Curse of the Black Knight

Part I - A Mysterious Arson

Chapter Two: Flames of Heritage

Galahad made his way to exit the castle. A whole week had passed since the attack on the village. Lancelot had recently took leave to consult the Lady of the Lake. The other Knights had scoured the land for the look alike, with Galahad being the only Knight of the Roundtable to remain in Camelot.

"S-Sir! Sir Galahad! I require your assistance, and all the other Knights as well!"

A soldier rode his horse right up to Galahad panting heavily as he leapt off his steed. Galahad gave the solider a stern eye.

"I'm the only one here. What's the situation?"

"The knight, shaped like Sir Lancelot, just wiped out my whole unit! I-I was ordered to report to you as he did it! I... I didn't want to meet my end, sir... I'm a coward!"

The soldier began to shake with a mortified expression, but Galahad put a gentle hand on his soldier.

"No one man wants to die in battle. You retain their memory by living on. Tell me, where is the monster now?"

"S-Sir...! I... Yes Sir! In a forest, wandering around the castle walls like a feverish wolf! Outside of the whole town! When we simply found it, not one of us made a sound or sudden movements. He... He lunged at us with speed unreal. I saw it all, Sir. He fought not with skill, but with unrestrained savagery! Armor, our weapons, even our steeds were sacrificed to that vicious axe...!"

Galahad began to feel something in his chest. Something hadn't felt before, it was so hard to tell what. He nodded at the soldier and helped him to behind the gate.

"Tell the King all you have told me, leave no detail out. I will go and deal with this myself."

"Sir Galahad! I mean no offense but, that beast...!"

"Go now, soldier! I'll be fine."

Galahad took to the sky and flew off using his psychokinetic power. In the air, despite Lamorak's expertise, none truly rivaled him in the air. In fact he had always kept it this way in his life, attention was something he never desired. However, the news had troubled him greatly with this new emotion. Even now, he had no name for it, no experience he could recall from his past. However, he wouldn't falter now, nor would he hold himself back any longer. He found the site that the soldier spoke of, yet found no bodies. Only empty armor and weapons that lied on the ground. Many of the items had been horribly damaged.

"What in all the land...? There are no stains, not a even a bit of splatter from a fight. But these trees and the ground..."

He traced his fingers along the sides of what had to be edge marks from a blade. The dirt of the ground, the trunks of fallen trees, even solid rock had been cleaved and broken down into pieces. The feeling began to well up in his throat as he became alert.

"What did he do with the bodies...? Did he take them all... At once?"

He stood there in the opening in silence for a great many minuets. The foreign sensation subsided as he turned to leave.

"I'll have to notif-"

His breath, his thoughts, and even his heart all went still at the sight before him. A horrendous figure so close to him that their helmets clinked against each other. It was like the people had told him. While there were a number of differences, at a glance he nearly mistook this being for Lancelot, even with the lack of a mouth. The brass armor was far more gothic in design, sharper and with more edges. One side of the visor was barred as the other side held great darkness from within. Only a single bright green eye with a slit pupil bored into his soul. The streaks were crystalline, a strange powder pale blue hue. There were no arms, but sharp crystals at end of each stump between the body and clawed gauntlets. A black insipid smoke rose from the dark openings within the boots. His heart began to race as he took in a single breath, but was knocked back by a headbutt.

"Ungh!"

He rolled back and brought himself to his feet. Had he not worn his helmet, his skull would not be in one piece. He had thrown the helmet off and brought out his sword. The axe he had heard of nearly took his head away. He'd have to go all out from the start, he thought as he barely managed to block the axe. The force from the blow knocked him away as he shouted out in agony. His arm was numb.

"W-...Wh-... What was that...?!"

Galahad pushed himself up and looked down at his arm. It had bended awkwardly as his sword was destroyed. The blade shattered as the hilt fell out of his limp unfeeling hand. He gasped at the sight as he forced himself to his feet.

"You are not dead. But you are, fearful."

Galahad snapped to the monster. It dragged its feet as it slowly moved closer. An orb of light was held in the right hand of the beast. An ethereal chain connected the ghostly ball and hilt of the large axe. It whipped the axe faster than Galahad could see. He held up his working hand as he had caught the axe blindly.

"I won't fall to you!"

The axe was thrown back and stabbed into the chest of the creature. A black muck flew out and spilled out from the body. There was no cry nor groan. It was silent. Silent as it stood up and began to advance on Galahad once again as it took the axe out of its body. Galahad growled as he focused and shot forth a wave to stop the beast. It leaned back slightly, but soon began to stomp its way to him through the immense force. Galahad began to feel the feeling in his chest overwhelm his body. From the tips of his quills to the soles of his feet. The creature let out a sensual hiss. Galahad had all but exhausted himself, and he was standing over the tired Knight. The axe was raised and fell on the ground beside Galahad.

"...? What?"

"I can not do it. I can not take your life. Why? It is as if that I... Do not want your death."

Galahad and the figure stared at each other in great confusion. An unheard conversation between the two occurred in their eyes for a moment. Galahad's eyes began to widen as the figure took a step back.

"No. This is not right. You can not be..."

"You...! You're the one in the photo!"

A fireball slammed into the back of the dark being. It let out a loud grunt as it turned around. Galahad's fear vanished as he saw a good friend. The lilac cat flourished a rapier as fire shot forth like a whip around her. This was Sir Percival.

"Burn monster! You hold no dominion over this world!"

The axe-wielding monster groaned at Percival's poise as he began to trudge his way over to her. Percival waved her fiery whip and wrapped the flame around the middle of the magical chain of the demon's axe. She pulled hard as she leapt forward. The monster barely moved while she had flown close with a successful kick to his head. Galahad smiled hopefully as he saw the creature nearly fall over. His smile faltered as Percival was seized by her plumes. She too was shocked at the apparent speed.

"W-What?! When did he-"

He pulled and slammed her into the ground with enough force to make an indent. He raised a foot to stomp on top of her head. Galahad reached out and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"No! Stop! Don't do it!"

To his own surprise, as well as the creature's, he halted with a small jolt at Galahad's voice. With a low mumble, he lowered his boot and trudged off into the darkness of the woods. Galahad ran to Percival's side and pulled her out of her personal crater. A face full of dirt and a select few teeth had fallen out. Her helmet was utterly decimated. He feared for the worst before she coughed and weakly opened her eyes.

"Galahad...? Where did...?"

"He ran. He seemed as perplexed about his decision as we are."

"Your arm...!"

"Don't worry about it. Next time, we'll be ready."