Book 1: Calien's Return

Wilhelm lay dead on the stone floor, his lifeblood finished spilling from his body.  The underground chambers where dark and cold, yet Celian felt none of this because his entire body was electrified, adrenaline spiking as he prepared for combat.

"What are you doing!?" Marie d'Ibelin asked, following close behind, with Rolan de Saint-Omer right beside her.

"The Order is not finished!" Celian said, "I have not come this far and witnessed all these things to let our Order die here on the ashpile of history!"

"But there's two warring armies right outside!" Marie warned, her hands flicking for a second before her twin Assassin daggers appeared in them.

"There are two warring armies," Celian said as he kicked open an entrance door to the castle proper, "but one of those armies is mine."

"As am I," Roland said, appearing at Celian's side.  His extra-long Executioner sword was already unsheathed and there was a spring in his step that forbode joyful combat.

The trio had left the dark, dank, dangerous underground of Castle Montsegur and had emerged into a wide, ornate hallway.  Celian, lord and master of Montsegur, knew the lay of the castle by heart and turned on his heel, adamant and headstrong.

Through several rooms and a few more hallways he led, dead knights and Inquisitor agents littering the noble premises here and there.  Finally, they emerged into an antechamber which led out of the castle and into the first courtyard.

Without any hesitation, Celian strode forward and battered the half-broken wooden doors open. As he did so, the sound of battle immediately filled the air, the ring of steel agains steel and men crying out in pain and fury.

The courtyard was alive with violence. The Inquisition had arrived in Montsegur days ago, and had already slain the town's heroic defenders to the last man.  But as they had laid seige earlier today, they themselves had come under attack from a foe even more skilled in warfare than they were - the remaining Knights Templar.

The Templar Order, recently branded heretics and apostates by both the French King and Pope, had suffered a great loss of their brethren.  Yet, among those who remained, many had gathered here outside Montsegur to follow Wilhelm de Beajeau in their quest to reclaim the Grail.

Celian had already defeated his former friend-turned-adversary to take possession of the Holy Grail.  With Wilhelm dead, the Templars were now leaderless, although most of them still fighting within the castle grounds were ignorant of such facts.

Celian planned to enlighten them.

"The Templars have torn into the Inquisition," Marie said, surveying the raging battle below.

A lone Inquisitor agent, a Pikeman, saw the trio of Templars and one Assassin standing there on the castle's steps and charged them.  He was a skilled warrior with his bladed pike, but he was no match for Roland who leaped forward and smashed the pike in two with his greatsword.

Disarmed, and frightened by Roland's scarred visage, the Inquisitor panicked and fumbled for a dagger hanging from his belt.  Roland simply brought the blade back up, smacking its broad side hard in the side of the man's head and knocking him out cold.

"I hope they won't all be so easy to defeat," Roland stated simply.

"The Inquisition was caught off guard," Celian explained, "but they have greater numbers.  We need to rally the remaining Templars and form a counter-attack."

"Now you're talking," Roland said excitedly.

"Isn't that bad for you?" Marie stated, "you're part of the Inquisition now!"

"I am loyal to Lady Isabelle," Roland said, "but first, I am loyal to Celian."  Roland turned to face Celian head on, "give me the order and I will decimate the forces attacking your castle.  Whoever they may be."

Roland smiled and patted his old battle friend on the armored shoulder, "seize the entrance gate.  You still wear the armor of a Templar, grab as many of our brothers as you can and form a defensive line at the front gate.  I will find the current Templar leadership within the castle and rejoin you shortly."

Roland grunted in the affirmative and ran off, hacking and slashing as he went.

"And what about us?" Marie asked, her arms crossed again in her iconic pose.

"There, look!" Celian pointed.

Marie say a Templar knight dressed in the standard white and red of the Order's design, but this one had a special cloak on.

"That is a Templar Captain," Celian explained, "after the Grandmaster, he is probably the senior Templar active within the confines of the castle."

"Well, let's go have a chat then.  Provided we make it past his buddies."

Celian ran down the escarpment of the castle's entrance, occassionaly stopping to defend himself from attacks.  Two fellow Templar knights charged Celian and Marie, forcing Celian to do the unthinkable and slay his own kind.  But Celian swore it was with a purpose.  Their blood would be avenged, their deaths would have meaning.  He swore it.

Charging through the violence, Celian at last arrived at a merry band of Templars holding an entire section of the castle's outer courtyard.  Standing in their midst was the Templar captain, surrounded by his Luitenants and brothers-at-arms.

