A Maid's Wrath, A Knight's Curse
The Forest outside the Roswaal Mansion
Ulric was beginning to think this world's goal was to subvert all of his beliefs and expectations that he'd spent years learning and acquiring. The latest one being the fact that the killer who'd ended his last life with a flail and some kind of curse was none other than the blue-haired maid of the Roswaal mansion, Rem. As it turned out, the petite girl wielded enough strength to swing around the largest flail he'd ever seen a person use and was also smart enough to turn his attempted trap against him by cornering him against a rock wall. 'The women of this land all seem to know how to fight,' thought Ulric, 'I'd best remember that from now on.'
"As long as you put up no resistance," said Rem in the same, calm tone she'd use while doing her chores, "Your death will be relatively swift and fairly painless."
"And just what is the reason that I have to die in the first place?" Questioned Ulric with his blade raised in a defensive posture, "I don't recall committing any real offense against you or anyone else at the mansion."
"Bring punishment to anyone suspicious," replied Rem as she began to approach very slowly, reeling in some of the chain on her weapon, "That is the duty of a maid."
"I wonder about that," said Ulric, "If it were the duty of a maid, why is Ram not here, or is she waiting in ambush in case I get past you." This comment caused Rem to stop in her place as she replied.
"My sister knows nothing about this," replied Rem, "It is my intention to end this before she finds out."
"I see," said Ulric as he took a step forward, "So you're here acting on your own. Or maybe Roswaal sent you here secretly to end my life, and if that's the case it still leads back to the original question, what offense have I caused?"
"That will be for you to answer," Said Rem as she pulled the chain in her hands taut, "But to insure you're telling the truth, I'm afraid I will have to use rather painful me-."
"DON'T INSULT ME HEATHEN!" yelled Ulric as he shot forward, swinging the assassin's blade in his hand in a diagonal downward strike. Rem, taken by surprise, just managed to move out of the way as he came back with another strike at her midsection. The blue-haired girl dodged that strike as well while readying to strike with the chain in her hand. But the knight struck first with a back hand against her left cheek, the force of the blow knocking her over.
Rem rolled over in time to dodge another strike from the blade aimed at her midsection before yanking on the chain of her weapon. The weapon end of the flail was yanked from the stone wall as it came sailing towards Ulric's head. The knight managed to duck his head in time as he felt the spikes of the weapon graze the back of his neck. The maneuver gave his opponent time to get to her feet as she brought the flail around for another strike.
Ulric backed away as the weapon slammed against the ground where he'd just been before being pulled through the air back to its owner. Rem wound up the weapon and swung it once again, forcing Ulric back into a tangle of trees. Rem took advantage of the dead end by slinging the weapon around, preparing to send it flying straight at him. "Jiwald," Ulric said, quickly calling on the light magic he'd learned. As the flail raced towards him, the knight leapt over it, the glowing blue aura around his body allowing him to leap several feet towards his opponent.
But Rem was prepared for surprises this time and twirled away from the strike, using the spin to lash out with a kick to Ulric's head, breaking his concentration and ending his spell. The blow was hard enough that the knight was knocked off of his feet, his ear ringing from the strike while his vision swam for an instant. 'This maid is stronger than a number of knight's I know,' thought Ulric as he managed to roll back up to his feet, 'The last time I was hit that hard I was fighting a soldier a few heads taller than me.' A point which was further reinforced when Rem slung the chain of her weapon around Ulric's neck, preventing him from moving away from her.
"This won't do," said Rem as her hand began glowing, "I'm afraid I'll need to cripple you now to interrogate you." The glow in her hand formed into an ice shard, causing Ulric's eyes to widen in shock. 'She knows ice magic as well, what is with this place?!' Thinking quickly, Ulric used Jiwald again, powering up his body as the ice shard was fired at him. Using the enhanced strength granted from the spell, Ulric yanked the flail out of the ground and over towards him, the spiked ball managing to intercept the ice shard just in time.
