Well, here we are again. This chapter is a bit longer than the others. I didn't mean for it go so long, but I had a lot I wanted to cover. In this chapter we witness the birth of Nightmare. Next chapter coming soon, hopefully by Christmas!
R&R please, and enjoy!
The Dark Knight
The wind blew gently on Siegfried's face, and the blonde knight closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander. His thoughts floated back across his life, and what had driven him to become the leader of the Black Wind bandits. His father was a strong man, an honorable man, at least he was in Siegfried's memories. His father had taught Siegfried the ways of the warrior, and how to handle a blade. But his father had left when he was ten, leaving him and his mother to fend for themselves.
His mother had tried her best to be a good woman and live well, but it was not easy for a single mother in that time and place. She was continually bullied by the local scum, and was raped at least twice that Siegfried knew of. His father had promised to return, but he never did. Siegfried never blamed his father, but instead blamed himself for not being strong enough to protect his mother.
The blonde warrior spent his childhood training in his sword techniques, so he could be strong enough to defend his mother until his father returned. He might have become a knight of high standing if not for his anger and bitterness. The day of his downfall came when he found his mother being raped.
He was sixteen that day, and had returned home early. When he entered his home, the door to his mother's room was open, and cries and moans were escaping from inside. Siegfried quickly made his way to the room, and discovered the horrifying sight.
His mother was on her all fours, facing towards the headboard of the bed, and completely nude. The man was on his knees, nude as well, and entering her from behind. Anger consumed Siegfried, and he quickly drew his Zwiehander. With one large arcing swing, he cut the offending man in half. His blade slid along his mother's back, though not injuring her.
His mother let out a blood curling scream, obviously from the horror that she had experienced at the hands of the man. Siegfried tried to comfort her, but she pushed him away. She scrambled and threw on a robe before bolting out the door. Siegfried called after her, but to no avail.
A few moments later, he heard the rattling and clanking of armor, and knew that the guard was coming. He was glad, for then they could see that he had attacked in defense of his mother. The captain entered the home apprehensively.
"Siegfried? Are you in here?" the captain called out.
"In here, captain" the young knight answered.
The guard entered the bedroom, and was taken aback by the sight that greeted him. Siegfried stood there, blood spattered on his armor and completely coating his massive Zwiehander. The nude man's lower body lie sprawled on the bed, a massive puddle of blood staining the sheets. His upper torso had fallen from the bed and landed on the far side, only partially in view. The captain gasped, almost becoming ill.
"My God… What happened here Siegfried?"
"This man was violating my mother, so I had to stop him."
"Siegfried, this man was not attacking your mother. He was her lover" the captain explained.
"I don't believe you! My mother is married! How could she have a lover? The only explanation is that she was attacked!" Siegfried shouted, anger tinting his voice.
"Calm down now, Siegfried. Just calm down and come with me to the castle, and there we will sort everything out."
The captain's words sunk in, and Siegfried realized that he was being arrested.
"Why are you trying to arrest me? I did nothing wrong! I just defended my mother!" Siegfried protested, raising his sword aggressively.
"You killed an innocent man, Siegfried. This is for your own good." The captain backed out of the room, and motioned for the guards assembled outside the door to enter.
Several guards poured into the small room, with swords at the ready. Siegfried was not about to allow himself to be arrested for protecting his mother. He turned his massive sword so that the blade was pointing vertically. He swung the blade hard around, smashing the broad side of the blade into the guards, knocking all three guards off their feet.
When the guards fell, they blocked off the door, preventing reinforcements from entering the small room. Siegfried panicked, and knew he had to flee as fast as he could. The far wall of the bedroom led straight outside, and was the only viable option for escape. Siegfried crossed the room and faced the wall. He was grateful that he had been training that day and was still in his armor. He brought his steel encased fist up and punched the wall with all his might. The wall gave way, opening a huge gaping hole out. With a few kicks the hole was large enough for him to squeeze through.
As he emerged into the daylight beyond the room, the guards finally made their way past their stunned comrades and approached the hole quickly, but cautiously. Siegfried paused for only a moment to look back, and then began to run with all his might towards the Black Forest. The guards made their way out of the house, via the hole, and a handful in a more traditional manner. They called after Siegfried to stop, but he knew better than to listen.
