Back Against The Wall

The thick smell of blood mingled with ashes and burned my lungs as I knelt there with my sword in the ground. My breaths came out as ragged gasps as I tightly held onto my side, which had been pierced by an arrow only moments before. I was running from the horrors of war like a coward, and I got what I deserved for abandoning those who trusted me.

'No!' I thought as I struggled to my feet. 'I am a warrior, and I will not let my men's sacrifices be in vain!' I tore my sword free from the ground and turned from the nearby forest to face the advancing army. I knew I was no God or Hero, but I would make them pay dearly for what they had done.

The first soldier ran up to me, screaming all the while, and tried to run his sword through my heart. I moved out of the way and cut the man's hamstring before conjuring metal spikes underneath him, piercing his body and hanging him in the air for all to see. My rage and bloodlust only grew from there.

This time, two men tried to attack me. I parried the first man's strike before dodging the second's stab and flipping him over my shoulder and onto the first man. I impaled the both of them with a large metal spike and wasted no time in engaging the other soldiers.

Most of the men in front were cannon fodder, while the real threats lingered near the back. I saw three large fireballs launch toward me at least two kilometers away. I conjured a large platform of metal under my feet before using it to escape the blast radius, as well as kill some more of the grunts.

I was bleeding from all over and my mana was getting low, but I couldn't stop. Not when I was so close to the Commander. The fireballs exploded and took out a large chunk of their main assault force, leaving a huge gap in their defenses for me to exploit. I hopped off of my platform and engaged a man wearing a suit of shining black armor.

The man drew a large sword and shield from his dimensional storage and rushed me. I could tell he was a skilled swordsman due to his precise and practiced footwork. I dodged the man's sword and clashed with his shield before slipping my foot under his guard and tripping him to the ground.

He was too occupied on his target to focus on his defenses.

I stabbed my sword through the man's neck and dodged out of the way of a dagger. A woman in leather armor ran at me with tears staining her cheeks. I felt no sympathy for her. I cut her leading arm off before plunging my sword into her heart.

I heard a heavy footstep behind me and turned to block a bardiche aimed for my head. My sword flew out of my hand and I was forced to duck the massive man's follow-up strike. I drew the two kunai that my father had passed down to me and plunged them into the man's kidneys.

The man tried to cleave me in two, but his bardiche missed its mark and got lodged into the ground. I vaulted off of the pole and carved two perfect lines in the man's neck. I landed and felt blood gush out from the wound in my side, but I kept on.

I had to win.

I yelled out and conjured hundreds of metal spikes from the ground, impaling everything near me. I was huffing for breath and on the brink of passing out when the sound of a horse galloping caused my rage to boil over. I turned my head with a snarl as a man with golden armor rode up to the edge of my spikes.

A man wearing a black cloak walked next to him, and I could feel his immense power just from a single glance. The golden armored knight lifted his chin and glared down at me as he said "You are a brave warrior, I will give you that, but I am afraid that you will die here..." The cloaked man disappeared and, suddenly, there was a black dagger making a straight line for my eye.

I blocked the strike and threw out a kick to the man's side, but he vanished into smoke before reappearing behind me. I blocked the man's low kick before moving my other hand to slash at his stomach, but it was no use.

The man back-stepped and grabbed my arm before slamming his knee into it. My elbow shattered and my arm fell limp to my side. I grimaced in pain before dodging a frenzy of stabs and slashed from the cloaked man. I noticed that the man would have a split second where he would have to recover in between attacks, so I chose to wait patiently for the opening.

The man disappeared as the various shadows around me began to shoot toward my legs. I dodged the obvious attempts at trying to bind me while waiting for the man to reveal himself, however, when he did so, it was as he slid his dagger into my already wounded side.

I fought the pain and spun with precision as I guided my kunai into a deadly arc. I stabbed through the man's throat and watched as he choked on his own blood with a smile on his face, and I didn't notice that he had a slave collar until it was too late. Slave collars had been programmed to release an explosion upon its users death, and I had paid the price of my ignorance.

I felt the blast burn my skin and cauterize some of my smaller wounds. I flew back and tumbled across the ground before skidding to a halt. I lay there on the cold ground, staring up into the night sky and began to think back to the good days. The days where I still had my family, my friends by my side.

