Pentacle Knight Pt. 01

Night crept upon the village like a foreboding shadow. Cool evening respite no longer followed the day's labor. War threats had robbed Gwen's village of its blissful tranquility for more than a fortnight. Marauders and their trained wolves haunted the fields and valleys, stalking citizens and paladins of The Holy Order. The struggle to secure peace had shifted north of Razor Valley to engulf the farming village of Canton.

Gwen huddled with her aunt and uncle in the stone cellar of their small cottage. Ravenous growls and banging preceded splintering wood as marauder wolves tore into their home. The two Devil Beasts could smell fear. Their heavy steps bounded to the cellar door before they threw their large bodies against it. A terrible crash preceded screams and yelping as the wolves burst into the cellar. Gwen's uncle charged the massive animals with his heavy shovel. They dived for him with fangs bared. Terrified screams pierced the night as the wolves ripped the man's arms from his body and slammed his bloody torso to the floor.

Gwen feared all was lost until a shadow darkened the doorway. A flash of steel proceeded yelps and snarls as a paladin's double ax severed a wolf's head from its body. Gwen clutched her elderly aunt as the old woman fainted in her arms. Another flash of steel and a spray of blood saw the second wolf headless. The cellar fell silent as dark blood spread across the floor. Gwen was reeling and on the edge of faint as she gazed at her blood-spattered savior. The tall man removed his silver helmet, allowing the light from the doorway to catch his youthful face. Short-cropped blond hair adorned his head over a handsome, brooding brow. The sigil of The Holy Order was clearly visible on his tunic and vambrace. The ornate cross within a watchful eye was a symbol of hope and fear across the land.

"He's too young to be a paladin," Gwen thought. Her terrorized mind needed to focus on something besides the expanding blood around her.

Suddenly, a crash from above alerted them to more danger. An instant later, three more Devil Beasts darted through the cellar door. Gwen shrieked as the paladin let out a battle cry and lifted his ax. The animals descended on the hero as he swung his blood-slicked weapon. A heavy, fur-covered body was flung into the corner, knocking Gwen and her aunt hard against the stone wall. Blissful silence and darkness followed.

Aron screamed as the last standing wolf, a monster of an animal, clamped onto his shoulder and neck. Using its massive body as leverage, it wrenched the paladin backward onto the floor. Aron's chain mail caught in the monster's teeth, preventing the wolf from tearing his throat out. Aron screamed again to rally his strength as he hauled his ax up with one hand and hacked into the wolf's back. It yelped against the blood-soaked wound on Aron's neck, but it didn't let go. The wolf growled in defiance as Aron wrenched his ax from its shoulder blade. The paladin's vision was blurring in spite of his battle rush. He screamed one last time and swung his ax over his shoulder, severing the wolf's spine. A harsh grunt preceded the relaxing of the wolf's death grip on his neck.

Aron groaned as he lay in a pool of blood and gore. The cellar was stifling from the heat of the five dead wolves around him. His vision cleared once the wolf's jaw relaxed the pressure on his throat. He could feel his own blood dripping in hot streams around its teeth. He took a moment to collect himself before he pried the beast's fangs out of his flesh. Its teeth were jammed into the bent rings of his chain mail shirt. He couldn't pry it loose in his injured state, and he couldn't sit up with the weight of the wolf holding him down. He grumbled a curse and began the painstaking process of removing his breastplate, vambraces, and chain mail so he could sit up.

He felt a sense of urgency to check on the family he had tried to save. He feared the worst from the dead silence in the cellar. Once he was free of his armor, he removed his blood-soaked linen shirt and tore it into strips. He carefully tied the cloth over his neck and under the opposite arm, creating enough pressure to staunch his dripping wound. His chain mail prevented a life-threatening injury.

He looked in the corner as he tied off his bandage and gasped at the beautiful face resting unconscious against the fur of a dead wolf. The young woman had long dark hair and light olive skin. Blood was dripping from a gash on her temple where her head hit the wall. The flush of color in her cheeks announced her survival. An elderly woman was lying next to her. Her skin was deathly pale as her eyes gazed lifelessly towards the ceiling.

"Divine help us," Aron groaned as he pulled himself to his feet and staggered over to the maiden.

