The Blackest Knight

by Michael S. Melendez

  The rocks were jagged and steep. Emilia lost her footing a few times because of slippery stone. Odd. It rained days ago but the rocks should be dry by now. So why was the stone wet? It didn’t take long for Vincent to realize that the substance making the stone slippery was blood. Fresh blood. Perhaps from people who tried to climb this mountain and failed. Or maybe those who are thrown off. Who can say?

  After about three hours of near falls, they finally reached the top. Just above them was an ivory balcony with a guard wear black and red armor. He was looking out into the horizon. Using only hand signs, Vincent communicated with Emilia to hug the wall.

  He untied the rope and grabbed onto the floor of the balcony. He proceeded to jump up and grab the railing. The guard saw him, but Vincent swiftly grabbed him and tossed him over the railing sending him to his death. His screamed faded the further he fell.

  “Come on up!” Vincent said. “Its all clear.”

  That’s what gave Vincent the most pause. Just how quiet it was. Vincent half expected an army to be waiting for him. Or at least a guard patrol walking up and down the halls, but they saw no one.

  “Does it seem a bit to quite to you?” Vincent asked.

  “A little but we’ll worry about that later.”

  “I think we need to worry about that now, Emilia. I don’t like how this is playing out. I think we should leave and reconsider this for a day or two.”

  “You can leave if you’re scared. I’m seeing this through.”

  “Emilia wait!” It was too late. She ran off ahead of him down the corridor. Vincent chased after her.

  The decor was made of white ivory and had a red carpet in each hallway. All the doors looked the same. It was hard to tell just which one was the Goblin King’s quarters. That’s when it hit them. It was as if someone bottled the scent of bile, piss, and sweat and fused them into one to make one horrific scent.

  “Oh, by the gods! What is that smell?!” Emilia said.

  Vincent didn’t reply. He was too busy throwing up in a flower pot. Emilia could hardly blame him. She was fighting back the vomit creeping up from her stomach as we speak. They were certain of one thing, though. They had found the Goblin King’s bedroom.

  Emilia opened the door. The smelled became more pungent. She couldn’t hold back the vomit at that point. Vincent placed his hand over his nose and stepped inside. The room was about a thousand degrees hotter than anywhere else in the castle. The bed alone was gigantic. It took up half the room. The other half was littered with golden water fountains of various nude female races.

  “Who in the world needs a bed this size? A giant?”

  “No…” A voice weakly said. Vincent and Emilia quickly drew their weapons. The voice came from the head of the bed. Vincent crept up slowly. Emilia wasn’t that far behind. He threw over the sheets and saw a female orc. She was bound, nude, and chained up to the bed frame.

  Vincent immediately took notice that she wasn’t a dark green color as most orcs are. She was more of a lightish green. She was only half-orc. The other half must be human.

  “Gorra, I presume. Where is the Goblin King?” Emilia asked.

  “Gone. He left with his men to Stark yesterday.”

  “So that’s why the castle is so empty,” Vincent said. “Still, I don’t like this. Doesn’t the timing seem a bit too coincidental to you?”

  “Does it matter? He’s gone and we can rob is the vault with hardly any resistance.”

  They cut Gorra’s chains. She willingly gave up the key to Vincent and Emilia. All she wanted to do now was leave this place far behind her.

  Vincent and Emilia journeyed upstairs. There was only one door and this was the top floor. Behind that door had to be the entrance to the vault. Guarding the door were two guards. Emilia took point. She pulled out two daggers. She tossed the first one at the guard closest to her. Got him right in the throat—killed him almost instantaneously.

  The other guard had little time to react. Emilia stepped on the chest of the fallen guard and drove the other dagger into the other guards head. She caught him as to not make a loud sound and placed him gently on the floor.

  “Well done,” Vincent said with amazement.

  “We aren’t done yet.” She said. “Behind this door is the source of all the Goblin King’s power. Are you ready to take down Slaver’s Bay, Vincent?”

  “Always ready, Emilia. Always ready.”

  Vincent said that to reassure her and possibly himself. Thing was, the second he stepped foot in this castle, his arm has been hurting him the entire time.

