The Butcher of A Monarch: Chapter Two.
Monarch's rise Keep was astonishing. It rivalled his own people's architecture in grandeur. However, it seemed too reminiscent; painfully so. It was like home, nearly, all be it in the wrong colour - this King clearly was droll. Smart, but droll.
The two little girls incessantly tugged on his hands as if that would make the plated figure move any faster - he was too engrossed in the levels. It went up, and up only to end in a massive piece of art strewn over the ceiling - a massive art on the battle of old. The uniters battle; the great King of the North was the centre piece. What looked like some form of deity beside him. It was unfortunately faded, it was a relic of ages long past. He seemed to doubt that anyone could ever reach up there now unless with some obscene ladder from where he stood. It seems he stumbled upon the throne room itself; or this was just how the castle had been lain out - or where he came in from. His guides were not very helpful, either, both tugging on plated hands and fingers trying to move the awed man.
The Throne room itself was lined with red carpets with black linings onto the old Throne of the North; the Winter King's metal throne. It was as black as obsidian and represented more than any of these Northmen could comprehend. On the sides depictions of mythical fables and beasts, paintings of all kinds and statues of each and every King that had ever reigned - and there was a lot of them. They stood on the sides of the hall, ever vigilant with marble eyes and stone swords.
His eyes drifted at the balconies and the deserted, silent halls. There was distant fighting, however. Seems his soldiers had not penetrated the inner courtyard yet and given steel clashed with steel, it was safe to assume there were still defenders It boded ill with him
*
"Come on!" The little brown headed girl exclaimed, followed by the blonde one's incessant pulling. They both groaned in annoyance at the 'old' man's antics.
"You said you're living here now! Look at it later, my room is this way!" The blonde one exclaimed. He surrendered to them easily enough; scorning a little girl was the last thing he wished to do.
"Wise as you are smart. Very well, I will stop gawking. Show me these illustrious, well praised quarters of yours then little ones." Enid smirked brightly and enthusiastically at the two girls who quickly dragged him forward, even if he was just walking; they wanted to be in control, he guessed.
Though something came into vision from his right peripheral and before he could react a crossbow bolt struck him in the chest. His armour caused it to bounce, but it damn well hurt. He ushered the girls forward, pointing ahead to the stairwell that was a good distance from the throne - there was a lot of room to work with, that was for sure. "Go! I will meet you up the stairs. Seems I am not very welcome."
The bells began to toll in the Keep's tower above them and from what seemed like beneath the very walls came the Black Knight's. The Grave Guard of the North.
From each corner of the giant hall came one Knight; the defenders of the ancient crypt below - all using secret passages of escape or tunnels; it mattered little as each and everyone struck fear into the heart of the Rider. He had not accounted for them and cursed.
The gruff voice of a gruff, steel armoured Knight followed. "Invader! Girls, to me!" Both of the little terrors glanced between the two before just running off up the stairs. Terrified.
"You-... you bastard! Die!" He readied another bolt in the crossbow though found his hands growing numb under the sudden chill. The man's fingers became stiff whilst the King manipulated the air in the room; turning it into a frigid landscape in seconds. Snow began to fall from the clouds forming around the second layer of the gargantuan Keep. He drew forth his blade.
The rasp of the large, thin blade leaving the icy scabbard sent chills through the spine of men and spirit alike. He donned his crown and moved to the centre of the room where Knight's began to surround him. The crossbow wielding Knight gave up trying to load the thing with the sudden chill forming through him and chose to use his shield and sword.
He was the first to attack. Enid held out his gauntlet to deflect blows whilst his sword was as long as any claymore but with no weight behind the mysterious metal. It made for a very deadly weapon. The first Knight charged, striking the magical shield and quickly met his end because of it. The King threw his gauntlet back and then cleaved into the side of his neck in a downward arc on the back-step. It slid across where his helmet met his neck and sliced through mail and bone alike. Enid pulled back in time to parry another Knight, sweeping blood through the air in a vicious parry. A blast of magic was enough to cave in his helmet, imbued into his fist. The man dropped dead, silent as ever. He was joined by the gargling man who had his neck rended. He plummeted to the ground, beneath the foot of the Throne of his Kingdom.
