Crimson Twilight: Midnight
Chapter 9: Fathers
"I pray for your daughter's sake that we do not face you in battle…"
The blood knight smiled as he remembered the crusader's words. It was unlikely that it would happen, whether he prayed for it or not. As a champion of the Lord of Death, his clash with the pronteran army was all but inevitable…
'I will fight against Prontera and I will fight against my own daughter. I hope that you can protect her from me, crusader. I did not go through the trouble of saving you just to see her die in your presence…'
Salendriel made his way to mansion in Prontera. He had managed to change his appearance so people won't recognize him just long enough to pay someone a visit…
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'She's too far gone…'
Cafilex Sialsanderin watched his daughter from one of his manor's many windows. The knight was half-carrying and half-dragging the limp form of the black-armored knight he had seen often. Behind her, a wizard and a huntress carried an unconscious priestess. A crowd was beginning to gather around them, their expressions were deeply worried. Cafilex wasn't interested in the crowd though; it was the way Eliarainne carried herself that mattered to him. For the past three weeks, Eliarainne had fought on for Prontera with a grim attitude that repelled anyone, including her father. Her fiancé, Eldorius paid for his attempt to console her with a halberd to his gut. The merchant would have died if Eliarainne's priestess companion wasn't there to heal him. After the incident, Nerthes called the entire engagement off. Not even a merge with the wealthy Sialsanderins was worth dealing with the perpetually berserk knight.
'She's no blacksmith. By the hells, she doesn't belong to my class of society. She's a soldier of Prontera like her mother…like…like that bastard Salendriel!'
Cafilex' fists shook as he continued to watch. He had done what he could; he had tried to veer her away from knighthood, even forcing her to take the merchant's profession when it was clear that persuading her was not enough. Not only that, he could not prevent her from being influenced by that criminal ditch-knight, Makaelthos Solcry. The crusader's death came too late. Eliarainne had already fallen in love with him. Now the consequences of the crusader's death manifested with the red-eyed stare she gave Eldorius when she sank her halberd into his stomach. Cafilex remembered the first time he saw those eyes…
For a brief moment Cafilex could have sworn that his daughter's eyes had turned red while the whites of her eyes turned black. Her grit teeth revealed pointed fangs.
'Those red eyes, she inherited them from Salendriel just as surely as she must have inherited his dark nature!'
Cafilex continued to brood until a servant knocked timidly on his door…
"Enter!"
A maid opened the door quietly and peered inside the room.
"Sir, a knight is here to see you…"
Cafilex waved a hand to both dismiss the servant and to signal for her to let the guest in. It was strange though, what could a knight want with him?
"Good day, Cafilex. I see that you still look the same as always…"
The blacksmith immediately turned upon hearing the voice.
"Salendriel! What are you doing here, you bastard blood knight!?"
The blood knight did not heed the blacksmith's insulting greeting…
"Like I said, you're the same as always, Cafilex. I'm not here to attack you if that's what you're thinking."
Cafilex's hand went to the sword mace he carried around. Despite the obviously threatening gesture, the blood knight kept his hands away from his sword. Instead he raised a hand peacefully.
"Let me have my say first, Cafilex. Attack me if you must after that, I will not fight you here."
Cafilex hefted the sword mace with one hand and stared hatefully at the blood knight.
"For twenty three years I've fought against your influence on Eliarainne. I've accomplished nothing, Salendriel. Eliarainne is a knight and once the carnage of this war settles, she will become exactly like you!"
The blood knight shook his head.
"You're wrong, Cafilex. True, you've done your utmost to stop her from attaining knighthood and it apparently failed. I have seen the same signs as you have, Cafilex, and I worry for my daughter much more than you could imagine."
The blacksmith went upon hearing those words.
"Your daughter!? You are her father only because you were responsible for her birth! You are not even my sister's husband! Merely a foul immortal that did what he wanted with a foolish and naïve crusader!"
Salendriel clenched his fist but still refrained from drawing his weapon.
"I loved your sister, Cafilex. If there was anything I could have done…anything at all! I would have wed her and I would have been a father to Rainne instead of being forced to leave her to your care. But my curse will not let me, Cafilex, and by God, I will do whatever it takes to make sure that Eliarainne does not inherit it from me!"
Cafilex relaxed a bit. At the very least his goals were somewhat similar to Salendriel's. But he still did not trust him. Salendriel was the blood knight, a murderous, unholy knight who reveled in carnage and slaughter.
"Why are you here, blood knight?"
Salendriel unclenched his fists and smiled sadly.
"I just came by to thank you Cafilex. I see how Eliarainne has grown into a fine, young woman despite my nature."
The blacksmith snorted at the remark. Where Salendriel saw a fine, young woman, all he saw was a stubborn, headstrong girl with a passion for weapons, armor and war. The blood knight might as well have had a son…
"Despite your nature! Have you seen her in battle, Salendriel? Or when she is in one of her darker moods? She is practically a female blood knight!"
Salendriel's expression saddened even more.
"True once again, Cafilex. She's inherited her mother's courage; unfortunately she also takes after my ferocity. It would have been worse though, if I was the one who raised her. Besides, she has Makaelthos Solcry doesn't she?"
