The Dread Knight's Rage

"Ouchhh..."

Dakota rolled around on her back, her hands holding her head. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

She sucked in air through her teeth, gradually rubbing her scalp as she tried to ease the pain that had greeted her when she woke up.

"Ow...What did I even fall off of..?"

"Ummm, the air, if you can believe it."

Yari bent down so that she could help Dakota back to her feet. She took both of her hands, pulling her up and dusting her off.

"Why was I float... Wait."

Dakota knit her brows into a frown. For some reason, she was eye-to-eye with Yari. Usually, when the former princess was in her elven form, Dakota was so short that Yari could place her breasts on top of her head.

"...Did you shrink, Ms. Yari?"

"...No, dearie, I don’t believe so."

"Your butt sure hasn’t shrunk, I’ll tell you that." Giselle pinched her sister on her behind. "Why doesn’t mine look like that..?"

Yari elbowed her sister in the nose. "Because it all went to your chest, you bimbo, now stop touching me."

"I-I was just teasing! Since when are you so snippy about everything?!"

"Since you DIED and I got thrown into prison!"

"I said I was sorry, what do you want from me!?"

"Still figuring that out!"

Dakota still wanted to know why everyone was suddenly so much smaller than they were just this morning. And why she was suddenly wearing new, but very comfortable clothes...

As she watched the two sisters argue, her own began to lift off the ground.

The girls only turned around when they noticed a subtle red underglow shining within the room.

They found Nila in much the same position Dakota had been in, floating off the ground in a dream-like trance.

Unlike Dakota, her body didn’t seem to be growing or changing all that much. However, her features became more womanly and mature, rather than their usual impish.

But when her armor started to take shape on her body, it too saw some alterations.

Her heels melted into silver leg armor bearing clawed toes as sharp as blades. Her skirt and chestplate fashioned themselves into a full war-gown. Her hands were covered in metal claws no less dangerous than the ones on her feet.

Around her neck, she wore a necklace that was fashioned in the shape of an unhinged beast’s jaw.

The paudron on her shoulder, as well as the insignia on her belt, both depicted the head of a ferocious wolf.

A crown of wooden thorns was nestled comfortably in bountiful curly locks. If Dakota resembled a queen of shadow, Nila was most certainly one who was bred for war.

Her eyes flashed open, and she ceased to float all at once.

She shrieked as her face crashed into the cold ground, her red cape fluttering over her head.

"Ugh... I... am okay...!" She lied.

Giselle went to check on her daughter in a panic. Yari started to follow her, but that was when she noticed that Solomon was also beginning to stir.

His body displayed the least amount of physical changes. His hair became like fresh ash blown by the wind, with the strength and density of his coils increasing considerably.

His armor was another story. Many of the clunkier parts were shaved away to create a newer, more glossier-looking body armor. Lines of gold weaved through his chest, abs, biceps, and thighs.

The bull pauldron that sat on his shoulder was the only piece of solid gold in the entire armor. Despite being entirely made of metal, for some reason, the addition seemed to be strangely life-like...

Like Nila, the toes of his boots seemed to become slightly beastial, like the clawed limbs of some apex predator.

The red loincloth that hung below his knees turned a deep burgundy color. The golden insignia woven into the fabric became soft to the touch, in addition to being eye-catching.

His helmet melted completely off his face. But instead of dropping to the floor and disappearing, the molten metal hardened into a new shape.

A menpo made of black metal fit itself perfectly over his mouth and nose. With it’s gilded fangs bared, and ridged cheeks that seemed to swallow the light, it was as frightening to behold as it was beautiful.

Solomon’s orange eyes snapped open.

Both of his feet landed on the ground with a heavy thud, and he slowly rose to his full height.

"...So not fair." Dakota pouted slightly.

Solomon’s eyes widened when they fell upon his sister. He stepped towards her, completely bewildered.

"Dakota...? You’ve grown..."

Dakota looked down at herself, then her brother, and then the elven women for good measure.

When she realized that her body was indeed much taller than before, she all but squealed with delight.

Yari circled him with a deeply inquisitive eye. "I don’t understand... Why did their armor change with them?"

Giselle shrugged as she helped her daughter tend to the growing knot between her eyes.

"The better person to ask about that would probably be Lioraeth. I’m sure you remember, but she had your armor made with minerals and monster cores that came from your father’s sealing grounds... In response to the introduction of will, they seem to have undergone an awakening of some sort."

"Will..."

Dakota held up her hand. A faint energy swirled between her fingers.

At only the first stage of will, she and the others were far away from doing any of the heaven-defying feats just yet. But they could all tell they were altered in some way.

There was no other way to explain it, other than to say that their minds, souls, and bodies felt as if they were truly within their own hands. It was euphoric. Liberating.

Even Dakota felt unshackled by her past. Her gaze was firmly affixed to the now boundless horizon before her.

Yari reached to remove Solomon’s mask.

When his face was revealed, his entire demeanor seemed to instantly soften.

He started to speak to her, perhaps to voice some kind of flirtatious remark or even a loving word of affirmation.

But before the words had even left his lips, Dakota brought another, more pressing matter to their attention.

"Hey... Why isn’t Everett waking up yet..?"