Radella - Queen's Paladin - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Demon's Pawn

Radella, Paladin of the High Queen sat quietly, her arms outstretched, while Afton prepared her for battle. She was the very picture of calm beauty; her dark hair framing her perfect oval features. From her tower window her soft hazel eyes under midnight eyebrows surveyed the green vista that was the Midkingdom countryside. Tall and athletic, her body was well suited to the role expected of her by the queen.

"Not too tight," she cautioned Afton as the girl cinched her underclothes.

"It would not do to have your breasts fly loose in battle my lady," answered her squire.

"Nor would it do to so compress them that I cannot draw a breath." Radella replied. She smiled tenderly at Afton. The flaxen-haired girl had been with her for only a few months, but she had developed a strong affection for her.

Afton returned the smile and loosened the ties a little. She was still learning and Radella, the most renowned warrior in the realm, was the expert when it came to preparing for battle. "Better, my lady?" she asked.

"Perfect," Radella responded. It had to be perfect. Today she faced an opponent like no other she had ever encountered. At age fifteen she had killed her first man. She had killed many more since then. But this was no man she would ride out against today, but a beast from the netherworld, a hideous beast that killed and defiled every living thing it touched. It was critical that she be properly prepared.

Afton began to strap on the armour. First the coat of chain mail, links of metal woven so finely together that they would stop any sword thrust. It extended from her shoulders to her knees. Then the metal graves to protect her lower legs, the gauntlets to protect her hands and wrists, and finally the helmet, with its long white plume signifying Radella's purity and strength. Afton first wove Radella's waist length hair into a long braid before handing her mistress the metal headgear.

She was ready. She hefted her sword, the sharp-edged weapon whistling through the air as she gave it a test swing. It was a fine weapon. The best the kingdom could provide. Taken together her armour and weaponry was more that the yearly tax revenue collected from a score of villages. She hoped it would be enough to enable her to defeat the beast.

She walked from her room to the central hall and went to her knee before the queen. "May the blessing of the lord ride with you, Radella," Queen Edlyn said, rising from her throne. She went to the kneeling woman and raised her up. "Let us walk together," she said.

Arm in arm, queen and champion walked to the courtyard where Radella's horse waited. The queen turned to Radella and hung a small wooden cross about her neck. "Take this holy relic in protection," the queen said. Radella nodded, and placed her foot in the stirrup. as Radella mounted. As she rode through the gate the queen called after her, "Go with God." Without a word the female warrior raised her lance in salute and rode from the castle. Behind her Afton followed.

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Devastation. Whatever had done this had not cared what it destroyed. Radella wrinkled her nose at the stench of decaying corpses. They littered the burned out village. Horses, cows, dogs, and above all people. Men, women, and children. Most of then burned beyond recognition and not a few torn limb from limb. It was a gruesome slaughter and fairly recent. She was getting closer.

This was the third ruined village she had passed through. The beast seemed to kill simply for the sake of killing. But they trail was fresher now. Here the scent of death was no more than a few hours old. She glanced at Afton. The girl's face was very pale, but she wore a look of determination. She would see this thing through. Kicking her heels, Radella spurred her horse into a canter. It was about time she caught up with the beast before it did any more damage.

Little was known about the monster that was ravaging the Midkingdom countryside other than the fact that it had come out of nowhere and had killed everyone sent against it. Now it was Radella's turn. The queen had called in her champion when all else had failed.

"I should have been called sooner," Radella thought. "Then this would not have happened." But she had been away with the army fighting on the northern frontier. It had taken a week for the messenger to reach her and a week for her to return. By then the beast had killed hundreds.

She rounded a bend in the road. Less than a mile away a farmstead was in flames. She headed toward it, loosening the ties on her lance and bringing it to the ready.

She heard the beast before she saw it. A sort of hoarse bellowing, like that of a bull pursuing and cow in season. Then she crested a hill and came upon it less than a hundred yards away.

It was manlike, but huge in size, standing twice the height of a man, and covered in a green scaly hide. Its face was demonic. Three blood-red eyes turned in Radella's direction. It's gaping mouth revealing rows of needle sharp teeth. Huge arms that reached past its knees were raised menacingly. Its hands ended in three fingers equipped with scythe-like claws. As the beast caught sight of her it bellowed and shifted its body in her direction.

For a few seconds the thing just stared at her, as if attempting to determine what creature would be foolish enough to face it. Then with a ground-crunching stride it lurched toward her.

Radella had only seconds to react. Small wonder that no one had been able to defeat the beast. It was a creature straight out of Hell. How it had found its way into the world of men she did not know, but she realized that a conventional attack on the creature would be suicide. She would have to use her brains as well as her warrior's skills.

