The Blackest Knight

by Michael S. Melendez

  Mitch was the world's strongest man. He tried to stop him but ended up stabbed to death. We aren’t fighters, Vincent, we are performers. He left you a message. He said to meet him and the old temple of the seven. He will be waiting there with Alvarez.”

  Vincent was speechless and angry. This was all this fault, he thought. He started to regret not killing Zeke when he had the chance. “Where is this temple?” he asked coldly.

  “It’s a days ride from here. Just go east. It’s built into a mountain. You can’t miss it. You can use one of the horses at the stables.”

  “Thank you…and…sorry, for getting you got mixed into all this. This has nothing to do with you at all.”

  “You’re wrong,” she said. “Us carny folk look out for one another. Your sisters were sweetest girls I knew. They always talked about you. Their little brother in great detail. I remember them crying when news of Avia’s royal family being killed at the hands of the Black Knight. They even made you a gravestone and just you. They love you, Vincent. Don’t you ever forget that.”

  Vincent felt his eyes water. He wiped away his tears and smiled. They never forgot him. Even after all this time.

  “You wouldn’t happen to know where they went, do you?” he asked.

  “Alvarez set them up with a job. I don’t know what it was and only he would know.”

  “I see. Thank you.”

  Vincent grabbed a chestnut horse from the stables and road off to the temple. He was more motivated than ever now.

  The temple of the seven was built in honor of the seven gods. Yennefer, Auroras, Keyleth, Shaay, Goddrick, Jericho, and Samrio. Yennefer, the goddess of magic. She was worship by the witches of old. Auroras, the goddess of light and love. Her name has been spat upon by the witch hunters and other who used her name to carry out horrendous deeds. Keyleth, the goddess of nature. She is worshiped heavily and primarily by elves. Shaay, god of the void. He is the one god that must never be crossed or a horrible fate awaits you upon death. Goddrick is the smith god. He isn’t worshiped, but his weapons and artifacts are said to be unparalleled in strength and power.

  Jericho is none and the goddess of madness and tricky. He is said to have a weakness for anything dairy and loves to play tricks on his fellow brothers and sisters. Finally, there is Samrio, the god of war. When conflict arises you can bet Samrio is somewhere on the battlefield cutting down his enemies with sword in hand.

  The temple now, however, is now in ruins. What was now a sacred place of worship and pilgrimage has turned into a breeding ground for rats and all sorts of other vermin. The seven statues depicting the image of the gods and goddesses inside the central chamber were destroyed. However, Vincent couldn’t help but stop at one of them. He couldn’t tell which one it was. The name on the iron plate was rusted beyond belief. He noticed the right arms of this god. It looked just like his right arm.

  It was a coincidence that gave him a momentary pause but he still continued deep inside the temple. Perhaps he should have given it more thought, but finding the whereabouts of his sisters was all he cared about.

  Vincent wasn’t subtle at all. He was making noise because he wanted Zeke to hear him coming. To make him sweat. To know that death has finally come from him and there isn’t a force in this world that is going to stop him.

  He found Zeke and handful of men in an adjoining chamber.

  “I was wondering when you would show up, fallen prince.” He said mockingly.

  “Sorry, I got delayed. I was wondering how best to kill you. Perhaps I’ll shove little hooks inside your body. Or maybe I’ll slowly bleed you. Or perhaps I’ll strap you to a chair and mail little pieces of you back to your father one by one. Starting with your cock!”

  There was a man beside him tied up. He was an old man with a shaved head and he was wearing colorful clothing. Alvarez, presumably.

  Vincent drew his sword. When he did so did the soldiers. “Let him go!” he demanded.

  “I have a better idea. Soldiers! Kill him!”

  Vincent gripped the hilt of his sword. “Oh, they can try.” He muttered.

  While Vincent was fighting the guards, Zeke grabbed Alvarez and dragged him through a large set of doors behind him. It took Vincent all of five minutes to dispatch the soldiers. He wasn’t holding back like he does in the arena. Now he is out for blood.