The guards gave chase, though they could not catch up with the blonde knight. When Siegfried reached the forest, the guards gave up the chase entirely. They dared not enter the territory of the Black Wind. The bandits held an unspoken truce with the authorities. They did not prey upon the town, and the guard did not enter their forest. The guards dared not violate this truce and put the town in danger.
It was unlikely that Siegfried would survive long in the forest, at least that's what the guards believed. They did not realize that a few bandits would be no challenge to a swordsman such as Siegfried. The blonde knight wandered deep into the forest, confusion gripping his mind. He did not even consider the Black Wind, nor was he in the least worried about the bandit group.
Not long into the second day of his wanderings in the forest, he was discovered by the legendary bandit band.
"Gimme yer gold, and get your hand off that hilt if you want to live."
Siegfried tensed, and spun around to face four dangerous looking men.
"I'll not say it again pretty boy" the lead bandit warned, tossing a dagger from hand to hand aggressively.
Siegfried gripped the hilt tighter, with a defiant motion. "I will let you live if you stand down."
The bandit laughed. "Get em boys!"
Three of the bandits leapt forward, each brandishing a sword. Siegfried did not flinch away, but instead spun around in a circle. His blade rested waist high to the knight, and swung around in a wicked arc as he turned. The three bandits that were charging him had no chance to react as the blade sailed through the air. All three men were cut through at the waist, nearly chopped in half. They all fell just as suddenly as they had charged, with their life giving blood staining the ground.
When the lead bandit saw his men cut down with such ease, he took the prudent option and turned to flee. As he ran, Siegfried brought his massive blade up, and positioned it to point directly at the bandit. He thrust the blade forward with all his might, and the top edge of the blade caught the man at the very end of its reach.
The blade sliced into the man's back, but not very deeply, though the blow had enough force to knock the man from his feet. The bandit fell with a thud, and Siegfried quickly moved to the man. Siegfried turned him over, and brought his sword to point at the man's chin.
"Tell your leader that I am to be left alone, or I will slay you all."
"Okay, okay. Please don't kill me!" the man stammered.
"Run away before I change my mind." Siegfried said, menace in his voice.
The man ran off screaming, and Siegfried allowed himself a smile. He liked putting the fear in people, especially people like bandits.
There was no sight of the bandits for a few days, and Siegfried figured that the boss of the Black Wind had thought better of attacking him. He soon learned that the bandits had indeed thought better of attacking.
As Siegfried scrounged for food from the underbrush, a group of men appeared from the shadows and surrounded him. Siegfried stood slowly and gripped his sword.
"There's no need for that" a voice called out from just out of sight.
Siegfried did not answer, but continued to grip his sword and stare at the circle of men around him.
"Please, now, I just want to talk, that's all." A man emerged from the darkness of the forest in front of Siegfried. He was tall and lean, and wore a black cloak and hood which hid his features.
"Then speak" was Siegfried's reply.
"It is rare that a warrior appears that can take on four members of the Black Wind and live to tell the tale. Even rarer is one that can take down three of the same four. What is your name warrior?"
"I am your worst nightmare!" Siegfried growled.
"Fine, Nightmare it is then. Here's the deal, Nightmare, I need you. I am offering you a chance to join the Black Wind" the tall cloaked man said with as much persuasion in his voice as possible.
Anger boiled in Siegfried's mind. "You are murderers and thieves! I will never join you!"
"Wait, hold on my boy! We are not those things at all! The royal guards are misleading everyone about us. We are the same as you. Once, I lived in a small village not far from here. One day I saw a thief robbing a poor elderly woman. I was outraged, and attacked the thief. Well, the thief fought back, and I was forced to slay him to save the woman. The royal guard came to arrest me, so I fled into the forest here."
"Did the woman live?" Siegfried asked, his anger softening.
"Of course, thanks to me. Did not something very similar just happen to you? Did you not slay your mother's protector to save her?" The bandit leader smiled.
"How do you know of that?" Siegfried asked in shock.
"It is my job to know everything I can, Nightmare. So, how about it? Join our band and help us uphold justice and truth when the guards will not!"
Siegfried milled it over, and found that the man's story rang true to him. He did not understand much of what had happened to him, but he realized that if he could help protect people, he should. Siegfried nodded to the leader.
"Good! Welcome to the brotherhood of the Black Wind, Nightmare!"
With that the entire group let out a whoop and Nightmare was truly born.
