Crimson Twilight: Dusk
Chapter 4: The storm begins
The towering spires of Prontera castle were a welcome sight to Eliarainne. She was glad to leave Morroc once her mission was complete. The scorching air of the desert made her throat hurt and the sand had crept underneath her armor, making it quite uncomfortable. Makaelthos, on the other hand, seemed too busy being lost in thought to notice that they were nearing their destination. "Makaelthos." She called him. The crusader did not seem to hear his name being mentioned as he kept walking "Makaelthos!" she called him louder.
Makaelthos looked up."What is it?" He asked.
Eliarainne hid a smile at her partner's distraction. Makaelthos was usually the alert one in their partnership. "We're supposed to be off duty tomorrow. What are you planning to do then?" She asked him.
Makaelthos shrugged his shoulders. "In truth, I have reports to make to the Church" He replied. "And that's if we can sort through this business with the Hunters of Dead in one day, which I doubt we can. Rest will likely be postponed until after we finish this."
Eliarainne sighed a bit. Her partner's devotion to his duties as well as his initiative to go beyond them never failed to impress her but the incoming work was disheartening. She loathed desk work and papers; never considering them a part of a knight's duties. She was trained to fight, not to sit and write. She never did have Makaelthos's patience for paperwork and analysis so she left most of those duties to her second, Althamas. "You're going to burn yourself out." She told him.
Makaelthos shrugged his shoulders once more before entering Prontera. Eliarainne let the subject drop. She was about to enter the barracks when she heard a familiar voice ranting inside the infirmary.
"You worthless knight, how dare you waste Silmeia's time by getting yourself injured? During MY tournament of all times! I'm sick of you prancing, pretty boys wasting the time of this city's priests!" Someone shouted.
The bellowing was too familiar enough for Eliarainne to put a palm to her forehead in frustration. 'Gardzen…picking on some knight I suppose. Sounds like Silmeia could use my help.' She thought. Eliarainne entered the infirmary to find Sir Gardzen berating a strange-looking knight in black armor. Silmeia was struggling to make herself heard over Gardzen's shouting. The black-armored knight seemed unsure of how to react to the other knight's yelling.
Gardzen quickly noticed Eliarainne's presence. "You again!" He roared. "I haven't paid you back since last time, Sialsanderin!"
Eliarainne's eyes hardened momentarily. She did not need Makaelthos's patience to deal with people like Skirmisher Gardzen Haelungrein. "You can try to "pay me back" all you want in the arena, Haelungrein!" She yelled back; matching the skirmisher's voice with her own. "I'll take whatever challenge you're willing to hand me if it means driving an armored boot down that annoying mouth of yours! For the meantime, I don't think my friend appreciates you yelling at her patient right in front of her, so I suggest you leave!"
Sir Gardzen paled slightly and backed off. He had yet to recover from his last fight with Eliarainne. While he knew his capacity as an arena fighter, he also knew well enough to never again challenge the Knight Commander of Prontera's First Knight Division. Eliarainne was still undefeated in the arena after all. "Fine, I'll leave for now…but this isn't over, black boy!" He focused his yelling on someone who was not likely to trounce him. The black knight was big but he didn't retaliate when pushed. Gardzen glared at the black-armored knight one more time before storming out of the room.
Silmeia breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks again, Rainne." She said. "I didn't know how long I could have lasted before I warped him somewhere he could cool off. The bottom of Byalan Island."
Eliarainne smiled as she looked at her friend. She had missed the priestess's humor on her journey to Morroc, indeed, that humor was absent most of the time these days. Her smile lessened, though, as she remembered Makaelthos's words.
"It would be better, though, if we didn't tell Silmeia yet…"
The knight shook her head and cleared the thought. It wasn't like her to dwell on such dark things. She shifted her attention to the black-armored knight behind the priestess. "So who's today's patient, Sil? I haven't seen him before." She asked.
Silmeia looked puzzled as she stared at the knight in concern. Throughout Gardzen's constant yelling Sir Agranias did not even as much as flinch. "I was hoping you could tell me that, Rainne. He seems hesitant reveal much about himself."
Eliarainne studied the knight carefully. She did not know of any Knight Division in Prontera that required its members to wear black. The man was clearly not a pronteran knight and rogue knights did not form highly cohesive units. Their stubborn refusal to submit to any authority was the main reason why they did not join the regular army in the first place. "So tell me, Sir knight, are you a cavalier or a skirmisher?" The black-armored knight stared at Eliarainne blankly. Silmeia gave a knowing look at her companion. Eliarainne knew it as the "told you so…" look. She tried another approach. "Would you tell me your name, Sir?"
