Russel yawned as he woke up. He looked around at the messed up sheets and down at the beautiful girl in his arms. He kissed her forehead and got up, collecting his clothes from the pile on the floor.
He started to get dressed fixing himself up in Kathleen's bathroom, getting ready for a long day of work in the town. He started to walk out the door when he heard a mumbling behind him. He saw Kathleen starting to wake and walked over to her.
"Good morning beautiful." He said before kissing her.
"Do you have to go already?" Kathleen whined, putting her arms around his neck.
"Yes, I do. But I will see you later. I have something to ask you." Russel smiled.
He intended to immediately go to speak to Father Edward to ask for Kathleen's hand in marriage. It was one of the traditions of the town for the man to ask the father of the woman he wishes to marry for permission. This could become complicated as the father can have one of three answers. Yes, no or demand the man proves himself worthy in a way that the father chooses. Russel was pretty confident that he would attain his blessing, but reserved the day to prove himself just in case.
Russel walked down the staircase into the great hall where the Father was standing sipping a mug of tea.
"Good morning my boy. Have a good time last night?" The Father asked, winking at him.
Russel blushed and walked towards the Father.
"Do you remember when I wanted to ask you something yesterday?" Russel asked.
"Yes, I do recall that. Now let's hear what you have to say." The father said, taking another sip from his mug.
"Father Edward, I would like your blessing to ask your daughter to marry me." Russel said quickly.
Father Edward was taken aback, but he didn't look surprised.
"I knew this day would come…" The father chuckled, placing his mug on a nearby table. "Do you remember when the duke of Morray visited us there years back?"
"Yes I do." Russel said, confused as to where the Father was going with his statements.
"And do you remember when the Lord of Helmfirth came to the temple with an envoy bearing gifts? Do you remember when the King of Keld came to visit our humble monastery with four thousand men?" The man asked.
"Yes of course. The Lord Of Helmfirth was so loud and obnoxious that it would be impossible to forget him. And the King's knights taught me to use a sword." Russel affirmed. "May I ask where you are going with this?"
"On those, and many other occasions there have been men coming to ask to arrange a marriage with my daughter since she was nine." The father said picking up his mug and taking a large draught.
Russel's heart sank knowing he could not compete with royalty of any kind. He was only an orphan that the monastery had taken in as a mere baby, he had no claims to anything but the lives he had taken in the slums.
"Sir, I know that I am no royalty but I love your daughter more than anything in this world. I would never harm her or make her uncomfortable in my life, and would work hard to provide for her even if it kills me." Russel vowed lowering himself to one knee and looking at the ground. "I know that I have no title to speak of, and no claims to anything great, but I beg you for Kathleen's hand in marriage regardless."
"Get up off that floor boy, it needs a good cleaning." The old Father laughed.
Russel rose from his kneeling position and looked eye to eye with the father.
"Why do you think she is not living in some castle somewhere being pampered to her heart's content." The father asked, placing a hand on Russel's shoulder.
"I don't know sir." Russel said sincerely.
"It's because I've been waiting for this day. The day you would ask for her hand in marriage. I found you floating down the river one day nineteen years ago. While Kathleen may be mine by blood, you are mine by soul as well. Which makes this kind of awkward but you are no siblings to each other. I've seen the love you share and would be damned if I were to deny you both of that. Young man, you have my blessing." The father smiled.
Russel and the man embraced each other, tears coming to Russel's eyes in happiness.
"Thank you sir." Russel said, choking on the words.
"Stop crying. It's not befitting of a man, certainly not the one who is to marry my daughter." The Father laughed.
Russel left the monastery happier than he had ever felt. Knowing that he was to marry the girl of his dreams he was beyond elated. He ran back to his hut on the outskirts and dug out a box he had stashed in the back of the fireplace.
He opened it up and stared at the gold he had stashed inside. He had been saving up extra marks for years, and after seeing a beautiful diamond ring in town he knew what to spend it on. He smiled and placed the box into his jacket as he walked back to town.
