The Dread Knight's Rage

Solomon wished desperately that his sister had only been engaging in hysterics. Nila didn’t always have the best eyesight first thing in the morning.

But as he whirled around, he quickly realized that his wishes meant fuck all.

Two versions of his youngest sister were standing side by side.

Both of them seemed equally surprised to see the other. They instantly jumped back with the same level of speed, drawing their sickles at the same time.

Solomon’s headache doubled in intensity.

"Who are you!? Why are you copying me!"

"Me!? I should be asking you the same thing! How dare you wear my face! I just started to like it!"

One Dakota went high while the other went low,

They spun their weapons around their backs gracefully before going for their individual targets. One Dakota aimed for the neck. The other Dakota went to sever her doppelganger’s body at her knees.

Naturally, before the high Dakota could be cut, she put force into the bottoms of her feet and flipped into the air. She moved so gracefully that she made even Solomon envious.

The Dakota still on the ground gave her blade a second whirl before spinning her weapon at her foe once again, this time determined to catch her off guard while she was still in the air.

Somehow, her opponent wasn’t fazed in the slightest and deflected her attack with a casual swing of her weapon. The ensuing fight only became even harder to follow from there...

Solomon and Nila both lost track of which Dakota was which at a certain point. Their heads simply swiveled back and forth again and again as they weighed the risk of waiting for a victor, versus helping to ensure the true Dakota won.

But which was which?

But their movements, cadence, and breath control were all so disastrously similar that they had virtually no way to differentiate.

Nila was the kind of person who got easily frustrated when she couldn’t figure something out. A trait that finally reared its ugly head after more than ten minutes of back and forth.

"UGGHHHHHH! I’m just going to hit them both, and then we’ll know which is which based on which of them doesn’t cry!" Nila unslung her whip from her waistband.

"I will ask you not to do that." Solomon stayed her hand, but she didn’t seem very happy about it.

There had to be some way for them to assist their sister, their real sister, without endangering her life or causing her harm.

"Dakota, stop!"

Both versions stopped in their tracks at the very same time. They looked toward Solomon as if they were both hoping he would have a solution for their predicament.

...He did not. He briefly considered going with Nila’s idea of hitting them.

However, one of the Dakotas suddenly punched the other square in the jaw and sent her tumbling.

"You’re not me, you bitch! You dare wear my face without knowing who I am, what I have lived through! You have no right! And I will see you dead if it’s the last thing I do!!"

For a fraction of a second, the Dakota on the ground seemed to flicker.

That was all Nila needed to see.

Her whip cracked the air as it wrapped around the neck of the pinned Dakota.

With a hard yank, her barbed weapon ripped her head free and sent it flying.

Not a single drop of blood appeared to have been wasted. Once the head was removed, the air seemed to shift.

Suddenly, Dakota was not punching herself. She was striking some sort of stone creation in the shape of a man.

It immediately made Solomon’s blood run cold.

"Whoa, this is incredible!"

Nila reached out to pick up the golem’s severed head. Solomon yanked her back by her collar before she could even graze it with her claw.

"Don’t touch it!"

"H-Hey, what gives?! I washed my hands thoroughly this morning!"

"This is true. I made her. " Dakota nodded.

"It’s not about her hygiene practices for once." Solomon grumbled.

He put his sister down before cautiously approaching the body of the stone golem.

Or at least that was his intention.

Before he could even get close to the golem, another stone figure leapt out from the shadows and placed itself between them.

The creature’s eyes were simple gemstones that had been inserted into it’s head. Not things capable of showcasing intent or emotion.

And yet, Solomon was positive that the creature seemed to be frustrated by him.

In an instant, all of the loose pieces in his brain snapped into place.

"...That’s it!"

Solomon’s body became engulfed in flame.

He stood transformed on the stone platform, no longer a knight in armor but a horned behemoth descended from the outer dark.

His weapons appeared around his body, guarding him like hounds around their master.

"It’s Clarity. This is our first test to see if we have mastered it."

Nila nodded, excited. "So we beat them up with our new strength and then-"

"No." Solomon didn’t need to move a muscle as the golem charged him. His axe lunged from behind and took a chunk out of the construct’s shoulder, bringing it to it’s knees.

He snatched his sword out of the air before driving it right through the middle of the creature’s chest.

"Clarity wasn’t just about acknowledging ourselves. It was about taking hold of our existences. Not letting anything or anyone on the outside try to copy or alter the way we live and feel about ourselves.

We control our destinies. We are the sole masters of our bodies.

That is what Clarity is. It doesn’t just mean that we can’t be ruled, it also means we can’t be copied by others. No one without Will can do what we do as we do. If we want to get out of here Scott-free, then we have to hold that truth close to our hearts."

Dakota swallowed. "Do you really think it’s that simple..?"

Almost on cue, more than ten stone men dropped off the ceiling and surrounded them on the platform.

Nila smiled wildly as she summoned her sword. The metal wolf’s jaw hanging around her neck suddenly moved in place to cover her mouth and render her even more fearsome.

Her deep, red eyes shone with a murderous light.

"Time to find out..!"