Chapter One — Edward vs Twenty-thousand knights

“Hey kid, are you finally awake?” Asked a tall pale man with slicked back black hair and crimson eyes. He wore a netted black shirt with matching black pants, black combat boots and a trench coat. The black gloves on his hands were cut off midway up his fingers with holes exposing his pale knuckles. The hilt of a sword peeking out of the trench coat on his back, his caller raised up covering his neck barely reaching his chin. “Kid I asked you a question, what are ya stupid or something?” The mysterious man asked in frustration. 

“W-who a-are you?” Asked the boy his eyes eagerly fluttered as he regained consciousness. “Uhh… mmmm… where. Am I?” The boy asked, groaning as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. 

“My name is Edward. I stumbled upon your unconscious body outside the northern gate of my village. This is my cabin you’re resting in your freeloading sack of shit. Just what the hell are you doing out here in Halo village anyway? You mind telling me why the fuck you were at the northern gates?” Edward asked the boy for information. 

“Halo village? So I made it! Thank god. I thought I was dead meat for sure.” The boy exhaled as he spoke in an exhausted excitement, running his hands through his hair hunched over on Edward’s bed of straw. 

Edward swiftly pulled his sword from its scabbard on his back and pressed the tip of the matte black blade to the boy’s neck. A small river of blood creeped down his throat from the puncture wound. 

“Woah! Hey w-whats t-that for!?” The boy said frantically pointing at the blade to his throat. 

“WHAT!? Don’t mess with me you slimy freeloading bastard! You meant to come here!? From the north!? We’re the last village on the far edge of the Cross Kingdom. The only thing north of my village is a wall that leads to the bad lands… What’s your name? What are your intentions with this village? If I feel you're lying I’ll decapitate you where you sit.” 

“M-my n-name is Artorus, I was only looking for a woman named Bridget. Bridget Carnell Bishop. I swear I mean no harm!” Said Artorus with his hands up in the air and his eyes closed not wanting to see his head get lobbed off. 

“Huuuh? Bridget? You mean to tell me-?” Edward was interrupted by the villagers in a screaming panic.

“IIT’S THE HOLY KNIGHTS OF CROSS! THEY’VE SURROUNDED US, SOMEBODY CALL EDWARD QUICK!!!!” A helpless villager screamed from somewhere outside the cabin. 

“AHH shit. This again? I wish these lunatic, snot nosed bastards would leave me and my village alone. Well kid, Artorus was it? You had better count your lucky stars, currently I have other heads that need separation from their shoulders.” Edward withdrew his blade from Artorus’s throat and tossed it in the air. The blade doing a couple back flips over his head before perfectly sliding into its scabbard. 

Artorus exhaled, gripping his neck. Thankfully he was still alive and he wiped the stress sweat from his forehead. “Damn for a second I thought you were going to kill me. I think I pissed my pants a little.” Artorus stated as he stood up using his shirt to clean the fresh blood off of his skin. “Well we’d better get going, your village needs our help.” Artorus stated earnestly. 

Right as Edward began to walk out of the room Artorus’s words reached his ears, and he snapped around gripping the boy by his shirt. “What do you mean we? What could a chicken shit piss ant like you possibly do against an army of elite holy knights? No. You stay your freeloading ass here.” Said Edward as he pushed Artorus back down on the bed letting go of his shirt. Before Artorus could say anything Edward stormed out of the room and walked straight out of the cabin. The sound of his boots on the rickety wood floor disappeared. 

“Well this turned out to be a real shit show for my eighteenth birthday. Pffft. ‘Stay here’ he says. I’ll show him the resolve of a real man.” Artorus rummaged around the room looking for his pack that had all his belongings in it. “Come on, it has to be around here somewhere.” He said, scratching his head as he searched. “Damn I hadn’t noticed before, but he changed me out of my clothes and put me in these rag tag excuses for garments.” Artorus walked out of the room he was in and entered the living room of the cabin. It wasn’t much. Directly in front of him was the door that led outside a large window on both sides of the door. To his left was a staircase and to his right was a table with three stools around it. 

