Gauntlet: Dark Legacy; Dark Cloud, Dark Knight
by Richard B. Samson jr.

The Sky Dominion had to be one of the most beautiful realms in my world. While most of my realm was in the sky, myself, and the other knights resided in the spire. The spire was a watchtower, and the only link with the sky structures and ships. As I kept watch around the spire, I noticed a dark cloud on the horizon. Something was not right. It looked as if a storm was coming, but it was not a rainstorm. The sky around the cloud was a sickly green color. There was a foul aura eminating from that cloud. It was poison, and it would ruin our realm. I ran to the alarm bell, and started to ring it. Soon, I heard the rest of the knights heading to the top of the spire. When they had all arrived, as well as our leader, I said, "It looks like something foul is coming."

The leader of our group looked at the sky and said, "You are right. That cloud is too thick to be natural. I fear a plague is coming, like it did many years ago, when we lost Marker to the evil plague."

I then heard one of the other knights say, "My liege, we must go up there and destroy it before it destroies all the realms."

I had to agree, "He's right. We should destroy it, but first we need to know what we are going up against."

I watched as our leader nodded and said, "Your suggestion is wise. You two will fly up to that cloud. Investigate it, and report back here. Only engage if it is absolutely needed."

I nodded and said, "Our orders are understood, we shall depart right away." I then lead the way to one of the flyers moored on the spire.

As I approached it, I heard my comrade-in-arms say, "Why did you suggest that? We need to stop it right away. A good knight would not allow this risk to remain."

I looked at him and said, "A good knight would not go in to battle if he doesn't know what to expect. A good knight would discover what he is up against first." I noticed that he was not to thrilled with what I said, but it was the truth. He would get over it.

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It had taken us a while for our flyer to reach the odd cloud. I was almost surprised when I saw that the cloud was actually a cover for a huge airship. As we began our initial pass, I heard my commrade say, "This device is huge, but it looks unmanned."

Even I knew that looking unmanned and being unmanned was two different things. Eventually, I noticed a place where we could dock our flyer and said, "Appearences can be deceiving. If it is empty, we must stop it; but if it is not empty, we must get reinforcements."

When the flyer was docked, my commrade just said, "Understood. We should meet in an hour, and if one of us doesn't return, we fetch the others." I nodded and watched as he ran off. I wanted to stop him from running, but this area was clear.

When he was out of sight, I just shook my head and said, "Be careful, my friend." I then headed out onto the strange airship. I decided to be cautious, just in case I ran into any creatures aboard this strange craft.

As I made my way up the decks, I heard a whispy voice say, "Hero." I quickly turned and looked around for the voice, but I could not see the source. When I started to search the deck I was on, I heard the voice again say, "Follow my voice, knight, for I need your help."

This time, I listened to the voice and said, "Alright. Lead me to you." I didn't know what made me trust the voice, but something in me told me to trust it. Soon, the voice was leading me to the upper decks of the ship.

Soon enough, I was face to face with a skeleton in a cage. It was then that the voice spoke again. "You have arrived. You are aboard the ship of the plague. Long ago, I battled the hideous Plague Fiend. It was a long battle, but after I blinded him, I thought I had destroied him. But the foul creature sent his body into the vats. His minions inprisoned me in here after I set this vessel to fly to the end of the sky, but they managed to adjust the course. That was years ago, and his minions died. Not to long ago, a figure appeared and reactivate the toxins. The Plague Fiend will return. Take my Javalin, blind the fiend, destroy him."

I looked at the Javalin and finally understood who I was speaking with. "You are Marker. But who did you see."

The voice then spoke again. "The figure is here, near the top of one of the vats. You must stop him, or the fiend will reawaken." Then it hit me. My commrade who was so insistant on coming up here wasn't hear to stop the ship. He wanted to bring back the toxic plague.

I grabbed the Javalin and started to run, searching for that knight. I had to stop him. Soon enough I saw him, at the top of one of vats. He was fiddling with some controls. As I neared him, he turned to face me and said, "So you figured it out. You failed. Once I throw this switch, I shall have control over the whole world."

I looked at him and said, "Not while I'm on watch." I threw my mace and it hit the controls. Soon the whole structure lurched, and I watched as my former commrade fell into the vats. I walked over to the consoles, only to see that I had jammed them, but they were heading away from the spire. I then said to myself, "At least that's over."

It was at that time, two things happened. The first was a pain rip through my body. I felt like I was changing, and when the pain subsided, I could see by my reflection that I was a unicorn like creature. The second was a huge green monster oozed out of the vat and said, "You cannot defeat me. I shall succeed."

I quickly spun around and said, "Not while I have Marker's Javalin." I hurled it at the one eyed fiend, and it struck its mark. The Plague Field appeared to be flailing around. I also knew I would need help. I saw the Javelin on the ground and picked it up. I ran as fast as I could.

As I neared the glider, I heard the voice of the Plague Fiend say, "I will destroy you. You have not defeated me, just postponed the inevitable. I will claim your world." The words went through me as I departed on the flyer. As I few farther and farther away from the ship, I felt myself change back. I had a bad feeling about what was to come.

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After I had arrived back at the spire and told my leader what had happened, I watched as he paced. He then said, "It appears that Marker was right. The Plague Field would return, and he intents to take over the Sky Dominion. I believe you are the only one who can stop it, but you need guidence."

I looked at my leader and said, "Where should I go, my leige?"

I watched as my leader pointed to a boat docked at the base of the spire. "That craft will take you to the mysterious tower of Sumner. He will be able to instruct you better. You may want to leave the Javalin here, in case we need to fend off the fiend." I nodded. The leader then said, "You will be able to destory the fiend. I have faith in you. Now hurry, and do not be slow."

I saluted my leader and said, "I will not fail you." I then ran down to the boat. Other knights had prepared it for the journey, and I boarded it. Now all I need was time to be on my side. If it wasn't, I would fail, and the world could very well fall victim to the evil of the Plague Fiend.

End