  Vincent ran through the door which surprisingly let outside to a stone bridge. There was a roaring waterfall just beside it and murky pond at the bottom of a hundred foot fall.

  Zeke was on the other side of the bridge. He holding Alvarez by the ropes the bind him just over the edge. “Not one step closer!” he said with fear in his voice. “You come any closer and any hopes of finding your sisters dies with him.”

  Vincent’s hands were tied.

  “Now drop your weapon!” he demanded. Vincent did as he was told and placed his sword on the ground. “Now walk towards me with your arms extended.”

  Vincent crept closer and closer to Zeke. With each step, his blood began to boil more. He snarled in anger at Zeke who was very amused with himself.

  “You’re a coward,” Vincent said. “Even in my brother’s madness, he would have never sunk so low as to pull something like this. He would have fought tooth and nail.”

  Zeke gave him a smug smile. “Your brother was a mad man. I know what he did to those babies.”

  “And yet he was still twice the man you are. Yet, before madness gripped him, my older brother was something else. He was a fucking asshole and a bully. He loved to pick on me. There was one move in particular that he loved doing the most. Do wanna know what it was?”

  “No. And I don’t care,” Zeke said coldly.

  Vincent stopped just short of Zeke’s sword range. He smiled. “Well, you should.” Vincent leaped forward and thunder clapped Zeke’s ears. His ears rang in great pain that he let go of Alvarez. Vincent grabbed the rope and pulled him up to safety. With him safe, he could now focus on Zeke.

  He ripped the sword from his hand and tossed it into the pond. They wrestled each other to the ground until finally, Vincent was on top of him. He pinned both Zeke arms underneath his knees and began to pummel him with his bare fist.

  He beat Zeke’s face into the stone so hard that the bridge itself began to shake. He was bloodied and battered. His nose was crooked, his eyes were swollen shut, and he even swallowed some of his own teeth.

  “Pl…please…stop,” Zeke begged with a whimper.

  For a moment Vincent paused his assault. Vincent hit him again. “Stop?!” he yelled as he punched him again. “You want me to stop what? This?” Vincent began to pummel his face even harder now. It was hard to tell but Zeke was crying underneath that broken face.

  “You hunted me! You hunted my sister! Tried to kill me! And now you want me to stop? You're a disgrace! You're a coward! Your father is slaver with a crown! The only saving grace you have is your sister!”

  “Vincent!” a familiar voice yelled out.

  The entrance where he stood he was Piña with her sword in hand. “Let. Him. Go.” She demanded.

  Vincent looked down at him and thought that he wasn’t worth killing. He was a coward and nothing else. He won’t stain his hands anymore with this pathetic excuse for a prince and got off of him. Zeke rolled over and began to cry in the fetal position. Loudly.

  Piña ran towards him to comfort him. She looked at Vincent. “Thank you.” She said.

  “Your brother is lucky that I have respect for you. Otherwise, this would’ve gone so very differently. Piña, if he tries to come after me again I won’t let him go.”

  “He won’t!” she said. “I’ll make sure of that.”

  “Good. Be well, Piña Maller.”

  Chapter 20

  Having finally dealt with Zeke, Vincent turned his attention back to finding his sisters. He cut Alvarez free and took the gag out of his mouth. The two of them went back to the main chamber to talk in private. Alvarez was extremely grateful. He wouldn’t stop
shaking Vincent’s hand.

  “Thank you, lad! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can never thank you enough for coming to my rescue.”

  Vincent pulled away his hand. “You’re quite welcome,” he said. “I’m just sorry you got mixed up in all of this.”

  “Ah, I’ve been through worst. Remind me to tell you the time I was captured by the spider queen.”

  “Perhaps some other time. Right now I need to know where my sisters are. Do you know the whereabouts of Cirilla and Evie Valentine?”