"I did not come here to cause anyone harm," Said Ulric as he untangled himself from the chain, "But you've forced my hand!" The knight emphasized the end of his sentence by flinging the spiked ball towards Rem. The maid quickly flipped out of the way of her weapon as she brought it back around in a low horizontal strike. Ulric, managing to keep the spell around his body this time, leapt over it and onto the branch of a rather large tree.
Rem reacted by forming another large ice shard and fired it at Ulric. The knight leapt down off the tree to avoid it and then further back into the forest as she fired even more in his direction. 'She's not as skilled in the mystic arts as Emilia,' thought Ulric as he hid behind a tree, powering down Jiwald for a moment, 'But she makes up for it in undeniable strength and agility. It's only thanks to my magic and the element of surprise that I was able to get the upper hand on her the last couple of times.' The knight was forced to move away from the tree he was hiding behind as the biggest ice shard yet slammed into it, causing it to topple over.
"Found you," said Rem as she suddenly landed near him, swinging her flail down at him once again. The knight dodged around the flail as it slammed into another nearby tree before being yanked out and swung at him again, but with less accuracy as it impacted against yet another tree. Rem then fired another couple of ice shards at him, which Ulric dodged by rolling out of the way. As it turned out, however, she hadn't been trying to hit just him.
This realization hit Ulric as he noticed several of the trees around him were now falling thanks to the volley of ice shards and strikes from the flail. Moving quickly, Ulric just managed to avoid being crushed by first one, two, then three trees before he was clipped in the back by the branches of a fourth tree. The force of the impact knocked him forward onto his stomach, leaving a stinging feeling in his back despite the chainmail. Ulric rolled over and attempted to scramble away only for his foot to be frozen by another ice attack from Rem.
The knight attempted to free himself with his blade, only for it to be knocked out of his hand by Rem's flail. "Now you will answer me," said Rem as she approached, "Are you a member of one of the factions that opposes Lady Emilia?"
"Little maid," replied Ulric, "Until a few days ago I didn't even know that Emilia was a royal candidate." This answer didn't seem to satisfy her as she belted him across the chest with her chain, causing him to grunt in agony.
"Who were you hired by and what are the circumstances of your contract?" Questioned Rem, not seeming to have heard his first response.
"What about my actions these last few days says I was hired by anyone?" Ulric questioned back as he sat up straighter, "I helped Lady Emilia recover her insignia, I got cut open saving her life, and the only information I've asked for is common knowledge to most everyone around here, AAAAAH!" Rem silenced him by belting him across his leg this time.
"One more question," said Rem, "Are you affiliated with the witches cult?" This last answer angered the knight more than anything.
"Jiwald," Ulric muttered as the magic coursed through his body at its quickest rate yet. In one swift motion, the knight shot up, breaking the icey hold on his foot in the process as he slammed his left fist into the surprised maid's stomach. "I AM A KNIGHT! I AM A SERVANT OF THE MOST HIGH GOD!," he shouted as he moved away from Rem, who'd collapsed to her knees from the blow, "I know not what your knights do here, but I can tell you that part of our service to the church was finding and burning witches! I'd rather stand for execution by the hand of my king then become affiliated with a cult that worships witches!"
"Then why is the stench of the witch covering you!" Rem finally shouted back as her face for the first time contorted into one of absolute rage and hatred, "The same stench as the ones who caused my sister so much pain!" Ulric backed up a little at this revelation, just managing to remember to keep Jiwald up.
"What are you talking about," questioned Ulric, "I smell the same as I always have."
"You smell the same as the ones who took away our home," sneered Rem, "And now you encroach on the place that we belong now! I don't know how my sister is able to stand you. Every time you conversed with her, I was afraid I'd go out of my mind with rage and now I can't take any more of it! Even if I know my sister is just pretending to be polite with you, I can't bear it any longer."
Ulric bowed his head in thought for a moment before facing the maid again. "I see, so you weren't sent here by lord Roswaal either. This is a personal mission of your own." Ulric quickly scooped up his blade as he readied himself once again. "This also means no matter how reasonable my argument or the fact that I've told you nothing but the truth, you'll still want to put me to death, and if that is the case then come, show me your conviction as a maid."
