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[Prologue: Legends and Stories]

In a time of heroes and villains, kings and conquest and a time for courage – there lay, the still strange world of Reytra. Among Reytra were the twenty-one kingdoms, all superior and strong by unity for it was foretold that they would survive the age of darkness, the age of kings and every problem they would face.
However, this foretelling was unfortunately proven to be wrong. The kingdom to the far west became a rivalry to all the other kingdoms resulting in the shatter of the unification. The kingdoms of Reytra split and divided into separate territories and were no longer as one but many different alliances.
Although, the significant event introduced a world full of courageous, wise heroes who fought for the weak and protected society as we know it. It became a time where Reytra was vulnerable to destruction, where the weak and the rich could be divided unfairly and the evil could be arisen. Years followed after the loss of unification and before long humans weren't the only ones who inhabited Earth.
Now Reytra comprised of lost kingdoms, which were taken over by races of a different kind. Some weird, some strange and mysterious and others menacing and wicked. As we all know it, the heroes and the good always win. They were problems that occur but the legends always came true, the heroes survive and the evil thwarted; but this was no ordinary story, no ordinary tale. This was a story about a man shrouded with a lonely and traumatic childhood, a priestess who hasn't experienced life in the outside world and a spy who had mixed feelings about the side he was on.
Three lives would change the fate of every kingdom, the fate of every woman and child, the fate of every warrior; they would change the destiny of good or evil forever. Change was inevitable. Legends, tales, prophecies, rumours of heroes and villains spread everyday and the local gossip was always telling something new; something amazing, magnificent or life-threatening. Except there was one legend, one rumour that lasted years more than anything else: the Legend of 'The Blade'.
'The Blade' was a swordsman who didn't flinch in the atmosphere of terror, did not fear death and fought with great valour and skill. Many rumour that he was a hero descended from the heavens, others a demon arisen from Hell. Stories would spread and with each story, it always differed from the other. The stories twisted and changed and before you knew it, he became just a legend. A fictional character from a book. A made-up existence. A shadow among the world. He was inhuman.

In fact I was no different to any person, I comprised of blood and flesh, a heart full of a variety of emotions. I endured nightmares and suffering beyond agony. I was a legend, yes but I was no hero. I was no demon or saviour. I was an ordinary fighter with extraordinary skills...or was I?
A wise friend had once told me: "He who fears of being conquered is sure of defeat." I lived through my life following this quote, this fact that led me safely through every mistake, and every problem I faced. I had faced mad adversaries, seducing women who tried to kill me, kings who feared the might not of their kingdom but of me and death. I almost faced certain death, years ago when my life had dramatically transformed how I lived and what I did.
I was saved by a friend who taught me how to fight, how to note a person's expression and the history of every kingdom and past rule over the decades. It was then that I realised, I shouldn't fear death but fear, fear itself. You gain strength, courage and confidence by each experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. I had been through many different experiences – awkward, nervous, joyful, scary, saddening and much more. Though my teacher always taught me to think positively, think of the present and what is happening at the very second and not fear of what is going to happen next or dwell in the past.
I say to myself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can withstand the next thing in line that comes along to meet me.'
It worked well for me over a couple of years, fighting off bandits, mercenaries, pirates and soldiers of the Empire. However, my confidence dropped, my strength thwarted and I grew increasingly more tired each day. I felt nauseous. I felt a little something making its way around my body as if on tour. Something in me wanted to escape but I didn't know what.
I then discovered I possessed something that no other man possessed besides my teacher and my unsuspecting father. It endangered my life, it slowly increased the hostilities against me, and it placed the kingdoms under anxiety and worst of all it brought my enemies closer than ever.
Slowly it happened, I was betrayed. Betrayal occurred all at once around me and the world started to dim. It was starting to strip away of everything good and fill with everything evil. Death invaded the land. Suffering hit those who led healthy, innocent lives.
I confronted them. I confronted my friends who were now enemies. I confronted greedy, selfish men who worked for mighty kings. Most of all I confronted the person who threatened to kill me. I didn't have a choice but die by his hands. For the first time then, I feared death and I came to the conclusion. The conclusion to do the thing that I couldn't do - the thing to look death in the eye and refuse: I had to escape death itself.
Even I couldn't do that but I must, my legend must continue. The legend of 'The Blade' had to continue even if that meant denying the boundaries of reality and stepping into the world of illusion.

[Chapter 1: 'The Blade']

Exactly One Year before Death
As I walked inside the underground outpost, I studied my surroundings. I had notified the others to come and aid me but they had yet to arrive. I sigh while I casually walked down the dimming dirt passage. The lights flickered and swayed every time a gentle breeze flowed down the maze of passages and chambers. A few metres ahead there was a wooden door depraved of its knob and weakened by the termites that inhabited the hellhole.