The beast was almost upon her, but the brief pause while it had stared at her had given Radella time to put on her helmet. Couching her lance, she spurred her horse toward the charging monster. It appeared that the queen's champion was charging to her death. No one could defeat such a monster, but Radella had not fought more than two hundred individual combats without learning something. At the last second she jerked hard on the reins of her warhorse, veering it away from the hideous beast as she thrust her lance deep into its body.

The beast's scream almost ruptured Radella's eardrums. She had never heard such a sound. It was as if a hundred eagles had all shrieked at once. And then the lance was wrenched from her grip, almost tearing Radella from the saddle. The lance had completely pierced the beast, penetrating it so deeply that three feet of the weapon projected from its back. Thick green blood spurted from the wound, but incredibly the beast did not fall. Instead it turned in her direction and continued its attack.

Radella drew her sword and swinging her horse around charged toward beast again. The monster reared above her and swinging its right arm sought to knock her from the saddle. Radella rose in the stirrups and striking hard, her sword cut off the beast's arm at the elbow.

The beast howled in rage as blood jetted ten feet from the wound. It turned to face her again, but this time not as quickly. Before the monster could react Radella had returned to the attack, and using all of her strength ripped her sword halfway through the staggering monster's torso.

The crippled monster lashed out with its left arm, forcing Radella to take the blow on her shield. Her entire left arm went numb and she was almost swept from the saddle. Only by releasing her sword was she able to maintain her position.

Wheeling her horse once more Radella unhooked the axe from the side of her saddle. Doubled edged, with a four foot haft, Radella tossed aside her shield in order to wield the weapon. For an instant she hesitated in her attack. The beast was incredibly tough. It should have been dead by now, but it still stood. Was it possible that it could not be killed? The monster lumbered forward. She prepared to meet its attack.

Then an arrow appeared in the centre of the monster's chest. And another. Afton's bow hummed and she sent a third arrow into the beast. With a howl of rage the beast changed the direction on its attack, moving with amazing speed toward the girl. Afton was fitting a fourth arrow to her bow, but the monster would be upon her before she released it.

Radella had already spurred her horse forward. The new direction of the beast's attack allowed her to come upon it from behind. Using all of her strength, she swung the axe into the beast's spine. There was a horrific crunch of breaking bone as the axe sheared through the beast's spine. Without a sound the monster fell, dropping face forward on the ground.

Radella and Afton looked upon the monster they had defeated. Breathing hard, Radella dismounted, and raising her axe again, decapitated the monster with a single blow. Then stepping forward she lifted the beast's severed head, triumphant.

Her sense of victory, however, was brief. Even as she raised the beast's head, the air shimmered and a few feet away an enormous and grotesque figure began to materialize. Radella and Afton watched in astonishment as a beast even more frightening that the first coalesced before them.

It was not as tall as the first monster, standing only about ten feet, but it more than made up for its height in its other attributes. It was massively muscled and it exuded strength and power. Its skin was bright red and seemed to glow as if heated by some inner furnace. It had three pairs of arms each ending in five fingered hands armed with razor-edged claws. In one of them the fiendish creature held a ten foot trident. Foot-long horns curved from either side of its head; a head that featured two great glowing yellow eyes with irises like that of a cat. Two huge fangs curved upward from its mouth, reaching to just below its sharply hooked nose.

But the most frightening feature from the point of view of the two women was the enormous phallus that hung between its legs. It was at least eighteen inches long and three inches in diameter and it was not even erect. The sight of the enormous organ shocked them more than the long barbed tail that extended from the base of the beast's spine.

For several seconds both women stared in disbelief at the apparition, and then the beast spoke. "I see that the queen has finally sent an opponent worthy of me. What do you call yourself, hero?"

The monster's eyes seemed to bore right through her. Radella experienced a thrill of fear. This was no rampaging beast devoid of intelligence, but a sentient being of great power. It had taken all of her strength to defeat the first monster and she feared that this fiend was even more powerful.

"I am called Radella, Queen's Champion and defender of the land. Go back from whence you came before you meet the fate of your creature."

"Radella," the red demon echoed, its voice deep with satisfaction. "The queen has indeed sent me a jewel; a mighty warrior reputed to be the greatest beauty of the land."

Beneath her helmet, Radella flushed. She jerked her sword from the body of the dead monster at her feet. "Go now, while you can, demon. Your kind has caused enough damage. Go or I will destroy you."

The monster laughed. "I am Balsar, King of the Horned Demons. No mortal can kill me. I have waited for one such as you, and now you are mine."

"You have been warned, demon." Afton had brought up Radella's horse and the paladin mounted, wrenching her lance from the corpse of the beast she had slain. Without waiting, she leveled the ten foot spear and spurred her horse forward.

