Scars of War
Chapter 2
Much Fanfare makes Proud Men
Ash walked to the front of the hotel and found the landlady talking to a man. Though she had no time for pleasantries, she also had the discipline to wait her turn.
"And so I heard the talk of the town is a knight." The landlady sighed as she looked at her blue nails. "They say he's pretty famous and very hot."
"Whatever you say." the man shrugged his shoulders, "Ever since the War ended, all the military I see is the town guards." He pulled out some credits from his wallet and counted them.
"The gods know what the Magistrate is plotting to do now."
Ash growled in anger.
"The War is never over." she said to herself.
"Well, whatever they plan." the landlady responded, "It still won't save you from paying the room fee, darling." she smirked.
The man grunted and set down the credits in his hand.
"I know I know. Here's 500." he slid them over.
"Your room is number..." The landlady turned to face her key cabinet, "65." she grabbed the said key and handed it to the man.
"Next."
Ash walked up and presented the key. "Here it is," she said briefly and set it down on the desk.
"Okay hun." the landlady smiled as she pushed back her black hair.
"Are you sure you're not staying? That knight sure sounds like something!" she smiled.
Ash scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Pathetic." she grunted and walked away.
However, several people stormed in and blocked her path.
It was a group of village maidens and they only had one target, the landlady.
"He's here! He's here!" they exclaimed and waved their hands at the hotel landlady, "Hurry up!"
The landlady leaped from her stool and over her desk. "Where is he?" she ran to them, "Oh where is he?"
Ash crossed her arms and walked around them.
"A knight?" she murmured, "There haven't been any since the Siege, they were all disbanded." she told herself.
Her curiosity was rising, but not for the same reasons as the maidens. She wanted to see who was this man posing as a prestigious military official and why he was faking it.
Ash's blood boiled at the thought of such an imposter. Her rage filled her brown eyes and translated into a glare that could breach any fortification. The rage soon moved to a physical form when the woman kicked the door open so hard that it flew off its hinges and broke in two.
The maidens yelped and shrieked in shock.
Ash ignored their cries and stormed out. Perhaps it was for the better to avoid any further conflict- even though Ash was a woman born for conflict.
Which soon showed when she turned to the town centre and saw a mass of people standing around the fountain.
"There he is!" the maidens ran out and moved straight towards the place.
The War Machine sighed and pulled out a small pick from her pocket and placed it in her mouth. Her anger channeled into harsh gnaws to give her momentary relief as she walked towards the town square.
The sound of the crowds reached her ears and made her stop at the edge of the mass of people.
Ash grimaced as he mind started to interpret such a commotion as a very familiar scene.
She was now inside a fallen fortress, and the once merry civilians turned into others like her.
The fountain turned into some gallows, and some soldiers were being placed on the noose.
The soldiers cheered as the soldiers went down, causing Ash to hold her head and bring herself back to reality.
The civilians were laughing and merry at the sight of a figure on a white horse; such a difference from the dread of Ash's mind.
Ash wiped the sweat from her head and beheld the rider.
As expected it was a knight.
This Knight stepped down from his horse and waved at all the townsfolk, yet stopped for a few seconds to throw some roses from the knapsack he had on his left hip.
"You are all beautiful!" he laughed.
Ash glared at the man but was taken back when a rose landed in front of her.
"Pig." She growled and stomped on the rose with furious might.
"HEY YOU!"
The yell was so loud that the crowds turned to face Ash, who was now pointing at the knight.
"Come down here, you faker!" Ash stormed through the people, "You are no knight! You are an imposter!" she pushed aside a man and finally reached her target.
The knight looked at her from behind his helmet.
"Excuse me, señorita." he put his hand on his chest, "Is there a problem?" he asked.
"You bet there is, animal." Ash clenched her fists and suddenly seized the knight by the neck.
The townspeople gasped at such a sight.
"How dare you take our status in vain!?" Ash pushed the knight into the fountain, causing a great splash to douse them.
"You disgusting animal... You sicken me-" she was held back by some men, but she overpowered them all and pounced on the knight.
"Get off!" The knight became hostile and pushed Ash away.
"I do not know what you speak of!" he jumped out of the fountain.
Ash recovered and glared at him.
His steel armor was dull but still had some life in its golden trimmings. His helmet was in good condition as well, for the red plumage that stuck out of it shone vibrantly.
"Look at you, a man in shining armor is just another who hasn't had his metal tested." Ash spat on the ground.
"From what body did you plunder that armor from!?"
The knight looked at her.
"This is my armor," He crossed his arms. "I have tended to it quite well as you have noticed," he responded cheekily.
Ash stormed over to him with her fist held high.
"I'll knock it off you."
The knight raised his hand.
"This is a battle you will not win, señorita." he chuckled and shook his head, "Please, let us not fight. I am here for these fine people, not for little conflicts."
Ash spat on the ground and stopped in her place.
"Very well, what is your name and rank?" she stopped in her place.
"Who did you serve? What Battle? Tell me now or I will destroy you for your lies." she growled.
The knight looked at the townsfolk and saw that the local guard had been deployed.
"Very well, you have brought it out of me." he chuckled.
"I am Don Fernando, Hidalgo of Sun Spire and Knight for the Helios Legion. Now that you know me, you seem very cute so may I ask you to dinne-"
Ash looked at the knight as he took off his helmet.
"You... Helios... Legion." she gulped and stepped back, "You were... there?"
"Where?" Fernando asked.
Ash's mind rocked with such horrible memories that she had no choice but to escape in her peril. Convenient to her for the guards had just arrived to arrest her.
"Hey!" the men yelled and were about to pursue her before they were held back by Fernando.
"Let her go." Fernando shook his head and patted their shoulders, "Please, let us go back to me for now." he grinned a giant grin.
"I am here for your service!" he turned to the townsfolk and cheered.
The townsfolk, seeing the commotion was over, returned to their joyous state.
Hi all! I hope you're enjoying this.
First, all characters belong to Hi-Rez. Now that that's over with, I hope you will enjoy this Ashnando (or FernAshdo as I call it) story. It's going to be a bit more serious that my other two Paladins stories but I'm sure you'll love it.
Please Review, constructive criticism is greatly accepted!