//------------------------------// // 87 - King Against King // Story: Age of Kings // by A bag of plums //------------------------------// Emerald watched in surprise as a woman with tan skin and dark red hair emerged from the shadows. She was dressed in a mixture of dark leather and cloth armor, with a mask made of the same material over her mouth and nose. A curved sword hung at her waist, along with a pair of knives on her back. She was carrying a large cloth satchel in her left hand. The newcomer bent down to swipe the ring of keys from the sleeping jailer and unlocked Emerald’s cell. “Here,” the woman said, tossing the satchel down at Emerald’s feet. “You might need this.” Emerald opened the bag and was pleasantly surprised to find her armor and hidden blades inside. Quickly putting them on, she asked, “Who are you? Why are you helping me?” “My name is Hollow Wish,” the woman said. “Any other questions can wait. There is a battle raging in the streets above, and you must leave the city before any harm befalls you.” “A battle?” Emerald repeated. “Is it Morn Dread?” Hollow Wish glanced at Emerald Edge and picked up the jailer’s scimitar, passing it to the former pegasus. “I have told your friends to gather near the western gate. I will take you there, but we must move quickly. Once you are safe, I will do my best to answer all your questions. Yes?” Emerald hesitated for a second, then nodded her agreement. Then together they left the dungeons and hit the midday streets. An arrow shot past King Aldilu from one of his men and struck one of the Canterlot knights, but glanced off the man’s breastplate. The king leaped at another Canterlot knight and stabbed at him with his scimitar. His strike was blocked, but Aldilu gathered power in his left hand and launched the knight off his feet. There was a bright flash of golden light and two of Aldilu’s men were blasted off into the air, slamming into a nearby building hard enough to crack the wall. Aldilu briefly dueled another knight, but he had only just cut him down when the battle cleared enough for him to see Morn Dread, staring across the battle lines back at him.  So, this is the scourge that Emerald Edge was here to stop. Aldilu thought grimly. If he wanted to remain king of Saddle Arabia, he would have to stop Morn Dread right here and now. Morn bellowed and charged at Aldilu, his golden blade held at his side and ready for a diagonal cut. The stroke came, and Aldilu blocked it with his own sword, the metal ringing like a bell as both weapons clashed against each other.  After a brief moment in the bind, both men stepped back and swung again. Aldilu went for a horizontal cut, but the thick plate armor stopped his sword from doing any damage. The king of Saddle Arabia’s face grew tenser. He and his men were mostly wearing mail and leather, as it was too hot in this country to wear heavy plate armor like Morn and his knights were. This offered them more protection from conventional weaponry. Aldilu parried another strike from Morn and raised his left fist. Smokey darkness began to form around his arm, a power received from the ancient djinn of the desert as the protector of Saddle Arabia. He splayed his hand and slammed the shadows into Morn, who was staggered by the attack. Morn’s eyes flashed gold and his face contorted in anger. Excalibur’s blade was wreathed in a shining nimbus and he slashed at Aldilu with the speed of a lightning strike. Aldilu moved his own sword in the path for another parry, but the might of Excalibur cleaved right through his scimitar, leaving Aldilu with a hilt and two inches of steel. Dropping the remains of his sword, Aldilu jumped backwards, then rolled under another enemy knight’s attack. He looked around and was grimly surprised to find that his people were losing. They were being pushed back to the palace. Good. Aldilu thought, picking up a fallen sword from the ground and fending off another knight’s assault with relative ease. Morn was a terrible threat, yes, but his knights were less strong and fast as he, and Aldilu found that he could handle them easily. Lines of archers appeared on the walls of the palace, but did not fire. Shooting into a melee would only risk wounding or killing their own men. “Fall back!” Aldilu ordered in Saddle Arabian. “Back to the palace!” Waving his arms, shadowy smoke formed around the king’s legs and with a flick of his arms, they extended past him and to the sides where they blocked Morn’s knights from advancing on them. The Saddle Arabian soldiers immediately followed the orders of their king and began to back off as if they were retreating. However, as soon as they had disentangled themselves from Morn’s knights, the archers on the palace walls let fly their arrows. Many of them found their mark, but only a small handful of knights were wounded, owing to their armor and helmets.  Morn stepped forward, his weapon aglow. To the king’s surprise, his shadowy barrier was dispelled with a wave of the golden blade, allowing his knights to pass. Raising their shields against the downpour of arrows, the knights followed Aldilu and his men toward the palace. King Aldilu felt a surge of power as soon as he left the glare of the sun and stepped into the darker interior of his palace. Morn would have to fight him here, on his home ground.  “Your majesty!” Prince Sombra hurried towards his sire, clothed in the uniform of an archer. “Our bows are not strong enough to pierce their armor. What should we do?” “You must aim for their joints, my son.” Aldilu placed a hand on his shoulder. “Go to the throne room and release the shrouds. There, the Canterlotian king and I will do battle once more.” “His sword, it is unlike anything I have ever seen.” “It must be magical,” Aldilu said grimly. “I wonder if the king of Canterlot has some kind of djinn on his side as well.” “Emerald Edge knew of this…” Sombra growled angrily as he set off toward the throne room. “She could have given us more time to prepare…” He shook his head and broke into a run. There would be a reckoning for Emerald Edge later. Right now, they had to defeat this invader. King Aldilu stood by the entrance to his palace, watching as the horde of knights advanced up the steps, their shields rendering them impervious to his arrows from above. Canterlot’s force was one to be reckoned with. “Shut the doors!” The captain of the guard ordered. The soldiers responded instantly, pushing the doors shut and laying a heavy ironbound wooden bar across them. The door held… momentarily. Then there was a crackling sound and the doors were blasted open, knocking over Saddle Arabian soldiers like leaves in a gale.  “Fall back to the throne room!” Aldilu ordered to what remaining soldiers were left standing. Some of the archers had come down from the walls and were pelting the invaders with arrows, aiming for the joints. One by one, the Canterlot knights began to fall, though none of the wounds were life-threatening.  Morn saw this and raised his sword into the air, which emitted a transparent golden bubble around himself and the knights closest to him. Arrows and sling-stones bounced off the barrier. He pressed his advance, forcing Aldilu back up into the throne room. Just as planned. Emerging into the space, Aldilu noted with brief satisfaction that his son had indeed lowered all the blinds and curtains, plunging the room into a near pitch black. Sombra himself was standing by the last window, making sure it was all covered up. “I’ve done as you said, your majesty,” Sombra said as Aldilu’s men closed the throne room doors and threw themselves against it, holding it shut with their own bodies. “Do you think you can beat him?” “We will have to try.” Aldilu grasped his sword tightly. “But if I fail, my son… You know what must be done. You must seek out the djinn. Our line has always ruled with wisdom and strength for the good of all of Saddle Arabia. If my time should come to an end today, know that I have always been proud of all you do.” “But… Father! I am not ready!” Sombra exclaimed. The doors began to creak and groan; the guards were losing the battle to keep them closed. “Let me tell you a secret, my son,” Aldilu said, putting his hand on his son’s shoulder. “Nobody is truly ever ready to take the throne. I was not, and neither was my father. What matters is that you try to do your best for your people and the land.” “I will not leave you, your majesty,” Sombra said, setting his face in a determined expression. “You can defeat this invader.” Aldilu smiled back at Sombra. “I hope so, my son.”  The king opened his mouth to say more, but at that moment there was a blinding flash and the doors to the throne room were shattered, with shards of wood and metal flying all over the place. “Get to safety, Sombra,” Aldilu said quietly. “I will have to use all my power to defeat this man, and I would not have you get caught in the crossfire.” “But, your majesty-” “That is an order, my son,” Aldilu said without looking at Sombra. “If for whatever reason I fall here, remember what I told you. Find the djinn. Claim your birthright. Now go.” Sombra nodded wordlessly and bolted out one of the side doors to the throne room. “Now, let us see what you are made of, King of Canterlot.” Morn Dread and his knights marched into the darkened throne room, walking over the fallen Saddle Arabian soldiers. “You should have taken my offer, old man,” Morn shouted at Aldilu. “Now I shall remove you from the throne and true peace shall reign!” This man is out of his mind. Aldilu thought to himself. With no more soldiers at Aldilu’s side, Morn pointed Excalibur and his knights advanced. Aldilu waved his hand and sent a tidal wave of shadows smashing into the row of knights, covering and consuming them in darkness. Morn’s confident expression shifted into a leer. “So, you have power over darkness. I shall purge it from you with Excalibur’s blinding light!” Morn raised his gold and silver sword and an arc of energy lashed out from the tip. Aldilu held out both hands in front of himself and the energy bolt smashed into a barrier of shadow. The shield held strong, and Aldilu began to push back, sending the wall of darkness crashing down onto Morn. Morn was pushed back, but managed to stay on his feet.  