I’m going to die. This just means I need to find the kid and do the job and get out… if I can.

I dodged by some guards and dove into an empty room. How fortunate I found that secret door earlier or Vane would definitely have killed me. He’s better at swordplay than I am. I hope this luck keeps on going.

I dashed through a door in the room into one with two guards facing the door. Before they can react I pierce their lungs simultaneously with my curved long blades and carefully rest them to the ground. “May Saint Shadow embrace your souls in the afterlife.” Two more families would lose a loved one each by my hand. As I stood up again, my injured leg gave out, and I fell to the ground nearly letting out a yell of pain. It took me a moment to regain my breath and focus, and by then another guard checked the room from the hallway to see me with his dead comrades. I threw one of my blades at him and it hit the door, shoddy work. He scrambled into the hallway yelling for assistance.

I’ve got no time. I lunged to the door, yanked my blade from the door, and stumbled into the hallway praying that no one was near by. Behind me I saw two more guards charging at me with the run away with them. My heart skipped a beat as I stumbled gracelessly away from them. May the Saints grant me some mercy. I took the next door on my right to get a better position, hopefully. This room was clearly a massive child’s play room, and on the other side of it a young girl sat staring at bloody me with an easel in front of her, a simple half-finished painting rested on the easel.

She had long blonde hair and piercing green eyes. She couldn’t have been older than twelve, and she wore an elegant violet dress. Violet, my favorite color. This was the target, but I paused. She had an innocence about her that I couldn’t bring myself to end. She reminded me of the daughter I lost, the daughter I wished I could have saved.

It was then I saw a black flutter to my right and I reflexively dove forward as Vane lunged at me with his black, crystalline long sword. I turned to face him and searing pain brought me to a knee. My collapsing saved my life though, because as he finished his first attack he twisted and swung at my head. He missed and gave me a very clean shave. Taking advantage of my position and his failed attack, I lunged at him and swung with my left blade at his stomach, but he leaped back and I only gave his tailor another hole to fix.

I struggled to stand and again fell. A devilish grin came across the redheaded Vane’s face, because he knew I was dead and I knew it too. I dropped my blades and let myself fall to both knees. “End it, I can’t kill her, but I have to. End it so she can live.”

Vane’s expression changed to one of understanding. “Olivia, leave, please.” His commanding tone got her to quickly sprint past the both of us and the guards standing at the door watching the fight. I closed my eyes. Sweet freedom. Hello, my daughter.

Paul Davis’ Story

That speech I pulled left me with so much energy I carried the rest of the show with little issue. Jake was clearly thankful that I pulled myself together. After the show was finished the Boss gave me a pat on the back and a “Good job, son”, then I left for home. Nothing could have prepared me for the next day at work.

This next day started off like a normal one, except for one call:

“This is Vincent DeMoore, from… Minnesota,” I announced quite surprised at contact from a silent state.

“Hello, Paul, thank you for having me.” His calm voice sent a chill up my spine. “Hello, public of the United States of America, I am the leader of the Knights of Discord. Many of you may be wondering why I am doing what I am doing, and many others have suffered a great loss because of my organizations actions.”

Jake interjected. “So you admit responsibility to the deaths of the soldiers in Minneapolis?”

The chilling calm voice said. “Yes. The losses are regretful and I am sorry for all of the losses incurred, but they are not uncalled for.” His voice then began to ascend to a more passionate tone. “Those soldiers sacrificed their lives for a cause, our cause. The government isn’t working and the corruption within it is rotting away at everything. If these terrible policies do not change you all will suffer for it, and not because of us. We are no terrorists, we do not want to kill anyone, but what we do we do because we must.”

I glared. “Why must you do this? Why not use political means to change the government? That’s what democracy is for isn’t it?”

“Democracy is… broken. Broken by the very people that are in power now. What they do in those seats is only so they can keep sitting there, they don’t ‘serve the people’ they serve themselves, and those in power will do anything to stay there. I must do this because I tried to no avail to use political means and after five years of trying and trying I have had enough. Congress, the White House, the Pentagon, even the military. All of it must be torn down and rebuilt from the bottom up. Once a sturdy foundation is built then things will begin to improve.”

