Legend of Lodoss: The Knight of the Sky (novel)

Legend of Lodoss 2: The Knight of the Sky
Author	Ryo Mizuno
Illustrations	Akihiro Yamada
Japanese title	ロードス島伝説 2 天空の騎士
Romanized title	rōdosu-tō densetsu 2 tenkū no kishi
Publication information
Original release	2 July 1996
Chapters	Abandonment of the Agreement (盟約破棄) Fateful Encounter (運命の出会い) The Hundred Heroes (百の勇者) In The Turbulence (激動のなかで)
Pages	256
ISBN-13	978-4044604165
Novels
← Previous	Prince of the Fallen Land
Next →	Glorious Champion

Legend of Lodoss 2: The Knight of the Sky is a light novel written by Ryo Mizuno with illustrations by Akihiro Yamada. It was released in 1996 as the second novel in the Legend of Lodoss (ロードス島伝説, rōdosu-tō densetsu) series, a prequel series to the main Record of Lodoss War novels, that tells the story of the Six Heroes and their efforts in the Demon War.

Following the return of the missing Duke Bruuk and Princess Reena of Skard, who now appear to be leading the demon army, the duchies of Moss abandon the dragons’ covenant—a covenant formed to protect the Moss region from outside threats—and prepare for struggles among the Moss duchies.

Synopsis

　The story picks up in the city of Muskett, Venon, where the allied forces of Moss have gathered after their defeat to the demon army at castle Grain Hold in Skard. There, Highland is accused of being allied to Bruuk, in particular by Alondo, and the dragons’ covenant is subsequently abandoned. Duke Mycen of Highland declares war to Skard, but this doesn't convince the other duchies. The only way to prove Highland is not working with the demons is to actually fight the demons. With all duchies having closed their borders, however, it may be difficult to reach the demon army.

　Nasher struggles with the thought that it are his father and sister that may be the ones leading the demon army. He remembers his father as a good ruler, but also felt he harbored a secret ambition. He also knew his father wanted him to take over that ambition and that was why he had invited Beld and Wort to train Nasher. The warrior and sorcerer had left off to the Mirror Forest to aid the elves, but they still hadn't returned and their whereabouts were unknown.

　Meanwhile, Fahn and Flaus had returned from meeting the dukes of Moss. They had told them Valis was ready to provide reinforcements in the war against the demons, but none of the dukes accepted this offer, out of fear of territorial ambitions. Valis, like Moss, seeks to annihilate the demon army and anyone who fights against the demons is considered an ally. This includes Highland, however the dragons’ covenant will prevent Valis sending troops to Highland. The Twin Princes of Highland, Frey and Risen, also offered their services, two young talented boys who had finally been honoured as knights this year, wish to accompany Fahn and Flaus to further their skills. Mycen approves.

　In Alania, Neese learns that Boyle, the dwarven King of the northern Iron Kingdom, has mobilized about 5,000 troops and is heading to Moss to avenge their fallen southern brethren. Earlier, the northern dwarves had learned that the Stone Kingdom had been wiped out by the demons. They also heard the rumour that the demons were led by Duke Bruuk of Skard, a human. By doing so, Bruuk had violated his oath with the dwarves. Neese believes it will make matters worse if the Iron Kingdom engages in an emotional-driven war, opposing even humans if they stand in their way. Neese informs Boyle of the other rumours, that King Flaibe is still alive and has sided with Nasier, the Crown Prince of Skard. He is honouring the oath. Both are rumoured to be in Highland, which has declared war on Skard. If these rumours are true, the Iron Kingdom's only opponent is the demon army. Upon realizing this, Boyle withdraws his army. Neese promises to head to Moss to investigate the rumours and reveal the truth.

　Five days after they left Moss, Fahn, Flaus, Frey and Risen arrive in Raiden. Frey, Risen and Flaus go out to check out the lands' famous harbours. Fahn visits the Raiden council hall to offer his services in Raiden's fight against the demons. He meets with council chairman Aegis, and the council's new court magician, Wort, who had earlier travelled to the Mirror Forest with Beld. There, Wort learned that the demons attacked the forest because of an ancient tree there that is connected to the World Tree—a tree considered to be the source of all life. The demons can use their magic on this tree to create pseudo-lifeforms. Fahn believes he had seen some of these pseudo lifeforms in the battle at Skard; ugly creatures that melt and vanish when killed. Wort believes that the demons utilise this because their actual numbers are small. The meeting concludes with Aegis turning down Fahn's offer, saying that as a Valisian Holy Knight he should be defending his own kingdom.

　In “Dragon’s Eye” Highland Nasher requests Duke Mycen to make him a Dragon Knight. In order to become one, however, one must capture the heart of a dragon. All domesticated dragons in Highland already belong to a Dragon Knight, thus Nasher is tasked to find, tame and capture the heart of a wild dragon.

　In Raiden, the Twin Princes Frey and Risen are looking to fame their name by defeating a band of demons. Near they sea, they are later joined by Flaus and when ebb sets in they discover what appears to be a demons’ cave. The party manages to beat an initial band of demons consisting of a Zalbard and some pseudo-lifeform demons, but struggle against a second band consisting of an archdemon. A group of five people, including one female elf, and a red-haired warrior arrive and the two parties together manage to defeat the demons. The red-haired mercenary turns out to be Beld, Lodoss’ finest warrior. The female elf is Lucida from the Mirror Forest. Beld tells Flaus' party that a demon general is nearby. Demon generals are second only to the Demon King. The two parties enter one of the caves and fight their way through some demon encounters until they reach the demon general.

