Paladin's Cross

by Sage Quill

Darkness before Dawn

"On the plains of hesitation lie the blackened bones of countless millions who at the dawn of victory lay down to rest, and in resting died."

-Adlai E. Stevenson

---

Twilight took in a sharp inhale of early morning air as the monstrosity that Morenth had scaled dropped forward onto the knees of its forelimbs, her companion's sword imbedded in its skull. He rode the beast down as it fell, until it came to rest in a limp heap. Its cruel jaws lulled open, dripping pustules of hissing spittle onto the cobbled street lifelessly.

Guards and refugees alike hooted and whooped as they cheered, but the lavender mare couldn't quite bring herself to be affected by the heightened spirits of those around her. Instead, she fought against the nausea rising in her stomach as her gaze found where the men that had courageously attempted to aid her friend had been. Their limbs reached toward the sky in an image of agony from the dissolved puddle of flesh that marked their grave.

Despite herself, Twilight's eyes burned as fresh tears began to trail down her cheeks before quickly wiping them away with a hoof. It wouldn't do any good to worry those around her when they so desperately needed hope.

"Look away little missy," Riegar said, not taking his eyes away from the bloodshed, "They're with their gods now, and that's all ye need ta be knowin'."

Before Twilight could guess at how he'd known what she was looking at, the pierceing sound of horn echoed around them, calling the last of Hollodurm's protectors to arms.

In response, some two hundred swords and spears thrust into the air, the men wielding them shouting battle cries for all their worth. Their steel greaves thundered against the cobbled stone of the road like snare drums as they charged out to reinforce their brothers locked in deadly combat.

As the first of the reserves reached the makeshift wall and their fellow guardsmen Twilight heard the shrieks of ghouls, but not from the battle in the distance. They were close.

"Riegar, do you h-"

She choked on the question as a wave of undead spilled out from the alleys just behind the guards' charge, turning their battle cries into shouts of confusion as ghouls and skeletons smashed into their exposed flank.

"Bah, ye damned fool of a Paladin! Ye waltzed right into the enemy's trap ye did!" the smith growled angrily, hoisting his heavy, double-bladed battle axe into a ready stance as he glanced to the guards. "Prepare yerselves ye louts, we'll not come out of this battle unbloodied!"

As if hearing his words the undead near the back of the host seemed to notice the caravan's small contingent and the defenseless refugees behind them for the first time. Their shrieks of hunger were no less horrifying than when they'd chased Twilight through the depths of the ancient castle not two days before, and her hackles rose as they began their mad sprint towards the readying guards.

---

Escaping injury after battling an Uligroth was an accomplishment the Paladin would have to celebrate later. With his attention focused solely on reinforcing the front there was little time for such frivolous thoughts.

The streets reeked of the dead and the dying as Morenth forced his way through the wall of guardsmen entrenching themselves in the breach. He grimaced as he felt the ground below his feet become uneven with the bodies of the fallen, their corpses slick with blood and ichor. The cries of both the living and the dead filled his ears, drowning out everything else in the maelstrom of steel and flesh.

The paladin shoved his way past the last of the defenders and brought Dawnbringer up in time to hook an axe aimed for his head. With a grunt he grabbed the shaft of the weapon and pulled his sword free, stabbing his assailant who's form was mostly obscured by the mass of bodies clogging the narrow passage.

During his bout with the Ulegroth, whatever passed for the undead army's general had seen fit to send forth its skeleton warriors into the fray. While slower and less coordinated than ghouls they were by far the more durable of the two, able to wield both weapons and armor, and therefore better suited to armed warfare.

"Lieutenant!" he shouted to either side of the melee, cringing as an errant lance cut a thin line across his cheek, "Dammit Pythoes, don't make me come looking for you!"

"Aye m'lord!" the young officer called from Morenth's immediate right, emerging from behind the line of guardsmen as he punched a ghoul in its festering face with an armored fist, "I'd nary dream of making you look for one such as I, Lord Paladin!"

"Glad to see your wit hasn't been dulled by our predicament!" the Paladin replied while deftly parrying blows from the many weapons assaulting them, occasionally launching deadly counters into the unsuspecting hoard. "Now let's see if your sword is equally as sharp!"

Pythoes took the prod to heart and redoubled his efforts, working his blade in powerful vertical strokes to avoid interrupting the strikes of the guards around them.