I couldn’t believe it. “But why? What is your motive, it must be something more than just changing the government?”

I could hear his smile. “Good questions, always asking the right ones. You want the answer? It is justice. I am Justice. Justice for the people who have been wronged by the government. Justice for the people that have been failed by the government. The government won’t fix itself because it has become lazy and arrogant, but the people will rise up and tear it down. All for the sake of justice. You think we only have Minnesota and pieces of our neighboring states? Think again our reach extends everywhere, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. If the government won’t serve the people, the people will serve themselves. Goodbye.”

I looked at Jake as Vincent hung up his phone. “He certainly doesn’t lack for passion.”

Jake nodded. “Yeah. Or sanity.”

Paul Davis’ Story

The lines were ringing off the hook. Every one of our listeners demanded more, had insights, or just wanted to hear their own voices. We didn’t have any more, and the insights were getting repetitive: “I support the Knights”, “What they’re doing is wrong”, and so forth. I’m not even going to talk about that third group. Jake and I tried to appease the masses, but the shock of the Sargent’s death had hit us hard. Eventually, we stopped the show and began to play music. I then took the scenic route home.

It was there I began to truly shut down. Jenna had made me tea for when I got there, but I didn’t drink it. I just went to my bed in a haze and laid there with my thoughts jumbling around. Never had I ever experienced a death on my show. “First for everything,” I heard myself say. I didn’t want to admit it, but everything I thought the Knights wouldn’t do, they did, and all of my predictions and thoughts had been wrong in the worst way. I felt guilty for my denial. I began to wonder, how many families lost someone today? My heart ached.

“You want to talk?” Jenna had been standing at the doorway while I thought.

“I don’t know what’s to talk about,” I rolled to face her and almost fell off the bed. “You listen to my show, right? That just about says it all. People died and I feel horrible about it.”

She rolled me onto my back and straddled me. “It’s not your fault, you know. Feeling guilty about their deaths won’t bring them back, and it won’t help you either.”

I closed my eyes. “I know. There must be something I can do though,  something.”

After I opened my eyes, I saw Jenna’s beautiful smile. “You can: keep going on with the show. You can help people by informing them on what’s going on and giving them a vent to share their thoughts and knowledge. If you can, you give them something to hope for.”

“Something to hope for.”

She nodded. “Yes.” She then leaned over me and whispered into my ear. “I have another reason for you to keep doing your show: I’m pregnant.”

I blinked. “You’re? I’m, I’m going to be a father?”

That beautiful smile, I broke into tears of joy. This was something we had been trying for years, and finally, I was going to be a father.

She kissed me and I returned the favor with a passion. For a while we just held each other, kissing, exploring each other’s bodies, loving, saying sweet nothings. The rest of the world was forgotten in that blissful moment, and I was happy. Because of an unfortunate accident she had as a child, the doctors had told us that having a child was more than likely impossible, but now we accomplished a miracle. Tomorrow, I would announce to the world that I am going to be a father.

The next few days were peaceful, and aside from the celebration of my wife’s pregnancy, nothing else happened. Then the casualty report arrived.

“Hello, listeners, this is Paul Davis of 102.9 WWLK speaking, and we have finally gotten what seems to be the casualty report of the apparent bombings that happened in Minneapolis.”

Jake pipped up. “That’s right folks. Initial reports say that more than three hundred soldiers were killed in the bombings that happened there including the death of Sargent Victoria Weis.”

“I would like to give up a moment of silence for the families that lost their loved ones that day.”

That minute was agonizingly slow, but it went by and I emotionally sent my regards to all the families that suffered because of the Knight’s of Discord attacks. I knew what it was like to lose someone close to you; my brother died in a car accident when I was twelve. Being young and stupid, I blamed myself for his death, but eventually we all pulled through. Now here I was, the old scars resurfaced into my life for the first time in a decade.

After the minute was up, Jake started up again in a muted voice. “There are about a hundred more troops missing, and after the first day of the explosions the commander-in-chief of that excursion called for a retreat back to the border to prevent further losses.”

