Chapter 2 - Birth of An Everlasting Love
Submitted August 28, 2005 Updated October 13, 2005 Status Incomplete | This is a story of how love can conquer all, even in the face of the darkness of hate. This is the story of the one called Love's Knight......
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Chapter 2 - Birth of An Everlasting Love
Chapter 2 - Birth of An Everlasting Love
Chapter 1 - Birth of an Everlasting Love
"It's a pretty clear night, don't you think?" said the older of the two soldiers to his companion.
"More like spooky......" replied the younger and less experienced of the two gate guards.''You can see the moon clearly; it's like some kind of omen."
"Heh heh....." laughed the old soldier. "All that stuff is poppycock. You need to wise up, my young friend."
The two soldiers were the gate guards for possibly the most important place in the kingdom.
Campbell Castle, the home of the royal family of the Kingdom of Galatea.
The great castle stood proudly in the moonlight. The castle had been built by the first ruler of Galatea, King Johans Astaroth the 1st. Designed to be a home for the present ruler of the kingdom and a fortress against enemy assaults, almost nothing had changed about the place since it was built, except for its name.
Originally known as Astaroth Castle, a tradition came about in which the castle would bear the family name of its present ruler. So, as King Gideon Campbell presided over the kingdom, so the castle was renamed Campbell Castle.
The two soldiers were part of a special branch of the Galatean army, the Royal Guard. They were basically assigned to protect the King and his family from any kind of attack. So far, their jobs had been easy. There had been no trouble in Galatea for many years, so no-one had made an attempt on the King's life.
"So, what do you think about her Highness?" inquired the young guard of his superior.
"They say she has a heart of gold, a pure heart." replied the old solider, smiling. "You don't see too many women like her these days..."
"Have you ever met her?" asked the young solider again, clearly interested.
"Once. She hardly ever comes out of the castle. Somebody told me that she longs for her true love or something, and that she can't ever be truly happy without him. Some kid she met when she was a little girl, apparently." The old soldier certainly had a knack for remembering things.
His younger comrade began to cry. "That's....so......sad!"
He received a slap on the head from his friend. "Oh, quit blubbering! It annoys me....." He then began to patrol the gate again, marching up and down its length.
The younger solider frowned. "Sheesh...you don't know your own strength, old man!" he yelled, nursing a bruise from where the old soldier hit him. He too, began to patrol the gate.
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Behind a bush close to the gate, a group of shadows were watching the two guards.
"Poor, stupid fools. Royal Guard? Pah.....more like a bunch of weaklings made to look important." The speaker turned to the rest of the figures.
"We get in, and we get out. Understand? I know that we can hold out own against these Royal Guard idiots, but Maximillian is no pushover. And if they call the Knights......" The mention of the word struck fear into the hearts of every man there. They didn't have a chance against them.....
"Understood, sir!" A tall figure gave the leader a salute.
"I'll handle this......" The leader turned back around to face the gate patrol. He paused for a few seconds, feeling the soft breeze of the night air blow against his face.
Then, he struck.
It was the younger guard who saw the attacker. "Enemies!!!!!!" he shouted nervously. He made to draw his weapon.......
.......but was too late. The attacker stabbed straight through him at blinding speed. His extremely long, thin blade had no trouble penetrating the unfortunate soldier's standard issue armour.
"Uh...ughhh......." The young guard froze with shock as he realised what was happening.
The attackers' leader drew his now bloody sword from the young soldier, who collapsed to the ground, bleeding his life out.
"Why you....! YAAAAAHHHH!!!!!" The older soldier, seeing his comrade's fate, had drawn his longsword and rushed at the leader.
With terrifying precision, the leader sliced at the guard's weapon, and the sheer force of the hit caused it to be knocked out of his hand. Seconds later, a second slice ripped through the old man's armour and knocking him to the ground.
"How...in the....?" gasped the surprised guard, before his attacker ended his life, stabbing him through the heart.
The tall man, the group's second in command, searched the bodies. On the old soldier, he found an ornate key. No doubt that this was the all important key for the castle gate.
"Let's move!" ordered the leader quietly, unlocking the large gold plated gate. He took care to open it silently, so as not to alert the guards' attention.
The hooded leader, with a black cape covering his whole body, took a quick look around. This was only the beginning, and if they screwed up, they would have a whole castle full of guards to deal with.....and possibly them.....
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"I'm coming through to see her Highness." The imposing, gold armoured figure saluted the two Royal Guards outside the large double golden doors. They saluted back, and allowed him to enter.
Maximillian Westring was the commander of the Royal Guard, and one of the best damn soldiers in the Galatean army. As a matter of fact, he was the best damn soldier inside Campbell Castle, and he knew the place like the back of his hand.
A veteran of several conflicts, Maximillian was an expert with the sword. He'd never believed in magic, dismissing it as 'supernatural nonsense', and believed the way of the sword to be the only true way of combat. At 56, he was getting a little old for this job, but his skills were as sharp as his weapon, and those under his command were in need of his experience.
He was also one of the few people allowed to do what he was doing now.......
He stepped the chambers of her Highness, covered in royal red carpet, with red curtains and a large decorated window looking out across the kingdom.
Standing at that window was her Highness.......
Princess Michelle Campbell of the Kingdom of Galatea, and the heir to her father's throne.
"Your Highness, excuse me." spoke Maximillian respectfully.
Upon hearing his voice, Michelle turned around. She was dressed in a long flowing pink dress, with white cummerbunds on the sleeves. Her long, flowing brown hair ran down past her shoulders, and her emerald green eyes looked back at Maximillian. Her face was her typical expression of royalty, but it was simply a mask. A mask that she did not bother to hide. A mask of sadness......
"Yes?" she replied, in her regal tone. It was rare that she could speak in her normal voice....
"I report no problems around the castle. Also, I will be standing guard tonight." stated Maxmillian with military precision.
Michelle smiled slightly. Maximillian had been a good friend to her and her father all her life, and knowing he was on guard made her feel safer, even though she didn't think she needed protecting. "Thank you, Maximillian..."
"Your Highness." Maximillian saluted her and left the room, leaving the Princess of Galatea to turn back to her previous thoughts.
She sighed, and stared out of the window again. She was sad, and had been so ever since that day......when she'd met.....him.....
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"Come on, move it you scallywags!!!! Call yourselves Knights of the Crown??? You aren't fit to lick my boots! Come on, stand to ATTEN-SHUN!!!"
The snarling commander hurled orders at the bunch of soldiers in the courtyard. They were all drilled harder, faster and more often than the rest of the Galatean military, and for good reason.
They weren't soldiers, and they certainly weren't the ordinary military.
They were knights.......and part of the most elite fighting force of the Galatean military.
The Knights of the Crown.......
They were the greatest fighters in Galatea, assigned to respond quickly to threats and eliminate them with by any means necessary. No-one had taken on the Knights of the Crown and lived. This had earned them respect among the people of Galatea, and fear from those who ended up in their path.
The knights, mostly young, were being marched around the courtyard of their base, the Silver Arrow fortress. It was a short ride north from Campbell Castle, so they were ready to respond instantly if anyone threatened the castle.
The unit lined up in perfect formation, all of them facing the same direction and not moving a muscle. They all wore different kinds and colours of armour......they were allowed to customise their weaponry and armour, unlike the regular military, which allowed them to maximise their strengths. It was one of the reasons they were so deadly in combat.
The middle aged commander barking orders at them was Henson Rudy, who was in fact the second in command of the Knights. He surveyed the knights with his aged but keen hazel eyes.
"Being a knight is all about pushing yourself beyond your limits!" he shouted. "Being a knight is about upholding justice! Being a knight is about chivalry!" He paused. "But most important of all, being a knight means being able to kick the enemy's @$$ TEN times harder than those regulars! Do you understand?!"
"Yes, sir!!" shouted the entire unit in unison.
"You must give nothing less than 110% in battle! You must fight with all your might even if you are the last man or woman standing!" He paused again, eyeing the troops. Suddenly, he pointed his finger at one of them. "You! Show me how to give 110%! You will fight me, right now!"
The knight he'd pointed to was a young rookie, who had yet to become a fully fledged Knight of the Crown. He stepped forward, hiding his nervousness. He didn't like the idea of fighting the commander, but he was a knight, or nearly was anyway. He wasn't going to back down.
"Yes sir!" he replied at full volume.
Rudy drew his sword, a longsword with a longer blade than a standard one, and went into a combat stance.
The young cadet drew his sword from his back. It was a zweihander, or two handed sword. It was fairly lengthy, and had nothing special about it. It was simply a standard silver steel blade with a golden hilt. He held it in his combat stance, which was with the sword to his right, slightly lower than his shoulder.
"Have at you!!!" declared Rudy, charging at the cadet. He brought his weapon up, ready to cut downwards in a vertical slash.
It was met by the cadet's zweihander, who retaliated with a horizontal stroke. Rudy almost failed to block it, and only just managed to keep his balance.
Before the older knight could react, the youngster pulled a surprise move. He'd crouched low during his attack, and delivered two spin slashes to Rudy's legs. Rudy's armour prevented any injury, but ordinarily this would have badly wounded his legs.
The aged commander jumped back and brought his sword crashing down. He thought the young cadet wouldn't have time bring his sword up to block an overhead strike.
He was wrong. The cadet was more nimble than he'd given him credit for. The longsword clashed off of the zweihander again, and the cadet got to his feet. He then took his weapon behind him and swung it forward over his shoulder with immense force. The impact knocked Rudy's longsword free of his hand, and the cadet pointed his zweihander straight at his face for a moment, before sheathing his weapon.
The rest of the unit, completely shocked, broke into applause. Not one of them had beaten Rudy in a training duel before.
The defeated commander rose to his feet, recovering his long sword, and brushed his greying hair out of his face. Sweat was dripping down his face. He hadn't had such a workout for a while, let alone been defeated.
"That....." he declared, "is how to give 110% in battle." He looked at the victor, and looked him up and down. He hadn't thought much of this one before.....
"Commander Leinard will be impressed....." He paused to catch his breath. "What is your name, cadet?"
The cadet answered. "Christopher James Appleyard, sir!"
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The intruders slipped quietly into the castle through an open window, evading discovery by the guards at the main entrance. One by one, they all made their way inside the castle. Now, they were hidden inside the main lobby, right next to the grand staircase leading up towards the chambers.
They'd all made their way in......except for the leader. He stood outside the window, speaking to his second in command.
"Geryon......remember, we're not here to pick a fight with the Royal Guard. Get the Princess, and get out. I must take my leave now....."
"Yes, sir. For power and glory!" He saluted his superior, who then vanished into the night, back towards the main gate.
"Alright, everyone." whispered the tall imposing figure of Geryon. He was well built, and carried a large axe, which no weaker man could possibly carry. His black hair was tied up in plaits, so that it didn't get in his face. "All but three of us shall remain here. I, and you two," he pointed at two of the group, "shall ascend the staircase and make our way to the Princess' chambers as planned. I will take custody of her Highness, and we shall return here. If we move with haste, we'll be able to get this done before the Guard can full react. Let's go."
Geryon and his two comrades stealthily moved across the lobby, using the great marble pillars and shadows to mask their presence. There were guards patrolling around the lobby, but only three at most. It was a matter of finding their pattern and exploiting the weak point of it.
Geryon watched and waited....
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Maximillian headed down the grand staircase, stretching his arms and letting out a slight yawn. He was very tired, and wearing the armour didn't help much, either. He decided that it would be best if he got some sleep for now. A tired soldier was not a good soldier.
As he walked down the staircase, his eyes wandered to the great window staring straight outside, towards the gate. His keen eyes saw that there were no guards patrolling outside.
An ordinary soldier would have ignored this, but Maximillian came built with a sixth sense, one that had been made from seeing and experiencing danger in the wars he'd fought. This sense was telling him that something was wrong.
Quick as a flash, his eyes darted down to the lobby. All seemed to be quiet, but the wise commander scanned every single marble pillar. They were great places to mask one's presence.
As he reached the last pillar, he wondered if he was just getting too old.....
Then, all of a sudden, he caught a flash of light. A reflection......
.......from a sword.
He instantly drew his sword. "Enemies in the castle!" he shouted, rallying every soldier in the castle. "TO ARMS!!!!!"
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Geryon could hardly believe it when he saw Maximillian on the staircase. He had cursed his luck that very moment, knowing that the old dog was a cut above the rest of the Royal Guard. However, he was even more shocked that he'd discovered them.
"shoot!" he cursed, as the alarm was sounded. He looked at his two companions, but as he was about to speak, he noticed what had given them away. The man next to him had worn his sword too wide on his back, and the edge of the sword had shone in the light from the stained glass window behind them.
He growled at the man. "You idiot!" Without a second's thought, Geryon drew his axe and drove it into the unfortunate intruder's back. The other looked at him fearfully.
Geryon shouted out to the rest of the infiltrators. "Charge!!!! We'll take the Princess by force if we have to!!!!!"
