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The king once again offered Shovel Knight the chance to stay and serve with honour in Pridemoor but however tempting that might sound, he couldn't agree to such thing, he was a knight of the open road. Besides, he wasn't alone again, was he?
The battle with the Enchantress had been gruelling, the last thing the Shovel knight had seen before losing consciousness was Shield knight, clinging on with her last ounce of strength. He had only just found her, he couldn’t lose her again so soon.
When he woke up by the campfire the next day and felt the pleasant, heavy weight of the bright orange armour on his shoulder, his heart suddenly felt so light that he was ready to sink back into a long sleep, had something not stirred nearby.
Shields let out a faint groan as she tried to shift her position, which was rather uncomfortable in the armour. She opened her eyes slightly and glanced at her partner.
"I can see you’re awake already" she said with a smile.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, trying not to move, only now did his body remember the bruises he’d sustained yesterday and begin to ache.
"I don’t think I’ve had enough sleep" she finished her reply with a yawn, then tried to stand up, but nearly fell straight onto the knight. At that, he jumped up and grabbed her by the arms, holding her back from falling.
"Ouch, be careful" she growled, "My arm, I hurt it badly yesterday"
After making sure that Shield knight was standing firmly on her feet, he stepped back.
"Then we’d better hurry to the village to find a doctor, or I could ask a potion-maker I know, maybe she’ll find something for you"
"You shouldn't worry so much, I'll be fine "
They walked slowly along the forest edge towards a nearby stream. There, while Shovel went off to ask the residents of the neighbouring houses about any remedies they might have, Shield knight with some effort, removed her armour and settled down by the water. The lightness of her body felt very unfamiliar, the armour had become almost a second skin to her, and when the Enchantress’s power had engulfed her, somewhere deep inside it had felt as though the armour was squeezing and suffocating her. Memories of those fleeting moments when her consciousness awoke and she could see all the terrible things the Enchantress was planning, and the helplessness she felt in those moments, made her feel weak and dizzy. She carefully knelt down by the river, clutching her head as she tried to quell the growing anxiety. At one point, opening her eyes, she saw her in the river’s reflection—the Enchantress, gazing at her with a haughty smile, she was practically screaming in her face, “I’m not done with you yet.” Shield recoiled from the river in fear, suddenly realising she needed to calm down and breathe. But she simply couldn’t draw a breath, she felt her chest being squeezed beneath her coarse linen shirt. She kept opening her mouth to catch even a single small breath, but it was useless. Her heartbeat quickened noticeably, her gaze, fixed somewhere on the treetops, began to blur... “Shields!?” A rough shout rang out nearby, followed by the sound of rapid footsteps approaching and the clinking of metal. The girl could barely hear these sounds, it felt as though she was about to lose consciousness. At that moment, the stranger gently lifted her off the ground and sat her down with her back against the nearest tree. "Hey, wake up, what’s wrong with you?" he continued, and noticing that she couldn’t breathe, added " Are you hurt? Dont worry, it's safe here, it’s all right, hey, Shields?" Her nickname echoed somewhere in her subconscious and air suddenly filled her lungs. She leaned forward slightly, gulping air through her mouth as she came round. All this time, the second man had remained silent, keeping a heavy hand on her shoulder. Finally, she looked up at him. Standing before her was the spitting image of her partner, but clad in armour as black as night. “Hi" she said, exhaling. “Are you all right? What happened? And where... where’s Shovel?" “I... I don’t know, I saw... never mind, I need to check my wounds before he gets here.”
"Let me help" he said, grabbing her just below her injured arm, his gaze fixed on the red stain on her shirt. His voice sounded like a command, but this did not faze Shiel knight, who had now regained her composure.
"Don’t bother" she pulled her arm away. "What are you doing here?"
"I don’t think that’s important right now. You’re still injured, let me help..."
"I’m fine.Thank you for helping Shovel. But I don’t need help from a man who’s willing to kneel before a being that brings chaos."
They stood in silence for several minutes. Shields was ready to grab her shield at any moment if a fight broke out, but the Black Knight didn’t move.
"I didn’t serve the Enchantress, I was simply keeping an eye on you. I knew it was you from the very start, I didn’t want you to come to any harm until I’d figured out how to help you safely"
"What a silly excuse! How could you have known? You even weren’t in the tower!" she said, almost shouting.
And silence fell once more. The Black Knight finally stepped back and, after taking a few paces away from the river, stopped and said
"You are still dear to me now. And… I will continue to protect you, whoever you are and whatever you think of me"
Shield knight barely heard his last words and, frankly, didn’t want to hear a thing from him. Nostalgia for the old days when the three of them had been a team warmed her heart. But those memories that had wounded her... well, she didn’t want to recall them again.