I watched the slow approach of the gaudily dressed man, and I heard Father clear his throat next to me. My father had always disapproved of finery, and this creature put it on blatant display. A long train of white fabric trailed from him as he slinked toward the dais. He was a thin man, younger in age than I had thought, but frail looking. His skin was pale and sallow, and even from this distance I could tell that he looked weak and unwell.

“Is that the King?” I asked quietly, and Father nudged me.

“No, Hutch,” he said simply, “that’s his Herald.”

“What’s a Herald?” I asked.

“Just wait, and you’ll see.”

I could feel the stare of the Ilfin man next to me as he silently observed my father and I. It made me uncomfortable. Even more humiliating than his open focus was the way in which he had approached us. One of his eyes was bruised up pretty badly, and had started to turn to purple. He'd obviously found himself in second place in a fight, and I wasn't sure I wanted to give him any more reason to come to harm. I hadn’t met many Ilfin before, but all seemed to think that they shared a certain kinship with me simply because of the way I looked. I tried to ignore him, this… Waldo? I readied my gaze on the man above, whose lavish appearance provoked my interest.

“Heroes!” He summoned, and I could see now that he wore a garland of green and purple flowers. It was nestled firmly in the nest of black hair on his head, worn long. It was wild seeming, and reached to his shoulders.

Can’t he afford a comb?

I absently moved a hand to my own unkempt mane beneath the cap and mussed it lightly.

“Thank you for gathering today,” the man on the dais said. His words were strong, but his face and manner made me think that this was all just going through the motions for him.

“I speak as the voice of your King, and I welcome you here in the Golden Passage before the Gossamer Castle.”

There was an expectant pause, and a few light cheers sounded from the crowd. I could make out the various displays of rank and valor among the group. It seemed like the assembled folk were of the fighting variety, and I felt a pang of shame to be standing among their midst. I felt like a fraud, being summoned. Until that fateful day, Father and I did not even know that Adventure Classes existed. Yet here we were now, a Giant Eater and his Father. Two average men--no an average man and his son, bumping elbows with actual adventurers, pretending to be grand.

“The Appointment Ceremony is a time-honored tradition,” the man continued, “one that has been kept for the last eight hundred years. Since Adonis the First laid claim to this land, and chose his handful of Champions from the peasant class.”

I glanced over at Father and he winked at me.

We were little more than peasants now. Two uncouth pilgrims from the backwoods of the country, jettisoned to the capital--Ignvald, on a fools errand. All we had done was try and make right what had been taken from us. Now we were here in the Golden Passage, surrounded by men whose lineages and heraldry were much more pronounced than our own. I longed to be back in the Berrywood, chopping logs in two with the rain-rusted ax that had seen our family through dozens of winters.

“This is an auspicious day,” the Herald said, and his pale yellow eyes darted around the assembly beneath him, “for it is the night of the Sequence, where all of the races of the living and of the spirit realm are granted equal access to the waking world.”

The Herald nodded, and his smile seemed painted on.

“It must be fate,” he stated, “and so, as our ancestors have done, so must we.” He raised an object into the air in one hand. A golden dagger that caught the sunlight and seared its image into my psyche.

“We will hold the Challenge of the Heroes, and those of you who succeed will be granted the merit of being called Equites of the Royal Order.”

Equites.

I had heard the term many times in my life. They were the higher ranking members of the Royal Army, chosen by this very ceremony. They upheld the ideals and standards of the Kingdom, and were very well regarded. They were something like Adventurer nobility.

It seemed like a lot to live up to, and I shared a look with Father. I knew very well where he stood on the Equites. As if to emphasize his stance, Father casually placed the stem of a lit match inside the bowl of his pipe and took a long drag.

“A real charmer, that guy,” Waldo said, moving just within earshot and motioning to my Father.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, furrowing my brow. If our unwanted Ilfin companion had hoped to gain my favor by being dismissive of my Father, he was sorely mistaken. However, the jocular rogue seemed to pick up on my tone and bowed apologetically.

“No offense, friend,” he said, “I just find human mannerisms to be a strange thing. Forgive my candor.”

Was this man always so dull and formal?

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, shrugging.

“Please,” the Herald said, his voice clear and strong, “make your way inside the castle grounds, we will begin shortly.” There was a murmur from the crowd, and they seemed unsatisfied with the briefness of the Heralds words.

The Golden Gates, the entryway to this ward of the city suddenly began to close with a grinding finality, and I watched as they locked together with a loud crash. The guards that had been accepting the notifying sapphires were still there, and I could see a smaller door pop open. Two of the guards exited, and the passage remained open. On the opposite side of the grand expanse we stood in, another set of gigantic gates opened, and the gathering of Adventurers begant to filter inside of the castle.

All this pomp.

We could still leave if we wanted. This display was for the sake of the Kingdom’s posterity. I glanced back at Father, but he was staring ahead, at the open gateway to the next leg of our potential journey. I sighed.

He’d been changed by the experience in the cavern. We both had. We’d unlocked some forbidden section of the realm, and even now, knowing we could leave and return to our home in the Berrywood, I knew that we’d never have our old lives back. Everything had changed the day the Giant had visited us.

I peered ahead. The crowd inside the gates was growing smaller as more and more Adventurers spilled into the castle. If I had to guess, I would have said that there were at least a hundred men and women taking part in this event.

So many hopefuls, and we don’t even want to be here.

“Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts?”

The Ilfin--Waldo was a few paces ahead of us and had turned around when he saw we hadn’t moved. He must have felt a certain kinship with us because of my blood. There hadn’t been many others of Ilfin blood here, not that that was a surprise. He was likely hedging his bets that we wouldn’t be foul with him. It had only been fourteen years since the abolishment of the Royal Decree of the Purity, and there were still many in the Kingdom that held reservations about any non-human races. I felt it very strongly.

I looked over at Father again, and he shrugged in his cavalier way and began to make his way forward.

“That’s the spirit!” Waldo exclaimed, and happily fell in pace next to my father.

“You could move a bit faster, though,” he said, “don’t want to be left behind. Those gates look heavy. If they close on us they’ll snap us in two.”

I sighed, and followed Father. It seemed that, for the moment, we were bound to at least see this part through. Afterward, we could make a choice.

I sidled up next to the Ilfin and adjusted my woolen cap. It was still as soft as the day that Mother had washed it.

The last time she’d washed it.

As we followed the throng of Adventurers into the castle, I couldn’t help but feel a little amiss. If we passed the Challenge, would it be so easy to refuse. I touched the left side of my face. It still felt as though it hadn’t fully healed, even a year after, and was sensitive to my own touch.

I guess we’ll see.

As we moved forward slowly, I could see the warm lights of the inside of Gossamer Castle. Somewhere, in the recesses of my mind, Father’s voice bubbled up.

Let’s go kill this Giant.

“Indeed,” I said aloud, and with a wavering sense of purpose, entered the castle.