I took a breath in and stepped backward a metre before I converted my energy to my legs. I twisted to my side and brought my left leg up for impact. The rotten door blew off its hinges as fresh air howled, filling the chamber inside. Without blinking, I walked forward until I paused in the centre of the muddy chamber. The candle flickered once...twice and then died out. I knew they were preparing to ambush me and I closed my eyes to listen to my surroundings which were unusually quiet. The wind from the outside ceased and there was a soft rustle of rats scattering around the chamber picking off scraps of food left from the previous meal.
I was close to falling asleep when I heard a different sort of soft rustle behind me, a rustle of where one tried to prevent making noise. I could tell that a samurai was attempting to slit my throat from behind and somehow I knew that the samurai wasn't stupid.
"I know you're there, come and face me!" I shouted,
With a swift turn that made my black coat elevate from the pressure of the wind, I discover a brown rabbit sniffing at a piece of rotten apple. A cold anger rose from the bottom of my heart and I swung back to find the samurai lunging at me with his katana. My eyes refused to blink as I bent my back and flipped towards the door, knocking the samurai in the chin and colliding into the ceiling.
I stood up in determination as I observed the samurai making an effort to stand up. I was now in a position where I could be attacked from four sides. Four different passages in four different directions faced me. The samurai leader of the Empire was swathed in a dark, hooded cloak with a glimpse of silver chainmail armour underneath. He stepped forward and spoke while six others appeared behind and across from me.
"Filthy trespasser, you are on Empire territory! This dark deed is a criminal offence to the Emperor and to the laws of the Empire, the penalty is death."
I stood calmly and looked the battle scarred man in the eye.
"I have not violated a law nor offended your emperor. You will find that it is you and your men that have violated the law. This is Romalian territory you are trespassing! I am Blade and the victim of your false accusations. I intend to inform you that if you don't leave, I will have to use force."
The man laughed harshly and unconvincingly.
"There is no legendary blade, it is folklore...legend. And this is Empire territory if we demand so. Your life ends here without pause!"
A polished and engraved katana with the symbol of the Empire flashed into his hands and he leapt forward. I ducked and stepped in to meet his lunge, grabbed the katana by the wrist and thundered a ferocious blow to the man's face. When the man fell back, I gripped his wrist and spun him round brutally, then using his own katana sliced off his arm – dislocating the shoulder as well. The Empire samurai screamed in agonizing pain. Another four of the seven samurais' propelled forward. Lifting my foot, I lurched forward to meet the first and crippled him with the katana, and pushing him towards his comrades. I dropped the katana as blood dripped from my sleeve and the ring of the katana resonated through the underground cavern.
"I am the legendary Blade!" I thundered, "Believe it or not but today you will die by my hand!
My voice shook the cavern and dirt sifted through holes from the surface. The other samurais' hesitated to attack then but then they were reassured that they carried weapons and I didn't. The leader with blood gushing from his arm rose onto his knees and gasped with every breath he took.
"Kill...him!" he had screamed which didn't make a difference, "He is...unarmed."
They rushed in to accompany the adrenaline. I chuckled as they were misled by my appearance. I untied the grey rope around my neck and my black 'coat' glided down to meet the ground. Before it touched, I reached behind with both hands and withdrew two identical blades marked with a falcon. Quickly I pointed it at the samurais' who hesitated then and with a sharp click, an incisive cutting edge appears from a slot built into the tip of the blade. The samurais' look shocked from the now hooked blades I was wielding.
I taunt them by nodding my head harshly once implying them to come at me with all they've got. The flames from the torches across the uneven walls shone unsteadily, as a few of them died out from the focused airstream that prevented the force of wind to move any other direction.
The gasping leader of the samurai looked up at his men in fury.
"Well...what are you waiting for? Bring me his head! You are soldiers of the Empire! You do not retreat or feel fear as a weakness, bring me his goddamn head!" he shrieked while the blood jetted out of his arm.
Once again they dashed towards me a few at a time. I charged to meet them. The first swung his katana obviously overconfident that he was to slice my head off. I ducked to the ground, criss-crossed my hooked blades inward and outward wedging them into the chain mailed legs of the two samurais'. I lock the hooks in place and pull towards me with a hefty breath. The two samurais' shrieked and screamed as the earth shook again, this time cracks began to form in the ceiling.
With a throbbing pain, they gripped hold of their legs so tight; they squeezed blood between their fingers. I unhook their legs and shook the blood off the blades. The red substance dripped over the crippled samurais' faces. I spun my blades in a clockwise direction and I halted their annoying screams.
