WHAT UP!
Well, here's the next chapter! I hope you guys aren't mad at me for the late updates, but if you read the latest chapter of Devil in the Shadows, it pretty much explains what happened. Hopefully, you'll enjoy this chapter and we've only got one more chapter until the man in blacks identity is revealed, although it's pretty obvious.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Austin and Ally or The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Chapter 6
Kellan, the Strong, Rhyming Giant
The man in black ran from the ruins, leaving Dez knocked unconscious, as he searched for the short man and the giant. After some running, he finally came upon them, but if he was expecting an easy fight, he would surely be disappointed.
As they walked, Chuck periodically looked back to make sure the man in black wasn't following them. However, he was sorely disappointed.
"INCONCEIVABLE!" Chuck yelled as he saw their pursuer. How could Dez, the best swordsmen in all of Spain, be defeated? Realizing he was losing precious time, he turned back to Kellan and yelled. "Give her to me." And Chuck was given the princess. "Catch up with us quickly." The giant stared blankly at Chuck's back, not really understanding what he meant.
"What do I do?" Kellan asked. Chuck stopped in his tracks to angrily yell back,
"FINISH HIM! FINISH HIM YOUR WAY!" And then took off with Ally in tow. A small smile graced Kellan's face after that.
"Oh good, my way." He said. "Thank you Chuck." But then the smile was dropped from his face. "Which way's my way?" He yelled to Chuck, who stopped once again while holding tightly to Ally's arm.
"Pick up one of those rocks, get behind the boulder." He began to explain in an angry tone. "In a few minutes the man in black will come running around the bend. The minute his HEAD is in view, HIT IT WITH THE ROCK!" And then finally took off with Ally trailing behind him. After hearing what his way was Kellan wasn't very happy with it.
"My way's not very sportsmanlike." But, realizing that if he didn't do as he was told, Kellan picked up a nearby boulder and went behind a bigger boulder to hide. He didn't want to be sent back to Greenland after all.
The man in black soon came to where he had spotted the short man and the giant. He carefully came into the rocky clearing, taking measured steps as he walked. After all one can't be to-
*SMASH*
Before he knew it, a boulder was thrown very close to his head, narrowly missing him by just a few inches. Thinking on his feet, the man in black quickly drew his sword as he came face to face with his next opponent. Kellan walked out from behind his boulder as he grabbed another smaller one.
"I did that on purpose." He said as he weighted the rock in his hand. "I don't have to miss."
"I believe you." He said back. Why would he miss him on purpose if his job was to kill him? That was a quality he certainly had never seen in an assassin before. "So what happens now?" He asked the giant as he kept his sword at the ready, though it would do little to guard him.
"We face each other as God intended," Kellan said. "Sportsmanlike. No tricks, no weapons, skill against skill alone." The man in black gave a shocked expression and Kellan knew that was to be expected. Despite his size and what he does, Kellan is a very honorable and fair man. He didn't believe in the use of a sword like Dez or sneaky, underhanded tricks like Chuck used, he liked things to be fair and honest. What was the point of fighting against an opponent, if you didn't carry a little honor?
"You mean, you'll put down your rock and I'll put down my sword and we'll try and kill each other like civilized people?" The man in black said, trying to figure out the entire situation. Was there a way to kill someone in a civil manner? Nothing seemed to come to his mind as to how that would be possible.
"I could kill you now." Kellan said as he raised the rock higher, almost prepared to throw it.
"Frankly," The man in black said as he set his sword down on the ground. "I think the odds are slightly in your favor at hand fighting." Kellan gave a shrug, realizing what he had said was true.
"It's not my fault being the biggest and the strongest." He said as he set his rock back on the ground. "I don't even exercise." And that part was true as well.
Kellan had always been a giant, ever since he was a lad. He was always the tallest, the biggest and the strongest without even trying and because of that he was always misunderstood. People feared him for his size and strength, but he was really just a big old teddy bear. He liked poetry and often made rhymes out of normal conversations, which tended to get on people's nerves.
The man in black was the first to make a move. He steadied himself, got down into a slightly crouched position and then ran forward right into Kellan. He got off him, walked backwards and then charged at him again. He had hoped that his blunt force might have knocked the giant over, but then he remembered that he was fighting against a giant. He grunted in frustration and looked up at Kellan.
"Look," He said, gasping a little. "Are you fiddling around with me or what?" He tried once again, but still got nowhere. He flopped back as he was thrown off and stood just a little away from Kellan.
