****

Medieval Azrael #1 -

"The Birth of a Hero"
Written by Mike Rehor
Edited by DJ Ferris

Azrael created by Dennis O'Neil & Joe Quesada
Medieval Azrael created by Mike Rehor

****

The morning sun rose over the village of Saint Dumas awakening young Marcus De Lint from his sleep.  As he slowly sat-up he looked next to him to see his beautiful wife Sarah sleeping soundly next to his place in bed.  He then got up from the bed and walked into the next room where his dog Bruce waited patiently wagging his tail.  Marcus proceeded to pet the dog and began yawning a stretching after a long night's sleep.

Suddenly, from outside he could hear the sounds of a woman screaming.  Not knowing what it was Marcus quickly grabbed his family sword and made his way to the center of town.  Once there he could see an army of men in the distance led by a man wearing black armor riding a Black Stallion.  Knowing the time had come to protect the village Marcus sounded the bell causing all the men in the town to awaken from their rest.  As he stood there one of the men named Calvin, a tall muscular man with long red hair and a beard, walked out of his home and headed towards Marcus.

"Hello Marcus, what is going on?"  Calvin asked with a curious look in his eyes.

"Look to the distance, an army is heading towards the town and it looks like they are looking to start a war."  He shouted as he pointed into the distance.

"Get the men ready for a battle."  Calvin bellowed as loud as he could getting all the men in the town of Saint Dumas to attention.

As Marcus continued to look into the distance he saw that the army continued to get closer and closer to the town.  Using this as his que he then proceeded to run to his house and awaken his family so that they could hide from the impending danger.  As he had entered his home he saw that his wife and young son John were already full aware of what was going on just outside their home town.

"Honey, quick, get yourself and John hidden."  Marcus demanded.

"John, come on, let's get to the barn."  Sarah exclaimed as she grabbed John by the hand and together began walking towards the barn just behind the house.

Meanwhile, just outside a battle ensued between the mysterious army and the men of Saint Dumas.  The land was littered with dead bodies from most of the people of the town and as the battle continued more and more continued to fall.  Using all the skill he could muster Calvin, using his large broad sword mowed down most of the mysterious army, but as he did so it seemed like they would just rise again and continue their attack.  As he kept fighting Calvin felt a sharp pain in his side.  When he looked down he saw that he'd been stabbed in the side and was slowly losing blood.

As he fell to the floor in pain he saw the shadowy image of the mysterious Black Knight who seemed to lead the army.  He appeared to be a rather tall man with a muscular build.  All his features were covered in the black armor he wore which had an almost demonic appearance to it.  In his hand the knight carried a large black axe which during the battle had used to decapitate most of the men in the village.  Then with one final thought Calvin rose up to fight the knight, but with one swipe of the Black Knight's axe soon fell dead.

"Torch the village."  The Black Knight ordered his men as he sat there on his horse looking over the fields of dead bodies his army had left in their walk.  "Hestia will be pleased," he thought to himself grinning underneath his helmet.

Within the village the man known as Marcus De Lint surveys the area.  As he does so in the distance he can see the mysterious attackers carrying torches..  "They are going to torch the village, I need to stop them," he thought as he ran towards the men who were going to torch the village.  With the urge to defend his home in his mind Marcus pulled out his sword and with a swipe he knocked several of the men off their horses.  This, however, didn't seem to do much damage as the men rose to their feet and proceeded to pull their swords apparently out of nowhere and attacked Marcus.

Marcus managed to duck just before one of the men swung their sword at him, which in turn allowed him to chop his head off.  As the man's head rolled to the floor Marcus then continued his attack on the men chopping off head after head of the soldiers.  When he looked down the ground was covered in an odd colored substance, which came from the men. "These men aren't men at all," Marcus thought to himself.

"That would be a correct assumption," A dark voice said from behind.  "Who are you and how can you read my thoughts?"  Marcus exclaimed as he turned around to face the mysterious Black Knight.

"Why, my dear boy, I'm the Black Knight and I can do many things from taking down an entire village to killing the likes of you and nothing can stop me."

"Maybe not, but I'll certainly try."  Marcus yells as he lifts his sword in the air stabbing the Black Knight in the chest.

"A pathetic attempt."  The Black Knight said as he grinned under his helmet.

"You will pay for such insolence with the death of your family."

"You'll never find them."

"Oh, dear boy, but I already have and their quite dead I assure you."  The Black Knight uttered as he rode off into the distance.

At this time Marcus quickly runs towards the barn where he knew his wife and son would be waiting.  Once in the barn Marcus looked only to find the dead bodies of his wife and son.  With this Marcus falls to his knees and cries over their bodies.  As he does so a great urge comes over his that he never felt before, the urge to kill. As these thoughts continue through his mind suddenly a burst of fire explodes from within him setting the barn on fire.  As this occurs Marcus just sits there with his eyes glowing bright yellow and his mind continues to race with images of the Black Knight and his child lying dead.

At this moment Marcus snaps out of his trance-like state and returns to the world around him.  "Did I just do that?" Marcus asks himself as he looks around the now destroyed barn.  Marcus then turns to see his family sword lying on the ground and decides to try something and stabs himself with the sword..  However, when he looks down he sees the wound left behind closing up rapidly as if he never stabbed himself.  "How can this be?" Marcus continues to think to himself realizing the extent of his new-found abilities.

It's at this moment that Marcus decides to make his life mean something and decides from now on Marcus De Lint is no more, only the Earth Angel known as Azrael who travels the land protecting others from his families' fate.  He also will use this time to learn more about his past and where his newfound powers came from as well as find the Black Knight and gain his revenge for the death of his wife and child.

****

Thanks everyone for reading Medieval Azrael #1!  I know this issue is a little short, but I really only wanted to tell Azrael's origin tale.  If you have any comments or suggestions please feel free to e-mail me at MSR77@aol.com, I love receiving fan mail, thanks!

In Medieval Azrael #2:  Azrael saves a wizard known as Sentinus from a dragon.  Who is he and is he a friend or foe?  Find out in the next thrilling installment of Azrael.