He Who Drew the Flames

She stood there staring through the window. The knight walked back and forth with his bloodshot eyes. He hesitated to stare at the woman. He knew there was something oddly familiar about her… He could not recall.

"You know what you have done witch, you have murdered the warden," the knight shook his head.

The woman did not reply. Her eyes glinted with fury and malevolence. She did not care for her village and her thoughts raced. The knight again hesitated and backed off. His vision began to blur slowly. In a deliberate motion, he unsheathed his broadsword. He attempted to slash the woman. The woman furrowed her brows in concentration, and merely dodged the warriors blow. Her lips curved into a wicked smile.

"You fool, you do not know who you are dealing with."

The knight stopped in his tracks and dropped his sword. His head began to throb and his veins began to pump intensely. Instinctively, he tried to fight back but the woman's gaze had locked him in a trance. Soon, a flooding of memories came to the man's head. He grasped his head as he could not bear the pain as he recalled his memories. Fire, there was fire. In the sky, smoke rose and the howling of the wolves came. The knight stood there with his cavalry unit and stood there silent. He motioned an order to his soldiers to enter the village.

The men followed the knight's order and drew their axes and swords. Dressed in gleaming metal, the armour of the men clunked as they jumped off their horses. One lesser knight drew a torch. They laughed grimly at what they were about to do. Slowly, the lesser knight gently put the torch on a hay stock. The flames greeted and consumed the bale of hay. The fire then began to expand in size and then it extended its fiery arm and gave a smile of contempt. Moaning came from the manors and gradually grew louder.

People began to scream as the fires consumed them and turned them to ash. Women and children tried to escape but to no avail they joined the blackened ranks of the dead. A sickly smile formed on the knight’s lips as it covered the moonlight.

He shuddered as his memories slowly began cease and blur. He glanced up at the lady, her dark straw hair and her light brown eyes gave a hint of vehemence. She shuffled her feet and started moving toward the knight. She glared at him and had the urge to slay him. In the depths of her of mind, her hatred took over her logic. She raised her hand and at the same time she remembered what had happened that night.

“No! Why are you doing this?!” She shrieked as a warrior came closer to her father.

The warrior turned his head and in his visor, the woman could see a glint of malevolence. He unsheathed his bastard sword and swung his weapon toward her father. A splatter of crimson covered the walls as the father lay there bleeding in a hapless situation. He shifted toward his daughter and attempted to give a last hug to reassure her. Tears welled up in her eyes as her father’s eyes closed and finally when he ceased breathing. She cried in despair and shouted in anger. She wanted to avenge her father and wanted to find the man that killed him.

Her memory stopped there. She stared at the weakened knight and with a swirl of her hand, the knight’s veins popped out and bulged and throbbed as she came closer. She could tell that the knight was frightened by her black magic. The knight’s heartbeat became frantic he fear washed over him. He tried standing, but his futile attempt was subdued as the woman just rammed him back to the wall. She executed a series of kicks until the knight’s helmet dented.

The knight closed his eyes. All he could see were the faces of the children and women that had died in the arson of the village. Their bodies smoked and dry, they had expressions of agony and in an attempt to protect their children they hugged them tightly. There was no serenity, just the noise of the crackling bonfire that had been set. He twisted and turned as tried to rid the abominable nightmare. He felt numb and his senses began to dull and a chilly feeling began to take over. He could not move; he was paralyzed by his nightmare. Voices came to him and echoed their screams in an empty and dark space. He could not bear it, he squirmed in agony and tried to scream, but alas it was no use.

He then was surrounded by the ones who he had loved and cared for until the king took them away and despatched them in the various corps. He tried putting his hand on their shoulders, but nonetheless they faded to dust. The wind began to pick up and became violent. A storm rose to the north and lighting and thunder sporadically boomed. The sky darkened and the clouds turned aghast as ripple of growl formed. The wind roared as drums began to play. The knight then broke into a run and attempted to sprint toward a hall. He unfortunately tripped on a pebble and tumbled forward and nearly fell off a cliff.

He latched on to a stone and he struggled against the increasing speed of the wind. His hands banged on the stone doors and nobody replied. In the sky, the knight turned and saw a face press against it. It smiled at him in a vindictive way. Then a hand came closer toward his head and it grabbed his helmet. It seemed to be made out of oblivion and was nothing but hollow. It was a goliath in size and it shook the knight’s head violently.

His eyes instantly opened and he sat there shocked. The vile expression had changed into one of surprise and shock. The lady dropped the battered helmet and looked at the face of battered and bruised knight. He had the same hair and the same eye colour and slightly resembled someone that was once close to her.

Her hands began to shake and then she dropped to the ground covering her face with her hands as she began to tremble. Tears began to flow behind her hands as she turned away from her captor. She looked at the night sky and began to mutter.

She then shouted unexpectedly, “WHY?! You are not the one….”

“Brother…. I loved you well, but you have deceived me as well?!” she shrieked at the knight.

She came closer to the knight and glared at him. She then rose and then rapidly a foot smacked the knight unconscious. The lady walked away in disappointment and misery as she had been duped. The knight lay there unconscious under the night sky.