The Cursed Blade…..a fantasy of Anderida

Prologue: Can there be an urban legend deep in the countryside of Anderida? If so, the legend of the Castle of Skulls surely qualifies as one of them. It is told that the Castle was here when the first men came, and that the castle will be here when all men have gone. It is not wholly of this plane of existence, having roots deep in the world of the undead. Ergo it can never be destroyed or captured by purely human forces, no matter how powerful. The Castle is ruled, it is rumored, by talking skulls which hang from the walls and observe all coming and going. There is also a lady, a necromancer, who tends the skulls and commands in their name. Within the Castle can be found many obscure and powerful artifacts including a sword called “The Cursed Blade”.

Herein is related one of the stories of the people whose lives were touched by the skulls:

The village on the road between Court Doffs and the fortress of Skulls became the locale of an unplanned battle between a dozen knights from Doffs and a recon force from the fortress of Skulls. There was quite a bit of collateral damage to the village and its inhabitants; children trampled, houses burned, and that sort of thing.

Jonnie missed the original attack due to his absence from the village. He had gone into the bramble thicket to meet the thatcher's wife. The two of them were screwing like crazed rabbits on a bed constructed of clothes and river grass.

Having finished off the knights, the warriors of Skulls playfully chased villagers into the briar swamp to be raped and murdered, not necessarily in that order. The screams of the fleeing villagers and the crash of horses through the swamp brought the two lovers their first clue that all was not well. Another clue was the warrior upon a fearsome red and black unicorn, bloody sword swinging, who took off the head of the thatcher's wife with one sweep.

Half dressed, Jonnie lunged for his short bow and quiver of arrows. He started to turn and shoot, then realized he would never make it. He dove head first into the briars, running and twisting desperately while the warrior on the unicorn chased him down like a hunted deer, laughing all the while. He was being forced out of the concealing swamp back up toward the village. On those open slopes, the warrior could cut him to pieces. Jonnie brought up the bow and fired one arrow, a barbed fishing shaft. Then he shut his eyes and waited for death. Death seemed a long time coming. He opened his eyes again.

The unicorn had stopped a few feet beyond Jonnie. The warrior was pulling at the barbed arrow that had gone up one nostril and into an eye. He pitched from the saddle and hung by his foot, entangled in the left stirrup. The sword was thrown from his hand as his right elbow struck the ground. Jonnie walked over, picked up the blade and struck at the warrior's neck. The first stroke hit only the ground. Jonnie had never held a sword before. First he tried using it like an axe. When that did not work, he used it like a cleaver and then a saw. Finally, the head came off.

Five warriors on horses, led by a woman on another unicorn, rode down to the edge of the swamp where Jonnie stood dazed and perhaps in shock holding the sword. One of the men aimed his lance and trotted towards the peasant who had killed a noble warrior. The woman on the unicorn held up a restraining hand. “He has slain our champion and claimed the sword,” she spoke. “The sword will change him into one of us.” The warriors rode down past Jonnie to retrieve the body of the dead champion, and led his mount away.

“Young peasant,” the lady called, “keep the sword safe. Come to me at the fortress of Skulls when you are ready. You will be my new champion and lover.” She turned and rode back out of the swamp and along the road to Skulls.

“No way, bitch, am I ever going to go to bed with you. I like my women soft and loving, not butch and dominating. Piss off and leave me alone” Jonnie yelled after her, but she was probably too far away to hear. He chucked the sword away into the briars and walked back to bring the corpse of the thatcher's wife home for burial.

Next day another party of knights from Court Doffs rode up to discover the site of the battle and found a dozen of their compatriots dead. They rode away, but soon returned with their Lord and many more men. Jonnie watched as they searched the area. He could not bear the idea that someone would find and claim the sword. He slipped back into the swamp and finally located the sword, buried in the mud where he had hurled it.

For the rest of the day and into the night he cleaned and polished the blade, apologizing to it all the while for throwing it into the swamp, promising he would never let it go again while he lived. Next day at dawn he left the village to seek his fortune.

Two Years Later:

Deep within the woods a mile from the site of the now deserted village a snug manor was under construction. Fifty acres of land went along with this freehold, land granted to a young fighter who had returned wealthy from the sea war with the pirate confederation. It was rumored that the young man had sacked and looted the island fortress of the pirates while their fleet was out ravaging the sea coasts. Fifty years of hoarded loot was recovered. The pirates were so outraged they killed their own admiral and turned upon each other in a sword quenching that destroyed their power. The daring young man divided the loot amongst his war band, widows and orphans from pirate raids. Keeping the most valuable and portable jewels and rarities, he had fled back into the hill country where he was born.

Was the sword, that wanted to return to the fortress of skulls, leading him back? Jonnie did not believe the sword was his master. He believed he had returned to claim the woman he had always loved from afar, the daughter of the Lord of Court Doffs, Krista Victoriana.

His dreams were rudely shattered when he learned that she had been married to a knight from far away, the second son of a great noble. Jonnie could have found a lovely girl or a series of sexy wives, but he wanted more than that. He could have returned to the war against the pirates and won more glory. But the sword kept whispering, “The only true failure is to admit defeat. Only the good die young… And that is a great reason to choose the evil path.” But mostly the sword whispered that there were many second sons of great nobles, but only one man wielded the cursed sword.

Jonnie made no plan to win the woman he loved. Events and opportunities came and formed themselves into the rudiments of a plan. He observed that the knight from far away and his sergeant both used a different arrow with black feathers and a cruel hooked head. It bore no resemblance at all to the arrows used locally and thus was unmistakable.

