0012: The Unholy Knight

The Unholy Knight

Beneleuve Ryall stood on the battlefield that day and knew that she looked glorious. In white armour and wielding the holy crystal blade Skycutter, she felt the weight of her responsibilities and the deep seated knowledge of how hard she had worked to come up here. Yes. She was not like all the other heroes who were born into this. She had been nothing more than an unfortunate conscript in an unjust war. She'd lost her family, been under the company of the worst men, been shot, cut and stabbed and treated as nothing more than a cook before finally enough heads fell at her feet that she could afford her own armour, her own equipment.
     The only gratitude she had in her heart was for the black-hearted monster of a man Edgis Ryall, who'd taken her into his Holy Mercenary Corps despite her shady past and treated her like an apprentice.
     As contradictory as it was, the holy mercenaries were indeed an offshoot of a religious order, but were not recognized by The Church. That gave them just enough leeway to pillage and burn the villages of anyone The Church deemed as heretics, and if things happened to go too far, then they would refuse responsibility.
Beneleuve happilly fell to the task. She felt no puty for the weak that fell at the edge of her iron blade: She only saw a reflection of her weak self. It was a mercy, really, killing women and children. This was not a world that would pamper them and treat them kindly if they survived. With the scars on her body and soul Beneleuve knew one abstract absolute truth: There were worst things than death. 
     "Okay men! Prepare for some blood!" She roared. She was 40 years old now. Rippling muscle with a lithe form but  all the more beautiful. It was a beauty that always awed and decieved enough of the weak-minded to be an advantage. She flaunted it, barely wearing any armour. At a certain point armour became superficial anyways: Either her opponents were too weak for it to be necessary, or like it was in this case they were capable of cutting down dragons with simple cutlery.
     Yes. She was facing off against the rogue Dragon Slayers. Knights who the kingdoms' nobles had systematically tried to assassinate or trick out of their heroic deeds and ended up inspiring to band together. As the current Vice Commander of The Holy Mercenary Corps it was her duty to eradicate them.
    This would be fun. Beneleuve heard their Commander was similar to Edgis. Ever since his death, she'd had a hard time meeting really difficult opponents. It was getting to her.
Beneleuve rose her blue blade,
     "Charge!"
     And rushed into a battle that would last three days and three nights.