I wasn’t going to let this put me down anymore. “This was a terrible loss, but we still can survive this. We live in an ever changing world, and new obstacles rise up against us. This is no different. I know some of you listeners support what the Knights of Discord are doing, but there are also those of you that are afraid of what might happen. Fear is OK, but you shouldn’t let it rule your lives. We have people that we’re responsible for, loved ones we have to take care of, and even if the Knights of Discord get what they want and change how the government is ordered, so be it, but we will continue living. Continue caring about our loved ones. Continue on as a country. Hope is still there, and in the midst of this chaos there is order, we just have to make it for ourselves if no one else will do it.”

Karrigan Rhougal: Night Watch

Night, it’s the worst time of the day, and here I am stuck with a guard shift at night. Who would’ve known that the academy’s best swordsman would end up as a night shift guard in some out of the way village with a name I can’t remember. The teacher said something about “attitude problem” I don’t have an attitude problem; he just had a problem with me because I beat him while training one day. Attitude problem…

I worked myself nearly to death some days training to get as good as I am, and then they waste my talents here. Maybe it’s because I’m a common-blood freak? That’s what the blue-bloods called me anyways, pricks. Sometimes they just made my blood boil, even now; thinking of those jerks makes me want to hit something. No, I’m a soldier now, I have discipline, and there is no need for me to hit anything except some bandit raid.

I should be out there fighting in some battle against any enemy we might end up coming across, but it’s not like that’s going to happen. Dragia has been at peace with its neighbors far too long now, but even then we’re still famous for our superior military. How can we know if it’s superior if there’s no one to test it out on? Valaya used to be our enemy, but after the war twenty years ago they’ve still yet to recover, and Reneva have been allies of ours since the beginning of time for all I know.

It’s not like I can pick a fight with just anyone either; I’ll just get discharged then, and I don’t want that. Maybe if I provoke someone into fighting me? Then I can beat him up without getting into trouble. That’s not likely to happen; I’m too easily provoked to do any decent provoking myself. For all I know I’ll end up provoking myself into beating the poor bugger up.

Nothing fun happens at night. Here I stand, me, Karrigan Rhougal, the best swordsman in the history of Lilac City Academy, and I have a job watching some stupid peasants. No, they aren’t stupid. By the Saints, why would I think such a thing? I am a bloody peasant. These people are my kin in a way. They earned their position just like I earned my guard position: bad luck. Nothing fun happens at night.

I’ve been here for two months with two other guards. I think their names are Philip and Hans, or maybe it’s Perry and Jan. I don’t know. They get the day shift, and I get the stinking night. I can’t imagine they have much fun either, but at least they have someone to talk with. I just get my thoughts and steadily lose my sanity.

Maybe I should just leave? I don’t deserve this position. I can find myself something else to do. I could become a mercenary; they get some fun don’t they? I can’t stand wasting my life here. Maybe I’ll think on it after I get some sleep. By the Saints! I can’t stand thinking anymore! I need action, no more thinking! I’m leaving tonight and that’s final. The other two can figure out what to do about shifts. I’m going to be somebody, not some stupid guard in a remote village that nobody cares about.

With that I got up from the uncomfortable wooden stool that was lent to me by the only villager that took pity on my position. Thomas I think his name was, yeah that’s right. I’ll leave it at his front door before I get my stuff. As I finished, I looked at myself. Sword, check. Armor, check. Food and water, something I’ll pick up before leaving. Horse, at the stables. I’m fine enough, I just need to pick up food and drink and I’m good.

The trip through the village to where the guards were house was uneventful. I think I scared a cat up a house, that’s it, and I’m not surprised in the least because I am a big man and I know it. The house we’re living in is no different than any of the other houses; simply put we’re peasants in a soldier’s outfit. I’m top dog here and I’m still worth less than dirt. I’m going to change that.

As I grab a bag and begin filling it up with travel rations and snatch a water skin, Hans or Jan woke up. Great, I just wanted to get in and get out without any trouble and he’s going to be curious about why I’m gathering so many supplies.

