by Greg Dragon
This morning I made up my mind that I wanted to stop being a liability to you and your mission, and that I should get to some place where I can cheer you on from a distance. I’m old, baby girl, and I still hurt from when the demon in the woods tried to kill me. I guess it took me being foolish and trying to help you in this last fight for me to see just how worthless I am against the demons.
Tracy and I are going to check up on the old bunkers to see if we can figure out what happened to our people there. We have plenty of ammunition, and the best protection in Jaime and Koko. They aim to walk us to the bunker in case we need the backup, but they should be back to you by the time you’re healed and ready to strike out again.
It goes without saying that I will miss you, Alysia, but since I lack the capability to protect you the way a father should, I think that I ought to stay out of your way and let you save this world the way you were meant to.
Come see me and Trace whenever you’re ready. Thanks for being patient with me. You will always be my cute, little warrior.
- Love, Dad
Alysia took the note, walked back inside of the office, and wept. It was one thing to lose the people you love to the monsters that you fought, but she had managed to push her father away. She cried and cried until the tears would no longer come, and she fought with herself internally over whether to find them and bring them back, or keep focused on her mission. Who would want to be around me and my negativity? she thought. She sat on the floor by the wall to let the cold stone brush against her cheek.
“You did it. You lost them,” she mumbled to herself, and then read the note one more time.
She sat for an hour and then got up to retrieve the girls to see about chasing down her father to stop him.
~ * ~ * ~
They whisked through the trees like squirrels, unobstructed by petty forces like gravity, danger, and reality. They were the Bloody Garot, and they were weapons of Chaos, stationed on earth to remove the demon threat that had come from the world of Yalem. As Alysia jumped and ran across the branches, she thought about an important question that she had forgotten to ask Lord Chaos. Were there more like her, on the same missions but in different parts of the world? The demons didn’t just attack North America, did they? And if they didn’t, and she was the sole protector of the realm, how did he expect her to be where the other major demons would be?
They came to the open field that Alysia recognized from the night when she fought the first giant, and time seemed to stand still around her as she slowed down. Isobel smiled as she walked up and took her hand, and Jasmine looked frightened as she came up and took the other.
“What’s going on, girls?” she asked them. But neither answered as they stood with her and it became increasingly difficult to move.
Paralysis took over, the world became void of color, and a man walked out in front of them in a royal blue cloak that barely concealed armor that was silver and bright. He was tall and wide, with a bodybuilder’s frame and on his back was strapped a massive bastard sword. He removed his hood to show his slender, handsome face, and Alysia was shocked because she recognized him. He looked like the man that her mother had revealed as her biological father.
She made to move and fell forward as the spell was broken. The world was still a grayscale replica of itself and Jasmine and Isobel were still statues, but she could move and so could the mysterious man with her father’s face.
“What is this?” she asked, and the large man smiled. He was a lighter complexion than her father but still dark, and the shiny armor contrasted his skin and cloak with much effect.
“This is a rare moment, Alysia. It will be our only time during this war, so let’s not waste it on speculation, anger, and suppositions.” His voice reminded her of Chaos and she began to wonder whether it was him, coming to play a trick on her in a different form.
“Who are you? How are you able to stop time like this?” she asked.
“I am the knight, Lancert. You probably know me as Lancert Bell … your father.” He paused to let his words sink in and Alysia flinched, knitting her eyebrows into hard lines.
She shook her head in disbelief. “My, my freaking father is—is a demon, like them?” she asked him, looking as if she wanted to cry. “When is this going to stop? When is this slow process of turning my life into pain and loss going to stop? You aren’t my father; you can’t be. My—my father is on his way to the bunker. You’re just a guy in armor that I’m probably dreaming about.”
“Alysia, I met and loved your mother forty-nine years ago when she stayed in a small apartment near the school she attended. She didn’t know what I was, and I was sent to her on a mission,” he said.
She pulled the Twilight Sword and held it up towards him and shook her head defiantly at what she was hearing.
“Alysia, you are mine. I lay with your mother to make sure that you would be in place to help the world when Chaos attacked. My daughter, we don’t have much time so please listen to me. You are of the blood, the blood of the Turevila, just like he is.”
“What does that mean? That I’m some sort of demon spawn? Are you saying that I am like Chaos, that I belong to Yalem?” she asked, pushing back her feelings to entertain the man, just in case he let his guard down and gave her an opening.
“Yes, my daughter, you are of Yalem. I was tasked in making sure that you were in place when—” Alysia saw an opening when the man looked down to gather his thoughts. She swung the blade at his exposed neck, but he threw up a forearm to block the swing and his silver armor deflected it, causing her to stumble.
He pulled out the bastard sword that was on his back and then squared off against her within the grey, grassy field. “You are more like Chaos now that he has tainted you,” he spat at her. She ignored his words as she circled with him, ready for anything that would come.
He swung the sword several times; he was so fast that it defied his size and weight, but Alysia was quick and avoided its swing as she darted this way and that, trying to cut him down.
“He made you commit murder, tainted your soul, and then gave you a cursed sword as a reward,” he preached as he spun and connected with her guard, causing her to slide across the grass and roll head over heels from the strength of his swing. “Like him, you think that strength is the answer towards attaining peace. You attack what you don’t understand, and use tricks to win at your fights.”
