After the incident with the antique suit of armour, Kendall. Kendall had a video conferencing meeting with Prince Phillip. She had many questions for him. For example, how did Ivan amass so much wealth to pay for the damages on the suit of armour?
Now, Ivan was mostly unconcerned about this matter, and he decided to let Kendall handle the issues regarding his money and the way it is spent. According to him, "If that is the price that protects the museum and our home, so be it."
Kendall rolled her eyes at Ivan. For a moment, she was exasperated with him. Kendall knew money did not matter to an honour-obsessed knight like Ivan. However, she wished he could be a little more mature. And sensible. Practical. Especially with money.
She quickly snapped out of her reverie. Prince Philip was in the midst of explaining how the combination of archaic bylaws concerning wergild coupled with extremely conservative banking practices enabled Ivan's wealth to be preserved and grow to the size it is today.
After all, he had eight hundred years of interest accrued on one single bar of gold.
*** break ***
Now, Sir Wilfred had transformed into the Gold Ranger, and He was facing down a terrible monster on the stream near Aaronne Glades. Fuelled by the energem's power, his sword was bathed in the glow from the yellow flashes of lighting that laced it.
At the core of his sword was one of the ten energems. These energems were filled with primordial light, made from pure Good at the beginning of Time. It was entrusted to the Pterodactyl by the Keeper before the extinction of their kind. Its light was the hero's light and those who wielded its power were the godlike heroes of old. The first was Cu Chulainn, the Child of Light and Hound of Ulster. Though his feats were many, but like all flesh, he was doomed to die on his feet. After him, was Akhilleus, the hero of the Trojan war. In battle, he was crowned with heavenly fire as he charged in the trenches of Troy, but like the heroes before him, he was slain in an untimely fashion. After him, the energem was set upon the blade named Caliburn and given to the King who drew the sword from the stone. However, its wielder was slain at the battle of Camlann and the energem passed into legend.
Now, some time had passed, and the energem was wielded by Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, the Knight after knights. Like those before him, he will not escape the fate that awaited those who could grasp it. For he was appointed the fateful day where the wielder of that energem must yield his life for the greater glory.
But this was not the day; this day is about the day that he would face Fury. This day Sir Wilfred will face the monster from another world.
Before this fateful battle, Fury had searched the world for the energems for an unbearable stretch of years. During this time, he tore apart armies and empires in search of an energem. He was much feared by many peoples from all over the world. The ancient peoples called him by many names. Some of these names are still popular to this day: Set, Tiamat, and Nian, These are just a few names that he went by.
Now there was one of the energems in his reach, and the monster refused to be denied his prize.
"Gold Ranger. I will have your energem!" Fury roared. The monster drew his blade and it glinted in the sunlight. It was a wicked-looking instrument of war that was made to inflict death and pain.
The Gold Ranger responded in kind. He sprang swiftly and flourished his brilliant sword with strength and grace.
Thus began a duel that bards would sing,
A battle where steel would clash and ring.
*/*
When they crossed swords on that fateful stream,
Fury attacked with a monstrous scream.
Blow after blow he rained upon the knight,
With his cruel blade as dark as midnight.
*/*
But Sir Wilfred was a skilled swordsman,
That energem gave him the strength of ten.
His moves were swift as a coursing river,
Leaving trails of foam that shined like silver.
*/*
Sir Wilfred darted towards his foe,
skipping through deadly blows like a doe.
He thrust his blade like a whaler's harpoon,
And with all the force of a great typhoon.
*/*
The blow struck the monster in the head,
It fell headlong into the riverbed.
The knight fell upon his foe with ire
And with all the strength of the raging fire.
*/*
After countless wounds, Fury broke free
Only to be maimed in one knee.
The knight's moves changed like a lyre's tune,
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon.
*/*
At noon's high, the battle turned dire,
For Sir Wilfred had begun to tire.
Even though his foe was badly out-matched,
In fighting that creature, there was a catch.
*/*
Though the energem gave him power,
Sir Wilfred's strength was good for an hour.
*/*
This is the part where young Ivan is,
The sum of his choices led him to this,
The life of a mentor sacrificed,
to win Zandar's safety at this Price.
*/*
As the fight between Sir Wilfred and Fury raged on, the rangers took cover behind the trees by the stream. There were only three of them now. Marquis Rex, Ivan and a ranger by the name of Price.
