Temple Sword

Chapter 3 Farewell to the Past
As night fell, the innkeeper cleaned the boy at dusk and took him upstairs and into his room.

William barely recognized his nephew, now that he had been freed from layers of dirt, he looked even thinner than before.Even the half wing shank he was chewing on looked like a chicken thigh.

"Thank you." William handed two silver coins to the woman, and her eyes lit up immediately after seeing the generous reward.

"I haven't seen such a dirty child for a long time, my lord." She stroked the little boy's hair, "Where is his mother?"

"With God." William had to muster all the courage in him to keep his voice from cracking or stuttering. "It means a lot to me that this kid is the last person I'm related to."

"What's his name?" the woman continued. "He didn't say a word while I was bathing him, but his smile was very charming."

William gently put his hand under the boy's chin and looked at his face, only then did he notice that there was a sweet smile on the corner of the boy's oil-stained mouth.The smile stuck to his face naturally, as if he was born with it.

"His name?" whispered William. "I don't know it yet."

The woman didn't say anything, just stared at William and the silent boy with strange eyes, and didn't intend to leave the room at all.

"Please," William nodded to him, "give me a rest, I've walked a long way and I'm tired now, you can give this child to me now."

"Of course, my lord." The woman retreated into the corridor, "Excuse me."

When they were alone in the room, a strange silence fell between them.William picked up the boy and put him on the bed, while he himself took a chair and sat down.

For a while, he looked thoughtfully at the boy who was nibbling on the drumstick, and studied with interest the smiling face.

"You're the last of my living family," William whispered, "I don't even know your name..."

"Antal." The little boy said very softly, and the knight flinched from the thin voice, as if he had been yelled at.He thought the child hadn't learned to speak, and suspected that he might be dumb.

He recovered from his initial shock, smiled, jumped up from his chair, and happily put his arms around his nephew's thin, small shoulders.

"Antal!" he echoed, "a strange name for a strange little boy, I bet it must have been given to you by your mother..."

"Do you know my mother?" the child asked curiously.

"I'm his brother," replied William, his voice darkening again, "the last time I saw her she was a child..."

"Why?" Antal frowned.

"I've traveled far, all the way to the other side of the world."

"why?"

"I'll tell you someday, and now I want to talk to you about something else, kid."

"whats the matter?"

William hesitated for a moment, not knowing how to ask the question without hurting the boy.He didn't want Antar's face to lose the innocent, sincere childish smile that had just bloomed.

"You know, I haven't heard from your mother for many years," he said very carefully, "I don't even know you exist, I'm too far away from here, I don't know what happened at home... ..."

Antar's face became serious, and he focused all his attention on his uncle's words.

"Can you tell me when your mother..." William hesitated, trying to find a suitable word, "When did she go to heaven?"

The little boy pursed his lips, and the pure light on his face disappeared instantly.William was worried that he would start sobbing, and Antal took a deep breath and began to speak.

"It was winter," he said in a trembling voice, "the last winter we were playing in the snow, and Dad came home and yelled because we had nothing to eat."

William clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth fiercely. He knew how this kind of story would end, but he still wanted to hear what happened.In the back of his soul, he probably hoped that the drunken Vader hadn't killed his sister.

"He hit mom," said Antar with tears in his eyes, "again and again, and he didn't stop. Mom fell, cried, and bled, and I couldn't protect her. Then she fell asleep and never woke up again..."

William turned, grabbed his chair, and threw it against the wall helplessly and angrily. He turned to face the crying little boy, stroked his hair, and tried to calm him, while he himself Weeping silently.

"I'm leaving here," William finally decided what he was going to do. "Would you like to go with me before sunrise, Antal?"

The boy nodded vigorously.

"If you come with me, you'll never see your father again, do you understand what that means?"

Antal nodded again, his eyes filled with fire, which surprised William.The flames lasted only a moment, but for that brief moment he looked like a mature man.

"I hate him," the boy whispered, and William had a strange feeling that no little boy could say those horrible words.At this moment, it was as if a battle-tested soul was sitting in front of him. "I hate him and I never want to see him again."
-
—

Vader was still snoring where William had left hours ago, and William couldn't see very well in the dark, but he was almost certain that the drunk hadn't even moved his body position.

The Templar put aside the torch he was carrying, and then went to get the bucket at the door behind him, which reeked of disgusting stench.He turned the bucket around, swung it around, and dumped all the feces floating in it, along with the slop, into Vader's face.

"Damn it!" the man screamed and jumped up. "Fucking little bastard!"

"Stand up, bug!" William grabbed him by the clothes and kicked him out the door. "Wash your face first before talking to me!"

Vader wiped the dirt from his eyes; he recognized the knight's cloak.

"I'll pay it back!" he was horrified. "Soon, soon, but not now!"

"I don't want money!" William growled.

"Then what do you want?" Vader raised his hands in front of him defensively.

"I'm here to punish you," William's voice was merciless, "I know what you did to your wife."

"But who are you?"

William jumped in front of him, grabbed the trembling man's tattered shirt, and pulled him closer. "You don't even know your brother-in-law anymore, you bloody son of a bitch?"

Vader's eyes widened, pupils dilated.

"William?" he whispered incredulously, as if seeing a ghost. "This is impossible……"

In response, William shoved him away and kicked him in the stomach with his right leg.Vader was kicked straight away, and landed on the ground with a painful groan.He curled up and tried to cover his face with his palms, whimpering tremblingly.

"Get up, you disgusting mouse!" cried William.

"do not hurt me!"

William grabbed his hair. "Get up, I'll wake you up!"

