Abdicate
Chapter 1
Acead Edilidarius was riding into the town of Corwal, his armor was made of a bright steel. The armor which glinted in the sun was mostly due to his careful care and shining. Acead was a careful man, always worried about his supplies, looks and skill with a great sword. The big man stood at about six feet and three inches tall. Edilidarius wore complete plate armor and his helmet didn't even allow his face to be seen. The armor was moderately difficult to move in. Acead mounted on his horse and trotted up to a nearby hill to look over the large town of Corwal. His bright white horse's mane glinted as bright as Acead's armor. Edilidarius brought his horse into a walk with a short tug on the reins.
Smoke rose from the distance. Acead looked north toward the large fire. He spurred his horse on with a slight kick to the ribs and prepared to hold on for his life. He wrapped his palm in the white horses mane. The knight lowered his body close to the horses neck.
"Quickly now Minia," whispered Acead to his horse. Minia galloped all the faster almost throwing Acead from his seat on the horse. But still he held on. He made several sharp turns down the cobble stone path. Edilidarius had to move his horse quickly out of the way for a passing carriage. As Acead rode by he had to admire the beauty of the land around him. Even though this land was near the frozen tundra it still had abundant forests and was quite beautiful. A scream pierced the sky and Edilidarius's ears. Acead and his horse rode on with renewed vigor. A half mile from the house Acead stopped his rushed gallop, and gazed at the large collection of peasant houses. From his distance he could only see small dots running around and a few getting knocked down from others that were rushing to the scene. Sadly Acead and his horse were at the top of a mountain-like hill. He saw absolutely no way down to help the peasants.
Be it smart or stupid, the knight jumped off of his horse. The man looked down at the large fire consuming one house and he knew what he had to do. His blue cloak with silver lining billowed as Edilidarius jumped off the cliff. Acead tucked his legs to his torso. The knight eyed a downward slope and guided his body to it. He hit full force in a roll putting several dents in his shining armor. He put his legs out in front of him and slid, letting loose several pebbles in the cold ground. The knight was fifty feet away from the bottom. But Acead picked up more speed. From the high amount of momentum. So much so that Edilidarius fell forward grinding his face and chest into the rocks and dirt. The rocks scratched at his armor even transferring a little to his face where some parts of the armor were concave. Thinking quickly, Acead pushed his shoulder under him, continuing into a roll again. He finally reached the bottom with several wounds. Acead tried to stand up but winced in pain. He could move everything, but then he patted his ribs and winced. Acead realized there was a problem with his ribs but couldn't fret about it now. He drew his great sword and started jogging, able to continue due to adrenaline. Despite the pain, the knight knew he had to help so he ran on.
Now much closer, he saw that a group of thirty goblins were attacking the outer village of Corwal. This stopped Acead in his tracks. The knight pulled a strap that went around his chest like a sash. A horn that was attached to the sash came out from behind his cloak. He removed his helmet revealing a handsome face. Acead had brown hair and green eyes. Edilidarius put the horn to his lips and blew as loud as he could. Acead's hope was that the city guard would hear him.
*****
Teith Abiagord, a private in the ranks of the Corwal city guard, heard the sound of a distant horn. Teith was standing post at the gate. The small sound made the man curious. Teith was normally not a curious man but he felt good today. Abiagord took his spear and drudged up the stairs. He used his spear as a walking stick. How much Teith hated his uniform! It was so hot and he thought that his leather armor only served as an incubator. All his drills with his spear and short sword; how boring! To tell the truth he hated the army, especially because he was forced into by his parents. There was no adventure whatsoever. As he walked higher on the wall, Teith's hands started to get a little sweaty. Abiagord didn't exactly like heights, and his sheathed short sword that continually smacked against the castle wall annoyed him greatly. Abiagord hated his bland life. Mostly because his life was so bland. But things, he thought, could be worse, he could be poor and barely scrape bottom for food and housing. But wait, thought Teith, he was! Finally all the way up the six story wall he looked out to the horizon in the general direction of the horn blast. His good eyes were able to see large wisps of smoke that he could tell were not that of a bonfire. For the first time in his military career he cared about something. What he cared about was adventure. He started to jog to the captain's post which was at the base of the wall in the barracks. He got so excited his eyes lit up and he jumped down the stairs three at a time. Teith looked down a few times but that fueled his adrenaline. When he reached the bottom in about a fourth of the speed it took him to go up; he ran straight to the captain's office in the barracks. Fellow guards in the barracks mouths fell open when Abiagord ran. They hadn't seen him run in two years.