“Kar,” Hans mumbled as he stood up. I hated that nickname and he knew it. “What are you doing?”

I looked him square in the face. “I’m getting some food. I’m hungry.”

He squinted at the bag as I put one last day’s worth of rations into my bag. “Hungry for several days of rations? Why?”

I grinned at that, maybe I could get away with this. “I’m a big guy; you of all people should know I eat a lot.”

He shook his head. “Sure, yeah, whatever” and then he sat back in his bed and rubbed this eyes. “Can’t believe I got up for that.”

As I left the building and closed the door behind me, I began to move towards the stable. Part way there I heard a sound behind me and turned around to see an alert Hans staring at me ten paces away with his sword drawn. I knew I couldn’t have gotten away with this without trouble.

“Where’s Perry?” I glanced over his shoulder. “Didn’t wake him up?”

“It’s Philip, and there’s no need, I can arrest you no problem. I thought something was wrong, and then I realized no one eats that much, not even you.”

I grinned. “Now aren’t you a clever one. Forget you ever saw me. I’m not wasting my life at a post I didn’t deserve.”

He took a step closer. “No, you’re coming with me to the cell.”

I put my bag down. “Not that cage. I am not going in there. You’ll have to try to kill me before you even get me close to that stinking thing.”

“Fine” and with that, he lunged at me. It was pathetic how easy it was to break his guard, disarm him, and then snap his neck. I didn’t even need to draw my sword that’s how easy it was. All I needed to do was deflect his sword with my bracer and the rest was a cake walk. It’s odd how they said in the academy it was hard to take a life for the first time. This was nothing but exhilarating, and I was sad it was over so quickly and in such a less than dramatic fashion.

Good bye hell hole, welcome adventure. Good bye night watch.

Paul Davis’ Story

The next few days were a blur as nothing new came out of the Knights of Discord discussion even though that was all we were talking about. Until one day at work.

“So it seems the military is finally being called into Minnesota and Wisconsin to bring some order to the place,” Jake announced as soon as we were on the air.

I smirked. “Well, it’s about time the government decided to take action and shut this down. Have we got anything else on this yet, Jake?”

Jake shook his head. “No, but I’m curious what the locals in the area think of what’s going on. With troops coming in there must be some unrest, and what happens if the Knights decide to take action directly against them? And what if the Knights cause more damage than you think they could do?”

“That would be a shame, wouldn’t it? I don’t think that will happen. In fact now that the government has taken some action maybe these activists will turn tail and run.”

Jake gave a wolfish grin. “I don’t know, these people have a cause and people that truly believe in that cause will fight for it to the death. We’ve seen it in other countries, and it’s even happened here a couple times. You know in a couple things called the Revolution and the Civil War.”

Alright, I couldn’t argue with that logic. Jake had some pretty good points. “Yeah, with that logic I suppose there’ll be some fighting.”

Kassie quickly came into the studio and gave me a sheet of paper. It was a military report written by the commander-in-chief of the operation into Minnesota. It discussed the reason why no one got any communications from anyone in the state.

I moved my chair closer to the mic and quietly said. “OK folks, I’ve got some news on why the police force in Minnesota stopped communications with their neighbors. There aren’t any police left there apparently. After entering Minneapolis, the main force of troops sent to investigate found the city entirely vacated.”

“Weird, don’t you think Paul?” Jake injected.

“Yes, weird indeed. Forces began to explore the city, and found nobody and even supermarkets and food shops were emptied of supplies. Walmart buildings in the area were similarly empty. No sign of a struggle or anything.”

“Think they were in on it?” Jake’s tone reflected his snarky sarcastic attitude.

I shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I hope we find out soon enough. We have a call from a soldier in the area. Sargent Victoria Weis, what have you to say about the vanished population and resources in Minneapolis right now?”

“I’m not sure, something feels off. An entire city of people doesn’t just vanish overnight. I have a feeling that some real s— is about to go down soon, and I really don’t want that to happen. We have orders to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, but I’m not sure what suspicious is anymore, because this whole deal is suspicious.”

“What can you say about the raided department stores and market places?” Jake asked.

