Connery tried to scream as the wall sucked him in, but he just couldn't force the breath from his chest. His head was submerged. The thief couldn't find the precious air to fill his now burning lungs. The blackness enveloped him, and Connery believed that he would die of insanity before suffocation. Suddenly, the wall spit him out back onto the floor. But he wasn't in the hall way with his friends. The White Knight, using the Dragon Spear to keep his balance, slowly got to his feet. When he could stand on his own, Connery quickly activated the magic of his Crest. There was a white flash, and the Knight was equipped in his white trench coat and leather armor. Connery straightened his headband and looked around.
"I'm on the roof," he said after a minute. The thief walked over to the edge and looked down. The Tower easily rose above the clouds. Connery suddenly realized how hard it was to take in a full breath of air. The black clouds parted, and he found himself staring down upon the city below. "How the hell did I get up here?"
"The Tower brought you here at my command," came a familiar deep voice from behind.
Connery spun around. "Argile? Is that you?" A hopeful smile formed on his lips. It continued to grow as he saw the big man's silhouette approaching. It faded when the other Knight came into view. "You're not Argile," hissed Connery as he raised his Spear.
It looked like Argile and talked like him, but the large Knight, in blood red full plate armor, wasn't the thief's friend. Connery's eyes narrowed. The Dragon Spear began to shed a pale white glow. The other Knight merely smiled and raised his hands. The blood armor suddenly flew from him hands at the White Knight. Connery cursed and jumped aside. The armor retracted and reformed on the large Knight's arms. He started to laugh and circle Connery. "Who are you?"
The other spoke with the Black Knight's voice. "I am what your friend could have become," he said simply. "I am Arguile, the Blood Knight." The evil Knight moved closer to Connery, and the White Knight was able to see him more clearly. The blood red armor was actually flowing all over the other's body. It was as if it were alive!
A tentacle shot from the Blood Knight's torso at Connery. The thief spun to the right as the razor sharp tentacle sliced through the air. Connery dashed at his foe, Spear first. The Living Armor shot our a mass of tentacles which wrapped themselves around the small thief. Each one stung the White Knight with invisible barbs. Connery cried out and dropped his Spear. The Armor released the small Knight. Arguile grabbed the thief by the neck, lifted him into the air, and tossed him over the edge of the roof. Connery managed to loose a small cry as he fell through the clouds.
Arguile watched the White Knight fall to his doom. The small man fell beyond the clouds, and the Blood Knight chuckled to himself. With a thought, tendrils peeled off from the Living Armor and picked up the White Dragon's Spear. "Mission accomplished. The boy has been neutralized, and I have his weapon. Lord Kole will be pleased." The Knight exited down a staircase which had materialized behind him.
There was a brief flash, and Fox found himself sprawled out on the floor of a dark chamber. The Red Knight slowly rose to his feet. He rubbed his ankles were the bone hands had grabbed him. "Where am I now?" he ventured to the emptiness around him.
"In a whole mess of trouble, pal," came a somewhat familiar voice from the shadows.
Fox picked up his Bow and grasped the invisible string with the thumb and index finger of his right hand. "Who's there? Is that you, Mirage?"
The darkness itself seemed to move as a figure stepped forward. Fox new instantly that it was not the Blue Knight. The face belonged to the Pirate Lord, but the soul behind those eyes was pure evil. The man that looked like Mirage continued towards the wary Knight. He was wearing some sort of armor that looked as if it were made of the shadows themselves. Strapped to his back was a sword of the blackest night.
Fox slowly began to pull back on his Bow string. "Oh no you don't," said the other, and he snapped his fingers.
Fox caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his right eye and spun around. The shadows around him exploded forth in a mass of tentacles, arrows, balls of dark flame, claws, and other deadly forms of attack. Fox released his Bow string and summoned a wall of fire to ward off the shadows. The shadows streaked away from the deadly light, and the Red Knight turned to face his foe. "Shadow Knight," hissed the plainsman.
The other Knight smiled evilly and drew his Black Saber. Fox fired several fire arrows in rapid succession. The Shadow Knight dodged the arrows and charged. A rope of flame shot from the Red Dragon's Bow and twined itself around the charging enemy. Mentally, Fox commanded the rope to tighten around the Shadow Knight. But as it complied, the captured Knight melted into the ground. Fox let the fire rope dissolve, and the Knight took several cautious steps forward. Suddenly, pain exploded throughout his head, and Fox collapsed to the ground unconscious.
Miraje reappeared behind the Red Knight and promptly struck him in the back of the head with the pommel of his Saber. With a thought, he commanded the shadows around him to pick up the unconscious Knight and his weapon. "Another one bites the dust," murmured the Shadow Knight to himself as he walked back into the darkness.
