Fantasy Kind Of Story

Chapter 31: Bandit's Ballad

"I wasn't always the leader of this prestigious organization you know?", Klaus said arrogantly.

"I'm not sure you know what the word 'prestigious' means?", Lara doubted.

"Once upon a time!-", Klaus stood straight up and began to tell his story, ignoring Lara's remarks.

"Me and my brother Milo, also known as your father, were some of the finest blacksmith's in Felsen, at the time however making weapons for any one aside from the monarchy was a crime, with a rather reasonable punishment, that being death of course", Klaus explained.

"That's reasonable to you?!", Lara exclaimed.

"Better than having to pay taxes, that's just cruel!", Klaus replied.

"Anyways, our only customers were the royal army, luckily they paid alot to keep it that way, we made so much coin we were practically set for life!", Klaus said, his eyes beaming just thinking of the money they had made.

"Well, I'm getting the feeling things didn't work out, what happened exactly?", Lara probed.

"I'll tell you what happened! Your father and his huge heart fell in love with your mother, who at the time was fighting against the nobility and it's rule over Felsen, so the fool decided to start making weapons for her and her little rebellion behind the monarchy's back!", Klaus ranted, falling back into his seat, his mood shifting from ecstatic to dreary.

"Now I wasn't exactly willing to lose my head or god forbid my coin for a wench, so I grabbed what I could and we went our seperate ways.

"So you were a coward?", Lara asked brusquely.

"Why should I have to put my life on the line for some wench and her revolution? She wasn't my girlfriend, if I had stuck around I'd be hung with the lot of em!", Klaus objected, slamming his hands on the desk and sitting up in his seat.

"Needless to say I spent my days on the run, but as it turns out I have a rather serious gambling addiction, lost all our gold within days. So I turned to a life of crime, learned alot of tricks along the way though, not the life ma and pa wanted for me but if they cared so much they wouldn't of left me an idiot for a brother!", Klaus went on.

"Can we hurry this along, honestly I'm just here for that key", Lara said apathetically.

"You just found out I am your uncle and you seriously dont care enough to hear my tale?", Klaus asked in shock.

"Look if you had cared about me so much you wouldn't have left us to become a criminal", Lara answered.

"I'm getting to that part, patience, kids these days!", Klaus responded, a tad bit insulted by his niece's brash behaviour.

"As I was saying, I spent my days in the outskirts, however one day I had heard of a score in the city, and at that time I was desperate, so I didn't hesitate for a second!", Klaus continued.

"However, as I was about to make my way into the home of a noblemans house I caught glimpse of an execution going on, and just my luck, the current participants were none other than your mother and father!", Klaus exclaimed furiously.

"Now in my right mind I would have and should have let the bastard die, but he was my baby brother, so against my better judgement I started chucking active fire runestones everywhere until they stopped the execution, then I broke the lovers out and we made a break for it", Klaus stated, seaming regretful for his act of heroism.

"They never told me that story, hold on, why dont I remember you, something doesn't add up?", Lara said confused .

"I'm pretty sure I know where the gap in your memories are coming from, but let me finish my story", Klaus replied.

"After the save, your father practically begged me to join their rebellion, normally I would have declined, but I had nowhere left to go and I owed ALOT of money to alot of bad people, so I had no other options", Klaus stated.

"After that, I went from low life thug to freedom fighter, putting the skills I gained on the run to a better cause I guess", Klaus said, a smile forming on his face as he pulled out a picture of him and his brother as kids.

"Not long after we met two sisters, one was named Lilliana and Elsa, Lilliana was a prodigy magic user and know-it-all, Elsa was a devoted cleric to the Church of Jorn, I was determined to bed one of the Lehrerin Twins, maybe even both!", Klaus exclaimed.

"Ew!-wait, did you say Lehrerin twins?", Lara said in repulsion, but forgot about it when she realized what he just said.

"Well yes, Lilliana and Elsa Lehrerin, fine ladies they were, the devout one especially, I got a thing for turning the pure ones to the dark side if you know what I mean?", Klaus said with a whink.

"Lilliana must be Ms. Lehrerin, she never mentioned a twin sister?", Lara said aloud.

"Well if you'll shut up and let me finish then I'll probably have an answer for that too", Klaus demanded.

"So we had a lot of victories, amassed an army, but it had a rather negative effect on your father, the constant fighting and death of his allies, our brothers and sisters in arms, took a toll on his sanity", Klaus said dismally, his gaze turned to look out the window.

"At the time, your mother was pregnant with you, so she was benched, much to her chagrin, she was a capable fighter, but your father wasn't about to put his two favorite things in the whole world on a battle field, so she stayed at the base", Klaus continued.

"Sadly, the battle came after her instead, we came back to find our home raided, your father rushed to her quarters, found her beaten and bruised, barely conscious", Klaus explained, Lara could have sworn she saw a tear running down his cheek, but he was turned away from her so she couldn't tell.

"Your mother was in terrible condition, and we had no way of knowing if you had survived or not, your father was distraught and vehement, we tried to talk some sense into him, but he wouldn't listen to us, he moved the assault on the city to that very night", Klaus said, gripping his dagger, his hand shaking violently, a tear drop fell onto his hand and he relaxed his grip, letting out a long sigh before speaking again.

"We stormed the castle and your father left no survivors, he was blinded by rage and grief, I got to witness my brother, who had once believed all life was precious and worth saving, mercilously slaughter everyone in his path...", Klaus stood there, silence filling the room, Lara sat there, eyes wide with shock and disbelief, everything she once knew about her father had just been shattered into a million pieces, her heart was racing so fast and the silence left an unbearable ringing in her ear.

"Y-your lying, my father would never!-", Lara stuttered.

"-Your father had been beaten down by the war, and seeing your mother like that, the thought of losing her and you, it destroyed him, he wasn't in his right mind!", Klaus tried to explain, but Lara wouldn't hear, she got up out of her chair, Klaus grabbed her by the arm but she pushed him away, launching him into the wall.

"Lara, you have listen!", Klaus pleaded, but Lara walked over and ripped the key off of his belt.

"You are a liar and a coward, I dont want to listen to you any more!", Lara barked, she turned around and headed for the door, when she pulled it open she was met with the Ebony Knight blocking her path, Lara's rage instantly melted away into fear, Klaus' heart dropped when he realized he had just put his niece in terrible danger.

"Leaving so soon?", The Ebony Knight taunted.