Knights of the Nine - The Unborn Seed

Chapter 20: The Unborn Seed

The room was dark yet the noise of explosions and swords clashing were striking along the walls. The room was decorated, fit for a king. At the doorway stood the wounded Knight, in a dim yellow tunic soaked at the waist with blood. He wiped his face clear from his dirty hair, smearing his own blood on his forehead. The Knight leaned a lot of his weight onto his swords hilt as he would fall otherwise.

In the fancy dimly lit room sat the King surrounded by two of his royal guards. King Aldir stood up.

'Is this some kind of sick joke?' The King smiled as Derek slumped towards him. 'Give up, kid. I'll offer you a private hanging.'

'S-stuff your mouth, Aldir.' Derek grumbled as he managed to stand on his two feet without the assistance from his swords hilt.

'Gods almighty! End this chaps miserable life.' Aldir ordered his two royal guards to kill Derek.

The royal guard slowly approached the wounded Knight with their guard down. Derek quickly - perhaps too quickly - sliced the upper half of the blade across one guards neck, nearly decapitating the lad. The remaining guard was stunned and reacted poorly, he stood there. The royal guard was dead meat. His arm swung off in a blink of an eye, then his guts spilled across the elegant carpet of the room. Aldir, shocked but unlike his guard reacted swiftly, grabbed his scabbard and took cover behind his chair.

'You act a fool!'

'Shut up.' Derek fell to a knee like he was proposing.

'You manage to kill my royal guards so quickly, it's astonishing in a way. Yet also so very stupid.'

'I said shut up.' Derek pushed himself onto the table to match the Kings eyes.

Aldir rubbed his palm down his scruffy chin and pushed his chair out of his way. His armour was decorated in golden jewels and the coat of arms of Acadame etched into the chest plate.

'Do you expect me to let you kill me?' Aldir asked as he looked down to Derek's bloodied tunic.

'Not... exactly.'

'Then why continue pursuit when heavily wounded?'

'It's my destiny.' Derek tried to launch himself forward but fell at the foot of the King. The Knights sword rattled loudly along the oak floor.

'Gah, what's with destiny now-a-days? Listen, lad, I could end your pitiful life right now-'

Derek pulled a dagger out from his belt and stabbed the king in his thigh causing him to fall next to Derek. The Knight rolled onto  Aldir and reached for the dagger sticking out of the kings pants. Aldir punched Derek in the stomach, right above his wound, then reached for the dagger himself and ripped it out of his own skin.

King Aldir jabbed the sword right for Derek's throat but the Knight managed to dodge it. Rolling back onto the oak floor into the body of the nearly decapitated royal guard, Derek coughed up some blood then took hold of his sword once more. He vigorously forced himself to his feet.

'Daft fucking cunt, I'd let you off easily, boy! Now, now we play cat an' mouse.'

*

'Kyrus, to your left, mate!' Felix yelled as he deflected an incoming blade from a 6'7 giant of a man.

Felix pushed the blade back to its owner then slid across the bloodied floor behind the big man where he rushed his sword into the gut of another. Kyrus, listening to Felix's call, dodged an axe coming from his left. He cut the wooden handle in two, the half holding the head fell to the floor while the wielder watched the sword of Kyrus stab into his throat.