Jason Citysaver, a Short Story by Mark Borne

Mark's Note: This post is exclusive to this blog! You will not find it on the Nexus of Writers, which is where I write a majority of my work. I hope you enjoy, and keep an eye out on this blog! Not only will there be more Mark Borne works exclusive to this blog, but the Poet of Steel posts some pretty awesome stuff you'll want to see!

There comes a time in every knight’s life when there is nothing left to fight, or the knight is unable to fight any longer. It is the most dreaded feeling any could ever experience, and none managed to make it through without their own fair share of tears. Knights, after all, were trained to fight. Once that training becomes useless, their life begins to yield no merit.

                And as Jason sat among his fellow knights, this feeling sank over him, enveloping him in a darkness that could not be described. He barely listened to the chatter of his friends, and barely even noticed his own automatic smile. This is it, he thought, the realization hitting him as if it was brand new, even though it had occurred to him at least a hundred times that day. I’m a nobody, now. No monsters to fight, no corrupt kings to challenge…this is it.

                I could stop the story here. I could stop it with the main character falling into bleak despair. If I did, however, it could hardly be considered a story.

                “…always die,” a knight was saying, snapping Jason out of his thoughts, and me out of my suspenseful narrative.

                “Pardon me?” Jason asked. “What were you saying?”

                “There’s this old fort,” the knight replied, grinning as if telling a ghost story. “They say travelers hear a princess calling for her knight, but all who enter to rescue her are lost forever. No one knows why, but they always die.”

                That seems like something worth trying! Jason thought. Better to die attempting a noble deed than rot away doing nothing!

                “Where is this keep?” Jason inquired. He drew his sword and studied its steel. It reflected its surroundings perfectly, and it was as sharp as it was shiny. The purpose of drawing the blade was twofold: Jason wished to familiarize himself with his blade once more, and to visibly show his intentions to his friends.

                “You can’t be thinking of going and attempting such a thing!” one knight snorted. “You are Jason Citysaver, the most valiant of all knights, but no one survives. If a princess were even in there, she’d be long dead by now.”

                “A small chance is better than no chance at all,” Jason shrugged. “Now, please, tell me where this fortress is.”

As fast as his horse was, it wasn’t fast enough. He urged it onwards, and finally he arrived, but he had hoped to finish this task by nightfall. While Jason wasn’t a superstitious person, he had still been shaken by tales of dark magic taking flight in the night.

                “Stay here, Lightwing,” Jason told his horse as he dismounted, and surveyed the fortress. It had been abandoned for at least a century; its walls were crumbling, its gates had been ripped off the hinges, and the banner that once hung had been ripped to shreds. Jason glanced behind him, at Lightwing. He could get out of here fast if it was necessary…

                Jason sighed and pressed onwards. There were no monsters, and magic didn’t exist. It had to be some sort of ambush. So long as he didn’t fall for it, he would survive. He approached the ancient keep and tried to open the doors. If there were a princess, she would be in the dungeons.

                However…the keep was locked. And while the exterior of the fortress was nothing but rubble, the keep’s walls and doors were solidly shut, still ready for an enemy invasion.

                Jason turned and gasped as he saw a giant beast looming over him. It started growling and pawed at the ground. It was like a giant wolf, with glowing red runes all over its body. Its snout was burned from something, although Jason didn’t know what. Around its neck was a giant necklace, which had attached to it a key. No doubt the key he needed.

Jason held his sword high to strike the beast, but it dodged and knocked him aside with a paw. Jason darted behind a pile of rubble and waited, breathing heavily. He heard the beast approach, snort, and walk away, no doubt thinking he was dead. It must not have a sense of smell any longer, fortunately for me.

Jason waited, exited, and walked a small ways away from the fortress. Collecting large and small sticks alike, he created a pile of wood. Taking some flint and steel from a pouch hanging around his waist, he worked towards creating a fire. It sprung up as if it had been waiting to be free, and Jason knew there was no way the creature wouldn’t notice.

The knight backed away from the blazing fire, slipping into the shadows a safe distance away. All he had left to do was wait for the beast to arrive. After that happened, he would surprise attack it, and force it into the fire. The only trick was getting the key before it melted entirely.

As he had predicted, the wolf approached the flames warily. Jason leaped out of his hiding place and slashed at the creature, and it yelped and jumped back. It fell into the fire and jumped out, being entirely ablaze. The knight made a daring maneuver: he ran to the wolf, grabbed the key, yanked it off, and turned. As he fled, he ducked, and as he had also predicted, a flaming paw swung above him. He ran to the fortress as fast as possible, and then stopped and turned. The wolf hadn’t made it far from the fire before falling.

Jason smiled to himself and went and unlocked the keep. He descended into the dungeons and found, to his surprise, a large room. It was like the king’s room, and it was filled with all kinds of food, most of which was spoiled from time. A large supply of water was off to the side, and several board games were spread out and abandoned. It was essentially a place where a king could wait out a siege in luxury.

But what truly caught his eye was the actual king standing in the center of the room, open-mouthed in awe. “Finally!” the king laughed. “I’d given up screaming for help!”

I could have ended this story with bleak despair, but then you wouldn’t have known that this story was a comedy.