He touched her warm neck and confirmed a heartbeat. Then he heaved the massive wolf carcass off her legs and carefully gathered her in his arms. Her dress and legs were drenched in putrid gore from the wolf's stomach wound. He carried her out of the blood-drenched cellar and propped her on a bench in the kitchen. He bit his lip as he stripped her. He was thankful for the horrible smell at that moment. It prevented inappropriate thoughts from pushing into his young mind, but his body automatically responded to certain sights. He was a Paladin of The Holy Order, not a nurse, but war doesn't discern the best person for its chaotic tasks. He wasn't about to put the young woman to bed smelling of wolf excrement. She would thank him for it later. He hoped.

He gathered a pitcher of water and a bar of soap from the kitchen. His skin was flushed, and his heart was pounding as he washed her beautiful legs. He had never seen a naked woman before, and he definitely never touched one. He feared what his general would say if he saw him at that moment, but he knew he was doing right by the poor woman. He failed to save her family, and he was disgusted at himself for it. He patted her dry with a towel before he carried her into a small bedroom in the back of the cottage. He tucked her under a blanket in a small feather bed before he returned to the cellar to recover her family.

Aron's stomach churned and his head felt dizzy as he pieced together what was left of Gwen's elderly uncle. Her aunt had died of a heart attack after witnessing her husband's abrupt dismemberment. He placed the bodies on the lawn, covered them with hay and firewood, and lit the funeral pyres. He built similar fires with the wolf carcasses. He skinned two of the wolves and laid their handsome pelts out to dry. They would make excellent winter cloaks. Aron knew the smoke and fire would summon his comrades to the scene and scare off any more predators in the area. His horse bolted after the second wave of wolves attacked. He didn't hold it against the poor beast. He was stuck at Gwen's rural farm on the outskirts of Canton until help arrived.

He used the last of his energy to clean the gore out of the cellar. He disposed of the worst of it in the fire to prevent an unbearable smell by morning. Then he staggered back to the kitchen to clean himself up. He cleaned his armor first and laid it on the lawn to dry. Then he scrubbed himself and tended his wound. He felt better after a wash and a drink of water. He sat on the porch and leaned against the banister to watch the funeral fires. He fell out of the waking world at some point. His exhaustion finally defeated him.

Aron was startled awake at dawn by a heart-wrenching cry from inside the house. Gwen was awake, and she remembered what happened. He had heard similar wails of grief and terror in the ransacked villages south of Razor Valley. Aron scrambled to his feet in spite of the painful protest of his injuries and ran into the house. He found Gwen kneeling naked on the floor. Her slender frame was racked with sobs. Her dark hair was a mess and hanging in her face. She looked at him in fear as tears streamed from her large hazel eyes. The pitiful sight of her pierced Aron's heart with tremendous grief. He stepped over to her and knelt on the floor so he could steady her by her shoulders. She was shaking like a leaf in a storm.

"I'm sorry," is all he could say. His throat was tight with grief. He could barely get the words out.

She shook her head at him before she gathered him in her arms and squeezed him with all her strength. She knew he was the one that risked his life to save her. He returned her embrace as he sat on the floor and pulled her into his lap. She sobbed against his injured shoulder until his wound stung from her salty tears. He pulled her close and rubbed her cold skin. The morning was chilly, and the doors of the cottage had been destroyed by the wolves. He hoped she would calm down soon so he could find her some clothes. He suddenly realized his comrades could appear at any moment, and if they saw him in his current position, he would be in serious trouble. A second after that thought crossed his mind, he heard boots thumping across the kitchen floor. Aron cursed under his breath as Paladin General Barn's large body appeared in the doorway, casting a shadow over him and Gwen. Barn looked fierce and important in his full paladin regalia. His silver armor shined in the morning sun.

"What have you done, Paladin Aron?" he demanded as he looked at the naked woman sitting in his half-naked subordinate's lap.

Gwen gasped at the sound of the man's demanding voice and harsh tone. She shrank against Aron with her heart pounding in terror again.

"Forgive me, general. This is not what it appears to be," Aron said with a gulp.

"Make the woman decent and step outside at once!" he barked before he left the house.

