Chapter 8

Unmasked

 

“Who the hell are you?” Vincient growled. The large darkened figure slowly descended the porch steps. It stood before them in full daylight. The paladin hissed only one word, “Lunar!” Vincient looked to the paladin, then back at the figure.

            The figure before them was only slightly larger and broader then the paladin. Other than a few major coloration differences they were the same. The head was encased in a helm of similar design, its color was a deep shining black. There was a design mimick-ing the paladin’s in a bluish tint on its helm. Its main body was shrouded in a fine black cloak. Only the metallic boots were truly visible. They too were made of black metal.

            “So, it’s a Paladin of Lunar, your ancient rivals?  Things are starting to get even more complicated.”

            “And yet some things have become clearer.” The paladin dismounted and walked before the figure. They looked at one another for some time. Vincient walked behind the paladin. He was the first to break the silence.

            “Where is Lorna?”

            “The elf woman is safe.” Its voice was of a deeper pitch than the paladin’s was though just as mechanical sounding. 

            “Tell me now or so help me I’ll….”
            “Vincient, she is safe. Lying is not what the Lunar does, just like the Dawn they hold certain levels of integrity.” The paladin said sharply. Its next question was directed to the other. “Why are you here?”

            “I’m here to keep a promise. I am here to free Kagero.”

            “Are you insane!? Do you know what kind of damage a monster like Kagero could do?”

            “I would watch my words if I were you boy, some hold Kagero in great respect and in her mission as well.”

            “What? She took a peaceful land and threw it into war! She caused the death of thousands of innocent people.”

            “So? How many died those many millennia ago during your war mage?”

            “Be that as it may I’m not trying to resurrect the cause of it!”

            “Enough! He serves Kuladar, which is all. Kagero is his chosen, it is only natural that a paladin of Lunar be interested in her. However, I am a paladin of Dawn, a servant to Tenaria, so my mission is to stop those of the Lunar. It is a matter of faith, I fight for Tenaria!” The black titan gazed at its sliver counterpart for a moment then broke into laughter. “Why the hell are you laughing?”

            “Is that truly the reason you fight?” It laughed.

            “It is!” The paladin hissed, gripping its fist tightly.

            “Then you can’t beat me.”

            “Enough talk! Arm yourself, its time to see whose faith is stronger!” In a flash the paladin had its sword out, burning brightly. The black paladin didn’t even twitch.

            “If it’s a question of faith I shall gladly concede, but that is not why I am here. I don’t wish to fight you, I merely want to free Kagero. That is all I wish to do and once she is free, to remove her from Zauberra forever.”

            “Right, and after she recovers starts yet another war to free Kuladar.” Vincient returned.

            “So, he has shared that much of the story with you, I wonder what else he told you? Or maybe what he did not tell you.”

            “It doesn’t matter to me about Kuladar’s return, he was beaten once he could be again. What I care about is the honor of my guild and Kagero broke it once, I won’t let it happen again! I will die before I let her return.”

            “That’s good to hear, since that is what will happen if you stand in my way.”

            “Not if I have anything to say about it!” The paladin shouted. It brought all of the force behind that statement into sudden life. The air between them whipped wildly around them as the force past. The dark paladin remained still until the last moment, it threw its arms across its face. With a powerful clap the force impacted it. Vincient and the paladin gasped. The Lunarian knight stood almost untouched from the assault.

            “I…I put a great deal of power into that attack! At the very least it should have knocked him down!”

            The dark paladin slowly returned its previous stance, perfectly calm. It gazed at the duo unerringly. However, it too was left amazed by the paladin’s efforts. I should have shrugged that off easily, but…It glanced down, two-foot long grooves were left in the dusty ground. No one has been able to force me back like that. How could a paladin of this era compete with me? Especially since that group was sealed long…ago. After that thought the dark warrior looked at its sliver opponent. Of course! Its laughter was again echoed through the air.

            “It seems everything is coming together, in more ways than I could have imagined.”

            “What are you talking about?”

            “It seems once again he hasn’t given you the full story. Typical.”

            “Enough talk! Now, die!” The paladin rushed forward with great speed. It brought its sword down in a vertical slash. With a burning crash it met the dark paladin’s blade. Twin burning sliver blades ran against each other. The power of the swords caused electrical disturbances in the air around them. The warriors stood helm to helm, face to face.

