Paladin's Cross

by Sage Quill

Burning Cinders

"There is in every true woman's heart, a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity."

-Washington Irving

---

Rain poured down in light showers, pattering against the canvas of one tent among hundreds as the sound of a whetstone against metal issued long grinding noises. Inside the tent, looking out at the misty sky, a young boy worked over a sword too big to be his own. He stopped abruptly, wiping the sweat from his brow as he inspected the blade.

"Hey, Morenth!" came a happy shout from outside tent.

The young squire startled as a blond haired boy poked his head through the canvas flaps, fumbling the sword with a short cry.

"Fythe! What was that for?!" Morenth gasped as he scrambled to pick up the fallen blade, giving it a quick once over with a rag to clean off the mud caked around the hilt.

"Good goddess Morenth, you've always been such a scaredy cat. Can't I announce myself just once without you freaking out?" the blond headed boy teased, causing Morenth to lower his head in shame. "Oh don't be like that, it was only a joke. Besides, it's always been you who ends up saving my arse. Been that way since we met."

Fythe smiled a toothy grin at the young squire, giggling to himself at Morenth's blushing face. He walked over to the dark haired boy and squatted down next to him, looking at the squire with an expectant look.

"Are you excited?" Fythe asked with a knowing expression.

"About what?" Morenth sighed, feigning ignorance.

"The battle of course!" the blond haired boy squealed with enthusiasm.

Morenth's face didn't reflect the same glee as his friends.

"Mostly nervous," the squire admitted, casting his eyes between his friend and the ground. "But maybe just a little excited."

That small admission was all Fythe needed to grin even wider, unable to contain his growing mirth.

"Just think of it, Morenth!" the blond headed boy gushed, "Our first battle!"

"We're not really going into the melee, Fythe," the squire commented, attempting to deflate his friend before his enthusiasm got out of control, "Knight Commander Schweiss said as much already. We're too young for combat, we'd only get in the way."

Fythe seemed unfazed by Morenth's remark, looking out over the sea of tents with a glazed expression before snapping back to reality.

"This is the first step on the path we chose together!" the blond squire declared with fierce determination, rounding on Morenth with a bit too much flare. "We may not fight in this battle, but one day we'll be knights and protect the innocent! We'll go on adventures from one side of Soulis to the other, vanquishing all evil in our path! And eventually, after we've proven ourselves with countless feats of courage and skill, we'll become paladins and rid the world of the undead plague for good!"

The dark haired squire snorted in amusement at his fiends flare for dramatics, giving a soft chortle as Fythe's enthusiasm became infectious.

"You really think we'll become paladins?" Morenth asked doubtfully, unconsciously gripping the hilt of the sword harder in anticipation.

"Well of course! With your skill and my bravery we can do anything together!" Fythe announced with gusto.

Morenth broke into a warm smile at his friends declaration. Fythe could make anything seem possible when he spoke like that. He'd been the squire's pillar of strength since they were children, never failing to back up his outlandish claims with even more outlandish actions.

"Morenth?" came a gravely voice from outside the tent.

The young squire immediately straightened at the call, holding the sword he'd been sharpening nervously.

"Yes, Lord Commander!" Morenth cried, standing at attention with Fythe doing likewise as an armored knight entered the tent.

Lord Schweiss approached them, taking his helmet off and wiping his sweaty brow with the cloth underside of his gauntlet.

The black haired squire rushed forward to relieve the veteran knight of his helmet and show the lord his work.

"Sir, I've finished sharpening and polishing your blade."

"Well lets take a look at it then, boy," Lord Schweiss said appraisingly, handing the squire his helmet and taking his sword in hand.

Morenth watched with racked nerves as the knight commander inspected the length of the blade, turning the helmet over in his hands anxiously.

"This is fine work, lad," lord Schweiss said finally, breaking the tension, "You'll make a fine knight yet."