The entire group suddenly charged forward out of their hiding place, and rushed towards the staircase. Geryon and his remaining companion did the same.
Maximillian readied himself. "You filthy dogs....." he muttered under his breath in disgust.
From the other end of the castle, a large group of soldiers came running, all of them dressed in light blue armour. They ran as fast as they could, ready to join the fight.
Geryon and his group stopped as they reached the staircase. Several more Royal Guards were descending it, and they noticed the large group charging them from the main corridor.
Geryon brought his axe to bear. A bloodbath was better than all this sneaking around.....
Moments later, the Royal Guards engaged the intruders. The bottom of the staircase became a battlefield. Some of the Royal Guards jumped from the staircase into the fray as well, though most of them stayed on the staircase to block their passage.
Maximillian gritted his teeth. How the hell had this rag tag bunch gained entry to the castle? He turned to a nearby soldier, who had golden shoulder plates like his. "I will protect the Princess. If the situation gets out of control, summon the Knights of the Crown."
The soldier, who was a Lieutenant named Ash, nodded. "As you command, sir!"
Maximillian raced up the staircase, towards the Michelle's chambers. He would not let them get to her, even if it cost him his life......
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The Royal Guards outnumbered the intruders, but their unwanted guests had much better skill with the sword than they did. The Guards were getting cut to pieces, especially by Geryon, who was simply too strong for them to handle.
He leaped behind an unsuspecting Guard, before smashing the life out of him with a deadly blow from his axe. Two more tried to take him from behind, but he swung his axe horizontally, decapitating both soldiers.
The rest of the group was fighting hard, with a crazy bloodlust in them. Most of them were unencumbered with armour, and were running rings around the slower Royal Guards. It was turning into a total bloodbath.
Ash managed to fight off one man, but another caught him off guard and pushed him over the staircase. He landed on the floor, but quickly got to his feet.
"These guys..." he breathed, "are too strong....who the hell are they? I've got to call the Knights of the Crown!" He raced out of the main entrance with all haste, and headed for the Silver Arrow fortress.
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The unit was still drilling in the courtyard when the alert came.
"Knights of the Crown, scramble!!!!" shouted Rudy, who had just received word from Ash. "Campbell Castle is under attack!"
Every man and woman in the unit immediately scrambled, grabbing their gear and getting astride their horses in under two minutes. The whole twenty strong unit quickly galloped off towards Campbell Castle at maximum speed.
The sleek horses of the unit streaked across the moonlit countryside, and the castle grew ever closer on the horizon
Five minutes later, the unit came to a halt outside the castle. They dismounted their horses, readied their weapons, and raced to the defence of the castle.
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Michelle was shocked to see Maximillian burst into her chambers. "What is going on???" she asked worriedly.
"The castle is under attack, from forces as yet unknown." replied Maximillian quickly. "Stay inside the chambers, my lady. I have this protected, and the Knights of the Crown are on their way. It's just fortunate that your father isn't here as well....."
Maximillian left, and Michelle was left shocked.
"The...the castle is under attack.....?" she thought out loud, fear beginning to shake her voice. "But....why????"
She reached under her regal bed, and dragged and old red box out from under it. She opened it to reveal a sword. The metal was strangely white, apart from the middle, which was purple from the blade to hilt. The hilt itself was bright gold.
Michelle took the sword out and looked at it.
"This is why........" she said sorrowfully.
A few minutes later, she heard noises outside of her window. Clutching the sword, she looked outside, and hope filled her heart.
"The Knights of the Crown.....they made it in time!"
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The fighting was beginning to spread through the castle as the bloody battle broke off from the staircase. The Royal Guard were trying in vain to hold back the determined intruders, but they were simply no match for their skill.
Geryon felled another unfortunate soul. "Ha ha........this is too easy! These fools can't call themselves soldiers!"
He looked around at his battling comrades! "Show no mercy!!!!" he cried, raising his axe in the air.
His moment of glory was suddenly cut off, as the great wooden door that was the main entrance burst open.
Standing in the entrance were the twenty souls that no-one wanted to cross....
"The Knights of the Crown!!!!" growled Geryon in anguish. "Damn it!"
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He stood ahead of the elite unit, surveying the lobby. The bodies of fallen Royal Guards and their blood littered the once clean marble floor.
He flicked his golden locks back, and drew his long blade.
Tristan Leinard, commander of the Knights of the Crown, shouted, "CHARGE!!!!"
The twenty knights under his command rushed forward with frightening speed, and joined the fray.
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Geryon panicked as the knights charged, but not as much as his men. They struggled to defend against the highly trained unit, and before long some of them were laying on the floor, dead or badly wounded.
The knights fought with intense speed and strength, and rarely did any of them even receive a hit. One by one, the intruders were defeated or killed.
However, against the odds, a big group of Geryon's men managed to breach the blockade on the staircase, and rushed for the next floor of the castle.
"Damn it!" cursed Leinard, watching the event unfold. "They're going for the Princess!!!" He barked orders at the top of his voice.
"All units, remain here! I will go to the Princess's aid!" With that, he dashed up the staircase in pursuit of the would be kidnappers.
"Always going off on his own....he's pretty reckless for a commander." thought Wedge Gordon out loud. The blue haired young knight was always very critical of the commander. He was dead serious about being a knight, following orders to the letter, and delivering his own unique skills to the battlefield, as he was a talented fencer.
"He's an awesome knight though......so dashing....." Crystal Lightbourne, a close friend of his, almost swooned just talking about her handsome commander. She was often more worried about her appearance, and was constantly brushing her blonde locks. However, her girly persona hid a focused and excellent fighter.
"Aren't you guys forgetting we're in the middle of a battle?" chimed in a person they were both good friends of. In fact, the three of them were childhood friends.
"Chris, behind you!!!" screamed Crystal in terror.
The young cadet swung his zweihander upwards and blocked the blow from the vagabond behind him. He then smashed the man over the head with the hilt, knocking him out.
Hardly breaking a sweat, Chris faced his two buddies again. "You guys, somebody needs to make sure the Princess is OK, and not just Leinard."
"Chris!" yelled Wedge anxiously. "Our orders are to stay here and secure the castle!!!"
"These guys are after the Princess!" replied Chris angrily. "This is no time for that idiot to play hero, he needs backup!"
Crystal sighed. Both she and Wedge knew two things about Chris. First, he and Leinard were not the best of friends. The commander seemed to look down his nose at the gifted cadet, and Chris took serious umbrage at that.
Second, Chris would always do the right thing, even if it meant defying orders. Trying to stop him doing so was like trying to take a bone from a dog.
The 19 year old cadet rushed off towards the melee around the staircase, while Wedge and Crystal sighed with worry.
"Doing the right thing might get you killed someday, buddy....." thought Wedge to himself.
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On the second floor, Maximillian dispatched one of the kidnappers with a vicious but precise blow to the stomach. The now dead attacker slumped to the floor.
The aged commander was sweating like a pig. "How in the world did they fight off my entire unit?!" he cursed, breathing deeply. He'd managed to evade being wounded, unlike the two chamber guards next to him. One of them lay dead down the other end of the circular corridor.
"Sir.....don't worry." gasped the other, holding his side. "The Knights...of the Crown are tearing them apart....."
"I know........but the enemy's tactics are flawed." replied Maximillian matter-of-factly. "They couldn't possibly have escaped this castle without being detected......unless......"
His eyes widened. ".....it's just a distraction!!!!"
"ARGGHHH!!!!!!" came a scream to his right.
The wounded guard had been run through by a long thin blade. His body dropped to the floor, and Maximillian came face to face with his killer.
"Who the hell are you?!" he shouted. "Halt!"
The hooded and caped leader of the intruders had returned. Maximillian couldn't see his face, but he realised what was going on.
"So....that rabble was just to distract us, while you snuck in and took her Highness...." he spoke calmly. "Only you didn't count on me." He readied his trusty weapon, staring at the mysterious man before him.
"Oh, you're wrong, Maxmillian......" sneered the leader. "I can take you, old man."
"I'll show you who's an old man!!!!!! Die, you vermin!!!!" roared the war hardened veteran, rushing at his foe. The two of them locked sword, and began to duel.
For a few minutes, the two warriors attacked and parried, feinted and riposted, and neither seemed to be gaining an advantage. However, Maximillian was tiring, and his opponent was obviously more youthful than he was. He growled and lunged at the hooded young man.
The mystery leader side stepped Maximillian's lunge, and struck back with a lightning quick swing that knocked the old man off balance. A second swing cut into the commander's armour. He grimaced at stepped back, clutching his wounded arm.
"You would be wise to stand aside, old man." spoke the leader coldly. "I am here for the Princess, and I will kill anyone who gets in my way."
"I won't let you touch a hair on her head, you fiend!" Maximillian struck back with all his strength, which actually surprised his younger opponent. Maxmillian managed to scratch the man's arm, making him curse.
"You......." he hissed, feeling the sharp pain. "You're the first worthy opponent I've fought this night. However, you cannot stand against what you loathe and fear."
He stretched his left arm outwards, and energy began charging to his hand. Before Maximillian could evade him, the mystery fighter fired a large fireball at him. He simply had no defence against magic, and was flung into the wall by the force of the spell.
"M...Magic......curses......" spluttered the wounded commander, struggling to get to his feet. Few people could use magic, and those who could were a force to be reckoned with.
"It's time that you retired, old man!" yelled his attacker, plunging his sword into Maxmillian's chest.
Instantly, Maximillian knew that the cold grip of death was upon him. The sword was withdrawn from his dying body, and he coughed up some blood. The pain was unbearable.....
The leader sneered. "As a parting gift, allow me to show you who killed you...." He removed his hood.
Maximillian gasped. "Y......You!!!!!!" It was his last gasp, as the life left his body. The best damn soldier in Campbell Castle lay dead.....
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Chris raced up the staircase, evading the battle as much as possible. His only thought was to get the Princess to safety.
However, as he reached the second floor, an axe narrowly missed his head.
"You must be the leader....." he said, looking at him with hateful eyes.
"Not quite." laughed Geryon indignantly. "My boss will probably have the Princess by now! Our infiltration was simply a distraction. He's the one you should have been looking out for!" He pointed his axe at Chris. "Come on then, are you going to avenge your comrades?"
Chris' answer came swiftly. He dashed at Geryon, his zweihander low at his side. With amazing speed he slashed upwards at Geryon, but his blade banged harmlessly off of Geryon's battle axe.
He rolled quickly to evade Geryon's vertical counter-attack, which smashed into the floor where he'd just been a second ago.
The brute wildly swung around at Chris, but the young Knight of the Crown was too fast for him. His axe either met the wall, floor, or Chris' blade.
Geryon was beginning to get annoyed. "When are you going to stop dancing around and FIGHT BACK, kid???!!!!" The enraged thug lunged directly at Chris.
Chris dived out of the way at the last second, and the axe smashed into a vase full of flowers that had been on a pedestal nearby.
"Hope they don't send you the bill for that." taunted Chris, grinning slightly.
"Why you little punk!!!!!" roared Geryon. "I'll rip your tongue out and wrap it around your throat!!!!" His axe crashed down upon Chris' sword, which Chris held defensively in a crouched position.
Sweat dropped down Chris' face. The reason he was being so defensive was that he was trying to find a way of beating Geryon without killing him. He'd never taken someone's life before. Although he knew killing someone as evil as Geryon would be a good thing, the idea of killing a human being didn't appeal to him.
Despite this, he was a Knight of the Crown.
He jumped up, trying to get around Geryon's back so he could knock him out by hitting him on the head. Unfortunately, the muscle bound thug wasn't as stupid as he looked. He twirled around and his axe smashed into Chris' chest, sending him crashing into the wall.
"Oof!" gasped Chris, the wind knocked out of him.
"Just a kid after all......a cowardly little kid." laughed Geryon with an evil smirk on his face. He figured this would be over very quickly.....
However, his taunts awoke something inside the young cadet. Nasty memories of his childhood, being bullied by other kids....being called a coward.....being beaten up because of it......and being alone because of it.......
"Hey, there's that Appleyard kid! Let's get him!"
"Nah, leave him over there. We don't him playing with us..."
"You'll never be nothing, cause you're a sissy little coward!"
"No!" he shouted. "I am NOT a coward!!!!!"
He struck with terrifying accuracy. He sliced his zweihander in two diagonal strokes, the first cutting into Geryon's right arm and the second through his left.
Geryon cried out in pain, taken completely by surprise. He staggered back, blood pouring from the nasty wounds on his arms.
It was nothing compared to what happened next.
Chris pulled his sword back and thrust it forward into Geryon's now exposed chest.
The thug's eyes opened wide in shock. Pain exploded through his body, and he staggered back, falling off of the sword. He crashed to the ground on his back, bleeding to death.
"B-Beaten........by a.........kid.......?" were his last words.
Chris stood, bringing his now bloodied sword to his side. He was in some sort of shock. He'd just killed someone.....taken the life from a human being.....