The black-armored knight responded quickly this time. "Agranias." He answered.
Eliarainne extended a hand. "Well met then, Sir Agranias. May I ask where you came from and how you ended up here?" Agranias hesitated once more before relating his story. Eliarainne became even more puzzled. Though she was a strict disciplinarian, she found the idea of on-the-spot executions to be too draconian to consider. She then looked at Silmeia. "You found him near Lystra's grave? How did he get there without being spotted by the patrols?"
Silmeia's expression grew serious when she answered. "I don't know. The northern patrols haven't reported yet. Cavalier Althamas is getting worried as well."
Eliarainne pondered for a while. There were a lot of questions to ask Sir Agranias. He tried to speak, immediately calling the attention of the two. "If your patrol encountered my former companions then it is most likely that they have been slain. My former commander would see to that."
Eliarainne's eyes narrowed. A typical pronteran patrol was made up of four knights and eight swordsmen. To slay them without giving them a chance to alert the other patrols meant a powerful and disciplined unit. "What! How would you know, Sir Agranias? Just who exactly is your commander?"
Agranias avoided Eliarainne's stare. It was obvious that he did not want to say anything more. Eliarainne was about to press the matter before she was interrupted by Sir Althamas. "First Knight Commander! It's an emergency! You must come quickly!"
Eliarainne turned to face her second. "What is it?"
Althamas's voice trembled, as if he had seen something truly frightening. "Our southern patrols have reported spotting the Lord of Death! It's heading towards the city gates along with seven abysmal knights!"
Eliarainne glanced at Silmeia who immediately understood. In a moment the two were making their way towards the city gates. The Lord of Death alone would cause a city-wide panic, let alone the Lord of Death with a retinue of seven abysmal knights.
Makaelthos Solcry was already by the city gates when the patrol spotted the Lord of Death. He watched from the lookout post as the ominous, silver-armored being made its way towards Prontera. The white horse that it rode was armored as well. It's mane was white flame; burning through the gaps in the metal plates that covered its head and neck. Its hooves caused the ground to tremble with each step. Behind the Lord of Death rode seven dark-armored knights, each one of them stood at least seven feet tall without including the enormous, black horses they rode on. Makaelthos glanced behind him, several squads from the different knight divisions were already assembling behind the gates, including two squads from Eliarainne's First Knight Division. He gripped his sword tightly, surely a hundred and twenty knights can handle the Lord of Death and its retinue. Besides they also had back up from Silmeia's Second Priest Division as well as the Second Wizard Division. 'Twenty priests and wizards for support. I suppose that would be enough.' He thought. Makaelthos's eyes widened in surprise as he watched the Lord of Death, the silver-armored being was carrying the flag of a truce! He raised his hand as several hunter-sentries pointed their bows at the Lord of Death. "It's asking for a truce! We'll have to see what it wants!" He called out to the lookouts.
One of the hunters stared incredulously at the Lord of Death. "A truce? But that's the Lord of Death, Sir Makaelthos!"
Makaelthos's expression grew grim as he watched the Lord of Death. This was truly an unnatural sight. It also proved Trynis's speculations. The once-animalistic immortals had begun to act with sentience and purpose. "We must honor it, sentry. The rules of war must be obeyed."
The Lord of Death stopped in front of the gates and looked directly at Makaelthos. To everyone's surprise, the silver-armored being suddenly spoke. "Open thy gates for us, crusader. We wish only to speak to thy people." Some of the sentries cringed at the sound of the Lord of Death's voice. It was cold, deep and strangely metallic. It reminded them of iron fillings sliding down an iron pipe. There was no trace of emotion in the voice.
"Open the gates, sentry." Makaelthos ordered. He watched as the sentries hesitantly raised the gates. The Lord of Death nodded once at him and rode inside Prontera. The abysmal knights followed suit. The crusader hurried down from the lookout's post. He had to hear what the Lord of Death wanted to say to the people of Prontera.
Eliarainne Sialsanderin watched as Prontera's citizens scattered all around her. Behind her walked Silmeia as well as Agranias. He had insisted on following them. It wasn't long until she noticed the ominous figures of The Lord of Death and his retinue. "What the hell-!" She exclaimed. "What was Makaelthos thinking by letting the Lord of Death enter the city?"
