Titania
942 Words
His sword is lethal and his skill is impeccable. However, Davis knows that it is not enough to defeat the crimson knight.
It has been a trick...
Leon has made him believe that he was winning, that he had the upper hand. A trick to keep the other knights out of the fight. But Davis has the experience, he knows he should call them.
"What? Is that all?" Leon provokes him. Davis knows it's a provocation, but he would never give Leon the satisfaction of knowing that his sword is better. Davis still can win, he has more experience, after all. He smirks under his helmet ready to perform his movement, but his smile gets frozen as he loses his blade.
So fast… he thinks. The sound of the blade getting stuck on the poorly pavemented alley reaches him, then he takes a close peak of the tip of Leon's blade and everything becomes darkness.
The silver knight falls on his knees, blood bursting out of his helmet as the crimson knight swings his sword in the air, cleaning the blade of the blood, and returning it to the scabbard.
"Give him an honorable burial," he declares. The knights are frozen. Lord Davis is the best swordsman in the country and he has been defeated.
The crossbows shoot, but the scarlet armor deflects the quarrels. They knew it wouldn't work, but they are angry.
"Rest well, Davis," Leon says.
"We won't let you go!" one knight declares.
"You can't trap me," Leon replies, jumping on the roofs. No human could perform such an act. "Farewell," he says and runs beyond the sight of the knights at unbelievable speed.
He doesn't look back, not even once.
He leaves the town and goes straight to the hidden pond in the middle of the grove, the ruins of an ancient city, the secret passage to the other side of the mountains. It makes, the three days of the regular journey, just one, but it is populated by vipers and lethal insects. He would have never taken that route without the ring on his right index and his dark vision.
As he walks, the beasts and creatures run away from him, leaving the path clean and safe. The ring is handy. He arrives at the other side of the mountain in the afternoon, without any trouble. He regrets he doesn't have another ring, otherwise Lara would be already there.
He sets a fire and a tent with the tools and materials already prepared before his incursion to the town, then he goes hunting. Roger and Lara would arrive in two days.
He eats rabbit, deliciously cooked, while lost into the embers where the ghosts of the past dance.
He is stronger now.
This power is pitiful, but he promised more. Leon thinks, reminding the words of the purple-blue prince who is waiting for him.
"Wake me up when there is danger, Titania…" he whispered at the full moon, it is a prayer to his goddess.
Leon doesn't need to sleep, but he sleeps for a reason that only he understands. A reason that stabs his heart all the time.
A tear rolls over his cheek.
"I thought all was a dream..." he sobs. "I thought I was insane..."
Eight hours pass and the sunlight wakes him up.
The first thing he does is stretching, then he goes to the river and fills his canteens with water after he drinks some.
After that, he trains.
He begins with push-ups, then sit-ups, and squats. When he finishes the first part of the training he takes his one-handed sword and his shield, and in the end, he leaves the shield and practices with the blade only, earning skill with his weak hand. It takes him four hours. He trains every day, with no excuses.
"It's been three years since that day…" he bitterly says.
He had been in heaven and in one second all had changed. He had lost everything. Doomed to be trapped between children who didn't know anything about life, and he was hungry, too hungry, his life was running out, not as fast as nowadays, but his body was that weak that it felt like dying.
His enemy had a cruel sense of humor.
He trapped him into the shape he hated the most. Human shape. Denying all his legacy and inheritance.
Push-ups, sit-ups, squats, then the sword, and after that he goes hunting. He has reached the top of his physical potential. He won't become stronger than that.
His body asks for liquid. He takes one of the canteens and drinks. It was delicious, fresh, and pure water, but he has been in heaven. When he tastes the liquid he is about to throw up. Anger fills his heart as he throws away the canteen.
"If you had never come I-" he begins, reminding the face of the man who gave him the ring. The god.
"I curse you, Vik- and I owe you everything!" he snaps and stops. Leon doesn't want his attention. Both, the prince and the god have their own problems. He can't distract them.
He restrains his anger and after he recovers his clarity and he walks and recovers canteen. He drinks the remaining water.
He needs the water.
Titania… he thinks, and suddenly the water has the sweetest taste of all, the air turns sweet and gentle, the forest becomes perfect. Everything, for one second, is divine, underneath the moonlight.
His whisper raises towards the sky and gets lost in the wind and the stars. It's one word, a beloved word...
"Titania…"
- Writer
