Read Online The Starfall Knight by Ken Lim - Free Book Online Page A

death by dehydration.  Most citizens did not know that gaseous andonite tended upwards.  With the exits at the top of the terraced seating, the safest place in the amphitheatre was right next to the source of the gas.
    A finger tapped Devan’s shoulder and he twisted around.
    “It’s cleared,” Tayu said.
    “Are you sure?”
    “Near the stage, at least,” Tayu replied.  “You can stay here if you like.  Rika and I are checking out the knight since most everyone has left.”
    Devan removed the cloth from his face, sniffed the air and spluttered as he caught a whiff of the sharp tang of andonite.  He coughed, almost heaved.
    “Easy.”  Tayu patted Devan’s shoulder.  “There’s still some floating around.  Shallow breaths.”
    Devan nodded and placed his shirt over his nose and mouth again.  Rika and Tayu hopped onto the stage, Devan trailing behind.
    “Take a look at that!”  Tayu picked up a scalpel and prodded the knight’s shoulder with the handle.
    “Don’t do that,” Rika said.
    “She’s dead.”
    “You might ruin it for the professors.”
    Tayu sighed.  “All right.”  He returned the scalpel to the tray of instruments.  “What do you think, Dev?”
    “I don’t know what to think anymore,” Devan replied.  He picked up the breastplate, tracing the worn edges of the armour and the compartments that mirrored the ones in the pauldrons.
    “Rika mentioned the journal,” Tayu said.  “That you and Benton recognised it.”
    “Sirinese markings,” Devan said.
    “Aye.  I didn’t want to say.”  Tayu rested his hands against the edge of the examination table.  “Didn’t want to raise bad memories for you.”
    “Thanks, Tayu.  It’s been over ten years.  It’s all right.”  Devan pressed against a latch and a compartment on the breastplate snapped open, a rusty odour escaping.
    “They say it was filled with material for extra protection,” Tayu said.  “Perhaps some kind of malleable metal to absorb impacts.  It’d be heavy though.  Maybe that’s what training is for.”
    “I suppose so,” Devan said.  Ranger physical training concentrated on endurance and marching and Devan didn’t think the military would be much different.  Even empty, however, the breastplate weighed a good couple of stones.
    “You have doubts?” a new voice asked.
    Devan started.  Professor Orval approached the table.  Behind him, Romaine and Jarrell meandered between the ill team of physickers, professors and Councillors, offering water.  A young physicker turned to one side and vomited a mess of half-digested bread, cheese and milk.
    “A nasty business, this andonite gas.”
    “You don’t seem bothered by it,” Devan said.
    “My first physicker residency was in the andonite mines,” Orval said.  “Second east quadrant, as it was known back then.”
    “Merchantry tunnels, now,” Tayu said.
    “Ah, yes.  The new nonclemature.”  Orval gestured to the armour.  “Ranger Devan, you don’t think this was filled with metal?”
    “I’m not saying so either way,” Devan said.  He placed the breastplate on the stage, resting it against the leg of the examination table.  “Moons above, I’m not the strongest of men.  A pikeman in such heavy armour would certainly be a force to acknowledge.”
    “Not hard to imagine,” Orval said.  “I’m no historian – and the closest one is currently regurgitating his breakfast – but I couldn’t imagine that such a soldier would be viable.  Even for a large aerock such as ours, the resources and training required would be exorbitant.”
    “What if it were from a war-faring aerock?” Devan asked.
    “I’ve never seen such a one.”  Orval shook his head.  “Even if an aerock like that existed, it would not last long.  People naturally tend towards community and social responsibility.  We’re not meant to kill each other.”
     
    “Elina!  I’ll kill you, bitch!”  Alessa slipped in a patch of refuse and slid