The Iron Revenant arrives.

[Phalanx]

He had been following them for three days now.

The "knights" that had set out to slay this vicious reptile were barely to be called knights. Their tense posture under the patchwork of leather with the occasional metal plate, the rusty swords and battered shields. They were so inexperienced, a suicide mission. Why anyone would condemn this rag-tag band of not-so-merry men was beyond the spectre's limited understanding of human nature. All Phalanx knew is that unnecessary loss of life was to be prevented at all costs.

"...not even a single piece of copper, sir!" one of the poor knights said to the intimidating man just inches in front of him. His bearskin hood was adorned with big, heavy looking tusks from a creature unknown to the revenant. His bare chest was marked with scars and white war-paint in a tigerstripe pattern, his victim was quite literally trembling in his boots, which were too big for him. The much larger bandit ran his fingers over the pommel of the heavy, brute mace hanging off his belt. "Nothing, huh..." his voice was a growl, most likely intentional. "You know what we do with twerps that have no money?" his companions started chuckling evilly. Phalanx moved.
"We bash their heads in!"

Clunk.

The bandit's mace bounced off the blackened, chipped and dented metal wall that was now posed between him and his target, the vibrations of the blow almost made him drop his weapon. He cursed, "What... who dares interfere?!"
Phalanx did not grace the scoundrel with an answer, instead holding fast behind his enormous shield. The bandit's pride was heavily wounded, it clouded his judgement and angered him beyond rational thought. With a roar, he unleashed an onslaught of attacks onto the shield. The lion's visage in the middle snarled tauntingly. Thwang! Thunk! Clunk!

After a final, sidewards blow. The mace flew out of his numbed hands. Panting and wheezing and utterly enraged the bandit raged at the empty sky like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Like an opponent leaving an opening. The shield was lifted from its defensive position and placed at the side of the wielder with a rumble. An armored figure stood before them, though something was off. The chainmail hung loosely between plates of metal, the passing wind howled not only through the trees, but through the shieldbearer's empty helmet as well. Both supporting parties had fled upon this sight, but the wounded bandit only saw a target. And his target was now rearing his shield back.

Before he could react, the air violently rushed out of his lungs as the top side of the Revenant's huge shield hit him square in the chest. Knocking him on his back, as his compressed lungs tried to inflate once more he closed his eyes and waited for the death blow. A blow which never came.
Over his wheezing breathing, he could hear his assailant's chainmail rattle against plate as... it wandered off.

[Phalanx]

Phalanx watched over the traveling band of knights like a hawk as they neared their certain deaths with every passing hour. Although Lionheart was a formidable shield, the spectre was almost reluctant. Dragonfire was known to be hot enough to melt various types of metal, types of metal Phalanx and Lionheart were made of. Despite this, the semi-sentient armor marched on.

The Revenant had lagged behind the group slightly, its duty appeared fulfilled for now. Three days had passed without so much as a hitch, and they neared the lair of their target. It paused for a moment, lowering its shield from its ever-present defensive position to rest on the ground as it turned its helmet to the setting sun. Scenes flashed in its subconscious, people raising their arms to the sky. Chestplates carry the sun's likeness. Long ago, longer than Phalanx could recall.

A scream alerted the revenant of danger, it was too far to react instantly. It shook its helmet furiously, the lapses in its consciousness had become more common over the past few years, it made the spectre lax, made it make mistakes. Mistakes that could end fatally to those he was sworn to protect. The autonomous armor barreled through the forest in the direction of the cry, its massive shield acting like a sort of battering ram at it moved at a laughably sluggish full sprint. The Iron Revenant wasn't built for speed, it was built for defense.

When Phalanx arrived, it was immediately met with the searing flames of the winged serpent they had been hunting. One of the men was burned quite badly, but he'd make it. Phalanx slammed its fist into the shield three times in quick succession, the metal on metal rang out loudly. Once the spectre knew it had caught the attention of the knights, he motioned them to retreat. Then turned to the dragon, hitting its iron shield once more before slamming it into the ground twice. A call of battle from a mute defender. Its call was loudly answered by the reptile in front of it.
Phalanx slammed its shield into the ground once more, this time it stayed. The bedrock below it cracked under the sheer force, the armored revenant behind it braced itself, ready to do its job.

[Phalanx]

Blow after blow, the reptile ravaged the metal man that had come between it and its meal. The revenant hardly so much as flinched, it had anchored itself into the rocky floor and would not budge. One of the young knights, eager to help, flung his sword at the creature. It struck true in the softer underbelly of the vile creating. The dragon roared, snarled, scratched grooves into the cave floor. Then it went silent, it pondered the situation with eerily intelligent eyes. The metal man behind the metal wall was impervious to frontal attacks, so much was obvious. And he wouldn't let the serpent get past him without a fight. A comically small obstacle for a magnificent creature such as itself was managing to wear it down, continuing to fight with this wound would mean death. How very annoying, Insulting even. This insolence would not go unpunished.

The air within the cave heated up as a foreboding glow manifested itself in the reptile's throat. The knights fled, abandoning shield and sword in their panic. but Phalanx held fast. Such was his purpose. A first and final line of defense when all else failed. The heat was unbearable, enough to sear the skin of any human still in this cave. The leather straps on his armor creaked and protested, the metal started to faintly glow red. But he stood behind his shield, unresponsive to the hostile environment. It was when the dragon's own scales began to glow that it released its massive attack. Engulfing the revenant in dragonfire in one final attack.
Word spread of an unknown being clad in armor defending those in need.

Words became tales and tales became myths. Myths of a spectre bound to his armor and shield, myths of an iron revenant that was sworn to defend those in need with only his large shield and resolve. And when centuries later excavators uncovered a cave which contained the lone, iron statue of a knight bracing behind a massive shield, those myths became legends. The legendary Iron Revenant was lost to the sands of time, but his story lives on. In a different world.

For a creature that does not sleep, "awakening" is an unknown experience. Though there was certainly a lapse in his memory. Phalanx got up from his crouched position against the heavy weight of his shield. An unfamiliar emptiness surrounded him, was this what death felt like? If death had even been his fate once, before he was bound to this metal shell, he could not remember. Movement in the distance, the revenant's helmet snapped towards it with a rattle of metal on metal. Somewhere new.