Nightmare Moon Crashes the Oblivion Crisis

by Blackdrag-rose

24: The Former Knights

"Sir Amiel?!" Shadow exclaimed, having recognized the ghostly knight due to the journal he had finished reading earlier, "I Shadowscale, Priest of the Nine Divines, have recovered the Helm of the Crusader and have come here, to the Priory of the Nine, to learn what must be done to recover the rest of the Divine Crusader's armor."

"Step forward, adventurer," Sir Amiel replied, beckoning Shadow to step forward, "and face us each in honorable combat. For the vows we failed to revere in life, we shall uphold in death. No unworthy soul shall lay hands upon this sacred artifact without the leave of the Knights of the Nine. Sir Gregory, you are up first."

Sir Amiel moved to the side of the chamber while Luna leaned against the wall that held the door they had used to enter this area, but Shadow wasn't afraid to face this trial alone. As one of the seven remaining ghostly knights stepped forward Shadow reached into his robe and drew out the greatsword he had picked up in Sancre Tor. He spun it around and swung it at the ghostly knight, Sir Gregory, who parried the attack with his shield, though it was clear that the power behind the attack was more than he was expecting. It was then that Sir Gregory pulled his arm back and swung his longsword at Shadow, who raised the handle of his weapon and blocked the blow before it could touch him. Then Shadow forced the knight back, opening him to being wounded, and swung his greatsword, cutting into the knight's chest and knocking him to the ground.

"Sir Gregory, you are defeated," Sir Amiel called out, the fallen knight getting onto his feet and returning to where he had previously been standing, only this time he was kneeling, "Sir Casimir, please step forward."

Shadow beckoned the second knight forward, politely waiting for him to draw his weapon and shield before even thinking of swinging his own weapon at him. When Sir Casimir drew closer to him Shadow's greatsword was in motion, bashing against the shield before he leapt backwards to avoid the longsword. Then he drew closer once more, allowing their weapons to clash with each other before Shadow smashed through his defenses and defeated the knight. Once Sir Casimir was defeated Sir Amiel called the fallen knight to rest, which resulted in the knight kneeling before them, and then called the third knight into battle.

That's how it went for the next forty-five minutes, where Shadow spent some time studying each ghostly knight to see what they're fighting style was, but then noticed that they all fought in the same manner. He gave them a chance to defeat him, though after knocking the fifth knight onto his rear he realized that he had the upper hand, as if the Divines were backing him. Once the seven knights had fallen in battle and were kneeling before them Sir Amiel drew his sword and challenged Shadow, acting as the last line of defense between the Cuirass and those that wanted to take it.

In the end Shadow pushed Sir Amiel backwards and disarmed him, allowing the longsword and shield to hit the ground away from the knight before the ghost surrendered to him.

"Sir Knight," Sir Amiel said, kneeling like the other knights, "in three hundred years none have stood against us and lived. Step forward and claim what is yours by right. May your faith be true."

Shadow leaned his greatsword on the wall and approached the Cuirass of the Crusader, awe clearly filling him as he drew the second Divine Relic from its resting place. He stared at it for a moment, in both awe and wonder, before he sighed and gently set it down where it had been resting, though he followed it by taking off the top of his robes. A moment later he picked up the Cuirass and slipped it on, awe filling him even more as it fit him perfectly, almost as if it had been made for him and not for Pelinel. Once the armor was on he picked up the section of his robe and draped it over his body, using it to cover the majority of his chest so none would see the suit he wore.

"I have found the Helm and the Cuirass," Shadow told the ghostly knights, all of whom turned and faced him, "and I shall do the same with the remaining relics. Tell me about your individual quests and I shall seek out the relics that were lost."

Luna stood beside Shadow as he listened to four of the former knights; Sir Casimir, Sir Ralvas, Sir Henrik, and Sir Juncan, explained what they had done on each of their quests, using the journal of Sir Amiel to write down each of their details for when they left the priory. It was during this that Shadow learned that Sir Casimir lost his temper and killed a beggar in the Chapel of Stendarr in Chorrol, causing the Gauntlets to fall from his hands and turn as heavy as stone. Sir Ralvas reported that he fell hundreds of times to recover the Mace of the Crusader, located in Leyawiin's Chapel, and that to claim the weapon one must 'walk in the faith', which the knight claimed he didn't know the meaning of. Sir Henrik told them that he died defending the Shield of the Crusader at Fort Bulwark, near the Black March border, and had no idea what would be waiting for them. Sir Juncan, the last of the four knights, claimed that he had no idea where to find the Boots, but did tell them that they would need to find a Priest of Kynareth before they could find the relic.

Shadow thanked the four of them and beckoned for Luna to follow him upstairs, where he planned on telling her which of the four relics he would be going after first.

