The Masked Knight

Chapter 9

The Masked Knight’s P. O. V.

How could he suggest that?

How could I let him divide the land which is ours from the first place and it is only because of the King’s order that I have allowed their troop to stay in my territory. Then what made him think that he can do whatever he wants with this land?

Even though I wanted to say all these to Tristen, I decided to stay quiet as I realized that it will not be of any use in the end. So, I chose an easier way to make him understand who exactly has the last say in this matter.

“So, you want to divide this land. Right?” I asked bitterly while my men just could not stop gasping after hearing his suggestions. For them it is indeed an unfair deal which Tristen just suggested but it is not the same for the other warriors though. Of course, Tristen’s men were on his side and were getting excided even before the conclusion.

“Yes! to me and my men, it is surely a great idea.” Tristen replied and furrowed his eyebrows with frustration for a moment, as if he was facing a lot of trouble to talk to a masked face instead of an actual one. But as soon as he found out who was standing right behind me all this time, his gaze changed into a different one.

Yes, he got a bit confused.

Because, there was standing Sabastian, his own little brother, but he was definitely not standing on his side but mine quite unexpectedly which made him even more frustrated without any doubt.

I can say so, because I have never failed to read those eyes, not in the past neither at present.

“Brother!!!” at this moment, Sabastian could not help but tried to stop Tristen as he did not fail to realize the fact that whatever he is intending to do is entirely wrong.

But still he could not do much as Sabastian was kind of stuck in between us as neither he can agree with his brother’s decision, nor he can see Tristen getting humiliated in front of everyone.

“You stay away from this, Sabastian. This is between me and him.” Seeing him getting worried about both of us, I stated my words for Sabastian without bothering to turn away my gaze off of him.

Tightening my grip on the sword without anyone’s notice, I at last declared,

“Well, then you have to win a fight against me then. If you win, we will listen to your suggestion without causing anymore troubles for you. But if you lose, you have to stay in this land with us all and then you and your men must follow my rules without creating any difficulties for my men.

What do you say about that?” I asked and glared at him through the eyeholes on my iron mask and his expression at this moment was enough for me to know that he could clearly see me irrespective of the fact that I am wearing a mask all the time.

No, I am not scared this time. Neither he is.

After all, Tristen have grown up to be a man full of pride after winning the last battle. Of course, he has confidence in his arms.

And I am no different than him.

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Tristen’s P. O. V.

So, he is the infamous masked knight!!!!

I kept hearing about him since the very moment I have stepped my foot inside this kingdom after seven long years. All this time I was wondering who could he be and why even people call him the masked knight. Now I know.

As I came to stand in front of him, I just can not ignore his strong presence and the way he spoke to me without any fear, I could not help but got very much impressed with this guy. He is indeed someone worth being mention by each and every single man in the entire kingdom.

And inviting me to a fight with him is enough proof of his bravery as well, as I have never imagined that anyone would dare to challenge me after hearing about my heroic deeds in the battlefield.

No, I am not saying that I became a hero all of a sudden but it is just that people made me one in their stories and I am grateful for them as they showed enough love and respect towards me and my men since I returned back on my land.

But it is just that I was not at all expecting to see the changes. After seven long years when I finally returned, this kingdom felt so foreign to me for some reason. Maybe it is just me who is being suspicious all the time due to a certain habit, that I developed lately.

Anyway,

For now, the most important thing to do is to deal with this so-called masked knight.

I need to hold the sword once again. And here I was thinking that I don’t have to fight any time soon as the war is over already but now, I could clearly see how wrong I was.

I guess this is the reality. One must fight throughout his life for the sake of survival. And this moment is no different than that.

“Must we fight? Is there no other way? I just don’t want to let you down in front of your men.” I said in a cam voice but deep inside I knew how tired I was.

I just don’t understand what exactly happened to this land? Why the hell, Sabastian is on their side when he is supposed to be with me now. After all I am seeing him after so many years.

I still remember when I left for the battle, he was a kid back then and now look at him. He is all grown up and has become a great warrior.

But still, something about him did not feel right. I surely felt like he is hiding something from me, and I must know what is it exactly.