Blood jetted up from their mouths as their eyes and movement faltered and broke off along with their final dying breaths. The remaining three stampeded through the narrow passage, squeezing through. I leave my blades downward next to my side and charge toward them. When they were a metre close, I hurled my left blade into the chest of the closest and bound on the wall. I skimmed across the wall leaving footprints in the dirt and plunged the tip of the blade deep into the skull of the next. A third approached and swung low to hit my legs, with the perfect timing I sprung just as the blade was in motion and on my descent - I held the blade underneath my legs and the ground to prevent the samurai to attack once again.
I reached behind without looking and drew out the blade stuck in the chest of the first samurai, who was kneeling on the ground breathless. With a swift motion I swung the blade across to meet the thigh of the samurai in front of me. He staggered back. I twisted to my side, and then hammered my shoulder into the samurai causing him to fall back. I stab the samurai in the heart with the blade. The final samurai was the leader who was lying on the ground wheezing.
"You should have listened to me, now without further ado you must die..." I told him.
I pounded the heel of my foot against the samurai leader's knee. There was a sickening and appalling crack as the joint snapped followed by a rush of purple across the lower half of his leg. He shrieked and spurted out blood onto his chain mail. In revulsion he chuckled.
"You...I remember you..." he coughed, "the boy at the farm...near the kingdom...Chevorlia..."
"What? Farm in Chevorlia," I nervously asked trying to hide my guilt.
He coughed up more blood and his wheezing became more of a quickening rasp.
"What a useless kid...couldn't...do anything...to save your parents..." he laughed while coughing, "I didn't report...you 'cause...I knew you...wouldn't do anything that would...endanger your life..."
I loosen my grip on the blade but not too much.
"I loved watching your expression...while my general raped...your mother...well almost" he chuckled, "the way he beheaded your father...and..."
He was cut short when my vengeful anger burst out and I plunged the hooked blade into his chest repeatedly until he feels a hand on his shoulder. I looked back with excessive irritation and noticed a bulky, heavy muscled samurai behind me. Before I could react, the hooked blade became immovable from the mutilated corpse in front of me. The chubby samurai heaved me high above his shoulders and I impacted onto the ceiling as he threw me across the passage.
I landed with a thud and skimmed across the dirt attempting to grab hold of something. Before I knew it I was metres away from the new adversary. He carried a broadsword and no armour.
Refusing to give up, I stood up wavering from side to side due to loss of strength. I sprinted down the passage, crouched and hammered my shoulder into his stomach. Nothing happened except that I bounced back without causing him any pain. He heaved the broadsword high and sliced through the air downwards. Without hesitation, I roll to my side before it impacted.
The tremor that resulted after caused the cavern to shake and before I realised, a boulder from the ceiling above had knocked the samurai unconscious. I struggle to get up enduring the pain. I yank my blade from the dead samurai leader. I took a deep breath and wrenched the second blade from the skull of a corpse. A squelching sound made me feel nauseating. This was the first time I felt weak, incompetent and defenceless. I didn't feel like the legendary 'Blade' anymore, just a normal warrior with a weapon of death.
My vision became blurred as I see the unconscious samurai regain his strength and push the boulder aside. I stagger forward and I heard a whistle sound shoot across the passage and muffle as it made contact with the samurai's ear. It pierced deep down with only the feather of the shaft revealed. I heard a young female voice somewhere around me but before I could find out, I fell unaware of myself onto the cold earth which was smothered with blood.
I found myself in an empty blackness with no sound, no feel and no movement. It felt like I was hanging from the air until my feet reached a solid surface and I could see a blinding light approaching me from a distance. A mere second later, I was back at the farm where I used to live years ago of what seemed like an eternity.
Terrified and shocked to see my parents once again appearing in front of me with a soul, I see my reflection tugging at my father's tunic.
"Dad...come play!" my reflection pestered, "I'm bored...all my other friends get to have toys while I'm stuck doing chores."
The father drops his hammer beside him and embraced my reflection. He smiled.
"Vorn...you know we can't afford those toys. I've told you that doing work and chores help strengthen your muscles. You'll thank me when you're older."
My reflection moaned exasperatedly.
"But Daddy, I don't want to become a knight and fight..." continued my reflection, "I don't want to die like that woman on the street."
The father grips the saddened boy's palm and looked into his eyes.
"Son...I know it is hard to witness a death at such a young age but you must be confident. You'll learn all this when you go to the Academy," explained the father, "now be off with you, help your mother out."
"Yes father"
My reflection leaves the barn only for a second to return with the mother who looked extremely worried.
"Cederik!" she whimpered,
"What my love?" he asked in worry, "What's wrong?"
She cuddles around him and for a brief moment they embrace each other. My reflection was concerned by men in armour across the paddock. He whimpered for a second and joined in the embrace of his parents.
