Previous Chapters
Close
Chapter 1: 001,093 words
Chapter 2: 011,606 words
Chapter 3: 021,371 words
Chapter 4: 031,672 words

Chapter 4: 03

Abyssal Redemption

What Doesn't Kill You

"Twilight! What's going on?!" Spike yelled running under the table for cover. Twilight could see several things happening to the monster on her table, almost all at once. The dark blue splotches began to fade away slowly, his broken and battered arm quickly fixed itself in a blink of an eye, and he suddenly screamed to the heavens, and a dark cloud formed above him and quickly dissipated. The machines beeping slowed to a crawl showing that he was now in a deep, deep sleep.

"I...I think it's okay to come out now Spike..." Twilight reassured as she looked closer at Artorias. His armor now shined like polish silver, his cowl and plume were now both restored showing the fine craftsmanship. Most importantly of all however, is that the sword and his arm were now restored as well, the former showing a blade that could destroy a small house. It seemed as if this monster was somehow... Purified.

Artorias was, for the most part, not having a bad day. It had been a few days since he had become a Silver Knight, and he was becoming the talk of barracks. Even Ledo, the strongest of the Silver Knights, was anxious to meet the man who had knocked down Lord Gwyn. He was wearing pride, on the battlefield your worst enemy, but here at home, it was his best friend. He wrote to Alvina whenever he could, asking how Sif and the others were doing. She always said they fine, and how proud of him they were. As he was contemplating what he would do next, he heard several footsteps behind. Looking behind him, he saw nothing. He strained his hearing and heard nothing.

"Imagination, I suppose... Hmmm.... But just to make sure..." He took out an old hunting item that he and Sif had used as a fetching ball. An Alluring Skull, granted these were only used when a Soul-Eater or a Soul Feeder was present to lure it away, some guards had showed a sudden likeness to it. Judging the distance of the footsteps, he raised his arm and threw it next to a pillar. He saw the blue glow and waited for a few seconds for something to come out, and when nothing did he slowly drew his sword and crept up the pillar. He counted to himself and on three he jumped unsheathing his sword and now in full stance, only to find empty air. He blinked behind his helmet and chuckled to himself. Sheathing his sword he continued back to his room, but now unknown to him, the footsteps followed his own in tandem, effectively hiding them. The only thing that could give them away was the shifting of clothes, and thankfully the clanking of armor hid that too. He breathed a heavy sigh and had gotten a sense of nostalgia almost.

For him it was hard to believe that a forest dweller like him had become one of the elite knights to guard the palace. He grew a big smile when he knew next time that he would be ranked as a Black Knight, one of the Royal Envoys and Royal Guards to the Princess Gwynevere and the Darkmoon Gwyndolin. Then only the best of the best become Gwyn's personal knights, also known as the Four Knights of Gwyn. As of now, it is known that Hawkeye Gough, Dragonslayer Richter*, Lady Tillion of the Grand Cathedral, and Shunti of The East are the current Knights. Gough and his colossal greatbow, Richter and his giant dragon slaying greataxe, Tillion with her healing miracles, and Shunti a warrior skilled in the art of the Blade, with nodachi in one hand an a kusarigama in the other, he was the Lords top assassin. He smiled to himself thinking that one day he would join their ranks... Before he could open his door however, a sickly looking dagger was pressed to his throat.

"'Twilight, I understand that your situation with this creature is a troubling one, and I will get Luna to help you as soon she can, but for now please try to get as much data as you can. This is something we cannot let slip by. The Elements have never took this long to purify or revert anything this long before. Whatever was in him at the time must been nothing but pure evil. However, if what you say is true, then he has no reason to be a threat to us or we to him. When he awakens, come to Canterlot castle at once, I would like to speak to him personally.' Your Mentor, Princess Celestia, P.S. Luna says hello." Spike recited as he set down the letter. Twilight continued to look at brain wave monitor, and the readings on it made it clear he was dreaming, or maybe even remembering something from a long time ago. She picked up a clip board and a quill and wrote a quick list.

