Happy Blog Day Everyone!
Chapter 16 is now live for your reading pleasure! Scroll down to find it!.
Definitely feels real now that this story will be over soon. Two full Chapters and maybe an epilogue are needed (I do love my epilogues) to end this. If I knew I could pull it off, I'd try to deliver these weekly instead of fortnightly, but I believe that wouldn't be for the best, at least not quality wise. Still haven't decided what's to follow. Too much choice!
As for my other project, I think I've got events mapped out but there's still the question of perspective to tackle. My first reaction was to do it omniscient third person, pretty much all in aid of the final scene of the story. While some good pros like this, I worry that it'll create some emotional distance between the reader and the main character. While first person obviously solves that but then locks everything into the character which could lead to interesting decisions later on. To solve this, I'm going to attempt something completely rational...Start writing both and see what I like more.
See?
Completely rational and not at all time consuming!
Anyway, with all that said, let's hop over to our favourite duo...
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
Short Diversions: Avalon Tales Chapter 16
With the treacherous Rainer in sight, Isabelle, Robyn and Cade spring into action to bring him to justice. The arrival of Leo, Isabelle’s father, seems to herald the end of the fight in Avalon’s favour, but the traitor is still smilling...
Avalon Tales Chapter Index
Chapter 16
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Chapter 16: Revenge and Wrath
Even with his shoulder injured, Rainer showed no signs of surrender, instead, he marshalled his remaining demons to attack Leo and his men. The fighting was short and bloody, as the demons were put down before they even attacked.
Isabelle could only watch as the demons she, Robyn and Cade had struggled with were put down with a concentrated volley of gunfire. She tried to tell herself that this was only possible because of the actions that the three of them took, but it felt like they were just background noise to what was going on.
“Your army is finished, your followers have scattered, abandoning you to your fate. Though rest assured, they will be rounded up and charged for the crimes against the crown, and this country.” Leo spoke absolutely, his words seeming to shake the chamber they were in. “There is no point in dragging this out any further.”
“Care to settle this in an honourable duel then? Lord Commander?” Rainer pointed his blade up. “One on one, winner takes all.”
“No, because you have no honour to uphold. I will not lower myself to your level.”
“Then, I’ll just have to strike at your beloved daughter while she stands in front of me! Unless you believe that each of your soldiers are trained enough to not catch her in the crossfire!” Rainer went to move forward, but a single shot rang out, marking the ground in front of the traitor.
Leo stood there, holding a smoking gun.
“No, but I do trust myself to hit you without hitting anyone else.”
“Well, I guess you have taken control of this situation haven’t you?” Another dark smile crossed Rainer’s face.
Having had enough of the traitors attitude, Leo jumped down from where he’d been standing, landing on the floor of the chamber, leaving an impact crater, a feat he’d only been able to do thanks to the armour he was wearing. It had been crafted using remnants of Saviour armour fragments found at historical sites, and while a precious commodity, Leo preferred to make use of it instead of leaving it locked in a dusty vault.
“You have disgraced yourself, you have disgraced the badge that you once proudly wore on your uniform. When I made you Master of Arms, I believed I could trust you to see the mission through till your dying breath,” Leo said as he started walking towards Rainer.
“Please, spare me the talk. All you’re doing is wasting it. If you had been paying better attention to those underneath you, you might have seen this coming. Black Knight has arisen, and we have our own job to do. One that you wouldn’t have the nerve to do.”
“Do not talk to me about nerve! I’ve got the fate of the nation on my back! The great enemy is restless, the very enemy you have thrown your lot in with!" By this point, Leo was almost within arms reach of the traitor, yet Rainer hadn’t shown any sign of weakness, he was still wearing the same smile.
