Children of the Cursed

by A E Stanfill

  “Shut up and accept our help old man.” Ulrich snarled.

  One of the bandits lunged forward at him while he was distracted. Ulrich was more skilled than he had let on and easily sidestepped the oncoming attack, plunging his sword into the bandit's chest. “Never, ever, try and get the jump on me, fool.” Ulrich kicked the dead body lying at his feet.

  Gawain was impressed with the ease in which Ulrich had dispersed the bandit's attack and countered with his own. But something was amiss; he had never taught Ulrich such moves, yet he knew such advance techniques regardless of training was troubling. But the time for thinking of such things had to wait, there was still a handful of thieves that had to be dealt with. “Not bad Ulrich, but the fight’s not over yet. Do not let your anger get the best of you.”

  “Mind your own, old man, worry about your own skin,” Ulrich replied as he was now fighting back and forth with another bandit. To further show off his skills he started chanting a spell of sorts; once done he lifted up his hand and fire erupted from his fingertips setting the man he was fighting on fire.

  Gawain, not wanting to be outdone by his student, swung his blade with a mighty force taking down two bandits that were just about to attack him. Only two left standing, he thought to himself. The odds are not in their favor, and I do not wish to continue such savagery. “Listen to me, I am not a bloodthirsty killer. I will give the two of you a chance to flee, or you will die here, the choice is yours.”

  Ulrich, on the other hand, was bloodthirsty and took it upon himself to drive his sword through the last two bandits left standing. Gawain, filled with anger, pushed Ulrich to the ground for what he had done. “What have you done? I showed those two men mercy, and yet you take it upon yourself to be their executioner. Why would you do such a thing? Answer me, damn you.”

  Ulrich laughed while looking up at Gawain, “Look at you, so bent out of shape over me delivering justice to those scumbags. You're so weak, old man.”

  Gawain placed the edge of his blade up against Ulrich's throat, “Is this justice? If I killed you now for what you have done would that be just?”

  “Master Gawain, you can't!” Leon pushed his master away from his friend, causing him to stumble forward, barely nicking Ulrich's neck with his blade by accident.

  “What are you doing?!”

  Leon had his sword in hand standing in between his friend and master. “I won't let you hurt Ulrich, Master Gawain. He is the only family I have left. ”

  “I wasn't going to hurt him.” Gawain calmly sheathed his blade. “See.” He raised his hands up in the air. “I was trying to teach him a lesson in mercy before you pushed me away, almost making me kill him.”

  “Just promise me that you won't hurt him.”

  “Okay, okay. I promise not to hurt him.”

  “Why would you do such a thing?” Leon asked, leaning over to help his friend to his feet, making sure not to keep his eyes of Gawain.

  “As I said before, I was trying to teach him a lesson, not trying to bring harm. Did you not see what he had done?” Gawain responded calmly before trying to approach Leon.

  “Don't take another step, Master Gawain!” Leon shouted. “Please, just stay where you are.”

  Ulrich knew he had to clean up this mess, the mission had to continue on, he did not want to be responsible for failing Lord Alistair. “It is okay, Leon.” Ulrich walked up beside him. “The old man here is just pissed off about how I dispersed of the last of the thieves is all.”

  Gawain turned his attention away from Leon and back towards Ulrich, “I showed them mercy, do you not know what that means?”

  Ulrich walked closer to Gawain and started yelling, “You showed them mercy, the ones that attacked this caravan that you so desperately wanted to save! I know men like that, you let them go only for them to come back with more men to finish what they started! The same as they did to my family, so spare me your mercy speech. For it falls on deaf ears.” He stood there fighting back his tears.

  The raw emotion that poured out of Ulrich was all Gawain needed to make him realize that he was in the wrong. The young student was right; if the bandits had gotten away they would have only recruited more evil men like themselves. They would have killed more innocent people all in the name of greed, and it would have been all his fault. Gawain also realized that if he was going to train Leon the way he needed to be trained to prepare him for the fate that awaited him, then he needed to open his own eyes to the hard truths of the world, and not ignore them the way he had been doing all this time.

