 Posted:
Fri Apr 09, 2004 9:54 pm |
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Author’s Notes: I would like to point out that the inscriptions on the Holy Avengers are modifications to the verses Tas’ Song of Courage from the Dragonlance Saga and the burial song that the paladins sing when Tighm dies is my version of the Song of Huma, also from the Dragonlance Saga. Just so that you all know I am completely open to reviews and criticisms on this story. Don’t expect me to change it or anything but I am interested in what you think so that I can improve my writing. On with the story though…
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The book was obviously of massive age but it was very well preserved. The book was thick and heavy, with a bronze plate that was at least a thumb’s length in width (AN: About 2 inches or 5 centimeters) with hinges near the top and bottom of both sides that connected it to the leather bound covers. On the front cover there was a gold medallion bearing the holy symbol of Lutyre embedded in the leather. On the side of the book was a hinged brass plate could be snapped into a simple key lock on the front cover to keep the tome’s content’s protected from prying eyes. Fortunately for him it wasn’t locked and he gently opened the cover to the first page.
There, beneath the symbol of Lutyre (which was done in gold ink) was the coat of arms of the Knightshear family. A simple red field with a Holy Avenger that had cyan beams of light radiating from it’s upward pointing blade. Written beneath the crest in an elegant script was a title that labeled the book “The Journal of the Knightshear Familyâ€Â. Turning the page he saw the perfectly linier family tree that marked the passage of one Knightshear to the next, all the way from Eobln to Kenanon: forty generations, seven hundred years, and two pages later, with a short list of heroic deeds beneath each name. There were a few blank pages after that, likely so that the family line could be continued on for another forty generations, before the first entry ever that was ever written in the ancient record appeared.
It seemed to have been written during the Third Great War of Darkness, about 590 years ago by Ravol, the second Knighshear. This particular entry, and several of the entries that followed it, went into great detail about troop movements and individual battles and skirmishes that took place during the war, including the razing of Archon and Elysia, ancient cities in the distant land of Gaardia. The reader merely skimmed over these entries, reading the most interesting bits, until he came to a rather impressive and important seeming pair of entries.
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The 13th of the Month of Long Shadows, 1397 GR: We have fallen back to the Cathedral of St. Sath. I can only hope that the Saint of lost causes will offer our men a bit of hope and bolster their greatly sagging morale. I do not know how they did it. How did that petty arch-mage Jumane and that conniving cult leader Joly manage to gather such massive numbers of followers? And when did Jeroic Redael, Belial’s Hell-Lord, manage to amass such a large army of Dark Paladins and evil fighters? I just do not understand it. With the passing of Archon almost all of the Grey Paladins have been slain and many of our own numbers were lost during the retreat from Elysia but the enemy forces have only grown and they haven’t even raised any of the dead to fight for them yet. I fear magic of the absolute darkest kind: the unknown kind. Something is amiss not only here upon the earth but up in the heavens as well.
Wishing that this ancient church would offer our men some hope is not going to help us win this battle, many of them have already lost faith. Now that the evil host is at our doorstep and no miraculous aid has come forth many of them have lost faith. When Tighm called for the men to join him in prayer tonight in the chapel none would meet his gaze, let alone offer to pray with him. None save me that is, and the pain that I saw in his eyes at the hopelessness of his finest warriors was enough to make me wish I could turn away.
I must go now, it is time for the evening prayer that, more likely than not, only Tighm and I will participate in. With any luck I shall be able to write more after tomorrow’s battle.
The 14th of the Month of Long Shadows, 1397 GR: Lutyre’s light shone brightly today but I cannot help but wander the cost of our victory. Tighm and I prayed all throughout the night and at the first light of dawn we were rewarded for our long swords drew themselves from their sheathes and changed into zweihanders that gleamed with holy light and which each bore an inscription that glowed with a golden light. Upon Tighm’s blade was inscribed, “Ever the night must fail for light hides in the eyes and darkness grows in the night until the dark divides.†A true proverb for evil does always turn and attack it’s own tail in the end. Upon my own blade was a similar inscription that stated: “Quickly the eye resolves the labyrinths of night while the honored heart shines with holy light.â€Â
When we emerged from the chapel we were fully rejuvenated by our night of prayer and our men saw our shining new blades. Immediately they let out a cheer, their hope and faith in Lutyre restored by the holy light. I did not say anything but it worried me that the men’s faith in their god was so subject to change but I too was caught in the moment as we all swept out to the Cathedral’s front gate.
