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Quest of the Black Knight

N

Nurse_K

Pulsar
Joined
Jan 9, 2009
The small country of Belds was a modest one, to say the least. They had a fine agricultural industry as well as a smaller but equally as successful cloth trade with neighboring nations. The rulers of Belds were always close to the people, viewing themselves as protectors of the commoners rather than the masters of them. The king avoided confrontation with other nations as much as he possibly could. He liked to keep his country to himself, save for trading and the occasional festival or two.

He had one daughter who was to take over the nation when he passed on into the after life. Many had scorned him for not producing an heir, but he had now that Elsa was born to rule from the moment the queen told him she was pregnant. He'd always been close to his daughter, teaching her about love for the people, love for herself, and love for peace.

The girl had grown into a beautiful young woman of eighteen. She had long silky dark brown hair with honey colored eyes, her skin was milky and smooth, dotted with freckles here and there. She was loving, compassionate, and eternally sweet, but that did not mean she didn't have a bad side. Elsa could be more stubborn than the worst mule in the kingdom if she so pleased it, and when her wrath was incurred (which wasn't often, thankfully) it was not a pretty sight.

The king had heard whisperings that there was an ominous force making its way towards Belds and had warned Elsa not to go out among the people. Elsa refused to let her people suffer because of a silly rumor and went anyway. One day she was out in the town, helping a farmer's wife embroider a wedding gown. They were sitting in the town's green, enjoying the warmth of the sun.
 
Zelguis let out a grunt before sliding his hands into his wrist guards. He shook his wrists for a second, ensuring that the refined pieces of jet black metal would not slip when he swung his arm. When he was content, he pulled on the straps below them, locking them in place. Not that it would matter anyway, as Zelguis was happily betting that there would be none who could survive a confrontation with him and his large blade, Alondite. Not even archers could injure him, as his jet black armor was made with nothing more then perfect defense in mind, making it heavy enough to snap the bones of most men who tried to don it. Yet Zelguis was different. The many vows he had sworn to various dark forces and gods ensured he would never run out of strength in battle, and could wear the 800 pounds of solid, black armor that he was donning now.

With a final grunt, Zelguis donned his black, obscuring helmet, his figure now hid entirely behind his imposing suit of blessed metal. Cracking his neck slightly from inside his armor, Zelguis grabbed his massive blade, Alondite in his right hand sheathed it. The blade too, was amazingly heavy and sharp, factors that prevented normal men from using it as anything more then antique or collector's object. It was because of this that Zelguis had killed its previous owner and taken it for himself, where it joined the perfect warrior as the perfect weapon, instilling fear into the hearts of all who looked upon its armor clad master, cutting through wave after wave of men, unfaltering.

It was bright outside when Zelguis entered the tent, although a few foreshadowing clouds promised rain in the possible near future. With a slight spring in his step, Zelguis walked through the large camp in which the Bengion Empire had stationed their army, ready to attack the city-state of Belds on a moment's notice. Even though the walk to the frontal pavilion was a short one, Zelguis garnered many stares from the soldiers in the camp, some afraid, some intimidated, and others who saw fit only to bow their heads in respect, for Zelguis was quite the intimidating sight.

From the pavilion, Zelguis broke out into a charge. He, being near invulnerable was to lead that entire invasion, a responsibility that was hard placed upon the shoulders on one man. Yet, those who had seen him in combat knew he was capable of nothing less then wiping out an army on his own. Perhaps the fact that he was now running in several hundred pounds of invincible armor served best point of all. Behind him, he saw the cavalry begin to make their charge, and laughed at how not even the horses could keep up with him. It was not long after that when the sounds of warhorns filled the air, striking notice into both sides.

The invasion had begun.
 
Elsa was teaching the woman a particularly complicated embroidery pattern when the warhorns tore through the air, shattering the peaceful silence that the princess had so been enjoying. She looked up, then around, but she didn't see anything happening. Everything appeared to be normal, and yet the piercing and deep sounds of the horns were bellowing as if near by.

She stood, dropping the embroidery on the ground.. The woman had terror written all over her face and was looking up at the princess for answers, "Majesty, what is that noise?" she asked in a petrified whisper. "Warhorns," Elsa whispered back, though her voice was filled with disbelief. Her father had warned her of this, but she hadn't listened.

The castle was on a large hill to the north, at least three miles away. Her father had said that the force was coming from the south, which meant that the troops would have to march through the town to get to the castle. Her heart began beating faster as she realized that she wasn't going to be able to get back to the castle, nor was she going to be able to shield the townspeople from the impending battle.
 
Zelguis fell back for a second, letting the cavalry charge clean past him. They were careful not to hit him, as they indeed knew that running into him, especially when he was standing still, meant little more then disabling their horse, the key to their success in the coming battle. After waiting about a minute, Zelguis ran forward, joining the already engaged men in their combat. They had orders not to kill any but armed men or those who posed a threat, thus leaving the women available for servitude in their new nation, and the children free to be raised with nothing other then love for Bengion.