"Yes, let us hope that it is..." the lieutenant muttered, almost too low for Morenth to catch through the dinn of the surrounding battle.

Tirelessly, the defenders held their ground, fighting with the desperate resolve of men possessed as the endless droves of undead bashed repeatedly into their line. There was naught to it, and while for every guardsman slain, ten of the undead host fell, there were always twenty more to take their place. Eventually they would be overrun and slaughtered to the man. Their only hope for survival rested in the hands of both the refugees loading the caravan wagons, and the morning sun just starting to light the horizon in the deep blues of a blessed dawn.

Another wave broke against the defensive line and was pushed back. This time Morenth and Pythoes gave a short chase, cutting down the stragglers as the will that lorded over undead forced them to retreat.

The paladin had just cut down the last of the ghouls within his reach when a single lance of pink arcane energy cut a path through the sky far overhead. Looking back in sudden panic, Morenth immediately realized his folly.

In the distance, motes of pink light illuminated the fighting at the rear of their forces, and more prominently the smaller group of guards the paladin had left to protect the caravan and keep Twilight safe. They were outnumbered and being pushed back perilously close to the refugees taking cover amidst the wagons. The only thing keeping them from being completely overrun were the constant blasts of telekinetic waves Twilight was throwing against the hoard. A small comfort, as the effort was likely draining the unicorn of her magical reserves at a dangerous pace.

"Lieutenant-!" he cried, looking to the young officer as he cut down the last of his foes. The smoke rising from the burning walls was now suffocating, the light easterly wind blowing the choking fumes across the undead host's lines.

Pythoes jerked upright at the sound of Morenth's call, releasing his sword that had impaled a skeleton warrior's eye socket. He turned to the paladin, his face streaked with a mix of ash and blood, and at that moment he seemed a young, untested boy no longer, but a soldier of Hollodum; grown and proven in both skill and courage.

"My Lord Paladin?" the officer managed between labored breaths, realization donning on his features as he looked over Morenth to the battle raging behind their ranks. He gave the Paladin a knowing expression and nodded with confidence. "Go m'lord, I'll handle things h-"

Before Pythoes could finish, a flash of blackened steel erupted from his chest, slowly lifting him into the air as the officer gave a surprised grunt of pain. The moment seemed to last an eternity as the Paladin looked on blankly, an icy hand grasping at his heart. Shuddering with the effort, the mortally wounded officer glanced questioningly at the offending blade as the sir coat over his chain mail turned dark red, and then to Morenth, his mouth twitching into an exhausted half grin.

"Oh..." he coughed as blood began to flood his collapsed lungs, choking off whatever he might have said.

With despairing quickness, the light in Pythoes' gaze dulled as he became still, his expression unfocused as he stared out at the infant dawn with unseeing eyes.

The blade whipped to the side, dislodging the officers body with violent efficiency to reveal his murderer.

Sharp, demonically crafted armor of blackened steel stained red with both dried and fresh blood sheathed the killers body in a litany of barbs and spikes. His torn cloak bellowed out behind him like a living shadow, and the eye slits of his skull shaped helm burned with an inner fire of otherworldly nature.

A Dremorath; a daemon knight.

Dawnbringer erupted to life in Morenth's hand at the appearance of the daemon spawn, bathing the corpses littering the battlefield in its wrath made manifest.

There were no words exchanged between them, no threats or curses. Nothing could be said to the Paladin's antithesis that described his hatred of the dark figure.

Instead they clashed, the black sword and Dawnbringer tearing through the air to meet each other in a blur of metal and fury.

---

"Bahahahaha!" came Riegar's rolling laugh, cutting through even the din of combat as he worked his battle axe with deadly skill. "Bah! Come on ye sods, tain't enough of yer darned hides ta even wet me blade!"

There was truth to his words. His body was used to hammering metal into shape from dawn till dusk, and swinging his hefty double bladed axe wasn't even causing him to break a sweat.

The burly smith felt a claw rake down his arm, grasping hold of his wrist as the ghoul tried to pull him into the host of its brethren. He merely scoffed with impatience and dragged the undead around to stand squarely in front of him as if it were a petulant child, his axe cleaving it from head to groin in a stout one handed swing.

A short cry from behind caught his attention as Twilight watched another of the guardsmen fall, sending forth a lance of scathing magic into the ranks near the downed soldier so others could come to his aid.

