Crimson Twilight: Dusk

Chapter 47: The doppelganger's assault

'How boring.' The doppelganger thought as he watched his division line up for inspection with disinterest. He wasn't interested in seeing whether his knights were ready to fight or not. He can take care of everything anyway. Leading them would be pointless if all he was going to get were a bunch of frightened dog-men. It was disheartening, really. These were times when he wished he didn't look so human. His partner was going to lose himself among those who were going to attack the main orcish camp. 'He'd better share whatever essence he gets!' He thought indignantly. 'We're supposed to be partners!'

Sir Joe Buck's second-in-command, a female knight named Caltressa, approached her Knight Commander. "Sir, Fourteenth Knight Division ready for duty, sir!" She sounded off.

Sir Joe Buck didn't even seem to hear his second. 'I wonder how Moony is doing.' He thought. 'Maybe he's still hugging that blacksmith fellow. He really did look like he was enjoying himself.' He thought hard for a while. Moonlight Flower did not look like the kind of immortal who did anything for fun. Perhaps there was a reason for hugging that blacksmith.

"Sir Buck!"

The doppelganger frowned at the interruption. "What, damn it!" He retorted.

Caltressa saluted before gesturing towards the division. "The troops are ready for inspection, sir." She said.

Sir Joe Buck glanced at his troop lazily. His division was really just composed of knights who were only a little better than good swordsmen. There must have been something in his expression that tipped people off about how he felt. His second-in-command shifted uncomfortably. "Sir Buck..." She began.

The doppelganger went back to pondering about Moonlight's strange behavior. 'Let's see, Moony had a female body so he was hugging men.' He reasoned. 'I have a male body here so-' His thoughts were interrupted again when his second cleared her throat loudly.

"Sir Buck, I know we may not have a spectacular fighting history in this war like you do." She said. "I doubt if any of us could stand against a unit of high orcs alone like you did but please give us a chance before you look down on us."

Sir Joe Buck stared at the red-haired knight in front of him in confusion. 'What the hell is this knight blathering about?' He asked himself. 'Wait a minute...she'll do for my little experiment!' He finally made a conclusion about Moonlight's behavior. He had to try it out for himself, although with a few minor adjustments. "Dame Caltressa Auruvinai, right?" He asked his second. He studied the female knight carefully. His second had shoulder-length, fiery red, hair. Her green eyes hinted more emotion than she was willing to express to him and her skin was pale like many Pronterans. For a knight, she seemed...too young for her armor. Maybe because she was a little short and quite slender. There was something girlish about her posture that made her seem younger than she actually was. She was no blacksmith but-

"Yes, sir." Caltressa answered.

Sir Joe Buck suddenly leaned closer. "Would you mind if I hug you?" He whispered.

Caltressa's eyes widened in surprise as she took an involuntary step backward. "H-Hug me, sir?" She asked.

Sir Joe Buck watched his second in impatience. "Yes, yes, hug you." He replied. "Just stand there alright?"

Caltressa's cheeks reddened while she watched the rest of the division. Instinctively, she lowered her voice. "B-but, Sir!" She protested. "In front of the other knights?"

SirJoe Buck waved a hand impatiently. "Yes, in front of the other knights." He answered. "It's not like I'm raping you or anything. Just a brief hug."

Caltressa stood rigidly in front of her Knight Commander. "V-very well then, sir." She said. "If you insist."

Sir Joe Buck grinned and stepped forward. Before Caltressa could react, he locked her into a tight embrace. The other knights immediately gasped in surprise while their second-in-command reddened further. Sir Joe Buck raised an eyebrow. He could feel the softness of this knight's body underneath her full plate and it did feel quite...good. Still, he had expected a rush of power from the entire experience. While he felt a brief sensation of heat in his body, there was nothing else. 'Nothing special about it.' He thought. He released his second and began to ponder once more. He was completely unaware that the rest of his division was staring incredulously at him now. 'Maybe it really has to be a man, regardless of what body you're in. Okay, let's try that.'

