Twofold: Prologue Two - The Knight in Black

He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues…

The poor and unfortunate adore and love him like an angel from the heaven, or even like the Lord Himself; the rich and arrogant fear him like a messenger from Otherworld, like the lord of all evil. The breakers of law and order turn him into a legend, a marvelous marvel; the authorities see him as filthier than sewer rats and bear a hatred on him that is deeper than the deepest sea. He who is the bravest and darkest man in the Kingdom of Gryphon -- the Black Knight. Never deliver the fate he delivers to the rich to the poor. Gold and silver and diamonds are his gifts to those in need. Respect and applause are his renumeration from his duties.

“Hoorah, hoorah, the man in black.
From the messenger of God,
Gold and copper and rubies.
Enemy of law and friend of people.
Wields the sword of justice,
With the bravest of all hearts.
Agony and Grief,
The two friends never exist
When he comes along.
Hero of ours, the king of knights.
God save the Black Knight!”

There comes the song of Man in Black. Sing by the people of Gryphon, a well-known rhyme in the hearts of the people.

And as the song echoed in the damp air of a cold night, a black shadow lurked in the forest behind the stone castle of Osmir Palastin, Earl of Flinstein. Swift and suave, the shadow entered the castle without hardships. His silver sword in his armored hand and the sheath in the other; his feet tapping on the marble floor soundlessly; his black mask secured on his face mysteriously; his black cloak flowing behind him like a dark storm of wind; he was well-prepared. And he was, none other than, the infamous vigilant, Black Knight.

The Black Knight slipped through the doors and gaps of the walls slickly like a silent predator, without being noticed by the guards standing by the gate. He opened the wooden door to the Earl’s bedroom and stepped towards the sleeping Earl and his wife. He raised his sword and pointed it below the chin of Lord Flinstein. As if he felt the pressing aura of the king of the thieves, Lord Flinstein jogged awake and stared at the Black Knight with big round, terrified eyes.

“Where are the gold and money you’ve robbed from the villagers?” the Black Knight asked in a deep muffled voice.

“I…I didn’t rob them. Those were…pay…payments for the taxes,” Lord Flinstein replied in a trembling voice. He knew it would be useless to call for the guards, or perhaps he was simply too terrified to scream. Never in a million years would he have expected to come face to face to the fearsome vigilant of the whole Gryphon kingdom.

The Black Knight did not care to hear the pleading Earl’s explanation. “Rubbish,” he said. He pointed the sword on the Earl’s throat and a small drop of dark crimson blood dripped onto the Earl’s night shirt.

The Earl and his wife, who had woken up from her husband’s desperate nudges, opened a secret door to a small room connected to their bedroom. With the sword still pointing towards Lord and Lady Flinstein, the Black Knight took all the jewelries and gold he could find in the room and put them into a sack. By giving Lord and Lady Flinstein a gentleman bow, the Black Knight rushed out of the bedroom.

“Guards! Guards! Seize the thief!” shouted the Earl as he recovered from the numbing fear, his wife crying in tears of relief beside him.

Facing few tens of armed guards, the Black Knight threw the heavy jewelry-filled sack over his shoulder and tied it around his chest. He smiled and wielded his sword with poise. He gave it a few swings and defeated the guards effortlessly. He laid a rose on the stone floor at the gate before he disappeared into the moonless night, his black cloak flowing behind him like a fierce gust of wind.

And there goes yet another tale of the Black Knight unfurled to be told by the people, to the people.

Twofold: Prologue One - Lady Blue

When the sun was the highest in the sky, a boy in silk clothes stuck his head out of the dark tunnel. His eyes were blinded by the warm rays of the heaven’s eye. He blinked. His eyes then wandered around the surroundings. Nothing was familiar to him. The warm rays shone on his face and the sound of rushing water deafened him. His curious eyes observed everything carefully. A couple of birds flew away just as his eyes laid upon their nesting tree, as if his scrutinizing stare had frightened them away.

As he took his step towards the waterfall, a little girl in blue appeared before his eyes. She stepped on the slippery stones and took off her pointed leather shoes. She kicked the water aggressively, raged. Her rose lips were moving so fast as if they were trembling. He could not hear her voice over the rushing water and he moved closer. As he approached the back of the girl, she turned and faced him. She screamed at the top of her lungs like she had seen a ghost. The boy put his palm over her mouth, afraid that her screams will bring him troubles. She shoved away his hand angrily.

“God’s eye, is that hobby of yours? Scare people?”

“Most definitely not. It’s a gift from the Lord.”

The girl appeared to be even more unpleased with the boy with that answer. “Think you’re being funny?”

“No, milady. No means to be rude. Not at all.” He stared at her apologetically.

She let down her arms on her hips to the sides. She stared at the older boy and smiled.

“First time here?” The boy nodded. “’ve been here several times. Mostly when I’m outraged.” The boy kept quiet. “I reckon’d you should come more often. Helps free you from worries.” He kept quiet still, only nodded occasionally.

“Don’t you think the sound and smell of the mother nature are the best cure in the world?” The girl closed her eyes and emerged herself into the worry-free air.

She opened her eyes and looked at the boy. “You don’t talk much, d’you?”

“Pardon me.”

“Mind if I ask why you came?”

“I…got lost.” He looked away from her as he answered.

“Sheer dumb luck. I’d been looking for millenniums before I found here. Big brother told me of it. He found it when he sneaked out from practice.”

The girl went on with her stories and the boy sat close to her and listened to every one of them with curiosity. Never in his fourteen years of life had he heard about anything like these. She was like a book that tells the adventures of life and lured him to go into the exciting new world. Just as the story was at the peak, the book was closed. The girl ran out of the forest, leaving him lusting for more of her tales, but not before they promised to see one another a day later when the sun shines on the west. They gave each other a name that only they shall know. One of Llonydd; another of Eirian.

As agreed, the boy came to the noisy water the day after when the shadows pointed to the west. He sat on the rocks, waiting patiently for his Eirian. She came through the thickest trees in the forest and showed the brightest smile when she saw him sitting there. She was happy to have met this quiet friend but perhaps her feeling was nothing compared to his. He urged her to continue with her tales, even though her tales were merely tales of quarrelling with her family, playing with friends and doing unlady-like things, or bravery, as what she called them. Day after day they would meet at the same place, at the same time, sharing tales of each other and playing by the water which led to the discovery of a strange mark on the boy’s chest by the girl. The mark was wing-shaped. It was a mark from birth, as told by him.

On that very same day, the boy gave his most treasured friend his most precious belonging, a gift from his mother -- Engel. He took a silvery, angel-shaped jewel off of his neck. He put it onto her. Delighted, she promised to be his best friend forever. She kissed him on the cheek before running into the forest like she usually did.

The next day, the boy waited at the same spot. He was as excited and anxious as usual to see his friend, a friend that had come to make him laugh and talk in a way he never did before. He waited and waited until the sun had retired and the moon awoke along with the diamonds of the night. The girl did not come. And so was the next day, and the day after, and months later. She never came again. The boy was devastated and heartbroken as he thought his friend had abandoned him.

“No matter the rivers of time and mountains of distant, the path to you shall never be destroyed. I shall find you or, at least, wait for you till the sun never chases after the moon again and till the sky and earth are no longer apart.”