Many people deny that this story ever
really happened since it is rather embarassing. However, about 300 years have passed now, so I think I can dare
to tell it. My name doesn't matter; I'm an old chronicler who writes down all kind of historic events
which often seem to be born out of pure imagination, but I swear for my life that everything is
true, nothing but undenieable facts! Just give me some time to remember -- a 700-years old wizard like me no longer
has the memory of a 100-years old, not to speak of a very young one who is hardly older than 30!
Ah, here it comes, back to my mind, I can recall it like it had happened yesterday...
In the beautiful village of TRAVENIA,
somewhere beyond the big SKULLERBORG MOUNTAINS, nothing terrible had ever happened, no crime, no catastrophe
or any other evil -- thanks to a white spell once cast by a good and wise witch. Unfortunately, white magic is
not quite as strong as black magic, and the Evil Skullbladers, a gang ot dark knights on a permanent crusade of
terror and devastation, had one of the most dangerous warlocks of that time on their side.
One day, without any warning, they attacked Travenia, burnt one third of the houses, raped every woman that stood
in their way and took everything with them that seemed to be precious. The worst thing, however, was that nobody
was able to defend the peaceful village -- there was not even a single sword to be found in that area!
Two days later, the evil knights returned, burnt another third of the houses, raped even more women and searched every corner to make sure they hadn't overseen anything which was worth to be taken. Two overzealous members of the gang wanted to start burning down the rest of the houses when their leader told them: "Let's go and look for another village; it's no challenge attacking towns and villages where no one knows how to resist!" The two pyromaniacs were visibly disappointed, but they didn't dare to cantradict since their leader was almost as powerful as the warlock supporting them. So they left, reluctantly, and the villagers hoped sincerly that those bad guys never would come back again...
One week after the Skullbladers' second "visit", a lonely horseman arrived. The frightened village people
soon discovered that he couldn't belong to the gang of the dark knights -- his suit of armor was entirely made of
pink metal. When he saw the mess, the ruins and the desperate people, he got off his horse (which was wearing a purple
saddle) and walked towards them. "Let me guess, this were the Evil Skullbladers? I've been after them for
months now, since they killed my entire family!" -- "Oh Sir", the mayor said, "we are peaceful people
who don't know at all how to fight! But these brute knights have caused so much mysery; we have hardly enough left to
survive, so please, if you could help us re-building our village and defeat the Evil Skullbladers once and for all? They
shall never again burn down any houses, rape any women, steal any..." -- "I know what you want to say, my good man!
But see, the problem is that I'm just a knight, a knight with a fairly strange-colored armor indeed, but nothing more
than a knight! The Skullbladers have allied themselves to Srolak'hor, the most evil warlock I've ever heard of!
Does anyone of you happen to know a powerful white magician who could help us?" -- "If we did, we would have called
him or her right after the first attack! There are some rumors that a descendant of the great white witch Kaya li Atomav
is living somewhere in the mountains, but no one has ever seen anyone there!"
An elderly woman, who had been listening to the conversation all the time, suddenly shouted: "That's wrong! My elder
sister, Lumelia, saw twice a woman in the mountains, once when she was a young girl of 17, the other time about 20 years later!
The strange thing is that the woman in the mountains hadn't aged for a single day!" The pink knight, who had meanwhile
taken off his helmet, was very curious. "Did your sister talk to her? Where precisely did she meet that witch?" --
"Oh, Sir, you better should not believe everything that old Sophentia says!" the mayor told him, "she's so confused
since her husband died ten years ago, she's always getting mixed up reality and imagination!" But the knight insisted on her
telling him the story.
The next days were very instructive for both the villagers and the pink knight. He found out about how they lived, they discovered
that his suit of armor was extraordinarily light -- not that they had ever touched an armor before, but the pink alloy was as light as
tough. And that was good so, for the man who wore it was not very strong, he looked in fact almost as breakable as a woman and his
androgynous face was indeed very confusing. Some young inhabitants of Travenia finally dared to ask him why he looked neither like a
real man nor like a real woman. The knight, who still hadn't told them his name even three days after his arrival, suddenly turned
very red in the face and ran away.
The sun had already set when he returned, sat down by the fire that the young people had lit almost outside the village and began to tell
the story of his true origin. "I'm really neither a man or a woman, but a person created artificially by an obscure family of
wizards. I was intended to be the ultimate, almost god-like human being who is not restricted to the traditional categories of male and
female. Unfortunately my creators were killed by the Evil Skullbladers just before they could give me some magic power of my own. The only
thing they left for me was this suit made of a mixture of several rare metals. In fact, I'm still wondering why they were totally unable to
protect themselves from these dark knights -- it seems to me that they had sacrificed their lives to save mine, and to avenge their death
is the least I can do!" An embarassing silence filled the air until the Pink Knight added in a faint voice: "They didn't even
give me a real name!" This was definitely the most embarassing fact about his live, for now he looked almost as depressed as the villagers
had looked like after the Skullbladers' second attack. The boys and girls fast put their heads together and after a while they started
shouting names at the flabbergasted knight. Soon, however, he realized that they only wanted to give him a propper name; some of the
older villagers passing by were flabbergasted as well by that odd scene. "Oh no, that sounds too male... and this much too
female!" were his only comments. Finally they all had agreed on Alex -- simple, very simple indeed, but it
was perfect for someone like the Pink Knight. So he stood up, wearing his chest armor, lifted his sword with its golden gleaming blade
and declared solemnly: "From this day on, I shall be known as Alex, the Pink Knight!"
