The Armour of a Knight

Duran stormed into the cave, the rest of them were probably going after Koren right now, but he had to do this. That man had answers and only he could find them out. He looked up. There he stood, the Darkshine Knight. He stared at those cold, empty eyes and felt something he had never really felt before, fear. The knight's voice echoed around the room "Duran, give up. The Dragon Emperor has already regained his power... You cannot stop him!"

Duran felt rage boil up inside him, he was the best knight the world had seen since his father, he had friends who were among the most powerful warriors in the world and this idiot was telling him to give up and go home! "Hey, who the hell are YOU to tell me I can't do something? I'm here to avenge my father!"

Duran could literally feel the smile grow across the knight's hidden face. "Then you still don't understand... Duran, I am your father!"

Duran's stood, stunned as his entire universe collapsed around him. He felt anger, confusion, sadness, happiness, every emotion he had ever sensed came back and hit him like a brick wall. Suddenly he turned from strong and honourable warrior, standing tall to a gibbering wreck, kneeling down, sobbing. He could barely speak, "What the hell are you talking about? My father's dead!"

"I was revived by the dragon emperor Duran, now join us, you'll be safer on our side." Duran got up, suddenly, the world seemed clear again. This man wasn't his father. His father wouldn't want him to turn on his friends; his father was a Knight of Gold and his father was a great man, not a pawn to some idiot who thought he could take over theworld.

"My father DID die! He was a Knight of Gold! He'd NEVER join the Dragon Emperor!"

The knight suddenly seemed to become darker and more menacing. "Then it is settled. I'm sorry, Duran, but I must stop you at all costs..."

And with that, the knight drew his sword. Duran, drawing his own weapon readied himself for the hardest battle of his life. The Knight charged forward at him swinging his blade at him. Duran was ready though and stepping back parried the blows, before launching his own assault. The knight however, fought as skilfully as him, he simply couldn't land a hit. This deadlock seemed to continue for an eternity, attack followed by counter-attack followed by attack. Duran felt that there was only one way to end it. He ran, he ran as fast as he could away from the knight, hiding behind a nearby rock. The knight laughed, confident that the stupid young knight had gone to cower; it would be that confidence that would kill him.

Duran focused for a second and raised his sword, "Mighty Wisp give me strength!" He felt the holy energy from the room ooze into his blade, turned and saw the fear in the knight's eyes. Charging forward he leaped up into the air and slashed down, cleaving the knight's blade in two as he vainly attempted to stop the attack. A cut emerged across the dark knight's armour as he fell back and collapsed to the ground.

Duran stood tall at his feet.

Suddenly, the knight's hand moved, Duran was immediately on guard again. But it was merely to remove the helmet shrouding his face, his father's face. "Well done, my son," and with that his father's eyes closed. Duran fell, burying his face in his father's chest, dampening the cloth with his tears.

He opened his eyes to find his pillow wet with salty tears. He turned over and looked at the ceiling. Seven years and he still hadn't forgiven himself. He thought he was over it; it had certainly seemed like it in those short, blissful months after their victory.But then, in those months he hadn't a care in the world. He was among friends, he was young and the world was his oyster. Now seven years down the line, he was the responsible ruler of a nation. He had to care about the thousands of lives under his guard; he just didn't have the time for fun. Perhaps it was the pressure of it all; perhaps he just needed a break. But, then, he doubted that he would get one for the rest of his life. But the nightmares were getting more frequent and he was getting more tired. Soon he might not be able to get up in the morning.

