Chapter Two: Questions.

***

January 11th, 2029.

Sherwood Forest, ancient home of many of the greatest legends of England, was filled with natural magic that no one - and nopony - truly understood, though many from both sides had tried their best to understand it through the months of this conflict. The ancient spirits of nature that Earth had once been teeming with had once laid dormant for centuries, but recent events - the invasion of the world by the ponies of Equestria, for example - had managed to reawaken those ancient spirits once more - and they were angry.

The man walked amongst the trees, smiling softly as he looked around. The place was truly a natural wonder. He could sense the anger of the spirits of nature, the things that some were already calling “the spirit of Gaia” (not that he was a New Gaian, but he had been to the odd service and his recent experience had made him a little more accepting of it all).

Little wonder then that his target had come here, though he imagined it was a slightly different experience for his target than it was for him. Their connections to the world were, after all, just a tiny bit different.

"And did those feet, in ancient times, walk upon England's mountains green..." he murmured to himself as he walked. "And was the Holy Lamb of God, in England's pleasant pastures seen...?"

He didn't know why he felt so much relief at singing that song. Maybe it spoke to the spirit within, or maybe it was some hitherto unknown patriotism from himself given voice in an age where any motivation was good motivation. He didn't really seek to question it: it might not have been something that was really important to him before, but it was important now when he was fighting for it.

After a good hour of walking, he eventually found his target. She was kneeling in the middle of a small clearing, her pink mane lank, her yellow fur untended, as though she had been here for days. She didn't so much as move when he arrived, save to dismiss the small entourage of rabbits and other creatures that had gathered around her. He almost felt the urge to smile. Strange that a killer like her would have such an affinity even with the animals of a world she was helping to end.

"Fluttershy," he greeted her, his voice cold as death. He knelt by her, somehow knowing that she wasn't going to move.

He had followed a trail of intelligence from their spy network: apparently Fluttershy had argued with Twilight Sparkle after the battle of Dover and the death of Rarity, before abandoning her post and command and fleeing to the woods of Sherwood.

The Council had debated whether to attempt to get her to join their side, but the man had argued with them on that point. She was a war criminal, he said. She had been responsible for attacks on Hull and Scarborough, had fought alongside Twilight Sparkle in Cornwall and Rainbow Dash in Whitby - and no veteran of that battle would fight alongside her. Besides - this could all be a clever trap on her part, maybe even some attempt to draw him out.

The Council, after more debating, had ordered him to at least try.

"I've been asked to offer you an amnesty," he said, sounding a little more formal than he'd like. "To offer you the chance to join our side of the war."

"No," she said at once, almost reflexively. "I won't do that."

"You clearly don't think much of your current employers," the man pointed out.

"No," Fluttershy replied, sounding sad and also sounding as though she was struggling with something. "N-none of us really do, n-not when we t-think t-too much about it. But I... I... I just can't. It's impossible to explain it. I just... I can't."

He frowned. There were rumours that they had been brainwashed, and certainly there was something very off about the way she was acting.

“Can I help?” he asked honestly.

“N-no,” she said. “I-I will not fight against Equestria.”

"Then you know what I have to do," he said, trying not to sound too harsh.

There was a moment of dread finality at his pronouncement.

"I'm not going to fight you," the yellow Pegasus said softly, not even looking at him. "I don't suppose there'd be a point after Rarity."

His hand twitched. He resisted the urge to open his jacket and show her the grizzly trophy sewn into the material. Somehow, he sensed he wouldn't need it.

"I take it you're accepting your death then," he said, not really sure if he was asking or stating a fact.

"Would... would you even listen if I begged for mercy? If I asked you to just l-leave me here?" she asked, looking at him with sad eyes. His own eyes were filled with a strange mixture of pity and cold vengeance and the promise of retribution. She half-smiled. "No, I didn't think you would."

"You're as deadly in your own way as Rarity was," the man said, a puzzled frown developing on his face as he sat next to her. "If you wanted, you could make me fight to end you, like she did. So why don't you?"

Fluttershy looked thoughtful for a long moment. She didn't seem to have been expecting the question - maybe she thought he'd simply murder her like some unfeeling monster. Maybe it would have been better if he had been.

"This place doesn't want us here," she finally replied, her soft voice tinged with resignation. "I've sensed it for a while. It's why I abandoned the Equestrian armies. It wants you to kill me, to kill all of us. And I guess I have to listen: I've always listened to nature."

