They Think I am a Mad Monster

I have to admit that I like to scare some people, not out of grandiosity on my part, but because of arrogance on their part. My name is Frankenstein, and I am a monster. I stand nine feet tall, and I have the strength of eight silverback guerillas. I live in mutual unease with Lord Bonton and his minions. Sometimes I will throttle one of his steers with my bare hands, butcher the carcass, and give the meat to the poor folk who are the victims of the aristocracy. I might be a monster, but the plight of poor and suffering people has always concerned me, even if my methods for dealing with the problem are crude. The peasants need a little meat in their diet. I survive on nuts and berries myself. Great thickets of blackberries stretch across the land, and many pecan trees grow on the hills where I live. I can crack and open them with my fingers. After I have commandeered one of his cattle, Lord Bonton will rally his pathetic collection of knights and set off to destroy the person who had the gall to harm one of his cattle. They will come back with some dead poacher's body draped across a horse and proclaim their triumph in stopping blatant immorality. Paid celebrators will throw flowers out in front of their horses like they were ecstatic that the dirty poachers had gotten what they deserved. Those aristocrats disgust me because they will barely deign to notice a hungry beggar after they just left a sumptuous feast, but those peasants had better be grateful for the few bread crumbs they get that the castle workers put out for them. When that happens Lord Bonton will raise his nose in the air and say, "Here is where people can see my great and genuine concern for even the lowest of my subjects." Then palace servants will carry in wooden trays with loafs of bread on them, and the peasants will say, "Oh, thank you great king! Who can match his generosity?" Lord Bonton's minions will raise their hands to their heads in astonishment at the generosity of their ruler. I would like to grab one of Lord Bonton's knights and break his head open on the rocks, but if I did that Lord Bonton would come after me with dozens of his cowardly knights, and I don't think I can beat all of them together, but that is a different matter from what I have at hand.
One night I was trying to hide my ugly form from the general population by traveling at night where no one could see me. I was going to visit the local wizard, Halbert. He has great wisdom and courage, and I liked to converse with him because he could see past my deformed face and body. He would treat me like an equal, though I know I could never match his inner strength and wisdom. The road was deathly still until I came upon a carriage that had been intercepted by cut throats. The carriage driver was slumped over on his perch above the dead horses, stabbed in the back with a knife. When I approached the dormant carriage I saw a family lying on the ground, two girls, a boy, and a mother and father, dead. Butchered by bandits. If I had seen what happened I would not have worried about any harm to myself. I would have broken the necks of whoever committed this atrocity. Then I heard voices approaching, so I faded into the shadows."
"I tell you, Grantley, she's wearing a necklace with a diamond the size of a fat almond from California hanging around her neck. She's also wearing a great big diamond ring. I didn't check the other girl and her mother, but I bet they were wearing expensive jewelry too. We've hit a gold mine, Grantley. We can make enough money off of this that we can stay drunk for six months," a bandit said.
"Relidon, If a couple of guys like you and me come into a local shop wanting to sell expensive jewelry people will notice. The news would travel from tavern to tavern. Let's take their jewelry to Paris. It's a growing city, and you can find people there who know how to encourage trade. I'm sure we can find a shop where they don't ask questions," Grantley responded.
"That makes sense, Grantley, but we'd better be on our toes. We don't want the jewelers to think we're hicks and not savvy to the ways of the world. We might have bashed the heads of a few peasants, but that's no crime. We're not hooligans," Relidon answered, turning up his nose.
A cold fury grew inside me at these thugs who lived large at the expense of peaceful people. I stepped out of the darkness.
"Who here talks so glibly about people they have murdered? Have you no decency?" I bellowed.
The two robbers screamed in fright and ran. I could have caught them easily, but I decided to keep an eye on them and put real fear into them before they tried something like this again. First, I was going to alert the sheriff about these guys, and then I was going to take the jewelry they wanted to steal and give it to the local church. They could feed fifty peasants for two years with what they could get from these diamonds.
Apparently I had miscalculated about these robbers of the main roads going through the Kingdom of Bilgorech. When I asked Sheriff Milorick what he knew about them, he said they were affiliated with a group known as "The Knights of the Red Hand" that was invading our kingdom so they could take our men's lawful wives, loot all the wealth of the land, and kill all the men. These "Knights of the Red Hand" were once held in awe on the other side of the ocean because of their great military strength, but they had since become a corrupt shell of what they once were." Even Lord Bonton and his inept knights are better than them.
I decided to go to the great Wizard Halbert.
"Oh Great Wizard, I am told that a faction known as "The Knights of the Red Hand" has invaded our kingdom," I told Halbert.
"I know this, my Great Warrior, and I have been waiting for you. We do not have much time."
"What do you want me to do, Great Wizard?"
"I want you to carry the brunt of the fight. I have some fine armor you can wear. I developed it during the last invasion, and I have been saving it for a moment like this. It will stop a bolt from any crossbow. These knights are masters at making incredibly strong crossbows. If you got hit by a dozen or more of these bolts on your torso it could kill you. I am also looking for a couple of giants like you that live in the nearby caves. They are always happy to fight for a good cause, and when they are encased in my armor they will be unstoppable, like you," the Great Wizard said.
I exulted at what I heard. With good armor protecting me and two giants at my side we would be invincible. How I wanted to show what cowards The Knights of the Red Hand were!

