Following a loud crash, Brax found he could not move. His body was smothered upon the boards where he had fallen asleep, paralyzed but awake. A weight greater than anything he had ever felt before pressed itself on his body, thrusting him into a world of absolute darkness. He could not see. He could not hear. He could not perceive. He could only fear in the body that had become a prison for his frightened mind.
Falling in the airless, endless void, his consciousness constantly tried to clasp something, anything, only to find nothing. He felt himself slipping, unable to move for what seemed to be eternity.
And then, in that infinite darkness, he saw a light.
…
Precisely two hours past midnight, the windows shattered with a piercing crash, startling the party sleeping on the bar floors. A figure holding a small scythe leaped through the broken window, followed by two others, all of them cloaked in grey. Only the bottom of the front foe's face could be seen in the shadows, and what lay above their chin was a sinister, crooked grin, and the unmistakable lips of a wicked woman. Despite being awoken from a drunken slumber, each of Arthur's followers could tell in an instant that the woman standing affront wasn't there to mingle and make merry.
The assailant had an overwhelming magic presence, one unlike any other human they'd ever encountered. She grabbed their attention by the throat, pressing it down with an atmosphere of dread and perpetuating an indistinguishable dread. The feeling was oppressively electrifying; a persistent feeling of fear, like the moment when one gets startled by a rustling animal in the night, except in this case, it didn't subside after a few seconds. The massive weight of her bloodlust was so heavy that only three of the ten party members could manage to stand.
Solely Kofi, Cygnus, and Arthur were able to power through her carnivorous aura using sheer warrior spirit. The others were not experienced enough in battle to overcome it, nor had they ever sensed something so calculating, yet full of sin. Neither was Cygnus, in actuality, but he managed to stand by biting a chunk of his trembling skin off the back of his hand. He hadn't the ability to brave great fear, but he had used his understanding of logic to find a way around it: to introduce immense pain into his body, overriding his brain's commands and allowing him to regain control. It was something he had learned from the battle with the angel and the witch before.
The woman spoke in a curt, yet mocking voice. "Hm? There are others with willpower comparable to yours, 'Chosen One?' Anything less from Arthur and his pups, and I'd have been disappointed."
"Leave," Arthur said. He drew his sword, Guinevere, from its holster as his body began to illuminate the darkness with a great golden glow. His gentle light felt like a bath of spring rays, lighting up the room for several fleeting seconds.
Those who touched the king's light had their minds transported into a dream-like scene where they awoke lying on soft grass in front of a flowery tree.
It was sunny and warm.
Comforting.
Safe.
The wind was still, and the pond in front occasionally rippled with the splash of a careless fish. The skies were clear, and all was well, albeit only for a moment.
Upon being touched by the light, Cygnus noticed his shaking had ceased entirely, and the others had begun to stand up as well, regaining their ability to move.
This was the inspiring and unique power of Arthur's king magic. Not only did it increase his own strength, but also that of those around him. Such is what separated his magic from a mere knight's magic, and was reflective of what made Arthur the greatest king of all.
The magic to inspire.
"Leave," Arthur demanded once more, drawing closer with his sword.
"Oho? A clash with the Chosen One, how interesting!" the woman scoffed, cackling at the thought.
"We didn't come here for him," murmured one of the men from behind.
"It doesn't matter," the woman said. "If we want it, then we'll have to go through him anyway."
"But you can't possibly-" the man started, but was interrupted by a sudden meeting of Arthur's greatsword and the woman's scythe. No one had seen them move toward each other, yet their weapons instantly became locked with a loud clang. The stools were knocked over by the resulting wind, and the old floorboards cracked around them, pressing down. The woman snickered at Arthur's stalwart eyes, then they both hopped back, sweltering with immense energy seeping out of their bodies.
"Go," Arthur said to his comrades. "This fiend's capabilities are not to be taken lightly. Should you stay, I can assure you she won't play fair."
"You recognize me? Truly?" the woman asked. "What an honor! I would have thought my name had been expunged from the books after you threw me out."
"The Blood Countess, Elizabeth Bathory," Arthur murmured. His body remained facing the woman, but his head turned slightly to face the others. "Go to Wunderdum, my loyal companions. Reunite with Lancelot and do as I've conveyed. Ensure my letter is delivered. I no longer have a right to order you to do so, but if you retain any respect for me, heed this request."
Arthur's eyes became steel as he relocked them with his enemy. He clasped his sword tightly, perfectly splitting the center of his vision with a sharp line. As his honey glow died down and let the white moonlight back in, his kind, yet sturdy aura continued to recede the blood countess's terrifying presence.
"It's time to leave, then," Cygnus said, quickly pulling his comrades to their feet and pushing them towards the back exit. When he got to Brax, Brax resisted, his eyes drawn to the king and the foreboding woman who opposed him.
"Ain't it better if we all fight together?" he asked. "We outnumber 'em by a lot, so why should we run?"
