 
                     The Shadow Knight Chronicles 

The Shadow Knight Chronicles  

By Gambit
 
 
 
 
 
_Chapter One_
 
_ _
 
_ _
 
Ethan Remfield stood beside the picnic bench that had been the meeting
place for him and his stepsister for the past two years. Ever since
they had moved to this school. He would sit and he would wait. 

 
 
The place he was waiting at wasn’t that bad. There wasn’t too many kids
milling about and he was virtually by himself-- the way he preferred to
be. The grass was green and it seemed like a fair day. Something was
just nagging on his mind though. The day had gone to good so far, he
knew that something had to go wrong sooner or later.
 
 
 
His light, light blond hair was in dire need of a haircut, and he knew
this, as he wiped the bangs away from his mirror plated shades. The
shades were very small and round, just big enough to cover the boy’s
eyes. He was dressed in all black. One would think that he hung out
with the gothics of the school, but he didn’t. The black button up
shirt and jeans were just his style. He really had no good reason to
dress that way.
 
 
 
They were much unlike the shades, which he wore because his eyes were
extremely sensitive to light.
 
 
 
No, Ethan didn’t hang out with the gothics, preps, nerds, or even the
jocks. The truth was that the seventeen-year-old boy was a loner
through and through. Some would call him a snob, or even, maybe, stuck
up. But that wasn’t the case at all. The fact was that Ethan just liked
to blend in. 

 
 
Some would call Ethan eccentric and maybe even odd over some of the
things he did. Like wearing his shades, even at night when he didn’t
need them. In truth, the boy did that for two reasons. The first being
that when people saw his eyes they always either gaped or accused him
of wearing contacts, which he didn’t. The second was a small part of
why people thought him odd. 

 
 
A person could tell many things by looking a person in the eyes. And
the boy just had emotions he didn’t want people to see. Ethan always
guarded his privacy with a fierce determination that would sometimes
even surprise his family. He didn’t like it when people looked in his
eyes; it was as simple as that. 

 
 
*She’s late again. *He thought, sitting down on the cement picnic
table. *But that’s nothing new. *His thoughts added. Then he pulled out
a pack of Camels and a Zippo that his lovely sister had got him for his
birthday last year. There was an inscription on it that said, *“To my
big Brother, with love”. *

 
 
The seventeen year old blew out a jet of smoke and thought of the past.
Some of it had its moments of joy. Others . . . Well, there was torment
beyond most people’s understanding. That’s why he didn’t talk to that
many people about it, not even to Joanna or Tosh.
 
 
 
Joanna Remfield. That woman was possibly the savior of his soul. Lord
knows she was definitely the savior of his life. He knew for a fact
that he would have ended it all with a few quick cuts of a knife by now
if it weren’t for this woman, this woman that took him in and claimed
him as her own.
 
 
 
To put it nicely, before Ethan was eleven, he was a child of the
system, a system that didn’t really suit him well. Most called it
foster care, but not Ethan. He called it “*Hell’s Outhouse”. *And that
was basically what it was for the boy. He understood that the system
worked for many kids . . . But he also understood that he had to have
had the worst run of luck in the history of foster care, or so he
thought.
 
 
 
By the time the boy was eleven years old, he had visited the emergency
room nine times, twice for gunshot wounds, the rest for various broken
bones. There were times where he *should *have went to the emergency
room but didn’t because his *“Foster Parents” *thought that he should
stay in his room and think about what he did, while he bled, and when
it was bad, prayed for death.
 
 
 
A miracle happened on his eleventh birthday, though. Shawn and Joanna
Remfield adopted the boy as their own. This confused Ethan somewhat;
since he had stopped speaking all together by the time he was ten. They
would talk; he would nod yes or no, nothing else. There was not a peep
that came from Ethan.
 
 
 
Ethan did not do this to be unruly. In all truth, the boy really didn’t
know why he stopped speaking. All he knew was that sometimes things
started out good, but then the other shoe would drop and he would be
straight back in hell again. He just didn’t want to chance giving his
feelings to someone that might throw them back in his face.
 
 
 
He was thirteen years old when it happened. A beating didn’t break his
silence and it wasn’t broken by a bribe. His stepsister who was a year
younger than him broke it. She had always looked out for him after that
day.
 
 
 
He was playing with a pocketknife that his stepfather, Shawn, had
bought him for his birthday and sliced his finger open. Natasha, Tosh
to her friends, had immediately went and got a band-aid and fixed him
right up. “There ya go, sport.” That was all she said.
 