However, he didn't feel bad. He felt like he'd done the world a favour. Scum like Geryon deserved to die.
He breathed sharply, cleaning the blood off his trusty zweihander. He'd finally gotten over his fear of having to kill someone. His first kill was also the second in command of these guys, no less.
Chris had finally taken one more step on the path to knighthood. His mind snapped back to the task at hand, and he rushed with haste to the Princess' chambers.
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Michelle was terrified at the sounds of fighting outside her door. Even more so when the fighting stopped.
She grabbed hold of her sword, and readied herself to fight. If an enemy came through that door, they would discover that Princess Michelle Campbell wasn't going be taken without a fight!
Sure enough, the door opened......
Michelle came face to face with the hooded leader of the attackers. She pointed her sword at him.
"Whoever you are, don't come any closer!!!" she shouted. She hoped someone would come to help, because from the looks of the man before her, she was out of her league.
"Drop the weapon, Princess." said the leader calmly. "You know you can't defeat me." He began to walk closer. "Come with me, and I'll call my men off."
"Stay back!" yelled Michelle. She wasn't an expert sword fighter by any means, but she was actually a cut above the average Royal Guard. She just didn't practise enough.
"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." stated the leader coldly. He drew his long blade to emphasise his point.
Michelle stared daggers at this man, who dared to threaten her. "I'd rather die than let you take me!" was her reply. She suddenly ran forward, her sword ready to strike.
The leader didn't move. As Michelle reached him, he slashed outwards. The silver blade slice into her hand, making her scream out in pain and drop her weapon. The white sword clattered to the ground harmlessly.
The leader pointed the silver sword at Michelle, who was shaking with fear and anger and holding her wounded hand.
"Pretty girls aren't meant to play around with swords." he spoke, his tone mocking her.
"You cad!" she shot back, her face twisting into rage.
"You're coming with me, right now." The leader roughly grabbed Michelle's right wrist, and began to drag her out of the chambers.
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Chris saw the chamber doors up ahead. His heart began to beat faster and more urgently as she saw the horrible sight outside.
He saw two of the Royal Guards, and Maximillian. He closed his eyes. "Damn it......who could have done this?"
"Uhhh....uggghhh......" came a groan to his right. Maximillian was still alive!
"Commander Westring!" acknowledged Chris, kneeling down at his side. "Hang on, sir. I'll get you help!"
"It's......too late.....for me......." croaked the dying old warrior. "The Princess.....she's in danger....go and....help her........."
"Don't talk like that!" rebuked Chris. Then he saw the commander's wound. It was ghastly......
"He......struck a.....mortal......blow........"gasped the old commander. "He was........like a.......demon..........and.......I know.........who he.......is........"
"Save your strength....." said Chris, but he knew it was in vain.
"It's.......it's.........uhhhhhh......" Before Maxmillian could reveal the identity of his attacker, his strength left him.
Chris stood up, and cursed. "Commander Leinard, where ARE you???" If he'd been here, perhaps Maxmillian would still be alive.
Chris then heard a scream through the chamber doors, followed by, "You cad!"
"The Princess!!!" he gasped. Without hesitation, he kicked open the golden doors, and raced inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hearing the doors fly open, the mystery leader turned around.
Stood in front of the door was Chris, who had his zweihander pointed at him.
"Hmph......another royal lapdog......" snorted the leader.
Chris stepped forward. "Unhand the princess at once!"
Michelle came out from behind the man. "Please, leave! I don't want anyone else to be hurt....or killed!"
At that moment, Chris and Michelle's eyes met.
Chris was mesmerised by Michelle's beauty. This was in fact the first time he'd laid eyes on her Highness.
It was a similar experience for Michelle. She stared at the young knight before her, having never seen him before.
Chris' blue eyes blinked. Her eyes were like emeralds.....and yet, seemed strangely familiar.......it was as if they already knew each other.
Michelle was equally astounded by Chris' sapphire like eyes. She was sure she'd met him somewhere before......
Michelle's captor broke their reverie. "Some knight you are, kid......" He laughed a little. "You can't even keep your eyes off a beautiful girl."
Chris flushed red for a moment. "Be quiet!!!! Let the Princess go!"
The leader shook his head. "I can't do that. She's essential to my plans......"
"You have committed treason against the Kingdom of Galatea, and slaughtered some of my friends, as well as many good soldiers in this castle!" yelled Chris, struggling to maintain his professional mask. He was just a cadet....he didn't have time for things like procedure or protocol. "Now unhand Princess Michelle, or you'll have to answer to me!"
"You think you can defeat me?" The leader let out a mocking laugh. "You're not even a knight yet, and I am stronger than you can possibly imagine."
"How do you know that???" gasped Chris. That was impossible, how could this man know he was just a cadet?!
"I know a lot more than a silly little kid like you." replied the man coldly. His voice took on the threatening tone from before. "Leave now, and I will spare your life. Hmph, might even give you the chance to become a real knight instead of being a kid who plays with a sword like it's a toy."
Chris' temper flared, and he readied his sword. "I am not a kid!!! And I'm not just going let you walk away with the Princess!"
Michelle was filled with worry. "He's just in training......He's going to get himself killed!!!" She didn't even know Chris, but felt more scared for his life than anyone else in the battle, including herself.....
"As you wish." said the leader in acknowledgement. "In that case........DIE!!!!!"
He let go of Michelle and rushed at Chris, with the speed of a Knight of the Crown, the long silver sword gleaming in the moonlight from the window.
Chris' eyes widened and he brought his two-hander up just in time. The long blade was awfully close to his chest. He smashed away the fearful weapon and counterattacked, aiming for his foe's arm.
The leader was no fool, however. He quickly jerked the sword back, and deflected Chris' blow. He wasn't going to fall victim from something like that from a mere cadet.
Chris gritted his teeth. This guy was going to be no pushover, but he knew a few tricks as well. He was going to show him what a cadet could do!
The two fought all the way across the large chambers, attacking and defending, dodging and rolling. When they fought close to Michelle's bed, their blades ended up ripping its silky quilt to shreds. They left countless slash marks on the walls, but not once did they hit each other.
Michelle could only watch, terrified for Chris' life.
It went on like that for a couple of minutes, until Chris suddenly pulled his own special move. He feinted, pretending he was going to strike downward. This caused his opponent to switch his defence lower.
However, is actual fact, Chris did his own personal move from back in his training with Rudy. He brought his zweihander crashing down with awesome force from behind his shoulder.
The leader was caught off guard by the unfamiliar move, and the sword sliced heavily into his right arm. It didn't cut it off but went a fair way through, and cut upwards along it was well.
"Argggghhh!" he cried, dropping his silver bladed sword. He held his right arm, which was in crippling pain.
Chris pointed his weapon at him once again. "Just a little something I learned while playing around with my sword as a toy." he declared, smiling.
Michelle gasped. "Wow....that was neat....." she thought happily.
The wounded kidnapper looked at Chris, and through his voice it was easy to tell he was in pain. "Not bad....for a cadet.......I didn't see that one coming....."
Chris stared at him indignantly. "You forgot the first rule of combat. Never underestimate your enemy."
The leader smirked under his hood. "So did you."
Suddenly, he stretched his left arm outwards, charging up energy for a magic spell.
Michelle looked in horror. "Look out!!!! Magic!!!!"
Chris couldn't react fast enough. The leader once again let loose a fireball, and it smacked straight into Chris, flinging him across the chamber.
The cadet groaned, and got to his feet.....
......but the leader was already charging him. Chris was surprised at his speed, and couldn't get his sword up quickly enough.
The leader slashed horizontally, and his blade struck Chris' zweihander with devastating force, smashing the sword in two.
Chris then froze in shock as the lengthy silver blade thrust straight into his stomach.
Michelle could only watch, horrified, as Chris was run through by her captor. "No!!!!" she screamed.
Underneath his hood, the victorious leader gave a triumphant smile, before pulling his bloody weapon free of Chris.
Chris stepped back awkwardly, looking down at his wound. The sword had pierced vital areas, and the bleeding wouldn't stop.
His strength failing him, Chris collapsed backwards to the floor, his armour clanking loudly as he hit the floor.
The entire 19 years of his life flashed before his life. Being a little baby, happy days spent with his family and friends, joining the Galatean military and then the Knights of the Crown, and the events that had transpired that night.
His biggest memory however, was the one day when he was about 12 years old. He met a girl while playing in the forest one day, and he remembered the promise he'd made her.
Now he would never get to keep his promise.....
His life fading fast, he turned his head to look across at Michelle. the Princess was in shock, and tears were beginning to fall down her sweet face.
He spoke two final words with his last breath. "I'm......sorry......"
As white light appeared in his eyes, Chris' last thoughts were not of himself, or his friends, or the person who had ended his life.
They were of the beautiful princess that he'd failed to protect......
Seconds later, Chris Appleyard was dead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michelle was beyond despair. The gallant cadet who'd tried his best to protect her lay dead, killed before her eyes. She knew that many others had already died, but Chris' death seemed different. She hadn't even known him, yet she felt like she'd just lost someone very dear to her.
"How......how could you......" she angrily spoke through her tears.
"Anyone who crosses swords with me will pay the price." replied Chris' killer in his icy cold tone. "That fool didn't know when to walk away, though he was a most impressive opponent, for a cadet."
Michelle could only stand there, almost numb. "I-I won't let you get away with th-this......" she said defiantly, her voice shaking.
the leader grabbed her wrist again forcefully, and she struggled to break free. He then slapped her hard across the face. The princess winced in pain, and held her cheek.
"Silence, you spoiled brat!" growled Michelle's captor, getting increasingly annoyed by her. "Or I'll make you suffer a fate worse than death! We go now!"
He turned and blasted the window into pieces with a well aimed fireball showering the chamber with shards of glass.
He then jumped out of the window with Michelle in tow. As they jumped, the princess looked back at the fallen body of Chris, tears pouring down her face.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
White.......
A white light........
A white light moving at great speed........
It felt like he was going through a tunnel at extremely high speed. He was being catapulted through goodness knows where.
Was this the way....to Heaven.....?
Suddenly, the tunnel exploded into complete light, He stopped moving, and time seemed to stop completely.
Slowly, Chris opened his eyes. He squinted as extremely bright light shot its way into them, but soon became use to the brightness.
And brightness was all there was. He looked around him. White light. There was nothing but white light all around him in every direction.
He looked down. It looked like he was floating in mid-air. He moved his right leg forward gingerly, and it floated upwards. Panicking, he quickly moved it back down.
Where in the goddess's name was he?
"Is this.......Heaven.....?" he wondered.
"Not quite." came an echoing reply. Chris jumped.
"Who....who's there?" he called out nervously.
His answer came right in front of him. A few metres away from him, a figure began to come into view. It was a womanly figure, and she appeared to for out of the light surrounding Chris, as if she was made of it. She was quite tall from what Chris could tell.
Then, several brilliant lights shot out of her back, brighter than what was around the two. She reared her head back as the lights continued to shine, then they formed into shapes. Looking closer, Chris cou goddess......" gasped Chris, looking at her in wonder.
"You're very perceptive, aren't you?" spoke the heavenly woman, her strange pink eyes blinking at him. "I would have expected nothing less."
Chris could only stare in wonder at her. "Who......who are you.....?"
"I am the one who brings the light of hope." she replied, her voice sounding so gentle and loving. "I am the one who drives back the foul stench of evil. I am the one who fills my treasured world with love."
Her equally gentle eyes met Chris's. "I am the Goddess of Love."
Chris' mind went reeling from this revelation. "The......legendary Goddess.....of Love.....?" he replied in amazement. He of course knew of the Tale of The Two Goddesses passed down through the ages, but no-one had ever laid eyes upon the divine creators of their world.
"Yes." replied the Goddess, smiling. "I've been waiting for you for a long time, Chris."
"Waiting....for me?" said a puzzled Chris. "But......I'm dead now.....aren't I?"
"Yes......but do not worry." said the Goddess reassuringly. "You are here for a reason."
She cast her hand through the light, and it parted, turning black. It then showed two armies fighting, in some distant place in the world.
Chris watched this with interest, but also worry. "Why is this war being fought? Those people are getting killed!"
"It appears to be the wishes of power hungry warlords." answered the Goddess of Love, who suddenly looked very serious. "However, this is in the fact the machinations of my sister, the Goddess of Hate." Her face fell at the mention of that name.
"The Goddess of Hate?" said a perplexed Chris. "But the legend says that you and your angels sealed her away..."
"We did, yes." nodded the immortal. "However......her influence did not stop. By her will, hate has continued to spread through my world, corrupting the wills and minds of good people. It is all in an attempt to destroy everything I created...and another step towards her goal of domination of all existence...."
"That's terrible!" exclaimed Chris. "But where do I, and the attack and the castle fit into all of this?"
The Goddess calmly looked at Chris, and the view switched to that of a massive circular object. "The leader of the attack has had his body and soul taken by my sister. Through her will, he has kidnapped Princess Michelle in order to break the Seal of Avalon."