Scan for any anomalies: Check
Determine his magical ability: Check (50 above the standard 200)
However when she got to the last part of the list, it made her halt.
Potential friend:
She looked over at him, then the monitor, then back to the list, thoughts wracking her brain. She took one last look at him before going back to the list.
Unsure

Just as she had written that word in, machines started beeping, Artorias began to thrash and he let out a piercing scream. Twilight and Spike covered their ears, and watched in horror and awe as an inky black cloud began to float overhead and several red eyes began to poke out from said cloud before it smashed out of the window and went north into the mountains. The machines, all beeping, had all at once silenced and the duo turned their attention to Artorias who was now sitting up. Spike was the first one to do something, and waved at him. Artorias, confused by the gesture, waved back albeit a bit awkwardly.

Spike looked at Twilight, "Well, he's up now. But now the real question is 'Is he able?'"

The Blade was unlike anything he had ever seen, it was thorned like a rose, yet it seemed almost alive, as it secreted toxin from the quill-like thorns. "You have made a name for yourself you know that? A rookie Silver Knight felling Old Gwyn with a simple pommel tap to the forehead. Had it been my way, I would've killed you on the spot, but... Seeing the Old Man smile so much made me put it off...For then anyways. Now that you're alone and no other witnesses..." His assailant began to draw the blade across his exposed neck, but he had a plan. In the forest, he had been in this situation before, where an assassin came and held him hostage. When the assassin least expected it, he simply stomped his foot and ran him through with his claymore.

"Well," he began, "If I am going to die, would you like to hear my last words? I know assassins love hearing them." Always start by stroking the ego.

"...Yes, it would make a fine tale for my friends, how the rookie Knight died a coward and begged for his life."

"Alright, hear are my last words then." He said pausing for a brief second and suddenly stomped on her toes. As expected with assassins, they wore all cloth clothing, even the shoes. His assailant yelped in pain and grabbed the knife from her hand and held it to her neck as he tackled her to the ground. Now, he was straddling her knife on neck, and they were both breathing heavily. It was about this time that Black Knight Ornstein and Hawkeye Gough came from around the corner and saw the two in this rather compromising position. Ornstein and Gough stopped short and Artorias and his assassin looked up at them. It was a rather long time before Ornstein snapped.

"JUST WHAT IN GWYNS HOLY NAME ARE YOU DOING ROOKIE!" Ornstein shouted, shaking the windows. Artorias shot up like a bullet and the would be assassin did too.

"I'm sorry sir I just--" Both Artorias and her stopped and looked at each other. "I mean he/she was--! Stop copying me!
No, you stop copying me! I'm not!!" They both growled at each other before Ornstein bapped both of them with the pommel of his Halberd.

He took a deep sigh. "Artorias, what were you doing?"

"Going to my room, sir. I was told to rest up by Dragonslayer Richter, sir."

"That you were, I was there. And you Ciaran?"

"I... Just wanted to scare the new guy, but after I heard he had felled Gwyn, I suppose it turned more into just scaring...

Ornstein took a deep breath, "Artorias, rest up. After today, you deserve it. As for you Ciaran, I will be telling Master Shunti of your... Mischievous behavior. Is that understood?"

"Yessir... I'm am sorry sir," She said bowing her head. Ornstein said nothing, but grunted for her to follow him. She turned to look back at Artorias and scowled at him. Gough looked down at him.

"Artorias," He said slowly and labored. "What reason was thine compromising position we found thou in?"

"I... was wrestling the knife from her hands, when you walking in, sir." Artorias said, and Gough chuckled.

"It may not seem like it now, but I think you two would work well together." He said before clutching his bow. He took large Great Arrow from his quiver on his back and pulled back as far as he could. He held his breath, and fired. Artorias watch the speeding arrow before it was out of his sight... then he heard a dragon screech off into the distance and Gough clenched his fist in victory. "While it was impressive, I still believe my truest shot will come, one day." He said before lumbering off to catch up with Ornstein and Ciaran.

Author's Note:

*AKA the Dragonslayer Armour

1,849 views

181

Previous Chapters