Chapter III

A woman ran screaming and crying, clothes half thorn off while being chased by several cackling soldiers clad in black armor. A man was being beaten half to death as he tried to keep hold of his belongings that were in a knapsack. Bodies piled up on the streets, some half-alive while others already thorn to bits. Several houses were already on fire, some have huge holes and falling debris from an attack, while others were completely turned into rubble.

The town had fallen and was no in a state of panic, chaos, and destruction. Cries of agony, terror, and demise mix with the laughs of lust, craze, and sheer rage mixed together through the air; the battle for the place raged on as some of the remaining soldiers still fought.

Three fully armored horsemen move along the broken-down street, a few foot soldiers tagging along behind. Their horses marched through the carnage, unmindful of the horrors that were happening around them.

The Black Knight clad in armor that had a dragon face helmet with two huge fins like horns on the ear side was leading the group. Looking at his right palm, he winced in a grin under his helmet, still feeling the tingling sensation on it; glowing purple veins kept pulsating along with each struck of pain as he tried to keep it steady.

“My lord, my lord!” The voice of the man on the left side echoed as he tried to keep phase with the one leading them.

The Black Knight turned to the man who was now beside him, wearing a similar black armor but had a kegel helmet with a dragon crest on its forehead. It was his adviser, the Marquis of Ember Frost, lord Slog Aizenberg; His eyes were inspecting, gazing from the Black Knight's raised hand and the cracked armor on the side of his ribs that kept glowing a dark purple shine.

“Wouldn’t it be wise if you’d take a rest first my lord? You’ve barely managed to survive that last blast,” lord Aizenberg stated, trying to remain a few inches behind their leader.

The Black Knight just grumbled in annoyance from the comment making the marquis fall into silence. He then looked at the surroundings, thought the road towards the main castle was peaceful, the sounds of battle and pillaging could be heard all over.

Hearing it somehow made him feel alive again; savoring the stench of blood, ash, and carcasses all around them. The only thing that left a bitter taste in his mouth was the main castle that stood proudly in front of him, as if taunting him with its three tall towers that remained unbroken and unbent, still glowing with its lustrous magical forcefield.

“Commander, should I be concerned?” The Black night finally states, feeling impatient and sore at the sight that was in front of him.

The man on his right wearing the same black armor but with a dog like a shaped helmet quickly made his horse stride to get a bit closer, it was the head of the Black Army; Commander Tycus Brell, swallowed hard, suddenly turning pale upon hearing the displeasure in his leaders' tone.

“No my prince, it's just that we need a bit more time to breach the main castle with the fire breathers,” the commander quickly stated, bending his head in a bow.

The Black Knight felt a throb on his temple with the excuse, gritting his teeth, yet his stare remained at the castle in front of them.

“How long?” he asks.

Commander Tycus gaped for a moment, lost for words, having no specific answer for the question given.

Lord Aizenberg quickly intervenes when he noticed the moment of silence. “Those Aseleysia priestesses managed to raise a formidable forcefield around the main castle, my lord, they have holed up their remaining forces inside and are putting up quite the resistance,” he informs.

Though unseen to the two men, The Black Knight could not help but raise a brow, now somewhat feeling entertained from the information.

“Are they now,” He glances upward looking at the middle and tallest tower of the castle.

Looking like the pointy end of a crown adorned with a large white sphere in the middle. It seemed like the structure was looking down on him, like a smug giant that seemed to be mocking him and his power.

Feeling a rush of excitement from the challenge afoot, he pulls the rain on his horse then slaps its backside, making the beast stride.

“My lord!” The marquis shouted in horror seeing their leader dashing away from the safety of the platoon.

“Prince Alexander!” Commander Tycus called out, quickly reigning his beast to give chaste to their prince.

Yet the Black Knight; Prince Alexander, was already too enthralled with the exhilaration of the battle ahead. The armored beast ran wild and fast, matching the masters' anticipation. Its breath smoked as fire was almost coming out of its nostrils as it kept going faster and faster.

Without warning two figures suddenly sprang from each side of the road in an almost flying-like manner. It seemed that the two have been hiding from the buildings and were waiting for prey to step into the ambush.

Alexander’s eyes were quick to notice the ambush, yet he was unable to move away from the upcoming blades. A grin quickly grew wide on his face feeling the adrenaline course through his veins as he met the two head-on with his right hand.

Loud clanking noise resonated through the air as armor and weapon collided. The beast neighed in surprise from the flash and sudden appearance of the assailants.