"I suppose if any one of you Elements was gonna bow to reason, it was going to be you," the man said idly. "Ditzy always said you were the most reasonable."

Fluttershy said nothing at the mention of her - and his - long lost friend. The man sighed.

"Do you have a last request, since we're both being so reasonable with each other?" he asked, almost sarcastically. She supposed it was too much to ask that he be entirely civil with her.

"Yes," Fluttershy said in reply, her soft voice almost breaking. "I want you to kill me with the sword."

It seemed an odd request to him.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because it's part of the world, maybe in ways that even you don’t understand, and it's the world that wants me dead," she replied cryptically.

He shook his head, not really understanding this talk - it was really more Constantine's (or rather, Hell Blazer's) field, but he was more than willing to oblige her this request, if she really wanted to die that badly.

"If you insist," he said softly. "Prepare."

She closed her eyes, listening to the animals in the woods around her rather than the summoning of the sword, the faint ringing on the air. She wanted to say she wasn't afraid of death, but she had never been a brilliant liar.

"I'm ready," she said, her voice cracking slightly.

A moment later, a sharp pain came to her neck.

She knew no more.

***

Twilight looked for what must have been the fifth time at the unconscious creature. It was bipedal, with a dark mane and pale, pink skin. It was lying on a spare bed in Twilight's home, safely imprisoned behind a barrier that Twilight and Rarity had set up. It's weapons had been stripped from it and left on a table.

All six of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony had gathered. Rarity and Applejack had been shocked by the injuries done to their friends, and Fluttershy had been absolutely terrified, having seen (at a distance) some of the fight herself. Twilight considered their options, few as they were: she and her friends had overcome many things, but she was uncertain about what they could do with this... thing.

In desperation, she had had Spike write up a letter to Princess Celestia...

Dear Princess Celestia,

I write to you with urgent news: a creature of a kind I've never encountered has appeared in Ponyville, and attacked myself, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. The strangest thing is, this creature was convinced that it had already killed both of my friends: could it have time travelled?

I request your urgent help in finding out this creature's origin, and what to do next with it.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

She knew that if anyone could do anything, it was Celestia, but even then she wasn't entirely certain what her mentor could do. This was an entirely unprecedented situation.

"What was his problem?" Rainbow Dash asked from next to her, bringing her out of her reverie. The Pegasus was still wincing and limping from the injury to her leg.

"I don't know," Twilight replied, frowning. Her own injuries were merely scrapes, grazes and bruises, but they were stinging unpleasantly. She managed to ignore them for the most part. "What bothers me is that he seemed to know us."

"And hate us," Dash added, sounding unusually thoughtful. "He thought he'd killed me. He said he killed me."

"I don't understand that," Applejack said from behind them, her strong, reasonable voice almost reassuring. "Why the heck would some... thing we've never met or even seen before want to kill anypony, let alone us?"

"He could be evil," Rarity said, sounding fearful. "Some monster come to attack Equestria."

"Maybe," Twilight said, nodding slowly. "But it doesn't explain why he thought you and Pinkie were both dead."

"Maybe he travelled in time!" Pinkie Pie spoke up, grinning. "That would be awesome!"

"From a future where we're both dead?" Rainbow Dash replied, looking at Pinkie as though she were mad. "How is that awesome?"

Pinkie seemed to register the point, frowning slightly. The rest of the group looked unhappy, but none of them knew what to do. Just then, Spike came into the room, looking slightly out of breath.

"Princess Celestia just sent a reply!" he said, looking worried. He handed the letter to Twilight, who read it.

Dearest Twilight,

It would perhaps be for the best if you brought this creature before myself and Princess Luna for judgement. Hopefully she and I will be able to discern it's intentions.

Princess Celestia.

"Right then," Twilight said. "I guess that settles it."

"We gonna wake it up?" Applejack asked.

"Don't see how we've got much choice," Twilight replied uncertainly.

***

He wasn't a fool. He had been awake for almost five minutes: a silent curse had escaped him once he realised that he had managed, somehow, to let his guard down long enough for ponies he had killed before to somehow get the drop on him, but that had to be secondary to the rather more important concern.

He was a prisoner in a pony home, and they were discussing his fate. He wasn't able to hear them properly - they were speaking in hushed voices - but they sounded concerned.

