//------------------------------// // 102 - Aspect of Justice // Story: Age of Kings // by A bag of plums //------------------------------// Emerald crashed into Lionheart’s body, punching forward with her hidden blade at his neck. But faster than she would have believed possible, Lionheart raised his arm and let his metal gauntlet take the blow, following with a swing of his other arm. The Shield of Equestria slammed into Emerald’s shoulder and knocked her to the ground. Lionheart turned his luminous eyes to Emerald, no sign of recognition on his face. Meanwhile, there was the sound of a scuffle as Posey landed on Gallophad’s horse and tried to drive her own blade home. Both Gallophad and Posey fell onto the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. Emerald leapt back to her feet. The ambush had failed, and unless she acted fast there would be nothing she or Posey could do to kill these two knights. Lionheart’s sword arm went to draw his weapon, the mighty Durendal making an ominous scraping sound as it left its sheath. The blade was dark and striated, like it was made of stone. Indeed, Lionheart turned his steed around and pointed the weapon at Emerald. Then he spurred his horse and charged.  Emerald dived to the left, away from Lionheart’s sword as it sliced through the air that she had just been occupying. There came a flash of light from a few meters away, and Emerald glanced over to see Posey wrestling with Gallophad and Arondight.  Emerald didn’t have to be a genius to know that the plan had gone horribly awry, and that if she and Posey didn’t think of something fast, they would be at a huge disadvantage against the two knights. With a mighty heave, Gallophad threw Posey off himself and readied his sword. The blade shone in the night, reflecting the flickering torches around them, its yellowish jewels glinting in the light. Posey, to her credit, did not waste time staring. The archer ran for cover, but was intercepted by one of the footsoldiers. Just as Gallophad swung his weapon, Posey pushed the soldier she was grappling with around, putting him between herself and the knight. To Emerald’s surprise, a bright and white crescent-shaped light shot out from Gallophad’s blade, almost like a ghostly apparition, sailing straight for Posey and the soldier. The archer dove to the side and around a wall as the light smacked the soldier in the torso. He was flung back against the wall in two pieces, his armor melting where the light beam had cut. Arondight had never done that before, at least not to her knowledge. Morn must have done some kind of magic with Excalibur, or perhaps one of the other artifacts. She recalled Moon Tide telling her something to that effect before, but right now was not the time to think of that. She and Posey had a mission to complete, as increasingly hopeless it was starting to seem. She eyed Lionheart warily as he turned Richard around, facing her once again. If Arondight could now wield the power of light, then what could Lionheart’s Durendal do? She figured she would find out soon enough, just hopefully not the hard way. Her former ally charged at her again, his horse braying loudly as it thundered towards her. Lionheart’s blade was already held high, ready to strike as she bent her knees, ready for anything. The Shield of Equestria on his arm shone bright, forming a shell-like aura around himself and his steed. Dodging the first charge, Emerald rolled into a soldier and stabbed him in the throat, not even waiting to see his body collapse. Lionheart charged her again in the main road, there wasn’t much room to maneuver a huge Canterlotian war horse, and only Lionheart’s skill in the saddle prevented him from a mishap. More knights joined the fray from their campfire, spears and swords already in hand. One took a stab at Emerald, but she spun to the side and drew her scimitar at the same time, slashing through the wooden handle, and then kicking the man into the others, knocking a few of them over as she took to the roofs, using a stack of crates to get up there. The troop of knights began to make their way up, though much slower, but Emerald wasn’t going to wait for them. Using the roofs, she ran along the side and towards Lionheart, who was still galloping ahead. Stopping him and Gallophad were their main priorities. Without them, the army should still lose their immediate leadership and the Saddle Arabians would be able to fight back more effectively. The spymaster followed along after the Knight of the Round Table and his steed and once he slowed to turn his horse around, Emerald took that chance to leap off the roof and try for his neck again. Unfortunately, Lionheart once again anticipated such an attack and brought the shield up. Emerald’s hidden blade bounced against it and the force sent her rocketing back into the side of a building, breaking off chunks of clay as she rolled to a stop. She spotted the knight’s greaves land on the ground as she pushed to her feet, Durendal and Shield in hand.  A blast of light from the left signalled Gallophad and Posey’s own battle. The archer was quick and nimble, able to avoid the slashes of light that Gallophad was sending her way, but if Posey faltered even once, it would be over for her.  “Lionheart, you have to stop this.” Emerald got to her feet and readied her scimitar. “Fight it. I know you can.” The knight said nothing and swung his blade at her. Emerald rolled aside and brought up her weapon to block his next strike, but Durendal easily cut right through her weapon and jarred her entire right arm. She rolled away again as it passed, just barely avoiding losing her face.  Posey was ducking and dodging desperately to avoid being struck by Gallophad’s weapon. She knew that eventually her luck would run out or Gallophad would wise up and try a different tactic. She glanced over and saw Emerald being cornered by Lionheart.  