Tales of Cray: Blaster Blade

Chapter 6: Light vs. Shadow

The sound of clashing metal filled the battlefield as the Royal Paladin knights defended themselves against the Shadow Paladin knight's attack.

Beyond the opposing knights, there was Mordred Phantom, his sword on the ready, his eyes filled with seething rage. Beside him, Blaster Dark stood with the matching fiery eyes. On the opposite side, the King of Knights, Alfred glared at Mordred Phantom, his broadsword swinging and ready for battle.

Blaster Blade watched the two with growing anxiety. Will they fight or not? He kept asking himself. Beside him, the Solitary Knight, Gancelot watched in awe and concern at the knights fighting. Swords swinging, armors clashing, and blood spouting from the wounds of both sides.

"Blade, go and help your comrades. Gancelot, stay beside me. I'll need you on this one." He gestured at Mordred Phantom.

"Dark, counter the knights. I'll take care of the big fish." Mordred ordered to Blaster Dark.

"Yes, sir," Dark said, and with a powerful leap, he launched himself high into the sky, pointed his sword earthwards, and he landed with a sickening crunch, sending a wave of black energy tumbling towards Blaster Blade. Raising his sword, he easily blocked the attack, but when he lowered it, Dark was already in front of him. There was no time to guard against his attack.

"Hiya!" Dark yelled as he swiped his sword, effectively striking Blade and flinging him backwards. His other allies cheered on him.

"That attack was splendid-yo!" Blaster Javelin said. Dark ignored the compliment and merely said, "Be on your guard. I'm telling you this: do not underestimate them. They are not small fry."

That moment, Blade was on his feet. He held his sword firmly, and it glowed brightly. Dark was momentarily blinded, giving Blade a chance. He stuck the sword into the ground, and a bolt of lightning traveled from Blade's sword to Dark.

"Arrgh!" Dark yowled in pain as he was struck. Quickly, Javelin and Nemain guarded him, blocking Blade's path to Dark. "You shall not pass!" Nemain declared. Around them, sounds of clashing steel filled the air, and Blade thought it was a miracle how he heard her speak clearly.Blade placed his both of his hands on his sword handle, doing his famous pose. "You know, miss, I really regret doing this, but hurting you with my sword will be messy, since you have little armor on."

Nemain growled at him. "How dare you belittle me!? I am not as weak as you think, Mr. Good Guy! I'll show you!" she raised her hands and a black energy ball appeared. She shot Blade with it, and she was certain it hit the target, but after the smoke dissipated, Blade was nowhere to be seen, leaving his sword standing, obviously blocking Nemain's energy ball. She shrieked with anger.

"Show yourself, coward!" Nemain yelled."Calm down, miss." He said in a flirting way, intended to annoy his opponent. Nemain gasped at the voice from behind her. "I'm just behind you." He hit her on the neck with a karate chop, which put her to sleep. "Hope you have sweet dreams."

Blaster Dark was groggy from the bolt, but when he saw Blade hit Nemain on the neck, all feelings of pain vanished. Slowly, his sword glowed pitch-black, and he stood up. Javelin heard Dark get up, and he moved out of the way.

"You little prick. For what you did to my fiancé, I'll break every bone you have in that body. And I'll open up your gut and make you eat your liver and stomach." He said it in a grim, almost creepy way. Blade's instincts told him to back off, but his instincts were a split second too late. Dark vanished from his sight, only to reappear behind him and deliver a spine-crushing kick to his back.

"AAAGGH!" Blade screamed in agony as he crashed straight into a boulder, his face smashing into the rough, hard surface. His standing sword was hit as well, which slid a few meters from him. His eyesight was blurry, and every move he makes sends a fresh burst of pain through his entire body. As he tried to get up, he saw 3 blurry images of Blaster Dark walking towards him.

He tried to crawl away but his legs refused, sending waves of pain up his thighs. He had no time to think about his predicament, because as he looked up, Dark had his glowing blade in a downward arc. He shut his eyes and waited for the blade to strike home.

"CLANG!"

"W-what?" Blade slowly opened his eyes. A sword blocked the blade's deadly arc, held by his best friend, Gancelot. "Sorry, man. The King ordered me to help him fight Mored, Modred... ah! Whatever. What's important is I'm here."

Blaster Dark was clearly mad at Gancelot for blocking his supposedly killing strike. He leapt back and joined his comrades. Further on, the clash of swords were still audible. All of a sudden, there was a great cry, and a knight flew into the air, struck by something powerful. It took Blade a few seconds to realize that the knight was-

"King Alfred!" Gancelot called, and quickly left Blade's side, following the falling form of the King. He caught the king and jumped back beside Blade. He called a few other knights to guard them. Instantly, Gallatin, Tristan and Morgana came to Gancelot's aid, followed by Elaine.

"Oh no, Your Majesty! What has happened?" Elaine cried in shock.

"I-it was... him..." Alfred could barely point out Mordred Phantom, who was advancing towards them with grim purpose. Some of the other knights tried to attack him from different sides, but he was able to deflect all with ease. Gallatin held his sword tight, while Tristan took a step backward. Morgana, however, ran to block him directly.

"This is as far as you'll go." Morgana bravely announced to Mordred Phantom's face. He wrinkled his nose and with a powerful swipe, pushed aside Morgana, who skidded for a good 20 meters before stopping completely.

Both Gallatin and Tristan gaped in horror at Morgana, then at Mordred Phantom. He was still advancing. "Okay, Tristan. You've been a good friend to me, and If I ever have one last wish, I'd rather die with you." Gallatin whispered.

"That sounded so gay, man. I'd rather die defending the King." Tristan replied.

Suddenly, Mordred Phantom charged at them, intent on breaking through them. Gallatin and Tristan stepped forward and tried to stop or at least slow him down, but at that moment...

"Hah!" Blaster Blade leapt out of nowhere and his sword collided with Mordred Phantom's attack. His maneuver was sufficient to stop Mordred in his tracks.

For a moment, they were there, trying to overpower each other. Their faces were close enough for Blaster Blade to whisper, "If you don't leave now, we'll be forced to crush you and your army."

Mordred replied, "Oh? Our backup is already on its way, and even without reinforcements, my army can destroy this pitiful city."

In a flash, Gancelot was up and slashing at Mordred. At the same time, Blade took advantage of Mordred's momentarily confusion and overpowered him. The sudden push left him stunned, unable to block the attack coming from Gancelot.

"Yaarggh!" Mordred howled as the blade bit through his skin. Gancelot had concentrated on a spot on his chest which wasn't protected by armor, and his hard work had paid off. Mordred fell on the ground with a thud, blood pouring out of his wound. He struggled to stand up.

"That's the last straw. My comrades are here!" Mordred cried, noticing the arrival of more knights-and aside from them, dragons.

"This just got a whole lot harder." Tristan said.

"Don't worry." Blaster Blade assured. "We have Alfred."