Terraminator
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Knights of the Pactogonal Table
Long ago, a guild was formed. This guild was made up of a group of exceptional warriors that lived in Lore, and trained since they were very young. Only the best of the best got invited or accepted into this guild, and every warrior, all across the land, wanted to fight beside the knights. They named this guild the Knights of the Pactogonal Table, and they were the safe keepers of the kingdom. Their tower where they planned their defense of the cities was in a forest in Oaklore. Now, we must remember that this guild was formed long ago, before you and I were even born, but it still exists today. You may have heard of them before. In fact, you may be very familiar with them! They are famous across land and sea, feared by many. At least, before they were. But this story is not about their present, but about their past. Now come and listen, to the story that has been passed down for centuries...
A young maiden was walking through the forest one day, when she came upon a clearing. Now, this clearing was not completely empty, but the girl did not know that at the time. She was thrilled to find a beautiful ground covered in beautiful wildflowers that she did not know enough to see the wolf that was prowling towards her. This will be a great present for Mother, she thought, oblivious to anything else. Just as the wolf was ready to pounce, a sword came down on its neck, and it lay dead among the colorful petals. Only then did the girl look up, realizing how foolish she had been. A knight was standing above her, looking down with a friendly grin. She instantly knew who this was, and she bowed her head respectively.
"Oh, thank you, Knight of the Pactogonal Table! Without you, I would be dead! I should have paid more attention."
"It was not a problem, lass. Would you like me to walk you home?"
"I wish not to give you another burden to carry. You must be so busy!"
"Again, m'lady, it is not a worry. Come, tell me where you live."
Far off, voices were echoing plans of attack against Falconreach.
"The seeds, Chief, the seeds. Us Vurrmen need to eat too!"
"Shut up, you fools! Be quiet when you speak. These trees have ears, you know."
"No they d-"
"Shut UP! Do you not listen? Now, we will enter the fort and take the seeds at midnight..."
When the knight and the maiden arrived at a small cottage, the maiden said farewell to her hero. As the door closed behind her, a smile crept onto the knight's lips. He would soon head back to the tower, but first he had something to take care of. In the market, a vendor was selling small gifts of soap and bouquets of wildflowers.
"I'll take one of those, good sir. How much is it?"
"It is free for you, Knight of the Pactogonal Table. I do not charge our great heroes."
"Please, I don't wish to receive any special treatment. Here is fifty gold for the bouquet. And please, call me Sir Ean."
He then payed, took the bouquet, and walked silently back to the young woman's house. He knocked three times before she opened the door, and smiled brightly at the gift.
"Oh, it's just wonderful! You didn't have to, you know..."
"Just take it as a gift from me to you. I didn't catch your name, though?"
"Oh! I completely forgot! My name is Summer, Summer Valane. What may I call you?"
"You may call me Sir Ean, Summer Valane. And might I say what a beautiful name that is."
"Why thank you, Sir Ean. My mother has me working around the house now, but I hope to see you soon."
"As do I, m'lady. Have a good evening."
He walked back to the tower feeling refreshed that night, unaware of the danger that surrounded him.
The Vurrmen had snuck into Sir Valance's encampment with ease. It was known by all his fellow knights that he was a very heavy sleeper. Only the sound of clanking metal could awake him. That was the Vurrmen's strongest advantage; they wore leather armor. Each and every one of the rodents was careful not to be heard, as they gathered bags and bags of seeds. On a busy day, not a single knight would worry about some seeds, but this wasn't the first time the Vurrmen committed a crime. They were widely known for acts such as these, and over the past months, they were just getting worse.
"Chief, these bags are pretty heavy, ya know. How're we gonna carry 'em all the way back?"
"Get two to a bag then, and stop complaining. We're gonna need these seeds soon."
"Alrighty, Chief. But what are we gonna do with the Sneevils?"
"Shut up! Someone might hear you! No one can know what are plans are!"
"Are we gonna use them for our Seed-spitter army that we'll use to attack Falconreach?"
"I said shut UP! Now go!"
The sound of paws shuffling across the dirt got quieter and quieter until nothing but the wind could be heard. Still, Sir Valance did not wake up, or even shift in his bed, but as the metal clanking of his hand-made "alarm clock" went off, he got up and went to work, oblivious of the happenings of that night.
Sir Ean's next few days at the tower were torture. The morning after his meeting with Summer, Sir Preem had come up to him and handed him a scroll. Most of it was empty, except the bottom which said in cursive writing "Meet me in the town of Falconreach tonight, and I will kiss you under the full moon." This was obviously a joke, for when the knight read it aloud, his fellow guardians burst out in a chorus guffaws. Plus, Sir Ean knew for a fact that there was a half moon that night, not a full moon.
"What is this about, Sir Preem?"
"Just a joke, Sir Ean."
"Who told you about this maiden, hm? What is Sir Prise? I would hope not, as I haven't done anything to him lately."
"No, no, it wasn't that. Sir Enade and I were patrolling the forest for Vurrmen, and we happened to see you walk that lass home. Says he say you buy a gift for her as well. I left to come back."
"Ah, I see. Well, maybe you will learn not to be noising in other people's business when I beat you in a fencing battle, I hope. Or do you decline my challenge?"
"Bring it on, Sir Ean! You'll be sorry!"
It was all fun and games between the two temporary rivals, no real anger involved. So they planned to meet outside the headquarters in a half hour and fight, with an audience of the other knights. Meanwhile, as another joke, Sir Mise and a few other guardians invited Summer Valane to this tournament. While they were planning this little rumble, another danger was dancing in their midst...
The Vurrmen now stood on the ground, wielding their weapons with stiffness and cautious. They were in a cave, a lair of some sort. Another group of monsters, Sneevils with short swords, were standing around them in large bunches, breathing loudly in and out. One of the rodents, dressed in black armor, stood in front of them all and spoke in a rather high-pitched voice.
