{"sf1_id":1322130,"sf2_id":"pnGka96n","title":"Path to Power: The Fallen Knight II","author":"Savory","words":1380,"posted_at":"2018-04-10T05:49:04.000Z","tags":["Character Development","Dark","Fantasy","Human","Philosophy","Story Progression"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1322130-path-to-power-the-fallen-knight-ii","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/pnGka96n","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/ab/73/ab73b874-e26d-4535-be76-b8ca41e6a3c1","description":"Story setting, in the style of a journal. A quickened account of a rogue knight before becoming a bloodthirsty dragon slayer.","content":"_I awoke in a torpor to a vacant room, and in the dim light I began to recall the voices which bore witness to my brush with death.\u0026nbsp; The affliction had festered mercilessly within my blood, and in those days I became acquainted with the apothecary which suffered my company.\u0026nbsp; When a beast emerged, following the manner and form of man, a strength of will possessed me to overcome the grip of sickness.\u0026nbsp; My heart readied for battle while by body merely threw me to the floor of the bed.\u0026nbsp; As if a member of some clergy, he carried out his duty without complaint or worry._\n\n_I hath wondered: where rests the loyalty of this wolf?\u0026nbsp; I did not remember riding so far from the homeland, and it was my steed which carried me so far abroad to a land I no longer knew.\u0026nbsp; The Commonwealth of Ursa sought to emulate the states of old, advocating equality and freedom within a corrupt system of political intrigue which bred a class disparity comparable to any monarchy.\u0026nbsp; Oh, but I knew little of what to believe then, it only seemed natural to adopt my prior ideals and repay the debt I had incurred._\n\n_One may say I had become a vagrant again after dispensing with the emblems of which I no longer held fealty.\u0026nbsp; There are times I ponder upon those repressed memories-- It felt as though I never truly knew my family, or perhaps wished to forget them.\u0026nbsp; The greatest enigma of life was the lack of empathy I had among forsaken children; I wanted to believe there was more, that I could fill this husk with more than pretense.\u0026nbsp; To think I wasn’t so wretched that my own mother would abandon me, but my heart somehow knew, and so did she.\u0026nbsp;_\n\n_Oh, you might think this journal rife with self-pity and the desperation of a love starved maid who claims to be a knight, should I prattle on of the distant tragedies of another life.\u0026nbsp; Truly, not all of it was woe.\u0026nbsp; In the coming days, a certain wanderlust filled my heart, as the world was now so different; to know creatures I would hath hunted, hath never seen, nor even read of.\u0026nbsp; It seemed natural to lend aide to duties which evoked aversion in the common folk, for whatever ease was given to their hearts, I took satisfaction in.\u0026nbsp; It was here I took vocation as a jailor.\u0026nbsp; Some went further, and labeled me executioner._\n\n_In time, the pleas of innocent and guilty alike inured the turmoil of my spirit.\u0026nbsp; It was then I realized the vanity of man’s order: to pass judgement upon the lesser privileged and feed the appetites of the wicked, for it was the commoner’s fear which taught them to remain obedient.\u0026nbsp; This was no less so for the independent, remembering the dragons which historically took treasure and livestock to feed the very same principal of order.\u0026nbsp; Do you see now my witness?\u0026nbsp; It is power which governs the world, not law._\n\n_A famine had gone unnoticed to me while the confederacy centralized.\u0026nbsp; My pay was generous, but I began to suspect more as the prisoners grew much younger, and punishments more severe.\u0026nbsp; The rebellious cried against wealthy merchants who used their paid lapdogs to avoid the law, and indulge in luxury at the expense of the poor.\u0026nbsp; The commonwealth had acquainted me with strange sorcery and cunning rascals, just enough so to evade the monotonous ramblings of greedy subordinates.\u0026nbsp; This alleged democracy transformed to aristocracy, a manner of governance I knew too well._\n\n_I had a wife you know.\u0026nbsp; It was the apothecary’s daughter whom I had little interest of.\u0026nbsp; There was little appeal in a creature so alien to me, or of one so young.