Rem stood up in a stance of her own as she gathered mana to her being. Ulric knew he didn't have much longer before he couldn't maintain his spell anymore, so he would have to do this quickly. But just as the maid was about to charge, something strange happened. She collapsed to her knees as the mana around her body was seemingly sucked away. 'What's going on,' thought the knight as he approached her cautiously? He stopped when Rem slung the chain of her weapon at him weakly.
"What did you do?" She questioned as she rose unsteadily to her feet, "Did you place a curse on me?"
"Me?" Ulric questioned back, "I don't know the first thing about placing a-." That was when a thought struck him. 'It wasn't her,' he realized, 'She wasn't the one who placed the curse on me last time. This means her attack just happened to coincide with the attack of another, only this time around she's the one who's had a curse placed on her.' This left the knight in a slight dilemma, given that he now knew that there was another attacker still on the loose, what should he do about the maid?
The knight let out an exasperated sigh as he sheathed his blade and stepped towards the maid. "What are you doing," questioned Rem weakly as she tried to form a spell in her hand, only for the magic to be drawn away.
"Making the best use of my spell while I can still maintain it," replied Ulric as he scooped the maid up in his arms, "It should get us back to the mansion in a short time."
"Why are you going there," said Rem as she tried to fight back, but failed due to how weak she was, "And put me down!"
"Because," said Ulric as he turned and ran for the road, "The only people who could possibly stop this reside there." The maid was clearly confused about his motives, given that she'd tried to kill him not hardly a minute ago. But she was too weak now to really protest and had no choice but to hang on as the knight emerged onto the path and ran down the road as fast as his mana-infused body would allow.
The journey back to the mansion took less than half the time it took him to walk out to the cliff. Despite that, he knew he had no time to lose as he leapt and kicked open the gate to the mansion. Hardly breaking stride, he rushed to the door and busted it open with his shoulder as he began to shout. "Lord Roswaal, Beatrice, Puck!"
His voice echoed throughout the mansion before being shortly followed by the sound of running footsteps. Surprisingly, Emilia was the first to reach them. "Ulric, what are you doing back here?" She questioned before catching sight of the maid in his arms. "What happened?!"
"A curse," replied Ulric as he set the girl down, breathing heavily as the last of his spell dissipated. He was personally surprised he'd maintained it as long as he had. "It's draining her mana. It was put on her sometime within the last five days."
"Let me take a look," said Puck as he popped out of the jewel on Emilia's neck and floated over Rem's shaking form. Her breathing had become shallow and she seemed to be shivering. "This is bad," said Puck as he placed his tail on her forehead and used his magic to locate the source of the curse. A strange black smoke began emitting from Rem's hand as Emilia examined it.
"It looks like she was bitten," said Emilia, "Some kind of dog I think." Ulric examined the bite as well.
"Did Rem go to the village down the road yesterday?" Questioned Ulric, a theory forming in his head.
"Yes," replied Emilia, "She was getting-." Emilia was cut off as a sudden, and extraordinarily violent blast of wind came racing towards them. Ulric, having glanced in the direction of the sudden movement of air, just managed to raise his left hand in time as he was knocked back several feet. 'That must've been wind magic,' the knight realized painfully as he looked to where the attack had come from. Standing in the entrance to the side hall with her hand raised was Ram, with a look of pure rage on her normally stoic face.
"You!" Growled Ram as she approached with a flurry of wind gathering around her, "What have you done to my sister?!" Ulric rose to his feet shakily, the armor on his left hand bent out of shape as a small amount of blood trickled down it. As he was about to answer, Emilia stepped between them.
"It wasn't him," explained Emilia, "He's the one who brought her back here. Your sister's been cursed-."
"BY HIM!" yelled Ram as she fired off another blast of scathing wind. Emilia quickly put up a shield of thin ice to stop the attack, though the ice was still shattered in the process. "I knew from the start he was trouble! With the stench of the witch covering him, what else could he possibly be here for!" As she was about to unleash another attack, a ring of fire balls suddenly began dancing around both her and Emilia.
