Cinnamon Bun - Chapter Five Hundred and Seventy-One

Chapter Five Hundred and Seventy-One

The knight clambered towards us, and I felt myself almost involuntarily stepping back. There was something terribly intimidating about a man in full plate armour stomping towards you with no sign that they were going to slow down

“Sir, please, we can come to an understanding,” Caprica said. I was happy to see that some of my friends were willing to try and negotiate through a bad situation before jumping right into violence, though Caprica was raising her shield and sword and was slipping into a stance even as she spoke.

“She’s right, mister knight,” I said. I wasn’t sure if it was really a mister, what with the armour, but it felt that way based on the deep gravelly voice. “We’re friendly.”

“What is friendship and what are oaths in the face of missing solace?” the knight asked.

Before I could try to find an appropriate answer, he darted across the room, moving so quickly that I gasped and stumbled back.

Caprica met the swing of his sword with her shield, bashing the blade aside, then she hopped back, a moment before the knight would have shoulder checked her, using her smaller size and weight to fly back. 

“He’s pretty strong,” she warned. 

“Got it!” I said. “I’m sorry, Sir Knight, but we’re going to be, uh, beating you up a little now, sorry!”

Bastion darted in to do just that, stabbing forward with his sword only for it to skitter off steel as the knight shifted and the attack glanced off his plate.

I scanned the room quickly. It was a big space, and I kind of expected to find more monsters here, but for now it looked like it was just the one knight. “Good! We would have a much easier time fighting just one opponent as opposed to more of them.

“On my call, disengage,” Amaryllis shouted over the sin of steel meeting steel. “Now!” 

Caprica and Bastion slipped back, leaving the knight alone for just a moment. A moment enough for Amaryllis to cast alongside Desiree. A bolt of lightning met the knight mid-chest, followed immediately by a dozen roiling balls of fire that bloomed into small explosions across the knight’s front, each one sounding like a firecracker going off inside of a pan. 

“That wasn’t enough,” Caprica warned. 

The knight staggered back, his armour, which had been a sort of blackened metallic colour, as if it had been removed from a forge without being polished, now sported a small lightning-patterned scorch along its front, the zig-zags running over the plates. Desiree’s attack had left some spots covered in darker blemishes as well, and those were giving off faint trails of smoke.

I bet it was hot in that suit, but the knight, other than his little stumble, didn’t seem to mind it all too much.

“I’m gonna try to Clean him,” I said.

“Go ahead,” Amaryllis replied. 

I raised a hand a did just that, blasting out a wave of Cleaning magic that rushed through the knight and across part of the room, burning away dust and leaving the stone floor looking like it had been freshly polished.

The knight’s armour lost many of its stains and scuffs, but that darkened colour remained. The knight himself shook his head, then he lunged. Not towards Caprica or Bastion or even me, but towards the back where Amaryllis and Desiree were stationed. 

Caprica and Bastion were just out of place. They were able to follow and slice at his back, but weren’t in any position to really stop him. 

I was.

I leapt forward, gripping Weedbane in both hands and grunting as the knight’s overhead blow came down like a sack of bricks and rammed into my weapon’s shaft. I felt it all the way down to my knees and I almost buckled under the weight.

“Perhaps you will find your own solace in death,” the knight said.

“No thank you,” I replied. I kicked at his shin, then backed up in time to feel as two spells shot past me and rammed into the knight’s front. 

Lightning coursed through his armour, and I was, for a moment, able to see within this visor’d helm. It was empty, save for two small, glowing things that may have been eyes, then the magic receded and I was almost certain that I’d seen a face there. 

The knight staggered. Just for a heartbeat. His sword dipped, scraping against the stone with a shrill sound that set my teeth on edge. He planted a foot, steadied himself, and inhaled. I could hear it, the slow rasp of breath echoing inside the helmet. What was he?

Caprica barely managed to get her shield up in time as the knight spun and stabbed towards her, the tip of his sword hammering into her shield hard enough to send her stumbling back a step. “He’s not down yet,” Caprica warned.

“We have him surrounded,” Amaryllis said. “Did that attack hurt him at all? Is he resistant to our spells or no?”

“No,” Bastion said. 

Bastion was already moving, darting in from the side and driving his sword toward the knight’s armpit. The blade struck true, breaking through a layer of chainmail and sending broken rings scattering before the knight twisted and the sword slid away with a shriek of steel. The knight responded instantly, backhanding Bastion with his shield only for Bastion to duck out of the way.

I rushed in before he could follow up, jamming Weedbane between the knight’s legs and levering hard. It was like trying to trip a statue, but it bought just enough time for Desiree to act.

The foxwoman sucked in a deep, deep breath, then brought her hands close to her mouth, forming a sort of ‘O’ with her fingers. I could almost see the magic sparkling in the air as she formed some sort of spell. Then she blew out, like someone trying to blow out a candle from all the way across a table.

That followed was a jet of fire, a small flamethrower that washed over the knight.

He raised an arm to protect his face, then turned to bring his shield up. I almost tripped when Weedbane caught the knight’s legs. I planted my feet down and grunted, breaking the knight’s stance.

Amaryllis fired a short blast into his face. Not lightning, but more like a big whump of wind. It sent my hair and ears waving back and scattered dust across the room, but it also shoved the knight back.

And with that, he crashed backwards, landing with a clatter of steel on the ground that rang out across the room.

In an instant, Bastion was closer, stepping a boot down on the knight’s wrist to pin his sword in place. “Take him out,” he ordered. “Aim for above the gorget.”

The knight started to squirm and shout. “They took solace from us! Unworthy worthy ones! Traitors to our oath! We are without solace!”

“What’s solace?” I asked.

He kicked out, and I hissed as his foot caught me in the shin. That hurt! It was like clunking my femur against a table leg or something. I hopped on my other foot, rubbing at my shin which was definitely gonna bruise.

“Solace is the freedom given us by our oath and purpose. And the traitors took that from us!”

The knight thrashed again, armour clanging as Bastion leaned more weight onto his pinned arm. Caprica stepped in beside him, shield raised, sword angled down, ready in case the knight managed to wrench himself free.

“Please stop? We just have a few questions?”

“Our oath bound us,” the knight said. “We stood watch. We guarded the path. In return, we were granted solace. Rest. Purpose. A release from endless vigilance.” His gauntleted hand flexed weakly against Bastion’s boot. “Then it was taken. The doors sealed. The call unanswered. We were left to stand… and stand… and stand! We are without solace!”

I glanced at my friends, but they didn’t seem to understand any more than I did. 

“We should put an end to it,” Amaryllis said calmly. “It’s... suffering, I think.”

“It feels a bit wrong to do that to someone we captured,” I said.

“Captured?” Bastion asked. He grunted as he tried to lock the arm he was on in place. “Hardly. This one is still trying to kill us, Captain Bunch.”

“Oh.”

I closed my eyes and Caprica did what had to be done. The knight, at last, stopped moving, and I let out a breath.

“So... what’s solace?”

“I have not the faintest,” Amaryllis said.

“It sounds important,” Desiree replied.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “And it doesn’t sound like a root thing... whatever it is.”

I looked up, scanning the room once more. Maybe there’d be a clue or two for us to find? It couldn’t hurt to look around, at least!

***