Isabelle began to wonder where his confidence was coming from, he was outnumbered decisively, and if what her father was saying was accurate, which she had no reason to disbelieve, even people like Lucy had run instead of becoming involved in this. She almost felt pity but that smile. It worried her. Had there been an element to the trap that she had overlooked? Had there been an angle none of them had considered. Then she thought back to the Blood Brother’s conversation. She assumed that their part in all of this was supplying the demons that were now dead on the floor. As if on cue, her scar started hurting badly, she almost reached for it till she realised that Rainer was now staring at her. It was the first time she’d noticed his eyes, bloodshot but the colour was pale, desaturated.
“Ready?” He mouthed silently, almost like he knew what Isabelle was feeling.
“Rainer! This is your last chance! Throw down your weapon! I will not ask again!”
“You keep saying that, yet you’re still talking. Now, why don’t you back those words up? That’s been the problem this entire time, you keep saying things and then never follow through unless it’s in your best interests! Like the grail, You don’t want it back for any selfless reason as it’ll be locked down tight again.”
“You know nothing of the grail, or its purpose!” Leo shouted angrily.
“Oh? Did I hit a nerve? How fun.”
There was a difference in how Rainer was speaking now that hit Isabelle, adding to the pressure she was already facing with her scar. While nothing had changed with his facial expressions, it was the tone that was unsettling her, and every thought she was having now, was adding up to one dire situation. They had all misjudged what the trap was. Unwittingly as it seemed, everyone had worked together to bring about what the enemy had truly wanted.
“Dad!” Isabelle raised her voice as high as she could, making both Rainer and her father turn to her. She went to speak, though she was unsure what she was actually going to say, but she never got the chance as part of the ceiling caved in. Slabs of rocks crashed to the floor, and Isabelle charged her father as one of them seemed to be heading straight for him and Rainer. She managed to knock him down and out of the impact zone, barely missing being crushed at the same time. She looked up and saw Rainer still smiling as part of the falling debris landed right on top of him. Despite all that he’d done, a death like that wasn’t earned, and it meant he wouldn’t face justice. Still, this wasn’t the time to think about it as two figures dropped down from the ceiling.
Maleagant and Mardoc, the Blood Brothers themselves. The pair stood grinning as they looked over to Leo.
“It’s been a long time, human,” Malagant sneered.
“Too long! Did you think we’d forgotten about you, and everything you did to us?” Mardoc added.
“Did you not learn anything the last time we met?” Leo said as he got to his feet. He raised his arm into the air, a signal to those who could still fight to aim their guns at the new threat. “Demons like you do not belong here. Not on our shores or anywhere else!”
“Hey look, I can do that too!” Malagant raised his own hand into the air, as there came a chittering sound from up above. “Do you think we gave that Black Knight clown our best merchandise?”
From the hole emerged a swarm of demons, crawling on the ceiling on all fours, their multi-jointed limbs ending in sharp points, and their chattering teeth forming permanent grins on bald heads with no visible eyes. They were fast and the first few had already reached the Avalon lines before they had a chance to retaliate, cutting a few soldiers down, leaving thin ribbons of blood hanging in the air. Within due course, guns were turned on them, and they were blown apart, but more demons were waiting to take their place, and the swarm kept on flowing from out of the hole.
“Now that your fellows are distracted, how about we settle things, Leo!” Malagant hunched over as his body started to transform, increasing his already impressive size by another foot at least, his muscles expanded as the suit he wore was left as nothing more than rags. On the demon’s chest was a large scar that ran down from his neck to his navel. The demon gestured to it, almost pleasantly.
“Do you remember this?”
“This time I’ll make the cut deeper!” Leo snarled as he stood ready.
“That’s the spirit!” Malagant laughed as the pair clashed, claws against steel.
“Brother! You can’t hog him all to yourself!” Mardoc spat, looking on in disgust.
“You can deal with them instead!” Malagant broke away from Leo just long enough to point to Isabelle. “One Blake is as good as another after all!”
“Isabelle! Do your duty, for Queen and Country!” Leo commanded, as he resumed his combat.