“That just takes the cake. I mean, there was no sign of a struggle or anything. The video feeds were all turned off before the stores were empty, so we have no idea what happened. The biggest question I have about that is where does one move all of that food and supplies? Hold on a sec, something’s going on. We found a civilian, I’ll be right back.”

I heard the Sargent put the receiver down and there was some noise and yelling. Then an explosion and then static took over the speakers on our end and I fell out of my set with a yelp. Jake just sat there for a while and stared at the speakers for a few seconds before he disconnected the line. The silence following afterwards hurt. Without doubt, my beliefs again were proven wrong, and the Knights of Discord did exactly what I thought they wouldn’t do. I could only imagine what was going on at the other end of the line, and my gut told me that Sargent Weis was dead along with whatever troops were at her location. Then there was that civilian. Was he a part of the Knights of Discord; what part did he have in the explosion that took out our connection? I suppose we’ll never know about that.

Jake was the first to regain his composure, sort of. “Well, uh, we just lost our connection with the Sargent. Um, I hope everything is good on her end, whatever happened over there didn’t sound pleasant, but we can hope something good came out of this.”

I got back in my seat. “I’m not so sure what there is to say about what just happened. I’m pretty sure I heard an explosion before the static, generally explosions aren’t good things, Jake.”

Jake coughed. “No, no, explosions generally aren’t good.”

“And now for a commercial break.”

Paul Davis’ Story

As my first post to my blog, I figured I’d post a piece of a work of mine with future parts of it coming up. This is the tale of Paul Davis, a radio show personality of a nationally broadcasting show experiences a rebellion and eventually becomes the only hope for order in the world. So without further ado, enjoy:

“Paul, we’ve got a story for you.”

That’s what I was told when I went to work today. My co-worker and friend, Clark, then directed me to the Boss who told me about this revolutionary group called the Knights of Discord. Anarchists. That’s the best word I can use to describe them. They’re a gathering of people so displeased by the government and it’s catering towards large corporations that they’re starting a revolution. Apparently they want no government and they feel that a violent takeover is the only way to get what they want. Not likely that they’ll succeed. They’re based in Minnesota of all the places! How will anyone take over the government from there?

My co-host, Jake, asked me what I thought of the story; I gave him exactly what I thought. Soon afterwards we were on the air.

“Hello my friends and listeners, this is Paul Davis”

“And Jake Wiles”

“Of 102.9 WWLK and here’s the news for the day: We’ve got a revolution on our hands folks! That’s right, revolution. From what I know many citizens of Minnesota, especially those in the northern lakes region are planning to overthrow the government.”

“Whoa! That can’t be good. And it isn’t, these people want there to be no government, and maybe that might be pushing it a little bit far.”

“That’s right, but you know what I think? I think that this revolution won’t last very long. I think the police and – if they’re needed – the military are going to round up these disgruntled and violently angry people if they get too riled up.”

“Well, Paul, what do you think will happen if these Knights of Discord actually succeed at their goals? Because I’m not sure what to think of this, the government has gotten a bit off track as far as serving the people go.”

“I’m pretty sure they won’t get much further, but if they do then I think – self-serving government or not – this won’t go as far as anarchy. Someone will be able to step in and help bring order and peace to the people. Then we’ll be able to fix the problems we currently have. All we need to do is work together to bring some integrity to the system.”

“Alright, I wonder now what do the listeners think? Kyle of the Windy City, you’re on the air.”

“Um, hi Paul, Jake, I’ve been listening to your show for years now. I love it, thanks for letting me on the air.”

“Thank you, Kyle, what do you think?”

“I think it’s stupid! Trying to overthrow the government? Why haven’t they tried other methods like petitioning the government? I hate it when people go straight to the worst action, when if they just thought about it for a bit they could find a better way.”

“Thank you, Kyle. Now, Julie, from New York, you have some insight?”

“Yes, Paul I do. I think they could do worse. Revolution? Sure it might not be the best option, but I bet that these people feel that this is the only option they have left. If they think they could succeed and make things better for all of us, I say go for it.”

“Yes, thank you. Terry from North Dakota, what’s your opinion?”