"I just want you to feel you're doing well." Kellan replied as he just stood there. "I hate for people to die embarrassed." And then Kellan moved forward to try and attack. However, the man in black was too fast and quickly rolled away before Kellan to could actually attack and do damage. "You're quick."
"And a good thing, too." The man in black said as he stood back up. He realized that while the giant was strong, he was incredibly slow due to his size. He was lucky his training had placed great focus on being light and quick.
Kellan turned to face his opponent and a thought came into his brain.
"Why are you wearing a mask?" The thought seemed to throw the man in black off a little because Kellan barely missed him as he swiped at him again. "Were you burned by acid or something like that?" He asked as he took another swipe at him, but the man avoided it.
"Oh no," He replied back. "It's just they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone'll be wearing them in the future." He dodged another swipe from the giant and climbed on top of a big boulder behind Kellan. He had an idea about how to counter the giant and hopefully, it would work out in his favor. If it didn't, well he just hopes it will.
Seeing his chance, the man in black jumped from the boulder and onto Kellan's back. The giant, seeing what the man had done, thrashed about to try and throw him off.
"I just figured why you give me so much trouble." Kellan said. He tried to throw the man off again, but he had an iron clasp around his throat, so it was very hard. He thrashed and thrashed until an idea came to his head. He moved backwards, at a high pace, and slammed his back into a boulder. This knocked the wind out of the man in black, but didn't loosen his grip.
"Why's that," He said, letting out a groan as he did. "Do you think?" He groaned again as Kellan slammed into the boulder again, knocking his breath out.
"Well," Kellan said as he stopped to catch his breath. "I haven't fought just one person for so long. Been specializing in groups; battling gangs for local charities, that kind of thing." He explained as he banged into another boulder. Kellan could feel his focus begin to waver with each slam into a boulder.
"Why should that make such a…" The man in black started before he was slammed into another boulder, knocking his breath out. "Difference?" He could feel the giant begin to slow down with each crash, so hopefully, what he was doing was beginning to take effect.
"Well, you see," Kellan said as he began to stumble around the rock quarry. "You use different moves when you're fighting half a dozen people than when you only have to be worried…" His stumbling began to grow. "About…" He dropped to his knees. "One." And with that he dropped to the ground, face first, completely unconscious. The man in black released his hold on the giant's neck as he rolled off his back and stood up. He leaned back down, rolled Kellan over and placed his ear against the giant's chest, listening for a heartbeat. He had only hoped to knock him out, not kill him. Luckily for him, the giant still had a heartbeat which meant he was only knocked out.
"I do not envy the headache you will have when you awake." He said as he went to retrieve his abandoned sword and place it back in its sheath. "But, in the meantime, rest well, and dream of large women." And with that, the man in black took off after the small man and the captive princess; ready for whatever may come his way next.
Meanwhile, the man in black wasn't the only one who was coming after the kidnapped princess.
Prince Dallas moved among the ruins of the long, forgotten fortress, looking at the footprints and smears that ran around it.
"There was…"He said. "A mighty duel. It ranged all over. They were both masters." He moved back and forth as if he had watched the entire duel go down first hand. He was known to be one of the best trackers of his time, so it was no surprise to his men that he knew this. The prince had brought his right-hand man, Trent, and several soldiers with him to bring his fiancé back.
It didn't take the prince long to mobilize after Seelie had returned without her rider and a Guilder soldiers uniform in the saddle. He knew where she had been taken and wouldn't return without her. Trent watched the prince move around the ruins as he sat atop his horse and held the reins of Dallas's.
"Who won?" Trent asked. "How did it end?" Dallas moved around a little more, retracing the separate sets of footprints to see where they went. He first started with the set of footprints that led away from the outline of body.
"The loser…" He said as he put two and two together. "Ran off alone, and the winner…" He pointed in the direction away from the other footprints. "Followed those footprints towards Guilder."
"Shall we track them both?" Trent asked. The prince shook his head as he moved towards his horse.
"The loser in nothing, only the princess matters. Cleary this was all planned by warriors of Guilder. We must all be ready for whatever lies ahead."
"Could this be a trap?" Trent asked as Dallas once again mounted his horse.
"I always think everything could be a trap…which is why I'm still alive." And with that, the prince and his men rode off after the other sets of footprints and hopefully, towards an alive princess and her soon to be dead captors.
We're very close to finding out the identity of 'The Man in Black', though if you've seen or read the book, then you know who it is. Remember if you want the next chapter, you need to review, favorite and follow this story.
Love you guys and remember, stay ROSSOME!