Dreadlords Forgotten Slights

[Lothar]

Lothar frowned for a moment, glancing at Aelita with a frown before he took a single step back and away from her.

The Knight of Orchid stayed silent for a moment, and then finally seemed to acquiesce. The lance which he had so tightly held onto was thrown to the ground, his armor form slipping from the saddle of his horse with a surprising amount of dexterity.

"Very well!" He shouted as he reached to his saddle, drawing a sword with an odd sort of curve to its end. "I doubt the veracity of your claims, but I shall not have your words linger on my ears! Never let it said that I am not a man of honor!"

The knight said as he began to stalk towards Aelita, brandishing his blade. "I accept your challenge! Just ensure your two dogs stay out of it!"

Annoyance flickered over Lothar's face, and his teeth clicked together as he set his jaw.

 

[Aelita]

A beaming smile stretched out on Aelita’s face once she saw the Knight of Orchid dismount.

The same hand Aelita stretched out to half her partners began to move. It signed a message in the same code all Initiates learned in the Academy.

[Attack after me. No injury.]

Looking back toward them after that, Aelita told Lothar and Marcella, “You heard him. Sit aside.”

After doing that, Aelita spun her staff in a flourish before grasping it with both hands. She stepped forth in a spearman’s stance – keeping the bladed tip toward the Knight.

“Good to see some knights here have honor,” Aelita told the knight as she began to circle around her opponent.

“Now, won’t you show me the-“

Aelita’s staff suddenly began to glow. Without any other indication, Aelita swung the blunt end up and toward the knight. She still stood a few meters away and would not have been able to physically hit him.

“BIND!”

But, Aelita gave a chant and bands of light shot out from the staff. The light raced toward the knight – and if he was caught, they would wrap around the combatant’s body in an immobilizing way.

 

[Marcella]

Marcella's jaw dropped at how well spoken the Knight of Orchids was. The manner he conducted himself, the sense of honor, and all of this for his lady? It actually sparked a small sliver of jealousy within Marcella's chest. How lucky this Len must have been to snag a man who fought for a cause instead of fighting because he was taken as a child and told it was the way of the world.

It was going to be a shame that she'd have to cause him harm in just a few minutes.

Although that would have to wait as Aelita had made her intentions clear. Instead, Marcie just sat by the sidelines with her hands crossed, hoping that her blonde companion didn't ruin the knight's face too much before she could get a closer look.

 

[Lothar]

Lothar did not respond to Aelita, though he quickly along with Marcella moved to the side. The Knight seemed to ignore them entirely, even as they stepped somewhat closer to her. He then began to stride forward as Aelita raised her staff.

"Ha, now lets see what you're made of little girl." He said with a wide grin.

Then, magic lashed out from Aelita's staff. Launching forward as the Knight of Orchid called out in confusion. "What is thi-"

The man's words were suddenly caught as the light snatched around it. Wrapping quickly around his form and binding him in place before he could jump to the side. His blade fell to the ground as his arms tried to lash out from the odd bindings.

"THIS IS NOT HONORABLE!" He called, but by then it was already too late.

Lothar quickly motioned to Marcella, and then darted forward.

He rushed as quickly as he could, sprinting towards the knight in hopes of tackling him to the ground. Not knowing just how long Aelita's magic would last. The two crashed together, tumbling to the floor with Lothar pinning him. The odd magic still keeping the knight from truly fighting back.

 

[Aelita]

Once Lothar sprung to action and tackled the Knight of Orchid, Aelita looked to Marcella. With smile drooped into a slight sneer.

“Stop him if he throws off Lothar,” Aelita told Marcella.

Then, Aelita looked toward the knight. Her smile returned. She walked up to the Initiates’ prey.

“Thanks,” she told Lothar before crouching down toward the knight.

Blue eyes bored down upon the knight.

“Dreadlords only honor results, Leonard,” Aelita told him.

Aelita reached out and took off Leonard’s helmet. An extremely beautiful face was revealed to the trio – clearly a man’s, but chiseled in a way for all to appreciate. Golden hair fell across his face – some of it covering his vibrant and verdant eyes.

“Oh,” Aelita softly began as she sat the helmet aside, “I see Len falls for looks.”

Aelita cleared her throat, then told the knight, “Here’s a deal: Len returns home with us, and you and your horse live free.”