　After Lucida cast a spell on the demon general to prevent it from using magic, Beld and the demon general engage in a duel. Beld comes out on top, but after the demon general was defeated and presumed dead, it pierces Beld's stomach with its spear. Beld quickly finishes the demon off, before Flaus tends to his wounds. The warrior priestess was impressed with Beld's confidence, prowess and swift recovery. Witnessing Beld, she begins to believe that this man may be the man from Pharis’ divine revelation and the future Hero King. A man who could give the people hope in their war against the demons. Following their victory, a the demon general's head is put on display in Raiden and a festival is held in celebration of Beld, Flaus, and the others. Fahn was also present during the feast. Observing Beld, Lucida and Flaus from afar he could tell Lucida was attracted to Beld. Lucida could tell the same about Flaus.

　After the festival was over Lucida escorted a tipsy Beld to his bedroom. There, Beld pulled Lucida on his bed and removed her clothes. Lucida did not refuse. She had wanted to be with Beld since she met him. During the night, Beld went to collect the demon general's head. He put it on display in the bedroom, as some sort of collected trophy, and left again after that. Later, Lucida hears noises coming from outside the room. Believing it to be Beld, she approaches the door, but when the door opens she stands face-to-"face" with the beheaded demon general, who pierces her stomach and carries her body and takes it with him.

　Because of Beld and company's success against a demon party larger than their own, people began to believe that a Hundred Heroes would be enough to destroy all the demons and bounties were placed on the demons to encourage people to fight against the demons.

　In the meantime, Neese had arrived at the city of Norvis in the west of Alania, a city governed by Duke Galliard. There, she meets with Beld, Wort and Flaus, who had travelled to there from Raiden. Neese inquires about the story of Beld beating a demon general. Wort explains that although Beld did beat the demon general, some parts of the story are kept from the public to preserve the people's spirit. Apparently the demon general had cast a spell on itself before the fight Beld so that it couldn't be killed by a sword. When the demon general was beheaded, it hadn't died and later returned to collect its head from Beld's bedroom, killing Lucida on its way. Eventually the demon general was killed by Wort's meteor spell and a blow from Flaus' mace.

　Afterwards, Wort returns to his room where he notices the presence of a mysterious warrior-mage. The warrior-mage, aware of Wort's key role in Lodoss rising up against the demon army, suspects Wort may harbour secret ambitions. Wort replies he is merely a magician, but the warrior-mage remarks Wort could manipulate a potential puppet-king, like Beld. Wort denies, saying Beld has no ambitions to rule Lodoss. The warrior-mage tells Wort that as long as his ambition is to fight the demons, he or she will fight on Wort's side, but if Wort harbours other intentions, the warrior-mage will visit him again. The warrior-mage hands Wort a book, called "The Book of Demons", which lists all the demons and their abilities, and then leaves.

　In “Dragon’s Eye” Highland, Nasher and Flaibe have succesfully returned after a two-month quest to tame a wild dragon. The dragon he has tamed is a sky-blue-scaled wind dragon, whom Nasher has given the name Whirlwind. Duke Mycen officially awards Nasher the title of Dragon Knight. For the next several days, Prince Jester trains Nasher on how to fight as a Dragon Knight and Flaibe crafts him a saddle and a one-handed bow. After the training is over, Nasher flies Whirlwind to Skard, where they begin their battle against the demons.

　Meanwhile, “Dragon Claw” Renton had been under attack by “Dragon Scale” Venon. It appears that not Highland, but Venon has aligned itself with the demons. As the attack on Renton goes on Neese arrives in hopes of being able to stop the battle. Around the same time, “Dragon Tail” Russen is under attack by a demon army. The royal family has escaped, but Berte Lansen and her husband General Harvey Lansen have remained in the royal castle Sun Dome. As the fall of the castle seems imminent, Berte and Harvey decide to stay and face the demons, ultimately meeting their ends.

　In Alan, Alania, Wort visits the Academy of Sages to meet with Master Larcus. He is welcomed by a new disciple of Larcus named Wagnard, who guides Wort to Larcus. Upon hearing the rumours of Neese and especially Nasher in Moss, Wort believes the first lights to oppose the darkness are beginning to kindle.

Characters appearing

• Duke Mycen of Highland
• Prince Barran of Harken
• General Berte Lansen of Russen
• Prince Alondo of Venon
• Nasher
• Crown Prince Jester of Highland
• Fahn
• Flaus
• Frey
• Risen
• Neese
• Dwarf King Boyle of the Iron Kingdom
• Chairman Aegis of Raiden
• Wort
• Beld
• Lucida of the Mirror Forest
• Duke Galliard of Norvis
• Masked warrior-mage
• Wind dragon Whirlwind
• General Harvey Lansen of Russen
• Wagnard

Gallery

Beld (by Yamada) Whirlwind (by Yamada) Frey and Risen, the "Twin Princes" (by Yamada) Flaus strikes a Zalbard-demon (by Yamada) Neese versus a doppelgänger-demon (by Yamada) Two Skard knights and Nasier riding wind dragon Whirlwind (by Yamada)