The knight raised Durendal to cleave at Emerald, and in that split second Posey drew an arrow and sent it speeding towards the area under Lionheart’s arm, where she knew the armor was not as thick. She did not wait to see if the arrow hit its mark, as another wave of light from Arondight sent Posey bowling over as she barely evaded the attack. Emerald's lapse in concentration cost her, and when she was focused on Posey, Lionheart charged her, unfazed by the arrow in his arm. She twisted out of the way, but Emerald was a hair too slow and Lionheart's shoulder smacked her through a window and into one of the nearby houses. Emerald expected to feel something hard as she landed, but instead felt something soft like a bag of beans. She looked down and felt something powdery beneath her. She sniffed, her nose burning from the new smell, and suddenly got an idea. Lionheart’s blade was driven through the wall and with a cut to the left and right, a portion of the wall fell away as the knight stepped in, sword and shield in hand. Blood dripped from the arrow wound under the pauldron of his shield arm, but it didn’t look like he was getting any weaker, at least not yet. Having lost her sword, Emerald activated her hidden blades, but she had no intention of duelling Lionheart with them. Instead they were a distraction from her real plan of attack. As Lionheart closed in on her, Emerald tensed up and prepared to strike. She hoped that being controlled by Excalibur didn’t turn off the natural reactions of Lionheart’s body. Durendal came thrusting forward, but Emerald twisted around the stab and hurled a handful of the powder that had cushioned her fall at his face. The reaction was immediate and the knight drew back, his eyes shut and his nostrils flaring. Emerald remembered her first meal here and she had been right to think the powder would work like this. Lionheart flailed around, grabbing at his face and seemingly scratching and pulling the skin, trying to get any kind of relief from the chili powder.  Emerald seized her chance and leapt at Lionheart, trying to wrestle the Shield of Equestria from his grip, but his fingers held strong around its grip. His mouth open in a snarl, Lionheart swiped at Emerald blindly with Durendal. His edge alignment was way off, but even being struck by the flat of that mighty sword would cause great injury. Emerald disengaged and watched as Lionheart stumbled out of the house and back into the street. She would have to use the element of surprise to catch him off guard.  Lionheart swung the Shield around himself blindly, creating a sort of golden dome around himself, likely for protection. Emerald knew there was no point trying to attack him while this shield was up; she knew from experience that it was impenetrable, but she also knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long, even with whatever Morn had done to them. Emerald turned her attention to Posey’s fight, just in time to see a shimmering blade of light swoop towards her. She widened her eyes at the sudden attack, then ducked and rolled away to the side as it sailed over her head, shearing off a few strands of her hair before smashing against the wall behind her and dissipating into nothing, though it left a good gash in it. Arondight glowed brightly in Sir Gallophad’s hands, its heliodor jewels glistening in the light of his weapon like eyes gazing at her, waiting for her to make the wrong move. But that wasn’t going to happen. Gallophad made to make another slash at Emerald. His blade glowed as it prepared to loose another lightwave, but at that moment, Posey leapt up behind him and wrapped something around his sword arm and head. Emerald recognized it as one of the tapestries that had been for sale from before.   The woven cloth entangled Gallophad’s sword arm and kept him from making any more attacks. Emerald used this chance to close the distance between them, leaving Lionheart by himself. For now, he could wait. Ten steps into her advance, Gallophad leaned forward, then smashed his head back into Posey’s nose, knocking her off him and freeing his sword arm. Pulling back, he stabbed it forward, releasing a narrow beam of light which speared forward too fast, going right through Emerald’s right shoulder and out the other end. Her skin burned where the light beam had penetrated, almost like when she had first come to this world. It radiated heat and every breath and movement of her shoulder sent waves of pain right to her head, but she couldn’t stop right now. Again, Gallophad drew back his arm and Emerald was quick to move out of the way this time, twisting to the side as another light spear stabbed into the ground where she had just been. The spymaster grabbed a clay jar by the side and tossed it at him, watching as another spear ripped through it in midair, shattering it into a thousand pieces as she grabbed another one and charged. As Gallophad readied another attack, Emerald’s second jar was already sailing towards him as she hopped atop a stack of crates and ran along the side of the wall as the jar was shattered by another of Arondight’s beams. His head turned to her and he fired another beam at her, but Emerald kicked off the wall and dropped towards him, hidden blade extended and ready to strike. The knight attempted to slash at her with his weapon, but Posey returned and wrapped her legs around his and knocked him over on his back, his crescent shaped beam going wide. This was her chance. This was her chance to end this. “I’m sorry, Gallophad,” Emerald whispered as she descended on him, her blade aimed for the space between his helmet and his collar. Her blade sunk in with ease and with that, the glow in Gallophad’s eyes faded and he dropped Arondight. “Lady Emerald…” he gasped, then coughed out blood. “I am sorry... I had no… control…” Emerald felt an outpouring of guilt as she removed her blade. Here was a man she had known well, fought alongside and drunk cider and beer with for over five years. And now he was dying because of her. “No, Emerald,” Posey said, putting a hand on the former pegasus’s arm. “It’s not your fault. Tis Morn’s. You had no choice.” “She is right…” Gallophad gurgled. “You are… not to blame. Thank you… For removing his con-control… Emerald… Save… Canterlot.” He choked one last time, then leaned back and stared skyward. “Rest now, Sir Gallophad. You have earned it.” Emerald looked down and ran a hand over his eyes to close them. “You would uphold justice where there was none. May I bring justice to you in my quest to free Canterlot.” “Em. Em…” Posey tapped her shoulder. The spymaster winced from the wound there, but she looked up. “Sir Lionheart, he is gone.” The former pegasus turned her eyes to where he had been, but Posey was right. There was no sign of him. He must’ve retreated when they were dealing with Gallophad. “That fort. Alamule,” Emerald said. “Sombra said Morn had taken it. Tis where he must be going.” “This is our chance.” Posey picked up her bow from the ground. “If we can retake it, we can save Saddle Arabia, as well as be on our way to stopping Morn Dread.”