..... ..... .....

The Knights of the Red Hand sat on their horses before the field of battle in a matter of fact way, like they had a bit of business to take care of before they attacked the bars and whorehouses. It was easy to see that they had no concern for anyone but themselves, and they believed their swords gave them the absolute right to say who got to live and who had to die. They carried this belief with as much ease as if they were throwing a towel across their shoulder. They were a disgusting bunch. They were the manifestation of the extreme arrogance of so many knights.
A young prince rode out in front of the formation of armored men on horseback. He had not lost his boyish face yet.
"Knights of the Red Hand, hear me speak. We are opposed by a single man, if you can call him that. I say we don't kill him. Let's take him back to Reneagy and make him an example to all foolish men who insult us with their defiance. Let's burn him alive!" he shouted.
"Let us punish this fool for his impudence!" a captain of the group shouted.
The formation broke loose, and their hooves thundered as they crossed the field in front of me.
What this young prince said made me mad, and I decided to take him as my captive and parade him in front of the peasants and their families in the village squares instead.
"Come on, Knights of the Red Hand! You will follow this boy to your deaths!" I shouted as I picked up huge boulders and hurled them at the charging enemy. Each boulder I hurled knocked out eight to ten knights. This was better than bowling!
"Halt!" Prince Jedkrit yelled. "Bring out the crossbows! This dog has teeth! Let's kill him and go home!"
I thanked the Wizard Halbert silently within my heart. The crossbows were the only thing they had that could hurt me. The body armor was thin and light, but hard and tough. I also had a shield made of the same stuff. They let go with a salvo of crossbow bolts. They hit my shield with surprising force, but they did me no harm. As long as I had that armor nothing could hurt me. If they attacked me on horseback I could easily slash and jab with my sword, and pull them from their mounts.
Just as they were concentrating their fire on me two more giant beings with the same form and looks as me came rushing onto the field, both wearing Wizard Halbert's armor. We joined together in a charge at the Red Knights, and they dropped their crossbows and ran, with us in hot pursuit. Prince Jedkrit was running faster than anyone. We overtook the prince, and I picked him up and tossed him across a horse. We tied his hands and feet, but we let him shout all he wanted. We directed him and his horse to the town of Wingeret and paraded him through the streets of the little hamlet. We attached a paddle to the horse, and anyone could come up, grab the paddle, and hit the prince on the butt a few times. At first the prince was defiant.
"How dare you do this to an officer of the law and messenger from God!" the prince sputtered.
That made the villagers laugh out loud.
"This person thinks he is a messenger from God. If you really are God's messenger, why are you tied up on the back of a horse?" the kids asked as they laughed at the spectacle.
Whap, whap, whap went the paddle.
"God is testing my patience. As soon as I get off this horse I am going to burn you all alive," the prince sputtered.
The prince was taken and put in the dungeon he had made for his castle to wait for his trial for his crimes. With him out of the way the villagers were much happier, and they thrived for the rest of their lives.