Good.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Twilight Sparkle approaching him. Her horn was glowing. That was bad - it could only mean that she was going to use magic on him. He clenched his fist unconsciously.

That. Wasn't. Happening.

***

Twilight's horn glowed for a moment, and then the being's eyes flitted open. He stood up in an instant, seemingly already utterly alert and awake.. Twilight stepped back, shocked - she hadn't even used her spell yet!

"You're awake!" she said in shock. He gave her a look that clearly said that he thought she was stupid, before stretching slightly, studying the room.

"So 'Celestia' wants to see me," he said, turning his gaze back to the ponies in front of him. Twilight frowned at his odd emphasis, but dismissed it. Perhaps he didn't know who she was... although, he had known who Twilight was, and who her friends were...

The man's eyes flicked to Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity. "And yet more faces from beyond the grave. Wondrous."

"I... I don't know what you mean," Fluttershy said, almost too quiet to be heard. The being smirked at the sound of her voice.

"You haven't changed," he said. He looked at Twilight. "Alright, take me to the Empress' palace."

"The who...?" Twilight asked, not knowing what he meant. He rolled his eyes.

"'Celestia's' palace," he clarified. He sounded irritated. "I take it that's where we're going."

He checked his body, apparently noting the lack of weapons. His eyes flicked to the table they were on, but Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood in front of the table, barring his sight.

"I don't think so," Dash said, narrowing her eyes at him. To her consternation, he smirked.

"I don't need those," he said. His eyes flicked to Applejack. "As you would remember, if you remembered your death as vividly as I do."

***

March 10th, 2029.

The farmland in the Midlands was beautiful, as far as Applejack was concerned. She almost regretted the fact that she had to lead an attack here, but orders were orders, and the Magnificent Empress Solamina could not be denied her prize. Once this place was taken and destroyed, the people of this already demoralised isle would have one less food-source, and hundreds less workers.

Her forces advanced towards the main barn structure, taking advantage of the cover the road and trees surrounding it provided. Applejack didn't really approve of using these tactics - the enemy's tactics - in war, preferring a straight fight to all this sneaking around, but the ponies she led were a group of new Convies (she could almost hear Twilight scolding her: “they’re the Converted, Applejack, using that term just implies more separation than there already is!”), who had once been American Rangers. Even in Pony form, they were exceptionally skilled fighters, but their skill was in this battle, not in line battles. And Applejack was forced to admit, after the initial battles and the horrible loss of pony life, this was better.

They were an odd bunch, these Convies - all hoof motions, crouching, stealth-work and rigorous squad moves. None of them had standard Guard or Militia equipment, instead opting for lightweight armour and blades - some of them even had experimental version of the old magi-cannon with them, despite the weapon being deemed too bulky for use in an offensive war.

Twilight had been against her going at all. With Rarity's death and Fluttershy's disappearance, the Elements of Order were already weakened, and though the Glorious Empress Solamina had imbued the Elements with great individual power, the loss of their ability to combine was devastating. Still, Applejack never strayed from a fight if she was needed, and Twilight had been forced to concede that she was needed.

"Ma'am," one of her soldiers said, a pony who still wore a beret: one of the remnants of his previous life - a rare thing among the Converted. "We're approaching the farmland."

"Any sign of enemy forces?" Applejack asked.

"No, ma'am," the soldier said, frowning, "but I wouldn't be surprised if they deployed some of their best to hold this place."

Applejack nodded. She wouldn't have been surprised either. SAS, Royal Marines, maybe even...

No. She couldn't think about him being here.

"Keep alert," she said, shaking off the lingering dread that the thought of his presence brought to her.

The group - forty ponies all told, including her - continued to advance. She kept getting bad feelings: she almost wished Pinkie Pie was here to help her, but that wasn't the case.

"Hold up," her point-pony suddenly said, holding up a hoof and looking around. "Something's not right..."

A moment later, a bloody red mist exploded out from his head, and he fell to floor, a gaping hole where half his skull used to be.

"Take cover!" somepony screamed, but a moment later a hail of bullets flew, taking out several ponies from Applejack's team. Suddenly, soldiers in camouflage attire appeared, seemingly from nowhere, their outfits completely sealed, preventing any of the hastily-splashed potion from some of Applejack's soldiers from hitting their skin. Other ponies fired bolts of magic or their own weapons, or attempted hand to hoof combat, but they were quickly dispatched: whoever these soldiers were, they were better trained than even Applejack's team, and they had the advantage of still being in the bodies they had been in during their training.