If the guys were here he'd be able to get up. If they were here, he'd be absolutely fine, untouched by nightmares and ready to fight. He even doubted whether he'd see any of them again. Kevin was king of the beast kingdom; those wolves wouldn't even come within ten miles of another city so he really doubted that they'd let the king do something the royal guard wouldn't. It was a pity too. He really respected Kevin, he was an honourable warrior and a loyal friend. Then there was Lise, Rolante had already been a complete fortress before and after the invasion by Navarre they really weren't too keen on their temporary queen leaving the kingdom. It was a pity, Lise was a fine fighter, more than a match for him and she was very beautiful as well. Then there was Hawk, Navarre had almost been completely ruined by the war and it was really necessary for the Lord of the Guild to stay there while they tried to rebuild their reputation, even after seven years, it hadn't really recovered. Duran didn't really connect with Hawk, that man would rather stab someone in the back instead of fighting them honourably. How could you live with yourself after killing someone in such a manner? But then, Hawk was like a brother to him. His confidant when things weren't going right. Even if he was a thief, Hawk valued his friends more than any amount of luc. Finally there was Angie. He had had contact with her and she was possibly the most annoying woman he had ever come across. She continuously refused to accept help from him, no matter how absurd her position was. Altena would be defenceless without magic! Why did that stubborn, spoiled little girl keep on refusing! She made him feel like banging his head against the wall. But then, there was that kind, caring side to her. And when it came to looks, well, she was a complete knockout.

Still, he needed sleep and he once again had a lot of work ready for him that day, as well as the latest message from the Altenan ambassador. He turned over his pillow, giving him a fresh side to lie on and slowly sleep washed over him. It was sleep filled with nightmares, but it was still sleep.

Duran was greeted in the morning by a headache. But then, falling out of your bed onto a hard floor wasn't the best way to soothe the aches and pains in your body. Rubbing his temples he walked around his room, quickly putting on his bloody embarrassing regal clothing. Why oh why did he put up with wearing this? Oh yes, he didn't want to piss off those damned lords who had elected him to be king after Richard died. But why then did he care about what those lords thought? He could take them all out if he wanted. Oh yes, if he did, then he'd be as bad as the people he defeated all those years ago.

Duran lurched out of his quarters, his feet dragging along the floor. He was literally bowled over by his advisor Dayn. The man started spraying facts in his face about the political situation in some place and the possible grain shortage in Forcena in ten years. It really made Duran want to whack him round the head. Dayn was great at all times, apart from in the mornings. The guy just seemed to go into complete overload; he had to get everything done so his good king wouldn't get into trouble during the day. Duran was sure the man would explode if he was ever told that he never listened to him anyway. Dayn was a small man compared to Duran and he was pretty thin. Yet, his stature hid his incredible strength. The man was a brilliant swordsman and perhaps not so surprisingly, very smart. Duran just kept on nodding as he walked and Dayn seemed to buy it.

He was about half-way to the throne room when he found another figure walking beside him. Evidently she was patiently waiting for her brother's time. Why did that girl have to be so formal? Wendy had grown into quite the little princess over the years and she was probably the most sought after year old in all of Forcena. "Good morning Wendy! What do you need?"

"Good morning King Duran," 'King,' did she have to say that? Goddess, what he'd give for people just to call him Duran. The guys would never call him 'King.' "I just wanted to ask, is it okay for me to go out into the highlands today?"

Duran looked at her, surprised, she knew better than to ask him that and if she was asking him that, it meant that Stella had already said no. Still, he was curious about why exactly she wanted to go somewhere she knew she couldn't. "Why exactly do you want to go there?" He said it with as much scepticism as possible, just to make her worry even more.

The girl blushed furiously, "Well er… you see Duran, it's like this," Duran was immediately suspicious. His sister never hesitated like this, in fact she didn't blush like that either.

Duran decided it was better to cut in than to have her go on for so long that he'd be late for his first meeting, "Sis, what's wrong, tell me quickly or no'll be my answer."

She looked down, closing her eyes, "Well there's this guy and he wants to take me there on a date and I like him and I don't want to say no and seem like I'm not interested and if he takes someone else I'll die!" she spoke so quickly it seemed like the entire sentence was one word. As Duran tried to digest the sentence, he realised what it meant. This girl wanted him to let her go into dangerous highlands, without her aunt's permission with some boy he didn't even know on a date no less. And all this time he thought she was intelligent.

"No sister, there is absolutely no chance in hell that I am going to let you go out on your own-"

"With him," she interrupted.

"That just makes it even worse! I know nothing about this guy! I simply can't trust someone I don't even know to take you out into monster filled lands and do God knows what, even if you really like him! "

"You told me that Carlie went out at my age!"

"AND SHE'S DEAD!" Duran was ready to cry, poor, poor Carlie. "We let her come with us and she died, she died Wendy. I can't lose you like I did her, I just can't."