He rounded the corner into the market area and walked into the Traveling Bazaar tent. Inside he saw all sorts of exotic goods carried in from beyond just the continent. These merchants were bound for the capital of Sylizen, the country they were in now. The city they were leaving for was Okumura, a giant walled city where King Arthur of Sylizen resided. The king was said to be a master swordsmen who served The Order Of The Dove along with his duties as King. He had assumed the throne fifteen years earlier after overthrowing the last monarch.
Russel found his way over to the man selling jewels and greeted him.
"What can I help you with?" The man asked in a very thick accent.
"Do you still have the diamond ring?" Russel asked the trader.
"Aye." The man grinned revealing his crooked and broken smile.
The man started to sort through his wares trying to find the diamond ring that Russell wanted. After a moment he found it and presented it to him.
Russel looked at the rings' beautiful silver band with flowers encrusted on it, along with the hexagonal white diamond on top that shimmered in even the slightest light. Russel smiled, imaging the ring resting on Kathleen's finger.
"120 marks." The trader spoke.
Russel gagged at the overwhelming price that was enough to buy almost one hundred days worth of food for a small family. Eventually Russel counted out the money in his box revealing 130 marks. He paid the trader and was given the ring in a small velvet box. Russel thanked the man and left with the ring and ten marks.
He left the Bazaar and walked back down the street passing a group of thugs. He gave them a sideways disgusted look as they entered the Bazaar. Russel intended to keep walking until he heard a scream and saw the body of the trader he had purchased from, thrown into the street. The trader's body quickly soaked the ground red from blood.
Russel walked back towards the tent and leaned down next to the man to check his pulse. Sure enough he was dead. Russel gained a wicked idea, he patted down the pockets of the man and found a pouch of money. By the weight he assumed there were easily 400 marks inside. He smiled and placed the pouch in his pocket.
"We'll just call this my service fee." Russel said heading into the tent.
He looked around and saw eleven men ransacking the place. Some merchants ran while some were overpowered and killed by the thugs. The residents of the town were cowering in a corner guarded by a man with a large war-axe. The thugs who weren't chasing the merchants were looking through the bags of wares.
"If you are gonna do a robbery at least don't be sloppy." Russel yelled out to the bandits.
"Lets see what your corpse has on you kid." A bearded bandit smiled evilly before walking up to Russel with a drawn knife.
The man swung the knife in a predictable pattern, letting Russel quickly sidestep and grab the bandits wrist and neck. He twisted his wrist making him drop the knife, then threw him into a nearby support pole headfirst.
Russel picked up the knife and did a few tricks with it. Before smiling at the other bandits now paying attention to him.
"Who's next?" Russel mocked, rolling up his long white sleeves.
"I'll chop you up you little shit!" Another bandit with a longsword yelled, running towards him.
Russel easily evaded the man's attack, slicing clean and deeply across his stomach. The man fell with a thud and Russel heard a cry from behind him.
He saw the previously defeated enemy rising up from next to the pole he had hit.
"Stay down." Russel said, throwing the knife at the man.
The man screamed waiting to die but to his surprise found the knife had hit his shirt and nailed him to the pole.
Russel turned his attention back to the remaining nine men. Two of the bandits rushed him with their fists. The first threw a punch that Russel easily caught and as the second rushed towards him, Russel used the hand he had grabbed as an anchor and ran up the seconds thugs chest. Once in the air Russel quickly grabbed the two thugs heads and bashed them together violently getting blood all over the front of his shirt.
"Damn it… This is my favorite shirt…" Russel said feigning sadness as he turned to fight the others.
Four more men charged at Russel and started to attack. Russel crouched down and kicked out the men's legs making them all fall to the ground. One by one he ran around and crushed each man's neck, killing them instantly.
"That's 8… How long until you people realize you can't win…" Russel signed picking up a sword from one of the fallen men.
Russel looked at the remaining three men and rushed forward. He slit the first man's throat and went into a deep spin cutting another man in half at the hip. He rose to his full height once more and looked at the final man guarding all the residents.
"You gonna surrender or do we have to fight too?" Russel yawned as he asked the man.