Oddly, none of the bullets seemed to be aimed at Applejack. She scowled: so they were ignoring her, huh? She'd prove that a mistake.

Snarling, she charged at one soldier, breaking his leg then his neck. Another advanced on her, but in one fell swoop she was on him; she deflected his gun, which fired harmlessly into thin air. She punched him across the face, grabbed the gas mask he wore, ripped it off and splashed a vial of potion she carried in his face.

He began yelling in pain, but before he could transform, he threw Applejack off and drew his sidearm, shooting himself with a hand that had already sprouted leaf-green fur through melting skin. Applejack cursed: she could have used the help, and she always hated it when they chose death over the Empress’ benediction (or whatever that word Sol Invictus kept using was).

She turned around, but found that almost as soon as it had begun, the battle was over. All her team was down, and only a handful of the strange soldiers were dead.

Suddenly, incongruously, there was a slow clapping sound.

Applejack's eyes narrowed. Walking from the foliage was a man in battered trousers, riding boots and a t-shirt with a leather coat, armed with two knives and a hand-cannon. He smiled at her, clapping as he walked.

"Impressive display," he said, his tone mocking and condescending. "Usually no one notices before the first shot was fired. What were they, professional soldiers?"

"Used to be American Rangers," Applejack replied cautiously, looking for an opening, any opening.

"An, Americans," he laughed, sending a shiver down Applejack's spine. "Can't shoot for shit then. Still," he added casually, shrugging, "leaving aside jokes about American marksmanship, that explains how they heard the lads. Anyone less wouldn't have the training."

Applejack took advantage of his laxness, and quick as a flash (though not as quickly as her friend Rainbow Dash could have managed: how she wished she was here!), she charged this man, knocking him to the floor and splashing a second vial of potion on him. He fell on his back, but used his legs to kick her right over him, where she landed in a sprawl.

She grinned, happy that at least this mouthy man was going to - if not join the herd, then at least be shot by his men for being splashed by the potion. To her shock when she looked at him, however, she found him laughing slightly.

"Yeah," he said, wiping his face off with a tissue and tossing it to the floor. "No."

The tissue erupted in golden flames where it lay, and soon nothing was left of it save for a charred circle in the ground. Applejack's eyes widened as she watched it burn.

"You," she whispered, suddenly almost afraid. "It's you!"

"Yes," he said, grinning at her reaction. "Got to hand it to you, that was impressive. Haven't been caught off guard for a while. But that crap will never work on me again. Still, if I hadn't been with the most disciplined soldiers the UK ever trained, you might have gotten me shot. So still, clever."

Applejack looked around, realising he'd brought a full unit of SAS with him. Even among the ponies, they were legendary, though nothing compared to him.

"Why ain't I dead then?" she asked, now worried. "Ya'll get nothing outta me."

"Oh I know," the man said, sounding utterly sincere. "Never could, not in a million years. Could torture you, brainwash you, and you'd never say a damn thing. You Elements are loyal to the end."

"Then why ain't you got your little friends here to shoot me, already?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Because," he said, holding his arms open. "I want to kill you myself. I'm two for two, and I want the hat-trick." He grinned a predatory gleam in his eye. "So then, little Applejack - come at me."

Applejack's eyes widened, and then she smirked. He wanted a fight, did he? Fine. She charged at him again, this time seeking to break his neck.

"This is for Rarity!" she yelled.

He dodged her first attack with almost unnatural speed, but she managed to throw a kick into his chest with her second move. He caught her legs, stopping the worst of the impact, gripped them and with a grunt of exertion threw her. She rolled with it, getting back to her feet quickly, and then she charged again, throwing a series of punches that he blocked - barely - before spinning and kicking him again, knocking him back. He grinned.

"Now it's on," he said.

She snorted and charged at him again, now confident that she could bring him down. He dodged her charge, moving faster than her eye could see, tripping her as she went. She sprawled, and scrambled to stand again, but before she could, he was on top of her. He stamped on her leg, breaking it like a dry twig, and then kicked her in the side.

She rolled across the foliage, and tried crawling away from him, realising now that she was doomed but determined to fight. He grinned, and opened up his jacket, showing off the grisly trophies within. She gasped at the flash of pink.