  “Sisters? By the gods! Your Vincent Valentine! My goodness, the girls talk for hours about you. You were their favorite subject after all. Why I remember one night I stayed up with them for hours and they kept going on and on about how cool you were with your practice sword. Having seen you using a real one I could see why they thought it was amazing.”

  Vincent began to blush. “Thank you for the compliment, but right now all I need to know is where to find them.”

  “Ah, well I wouldn’t tell that bloke who tried to beat it out of me. Once a carny always a carny. And we look out for one another. I bought the girls from Slavers Bay a decade. I don’t affiliate myself with those types of people but I had to get to Sky Reach and going through the bay was the quickest route. I felt sorry for the girls. They were being sold at auction. Sisters crying in each other arms. I don’t know why but it touched my heart and I just truly felt sorry for them. So I bid and I bought them. They were scared at first. They didn’t wanna go home even though I freed them. So, I told them they could come along with me.

  For an entire year, they spent with us. They loved the carny life and it suited them. But I could tell they missed their home. They missed their little brother most of all. When they thought you were dead they just lost all hope.”

  “What happened to them?” Vincent asked. “Please. I need to know.”

  “Well, I set them up with a job. Empress Cygnus was looking for people to help out in the kitchen. Those sisters of yours knew how to cook, let me just tell you that. Evie knew how to fry and egg that would make you feel like your floating on a cloud. Anyway, we said our goodbyes and that was last I saw of them. I can only assume they are still working in the kitchen at the Whitespire.”

  Vincent shook Alvarez's hand and began to thank him. He soon ran off back outside. He is so close to finding his sisters he can almost see it.

  When he ran outside he was greeted with a familiar face. “Mama Murphy?” he said. “What are you doing here?”

  “Looking for you. War has finally reached Avia.”

  Vincent stilled his face. “Not my concern.” He said coldly as he walked past her.

  “She can’t win. Emilia Blackfire can’t win this war. The men and women she has aren’t soldiers, Vincent. She will lose.”

  “Emilia is a survivor. She’ll pull through.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  That question gave Vincent pause.

  “She needs you.” Mama Murphy said. “She needs the Black Knight.”

  “Look. Even if I wanted to go and help. Avia is on the other side of the Black Sea. It will take me about a week to get there.”

  “Not with my help.” Mama Murphy smugly said.

  She waved her staff around her head. The air became cold. With a blinding flash of light, a portal opened up. Within the distortion, Vincent could see Avia. The battle had already begun. “Use it or don’t.” Mama Murphy said. “The choice is up to you.”

  With those words, she vanished without a trace.

  He was so close to his sisters. He was hesitant. But if they lasted this long. What are a few more days? Vincent leaped into the portal.

  Flaming arrows rained down from the sky. The fields of crops were filled with the bodies of the fallen. Bodies stacked on top of one another in the thousands. The smell of burning flesh was all too potent in the air.

  Emilia and her people were falling back. Even with all the planning, the numbers just weren’t on her side. The soldiers of Avia were better equip with armor and weapons. The vanguard was falling.

  Emilia found herself surrounded on all sides. Wounded, exhausted, and was tripping over dead bodies with every third step. “This is the end,” she thought. That was when the sky opened up. It rained lightning from the sky. Thunderous booms echoed in the valley. Then everyone heard it.

  BOOOOOM!

  The earth shook with the mere force of that lightning strike. When the dust finally settled, the Black Knight was standing inside of a crater he had made. The soldier who were about to attack Emilia now lay before her. Nothing but armor, weapons, and bones remained.

  The Black Knight caught Emilia gaze. She was so happy to see him that she ran with what little energy she had left and hugged him. She cried in his black chest plate. He stroke her blood filled hair.

  “I’m so happy to see you.” She muttered.

  “Same.” He replied. “But I have work to do. Gather what men you can. I’ll cut you a path.”

  The Black Knight drew his sword and let out a thunderous roar. Lightning once again began to strike the area. With a blinding flash of light, he was off. He was faster than any of the horses of the battlefield. You didn’t even know you were dead until you saw your body on the floor in front of you.