            Vincient watched the two of them clash. He could feel the strength of both fighters and the intensity of their wills. They broke apart and came together again as Vincient looked on. Their forms were flawless and as strong as their armor. Each strike was gracefully blocked and countered, no real ground being given on either side.

            “Vincient?” A tired voice called. Turning from the fight he found Garette trying to get up. He helped the elder cleric, cutting his wrists free. As Garette tried to clear the fuzziness from his vision, Vincient cut the others lose. In a few moments Darius, Garette, Dungar, and Vincient were all watching the duel of the paladins. They marveled at the intense beauty and efficiency of their style. At times it became hard to see the moves, as the pace of the battle picked up.

            “This…this is unreal!” Darius stammered.

            “In over two centuries I’ve been on this world I haven’t seen fightin’ like this! I can barely see them.” Dungar said in awe.

            “I hate to say this, but they haven’t even gotten serious yet.” Vincient said off handily.

            “What!?” The three cried in union.

            “They are simply sizing each other up with these preliminary strikes and feints.” He said, keeping his eyes on the dueling pair the whole time. “These are paladins, the ultimate knights after all.”

            “Dear gods, no wonder we were beaten so easily by ourselves.” Darius whispered.

            “Look they’ve stopped.” Garette pointed.

 

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            The metal-clad warriors stood with swords readied, circling each other with deadly interest. The silver warrior rushed forward. The dark knight’s sword came forward to meet its opponent, however the silver warrior leapt into a somersault. As it landed, both twisted around crashing swords together. Once again the mystic blades danced against each other. The dark paladin blocked an overhead attack, then countered with a kick to the stomach. Staggering backwards the paladin was left open for an attack. The dark warrior came forward trying to impale it. With one fluid motion the paladin slid under the oncoming blade, brought its feet up into the dark paladin’s gut, then with a heave flipped it. The dark warrior was able to control its flip enough to land on its feet. It had enough time to block the paladin’s next sword stroke. They broke a part and came together again. A new exchange took place, only with much more intensity. There was only the merest fraction of a second between their clashes. It took over five minutes of this before they separated again.

            “ ‘Tis been a long time since I had this good a fight. You really made use of these past millennia.”  It said.

            “What!?” The paladin returned in astonishment. Its opponent’s grating laughter filled the air.

            “This is really ironic, that one of the things that started this should end it.”

            “You’re damn right I’m going to end this!”

            “Then come, let’s end this dance!”

            The paladin lunged with its sword, the blade came up in a wide arc. The dark paladin leveled his own sword to stop the blow. After the connection was made it gave a deft twisting motion, locking the blades together. It immediately pulled hard to the left, tearing it from its opponent’s hands. Flying end over end it embedded itself in the ground. Without pause the dark paladin continued with its momentum and entered an over head attack. As the blade descended the paladin entered a back flip. However, once the sword past it, it reversed the flip as its hands touched the ground. The sudden change was too fast and unexpected that the dark paladin was unable to counter it. The legs of the paladin parted and then clamped down on the dark warrior’s head between its knees. It pulled forward with its legs, tossing the dark paladin several feet. Quickly regaining its feet, the paladin sent its energy out to retrieve its sword. The mystic weapon returned at once again to its master’s hand.

            The dark warrior had rolled back onto its feet. Immediately slashing horizontally, forcing the paladin to end its charge. The silver warrior threw itself into a leftwise roll. Coming out of its roll it blocked the dark knight’s weapon. It twisted quickly, slicing at the legs of its foe. Anticipating the move, the black titan leap over the blade. As it did so, it reversed its hold on the handle, intending to pin the paladin like a beetle. The paladin pulled back, letting the sword past just inches before it. Once the dark knight landed, its counterpart brought both of its feet into its chest. It staggered back while the other flipped to its feet. In the next instant swords clash again. The power of the warriors filled the air. Each pushed their strength and wills into the blades, trying to overpower the other. As the group watched them, they could only wonder what a large-scale battle between these groups would have been like.

            “So tell me, do you still fight for Tenaria?”

            “YES!”

            “Pity! You might have beaten me!”

            “You haven’t won yet!”

            “Yet is the key word!” With a metallic roar it twisted its wrist locking the blades. It then forced them to the ground. The paladins glared at one another over their pinned weapons. It was then that the paladin of Dawn noticed something.