"Chorrol is to the north of Skingrad," Shadow said, placing his greatsword back in its holder, "so we can recover the Gauntlets first and then head to the Imperial City to ask around for a Priest or Priestess of Kynareth. I have the suspicion that to recover the Mace we'll need to find and use another of the relics, which ties into the 'walk in the faith' line."

"Sounds like a plan," Luna replied, making sure that her gear was in order before they left, "I hope that we get to the city quickly, that way we can ask around and figure out if there is anything more to this particular relic than what the former knight was willing to tell us. Or rather if anything has been added since he went questing with it and lost it in the first place."

"I wouldn't have guessed that you were interested in ancient relics," Shadow commented, just as they left the building they were in and began their journey to their chosen destination, "but then again, after seeing all of the items that you have, and those that are kept in your storage area, I really shouldn't be surprised by this turn of events. Are there any interesting relics that you've discovered in your world? Anything similar to the Relics of the Crusader?"

Luna remained silent for a moment, thankful that the Nightmare had returned to her rest and wouldn't be woken for some time, because there was only one set of relics that were even interesting to talk about. To be fair she couldn't even classify the Elements of Harmony as relics, as neither she nor her sister had any idea who had created them or what their true purpose was. There was actually not a lot she could tell her friend about the Elements, mainly because she didn't know too much about the six mysterious gemstones. Though as she thought about the Elements she remembered speaking with Starswirl about the weapons he carried, the ones that seemed to radiate with pure magic.

"One or two," Luna finally replied, sighing as she walked along side her friend, "Starswirl the Bearded, who taught me and my sister about magic when we were younger, always carried with him two special weapons that he had created; his sword, the Magistrate, and his staff, the Conclave. The Magistrate is said to be able to cut through most magic like butter, having the capability to unravel spells by simply having it touch whatever is coming towards him. Once my sister and I locked him in a barrier, to see if our training had paid off, and we managed to keep him inside for a hour before he used that blade to undo the entirety of our combined spells."

"And the Conclave?" Shadow asked, though it clear that he was amazed by the power of the sword and it made him wonder what power the staff could possess.

"Ponies have many names for that weapon," Luna chuckled, recalling some of them herself, "some refer to it as the 'Staff of the Storms', speaking of the fact that Starswirl could command the weather from time to time. This was before the pegasi took to the skies and tamed the weather, so it is said that our teacher used the staff to aid the Three Tribes until he was no longer needed. Unlike the Magistrate, I have actually never seen the Conclave in use, so I have no way of confirming or denying those stories... though considering the power of the sword it would stand to reason that the staff's power is real as well."

"Any idea where Starswirl and his weapons vanished to?" Shadow inquired, because if Luna was able to come to Nirn, by accident anyway, than maybe her mentor had figured out an actual spell that would allow the caster to cross between worlds.

"He disappeared a year or two before the Crystal Empire vanished," Luna replied, shaking her head as she remembered what they had to do at the Empire before it vanished, "which was roughly a year before I was banished from Equus and trapped on the moon. You and Rend know the song and dance from that point onward."

Shadow nodded and silence gathered around them, but Luna was thankful for it because it made her wonder if Starswirl had actually come to Nirn at some point. There wasn't any prof that her mentor had come to this planet, but even remembering what her mentor was capable of doing made her wonder if he hadn't come here at one point, studied up on the magic around him, and then disappeared after a few weeks. If that was the case than she was sure she would be able to find the area he had entered the world through, but at the moment she felt nothing but the residue of her own entrance, which could have very well washed away anything that her mentor might have left behind if he had come to this world.

Despite the fact that her mentor might have come to this world for a brief moment in time, and might have left a way for her to leave whenever she desired, she knew that she wouldn't leave her friends behind until they had put Martin back on the throne and had sealed the Gates of Oblivion. Martin was working on the way for them to follow Mankar Camoran to his Paradise, so they could recover the Amulet of Kings and restore the barrier before Mehrunes Dagon could step into Nirn. She knew that they would be able to stop Dagon's foul plans, but they needed to be patient until they could find where their enemy had disappeared to, where they could bring this game to an end.

She followed Shadow as they walked towards Chorrol, where they could begin their quest to recover the missing Relics of the Crusader, so her friend could use them for whatever he was destined to do.

Author's Note:

I apologize for the long wait between the last chapter and this one. Writers block really killed me on this story...
Here's to getting back into the mood with the Oblivion Crisis.

Comments

[Sonata Blaze]

Oh... my... god!
Raise your mug and raise your voice!
Nightmare Moon (and Luna) have returned at long last!

[Sonata Blaze]

Upon reading the chapter again I have to wonder something; when will the author tell us where Starswirl went?

[Vigilant of Stendarr]

Nice to see that the author is picking this story up so he can finish it... I was starting to wonder if we weren't going to see the end of the Oblivion Crisis.

[HB_DS2013]

Sweet! It's back.