Kingdom Of Demons (3) “Well it seems we have one last fighter and no opponent for him” he says as all eyes focus on Warrick. “What is your name young warrior?” the king asks. “I am known as Warrick your majesty. But I am no warrior” he admits. The king looks at him with a puzzled look, as Sir William speaks from the seat behind him. “He is the blacksmith sire. From the village.” William says. “And with little business here” he adds. The king looks at Warrick a moment and once again speaks. “ Tell me young Warwick. What is a blacksmith doing in a contest of champions?” he asks still puzzled. “ I come to compete, your majesty” he says proudly. “Well my boy I have to admit, this is no place for a mere blacksmith” he says to Warrick’s disappointment. “ However, you are a big lad and if someone were to challenge you, I.” But, before the king could finish a voice rang from the crowd. “ I will fight him!” replies the voice. Everyone turns to where the voice came from, as Sir Gregory walks out of the crowd. He walks up beside a surprised Warrick and faces the king. “ Your majesty, with your permission” he says respectfully. “By all means Sir Gregory! By all means!” the king says with excitement. Gregory turns back toward Warrick, still standing with his mouth hung open. In all his wildest dreams he never thought his first fight would be with a knight, especially one with the reputation of Sir Gregory. “ What’s the matter boy, change your mind?” the knight asks in a voice only they can hear. “Why no sir, but” “But what boy!” Gregory asks. “You’re a knight. I can’t fight you” Warrick says nervously. “That I am Warrick. One that believes everyone deserves a chance. Now defend yourself boy, for the king watches!” he says raising his sword. Warrick has only a moment to think before being struck in the shoulder by Gregory’s mighty sword. The force of the blow knocks him down to the ground, much to the delight of Sir William. Warrick looks at the crowd as they start to giggle at him, then his eyes focus on the princess. Captivated by her beauty he springs back to his feet, only to be struck down once again. The crowd laughs at him endlessly as he lies on the ground. “ Don’t let them get to you boy, fight me!” Gregory yells. Warrick looks again at the princess, as he gets back to his feet. Her worried face suddenly fills his body with a feeling he had not experienced. Warrick slowly rises to his feet and listens to the crowds’ laughter. He looks angrily at the pleasing look on Sir William’s face, as he has been truly belittled. Suddenly as if possessed by the war gods, his anger turns to rage. He then returns his attention back to Sir Gregory, as his strong hands grip his sword till his knuckles turn white. As Gregory closes for another attack, Warrick raises his sword and blocks a most powerful blow. The arena is suddenly filled with the sound of steel on steel, as the swords collide. Now face to face and chest to powerful chest, Warrick looks the brave knight in the eye. “Now it’s my turn!” he says as he pushes Gregory back. From the young mans strength, the knight stumbles back in surprise. But, before he can regain his footing Warrick unleashes a fury of strikes. Gregory falls to the ground, as the crowd is quickly silenced. Regaining his bearings, Gregory gets to his feet. “ You have a temper, young Warrick” he says with respect. “ But, you have much to learn” he says as he gracefully swings his sword. Titus and the other fighters start to return to watch the intense battle, as the sound of steel rings through the arena. As Warrick entered the contest a nervous blacksmith, he now feels the compassion of a would be knight. Steel and muscle combine as sparks fly from their swords. The two men go back and forth, much to the roaring of the crowd. But as Warrick starts to show his inexperience, Sir Gregory gets the upper hand. As Warrick swings his sword to strike Gregory in the side, the skilled knight spins around him swiping at his legs. The young man crashes to the ground, only to find the tip of the knights’ sword at his throat. Knowing he’s been beat, he drops his sword in surrender. Sir Gregory looked down at the blacksmith, as sweat bled from his brow. Never before had he fought someone as strong as Warrick. As he reaches a hand to help the young man up, he lets out a little smile of his newfound respect for the lad. “Very impressive young Warrick. For someone who claims he isn’t a warrior, you sure worked an old man this day” he says as Warrick gets to his feet. “ But, as you said, I’ve still a lot to learn” he admits as he works a sore spot from his back. “ Aye lad, I did. And with that I can help” Gregory says as he turns to the king. “Your Majesty, if I may ask a favor” he says with a slight bow. The king nods his approval as Sir Gregory continues. “ Give me one day with young Warrick. For I feel he can prove to be a valuable asset on our up coming endeavor” “ Continue Gregory, continue” the king says with great interest. “ Thank you sire. I feel with his strength and a little coaching, he could be quiet the warrior. Regardless, his skills as a blacksmith alone could come in handy, as we are going