The two warriors tumbled on the road but one was quickly able to roll back in a stance while the other fell, body flat on the ground before his head came rolling down a few meters away.

Though one of the ambushers was glaring at the Black Knight, fear could be seen in the warriors' deep brown eyes that seemed to have opened wider than usual from the sheer shock of what had just happened.

The Black Knight’s helmet seemed to have suddenly glowed red in the eyes, as he slowly made his beast turn around to face them.

Though shaking from the loss of a comrade, the warrior clad in a white robe, dawning the cloth-like armor of the Aselaysian soldiers raised its twin sabers in front of the prince. Taking strength from the anger, while looking at the now blood-soaked armor glove of the Black Knight.

Amused, Alexander alighted from his beast to face the assailant. Drawing his broadsword from his back, he points it to his enemy with one hand in a mock.

Eyes squinting the soldier change stance, crouching a bit on the ground. With just one step the assailant dashed forward, then to the left, then to the right, bouncing off of the walls like some kind of shadow.

Alexander’s breathing became erratic from the excitement that seemed to be coursing through his veins. His enemy was fast, agile, and almost impossible to see. Gripping the hilt of his sword, he then swung into the side the moment he noticed the enemy’s approach. But like before a spark and clank echoed as he was not able to hit his target but it managed to touch his armor. It wasn’t even a moment that the figure began its series of jumps and turns, moving around him like a bird of prey.

The soldier stopped, looking behind upon noticing the approaching cavalry and foot soldiers from where the Black Knight came from.

“Protect the prince!” Commander Tycus shouted to his soldiers as they charged forward, swords and spears pointed out.

Grinning in delight Alexander took that chance to slam his sword to the ground, causing the ground to shake and crack upon impact. Debris flew off along with the smoke of dirt that came from the shattered pavement.

The Aselaysian soldier was quick to react, moving to the side and then forward to avoid the incoming surge of the attack.

The cloud of dust hid the white-clad warrior from Alexanders' sight but he could still feel the ominous killing intent of his enemy. Before the cloud could even subside, he was already face to face with the warrior once more, as the prince moved forward to meet his enemy head-on. Their gazes met and he could see the rage in the warrior's eyes, meeting it with another swing of his sword.

The Aselaysian soldier was able to do a twirl mid-air, managing to avoid the blade of the Black Knights' sword, with nimble feet the warrior stepped on the sword's blade, using its upward motion to flung away from the battle.

“Sire, are you all right?” Commander Tycus was quick to jump down on his beast and moving to his prince.

Several soldiers quickly surrounded the two as the dust of smoke remained thick all around them.

Alexander took a quick glance at his vambrace noticing the slight scratched that was left there from his enemy’s last attack. Under his helmet, he could not help but raised a brow, grinning as he was very much entertained from the encounter.

“Stay in defensive formation and protect the prince!” Commander Tycus orders the soldiers.

The men quickly formed a human barricade, raising their shields along with their spears around them like a spiked wall.

With the smog residing and the soldiers already surrounding him, Alexander suddenly lost interest in the fight. Sheathing his sword back in place, he decides to walk back to check on one of the enemies he had managed to defeat.

“My lord, please refrain from acting on your own again, there are still powerful enemy’s around us, who knows what tricks they have up their sleeves,” lord Aizenberg was still gasping for air when he reached the lot of them.

Alexander let out a bored sigh as he was once again no longer in the mood. He did not answer the man, having no need or interest in explaining his actions to his subordinates. There was only one thing on his mind right now and that was to see what kind of people were brave enough to face him head-on like that.

Kneeling down beside the corpse, Alexander quickly turns it around, intrigued why the body was slumped in an odd way on the ground. He frowned the moment he noticed the shape of the warriors' armor and how thin and light it was. Still quite curious, he takes out his knife, stabbing the cloth on carcass only to be deflected by its smooth shiny white silk.

“ Aselaysian armor is enchanted my lord, though they look like simple clothing they are as hard as steel. Allowing their warriors to move much more freely,” lord Aizenberg explains noticing the prince's interest when he managed to move behind him.

That managed to return Alexander’s delight, knowing that his conquest would bear fruit in the time to come.

“I want it!” Quite pleased with himself, the prince tries to take off the cloth-like armor.

“Sire, let the soldiers do that, we can have as much of that material once the siege is over.” Commander Tycus wanting to stop his lord from continuing his rash behavior.

