Swords ~ Bread Knight Chronicles ~ Prologue (Patreon)

SLAM!

The door burst open and a red haired knight bound through it, with an expression of utmost urgency.

"Blacksmith!" he cried out, "I demand your largest sword!"

A hush fell over the room, as a little round-faced man looked up confused from behind the counter of his store. The red-haired knight approached him, planting one hand on the table and another on his hip, expectantly.

"This is a bakery!" the Bakesmith exclaimed, shaking his hand as he spoke. The smell of fresh buns wafted all around them as he spoke. Every corner of the store was crammed with shelves and baskets and little trays filled with newly made bread, pastries and other baked goods.

The knight opened one eye and glared at the Bakesmith, with a smoldering intensity that sent a chill down the bakers spine. With this wordless assertion, the Bakesmith knew that he could not reason with this adventurer and had no choice but to humor him.

"G-give me a moment."

The Bakesmith wandered in to the back of his shop, bewildered at the exchange taking place. He glanced back quickly to see the knight standing, arms folded, tapping his foot as if he had somewhere he needed to be. 

In the back of the Bakesmith's store, among barrels of flour and a stone fireplace, were many newly finished baked goods. Looking over his stock, one huge baguette seemed to whisper to him.

"Stab! Stab!" the little imaginary voice cried out. The Bakesmith's hands moved on their own, selecting this gargantuan loaf and carrying it back to the storefront. Somehow, he knew it would satisfy the knight's strange request.

"Here."

The Bakesmith handed the loaf over. In the moment they both held it, the Bakesmith noticed that the loaf seemed to get warmer.

"AHA!" the knight grinned, swinging the baguette through the air like a sword before resting it on his shoulder.

At that moment, a high-pitched scream wailed from outside.

"Haha!" the Bread Knight laughed, running out to meet it, without so much as a thankyou. The Bakesmith poked his head out of the shop and was met with a terrible sight - the Kingdom was under attack!

Huge demons, covered in fur, with rows and rows of sharp teeth and with sword-shaped horns protruding from their heads were running through the streets, cutting down villagers as they tried to run away. The buildings of Hiltshire were on fire! Where had this monstrous army come from?

The red-haired hero ran in to the fray, smacking the back of a demon's hand with his loaf, immediately disarming it. Other villagers jumped on it's back and started hitting it with their own swords, as it toppled to the ground.

"Find the Godsword!" a horrible voice echoed across the sky.

A demonic figure, twice the height of the others, came marching down the once cozy street.

Unlike the others, this demon had skin as black as coal, and a horned skull head - the eyes and mouth hollow and glowing with a yellow fire. Atop it's head it wore a small golden crown, housing a singular, firey ruby. The demon was also sporting tiny ripped pants, as if it had grown in size while wearing a pair meant for a man.

"I can feel it close! That brat must have hidden it!"

The Bread Knight walked out in to the middle of the road, and stood in the Demon King's path. He pointed his new loaf of bread at the Demon King, seemingly oblivious to the fact he was facing a powerful enemy with a common foodstuff.

"You again." the Demon King growled. "Why don't you stay out of my way?"

"Give back my sword!" the Bread Knight commanded.

"Oh. This?" the Demon King bellowed, looking down at a tiny pink sword stuck below his ribs from their previous battle. The pink sword wiggled on it's own, stuck deep in the demon's flesh.

"Mfmfm!" it cried out with a muffled sound.

"Stabastian!" the Bread Knight yelled. "I'm gonna get you out, okay?"

"Hah!" the Demon King retorted. "Go! Get him!" he waved his hand, instructing some of his Lesser Demons to attack the knight in his stead.

Two of the furry beasts lumbered towards the Bread Knight, raising this massive swords high in the air ready to land devastating strikes. Their eyes glinted orange in the light of the burning buildings. Their breath stank of blood. Unlike their master, they were more like beasts.

The knight raised his massive loaf of bread to parry the incoming attacks, but in that moment, a voiced cried out.

"Aside!"

The two demonic strikes were knocked away as a pair of fighters jumped in to the middle of the battle. One was the Bright Knight, a blonde haired man who was once a well-known hero of the Paladin Kingdom. The other, the Night Knight, a dark haired hero from the kingdom of Dark Knight's Keep.

The two men huddled closely with swords held high, ready to counter attack.

"Go!" the Bright Knight instructed the Bread Knight. "If you're not going to fight with a real weapon, get out of here!"

"I don't have time for this!" the Demon King yelled. He bound towards a nearby stable and ripped apart it's gates. Crouching under it's straw roof, he reached inside and picked up one of the miniature ponies by it's torso, placing it gently on the ground in front of him. With his massive hulking body he carefully sat down on the ponies back, his knees bent high in front of him.

"Hyah!" he yelled and wiggled, compelling the poor animal to move. Somehow it found the strength to carry him, and with a frightened whinny it dashed off in to the night with the Demon King, as tall as two men, on its back.

"Wait!" the Bread Knight yelled. "Stop!"

"Ahahahaha!" the Demon King yelled, his huge body swaying widely each time the pony swerved on the road. "After the brat who took my Godswords!"

"MFfmfm!" Stabastian the pink sword cried, as he too was carried away to the gates of the city.

The Bread Knight turned to the stable, but it was too late - the other miniature ponies had all scattered in the chaos.

The Bakesmith stared in disbelief from his window, the door to his shop now heavily barred.

"He never paid me for that bread."