Sir Joe Buck walked around the rows of knights. Although most of them managed to keep a straight face as he studied them, a few lips twitched as if trying to suppress an emotion. He found one particular member of his division who sort of looked like the blacksmith. "You there!" He said urgently. "Step out of that line!" The knight saluted and obeyed. He approached the man studied him from head to toe. This man also had short, black hair and his eyes were also blue like the blacksmith's. He was not as brawny though and his face was more pointed at the chin than the blacksmith's. "Well that's as close I can get, I suppose." He said. "Stand there while I hug you!"

The knight's jaw dropped. "H-Hug me, sir?" He protested.

Sir Joe Buck did not bother replying and locked the man in an embrace. He felt absolutely nothing this time. 'Still nothing!' He thought. 'Damn it! What am I doing wrong? Maybe it has to be a blacksmith.' He let the man go and began to ponder once more. The knights of the Fourteenth Knight Division were staring at him in puzzlement. He was about to ask them had a blacksmith when he heard a the distinct blare of a Pronteran trumpet. "Oh great, that's the signal!" He said excitedly. "Let's go, men!" He dashed ahead of his troops at a speed even their pecopecos could not catch up with. In less than a few minutes, he had dashed out of the western gates ahead of any wizard or knight division. A pair of kobolds rushed to engage him; their axes waving menacingly close to his neck. In the next moment, their halves hit the ground long after he had passed them. The First and Second Wizard divisions found themselves struggling to keep him in their sights.

"Isn't the Fourteenth Knight Division's mission just to provide us with backup? What's Knight Commander Buck doing?"

"The man's as crazy as he's fast. Just concentrate on your spells! Keep it flashy as possible, men! We need to scare them away!"

A barrage of elemental bolts descended on the scattered kobolds. Before the barrage could even hit, several blasts of whirling fire and ice descended along with them. A few meteors crashed into random places; their explosions flinging kobolds everywhere. The rest of the Fourteenth Knight Division kept near the wizard divisions except for their second-in-command; who rushed among the exploding spells to find her Knight Commander.

"Sir Buck!" Caltressa shouted; trying to make herself heard through all the explosions.

Sir Joe Buck waved his broadsword about; cutting up three to four kobolds with each swing. He paused for a moment when he heard someone call his name.

Caltressa plunged her claymore into the chest of one mace-wielding kobold and approached her Knight Commander. "Sir Buck, you're too far ahead!" She yelled.

Sir Joe Buck grinned fiercely and sliced open the bellies of his kobold opponents. "Nonsense!" He answered. "I can see the wizards over there can't I? We're still pretty close!"

Caltressa's eyes widened at her Knight Commander's logic. "But, Sir Buck, our mission is just to guard the wizard divisions!" She protested.

Sir Joe Buck was about to encase another kobold in ice when he remembered that he was supposed to be "just a knight". "We are guarding them, Caltressa!" He answered. "What better way to that than to ensure that no one's around to attack them?"

Caltressa gave up on convincing him. Joe Buck maybe a superb fighter but his way of thinking was extremely weird. Despite the danger, she remembered him asking her for a hug. 'Hugs, indeed!' She thought. 'This man's thinking has problems!' She concentrated on beating back the kobolds that were surrounding them. As much as she hated to admit it, a hug from Sir Joe Buck actually felt good. She did not have the time for such things when she was fighting against the orcs for the past week it was certainly a surprise to receive one from her new Knight Commander. While his thinking might be odd, Sir Joe Buck was...good-looking; as well as friendly and incredibly brave. She had seen him plunge headlong into a pack of high orcs during one of the battles against the tribes. He had sliced through the blue-skinned monsters in order to protect one unit of acolytes from the Second Priest Division. She had felt a glimmer of admiration for Sir Joe Buck since that day. Meeting the man up close was a different experience though. Now, she doubted if he rushed that unit of high orcs to save the acolytes or solely for the purpose of killing more orcs.

