Chapter Five- The Spoils of War
Alonso's broadsword clashed into Soleil's with great force, but as it did, Soleil drew with his left hand his shortsword. The shining blade glinted in the sunlight as it glided through the air. In the same motion as the draw, he swiped it across Alonso's chest, severing the belts that secured his cuirass. He stumbled backwards to check himself for wounds, and upon discovering that he was unscathed, he tossed his helmet in fury. His face, now shown clearly, was decidedly that of an evil man. A long scar lay vertically across his left eye, a glass eye under it. His good eye appeared almost entirely black, and he had the look of a man long tortured by the throws of war.
"You're gonna have to do better than that, weakling!" he shouted, and charged at Soleil again.
Soleil, with the grace of a dancer, sidestepped and twirled his swords about, coming to a rest once again within the matter of only a couple seconds. Alonso turned to face him, and silently fell to his knees. Soleil, as he did with Azrael, closed the distance to his foe, and got as close to his face as he could.
"I will extinguish the flames of evil, in the name of Heironeous and my fallen Brothers. The good and the righteous will no longer have to fear your malevolence. Gods as my witness, I send you to Baator."
He then raised his longsword, and with all of his strength, brought it down on Alonso. In the same matter as before, he split Alonso from shoulder to waist. He then slowly turned to the other Imperial soldiers, his face sprayed with the blood of their leader.
"Each of you have a choice to make, and it needs to be made right now." he said as he dislodged his sword from Alonso's body. "You will remove your Imperial uniforms, weapons and all, swim back to shore in your unders, and forget the Empire existed. Or, you will face me, and subsequently face your deities in the same matter that Fernando here is as we speak."
Without much pause, every last one of the soldiers began to remove their equipment while Ralthas stood at the helm, open-mouthed.
"You know, Sol, you keep impressing me like that and I might just start to like you. Quite the speaker you are." said Vex with a smile as she turned towards the cabin doors.
"Captain? Ralthas!" shouted Jema from the deck.
"Yes, Jema?" said Ralthas as he snapped back to attention.
"Shall I dispose of the body over the side?"
"Yes, that should do just fine, Jema. Get the men to round up their armor and weapons and take it to the armory as well. You lot! You're not our guests, over the rails with yous!" shouted Ralthas at the now former soldiers.
Soleil stood with Ralthas at the rail watching them jump overboard one by one, a look of silent satisfaction on their faces.
"So, Sol, you're a Lionheart?" asked Ralthas.
"Yes, I am a member of The Order. Actually, to be truthful, I'm the last remaining member of The Order." Soleil replied.
"Last remaining? What happened to the others?"
"They were all killed in the Battle of Pandora. The Empire sent one hundred thousand men to the city and wiped everyone off the face of the map. Women, children, the whole lot of 'em."
"Gods...So what? Now you're hunting down all of the Imperial leaders from the battle?"
"No, no. I'm simply looking for a new city worthy of reviving The Order in."
"And the northern kingdoms of Mystara may be the place? You know four of the five were completely destroyed some twenty years ago, right?"
"I know that better than you may think, Ralthas."
"How's that?"
"My home kingdom is the Kingdom of Darimar."
"Really? So you know all about the effects evil can have on a land."
"More than I'd like to know, honestly."
"So you went off to join the fight against evil, eh?"
"Actually, Ralthas, no. I sought out The Order because I was under the impression that they had a life full of adventure, journeying all over the central continent. Sure, I was disappointed when I discovered I was wrong, but I also discovered the nature of Heironeous. Considering that evil almost had the ability to conquer the entire world had the Legion failed, I thought that taking up the sword against such forces would be a life worth living."
"What was so wrong in Darimar that you came all the way south looking for adventure?"
"I got bored, basically. I was born into a noble family in Darimar. Father was a big time merchant, mother was the royal seamstress. In my mind, I wasn't meant for the silver spoon."
"Well, good to know I've got someone aboard who dislikes the Imperials as much as I do!" said Ralthas with a laugh. "One thing though, why didn't you kill the rest of them?"
"Did you see the fear on their faces, the way they shook with it after I cleaved their leader in two? Evil doesn't cower in fear like this lot did." Soleil replied.
"Well, yeah. But they ARE Imperial soldiers."
"Not anymore they're not. As easy as it might be to believe that I despise the Empire, it isn't with the Empire that I have a quarrel. It's with the men who destroyed my city and murdered my brothers. Evil men. I am bound by my Order to combat EVIL in the name of Heironeous, not the Empire. Do I agree with the Empire's practices? Not in the least. But until I get my hands on the Emperor himself, there's nothing I can do about that."
"So you're not at war with the Empire, essentially?"
"I'm at war with evil, as I will be until Heironeous decides I shall be no more."
"You're a good man, Sol. Do you mind me calling you 'Sol'?"
"Not at all, Ralthas, not at all. Now, if you don't mind, I think I'd like a rest down below."
"By all means, Sol." he replied with a different smile, a more familiar one. "I'll have Jema come and retrieve the two of you before we serve dinner."
"Thank you, Ralthas."
"To Soleil and Vex!" shouted Ralthas.
"To Soleil and Vex!" echoed the crew.
"You two were quite the unexpected surprise!" exclaimed Ralthas. "Here we were thinking that we were just taking a couple of everyday travelers up north, then all of a sudden Imperials show up, we find out that you're a Lionheart, the LAST of which no less, and then an Imperial leader gets cleaved from head to dick on the deck of our ship!"
The crew cheered loudly for a moment.
"It is our honor to have you aboard, my friends." continued Ralthas.
"To Brother Maxwell." said Vex as she turned to Soleil.
All eyes turned to Soleil as he closed his own. Under the table, he thumbed the pendant belonging to his fallen Brother. He stood up, picked up his stein, and walked outside.
"Well, where's he gone?" asked Ralthas.
They all slowly got up from their seats and followed him upstairs with their steins after a few minutes. As they quietly stepped out on the deck, Soleil stood at the rails.
"I hope yourself and the other Brothers get to watch my path. I will revive The Order in your memory...I never had the pleasure of enjoying a good mead with you" he said.
He slowly poured out the remainder of his cup into the sea below, which had calmed to a light roll. When he had finished, he removed the pendant from his pocket and held it in his hand. It twinkled in the moonlight, the lion's head looking as regal as ever. He held it over the side and it dangled from the silver chain. As he let go, time seemed to slow and the world stood still as he watched it fall to the sea. For a few minutes he stood silent, and the warm, refreshing wind of Heironeous embraced him, drying his tears.
"To Brother Maxwell." said Vex, Ralthas, and the crew, and they too poured out their steins over the rail.