The Blackguard, by Gordon Napier- Prose Synopsis
In black armour, on a black horse, under a darkening sky, the Blackguard Maulric rode through the
forested approaches to the land of Aratan. He was followed by his squire, Aikon, leading a horse
with a knight, Sikandor, bound across it. Maulric had captured Sikandor in battle and now intended
to ransom him to his father, the earl Kaidard, for the Castle of Nazmart, and for the hand of
Sikander's sister Belarith.
Further along the way walked a couple, arm in arm: the Knight of Esa, Odo Paganus, and the fair
Asterith, rightful queen of Aratan though raised unaware by a master druid. They looked forward to
rest after their recent adventures. Then Asterith heard the approach of riders.
Belarith, a dark-haired maiden, gazed sadly into the night from the parapet of the castle, meanwhile,
until she was called away by the Countess Charana. The girl went to bid goodnight to her father.
Charana saw Belarith put to bed, then went to a secret chamber elsewhere in the castle, where she
performed her forbidden arts. She peered into a scrying bowl and saw the confrontation that had
commenced on the edge of the forest. Odo and Maulric were fighting a deadly duel, and Sikandor
was still bound across his saddle. The Countess raised her hands, conjuring two fell beasts, called
prykons, into being, which flapped up from the castle, on dark wings, towards a full moon.
The first prykon descended towards Odo who still battled Maulric. It knocked him away from his
dark enemy. Asterith, meanwhile, had hurried to liberate Sikandor, but before she could cut his
bonds the second prykon snatched her up in its jaws and carried her into the sky. She tried to stab it
in the head, but it hurled her on high and caught her by her foot. Odo fought back at the beast that
attacked him and thrust its carcass towards Maulric, causing horse and rider to fall below it. Odo
heard Asterith's cry and realized her plight. He grabbed the Axe that hung from Maulric's saddle,
then rushed to Sikandor, pulling him from across his horse and seizing the rope that had bound him.
He took the horse and rode through the trees after the winged wyrm which had taken Asterith. Odo
tied the axe to the rope, and swung it at the creature, managing to snare its tail. He was pulled up
into the air, but, before he could rescue Asterith, another prykon appeared and seized him in its
claws. He fought it and brought it crashing down back through the treetops, but it was now too late
to prevent Asterith from being carried away.
The beast delivered Asterith over the dark mountains, to the wilderness in the north where demons
reigned. It dropped her in their midst, and a tall, ghastly, hooded figure put chains on her. The
demonic usher led her towards a looming dark mountain fortress, with a great skull carved above a
high portal. She was led along a passage, and through a cavern hung with the butchered bodies of
warriors who had resisted the Dark Lord's might.
In Nazmart, Belarith was woken by her maid, Chutterbuck, and led out to the parapet, where the
Earl and Countess stood. They looked down at the black-armoured knight and his captive on the
other side of the moat. Sikandor, with Maulric's lance at his back, called up that he would rather die
than see his sister and his home handed over to a Blackguard. Thereupon the Charana (who is only
Sikandor and Belarith's stepmother, and is in fact Maulric's mother) turned on the Earl, bidding the
guards (who were under her enchantment) to seize, bind and beat up Kaidard.
Kaidard's loyal dog rushed to defend his master, giving the earl a chance to grab a sword, though his
wrists were still tied behind him, and to kill one of the guards. As he confronted the other one,
Maulric crossed the drawbridge, and impaled Kaidard's shoulder with his lance. The dog sprung to
attack Maulric.
Across the woods, the harpy Kyrie settled in a tree. She has the seductive form of a naked woman,
but with the wings and talon-feet of a great bird, and she had a lizard-like tail. She had hair only
down the central line of her head, the two side parts being bald and sprouting small horns. Lying
below her she saw decapitated prykon, and an unconscious Odo. She flew down and revived him,
but said she would only help him if he granted her desire and agreed to be hers for a certain time.
Odo replied that she could help him or not, but he belonged only to Asterith. Angered, Kyrie
transforms into a great white dragon, breathing a jet of icy air at him and knocking him to the
ground. The Druid Arrizard, Asterith's old mentor, appeared, bringing the dragon Kyrie under his
authority. He and Odo flew on the dragon to the castle of Nazmart, where the scuffle has continued.
They arrived in time for Odo to save Belarith from the guard who pursued her, and to do battle with
Maulric, while Arrizard pitted his powers against the treacherous the Countess Charana. They were
too late, however, to save Chutterbuck who had been killed after attacking Charana, in an attempt
to help Belarith. Maulric fell with a severed arm and the fight was over. Now Odo and the druid
compelled the Countess to show them her scrying bowl, where Arrizard attempted to divine the
location of Asterith. He could see only darkness...
Asterith, was led through the demonic stronghold, which was called Serpion's Door. She was hauled
before the Dark Lord's throne, where he sat surrounded by his wretched slaves and ghastly minions.
Rhe tall demon-usher pushed to her knees. The Dark lord addresses her not through his helmet's
visor but from a grim and gaunt face that appears on his chest (a face she had glimpsed on the back
of the robed demon who led her through). Asterith responded with defiance, and was then flung
into the pack of demonic courtiers, who divested her of her armour and began to cut and tear her
undergarments away. There was a roar of satisfaction when they saw the mystical tattoos all over
her body, that confirmed her identity. One of the giant Fomorians lifted her by the arms. She
struggled, managing to kick her heel into his groin, and she fell forward. She summoned up all the
energy she could, all the arts that Arrizard had instructed her in, and caused a great light to shine
above her, causing the dark demons to recoil. The enthroned one, however, opened his mouth, and
a black cloud emerged in the form of a long-fingered hand. It fastened around the light, snuffing it
out, then the long fingers turned into misty tentacles that reached down to ensnare Asterith. The
tattoos on her body them began to burn, and the dark mass drew away from her. An instant later,
however the muscular Fomorians had hold of her again, and she had no more power left to resist.
TBC.