Tilting her head, Aelita added, “She... probably ran away once before, right? She can do it again? So, think of it as a temporary separation.”

Then, Aelita poked Leonard’s nose and said, “Just know your cooperation. Is. Optional. For us, that is.”

Looking up toward Lothar and Marcella, Aelita asked for confirmation with, “Right, guys?”

As she had said all this, Aelita's smile never faded.

Aelita's light binding would only hold for a few more moments.

 

[Marcella]

The knight was correct that this wasn’t honorable. Aelita was even lying to the man about how the group was going to let him live. The noble had been quite clear about what they were to do and it didn’t involve letting this man live.

Which really was a shame, he was so handsome. Marcella was certain that if she didn’t have a duty to perform he’d have ditched Len for someone like her.

Oh well.

”Don’t worry, he isn’t going to run away,” Marcella moved in very close and then bent down grabbed ahold of one of the man’s hands, gripping it tightly. ”I’m sorry about this Leonard, we don’t want to hurt you.”

The Knight of Orchids could see the kindness in her eyes and thinking he had an opportunity he addressed Marcie. “Good, very good, maybe you could help me then lass?”

She shook her head as she pulled the man's hand upwards and planted a soft kiss upon the top of his hand. ”We have to do this.”

An agonizing scream erupted from deep within the knight’s chest. “MY ANKLE!”

A few week’s back Initiate Sellvius had fallen from an outcrop and suffered a compound fracture in his ankle after landing feet first. Marcella had figured it would be the best insurance to prevent the knight from escaping. It didn’t really matter, they were going to kill him anyway.

 

[Lothar]

The Knight of Orchids let out a blood curdling scream as Marcella transferred the injury onto him. The knight immediately beginning to thrash beneath Lothar as he dealt with the surge of pain that suddenly flickered throughout his form.

"KRESS FUCK ME-" He swore, but Lothar continued to pin him to the ground.

Lothar struggled against the man, but it really was clear that he wasn't going to be going anywhere. Not with the injury that Marcella had just inflicted on him. That plus the two other Dreadlord which were staunchly surrounding him.

"You....can't...stop..." Even as he suffered, the man tried fighting back. Though Lothar did nothing other than pin him in place. "LOVE!"

He declared, doing his best to shove Lothar off of himself as, kick his leg up and striking his already broken ankle against the ground as it came down.

Another scream echoed out from his lips. "OW OW OW! PLEASE! PLEASE STOP THIS TORTURE!"

He bellowed, Lothar looking up at the two girls with a rather unimpressed visage.

"Pleaaaaaaaaaaaase!" The Knight shouted, still struggling, and still harming himself more than Lothar was doing anything. "I just want to looooooooove."

The Knight sobbed.

 

[Aelita]

Aelita’s smile turned into a grimace as Marcella injured Leonard. The smile did not return to her face as he began to sob and scream and moan.

Looking up to Marcella, Aelita told her, “Please fix him.”

Glancing over to Lothar for a moment, he would have seen a wince on Aelita’s face.

Aelita would then snap her fingers in front of Leonard’s face.

“Hey, listen,” Aelita began, “You help us, you and Len are alive, she can runaway again."

Gesturing to Marcella, "You don't, she breaks, you die, we take your armor, and take your place with Len.”

 

[Marcella]

Marcella saw the look in Aelita's face and knew exactly what it meant. She'd seen it a hundred times before. It said, 'hey you're doing a really great job and I'm so happy we're friends.'

Marcie smiled and nodded back to the blonde light-bringer before concentrating her magic again.

Honestly she wasn't sure how this man had become a knight. Sure, broken bones hurt but this was a pretty timid wound compared to some of the others she had inflicted on people in the past yet the Knight of Orchids was screaming like a child.

Magic flowed between the initiate's body and the knight's as she began to reabsorb the wound she had just inflicted. A slight tension in her own ankle flared before she stored the injury once more and Leonard's ankle was completely mended, as if it had never been broken in the first place.

"There."

Her voice was cheery and light. "All better!"

 

[Lothar]

"Alright! Alright please!" The Knight begged rather pathetically.

Lothar only shaking his head in disappointment. It seemed at the end of the day for all his proclamations of love the man was nothing but an empty tin can. A sad fate, but perhaps one that they should have expected at the end of all this.

