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Honor.
Lucian had always dealt with this in his life.
For a peasant there was honor in being a peasant. A peasant was meant to work in the fields and produce all the goods for the Knights to consume. In doing so they honored their Knight and Village by fueling the furnaces of war needed to defend themselves. Many peasants would not see it like that, but many others knew that service to a Knight was so honorable that these mighty men would many times remember their names for their lives as good men.
When he became a Knight, Lucian could hardly make sense of it. It was a fight between having honor and a good concious it seemed. Simply speaking a foul name of another Knight was enough to bring the two to a duel, and even the two becoming parties in a feud that could last generations. The value of oaths and how they could easily ruin a man’s life.
But as he held the Scythe within his hands. As he saw the eyes of the Red Duke look upon him in widening surprise. When those whose unlives should have been bound to the Vampire looked towards him…
Honor was strength for those who held it. Honor was a way of life. Honor, righteousness, was something so powerful that it transcended the mortal coil of life and had become an aspect of the world.
And not even the dead or damned could ignore it.
<span class="mu-s">“I,”</span> The voice of the Vampire was spoken as his mouth was filled with teeth and the rotting blood of his victims spilled from every cavity and pore, <span class="mu-s">“Duke El Syf ash-Shml, in the name of my sire Abhorash, accept your challenge. Now Die!”</span>
And with those words the Duke brought a bloody lance into his hands and angled his dragon downwards. A wicked smile was drawn upon his face as he became a bloody red comet which threatened to strike at the heart of Lucian. And Lucian had no illusions that the Vampire could do so.
As he heard those words Lucian could not help but feel the moment. The running adrenaline and divine might that flowed through his veins. The now throbbing scream of Dregni, the Dine energies of the Lady, and the Blood of Morr.
He smiled, for never again in his life will a moment like this last.