9 Chapter 8 - Revenge

With his body and mind feeling numb due to the loss of his father, Archer leapt from the window of his fathers study. With his new sword in hand, he began jogging towards the battlefield. The sword was named Spada, The Deflector of Mourning. This hilt of the blade seemed to fit within his hand like a glove. The sword matched his families colors with a crimson leather grip. The cross guard and quillons had a the same crimson that matched the hilt. The quillon block was a dim gold as was the pummel. The forte, derzo and debole edges were crimson as well, but just faintly. This gave the sword edges a constant look as though it always had blood upon the blade. Lastly, the filler of the sword was etched with the symbolic phoenix of the Morvlinsk household.

Master Shuien watched in horror and tried to object once he saw what was happening. But it happened so fast that all he could do was watch jump from the window, however; once he saw Archers feet hit the ground and keep running, the master wiped the blood from his eye onto his sleeve and turned tail to try and catch him. Archer continued straight, now oblivious to emotion as he entered the battlefield. As he made it past the wooden barricade, he was able to see his first full clear view of the fight that was taking place. On his immediate left there was a guard who had been impaled to the castle wall, dead. The spear protruding from his chest appeared larger that anything he had seen before. The grip to the spear alone would've been too large for him to fit both of his hands around. He ignored it for now and pressed on.

Once he made it past the heaps of rubble that were once the nobles houses, he saw a young woman get pelted by the claws of a demon similar to the one he had seen moments prior. She was hiding behind a buckler that was beginning to splinter under the pressure from the constant blows. The fire still soared within him as the prince jumped forward, spearing the demon off of the woman. There was screech as Archers shoulder connected the monsters ribcage. There was crunch that Archer was sure sounded like bones breaking from the impact. Regaining his footing, he walked to the demon that was still staggering and grabbed it by the throat. Lifting it off the ground, Archer ran his sword through the beasts heart, not stopping till the quillons made contact with the monsters chest as well. Then just like his master did earlier, Archer released the beasts neck and kicked it off his sword as it fell into the snow, limp and lifeless.

"Th..Thank you." the woman was crying on the ground, terrified at was happening around them. Her brown hair had fallen around her face, but she seemed generally unharmed, thanks to the buckler that laid in shambles next to her.

"Get to safety. Try to head for the tree line and grab whoever you can to take with you. We will send search parties for you when this is over." Archer commanded. As he did so, he pulled his original sword from its holster and handed it to the woman. He had no need for it anyways now that he had Spada. "Do not waiver to use this. The creatures before us will not hesitate to kill you should you hesitate." The woman flinched a bit as the cold steel touched her hand, but she thanked the prince regardless. Ignoring the gratitude, he picked back up into a jog. "I'll kill them all," he thought to himself. He had never felt such fury in his life, nor had he ever felt stronger, he could feel his logic leaving him as this battle carried on.

Two wolves were a few paces from him and were running on all four legs, eyeing a piece of meat. Archer looked ahead and noticed a couple of children trying to scramble away from the clearing and heading towards the woods. Archer picked up his pace to a full sprint, legs fully extending as he gained ground on the wolves. Once he was close enough, he leaped into the air and planted the heels of his sabotons into the back of the rear wolfs pelvis. There was a loud yelp and the crunching of bones, followed by a whine as Archer never lost momentum and pressed forward for the second wolf, ensuring the slice Spada across the knap of the neck as he stepped off of the beast.

The wolf that was leading in the hunt heard the distress of his partner and turned around. It stopped and stood up to face Archer. Noticing the challenge, the prince stopped and glared at the monster, the longer he looked at it, the more his hatred grew. He dashed towards the wolf, holding Spada in both hands towards his left side. The wolf snarled and jumped backwards as Archer stepped to the beasts right side to follow with his sword, aiming for the abdomen.

"Your speed is impressive.. Too bad. I could make you my prize stock, but that was my mate you decided to dispatch back there."

The words seemed to imprint themselves into Archers mind, but the voice was blocked out. Words were meaningless, all that mattered was killing the evil within his castle and saving his people.