Aron looked around the room in a panic for a moment. Then he quickly reached over to the bed and yanked the blanket off of it. He tossed it around Gwen before he gently lifted her out of his lap and set her on the floor. He held her cheeks and searched her wet eyes for a moment. She looked scared and heartbroken but not completely destroyed by the trauma of seeing her uncle ripped apart by wolves.

Gwen was searching his handsome face in fear and uncertainty. His sad blue eyes seemed to gaze right into her battered soul. She wanted to thank him and ask him a thousand questions, but she couldn't get her chattering teeth and frozen tongue to cooperate. The cool morning air and merciless night had rendered her a trembling mess. More chills ran through her once Aron drew his warm hands away and hurried out of the house to face his general.

Gwen pulled the blanket tight around herself and focused on her breathing. She knew her aunt and uncle were dead. She was astonished the lone paladin had managed to save her and himself from five Devil Beasts. The trained monsters were the key to the warlord's success against Razor Valley and Canton's peaceful farming districts. The Paladins of The Holy Order were struggling to keep all the scattered farmers safe.

The trembling in Gwen's limbs eased as she listened to the gruff general berating his young subordinate. Barn never once allowed Aron to explain what happened. All he cared about was telling the paladin how he dishonored a young woman and The Holy Order with his indecent behavior. Even in her shattered state, Gwen felt angry at the general for his words. Aron had risked his life in an attempt to save her family against desperate odds. He was a genuine hero.

Gwen let her growing anger steady her trembling as she pushed herself to her feet. She wrapped her blanket tight around herself before she walked to the front porch. The spring morning was beautiful as sunlight peaked over the snow-capped mountains and stretched across the verdant meadows of Canton. Yellow and blue wildflowers speckled the swaying grasses all the way to the edge of the southern woodlands. The smoke in the air was the only reminder of the nightmare that passed in the night.

Aron was standing before his general with his head bowed as the man continued to berate him. His handsome chest was still bare, and the bandages on his neck were soaked with blood. The cross and eye sigil of The Holy Order was burned into his left breast. He earned that mark when he became a paladin. To Gwen, he looked like a dashing hero. The morning sun made his dark blond hair shine with streaks of gold. Two more paladins sat on massive draft horses close by, watching Aron's interrogation with pity on their faces. Gwen looked at the smoking funeral pyres on the edge of the lawn and her heart lurched. Tears poured from her eyes as she whispered farewell to her precious aunt and uncle. She wasn't a stranger to tragedy, but the violent way her uncle was taken into the afterlife would haunt her for the rest of her days. It had been too much for her aunt. Gwen knew the shock of her uncle's death had killed the poor woman when she collapsed against her in the cellar.

"So much for Divine protection. We're just lambs for the slaughter," Gwen whispered with an ache in her chest.

"Have you forgotten your sacred oaths, boy?" Barn continued, distracting Gwen from her grief again.

"No, sir," Aron replied.

"We are representatives of the Divine! We must always conduct ourselves in a way that pleases our Holy Creator. What would his Holiness Cleric Renal say if he had found you sitting half-naked, defiling the honor of that farm maiden? He would have killed you on the spot!" Barn bellowed.

Gwen scowled at the general. His accusations were unfair and ridiculous. She would be dead if it weren't for the young paladin's heroic actions. He did what any kind human would do after a tragedy. He held her close while she was racked with grief and terror. It was completely innocent. She didn't understand how anyone could be so high-minded in the face of war horrors.

"There is no escaping the consequences, Paladin Aron," Barn said in a condescending tone. "Your actions are unforgivable. I would be a fool to bring your case before Cleric Renal, fully knowing what your punishment should be. I dare not waste his Holiness's valuable time while the region is engulfed in war. I will take the responsibility of your discipline upon myself."

Gwen didn't like where the conversation was going as she watched Barn pull a dagger from his belt and point it at Aron. She had heard rumors of the overly strict punishments forced upon Paladins of The Holy Order. The rules were put in place to hold paladins to a higher standard of conduct. Gwen respected that, but she felt General Barn was grievously overstepping his bounds. She wasn't about to let him punish the young paladin for his heroism. She dashed back into the cottage to retrieve her recurve bow and her fox hide quiver. Her bow was her most prized possession. Her late father made it for her when she was ten, and she practiced with it almost every day for the next eight years.