*
"A vow of silence for the darkness! I see, I see! Well then, come and face doom unkindled!" Enid drew back, though he was utterly surrounded at this point. Each crunching step of the Grave Guard was ominous enough. Enid knew he was a good fighter but he was no match for this many Knight's. The entire garrison of the Black devils. All silent, omniscient and angry. One lunged, breaking the ice. Luckily, the time spent spinning around gave him time to make a quick jump through the magic of souls and around, though it cost him dearly. He landed a small distance away on his knees. Breathless and exhausted, he had avoided the surrounding but now had a line of Knight's advancing towards him.
"GE'ES!" The King bellowed, spitting into his helmet in hopes his trusted advisor had not betrayed him. Or had betrayed himself. The ploys of home were always a worry, even for one with such overwhelming popularity as himself.
"Not the time. Come!" He bellowed, unleashing a wave of energy from his hands that held the Knight's at bay but didn't break their formation. The rippling in his hand grew further as he continued to throw deliberating magic but there was nothing he could do offensively. Knight's were trained the way of An'áh. Defence. Mage's the way of An'Yoh. Offence.
It was pointless now, he had his back to the wall with a column of Knight's preventing his escape. He could not use magic again, not without sucking his own soul from his body. It was hardly an option. He chose to die honourably.
Enid lunged at the first target then immediately broke the formation with his mass, barrelling through the middle Knight in the formation but quickly found himself surrounded. The magical shield was the only thing that saved him from immediate death, deflecting three calculated blows as the six grave Guard broke off into groups of three, each one covering the other in a disciplined fashion. These were not soldiers but monsters of war; trained to kill one thing. The Undead masses. The sharp rasp of steel trailed over the gaps in his ceramic steel plate, slicing through into his flesh - his eyes widened from his mask before he erupted in a blast of frost, sending each Knight and their own to the ground. It was enough for him to stagger forward and prepare for another defence.
It was a hopeless advance, he swung and struck a shield only to find his sword being dragged away by two other swords and shields - he only barely managed to retrieve it and riposte. He struck a Knight's helmet and sent him straight the floor, only to have him get back up again and hang back in the row; he was reeling from the blow, that much was clear. He went again only to feel a sword burrow into his armour from below, a sword sent straight through his plate and into his flank, it send him reeling, though the recovery was swift and his blade slammed into another neck just by sheer range of his mighty, frost-ridden sword. It sent spikes of ice into the man's neck, suffocating him slowly in his own blood - he dropped to the floor. One death was not enough to save him. He found himself in an awkward position only to take another few blows, each one hitting him harder and harder to the point of exhaustion. Most wounds were benign but the weight of his shielding, the casting, the fighting. He cried out once more.
"GE'ES!"
His icy voice bounced off the walls, the Sorcerer hummed and looked around - soon enough he heard it, the King's command, coming through the web-way to his ears. Without a thought, he weaved a portal through his fingers to drop down in the middle of the fight, in-front of the king. To the dismay of the sorcerer, swords were flying in his direction as he landed. His armour absorbed them all, which the black Knight's seemed to have no idea what happened and retreated back swiftly, reforming back into the five-man line. Readying to fan out and surround. Ge'es didn't need to use a sword and promptly showed the Knight's the power of magic. Walls of ice began to trickle around them before ultimately closing it - the floor of the castle was demolished in the mighty spell. No Knight screamed as the walls came in around them, they simply looked and prayed. Dropping to a knee with sword-outstretched. Faith was their shield.
It was a poor shield.
*
Enid sheathed his sword, limping his way back to where he had started on the precipice of the throne, it was elevated by thin stair-ways, to symbolize noble status. Each step had three steps, then a platform - this continued all the way to the door. Or it once did, Ge'es spell had destroyed much of the lower platforms and parts of the gateway. A short price to pay for not dying. The Sorcerer assisted his King to the black Throne of ages and set him across it, going to tend to his wounds with a tracer spell whilst the bleeding, battered Lord of the Void rested in the big chair. Now the fighting had stopped the two little girls cautiously approached the Sorcerer from behind before poking out from his legs to peer at the King, laden on the Throne of King Leofric, which confused them.
"You can't sit there! Only the King can!"
Enid peered at the girls through the mask of his glowing crown, he smiled and replied in a deep, echoing tone due to his crown.
