Dark Armor: The Champion of Marinul (V1)

The figure that stood between the gates was tall and lean, wearing a suit of gleaming silver armor and holding a spear. The armor was impressively enchanted, though weaker than the suit that covered the Black Knight. The spear, however, was far more powerful than anything Pallian carried. 

The City of Marinul had equipped its champion with the Spear of the First.

"I offer challenge!" called the Champion of Marinul. "Will you accept?"

Pallian grinned inside his helm. The Black Knight nodded, and the Champion started forward. 

The Black Knight immediately loosed the ball of green flame from his hand, strong enough to shatter stone or splinter wood. The spear snapped up and across as if of its own accord, the long blade at its tip slicing the attack in two. The weapon whined as it cut through the sorcery, and the impact snapped the spearhead back behind the Champion's shoulder, causing him to stagger. 

That was about what Pallian had hoped for: it gave him the moment he needed to get his shield back on his arm. The Champion shook his head and started forward again, and this time the Black Knight came to meet him. 

The shield caught the first thrust, but it was a soft blow. The Champion -- or perhaps the spear itself -- was testing him. The Black Knight responded by lunging forward and slapping the tip of the spear aside with his shield. He cut down at the Champion's fingers, but missed as the man stepped back and spun, bringing the spear all the way around in massive, cleaving blow. The Black Knight dodged back as well, just in time to watch that ancient blade cut the air in front of his face. He had no doubt at all that the spear would have split his helmet had it landed. 

He was already moving in as the Champion pulled the swing in short, then stepped back and brought the spear back around in a tighter cut that shifted effortlessly to become a thrust at the Black Knight's foot. Pallian yanked his leg up and snapped it back down in a practiced motion that would have pinned or even snapped a lesser weapon. This one was too strong, though. Too strong, and too dangerous. 

So Pallian threw himself down on top of it, scooping his shield arm around the shaft to hold it against his armor while the tip was safely, if momentarily, buried in the cobbled stones of the gate. Before the Champion could wrench loose, the Black Knight stabbed  up from where he clung to the spear. It was a clumsy, desperate move...

...But it worked. The tip of his gauntlet sword went in under the edge of the Champion's breastplate, and Pallian triggered the levin-fire as he felt it bite into flesh.

The Champion of Marinul shuddered as sparks crawled across the surface of his armor. The spear jerked once, lifting the Black Knight bodily into the air. Then it came loose from the champion's hand and landed on the stones with a soft moan that Pallian would have sworn was a cry of regret. The Black Knight came down beside it, then rolled away and came to his feet. 

The Champion was, impossibly, still on his feet: smoking, staggering, but still standing. Pallian got a knee under him, and then a foot. Then, in a single movement, he stepped forward and beheaded the Champion of Marinul. 

With the spear, he had been a solid match for the Black Knight. Without it, and wounded, his lighter armor wasn't enough to keep him alive. His head rolled away, and his body collapsed. 

Pallian paused for a moment, looking down at the Champion's body. Though none of it showed through the armor, he found himself elated. He'd faced two worthy foes tonight, and even if they were both dead now, that was a rare challenge for him. 

A moment later his thoughts caught up with him, and he slipped his shield onto his back again. Then he bent down and took hold of the spear. 

For a moment, it fought him: tried to turn in hands, tried to drive itself through his armor and into his flesh. He kept a firm grip on it, using the armor's strength to hold it still, until at last it relented. Then he turned, carrying it, alert for it to make another attempt on his life.

The men and women atop the walls were silent as he passed beneath them. His own troops were silent as he passed through them, as he motioned for them to follow. Rebka was silent as she stood atop the earthworks, watching his approach. The Black Knight, of course, was always silent. 

He strode up the frozen soil and stopped beside his sister, hand out to offer her the spear. She placed both her hands on it, and he felt it try to twist again. So he stood, a metal statue, holding the ancient weapon still while his sister laid her will upon it. It was only when she finally nodded that he released it. 

Rebka studied him for a long moment. Then she turned to face the city. "The Champion of Teregor triumphs again," she announced, and her voice carried not just to their own troops, but to the defenders atop the walls and on into the heart of Marinul. "The Spear of the First returns to its rightful place with the heirs of Teregor. Had you given it over willingly, the City of Marinul would have been spared. Now, it is forfeit -- and you are all citizens of Teregor. I advise you to return to your homes while we put things to rights. Still, if any of you wish resist..." Her voice turned contemptuous. "...I suppose this is your chance."

She dropped the working that made her voice inescapable, and turned to look at the Black Knight again. "Clear the walls. Kill anyone who doesn't return home. Captain Mirlin and the heavy infantry will assist you. Then join me at the House of Governance."

The Black Knight nodded. Pallian would have far preferred to skip the sack of the city, but the Black Knight never questioned and never argued, not even implicitly. The Black Knight always obeyed. He turned his head in time to see Captain Mirlin bow and say, "It will be done, Your Grace." Then he was striding towards the gates once more.