For all his bluster, Riegar couldn't help but admit that without the small unicorn's magical assistance, the group of twenty some guards and himself would have been hopelessly overwhelmed. As it stood, they would only last as long as Twilight's stamina.

"Long odds on that bet," the smith thought as he caught a glimpse of her sweat covered face in the pink glow of her horn.

She breathed heavily with exhaustion, and her hooves trembled as they tried to keep her upright. Riegar steeled himself for what he might have to do should the battle take a turn for the worst. He'd promised the Paladin to keep her safe, and Riegar Galenwood was a man of his word.

With a grunt, his axe was in motion once more, tearing wide swaths of destruction into the undead host. He ignored those dying or falling back, holding his ground like a mountain against a stiff wind, unswayed by the concerns of his fellows as he cut down ghoul and skeleton alike.

In a moment of inspiration, a song came to him; a song of fighting, and rutting, and-of course-drinking. With a deep breath, an ode of the dwarves blessed his lips, and he belted it out with great mirth, only stopping to laugh his low rumbling guffaw in the face of death.

"Bahahahahaha!"

Comments

[Sage Quill]

Alright, honestly, I need you all to tell me if I integrated the new sentance structures correctly, and in an entertaining fashion. Also the next chapter is the end of part one. YAY! so I'll be immidiatly following up with part two. (so far I count roughly six parts of varying length) Enjoy!

[Dynrakmos]

Nice chapter! I cannot wait for more.

[MrDenim]

Six parts... damn! Around the end of part six I'm imagining Twilight wielding a Drawnbreaker-type of sword, steel plate armor enchanted to where it doesn't weigh anything, and a full range of light spells given to her by Yuelith herself!

Along with a chapter long scene of Twilight in Celestia's court acting as a Paladin and not as Twilight, just to screw with Celestia!

[Alex Wadegrove]

It was a really entertaining way to read. Good job!

[CaptainAizen]

2063889
Do you have an editor yet? I've noticed a few spelling mistakes and other things that might make the story flow a bit better. Something you might want to consider.

[King Trollestia]

The streets wreeked of the dead
Pretty sure that's reeked.

[Potato Pride]

"Glad to see you're wit hasn't been dulled by our predicament!"

[grey mane]

stalling for the sun damn... ...well done once more sage, and reading this reminded me of a quote i found.
Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them.
Dion Boucicault

[MoonDreamer]

And once again Evil was Smithe and Awesome Served. I You.

[Sage Quill]

Sorry it took so long to respond people.

2066259>>2065935

Thank you for pointing those errors out, they have been fixed.

2065360

first, I actually thought it was called Dawnbringer instead of Dawnbreaker but it had been so long since I had played Skyrim I forgot the name. But the use of it was intentional, you couldn't seperate me from that sword for anyting in the game so as a tribute to my long time compainion I wrote it into the story. Secondly, most of the quotes I just remember from various other medias like books, shows, movies etc. but for the ones I couldn't possibly remember I go to BrainyQuotes.com like for the one about the divine assessers being born with us and such. Thirdly, any good quote should leave you with a chill, it tells you there are things you do not know and boundaries you can expand, and humans have forever feared the unknown.

2064858

No, I do not have an editor. MerlosTheMad edited one of my chapters but it's never been a done deal. If you would like to proof read and edit some of the future chapters just message me.

2064061

While I do not intend to change Twilight on a fundimental level like some other dark fics, I cannot promise that she will not change at all. Adversity has a way of refining our virtues and darkening our vices, but somthing like permenent scarring usually comes only at a young age. I can however promise you that she will grow not only in ability but in character as well.

2072380

And I you too. thank you for cheering this ragtag band of adventurers on, I promise you they'll need it...

[CaptainAizen]

2084787
I'd love an opportunity it help out with this story in any way I can, the best part is I'm on here all the time so I'll almost always be available. How exactly is this going to work, though?

[Vitae]

2084787

Tis good to see some who call their swords as they would a friend.

I fashioned mine and named him as I would me own little babe.

A greatsword of the blackest ebony and bound with many souls of wolves and daedra to steal the souls away from men and mer and bring fear and irrational terror to any who draw his ire and his bite.

I lost him some time ago after killing undead but I know that one day he will return to me.

That or I'll just make another one like him or find him somewhere in a chest that I threw him in at a house or something.