 
 
It wasn’t the hurt of the cut. And it wasn’t the sight of the blood . .
. But it was the sheer warmth in the younger girl’s eyes that made
Ethan brake down. He cried like he had never cried before- even when he
got the beatings from the other families. No, these were tears of joy.
And this girl, no more than a slip really, had brought them crashing
down.
 
 
 
After that, Tosh had become his best and only friend. When he finally
spoke to Joanna, it was her turn to cry. And Ethan was pretty sure that
Shawn even got a little misty for a second or two. From that day forth,
Ethan had strove to make them as happy as they had made him. If a
person was good to the Remfield’s, they were good to you.
 
 
 
Ethan had learned that very early on. 

 
 
Ethan knew a lot about his family that he didn’t let on. He was always
good with details. He also knew a lot about himself that he didn’t
think important enough to go into with his family, especially his
stepsister. She would probably hover over him until he went to the
doctor’s office. But the changes to his body . . . He pushed the
thought out of his head. He really didn’t want to go into it.
 
 
 
Just then Ethan looked across the schoolyard and saw a short (probably
about 5’1”) girl standing in front of three jocks, football players to
be exact.  He watched her closely, seeing her wipe the black died hair
(she was blonde originally) from her eyes impatiently, yelling at the
three jocks with ferocious intent. 

 
 
*She is kinda cute when she’s mad. *He thought with humor. She was
pointing her finger at the one in the middle and verbally assaulting
the boy as best she could. But knowing Tosh, there was a good reason.
 
 
 
Ethan saw that the middle jock’s face was turning more than a little
red. Ethan’s feet started him in Tosh’s direction before he even
thought twice about it. He didn’t know if the jock was the type to hit
girls or not, but he wasn’t going to stand around and find out.
 
 
 
                                                          
******************
 
 
 
 
 
“You listen to me you dumb fuckin’ jock. I’ll try to use words that
you’ll understand,” Tosh started off, her deep blue eyes starting to
flash. “If I want to “Dress like a boy” that does not make me a damn
“dyke”, as you say. Of course your small mind probably doesn’t know
that there is nothing wrong with that to begin with.”
 
 
 
Tosh kept going, loudly, and wouldn’t even give them a chance to speak.
“Once you get an I.Q. that don’t involve football stats or a number of
shoe sizes, why don’t you take a look around. You might finally figure
out that you are a complete and total ASSHOLE!”
 
 
 
*I might have just screwed up*. The small thought came to Tosh as she
watched the middle jock’s face turn bright red from anger. The boy, who
was about two in a half times the size of her, looked like he was going
to pop. And his friends didn’t look any better. *Yep, definitely messed
up. Open mouth and insert foot, Tosh. *She thought, a little worriedly.
She knew she could fight, but not at these odds. *One of these days
I’ll learn.*
 
 
 
The middle one, who had the bad haircut, and had started this whole
mess to begin with, apparently decided that he was not above hitting a
girl. His arm reared back to slap the loud mouth girl into next week.
Then-- nothing. Someone caught his wrist.
 
 
 
The jock, Daniel was his name, turned to see his reflection in a pair
of mirror-plated shades. The blonde boy that owned them had a look of
complete calmness. That calm look should have allied his fears some.
But for some reason, it only worsened them, and with very good cause.
 
 
 
By simply twisting Daniel’s arm in the wrong direction, Ethan sent the
boy, almost, into a flip. Daniel landed on his upper back and almost
his neck. That was when Daniel’s friends thought they would get in on
the action. Ethan just smiled in a maniacal way that even made Tosh a
little nervous.
 
 
 
The first one just came barreling in with haymakers that Ethan almost
laughed at. By the time the boy actually made it to Ethan, Ethan did a
spinning round house that impacted squarely on the boy’s jaw. Ethan
could have sworn that he felt a few of the boy’s jaw teeth come loose
from that, but it might have been his imagination.
 
 
 
Ethan felt something that he rarely felt-- elation. And this feeling
came from battle. He was pretty sure that this was the first time he
felt it. It almost felt as if he was unstoppable. All of his movements
felt completely natural. And this was strange, yet elated experience.
He was in, what he called; *“The Zone” *and he loved it.
 
 
 
 
 
All the sudden, Ethan heard a scream ring out. “Look out!”
 
