A group of men and women in shining white like armor proudly make their way through the lobby of the adventure’s guild. The receptionist’s, adventures, and guest’s eyes are filled with awe and envy. The Sky Knights Order was a party formed from elite adventures. It was an honor to join their order.

The elevator that was almost full suddenly becomes empty upon sighting the Sky Knight’s Order. With ease, the Sky Knights enter the now empty elevator. The Sky Knights commander is a stern, handsome man with a scar across his chin nods his head in thanks. The men are filled with wonder as the woman flush prettily at the single head nod. The leader of the Sky Knight Order, Sir William was a legend among men for a variety of reasons.

The elevator rises as swift as any valiant stead as the Ride of the Valkyries, ironically plays in the background. Despite wearing metal armor, not a single sound is made as they move silently towards the conference room. The various members seat themselves at the table as their leader, Sir William remains standing.

The clock ticks by slowly as the members of the order begin to look impatient. Sir William looks as placid as ever as he calmly waits. A hurried man with glasses and dark eyeshadows under his eyes scurries inside the glass conference room. In his arms are various folders as he stretches his hand out for Sir William to shake. The papers suddenly become strewn onto the floor. The man anxiously crawls on all fours to gather the fallen documents. “I’m so sorry for being late, but I was tied up cleaning up after Alpha Five. Trust me, you don’t want to know,” the man jabbered as he finishes gathering the important documents.

The man carefully holds them in place with a clip before climbing onto his feet. A loud painful thud is heard as the men and women wince as the man slams his head into the corner of the conference table. The poor man head drops back onto the floor as he cradles his aching head in his arms. Moments later, with tears in the corner of his eyes, his head carefully appears over the edge and places the gathered documents onto the smooth conference table. “Sorry about that, allow me to introduce myself, I’m Allen Wright. I’m an administrator for safety regulations in the field. We’ve had a complaint’s and we need the Sky Knights to take care of it,” Mr. Wright steadily said.

Sir William narrows his eyes and says, “And why are we being called in for such a minor issue. I’m sure there’s plenty of other teams that can easily take care of the guild’s needs. What’s so special about this one?”

Mr. Wright anxiously pushes his glasses up his nose and says, “Well, we’re not sure exactly what we’re dealing with to be precise.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” A curved female knight roared.

Mr. Wright flinches as he removes his glasses and pretends to clean them with his shirt. “To be more specific, we’ve been too afraid to send a team after what happened last time. And since we’re dealing with Ophidian Wilderness, the guild has decided to err on the side of caution,” Mr. Wright reluctantly said as he lamented at having been saddled with the job. It had sounded so easy, but no, he wanted the promotion for team lead over Kimmy Chang.

“Then we’re being sent because the guild is afraid that this might a potential hazard of an A class level threat?” Sir William sternly asked.

“Yes,” Mr. Wright squeaked as he places his glasses back onto his nose.

“We’ll take it,” Sir William said as Mr. Wright almost cries with relief.

“I’ll let the head supervisor know immediately!” Mr. Wright squeaked as he hastily gathers his things and almost trips in his haste to flee. His figure quickly disappears into the distance becoming a dark running spot.

The Sky Knight’s order turns reflexively towards Sir William. “Prepare yourselves, we leave in an hour for Ophidian Wilderness. Move out,” he said as the knight’s salute and move out. The outspoken female knight remains behind as she unhappily pouts.

“Sir William, this mission is clearly dangerous! Ophidian Wilderness is a B class dungeon,” she unhappily stated as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Hilde, I know that, but we can’t permit for the innocents to perish because of our cowardice. We are the Sky Knights and shan’t be so easily defeated!” Sir William harshly answered back. Hilde bites her lip as she turns her head away and stomps out of the conference room. Sir William smiles warily as he watches her snarl at a poor passing soul that got in her way. He chuckles ruefully as he too departs to prepare his mind and soul for the fight against evil.

*

Sudden light flashes as a group of knights appear off course and land amid the humid jungle. Sir William firmly declares, “Michael, note down our current coordinates. We need to let the mage technicians know that the teleportation ring coordinates are off center.”

“Yes, Sir William!” The young brawny knight proudly replied as he scurried to calculate their present coordinates. Once Michael finished, Sir William led the march across the jungle. The knight’s march through the jungle with an impeccable air and despite the heat not a single drop of sweat can be seen on their brows. Even the insects didn’t darebother them as the knight’s march towards the direction of the dungeon.

Sir William halts and draws his sword at the edge of the jungle clearing. The group of knights does the same as they reach for their weapons and hold them ready for battle. The jungle is full of squeaking animals overhead, but not a single sound is heard out of the norm.

Still wary and ready for battle Sir William leads the way into the clearing. With a frown, he studies the ground and notices signs of battle across the ground. There are plenty of animal tracks across the clearing that show signs of recent scavenging. Not even bones are left as larger animals no doubt took them away to chew on.

The Sky Knights remain on alert for several hours but nothing appears. Sir William finally sheathes his sword as the rest of the knights follow in turn. “We are returning back to headquarters, our mission is a success,” Sir William said as the Sky Knights look puzzled.

A young knight hesitantly asks, “But sir, what about the monster?”

“There is no monster, therefore our mission has been completed,” Sir William promptly replied as the young knight looks even more confused.

Hilde looks down her nose and says, “Thomas, there are signs of battle on the grounds and scavenging. If there was a monster it is either dead or gravely wounded and therefore won’t be returning. In which case, neither is our problem. We were asked to kill the beast, not to capture it.”

The other knights snicker as the young man looks embarrassed as they gather on the teleportation ring. Sir William speaks the words out loud to return to headquarters. The pentagraph formation begins to glow and releases a bright flash as their figures vanish into thin air.

The mage technicians are impressed at the information that they brought back, whereas the guild branch head was impressed precision and swiftness that the Sky Knights completed their request. The entire branch is abuzz at the Sky Knights feat as the still green adventures stare with awe and envy at the men and women in shining armor passing through the branch. It was simply one more feat added to the Sky Knights ever-growing legend and popularity.

*

Council members sit at a long roundtable as illusionary figures fill the council seats except for the guild branch head. “They should be praised for a job well done,” a brunette thirty-year-old woman argues.

A dark-skinned member nods his head in agreement and adds, “I concur with Miss Rime, the Sky Knights Order not only defeated the beast in a day but did so without incurring any injuries what so ever. That shows skill and talent.”

“I disagree. Sir William is the key for the entire operation. Should he fall amidst battle or a mission, the entire group will be in disarray,” a tiny Asian woman flatly stated as several other council members nod their head in agreement.

The air is tense as a well-dressed woman interjects, “Then shall we watch and wait?”

A senior man with a charming smile responds. “Why not do both? Reward them for now, but we shall watch them in future missions. Should they prove capable enough only then shall their status be elevated, does that suit all parties?

The extreme sides of both arguments are mollified by the response. The council members mumble their agreement as the meeting is closed. The figures disperse quietly and unobtrusively as the guild branch leader physically marches out of the conference room. However, every single council members heart was filled with doubts against each other. Was it truly that simple or was someone testing out a new batch of heroes?