Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 Fan Fiction ❯ Lady Knight Saber? ❯ Death of a Protector ( Chapter 1 )

Kelandry: Lady Knight... Sabre?

Disclaimer: The Protector of the Small series belongs to Tamora Pierce and Random House, and I make no money from this work of fanfiction at all.

Warning: story will contain slash in later parts.

Kelandry of Mindelan sighed as she stood at the wedding of her friend Neal.

She was truly happy for him and her friend Yukimi. They made a lovely couple. Often though, she wondered what it was she was doing wrong. Her flirtation with Dom hadn't amounted to more than a few quick kisses in out of the way corners. It just hadn't felt right. Oh, sure, Dom had wanted to bed her, and at first, she had been more than willing. As time had worn on though, she began to get a queer feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was not being love sick, that much was certain.

She shrugged it off in the practice courts.

Here, she was in formal armor as Neal's Best Man, and felt like giggling at the irony.

Smiling she handed him his ring on cue, and then waited for the rest of the ceremony to end. Despite her own loneliness at night... she was happy.

Or so she thought.

~*~*~*~

Blayce aka the Nothing Man, was not happy.

His soul had been placed, upon his death, in the last of the killing devices that he had built. His punishment.

King Maggur was furious. He had been outraged that a single knight had been able to defeat him. This had led him to make the decision: Blayce, the Killing Device, would have to redeem himself. He would go and take the knight's body.

Currently, Blayce was looking through his spell books, but that was a problem. This hands were knives, which meant that holding his grimores was very difficult. The King had assigned him someone to hold such things for him, and was currently holding a particularly thick and ancient one open. The Nothing Man was grateful he had no sense of smell in this form. The boy had wet himself.

~*~*~*~*~

Kel and her servant, Tobe, walked down the merchant's district, to the humble shop of Lalasa the dressmaker.

"So," huffed Tobe, trying to keep up with his mistress. "You go to help her teach these self defense classes?"

The Lady Knight nodded. "I have brought the Shang Wildcat on occasion, and Yuki. We start sparring with each other, and show that girls don't have to allow themselves to be hurt, and how to get away, and who to go to for help if they need it. Sometimes we bring in healers."

"You lot do this for free?" Tobe asked, holding his spear and blinking. "You are one odd noble, pardon my saying so," he said under his breath. Kel just grinned. She was used to that.

"How many lady knights do you know?"

Tobe just shook his head again.

"Why do you do it, Lady? Help people?" he asked, then shook his head again. "Not t'sound ungrateful, but ye don't have to. Most nobles don't. I thought it was t' way of things."

"I know its how things usually are done," Kel replied. "But that doesn't mean it's the way things should be."

Tobe sighed. He had heard her before. Frankly, he was very happy that it seemed that no matter what happened, she was still one of the fairest people he had ever met. He smiled, knowing that he had been very lucky to have her come into his life. Otherwise, he would still be slaving away in that way house. He could have expected to die in a few years.

He chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Kel asked, turning to him. Tobe shook his head.

"I was a'thinking that if you hadn't come along, I would be dead in a few years. Then I a'realized that I might die anyways, you being the Lady Knight and all," he said cheerfully. "But dyin' with you would be better than being in a way house, 'cause I get to do something first!"

"Oh, Tobe," Mindelan sighed, pausing to look at him. "I don't want anyone I care about to die. I you are worried about it, I can have you sent to my home fief," she offered, only to have Tobe shake his head vigorously.

"Lady, I's in no WAY want to miss what you will do next," he said emphatically. "I ain't been bored since meeting ye!"

The sparrows and Jump had been watching all this, Jump's tail wagging and tongue lolling in what was obviously a laugh, and the birds twittering with humor. They were quite happy with the newest edition to their pack/flock, and weren't abashed to let people know it.

Kel grinned back at her charge. "Let's get going, shall we?"

Tobe nodded back, and both of them headed down to the dressmaker's shop- and suddenly stopped when the sky turned dark. Storm clouds gathered heavily over them, but no rain fell. The sense of pressure and foreboding did increase to the point of where the two had paused, feeling the hair on their necks start to stand up.

These two were not the type to stand and just wait- both had their weapons out, Kel with her glaive and Tobe with his short spear, and were back to back in a flash, looking for danger and a way out.

Clank

Clank

The sparrows shrilled in terror, as one of the monsters of their nightmares started to head towards them. Kel nearly froze as she saw what she had hoped, prayed never to see again.

A killing device.

"Tobe, run for help, I'll hold it here," the lady knight said calmly, though the urge run or wet herself was strong. Gods... who had learned the horrible art of creating those monstrosities?

Tobe didn't move. "Lady, I can't just leave you!"

"Yes, you can, because there are other people here who can't fight. Get the army, Tobe," Sir Kel said with finality, and Tobe couldn't help but obey. With a sob, he turned and ran, leaving Kel alone...

~*~*~*~*~

"So, its just you and me," said the whining, echoing voice from inside the killing device. Kel shivered, then frowned. She knew that voice.

"Blayce?" she asked, circling it, while it watched.

"You- you are a woman!" it exclaimed. It was then that Kel noticed the glowing swirl of Fire behind the metallic menace. She could see through it another room, one that looked suspiciously like a work room.

Kelandry snarled. "My name is Lady Knight Kelandry of Mindelan, Protector of the Small- and I will not be defeated by a NOTHING MAN!"

"I am more than you can imagine! I am the most brilliant mage alive-"

"You aren't alive," she sneered at him. He was off balance, so she rushed him, slamming the butt of her glaive down on his head then avoiding his bladed hands. Howling, Blayce tried to use his magic, but Kel kept him reacting instead of thinking.

There was a scramble of feet as she kept battling the Nothing Man, the sound of Lalasa and her women coming, tossing stones and anything else they could find. The sparrows flew around, attempting to distract the contraption, while Jump barked, adding to the confusion.

"STAY AWAY!" Kel yelled, trying to keep Blayce away from bystanders. It almost worked, because the clouds, dark and the threat of rain had sent the majority indoors. However-

"LADY KEL!" Tobe yelled, charging back, with a crowd behind him. Mages and other warriors attempted to get close, but the narrow streets worked against them. Then Blayce had a moment of wit-

He attacked Tobe as soon as he was in range.

"NOOO!" Kel screamed, and drove between her boy and the freak. With her glaive she blocked his hands, but had forgotten his tail.

Black Fire scorched the air, as the tail slammed into Kel's back. It tore at the flesh there, damaging her spine- and into the portal. The Fire had caused it to warp, and expand wildly. It pushed the Nothing Man Device through as well-

Then it snapped shut, leaving a stunned, tomblike silence behind.

"Lady Kel?" Tobe croaked, eyes wide with shock. No. It couldn't be...

There was nothing left, but a bloodstain and her glaive.

The Protector of the Small was gone...

To be continued!