"Raiders...they have come!" sobbed the mother,
The father's eyes expanded and he kissed the mother on the cheek. I started to feel tears forming in my eyes as I continued to watch the memory.
"Don't worry, hide in the house. I'll fetch my sword..." he told her. "Vorn hide behind the haystacks. Don't worry and whatever happens, stay hidden."
My reflection did what was told and hid between the haystacks watching intently as his father revealed a short sword from the cupboard. Soon after the raiders marched into the barn acting as if they owned the place, the mother was being dragged in by her tangled brown hair.
"Let go of her!" demanded the father,
The raider leader looked up into the mother's eyes and spoke.
"And why would I do that? She has the beauty of a high priestess," he said paying no attention that the father carried a sword. "You should consider the odds - fifty men and one of you, not likely odds that you will fight all of us and survive."
Cederik unsheathed his short sword and directed the tip towards the raider's head. Shortly after, ten or so other raiders appeared in all directions withdrawing their weapons.
"I'd suggest you drop your weapon and we won't kill you...yet," advised the raider leader.
Cederik glanced over to the haystack and my reflection looked back at his father.
"I know you, you're Daragon; the mercenary who conquered Chevorlia."
"Correct. And you are a poor farmer with drained luck," chuckled Daragon. "I'll ask again, drop your sword!"
Cederik hesitated and what seemed like ages moved towards Daragon shouting a war cry. Daragon pulled the mother out of the way and she fell into the hands of another raider. Daragon leant to his right side to evade a left lunge from Cederik and seized his hand. Daragon twisted to one side and hammered his shoulder into the father's ribs.
Cederik slumped to the ground groaning and tightly held where Daragon broke his ribs. Daragon laughed to himself while he kicked him in the leg.
"You're pitiful, a weakling. No more than just a son of a whore."
Making an effort to stand up, the father reached for his sword. He was halted when Daragon hammered his booted foot onto his hand. Cederik screamed in pain while he clutched Daragon's boot that was pressuring his hand. Daragon grunted and stepped harder, crunching and crackling of bones followed straight after and the mother screamed in horror.
"I must apologize. This has been a long introduction. Allow me to end your suffering," Daragon snickered.
He released Cederik's hand and lifted up the hilt of Cederik's sword. He spun it anti-clockwise to intimidate his comrades. With a finishing blow, he gripped the sword with both hands and struck clean through Cederik's neck. His head bounced off with a repulsive crack and his blood sprayed all over the barn.
The mother escaped from the raider who was holding her and tugged at the dead body.
"No...no!" she screamed in tears, "Cederik! Don't leave me!"
Daragon approached her and wrenched her off the corpse laughing nastily.
"Now for the glories of pillage...I'm going to have fun tonight, we all are!" he lustfully shouted to the raiders. They returned a cheer and shrill whistles. "Burn the paddocks, slaughter the stock and find some precious items that we can sell over the market."
The raiders left continuing to shout and cheer. A roar of flame shot up from one of the nearby paddocks as I watched the memory in fright. I was scared once again, I was fearful of death. I had almost forgotten about my childhood but now it would remain in my thoughts forever.
I felt cold though I could feel an aura of warmth hovering on my hands. I heard a voice, a soothing voice calling out to me. Before I could distinguish the voice, my memory persisted and I saw the mother being harassed and tossed around like she was a 'plaything'.
My reflection peered through a gap in the haystack as he watched with dread as Daragon pushed the mother's legs wide open. He then ripped the dress she was wearing in half revealing the fabric underneath which covered her chest. The reflection outraged of his father's death and disrespect of her mother – he leapt from his hiding place and snatched a pitchfork from the haystack. He thrust the pointed ends of the pitchfork into the Daragon's back. He fell breathless onto the ground. The mother was still traumatized and hugged my reflection as if she was never going to see him again.
"Run Vorn! Find a place to rest and live! Live my son!" she commanded,
My reflection cried out to her and began to cry.
"Mommy, come with me!"
"I can't, you have years of life ahead of you and I am old. Go now before they discover what has happened."
Under much distress, he left her and ran towards the river bank for refuge against the flames that soared across the fields. He looked back and saw the barn in blaze, moments later it collapsed under the fire. The memory blanked out and somehow I felt myself spin causing me to get dizzy. I fell into nothingness as not anything caught me. It felt like a void, a never-ending fall to the rivers of death. The female voice was much more distinguished but before I could respond, I drifted away into the darkness.
"He's lost conscious," said a female voice. "Proteus, help me carry him into Villa Koniola. He can recover there."
"Sure, Shadow – scour the caverns to see if anyone else is left," he said claiming command. "Sirius, prepare the outpost for demolishing!"
"We're going to need a miracle to carry Blade to the nearby village!" the female voice said as everything went silent.