Alexander shrugged it off, wanting to take the suit of armor as his prize for defeating such a very skillful opponent. It was only when he had managed to open the middle top off, that he paused, frowning upon seeing two round and protruding breasts, suddenly springing out of the clothing.

“A female warrior,” Commander Tycus almost let out a gasped seeing the same thing.

Lord Aizenberg ends up placing his mouth, from the sort of bitterness in his tongue seeing the body. “These Aselaysian’s are quite fascinating are they not my lord,” he says with a forced cheerfulness when he noticed his master's sudden distaste.

The Black Knight stood up after covering up the body once more, once again he had lost any kind of enthusiasm, realizing his mistake. Irritated that the catch he thought was a prize was nothing more than a fluke of weakness.

“The prince wouldn’t be interested in the eastern lands if they weren’t,” Commander quickly tries to add, noticing the sudden silence from their liege.

The two ended up silent, a bit nervous upon looking at each other and then turning their gazes back at the prince who stood like a statue head bent down observing the woman’s corpse.

“Though it is quite distasteful, seeing how desperate they have become, forcing their women to participate in wars, this just shows how pathetic their rulers are,” lord Aizenberg tried to alleviate the situation once more with an insult to the said kingdom.

Annoyed, angry, and feeling disrespected by this, the Black Knight turned his sights on the castle once more. Moving in a slow steady phase as he glared at it.

“Prince Alexander, sire, where are you going?” Commander Tycus was quick on his feet to follow his master.

But before they were even able to surround the prince, his wings that rested on his back like a cape suddenly protruded, opening to its full glory which made them backed away. Its leathery flaps shined when struck by the sun though it was pitched black, like an ever-glorious beast its tendrils stretched out, even more, doubling its size from before.

Everyone around was in awe, mouth gaped while staring at the magnificence of their leaders' legendary wings.

“My lord, please don’t, let the wizards handle it,” lord Aizenberg tried to stop the prince after realizing what his lord wanted to do.

But before anyone could move the Black Knight jumps off into the air, with one quick swish of his powerful wings he was instantly rising through the sky.

From below the prince looked like a shadow of the legendary beast said to have been the ancestors of their rulers. His dark energy emanated like a thick cloud of smoke as he soared through the heavens.

Enraged, insulted, and irked Alexander was seeing red as he felt cheated by the amazing encounter a while ago. Though his wings still prickled from pain coming from the effect of the last attack that he had done, his fury seemed to numb it all, as adrenaline kept pumping inside his body. There was one thing on his mind right now, and that was to find that last warrior he had encountered a while ago. His pride and dignity could not accept to be bested by an easterner, adding to the insult the possibility of the warrior also being a woman.

Like his ancestors did before him, he let his beastly raged take over, as he was now flying like a predator in the sky. Sniffing, looking, and searching with all his senses that one familiar scent of the warrior. He became irksome when he was unable to tell the woman he had killed a while ago as her scent mixed with the blood of the men she had killed. Now all he wanted was to make sure that the opponent who had escaped him was not one, not wanting to add another wound to his pride.

The Black Army was quick to stop their assault of the castle, as they had felt the ominous power coming from their prince who was approaching.

The soldiers quickly backed away knowing what it meant as it had already happened three times in the course of their days of siege.

With his speed and agility up in the air, not even the castle’s formidable turrets were able to stop him, only being able to hit the prince once or twice.

A thunderous boom resonated almost through the whole kingdom, shaking the very earth as Alexander collided with the luminous spherical light that surrounded and defended the main castle of Lusha.

But unlike before there was no after effect as he was able to nosedive straight into the enemy’s forefront, landing straight into the castle’s first bailey and smashing into the ground but not hitting even one soldier of the enemy’s army.

Eyes fiery red, he stood up straight, gazing at the numerous prey around him. Arms clenched, he surveyed the army, smelling and scrutinizing everyone from each other. He was not going to make that same mistake again, even though he was having a hard time distinguishing male from female from the mix of blood, ash, and corpses that had begun seeping into them.

So with one deep puffed Alexander mixed his energy and concentrated it on his chest, before releasing it into the enemy soldiers that were blocking his way.

That let out a deafening roar, causing even the castle walls to crack and vibrate from the shear strength and power of the sound.

Only a select few from the Aselaysian soldiers were able to withstand it, yet they were all shaky and unable to stand up straight as almost all of them were knocked out,

Glaring, Alexander walked towards the now incapacitated soldiers, slowly nitpicking each and every one of the people he came across.