On the Wings of an Angel

By Patrick Ohren

Swords clashed, arrows whizzed through the air, the sky was filled with smoke; the cries of death and the sounds of battle filled all the corners of the world. And in the middle of it all, an epic struggle between the Lord of Darkness and a noble templar.

The great demon swung his axe, throwing an advancing contingent to the side, and charged toward the knight. The man deftly stepped to the side and slashed with his brilliant sword at the passing fiend. The demon whirled and cast a wave of fire at the armor-clad knight. He raised his shield to deflect the flame and pressed forward against the tide of fire. The black creature raised his axe and brought it crashing down onto the knight’s shield, cleaving it in two. The man cast aside the broken shield and slashed once more with his sword, eliciting a roar of pain from the great demon. The creature brought his axe around and slammed it into the knight’s side, flinging him through the air to crash to the ground amongst a pile of broken bodies. The man’s helmet was shattered and his armor cracked. Blood covered his face and his vision swam.

The demon advanced on his fallen foe to finish his dark business but it was not yet over. Grasping his sword, the knight rallied his strength and lunged at the advancing demon. His first stroke severed the black creature’s arm, and his axe fell to the ground. The demon howled with pain and again blew fire at the flailing warrior. But he was not to be swayed. He slashed and stabbed at the demon with all his might. The creature’s cries rose to a fevered pitch and surrounding soldiers faltered and fell, clutching their helms. The Dark-Lord’s infernal army fought on unhindered, slaughtering the helpless warriors until, with a last roar and explosion of fire and black magic, the demon-king fell silent. The templar was flung through the air once more to land in a heap of discarded weapons and fallen warriors. His sword was lost and his azure armor in tatters. He was covered in blood, but as he lay there, he felt happy. He heard the death-throws of the remaining hell-spawn, heard the cries of joy from his surviving comrades-at-arms, and sampled the bittersweet taste of victory as everything faded into darkness and the world fell silent.

He awoke to a brilliant light; a shining figure stood over him. An angel, he thought, come to take my soul from this torturous world. The figure bent over him and placed her hands on his wounds. Up close, she lost her angelic glow but her beauty was real. She chanted words in a forgotten tongue and the gashes and cuts began to heal. Her magic was powerful, but slow. She smiled as the man looked at her. He tried to get up but she stopped him with a hand. "Not yet," she said. "You are still hurt. Wait." He lay back on the ground and once more passed into unconsciousness.

The man awoke once more to find himself in a lavish bedchamber, surrounded by plush chairs and beautiful hangings. He was garbed in fine clothes and lay on an ornate bed. His wounds were healed and he stood without threat of pain. The beautiful woman from before was gone and the room was empty save for him. His armor and surcoat were fully repaired and stood on a stand with his shield and sword. "How long have I been asleep?" he wondered aloud.

"About three days," said the woman as she walked through the door. "I heard you stir," she explained at the man's startled expression. "Come, my father would like to see you."

The woman led him through the castle's halls to a grand audience chamber. She opened the door and walked to the opposite side of the room where she sat in an ornate thrown next to a man who could only be the king. The knight stepped forward and knelt before the king. The king stood from his throne and addressed the knight.

"I have called you here to express my gratitude for your recent actions. No mere man could have defeated the Lord of Darkness. You have proven your strength and prowess, traveler, and because of this, I name you Knight, and Protector of the Realm. You have saved my kingdom from destruction and the world from the fowl spawn of Hell. Anything you want shall be yours. Anything at all."

The knight rose and stepped toward the king. "Anything I want, you say?" he spat at the king. "You offer that which is not rightfully yours. You sit on your thrown while you send others to die for you!"

"Silence!" howled the king. "I will not tolerate this insolence. I thought you were better than that!"

"I am better than that, or at least better than you. You are cowardly and corrupt, you harm the people you are here to protect. The people of your kingdom strain under the yoke of your oppression! Can't you see it? You are destroying them! Destroying your own people!"

"Seize him!" yelled the king. "You know nothing of my kingdom, traveler. My people follow me with a loyalty unmatched by any other king!"

"Look around you!" shouted the knight as he was grabbed by a pair of guards. Your people are in poverty, they can't even afford to pay the taxes you place on food!" He struggled against the guards' hold and with a mighty heave, threw them forward to land in a heap before the king. "You said before I could have anything. Well I want this: Give me your crown!"

"Seize him!" the king screamed once more and several more guards ran forward to seize the knight. As he was dragged from the keep, he saw the rage glaring in the king's face, the timid expressions of the nobles, and tears welling in the princess' eyes.

The man was chained and dragged from the chamber. When the doors opened, a crowd of gathered soldiers began cheering. They soon fell silent however, when they saw their hero in chains. The silence lasted but a moment before the whispers started.

"What's going on?"

"Why is he in chains?"

"Didn't he just save the entire kingdom?"

The soldiers watched as the knight was marched down to the dungeon. He was thrown in a cell and the doors slammed and locked. The guards left him there without a word.