Laid out before us was the truly massive army of Belial’s followers. When the gate opened that army surged towards us. We hacked and slashed and some of our numbers fell but by far it was our enemy who suffered. In the midst of the fighting it was neigh impossible to see what all was going on but at one point I can clearly remember Tighm being targeted by a mage’s fireball and him knocking the spell back with his blade to explode in the midst of a group of evil priests. It took several hours but by the time that the midday sun was at its peak in the southern sky most of the enemy soldiers had fallen. Unfortunately, as I had secretly feared all along, their death’s did not put them out of the fight and the not only the numerous cultists and mages who still survived, but Jumane, Joly, and Jeroic themselves also cast spells to raise the damned corpses for another round.
In that moment we feared that we would be lost but Tighm came forth and presented his blade to the undead mass before commanding them to “Be gone from this fair place thy foul creatures of darkness!†and with the combined might of his own will and the power of Lutyre shining through his sword the undead heeded his command and collapsed once more, truly dead.
At this affront to their might the three commanders of our opposition came forefront to see what had turned back their horde. Tighm gave them the knight’s salute and made an offer that I still cannot believe. “I challenge the three of you to a duel against me and my lieutenant, Ralov. If you should win then the forces of light shall surrender but if we should win then your troops are to return once more to Gehenna. Do you accept this challenge?†The three of them conferred for a moment before Jeroic stepped forward and nodded his acquiescence for the three of them.
We faced off against our adversaries and the moment I heard the two spell casters chanting I charged at them. Jumane cast a spell that made it appear as though there were five of him but I saw through the illusion and took an extra step forward as I swung so that I completely bypassed the fakes and cleaved him neatly in half just as he began another spell. Unfortunately I heard Joly finish his own chanting at that moment and I felt a light touch upon my shoulder that filled my body with searing pain and agony. In righteous fury and injured agony I turned and impaled the deacon upon my holy blade. He gasped at the pain but took firm hold of it with his hands so that I could not pull it loose. He smiled bitterly at me and, with more malice than Belial himself could conjure up, spat out, “Knightshear is thy name and thus shall slaying dark knights grant thy family fame! But behold for night shall one day fall and upon your final heir cast it’s pal and so great shall his darkness be that none should end it save the raging sea!†With those words, his last feeble curse, he died.
I turned towards Tighm to see how his battle progressed and saw, to my shock, that Jeroic was dead, chopped in half from top to bottom with his vampiric runeblade laying on the ground beside him, shattered. To my great dismay though Tighm was also down. I rushed over to him and lay my hands upon his chest with a fervent prayer to Lutyre but my skills as a healer were in vain for it was a sliver of Jeroic’s blade that had pierced Tighm’s side and no amount of healing could stop it from its continual pull on the life of the man who was not only my commander but who was also my friend.
I oversaw the burial of the fallen and before the Hymn of the Fallen Knight was sang I made a vow, “From this day forth I pledge my life, and the lives of all of my descendants, to the slaying of the forces of darkness, most especially Dark Paladins. My family shall see to it that one of those vile knights dies for every year of life that Lordknight Tighm was deprived of. I swear this to you and to Lutyre with this holy blade, my Holy Avenger.†With that I gave a knight’s salute to my lord’s body and began the Hymn.
Return these men to Lutyre’s breast
Beyond the wild, impartial skies;
Grant to them a warrior’s rest
And set the last sparks of their eyes
Free from the smoldering clouds of wars
Upon the torches of the stars.
Let the last surges of their breath
Take refuge in the cradling air
Above the dreams of ravens where
Only the hawk remembers death.
Then let their souls to Lutyre rise
Beyond the wild, impartial skies.
With that we sealed the caskets and the priests muttered their prayers while the dirt was again placed upon them.
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And thus did Larov Knightshear’s quest begin. The next several entries detailed how Larov trained the next Lordknight and how he raised his daughter, Eitruv, to uphold the light and to continue his work. The amazing woman-knight accomplished much during her entries and the young squire continued to read, fascinated by the amazing adventures that were documented. |
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