Wendy seemed as if she was going to cry, she turned away and ran off, half sobbing, half screaming, "You're just as bad as Aunt Stella!"

Well, she had gotten him in a fine mood for today. He really pitied the people giving presentations to him today; they were going to have one hell of a time.

Duran played a little game where he followed a speck of dust caught in an updraft for as long as he could whilst still seeming to be paying attention to the people talking to him. He was getting very good at it; one speck of dust hadn't gone out of his sight for 15 minutes. However, something managed to draw him away from his game, the announcement of the Altenan ambassador. He had to keep his wits about him; Angie always wanted him to make a mistake, just so she could rub it in his face.

The ambassador walked in, no, she glided in. Why did Angie's ambassadors always have to be so good looking! The girl had long blue hair, green eyes and a perfect figure. Did Angie just pick hot women to try to put him off? And did she give them strict orders to flirt with him as much as possible? Duran could have sworn that she winked at him when she came in. She had to realise that he didn't just think with his crotch. Still, he wouldn't have minded spending a night "getting to know her" a little better.

"Queen Angela once again rejects your offer to send Forcenan knights to protect Altena." Duran wondered how the Altenans managed to get a message from Altena to Forcena so quickly. His ambassador had only spoken to Altena yesterday! Well, the Altenans did have incredible technology. Perhaps they had invented some device that let them do that.

"Altena is a strong country and we do not require the help of foreign lands to protect ourselves, despite the decline of mana in the world. We are training forces to protect our country as we speak and we do not, under any circumstances, wish to weaken the forces of Forcena when we do not require help."

Duran looked back at his speck of dust; he already knew every detail of this speech. It wasn't as if he hadn't heard it before. He watched it bob up and down, do loop after loop. It was hypnotic; Duran felt every emotion just wash away from him.

Suddenly Duran was staring at the same speck of dust, but in an entirely different place. The room was vast, there were huge windows but no light seemed to enter through them. Yet somehow he could see, despite the lack of light. A figure that definitely hadn't been there before appeared. The figure was shrouded in a veil of shadows; he walked forward, slowly, in a manner that seemed familiar to Duran. The figure drew a sword and adopted his stance. Duran's eyes widened, only three people knew that stance, one of them was him and the other two were dead and only one of those two he knew could come back from the dead. It had to be him, it had to be. But then, he had beaten him once and hell, he could do it again. Duran drew his sword, adopting the same stance as the figure. Duran stared at the eyeless terror, trying to see through the veil. Suddenly, the figure moved, darting towards him. He brought his sword down, bringing a vertical slash down at Duran's head. Duran raised his sword to parry and the blades drew closer and closer.

Duran opened his eyes. That had been no dream. It was a message, he was sure. It hadn't been his first. Duran suddenly realised he was still in his throne. Not one person had noticed him fall unconscious. Perhaps his aunt was right; he could sleep with his eyes open. Duran wondered what to do; these messages were getting more frequent. Perhaps, he should see the priestess. The word was that she was getting even stronger and some of the more extreme rumours said she could channel with the Goddess whenever she wanted. Well, she was his best bet. Fine, it was settled, he would go to Wendel tomorrow. Everyone would think he was making a pilgrimage, in fact, he was making a pilgrimage. Hopefully he would talk with the priestess and all these visions will be behind him.

That evening he made the announcement to the people of Forcena and as planned they accepted it happily. The next day he had a ship readied to sail to Jad. His bodyguards would escort him there but from then on he would have to go it alone. Since the beast invasion the council in Wendel had become pretty uptight over armed forces entering the town. Boarding the ship Duran made his way to his cabin. He settled into his bed. It was a long way to Jad and he wanted to well be rested for the journey through the Rabite forest. Closing his eyes he prayed to the Goddess that it wouldn't be a sleep plagued with nightmares.

Writer's Rants: WOOOOO I finally managed to get this bloody chapter up. I despise Duran for depressing me so much. I just couldn't muster up the strength to write for an absolute age!! Well I'm very sorry for making you guys wait but hopefully the next chapter should come much more quickly. Oh and one thing REVIEW!! I WILL GIVE ANYONE WHO REVIEWS 2 BILLION GIGA-DOL-POUNDS!!

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