Argile opened his eyes and looked around. The tower floor had brought him to a long narrow hallway. "Not much room for me to move around," muttered the large Knight.
He took a deep breath, shouldered his Axe, and began to walk down the dark hall. The minutes passed, and Argile felt as if he hadn't made any progress at all. It seemed as if the hall just kept going on and on. Then he heard a light tapping up ahead. The Black Knight tightened the straps on his gauntlets and proceeded forward carefully. The light in the hall suddenly increased, and Argile could see for twenty feet in both directions. Up ahead was a familiar short figure. The Knight smiled and started running towards his friend. But as he neared the other person, Argile knew there was something wrong.
From a distance, the figure had looked like Connery. Except with a closer look, Argile could tell that it was not the thief. This other person looked like Connery, but instead of white, he wore a dull gray armor and trench coat. Instead of the White Dragon's Spear, he held a dangerous looking scythe in his right hand. "ÔBout time you got here," he said with a sneer. "I was getting board waiting for you."
The Black Dragon's Axe was surrounded in a light ebony glow. Argile tightened his grip on the Axe's shaft. "You look like Connery, but you are definitely not him."
The other smiled darkly. "Gee, you're quick, big fella." Before his insult was completed, he attacked.
He lunged and made a wide sweeping arc with the scythe. Due to the close confines of the hall, Argile was only able to jump back to avoid the attack. The first swipe missed, but the small man quickly recovered and swung the deadly weapon in a reverse arc. Surprised by the second swing, Argile only got his right arm up to deflect the scythe. Its curved blade sheared right through his gauntlet and into his forearm. Argile grunted in pain as the blood flowed from the deep gash.
Blocking out the pain, Argile took his Axe in both hands and counter attacked. Unfortunately, the hall limited his attacks to small slashes, which his agile opponent easily dodged. Luck was on Argile's side when the Connery look alike tripped on his own coat and fell on his back. The Black Knight raised his Axe for the final strike, but stopped in mid swing. Suddenly, the hallway began to spin. Bile began to surface within the big man's throat. Searing pains exploded throughout his entire body. Unable to cope with this sudden wave of sickness, Argile collapsed into a heap on the floor and blacked out.
Konnery got back to his feet and looked at the unconscious form the the Black Knight. The small Pestilence Knight chuckled to himself as he picked the scythe given to him by Scorn. "I like this thing," he said as he continued to chuckle. "Take him to the Master," he ordered, and the tower floor absorbed the still form of Argile and his Axe. Konnery continued to chuckle to himself as he walked down the hall and disappeared.
Mirage curled himself into a ball as the chains released him. He landed hard and rolled to his feet with the Blue Dragon's Scimitar in hand. He was in a circular chamber with chains hanging down from a ceiling that couldn't be seen. The Blue Knight walked the entire circumference of the chamber, but there was no sign of a way out. "Crap," he muttered.
"Don't be so discouraged, Mirage," came a familiar voice from above.
Mirage looked up and saw Fox hovering in the air a top some strange disc. "Fox? What are you doing up there?"
The disc came in lower, and Mirage got a better look at the rider. The features were Fox's, but this wasn't the plainsman. His armor was a myriad of purple, blue, and black pieces instead of being all red. The Bow slung across his back had an all black shaft with blue end pieces, and purple grip. Mirage took several steps back and raised his blade. "Stay back," he warned.
The disc's rider looked a little pained. "Now is that any way to treat an old friend?"
"You are not my friend," spat the Blue Knight.
The other man's face darkened. "Then I guess we're enemies." Suddenly, several chains lunged for Mirage.
The agile pirate was quick to react and succeeded in deflecting each chain with precision slashes. His counter was even faster when he grabbed a chain, pushed himself off of the wall, and collided with the disc rider. Both men fell the ground hard, but they rose quickly. The Fox look alike had his Bow in his hands. In rapid succession, he released several purple bolts at Mirage. The Blue Knight dodged them in a series of flips and rolls. He rolled to his feet near his opponent and arced his blade in close. The other parried the attack with the Bow and leapt back. He fired a blue bolt into the ground and back further away.
"You missed," taunted Mirage.
The man shook his head. "No I didn't." Suddenly, the ground beneath Mirage exploded, and the Knight was lifted into the air by a massive whirlwind. The twister bounced the Blue Knight off the walls several times before it dropped him to the ground bleeding and unconscious.
"I thought he'd be a little quicker than that," said the Chaos Knight as he walked around the twitching form of Mirage.
Foxx released a couple of bolts from the Chaotic Bow, and the chains picked up Mirage and the Blue Dragon's Scimitar. "Take him to the Demon Dragonmaster." The chains complied and pulled the Blue Knight up and away. Foxx said nothing else as he boarded his disc and followed the chains up.