  Gawain approached Ulrich, placing his hand on the young boy's shoulder, “I am sorry. Please forgive me, you did not deserve it. You were right in the way you handled the bandits, forgive me for I am still learning the ways of being a master.”

  The boy shoved his teachers hand off of his shoulder. “We do not need to waste any further time here, let's check for survivors then get out of here. Or did you forget about your duties?” he coldly said, turning his back on Gawain before walking off towards the chard caravan.

  Leon was concerned for Ulrich, and he began to wonder what filled Ulrich with such hate that his whole demeanor had changed the way it had lately. Honor and helping others meant so much to him, but that seemed a lifetime ago, though it seemed to mean so little to him now, that much Leon could tell by his actions. He could not talk to Ulrich about such things though, but he could at least try and make things right with Master Gawain. “I am sorry for what I did, Master Gawain. It’s just Ulrich is really the only friend I have, and I thought you were going to hurt him.”

  Gawain turned to face the young teen that was staring at him apologetically, “It is alright, young Leon. You were only protecting a friend that you thought was in need, and that was very noble of you. But be warned, things are not always what they seem, keep that in mind on this journey,” he turned to face the caravan, “Let's go and look for any signs of life, hopefully not all our efforts were in vain.”

  Gawain, Leon, and Ulrich searched the charred caravan over for any survivors, but what was odd was that there were only a handful of dead bodies. With that size of a caravan, there should have been several more to find..

  As the search continued, a voice out of nowhere caught them off guard, “Die!” A female voice shouted. Leon turned just in time to sidestep a steel blade that was being plunged at him by an unknown assailant. Ulrich grabbed the person and threw them to the ground.

  Ulrich's sword was now unsheathed and pointed straight at the unknown assailant's helmet, “That was not a smart thing to do, and here I thought we killed the last of you bandit scum. Guess we missed one.”

  “I'm no bandit. You're the scum, not me!” Shouted the female assailant.

  “Then take off your helmet and let me see your face, so I can decide for myself!” Ulrich hissed.

  Gawain stepped in, “Ulrich, don't do this, this person may be an innocent.”

  “Shut up old man, let me handle this!” Ulrich snapped. “Now take off your helmet.” The assailant did as Ulrich demanded, revealing that it was, in fact, a young lady with long black hair and green eyes, with the fairest skin you could have ever imagined. To Ulrich, she was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes upon, and without even realizing it he had lowered his sword.

  “There, are you happy now?” she said.

  Ulrich had no idea what to say to her, it seemed Gawain had to speak for him, “What is your name, young lady?”

  “Why should I tell you?”

  “We are the ones that fought off the bandits, trust me when I say we are not going to hurt you or we would have done so by now. Is that what you wish to hear?”

  “My name is Ellyn, I am the handmaiden to Princess Mina from the kingdom of Bosta.”

  “What are you doing this far away from your kingdom?”

  “I was on my way to the market place to gather goods for my lady, next thing I know I awoke inside this caravan. I was lucky to escape when bandits showed up and began arguing
with the people of this caravan, then a fight ensued. In the process I managed to take this sword and helmet along with me for protection.” Her story was an odd one indeed, but if she didn't want the whole truth to be known it was her right to keep her secrets her own.

  “Tell me. If you had escaped, why did you return?”

  Ellyn sighed, “People were being taken away in shackles and chains, others were killed for reasons I don't know. I felt as though I had to do something. But I failed, and by the looks of things I am now all alone out in the middle of nowhere.”

  Ulrich snapped out of the spell he was under and joined in on the conversation, “You can come with us,” he said excitedly. “I mean, that is if you want to.”

  Gawain and Leon both were surprised by Ulrich's response; it had been a long time since he had shown any kind of emotion towards another except for Leon. “I think that is a fine idea, Ulrich,” said Gawain with a big grin on his face. “What do you think, Leon?”

  “If Ulrich wishes it, and Ellyn wants to tag along, then it is fine by me.” Leon smiled.