 
 
By sheer instinct, he dropped to one knee and turned at the same time.
He turned just in time to see the third jock right in front of him.
Without thinking, Ethan delivered two quick rabbit punches to each of
the boy’s legs. Each of them was just above the knee, and slightly on
the inside of the thigh. The result was the boy falling to his knees
right in front of Ethan. 

 
 
Then, with lightening quickness, Ethan grabbed two handfuls of jersey
and jerked the boy forward with vicious intent. The head-butt that was
delivered made those watching wince in sympathy, even Tosh. She knew
the boy had a broken nose. She also knew that all three were
unconscious.
 
 
 
What amazed some of the people that were watching was that during the
entire fight, Ethan’s shades never slipped once. That and Ethan never
got hit once, and that was at three to one odds. 

 
 
Ethan stood up with one fluid motion, without using his hands. If Tosh
didn’t know it, she couldn’t have known that he was just in a fight.
The only indicator was the grass stains on the knees of his jeans. “We
better jet, before a teacher comes out.” Tosh stated, grabbing him by
the arm and pulling him off the schoolyard. 

 
 
But he would have certainly left on his on accord. He was in no mood to
hang around. “Whatever you say, half-pint.”
 
 
 
“Don’t call me that.” She stated, slapping him in the chest playfully.
She let out a nervous giggle as she tried to get him off school
grounds. She was not quite quick enough to do so though.
 
 
 
“Mr. Remfield, hold it right there. I’d like to have a word with you.
It was a voice that Ethan was really hoping he wasn’t going to hear
after that fight. It was that of Principal Wayne. 

 
 
“And what word would that be?” Ethan asked with a mask of stoic
calmness. It was all an act though; he was a nervous wreck on the
inside.
 
 
 
If a glare could have killed someone, Ethan would have been dead right
on the spot. “Go to my office and wait, Mr. Remfield,” Then the chubby
little bald man turned his attention on Tosh. “You wait for me as well,
while I get this lot picked up and sorted.” He added gesturing towards
the downed jocks.
 
 
 
Ethan could tell Tosh was about to say something and grabbed her by the
arm gently, erasing any protests she had on her lips. She just gave out
a defeated sigh and followed Ethan into the school. Behind them, the
principal was helping up the football players and making sure that
there were no serious injuries.
 
 
 
 
 
                                               ************************
 
 
 
 
 
Even though they town the lived in was only moderate size, the high
school there was top notch. It was a three-story building that was
still moderately new. The town had just finished construction on it two
years before. Yes, the town of Kaymon, New Mexico had a great deal of
respect for the educational system. *It’s just too bad the students
don’t have that same respect for one another. *Ethan thought with a wry
shake of the head.
 
 
 
“Jeez, Bro, you had me worried for a second when those other two jumped
in. I thought you were gonna get the shit knocked out of you,” Tosh
said, only receiving a slight twitch of a smile from Ethan. Her face
became sober all at once, she wanted some answers and she wanted them
now. “I never seen anyone in real life fight like that, Ethan . . . And
move that fast. Where did you learn to do it?”
 
 
 
They were on the second floor by now.  Ethan just kept walking with his
head bowed, looking at his feet. After all, what she had just asked was
part of the changes he had not wanted to talk about. “From around the
way.” He murmured softly, knowing that she would drop the line of
questioning.
 
 
 
That was his code phrase to Tosh that her line of questioning was
getting a little too personal. She gave a frown but dropped the line of
questioning. In all truth, she was a little irritated that he would
only open up to her a little at a time. He never shared his past
experiences in foster care with her at all. Whenever she would ask
about them, she would get one of two responses. He would tell her that
she didn’t want to know, or she would get the other response. He would
sink into a depression that would last for days and not speak a word to
anyone. It was the last response that made her quit grilling him about
the past.
 
 
 
They both walked into the waiting room of the principal’s where a
receptionist was typing on a computer. The office was very nice and the
seats were comfortable, even if they were plastic. The woman that was
on the computer looked to be in her mid thirties and **looked* *to be
so wrapped up that she didn’t know they had entered. That all changed
though, as soon as she spoke up.
 
 
 
She and Tosh were on an almost friendly basis since Tosh was in there
so much.
 
 
 
“Ah, Ms. Remfield, so glad to see you again. What did you do this time?
Put a green snake in your teacher’s desk?” She asked teasingly, her
Spanish brown eyes were twinkling.
 
