The Tale of The Frenzied Maiden and The Knight of The Three Fingers

Chapter 1

The sinful, ungodly urge itself should have been well enough to make the knight turn back. Her duty of reclaiming Order in The Lands Between had brought her all the way to the Royal Capital, flawlessly guided by the intuition of her. Oh, her maiden, faithfully by her side since years back and for countless more to come. The day they had been brought together, both of them young and inexperienced but dutifully trained, had been like a dream come true. Oh, how wise she was despite her youthfulness, how graceful and warm-hearted... And so beautiful. But oh, how highly immoral to think of such things, when order should be her only ambition! But maybe, someday, she and her maiden would have an accord of a different nature, and travel the lands as both crusaders and lovers...

That, in her naïveté, she believed.

The old sewer system of the capital was inhabited by something or someone abnormally sinister. Her maiden had never been so certain, and never would she send her knight down into such a vile, disgusting place if she was not. 'Deep, deep down, someone is residing, someone who has taken the role of a false lord', she had said gravely, putting her hand on the knight's arm to emphasize the severity of her words. 'You need to obliterate them.' The knight nodded. 'But, as always... I know you will succeed. You, if anyone, will.' The knight felt no fear. She knew her maiden's judgment to be correct, her strengthening guidance to be sufficient and thus she had no reason to fret.

'I'll pray for your safe return... My knight.' The knight never liked leaving her behind, but a Grace would without error turn one invisible to monsters and ensure a safe respite. Most people who came upon one on their travels would want nothing more than to sit down, rest their feet, eat, sleep or just take their minds off the atrocities that roamed the Lands tirelessly. And would someone with wretched intentions invade that sacred space, she would be wise enough to call upon her spectral steed and get out of there. The knight had not to worry.

'Oh, and...' Just as the knight was about to leave, her maiden spoke again. 'As soon as you are done... Return to me. Do not go beyond the creature's chambers.' 'Of course', the knight had said before heading into the gutter.

Her predictions had been painfully correct. It was an arduous struggle in itself to find her way to the bottom, the horrendous swarms of grotesque foes dwelling there only rivaled by the rancid stench. The knight was appalled to find a chapel there, how unspeakably foul, how absurd for anyone to play lord down here in the shunning-grounds! He was huge, horned, his robes soaked in blood and grime. And he had no patience for a meddling Finger Order knight.

Alas, the knight was a force to be reckoned with, fuelled by her unfaltering faith she fought him until she struck her colossal battle staff to his head and crushed the skull so that it caved in on itself and became his demise.

It was over. The mission was well accomplished, and all she had to do was to stride back up through the slew of corpses she had left in her wake. However...

There was something more that she needed to do. She could feel it, even without her maiden present, beyond the foul Lord's throne. Curiously peering past it she found that true enough, there was a narrow pathway there, completely shrouded in darkness save for the faintest, red glow flickering noiselessly somewhere deep down the abyss.

Whatever it was, it was important. Very important. Up until this day, she had not once questioned her partner's judgment, but having no way of advising her she had to trust in her own instinct this time. To be fair, it would have been a lie to say that the knight even reasoned with herself, as the ember compelled her to venture into the darkness. There was something there... For her...

The deeper she went, the more restive her mind grew. The transition was unnoticeable in its finesse, but where the knight had begun her descent through the isolated hollow carefully, watching every step cautiously, she soon maneuvered the haphazardly allotted wooden boards with manic precision. The impulsion brought her all the way to the bottom of the catacomb, where she was greeted by a grand stone door, strange light emanating from it, albeit completely sealed shut.