1 Prelude 1
The mud was dry and cold. A lone man walked down the overgrown trail through the forest. His black cloak stained in blood and the metal on his armor rusted, especially around the lion crest on his chest. He had three straps around his body each pinning a sword tightly to his back. A dim light had formed far down the trail behind him. He turned quickly, it was blinding compared to the darkness that surrounded him. His eyes squinted and his hand twitched towards his back slightly. The heavy sounds of trotting and horse grunts became more prominent as the carriage approached him.
"Woah there Jessi-!" an elderly voice called out as the man driving the carriage pulled back the reins and the horse stopped.
"I didn't think anyone else would dare use this trail, let alone walk it.. at night too!" The elderly man stated.
The man with three swords stood unmoving, his hands were steady now.
"What's your name? Are you a bandit or something?" The elderly man asked.
"I'm Xen" The man with three swords said as he turned away.
"Well you don't seem like a bandit, I'm George. Would you like a ride down the trail? wherever you're goin' you certainly won't get there before daybreak on foot." The elderly man remarked.
Xen thought for a moment, it had been a long time since anyone was so talkative with him.
"Sure, I'll take you up on that old man." Xen said as he got in the back of the carriage.
Barrels lined the walls of the interior. It was musty and rotted but strangely homely as well.. It gave Xen a strong sense of nostalgia.
"Your armor looks to be that of the knights." George stated.
"Yeah, It's very old, I should probably get a new set somewhere." Xen lowered his hood and dropped his head. His long black hair sank as well, hiding his face.
"Well in the town of Sajorus up ahead there should certainly be people willing to help a knight." George said as he got Jessi trotting again.
"I'm not a knight." Xen mumbled as he gripped his arms tightly.
"Well you had to be a part of the royal military at some point, otherwise you wouldn't have the Crest of the Lion on your armor." George stated.
Xen held his breath and a million things raced his mind. He paused for a moment and began to regulate his breathing. He grit his teeth and grinned sadistically.
"And how are you so sure I didn't just kill a soldier and rip this off his corpse?" Xen darted his eyes away from George and focused on the floor.
George quieted down and focused on reaching the destination. He would've asked the strange man to leave his carriage but was worried what Xen might do in retaliation.
Feint howling filled the air. Xen jolted upwards and his hands started to twitch again. George looked out into the forest, he could barely see past the trail line. Seeing into the woods was impossible.
"Don't worry Jessi, they're far." the elderly man said while patting his horse.
Xen's hands were anything but steady. He knew what those howls really meant.
"Hey old guy," George turned his head to see Xen standing in the carriage.
His expression wasn't one of fear or sadness.. It was anger. His teeth gritted and his hood down showing his battle scarred face in all its glory. One prominent cut even went across his eye.
"Stop the carriage." he said.
"What? Why would I do a thing like that? Town's not too far away.. Are you worried about the wolves?" George wondered
Xen looked down, "they're coming this way now."
"Well that's just silly, why would a wolf pack that far away be huntin' over here?" George asked.
"Because," Xen grabbed one of his swords. "I'm the one they're hunting."
George exhaled quickly, he was shocked with his lack of luck. He had successfully picked up a lost and loony knight who was probably relieved of duty due to mental problems, after all the same thing happened to his son before he died of the plague.
"Look, knight, I'm sure your time on the battlefield was surely somethin' indeed but I have been alive for 78 years, and in none of my days have I heard of wolves travelin' miles to hunt a single man! It's absurd!" George shouted to the crazed knight.
Xen wrapped his arm around George's neck and began to choke him. George's eyes bulged and he started to squirm due to his lack of air.
"Listen here you old coot! I don't have time to explain everything, just stop the fucking carriage!" Xen shouted into the old man's ear at a deafening tone.
George pulled on the reins as Xen let go of him and walked toward the back of the carriage. He pulled out two of the three swords and jumped out. Rustling of leaves in the forest got louder until he knew they were around them. George looked around at all the tree's rustling and began to panic.
"W-wolves ain't big enough to rustle trees!" He said as he grabbed his pitchfork.
Xen chuckled and peered into the darkness. "Normal bitches, no. But we're dealing with dire bitches."
"Dire wolves!?!? They're myths! Nothing like that exists in reality you dumb boy!" George said while looking at just how surrounded they were.
"Whatever this is- we shouldn'tve stopped the carriage! We'd have a tactical advantage if we weren't surrounded! Aren't you supposed to be a Knight!?! Why the hell are you carryin' three swords anyways?!?! You only have two han-" George froze as a giant wolf jumped from the treeline directly at Xen.
It was almost the size of the carriage itself. The gray dirty fur seemed just like something out of a book or dream, but there was no mistaking it. What George was seeing right now was real.
Xen slid under the dire wolf and used both of his swords to slice its limbs off. He quickly got back up and jumped as two more pounced out of the forest at him, just barely missing. He landed on a third and dug both of his swords into its back. It howled in pain and collapsed while four dire wolves set their sights on him.
He jumped again, off of the corpse and two of the four jumped up at him. He stabbed one, but the other grabbed his left leg with its razor mud stained teeth and slammed him on the ground. He rolled, barely missing another pounce attempt and jumped over the entire carriage.
A dire wolf lunged out of the woods at George faster than he could get his pitchfork ready. Xen quickly jumped onto the wolf and sliced its head clean off. He moved his blade quickly and dispatched two more before sliding under the carriage and drawing the dire wolves from Jessi and George.
Five dire wolves faced him, each of their eyes black like shadows with a lightning yellow strike down the middle. Their claws dug into mud and their mouths salivated. Their need to kill ached for him. Like a burning itch that needed to be scratched. All they craved was him.
They raced for him and he quickly deflected their attacks, until they surrounded him. He managed to kill two before his sword was flung from his right hand and landed far behind the carriage.
He's dead, I'm dead, there's nothing we can do against these monsters! George thought as his eyes widened.
Xen quickly pulled his third sword from its sheath, it was different from the other two, the handle of it was purple while the other two had black handles.
That's when George saw it, This knight only had three fingers on his right hand.
Xen laughed and grit his teeth as he now tore through the remaining dire wolves, even after they were dead he cut them over and over and over and over until they were nothing but tiny chunks.
Xen laughed maniacally as he fell to his knees onto the blood soaked ground. His armor and swords were almost completely red and corpses of dire wolves scattered the trail.
"Are you happy now you bastard..?" he whispered to himself.
George focused on calming Jessi down while Xen gathered his sword. After a few minutes everything settled down and George sat down again.
"I just cannot believe such monsters even exist- I-" George was at a loss for words.
"To answer your questions, getting surrounded was better because the dire bitches could've tipped the carriage while we were moving. I already told you I am not a knight. And I think you now understand why I carry three swords." Xen said sarcastically.
"Age doesn't mean you have more experience, your actual experiences are what give that to you." Xen stated in a less sarcastic tone as he hopped into the back of the carriage.
The carriage started to move again as Xen stared at his right hand, he was missing his pointer and pinky finger.
I'm almost there, but I wonder just how many more battles can I take like this? He thought.