            The dark paladin’s heavy black cloak had fallen behind its back revealing to the paladin a clear view of its breastplate. The chest emblem of the paladins of Lunar was that of a Lunar eclipse. However, that was not what the paladin saw. In its steel was that of a sun, the sign of its own order. In that moment a terrible fact was learned. Its world froze in great shock; the very beliefs it had lived by were torn to shreds. Its grip loosened on the hilt. This instant was all that the dark paladin needed. It let go of its sword’s handle with one of its hands and rammed its elbow into the paladin’s face. The blow forced the paladin’s head to fly back and it also staggered back a step. The burning blade of its sword vanished once the hands came off the hilt, but none of these were the most damaging result of the hit. The seemingly invincible helm shattered like glass under the blow. Metal shards flew away from its head in a shower of sparks. For the next instant silence reigned over the inn and its grounds. A mass of sweat soaked blonde hair raised up.

            “Great Gods! It’s a girl!” Dungar cried in astonishment. Indeed the silver titan was a woman. Her face was a pale white of the northern countries of Kryastal. The eyes were a hard ice blue, which shone with an equally hard light. The face was lean with hard angles around the jaw and chin. She seemed to possess great youth in every aspect, except the eyes. Their hard edge told of her long life.

            “Well, I must say I am surprised. A masterful fighter and beauty, you are the perfect rose. Beautiful to behold and deadly to touch.”

            “Are you trying to flatter me?” She returned. Her voice was clear and forceful.

            “Merely speaking my mind. Do your friends know the importance of this un-masking? Indeed what would the cleric think of you when he learns that your faith wavered?”

            “How dare you, you of all people, talk to me about faith!” If looks could kill, then the dark paladin would have been blasted into nothingness. The raw anger and disgust were unmistakable. Her eyes blazed with a frozen fury. “You’re an abomination! Even a paladin of the Lunar has honor, you are totally devoid of it!”

            “Really?” It asked with a note of amused interest.

            “You betrayed your order and worse you betrayed the one you promised to serve!”

            “How pathetic. Girl, you know nothing about whom I serve or me, for that matter. As for betraying the order, I am guilty of that. However, there was no other choice I could make and still maintain my loyalty.”

            “I don’t believe you even know the meaning of the word!”

            “On the contrary, I have lived by that word for a very long time. You may have trouble believing this, but good and evil are not as clearly defined as we’d like.”

            “You have the audacity to try and tell me you aren’t evil!?”

            “No, there is evil within me, but it does not rule me.” The woman scoffed at him. “I don’t expect you to understand, at least not yet. But you have impressed me, not to mention that you are so much like Kagero…”

            “Don’t ever compare me with her!”

            “As much as the comparison disgusts you, it is apt. The advice I give you is this, find someone more worthy to fight for than Tenaria.”

            “How dare you?! You blasphemous son of a bitch!” She made a threatening move forward. The dark paladin made a back handed swiping motion at her. She brought her arms up in an instinctive block. Dirt and grass sprayed at her.

            “That was a warning shot! I may not be able to kill you, but if you move at me like that again I swear I will kill one of your friends. Even the wizard.” Anger and disgust gave way  to a sudden expression of fear. It quickly fled, allowing that hard expression to return.

            “If you so much as touch him, I’ll kill you a thousand times over!” The dark paladin’s demeanor changed, then it laughed.

            “You impress me yet again Mi-lady. It seems you do have the capacity to understand me. We shall save that for another time. For now just heed my warning and avoid the mistake that Kagero made.” All heard its statement, but none understood what he meant.

            “Mistake? What mistake?” The woman demanded.

            “Faith can be a powerful force, too much can be devastating.”

            “Spare me the riddles and speak plainly!” Suddenly the dark paladin’s head turned to the right.

            “It seems the answers you seek are on their way. Since he was the one who dragged you all into this, I’ll let him explain. Then after he has told you his piece I shall fill in what gaps remain. For now we have one last bit of business. Hand over your disc mage.”

            “Over my dead body!” Vincient spat, bringing his hands into a casting position.

           “How about over the elf woman’s dead body?” The entire group gasped. The dark paladin merely awaited a response.

            “What?” Vincient asked hoarsely.

            “If you don’t give me your disc I will kill the elf.”

            “Bastard!” Darius made a move towards it, but Dungar and Garette held him back. Vincient remained frozen in shock.

            “Unless you hand over the seal I will kill her. The others have bought their lives and prolonged hers by giving theirs to me; now it’s your turn.”