Jonnie found five of them and steeped all five in the poisonous juice of the white lotus. Then he arranged for the foreign knight to find three of his lost arrows.

Sir Kevin, son and heir to the Lord of Court Doffs was struck by an arrow as he rode home alone from visiting his beautiful peasant mistress. Less than a mile from home, he fell from his horse due to blood loss and shock. He was carried off to the manor freehold and put to bed.

Just as dawn broke, Jonnie rode to Court Doffs and blew the warning horn. He waited with his four men at arms while a dozen guardsmen rode from the castle to surround him.

“I bear news for the family of Sir Kevin, news that I shall impart to them alone.” Then he waited another half hour till the Lord of Court Doffs, accompanied by knights and his daughter Krista Victoriana rode out from the castle.

“Jonnie pirate slayer, I am called. You know me not, yet I possess the freehold just north of your estates.

“Last evening I found the young lord Kevin lying in the road, his horse grazing nearby. He had been shot with an arrow. My men bore him to my manor where we stopped his bleeding. Then we discovered the arrow that had shot him was poisoned. Your son hangs between life and death. My hearth witch administered antidotes and tends him well. However, all treatments may have come too late. Ride you to my estate to see your son?”

Face set in a rigid mask, hands and feet paralyzed, the young noble lay motionless and unresponsive upon the bed. After kneeling next to his dying son, the Lord picked up the arrow and strode from the manor, riding away again with his men. His daughter had screamed hysterically for a minute upon first seeing the arrow. Now, she knelt in prayer by her brother's death bed.

“Where goes your father?” asked Jonnie.

“He goes to confront my husband the Lord Reginald, and accuse him of this crime.”

“Then your father and mother will surely be killed,” Jonnie responded. “Your husband's reputation as a ruthless killer and a deadly swordsman precedes him here. He will seize the castle. He can not allow your father to live and bring charges against him.”

“You must take your men and ride to my father's aid!” she ordered.

“Your family squabbles mean nothing to me,” he responded and then he smiled at her.

“Most of my village was wiped out in your wars with the Fortress of Skulls. A woman I liked a lot was killed. I became rich as a privateer serving the kingdom.

“The only thing I lack is an heir. Bear my child and live with me, and I shall get your revenge on your husband and his followers. All the village boys were in love with you, and I was no exception. We could even get married if it turns out we suit each other.”

“You must be the world's most arrogant little bastard. What makes you suppose I would ever bear your children: Bastards of a peasant and a fool!”

“Now you have it right,” he laughed. “That is me, a bastard both by lineage and disposition. And your love making is the motivation I have for killing your husband. So, make up your mind, get revenge for your family or go back to your husband. Every time he touches you, you will recall his fingers on the bow that killed your brother and his hand on the dagger that is now killing your parents.”

Late the following morn he rolled out from under the sleeping Krista and began a series of stretching calisthenics Things were decidedly looking up. Lord Kevin was recovering nicely, since the resident hearth witch had administered the real antidote. Krista had proved to be a eager and hungry bed mate. He finished his workout, took a quick wash and woke Krista. “Time to go kill Lord Reginald. I have always been a morning person. So lets get this fight over.”

They rode to Court Doffs and saw without surprise that Lord Reginald's banner now flew from the towers. Jonnie dismounted just out of arrow range and called his challenge. “Send out the Lord and Lady of Court Doffs if they still live. If they do not, come out yourself. Come out and be killed!”

Lord Reginald came out armored in chain mail from head to toe, carrying a broadsword and shield. Jonnie, wearing only a mail shirt and light helm, walked forward to meet him.

“You set me up, you sneaky little prick!” Reginald snarled. “You stole that arrow and shot Lord Kevin.”

“Too bloody right I did,” Jonnie replied softly. “Now I have your woman and soon I will have your head to decorate the battlements. All you have left is the chance of vengeance if you can defeat me. Enjoy the duel, it will be the last thing one of us gets to do.”

Reginald attacked with skill and power. In a fair duel, Jonnie would not have stood a chance. But Jonnie wielded the cursed blade, a bane weapon sentient and deadly. The sword slipped in above Reginald's shield, cutting through the chain mail around his throat. The knight continued his attack another few seconds, then dropped both sword and shield to clutch at his throat. Blood was spraying from the wound with every beat of his heart.

The last thing he saw in life was his wife Krista approaching with a short spear and driving it into his face. Then she picked up his own sword and swung to cut off his head. Since the blade was too heavy for her to wield, it took a dozen strokes before the head came off. Reginald remained conscious until near the end and his eyes glared accusingly as he tried to tell his wife that he had not killed her brother. The short spear in his mouth and the blood running down his throat kept him from speaking.

That afternoon, Jonnie plundered the knight's possessions and took his newly widowed wife again in the master bedroom. Soon he would ride to the Castle of Skulls and kill the warriors and necromancers and destroy the undead. Anyone left alive after that could live happily ever after for all he cared.

Jonnie had forgotten that the cursed blade sought to return to the Castle of Skulls and would protect that haunted castle. The blade had betrayed its last owner and soon it would betray him. There would be no “happy ever after” for Jonnie and Krista. They would die in the attack upon the Fortress of Skulls. Lord Kevin, whose heart had been damaged by the white lotus poison would never be able to have children and would die an embittered young man. The hearth witch who had concocted the poison and the antidote would go to the flames of the Inquisition. The Lord and Lady of Court Doffs were eventually found alive in the foul oubliette into which they had been thrown without food or water. By the time they were found, they were both insane.

The lady of the Castle of Skulls retrieved the sword and passed it on. What happened after that is a different urban legend.

The End