  How is it possible that one man somehow managed to make an army of 20,000 armed and trained soldiers retreat? It was fear. Some of the soldiers were there ten years ago the first time the Black Knight attacked. It was then that he was helping them. Now he cuts through them like a stick butter on a hot summer day.

  They thought they would be safe behind their massive stonewall. How wrong they were.

  The Black Knight raised his fist high into the air. With a thunderous boom, lightning struck his arm. He pulled back his arm and drove it straight into the wall. The wall…exploded upon impact. Gigantic shards of stone rained down on the capital city for miles. Crushing anyone unfortunate to be standing under one.

  He stepped forward. Mangled bodies, bodies that were beyond the point of recognition, and then there were those too badly wounded to move, littered the streets like trash. The army was broken. Morale was at an all-time low. Those who could move moved out of his way. They wouldn’t dare raise a sword to him. Honor be damned. They were trained for fight soldiers not monsters.

  He made his way to castle with no resistance. Those who saw him dropped their weapons and ran. He kicked in the door to throne room where an army waited for him. They all stared at him with fear in their eyes. They starting to lower their weapons. That was when Rodrick yelled out, “What are you waiting for?! Kill him!”

  One foolishly brave soul mustered up the courage to attack him. The Black Knight grabbed him by the head and crushed his skull and brain into paste with one hand. He tossed the body to the rest of them. They all took a step back. Rodrick's legs felt like they were made of led. His brain was yelling at him to run but he couldn’t move. Looking into the fiery red eyes of the Black Knight was like looking into the nine circle of hell. Death was written all over his face.

  The Black Knight stepped to the side and gestured his hand out the door. “Those who want to live, I recommend you leave. Now! Those who want to die—stay.”

  Only a fool would hesitate to leave. They ran out the door so fast they trample over one another. Once the final man was out the door, the Black Knight closed it and stuck his sword in between the handles. It was just him and Rodrick now.

  “I put you on that throne!” he yelled. “And this is what you do? Forced slavery? I was at Slaver Bay. I saw the men, women, and children you forced into that hellish situation.”

  “You think it’s easy?!” Rodrick yelled. “This kingdom was bankrupt! We were one the verge of total economic collapse!”

  “So you turn to slavery? Did you learn nothing from the mad king? At least he didn’t hide it like some coward! The day you turned on your subjects was the day you forfeited the throne. You don’t have the right to sit in the chair any longer!”


  “And you do? You think you would do a better job than me?”

  The Black Knight hung his head. He began to laugh as the armor disappeared around him into black dust. “Didn’t I already tell you? I don’t care. Let this kingdom burn.”

  Rodrick couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Vincent Valentine is the Black Knight. He was in a state of shock. “How…how is this possible?” he muttered.

  “What’s wrong, Rodrick? Having a hard time believing that the man you kept prisoner is also the man who put you on the throne? I was ten years old when I stood right here and I killed my family. Wanna you hear something fucked up? I’d do again without hesitation. They deserved to die for what they did. That why I stayed in that cell all this time. I could’ve broken out anytime I wanted to but I stayed because I had to be punished for what I did. Regardless of what they became they were my family and they were monsters.

  It's funny, you know. I came here because of Emilia. If it wasn’t for here you would’ve probably won this war. But then I realized something as I was coming to this room that I had another reason. You tried to have me killed, you sent your son after me and my sisters and I know for a fucking fact you won’t stop.”

  Rodrick fell back into this chair. “Wait!” he said. “Please just let me explain.”

  “No. The time for talk is over.”

  Vincent grabbed his sword out of the handles and tossed it at Rodrick’s head. His entire skull was split in two.

  “Goodbye, King Rodrick.”

  Epilogue

  Piña dragged her brother out of those ruins on her back. He was out cold and his face a bloodied mess. Clara was in a cabin in the woods waiting for them. She helped Piña carry her brother to one of the beds. They cleaned the wounded, dressed the cuts, and stitched what they could. They bandaged his face.