after metal” he tells the king convincingly. “ I see your point” the king replies as he rubs his beard. “ What do you think, Sir William ?” the king asks as he turns around. The knight stands and acknowledges the king with a bow, before turning his attention to the two men below. “Do with him what you will Sir Gregory. But keep him out of my way!” And with that he walks angrily away. “ There you have it then, Sir Gregory. You have your day” the king replies. “ Thank you sire” Gregory says with a final bow to the king. He then looks at Warrick. “Don’t just stand there boy, we have work to do!” he yells. And as the crowd has truly been entertained, they cheer their approval as the two exit the arena. Chapter Five As the black castle sits eerily on chard like land, the sounds of misery can be heard from inside. Evil watches, as the peasant slaves forcibly serve the devil horde of King Krimus. Trembling to the sounds of cracking whips and growling hellhounds, the peasants spend their days extending the castles cave like corridors. Down below Krimus holds the red stone, as he ponders his revenge on King Marcus. He smiles at the thought of Princess Ilea as his personal servant and chuckles at the thought of her father dying a slow death. A vision from the red stone tells him Castle Brave Rock will soon be without the protection of the knights, as he plans his next move. “ Gordo! Bring me the one they call Sir Wally” the hell king orders. Respectfully, the white-eyed demon obeys and disappears in the corridors. Lying on the hard dungeon floor, Sir Wally and the others try to get what rest they can. As a plan of escape goes through Wally’s head, the silence is disturbed by the sound of keys rattling at the door. Wally turns to see Gordo and three other demons by the exit. “You come. King Krimus waits!” the beast says. But as the door opens, one of the knights’ charges the beast. For his efforts, he is quickly batted away. As the creature waves its ax to finish him off, Sir Wally springs to his feet. “ Wait! “he yells in desperation. “ I’ll go with you!” The demon lowers his ax, as Wally exits the cell. The cell door slams shut as one of the demons roars at the men, before following the others. Sir Wally is led through the corridors passing several of the slaves. The sight of the peasants being forced to work for the demon leader enrages him, but he keeps to himself for he can do little to help them. They pass through many corridors, before finally reaching the throne room of the hell king. As he is led closer to his demonic host, Wally can’t help but be afraid. As Krimus speaks a satanic voice fills the room. “Sit knight. Sit and tell me about the castle of your king” he demands. “ I will sit as you ask demon, but I will tell you nothing of the castle, or my king” he says bravely. “ I expected as much from a knight, but you will tell me what I want to know” he says raucously. Just then two of the peasants are dragged to a cage beside them. As they are thrown inside, the door slams to a gruesome horror. Waiting inside is one of the hellhounds. The two peasants are immediately terrified and start screaming as the large hound attacks. As he painfully watches, Sir Wally tries to get up only to be held to watch by Gordo and the others. The animal rips and shreds their bodies till their screams are no more. Just as the knight feels like he will throw up, things get worse. “Gordo, get me two more humans and then two more” the king repeats. The demon leaves the room, only to return with a woman and a small boy. Wally looks in horror as the beast takes them straight to the cage. Still eating on the others, the hound welcomes the sight of fresh meat. The boy and woman squirm and try to get away as the hound snaps at them from the bars. The boy looks at Wally as if to plead for help, as Krimus wins. “All right I’ll tell you what you want to know“, Wally says to the screams of the peasants. “ Good. Gordo get rid of the cage and worthless peasants. Sir Wally and myself have much to talk about” he says delightfully. With tears in his eyes, Wally tells him everything about the castle. Krimus sits with a sinister grin as a most heinous plan comes to mind. Outside the castles walls, Sir Gregory and Warrick are deep in their training. The sound of clanking metal is continuous as the knight teaches Warrick the art of the sword. As he thrashes out in a fury of strikes, Warrick soon finds himself angering like he did in the arena. Sir Gregory easily maneuvers the blacksmiths’ sword from his hand, as the youth can only stand and catch his breath. “ Warrick you will never master the sword if you persist to lash out in anger” the knight tells him. “ How else will you have me be, for this anger has gotten me this far” he says picking up his sword. “ And that day in the arena that same anger would have got you killed, if it was for real!” Gregory says angrily. “What is this anger that fills you so?” Gregory asks. “ It’s not your problem” Warrick replies. “ Tell me lad. Keeping it bottled up inside is slowly tearing you apart. Tell me boy, and we will face it together” the knight pleads convincingly. Warrick hesitates at first, and