Chapter Twenty
Knight of Rage
TORIUS HAD DECIDED, rather than running away further, to turn around to fight – better to face, rather than to be stricken in the back by, enemies much quicker than he, them being on horse.
His one advantage in the battle he quickly noticed was the range of his weapon compared to the horsemen – an advantage he took against them, an advantage that was his skill in pole weapons from times of his knighthood training.
The first approaching horseman died as Torius thrust him in the side with the halberd’s spearhead. The soldier fell from his place, off of the jagged spearhead, a spearhead now stained red with blood.
The second horseman that approached he confronted by sweeping the air with the halberd’s vicious axe-like blade, which caused the horseman’s horse to rear in alarm, and Torius struck the horse in it’s broad chest with another deadly thrust. The horse tumbled to its side, crushing down fatally upon its own rider.
But the remaining horsemen were coming on too fast for Torius – he stepped aside so that the fallen horsemen would act as a protective barrier, but the pursuing horsemen leapt over the bodies, coming down upon Torius still.
From knowledge gained by all of his battle experiences, he could calculate that he was about to die: a moment later he would swing or thrust his Halberd, most likely killing one of the two horsemen, but the second horsemen was too close, and he was to be trampled down by horse or cut down by soldier’s sword.
But with endless bravery even of death he did thrust and did strike fatally the horseman in front of him, clashing through the horseman’s shield, the clash seeming to sound final warning of his imminent death. He tried to turn fast enough toward the second horseman, tried to face the blow that would defeat him.
But the blow never came.
The second horseman was engaged in a losing battle with another!
A soldier, armored in black half-plate that was glittering with important rank of an officer knight, was battling the horseman. He was helmetless, revealing a young face that was contorted with violent emotion.
The young officer knight was holding a hand-and-a-half sword with both gauntleted hands, and was striking skillfully upon the horseman. The horseman came down upon the officer knight with his sword, which was deflected with a powerful swing of the officer knight’s own sword. The officer knight came back quickly with a second swing that landed on the horseman’s chest and neck, killing him.
Standing amongst the dead horsemen were Torius and his unknown savior. Torius looked upon the man - who was smaller than he was but knowledgably still as dangerous –and the young man looked back, eyes and expression afire with terrible anger, hate, grief, confusion. “Run!” he yelled at Torius. “Run and live, go – your death is not upon this enemy ground! You are free!”
“Torius!” proclaimed a very familiar voice. Torius turned away from the man, toward the voice that said his name. And even more bewildering than the appearance of the savior officer knight was now the appearance of Seften, Paetoric – even Rhoin! All three of his brothers!
Before the four united brothers could break the speechless moment of silence, the officer knight roared in anger, and they looked to him to see the matter.
With death in his eyes, the officer knight was charging upon Rin!
Not wanting to hurt either one of them, the brothers were late to respond. Dante would not step in, no; to be crushed between an insane knight and a powerful Driadon was not his desired fate, he decided to himself.
“Wait,” said Rin softly to the officer knight. He raised his large, open hand, signing him to stop.
The officer knight, whose eyes were red by tears held back from a possessing rage, stopped heavily, hesitating momentarily.
And in that moment of hesitation, Rin spoke. “I am not your enemy. I cannot say that I know what happened to you or say I understand your anger, but know that I am not your enemy, oh protector of my friend’s brethren.”
The officer knight, through his all but blinding haze of anger, did truly see compassion, a sentience, in this Driadons eyes. Fiercely shaped as they were, they still glowed with sympathy, with care. Not as he was educated in how Driadonkind characteristically were, no – mindless rage were the ones he battled before, he enslaved with the cursed Syndirin before. But this Driadon before him was indeed an ally.
Rin lowered his hand down to his side, not breaking eye contact with the officer knight.
A clatter of distant but approaching hooves did then draw Rin’s gaze away, to look back through the night in the direction of the escaped prison castle. “There are more approaching enemies, knight. Please be with us, guide us to safety,” he turned to look back upon the officer knight. “Guide us away.”
The officer knight, who had by necessity of will power raised above his craze, uttered in an emotion-suppressed voice, “Come with me.”
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