  The vault door itself was made of gold. Emilia felt around for a keyhole but didn’t find one. “I don’t understand.” She said. “There suppose to be a keyhole here. Why isn’t there a keyhole?”

  At the moment, the door behind them opened up. Guards filled the room quickly. Shields raised and armed with spears. “Damn!” Vincent yelled. “I knew this was too easy!”

  The balcony doors above them open. That horrible smell soon overtook them again. From within them emerged the Goblin King. Next to him was Biff.

  The Goblin King was as hideous as he was fat. He had one massive chin, no neck, warts growing everywhere along his green skin, and he looked as though he just came from running a marathon with how much he was sweating.

  “My, my, I’ve been waiting for you for quite some time now, Vincent Valentine.”

  Vincent looked over at Biff. “You son of a bitch! You sold me out!”

  Biff shrugged. “Hey, nothing personal. He just pays a lot better.”

  “And who is this beautiful woman? Ah, Emilia Blackfire. You would make a fine addition to my stable.”

  “As I would ever, you fat greasy fuck!”

  “Language!” the Goblin King yelled. “I will wash that mouth of yours out. Once I’ve had my fun of course.”

  Emilia yelled and threw a dagger at the Goblin King. Her aim was off. Most likely due to her enraged state. All she managed to do was graze the Goblin King’s cheek. He reeled back and yelled. “Kill them! Kill them both!”

  “So, you take the thousand on the left and I take the thousand on the right?” Vincent said.

  “I was thinking more of who can kill the most. Loser buys dinner?”

  Vincent smirked. “You're on!”

  Vincent and Emilia didn’t wait for them to come to them. They jumped in and attacked. Tactfully speaking it was a stupid move, however, the guards could barely hit them.

  “Five…six…seven…eight…how many do you have?” Vincent asked.

  Vincent turned and saw four bodies fall limp. “Twelve. What’s the matter, Vincent? Slowing down with age?”

  Vincent growled. “We’re the same age!” he bellowed.

  Seeing Emilia outpacing him just made Vincent cut down the guards faster. “Seventeen…eighteen…nineteen…twenty…”

  “Twenty-seven!” Emilia yelled.

  “Twenty-five!”

  “Thirty-four!”

  “Thirty-one!”

  “Thirty-nine!”

  Seeing his men being so easily cut down, and on top of Vincent and Emilia making a game out of it, the Goblin King yelled for more guards. The balcony soon had archers manning and taking aim. Vincent saw this, Emilia, on the other hand, was having to much fun to notice. The archers aimed at Emilia. Vincent quickly cut his way through and pushed her out of the way.

  Emilia tumbled to the ground. She was now sobering up and realized that Vincent had been hit in the heart. He staggered back, dropping his sword. He looked at his hands and saw his own blood for the first time. Oddly enough, he was happy to see that it was still red.

  An archer took aim again and fired.

  “Vincent look out!” Emilia yelled, but it was too late.

  Once again another hit to the heart. Vincent was sent flying back and out the window.

  “Vincent!”

  Emilia’s voice rang in his ear as he was spiraling to his grave. Vincent found himself smiling. He got to see his old
friend again, despite how brief it was. The only regret he had was not finding his sisters, but Vincent has made peace with his gods and gladly accepts his death.

  Then…BOOOOOM!

  Vincent’s eyes shot open and saw that he was once again the Black Knight. He yelled, which caused black lightning to strike all around him. This arm will not let him die.

  He looked towards the sky. He bent his knees and shot up to the sky like a rocket made of pure lightning. He crashed into the top of the ceiling. When he did, a shock wave of black lightning radiated from him. Killing everyone except Emilia, the Goblin King, and Biff. All that remained of the army were skeletal remains and the armor they wore.

  Emilia stared in fear of the Black Knight. Then she saw his hand. “Vincent…?” she muttered.

  Vincent looked at her. He didn’t say a word. He picked up his sword and looked towards the Goblin King. “We need to talk!” he yelled, as he jumped up to the balcony.