 
 
“Nope, did that last week. This time I’m here for starting a fight I
didn’t participate in. My Knight in shining armor here,” She waved an
arm Ethan and continued. “Was the one to doing all the fighting.” She
gave Ethan an impish grin and got a scowl in return.
 
 
 
“You don’t look like you have been in a fight, young man.” The
receptionist replied, appraising the boy.
 
 
 
Ethan gave the woman a self-depreciating shrug before sitting down.
 
 
 
“He don’t talk much, but he grows on ya after a while.” Tosh told the
woman in an almost mock conspiratorial tone.
 
 
 
Ethan drowned out the rest of what the girls were talking about; he had
no wish to hear about himself. Every time he heard his name he would
just give an absent-minded nod. Yes, Ethan definitely had something
bigger on his mind. And it worried him that Tosh had noticed that
today. Noticed his quickness, and the ability to fight. He was also
fairly certain that the black haired girl also noticed the sheer brute
force he used behind the blows.
 
 
 
The boy had no clue as to where he had learned those skills. In all
truth, that was his very first spinning roundhouse kick . . . And he
had executed it perfectly and with great efficiency. It was beginning
to worry him. What worried him most were the changes to his body . . .
But, no, he didn’t want to think about that right now. 

 
 
*Best keep my mind on the matters at hand. *He thought.
 
 
 
Just then, the short, bald, little man that called himself a principal
walked in. He was wearing a cheap gray suit with a clip on tie, and he
smelled of Old Spice. That was another changing Ethan was worrying over
a lot. His senses seemed to be heightening gradually. But not at a
super fast rate, thank God. He didn’t know if he could handle that. 

 
 
But first he was going to have to think of the trouble that he was in
now. *Great, he’s looking right at me. Why does he remind me of an
oversized muskrat? *He thought humorously.
 
 
 
“Right this way, Mr. Remfield,” The man spoke with an authority his
small little body shouldn’t be able to hold, but Ethan stood up none
the less. “I’ll speak with you afterwards, Natasha.” He added, as he
walked into his office with Ethan in tow.
 
 
 
“Please shut the door, Mr. Remfield.” Mr. Wayne told him as he took a
seat behind the desk.  Then the man started to clean up the papers on
his desk with a professional air. Ethan had a feeling that he was doing
it so that he could flaunt the fact he was the one in control.
 
 
 
“Let me get to the point, Mr. Remfield. I think that you are a
troublemaker and a bad element in this school. Did you know the boy’s
nose you broke our star quarterback’s? No, I suppose you wouldn’t, Mr.
Remfield. You’re the one that is always lurking behind the crowd,
waiting to cause trouble. Well, Mr. Remfield . . .” 

 
 
Ethan really couldn’t hear the rest of what the man was saying. Oh, he
heard bits and pieces, but basically, he didn’t hear everything. Which
really didn’t matter, because what he did hear was starting to make him
mad, and that was *always *a bad sign.
 
 
 
Before the principal got another word in edge wise, Ethan broke in.
This was when something *really *strange started to happen. It was a
tingling sensation that went all the way from the back of his neck and
all the way up to his skull. It sort of made his scalp tingle. It
wasn’t a pleasant feeling, but it sure as hell wasn’t unpleasant either.
 
 
 
“Shut up, you poor excuse of a little man. I have a first name. Ethan.
Use it. Learn it. Burn it into you’re fuckin’ brain, because if you
call me ‘Mr. Remfield’ one more time, I *will *skull fuck you. Got me?”
The strange part of this dangerous lecture was that his voice never
rose above normal level.
 
 
 
The principal had a mute look on his facial features, but he nodded
nonetheless.
 
 
 
Ethan went on. “Now, what happened out there was not my fault. Those
three jocks started messin’ with Tosh, and NOBODY messes with Tosh
while I’m around. So, what I think is you should let us both go home
and forget about the whole thing.” The tingling intensified. *What the
hell is that blank look on his face all about? *He thought, as he
looked the principal over. His eyes were also glazed.
 
 
 
Ethan was expecting to get expelled, not what happened next.
 
 
 
Finally, Mr. Wayne shook his head a little, as if clearing cobwebs, and
gave Ethan a genuine smile. “I think you’re right Ethan. Family is very
important . . . And I think we should just forget this whole thing ever
happened.”
 
 
 
“Thank you.” Ethan replied, a little uncertainly, as he stood up.
 