"Now whaaat seems to be the problem," said the familiar voice of Lord Roswaal as he came walking down the main stairway, "There's no neeeed for such viiiiiolence here now is there?"
"This bastard of a knight cursed my sister!" Ram said angrily, clearly not wanting to listen to reason.
"I had nothing to do with your sister's condition," said Ulric as he approached slowly, "Check the bite on her hand, it belongs to a dog." Roswaal kneeled down and did just that as he examined the maid's hand.
"Heeeee is correct dear Ram," said Roswaal as he stood back up, "But whereeeee did it come from?"
"Ulric believes she got it at the village when she was picking up food," explained Emilia, "It may have been the mabeasts."
"And how would he know such a thing?!" Questioned Ram, "He claims to have little to no knowledge of Lugnica, yet he's certain he knows where the curse came from!" Ulric took a shaky breath before explaining. 'This has gone on long enough,' he thought, 'I never meant to pit them against each other like this. Only the whole truth may yet resolve this situation.'
"I know because that same curse was put on me," explained Ulric, "This is not my first time at this mansion. You see, for whatever reason, I can come back from d-." Something was off, he noticed as everyone seemed to have stopped moving. What was more, all sound seemed to have ceased as a dreadful presence filled the air. The next thing he knew, a purple ethereal hand reached from seemingly out of nowhere and grasped his heart.
The knight could hardly breath as a chill he'd never felt before ran through his body. It was a more terrifying feeling than seeing an enemy army on the horizon, because he knew somehow there was no fighting this. Then, just as quickly as it occurred, the hand retreated and time seemed to resume. Ulric collapsed to one knee, breathing heavily as he grasped his heart. 'You mean, I can't tell a soul,' he realized, 'or I die anyway.'
"Ulric," he heard Emilia say, "What's wrong, is everything alright?" The knight looked back up, noting that everyone else was now moving normally again as well.
"Yes I'm fine," he managed to answer as he stood back up, "Just a bit of pain from lack of mana I think. But that's not important right now, we need-." Their conversation was cut off by a nearly inhuman wail as they looked over towards Ram. The pink-haired maid was clutching her sister's hand while tears streamed down her eyes. Ulric had seen such a seen before and knew what was happening. They were too late to save the blue-haired maid. Roswaal had a comforting hand on Ram's shoulder as he directed his gaze towards them.
"This was indeed a curse," he said with a serious tone as he stood up, "Sir Knight, if you do have any information on who's responsible, I'd like to hear it now."
"I can do better than that," said Ulric as he held up a finger, another idea presenting itself to him, "I just need one thing, a bottle of the most fast acting poison you have on hand. As I said, I was inflicted with this same curse and I know of a way that I can find the shaman responsible for this."
"Iiiiinteresting," said Roswaal as he withdrew a vial from his pockets, "I've never heard of a method using poison to locate a shaman. I'd very much like to see this."
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised a man such as you carries poison on him," said Ulric as he accepted the vial and uncorked it.
"I ordinarily use it for experrrrrrrimentation," replied Roswaal, "Don't make me regret this sir knight."
"That's where the second thing I need comes in," said Ulric, "You, Ram, Emilia and everyone else. I need you to trust me." With that last statement, he downed the poison in one quick gulp. For a brief moment he felt pain as all of his muscles seized up to the point he couldn't breathe. Then he slipped into what was now the familiar sensation of death.
And so the plot thickens, or at the very least grows more complicated for our knight as he now goes willingly to death for the chance to save a life. Who or what is really responsible for the curse, and even if he finds out, will it be enough to curb the wrath of the maids? In the mean time, though, I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter and do feel free to leave a comment or a review about what you liked, disliked, or if you've got a cool idea to help the story along. Be sure to stop in next time as Ulric learns of some of the dark forces in the land of Lugnica. 'Til next time.