  He grabbed the Goblin King by his throat and lifted him easily in the air. “I’m looking for two girls!” he said. “Twin sister, scarlet red hair, green eyes, they came here from Avia ten years. Where are they?!”

  “Why…why does everyone care about those girls? You are the second one to ask me about that.”

  “Second? Who was the first?!”

  “Zeke…Zeke Maller. He came here days ago looking for girls of that description. He even paid to take all my log books from the time…”

  Vincent began to slam the Goblin King head over and over again into the wall. Then he pressed his head hard against the wall. “Where?! Where did he go?!”

  “I don’t know! I swear I don’t know, but I know who bought the girls! It was a guy by the name of Alvarez. He runs a traveling circus. They operate out of Illya during the summer!”

  “You better not be lying!”

  “I’m not. I swear on all the gold in my vault that I’m not lying!”

  “…I believe you.”

  Then Vincent tore his head off. Spine and all. He then turned his attention to Biff who was cowering in the corner. He was pleading for his life. Vincent punted him out the window. He doesn’t take kindly to being betrayed like that.

  Vincent jumped back down to Emilia who was still in a state of shock and fear. Vincent grabbed the vault door with his right arm and pulled it out of the wall with little ease. He sheathed his sword and grabbed the Goblin King’s severed head.

  “Leave, Emilia. This entire place is coming down.”

  Vincent walked out onto the balcony and jumped with the vault in hand. He and the vault disappeared in a flash of lightning.

  He reappeared in the center of Slavers Bay on top the vault and the Goblin King’s head in hand. Everyone's eyes became fixated on him. Either out of curiosity or fear.

  He tossed the head to the ground, grabbed his sword, and raised it to the sky. Thunder began to boom as the people saw lightning strike the mountain bringing it down. Emilia just barely managed to escape.

  He jumped down and grabbed the vault door. He firmly grasped it and tore it off. Thousands upon thousand of gold coins flooded onto the ground. He turned around and yelled, “You are free!”

  To make that official, Vincent began cutting down every slaver master and slaver he saw. He killed them without mercy, burned their ships and freed all the slaves. Others soon joined. With the Black Knight at their backs, they couldn’t lose.

  Chapter 16

  Emilia made it back to Slavers Bay to find it in chaos. The building burned, slavers, owners, and buyer were executed on the streets by the very people they were selling. She felt no empathy for them. They got what they deserved. She was more concerned about Vincent then anything else. She had no idea he was the Black Knight.

  She looked everywhere for him——high and low. Until finally she found him back at the inn. The innkeeper boarded the doors and windows. Emilia just managed to get inside before she was locked out.

  Vincent was upstairs, sitting in the corner of the room with his sword to his neck crying. He looked up at Emilia as she entered the room.

  “It was me…” he said. “I killed them. I killed them, Emilia. I killed my family. It was me.”

  “Vincent. It’s alright. Just take the sword away from your throat and we can talk about this. Okay?”

  “It doesn’t, Emilia. This arm won’t let me die! When I fell from that castle I was so looking forward to death. To finally find peace from these horrible nightmares! A day hasn’t passed that I haven’t thought about what I did! I eat, I think about it. I sleep, I dream about. I look at this arm and I relive it! I’ve tried cutting this thing off, did you know that? I’ve done it at least a hundred times over the years, but it always fucking comes back! My past will never leave me, Emilia.”

  Emilia slowly stepped closer to him. “Your past doesn’t defy you, Vincent. It’s the present that determines who you are. You are Vincent Valentine. A man looking for his sisters to try and make amends. You are nothing like your family. They were…they were…”

  “Monsters. They were monsters, Emilia. I can admit to that. My father, my mother, my sister, my brother they were all monsters. And I’m the worst of them all. What do you call the man who kills his own kin? Is there even a word to describe it?”

  Emilia jumped on top of Vincent and wrestled the sword from his hand. She tossed it across the room and pinned him to the floor. “You know what you sound like right now, Vincent? You sound like a little bitch. You wanna die? Fine. I can help you with that. Let's go find a chain and two massive blocks of stone and toss you in the Black Sea. That arm of yours can’t bring you back if you are submerged in water constantly.