Silmeia's eyes narrowed in silent fury. A seething compared to Eliarainne's outburst. "Prontera commands at least thirteen knight divisions inside the city alone." She said. "That's, at least, four hundred knights not counting that we also have several divisions of priests, wizards and hunters. I doubt even the Lord of Death can survive a full onslaught from our forces. Nonetheless…" Eliarainne glanced warily at her priestess companion. Silmeia's hatred of abysmal knights was well-known among her friends. Lystra's untimely demise had definitely made it worse. The knight had to strain to hear the priestess words. "...give me some measure of personal vengeance."
The Lord of Death had made its way to Prontera's main square, facing it were a hundred and twenty mounted knights along with forty wizards and forty priests. While most of the citizenry had fled to their homes, a few of the braver ones remained to watch. Makaelthos stood by his place near the First Knight Division, he knew that even with the advantage of numbers and home ground, the Lord of Death's power would turn the battle into a bloody affair. Eliarainne took her place at the head of the First Knight Division while Silmeia moved among the members of the Second Priest Division. She seethed silently as the Lord of Death scanned the vast array of fighting men and women. Though she espoused peace and healing as any priestess would regardless of order, Silmeia found herself wishing that the Lord of Death would cease this pretense of a truce and start fighting. What could a heartless killing machine know of a truce anyway? 'If Lystra cannot be saved, then let her be avenged instead.' Was all she could think about.
Several priests stared warily at Silmeia. It was already common knowledge among Prontera's priesthood that she lost her younger sister to abysmal knights. It was also common knowledge that she was among the most powerful of Prontera's radiants. While she was not notorious for her temper like First Knight Commander Sialsanderin, every priest or priestess knew that she could only be pushed so far before something disastrous happened. The Second Priest Division suddenly shifted its attention from its lead priestess to the object of her fury. The Lord of Death began to speak.
"Hear me…thee who fight for Prontera. I, the one thou calls "Lord of Death" offer thee this one chance to live. I give thee the chance to serve under me in the coming war and make no mistake, war is coming. Fight under my banner and live, oppose me and thine city shall fall."
Eliarainne grit her teeth in fury. The Lord of Death's offer was outrageous! No one would take his offer! Makaelthos's eyes narrowed in serious thought. While he would not dream of serving under the Lord of Death, he was curious about the immortal's words. What war was he talking about? And why did he bother trying to gain Prontera's forces? Silmeia trembled as she stared hatefully at the Lord of Death, serve it? Serve the being that commanded those who caused her sister's death? Holy energy threatened to explode from her palms. She clenched her fists. It was all she could do to stop herself from unleashing her fury at the wrong time.
The Lord of Death surveyed the assembled forces before it. "Give me thy answer, Prontera. Time is definitely against thee…" It spoke again.
A voice rose above the silence of Prontera's army. Makaelthos turned to see who it was.
"We refuse your ridiculous offer, Lord of Death. Leave our city at once!"
Eliarainne concealed a smile as she saw who had spoken. 'What do you know…? King Aelthorius can stand for his kingdom if pushed.' She thought.
The Lord of Death stared at the king of Prontera and turned around. It was as if it disdained talking to a boyish-looking man who looked as if he was barely old enough to shave. Suddenly it focused its gaze at one member of the staring crowd.
Eliarainne tried to follow the Lord of Death's gaze. 'Wait a minute, is that-?'
Sir Agranias stared defiantly back at the Lord of Death before the immortal turned to leave. Eliarainne could hear practically everyone breathing a sigh of relief. She turned to watch her partner, Makaelthos.
As Eliarainne expected, he had the look of someone who knew that things were about to get worse.
World notes
Pronteran army divisions - A pronteran knight division has a core group of thirty to forty knights with Cavalier divisions having more than skirmishers. Besides its knights, a division has a force of swordsmen at a ratio of three swordsmen per knight. In army maneuvers, these swordsmen function as basic infantry regardless of whether the division is a cavalier or skirmisher one. A division is led by the Knight Commander and his/her second-in-command. He/she is advised by a crusader, usually a lightbearer, on matters regarding Church activities or when dealing with demons or undead. The lightbearer also provides healing for the Knight Commander, to make sure a division is not rendered leaderless in combat.
A priest division has a core group of twenty five to thirty five priests. Most are mercy bringers to serve as healers for their assigned divisions although a few radiants are included to aid against demons or undead or to provide some measure of offensive spell casting. Besides its priests, a division has a force of acolytes at a ratio of two per priest. A priest division is led by its Head Priest/Priestess, who directs which healer goes where and how many must be sent and a second-in-command. He/she is guarded by a knight or a crusader who protects the Head Priest/Priestess to ensure that the Priest Division is not rendered leaderless in combat.