Alysia ran towards the trees where she hoped he would lose her. Then, when he put his sword down, she dashed back at him using the demonic speed gifted to her from Chaos. She moved so fast that she didn’t know whether her blade had cut through him, but when she stopped on the far side from where she had cut across him, she noticed that he led the bastard sword up from where he had countered.
“Tricks, all tricks. Oh daughter, oh savior of the world of man, you are better than him, yet you let him manipulate you with lies and deceit,” he said as he lowered his sword. He shook his head as if disappointed. “Alysia Bell, you’re on a foolish mission to prove to the Chaos demon that you are worthy of being the captain of his army. I cannot allow this, since you will most likely succeed, and the second of the Greater V’Kosha’s has revealed himself to me,” he said, his deep voice sounding like thunder.
She ran at him stubbornly with the Twilight Sword behind her, but the large man parried, and spun her one way, then another. He then used the hilt of the massive bastard sword and smashed it into her wrists, forcing her to drop the Twilight Sword.
“Separate yourself from that accursed tool of Chaos, girl. It is through it that he sees you, and controls your every move. He will sweep away the love that has made you into the woman that you are, and he’ll take away your family, your friends, and your humanity. As a part of us it will be easy to turn you dark, and by the time you remove the last of the great generals, you will be his, just like Dibolosa!”
He swung and slammed his sword into the Twilight Sword and it shattered like glass. Alysia felt her
body weaken, as if a part of her had been removed. She screamed and scrambled for the blade. She was sure that all hope was lost now that he had taken the weapon needed to free the earth.
“BASTARD!” she screamed and scrambled for the pieces, but the warrior merely sheathed his sword and paced the field as if he was thinking of what to say.
“Alysia, my child. I haven’t been there, and I wasn’t there for your poor mother or the struggles you faced in this harsh human world. It was forbidden. Our war has rules, but you must believe me that I have watched you with love for all of your years, and this is why I’ve come.” He swallowed hard and took a deep breath, then unlatched the sword and set it on the ground. “The Twilight Sword, accompanied with lies, is the reason why Chaos’s army is unstoppable.”
Alysia looked at him. She got to her feet and walked over to where he knelt and picked up the sword. She was surprised at how light it was to the touch, and as she held it, a euphoric feeling came over her. Something about it felt right, and she gripped it with both hands and closed her eyes. It shuddered and popped audibly as spikes ejected from its hilt, into Alysia’s hands.
She screamed loudly as it mixed with her blood and when she was so out of energy that she couldn’t stand, she fell to the ground and passed out. When she awoke, the sword was a replica of the Twilight Sword but instead of the image of her mother reaching down, it now bore a symbol of a knight handing a sword to a kneeling woman. She looked over at the man who claimed to be her father, and he looked weak, as if he was dying.
“I have to go, Alysia. It is unnatural for me to be here. I just needed you to know the truth of your role, and to give you a weapon that Chaos cannot corrupt,” he said.
“What is my role? Who is Chaos, really?” she asked, and he looked around as if he was trying to determine how much time he really had.
“Chaos is a warmonger, a world conqueror, and a tyrant. He has invaded many realms throughout the centuries in order to grow an army strong enough to take over the world of Yalem,” he replied.
“But how, if he’s having me kill them? How is he growing an army when he’s influencing us to help him kill all of them?” Alysia asked.
“Chaos plays the long game; an immortal has no use for time. He sends in savages to ruin the lands. This is the first step towards finding the ones that are strong enough to resist when their worlds fall to ruin. He then indoctrinates them, gives them lies about a greater good, and then he uses the warriors of that very world to join his Bloody Garot, his usurper corps,” the big man said as he stood up and gestured with his hands. “I have to go,” he said finally, and the world began to become colorized once again.
“Lancert! One more question,” Alysia said as the silver knight began to fade with the change. “What am I supposed to do ... about Chaos Lord?”
“Follow your heart, my beloved daughter. Follow it and save your world. He has already taken thirty years from you. Do not let him take any—” and he was gone before he could finish.
Isobel and Jasmine looked at Alysia and nodded. They seemed unaware of what had transpired and were eager to pick up the pace to find her father.
“Wait,” Alysia said. “Not so fast. I need time to think before we catch up, so let’s slow down and enjoy the walk.”
“Okay, CeeCee,” Isobel said, but kept staring at her as they walked. “CeeCee is free,” she said under her breath and Jasmine turned pale and refused to look at her. “I am happy that it is you,” Isobel kept on. “You are strong enough to save us, and I know that you will.”
“How, Izzy, how can I save you?” Alysia asked, and Isobel shrugged and skipped on ahead.
Knights and Demons
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About The Author
GREG DRAGON has been a creative writer for several years, and has authored on topics of relationship, finance, physical fitness and more through different sources of media. In particular, his online magazine has been a source of much pragmatic information, which has been helpful to many. As a result, his work continues to grow with a large and loyal fan base.
This Florida author brings exciting action and drama to his written work. His storylines keep readers engaged with characters that come to life from the beautiful celestial scenes of science fiction, to the gritty world of urban drama.
See Greg’s author page at gregdragon.com or keep up with his latest books and appearances through email.
