Ghosts in the Pumpkin Soup

Chapter 6: The Pumpkin Knight

Crowsblood was out watering his graveyard, wandering through dead moss and rows of decaying stone. Despite his adventures, he still had his duties at The Last Straw Inn. Someone had to keep the place looking shitty. Crowsblood set aside his watering bucket and studied an archaic tombstone. The engraved name was lost to the ages, worn down to the point of obscurity. Crowsblood kicked it over and the tombstone crumbled into a heap. Ah, much better! Crowsblood chuckled to himself.

"Scarecrow!" Knight staggered over twisted vines and poked an accusing finger at Crowsblood. "That was a dick move, man!"

"What happened to te' archaic Holy Grail schtick, Sir Power Bottom?" Crowsblood giggled.

Knight closed the distance as fast as a man in a full suit of armor could. "He chose me! I had the right of way, and you just fucking equalize me! Do you know how long it took for me to re-manifest myself back into a strong enough corporeal form? Like five minutes! Five whole minutes!" Knight said with unmeasurable anger. Crowsblood readied himself for a snarky comeback, but another presence made itself known.

"Gentlemen!" Justice took a deep bow. Crowsblood cursed; he was too distracted by Knight to notice the intruder. Knight quickly drew his sword and coffin shield from his back. Crowsblood scoffed and picked at his teeth. "Let me introduce to you my new ally, Lumina the Pumpkin Knight—future Queen of Inferos!" A feminine figure pushed past Justice, almost knocking him on his ass. Clad in full plate armor, the Pumpkin Knight lived up to her name. Her armor was a deep orange and resembled that of a pumpkin. Her noggin was protected by a Jack O' Lantern shaped helmet, strands of white hair flowed from underneath. She wielded a massive halberd in her right hand and a short sword sheathed on her hip.

"Oy, ain't she a pretty high profile companion? How'd he rope ye' into this Lumina?" Crowsblood asked. There was no reply. Lumina locked her gaze on Knight; it seemed like nothing could break her concentration. Not even Michael Jackson rising from his grave to perform the best version of Thriller ever. "I see ya' 'ave some sort a history with mah boy 'ere," he twisted a crooked finger at Justice, "let's 'ave a little one-on-one chat while te' knights work out their shit." Crowsblood materialized his scythe and leaped off into the distance, with Justice on his heels.

Now that the distractions are gone, the knights slowly circled each other, waiting to see who would make the first move. "Why are you here?" Knight asked.

Lumina thrust her halberd at Knight's neck, he quickly deflected the halberd with his shield, but he reeled back at the sheer force of the blow. Lumina continued with a series of thrusts and sweeps to keep Knight at a distance. She swung low, and Knight leaped forward and closed the distance, but Lumina used the back end of her halberd to whap Knight across the back of his head. He didn't feel the need to activate his aura; it's not wise to waste such a defense on non-lethal blows. He raised his sword, but he found himself impaled in the gut by the halberd, piercing through his armor like butter. Knight felt like a damned fool. He should never let his aura down against such an opponent. Blood flowed freely down the halberd's shaft, his vision blurred, and his body shook at the searing pain in his abdomen. But this wouldn't be the end for this knight. With all his strength, Knight let out a ferocious battle cry and snapped the halberd in half with a mighty blow from his sword.

With newfound vigor, Knight pushed forward and swung his sword right into the Pumpkin Knight's neck. Her aura absorbed most of the blow and shattered; it was just enough to stop the blade from slicing her head clean off. His blade was partially stuck in her neck; black blood flowed silently down her armor. They remained motionless for a moment. Knight was waiting for her to yield. But Lumina clutched Knight's sword and forcefully removed it. Blood poured out at an alarming rate. Using his sword as leverage, Lumina spun Knight away and drew the sword from her hip.