Morenth grinned ear to ear at the praise, and looked anxiously over to Fythe who wore a similar smile.

"Fythe, is my dinner ready?"

The blond haired boy straightened at the sound of his name.

"Aye lord commander, your dinner is ready, sir. I took the liberty to forage some local herbs for the flavor, sir," Fythe added, not to be outdone by his counterpart.

The knight commander scrutinized him for a moment before the barest hint of a smile pulled at the edges of his mouth, shifting the appearance of his face from an accomplished knight to a proud father.

"I can always count on you two can't I," Lord Schwiess mused, sheathing his sword as he took his seat behind a low table. "Well? Bring in the food boys. A battles brewin' and I can't be goin' into it with an empty belly."

Morenth was about to fetch his lord's supper when a faint odor caught his attention, holding him fast in confusion. It smelled faintly like smoke.

"What's the matter, boy?" the knight commander asked, apparently unaware of the smell.

The dark haired squire sniffed the air, nearly doubling over as the odor became suddenly stronger. It overwhelmed his senses as his eyes began to water, coughing hoarsely in the accompanying heat that filled the tent.

"My lord, there's a fire in the camp!" Morenth shouted in abrupt realization.

"What nonsense are you talking about, lad?" lord Schwiess asked incredulously, appearing unaffected by the rising smoke.

The squire was about to yell a warning when his mind reeled at an unbelievably loud voice.

"MORENTH!"

The power of its words brought Morenth to his knees, holding his head in throbbing pain.

"MORENTH, WAKE UP!!"

---

The paladin startled awake only to find his vision obscured by two massive violet eyes filled with panic. His lungs cried out for air, inhaling more smoke in their desperate attempt to free themselves of the burning pain.

"Morenth, get up! The inn is burning down!" Twilight yelled, wheezing with every breath as she removed herself from Morenth's chest. His confusion melted into alarm as the sound of roaring flames issued from the hallway behind the closed door, billowing smoke into the room through the gaps in its frame.

The smoke was cut off as a purple field of arcane power covered the door and accompanying wall to the corners.

Morenth looked to Twilight only to find her cringing with exertion as sweat beaded on her brow, her horn glowing fiercely in the dim light.

"You're a heavy sleeper you know that?!" the lavender mare complained as the flames attempted to rebuke her efforts. "Hold on!"

The paladin noticed her horn beginning to rap itself in another sheath of magic as she strained with what Morenth guessed was a double cast. sensing her intent he rushed to the corner of the room and grabbed his pack, hoisting it on his back as Twilight completed her spell.

There was a loud pop as the world went suddenly white, blinding the paladin and causing more than a minor feeling of disorientation. With a loud crash he landed in a heap in the main street next to the tired, but otherwise unfazed mare.

"Sorry about the rough landing, I didn't have time to properly visualize the destination," Twilight breathed, gasping for air.

"I have to admit, I expected something, but not teleportation. You are a truly gifted mage," Morenth managed, impressed but in a similar state as the mare.

Twilight blushed at the praise and was about to respond when an agonized shriek filled the night air.

The source of the noise came barreling out of an ally way across the main street, screaming pitifully as dark figures chased her down. She cried out as she ran for them, desperately sprinting over the cobbled street in nothing but a night shawl.

Morenth tensed as the figures chasing her came out from under the shadow of the side street mewling like feral animals.

Dawnbringer sang as the paladin pulled the blessed sword from its sheath, pleased to once again be his instrument of wrath against the creatures.

"Twilight, protect the girl while I deal with the ghouls!" Morenth ordered as he charged toward the undead, not looking back to see if the mare complied.

The ghouls were so focused on their intended victim they didn't see the paladin's charge until it was too late. The leading undead was knocked off its feet by the force of Morenth's shoulder tackle as he brought Dawnbringer down through the second's collar bone, bursting the creature into flames with its holy fire.