"I am the King now."
Monarch's rise Keep was astonishing. It rivalled his own people's architecture in grandeur. However, it seemed too reminiscent; painfully so. It was like home, nearly, all be it in the wrong colour - this King clearly was droll. Smart, but droll.
The two little girls incessantly tugged on his hands as if that would make the plated figure move any faster - he was too engrossed in the levels. It went up, and up only to end in a massive piece of art strewn over the ceiling - a massive art on the battle of old. The uniters battle; the great King of the North was the centre piece. What looked like some form of deity beside him. It was unfortunately faded, it was a relic of ages long past. He seemed to doubt that anyone could ever reach up there now unless with some obscene ladder from where he stood. It seems he stumbled upon the throne room itself; or this was just how the castle had been lain out - or where he came in from. His guides were not very helpful, either, both tugging on plated hands and fingers trying to move the awed man.
The Throne room itself was lined with red carpets with black linings onto the old Throne of the North; the Winter King's metal throne. It was as black as obsidian and represented more than any of these Northmen could comprehend. On the sides depictions of mythical fables and beasts, paintings of all kinds and statues of each and every King that had ever reigned - and there was a lot of them. They stood on the sides of the hall, ever vigilant with marble eyes and stone swords.
His eyes drifted at the balconies and the deserted, silent halls. There was distant fighting, however. Seems his soldiers had not penetrated the inner courtyard yet and given steel clashed with steel, it was safe to assume there were still defenders It boded ill with him
*
"Come on!" The little brown headed girl exclaimed, followed by the blonde one's incessant pulling. They both groaned in annoyance at the 'old' man's antics.
"You said you're living here now! Look at it later, my room is this way!" The blonde one exclaimed. He surrendered to them easily enough; scorning a little girl was the last thing he wished to do.
"Wise as you are smart. Very well, I will stop gawking. Show me these illustrious, well praised quarters of yours then little ones." Enid smirked brightly and enthusiastically at the two girls who quickly dragged him forward, even if he was just walking; they wanted to be in control, he guessed.
Though something came into vision from his right peripheral and before he could react a crossbow bolt struck him in the chest. His armour caused it to bounce, but it damn well hurt. He ushered the girls forward, pointing ahead to the stairwell that was a good distance from the throne - there was a lot of room to work with, that was for sure. "Go! I will meet you up the stairs. Seems I am not very welcome."
The bells began to toll in the Keep's tower above them and from what seemed like beneath the very walls came the Black Knight's. The Grave Guard of the North.
From each corner of the giant hall came one Knight; the defenders of the ancient crypt below - all using secret passages of escape or tunnels; it mattered little as each and everyone struck fear into the heart of the Rider. He had not accounted for them and cursed.
The gruff voice of a gruff, steel armoured Knight followed. "Invader! Girls, to me!" Both of the little terrors glanced between the two before just running off up the stairs. Terrified.
"You-... you bastard! Die!" He readied another bolt in the crossbow though found his hands growing numb under the sudden chill. The man's fingers became stiff whilst the King manipulated the air in the room; turning it into a frigid landscape in seconds. Snow began to fall from the clouds forming around the second layer of the gargantuan Keep. He drew forth his blade.
The rasp of the large, thin blade leaving the icy scabbard sent chills through the spine of men and spirit alike. He donned his crown and moved to the centre of the room where Knight's began to surround him. The crossbow wielding Knight gave up trying to load the thing with the sudden chill forming through him and chose to use his shield and sword.
He was the first to attack. Enid held out his gauntlet to deflect blows whilst his sword was as long as any claymore but with no weight behind the mysterious metal. It made for a very deadly weapon. The first Knight charged, striking the magical shield and quickly met his end because of it. The King threw his gauntlet back and then cleaved into the side of his neck in a downward arc on the back-step. It slid across where his helmet met his neck and sliced through mail and bone alike. Enid pulled back in time to parry another Knight, sweeping blood through the air in a vicious parry. A blast of magic was enough to cave in his helmet, imbued into his fist. The man dropped dead, silent as ever. He was joined by the gargling man who had his neck rended. He plummeted to the ground, beneath the foot of the Throne of his Kingdom.