Cafilex turned away at the mention of Makaelthos's name. In a way, Eliarainne's feelings towards the foul ditch-knight were all too similar to the feelings his sister, Silsendra, had for Salendriel and he knew where that ended…
"Makaelthos Solcry is dead, Salendriel, just as my sister is dead. What a coincidence that you admit to, at least, have had a part in her death just as Eliarainne claims that she was the one who caused the death of that ditch-knight!"
Salendriel was silent for a while. Cafilex had done nothing but to remind him of Silsendra's loss. The female crusader's death pained him greatly, if he had known that it would be the result of their love, he would have done his best to avoid her. But he had not known. Back then even he was convinced that he was an ordinary knight. When he fell in love with Silsendra, he did not know that he was the blood knight, destined to be awakened at a certain time, to serve the Lord of Death. Silsendra had done what she could to protect him, as well as the child she carried, from the evil effects of the cursed armor he wore. She channeled such immense, holy energy that the strain, combined with child birth, finally caused her death.
"Makaelthos Solcry lives, Cafilex. He's probably on his way back already. But I did not come here to discuss him with you. All I came for was to thank you before I return to my own duties. Be safe, Cafilex."
With that the blood knight turned his back and walked away, leaving Cafilex to his own thoughts once more…
'He has some nerve, that Salendriel….to think he has any semblance of a right to call Eliarainne his daughter after the mess he left. I swear I will find a way to make that foolish knight change her path!"
Cafilex sat on an armchair and continued brooding. Eliarainne's knighthood would not have been a problem if she came from a different set of parents. But her situation made things different. Eliarainne was the daughter of Silsendra Sialsanderin and Salendriel the blood knight. Cafilex had watched the strange union between his wayward, crusader sister and the seemingly normal knight, Salendriel…
'Who could have thought that he was the dormant form of the blood knight? No one! And did Silsendra mind? No! She loved him even more! It was insanity!'
Cafilex mood darkened further as he remembered how later, Silsendra died during child birth and how the slowly awakening blood knight had asked him to care for the child they named Eliarainne.
'I should have refused…but I could not…Eliarainne is the only reminder I have of Silsendra. Besides, I will not give up in severing Salendriel's influence!'
Cafilex began to ponder though. There were things he did not expect. One was the sudden surfacing of Eliarainne's dark nature. The blood knight explained once that it would only occur if she was simultaneously exposed to both great evil and great physical trauma.
'It must have occurred during one of her "missions" with that ditch-knight…'
The other thing was Makaelthos's being alive. There was no doubt that Eliarainne would be overjoyed to find the crusader alive. But it would also mean her continuing down the same path that Salendriel took…
'Makaelthos Solcry…if I cannot have Eliarainne marry someone else then I will have to be rid of him. Salendriel was a fool to have rescued that Morrocan scum!'
Cafilex moved from brooding to plotting. There was a lot to plan for with all these unexpected events.
'There is one way to be rid of that crusader…'
Cafilex knew of their existence ever since they had once tried to ambush one of his spice caravans. It was a group that would probably not fail even in the task of eliminating a crusader like Makaelthos.
'It's time I brought NightKnife into this whole thing…'
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Eliarainne stared at Makaelthos's room in shock. Trenzein was right, Khaesilya was missing. What made the matter even stranger was the fact that Makaelthos's sword was missing as well!
'A bastard thief must have broken in! He probably stole the saber to sell it and kidnapped Khaesilya for his sick amusement!'
The knight's fists shook. Was it not enough that she had to endure the loss of Makaelthos? Now she had to face the defilement of the only things that reminded her of him…
Eliarainne had other problems to take care of though. Agranias and Silmeia were still unconscious and the sentries have reported increased activity among the raydrics. It would only be a matter of hours before they attacked…
'Silmeia…not at this time!'
The knight remembered the strange expression on the priestess face inside the Pharaoh's secret chamber. Even the priestess, who seemed so resolute from the outside, was breaking down as well…
'Agranias is a source of concern as well…'
Eliarainne remembered how Agranias waved the black-bladed sword about. He had revealed that he was an abysmal knight like the black-armored beings who rode just outside of Prontera.
'He is a knight with a dark nature and perhaps a darker past…but still…'
Eliarainne remembered the lust for carnage she felt during the last battle with the orcs…
'So am I…'
The knight closed her eyes tightly and pushed the memories away. The pain was still fresh. She could still see Makaelthos being struck by Baphomet, Makaelthos being consumed by his own Grand Cross for one final attack…
The horns for battle sounded from within Prontera, forcing Eliarainne to clear her mind and prepare for another skirmish. The horns signaled that the raydrics were probably going to attack in a matter of hours. She had to be ready, with Silmeia or not!
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Trenzein Zaisen stood at the head of the Second Wizard division. He was already prepared even before the horns even sounded. The wizard watched worriedly as the Second Priest division assembled without their head priestess. The battle had not yet begun but the priests were already badly shaken. It only went to show how much they depended on Silmeia after all…
'I have to make sure that the raydrics are destroyed quickly…prolonged battle is not an option for us today…'
Trenzein relaxed himself mentally. Tense minds often fumbled with spells during critical situations. He had to focus or the battle would be lost…
"Are you nervous mister Zaisen?"
The wizard turned behind him to find a familiar white-haired wizard standing there.
"Raven Huer…what are you doing here?"
The purple robed wizard grinned and shrugged his shoulders.
"This battle and its outcome will be amusing, mister Zaisen. Just wait and see…"