The king of Canterlot swung Excalibur in a downward arc, a shark’s fin of golden energy speeding towards Aldilu. The king of Saddle Arabia leapt over it and fired a torrent of shadow at Morn, who was forced to dive and roll to avoid the dark projectiles. “You cannot defeat me!” Morn shouted as he looked around the room. It was dark now, too dark to have just been an absence of sunlight. There was something oppressive and sinister about this darkness. Morn swung his sword at the air, but hit nothing. Unseen by Morn, Aldilu charged at him from behind, scoring a hit on Morn’s back. The armor blunted the strike, but it still left a sizeable gash in the metal. Morn grunted and spun around for a slice, but Aldilu was already gone. “Stand and fight, coward!” Morn roared. Aldilu said nothing, but slowly the darkness began to crawl towards Morn, like a liquid. Excalibur’s light seemed to dim in its presence. A blast of shadow energy slammed into Morn. This time he did not manage to remain on his feet and was knocked down. But he still held onto his sword. The shadows congealed into a solid mass above Morn and then plummeted down like a giant hammer, threatening to crush him. Morn’s eyes went wide and he pointed Excalibur at the mass of shadow. Another arc of light crackled from the tip of the weapon and dispelled the darkness.  Scrambling to his feet, Morn stood there, whipping his head back and forth, unable to see anything in the gloom. Morn’s face grew pensive as he backed up to a wall, ensuring that Aldilu could not attack from behind like before. Then he closed his eyes. For a second, he saw nothing. Then something began to take shape as he breathed through his nose. It was as if he were seeing the throne room in smells, rather than in shapes. He could tell where the walls were, where the throne was, and most importantly, he could tell where Aldilu was. He could even smell the strange scent that was Aldilu’s shadow magic. Morn took a step forward, then another. And then another. Aldilu’s form was moving, and a torrent of dark energy flew his way. Morn, eyes still shut, sidestepped and carved a deep slash through the shadows, then ducked beneath a second blast aimed for his head. The king of Canterlot broke into a run, charging right at Aldilu’s position. The king of Saddle Arabia began to run as well, to the side rather than at him. Morn altered his course to match Aldilu’s, his boots clanking heavily on the stone floor. He fired a blast at Aldilu and was rewarded with a shout as the bolt of energy connected.  The king of Saddle Arabia was thrown backwards and hit the wall behind him, cracking the surface. The shadows gathered protectively around him, but Morn was not to be denied. He ran at Aldilu’s position, Excalibur held high. Then Aldilu suddenly shot towards Morn as if fired from a bow, a scimitar of dark energy taking shape in his hands. Morn raised Excalibur into a guard position, and the two men collided, tumbling over and around each other until they crashed into another wall.  By the time Morn’s head stopped spinning, he could feel the tip of something poking at his exposed throat. Aldilu was kneeling on top of him, the shadowy scimitar held in his right hand while his left was pressed against Morn’s chin. His fingers scrabbled for Excalibur, but it had fallen from his grasp and lay on the floor just out of reach. “It’s over, king of Canterlot,” Aldilu panted. His sparkling hair was a mess and there was blood dripping from one of his nostrils. “Your madness stops here.” Morn glared up at Aldilu. “Never!” He cried, and tilted his head down, biting and sinking his teeth into Aldilu’s hand. The Saddle Arabian king shouted in surprise, withdrawing his hand and falling to the side. Aldilu felt the muscles in his body stiffen and seize up as if they were turning to stone. He lay there on the palace floor as the darkness began to recede from the room, leaving it dimly lit but no longer pitch black.  Morn coughed and picked up Excalibur. He stood up and spat blood onto the floor before walking over to Aldilu’s prone form. The shadows began to dissipate like smoke above a snuffed candle. The king of Saddle Arabia watched in shock as Morn stood above him, slowly aiming his golden sword at his head. Morn looked tired and his armor was scratched and dented, but a look of severe triumph was on his face. “You see, light always wins over darkness, just as righteousness always wins over wickedness,” Morn panted. “You have lost, King Aldilu.” “It won’t last,” Aldilu snapped, willing his body to move, but to no avail. “Any kingdom of yours is bound to fail. You do not have the quality of a king, only a tyrant.” Morn bristled. “You’re wrong. But soon you will be neither. Any last words, King Aldilu?” “Go to hell,” Aldilu spat. Morn then brought Excalibur down onto the king’s neck, the honed golden metal cutting right through until it hit the floor. “Apologies,” Morn smirked as he swiped his sword to the side and went back to rejoin his army. “Didn’t quite catch that.” Unseen by Morn, Sombra’s face peered out from behind the door he had taken cover behind. Tears dripped down his princely face and his hands clenched into fists. “F-Father…”