It was several days before anyone went to see the imprisoned Protector of the Realm. He was lying on the ground and staring at the ceiling, quietly contemplating the mysteries of life. He was shaken from his thoughts by a soft voice. He looked through the bars at the face of the princess. "This certainly isn't the first place I would look to find a princess," he said smiling. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to set you free," the woman replied, revealing a ring of keys that was hidden behind her back. She unlocked the door and silently slid it open. "You need to get out of here. You never should have spoken like that to the king."
"You mean your father?"

"No. The king. I would never consider such a cruel and heartless man my father. Come here; let me unlock your chains."
"Not necessary," said the knight, quickly slipping from the chains. "You shouldn't have come for me. I would have gotten out in time. I was waiting for the right moment." He climbed to his feet and walked through the open door.
"There's a secret way out of the dungeon," said the princess, motioning with a hand. "This way."
"No," said the knight. "I have unfinished business with the king."

He noiselessly ran the other way, leaving the princess alone in the darkness of the dungeon. His path brought him to the staircase that lead out of the dungeon and he saw the guards there already lying on the ground. He stopped for a moment to examine them and quickly determined that they had been drugged. He continued up the stairs and silently moved into the main halls of the castle. The knight crept down the passages, moving quickly behind a tapestry if someone approached. In time, he made his way to the king's throne room once more. The guards outside stood at attention, blocking passage to the room. With a wave of his hand from around the corner where he was hiding, the knight caught the attention of the guards. They slowly advanced on his position. When the guards were at the corner, the knight jumped from his hiding place and slammed a shoulder into the first guard knocking him to the ground. Before the second guard could bring his weapon to bear, the knight thrust a high kick at his chest-plate that knocked him off his feet. The man picked up a fallen sword and held it ready in front of him as the guards climbed to their feet. A quick slash with his sword and the first guard was disarmed. A blow from the hilt to the second man's head caused him to fall unconscious to the ground. The first guard threw a punch at the man and only succeeded in bruising his shoulder. The knight swung his sword once more and the remaining guard fell to the ground. He then kicked open the door to the audience chamber and pointed his sword at the king.

"It ends now," spat the knight.
"What... How...," sputtered the king, getting to his feet. "Remove that man!" he bellowed, regaining his composure. Two of the guards standing within the chamber moved to seize the knight. They were met with a flurry of blows that left them both unconscious and bleeding on the floor. The other guards in the room shied away from the man, not wanting to end up like their fallen comrades. The king drew his own sword and advanced on the knight. "Then I shall finish this myself." He threw off his heavy robe and took up a defensive stance, his sword held in two hands before him.

The knight leapt at the king who parried his blow and made a quick slash with his own weapon. But the knight was too quick. He dropped to the ground and rolled out of the king's reach. Leaping quickly to his feet, the knight took up his own battle stance and the two began to circle slowly around the center of the room. Out of the corner of his eye, the knight saw the princess slip through the door to the chamber and risked a glance in her direction. Noting his adversary's momentary inattentiveness, the king lunged at the knight who barely managed to divert the attack. The king pushed on, aiming blow after blow at the knight who deftly parried them as he backed away from the rampaging king. All too soon, however, he had backed into the wall and lost his edge in deflecting the king's attacks. He ducked under a slash aimed at his head and spun to the side and around the king. He now pushed his own attack, pinning the king against the wall. The king's sword was knocked out of his hand and he fell to his knees unarmed. "Wait!" he cried.

The knight stopped his attack. "What?" he spat at the king.

"I... I surrender. I'll give up the crown. Just don't kill me."

"Very well then," said the knight turning away from the king in disgust. But as he began to walk away, the king quickly rose to his feet, drew a dagger from a hidden sheath at his waist and prepared to throw it.

"No!" cried the princess. She leapt between the king and his quarry. The knife, just released from the king's hand, struck her in the chest. The knight whirled to see what had happened. He saw the princess' body fall to the ground.

"This wasn't supposed to happen..." He knelt beside her fallen form. "Why?"

"Because I... love you," she whispered as her last breath escaped her lips.

With the distraction of the fallen princess, the king had retrieved his sword and walked around behind the knight. "You said it ends now, and you were right," whispered the king, stabbing the knight in the back.

The man fell forward and time slowed to a crawl. He saw everything around him, clearer than he had ever seen it before. There was a blur of movement but strangely there was no sound.

I'm dying he thought, sinking slowly to the ground. But the deed has been done. The guards and nobles who had been in the room had seen the cold-heartedness of the king. They watched him kill his own daughter without shedding a tear, and then stab in the back the very man he had named Protector of the Realm. The king's once-loyal soldiers rose up and surrounded the king. They dragged him out of the room as the fallen knight's vision waned. The deed has been done.
He awoke to a brilliant light; a shining figure stood over him. An angel, he thought, and an angel it was. The shimmering princess offered him a hand and helped him to his feet.

The sun shone in the bright blue sky. They stood on a giant white cloud. Hand in hand they walked to its edge and, without hesitation, leapt off into open space. They flew together through the boundless sky, and felt joy known by no other. People below looked up, saw the glimmering pair and smiled. Evil had been defeated. Oppression was at an end. A new age of hope had dawned.

The End