"Does war visit fair Bretonnia this day? It is no longer enough for the Dukes to sit idle. It is time for the flower of Bretonnia to unfurl and reveal its thorns! Like the Grail Companions of old, the Dukedoms of Bretonnia will unite under the banner of their King. Let their enemies feel lance-tip and blessed sword. Now is the age of chivalry and greatness! Now is the age of blood and battle!"
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“Leoncoeur slew the first of the dark knights that came at him, taking its attack upon his sacred lion shield and driving his blade through the vampire’s chest. He swayed back in the saddle to avoid the thrust of another foe, and his lightning riposte took the undead knight in the face.
Leaping forward, the king’s hippogryph bore another vampire knight to the ground, pinning it down beneath its eagle-taloned fore-limbs, claws biting deep into plate armour. The hippogryph tore the vampire’s throat open, spraying blood and almost decapitating the undead creature.
With a deft twist of his blade, the king turned aside a serrated blade thrusting towards his heart. The vampire’s fangs were bared, its eyes little more than glittering points. It hissed and recoiled from the blinding light of the king’s sword, its face blistering as if in direct sunlight. Leoncoeur’s blade struck down onto the vampire’s head, carving through its helm and skull. With a twist, he freed his weapon and cast his fiery gaze around him, seeking the next foe…”
- King Louen battles the elite Blood Knight Seneschals of Duke Merovech of Mousillon.
From “Grail Knight” by Anthony Reynolds.
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A great little nugget I found in the Knights of Bretonnia series. Reolus’s battle against the Chaos Chosen of Egil Styrbjorn bears a striking similarity to Calard’s future battle with the Blood Knights of Duke Merovech…
Reolus’s Battle
“The black-armoured elite bodyguard of the enemy warlord came at Reolus, and he ran forward to meet them head-on.
He traded blows with the first, glittering silver-steel clashing with tainted black-steel, and he was forced back a step by the sheer brutal power of the Chaos warrior. The fully armoured Norscan was taller than Reolus, and his shoulders a foot wider, but as fast as he was he could not match the grail knight’s sublime grace.
Reolus ducked in beneath the Chaos warrior’s defences as an axe sliced through the air where his head had been a fraction of a second earlier and slammed his blade into the Norscan’s side. The blow sundered his heavy armour, buckling it inwards and carving a bloody rent that shattered a dozen ribs. Before the Chaos warrior could react, Reolus had whipped his sword back for a blinding return blow that struck the Norscan in the side of the head, carving through his helmet and skull. With a heavy clatter of armour the enemy warrior fell.
The next died in a heartbeat. Hefting an immense, double-handed spiked hammer as he charged towards the grail knight, the Chaos warrior did not even have a chance to bring it crashing down before Reolus’s blade had penetrated the eye slit of his helmet, sinking deep.
The holy paladin of the Lady killed another two of the huskarls, sustaining only a few scratches himself...”
Calard’s Battle
“Unholy seneschals moved to interpose themselves between him and their dark lord.
Their eyes were filled with hatred, but there was fear there too �� the shining light of the goddess Calard exuded was anathema to these creatures of the night, and it caused them pain even to look upon him.
Garbed in archaic armour of ancient design, each was a mighty warrior and dark champion in their own right, but even so, they could not hope to slow Calard’s furious charge. He plunged the elven lance Elith-Anar through the chest of one, skewering its blackened heart and hurling the blood-sucking fiend from its saddle. His sword flashed, and a dragon-helmed head flew into the air, mouth locked in a silent scream.
“Merovech!” he bellowed again, and another dark knight fell beneath his blade. He batted aside a vicious swinging broadsword, and his lightning riposte stabbed deep into the face of a further senescal, the white flame flickering up the Sword of Garamont’s blade making the devil’s flesh blacken and blister...”
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