The fight in the cobbled street was almost already won when Zelguis sprinted his way there. The cavalry had done an excellent job mowing down the ground based warriors, and were now commencing their other job of sweeping the village, strictly to keep the guard off edge. This was the beauty of the plan. Nobody could expect a general to be so foolish as to attempt to claim the keep with no cavalry, but only with a single man. Yet, it was something that Zelguis had done many times before. With a grunt, he hopped a fence, leading him onto one of the properties, and kicked down the door, planning on using the house for a shortcut through the cobblestone streets.
 
Elsa and her peasant friend had run to the woman's house as soon as they had seen the cavalry on the horizon. They had shut all of the shutters and blew out all of the candles, hoping to make it seem as if no one was in the house. The poor woman had begun to weep, she knew her husband and sons would be among the dead when this had passed. They wre aggressive men and would never stand down in a fight, they didn't stand a chance against the inaders.

Elsa had finally gotten the woman to sleep in her bedroom, giving her a mug of tea with brandy in it. She had been sitting down in the common room trying to think of a plan when the door burst open. She screeched and stood up, looking around for anything to protect herself with. She saw a broom and snatched it, holding it up as if to hit the intruder.

She looked up and saw the giant man, suited in a dark black armor. She stared at him, completely awestruck for a moment. She'd never seen so tall a man, nor armor so clean and beautiful. She saw his sword beside him, a sword that could kill her with just barely a graze. Elsa clutched the broom with all of her life, though she knew that it wouldn't help her. "Who are you?" she asked as boldy as she could, aware that her dress and jewlery would tell her as royalty not commoner.
 
Zelguis walked through the doorway slowly, mentally mapping the location in his mind. If he was right, cutting through this long house would easily be saving him five or six minutes of walking around the palisade that ran between the houses. That and the fact he wouldn't be bothered by a few of the remaining members of the guardsmen, who were no doubt attempting to repel the cavalry in vain. He shook his head as he walked toward the opposite door, destination being the only thing in mind. With a grunt, he began to make his way to the door, his heavy armor leaving indents in the floor with every step he took, a testament to the fine work of craft that defended him.

Then, a voice echoed out, disrupting his simple and focused thoughts. He turned his head, which was difficult to some point in and of being the fact he was wearing a rather large black helmet which obscured his entire face, despite the fact it had no visor. With a chuckle, he took notice of the girl, clad in regal clothing, holding a broom, as if to pray to some god that a broom would somehow be able to repel him. He laughed at the very notion of such idea. It would take nothing less then a battering ram or two to pierce his defense, assuming they could somehow best him in battle. He found himself laughing out loud at the futility of the concept.

With a single step, Zelguis closed the distance between the two of them a good five feet, leaving her no room to escape, yet plenty of room for him to comfortably swing Alondite. With a heave, he swung his mighty blade, cleaving the broom into two clean halves, not leaving so much as splinters around the area of the cut. Zelguis wasted no time in flicking his sword up to her throat. "You're not really in any position to be asking questions", he mocked, his deep vice echoing through the hall.
 
She began to tremble as he came toward her, astonished that it barely took him a second to close the distance between them. She screeched as he cleaved the broom in two, dropping the half that she still held. She whimpered as he held the blade up to her throat, flinching naturally. "Don't kill me, please!" she whispered, she had begun to sweat out of sheer terror.

She took a tiny step back, hoping that it wouldn't get her head chopped off. She swallowed nervously, her hands clasped together in a vice grip. She had never so enormous a man before. She couldn't see his face, but she could feel the hate emulating from him. She trembled at the mere thought of his existance, let alone the fact that he was inches away from her face.
 
Zelguis found the very prospect of a girl, clad in noble attire now begging for her life. He couldn't help but scoff when she fell to her knees. "Nobles", he said, in a slightly mocking way, one that still kept his controlling and calm demeanor. "You're the rulers of the world until a foe comes along that you can't buy. Then, you're worth little more then the very animals you eat, or filth you clean". Zelguis shook his head for a second, before reaching forward and grabbing the girl with one very powerful armored hand.

With a grunt, Zelguis lifted her to his eye level, suspending her a few inches off of the ground. He was careful not to choke her, as he wanted her alive. If she was a noble, bringing her in alive would do not but further his already exalted reputation in the army, and if she was simply a commoner in possession of enough wealth to buy her current tailored dress and jewelry, then no doubt her fortune and contacts would also serve useful to the trade of the army.

"Beg like that again, and I won't have any seconds thoughts about killing you", Zelguis lied. Although, if she did beg again, he could very easily teach her a lesson the painful way, making sure to keep her head intact for her later use.
 
She screeched as he lifted her up, her feet kicking frantically beneath her. She breathed quickly, she thought for sure that he was going to murder her right there on the spot. Her eyes were wide with terror as she could see inside his mask at his eyes. Though they were black with fury, she thought that she could see something else there. With the way he was treating her though, she was sure she was wrong.

She gulped as he spoke to her, her heart beating uncontrollably. "My name is Elsa," she breathed as confidently as she could, "I'm the Crown Princess," she hoped that would mean he would let he go, not that he would keep her. Though after she spoke the words she immidiately regretted them. She should have let him belief she was just a lower noble.
 