The next morning, Alex and two of his new friends, Arthus and Belnoy, decided to go to the mountains, to the place where Sophentia's
sister was said to have seen twice the mysterious woman (who could only have been a witch). Although the old lady's mind was
pretty confused most of the time, the knight wanted to try everything to find someone who was capable to be a match for Srolak'hor, the
dark magician. None of the villagers but Alex's young friends really believed that this trip would be successful, but they all hoped
that he was going to find the witch or whoever might be living in the Skullerborg Mountains.
After five hours of unsuccessful searching, they were ready to give up -- at least for that day --, when Belnoy suddenly saw a young woman
standing about ten meters above them. For the wink of an eye, Alex and Arthus could see her, too, before she vanished into thin air, just
like Sophentia had told them. But this time she materialized again only a few seconds later, right behind the three men's back, saying
"Boo!". Their hearts stopped beating for a moment, before they turned around at light speed, their faces white as a sheet.
"If You're scared alone by a white witch like me, how do you want to defeat the Evil Skullbladers?" the woman asked with a
broad grin on her face. "I'm glad you've found me at last, Alex; if you had hesitated one more day to come here, I would have
walked straight into the village, saying 'hello' and telling everybody that old Lumelia was right! My name is Cyntaria li Atomav,
by the way!" -- "So you are really a descendant of legendary Kaya, the witch who once cast a spell to protect Travenia from
mysery and evil powers? Where were you when Srolak'hor's dark knights attacked our village?" Arthus's reproachful voice
wiped the grin out of Cyntaria's face. "I'm so sorry, but that warlock himself was keeping me busy with some nasty nightmares
that went on continously for three days! I never had to deal with the dark powers, that's why it took me a rather long time to find out
how to defend myself against them!" -- "Does that mean that you cannot help us against Srolak'hor?" Alex looked a little
bit disappointed. "Have no fear, my brave knight; I've learnt my lesson and now I know how to fight against a dark wizard! But you
must help me, Alex, even if you don't look strong, you do have certain magic powers of your own. Just try to lift that piece of rock
there over there!" The Pink Knight thought she was joking when he looked at the boulder that Cyntaria was pointing at -- it seemed to be
too heavy even for the strongest man of the village, and that guy was twice as large as him. But the encouraging look the witch gave him made
him try it, though -- and a miracle happened: The slight knight managed to lift the heavy boulder as if it was made of wood. His muscles hurt
nevertheless, but judging from the shape of his body, Alex should not have been able to move that rock even a single millimeter!
"It's your armor that makes you so strong, together with your unique blood!" the witch explained. "How did you know
that?" -- "I knew all my life that someone like you would come, even before you were born or... let's say, created! But now
let's all go back to the village; I will restore it completely and refresh the spell -- I must admit that I've been too lazy in the
recent time, I should have helped you earlier... can you forgive me?" Arthus and Belnoy were flabbergasted. A witch that asked ordinary
mortal beings to forgive her? Cyntaria was either unprecedentedly friendly or more human than they had thought...
The villagers didn't believe their eyes when they saw the beautiful, young witch accompaigining the three returning men. They were even more astonished when she told them that she was in fact 140 years old. "But that's still very young for a person having magic powers; white wizards and witches can achieve an age of 800 years on the average, dark wizards even more than 1000 years!" -- "And how old is Srolak'hor?" the mayor asked curiosly. "Some people say 500, others say 1500 years! He is indeed very powerful, but I think he doesn't even know how to spell the words love or friendship... Alex's parents sacrificed their lives for him, something that a dark wizard never could do, and that's their great weakness. It may sound pathetic, but the Pink Knight is protected by the immortal love of his parents, enhanced by his suit of armor and the magic blood flowing through his veins!" -- "So he IS a wizard, after all?" -- "Not really. He will live for about 1000 years and always be as strong as four big adult men, but he will never be able to practise magic like me, for instance!" And just as to underline her last words, she moved her wand and within two minutes, three of the completely destroyed houses had rebuilt themselves entirely. When the sun set, Travenia looked almost as it had looked like before the Evil Skullbladers had attacked it for the first time. The inhabitants were so happy that they wanted to give a feast, but the witch said that they all should better go to bed now, since the dark knights would soon return to find out what had happened and to burn down all the houses again...