"The Seal of Avalon? What is that?" Chris tilted his head, looking at her thoughtfully.
The Goddess showed him an ancient looking castle. "My angels created a holy fortress, which was named Avalon. It was filled with traps and guardians, designed to prevent anyone from breaking the seal contained at the top." stated the Goddess, the memory of the place fresh in her mind as if it had been yesterday. "Many people, those driven by hate, believe that the Seal of Avalon
contains unlimited power. Many have tried and failed to reach the seal."
She continued, her tone becoming more serious. "The Princess' kidnapper will be heading to Avalon. His intention is to break the Seal and gain unlimited power for himself. His taking of the Princess is no accident, young Chris. She is the only person who can break the Seal."
"Princess Michelle?" Chris shook his head. "But what could she have to do with the Seal of Avalon?"
"That is not important, Chris." said the Goddess swiftly. "What is important is what is behind the Seal. The Princess' captor is being fed an illusion. Opening the Seal will not bring him unlimited power.....it will bring death and chaos to the world...and all that exists."
"That doesn't sound good!" gasped Chris. "What is behind the Seal?"
"The Seal must NEVER be broken, Chris......" spoke the Goddess sternly, closing her eyes.
The tear in the light changed to show a figure emerging from the Seal, now broken. Chris could only see her silhouette, and from what he could see the figure looked very similar to the Goddess of Love. However, the wings were not white. They were black......
Then, her face appeared. It was like the Goddess of Love's face, but this woman was staring with hatred in her eyes, and an evil smile across her face.
"......for behind it, lies my sister, the Goddess of Hate......." she finished, opening her eyes.
Chris was shocked. He could only imagine what an evil goddess was capable of.....
"If she is freed, everything will know hatred.'' spoke the Goddess, her eyes blinking with sorrow. "This world, and perhaps every other, will be consumed by the darkness she has created. Finally, she will attempt to absorb all existence into her will, and will mold the universe as she sees fit. It will become a hellish paradise....."
She faced Chris. "But there is still hope........you." she smiled.
"Me....?" Chris' mind was completely reeling from all the things he had been told.
"Yes. I have waited such a long time for the one who shall be this world's champion and hero." She looked him up and down. "I can feel it even now, the love that you have....."
"My....love.....? I don't understand, Goddess......" Chris was very bamboozled. What was she trying to say? "I'm dead! I failed in my task...."
"You did not fight your way to those chambers simply because of duty, Chris." interrupted the immortal. "You went up there because you cared about the Princess. You care about her more than you realise."
Before Chris could speak, she said, "You love her, don't you?"
Chris flushed red. "I don't even know her......"
"Your heart tells a different story, young one. Why do you think you fought so hard to save her?"
He thought back. What the Goddess was saying was true. Ever since he'd heard of the Princess, he'd done his best to join the Knights of the Crown. He'd thought it was because he wanted to protect the kingdom, but in fact, he just wanted to be close to her Highness. He was just drawn to her, for a reason he didn't know. Yet, when he'd seen her face for the first time, he'd felt like he'd know her all his life. When he'd died, his last thoughts had been of her.
Yet, he'd never approached her before, as he'd been too scared that she would reject him...because she was a princess, and she was a knight. Also....he'd never even gotten to know her.
"The love you have for her may be unknown, but it's shining, Chris." continued the Goddess. "It shines even brighter than what lies in my heart......for what you have for her is a pure, everlasting love. No other love like yours exists....."
"A pure, everlasting love.....? For Michelle.....?" Chris instinctively touched his chest where his heart was. It was pounding rather fast.
"You don't truly realise it yet." smiled his divine companion. "In time, you will realise how much she means to you. It is your love for her that will be your strength. Never forget that, Chris."
"My love for her is my strength?" Chris frowned, becoming a little frustrated at the Goddess' vagueness. "What do you mean?"
"This is what I mean." Suddenly, pink coloured particles began to circle around her, growing in intensity. They made her glow with a brilliant pink light.
She then thrust her hands out in Chris' direction, closing her eyes. Then, a beam shot out from her hands and struck Chris.
"Whaaa.....?" gasped Chris, as the beam hit him...right where his heart was. He closed his eyes and felt a surge of something flow through his body, and even his mind.....
The pink particles suddenly formed around him and began to swim around him like they did the Goddess.
All Chris could think was, "What's happening to me.....?"
The particles spun around him for a few moments, then surged into his heart, and a brilliant flash of pink coloured light exploded from there.
A few moments later, the bewildered teenager opened his eyes. He checked himself over, but everything seemed the same.
The Goddess was looking at him, smiling brightly.
"What...what did you do to me....?" spoke Chris, scared by what had just happened.
"I have awakened your true potential and skill, young Chris. I've lent you my power."
"What??? Power? What are you talking about???" yelled Chris, panicking.
"You are the only hope for my world, Chris." replied the Goddess softly. "You must find my sister's pawn, and prevent him from releasing her. Do not worry. Your love for Michelle will guide you to where you need to go, and will enable you to fight off those tainted by my sister. Please, Chris......please help me...." she pleaded with him. "If you refuse, then I will send you on your way to the peace of the afterlife....I do not wish to force you to do this....."
"I don't know what is going on here....." said Chris, frowning, "but I do know that I want the Princess to be safe.....and your sister to stay behind a locked door. I'll do as you ask." He nodded in acknowledgment.
"Thank you." said the Goddess happily. "I have every faith in you."
She paused. "But whatever happens, never let anger or fear cloud your mind. To do so would to mean certain victory for my sister...."
"I won't." replied Chris, smiling.
"Then godspeed to you." said the immortal. "Love's Knight......."
"Love's Knight......?" said Chris, looking at her, perplexed.
Suddenly, he was being hurtled back down the tunnel of light, away from the Goddess, away from death.....and back to life......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris bolted upright, breathing in a panic. Once he regained his composure, he saw that he was back in the Princess' chamber.
It was like he hadn't even been gone. Everything was as it had been when he'd left this mortal coil. He noticed one difference, however....the large window was smashed, and the cold night wind was blowing in.
He stood up, and felt his stomach. There was no wound, and his silver armour and blue underclothes were untouched.
He felt like he'd just woken from a dream, and scratched his head.
A glint of metal on the floor caught his attention. On the floor lay the two broken pieces of his zweihander. He picked them up, and looked at them, giving a big sigh. "How am I supposed to save Michelle if I haven't even got a sword....?"
His thoughts turned to the Princess. He wondered where she was now, if she was safe. It was all his fault that she was in her current predicament! If only he'd seen that fireball coming, he might have been able to best that villain....
"Curse you, Chris!!!!" He punched the air in frustration.
He sat for a few moments in silence, thinking about the events that had passed. "Heh......you wouldn't want to marry me now......" he laughed a little, sarcastically. His mind had drifted back to his sweetest memory....
It was a lovely day in Cherryglade Forest. The sun was shining, and the colour of nature could be seen everywhere. The forest never looked better, and it was very peaceful here.
Chris had just finishing chopping the tree. He may have been just 12, but he seemed pretty gifted with handling tools such as an axe. He put the last of the wood into the leather bag he held, and began to walk home.
"Helllppppp!!!!!!" cried a voice, not to far away from him. It sounded like a girl...
The young boy stopped and looked around frantically, searching for the source of the voice. "Hey!!!!" he shouted.
Suddenly, out from the bushes burst a figure. Chris could she that it was a girl, who was dressed in a light pink dress. Her shoulder length brown hair was bouncing up and down as she ran, and her eyes were fixed in a look of pure terror.
Behind her, a black four legged beast was pursuing her. Chris instantly recognised the creature as a wolf. It was extremely odd that a wolf was running around in daylight. The girl had probably disturbed it from its sleep.
The girl spied Chris and screamed all the louder. "HELP ME!!!!!!!" Suddenly, she feel flat on her face, tripping over her dress.
The wolf, licking its lips at the chance of a meal, leaped at her.
"AAHHHHHH!!!!!!!" screamed the girl, closing her eyes.
The wolf suddenly yelped as a hefty object struck it in the side of its face.
Chris had jumped in front of the fallen girl, and had smashed his axe into the beast's face. He stared at it, scared a little himself, but more worried for the safety of the young girl.
The wolf snarled, and ran off, not wishing to risk another blow like that. Chris breathed a sigh of relief and put his axe away. He turned to the young maiden.
"Are you OK?" he asked, helping her up.
She got to her feet and looked at him. "Yeah, thank you!" she said politely, but she was still a bit scared. "That monster was gonna eat me...."
"Don't worry!" smiled Chris enthusiastically. "I'll protect you from any monsters!"
The girl giggled. "Thank you. You're really brave!"
The young Chris blushed. "Thanks..." he said, shuffling his feet nervously. He looked at the girl.....she was really pretty. She looked back at him, smiling.
"Hey, do you wanna play?" asked Chris of the girl. "We should play Hide and Seek!"
"You...want to play with me...?" spoke the girl shyly. "No-one's ever wanted to play with me before........alright!" She giggled happily.
The two kids spent a good long while playing the game. Chris knew more about woodcraft that the girl, so he had no trouble finding her and keeping hidden from her.
"Got you!" shouted Chris, tackling the girl from behind. They rolled around in the soft grass, laughing. Eventually they came to a stop.
Chris looked down at the girl. "You're beautiful...." he said, his face going red.
The pretty young maiden flushed red and giggled. She sat up and so did Chris. The young boy blushed and plucked a pretty flower from the grass nearby. "This is for you, 'cause you're as pretty as a flower." He shuffled his feet nervously again. This was really the first time he'd been this way around a girl, and he already had another friend who was a girl, Crystal.
"Thank you....." The girl took the flower and tucked it into her hair. She looked at Chris with loving eyes. "You're my knight.....my knight in shining armour."
Chris smiled. "Yeah, and you're my princess!" He looked back into her eyes. They were soooo pretty......
"Hey, when we grown up........." It was the girl's turn to shuffle nervously. "......will you marry me....?"
Chris blushed, but held the girl's hand. "Yeah, I wanna marry you!"
The maiden smiled. "Promise?"
Chris nodded. "Promise!"
The two then planted a small kiss on each other's lips. Both of them blushed even redder than they already were.
The girl then got up. "Oh no! My mommy will be worried about me! I have to go!" She ran off along the beaten path through the woods.
"Bye!!!!!" shouted Chris after her.
"Bye bye!!!!!" shouted back the girl, as she vanished into the distance......
He never saw the girl ever again. She never came back to the woods. He'd used to wait there for her everyday after chopping wood.
But she'd never came........
"I'll never keep that promise now...." murmured Chris, looking at the ground in sadness.
"Look into your memories, Chris. Love exists not just in the present and future, but in the past as well......let your memories push you forward ....."
"Huh???" Chris stood up and looked around. A voice had just echoed somewhere, as if it was talking to him.
The two pieces of his sword suddenly began to shake.
"What the....my sword?!" Chris held the pieces away from him, afraid they were going to explode.
They shot out of his hands and floated in mid-air in front of him. Then, Chris almost jumped as his chest began to glow where his heart was. A pink beam, like the one the Goddess shot at him shot out from there and struck his broken sword. Light began to emanate from the weapon, and Chris had to shield his eyes.
A brilliant purple light shot out from the zweihander, and repaired the damage, fusing both pieces back together. However, that wasn't all it did.
It began to change the sword. It became sharper and slightly longer. The hilt became a brilliant golden colour unlike the duller tone from before, and the wrist guard became triangular. A blue chevron like shape formed and linked the hilt to the blade. The blade itself changed from silver to a brilliant white, as if it was holy.
The light then began to cut small markings into the blade, like a laser. The markings weren't very visible to the naked eye, even though it looked like the light cut deep into the reborn blade.
A thin yellow line of gold was formed, running from the tip of the blue area to the tip of the blade.
Finally, two gold coloured supports grew out of the side. On these supports, two beams of light shot out, just like with the Goddess. Two feathery white angel wings formed on the supports, and immediately swept back.
As quickly as it had come, the light faded, and Chris was able to see again. He gazed in awe at his new weapon. It was truly a sword fit for a knight. He wasn't sure what the angel wings were supposed to mean, however. Perhaps they had something to do with the Goddess?
He took the sword out of the air, and there was some kind of reaction as he gripped it with both his hands. Once again, that now familiar purple light shot out from the hilt, and enveloped both wielder and weapon.
out loud.
He began to think of Michelle. Her sweet face, her kind heart, and her beautiful voice.......the brief memories he had of her.
"Memories are what made this sword." smiled the cadet. "Memories of Michelle...."
He held the divine sword up in the air. "Sword, I name you, Michelle Memoria!"
He heard fighting outside the door. He'd completely forgotten about the battle. He guessed that his comrades had finally gotten to the chambers.
How was he going to explain what had happened? Would they even believe him? He didn't have time.....his heart was telling him to immediately go after Michelle and her captor, and the Goddess had told him to follow his heart....
