Sword of Justice

King Einar gripped the reins of his horse tighter as his eyes scanned the tree line in the distance as his army marched behind him. Rain slid off his armour and sunk into his skin sending a cold shiver through him, the chilly night air mingled with his sense of unease. The moonlight illuminated him and his army as they marched forward as the glimmer of lightning striking overhead was reflected in their silver armour. He scanned the tree line again his heart pounding in his chest.

“Sire, she can’t know.” His right-hand man, Knud, murmured to him.

“I know.” Einar replied. “But she’s cunning.”

Suddenly the horse beneath him bucked, vaulting him off its back with a startled whinny, and as he tumbled to the ground falling with a splat in the mud, his horse galloped away along with the rest of the army’s horses. Einar cursed, his startled soldiers pulling themselves from the mud as they helplessly watched their horses disappear over the hill and back the way they had come. His heart hammered in his chest as he glanced back at the forest panic jolting through him like the lightning above as he spotted movement from the forest’s fringe. Emerging from the tree line astride a large pale white horse was a women clothed in black leather armour and covered by a dark cloak that obscured her features from the moonlight. Gripping the reins were pale and thin hands with fingers that were dyed a deep purple and appeared almost black.

“How-how did she know?” Knud stammered.

“Because she’s a witch.” Einar replied with a growl.

The woman urged her horse forward, galloping across the field and towards his fallen army as they pulled their swords from their sheaths. At the sound of the metal sliding from their covers, large vines burst from the ground and coiled up and around his army, pulling them into the mud and pinning them to the ground. The only two left standing were himself and Knud, who gaped at the turn of events. Einar looked from one soldier to the next as rage exploded through him. He lifted his sword and began to hack at the vines to no avail.

“Hello Einar.” Came the woman’s voice from behind him.

“Evania.” Einar spat as he turned to her, swiping mud from his face, and gesturing to his army. “I assume this is your doing?”

She lowered her head with a quick nod and placed a relaxed hand on her sword hilt before flicking her reins and guiding her horse to weave through the maze of trapped soldiers. As she passed them, they spat and cursed at her, unable to move under the weight of the vines. Einar watched her closely as her golden eyes swept around the party until her horse came to a halt before him. In an elegant swish of her cloak, she dismounted her horse and inspected Einar and Knud.

“They do not belong in this fight.” Evania said as she shifted her gaze back to the King.

“A fight you’re not going to win, witch.” Einar spat as he flexed his sword and marched towards her.

She tilted her head, watching him as he waded through the mud towards her and tumbled face first into a pile of slimy wet sludge. Knud reached out to pull him from the ground, but Einar shrugged him off with a hard slap before pulling himself out and continuing his advance.

“Clearly.” She replied with a smirk. “Now, I’ll make this easy. I promise not to use magic, and that way you can beat me fair and square.”

“Why you little-.” He seethed as he continued to close the distance between them. “I can beat you with or without your pathetic magic.”

She smiled this time, sending a shiver through him as he finally reached her. She drew her sword and with a wild swing Einar commenced the battle. His anger blinded him allowing her to toy with him reeling him in and out as if they were both dancing an elegant dance together. She kept to her promise and never used her magic as they sparred. With all his might he pulled his sword down in a crushing blow that would’ve split her skull, but instead she deflected it and his sword skittered off into the mud. He fell to his knees as she placed the tip of her sword to his throat.

“For someone who runs a country, you seem to have a hard time winning.” She taunted.

“Finish it then.” He replied, his voice bubbling with fury. “Kill me and be done with it.” She stared down at him, her eyes darkening with fury.

“No.” She said, sheathing her sword.

“What?” Knud exclaimed shock spreading across his face.

“What sick game is this?” Einar snapped as she turned to his army.

“Listen well, and bare witness. I will spare your lives and your kingdom.” She announced, turning slowly. “I will disappear and never be heard from again.”

She turned to face the king, her eyes narrowing as she stared at him.

“I will do all this.” She continued, her voice quieter but still as sharp. “If your king promises to step down from his throne… and leave the kingdom never to return.”

Einar narrowed his eyes, the bitter taste of defeat filling him with fury as he stared up at her.

“Evania.” Knud murmured stepping forward. “Please, isn’t there another way? He has a child who needs him, a child who would be devastated if he didn’t come home.”

She blinked, her gaze turning from Einar to Knud as they turned into deep pits of darkness. Her expression softened for a second before it was replaced with hatred and anger.

“I was a child.” She hissed as the darkness flickered from her eyes.

Einar leapt from the ground, racing forwards, pulling her sword from its sheath, and plunging it into her chest. She yelped in pain as blood began to drip from her mouth and Einar began to laugh; victory and triumph crossing his face as he watched her begin to die.

“I will never step down.” He shouted turning to his soldiers as they shouted his name and cheered for his victory. “It is my birthright to be king.”

She reached up as more blood trickled from her lips and in one swift motion, she pulled it from her chest screaming in anguish causing the crowd to go silent. She collapsed to the floor, curling over herself, whimpering before her head flicked up and met Einar’s eyes, a manic smile etched across her cheeks and her eyes as black as the void. The wound was still open, and it revealed her pierced and beating heart, blood dripping from her chest and turning her armour red.

“Try again.” She said with a voice unlike her own as blood stained her teeth making Einar gape at her in horror. With a swift inhuman movement, she lunged forward and gripped his throat placing her hand carefully above his heart. Einar’s eyes widened in horror before he realised what was happening. As she stepped away from him, he knew it was too late.

“No.” Knud called racing to Einar’s side as he fell to his knees.

“Please.” Einar begged, pain beginning to throb in his feet. “You promised to play fair.”

“Why should I play fair?” Evania hissed, flexing her fingers and making Einar yelp under the pressure of her magic. “You never did.”

“Please! Please spare me! I have children! A-and a wife!” He begged as the air from his lungs slowly began to be pushed out. She smiled, the moonlight glinting off her bloodied teeth.

“Do you beg for mercy?” She asked in a purr as her smile coiled into a snarl. “They will be the last to die, after I have torn your beloved city to the ground. They will suffer as I have.”

That was when he felt it, his body being turned to stone. It began in his toes, a dull ache that began to burn more and more until it was too excruciating to bear. Finally, they were numb, and the pain slowly travelled up his body to reach his chest. With each breath, he could hear what he thought was the sound of stone being rubbed together reminding him awfully of breaking bones.

“Evania-.” He whispered, the stone creeping up his throat and spilling into his lungs as his whole body turned fully entirely to stone, and as he took his last breath, his heart painfully changing, he looked up at Evania to see her blazing eyes that swirled with triumph. She looked down on him, his stone stance reaching out to her as his final beg for life was etched onto his lips forever. The only thing that did not turn to stone was the golden crown that was perched upon his perfectly carved hair. With her black fingers she plucked it from his head, it’s metal coiling and changing at her touch as it became a larger, more intricately designed black crown that she placed on her head. With a smile she turned her sharp golden eyes towards Knud.

“Lead me to the city.” She whispered to him as his eyes turned golden.

Around her the vines pinning the soldiers to the ground relinquished their hold and slithered back into the ground. The soldiers rose, their eyes shimmering gold as Knud turned and began to walk towards the hilltop the army had walked over on their advancement earlier that night. The soldiers marched behind him as Evania pulled herself onto her horse and rode alongside them. As they reached the top of the hill Evania smiled as she gazed at the silhouette of the city in the distance.