In fact, the Evil Skullbladers came sooner than they had expected -- it was close bofore dawn when the guard heard a horribly familiar
clop of hooves -- the dark knights were coming back! Cyntaria, who had woken up even before the guard had realized what was happening, quickly
cast an additional protective spell which made it impossible for the attackers to force their way into the village. The horsemen wearing
their black, heavy armor collided with an invisible wall and the three ones in the front row were thrown off their horses. "Ah, the witch is
back!" shouted their leader, "now there will be a real fight!". Out of thin air a tall man with evil looking eyes appeared and
cast a counter spell. Then he stepped aside, a wicked grin on his face, and the Evil Skullbladers stormed past the guard who had fainted by
the mere sight of the dark wizard. But before they reached the center of the village, the Pink Knight was standing in their way. The
Skullbladers stopped and burst into roaring laughter. "Look at his armor, it's pink!" -- "Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised
if a beautiful young woman was sticking inside!" Alex was so annoyed by their brute sense of humor that he killed the knight who was
standing next to him. The blade of his sword went right through the man's armor like it would have gone through paper. Their leader hissed:
"Be careful, there's something magic about this person!" Srolak'hor reappered; an icy wind was making his pitch black cloak
flap like the wings of a demoniac giant bat. "So, you have come to mess around with my Evil Skullbladers, boy? Or shouuld I better say
'girl'?"
Cyntaria materialized as well, giving the warlock the dirtiest look that she knew. But Srolak'hor just laughed at
her. "How should such a young witch like you be able to be a match for such an old and powerful wizard like me?" Instead of giving
an answer, she suddenly whirled around at a speed that the dark sorcerer was hardly able to follow with his eyes. Before he realized what
happened, he found himself tied up with a kind of purple rope that actually was alive. He shouted one word, which carried all his anger and
maliciousness and made the purple rope disappear as fast as it had come. "Is this all you can? I will smash you with my pure breath, if
you don't go out of my way!" -- "I sincerely believe that you could do; it seems to me as if you hadn't touched a tooth
brush for at least 200 years!" The warlock didn't know what to say. He had dealt with more powerful magicians before, and they
hadn't been half as impudent as that little sorceress! What confused him even more was Alex, who had meanwhile killed about half of the
Evil Skullbladers; Srolak'hor attacked him for a moment, which turned out to be a terrible mistake -- first of all for the reason that
the Pink Knight seemed to be immune to his spell, second because he gave Cyntaria another chance to attack him -- and this time she used one
of the most powerful spells that a white magician could cast, turning her opponent into a black and blue giant pansy. "How do you like
my flower power?" she asked smilingliy. The problem for Srolak'hor was that pansies had no mouth, but he needed desperately one to
cast a counter spell! While he was racking his brains, Alex kept on slaughtering the dark knights. Some of the villagers even helped him,
using the arms of those who were already killed. Soon, however, they found out that joining their hero was not such a good idea after all.
They had no experience and three of them died before the others realized that they should better let the Pink Knight do the bloody job.
Alex was totally exhausted when he faced the Skullbladers' leader, who in fact was the only one of the evil horsemen who was still able to stand on his feet. With a diabolic grin on his face, he swung his huge battle axe and split the Pink Knight's head together with his helmet. "NOOOOO!" cried Cyntaria when she saw Travenia's hero lying dead on the ground. The dark knight's battle axe must have been bewitched, for an ordinary weapon would have been unable to penetrate the armor that easily. The Skullblader swung his axe once again, muttering some obscure words, and a flash of lightning shot out of it, hitting the giant pansy and the dark wizard was back agian. "All right, folks, no more messing around! Your hero's dead and I doubt that this witch will be able to defy the united powers of Lord Crusherborg and me, so better give up and swear to be my slaves for the rest of your lives!" The white witch was unable to do anything. She looked desperately at Alex's body, which she hoped to come back to life again -- in vain. Black magic was indeed more powerful than white magic, she had to realize that. She felt an icecold quiver running through her body when Srolak'hor's spell hit her, transforming her into... whatever it was, she didn't want to know.
A sad ending, isn't it? Well, let me tell you what happened after Cyntaria was hit by the dark wizard's spell. A mysterious light appeared which seemed to come from nowhere. First it was only a weak shining, but soon it concentrated on one spot, became brighter and brighter, nobody was able to look at it without risking to be blinded for the rest of his (or her) life. The light was assimilated by the Pink Knight's dead body, which turned into some kind of light as well. That light really swallowed Srolak'hor and Lord Crusherborg, leaving nothing but two small heaps of ashes. Then, after reversing the spell that had been put on Cyntaria, the light vanished again, and with it Alex's body.
Now you want to know what many people think to be so embarassing about this story -- well, most knights are machos, proud of their muscles and what else makes them real MEN. But all their strength was useless when they fought against the Evil Skullbladers; too many lost their lives. When the rest of them heard that of all the (wannabe) heroes of the world it was precisely a sexless being, slight and inconspicous person who killed all those dark knights, including Srolak'hor (even after his death!), they said that that was just a rumor. I for one know better, since I was there, me, Talk'ayor, it was me who sent that saving light, together with Alex's deceased parents. I know, of course, that a chronicler is not supposed to interfere into history, but the situation at that time was so extreme that one little exception could be -- and had to be -- made...
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