To Avenge a Friend
"You selfish, selfish old man! You have people who care about you and you insist on dying!" - Calill, Co-owner of General Ike's Inn.
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It was suicide.
But he no longer cared.
He was General Tauroneo of Daein. Long ago, in his youth, he held the rank of Steadfast Rider. Now, in the eyes of Daein's people, he was merely a General with a brain.
After bribing the spy, he heard the news from Volke: the Black Knight was alive.
That bastard still breathed...
Ike, his nephew, the young man who resembled his father, the aged warrior's old and dear friend, failed to kill the man who slew Gawain.
And now, two mountains of steel and flesh stood facing one another.
"It is suicide, you fool..." That distorted voice cackled from its helmet. The towering Black Knight, a symbol of death to be feared by all, stood before the stalwart warrior.
Tauroneo lifted the spear in his hands. "You will not find this battle to be as easy as you think, Gawain's old protegeé."
The Black Knight seemed to shift a bit. "That's the Wishblade, is it not? The greatest spear in all of Tellius?"
"Yes, it rivals Urvan, the mighty axe that was swung before you once."
"Once, but its user met an... unfortunate end. You might fare the same fate."
"Unfortunate, you say? Gawain taught you everything you know now, yet instead of lamenting his death that's the only reaction you have?"
"You are so much like my old teacher. You, too, are a fool. None who have faced me have ever lived, yet..."
"I heard that Ranulf, of Gallia, engaged you in battle, and lived... But I will do far more than that. I will succeed where my nephew failed, villain."
"I see... Then I accept your challenge. My teacher spoke quite highly of you, before he left Daein. Let us see if the words of an old fool have any merit."
Steel clashed against steel as Alondite slammed into the edge of the spear. Tauroneo had been too hasty. He hadn't prepared his battle stance before the villain struck.
The winds howled in anticipation as the two warriors exchanged blows. The sky rang with the screech of metal. A young, blue-haired man heard the clash of steel. A golden sword glowed in his hands as he stepped toward the noise... It sounded familiar...
"What... What is happening?" He mumbled as a man in white armor and a man in black were exchanging blows with a lance and a sword.
Ike gasped. It couldn't be...
His nemesis was alive, and the one man standing before him was the very man he always wanted to speak to, but never had the chance.
"I should have known... If I wouldn't try to avenge my father, he would... But it's suicide! Only I can harm that beast. The Wishblade is not a blessed weapon... It won't have any effect against that fiend's armor." Ike panicked. The proud Tauroneo of Daein would meet his end.
The Black Knight thrust the blade forward, and Tauroneo felt pain in his left shoulder. He turned his head slightly, and found that the blade had impaled itself there.
"You're dead, old man...!"
"We'll see about that!" Tauroneo gave a rare smile, and with his free right hand, he twirled his spear and thrust it forward!
"Wha...?" The Black Knight found that the spear was glowing. Looking down, he saw that the spear had impaled him.
"My armor was blessed by the Goddess herself!... Why...?" The foe gasped as blood dripped from the inside of his armor.
"The will of the dead is not always ignored by the divine." Tauroneo replied.
The old man looked up. He saw the faint outline of two faces. One had a scar above his left eyebrow, his black eyes twinkling and a wide smile on his face. Another had red hair, a red mustache, a red beard, and red eyes. He too, smiled at the old man.
"My dear friends..." The old General panted. He heard the clank and collapse of his prey before him.
The younger man ran to the old man's side. "Why... He was my prey... Why did you...?"
Tauroneo smiled and turned to Ike. "For... For a friend..." As he saw a young lady on horseback and an orange haired priest ran towards the pair, the old man lost consciousness with a smile on his face.
Greil was avenged.