4000 - A DarkKnightZach Story - Saga 5, Arena
*
The mood was darkly clear and clearly dark within the long-abandoned cathedral, a lone figure at its front before the altar. The ornate stained-glass windows cast bizarre shadows throughout the sanctuary as the knight only stood there, perfectly still. Soon his head slowly dropped in further contemplation.
Outside the wind howled and the rain beat down on the roof, thunder booming in the distance, lightning intermittently assaulting the towering building with its blinding flashes.
The dark knight had long since lost belief in the old Deverenian gods. The only deities he knew were Cold Steel and Flowing Blood. These entities dictated his life, drove him forward and showed his path.
A dodo sat on his shoulder, NirvanaTool the eternal familiar, forked tongue lapping at the night air and talons scraping at the warrior’s armor. Atop his convenient perch he continued to whisper those same words he’d been for decades, all the same, over and over, kill General Lund, kill General Lund, kill General Lund, kill General Lund, kill General Lund…
This was only yet another demon from his past and, verily, his present, as the callous bird had accompanied him of its own accord for as long as he could remember. The creature was archaic and arcane, a spirit of bloodlust. It had its own tale of irony and tragedy to accompany the point of this knight’s innermost brokenness, his soul’s prison of self-imposed exile in a state of torturous agony. General Lund had been killed, thousands of times, but this never proved to satisfy the dodo, the crow, the vulture. The soldier ignored the ghastly voice, having long since learning of its ultimate insignificance. It now only stood as a symbol of the thorn in his side. Yet, all the same, this made no difference. He was a survivor.
He had, however, grown weary in his years of rampant adventure and shallow escapades. Was existence for him naught but one fight after another, war begetting war? As profoundly as violence coursed through his veins, in the recesses of his heart he could only wonder if it mattered; if losing or winning these battles really made any difference anymore. He was certainly ready for a change of pace. He would welcome it, embrace it.
DarkKnightZach sighed and now looked upward towards the heavens, if there really were such things. Something creaked behind him
Every sinew in the man’s body now became attuned to that grand ol’ feeling of survival as he rapidly turned ‘round and deftly drew his massive sword. The Knight took proper stance and slightly squinted, scanning every pew within the massive room. Lightning flashed.
Adrenaline began coursing through his veins as he crept forward, taking one silent step after another, every sense trained on the situation at hand. Thunder rolled and something giggled.
Zach’s knuckles cracked as he squeezed harder on the handle of his sword, teeth gnashing, mind ripping itself into pieces over this newest confrontation. He wasn’t in the mood for this, yet he’d been born for it, created for this singular purpose of wreaking death.
The intruder in the shadows suddenly leapt towards Zach, a rocketing leap of spectacular skill. The knight instantly bound forward and rolled, his blade glinting in the stormlight briefly before he stood and regained stance.
The shadowy intruder then hit the ground himself – In halves. Various organs propelled themselves from the stumpy new bottom of his torso, the victim screaming out in agony, legs twitching of their own volition.
The Deverenian son could not help but grin at his latest display of the killing arts. A couple steps later he loomed over the dying trespasser, frowning as he recognized the figure and visage of YOYOY. A second later a slow clapping began, a solo round of applause.
“Bravo, Zach. You still manage to impress and amaze me. Aside from the beautiful violence, I have to ask, how’d you know that was just one of my clones?â€
YOYOY began striding down the isle towards Zach before the knight turned to respond.
“I didn’t.â€
The scribe stopped and offered his own frown as reply.
“Oh. Right.â€
Without warning or hesitation DarkKnightZach actually threw his sword at YOYOY, the weapon rapidly rotating thrice in midair before savagely nuzzling itself within the chronicler’s face. The target’s body limply fell to the ground, hitting with an echoing thud. Without a word, Zach strode forward and retrieved his trusty sword.
A gentle fluttering descended from the hallowed darkness of the distant ceiling as yet another person entered sanctuary view. Zach sighed, allowing a moment of pause before turning to face his newest guest who now spoke.
“Yeah, um, sorry about those. Brilliantly played, though. Really. But let’s talk – I assume you got the letter as well?â€
This was the true YOYOY speaking, DKZ allowing a soft chuckle and accompanying smile with his response.
“Yes, I did. You’d know better than I what to think of it. What’s up?â€
The Chronicler of Lore mirrored the knight’s actions as each leaned against a pew opposite each other. Y withdrew his own copy of the letter in question, briefly scanning it for perhaps the twentieth time. He shook his head, sliding back his cowl, collecting his thoughts, mouth agape before able to say what it desired.
“After all we’ve been through, especially together, I don’t know what to think. I trust you Zach, and I wouldn’t say this to many, but I admit, this has me pretty much clueless. I know the entirety of Anything, I fully comprehend its intricate histories, I am aware of every code and cipher, but this screws me over. We know it’s an invitation, but to the middle of the desert? For an undisclosed reason, from an anonymous sender? I mean, why should we bother? And, yet…â€
Each man now faced the floor, awkwardly shuffling their feet. The unspoken message was clear – They were restless, anxious, ageless, always waiting for the next big story. In some circles they were legendary, in others virtually ignored, but unto themselves they knew their place when opportunity arose. YOYOY nodded before continuing.