Without another thought, he leaped out of the broken window, jumping across to the battlements, and then down several window ledges, before landing in front of the main gate.
"I'll save you......I promise...." he spoke, before rushing off through the gate, into the night......
[/i][/b]
"It's a pretty clear night, don't you think?" said the older of the two soldiers to his companion.
"More like spooky......" replied the younger and less experienced of the two gate guards.''You can see the moon clearly; it's like some kind of omen."
"Heh heh....." laughed the old soldier. "All that stuff is poppycock. You need to wise up, my young friend."
The two soldiers were the gate guards for possibly the most important place in the kingdom.
Campbell Castle, the home of the royal family of the Kingdom of Galatea.
The great castle stood proudly in the moonlight. The castle had been built by the first ruler of Galatea, King Johans Astaroth the 1st. Designed to be a home for the present ruler of the kingdom and a fortress against enemy assaults, almost nothing had changed about the place since it was built, except for its name.
Originally known as Astaroth Castle, a tradition came about in which the castle would bear the family name of its present ruler. So, as King Gideon Campbell presided over the kingdom, so the castle was renamed Campbell Castle.
The two soldiers were part of a special branch of the Galatean army, the Royal Guard. They were basically assigned to protect the King and his family from any kind of attack. So far, their jobs had been easy. There had been no trouble in Galatea for many years, so no-one had made an attempt on the King's life.
"So, what do you think about her Highness?" inquired the young guard of his superior.
"They say she has a heart of gold, a pure heart." replied the old solider, smiling. "You don't see too many women like her these days..."
"Have you ever met her?" asked the young solider again, clearly interested.
"Once. She hardly ever comes out of the castle. Somebody told me that she longs for her true love or something, and that she can't ever be truly happy without him. Some kid she met when she was a little girl, apparently." The old soldier certainly had a knack for remembering things.
His younger comrade began to cry. "That's....so......sad!"
He received a slap on the head from his friend. "Oh, quit blubbering! It annoys me....." He then began to patrol the gate again, marching up and down its length.
The younger solider frowned. "Sheesh...you don't know your own strength, old man!" he yelled, nursing a bruise from where the old soldier hit him. He too, began to patrol the gate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Behind a bush close to the gate, a group of shadows were watching the two guards.
"Poor, stupid fools. Royal Guard? Pah.....more like a bunch of weaklings made to look important." The speaker turned to the rest of the figures.
"We get in, and we get out. Understand? I know that we can hold out own against these Royal Guard idiots, but Maximillian is no pushover. And if they call the Knights......" The mention of the word struck fear into the hearts of every man there. They didn't have a chance against them.....
"Understood, sir!" A tall figure gave the leader a salute.
"I'll handle this......" The leader turned back around to face the gate patrol. He paused for a few seconds, feeling the soft breeze of the night air blow against his face.
Then, he struck.
It was the younger guard who saw the attacker. "Enemies!!!!!!" he shouted nervously. He made to draw his weapon.......
.......but was too late. The attacker stabbed straight through him at blinding speed. His extremely long, thin blade had no trouble penetrating the unfortunate soldier's standard issue armour.
"Uh...ughhh......." The young guard froze with shock as he realised what was happening.
The attackers' leader drew his now bloody sword from the young soldier, who collapsed to the ground, bleeding his life out.
"Why you....! YAAAAAHHHH!!!!!" The older soldier, seeing his comrade's fate, had drawn his longsword and rushed at the leader.
With terrifying precision, the leader sliced at the guard's weapon, and the sheer force of the hit caused it to be knocked out of his hand. Seconds later, a second slice ripped through the old man's armour and knocking him to the ground.
"How...in the....?" gasped the surprised guard, before his attacker ended his life, stabbing him through the heart.
The tall man, the group's second in command, searched the bodies. On the old soldier, he found an ornate key. No doubt that this was the all important key for the castle gate.
"Let's move!" ordered the leader quietly, unlocking the large gold plated gate. He took care to open it silently, so as not to alert the guards' attention.
The hooded leader, with a black cape covering his whole body, took a quick look around. This was only the beginning, and if they screwed up, they would have a whole castle full of guards to deal with.....and possibly them.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm coming through to see her Highness." The imposing, gold armoured figure saluted the two Royal Guards outside the large double golden doors. They saluted back, and allowed him to enter.
Maximillian Westring was the commander of the Royal Guard, and one of the best damn soldiers in the Galatean army. As a matter of fact, he was the best damn soldier inside Campbell Castle, and he knew the place like the back of his hand.
A veteran of several conflicts, Maximillian was an expert with the sword. He'd never believed in magic, dismissing it as 'supernatural nonsense', and believed the way of the sword to be the only true way of combat. At 56, he was getting a little old for this job, but his skills were as sharp as his weapon, and those under his command were in need of his experience.
He was also one of the few people allowed to do what he was doing now.......
He stepped the chambers of her Highness, covered in royal red carpet, with red curtains and a large decorated window looking out across the kingdom.
Standing at that window was her Highness.......
Princess Michelle Campbell of the Kingdom of Galatea, and the heir to her father's throne.
"Your Highness, excuse me." spoke Maximillian respectfully.
Upon hearing his voice, Michelle turned around. She was dressed in a long flowing pink dress, with white cummerbunds on the sleeves. Her long, flowing brown hair ran down past her shoulders, and her emerald green eyes looked back at Maximillian. Her face was her typical expression of royalty, but it was simply a mask. A mask that she did not bother to hide. A mask of sadness......
"Yes?" she replied, in her regal tone. It was rare that she could speak in her normal voice....
"I report no problems around the castle. Also, I will be standing guard tonight." stated Maxmillian with military precision.
Michelle smiled slightly. Maximillian had been a good friend to her and her father all her life, and knowing he was on guard made her feel safer, even though she didn't think she needed protecting. "Thank you, Maximillian..."
"Your Highness." Maximillian saluted her and left the room, leaving the Princess of Galatea to turn back to her previous thoughts.
She sighed, and stared out of the window again. She was sad, and had been so ever since that day......when she'd met.....him.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Come on, move it you scallywags!!!! Call yourselves Knights of the Crown??? You aren't fit to lick my boots! Come on, stand to ATTEN-SHUN!!!"
The snarling commander hurled orders at the bunch of soldiers in the courtyard. They were all drilled harder, faster and more often than the rest of the Galatean military, and for good reason.
They weren't soldiers, and they certainly weren't the ordinary military.
They were knights.......and part of the most elite fighting force of the Galatean military.
The Knights of the Crown.......
They were the greatest fighters in Galatea, assigned to respond quickly to threats and eliminate them with by any means necessary. No-one had taken on the Knights of the Crown and lived. This had earned them respect among the people of Galatea, and fear from those who ended up in their path.
The knights, mostly young, were being marched around the courtyard of their base, the Silver Arrow fortress. It was a short ride north from Campbell Castle, so they were ready to respond instantly if anyone threatened the castle.
The unit lined up in perfect formation, all of them facing the same direction and not moving a muscle. They all wore different kinds and colours of armour......they were allowed to customise their weaponry and armour, unlike the regular military, which allowed them to maximise their strengths. It was one of the reasons they were so deadly in combat.
The middle aged commander barking orders at them was Henson Rudy, who was in fact the second in command of the Knights. He surveyed the knights with his aged but keen hazel eyes.
"Being a knight is all about pushing yourself beyond your limits!" he shouted. "Being a knight is about upholding justice! Being a knight is about chivalry!" He paused. "But most important of all, being a knight means being able to kick the enemy's @$$ TEN times harder than those regulars! Do you understand?!"
"Yes, sir!!" shouted the entire unit in unison.
"You must give nothing less than 110% in battle! You must fight with all your might even if you are the last man or woman standing!" He paused again, eyeing the troops. Suddenly, he pointed his finger at one of them. "You! Show me how to give 110%! You will fight me, right now!"
The knight he'd pointed to was a young rookie, who had yet to become a fully fledged Knight of the Crown. He stepped forward, hiding his nervousness. He didn't like the idea of fighting the commander, but he was a knight, or nearly was anyway. He wasn't going to back down.
"Yes sir!" he replied at full volume.
Rudy drew his sword, a longsword with a longer blade than a standard one, and went into a combat stance.
The young cadet drew his sword from his back. It was a zweihander, or two handed sword. It was fairly lengthy, and had nothing special about it. It was simply a standard silver steel blade with a golden hilt. He held it in his combat stance, which was with the sword to his right, slightly lower than his shoulder.
"Have at you!!!" declared Rudy, charging at the cadet. He brought his weapon up, ready to cut downwards in a vertical slash.
It was met by the cadet's zweihander, who retaliated with a horizontal stroke. Rudy almost failed to block it, and only just managed to keep his balance.
Before the older knight could react, the youngster pulled a surprise move. He'd crouched low during his attack, and delivered two spin slashes to Rudy's legs. Rudy's armour prevented any injury, but ordinarily this would have badly wounded his legs.
The aged commander jumped back and brought his sword crashing down. He thought the young cadet wouldn't have time bring his sword up to block an overhead strike.
He was wrong. The cadet was more nimble than he'd given him credit for. The longsword clashed off of the zweihander again, and the cadet got to his feet. He then took his weapon behind him and swung it forward over his shoulder with immense force. The impact knocked Rudy's longsword free of his hand, and the cadet pointed his zweihander straight at his face for a moment, before sheathing his weapon.
The rest of the unit, completely shocked, broke into applause. Not one of them had beaten Rudy in a training duel before.
The defeated commander rose to his feet, recovering his long sword, and brushed his greying hair out of his face. Sweat was dripping down his face. He hadn't had such a workout for a while, let alone been defeated.
"That....." he declared, "is how to give 110% in battle." He looked at the victor, and looked him up and down. He hadn't thought much of this one before.....
"Commander Leinard will be impressed....." He paused to catch his breath. "What is your name, cadet?"
The cadet answered. "Christopher James Appleyard, sir!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The intruders slipped quietly into the castle through an open window, evading discovery by the guards at the main entrance. One by one, they all made their way inside the castle. Now, they were hidden inside the main lobby, right next to the grand staircase leading up towards the chambers.
They'd all made their way in......except for the leader. He stood outside the window, speaking to his second in command.
"Geryon......remember, we're not here to pick a fight with the Royal Guard. Get the Princess, and get out. I must take my leave now....."
"Yes, sir. For power and glory!" He saluted his superior, who then vanished into the night, back towards the main gate.
"Alright, everyone." whispered the tall imposing figure of Geryon. He was well built, and carried a large axe, which no weaker man could possibly carry. His black hair was tied up in plaits, so that it didn't get in his face. "All but three of us shall remain here. I, and you two," he pointed at two of the group, "shall ascend the staircase and make our way to the Princess' chambers as planned. I will take custody of her Highness, and we shall return here. If we move with haste, we'll be able to get this done before the Guard can full react. Let's go."
Geryon and his two comrades stealthily moved across the lobby, using the great marble pillars and shadows to mask their presence. There were guards patrolling around the lobby, but only three at most. It was a matter of finding their pattern and exploiting the weak point of it.
Geryon watched and waited....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maximillian headed down the grand staircase, stretching his arms and letting out a slight yawn. He was very tired, and wearing the armour didn't help much, either. He decided that it would be best if he got some sleep for now. A tired soldier was not a good soldier.
As he walked down the staircase, his eyes wandered to the great window staring straight outside, towards the gate. His keen eyes saw that there were no guards patrolling outside.
An ordinary soldier would have ignored this, but Maximillian came built with a sixth sense, one that had been made from seeing and experiencing danger in the wars he'd fought. This sense was telling him that something was wrong.
Quick as a flash, his eyes darted down to the lobby. All seemed to be quiet, but the wise commander scanned every single marble pillar. They were great places to mask one's presence.
As he reached the last pillar, he wondered if he was just getting too old.....
Then, all of a sudden, he caught a flash of light. A reflection......
.......from a sword.
He instantly drew his sword. "Enemies in the castle!" he shouted, rallying every soldier in the castle. "TO ARMS!!!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Geryon could hardly believe it when he saw Maximillian on the staircase. He had cursed his luck that very moment, knowing that the old dog was a cut above the rest of the Royal Guard. However, he was even more shocked that he'd discovered them.
"shoot!" he cursed, as the alarm was sounded. He looked at his two companions, but as he was about to speak, he noticed what had given them away. The man next to him had worn his sword too wide on his back, and the edge of the sword had shone in the light from the stained glass window behind them.
He growled at the man. "You idiot!" Without a second's thought, Geryon drew his axe and drove it into the unfortunate intruder's back. The other looked at him fearfully.
Geryon shouted out to the rest of the infiltrators. "Charge!!!! We'll take the Princess by force if we have to!!!!!"
The entire group suddenly charged forward out of their hiding place, and rushed towards the staircase. Geryon and his remaining companion did the same.
Maximillian readied himself. "You filthy dogs....." he muttered under his breath in disgust.