Description
[Prologue: Legends and Stories]

In a time of heroes and villains, kings and conquest and a time for courage – there lay, the still strange world of Reytra. Among Reytra were the twenty-one kingdoms, all superior and strong by unity for it was foretold that they would survive the age of darkness, the age of kings and every problem they would face.
However, this foretelling was unfortunately proven to be wrong. The kingdom to the far west became a rivalry to all the other kingdoms resulting in the shatter of the unification. The kingdoms of Reytra split and divided into separate territories and were no longer as one but many different alliances.
Although, the significant event introduced a world full of courageous, wise heroes who fought for the weak and protected society as we know it. It became a time where Reytra was vulnerable to destruction, where the weak and the rich could be divided unfairly and the evil could be arisen. Years followed after the loss of unification and before long humans weren't the only ones who inhabited Earth.
Now Reytra comprised of lost kingdoms, which were taken over by races of a different kind. Some weird, some strange and mysterious and others menacing and wicked. As we all know it, the heroes and the good always win. They were problems that occur but the legends always came true, the heroes survive and the evil thwarted; but this was no ordinary story, no ordinary tale. This was a story about a man shrouded with a lonely and traumatic childhood, a priestess who hasn't experienced life in the outside world and a spy who had mixed feelings about the side he was on.
Three lives would change the fate of every kingdom, the fate of every woman and child, the fate of every warrior; they would change the destiny of good or evil forever. Change was inevitable. Legends, tales, prophecies, rumours of heroes and villains spread everyday and the local gossip was always telling something new; something amazing, magnificent or life-threatening. Except there was one legend, one rumour that lasted years more than anything else: the Legend of 'The Blade'.
'The Blade' was a swordsman who didn't flinch in the atmosphere of terror, did not fear death and fought with great valour and skill. Many rumour that he was a hero descended from the heavens, others a demon arisen from Hell. Stories would spread and with each story, it always differed from the other. The stories twisted and changed and before you knew it, he became just a legend. A fictional character from a book. A made-up existence. A shadow among the world. He was inhuman.

In fact I was no different to any person, I comprised of blood and flesh, a heart full of a variety of emotions. I endured nightmares and suffering beyond agony. I was a legend, yes but I was no hero. I was no demon or saviour. I was an ordinary fighter with extraordinary skills...or was I?
A wise friend had once told me: "He who fears of being conquered is sure of defeat." I lived through my life following this quote, this fact that led me safely through every mistake, and every problem I faced. I had faced mad adversaries, seducing women who tried to kill me, kings who feared the might not of their kingdom but of me and death. I almost faced certain death, years ago when my life had dramatically transformed how I lived and what I did.
I was saved by a friend who taught me how to fight, how to note a person's expression and the history of every kingdom and past rule over the decades. It was then that I realised, I shouldn't fear death but fear, fear itself. You gain strength, courage and confidence by each experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. I had been through many different experiences – awkward, nervous, joyful, scary, saddening and much more. Though my teacher always taught me to think positively, think of the present and what is happening at the very second and not fear of what is going to happen next or dwell in the past.
I say to myself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can withstand the next thing in line that comes along to meet me.'
It worked well for me over a couple of years, fighting off bandits, mercenaries, pirates and soldiers of the Empire. However, my confidence dropped, my strength thwarted and I grew increasingly more tired each day. I felt nauseous. I felt a little something making its way around my body as if on tour. Something in me wanted to escape but I didn't know what.
I then discovered I possessed something that no other man possessed besides my teacher and my unsuspecting father. It endangered my life, it slowly increased the hostilities against me, and it placed the kingdoms under anxiety and worst of all it brought my enemies closer than ever.
Slowly it happened, I was betrayed. Betrayal occurred all at once around me and the world started to dim. It was starting to strip away of everything good and fill with everything evil. Death invaded the land. Suffering hit those who led healthy, innocent lives.
I confronted them. I confronted my friends who were now enemies. I confronted greedy, selfish men who worked for mighty kings. Most of all I confronted the person who threatened to kill me. I didn't have a choice but die by his hands. For the first time then, I feared death and I came to the conclusion. The conclusion to do the thing that I couldn't do - the thing to look death in the eye and refuse: I had to escape death itself.
Even I couldn't do that but I must, my legend must continue. The legend of 'The Blade' had to continue even if that meant denying the boundaries of reality and stepping into the world of illusion.

[Chapter 1: 'The Blade']

Exactly One Year before Death
As I walked inside the underground outpost, I studied my surroundings. I had notified the others to come and aid me but they had yet to arrive. I sigh while I casually walked down the dimming dirt passage. The lights flickered and swayed every time a gentle breeze flowed down the maze of passages and chambers. A few metres ahead there was a wooden door depraved of its knob and weakened by the termites that inhabited the hellhole.