\u0026nbsp; It took time to acclimate until I no longer passed judgement upon one’s heritage, and learned to appreciate the diversity of race, for I was now the alien in a realm where no humans seemed to exist.\u0026nbsp; Why then did I divorce myself of the ills which hath plagued the land?\u0026nbsp; I grew to care for her, and it gave me peace.\u0026nbsp; To fret of politics would have driven me mad, but it was my station which may hath very well condemned those I cared for.\u0026nbsp; Life is not a kind teacher._\n\n_The state factionalize, holding ransoms in desperation against one another to vie control over a now collapsing government.\u0026nbsp; At least that’s what was speculated, until a rogue procured lists for execution that I saw included my loved ones.\u0026nbsp; Caravans traveled in secret, homes burned but no one died, and my colleagues acted without receiving order.\u0026nbsp; Of the few I trusted who remained, a sorcerer of the old gods, spoke of an orchestrated chaos that fueled a more sinister agenda.\u0026nbsp; In a subtle way without speaking of them, he let me know that they were already dead, and to remain seeking vengeance would be a vain struggle which only served to fuel this black tide._\n\n_From that time on, every thought was rage, and my soul manifested anew as a bottomless sea of pure hatred.\u0026nbsp; To bring terror and suffering upon such agents was my new purpose, and I equally hated how helpless I was to stop them; how helpless others pretended to be out of their own cowardice.\u0026nbsp; So the executioner became a rogue knight, without loyalty, without mercy, for mercy was a practice for the ignorant.\u0026nbsp; Perhaps that was dramatic, but I do not wish to waste the parchment._\n\n_I drank heavily to quell the demons which incessantly clawed at my sanity.\u0026nbsp; I needed to channel this new love of murder before it claimed me—my god!\u0026nbsp; I could think of no greater pleasure than crushing the life out of everyone I looked upon, so I had accompanied a band of hapless fools which endeavored to cure the ills of the world.\u0026nbsp; That seemed to be the moment where I lost my sanity, if I had to pick it.\u0026nbsp; Aye, they said I needed to control my anger too, but I felt better off hearing it from others than myself.\u0026nbsp;_\n\n_Our travels, as it so happens, was to seek out and kill another dragon who meddled heavily in mortal affairs, only seeming to act as a way to slake his boredom.\u0026nbsp; Among my company, a greedy half-giant, directed only by his insatiable appetite for wealth.\u0026nbsp; An immature gnome who would sometimes evoke thoughts of my deceased daughter.\u0026nbsp; A silly feline who insisted on being nude; she constantly claimed to be my officer.\u0026nbsp; Finally an avian rogue I felt compelled to strike from time to time, for he loved too much his insipid pranks._\n\n_They were a tiresome lot, but we worked well together.\u0026nbsp; Apparently, my ruthless onslaughts were a sight to behold, and my learned methods of torture procured vital information from even the most devout fanatics.\u0026nbsp; Predictably, my allies would protested vehemently against my methods.\u0026nbsp; The younger ones averted their attention, for it put their romantic world view in jeopardy, having regarded me as a paladin, and perhaps a father figure at times.\u0026nbsp; It was only when the young avian and gnome watched could I restrain myself; it wouldn’t have done them any good to know they were merely a means to an end. \u0026nbsp;As for the others, I did not care if they were too delicate to stomach reality.\u0026nbsp; In time, the devotion to the murderous whispers that plagued my mind granted me a means to commune with a new deity to guide my blade.\u0026nbsp;_\n\n_Hence began the path to power.\u0026nbsp; I knew now that magic existed in this strange new world, and that deities corrupted the natural order with blessings of favoritism upon their mortal agents; to be used as meat puppets against whatever other deity dissatisfied them.\u0026nbsp; It becomes clearer doesn’t it?\u0026nbsp; How different is this than the petty squabble of one king at war with another?\u0026nbsp; Gods, kings: all but entitled children who haven’t a shred empathy for the subjects they rule over-- so willing to have others suffer in their stead.\u0026nbsp; There was only one God I could ever follow now; one who gave me power, and the power to destroy the everlasting soul._\n\nEtherius - 7211, 4th Waxing Crescent"}