“I’m scared. I’ve got two kids and a wife to take care of and now we’ve got revolutionaries? What are the chances that innocents will be involved in this? I don’t want my family to get hurt. I hope the government shuts these guys down before too much happens.”

“I pray that no innocents get involved in this, but I’m confident this will not go far. Thank you, Terry. Next we have Warren of California. What have you to say?”

“Go man go! Viva la revolution! We should put down the stupid feds, they ain’t done nothing good for us. All they been doin’ lately is screwing us good people over. I think the Knights of Discord rock! Peace!”

I winced at that. “Um, OK, thank you for your opinion. Rachel of Maine?”

This went on for about fifteen minutes. The phones rang off the hooks the entire time and we got the full spectrum of what people thought. In the end, about half of the people were for it and the other half weren’t. There were no calls from Minnesota, which I found odd, but then again there were also no calls from Alaska, Florida, or Oregon, and not everyone that calls makes it through.

Thankfully at the end of this Jake said the magic words. “That’s all the callers we can take for today, now for some of your favorite music! Starting off with a new band: the Ever Lost.”

After we took our headsets off, Jake turned to me and grinned. “What do you think of that?”

The only word that came out of my mouth was “Wow”. I bet my face looked stupid because Jake’s grin widened after I said that.

He chuckled and spun in his chair. “The great Paul Davis, awestruck by the Knights of Discord and the opinions of a few dozen people, that’s a new one to me.”

I smiled at that and kicked Jake’s seat. “Shut up, you’ve got your show to run.”

As I got up, he turned to me. “Oh I’m running it.”

I left the studio room saying. “Oh and floss your teeth you’ve got something stuck in them.”

“Can’t fool me,” was what I heard as I closed the door behind me.

The Boss then approached me from out of nowhere, something I had learned to expect from him.

“Great work, Paul! The phones are ringing off the hook. People want to say their piece about the Knights and you’re going to keep covering them.”

I didn’t want it, but when the Boss wants something you keep him happy. It took me a moment to respond, and the response was a pathetic “OK”. OK. There was something condemning about those two letters. I had a bad feeling that the Knights weren’t going to go anywhere soon, and things would spiral out of control in no time. I only can hope that this feeling is wrong.

The Boss wasn’t done talking. “What do you think we should do? Should we keep the opinions coming in? Wait. Don’t answer that. I have an idea: we’re going to take people’s opinions and before advertisements come up were going to air a randomly selected opinion. Paul, I know you usually head out soon, but stay around for a while longer. I want you to listen in on the people and their thoughts.”

I found my voice this time. “Sir, I’ll do it, but I’m not feeling too good about this whole thing. First, you know I don’t think these guys have a chance against the government. Second, this feels all wrong.”

The Boss put his hand on my shoulder. “Relax, it’ll all work out. You’ll see.”

The rest of my day at work, I spent by listening to hundreds of thoughts and opinions on the Knights and the government. When I left, my ears were ringing and my brain pounded angrily against my skull demanding freedom from the stresses of today’s life. I got in my car and made the daily trip back home. I found my way into the kitchen and put a teapot of water on the stove.

“Bad day at work?”

I turned startled toward where my wife, Jenna, stood – correction – leaned against the wall at the base of the staircase up. I stared at the only woman I ever loved.

She smiled. “The great Paul Davis at a loss for words, you must have had a bad day.”

She walked seductively over to me, and we embraced each other. I slid my hand through her long, straight, jet black hair and found myself relaxing.

“A bad day is right.”

I then explained to her the entirety of my day with a mug of hot chamomile tea being the only interruption. She listened like a saint, and only said anything after I was completely done.

“I’m sorry you had such a rough day. I heard about the Knights of Discord and am sorry that you have to be involved with covering them at work. This will get better though. It always does. You can work with the cards you’ve been dealt, just make it something you enjoy, and don’t let it bring you down.”

I smiled, taking her hand. “Thank you, honey. You’re right, I can make this work. In fact I will.”

“Good, because I know you can. Why don’t we watch a movie and then go to bed?”

I nodded and that’s exactly what we did.