I took a breath in and stepped backward a metre before I converted my energy to my legs. I twisted to my side and brought my left leg up for impact. The rotten door blew off its hinges as fresh air howled, filling the chamber inside. Without blinking, I walked forward until I paused in the centre of the muddy chamber. The candle flickered once...twice and then died out. I knew they were preparing to ambush me and I closed my eyes to listen to my surroundings which were unusually quiet. The wind from the outside ceased and there was a soft rustle of rats scattering around the chamber picking off scraps of food left from the previous meal.
I was close to falling asleep when I heard a different sort of soft rustle behind me, a rustle of where one tried to prevent making noise. I could tell that a samurai was attempting to slit my throat from behind and somehow I knew that the samurai wasn't stupid.
"I know you're there, come and face me!" I shouted,
With a swift turn that made my black coat elevate from the pressure of the wind, I discover a brown rabbit sniffing at a piece of rotten apple. A cold anger rose from the bottom of my heart and I swung back to find the samurai lunging at me with his katana. My eyes refused to blink as I bent my back and flipped towards the door, knocking the samurai in the chin and colliding into the ceiling.
I stood up in determination as I observed the samurai making an effort to stand up. I was now in a position where I could be attacked from four sides. Four different passages in four different directions faced me. The samurai leader of the Empire was swathed in a dark, hooded cloak with a glimpse of silver chainmail armour underneath. He stepped forward and spoke while six others appeared behind and across from me.
"Filthy trespasser, you are on Empire territory! This dark deed is a criminal offence to the Emperor and to the laws of the Empire, the penalty is death."
I stood calmly and looked the battle scarred man in the eye.
"I have not violated a law nor offended your emperor. You will find that it is you and your men that have violated the law. This is Romalian territory you are trespassing! I am Blade and the victim of your false accusations. I intend to inform you that if you don't leave, I will have to use force."
The man laughed harshly and unconvincingly.
"There is no legendary blade, it is folklore...legend. And this is Empire territory if we demand so. Your life ends here without pause!"
A polished and engraved katana with the symbol of the Empire flashed into his hands and he leapt forward. I ducked and stepped in to meet his lunge, grabbed the katana by the wrist and thundered a ferocious blow to the man's face. When the man fell back, I gripped his wrist and spun him round brutally, then using his own katana sliced off his arm – dislocating the shoulder as well. The Empire samurai screamed in agonizing pain. Another four of the seven samurais' propelled forward. Lifting my foot, I lurched forward to meet the first and crippled him with the katana, and pushing him towards his comrades. I dropped the katana as blood dripped from my sleeve and the ring of the katana resonated through the underground cavern.
"I am the legendary Blade!" I thundered, "Believe it or not but today you will die by my hand!
My voice shook the cavern and dirt sifted through holes from the surface. The other samurais' hesitated to attack then but then they were reassured that they carried weapons and I didn't. The leader with blood gushing from his arm rose onto his knees and gasped with every breath he took.
"Kill...him!" he had screamed which didn't make a difference, "He is...unarmed."
They rushed in to accompany the adrenaline. I chuckled as they were misled by my appearance. I untied the grey rope around my neck and my black 'coat' glided down to meet the ground. Before it touched, I reached behind with both hands and withdrew two identical blades marked with a falcon. Quickly I pointed it at the samurais' who hesitated then and with a sharp click, an incisive cutting edge appears from a slot built into the tip of the blade. The samurais' look shocked from the now hooked blades I was wielding.
I taunt them by nodding my head harshly once implying them to come at me with all they've got. The flames from the torches across the uneven walls shone unsteadily, as a few of them died out from the focused airstream that prevented the force of wind to move any other direction.
The gasping leader of the samurai looked up at his men in fury.
"Well...what are you waiting for? Bring me his head! You are soldiers of the Empire! You do not retreat or feel fear as a weakness, bring me his goddamn head!" he shrieked while the blood jetted out of his arm.
Once again they dashed towards me a few at a time. I charged to meet them. The first swung his katana obviously overconfident that he was to slice my head off. I ducked to the ground, criss-crossed my hooked blades inward and outward wedging them into the chain mailed legs of the two samurais'. I lock the hooks in place and pull towards me with a hefty breath. The two samurais' shrieked and screamed as the earth shook again, this time cracks began to form in the ceiling.
With a throbbing pain, they gripped hold of their legs so tight; they squeezed blood between their fingers. I unhook their legs and shook the blood off the blades. The red substance dripped over the crippled samurais' faces. I spun my blades in a clockwise direction and I halted their annoying screams.