*
"A vow of silence for the darkness! I see, I see! Well then, come and face doom unkindled!" Enid drew back, though he was utterly surrounded at this point. Each crunching step of the Grave Guard was ominous enough. Enid knew he was a good fighter but he was no match for this many Knight's. The entire garrison of the Black devils. All silent, omniscient and angry. One lunged, breaking the ice. Luckily, the time spent spinning around gave him time to make a quick jump through the magic of souls and around, though it cost him dearly. He landed a small distance away on his knees. Breathless and exhausted, he had avoided the surrounding but now had a line of Knight's advancing towards him.
"GE'ES!" The King bellowed, spitting into his helmet in hopes his trusted advisor had not betrayed him. Or had betrayed himself. The ploys of home were always a worry, even for one with such overwhelming popularity as himself.
"Not the time. Come!" He bellowed, unleashing a wave of energy from his hands that held the Knight's at bay but didn't break their formation. The rippling in his hand grew further as he continued to throw deliberating magic but there was nothing he could do offensively. Knight's were trained the way of An'áh. Defence. Mage's the way of An'Yoh. Offence.
It was pointless now, he had his back to the wall with a column of Knight's preventing his escape. He could not use magic again, not without sucking his own soul from his body. It was hardly an option. He chose to die honourably.
Enid lunged at the first target then immediately broke the formation with his mass, barrelling through the middle Knight in the formation but quickly found himself surrounded. The magical shield was the only thing that saved him from immediate death, deflecting three calculated blows as the six grave Guard broke off into groups of three, each one covering the other in a disciplined fashion. These were not soldiers but monsters of war; trained to kill one thing. The Undead masses. The sharp rasp of steel trailed over the gaps in his ceramic steel plate, slicing through into his flesh - his eyes widened from his mask before he erupted in a blast of frost, sending each Knight and their own to the ground. It was enough for him to stagger forward and prepare for another defence.
It was a hopeless advance, he swung and struck a shield only to find his sword being dragged away by two other swords and shields - he only barely managed to retrieve it and riposte. He struck a Knight's helmet and sent him straight the floor, only to have him get back up again and hang back in the row; he was reeling from the blow, that much was clear. He went again only to feel a sword burrow into his armour from below, a sword sent straight through his plate and into his flank, it send him reeling, though the recovery was swift and his blade slammed into another neck just by sheer range of his mighty, frost-ridden sword. It sent spikes of ice into the man's neck, suffocating him slowly in his own blood - he dropped to the floor. One death was not enough to save him. He found himself in an awkward position only to take another few blows, each one hitting him harder and harder to the point of exhaustion. Most wounds were benign but the weight of his shielding, the casting, the fighting. He cried out once more.
"GE'ES!"
His icy voice bounced off the walls, the Sorcerer hummed and looked around - soon enough he heard it, the King's command, coming through the web-way to his ears. Without a thought, he weaved a portal through his fingers to drop down in the middle of the fight, in-front of the king. To the dismay of the sorcerer, swords were flying in his direction as he landed. His armour absorbed them all, which the black Knight's seemed to have no idea what happened and retreated back swiftly, reforming back into the five-man line. Readying to fan out and surround. Ge'es didn't need to use a sword and promptly showed the Knight's the power of magic. Walls of ice began to trickle around them before ultimately closing it - the floor of the castle was demolished in the mighty spell. No Knight screamed as the walls came in around them, they simply looked and prayed. Dropping to a knee with sword-outstretched. Faith was their shield.
It was a poor shield.
*
Enid sheathed his sword, limping his way back to where he had started on the precipice of the throne, it was elevated by thin stair-ways, to symbolize noble status. Each step had three steps, then a platform - this continued all the way to the door. Or it once did, Ge'es spell had destroyed much of the lower platforms and parts of the gateway. A short price to pay for not dying. The Sorcerer assisted his King to the black Throne of ages and set him across it, going to tend to his wounds with a tracer spell whilst the bleeding, battered Lord of the Void rested in the big chair. Now the fighting had stopped the two little girls cautiously approached the Sorcerer from behind before poking out from his legs to peer at the King, laden on the Throne of King Leofric, which confused them.
"You can't sit there! Only the King can!"
Enid peered at the girls through the mask of his glowing crown, he smiled and replied in a deep, echoing tone due to his crown.
"I am the King now."