“Finally all my stuff was in this room all along. He didn’t even hide it, it’s all on the table-top.” Artorus walked over to the table and took the rags that had been put on his body off. He tossed the spare clothes to the ground and put his gear back on. He slipped back into his loose pants and tied the strings on the front. As he went to put his shirt on he noticed a hole in the side of it and decided to toss it on the ground with the rags. “Well I guess the vest is all I really need.” Said Artorus as he slipped his head into the leather vest and tied both sides at the bottom. “Last but not least, my extra comfortable, super durable combat boots! Ahh, yeah we're back in business now.” Artorus put his boots on and tied them half-way up as the side of the boots hung limp at his ankles. 

“There’s my baby, did you miss me?” Artorus hugged his sword like a star crossed lover before fastening it onto a clip on the back of his vest. As he turned from the table to walk outside he stopped to admire his reflection in the window. His messed up dark brown hair almost reached his brows, the vest falling short of his belly button exposing his chiseled abdomen. His slender yet muscular arms extended out of the sleeveless vest. “Well I’d better get going, I get the feeling this village could use the essence of a real man to spice things up.” 

Halo village was a small poor village on the northern edge of the cross kingdom. It was split into fourths with two major roads in the middle. They formed the shape of a cross, the roads coming to an intersection in the very center. On the south-east side of the village housed small shops for various goods. The south-west side of the village was home to a small farm for livestock, vegetables and herbs. On the north-east side of the village was a cramped section full of cabins. Finally, on the north-west side of the village there was an open field full of training equipment. A massive stone wall was erected around the whole village, it had four entrances. A gate to the east, a gate to the west, a gate to the south and a gate to the north. And in the intersection at the center of the village stood a watch tower tall enough to peer over the wall. 

It was a straight shot from the cabins to the southern gate. Edward was now standing before the gate readying himself to face the massive army of knights. Edward’s two most trusted scouts Oliver and Simon stood tall beside him awaiting his orders. “Oliver went and evacuated the villagers into the passage under the training grounds. Simon you go to the watch tower and tell Maximus and Asher to guard the west and east gates. I’ll make a stand here, be sure to tell Maximus and Asher to not engage no matter what happens unless they breach those damn gates.” Spoke Edward with unwavering authority. 

“Right! You can count on us chief!” Said the two scouts in unison as they took off. 

“Damn you asher you had better not be fucking drunk. Pfft. Damn sloth, who am I kidding he’s always drunk off his ass.” Said Edward under his breath as he continued. “Ha. I bet Maximus is clutching his spear itching for battle while awaiting my orders like the stuck up tight ass he is.” Edward took a deep breath and exhaled. “How did I get stuck with a freeloading chicken shit, a good for nothing drunk and a battle loving tight ass as my three brothers?” He asked himself. “Artorus, Asher, Maximus. Be safe you damn knuckleheads.” Edward opened the gate and walked outside to the cry of twenty-thousand holy knights. 

Oliver and Simon reached the watch tower where Asher and Maximus were stationed. “Oliver, you go on ahead and evacuate the villagers. I'll be fine here by myself.” Spoke Simon a determined look on his face as he pointed Oliver in the direction of the cabins. 

“Right! Good luck Simon, I'll be waiting for you at the evacuation point.” Oliver shouted as he ran ahead. 

Before Simon could make a move, two men jumped down from the watchtower that seemed to reach the clouds. Maximus landed elegantly wearing a tattered blue hooded cloak gripping his wooden spear. All you could see under the cloak in the dim lit light of dawn was his steel plated arm and shin guards and the glare of blood-lust in his eyes. Next to Maximus Asher slammed into the ground, falling on his face before standing up. He had trouble standing straight as he stumbled around drunk before grabbing onto Maximus’s cloak for stability. Asher had long slick back brown hair that went into a long braid behind him, his eyes low and cheeks bright red from the liquor in his system. He wore a green hooded cloak with two gourds of wine on his right hip and two short swords on his left. 

Asher burped as he protested Simon. “H-hey S-simon w-what’s the big idea? Coming down here to ruin my morning with Edward’s bullshit orders.” 

“Well uh… You see… the thing is…” Simon started to reply in a stutter.

“Good going you good for nothing jackass. There you go never taking anything seriously. You really piss me off sometimes, Asher it’s only our seventeenth birthday and you’re always lounging around like a glorified freeloader. You worthless bastard will fall asleep in a ditch somewhere, you reek like a tavern.” Maximus spat from the shadow of his hood in anger. 