"Vurrmen and Sneevils, now is the time to strike back against the humans of Falconreach! We have the seeds here, and did you bring us the Seed-spitters?"
The group of armed mini-ogres responded by grunting and holding up their weapons.
"Good, good. Now, we invade the city and take what is rightfully ours!"
The crowd cheered and yelled, as the Chief led them into a chamber full of Seed-spitters. And army of them were lined up row after row, filled almost to the point they would overflow with seeds, and ready for a battle to begin...
"Is that your best, Sir Preem? Show me more than that!"
The knights' cheering and chanting sliced through the silence of the forest as the two warriors faced off against each other. Each was equip with fencing armor and a light sword, slicing and stabbing at the other's chest. The knights had formed teams, one cheering for Sir Preem, and the other for Sir Ean. They all brought flags with their name's on it, and Sir Vivor even brought his own wool-finger.
"Oh, and you think you're doing so great? We'll see about that!"
Sir Casm was rolling his eyes at that statement just as Summer Valane arrived, staring at the two from a distance. Sir Mise saw her and ushered her in between two of the other knights, letting her know what she had missed. When Sir Ean saw her, he stopped dead in his tracks. Just then, his opponent took this opportunity and slashed at the fencer's protective gear. It was all over, and Sir Preem one the challenge.
"Yes! YES! How about that, Sir Ean? Looks like he got a little distracted by his girlfriend!"
"That's enough, my friend. Teasing may be funny at first, but then it just gets annoying."
Without looking back, Sir Ean smiled at Summer and brought her further into the forest, where they could speak alone.
"Would you like to get something to eat in the city?"
"And you'll be wearing that to a restaurant?"
"Why not? Will you go?"
"Sure. C'mon!"
She took his hand as they walked to Falconreach.
The rodents watched the city from up in the oaks, while sneaky Sneevils hid in hollow trees. The army of Seed-spitters was readied with seeds and the Vurrmen with swords and axes, but the Chief hadn't given them the signal. Anticipation rose up in all of them, waiting to strike out against the humans. But there was still one thing to worry about: Would they be outnumbered? The Sneevils were known for not planning ahead, but the Vurrmen had never even attempted to pull off an attack like this. Their plan seemed reasonable to them, but doubt was still crammed at the back of their Chief's head. He tried his best to forget about it, and watched from the woods for the perfect moment.
"This soup is excellent. You have god taste in food."
"I come here for the bread, Summer. It's delicious, don't you agree?"
"Oh, I do, definitely! Have you tried their roast gorillaphant sandwich?"
"No I haven't, but I should...Summer, I wanted to show you something. Come with me."
Sir Ean left the money on the table and stepped outside with the maiden, his hand in hers. The sign above their heads swung in the slight breeze, reading "Yulgar's Fin: Seafood Baked with Real Dragon Fire!" The knight led her to a cliff overlooking the sea, and he pointed out at the water.
"My father once took me here to show my the ocean."
"That's wonderful. What was his name?"
"His name was Gorge..."
"Oh, that reminds me. Is your real name Sir Ean, because it sound a lot like serene."
Before he could answer this question, the sound of a battle cry came from the forest, followed by an army of Vurrmen and Sneevils. Immediately, Sir Ean unsheathed his sword and charged at the monsters, who were now spitting seeds at him.
When the city was cleared of crowds, and of people in general, the Chief slowly raised his sword to signal the attack. He paused for a moment though, when he saw a man and woman race towards the cliff at the Castle near the center of the town. Looking closely, the rodent could see the crest on his fencing armor, the crest of the Knights of the Pactogonal Table. This angered him greatly, so he gestured his army towards the knight.
"ATTACK!"
Instantly, the troops obeyed, running into what surely was suicide. Still, they charged into the city and at the Knight of the Pactogonal Table who was now drawing his weapon. The Chief chuckled at what he saw as ignorance and ran forth himself. The Seed-sitters spat, the Sneevils threw hand-made bombs, and the Vurrmen ran into the shops with swords in their hands. As the knight fought off the oncoming attacks, he protected the maiden with his body as a shield. The rodent laughed quietly to himself once again and ordered his army to stop their offense on him and let their leader speak. They obeyed without a word, and stepped back, allowing him passage.
"Foolish, foolish human. Surely you know we will kill you and every citizen of Falconreach. We outnumber you by hundreds, and yet you refuse to back down. Refuse to surrender. Why?"
"Because I have back-up."
More and more of the knights began to arrive at the scene after Sir Ean had finished his sentence. This took the Chief by surprise, and soon his whole army had been wiped out. The rest that had not been slain were took into custody, including the Vurrmen leader and followers. The rest of the monsters' bodies were thrown back into the deep forest where they belong. After this, Sir Ean turned towards Summer Valane and smiled, forgetting her earlier question. Without a word, he leaned into her and brushed his lips against hers, so barely that it could hardly be called a kiss. He could tell she enjoyed it though, and he took her hand gently in his.
"I'm sorry we were so rudely interrupted. I hope you cane forgive me."
"Oh course I can, you saved my life once again. How can I thank you?"
"You can thank me by marrying me."
"But I barely know you, good sir."
"Then get to know me, and marry me then."
"I guess you have yourself a deal then."
"Good."
"Good."
So that is the end of my story to you. Although this does have a somewhat happy ending, the Vurrmen did not disappear forever. They were released after three long years of hard labor and community service, but that's another story. For now, let us hope our Knights of the Pactogonal Table return to their heroic selves that they once where, and bit each other adieu.
< Message edited by xFiaannax -- 1/12/2011 22:36:56 >
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