Balsar made no effort to defend himself, instead he simply stood with all six arms at his sides until Radella was almost upon him, then he raised his upper arms and clapped his hands.

Radella had no time to react as a shimmering void opened in front of her. She and her horse plunged into it and then her world disappeared as she was enveloped in a whirlwind of blackness, she and her horse turned end over end as they were drawn into the demon's trap.

---

Somewhere in her brief trip into the void, Radella became separated from her horse. She landed with a thump on a hard stone floor. Dazed, but not hurt she sat where she was for a few seconds; long enough to learn that Afton had accompanied her on her frightening journey. Slowly she got to her feet and looked about her.

"By the saints, what is this place?" Afton gasped. They were standing in the middle of a huge cavern, its ceiling so high that it was lost in the darkness. All about flames flickered, the very rocks themselves seeming to burn. They were all alone, their horses and weapons gone. Not even Radella's sheath knife remained.

"The demon's home I expect," Radella answered. Her heart pounded in her chest. How would she and Afton escape from such a place? And why had Balsar brought them here?

As if in answer to her questions, the air a few feet away shimmered and the demon king appeared. In this environment, he appeared even larger and more menacing. "Fools," he said. "To think you had any chance of defeating me. I could burn you to cinders where you stand."

"Then why do you not do so?" Radella demanded, her voice clear and calm. If she was to die, she would not die groveling before a demon.

"Because you have something I want," the demon replied. "I can visit your world for only a very short time. Even sending my minion demanded a great expenditure of energy. I need a holy relic wielded by a woman of great virtue in order to create a permanent portal from my world to yours."

"And why would I help you in such an undertaking?" Radella said. "You would flood Midkingdom with your underlings."

"Because if you do not, then you will both endure everlasting torture. You will not age here. For all eternity you will face ceaseless torment."

"You would not dare do such a vile thing," Radella protested. "There are limits to what even a demon might do."

"Not here. Here I rule."

Radella hesitated. The plain wooden cross the queen had given her was glowing strangely, giving off a pure white light. She noted that Balsar could not look at it. "And if I help you, what then?" she said finally.

"Then you, most beautiful of champions, shall rule at my side. Eternal youth and eternal power shall be yours."

"Show me what I must do," Radella said, after an even longer pause. "But I want your word that you will keep your side of the bargain."

Balsar clapped his hands again and the enormous cavern disappeared.

---

Suddenly Radella and Afton were standing on top of a rocky outcrop overlooking the castle of Queen Edlyn. Thirty feet below them was a deep pool where the waters of a stream plunged over a break in the rock. "Here," said Balsar. "Here is where you must place the relic."

He pointed to an ancient stone monument consisting of two upright stones and a massive stone lintel. Below the lintel was a stone altar and on the altar, its arms outstretched as if to receive a blessing, was a grotesque demonic idol. Radella recognized the place at once. "This is holy ground," she said. "You have contaminated a sacred site."

"It will soon be a portal into your world," Balsar said. "The idol contains the energy generated to create a portal into your world, but it needs an additional source of power. The holy relic you wear will supply that power, creating a link between your world and mine."

Radella nodded in understanding. She knew what she had to. "And if I do this, you will keep your promise?" Radella asked.

Balsar nodded.

The word of a demon, Radella thought. I wonder what that is worth. Aloud she said, "And what of my servant? What shall become of her."

"She is free to go," Balsar said.

Free to go into a world soon to be populated by demons, Radella mused to herself. Hardly a life worth having.

"No my lady," Afton protested. "Do not do this. The demon will destroy the world."

"Do not, worry," Radella said. "All will be right. Come; help me do this."

Radella took the glowing cross from her neck and approached the idol. Balsar watched in keen anticipation. Afton made no effort to stop the paladin, but she could hear the frightened breathing of the squire. They stood beneath the crude stone monument, just a few feet from the idol, and just over plunge pool.

"Can you swim?" Radella whispered to Afton.

"Yes my lady, but what..."

"Then do so," Radella interrupted. She gave Afton a push, toppling the startled girl off the edge.

"What treachery is this?" Balsar roared.

He swung his hands together, but before they met, Radella struck the idol between the eyes with the cross. There was a flash of bright light and the idol exploded. Behind Balsar the ground opened up, revealing the whirling blackness of the void.

"Accursed bitch," he screamed as he was sucked backwards into the void. But even as he fell, he lashed out with one great arm. A single claw snagged in the hem of the paladin's chain link armour.

Radella gave a shout of dismay as she was drawn after the demon, and then both disappeared into the void, as it closed, leaving nothing but bare rock.

Continued in Chapter 2

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