"Fluttershy," she whispered, horrified. "No..."

"Oh yes," the man said. He stood over her. "And now you join her."

He kicked her in the face with entirely unnatural strength. Her neck snapped under the power of the blow, and her last thought was regret at how she had never gotten to see the farmland around these parts - it would surely have been beautiful...

***

"I ain't never seen you before," Applejack said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I disagree," the man said. Still grinning, he opened his jacket up, showing the ponies the inside lining - three locks of long hair lined on side, two locks the other - very familiar locks, each one stained with blood but perfectly recognisable.

"Is that...?" Rainbow Dash asked, her voice weak and her eyes fixated on the rainbow coloured hair on the left of his jacket.

"Your manes," the man said, an odd note in his voice. "A grim trophy, but the only proof I had that I had slain the Elements of Order. There were those who wanted solid proof after the first kill - and after everything I had lost, I almost liked giving them it."

"Well, that can't be mine," Applejack said stubbornly, her eyes - filled with fear - belying her strong words as they fixated on the blonde mane sewn into the jacket like all the others. "But ya definitely ain't getting your weapons back."

"Fine," the man smiled unnervingly. "Who needs those?"

These words worried Twilight more than anything else since this situation began.

"I'm not sure we should take him to Princess Celestia," she said softly to Rarity, who was next to her. Her friend nodded.

"I agree," she said.

"He can't take Celestia," Rainbow Dash countered next to them. "He barely took us."

Twilight didn't share her friend's confidence - her definition of "barely took" wasn't one Twilight exactly shared - but the unicorn nodded anyway.

"It's not like we have a choice," she said to her friends. "You're coming with us," she added, speaking to the man. "Don't try anything."

"Tell you what," he said, grinning evilly at her in a way that made her shiver. "How about I go myself?"

A moment later, he had vanished in a rush of golden energy. Twilight's eyes widened as she realised what had happened: he had teleported.

"He can do magic?!" she yelled.

"Never mind that," Rainbow Dash said, already running for the door, "he's probably gone to attack the Princess!"

***

Ditzy Doo - known colloquially as Derpy - was confused - more so than she usually felt.

The creature that Twilight and her friends had found - and fought - had known her name. That would have been scary, except that it had looked at her as if it had known her, and more to the point had spoken her name almost fondly: it had looked shocked to see her, but it had known who she was and been almost happy to see her. That, in and of itself, was strange. Add to that the fact that Twilight and her friends had promptly dragged the creature off as soon as they'd knocked it out, and dismissed her almost as promptly despite her offers to help...

"Something the matter Derpy?" her friend Carrot Top asked her as they sat outside in the sunshine of Ponyville. Ditzy shook herself out of her reverie.

"It's just some... thing," she said, brushing her friend off. "Twilight and her friends got attacked by a creature. Whatever it was, it knew my name."

"Oh dear..." Carrot Top said, looking worried. "What was it?"

"I dunno," Ditzy said. "It walked on two legs, and it had really pink skin..."

As she spoke, a turquoise unicorn with a white and green mane named Lyra Heartstrings passed them: her ears pricked up on hearing the words "walked on two legs," and she turned to look at Derpy and Carrot Top, before rushing over. It sounded almost like they had seen... but they couldn't have...

"I'm sorry to interrupt," she said quickly to the two other ponies, "but you don't think the thing you saw could have been a human, do you?"

"A what?" Ditzy asked, looking confused.

"They're a sort of mythical creature," Lyra said quickly. "But I swear they exist. No one's ever seen one, but they're in a bunch of old tales..."

"I... I don't know," Ditzy said, frowning thoughtfully. "What do they look like?"

"They go about on two legs," Lyra said, her voice betraying her excitement, "but apart from that, nopony really knows."

"Well it was on two legs," Ditzy replied. "But I don't know what it was..."

"Oh wow," Lyra said excitedly, eyes wide: she was apparently convinced that the mysterious creature was a human, despite Ditzy being uncertain. "Where is it now?!"

***

In the centre of the royal palace court in Canterlot, the Princess of the Sun and Diarch of Equestria stood patiently, waiting for Twilight Sparkle and her friends to arrive and show her the creature that had attacked them.

"What do you think the creature is?" her sister, Luna, the Princess of the Moon, asked.