“I’ve checked, and this thing’s really making its round. Apparently every Denizen has received this bit, and I’m guessing it’s probably made rounds throughout General and made an appearance in Hades as well.â€
Zach lightly laughed at YOYOY’s assessment. While you could never be certain as to whether the Scribe of renown was perfectly serious, one always knew he was perfectly sincere.
He continued, “You and I both know we have nothing better to do. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll travel with you. An old spirit is kicking in Anything, as even evidenced by the appearance of my clones. Something’s stirring and I’m simply too curious. I want in on this. I know you do too, don’t try to lie to me.â€
Zach shrugged, figuring he had nothing to lose. Did he ever?
“Sure,†the knight replied, “sounds great.â€
YOYOY nodded, then grinned, laughing. DKZ raised an eyebrow, curious, as the writer spoke.
“If you’d like, we could be there right now, instantly. That alright with you?â€
“Um, sure. I guess I’m ready-“
The Chronicler quickly withdrew an object from his holding, a sheer black orb, perfect in sphere and snugly fitting in his grip. He then dashed it into the ground, the object shattering into a sudden charge of lights and sparkles and otherworldly screeching. Zach winced, unsure of what was going on.
The storm stopped, the rain ceasing as something wholly darker enveloped the sky. YOYOY could only snicker excitedly before running to the nearest exit, encouraging waving his companion closer.
“C’mon, let’s go!â€
The knight, perhaps against his better judgment, followed. As soon as each being set foot outside the ancient abode, each was beamed aboard the unfathomably massive ship above as it made its way towards the desert.
*
“That was quick. By the way, kill General Lund.â€
Below JWalker’s monstrosity of a craft was an infinite expanse of sand, excepting for a singular structure in the middle of it all – A colloseum, a stadium, a gigantic arena. The knight and rogue were beamed to the surface, a short ways away from what they collectively decided was probably the entrance. DarkKnightZach and YOYOY now calmly strode towards the entryway gates.
They opened by themselves, a loud clanking and clattering accompanying their motion. Each man now grew anxious as they continued treading into unknown territory. Hallways opened up on either side, yet the hall ahead interested them most. They met another gateway, manually opening it this time, and beheld the sight now revealed.
They squinted as the sun newly assaulted their faces, each holding a hand to block its rays. Hesitantly they continued walking forward as the building opened up and they now stood amidst the glory of open air and dusty ground. Above and surrounding them were thousands upon thousands of seats, currently empty but holding the promise of a spectacle more grand than they could accurately imagine. Each now took a moment in awe.
YOYOY looked down, thinking he had noticed something. He then knelt and wiped a hand across the dusty earth below. As he cast the settled dust aside, he immediately noticed two things of interest. Firstly, it was not the typical desert earth but rather comprised of a stone floor, carved and smoothed out well. Secondly, in tiny letters, like on parchment, were runes and coded words across its entire surface. The scribe then furiously began wiping more and more dust away, only to reveal hundreds more letterings. Soon he realized that if the entire arena’s floor were like this, which it probably was, this meant it was completely covered in millions and millions of runes, the entirety of which rivaled that of which lined the walls of his innermost sanctum back home before Ter-Soth destroyed it so long ago.
Zach only wheeled around, pivoted on one heel then another as he struggled to take it all in, to completely fathom this conveyance of structure. While Haplo’s castle and JWalker’s skyship were by far, so far, the largest single things he had ever witnessed, they were merely built and made up of countless smaller structures. This open area, the arena floor, the viewing chamber, struck him as the biggest room he had ever encountered in all his travels. The dark knight tried to recall ever having fought in a larger setting, only considering the war fields on which he fought Archer and his Army as any more vast.
Each being’s thought process was rather rudely interrupted by a sudden prick on their necks they’d later figure to be the feeling of a fired dart. Some sort of powerful sedative must have accompanied these, for each person fell into a deep sleep within seconds.
*
“Hey guys, I think that one’s waking up-“
“You mean YOYOY?â€
“Can’t be him. No way.â€
“Why not? We already-“
The Chronicler of Lore groaned, head aching something awful. He reached up to rub it, only to find his hands were cuffed and shackled, along with his feet. He blinked away the blurred and murky feelings of post-sedation and tried to focus. All he could really tell was that he was in some kind of really dark chamber, against a cold wall, and apparently shared this imprisonment was some other folks.
“… Where am I?â€
One of them chuckled.
“We’ve all asked the same thing, friend. I mean, you know you’re still in the stadium, in the middle of the desert, where we all got invited to, in the letter, but oh, so many questions remain…â€
YOYOY grit his teeth as his temples began pounding harder, blood coursing through them with reckless abandon. Soon all was quiet again as nobody bothered to move or speak, all either exhausted or anxious at their present prospects. In this state Y honed his ears and, in the distance, thought he could hear other murmurings and sounds of, of, some kind of activity. Something was going on, that he was sure of. In the meantime he had no idea where Zach and NirvanaTool were, but assured himself they were fine.
That’s when the murmuring in the distance began to intensify, and trumpets sounded, and an impossibly thunderous cheer erupted from what had to be hundreds of thousands of denizens.
*
© Eric Bailey