"Perhaps that'd be the case normally, but we'd only end up getting the way here," Cygnus said, grabbing Brax by the hand and forcefully pulling him away. "Just trust me on this one, friend."
As they all rushed out the back door, they could hear Arthur's voice speaking to them in their minds like echoes of a passing breeze. "The next time we meet may very well be on the battlefield. When that day comes, I hope we can unite under a single cause, sturdy and true. Until then, be safe, and remain ever vigilant. Do not let your light perish, for you are the hope for the future. You are the pride I've continued to fight for all this time. You are the reason I still stand."
…
"Mind tellin' us what that was about?" Brax asked as they all piled into the cart. Cygnus didn't say a word as he immediately took the control orb and focused all his power into it. They jolted forth and started flying fast through the night to the sound of metal strikes and thunderous booms in the distance.
When they were far enough for the scholar to regain some of his composure, it was then that he told them all he knew.
"There's a command everyone in Arthur's Guard and the Agents of Darkness knows," Cygnus said. "One to flee on sight should we ever encounter the woman known as Elizabeth Bathory, nicknamed the Blood Countess. You've also been made aware of this command, Samson and Epsilon."
"Aye, but I was under the impression that she was just an urban legend," Samson said.
"That's what I thought as well," Epsilon said. "A myth to entertain soldiers."
Cygnus shook his head. "She's no myth. She's a criminal, the worst by far in the kingdom's short history. Her crimes were covered up from the public, but her impact was detrimental. Though Arthur was confident she wouldn't show up again, we implemented that protocol just in case. Glad we did so."
"All I could sense was pure malice from that woman," Kofi said. "Are you sure she's human?"
"Unfortunately, she is as human as the rest of us, but her actions are anything but," Cygnus said, looking back at the town, which grew small in the distance. "I'm sure Arthur could have felled her many decades ago, but now, I'm not so sure. He's grown old, and while some of his power resides, I'm doubtful he could stand up to someone as horrifying as her without resorting to his old tricks."
"Then why ain't we helping fight?" Brax asked.
"Despite his weakened state, Arthur's still many times stronger than all of us combined, and that woman is stronger than that," Cygnus said. "But that's not the true reason we've split from Arthur so abruptly. Should we have remained for a second more, she would certainly have used us to her advantage. She knows Arthur well and that he wouldn't let us die. Using that sole weakness, she'd surely land a decisive strike on him. Trust me when I say there's nothing in her black heart other than evil."
"The epitome of cowardice," Kofi muttered.
"Cowardly, yes, but she originates from a world far away from honorable warrior cultures such as yours," Cygnus said. "She's quite underhanded, which is no surprise, considering she used to be the captain of the Agents of Darkness."
"Oh? She used to lead that shady bunch of killers?" Samson asked.
"Appointed by Lionel Sr. himself," Cygnus said. "But over the course of her time as captain, she secretly murdered 43 political leaders and their families. They were as corrupt as could be, but her methods were… unspeakable. And mayhaps many of those leaders were scum, but surely their children weren't. Surely their spouses and their families weren't. There is sacrifice, and then there is slaughter."
"A twisted sense of justice, just like the rest of that lot," Samson remarked.
"It was more than just justice; it became something of entertainment to her," Cygnus said. "She may have slain the corrupt, but she did so equally to the innocent. Her methods of murder ranged from carnally depraved assassinations to excruciatingly long terms of torture. It didn't matter if they were men, women, or children. Her sadism was unrivaled amongst her peers, and to this day, we're still unsure of the true kill count."
"Vile. Such evil must be brought down," Kofi said. He looked as if we were to hop out of the cart and run back.
"Do you really think you could?" Cygnus asked. "On the day after she was apprehended, she killed everyone in the royal courtroom. It was a private trial, so the public wasn't made aware, and luckily so. Through hordes of castle guard and agents, she murdered so many that day in a bloodbath and escaped underground. The only young woman in her path she spared was given a message after having her arms removed: don't follow, or else she'd return. That's all I really wish to say on the subject. I believe her more heinous crimes should be left unsaid."
They all went silent for a few uncomfortable minutes before Epsilon came to a frightening realization. "Say… aren't we missing some people?"
"Yeah… those fellows that were accompanying Arthur," Samson said, looking all around.
"It's fine," Cygnus said. "Galahad and Percival are quite capable; I'm sure they know the stakes and won't get in his way. If she tries to leverage them, they're loyal enough to kill themselves before she gets to Arthur. Of course, knowing them, I doubt it'll come to that."
"How unfortunate this turn of events is," Epsilon said.
"The most troubling thing is why she showed up in the first place," Cygnus said, biting his thumb. "We hadn't heard her name in years, and she suddenly appears now of all times. It can't be a coincidence. There's something or someone she wants."
"Let's hope we don't find out," Epsilon said. "Let us pray to the gods that Arthur takes down that blight."
Cygnus peered back through his peripherals. "I don't see him dying there, but… I don't see him beating her either. If the records about her are correct about the nature of her magic, I don't see anyone in the kingdom felling her. Except maybe…"