Vader screamed in pain, but fear kept him locked in place, refusing to get up.William let go of his hair, and he walked toward the house, and returned to Vader with the burning torch.

"Get up!" William ordered him again, but Vader still refused to obey.He pressed the torch directly into Vader's face, and Vader rolled back, screaming in pain.

"If you don't stand up again, I'll burn you alive!"

"Okay, okay!" the man yelled in despair, "I'll get up!"

William waited patiently until his brother-in-law stood up, then he drew the dagger from the sheath on the right side of his belt and threw him at Vader's feet.

"Take the dagger," said William, "put your hand on the hilt, and attack me!"

"do not want!"

"Fight like a man!" William cursed, "Fight like a man at least once in this life!"

As a crusader, he couldn't attack another Christian unless absolutely necessary, so he decided to let Vader attack him so he would have enough reason to defend himself.

"I won't fight you, William!"

"So you only hurt women?" William roared, "It seems I'm right, you coward..."

He walked over to the horse and drew a flail from one of his saddle bags.

"Then I'll smash your head into a pulp."

As he started to walk towards Vader, the latter picked up the small dagger from the ground in horror, and he could see that the hand holding the dagger was shaking.William didn't stop, he quickened his pace, dodged the opponent's stab with a deft movement, and then smashed Vader's stomach with the flail.

At the same time, he stretched out his hand and patted Vader with the hand wearing the chain glove. The man's jaw made a loud noise, and all the air inside was blown out, and he fell directly to the ground.

"Get up!" William's voice echoed in the night, he now held the flail in his left hand and drew his long sword in his right hand, shining in the moonlight.

Vader seemed to have awakened his own fighting spirit. He stretched out the dagger in his hand and rushed towards William. William waited until the last moment, took a step to the right with an elegant movement, rotated around it, and put the tip of the sword on Vader's back. A long shallow gash was drawn on the back, and the oozing blood looked very black in the moonlight.

William was playing Vader, and he didn't want the man who killed his sister to die a happy death.He could kill the wretch with one blow if he wanted to, but he was going to humiliate him, make him suffer before he died, make him suffer bruised and bruised, knowing that he was powerless to defend himself despite the weapons in his hands.

It wasn't something a Templar should have thought, but William's brain was already filled with dark rage, and for a moment, he wanted to make a deal with the demons so that they would torment his brother-in-law in hell forever.

"Come on!" William yelled at Vader. "Do you know what kind of man you are? In the east, women will spit on you because you are worthless! Take it!" He threw the flail to Vida. Da, "Imagine thinking of me as a defenseless woman!"

Vader picked up the weapon, swung it in the air two or three times, then yelled, and rushed towards William.William didn't dodge this time, but blocked the layman's attack with a quick slash, and when the chain of the flail tangled on the blade, he kicked the man back again, leaving him without a weapon .

Vader didn't get kicked to the ground this time, he somehow kept his balance, maybe the drunk was good at that.After gaining his footing, he launched another attack with the dagger.

William waited for him, knees bent, sword raised above his head.As soon as Vader approached, he struck mercilessly: he first knocked the dagger out of Vader's hand, slit his chest, then turned with an almost imperceptible lightning-quick movement, and delivered a powerful blow. The blow severed the man's right wrist.

All this happened in the blink of an eye, before Vader could react, he was already kneeling on the ground, his chest was split open, and blood gushed out rhythmically from his right arm.

William put down his weapon and walked up to Vader, who was panting heavily and screaming in pain.

"Please!" he cried, "have mercy!"

"In my eyes, you are just a clown, and I will neither forgive you nor pity you."

"For my child's sake, please!" Vader continued to plead, "He's only five years old, he can't live without a father!"

"He's not your son anymore."

"Okay!" He shook his head violently, "Take him away and raise him as your own child, I agree! But please let me live!"

"You disgust me," William sighed. "How could I have left my sister with you? I was so blind and stupid..."

"Think about it, William!" Vader begged in a dying voice. "You are a Templar, a servant of God, you cannot kill a believer!"

"What do you think I've been doing in the Holy Land all these years?"

William took his sword in both hands, raised it, forced every pound of force into his hand, and slashed at Vader's head with a roar.

He had had enough of serving God.
-
—

The stars were still shining high above, and when William carefully placed Antar on the saddle in front of him, the sky had already taken on a light blue color.

"I know it's not very comfortable to sit like this," William said, "but you just have to do it for a few days."

"I can last longer." The boy replied firmly.

"You are a brave boy." William rubbed his hair, got on his horse and left Zelda Heli. He wanted to leave this village as soon as possible. This is a sad place full of pain and sorrow for both of them. He wants this to be a thing of the past as soon as possible.

"where are we going?"

"Flanner," William replied, "that's the Hungarian headquarters of my Order, and I'm a Templar."

"Templars?" Antal had never heard the word, but it seemed to have a distinct weight and meaning.

"We have raised kings and deposed kings," William said. "We have fought and won for Christendom, we have protected pilgrims to the Holy Land, we have raised fearsome warriors who are more skilled with the sword than any man..."

Antal listened to William's words like a dream.

"Do you think it is possible for me to become a tall and strong warrior?" After a while, he asked in a dreamy voice, "One day, can I be like you, with clothes, horses and weapons?"

William smiled, "If you want, of course you can, and it won't take long."

"It won't be long..." Antal whispered eagerly.

The horse led the two away from Zelda Heli, trotting slowly and alone on the desolate road, behind them was the outskirts of the village, the flames rose high, and a small hut looked like a funeral pyre at dawn burns the same.

(End of this chapter)