A Murderer Pardoned

Prologue:The One Who Has Sought the King

    The winds blow strangely from the south while grey clouds are formed above that direction. These columns grow thick enough to reach east and cover the sun, allowing only a little light to penetrate. "It will rain," the boy thought while looking towards the south gate of the garrison.
    Garrison Lock is as impenetrable as any battle fort should be - broad walls, exceptional wall foundations, iron-studded gates, watchtowers with enough room for two dozen archers to shoot down anyone who would try to batter the gates. These and its strategic location make it invulnerable. It is situated in the middle of a ravine, giving less room for horsemen, charioteers and soldiers to march towards its north and south gates. It has been this way since this is one of the entrances to the crucial trade routes of the kingdom. Strongholds such as these are signs of power for conquering kingdoms such as Tierrah and yet, war has not been bothering it for over a decade. This reality should make its citizens and refugees secure, but not for one boy. Kyrio is one of the afternoon watchmen of Lock. He knew the guards of Lock never fail to stand watch, but somehow he felt different today.
    "Was it because of the stranger?" he thought to himself.
    "Well he is just one man. He can't possibly pose any threat. Besides, his wounds..."
    His contemplation was interrupted when the healer peeked out of the camp and waved at him to hurry up. He ran towards the tent with the boiled herbs and bandages in his hands. The healer quickly grabbed them from him, gave him a quick gawp and immediately unwrapped the bandages.
    "Were you daydreaming again? It's already your turn to watch, isn't it? Go now before old Crank reprimands you again. You know his patience... or the lack of it."
    Kyrio wasn't paying attention to the man. He looks intently at the wounded figure lying on the sheets while the healer replaced the bandages. He remembered the last words of the man before he fell from his horse the night before, outside the south gate:
    "The King. Where... where is the King, boy?"
    He fell while holding two knives in his left hand and a sword in his right. Kyrio immediately shouted for the healer. The man was young. He had long grey hair, brown eyes and sturdy tall build. His dark studded-leather apparel suggests that he is a warrior of no particular kingdom, an adventurer probably. Another sword is sheathed on the right side of his belt and a small dagger is sheathed above his left knee. Two empty sheathes above that and three on the other leg suggests that this man threw his knives in a fierce battle. Even though he was unconscious, his grip of his weapons was too firm. The stab in his right abdomen bleeds intensely. The man had too much blood in his hands Kyrio thought. This man could even be a criminal, but he should be tended to before the guards could interrogate him.
    What bothered the boy most was his words. No one has ever sought the king before.
    "Could he be an emissary from another kingdom?"
    Again, his thoughts were interrupted, but this time from a bell. It took seconds before it sank in his mind that the bell he was hearing was the town's alarm. Kyrio rushed out of the tent to see his fellow watchman  rapidly hammering the bell. The guards were running in different directions, some to rally the people from their homes, while most of them huddled near the gates shouting at each other and pointing towards the south gate. Kyrio was just standing there.
    Moments later, a war horn is heard from the far south. The people can see a dark gathering from the horizon. The cliff was too narrow, but from the town it was not too hard to see the black clad horsemen and war banners far above to the south. A guard motioned the men to shut the gates, while the archers climbed up the walls. The guards formed just behind the gates as their commander shouted battle commands. Kyrio rushed into his home. Getting his sword was all he had in mind. Defending the fort was all he could think of doing.
    Time ran too fast.
Hooves thundered downhill across the ravine. Shouts were heard from within the wall.
    When Kyrio hurried to the guards' side with his weapon, a thunderous bludgeoning was heard through the gates. Something was hammering through it. The archers tried to stop whatever it was, but one by one they fell with arrows stuck on their neck. The gate collapsed.
        The guard commander was about to shout a war cry, but he was shocked. Everyone who looked at the gate was. Only one horseman pushed through the gate with a hammer the size of a man. The horsemen were robed and hooded in black. Their leader, holding a scythe pointed towards them. Kyrio looked beneath the hood and what he saw sent a chill through his spine. His face was pure skull covered in rotting flesh. These were not men.
        Guttural shrieks filled the air. Every horseman charged straight in. The guards couldn't stand the abomination before them.
        Time ran faster.
        When Kyrio realized he stood there stunned for too long, he saw the leader with two horsemen by his side riding towards him. Almost all the guards were already fallen. The boy couldn’t move out of fear. He tried to take the blade from his sheath, but he couldn’t muster enough strength to. As he was trying to move back, he stumbled. The two horsemen beside the leader wielded gargantuan swords covered with the guards’ blood.
        As the boy lay on he ground, the leader raised his hands to brandish his scythe. The creature swung his weapon when a spinning black figure hovered above the boy and clashing of blades was heard. The scythe was deflected.
        The stranger now stands between the horseman and the boy. He was wounded, but he stood with poise. There was no hint of fear in his stance. Before the boy could blink an eye, the stranger slashes thrice with a quick spinning flourish. One slash came from his left blade, one from his right, and the coup de grace was delivered with both hands. All three horses fell down. The two horsemen on the sides were cut in half while the leader watched both his severed hands flying above him, still holding his scythe. Dried blood coated both blades of the stranger.
        As the stranger takes a step forward, the leader tries to step back away in fear. There was a long silence until a menacing laugh echoed across the fort. It was the stranger. The leader shrieked in disgust and said,
        “You laugh when you are clearly outnumbered. You think you won? I am dead. Those hands you have cut are nothing. Sorcery can easily replace...”
        The stranger continues to laugh.
        “I see two ironies at this very moment. Why I see dead who are afraid to die.” He looked intently into the creature’s eyes. “And I'm a witness to demons who are shaking in fear of hell!”
        The stranger slashed and sent the leader’s head flying. He shouted…
        "For the King!"
        The stranger raised both blades and dashed into the fray alone - he against a whole army of abominations. The horsemen prepared to retaliate.
        Kyrio was struck. "The King? Nobody fought for the King before. In fact, nobody believed He still existed. He is willing to die for Him? Who is this man?"
        Guttural shrieks filled the air again - this time, the sound of demons dying.

       



          The stranger.
They say he was once an assassin - a criminal.  He murdered hundreds without mercy.
They say a day came when his crimes were pardoned.
They say that day he was called to defend the people of his kingdom.
They say his destiny is to set the captives free.


They say he met God.