"I don't know," Celestia said honestly. "Whatever it is, it's motive is not friendship.”

“That much is obvious,” Luna agreed. “What it's intentions are remains to be seen.”

“I can’t think why such a creature would be here,” Celestia said with a frown. “What interests me is it's belief that it has already killed Twilight's friends."

"What could that mean?" Luna pondered, puzzled by this information.

"Many things," Celestia replied, smiling softly. "And almost none of them good..."

She trailed off as a large golden light suddenly filled the court. Celestia looked at it, her eyes drawn to the power of the magic being displayed. Suddenly, the light abated.

Where before there had been nothing, there now stood a tall, imposing bipedal creature. It wore battered clothes, but appeared to have no weapons. It coughed slightly, bringing one arm up to cover its mouth, and then it saw her, lowering its arm with a scowl.

"Sun Tyrant!" it bellowed, catching the attention of everyone in the room. The Royal Guard moved to intercept it, but Celestia signalled for them to hold fast. The thing narrowed its eyes at Celestia, it's glare one of pure hatred.

"Empress Astra Solamina Maxima!" it yelled in a furious voice that seemed to deepen and grow resonant even as it spoke to her. A soft golden glow began to envelope the creature. "I am judgement, come for your head!"

Luna snorted in rage and stood before the creature, infuriated by it's impudence in coming to her sister's throne and threatening her.

"Who art thou that seeks to harm my sister?!" she yelled, her full old-fashioned "royal voice" coming on in her rage.

The being regarded her with narrow eyes, the glow around it only intensifying. "I am as I have spake: I am judgement, body of Luna of Equestria. Thee, on the other hand, art some necromantic homunculus thy foul demon-kin hath summoned that besmirches thine memory. Begone from this fight, for my business is not in shades and corpses, but in the Tyrant Empress herself!"

Luna bristled at the dismissal, apparently not realising (or not caring) that he had accused her of being a summoned corpse, but Celestia stood next to her and put a hoof on her shoulder, calming her sister as best she could. She was intrigued, and more than a little concerned by what she saw as the misunderstanding: how could this being whom she had never met or even heard of know so much about her? And more to the point, how could he have such a low opinion of her as to suggest that she would use dark magic in this way?

"I would know who you are," she said, trying to sound strong but reasonable, her voice taking on something of the archaic tone the being spoke in, "and why you address me by a name I do not know. My name is Celestia, Princess of this land, and I know not the name Solamina."

"Thou art known by many names, demon," the man said, grinning viciously at her. "But by whatever name thou art known, by whatever title thou call thyself, thou art known most of all as an enemy of the Britons, an enemy of all the world. And it is in their name, and the name of the billions dead or violated at thine hoof, that I shall strike thee down and claim vengeance for the lives thy foul actions and unjust wars have ruined."

He stood still after this pronouncement, as if waiting for her to say something, but Celestia didn't understand what he meant and was, for the first time in many hundreds of years, utterly dumbfounded. She had never heard of the "Britons", nor did she know what quarrel their representative had with her. The things he accused her of had no meaning, horrible though they sounded.

"Take to thy full power, demon," the being said suddenly, sounding irritated. "I will not waste my time with trifles, and thou shouldst know that thy lesser strength is no match for my power."

"I don't know what you mean," Celestia said, uncertain. "I have no full power to unleash, save what you see before you."

"Thou liest," the creature said angrily. "But if thou art a coward, and will not take to thine final form... then I will take to mine."

A moment later, it yelled in fury, and was wreathed in an aura of golden power. The light seemed to blot out all the darkness in the room, every shadow vanishing. The Royal Guard shielded their eyes, blinded by the light. Even Luna seemed troubled by the light, turning away slightly. Only Celestia could bear to look directly at the light, and even her eyes were squinting slightly.

Suddenly, the light receded, leaving the Alicorns staring at the figure. In place of it's battered clothes, it wore shining silver armour, a red cloak emblazoned that flapped all around it, and it wielded a sword almost as long as itself and half as wide, emblazoned with runes and other symbols and set with a ruby in it's hilt.

"I am the Avatar of Albion!" the figure yelled, his voice resonating with power. "I am the voice of a Nation, crying out in justice! Now fight me, Tyrant!"

***

Author's Notes:

EDIT: This chapter was edited on 23rd March 2015.