Shino, the stubborn and loyal Ronin whom I had found starving on the side of the street, Koraz, a carefree and aloof Dragonkin who had been with me since we were kids, Taegen, the mysterious Elf mage who spent more time with his books than anything else, and the fiery Human female Lierin. These four people were my best friends who stuck with me for as long as I can remember, but their lives were ended by these traitorous bastards.

I still remember Shino holding the initial attackers at bay so the civilians could escape, and I still remember the man who had run his sword through his head without a second thought. I still remember watching as the soldiers tortured Koraz and plucked his scales like they would a beast, and I still remember when the soldiers mercilessly beheaded the pregnant Lierin, leading to Taegen committing suicide by blowing himself, and a large portion of the army, into bits.

But most of all, I still remember their last words. "Don't give up hope, Cerrin. You are never alone so long as you remember us. We believe in you..."

Recalling these memories gave me the strength to stand back up once again and face the man in the golden armor, the man who had killed the only family I had ever known and plunged me into darkness. The man raised his brow and said "Ho ho, looks like you survived that. Impressive, but your struggle is in vain."

I looked the man in the eyes and stretched my good arm out to where I had dropped the other kunai before saying "Awaken, Onimaru!" A black line shot out from the kunai and attached itself to the one in my hand before it began to move toward me, stopping at around two meters. A large, gold-black blade sprouted from the top of the black line.

The two kunai's stuck out from the top and bottom of the thickened line to finish the transformation. The Cursed weapon healed me upon transforming, so I was able to fight at my full strength. I twirled Onimaru around before slashing out toward the armored man, sending a black line of energy toward him.

The man's sword began to glow in a holy light as he extended his arm and blocked my attack with ease. The energy dispersed upon contact with his sword, leaving the man unfazed. The man scowled and spat "I see you have a Cursed weapon. I will do you a favor and rid you of its influence!"

The man leapt off of his horse and charged toward me at lightning fast speeds. I smirked and murmured "Sorry, but I'm gonna have to go all out...stay with me, Onimaru!" The space around me began to bend and shift as a dominating pressure poured out from my body, forcing the man to use a barrier to withstand its effects.

I began to remember the times when Shino would help me train and would show me some of his moves. I gathered mana in my feet before exploding it outwards, propelling me forward faster than the man could react to. I managed to rip the man's armor a little, but I was unsuccessful in doing any real harm to him.

I twisted my body and aimed a hook-kick for the man's neck as I slashed out with Onimaru, creating a scenario that would have been impossible to escape under normal circumstances. My attacks went through the man's body, but it was only an afterimage.

I turned and blocked a stab aimed for my stomach. The man lifted his leg and kicked me in the stomach before swatting me to the side with a vicious backhand. I went flying once more and felt my bones fracture as I hit the ground.

I rolled to my feet and got into a defensive stance as the man pointed his sword at me and began to walk forward while saying "I beg of thee, grace this humble servant with your grand power and smite down all those who stand in the way of God. Defeat thy foe, Suriel!"

The blade extended outwards at a speed too fast for me to react, and pierced me through the heart. The pain spread through my body like an inferno as the sword began to slowly retract. I grit my teeth and grabbed the blade before tugging with all of my might.

The man raised his brow in surprise before extending his blade once more in an effort to keep me from pulling him close. I ignored the pain in my chest as I continued to use Onimaru's power to stay alive. Slowly, I was reigning the man in and, after I had gotten him close enough, I took Onimaru and extended his length to the max, just enough for me to pierce the man straight through the side and out the other end.

We locked eyes and I saw nothing but serenity within his features, while mine were burning with rage and hatred. This man had taken everything from me and so many other people, yet he was able to brush it off as some God's whim?

I felt my body giving out as I fell to my side and watched as the man fell back, his body being consumed by Onimaru's curse. My weapon shrunk down until it reverted back to its duel kunai form before resting next to me. I clenched my fist and felt tears running down my cheeks as I muttered "I did it...I won...and I was able to get my...re...venge..."

My eyelids grew heavy as my body turned cold. My vision faded into darkness and I thought that I would be able to see my family once more, but fate is a cruel, and vile thing. It didn't care if my feelings were hurt, as long as it was entertaining it would do what ever it took to watch it happen.