War For The Kingdom (Part 13)

[dupuy 318]

Sir Gavin was the first to reach the gaping hole in which the inn door once stood. After stumbling on a small patch of ice, he hurled himself over the threshold with the others behind him, sword drawn and eyes searching for the enemy.

"Help! Help me!" The desperate cry came from the back room - where Sir William and Sergeant Watts were sleeping. Sir Gavin sprinted to the door of the room and finding it bolted, gave it a tremendous shove. When the push failed to open it, he slammed his entire weight against it and it shuddered violently but refused to give.

"Help!" continued the voice from the other side of the room. It sounded like it belonged to Sergeant Watts.

"Let's get this door down!" shouted Sir Gavin to his companions. They all ran against the solid wooden obstacle with their entire force and it finally cracked against the weight. Sir Gavin drew his sword and slammed its pommel upon the face of the door, sending the two fragmented halves of it tumbling upon the floor with a thunderous boom.

Before them stood a warrior that was a head and a half taller than any of them. In one hand he held the entire night table that was beside sergeant Watt's cot, and in the other, he brandished a gleaming long knife. With a deafening roar of anger, the warrior hurled the table at sergeant Watts, who rolled off of his cot just in time to avoid getting hit with it. A spot of blood appeared on the sergeant's shirt as his wound from the previous night reopened.

Sir Gavin lunged at the assassin, thrusting his sword at the same time. His target stepped to the side and the point of Sir Gavin's blade burrowed deep into the sergeant's mattress instead. Sir Gavin yanked at his entangled weapon, unable to free it before the brute was upon him. The long knife hurtled towards his throat and he was able to dodge it, but the warrior fell on top of him, pinning him to the ground. A moment later Bartholomew's blade came down upon the enemy soldier's back with a resounding thwack and he roared in pain, dropping the long knife. Sir Gavin seized this opportunity to jerk his sword from the mattress and roll his opponent off of him. As he was rising, he heard a sliding of steel as Sir William drew his sword on the other side of the room.   

Despite Bartholomew's strike, the warrior sprung to his feet with ease, taking hold of the cot. He picked up the entire thing and hurled it against the wall, pinning Sir Gavin, Bartholomew, Major Wilkins, and the field officer in place. The monster then jumped towards sergeant Watts, who grabbed a leg of the broken night table and swung it with all of his weakened might. The strike connected with the warrior's temple, knocking him back momentarily and allowing sergeant Watts to stand up straight.

"Lackley, leave 'im alone!" thundered Bartholomew furiously. Desmond Lackley stopped in his tracks and spun around with a wicked contorted expression on his face.

"You!" he screamed. Lackley began to run towards them, but Bartholomew was faster. He hurtled over the broken cot and charged right into Lackley's midriff, tumbling him to the ground and scattering the long knife across the floor. Sir William laboriously bent down to secure it on the other side of the room. Desmond swung a hammer-like fist at Bartholomew, who dodge it and threw a hard jab into his opponent's face. Lackley's head snapped back and his hand went to his nose, coming away red with blood. Another slow fist from the Dark warrior missed Bartholomew but connected with sergeant Watts instead, who was standing behind him. The sergeant reeled and fell with a moan of pain, barely conscious. Sir William ran to Bartholomew's aid and swung his sword across Lackley's chest. The warrior screamed and cursed as he fell against the wall with a thud, but lurched to his feet once again, intent on carrying out his task. Sir William stepped forward to swing again, but Lackley was faster this time. His fist sent the Crimson Knight staggering to the floor unconscious.

Bartholomew wasted no time. He hurled a broken table leg at his former commander, who howled as it caught him in the forehead with a hollow thud like a hammer on a melon. Amazingly, the evil warrior still was able to recover.

"I came here to kill you and I'll do it if I die trying!" cried Lackley as he ran forward and caught Bartholomew around the neck. The smaller man tried to shrug Lackley's hands off, but to no avail. Sir Gavin straddled the cot that had pinned him against the wall, but got caught in the bedsheets and could not immediately free himself. From his position on the floor, however, he could see that Bartholomew was losing. He was red in the face and his sword clattered to the floor as he tried to pry Lackley's vice-like hands from around his throat.

The dark warrior gave a sudden yelp and stumbled forward, releasing his grip on Bartholomew. Behind him stood sergeant Watts with one of the broken table legs. The sergeant raised his improvised club to strike again, but Lackley batted it out of the way, pushing him to the ground. The enemy assassin reached to his boot and pulled a stiletto, advancing towards Bartholomew, who was still trying to catch his breath. Just as he was about to send the weapon into Bartholomew's torso, his eyes went wide and it clattered from his hand. Sergeant Watts stepped from behind Desmond Lackley holding a bloody long knife - the same one that the dark warrior had tried to kill him with. Lackley fell to the ground with a last gasp of air, his evil life ended forever. Sir Gavin and the others ran forward to Bartholomew's assistance, catching him and gently setting him down on the edge of one of the cots. The field officer and Major Wilkins went to Sir William's aid, slowly lifting him up from the floor. The Crimson Knight was unconscious, but not seriously harmed.

"Sergeant Watts, can you stay with Bartholomew while I get him a glass of water?" asked Sir Gavin. No answer. "Sergeant?" Sir Gavin turned around to see sergeant Watts standing behind him, swaying and shaking. His glassy eyes wavered for a moment then rolled back in his head as he fell to the ground. This time he did not get up.

[Person_Random 4,991]

Approved.

Wow. This series has come a long way, from an light and more comedic beginning to a much more action-packed and darker storyline - impressive! With this level of plot development, I'm sure the rest of the coming chapters (which I have yet to approve) are going to be just as amazing, if not more so. In this chapter, the description of battle was incredibly detailed, something that really set the scene for something so consequential. Looking forward to even more awesome content from you!

Edits: minor grammar fixes.  

[dupuy 318]

5 hours ago, Person_Random said:

Approved.

Wow. This series has come a long way, from an light and more comedic beginning to a much more action-packed and darker storyline - impressive! With this level of plot development, I'm sure the rest of the coming chapters (which I have yet to approve) are going to be just as amazing, if not more so. In this chapter, the description of battle was incredibly detailed, something that really set the scene for something so consequential. Looking forward to even more awesome content from you!

Edits: minor grammar fixes.  

Thanks once again! As promised, Lackley finally emerges on the perspective of the knights with an inevitable battle. Even though his objective is not accomplished, his impact effects one of the other characters. The main conflict with the Dark Lord is yet unsolved and will be addressed in the final several chapters.

Edited December 7, 2020 by dupuy

[Venerable 2,967]

Wow, this was super thrilling!

The fighting was so amazingly detailed, that it actually sent a shiver down my spine...

Epic work!

[Iron_Man 2,376]

Thrilling work man!

The fight was awesome and the details were exemplary!

Keep up the great work!

[dupuy 318]

12 hours ago, Venerable said:

Wow, this was super thrilling!

The fighting was so amazingly detailed, that it actually sent a shiver down my spine...

Epic work!

 

8 hours ago, Ironmantonystark said:

Thrilling work man!

The fight was awesome and the details were exemplary!

Keep up the great work!

Thanks to both of you! I'm glad this is entertaining ;)