[h3]Castle Town[/h3]
[b]The Temple of Time[/b]
[i]The Knight Falls[/i]
[hr]

Watching the Knight move was like watching a series of still pictures be flipped, page after page. The ReDead's screams came one after the other, keeping him frozen in place while their fists beat against his armor and their claws scrabbled at his helmet and chest, trying to rip the armor from him. Little did they know, the Dark World had changed the body inside along with the armor--for some reason none could yet see, the two refused to be parted. Even the visor upon the Knight's face, hiding whatever corrupted visage he had received, would not open.

Finally he jerked free of their spells, and brought his sword down in a mighty swing to split yet another corpse in half from head to groin. He swung at another, but the next series of screams stopped him before he could follow through. Still the blade bit deep enough into his next target to kill it, cleaving its side open and exposing the black, rotten pile of guts within. When he broke free once more, he let go of the sword with one hand and spun, slashing with both claw and blade in a whirlwind of death. Two more ReDead fell, and more only piled on. One dragged him down to one knee under its weight, hanging around his neck like a lover attempting a kiss. He drove his spiked helm into its face, smashing it into the ground, as his free hand caught himself before he could fall all the way to the ground and the sword lashed out again, cutting the legs out from under another adversary. Again the screams paralyzed him and they began to jump onto his back one after the other, attempting to crush and smother him under a dog pile.

The red light behind his visor grew brighter, the aura he emitted more wild, as his rage simmered hotter and hotter. 

"[b]URRAAAAAAARRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAGHHAAAAAAAAAAA!!![/b]" He pushed against the ground with both fist and sword, his legs shaking under the strain. 

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! AH, AH, RUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" He shook them loose, a dog shaking away the rain, then chopped through them one after the next, caught them in a vice grip and shook them til their throats were crushed, kicked and stomped them until their skulls were smashed like ancient pottery. In a frenzy unlike anything even these dark, murderous creatures had ever seen in their time serving the Dark King, this Knight tossed them aside, smashed through them, and tore them apart.

Soon the soil turned to mud under the black bile spread across the long-dead grass, and the Knight's armor too was covered in stinking, rotten filth. He headed for the stairs, the sword slung over his shoulder in a loose grip. He still walked with a loose, predatory gait, but now there was fatigue there too as he left the horde of corpses behind. He stumbled, then righted himself. He lost his balance, and had to lean against a tree. Then he took his first step down the staircase. The light behind his visor began to flicker. He fell.

Seven years of fighting. Seven years of fighting to take one step forward, one single inch of ground, at a time. Now, he had made it back to the Light. He...had...made...it...back...

The red light went out, and the Knight lay still, sword still clutched in his clawed grasp...