Zelguis let out a slight laugh as she openly confessed to being crown princess of Belds. With a slight chuckle, he let her go, allowing her body to fall to the floor freely. With another swift movement, he drew Alondite once more, this time in a much faster and instantaneous fashion. Without a single moment's waste, he had Alondite at her neck, indicating he was ready to kill her if she gave him a reason to. Although Zelguis didn't not plan on killing her at all, he needed her afraid of him. Although his ruthless demeanor and intimidating armor already had accomplished a good amount of this, he still continued to hold fast.

Then, moving amazingly fast in his armor, Zelguis gripped her collar with one hand, sheathing Alondite as well, all in one smooth motion. Laughing, he kicked down the other door to the residential hall, princess in tow. He took a second to adjust to his surroundings, and breathed a sigh of content. He was behind the palisade, and now he had a rather voluble hostage. With a whistle, Zelguis indicated for one of the cavalry members to apporach him before he wordlessly and smoothly tossed the girl onto the horse's back and whistled again. The mounted knight nodded to him before setting off around the palisade and back toward the base camp. Content, Zelguis set forward towards the citadel.

((Time skip to after the battle?))
 
She squeaked softly as he dropped her to the floor, she fell hard, especially because she wasn't used to being handled at all, let alone as roughly as he did. She breathed heavily for the moment before he suddenly had his sword at her throat. At that exact moment she stopped breathing, her eyes growing wide with terror. Her face began to turn red from the lack of air, but she dared not breathe for fear of his bade slicing into her neck. She waited for him to finish the deed, to lop her head off...but it didn't happen.

She screeched as he grabbed her up again, kicking a little bit as he moved towards the door. She had no idea what he was going to do with her. Bring her to the pubic square for execution? Rape her in front of the village? Throw her to the soldiers? She didn't know. When he moved out into the sunlight she blinked rapidly, it had been so dark and ominous in that house with the knight that she had completely forgotten the concept of sunlight.

She hit the horse rather hard when he threw her to the soldier. She had a thought to jump off of it and run as far as she could, but before she could he'd grabbed hold of her and sped off.

((Sounds like a plan to me!))
 
The next few hours flew like a maelstrom for Zelguis. It didn't take much longer then his crossing of the palisade for the infantry to finish their march on foot, and from there, the rest of the city-state's defenses had fallen like sticks when matched to a tree. It almost pained Zelguis to see how quickly the guard around the citadel fell, and he soon found himself lamenting that the city-state did not posses more men, simply so he could have been responsible for more then twenty five score men, as opposed to the seemingly measly twenty score and thirty and five men his shining blade had cloven into clean bits.

~~~

The camp was alight with revelry and celebration the following night as the men of the Bengion army basked in the spoils of their almost flawless victory. Every thirty feet or so a campfire was ablaze, commonly encircled by increasingly drunk soldiers of the Bengion Empire, each toasting to victory, to lord, and to land.

Zelguis couldn't help but laugh at some of his fellow warrior's behavior. This was one of the few times he was out in the open amongst his army without his armor on, and despite such a large portion of his personality gone, Zelguis still seemed to cast quite a presence over his men. It would only be seconds after he joined one of the many feasts occurring around the camp that the men would quiet down, regardless of how drunk of wild they were. Zelguis relished the power, and was frequently reminded of just how wonderful being in complete control of all in sight was.

As the night passed on, Zelguis found himself increasingly entertained by the passing fancies of food and wine, and soon found his thoughts deviating to the events of the past day. He pondered them for a second before coming to realize that he never quite found out what had happened to the girl he had captured; the supposed crown princess. He was quite deep into said thoughts when a slight nearby commotion caught his attention.
 
Elsa had made the bad decision of trying to escape. She'd wrapped a rough cloak that'd she found in the tent she'd been stuffed into around herself and pulled the hood up, hoping that it would disguise her identity. She'd managed to sneak out of the tent and get a ways towards the main road before her guard returned to the tent, "She's gone!" he shouted, looking every which way for her, "The princess is gone!"

She grumbled to herself and wrapped the cloak around her tighter, pulling the hood closer to her face. She tried to look nonchalant, but a hooded figure sneaking away was admittedly quite conspicuous. "Hey, you there!" the guard called out, pointing in Elsa's direction. "That's her, that's her! She's trying to escape!" and with that she broke out into a run towards the main road.
 
The scenery fly by like wind for Zelguis. In a mere moment, he had caught up to the fleeing girl, crossing a distance that would take normal men minutes in mere seconds. Fortunately, it was dark, concealing his act of amazement. If any were to ask, it would be that he was off by the road. He could not let his secret get out, lest a name finally be attached to the icon that so many had come to dread.

His vice-like grip constrained the girl with no resistance. Zelguis realized her to be the girl from earlier, the one who claimed to be royalty, the one who attempted to fight him off. He took no effort to draw any underline from this, instead opting to act like he'd never seen her before. Pondering this to himself, he dragged her back to the camp.
 
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