Marquis Rex, the ranger-general of Zandar had a dark look on his face as he contemplated the options he had. Far too many of his rangers were hurt when they sprung the trap on Fury only for it to fail.
Price spoke up first, "Bijela, Zelena, Athrun and Crvena are no more. The rest are too wounded to fight."
Marquis Rex made a choice, "Gather the wounded and make sure that they are safe. Get the King's knights and the Longbow rangers. It's too dangerous to be left alone. We must put it down."
Price bowed and left.
There was a pained look on Marquis Rex's face as he turned to Ivan.
"Looks like it is just you and me, young Ivan."
Rex tapped Ivan on the right shoulder, left shoulder and his head.
"There you go. Consider yourself a ranger. Now as the last rangers of Zandar here, we must get Sir Wilfred out. Only he has the power to rival the enemy today. If he falls, we have no hope of beating the monster."
"Hail Marquis Rex, the Ranger-General of the Zandarian Rangers. I have something that could help."
It was the Venetian; he was gravely wounded by Fury, but by the sheer force of his will, he made his way to the rangers. He held out a cluster of black balls made from iron; each ball was the size of a grapefruit.
"A weapon honed by Saracen alchemists. It is a cluster bomb that can punch through castle walls. Arrows and swords have failed to stop this beast. If this doesn't work, I fear no weapon on earth can."
Ivan blurted out, "Why help us?"
The Venetian looked to the distance as he said, "That demon tore through my brothers, friends and people who followed me in this crusade. As a soldier of God, I will consider it my life's work to have bested a demon in battle."
The Venetian drew a pained breath, saying, "There is a catch. You must wrap it around him and light the fuse. You have only a short moment to escape before the explosion kills you."
Marquis Rex took the cluster bomb from the Venetian's hands. His face was deathly pale.
"If this is the price to protect Zandar. So be it."
Rex turned to Ivan.
"It is up to us now. I'll pin the monster, and you will light the fire. Then you run."
Ivan swallowed hard.
"Surely there must be another way..." Ivan entreated Rex.
There was a dark look that streaked past Rex's face.
"Four of my rangers dead as are a thousand of the Venetian's soldiers. If this monster lives, it has the power to bring Zandar to its knees. You cannot be a boy any more. You have to make a choice between the lives of the many against the lives of the few. It is time to grow up, boy."
Stung, Ivan shot back, "I am not a boy."
Rex nodded gravely. He slung the cluster bomb on his back and charged into the stream. Without hesitation, he ran straight into the fight between the Gold Ranger and Fury. Ivan followed after him with dread in his stomach.
Rex yelled at the Gold Ranger, telling him to bring Fury down. The Gold Ranger nodded and slammed Fury into the riverbed. In one fluid motion, the Gold Ranger mounted him like one rides a horse. The monster flailed helplessly to throw him off. Even though Fury had enormous amounts of strength, the Gold Ranger had leverage. Under his mount, the monster had nowhere else to go.
Rex immediately began wrapping the cluster bombs around Fury who flailed and raged. When Rex was done, he nodded at the Gold Ranger. The Gold Ranger lifted his blade aloft and drove his sword through Fury's chest pinning him in the process.
Immediately, Ivan ran up to them with a torch. He set the flame over the fuse and then he ran for dear life. He looked back for a moment, and he saw the Gold Ranger and Rex still trying to prevent Fury from escaping.
There was no time to save them. No time to get them clear.
Then there was a sound of thunder. Ivan was caught in the blast and flung into the air. Luckily, he landed on a soft patch of grass. He looked up to see what had happened.
The Gold Ranger had de-morphed into Sir Wilfred. The aged knight was unconscious and floating on the stream, lifeless. A very bloodied Rex popped out of the stream and dragged him to the shore.
Sir Wilfred's sword had also shattered in the blast, and the energem fell onto the stream and floated straight into the hands of the Venetian.
"The Venetian picked up the energem. In his hands, it crackled with life.
"The power is mine."
Ivan felt a sense of dread.
It was Fury. He was still alive.
"*** next chapter ***
Ivan cried out as he drew his sword against Rex,
"Don't make me do this, sir."
a/n: I realised after the fact that this chapter was unreadable due to major formatting issues. I apologise for this incident and rectified it as soon as i could. Thank you reviewers for flagging this
