Farther East than any other kingdom before lie the ruins of a castle greater, richer, and larger than any other, who’s great halls and passages once bright and crowded fall still and dark, whose walls once bright and colorful, now a depressed grey. The outer walls that were once high and strong now crumbled like the land of fallen stone and wood structures before it. The courtyard of trees and white flowers, now dark and lifeless. All that remained was one knight whose fault was the castles decay. He is now far away, without title or name. All he has is the armor of the kingdom in which he came from and the revenge upon the dark force which took it. But now in his old age it would be a long, treacherous, and difficult journey to make back to the East. It took him years to get him where he is now and certainly longer to go back for he has only looked back longer without action.
With years of thought he put back on the armor which he had not worn since the day the castle fell and sword in hand he mounted his horse and left. The journey he knew would be long and he had years ahead of him before he sees the stone and fallen marble statue again. He has been journeying through the thick forest for months without sings of another to talk to, the green leaves and brown trunks getting ever thicker, the eyes of the long legged, harmless animals looking at him through the luscious leaves before slipping away to what seemed safer grasslands to graze upon, the sky getting less visible through the dark green leafy roof, the wind was the only one speaking to him as it whistled between the trees, and the longer he went the more tired him and the black mount beneath his legs got. Days seemed like minutes, months like days, and before he realized, if he had been tracking the moon correctly he had departed for one year. He had been through a vast, dim forest; an empty, endless plain; a fiercely snowy mountain pass; miles of old, tired, dirt roads; tiring, muddy hills, and small, morbid villages recovering from the darkness which over took his kingdom. Two more years pass by the aged and rugged knight, who now grows weary and hopeless, until the day had come.
He stares at his king, cracked and mossy, remembering the towering marble it once was before the most unfortunate day. He unmounts and the horse takes its chance at running away in fear for it knew what evil darkness lies inside. The knight without thought does not see it off but remains focused on the stone ruins crumble below his aching shaky feet. All that can be heard is his armor as he moves and his barely noticed faint breath as he is astonished seeing what lay before him. Slowly as he hikes closer to the castle, he finds it harder to breathe as if a poison is in the air. It is not his imagination either, it is real. He ambles through the front gate breathing heavily. But he is starting to hear something, like thousands of men whispering satanic phrases to him at a time. Through the passages he struggles to breathe. Suddenly the poison falls and is gone, without a trace. As he enters the great hall he trembles.
He knew it was the end of his journey and returning home was no longer possible. He figured if was to go down in flames so would his enemy. He pulled from his sheath the sword his king had failed his people with. He remembered how the king succumbed to his injuries before he could defeat the darkness.
Out of the fire which consumed the towers came the winged darkness. Its tail like lighting and its roar thunder leaving a black smoke in its path. He turned in circles with the purest sword in hand. It was said to be crafted by a god and made for a king. The dragon would be reincarnated by the flames to be consumed again. The fire was spreading to the top of the central tower where he stood. The beast surfaced to swipe its tail at him but missed. The king swung and swung but always fell short. Fatigued, the king gave in and dropped the sword. Falling to the ashes the sword gleamed and disappeared. The king was struck in the chest by the tail and the tower fell never to be seen or buried. But never forgotten.
The darkness took its infamous form and clawed its way to the knight. With little hesitation, he walked toward his life-long foe. The dragon snapped at him, missing each time. At last, the dragon opened its mouth to spit out flames, but the knight felt the presence of his family he lost years ago, and with only thoughts of them drove the sword through the black skull. Like his family, he was burned to ashes.
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