"SHUT YOUR DAMNED MOUTH!" Archer screamed as he dashed back towards the wolf with mind-numbing speed. The prince didn't sidestep. He bolted straight ahead as he hefted the sword above the wolfs head in his left hand. The wolfs gaze followed the sword to prevent potential injury. Upon losing the wolfs gaze, Archer swung his fist making contact with the opponents muzzle, breaking a couple of the protruding fangs from it mouth that made large snapping noises as they broke and causing the beast to stagger. Archer thrust his sword straight down into the large foot of the monster as its blood began to coat and melt the snow. It let out a bellow of pain as it cowered over, attempting to remove the weapon pinning it to the ground. With the height advantage gone, the prince grabbed the back of the wolfs neck and began to slam his knee into its face.

Again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

The large furry body went limp, and the kids that the wolves had originally targeted had long left since the wolfs change of mind.

Again.

Again.

Images flashed through Archers mind of his dad, the maid from the hallway, the corpses in the courtyard. All the images replayed over and over again as he took the brunt of his frustration out on his opponents face. Blood began to run down his greaves as he continued.

Then he felt a hand grip his shoulder. Archer shoved the lifeless body backwards and removed his sword from the ground. Twirling around, he blindly swung his sword. The dark figure ducked to dodge the blow before Archer could register who the person or thing was. Regaining his fighting stance, Archer readied himself for a new opponent.

He recognized his foe as Master Shuien. The master had his arms raised, staring into his pupils eyes with his one good eye. Sadness showed in his gray eye as he stepped towards Archer. The prince stared into his masters eye, unflinching.

"No. Not now. Do not try to stop me." The prince said as he slightly readjusted his breastplate. The beast at his feet was unrecognizable as its face was a pile of meat and teeth. The blood that was smeared across Spada and his greaves matched the crimson of his armor.

"You can help. Or stay back for now master. I have been held back enough, now my people need me and my father is dead. This is my duty now." After a slight pain flashed across his chest at these words, Archers emotions seemed to deafen.

"Yes.. m'lord," the master said after slight hesitation. He had seen bloodlust before. "Hell, I've been there myself" the master thought to himself. Remembering back to the death of his wife who had be brutally ravaged and killed by bandits. He drew his sword and stood next to his new king, with understanding and the goal to ensure he makes it through this alive. With a deep breath, the duo set forth into the commotion before them.

Archer picked up a buckler that was laying on the ground, next to one of the royal guards from his fathers unit earlier. The shield wasn't what he was used to, it was bulkier and heavier, but he hoisted it up nonetheless and plowed directly into the frontline of the horde, sending a couple of monsters flying as he made contact. As Archer and Master Shuien hacked and slashed through the creatures. Some were half man-half horse creatures that were tough, but were easy enough to dispatch when the knees were taken out. The dark skinned with pointed ears seemed like the didnt appreciate the light outside, but despite their formidable strength and agility, they too fell. Then there some that were only about knee height and had a grayish-brown tint to them. They spoke and yelled in a gurgling dialect, but they were no more than a nuisance that were batted aside despite their large numbers.

After what appeared to be dozens of dead before them, a burst of flame engulfed a couple of knights and their opponents that were fighting nearby. Archer placed his shield in front him and ducked behind it. Shuien did the same, he deemed it necessary to pick a shield up about halfway through their slaughter. The screams from the burning disappeared as their bodies followed suite from the heat. Archers scrunched his nose at the pungent smell of hot steel and burning flesh and waited behind his now warm shield.

Once the heat dispersed from the air around them, the duo stood back up. The snow all around them had melted to reveal matted, wet and dead grass around them and the flaming bodies that the beast had just killed, or what remained of them. The monstrosity that stood before them caused them both to refrain from brutish force to regaining their wits. The creature before them had two heads, one that was a lion who's golden eyes we're staring directly at Archer, unblinking. The second head was a ram, the seemed to be taking a deep breath following the prior attack. Lastly, the tail seemed to move freely behind it as though it had its own mind, after finally processing the fact this type of monster was before them, the tail appeared over the first two heads, revealing a third face.

"A damned snake." Archer thought. He had been bitten once before by a snake while he was playing in the courtyard as a child. Luckily the snake then wasn't poisonous, however; the one that was before him seemed to be dripping with venom from its mouth. A couple of drops landed on the armor of one of the smoldering knights and what remained of the body began to quickly dissolve where it had made contact.

This monster looked like something out of a nightmare and all Shuien and Archer could do was brace their shields and swords as the ram extended its head again to let out another bellow of flames over them.