The remaining thug smiled wickedly and threw a dagger at Russel. Russel parried the dagger to the ground and scowled at the man.
"Cheap trick." Russel said, kicking the dagger up into his hand.
"Boss!" The man who Russel had nailed to the pole cried out.
"Quiet." Russel demanded, throwing the dagger at the man nailing his other shoulder to the pole.
The Boss thug threw three more daggers at Russel which he parried as well.
"Really? The same trick?" Russel sighed, moving closer to his enemy.
Suddenly the thug started throwing more daggers at him at a breakneck speed.
"Shit…" Russel groaned concentrating on reflecting the flying projectiles.
After five minutes Russel was panting heavily and finally slipped up, receiving a dagger straight into his right shoulder.
'Where is this guy getting these things from? Thin air?' Russel thought as he started backing up from the thug.
The thug continued throwing daggers and with his right shoulder out of commision, Russel was forced to switch to using his left hand to deflect the blows. Russel backed up to the man against the pole. He was struggling to reflect the daggers and was seeing exactly how determined the boss thug was to kill him. He ripped the other thug off the pole and held him in front of himself, using the man as a human shield.
"No! Don't!" The man cried as he was hit with three daggers straight to the chest.
'This guy was willing to kill his own lackey?' Russel thought taken aback at the killing. 'I gotta get out of here…'
Russel backed up further still using the corpse as a shield as he exited the tent. He dropped the corpse and his sword to the ground and grabbed his shoulder in pain. Footsteps could be heard approaching him out of the tent. The remaining thug smiled wickedly as he grabbed Russel by the throat and started to choke him.
"This is why we need town guards…" Russel said gasping for air.
"Any last words kid?" The thug asked.
"Who are you?" Russel asked.
"One of your own." The thug said, tightening his grip on him.
Russel looked at him puzzled having no idea what he meant.
"You don't know what you are do you?" The thug laughed.
Russel looked at him, still very confused. The thug's face started to warp and shifted into a hideous, distorted shaper. His eyes turned from their original grey to a blazing red, his arms extended and he grew long and jagged fingernails. His body started to contract into an almost skeletal shape, yet still appearing very strong.
"Do you get it now? I'm a demon, and I'm here to take your life Child Of Rapture." The demon smiled evilly.
"Child Of Rapture?" Russel repeated between wheezed breaths.
"So you don't know… This is your fate, the prophecy will not come to pass." The demon cackled wickedly, digging his fingernails into the side of Russel's throat.
Russel watched the demon laugh as things started to fade to black. His eyes fluttered closed and he felt like he was falling.
Suddenly in the darkness a purple flame appeared. It grew bigger and eventually took the shape of a woman in a long dress.
"Death is not your fate today. The truth that has long since been hidden will fall upon you, the path to our peoples destiny will now be revealed. Rise Fallen Angel for you are the last of your kind. Rise Child Of Rapture… Rise my dear son." The woman made of flame said.
Russel opened his eyes, his eyes started to glow an intense red. He freed himself from the demon's grasp. He reached his hand forward and placed it over the demon's face.
"Impossible!" The demon screamed.
The two of them were surrounded by a large grey blast of light and the demon screamed in agony. Feeling no resistance Russel stood up and looked down at the demon. Where the demon once stood there was a half burned body that started to turn into ash. His face was gone and you could see the back of his skull in the massive hole left by the blast.
Russel breathed heavily and looked at himself, he looked the same for the most part, the only difference being the slick black wings he saw from the corner of his eye. He looked back to find they were indeed attached to him.
"What the…" Russel trailed off collapsing to the ground unconscious.
Over fifty days on horseback from the events of the fight a King sat on his throne. It was King Arthur of Sylizen, who had become monarch fifteen years prior after overthrowing the previous King. He was laughing as he looked into a reflecting pool in his chambers.
"For nineteen years you have evaded me… But no longer." He laughed, turning away from the pool.
He sprouted two large white wings from his back and looked out of the window near him.
"It's almost time, demon… It's almost time."