"I will grant you the privilege of choosing your punishment, Aron," Barn continued as he grabbed his subordinate's throat and pointed the dagger at his left breast. "I shall cut our sacred sigil from your tainted flesh and cast it into the fire, temporarily banishing you from The Holy Order. You will be allowed to rejoin our organization as a redemption-seeking private. In time, if you prove your worthiness, you will be allowed to face the paladin trials again and reclaim your current title. Or, you can keep your current title with the addition of redeeming scars. You will wear your shame on your face and neck for the rest of your life. You know your other options, I'm sure. What will it be?" he demanded.

Aron felt sick to his stomach as he stared into Barn's merciless gray eyes. Both options were horrible. He didn't want to spend the next four years of his life repeating the miserable paladin trials, and he definitely didn't want his face and neck carved into a bloody mess. His other options were death or criminal exile. No one entered or left The Holy Order without consequences. His life would be in ruin if he left. He had no family or home to return to. The Order, as he often called it, was his life, and it was forced upon him by his orphaned state, not by his choosing.

"I'll repeat the paladin trials," he said miserably.

"Very well. Your punishment has been honorably decided," General Barn agreed as he brought the tip of his dagger to Aron's sigil, ready to carve a hole in his flesh.

Aron closed his eyes and braced himself for the mutilation, but the procedure was suddenly interrupted. An arrow stabbed through Barn's exposed wrist below his vambrace, causing him to cry out in pain and drop his dagger. The arrow would have gone further had the armor on top of his wrist not halted its progress. Aron jumped away from Barn in shock and looked at the cottage. Gwen was standing on the porch in the morning sun, fully nude, aiming her bow with skilled determination. The only thing she was wearing was a small leather quiver. It was packed with red-feathered arrows. She already had another arrow nocked and aimed at the general's face.

Aron stared at her in absolute amazement. A cool breeze stirred and blew a few strands of her long dark hair over her shoulder and across her beautiful round breasts. It was the most sensual and alluring thing the young paladin had ever seen. He had never been religious. Even as he swore to serve the Divine Creator as a Paladin of The Holy Order, he had his doubts about supernatural beings. But, as he stared at Gwen's shocking beauty in the morning sun, he suddenly wondered if a goddess of war was standing before them. Her appearance and bold attack had left the other paladins staring with their mouths agape. Barn was the first to recover himself. The pain in his wrist prevented his enjoyment of Gwen's beauty. He was also insulted and infuriated by her attack.

"You wretched little bitch! How dare you assault a paladin general?" he yelled as he held his throbbing wrist. Blood was dripping from the wound, staining his gray glove.

"The next one is aimed at your face!" she spat. "Get the hell off my property and leave Paladin Aron alone. He saved me from five Devil Beasts last night. It was a miraculous feat. He deserves honors, not punishment," she yelled furiously.

"That is not for you to decide, you shameless dollymop! Paladins, remove the whore's head from her shoulders!" Barn bellowed to his men on horseback.

Gwen quickly changed her target and released her arrow, shooting a tuft of hair off the closest horse's tail. The poor beast reared up in a panic, almost throwing its rider. The paladin cried out and yelled at his mount as it tried to throw him. A split second later, Gwen drew and nocked another arrow. She shot the second horse's tail, and it immediately bolted across the meadow towards the village. The first panic-stricken animal quickly followed suit. She had made quick work of the general's backup.

Aron was astonished by how fast the situation turned against the general. Barn cursed and reached for his sword, determined to kill Gwen for meddling in paladin affairs. Aron dived for his ax and picked it up from the grass in time to intercept Barn's charge. He put himself between Gwen and Barn to protect them from each other. He knew the fierce woman could easily shoot the general's eyes out. Aron was already in a ton of trouble. He didn't want to add a dead general to his list of problems.

The men clashed with angry grunts and yelling as they fought with sword and ax across the lawn. Barn was at a disadvantage with his injured hand, but Aron was in worse shape with his neck wound and lack of armor. He needed to end the battle fast. He rotated his ax to the side and slammed the heavy steel into the side of his general's head, launching his silver helmet across the lawn and rendering him unconscious. Aron was ferocious with a light ax. It earned him a tremendous amount of respect from the older paladins, but no amount of respect could get him out of trouble at that point.