Blood jetted up from their mouths as their eyes and movement faltered and broke off along with their final dying breaths. The remaining three stampeded through the narrow passage, squeezing through. I leave my blades downward next to my side and charge toward them. When they were a metre close, I hurled my left blade into the chest of the closest and bound on the wall. I skimmed across the wall leaving footprints in the dirt and plunged the tip of the blade deep into the skull of the next. A third approached and swung low to hit my legs, with the perfect timing I sprung just as the blade was in motion and on my descent - I held the blade underneath my legs and the ground to prevent the samurai to attack once again.
I reached behind without looking and drew out the blade stuck in the chest of the first samurai, who was kneeling on the ground breathless. With a swift motion I swung the blade across to meet the thigh of the samurai in front of me. He staggered back. I twisted to my side, and then hammered my shoulder into the samurai causing him to fall back. I stab the samurai in the heart with the blade. The final samurai was the leader who was lying on the ground wheezing.
"You should have listened to me, now without further ado you must die..." I told him.
I pounded the heel of my foot against the samurai leader's knee. There was a sickening and appalling crack as the joint snapped followed by a rush of purple across the lower half of his leg. He shrieked and spurted out blood onto his chain mail. In revulsion he chuckled.
"You...I remember you..." he coughed, "the boy at the farm...near the kingdom...Chevorlia..."
"What? Farm in Chevorlia," I nervously asked trying to hide my guilt.
He coughed up more blood and his wheezing became more of a quickening rasp.
"What a useless kid...couldn't...do anything...to save your parents..." he laughed while coughing, "I didn't report...you 'cause...I knew you...wouldn't do anything that would...endanger your life..."
I loosen my grip on the blade but not too much.
"I loved watching your expression...while my general raped...your mother...well almost" he chuckled, "the way he beheaded your father...and..."
He was cut short when my vengeful anger burst out and I plunged the hooked blade into his chest repeatedly until he feels a hand on his shoulder. I looked back with excessive irritation and noticed a bulky, heavy muscled samurai behind me. Before I could react, the hooked blade became immovable from the mutilated corpse in front of me. The chubby samurai heaved me high above his shoulders and I impacted onto the ceiling as he threw me across the passage.
I landed with a thud and skimmed across the dirt attempting to grab hold of something. Before I knew it I was metres away from the new adversary. He carried a broadsword and no armour.
Refusing to give up, I stood up wavering from side to side due to loss of strength. I sprinted down the passage, crouched and hammered my shoulder into his stomach. Nothing happened except that I bounced back without causing him any pain. He heaved the broadsword high and sliced through the air downwards. Without hesitation, I roll to my side before it impacted.
The tremor that resulted after caused the cavern to shake and before I realised, a boulder from the ceiling above had knocked the samurai unconscious. I struggle to get up enduring the pain. I yank my blade from the dead samurai leader. I took a deep breath and wrenched the second blade from the skull of a corpse. A squelching sound made me feel nauseating. This was the first time I felt weak, incompetent and defenceless. I didn't feel like the legendary 'Blade' anymore, just a normal warrior with a weapon of death.
My vision became blurred as I see the unconscious samurai regain his strength and push the boulder aside. I stagger forward and I heard a whistle sound shoot across the passage and muffle as it made contact with the samurai's ear. It pierced deep down with only the feather of the shaft revealed. I heard a young female voice somewhere around me but before I could find out, I fell unaware of myself onto the cold earth which was smothered with blood.
I found myself in an empty blackness with no sound, no feel and no movement. It felt like I was hanging from the air until my feet reached a solid surface and I could see a blinding light approaching me from a distance. A mere second later, I was back at the farm where I used to live years ago of what seemed like an eternity.
Terrified and shocked to see my parents once again appearing in front of me with a soul, I see my reflection tugging at my father's tunic.
"Dad...come play!" my reflection pestered, "I'm bored...all my other friends get to have toys while I'm stuck doing chores."
The father drops his hammer beside him and embraced my reflection. He smiled.
"Vorn...you know we can't afford those toys. I've told you that doing work and chores help strengthen your muscles. You'll thank me when you're older."
My reflection moaned exasperatedly.
"But Daddy, I don't want to become a knight and fight..." continued my reflection, "I don't want to die like that woman on the street."
The father grips the saddened boy's palm and looked into his eyes.
"Son...I know it is hard to witness a death at such a young age but you must be confident. You'll learn all this when you go to the Academy," explained the father, "now be off with you, help your mother out."
"Yes father"
My reflection leaves the barn only for a second to return with the mother who looked extremely worried.
"Cederik!" she whimpered,
"What my love?" he asked in worry, "What's wrong?"
She cuddles around him and for a brief moment they embrace each other. My reflection was concerned by men in armour across the paddock. He whimpered for a second and joined in the embrace of his parents.
