Once a
#century, the black knight walks the Earth looking for souls to claim. Each century, I try to stop him – each time I am defeated. What makes this time different? I look around the ruins of the city; there is literally nothing left to lose. June 7th 2019
Crumbling walls punctuated the landscape that was once a busy district. I traced my steps through an old reception area for a bank. I’d been in there many years ago, when humanity still felt like it had a fighting chance.
A slight breeze kicked up dust and grit, throwing it thoughtlessly into my eyes. I cursed as I rubbed the back of my hand across my face, blinking furiously. Kicking at the rubble on the floor, I kept walking. A glance up at the sky told me time was moving on; the sun seemed much closer than it ever used to – it too was nearing the end of its time, reaching out to try and find some other source of life.
A ridge of brick was in my path; the remnants of a high-rise blocking my way. Ignoring the pain in my hands, I started to climb. Pain was nothing new to me; I had seen all the wars, natural disasters, been involved in most of them but nothing prepared me for the end. Mankind fell but I lived on as I always did. The loneliness had been suffocating; there were so few survivors and none stayed in the cities but one thought kept me here. A few more years and he would return.
Every century, the black knight would walk the Earth claiming yet more souls. Each time, I would try and stop him and each time he would defeat me. I felt a familiar stirring in the wind – it was almost time. A smile crossed my face as I reached the crest of the ridge; confidence grew within me. What made this time different? This time there was nothing left to lose.
“Things do not go well in this realm.”
His voice reached me before I saw him. In the middle of the old park, he stood, black armour gleaming in the orange sun.
“They do not,” I replied, allowing myself to slide to the bottom of the ridge.
“Must we do this dance every time?”
I closed the gap between us and summoned all my will. Wind wrapped around me as my silvered armour took form. “We must.”
This story was expanded from a #vss365 prompt #century in response to AJWalker’s Seedling Challenge.
Word count 362
Lexikon 
Oh you have to keep writing this! I was playing a track called We Were Gods Once from the Transformers: Dark of the Moon soundtrack while I read it. Really liked this piece!
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Thanks Peter 🙂 Glad you liked it! Someone else asked if this was continuing so I might have a think!
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