Morenth switched his leading side as he swung Dawnbringer in a high arc to block the raking claws of the last ghoul, slicing cleanly through its forearm as the creature ignited in searing flames that slowly consumed it. Reversing his hold on the sword's hilt, the paladin slammed the tip of his blade into the downed undead at his feet. The cobbled stone under the unholy beast cracked with the ferocity of the blow, eliciting a wail of agony from the creature as it was scorched to redeath.

Behind him, the fleeing woman screamed in horror as more ghouls erupted from the ally.

"Twilight! Take the girl and run, we're falling back!" Morenth shouted, turning from the horde now numbering in the hundreds as they streamed out of the multiple side streets along the main road.

They fled in a mad sprint as the undead nipped at their heels, shrieking and mewling as only the unholy monsters could when chasing a meal.

As he gained on them, Morenth noticed Twilight had to slow her pace to keep from pulling away from the exhausted women, repeatedly slowing down so the girl could catch her breath.

"There, Twilight!" the paladin yelled. "Through the next shop! It'll buy us time!"

Twilight veered toward the windowed shop, ripping the door off its hinges with a telekinetic field as Morenth caught up with them. They barreled through the flower shop with the paladin knocking over all the pieces of furniture he could reach as he passed in hopes that it would slow the horde down if only a little.

The back door met the same fate as its brother, ripped off its hinges and thrown into the ally by a blast of purple magic.

Morenth could hear the undead slam into the other side of the two story building in a wave of bodies, clawing their way through the structure like oversized termites. A bright pink glow caught his attention as Twilight readied another spell, gasping under the exertion of the magic.

"We can't take them in pitched battle, Twilight!" the paladin implored, knowing in his heart that if she stayed and fought, so would he. "We have to find the city guard and organize them against the coming horde!"

"I don't intend to take them head-on," the lavender mare managed to whisper through the strain of her spell weaving, "But I'm sure the store will oblige."

The shop's supports groaned in complaint as Twilight's magical grip tightened around them, doubled by the horde of undead tearing through its insides.

Twilight suddenly jerked her head to the side, grunting in one final push of arcane might.

The building groaned under its own weight, snapping wooden beams and supports as the stone foundation crumbled.

Morenth watched approvingly as the shrieks of hunger from the ghouls inside became wails of horror, rendered mute by the cacophony of collapsing mortar and stone.

When the dust cloud cleared they were met only with silence.

Twilight let out a tired whoop, but the paladin stopped her with an upraised hand.

"This is no time for celebrations, Twilight," Morenth intoned severely, looking at the red glow over the rooftops of Hollodrum as flames licked the night sky, "The battle is far from over."

Comments

[aDoof2]

Hooray for updates!

[Marching Thunder]

That was great and It's nice to see Twilight has no compunctions about killing the undead to give them peace

[reader of the night]

Twlight killing undead, no apocalypse here so new episode tomorrow and update?
This was a good day.

[Xaldon Ajide]

1836935 by marecs staff, a gobbot, quick make it explode.

and hooray for updates. love how twilight continues to impress Morenth.

[SadisticPomegranate]

Hate to be "that guy" (oh, who am I kidding, I'm a pedant at heart), but I believe that "plaque" was supposed to be "plague"

[Sage Quill]

1837201

oops ! autocorrect you have failed me for the last time!!!

fixed. please know that the people responsible have been sacked.

Oh yeah! Happy not the end of the world day!

[xbox432]

Nice little back story, always interesting to see a current character compared to their younger selves.

[Alex Wadegrove]

Awesome! Undead attack!

[grey mane]

great work again sage, and well done remembering that old buildings like the shop where mostly made of wood and stone and could be used as environmental weapons of destruction

[HIEfan]

Exellent as always, i really liked the flashback of his childhood.

[shira]

METAL

[Linkerman]

Yay, wasn't what I was expecting!
I always like surprises.

[Commander Darklight]

oh plz give twilight a sword