"Raiders...they have come!" sobbed the mother,
The father's eyes expanded and he kissed the mother on the cheek. I started to feel tears forming in my eyes as I continued to watch the memory.
"Don't worry, hide in the house. I'll fetch my sword..." he told her. "Vorn hide behind the haystacks. Don't worry and whatever happens, stay hidden."
My reflection did what was told and hid between the haystacks watching intently as his father revealed a short sword from the cupboard. Soon after the raiders marched into the barn acting as if they owned the place, the mother was being dragged in by her tangled brown hair.
"Let go of her!" demanded the father,
The raider leader looked up into the mother's eyes and spoke.
"And why would I do that? She has the beauty of a high priestess," he said paying no attention that the father carried a sword. "You should consider the odds - fifty men and one of you, not likely odds that you will fight all of us and survive."
Cederik unsheathed his short sword and directed the tip towards the raider's head. Shortly after, ten or so other raiders appeared in all directions withdrawing their weapons.
"I'd suggest you drop your weapon and we won't kill you...yet," advised the raider leader.
Cederik glanced over to the haystack and my reflection looked back at his father.
"I know you, you're Daragon; the mercenary who conquered Chevorlia."
"Correct. And you are a poor farmer with drained luck," chuckled Daragon. "I'll ask again, drop your sword!"
Cederik hesitated and what seemed like ages moved towards Daragon shouting a war cry. Daragon pulled the mother out of the way and she fell into the hands of another raider. Daragon leant to his right side to evade a left lunge from Cederik and seized his hand. Daragon twisted to one side and hammered his shoulder into the father's ribs.
Cederik slumped to the ground groaning and tightly held where Daragon broke his ribs. Daragon laughed to himself while he kicked him in the leg.
"You're pitiful, a weakling. No more than just a son of a whore."
Making an effort to stand up, the father reached for his sword. He was halted when Daragon hammered his booted foot onto his hand. Cederik screamed in pain while he clutched Daragon's boot that was pressuring his hand. Daragon grunted and stepped harder, crunching and crackling of bones followed straight after and the mother screamed in horror.
"I must apologize. This has been a long introduction. Allow me to end your suffering," Daragon snickered.
He released Cederik's hand and lifted up the hilt of Cederik's sword. He spun it anti-clockwise to intimidate his comrades. With a finishing blow, he gripped the sword with both hands and struck clean through Cederik's neck. His head bounced off with a repulsive crack and his blood sprayed all over the barn.
The mother escaped from the raider who was holding her and tugged at the dead body.
"No...no!" she screamed in tears, "Cederik! Don't leave me!"
Daragon approached her and wrenched her off the corpse laughing nastily.
"Now for the glories of pillage...I'm going to have fun tonight, we all are!" he lustfully shouted to the raiders. They returned a cheer and shrill whistles. "Burn the paddocks, slaughter the stock and find some precious items that we can sell over the market."
The raiders left continuing to shout and cheer. A roar of flame shot up from one of the nearby paddocks as I watched the memory in fright. I was scared once again, I was fearful of death. I had almost forgotten about my childhood but now it would remain in my thoughts forever.
I felt cold though I could feel an aura of warmth hovering on my hands. I heard a voice, a soothing voice calling out to me. Before I could distinguish the voice, my memory persisted and I saw the mother being harassed and tossed around like she was a 'plaything'.
My reflection peered through a gap in the haystack as he watched with dread as Daragon pushed the mother's legs wide open. He then ripped the dress she was wearing in half revealing the fabric underneath which covered her chest. The reflection outraged of his father's death and disrespect of her mother – he leapt from his hiding place and snatched a pitchfork from the haystack. He thrust the pointed ends of the pitchfork into the Daragon's back. He fell breathless onto the ground. The mother was still traumatized and hugged my reflection as if she was never going to see him again.
"Run Vorn! Find a place to rest and live! Live my son!" she commanded,
My reflection cried out to her and began to cry.
"Mommy, come with me!"
"I can't, you have years of life ahead of you and I am old. Go now before they discover what has happened."
Under much distress, he left her and ran towards the river bank for refuge against the flames that soared across the fields. He looked back and saw the barn in blaze, moments later it collapsed under the fire. The memory blanked out and somehow I felt myself spin causing me to get dizzy. I fell into nothingness as not anything caught me. It felt like a void, a never-ending fall to the rivers of death. The female voice was much more distinguished but before I could respond, I drifted away into the darkness.
"He's lost conscious," said a female voice. "Proteus, help me carry him into Villa Koniola. He can recover there."
"Sure, Shadow – scour the caverns to see if anyone else is left," he said claiming command. "Sirius, prepare the outpost for demolishing!"
"We're going to need a miracle to carry Blade to the nearby village!" the female voice said as everything went silent.