            “What guarantee do I have you won’t kill her anyway?”

            “Only my word, which is all you have in either choice. Plus I need her alive to ensure we meet again. I will need the paladin’s disc then.”

            “Why not just demand them both now?” The woman asked.

            “Because the purpose of a knight is to defend that which it loves.”

            “I grow weary of your riddles.”

            “As I said before, your answers are on their way and as much as I’d like to see him explain it, I have other matters to attend to before the curtain falls. Now what will it be, the elf or the disc?” All eyes turned to Vincient. They all could see the mental struggle as he thought of his options. Slowly he removed the disc from his belt bag. Like a drowning man with a life preserver, Vincient held onto the disc. The ivory colored stone shined in the light. Vincient stared into its crystal center and the light within, hoping that the answer would lie in that shimmering blizzard. In a scream of frustration he flung the disc at the dark paladin. Catching the disc in mid-air, it placed it behind its back, mimicking its counterpart’s storage method. When it finished the paladin returned its attention to the group.

            “With that done, I leave you now.” It turned away from them.

            “Wait! Where is Lorna?” Darius cried. It turned its head towards them.

            “She is safely awaiting her destiny.”

            “Damn you! Tell us or I swear I’ll…” Strong winds burst from all around Vincient. “Reduce you to a pile of ashes. “

            “Heroic nonsense.” It muttered. “Kuladar, lord of the Dimulata bring forth the darkness and blind my enemies!” A wave of shadows surged from the darkened knight. All, even the woman without her helm, were plunged into darkness. Only the sound of Vincient’s voice filled the air.

            “Tie Zo oramb, spirits of light rage forth, FLARE!” The spell released a brilliant flash of light; dissipating the darkness. Once their sight had returned they could find no trace of the darkened paladin.

            “It could be anywhere! Like a high priest and wizards, a paladin can open a travelgate to anywhere they have been before.” The woman spat.

            “We have to find him, he has Lorna!” Darius said desperately.

            “Calm yourself Darius. Lorna will be fine, at least for now. It wasn’t lying when it said it would need my disc.”

            “I’m more worried about that ‘awaiting her destiny’ part.” Vincient added. The young mage shook violently.

            “As you should be Mage Arclis.” Even before he turned Vincient knew who it was. The guild master of Zauberra stood before them. A navy robe covered him from shoulder to heel. Underneath was a simple white tunic adorned with the guild seal in gold. A gnarled ebony staff supported him as he walked. He may have been tall in his youth, but age and responsibility had forced his shoulders forward into a stooped position. His hair was long and ragged, matching his beard. Despite these frail looks he gave a presence of power. He stopped when his eyes saw the paladin.

            “So, you’re a woman.”

            “My name is Cassandra D’vontcloud. Refer to me by that.”

            “You never let the irony slip do you.” He muttered. “So be it. Have you found all of the discs?”

            “They were stolen.” Garette answered. The old wizard sighed heavily.

            “I feared as much.”

            “Maybe if you had told us everything from the beginning we might have prevented it.” Vincient did not attempt to hide the anger in his voice.

            “I don’t like the tone Mage Arclis.”

            “Do I look like I care?” Dungar and Garette tensed at the sudden shift in mood. Even Darius looked nervous, only the paladin remained impassive.

            “You should student, there are far greater things at risk, the pride of our guild for one.” Vincient went ballistic at the statement. Eyes narrowed and shaking violently again, Vincient could barely contain his rage. His mystic powers also seemed to be hard to control. Small claps of thunder sounded around them, as well as small bands of lightning began to dance in the sky above the mage.

            “You dare call such a trivial thing a risk!? If the choice is either Lorna or any one of our lives versus the pride of the guild, I’ll tear Trendon down myself!”

            “You’re emotions are making the larger picture distorted to you Vincient.”

            “That’s a laugh! I might have seen the whole picture had you better informed us. What exactly did you leave out old man? What little dirty detail was so unpleasant you risked our lives by not telling us?”

            “You may wish to calm down first.” In extreme agitation Vincient waved his hand at a small nearby tree. Lightning shattered it into thousands of fiery splinters. The others stepped away from the angry mage, all but Cassandra.

            “Tell me everything old man, or I swear your next several hours will be vastly unpleasant.”

            “As you wish, but be prepared, because things are going to get very unpleasant, indeed.”

 

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