"Captain!" yelled Teith Abiagord. He stood at attention. The captain was reading a letter and held up a finger to quiet him. Teith looked around to see the massive amounts of books and weapons. The room was quite dark because only one window was built in to it. There were several papers strewn about the room as if a gust of wind blew all the papers off his wooden desk.
"What do you want, private?" said the captain with a little attitude. The captain was most likely hostile because Teith was lazy and complacent. His attitude changed a little, however minute, when he saw the respect and the way Teith acted.
"Sir, I think there is trouble in the South," started Teith, "There was quite a large billow of smoke. It was no bonfire." The captain thought about that statement. He put his gruff hand on his five o'clock shadow and stroked his chin making a scratchy sound. His snipe nose sometimes touching his knuckles. A low grunt was barely heard by Teith.
"I believe you, but, I want you to lead this mission. You seem excited enough. Pick ten recruits. And lead them out under you." replied the bored monotone voice of the captain. Abiagord left with in a skip in his step. Teith was anxious. It was his first time commanding. All the captain thought was,
"Did I send eleven men to their death. Rather ten!" laughed the captain. One, Teith was no man, and two, he would send Teith to his death any day. At that a howling, "Wahahaha!" laughed the captain.
*****
Acead put his horn back in it's respective place behind his back plate. Acead's dull and dirty armor frustrated him. But he had to help the poor citizens. Great sword in hand, he rushed forward trying to buy time for the city guard. A citizen came running right up to Acead.
"Help me," cried the citizen. The citizen than fell over, atop Acead. The knight caught the man but could easily see three arrows sticking out of his back. The knight's eyes narrowed, and he ground his teeth. Edilidarius ran all the faster at the sight of the dead body. A goblin farthest from the village saw Acead coming.
"Ichmr wercs!" yelled the goblin. Acead didn't know what that meant but he learned from context when three more goblins joined with the first and charged screaming as loud as they possibly could. Edilidarius met the first. The great sword sunk into the goblin's shoulder. The others circled. Acead's sword got stuck in the body; he yanked as hard as he could. But too hard. The sword fortunately stayed in his hands. Acead still didn't have any control. Edilidarius's arms flew over his head in an arc. One unlucky goblin that was behind Acead was hit with the stray sword. Two goblins were slain but Acead had both of his arms behind his back holding the great sword. The original goblin came for the exposed knight. The goblin's hit was weak but the club hit Acead's broken rib making him fall and convulse in pain. The other goblin tried to make a strike after the first one. Since Acead fell, the other dead goblin with a sword in it's skull fell over Acead, absorbing the blow. Edilidarius jumped up and kicked the striking goblin, knocking him down. The knight leaped atop the downed goblin. His heavy gauntlet connected with the goblin's nose, smashing it. Dark blood ran freely from the goblin's nose. Acead fell down stunned on the goblin as the other's club hit him in the back of the head. Acead slowly grabbed the club of the goblin he was on top of. He spun and hit the goblin in the leg shattering the bone easily. With a yelp Acead finished the goblin he was on with a crack to the skull with the club. The goblin with the shattered leg collapsed in a heap and tried crawling toward Edilidarius with one last attempt to stop the knight's swinging club arm. Crack! The goblin's world went dark. Acead was barely able to stand up. Judging on how he felt, his own diagnosis was that he had two broken ribs and a minor head injury. Acead was forced to take a knee due to his bad headache. Edilidarius swayed and put his hands on the ground. The spots that he was seeing were so bad that sometimes he could not see the ground. Acead felt tremors and looked up and saw a group of city guards about thirty miles north. Even under the circumstances Acead, managed to smile.
"Who are you?" asked Teith. He looked at the dirty man on the ground, "what did you do, sleep with the pigs?" Teith kicked the man in plate armor. A grunt from the man followed. All Teith could see was a dirty man in dented armor. How disgusting he thought. "You disgust me! Answer me!" Teith kicked even harder at the downed man. Teith brought his foot back again to swing it at the man. The man grabbed Teith's foot and twisted it. Teith could not hold his balance and fell next to the battered figure.
"I am Acead Edilidarius knight of King Wayvan. You will never be half the man I am, you are a worm!" Acead told Teith. All the recruits snickered at that remark. Teith got up and brushed himself off. He gave a sneer at the recruits. The recruits quieted at once. Acead shakily rose to his feet drawing his great sword. Screams pierced all of the soldier's ears. Every man looked toward the village. All the men ran straight for the village even the heavily injured Acead jogged. More goblins poured out of the village. Acead stopped running, all he could see was spots. His knees were covered in the long dark green grass. Edilidarius dropped his sword to the ground. The humans and goblins started their engagement. One recruit fell as a club hit him in the side of the head. Teith jabbed his spear in to a goblin chest. He twisted the spear making the injury more critical. In a flash Teith unsheathed his short sword just in time to deflect an attacker's axe.