then figures’ keeping it inside truly was doing him no good. He sits on a nearby log and is joined by Sir Gregory. “ It started a few short years ago” he begins. “ What did lad?” asks Gregory. “This” Warrick says as he exposes the scars on his back. The knight looks at long, deep scars down his muscular back. Some of them were a half-inch wide and the length of his back. As Warrick covers the scars back up, the knight could only sit and think about how much pain he must have endured. “ As I said. It started long ago. My mother and I were traveling through the woods with the rest of my village, when they came out of no where” he explains. “ Who did lad?” Gregory asked with great interest. “The demons of Krimus. They were fierce fighters and we were quickly over taken. When they grabbed my mother, I ran to her rescue. But, I was soon struck from behind by one of those things. The pain from my back was excruciating, as I was sliced several times. I must have passed out and left for dead, because the next thing I remember was Ethane standing over me. As I looked around, there was no sign of my mother or the others” he explained sadly. “ That was quite a tale lad. But I assure you, on my word as a knight. Vengeance will be yours” Gregory says as he pats him on the shoulder. “ We have the same enemy you and I. If you truly want to learn the ways of the knight, then stand and put your anger aside” Gregory instructed him. Sir Gregory explained to him that his anger would be of use soon enough, but for now he needed to keep a clear head. They started with the basics, with a block here and there. As Warrick kept his composure; he finally started to become quite a swordsman. Soon he was a most formidable challenge for even the trainer of knights. They continued to practice for most of the night, as his skills were now being complimented by his great strength. “ Well-done Lad” Gregory says, as Warrick counters his every move. “ I fear if I show you more, I will be learning from you” he replies in confidence. Warrick proved to be a quick learner, as his skills excelled his wildest dreams. “ Thank you Sir Gregory” Warrick said with great respect. “ Thank me in battle lad. But for now we must get some sleep, for tomorrow is a big day.” Warrick agreed as they walked in the night. But, his excitement continued. For tonight, he slept in the comforts of the castle. Chapter Six As Warrick tried to sleep, he found himself only able to toss and turn. He was so in awe, to the fact that he was in the castle walls. His room was massive, with a large fireplace. A bearskin on the floor, served as a most impressive rug. In the corner, a beautiful light wood desk supports a bowl of fruit. Above that was a frame of reflective glass, which captivated from across the room a picture of the king’s crest above two crossed swords. As he lay in his bed, he was in true heaven. He thought about how proud his mother would be of him, when a knock came at the door. Springing up from the large canopy bed, he slowly walked over to the door. Another knock rang out, as he cautiously opened it. He was surprised to see a short man wearing the clothing of a servant. “ The king has summoned you to the throne room” the servant said. “The king wants me?” he said puzzled. “It is of grave importance” the servant replied. Thinking good and bad thoughts about what the king might want, Warrick followed the servant. When he arrived at the throne room, Warrick noticed the king sitting on his throne and the sorcerer Kalavar standing beside him. As he approaches them, Warrick is both intimidated and curious as to why the king has summoned him so late at night. “ Ah Warrick. Come in lad, come in” the king says eagerly. “ You summoned me your majesty?” Warrick asks. “ Yes my boy. That I did. Sir Gregory tells me your sword is becoming quite impressive” the king says. “ I have learned a lot from him. He is a good teacher and has greatly improved my sword” the blacksmith admits. “Good. Sounds like you will need it. Tell him Kalavar” the king says excitedly. “Tell me what sire” Warrick asks curiously. “ A vision, young Warrick. I’ve had a vision” Kalavar says. “ Why should I care of your vision sorcerer?” Warrick says as he gets impatient. “ This vision was of you” Kalavar starts. All the young lad could do is stand there. At first he thought it might be a sick joke. But he soon thought better of it, seeing as though it was the king he was talking about. As he looked into their eyes, he pondered what a vision could possibly have to do with him. “Tell me then wizard. What was this vision” he asked firmly. “You will be very helpful on this journey to the dragon cave. As well as the disposal of King Krimus” Kalavar reveals. “ Surely I will do my part, but I am no knight, just a simple blacksmith” Warrick said as he tried to make since of it all. “Silence boy. This is not about a knight or a blacksmith. It is about you alone and what you possess inside” Kalavar explained. The concerned look on the kings’ face told him that this vision was real. Thinking this was his big chance to be a knight, Warrick was quick to find out more.
Copyright © 2003 Robert E Tadlock |