Easing up just a little, Lothar allowed the beaten down knight just enough room to move.

"I'll tell you where she is!" The Knight said. "But you have to understand! Her father is terrible, awful, he wants her to marry a human! Deny her heritage! She can't do that! Len is too fair, too beautiful, too wonderful to be tied down some noble liar!"

Lothar frowned for a moment, not wanting to point out the irony. "We're just doing our job."

He said calmly.

"Your job is purveying tyranny and denying love!" The Knight of Orchid's claimed, but felt a jab of Lothar's fingers digging into the back of his neck. "She's at my house! She's at my house!"

The Knight repeated. "In the Cotorie district, but she’ll only come back to me! She won’t want to go with you."

–

 

[Aelita]

“I’ve read a novel where a noble knight was able to save the maiden from a horrible marriage,” Aelita told Leonard with a smile.

No such literature could be found within the libraries of the Academy.

Aelita looked toward her companions. Even if they could navigate to the Cotorie district, it was not known to the group where to find Leonard’s house.

Looking back to Leonard, Aelita reached out to grab his chin.

“Take us there, and I’m sure you can be that knight from the book,” Aelita told Leonard.

 

[Marcella]

This job was obviously going to be very difficult. Len would probably be upset when the three Initiates ended up killing Leonard, as they had been instructed to do, but that was the life of a Dreadlord.

"We should get to the Cotorie district," Marcella said with gumption in her voice.

All of the knight's whining and complaining had soured his good looks for her. The man professed love and a desire to shield his partner from her father yet he was going to lead the trio directly towards her because of a little bit of pain? He'd have never survived the academy.

Marcie glanced at her two companions, still unsure if Leonard would try to run off. "Do you want me to hold his hand?" He winced at that remark and gave a panicked glance to the other two initiates.

 

[Lothar]

Almost immediately the Knight of Orchids began to launch into another tirade. "I AM that man!"

He begged.

"But I will not go beyond the bounds of Honor! You three tricked me an-" Lothar let out a grunt, smacking the man gently on the back of the head in an attempt to try and silence him. Having grown tired of this whole exchange.

"Look, we're just trying to do our job, okay?" He said, not able to keep the annoyance from his voice. "Just take us to Len, we take her to her dad, and it's done, okay? Whatever the fuck you do after we leave this city we don't care."

It was the most emotion Lothar had shown since they'd come to this city.

With a wrench, the formerly more submissive Lothar pulled the Knight back up to his feet. "I got him, Marcella."

He assured his companion. "Let's just get this over with."

Lothar insisted, pushing the Knight forward. Ready to activate his violet eye if the man tried anything.

 

[Aelita]

After that exchange, Leonard appeared to comply with the Dreadkids’ demands. He would lead them into the Coterie district.

Not the best place to live in, not the worst. The unique architecture of Vel Faen added some charm.

As they journeyed to the “Knight of Orchids’” house, Aelita heard Lothar’s comment on getting the job done quick.

“Yeah, I’m in the same mind. Not really the best thing to do first thing in a new town,” Aelita complained.

Occasionally, Aelita would give a cautious glance back at Marcella.

But eventually, the trio would reach a very, very humble house in the middle of the Coterie district.

“This is it,” Leonard said.

With that said, Leonard began to take several deep breaths. His face, still unmasked as Aelita carried his helmet around, appeared stern and focused – as if he was mulling over several options on what to do.

He hesitated to open the door for the Initiates.

 

[Marcella]

Wow. This house sucked.

Marcella couldn't believe a man, even one as attractive as Leonard, had managed to convince a noblewoman to live in such squalor. For a second she even considered if this was a trap before dismissing that as impossible for a man who proclaimed to be obsessed with honor.

"Call Len out," she ordered in a stern voice that was unusual for her.

Truthfully, Marcie just wanted to get this whole exchange over with. Once Len was out the three of them could easily subdue her. Hogtie her, then bring her back to her father. Marcella had the stomach to kill the Orchid Knight if her compatriots didn't but she figured they should at least bring the pair back to the noblewoman's father.

He'd likely want to witness the execution of Leonard firsthand.