  But if you do that then you’ll stop being the man I know, the man respect, the man that I love.” Tears began to drip down onto Vincent's face. “How do you think I would feel if you killed yourself? You're my best friend, Vincent. You’re my only friend. We may not always get along but you’re my friend. And I hate that I’ve grown to love you, but I have…”

  Emilia’s gripped on Vincent loosen. He sat up and looked her. He brushed away her tears. Almost like a magnetic pull between the two of them their lips met for the first time. And it felt right.

  Emilia tightly wrapped her legs around Vincent as he got to his feet. He dragged them both over to the bed never once stop kissing one another. They began to tear off each other's clothes and began to pleasure one another. Vincent forgot about everything. He was just focusing on Emilia and his love for her.

  For the second night in a row, Vincent slept peacefully. Emilia’s arms were wrapped around his neck again. Hopefully, this time, she won’t decide to kick him out of bed. He quietly snuck out of bed and glared out the window. Part of Slavers Bay were burning. Vincent was happy to see people taking back their lives. “The road to freedom is paved with blood.” He muttered.

  “That was something my grandfather use to say,” Emilia said. Vincent turned around to see Emilia’s smiling face. She had herself wrapped inside the sheets. “He use to say it a lot. Whenever he read us those stories.”

  “Yeah. Those stories turned out to be history lessons. You remember how angry we were when we found out that we’ve been tricked?”

  “If I recall correctly, we went down to the lake and filled an entire bucket full of leeches and dumped it on him. He was upset!”

  “You went home at the end of that day. I was the one who had to stay and take his punishment. My grandfather was not a gentle person when it came to discipline. Even now I’m scared of a leather belt.”

  “So that’s why you kept wanting me to…never mind.”

  Emilia got up from the bed and wrapped her arms around Vincent. The two of them stared out the window in silence. Still, a question weight heavy on Vincent’s mind.

  “Emilia,” he said. “What does this mean? Last night I mean.” That was when Vincent felt something long and hard poking him against his lower back. “Um, Emilia, please tell me that’s a dagger poking me in the back right now.”


  “It is.” She said.

  “Oh thank god! Wait, where were you keeping that?”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I feel like I should!”

  “This dagger poking you in the back right now is going to serve as a reminder for you. That if you, Vincent Valentine, dare cheat on me, I will cut open your spine and remove each your vertebrae one by one and show it to you.”

  Vincent believes her. He began to chuckle. “There’s the Emilia I know and love. Insane and always threatening me.”

  “You are so lucky I am in a good mood this morning, Vincent. Otherwise, I’d be throwing you out this window for that comment.”

  “The day’s not over yet.”

  “True enough but this is where we say our goodbyes, for now, Vincent. I have things I must take care of.” Emilia began to get dress.

  “Where are you going?” Vincent asked, as he to began to dress himself.

  “Avia.”

  “Avia?” he repeated. “Emilia I doubt Rodrick is going to welcome you with open arms.”

  “I’m not going to capital. Yesterday I was contacted via raven before we set out to the Goblin King’s castle. Do you remember a man by the name of Blake Underwood?”

  “A little. I think he’s the ambassador’s son who helped Rodrick overthrow my father from the throne ten years ago. Why is he contacting you?”

  “His father has been publicly executed. Along with nearly a half a dozen people. Rodrick believes that they had some hand in helping you escape from Avia without being seen, and to make matters worst Piña has also gone missing.” Emilia took out a parchment she had tucked in her belt. “Have a look at this.”

  Wanted dead or alive: Vincent Valentine

  For his crimes against the crown and the kidnapping of princess Piña Maller.

  Reward: 100,000 gold coins

  “That wanted poster was sent to every kingdom,” Emilia said. “The whole world now knows you’re out there. Just like me your face is plastered everywhere.”

  Vincent tore up the parchment. “Let them try and catch me.” He said. “They’ll be sorry they ever crossed my path. If Rodrick thinks that this is going to make me go into hiding then he has another thing coming to him. He sent his son not only after me but after my sisters as well. If he so much puts one finger on them I am going to chop him up into little pieces and send them to his father one by one.”