From the other end of the castle, a large group of soldiers came running, all of them dressed in light blue armour. They ran as fast as they could, ready to join the fight.
Geryon and his group stopped as they reached the staircase. Several more Royal Guards were descending it, and they noticed the large group charging them from the main corridor.
Geryon brought his axe to bear. A bloodbath was better than all this sneaking around.....
Moments later, the Royal Guards engaged the intruders. The bottom of the staircase became a battlefield. Some of the Royal Guards jumped from the staircase into the fray as well, though most of them stayed on the staircase to block their passage.
Maximillian gritted his teeth. How the hell had this rag tag bunch gained entry to the castle? He turned to a nearby soldier, who had golden shoulder plates like his. "I will protect the Princess. If the situation gets out of control, summon the Knights of the Crown."
The soldier, who was a Lieutenant named Ash, nodded. "As you command, sir!"
Maximillian raced up the staircase, towards the Michelle's chambers. He would not let them get to her, even if it cost him his life......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Royal Guards outnumbered the intruders, but their unwanted guests had much better skill with the sword than they did. The Guards were getting cut to pieces, especially by Geryon, who was simply too strong for them to handle.
He leaped behind an unsuspecting Guard, before smashing the life out of him with a deadly blow from his axe. Two more tried to take him from behind, but he swung his axe horizontally, decapitating both soldiers.
The rest of the group was fighting hard, with a crazy bloodlust in them. Most of them were unencumbered with armour, and were running rings around the slower Royal Guards. It was turning into a total bloodbath.
Ash managed to fight off one man, but another caught him off guard and pushed him over the staircase. He landed on the floor, but quickly got to his feet.
"These guys..." he breathed, "are too strong....who the hell are they? I've got to call the Knights of the Crown!" He raced out of the main entrance with all haste, and headed for the Silver Arrow fortress.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The unit was still drilling in the courtyard when the alert came.
"Knights of the Crown, scramble!!!!" shouted Rudy, who had just received word from Ash. "Campbell Castle is under attack!"
Every man and woman in the unit immediately scrambled, grabbing their gear and getting astride their horses in under two minutes. The whole twenty strong unit quickly galloped off towards Campbell Castle at maximum speed.
The sleek horses of the unit streaked across the moonlit countryside, and the castle grew ever closer on the horizon
Five minutes later, the unit came to a halt outside the castle. They dismounted their horses, readied their weapons, and raced to the defence of the castle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michelle was shocked to see Maximillian burst into her chambers. "What is going on???" she asked worriedly.
"The castle is under attack, from forces as yet unknown." replied Maximillian quickly. "Stay inside the chambers, my lady. I have this protected, and the Knights of the Crown are on their way. It's just fortunate that your father isn't here as well....."
Maximillian left, and Michelle was left shocked.
"The...the castle is under attack.....?" she thought out loud, fear beginning to shake her voice. "But....why????"
She reached under her regal bed, and dragged and old red box out from under it. She opened it to reveal a sword. The metal was strangely white, apart from the middle, which was purple from the blade to hilt. The hilt itself was bright gold.
Michelle took the sword out and looked at it.
"This is why........" she said sorrowfully.
A few minutes later, she heard noises outside of her window. Clutching the sword, she looked outside, and hope filled her heart.
"The Knights of the Crown.....they made it in time!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The fighting was beginning to spread through the castle as the bloody battle broke off from the staircase. The Royal Guard were trying in vain to hold back the determined intruders, but they were simply no match for their skill.
Geryon felled another unfortunate soul. "Ha ha........this is too easy! These fools can't call themselves soldiers!"
He looked around at his battling comrades! "Show no mercy!!!!" he cried, raising his axe in the air.
His moment of glory was suddenly cut off, as the great wooden door that was the main entrance burst open.
Standing in the entrance were the twenty souls that no-one wanted to cross....
"The Knights of the Crown!!!!" growled Geryon in anguish. "Damn it!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He stood ahead of the elite unit, surveying the lobby. The bodies of fallen Royal Guards and their blood littered the once clean marble floor.
He flicked his golden locks back, and drew his long blade.
Tristan Leinard, commander of the Knights of the Crown, shouted, "CHARGE!!!!"
The twenty knights under his command rushed forward with frightening speed, and joined the fray.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Geryon panicked as the knights charged, but not as much as his men. They struggled to defend against the highly trained unit, and before long some of them were laying on the floor, dead or badly wounded.
The knights fought with intense speed and strength, and rarely did any of them even receive a hit. One by one, the intruders were defeated or killed.
However, against the odds, a big group of Geryon's men managed to breach the blockade on the staircase, and rushed for the next floor of the castle.
"Damn it!" cursed Leinard, watching the event unfold. "They're going for the Princess!!!" He barked orders at the top of his voice.
"All units, remain here! I will go to the Princess's aid!" With that, he dashed up the staircase in pursuit of the would be kidnappers.
"Always going off on his own....he's pretty reckless for a commander." thought Wedge Gordon out loud. The blue haired young knight was always very critical of the commander. He was dead serious about being a knight, following orders to the letter, and delivering his own unique skills to the battlefield, as he was a talented fencer.
"He's an awesome knight though......so dashing....." Crystal Lightbourne, a close friend of his, almost swooned just talking about her handsome commander. She was often more worried about her appearance, and was constantly brushing her blonde locks. However, her girly persona hid a focused and excellent fighter.
"Aren't you guys forgetting we're in the middle of a battle?" chimed in a person they were both good friends of. In fact, the three of them were childhood friends.
"Chris, behind you!!!" screamed Crystal in terror.
The young cadet swung his zweihander upwards and blocked the blow from the vagabond behind him. He then smashed the man over the head with the hilt, knocking him out.
Hardly breaking a sweat, Chris faced his two buddies again. "You guys, somebody needs to make sure the Princess is OK, and not just Leinard."
"Chris!" yelled Wedge anxiously. "Our orders are to stay here and secure the castle!!!"
"These guys are after the Princess!" replied Chris angrily. "This is no time for that idiot to play hero, he needs backup!"
Crystal sighed. Both she and Wedge knew two things about Chris. First, he and Leinard were not the best of friends. The commander seemed to look down his nose at the gifted cadet, and Chris took serious umbrage at that.
Second, Chris would always do the right thing, even if it meant defying orders. Trying to stop him doing so was like trying to take a bone from a dog.
The 19 year old cadet rushed off towards the melee around the staircase, while Wedge and Crystal sighed with worry.
"Doing the right thing might get you killed someday, buddy....." thought Wedge to himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the second floor, Maximillian dispatched one of the kidnappers with a vicious but precise blow to the stomach. The now dead attacker slumped to the floor.
The aged commander was sweating like a pig. "How in the world did they fight off my entire unit?!" he cursed, breathing deeply. He'd managed to evade being wounded, unlike the two chamber guards next to him. One of them lay dead down the other end of the circular corridor.
"Sir.....don't worry." gasped the other, holding his side. "The Knights...of the Crown are tearing them apart....."
"I know........but the enemy's tactics are flawed." replied Maximillian matter-of-factly. "They couldn't possibly have escaped this castle without being detected......unless......"
His eyes widened. ".....it's just a distraction!!!!"
"ARGGHHH!!!!!!" came a scream to his right.
The wounded guard had been run through by a long thin blade. His body dropped to the floor, and Maximillian came face to face with his killer.
"Who the hell are you?!" he shouted. "Halt!"
The hooded and caped leader of the intruders had returned. Maximillian couldn't see his face, but he realised what was going on.
"So....that rabble was just to distract us, while you snuck in and took her Highness...." he spoke calmly. "Only you didn't count on me." He readied his trusty weapon, staring at the mysterious man before him.
"Oh, you're wrong, Maxmillian......" sneered the leader. "I can take you, old man."
"I'll show you who's an old man!!!!!! Die, you vermin!!!!" roared the war hardened veteran, rushing at his foe. The two of them locked sword, and began to duel.
For a few minutes, the two warriors attacked and parried, feinted and riposted, and neither seemed to be gaining an advantage. However, Maximillian was tiring, and his opponent was obviously more youthful than he was. He growled and lunged at the hooded young man.
The mystery leader side stepped Maximillian's lunge, and struck back with a lightning quick swing that knocked the old man off balance. A second swing cut into the commander's armour. He grimaced at stepped back, clutching his wounded arm.
"You would be wise to stand aside, old man." spoke the leader coldly. "I am here for the Princess, and I will kill anyone who gets in my way."
"I won't let you touch a hair on her head, you fiend!" Maximillian struck back with all his strength, which actually surprised his younger opponent. Maxmillian managed to scratch the man's arm, making him curse.
"You......." he hissed, feeling the sharp pain. "You're the first worthy opponent I've fought this night. However, you cannot stand against what you loathe and fear."
He stretched his left arm outwards, and energy began charging to his hand. Before Maximillian could evade him, the mystery fighter fired a large fireball at him. He simply had no defence against magic, and was flung into the wall by the force of the spell.
"M...Magic......curses......" spluttered the wounded commander, struggling to get to his feet. Few people could use magic, and those who could were a force to be reckoned with.
"It's time that you retired, old man!" yelled his attacker, plunging his sword into Maxmillian's chest.
Instantly, Maximillian knew that the cold grip of death was upon him. The sword was withdrawn from his dying body, and he coughed up some blood. The pain was unbearable.....
The leader sneered. "As a parting gift, allow me to show you who killed you...." He removed his hood.
Maximillian gasped. "Y......You!!!!!!" It was his last gasp, as the life left his body. The best damn soldier in Campbell Castle lay dead.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris raced up the staircase, evading the battle as much as possible. His only thought was to get the Princess to safety.
However, as he reached the second floor, an axe narrowly missed his head.
"You must be the leader....." he said, looking at him with hateful eyes.
"Not quite." laughed Geryon indignantly. "My boss will probably have the Princess by now! Our infiltration was simply a distraction. He's the one you should have been looking out for!" He pointed his axe at Chris. "Come on then, are you going to avenge your comrades?"
Chris' answer came swiftly. He dashed at Geryon, his zweihander low at his side. With amazing speed he slashed upwards at Geryon, but his blade banged harmlessly off of Geryon's battle axe.
He rolled quickly to evade Geryon's vertical counter-attack, which smashed into the floor where he'd just been a second ago.
The brute wildly swung around at Chris, but the young Knight of the Crown was too fast for him. His axe either met the wall, floor, or Chris' blade.
Geryon was beginning to get annoyed. "When are you going to stop dancing around and FIGHT BACK, kid???!!!!" The enraged thug lunged directly at Chris.
Chris dived out of the way at the last second, and the axe smashed into a vase full of flowers that had been on a pedestal nearby.
"Hope they don't send you the bill for that." taunted Chris, grinning slightly.
"Why you little punk!!!!!" roared Geryon. "I'll rip your tongue out and wrap it around your throat!!!!" His axe crashed down upon Chris' sword, which Chris held defensively in a crouched position.
Sweat dropped down Chris' face. The reason he was being so defensive was that he was trying to find a way of beating Geryon without killing him. He'd never taken someone's life before. Although he knew killing someone as evil as Geryon would be a good thing, the idea of killing a human being didn't appeal to him.
Despite this, he was a Knight of the Crown.
He jumped up, trying to get around Geryon's back so he could knock him out by hitting him on the head. Unfortunately, the muscle bound thug wasn't as stupid as he looked. He twirled around and his axe smashed into Chris' chest, sending him crashing into the wall.
"Oof!" gasped Chris, the wind knocked out of him.
"Just a kid after all......a cowardly little kid." laughed Geryon with an evil smirk on his face. He figured this would be over very quickly.....
However, his taunts awoke something inside the young cadet. Nasty memories of his childhood, being bullied by other kids....being called a coward.....being beaten up because of it......and being alone because of it.......
"Hey, there's that Appleyard kid! Let's get him!"
"Nah, leave him over there. We don't him playing with us..."
"You'll never be nothing, cause you're a sissy little coward!"
"No!" he shouted. "I am NOT a coward!!!!!"
He struck with terrifying accuracy. He sliced his zweihander in two diagonal strokes, the first cutting into Geryon's right arm and the second through his left.
Geryon cried out in pain, taken completely by surprise. He staggered back, blood pouring from the nasty wounds on his arms.
It was nothing compared to what happened next.
Chris pulled his sword back and thrust it forward into Geryon's now exposed chest.
The thug's eyes opened wide in shock. Pain exploded through his body, and he staggered back, falling off of the sword. He crashed to the ground on his back, bleeding to death.
"B-Beaten........by a.........kid.......?" were his last words.
Chris stood, bringing his now bloodied sword to his side. He was in some sort of shock. He'd just killed someone.....taken the life from a human being.....
However, he didn't feel bad. He felt like he'd done the world a favour. Scum like Geryon deserved to die.
He breathed sharply, cleaning the blood off his trusty zweihander. He'd finally gotten over his fear of having to kill someone. His first kill was also the second in command of these guys, no less.
