Carnival of Death

CHRONICLES OF GERARD THE KNIGHT, VOL. 1

Gerard & The River of Decadence

The symphony of the night was in it’s encore when Gerard had stepped on to the ruins of what once was a road. The rain was crashing down on the ruined road as if kicking an already beaten empire. The road looked to be wailing sobs of regret under a warring night sky that was occasionally lit by the gods arsenal. Gerard was sheathed in armor yet the pangs of blinding light from the barrage of artillery from the war that the Gods were waging, he could not avoid entirely. Gerard, like all soldiers before him, trudge on fulfilling some cosmic duty he did not yet understand. Gerard knew what the others at court thought of him, which was a mere triviality produced by a once great duke who‘s been long dead. Under that prison called a helmet, he knew everything they said, but regardless he knew what he saw. He knew that he had received a message from the god and he was on a holy quest. With that sentiment he trekked through the treacherous battle ground, he trudge on following the crying road.
Gerard was the only honorable knight in the kingdom of the Grove yet his heart was not pure. His heart was dark and calloused, as a farmer’s hands are from all the work in the field. Being exiled to an invisible prison since the moment has been born has hardened his heart so. They say when Gerard was born his own mother screamed when she saw his face, and from thence forth it was decided he shall wear a metal helmet. Unknowingly they did not realize they had thus decreed for the rest of Gerard life would he be an outsider. So his heart carried a plague more devastating than any physical ailment. As he set foot on his journey back to his home, the Kingdom of the Grove, he was blocked by the river of decadence. He shrewdly mapped out a course based off the naked eye and preceded to walk an edge that could be likened to a tight rope. Yet amidst the chaos and turmoil, Gerard was reminded of yester years, in the days before quests and other noble ambitions. To the days of child-hood, the days before the decadence took over, before the armies of evil had marched across the land. The days of playing tight-rope, while all the other boys went to school. He push out such memories and focused on the task at hand. At that precise moment demons arose from the river and descended upon Gerard. Gerard was in no shape for battle so he dove into the river of decadence, his scent of foolish honor was a washed by the stench of evil.
The river of decadence is no normal river, it is a purging of one soul, one either survives or does not. One‘s physical body is not harmed in this battle, but what is the body without the body? Gerard has escape to the ethereal planes, left one deathly ailment for another. For I wish one could say that evil demons and other such monstrosities plague you in the river, but the decadence creeps from our own souls, perhaps that is why it is so devastating, for we are our worst enemies. Gerard is forced to face his self-serving self-righteousness, a callous exterior that was essential to his survival. All these years he manage to keep himself from the scourges of depression, with the believe he was somehow a better person than the sinners around him, and he believe that was proven by the vision.
Gerard finds himself in a memory, he is a spirit who sits back and observes. He sees teenage boy in a metal helmet peering through a hole. He immediately knows who the boy is, it’s himself when he was younger. He tries to turn away but he’s frozen, he is a paralyzed ghost forced to watch what’s going on in front of him. A couple of other teenage boys come by and they stop, and they just start laughing at him. The apparent leader of the group goes over to him, and starts jeering at him about how if he thinks he’s going ever be with the princess then he stupider then he looks. The other guys say that he’s deaf and dumb, and for a moment Gerard is relieve that these morons will pass on, but the leader of the group knows better and sees through Gerard’s ruse. The leader says, “No, it’s all an act this thing can hear us and he damn well knows what I’m saying, so listen up!” The leader kneels in real closely, and points to the scar on his face. He tells him that he’s a man, and he got that hunting, and that’s why a freak like Gerard will never get with the princess, and he will. Then the leader and the other kids leave, Gerard falls down, and you can hear the faint sounds of crying. Gerard has had enough and screams, “ENOUGH!” The memory disappears and Gerard finds himself in utter blackness, and then a voice booms, “GERARD, YOU ARE CHARGED WITH VANITY AND UNPURE MOTIVE IN THE FACE OF THE GODS!” Gerard just falls to the floor, and starts crying. “KILL YOURSELF AND BE SAVED!” A knife is revealed, Gerard stares at it and understands, he has disgraced the Gods, and this is his punishment, he took this quest for reasons of vanity, not for the Gods. Gerard takes the knife and stabs himself in the stomach, and screams in pain.
Gerard is struck with fear, his demons have coiled around his heart, his heart beat slows, the demons have release there hold and die. He sees a white light, it’s the Gods of the woods they deliver a message. “Gerard, you are our champion, remember your mission is for us, and all shall be yours”, the light dissipates. He emerges from the river, gasping for air, for he has won, for he has purged his demons, for he is not pure, but he is good.
Gerard, shed of his armor, purged of his self-righteousness, and drenched from the river of decadence trudges on again. He faces one last obstacle till he can safely reach his den. He stands before the darkness, the light of the gods can not pervade down into this ghastly forest, Gerard’s only consolation is the shortness of this final part of his trek. Armed with the light of his noble ambition he trudges on into the darkness. The evil from below tries to grab at his feet, Gerard weaken, so he runs, he runs as fast as he can but alas he faces the monster which guards his path, he is weak and tired. Gerard takes out his sword, and goes in for one strike, he strikes to kill, he has only enough energy for one attack, he aims for the heart.

TO BE CONTINUED!