“Fine!” Mardoc huffed, he underwent his own transformation, looking almost identical to his brother other than the amount of horns he had, and that he was just a tad smaller. His speed though more than made up for it, as Isabelle blinked and found him right in front of her.
“Make this fun for me, girl!” Mardoc had his clawed hand raised and went to bring it down, but Isabelle deftly jumped back and got her sword ready.
“For Queen, and Country,” she told herself, steeling her resolve, and pushing all thoughts of tiredness away. She’d rest when she was dead.
Charging in with her weapon turned on, the neon-blue edge met Mardoc’s claws, sparks flying. The demon went to strike with its other hand, but Isabelle backed off and then slashed at his arm while she had the opening, cutting it and causing a torrent of black blood to shoot out. Mardoc stumbled, and then howled in a mixture of pain and anger. He retreated slightly, as the wound quickly started to heal the best it could.
“You do have teeth after all!” The demon grimaced.
“If that’s how you fight then I don’t think this will take up too much of my time,” Isabelle replied, sounding almost disinterested.
“Is that so? What if I was to tell you that me and my brother have a couple of secrets. Like this one.”
Isabelle felt something hit her in the back, a sharp shooting pain that almost knocked her over. Looking behind her, she saw blood as there was a black shard looking object embedded in her back. She knew better to pull it out but she needed to know where it came from, but couldn’t see any other demons in range.
“You’d better keep your eyes on me!” Mardoc ran into her and hit her with the full weight of his body, and sent her crashing to the floor.
Isabelle rolled, just as she’d been taught, and managed to get back up to a standing position, but the attack had hurt. She had to keep her eyes on the demon, but if she did, she was liable to be attacked from behind again, even if she knew where it was going to come from, that would give Mardoc the chance he needed to strike her again. She decided to try a different tact and went on the offensive. She dodged a few of his more clumsy moves, going under his swings, but the moment she was about to attack, she was struck again, though it was only a graze. The impact gave Mardoc the chance to counter though, and Isabelle was knocked to the floor.
“You still don’t understand do you! Attack or defend, your eyes are always in the wrong place!” The demon laughed. “I wonder how much more I can play with you.”
“I’m not done yet,” Isabelle staggered to her feet, her eyes catching sight of her father’s duel with Malagant. The two were locked in combat, with both side landing hits. She couldn’t lose to a demon like this while he was here. She didn’t have time to scan around for Robyn and Cade, but knew that they’d overcome their own trials. She had to withstand this, even if she had to do it alone.
“Too easy,” Mardoc snapped his fingers, as another black shard formed out of the blood he’d already lost. In less than a second, it shot out towards Isabelle. Then came the sound of something shooting through the air, and the shard was pinned down by a single arrow. Both combatants stopped and looked at the feat, with it dawning on Isabelle on how she was taking damage. She didn’t have to guess who had saved her.
“Took your time, didn’t you?” Isabelle aimed the comment at Robyn who stood defiantly, the few demons that had gone after her, dead and dissolving.
“A girl can be busy, you know,” Robyn replied with a smirk.
“Another one to kill? Whatever. It’s not going to change anything!” Mardoc laughed as he cracked his knuckles.
“Time to recalculate your odds, demon,” Cade walked swiftly to stand with Isabelle, brandishing his blade the same way she was.
Isabelle looked at him, and then back to Robyn, a tear rolling down her cheek.
“Thank you,” she whispered to them.
“We’re a team aren’t we?” Robyn answered.
“Yes, yes we are. Now then, let’s show this demon what Avalon is capable of,” Isabelle’s determination burned fiercely in her eyes.
“One, two, or three. It doesn’t matter. You will all die!”
“Then lt’s put it to the test, demon,” Isabelle stated cooly, as the fight resumed again.
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Next Chapter (not live yet!)
Phew!
Things are really ramping up now! Of course, you do have to wait two weeks for the next chapter but the end is nigh!
That is all for now, there's a lot writing to ve done, so I'd better get to it!
Till next time...
Keep on writing!
Peter James Martin
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