Chris had finally taken one more step on the path to knighthood. His mind snapped back to the task at hand, and he rushed with haste to the Princess' chambers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michelle was terrified at the sounds of fighting outside her door. Even more so when the fighting stopped.
She grabbed hold of her sword, and readied herself to fight. If an enemy came through that door, they would discover that Princess Michelle Campbell wasn't going be taken without a fight!
Sure enough, the door opened......
Michelle came face to face with the hooded leader of the attackers. She pointed her sword at him.
"Whoever you are, don't come any closer!!!" she shouted. She hoped someone would come to help, because from the looks of the man before her, she was out of her league.
"Drop the weapon, Princess." said the leader calmly. "You know you can't defeat me." He began to walk closer. "Come with me, and I'll call my men off."
"Stay back!" yelled Michelle. She wasn't an expert sword fighter by any means, but she was actually a cut above the average Royal Guard. She just didn't practise enough.
"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." stated the leader coldly. He drew his long blade to emphasise his point.
Michelle stared daggers at this man, who dared to threaten her. "I'd rather die than let you take me!" was her reply. She suddenly ran forward, her sword ready to strike.
The leader didn't move. As Michelle reached him, he slashed outwards. The silver blade slice into her hand, making her scream out in pain and drop her weapon. The white sword clattered to the ground harmlessly.
The leader pointed the silver sword at Michelle, who was shaking with fear and anger and holding her wounded hand.
"Pretty girls aren't meant to play around with swords." he spoke, his tone mocking her.
"You cad!" she shot back, her face twisting into rage.
"You're coming with me, right now." The leader roughly grabbed Michelle's right wrist, and began to drag her out of the chambers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris saw the chamber doors up ahead. His heart began to beat faster and more urgently as she saw the horrible sight outside.
He saw two of the Royal Guards, and Maximillian. He closed his eyes. "Damn it......who could have done this?"
"Uhhh....uggghhh......" came a groan to his right. Maximillian was still alive!
"Commander Westring!" acknowledged Chris, kneeling down at his side. "Hang on, sir. I'll get you help!"
"It's......too late.....for me......." croaked the dying old warrior. "The Princess.....she's in danger....go and....help her........."
"Don't talk like that!" rebuked Chris. Then he saw the commander's wound. It was ghastly......
"He......struck a.....mortal......blow........"gasped the old commander. "He was........like a.......demon..........and.......I know.........who he.......is........"
"Save your strength....." said Chris, but he knew it was in vain.
"It's.......it's.........uhhhhhh......" Before Maxmillian could reveal the identity of his attacker, his strength left him.
Chris stood up, and cursed. "Commander Leinard, where ARE you???" If he'd been here, perhaps Maxmillian would still be alive.
Chris then heard a scream through the chamber doors, followed by, "You cad!"
"The Princess!!!" he gasped. Without hesitation, he kicked open the golden doors, and raced inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hearing the doors fly open, the mystery leader turned around.
Stood in front of the door was Chris, who had his zweihander pointed at him.
"Hmph......another royal lapdog......" snorted the leader.
Chris stepped forward. "Unhand the princess at once!"
Michelle came out from behind the man. "Please, leave! I don't want anyone else to be hurt....or killed!"
At that moment, Chris and Michelle's eyes met.
Chris was mesmerised by Michelle's beauty. This was in fact the first time he'd laid eyes on her Highness.
It was a similar experience for Michelle. She stared at the young knight before her, having never seen him before.
Chris' blue eyes blinked. Her eyes were like emeralds.....and yet, seemed strangely familiar.......it was as if they already knew each other.
Michelle was equally astounded by Chris' sapphire like eyes. She was sure she'd met him somewhere before......
Michelle's captor broke their reverie. "Some knight you are, kid......" He laughed a little. "You can't even keep your eyes off a beautiful girl."
Chris flushed red for a moment. "Be quiet!!!! Let the Princess go!"
The leader shook his head. "I can't do that. She's essential to my plans......"
"You have committed treason against the Kingdom of Galatea, and slaughtered some of my friends, as well as many good soldiers in this castle!" yelled Chris, struggling to maintain his professional mask. He was just a cadet....he didn't have time for things like procedure or protocol. "Now unhand Princess Michelle, or you'll have to answer to me!"
"You think you can defeat me?" The leader let out a mocking laugh. "You're not even a knight yet, and I am stronger than you can possibly imagine."
"How do you know that???" gasped Chris. That was impossible, how could this man know he was just a cadet?!
"I know a lot more than a silly little kid like you." replied the man coldly. His voice took on the threatening tone from before. "Leave now, and I will spare your life. Hmph, might even give you the chance to become a real knight instead of being a kid who plays with a sword like it's a toy."
Chris' temper flared, and he readied his sword. "I am not a kid!!! And I'm not just going let you walk away with the Princess!"
Michelle was filled with worry. "He's just in training......He's going to get himself killed!!!" She didn't even know Chris, but felt more scared for his life than anyone else in the battle, including herself.....
"As you wish." said the leader in acknowledgement. "In that case........DIE!!!!!"
He let go of Michelle and rushed at Chris, with the speed of a Knight of the Crown, the long silver sword gleaming in the moonlight from the window.
Chris' eyes widened and he brought his two-hander up just in time. The long blade was awfully close to his chest. He smashed away the fearful weapon and counterattacked, aiming for his foe's arm.
The leader was no fool, however. He quickly jerked the sword back, and deflected Chris' blow. He wasn't going to fall victim from something like that from a mere cadet.
Chris gritted his teeth. This guy was going to be no pushover, but he knew a few tricks as well. He was going to show him what a cadet could do!
The two fought all the way across the large chambers, attacking and defending, dodging and rolling. When they fought close to Michelle's bed, their blades ended up ripping its silky quilt to shreds. They left countless slash marks on the walls, but not once did they hit each other.
Michelle could only watch, terrified for Chris' life.
It went on like that for a couple of minutes, until Chris suddenly pulled his own special move. He feinted, pretending he was going to strike downward. This caused his opponent to switch his defence lower.
However, is actual fact, Chris did his own personal move from back in his training with Rudy. He brought his zweihander crashing down with awesome force from behind his shoulder.
The leader was caught off guard by the unfamiliar move, and the sword sliced heavily into his right arm. It didn't cut it off but went a fair way through, and cut upwards along it was well.
"Argggghhh!" he cried, dropping his silver bladed sword. He held his right arm, which was in crippling pain.
Chris pointed his weapon at him once again. "Just a little something I learned while playing around with my sword as a toy." he declared, smiling.
Michelle gasped. "Wow....that was neat....." she thought happily.
The wounded kidnapper looked at Chris, and through his voice it was easy to tell he was in pain. "Not bad....for a cadet.......I didn't see that one coming....."
Chris stared at him indignantly. "You forgot the first rule of combat. Never underestimate your enemy."
The leader smirked under his hood. "So did you."
Suddenly, he stretched his left arm outwards, charging up energy for a magic spell.
Michelle looked in horror. "Look out!!!! Magic!!!!"
Chris couldn't react fast enough. The leader once again let loose a fireball, and it smacked straight into Chris, flinging him across the chamber.
The cadet groaned, and got to his feet.....
......but the leader was already charging him. Chris was surprised at his speed, and couldn't get his sword up quickly enough.
The leader slashed horizontally, and his blade struck Chris' zweihander with devastating force, smashing the sword in two.
Chris then froze in shock as the lengthy silver blade thrust straight into his stomach.
Michelle could only watch, horrified, as Chris was run through by her captor. "No!!!!" she screamed.
Underneath his hood, the victorious leader gave a triumphant smile, before pulling his bloody weapon free of Chris.
Chris stepped back awkwardly, looking down at his wound. The sword had pierced vital areas, and the bleeding wouldn't stop.
His strength failing him, Chris collapsed backwards to the floor, his armour clanking loudly as he hit the floor.
The entire 19 years of his life flashed before his life. Being a little baby, happy days spent with his family and friends, joining the Galatean military and then the Knights of the Crown, and the events that had transpired that night.
His biggest memory however, was the one day when he was about 12 years old. He met a girl while playing in the forest one day, and he remembered the promise he'd made her.
Now he would never get to keep his promise.....
His life fading fast, he turned his head to look across at Michelle. the Princess was in shock, and tears were beginning to fall down her sweet face.
He spoke two final words with his last breath. "I'm......sorry......"
As white light appeared in his eyes, Chris' last thoughts were not of himself, or his friends, or the person who had ended his life.
They were of the beautiful princess that he'd failed to protect......
Seconds later, Chris Appleyard was dead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michelle was beyond despair. The gallant cadet who'd tried his best to protect her lay dead, killed before her eyes. She knew that many others had already died, but Chris' death seemed different. She hadn't even known him, yet she felt like she'd just lost someone very dear to her.
"How......how could you......" she angrily spoke through her tears.
"Anyone who crosses swords with me will pay the price." replied Chris' killer in his icy cold tone. "That fool didn't know when to walk away, though he was a most impressive opponent, for a cadet."
Michelle could only stand there, almost numb. "I-I won't let you get away with th-this......" she said defiantly, her voice shaking.
the leader grabbed her wrist again forcefully, and she struggled to break free. He then slapped her hard across the face. The princess winced in pain, and held her cheek.
"Silence, you spoiled brat!" growled Michelle's captor, getting increasingly annoyed by her. "Or I'll make you suffer a fate worse than death! We go now!"
He turned and blasted the window into pieces with a well aimed fireball showering the chamber with shards of glass.
He then jumped out of the window with Michelle in tow. As they jumped, the princess looked back at the fallen body of Chris, tears pouring down her face.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
White.......
A white light........
A white light moving at great speed........
It felt like he was going through a tunnel at extremely high speed. He was being catapulted through goodness knows where.
Was this the way....to Heaven.....?
Suddenly, the tunnel exploded into complete light, He stopped moving, and time seemed to stop completely.
Slowly, Chris opened his eyes. He squinted as extremely bright light shot its way into them, but soon became use to the brightness.
And brightness was all there was. He looked around him. White light. There was nothing but white light all around him in every direction.
He looked down. It looked like he was floating in mid-air. He moved his right leg forward gingerly, and it floated upwards. Panicking, he quickly moved it back down.
Where in the goddess's name was he?
"Is this.......Heaven.....?" he wondered.
"Not quite." came an echoing reply. Chris jumped.
"Who....who's there?" he called out nervously.
His answer came right in front of him. A few metres away from him, a figure began to come into view. It was a womanly figure, and she appeared to for out of the light surrounding Chris, as if she was made of it. She was quite tall from what Chris could tell.
Then, several brilliant lights shot out of her back, brighter than what was around the two. She reared her head back as the lights continued to shine, then they formed into shapes. Looking closer, Chris cou goddess......" gasped Chris, looking at her in wonder.
"You're very perceptive, aren't you?" spoke the heavenly woman, her strange pink eyes blinking at him. "I would have expected nothing less."
Chris could only stare in wonder at her. "Who......who are you.....?"
"I am the one who brings the light of hope." she replied, her voice sounding so gentle and loving. "I am the one who drives back the foul stench of evil. I am the one who fills my treasured world with love."
Her equally gentle eyes met Chris's. "I am the Goddess of Love."
Chris' mind went reeling from this revelation. "The......legendary Goddess.....of Love.....?" he replied in amazement. He of course knew of the Tale of The Two Goddesses passed down through the ages, but no-one had ever laid eyes upon the divine creators of their world.
"Yes." replied the Goddess, smiling. "I've been waiting for you for a long time, Chris."
"Waiting....for me?" said a puzzled Chris. "But......I'm dead now.....aren't I?"
"Yes......but do not worry." said the Goddess reassuringly. "You are here for a reason."
She cast her hand through the light, and it parted, turning black. It then showed two armies fighting, in some distant place in the world.
Chris watched this with interest, but also worry. "Why is this war being fought? Those people are getting killed!"
"It appears to be the wishes of power hungry warlords." answered the Goddess of Love, who suddenly looked very serious. "However, this is in the fact the machinations of my sister, the Goddess of Hate." Her face fell at the mention of that name.
"The Goddess of Hate?" said a perplexed Chris. "But the legend says that you and your angels sealed her away..."
"We did, yes." nodded the immortal. "However......her influence did not stop. By her will, hate has continued to spread through my world, corrupting the wills and minds of good people. It is all in an attempt to destroy everything I created...and another step towards her goal of domination of all existence...."
"That's terrible!" exclaimed Chris. "But where do I, and the attack and the castle fit into all of this?"
The Goddess calmly looked at Chris, and the view switched to that of a massive circular object. "The leader of the attack has had his body and soul taken by my sister. Through her will, he has kidnapped Princess Michelle in order to break the Seal of Avalon."
"The Seal of Avalon? What is that?" Chris tilted his head, looking at her thoughtfully.