 

[Lothar]

When Marcie prompted him, the Knight of Orchids seemed to jump a little. Apparently memory of his magically inflicted injury still a bit too near the forefront of his memory to deny her. With more of a croak than an actual yell, he called out to his apparent beloved. "L-Len!"

Lothar couldn't help the utter contempt that floated through him as he watched the man.

It was so very pathetic that this man who claimed to stand for love and honor refused to hold to those values the moment he felt any true challenge. One broken bone and he crumbled to pieces. Loathing carried on his face as the sound of steps echoed behind the door. The eager patter of someone coming to greet the person that was supposed to have been a bulwark for them.

The person that was supposed to have protected them.

With a creak, the door was flung open and the girl from the poster revealed herself.

Her expression in the first minute was nothing but a beaming smile, yet as soon as she took on the three Initiates surrounding Initiates the expression turned. A scowl instantly pulled at her lips, and rage filled her eyes. Fingers tightened on the door, and she let out a shout filled with such conviction that it almost caught Lothar off Guard. "NO!"

Len shouted simply, and then proceeded to slam the door shut.

Seconds later the sound of three locks snapping into place echoed out, followed by another shout.

"Go away!" The obstinate half-elf yelled through the door. "I'm not going back!"

Lothar let out a loud sigh, letting go of Leonard. He motioned towards Aelita to take his charge, and then stepped up to the door. With little regard to whether or not Len was standing beside it, the Initiate did something very unlike his usual tepid self. A pulse ran through his left eye, and with a raised boot, he kicked in the front door. Len letting out a startled scream as the wood buckled and the door jam broke free on its left side.

 

[Aelita]

A snort escaped from Aelita as she heard Leonard’s croak.

When Len opened the door, Aelita greeted her with a welcoming, “Hello.”

But that was met by Len’s screaming.

Aelita took charge of Leonard once Lothar decided to rush forward to break down the door and get to Len. She took hold of the “Knight” with just as much strength as one would expect from a normal Initiate.

However, Leonard witnessed his own beloved screaming. About to be kidnapped, essentially, and taken away.

Something finally snapped in this man as he metaphorically rolled a natural 20.

With a violent, sudden elbow to Aelita’s stomach, the girl spat out a, “Gah!”

Then, Leonard smacked his head back and into Aelita’s nose.

Disoriented, Aelita was unable to stop the enraged Leonard from ripping her staff from its holster.

Pointing the bladed end toward Lothar, Leonard began to charge forth – hoping to get past Marcella and drive the weapon into Lothar.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” he screamed.

 

[Marcella]

There was a part of her that felt her heart melt, if but for a second, as Leonard finally found his nerve and summoned the courage to break away from Aelita's grasp. Charging recklessly forward to try and save his lover as she cried out in desperation. It reminded her of the little novels she'd snuck away and read in her dormitory back at the academy. Of a life she'd never live.

But it was only for a second.

In reality she saw the Orchid Knight rush forwards and Marcella simply held out a hand. Her fingers brushed against his flesh and where once there was a man with hopes, dreams, ambitions, and love now there was nothing but blooming reds and breaking bones.

Leonard let out a sharp, short, cry. Then he collapsed upon the ground.

Marcie had unleashed several different lacerations and broken bones she'd healed back at the academy. All at once. And now, in all likelihood, the Knight of Orchids lay dead at her feet. Leonard had tried to interfere in an official Anirian investigation and charged a Dreadlord Initiate while his back was turned. She'd simply had no choice but to slay the man where he stood.

"Grab Len." They'd completed their mission, Leonard would soon bleed out and if she had to guess Len wouldn't resist any further after watching her lover pass away.

 

[Lothar]

Lothar didn't hesitate as Marcie ordered him forward, deciding that perhaps he had absolutely no fucking idea who his companion was after all.

He stepped inside, greeted by a screaming half-elf with an upraised cooking pan in her hand. She stepped forward, clearly intent on smashing the Initiate in the head with her makeshift weapon. Yet as she moved her eyes caught sight of the crumple and bleeding form just outside the door.

"LEONARD!" Len's voice broke in a startled cry, shrill enough that Lothar had to flinch.

She rushed forward, dropping the pan with a loud clatter to try and dart towards her lover. Before she could, Lothar quickly reached out and grabbed her. Restraining the half-elf in an instant and forcing both arms to the small of her back.