“Pfft hahahaha!” Asher hunched over clenching his gut in laughter. “Don’t mind if I do you all mighty warrior wannabe” Asher said in sarcasm.” 

“What was that worthless sloth!?” Said Maximus glaring at his brother as he slid Asher’s hand off of his shoulder causing him to fall on his face. 

“You arrogant tight ass! Get off your fucking high horse before I knock you off.” Spat Asher from the ground in frustration. 

“GUYS! THAT’S ENOUGH! Edward is out there about to face twenty-thousand elite holy knights from the cross. That may be too much for even him. The least you two dumb asses can do is show some damn restraint and follow his orders!” Simon lashed out reaching his limit. “Now I have to get to the evacuation point. Maximus you guard the east gate and Asher you guard the west. You are under no circumstances to engage the enemy unless they breach those gates! Am I clear?!” 

Asher and Maximus nodded in response. They were dumb founded by Simon’s courage and moved by his emotion. In the blink of an eye both Asher and Maximus made a break for their respective posts, a new fire lit underneath them. 

As Oliver made his way to the cabins to get the villagers underground he ran into a boy he’d never seen before. “Hey kid, who the hell are you? I’ve never seen you before.” Oliver began to sweat in anticipation for an answer. 

“My name is Artorus, I’m here to help Edward with the coming battle. What are his orders thus far?” Asked Artorus with a sense of pride Oliver couldn’t ignore. 

“Well I guess if Edward brought you here it’s ok. His orders are for me to evacuate the villagers into the underground passage in the training grounds. In addition, he went ahead and ordered Asher and Maximus to guard the west and east gates. He himself is going to face the enemy head on where they are most dense. That would be the southern gate.” Oliver explained. 

“I see so this big ass door behind me is the northern gate I take it? Who will be guarding that gate?” Artorus asked, wondering why all the gates weren’t covered. 

“Well the northern gate is where the enemy is its thinnest, so they’re least likely to attack from there. The thing is we only have three warriors capable of defending us so one gate has to go unprotected. Strategically this was the best option.” Oliver said matter of factly. “That’s all I know. I have to get going now, good luck Artorus!” Oliver stated as he ran off again headed toward the cabins. 

Artorus closed his eyes, took a deep breath and focused as he scanned the outer walls for ki with malice. His eyes shot open when he realized there were fifty-thousand soldiers outside. Twenty-thousand at the southern gate and ten-thousand at the other three gates. “What in the holy knight shit did this village get itself into?” Artorus asked himself in a whisper. “Well whatever the reason I already roped myself into it. After all, a real man should protect the weak. The northern wall is!” Artorus took off, the ground cracking under his feet from the power in his legs. “I’ll save this village no matter what. On my pride as a disciple of Christ.” He thought to himself as he sped toward the gate. 

Back at the southern gate Edward walked outside. The noise from the massive army started to give him a headache. 

“There he is! The protector of that damn witch” the army shouted. “Heretics! All of them! Kill them all and capture the witch!” They insisted. “She’s a danger to us all, we must kill Bridget Carnell Bishop!” They pressed on. 

“Ugh god-damn lunatics. SIIIILLLEENCE!!!!” Edward exploded his voice shaking the knights to their very core. For a moment they grew quiet. “That woman is my mother. So unfortunately I can’t let you kill her. If you try to get past me I’ll just have to kill all of you. What do you say we all go home and call it a day eh fellas?” 

“ATTACK!!!!” the commander of the army spat in a desperate rage. 

Edward exhaled in disappointment like a child having to do his chores. “Didn’t think so. Well at least I tried to spare you.” As the army closed the gap between themselves and Edward he pulled his matte black sword from its sheath and held it at his side calmly. “That’s it. A little closer you bunch of dumb asses.” The army charged forward and right as they were on top of him he swung his sword through the air. The calm precise force cut through the air causing a gust of wind that decapitated five-thousand knights in an instant. Edward tilted his head an unimpressed look on his face as the headless corpses dropped to their knees, blood squirting from their necks like fountains of war. 

Edward exhaled, hoisting the blade onto his shoulder. “Damn degenerates. Every last one of you. I tried to tell you. Still want to fight? That wasn’t even my serious swing.” The army halted in shock and for a second they considered retreating until…