Upon sighting Celian through the crowd of bodies, the Templar captain immediately drew his sword and shouted orders to his squad to attack.  But before the others could even finish drawing their own swords to advance, Celian unsheathed his captain's sword - and promptly threw it forwards to land at the feet of the Templars.

Taken aback, a few of the more conscientious Templars advanced again, their weapons raised with ill intent.  Marie, standing beside Celian, accused him of madness but he would not be dissuaded.  Celian had based his entire life on the cause of the Templar Order, and in his heart he had to believe that he could pull this off.

"I am Celian d'Arestide of the Knights Templar!" he shouted defiantly at the group.

"You are a traitor!" the Templar captain shouted back, "kill him quickly my brothers, do not underestimate him!"

"No, wait!" Marie shouted, although it didn't seem like anyone was inclined to listen.

The Templar Knights had formed a semi-circle around Celian who refused to move or defend himself.  He simply stood there as his fellow Templars advanced to within striking distance of him.  Once they were that close, the first of them charged.

Celian whipped his left hand out from under his cloak, revealing a perfectly golden cup clutched in his grasp.  It was large and ornate, and it seemed to glow with an otherworldly presence.

As the Templars made to strike Celian, a brightness erupted from the cup and enveloped him.  The Templar's swords were wringed from their hands with such a violent force that several of them lost their footing and hit the ground.  The rest reared back, unsure of what had happened and clearly in awe.

"My-my God!" the Templar captain exclaimed, "it is the Holy Grail!"

"Yes!" Celian shouted, "I hold in my very hand the Cup of Christ."

"Take it from him!" one of the Templars shouted.

Celian marched forwards towards the captain, "Would you slay the man defended by the Holy Grail itself?"  Celian stopped just in front of the man, close enough that the captain could stare down into the Grail itself. "You saw it with your own eyes, I did not defend myself at all.  It was the Grail that saved me."

The Templar captain's mouth gaped open, unsure of what to say.  The other Templars, now facing Celian's back, did not press their advantage at all.  They hadn't even bothered to gather up their swords.

The Templar captain's features crumpled under Celian's hard gaze.  Where once was certainty, now doubt reigned as the man was forced to confront the truth.  The Holy Grail had just saved the man they had been ordered to kill.

"What will you choose, Templar?" Celian asked again.  Behind him, the other knights watched in total fascination.

"...lay....lay down your arms!" the captain ordered, not that he really needed too.

Those Templars still in possession of their swords did lower them, while those without gathered them up.  Celian returned the Grail to its hiding place beneath his captain's cloak.  "Grandmaster Wilhelm is dead.  I have killed him."

The features of the Templars darkened immediately.  "We are without a leader!" several of the knights exclaimed, "the Inquisition will have us after all!"

"No they will not!" Celian exclaimed, rounding on the other Templars.  "I am your leader.  I hold the Grail.  This is my castle and I will defend it from the depredations of the Inquisition.  From here, right now, I will rebuild the Templar Order.'

"I ask you, all of you right now, will you follow me?"

Silence at first, the Templars exchanging glances as they considered their position.  Celian stood facing them, waiting for one of them to make the first move.  He was surprised when it turned out to be the captain.  He was beside Celian when he suddenly unsheathed his sword and gripped its handle, facing it downward towards the earth.

"I stand ready to serve beneath you," the captain said.

"We stand together," Celian said, seeing the other Templars turning their swords downward as well.

"What are our orders?" the captain asked.

"There is no time to lose, we must rally the Templars to the inner courtyard and form a counter attack.  I know this castle and its defenses, if we can seize it back from the Inquisition, we can stall them here."

Celian turned to the captain, "inform the other Templar leaders that I am in charge now.  They will not believe you at first, but soon they will have reason to. Now hurry and go!"

As soon as the captain had left, Celian took comand of the other Templar knights.  "A defensive line has been formed at the courtyard gate.  We are going to retake the castle from there."

"But how?" one of them asked, "we are scattered and the Inquisition has this place surrounded?"

"Not for long they don't," Celian said, taking off at a run for the courtyard entrance.  The other Templars fell in line behind him, with Marie stalking at their side.

The trip to the entrance was not easy and it surprised Celian just how long it took, but Templars were trained warriors, often from a very young age.  The Inquisitio might have numbers, but he and his fellow knights had skill and accuracy and soon enough they had fought their way to where Roland stood between the gate posts, a coterie of surviving Templars surrounding him.