Unable to wield his great sword Acead dropped the large weapon on to the ground a few feet away from him. Acead pulled a black sheath from his belt. The sheath had several swirling lines traveling to the metal tip. The tip had a ball tip and had the same type of markings in black ingravings. Edilidarius drew the foot long dagger. The dagger itself had a stamped blade of black horizontal zig zag lines. Along the ebony handle there were two strands of silver lining traveling up to the hilt. The hilt had a diamond shape to it, branching out into the same type of metal orbs like the tip. The foot long dagger glowed a faint dark green. The only reason Acead Edilidarius pulled out his special family heirloom/dagger was that he wasn't strong enough to wield his great sword. Acead stood once more. Every time he moved his shaky legs he was in more and more pain. The pain and spots blinded his eyes. Edilidarius's blinks started to get slower and heavier. His whole world slowed down.
Dagger in hand Acead stabbed it into an unsuspecting goblin's back. The goblin tried to move but couldn't. The stab was off balance and clumsy but found it's mark in the back of the goblin's heart. The goblin gurgled some last words in a guttural language but fell down dead quickly. Acead, blinded, couldn't tell if the goblin was dead or not. He stabbed again with more force. Edilidarius stumbled forward and sunk his dagger into a human; completely unaware, he continued to stab and slash, killing the man.
*****
Teith still working his short sword furiously looked back to see if his troops were winning. The goblins were losing but not by much. Teith jumped back from his two goblin combatants. He looked right to see if Acead was there to aid him, but he saw Acead brutally murdering one of the young recruits. Teith, now furious at the would-be knight, ran at the goblins to dispatch them as quickly as possible. Teith despite his laziness was a strong and quick fighter. He brought his short sword high and attempted to slash down at the goblin's shoulder. The goblin as expected by Teith brought his narrow club up to block. Teith not only expected this but was a happy about the tactical blunder. The sword and club connected while his spear pierced the goblin's stomach. As opposed to trying to yank the spear out of the goblin's stomach Teith let go and was still hard pressed by the other goblin. Teith brought his short sword in front of him in a feeble attempt to stop the goblin's club. The club only clipped his arm but it still hurt. While the powerful club swung out wide, Teith was quick enough to bring his sword under his control and stab the goblin in the throat. Black blood stained his short sword.
Teith Yanked his spear from its goblin sheath and pulled back to throw it at Acead. He had Edilidarius lined up and in his sights. Teith let loose his spear at the same time lurching forward in pain from a goblin club to his back. The spear flew past Acead landing into a recruit, killing him on the spot. Teith thought he hit his target when he saw Edilidarius fall in pain. The remaining recruits finished the last of the goblins with ease. Teith stood in pain. All he could think was,
"I need to go see a cleric." Teith tested moving his arm and shoulder to make sure nothing was seriously injured. Teith couldn't help but smile. His leather armor finally did him some good.
Acead on his knees again saw Teith's spear fly and murder one of his comrades. Edilidarius jumped from his downed position toward Teith. Acead pulled Teith's foot out from under him. Both were on the ground. The high grass tickled Teith's allergies. Acead jumped on Teith's chest and wrapped his heavy spiked gauntlets around Teith's throat and throttled the small man. The three recruits didn't know who to side with, both men were murderers. Teith's throat and wind pipe were being crushed. All of Teith's face turned red then purple. Acead in his pained rage continued his strangling. Teith closed his eyes and lurched his head forward, and sneezed from the allergies. The particles got in Acead's face and eyes. Disgusted Edilidarius jumped off of Teith. Teith gasping for breath turned over coughing and spitting. The recruits leaped at Acead. Many hands grabbed at the knight to restrain him. Teith still was unable to stand. One recruit stayed on the knight while the other two restrained Abiagord.
The recruits used a few feet of rope to tie each of their hands. Acead could see that the outer village sustained only light damage. Minor smoke and fire damage plagued a few houses but the village and people were relatively safe. He was the city's hero once again, or so he thought.
"Let's get these prisoners going to Corwal!" yelled the new leader of the recruits. Prisoners, jumped into Acead's mind! Acead didn't know anything about being a prisoner, Teith was the murderer, not him! All will be figured out when he reached the castle, thought Edilidarius.