[JonPop]

The Black Knight refused to leave the arena, pacing back and forth on his horse, his steed snorting and pawing at the ground with the excitement of battle. He again shouted, "WHERE IS THE COWERDLY SIR SONIC CELT?"

"I am here" shouted Sir SonicCelt from the far end of the arena.
Sir Sonic looked every bit the champion, astride his large quarter horse, resplendent in his polished armor and the colors of the Kingdom of BetterMan.

The Black Knight could hardly contain himself. He backed his horse up to the prescribed line and said, "PREPARE TO DIE."
And without waiting for the judge to drop the flag, charged at full gallop toward Sir SonicCelt.

Sir Sonic raised his lance into position and charged as well.

Princess Susan, stepped from the crowd, ducked under the rope and shrugged off her cloak that had disguised herself and her bow.

She notched an arrow and took aim. Just before the two Knights met, she unloosened her first arrow and let fly.

The arrow sailed true and struck the Black Knight directly in the armor over the heart. It penetrated the armor, the heart, the body and flew out the back of the Black Knight's armor. The Black Knight didn't even flinch. Princess Susan knew she had placed her shot perfectly as she could see the arrow sized hole in the breast plate of the armor.
She quickly notched another arrow and let fly.

Sir SonicCelt, following orders had turned his horse at the last instant to avoid the lance. Princess Susan's next arrow was aimed at the head and struck full in the visor at the forehead, going completely through the head and out.

The Black Knight stopped his horse and for the first time raised his visor, moved his head back and forth as if confused and slid from his horse into a crumpled heap on the ground.

The crowd, not knowing what had happened started cheering. Sir Sonic, dismounted and walked to the fallen Knight. He looked into the face and said, "Well, I'll be damned, the Black Knight is.......... Captain Kal."

[JonPop]

EPILOGUE

After the tournament had concluded and the guests and spectators had gone. King Arthur called a meeting of the BetterMan Knights.
They filed in and took their seats at the roundtable. They were surprised to see King Thunder was there with King Arthur.

There had been much talk and speculation amongst the Moderator Knights about the Black Knight being Captain Kal and they were still buzzing as they seated themselves.

King Arthur raised his hand for quiet and said, "King Thunder, myself and Sir JonPop, knew of the Black Knights identity and of his madness and thirst for revenge against the Kingdom of BetterMan and ThundersPlace.
I will now ask King Thunder to explain."

King Thunder begun by saying, "The sentencing of Captain Kal, with the approval of your King, was, he be sentenced to hard labor. The clearing of the swamp where the spammer battle had taken place.

Under armed guard, he was given an axe and other tools and was to work everyday until the swamp was cleared. Then and if, he finished he would be freed.
Unbeknownst to anyone, he had found a plant that grew deep inside the swamp who's berries would, with hard work, create huge muscles and bulk. But the berries would also drive the eater insane.
We now know, that he worked every day, for months, getting bigger, stronger and plotting his revenge.
Finally, one day, he overpowered and killed all of his guards, stole a horse and fled.

We lost track of him for awhile but, when searchers found a Black Smith, dead in his foundry, with pieces of metal that were the same as the Black Knights armor, we knew his identity.
That he had established himself as a 'Black Champion' and had many followers, led us to believe, that even if we raised an army against him, there would be much bloodshed and loss of life.
This is when King Arthur informed me of the crystals of Sir Merlin and we developed a plan to trap the Black Knight, using his madness and lust for revenge against him."

King Arthur said, "You can see now that this monster was an unbeatable foe and Sir Merlin will explain to you why the first arrow didn't stop him."

Sir Merlin entered the room, cleared his throat and said, "We didn't allow for the DiLythum tipped arrow to cut so swiftly through the heart. A man who has been shot in the heart will take several minutes to die as adrenalin and brain activity will continue to function, for a period of time.

Princess Susan, seeing this, made a head shot that pierced the frontal lobe of his brain, causing confusion and loss of motor control. This is what killed the Black Knight."

Sir JonPop stood and said, "And now, you know the rest of the story."

The End.

[JonPop]

Next in the series:

The Rescue Of a Queen.

[jayhawk11]

Wonderful story JP. I liked this way better than the "Spammer War."

[007]

Good stuff....JP.

[JonPop]

Again, thanks. Sir Jayhawk and 007.

[RockofFox]

Good stuff JP, I liked this.

I have read George R R Martin and Robert Jordan so I like the genre that you write in.

[JonPop]

Thanks Rocko. Hope you can find time to read the rest. (jP

[CUSP82]

What no dwarf??????

[JonPop]

Naw man, not until the "New Adventures of the Knights." I needed a character, you were handy.
You wanted to be a Gnome, but that just didn't work. Hey Cusp, at least you had a big part. (jP