"Roland, how goes the defenses?" Celian asked upon arriving.

"The Inquisition's dogs are baying for our bood," Roland stated, "but I have held them back here.  They fell back just now and are no doubt regrouping for another push back into the courtyard."

"Good," Celian said, "I want them all together like that.  What about those Inquisitors still within the castle?"

"They are dispersed throughout the castle," Roland said, "still searching for the Grail.

"Hmm," Celian mused, "it will take some time to thoroughly cleanse the castle.  But right now we must deal with the Inquisitor forces lying outside our gates."

As Celian had been talking, some of the other Templars with Roland had realized who he was talking with.  Some of them were pointing at Celian and talking in hushed tones with their comrades.

"What!?" Roland roared, "do you simpletons have a problem?"

Celian placed a hand on Roland's chest.  "I am Celian d'Arestide, I am the man you were sent here to hunt.  But ask your fellow Templars, I now wield this," Celian removed the Grail once again from under his cloak.

The other Templars immediately understood what it was and a hushed silence fell over them.

"With this I will rebuild our Order and resurrect us from the disgrace visited upon us by both church and state.  I now you have little reason to trust me, brothers, but if you cannot find it in yourself to follow me, at least follow the Grail!"  Celian raised the cup high and the other Templars all around him seemed to fall back in awe.  For now, at least, he had won them over, if for no other reason that awe.

"Um... Celian," Roland said.

"Yes?"

"Where's Marie?"

Celian turned to survey the courtyard.  He could see Marie nowhere.  He knew she had been with him back where they had confronted the Templar captain, but somewhere between here and there she had disappeared.

Fear gripped Celian's heart.  Maria had journeyed with Celian these last few months, his last remaining friend and companion after he had believed Roland dead and the Templars had been condemned. It was Marie who had helped Celian infiltrate the Ibelin estate and discover the parchment which finally led him to the fabled Temple of the Nine.  And it was Marie who discovered with him his true origins.

"I...  I don't know," Celian stuttered.

"Sir!" one of the Templars shouted, "the Inquisition approaches!"

"That's it, you animals!" Roland shouted, "run towards your deaths!"

From below, towards the darkened town of Montsegur, the Inquisition's forces rallied and approached.  Hulking abominations and deformed torturers marched in step with French knights, pikemen, infrantrymen and archers.  They were making their way uphill through the tall grass and dead bodies which already littered the landscape.

"Well, looks like we'll have some fun now," Roland said enthusiastically.

"Stand aside, Roland," Celian said, stepping forward.

"You wish to lead the charge?"

"No, friend, I intend to put a stop to this."

Celian had stepped to the foreground of the Templars massed at the gate.  He raised the Grail up and waited with patience and confidance.  Confidance which was not disappointed.

As the Inquisition forces marched up the hill, closing distance with the castle, another bright light flashed from the relic gripped in Celian's hands.  It was quick, not really that flashy, but it was enough.  Both the Templars and Inquisition forces witnessed the explosion of light.

"What was that?" Roland lamented, "I wanted to see those dogs explode and all I got was a light show?"

"No Roland, you got much more than that.  Look."

Roland squinted to examine the Inquisition forces.  They had stopped their march and were just standing there.  Or at least it seemed like they were.  They were starring wide-eyed into the space before them.

Roland found that a little weird and it soon became apparent why.  When the Inquisition started mumbling, then crying and scratching at their eyes, Roland understood why.  They had been struck blind.

The Inquisitors were crying out now, crying that they were blind.  Even the hulking behemoths were confused and without sight.  In a state of panic, they began lashing out, bludgeoning their allies with every swipe of their great, wooden clubs.

Roland whistled, genuinely impressed.

"Now they'll be easy pickings."  He turned to give Celian a hard look, "we will be going after them, won't we?"

"Yes," Celian said, rather affirmitavely, "we won't lower ourselves to their level with torture, but we will definitely drive them from this land!"  Turning to the other Templars, Celian unsheathed his sword, "knights, to arms!"

A tremendous shout went up and Celian realized that the group of Templars behind him had nigh tripled in size.  The other Templars, having seen the great flash of light, had hurried to the gate to see what was happening.  Even now, more knights in red and white were appearing through doorways and around corners to rejoin with their brothers.

The sight of his Order slowly regrouping warmed Celian's heart, and gave him the passion to turn and drive home the offensive against the Inquisition.

-https://www.quotev.com/story/11432543/The-First-Templar