The Knight and Sloth
A bit of a short story I wrote to practice my writing, mainly action scenes like is featured here.
The Knight and Sloth
A Short practice story.
The chant echoed through the hall. "End him, End him, End him." The knight his armor gleamed in the torchlight, his sword at the ready. Whatever magic they were using kept him from seeing the crowd above him but he could still hear them. The labyrinthine arena held a monster like none other, he was grand in stature and strength, and he was also once a knight, now corrupted by the evil magics of the Mage Greed, the knight was now known as Sloth. From behind the knight came the clanging sounds of armored feet against the stone. He turned bringing his heirloom sword up to bare, his feet clad in light but tough leather on the bottom and armored plates on top, making him stealthy and a quick. The chant raising in pitch.
Until it fell silent, he could feel the eyes of the spectators upon him the blackness above seeming ominous and more frightening than before, the scraping of metal on stone continued it was slow and the knight thought he could run ahead and stay alive for a while long, he spun about on his heels and took off the noise of metal and stone falling behind. The knight knew he couldn't take the monster on in a headlong charge, the monster's armor was too thick and it would just deflect his sword and the knight's own armor wasn't made to take sword of the beast, maybe an impact or two but it wouldn't be any good for much else.
He turned a corner and there in front of him was the beast his sword at the ready, the knight turned to sprint away but as he turned the monster was in front of him again. Sweat dripped down the knight's face under his visor and his breathing ragged from running, but he took a chance and without turning bolted down the hall which he just came from keeping his eyes on the monster, but as he turned to focus on the path ahead it was there again standing at the end of the path at a junction. The knight thought, Sloth doesn't do him justice he can outpace me every time. So the knight spun around eyes closed and ran taking the original path he had decided on and ducked he couldn't see the sword that grazed the horse hair crest of his helm, but he heard it slice through the air.
He opened his eyes and ran full tilt down the corridor, he saw it coming around the corner further down the hall so the knight readied his sword again and charged trying to get around the beast and shove his sword in the gap in the beast's armor between chest plate and helmet. As he passed the beast and turned around sword at the ready he struck his sword glanced off the top of the chest plate the tip snapped.
"Damn!" The knight struck again this time his aim proved true his sword sliding into the hilt in the beasts neck. A scream of agony escaped from the lips of the monster and dropping his sword with a loud clatter the beast reached back and attempted to pull the blade from his neck. The knight stood in disbelief as the monster remained standing. Blood had begun to pool under the beast it glowed a menacing reddish color. The knight taking this chance leaped holding a dagger he ripped the leather thongs holding the beast's chest plate on.
The knight swung forward around using the beast's neck to hold on and drove his dagger home into the heart of the beast. But the knight didn't see the monster had been prepared for this and swung with a mighty fist unhindered by the blade in his neck or in his heart, right into knights face, sending him flying backward. The knight slammed against a wall and slid to the floor, winded and bloodied where his visor had crumpled in nearly breaking his nose, he couldn't see well his visor crumpled in as it was so he ripped the helmet of and slung it at the beast, his helmet slamming against the beast's own. He coughed blood leaking from his mouth.
That was it he was done for he couldn't move very well he must have hit the wall extremely hard and he could feel the blood leaking down his chin. So he waited laying there as the beast pulled the sword and dagger from his body and grabbed his own sword and walked over slowly dragging the sword against the stone, sparks flying. It stopped he could see the beast standing above him.
The knight whispered. "I failed you brother." The words barely slipped from his lips when the sword of the beast came slamming down impaling the knight. The last sight he saw was the face of his former brother as the helmet slipped from the face of the beast.