 
 
“You may tell your sister on the way out that she is free to go as
well.” The usually dour man added with a smile. 

 
 
Usually people irritated Ethan that smiled like that nonstop. But hey,
if it kept Tosh out of trouble he was all for it. “Thanks, I’ll see you
on Monday Mr. Wayne.”
 
 
 
But Mr. Wayne’s smile wasn’t the only thing that was on Ethan’s mind.
It was how things went in that office. He knew for a fact that Mr.
Wayne’s could have chucked his ass out of the school for the rest of
the year for the way he talked to him. Something wasn’t right, but the
guess he had was positively ludicrous, at least to him it was.
 
 
 
Mind Control, the changes in his body, there were to many things that
were happening at once for him to think of. *I can’t even believe I’m
even entertaining the idea of Mind Control. *He thought as he walked
back out into the receptionist’s office.
 
 
 
He saw Tosh sitting in the blue plastic chair trotting one of her legs
and waiting impatiently. “You ready to get out of here, half-pint?”
 
 
 
“Don’t be toying with my emotions, Little Man. I’ll kick your ass to
the moon.” She added jokingly.
 
 
 
“Nah, seriously, he let us off. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
 
 
 
Tosh didn’t have to be told twice, she was on her feet and just before
she went out the door she turned and told the receptionist. “See ya
Monday, Connie.” The fact was she was in the office so much that she
was on a first name basis with the woman.
 
 
 
“Probably so, probably so.” The woman murmured as she kept typing on
her computer.
 
 
 
 
 
                            
************************************************
 
 
 
 
 
When they finally made it out on the school grounds, there was someone
there that was waiting patiently for them. It was one of Tosh’s
friends. Her name was Heather. And Heather, in Ethan’s book, was a
complete knock out.
 
 
 
She was leaning against a Dodge Ram pickup truck and was wearing a pair
of white shorts that were a tad *too *short by societies standards, but
certainly not by Ethan’s. Heather was also wearing a light blue blouse
that was just a little short at the bottom. Just short enough to give a
peak of her belly button every now and then.
 
 
 
She was also a year older than Ethan, which made her two years older
than Tosh. But neither of the girls seemed to mind. “So, what didja get
in trouble for this time, Tosh? You were in there for a while.” She
stated as she flipped a red ponytail over her shoulder.
 
 
 
“Why does everyone think its me that always gets in trouble?”
 
 
 
“Because you usually are.” Ethan and Heather replied in unison. He even
had to chuckle at that and that was a rarity, because he usually kept a
tight lid on his emotions. That was, unless he was just with his family.
 
 
 
Tosh just gave them both a glare. But she knew that they were mostly
right. “Well, this time it was Ethan here who got in trouble. Wiped the
floor with three football players. Probably broke our quarterback’s
nose.” She said proudly. And she looked proud. It was a good act. But
she knew that he shouldn’t have been able to do what he did. And it was
making her even more worried that he was hiding something from her. She
hated when he did that. They were best friends, they told each other
*everything. *And she could tell by his facial expressions that
something was bothering him.
 
 
 
“Hey, Tosh. I’m still crashing at your place tonight, right? ‘Cause my
parents are going at each others throats like you wouldn’t believe.”
Heather asked with a frown.
 
 
 
“Yeah, I cleared it with Mom and Dad last night.” Tosh replied, opening
the door of the truck. Heather’s parents were notorious for fighting
days on end, but they always seemed to work it out, somehow.
 
 
 
“Hey, wait. Before you guys get in, I want to show ya something.” Her
smile was almost diabolical as she led them to the back of the truck.
She then unzipped her duffle bag and moved aside the clothes she
brought with her. 

 
 
Ethan and Tosh looked down into the bag, right at a liter of 100 proof
Vodka. Tosh even let out a very uncharacteristic girlish squeal. She
always loved trying to get away with things that she wasn’t supposed to
be doing. Ethan just usually marked it down to teenage rebellion and
left it at that. She swung an arm around Ethan’s shoulders and with
mischievous eyes said, “We’re gonna get drunk tonight, Bro.”
 
 
 
Ethan just shook his head and let out an amused sigh. “You do whatever
gets your kicks, Tosh. But if we get busted, it’s your ass.”
 
 
 
She just stuck her tongue out at him in response.
 
 
 
With that, the three of them got in the truck and headed for the
Remfield Household.
 