After a few days milling about in the forest, the leader finally allowed Nightmare to go on a mission for the clan. A group of Imperial guards were attacking a small band of traveling merchants deep in the forest, and they were going to go aid them. Nightmare did not understand why the guards would be attacking, but was assured that it was indeed true. Nightmare and the rest of the Black Wind swiftly traveled to the battle site.
When they arrived they saw that it was a group of pirates versus the guards. Nightmare turned from the fray, unwilling to fight for no reason. As he moved to leave the battlefield, one of the guards recognized him, and pointed to him.
"That's the wanted knight! The one that cut that man in half!" the armor clad guard shouted to his companions.
The guards on the outside edge of the battle turned and started after the young warrior. Nightmare had no choice but to engage the men. He pulled out his sword, and took a defensive stance. These guards wanted to take him in for defending his mother, and he was not going to allow that. As he thought of how much of an injustice this was, his anger rose to a boiling point.
Nightmare parried the guards' attacks as they approached. Once they were both in striking range, Nightmare turned to the left one and struck him hard with his fist. The guard stumbled back, stunned. Nightmare turned to the other guard and grabbed him, pulling him close.
"You, die!" Nightmare screamed as he slammed the hilt of his Zwiehander hard against the man's skull. Blood splattered all over Nightmare, emitting from the gaping wound in the man's head. Nightmare immediately brought the blade back up, and swung it hard down once again, only this time allowing enough room for the actual blade to connect. The guard was cut completely in two, each half falling to the ground in a bloody heap.
The second guard had finally recovered from the stun of Nightmare's blow, and began to move forward cautiously. When he saw his partner's gruesome death, he stopped short in horror. This allowed the perfect opportunity for the young warrior. Nightmare brought his blade back behind him, and swung it upwards in a vertical arc. Lifting up the blade with all his might, Nightmare caught the man square on the chin and knocked him a dozen feet into the air. The guard crashed down with a dull thud. Nightmare did not know if he had survived the attack, nor did he care.
Turning back to the battle, Nightmare witnessed his clan leader cut down a tall pale pirate. When the pirate fell, one of his swords stuck into the ground by the corpse. The sword was short, and had an interesting pistol like grip. When the blade was in the ground for a few seconds, it began to change shape. Astonishingly, the sword elongated, and soon was a weapon suitable for Nightmare himself. It was a huge blade, with a single eyeball blinking not far from the hilt. The sword seemed to be alive and searching for something.
Movement drew Nightmare's attention from the blade, and back to the battle. The Black Wind had cut down nearly all the guards, but what appeared to be the captain remained. The captain jumped out to the clan leader and caught him off balance. With one swift blow, the captain decapitated the cloaked man, and his body crumpled beside that of the pirate.
Anger flew through Nightmare, pure rage at the sight of what he thought to be a hero of the people being cut down. Nightmare charged the captain hard, and brought his blade up. When he was in range of the armored man, he swung his sword in a large horizontal arc, and returned the favor of decapitation for his clan leader.
Out of instinct, maybe even need, Nightmare quickly grabbed the large sword with the eye in it. He then grabbed the head of his fallen victim and raised it high in the air. The Black Wind cheered around him, and he brought the head down to gaze upon the face of his foe.
Much to Nightmare's horror, the face was that of his father, who had left him some six years ago. Pain seared through Nightmare's very being as he realized the truth of what he had done. The sword he held began to cackle and pop with energy, and suddenly Nightmare's senses were covered in darkness.
He was told that it was several days later when he had awoken, with the sword still in his hand. The others told him of the battle, but could not tell why he had collapsed. As Nightmare thought back, neither could he. The last thing he could remember was gripping the eye sword.
Later, he had looked over the possessions of those fallen in the battle, and found proof of his father among them. He questioned the Black Wind, but no one knew anything. There were rumors of a black knight appearing and swooping in, but no one got a good look, not even enough to confirm such a person was even there at all. Nevertheless, Nightmare clung to the thought of an outside assassin killing his father, vowing to find this attacker and exact revenge upon them.
The Black Wind named Nightmare their new leader, because of his immense power. Nightmare accepted, planning on using the group to locate his father's killer.
His mind returned to the present, and the hilltop on which he stood. The warm wind suddenly stopped, and he promised himself he would make his father's killer's breath stop just as suddenly. Nightmare started back into the forest, forsaking the hilltop once he was assured there was nothing to see. Nothing would stop him, he would have his revenge.
As he walked away, the darkness of all evil followed him like a diseased shadow, threatening to cover the world.