I was looking at my brother, just when I heard,

“No, there is no other way.” The words definitely came out of the mouth which is always hidden underneath an ugly mask. And there is so much determination in them which made me admire the man without any doubt.

“Well then, tell me when and where do you want to have a fight…. I will….” I could not even finish my words just when I heard his voice once again.

“Right here, right now.” That was all he cared to say and I did not fail to see how he clenched his fingers on the grip of his sword tightly, as if he is going to draw his sword out of the sheathe any time now.

“As you wish.” I replied, seeing that there is no going back now. I must fight for the sake of my men, no matter how much exhausted I am.

I pulled out my sword out of the sheathe at last but I just could not tolerate the treacherous sound that my blade made, announcing how sharp its edges became after cutting down thousands after thousand heads in the battle field. For me it is the sound of no mercy.

And I absolutely hate it.

But I guess, it is completely a different story for the one who is standing in front of me now.

He is nearly six feet tall with a lean body which reflects nothing but strength and power. He is wearing his black knight’s suit with an armor which is perfectly fitting his skin, revealing no single spot of his body uncovered. From his nails to his toes everything was covered with the black attire. Even his head was covered with the iron mask, leaving me no chance to guess how exactly he looks like.

While I kept observing the man called the masked knight who was standing right in front of my eyes, I just could not stop getting more and more curious about his actual identity that surely lies underneath the mask. 

So, without even realizing, I found myself glaring at his disguise for quite some time.

It seemed like he was waiting for me to move at him as he just kept standing at his spot without even bothering to unsheathe his sword.

At last, I decided not to waste any time and did what he wanted me to do.

I lifted up my sword and swayed it in the air for a few times before I finally moved from my spot only to make my first strike. But I was stopped in no time.

I will not say that I was not expecting him to be this fast but I was surprised too because it is the first time when someone have ever dodged my strike without even doing anything at all. To stop me, it just took him one single movement as he finally pulled out his sword and let its edges clash with the sharpness of mine.

In no time the menacing sounds of metals crashing with each other started to resonate all over the place but we kept going on even when I did not want to start this fight to begin with in the first place.

Several minutes passed, but he is still standing on his legs quite unexpectedly, which is again something first for me as I have seen greatest warriors getting defeated by my sword and falling down within less than a minute. But the situation here is entirely something else.

Even so, this is not what shocked me the most. Instead, there was something odd about him which I felt during our fight. It seemed like our movements are syncing with each other more than perfectly as if we are not fight but dancing with each other along with a unique melody tonight.

How is this even possible?

How can our steps match when we both are supposed to have our differences in the skills of swordfight?

I don’t know. But I surely know that I am going insane in my mind.

Realizing that I won’t be able to win against him if this goes on, I decided to change my moves. And when I did so, his movements were good enough to stop me right away.

Tsk.

I have had enough.

In order to win, I took one last risk and shifted my sword to my other arm in a flash of a second even before he can understand what I am intending to. Or at least that was what I thought at that moment.

I grabbed his head with my free hand in no time to make him stop, but when I was supposed to put my sword on his throat at last, I was startled all of a sudden to see that he was no longer within my grasp as he slipped out of my arm in no time.

And then he took his final strike which left me speechless, cause not only my sword flew away from my hand only to fall within a distance from us, he won the fight as well.

Yeah, I was not expecting that at all.

“It’s decided then.” Taking his sword away from my throat, the masked knight finally declared his victory with only a few words and left.

I just kept standing at my spot and watched his back disappearing in the darkness of the knight. It is like, I still could not believe that I have just lost a fight when I kept believing all this time that I am best at it.

But, no.

I was entirely wrong and I know that now.

I don’t know for how long I stood there underneath the open night sky and was lost in a daze, but when I did get back to my senses, I found out that everyone is gone already.

I sighed.

I was about to leave just when I realized that there is something which I am still holding inside my tightly closed palm without my consciousness. And when I opened my hand to see what is it, I was surprised once again.

Cause, in my hand there was a few strands of long and golden hair.

What the f**k?