"No! NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" She shouted as Lothar pushed her forward. "I HAVE TO HELP HIM! PLEASE! LET ME GO!"

Lothar sighed as he stepped forward, glancing at Marcella and Aelita. "Go back to your father, and we'll heal him."

He said simply, tears streaming down Len's face as she began to heave and sob. "O-Okay! P-p-please save him! Please!"

The Elf begged.

 

[Aelita]

Aelita recovered from Leanard’s assault. She took a few moments to catch her breath – seeing that Leonard was incapacitated. The audible gurgling from the Knight of Orchid’s made it clear that he still lived for the moment.

“Sorry about that,” Aelita told her comrades.

Then, she heard Lothar make a promise to a nobleman’s daughter.

Gesturing to the crumbled Leonard, Aelita looked to Marcella and told her, “Let’s. Enough for him to live.”

If Marcella showed hesitation, Aelita would add, “The Lord can decide what to do.”

 

[Marcella]

Marcella had heard begging and screaming far worse than the cries from Leonard's beloved before so the woman's screams did little to sway her. However, her companions words asking her to alleve the fallen knight was more than enough for her to listen.

"Very well," was all she muttered as she bent down and healed the Knight of Orchids enough so that he would be capable of walking, though running might prove too painful. "I guess it's a good point."

Maybe they would earn additional kudos if they brought both Len and the man who absconded with her back to the lord?

Perhaps the lord himself wished to deliver the killing blow?

 

[Lothar]

"Alright." Lothar said as Marcella bent down and healed the Knight, deciding that he was well and truly done with all of this.

"Let's get her back." Lothar said, still holding onto the girl who was now well and truly sobbing. Something that the young Initiate wasn't entirely sure couldn't have been an act. "Then maybe we ca-"

Before he could finish Len interrupted him. "You're all awful! AWFUL! people!"

She insisted, her voice like nails on a chalk board.

Lothar let out a sight, grabbing and shoving her forward as the trio began to make their way back towards the Barracks. If Marcella or Aelita wanted to take Leonard too, Lothar wouldn't stop them.

 

[Aelita]

Aelita’s face seemed still as stone as Len shouted her words at the Initiate trio. Once Lothar began pushing Len forward, back toward Lord Ilrden, Aelita picked up Leonard and began to follow.

The “Knight” hissed in pain as Aelita got him up on his feet. He displayed the face of a broken man - both literally and mentally.

As the trio began to march with Len and Leonard, it would quickly become apparent that Leonard’s wounds were still severe enough to hamper his movement. Leonard maintained an excruciatingly slow pace compared to what Len and a normal would would be capable of.

Aelita turned her gaze toward Marcella. A frown formed across her lips as she gestured her head toward Leonard while she looked into Marcella's eyes.

 

[Marcella]

It was good that they were taking Leonard with them but she could see the concern in Aelita's eyes.

Marcella knew that look, it said, "hey friend I don't want you to get in trouble for slowing us down because I really respect you." Marcie returned Aelita's stare with a wide smile and reached out to Leonard, healing him a bit further so that his pace would improve to match with Len's.

"We're not awful people," Marcie answered back to Len as they continued walking forward, less impeded by Leonard's weak step, "we're just doing what we were taught."

Her aloof words rang out in the tense air between them before she added, "you should listen to your father more. He's a noble." There was no further thought given to those words. They were simply facts that had been entrained into Marcella after a lifetime at the academy.

 

[Lothar]

"My father is worse than the rest of you!" Len complained as they continued into the city, making Lothar wonder if it would not be better to bind and gag her.

The more she spoke, the more eyes she began to draw from those around them, more than a few already casting a spare glance or two their way. His lips thinned, but the girl simply continued to shout as the Initate's lead her and her lover back towards the barracks.

"He's a hypocrite!" She declared. "He's allowed to fuck around with elves like my mother?! But I can't follow my true hearts desire?"

Len growled, glancing at Marcie directly. "What's 'noble' about that?!"

She demanded, Lothar letting out a loud sigh.

Leonard was notably quiet, like a dog who had been scolded and was now walking like a dog with his tail tucked between his legs. "Please, for the love of Kress, just shut up. We understand, we know, but we can't do shit."

All told, in a strange way, the three of them had less power than either of these lovers.