  “Then it is settled, you are coming with us Ellyn.” Ulrich happily exclaimed as he reached out his hand to help her to her feet.

  “I never said anything about joining a group of travelers.” Ellyn grumbled, slapping Ulrich's hand away.

  Usually, that would be enough to piss Ulrich off, but this time he brushed it off like it wasn't a big deal, “Do you not need help? Or are you oblivious to the dangers that await you out here?”

  “I can take care of myself, and I do not need the help of others,” Ellyn replied with confidence.

  Gawain smirked and called the young lady's bluff, “You two heard the lady, go and get our horses. We shall report this to the Knights of the next town we come across, there is nothing more we can do here. As for you young lady, there is a horse with a saddle just over there, I suggest you get yourself to safety before nightfall. Remember this, there are worse things than bandits that wander the Bad Lands at night.”

  “You can't just leave her out here!” Ulrich protested.

  Gawain stopped and whispered in Ulrich's ear, “If we pretend to leave she will want to follow out of fear of being alone, you can see it in her eyes. Learn how to read others emotions, Ulrich. Now watch and see how this works.” This time as Gawain walked away, Ulrich followed, and so did Leon. None of them bothered to turn back around to give Ellyn a second glance. It was a harsh treatment, but it worked out as he had predicted.

  “Wait!” Ellyn yelled, giving chase. Gawain had stopped but told Leon and Ulrich to go on ahead and mount up and be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.

  He then turned back around to face Ellyn, “What is it young lady? I thought you did not need the help of others.”

  “I think I should come along,” Ellyn said. “You know as a thank you for saving me, besides I am quite skillful, you just may need my help. It's okay, you don't have to thank me,” she told him as she ran over and mounted one of the horses from the caravan, “What are you waiting for? Let's be on our way.”

  Ulrich watched in awe; he could not believe how easily Gawain had manipulated Ellyn into joining them. Gawain allowed her to think that she was joining to help them out, not for her own safety. On that day Ulrich learned something of value from the old man, and it would be of great help to him in the future. He learned how to manipulate the weak into doing his will.

  5

  Ulrich's True Feelings

  Many days had now passed since the bandit attack on the caravan, and since Ellyn had joined the group. It still haunted Gawain's thoughts as to why a caravan would be helping thieves, what could they possibly get in return? Also, why would a fight break out between the two sides if all was going well? And why would the caravan have prisoners for the bandits, what could they have been up to? None of it made any sense to Gawain whatsoever, but deep down he had a feeling that at some point down the road, he would get the answers he sought.

  “Master, Gawain. You seem to be deep in thought, is there something troubling you?” Leon asked. “You also might want to think about setting up camp soon, it is getting closer to nightfall.”

  Gawain looked at Leon and smiled, “You need not trouble yourself child, all is well.” He agreed that Leon was right about how close to nightfall it was getting, and he knew the area well enough to know you don't start setting up a campsite at night unless you want to invite some unwanted creatures to join you when your back is turned. “Hmm, I do see that nightfall swiftly approaches. This is what I want from you, take Ulrich and Ellyn, and search the area for some wood for a campfire. Whatever you do, don't try and cut the trees, that is all I shall say.”

  “As you wish, Master Gawain.” Leon put his fist over his chest and bowed before walking away.

  ‘I hope that you're ready for what's to come, young Leon’, Gawain thought to himself as he watched Leon until he was out of sight.

  Ulrich was leaned back against a tree with his legs stretched out taking a nap until Ellyn walked up upon him and kicked at his feet. “Hey!” She shouted. Ulrich didn't pay any mind to her at first, “Hey. Wake up!” This time she kicked at his feet harder.

  Ulrich opened his eyes slightly to look up at her, “Can't you see that I'm trying to sleep?” He mumbled. “What do you want?”

  “I need to train, will you spar with me?” She asked, looking down at Ulrich with her bright green eyes.

  “Do I have to?”

