[ WP ] The tribunal of elders rules in your nemesis ' favor . You 've been framed to take the fall and only an old foe can save you .

AN: I was listening to the First Hunter OST when I came up with this: ) 
 
... 
 
 `` Sir Fianna, Knight of the Holy Kingdom. The blood-drenched traitor. The forsaken dragon.'' 
 
 Red eyes tilted up slowly, scanning his battered armour and the dried blood crusting on his gloves. His sword hung loose in one hand, trailing red across the ground. 
 
 `` To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence within my lair?'' 
 
 Red eyes narrowed with glee. 
 
 His fists tightened briefly, creaking against steel. He relaxed, breathing out audibly. 
 
 `` Lady of the Spiders, I have come to seek a boon.'' 
 
 He thrust his sword into the ground before him and bowed his head, pressing his hands to the floor as he knelt. 
 
 There was a skittering of noise. A pale limb emerged from the darkness of the aged throne, a thin spider's legs bristling with fine, poisoned hairs, then another. He did not look up. 
 
 A slim, warm hand caressed his jaw and he looked up into the beautiful, innocent form of a young woman leaning out of the shadows towards him. Her long white hair fell across her shoulders like rivers, hiding her garments. 
 
 `` You're amusing, Sir Knight.'' she smiled, `` We have danced this dance before many times, you and I- you interfere with my plans, I try to kill you, you fail to kill me-'' 
 
 Her fingers scraped across his bared throat with inhuman strength, lifting him off the ground. He gritted his teeth, refusing to make a sound. 
 
 The grip was released. 
 
 He fell to the floor, lungs spasming as he tried to draw in breath. A spider's leg, as long as his body tapped the floor impatiently, gouging into the stone floor. 
 
 `` But you seem to truly need my help... well. Will you tell me your tale?'' 
 
 He closed his eyes and bowed his head as he collected himself. 
 
 `` I have been exiled from the Kingdom. I have been found guilty of high treason, of consorting with the Queen. I am not guilty.'' he felt himself calm and focus as he thought of his words, `` I was betrayed by my King, by my elder lords! My dear comrades whom I thought I could trust spoke foul rumours against me. My lord King whom I valued above all others ordered my death and disgrace through an execution instead of honorable battle!'' 
 
 She tilted her head, `` So that is what you seek, revenge. A cold comfort.'' she smiled, `` You want to poison their waters and burn their crops. You want to lay a curse on their households. I would be pleased to make you mine in exchanhe, to rescue you and elevate you above this false ignominy-!'' 
 
 Steel rang. 
 
 He rose, standing to his full height. His sword was buried in the creature's gut. It had lowered its guard, come within striking range of his nearby blade. The enchanted steel sunk through her stony flesh like butter. 
 
 `` You, you- you fool!'' 
 
 Black blood showered out of the wind as she leapt up to the ceiling. He saw her body, the hideous body of a giant wolf spider crowding the latticed ceiling. The shadows bubbled and skittered as man-sized spiders crept out in waves, covering the aged masonry. 
 
 `` You proud foul!'' 
 
 He flicked the blood off his blade. 
 
 `` I ask you to give me an honourable death. I ask you to face me as you would a hero who comes with no aid, no army, no magic to save him from certain destruction.'' 
 
 He brandished the sword, lunging through a spider and slicing the legs off another. Black ichor splattered across his face, highlighting his wild grin. 
 
 `` I ask you for my salvation! To prove my loyalty to the Kingdom by falling to my maddened blade!'' 
 
 He charged forward, dodging aside from a corrosive curse, stabbing into another bloated, malformed belly. His armor, once shining, once polished was covered in a black ichor, steeped in curses that ate into his flesh. 
 
 `` Give me back my honour!'' 
 
 He ignored the fangs and claws that stabbed against him. He ignored the weight collapsing in his pauldrons, crushing his left arm. He dragged himself onwards as the Spider Queen fled from his wrath back towards the darkness. 
 
 `` Give me back my pride!'' 
 
 He chased after her inexorably, stumbling through halls of ancient, weathered tapestry. He sliced through her brood, killing everything that came in his path. 
 
 He met her on the bridge of the abandoned castle. She stood between him and the lands beyond the moat, her full hideous form revealed in the pale moonlight of the full moon. 
 
 He raised his broken blade, crushing his marred hands up to lift it towards the empty night. His breath escaped him in harsh, shallow pants. His limbs felt numbed and leadened as curses cut into his very soul, detaching his senses. 
 
 He staggered across the bridge, holding his blade steadily. 
 
 There was movement behind him, the dozens, hundreds, thousands of spiders that were left of the Spider Queen's uncountable brood. 
 
 He walked on, dragging himself towards her beautiful, inhuman form. An all too human terror was present in her colourless eyes. 
 
 One strike. It was all he could manage. His fingers trembled. His chest hurt with every breath. His vision blurred and all he could see in the darkness was the pale smudge of her form. 
 
 Moonlight ran along his blade as he raised it and lunged with the last of his strength. 
 
 He fell to his knees. 
 
 The Spider Queen loomed above him, a blade stuck through her guts. She pulled it out, flicking it to the side. It fell, sinking into the darkness of the abyssal moat. 
 
 He let out a bitter laugh. He could n't defeat her after all. He could not return in triumph to his Kingdom, restored in name before his King. 
 
 He knew he would not be able to prove his loyalty to the Kingdom, his desire to sacrifice all for its glory, his honour above all reproach. 
 
 She knelt before him, catching him as he fell. Soft arms wrapped around him and he gazed into the face of an angel. 
 
 `` Sir Knight...'' 
 
 She trembled. Her breath was cold and light against his face. 
 
 ``... you have certainly won back your honour.''
