Elias and the King

Elias, newly Knighted, faces the bandit king Reikland

Elias tracked the “Bandit King” for weeks, ever since his gang raided the town of Viermal, and he was getting close. He knew that “King” Reikland had six other men in his gang. He had already captured four of them and watched them hang.

It was hard going, but Elias finally had the self appointed “King” and his henchmen cornered in the cave ahead. Reikland knew Elias was on his tail, but it was doubtful that he knew he was this close. In a way, Elias was almost relieved that the chase would soon be over. Having these ruffians on the loose was causing unrest in the nearby villages and, if things didn’t calm down quickly, someone innocent was going to get hurt. Stepping out from behind the brush, Elias made his way into the cave.

The cave wasn’t very deep and it wasn’t long before the familiar smell of a campfire burning filled Elias’s nostrils. As he neared what he thought was the last bend in the cave, he began to hear voices. He could hear three distinct voices, as he expected, they did not appear to be expecting him. He listened for a minute as the three men spoke about all sorts of things. The reminisced over their favorite barmaids, a big score, and exploits of all sorts. It was the point at which one of the men began recounting the rape of a young girl in Viermal that Elias stepped around the corner.

“Lay down your arms and face justice!” Elias spoke firmly.

The two henchmen reached for their weapons, but Reikland held up his hand and gestured for them to stop. “So you’re the Knight that has been chasing us all over the countryside.” He spoke with a cool confidence, as though he had rehearsed this speech several times. “We don’t want any violence. We can all walk out of here.”

“I’ll walk you and your men straight to the hangman. Now everyone to move slowly and head out of the cave.” Elias maneuvered himself against the cave wall as best he could, trying to keep the three brigands in front of him.

“Now, now, now… Let’s talk this through. We aren’t your enemies. We’re businessmen and we are prepared to make you a proposition.” Still with his calm demeanor, Reikland took a step towards Elias. “Come work for me. We can always use another sword, and a Knight can open doors that I can hardly get near. Together we can have riches beyond comprehension.”

“You’re a fool if you think I’ll betray my Brothers for the likes of you.”

“Alright, alright. I had to ask. You never know.” Reikland put his hand to his mouth and began to pace away from Elias. “If you will not work for me then let us go. There is a bag of gold over there. Take it. It’s yours.”

Elias scoffed at the offer. He wondered how long this would go on before Reikland realized there was no escape. Although he was curious to see just how far he would go and what else he would try to barter his freedom with.

“No… I don’t guess wealth would do for your ilk. Then what if I make amends for all the suffering we’ve caused.” The words would have been shocking were it not for the wry grin and confident tone in Reikland’s voice. “Let us go and we will donate all of our gold to the next village we pass. We will tell them it is a gift to the orphans created by these trying times.”

This offer, at least, had the merit of being creative. Elias considered for a moment the justice in having this thugs use their ill-gotten gains to repay the orphans that they created. It almost seemed appropriate. As tempting an offer as it was, Elias had to refuse. There was no way to ensure that Reikland and his men would keep their word, in fact, he was almost certain that they wouldn’t. Even if they did, the people of Viermal would never accept it. The ensuing mob would hang them anyway, and probably get  a few others hurt or killed in the process.

“A tempting offer, but I must decline,” Elias said with a frown. “You will come with me to Viermal and face justice.”

As soon as he had finished his sentence, one of the bandits drew a knife from his sleeve and lunged at Elias. He defended himself with his armored forearm, deflecting the bandits thrusts and slashes into the cave wall or the open air to his sides. It was pure chance that Elias heard a noise behind him. The other bandit had produced a dagger and was preparing to stab him in the back.

With that, Elias turned with his shield and drew his sword. In one motion, he removed his sword from it’s scabbard and sliced into the first bandit’s arm. The blade moved cleanly and severed the arm holding the knife midway between the shoulder and the elbow. The man let loose a fierce howl and turned to run from the cave.

At the same moment, Elias twisted his body to swing his shield at the second bandit. He was attempting to press the aggressor between his shield and the cave wall. In an uncanny instance of bad timing, the man ducked just as Elias’s shield made contact. Instead of slamming his torso, the shield hit squarely on the top of his head. With a sickening crunch, the man’s body crumbled to the floor.

Blindly, Elias swung his sword in the direction of Reikland. He turned his head just in time to see Reikland, hands in the air,  begin to say what he could only assume was “I surrender.” He never had the chance to make a sound. The sword buried itself in his stomach, sliding to his navel before stopping.

Elias looked on in horror, as though he were watching events unfold but was unable to do anything about it. He paused, waiting for a scream that never came. What he did hear was much worse. Laughter. Sickening, gurgling laughter.

Reiklands lips slowly formed an eerie smile, bloody teeth bared in a grisly sight. He grabbed Elias by the shoulders with both arms, pulling him closer with surprising strength. The laughter waned as he began to speak. “You think your title makes you better than I? This day has proven one thing. You are no better than any criminal. You are one of us. A murderer.” And with those last words, Reiklands face went blank and his soul was free.

He was right. It was murder. Elias had never killed a man. He had accepted that it would be a possibility. In fact, the first two thugs he had rationalized as necessary. It was kill or be killed. But Reikland’s death was inexcusable. He sat for a while, staring into Reiklands blank expression. At that moment Elias felt that Reikland was more his brother than any of his fellow Knights ever were.

He did not know how long he sat there. Time distorted in all directions, minutes felt like hours, hours felt like seconds. The campfire was nearly out when he snapped to his senses. He had decided what to do. He gathered some branches from the woods nearby, and nursed the fire back to a healthy glow. After gathering a few larger branches, he built a man sized platform of dried wood. As the platform began to catch fire, Elias placed the bodies of Reikland and his henchman on top.

He did not wait to see if the bodies ignited, for that was not the intent. He knew that the man who had run with the severed arm had left a blood trail and likely died in the wilderness. Predators and scavengers would take care of that body and follow the blood trail. The aroma from the burning bodies would attract more. As Elias walked away from the cave, he swore that he would never speak of the encounter again.