  “If not I guess I will have to go and ask Leon if he'll spar with me.” Ellyn giggled and acted as though she was going to walk away; she knew exactly how to get what she wanted from young men like Ulrich.

  He jumped to his feet, “I was fooling around with you, of course I will spar with you.” He would be damned if Leon was going to get a chance to do anything with her before him. “What do you want to do? Shoot a bow and arrow, ride a horse, or learn some hand to hand combat?”

  “Silly boy.” She laughed. “I need to brush up on my sword fighting skills.”

  “What?” Ulrich nervously swallowed. He was skilled with the way of the blade, but for some reason, he didn't want to lift his sword against Ellyn. “I don't have my sword, it's strapped to the side of my saddle and I really don't want to have to go and get it, my lady.” He did his best to figure a way out of his own words, but Ellyn wasn't going to have any of that.

  “Don't worry, I brought your sword along with me,” Ellyn smiled, tossing his sword over to him. “It's still sheathed, I didn't do anything to it. I promise.”

  Ulrich leaned over to pick up his sword, “You had this planned.” He sighed. “If this is what you want.” He unsheathed his sword and pointed it straight at her, “I will just have to do as you ask.”

  “That's more like it.” She smiled excitedly and unsheathed her blade as well. “Don't think that this will be an easy win for you just because I'm a girl.”

  Without warning, she swung her blade at Ulrich with blinding speed, and at the last minute, he blocked her attack. “Is that all you got?”

  “You haven't seen just how good I am.” She laughed and swung her blade at him again, this time in a slashing motion.

  Ulrich sidestepped her attacks without even trying, and instead of countering, he slapped Ellyn on the back with the flat side of his blade. “I thought for sure you were going to show me your best.”

  Ellyn regained her composure and turned to face Ulrich yet again, “You're good, not even my skill is a match for you.” She smirked. “But I'm curious to see if you can handle my special move, taught to me by one of the finest knights in all the land.” She started to whisper something in a language that Ulrich had never heard before and vanished into thin air.

  ‘Her special attack has increased her speed, I better watch my step.’ He thought. He scanned the area but was unable to track her movements no matter how hard he tried. Just then Ulrich heard a whisper in his ear, “I got you now.” The voice claimed, however before he could react something took his legs
out from under him and he fell to the ground, back first. When he looked up, standing over him was Ellyn with the tip of her sword up against his throat. “Looks like I was finally able to get the better of you.”

  Leon came walking out of the woods, only to see Ulrich on his back with the young girl they had rescued standing over him with a sword to his throat. “What is going on here?” Without thinking twice he unsheathed his blade, taking another step closer. “This is how you repay us for saving your life, by trying to take one of ours?” Ellyn giggled at Leon which only seemed to infuriate him further, “You find this funny?”

  “I find this whole situation funny.” Ellyn laughed. “I'm not trying to kill your friend, we were just sparring with each other.”

  Ulrich made it to his feet and calmly reached for Leon's sword, “It's okay, like she said, we were merely sparing with one another.” He explained. “I don't know how she got the better of me, but she did.”

  Leon sheathed his blade, laughing, “I didn't think anyone could best the greatest warrior in the world.” he laughed again. Ellyn and Ulrich both joined in on the laughter as well, and the three of them shared a heartfelt laugh between friends, a memory that would stick with Leon for a lifetime. When the laughter faded, Leon was all business. “Ellyn, Ulrich, I was ordered to find the two of you and get you to help me collect firewood for the campsite.”

  “Did the old man send you?” Ulrich asked sarcastically.

  “Yes, Master Gawain sent me,” Leon answered. “Why do you have to keep calling him old?”

  “Because he's older than us.” Ulrich joked.

  “Why are you so hard on him?” Leon asked. “What did he ever do to you?”

  “He's not my master, he just thinks he is. Caine is my master.”

  “Since when?” Leon asked loudly, he was still young and didn't quite understand how the world worked, but hearing Ulrich say that cut him like a knife. He felt like his best friend had betrayed Master Gawain, and not only that, but that Ulrich had betrayed him as well.