"The humans are raining magic from the sky itself!" One kobold howled. "Run for your lives! Without Werewolf we are lost!" The blue-furred dog men began to retreat to the nearby woods.

Caltressa grinned as the kobolds began to run away. "We did it!" She yelled. "The kobolds are retreating!"

Sir Joe Buck did not seem too pleased about the results however. He watched in disappointment as the kobolds ran towards the trees. Suddenly, his face brightened as a lone orc appeared near the entrance of the trees.

"No one retreats! Our tribes have suffered long enough at the hands of these humans! We will not be denied our vengeance because of Werewolf's death!" The Orc Lord gave a powerful shout and descended on the two knights before him. Behind him was a squad of orcish archers; their gakkungs raised for a barrage of arrows. The kobolds, seeing a powerful figure to rally behind to, began to attack once again.

Sir Joe Buck grinned and raised his sword to meet the charge. "Orc Lord!" He yelled excitedly. "I knew I'd get some for myself!" Before he could attack though, his second tugged at his cape.

"Sir Buck!" Caltressa shouted. "That's the Orc Lord and a squad of fresh orc archers! We have to regroup with the others!"

Sir Joe Buck shrugged his second's grip loose. "Don't be stupid!" He retorted. "A bunch of bow-toting orcs doesn't mean a thing! I can handle them easily!"

Caltressa's control snapped. "Who do you think you are?" She asked in frustration. "You may be fast but that doesn't mean you're capable of handling one of the great monsters! You think you're the doppelganger or something?"

Sir Joe Buck stared incredulously at her. He suppressed an urge to shout out "Yes!" at the his second. Before he could say anything at all, an orcish arrow suddenly struck Caltressa on the shoulder; causing her to tumble to the ground. "Caltressa!" He exclaimed. "Damn, that's going to sting! Orc Lord, how about a little one-on-one?"

Caltressa struggled to stand up before Sir Joe Buck pulled her up on her feet. "You alright?" He asked. "Get back to the others! I'll handle the Orc Lord!"

Caltressa shook her head. "If you're going to gamble your life with the Orc Lord then, at least, let me stay and help!" She protested.

SurJoe Buck suddenly ran his hand over his second's head. He immediately felt something warm and sticky on the back of her skull. Sure enough, when he looked at his hand, he found blood on the fingers. "Great, you must have hit your head on a rock or something." He said. "Look, you're bleeding! Get back already and get a priest to look you over!"

Caltressa shook her head stubbornly as she pulled out the arrow from her chest. More blood spurted from the wound. "A minor head wound, Sir Buck!" She insisted. "I can handle it!"

Before Joe Buck could reply, another wave of orcish arrows forced him to grab her and duck. The two of them crashed to the ground. "Damn it!" He cursed. "Get out of here, Caltressa! You're distracting me!"

Caltressa hesitated a bit more before deciding to follow her Knight Commander's orders. With her gone, the doppelganger turned to face the Orc Lord. "Well, my knights are a good distance from us, Orc Lord." He said. "How about that match?"

The Orc Lord brought his fists together and grinned toothily. "I've been waiting for this rematch, doppelganger!" He answered. This time it will be you who flees!"

The doppelganger grinned and charged. His broadsword flashed in the morning sun; swinging dangerously near the Orc Lord's neck. It gashed the Orc Lord's chest instead. The brawny orc responded by smashing a fist into his chest. The orcish archers were about to fire again when a herd of flaming, purple horses descended on them.

The air was filled with neighs and guttural war cries as the two immortal's minions clashed against each other. Suddenly, the air was also filled with the hisses and groans of the undead. The Orc Lord turned towards the strange sounds just in time to see a bandaged fist come towards him. The fist connected against the his face; flinging him back for a few feet. The bandaged figure of Osiris stood before the Orc Lord as he stood up. Behind him, the doppelganger grinned widely.

"It's funny how a simple anonymous warning to tip off your group would cause you to act this rashly. We've got you now, Orc Lord." Osiris spoke. He raised his fists in a martial stance. "The Orc Lord dies today. After him, the Orc Hero..."