The Goddess showed him an ancient looking castle. "My angels created a holy fortress, which was named Avalon. It was filled with traps and guardians, designed to prevent anyone from breaking the seal contained at the top." stated the Goddess, the memory of the place fresh in her mind as if it had been yesterday. "Many people, those driven by hate, believe that the Seal of Avalon
contains unlimited power. Many have tried and failed to reach the seal."
She continued, her tone becoming more serious. "The Princess' kidnapper will be heading to Avalon. His intention is to break the Seal and gain unlimited power for himself. His taking of the Princess is no accident, young Chris. She is the only person who can break the Seal."
"Princess Michelle?" Chris shook his head. "But what could she have to do with the Seal of Avalon?"
"That is not important, Chris." said the Goddess swiftly. "What is important is what is behind the Seal. The Princess' captor is being fed an illusion. Opening the Seal will not bring him unlimited power.....it will bring death and chaos to the world...and all that exists."
"That doesn't sound good!" gasped Chris. "What is behind the Seal?"
"The Seal must NEVER be broken, Chris......" spoke the Goddess sternly, closing her eyes.
The tear in the light changed to show a figure emerging from the Seal, now broken. Chris could only see her silhouette, and from what he could see the figure looked very similar to the Goddess of Love. However, the wings were not white. They were black......
Then, her face appeared. It was like the Goddess of Love's face, but this woman was staring with hatred in her eyes, and an evil smile across her face.
"......for behind it, lies my sister, the Goddess of Hate......." she finished, opening her eyes.
Chris was shocked. He could only imagine what an evil goddess was capable of.....
"If she is freed, everything will know hatred.'' spoke the Goddess, her eyes blinking with sorrow. "This world, and perhaps every other, will be consumed by the darkness she has created. Finally, she will attempt to absorb all existence into her will, and will mold the universe as she sees fit. It will become a hellish paradise....."
She faced Chris. "But there is still hope........you." she smiled.
"Me....?" Chris' mind was completely reeling from all the things he had been told.
"Yes. I have waited such a long time for the one who shall be this world's champion and hero." She looked him up and down. "I can feel it even now, the love that you have....."
"My....love.....? I don't understand, Goddess......" Chris was very bamboozled. What was she trying to say? "I'm dead! I failed in my task...."
"You did not fight your way to those chambers simply because of duty, Chris." interrupted the immortal. "You went up there because you cared about the Princess. You care about her more than you realise."
Before Chris could speak, she said, "You love her, don't you?"
Chris flushed red. "I don't even know her......"
"Your heart tells a different story, young one. Why do you think you fought so hard to save her?"
He thought back. What the Goddess was saying was true. Ever since he'd heard of the Princess, he'd done his best to join the Knights of the Crown. He'd thought it was because he wanted to protect the kingdom, but in fact, he just wanted to be close to her Highness. He was just drawn to her, for a reason he didn't know. Yet, when he'd seen her face for the first time, he'd felt like he'd know her all his life. When he'd died, his last thoughts had been of her.
Yet, he'd never approached her before, as he'd been too scared that she would reject him...because she was a princess, and she was a knight. Also....he'd never even gotten to know her.
"The love you have for her may be unknown, but it's shining, Chris." continued the Goddess. "It shines even brighter than what lies in my heart......for what you have for her is a pure, everlasting love. No other love like yours exists....."
"A pure, everlasting love.....? For Michelle.....?" Chris instinctively touched his chest where his heart was. It was pounding rather fast.
"You don't truly realise it yet." smiled his divine companion. "In time, you will realise how much she means to you. It is your love for her that will be your strength. Never forget that, Chris."
"My love for her is my strength?" Chris frowned, becoming a little frustrated at the Goddess' vagueness. "What do you mean?"
"This is what I mean." Suddenly, pink coloured particles began to circle around her, growing in intensity. They made her glow with a brilliant pink light.
She then thrust her hands out in Chris' direction, closing her eyes. Then, a beam shot out from her hands and struck Chris.
"Whaaa.....?" gasped Chris, as the beam hit him...right where his heart was. He closed his eyes and felt a surge of something flow through his body, and even his mind.....
The pink particles suddenly formed around him and began to swim around him like they did the Goddess.
All Chris could think was, "What's happening to me.....?"
The particles spun around him for a few moments, then surged into his heart, and a brilliant flash of pink coloured light exploded from there.
A few moments later, the bewildered teenager opened his eyes. He checked himself over, but everything seemed the same.
The Goddess was looking at him, smiling brightly.
"What...what did you do to me....?" spoke Chris, scared by what had just happened.
"I have awakened your true potential and skill, young Chris. I've lent you my power."
"What??? Power? What are you talking about???" yelled Chris, panicking.
"You are the only hope for my world, Chris." replied the Goddess softly. "You must find my sister's pawn, and prevent him from releasing her. Do not worry. Your love for Michelle will guide you to where you need to go, and will enable you to fight off those tainted by my sister. Please, Chris......please help me...." she pleaded with him. "If you refuse, then I will send you on your way to the peace of the afterlife....I do not wish to force you to do this....."
"I don't know what is going on here....." said Chris, frowning, "but I do know that I want the Princess to be safe.....and your sister to stay behind a locked door. I'll do as you ask." He nodded in acknowledgment.
"Thank you." said the Goddess happily. "I have every faith in you."
She paused. "But whatever happens, never let anger or fear cloud your mind. To do so would to mean certain victory for my sister...."
"I won't." replied Chris, smiling.
"Then godspeed to you." said the immortal. "Love's Knight......."
"Love's Knight......?" said Chris, looking at her, perplexed.
Suddenly, he was being hurtled back down the tunnel of light, away from the Goddess, away from death.....and back to life......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris bolted upright, breathing in a panic. Once he regained his composure, he saw that he was back in the Princess' chamber.
It was like he hadn't even been gone. Everything was as it had been when he'd left this mortal coil. He noticed one difference, however....the large window was smashed, and the cold night wind was blowing in.
He stood up, and felt his stomach. There was no wound, and his silver armour and blue underclothes were untouched.
He felt like he'd just woken from a dream, and scratched his head.
A glint of metal on the floor caught his attention. On the floor lay the two broken pieces of his zweihander. He picked them up, and looked at them, giving a big sigh. "How am I supposed to save Michelle if I haven't even got a sword....?"
His thoughts turned to the Princess. He wondered where she was now, if she was safe. It was all his fault that she was in her current predicament! If only he'd seen that fireball coming, he might have been able to best that villain....
"Curse you, Chris!!!!" He punched the air in frustration.
He sat for a few moments in silence, thinking about the events that had passed. "Heh......you wouldn't want to marry me now......" he laughed a little, sarcastically. His mind had drifted back to his sweetest memory....
It was a lovely day in Cherryglade Forest. The sun was shining, and the colour of nature could be seen everywhere. The forest never looked better, and it was very peaceful here.
Chris had just finishing chopping the tree. He may have been just 12, but he seemed pretty gifted with handling tools such as an axe. He put the last of the wood into the leather bag he held, and began to walk home.
"Helllppppp!!!!!!" cried a voice, not to far away from him. It sounded like a girl...
The young boy stopped and looked around frantically, searching for the source of the voice. "Hey!!!!" he shouted.
Suddenly, out from the bushes burst a figure. Chris could she that it was a girl, who was dressed in a light pink dress. Her shoulder length brown hair was bouncing up and down as she ran, and her eyes were fixed in a look of pure terror.
Behind her, a black four legged beast was pursuing her. Chris instantly recognised the creature as a wolf. It was extremely odd that a wolf was running around in daylight. The girl had probably disturbed it from its sleep.
The girl spied Chris and screamed all the louder. "HELP ME!!!!!!!" Suddenly, she feel flat on her face, tripping over her dress.
The wolf, licking its lips at the chance of a meal, leaped at her.
"AAHHHHHH!!!!!!!" screamed the girl, closing her eyes.
The wolf suddenly yelped as a hefty object struck it in the side of its face.
Chris had jumped in front of the fallen girl, and had smashed his axe into the beast's face. He stared at it, scared a little himself, but more worried for the safety of the young girl.
The wolf snarled, and ran off, not wishing to risk another blow like that. Chris breathed a sigh of relief and put his axe away. He turned to the young maiden.
"Are you OK?" he asked, helping her up.
She got to her feet and looked at him. "Yeah, thank you!" she said politely, but she was still a bit scared. "That monster was gonna eat me...."
"Don't worry!" smiled Chris enthusiastically. "I'll protect you from any monsters!"
The girl giggled. "Thank you. You're really brave!"
The young Chris blushed. "Thanks..." he said, shuffling his feet nervously. He looked at the girl.....she was really pretty. She looked back at him, smiling.
"Hey, do you wanna play?" asked Chris of the girl. "We should play Hide and Seek!"
"You...want to play with me...?" spoke the girl shyly. "No-one's ever wanted to play with me before........alright!" She giggled happily.
The two kids spent a good long while playing the game. Chris knew more about woodcraft that the girl, so he had no trouble finding her and keeping hidden from her.
"Got you!" shouted Chris, tackling the girl from behind. They rolled around in the soft grass, laughing. Eventually they came to a stop.
Chris looked down at the girl. "You're beautiful...." he said, his face going red.
The pretty young maiden flushed red and giggled. She sat up and so did Chris. The young boy blushed and plucked a pretty flower from the grass nearby. "This is for you, 'cause you're as pretty as a flower." He shuffled his feet nervously again. This was really the first time he'd been this way around a girl, and he already had another friend who was a girl, Crystal.
"Thank you....." The girl took the flower and tucked it into her hair. She looked at Chris with loving eyes. "You're my knight.....my knight in shining armour."
Chris smiled. "Yeah, and you're my princess!" He looked back into her eyes. They were soooo pretty......
"Hey, when we grown up........." It was the girl's turn to shuffle nervously. "......will you marry me....?"
Chris blushed, but held the girl's hand. "Yeah, I wanna marry you!"
The maiden smiled. "Promise?"
Chris nodded. "Promise!"
The two then planted a small kiss on each other's lips. Both of them blushed even redder than they already were.
The girl then got up. "Oh no! My mommy will be worried about me! I have to go!" She ran off along the beaten path through the woods.
"Bye!!!!!" shouted Chris after her.
"Bye bye!!!!!" shouted back the girl, as she vanished into the distance......
He never saw the girl ever again. She never came back to the woods. He'd used to wait there for her everyday after chopping wood.
But she'd never came........
"I'll never keep that promise now...." murmured Chris, looking at the ground in sadness.
"Look into your memories, Chris. Love exists not just in the present and future, but in the past as well......let your memories push you forward ....."
"Huh???" Chris stood up and looked around. A voice had just echoed somewhere, as if it was talking to him.
The two pieces of his sword suddenly began to shake.
"What the....my sword?!" Chris held the pieces away from him, afraid they were going to explode.
They shot out of his hands and floated in mid-air in front of him. Then, Chris almost jumped as his chest began to glow where his heart was. A pink beam, like the one the Goddess shot at him shot out from there and struck his broken sword. Light began to emanate from the weapon, and Chris had to shield his eyes.
A brilliant purple light shot out from the zweihander, and repaired the damage, fusing both pieces back together. However, that wasn't all it did.
It began to change the sword. It became sharper and slightly longer. The hilt became a brilliant golden colour unlike the duller tone from before, and the wrist guard became triangular. A blue chevron like shape formed and linked the hilt to the blade. The blade itself changed from silver to a brilliant white, as if it was holy.
The light then began to cut small markings into the blade, like a laser. The markings weren't very visible to the naked eye, even though it looked like the light cut deep into the reborn blade.
A thin yellow line of gold was formed, running from the tip of the blue area to the tip of the blade.
Finally, two gold coloured supports grew out of the side. On these supports, two beams of light shot out, just like with the Goddess. Two feathery white angel wings formed on the supports, and immediately swept back.
As quickly as it had come, the light faded, and Chris was able to see again. He gazed in awe at his new weapon. It was truly a sword fit for a knight. He wasn't sure what the angel wings were supposed to mean, however. Perhaps they had something to do with the Goddess?
He took the sword out of the air, and there was some kind of reaction as he gripped it with both his hands. Once again, that now familiar purple light shot out from the hilt, and enveloped both wielder and weapon.
out loud.
He began to think of Michelle. Her sweet face, her kind heart, and her beautiful voice.......the brief memories he had of her.
"Memories are what made this sword." smiled the cadet. "Memories of Michelle...."
He held the divine sword up in the air. "Sword, I name you, Michelle Memoria!"
He heard fighting outside the door. He'd completely forgotten about the battle. He guessed that his comrades had finally gotten to the chambers.
How was he going to explain what had happened? Would they even believe him? He didn't have time.....his heart was telling him to immediately go after Michelle and her captor, and the Goddess had told him to follow his heart....
Without another thought, he leaped out of the broken window, jumping across to the battlements, and then down several window ledges, before landing in front of the main gate.
"I'll save you......I promise...." he spoke, before rushing off through the gate, into the night......
[/i][/b]
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