The Butcher

Ardeth led me down a corridor in the heart of the museum after our brief ceremony. Dr. Bay smiled at the two of us knowingly. Although, I had no idea what Ardeth had in mind for a brief honeymoon before the others got back. If I was being completely honest I was nervous as I noticed he was leading me to the basement. It was relatively unfamiliar as we had only used it for storage, there was nothing else down here that I knew of. Dr. Bay was the only one who came down here when we made room upstairs for the overflow of artifacts to move up. All kinds of things were down here in wooden crates. The room stretched the length of the upstairs floorplan with a few hallways that were different from the rest. Ardeth looked back at me briefly making sure I was alright, I was almost positive he could sense the nerves rolling off me. He smiled reassuring me that I was safe with him, instantly it calmed me.The concrete turned into sand in the unfinished parts of the building. He stopped when we got to an open area past the storage that had a stand with swords with different types of blades and training swords inside it. The only other thing in the rooms were concrete steps that went to a raised area."This place we have used at times when the tribe was in hiding. I haven't been down here in quite some time. But I wanted to show it to you." He said as he let go of my hand and walked over towards the rack, grabbing the wooden training sword out of it and brushing the dust off the handle. He handed it to me, I was impressed that he trusted me with this as he went to grab his own training blade. I smirked. He had no idea I knew how to handle a blade. He was going to be in for a surprise."How exactly do you hold it?" I asked him, acting unsure of the wooden sword holding it awkwardly. He smiled at me and then walked up to me and took my hands in his, helping me fix my grip. I took in his scent as he now seemed comfortable with being near me. It was the same as before, vanilla and lotus flowers. He was distracting me, I felt the blush creep up my neck as I felt his eyes on me."Mrs. Bey, is that a blush I see?" He murmured, his breathing shallow as he showed me a few parries and slashes with the sword. I cleared my throat unwilling to let my voice do any work I knew it would give me away immediately. I tried focusing on the motions he was showing me instead of the proximity of my new husband. After another couple of rounds of repetitive movements, he stepped away from me and watched as I did it on my own."Good, that should be enough to keep you on your feet." He smirked at me. I let out a dry chuckle knowing he was about to get beat by a girl. Even though blades were not my chosen weapon I still knew how to use them if I had to. I let the wooden sword lay limp in my hand down at my right side as he picked up his own and turned around, I lifted the sword up in front of my body adjusting my grip on it awaiting his first move. Ardeth's eyes twinkled in anticipation seeing the movement, I could tell he was already proud."Ready?" He asked, I nodded, dropping the sword back to its original positioning. I watched Ardeth's feet as he took a few quick steps toward me, swinging the sword up from below in an attempt to disarm me. I moved myself to the left of his attack, correcting my stance as I went. While I did this I maneuvered my sword above my head so the hilt was pointing towards the sky, parrying his attack easily with the blade. I knew this would give me an advantage over him because I could then transition into another move quickly and easily. It also helped that he was surprised by it, his grip loosened on the weapon. I moved my sword back to my left side using the momentum I had to bring it back to the front, slicing with the hilt forward, the blade following across his stomach. I reached with my non-dominant hand to grab just above the hilt and moved it toward Ardeth's neck. The blow would have been an instant kill. As the wood touched his skin, his eyebrows rose."Something tells me this is not your first time holding a sword, as you have led me to believe." He started to say as I removed the sword from his neck. He strode back towards the stand grabbing two real swords now. Since he knew I wasn't a beginner."You would be correct my love. While it is not my favorite type of weapon, I can still use it. I was taught by one of the best swordsmen around after I had left the orphanage and Rick felt I was okay to be left alone. Clearly, I got into some trouble…" I told him, walking around and loosening up my shoulders ready for his next attempt to kill or disarm. He threw me the silver sword as I threw him the wooden one. I caught the real sword with ease watching him as he put the wooden one back into the rack."Silver is for monsters." I breathed out, a statement I had learned when I was just starting out, a constant reminder from my mentor. Ardeth let out a dry chuckle having heard this before. I cocked my head to the side smiling, this man was an enigma I wanted to unravel, luckily I was going to have the rest of our lives to do just that. I was going to enjoy the challenge he was going to bring me. I hadn't had the opportunity to use a blade in a while, because Rick rarely wanted to attempt the craft with me, I think it bored him because it took discipline and grace to make a sword do what you wanted it to.Ardeth readied himself for the next fight, throwing his wooden sword towards the stand and replacing it with the real one. I watched as he put the blade on his forearm and started running at me. He thrust the blade at my head and I dodged to the left, letting him bleed the energy he had, as I played defense. He tried again but missed as I jumped backward at his attempts to behead me. I blocked his next movement before he even started and it seemed to stun him enough, the sound of the metal clashing together rang through the air.He carried on, spinning towards me, the blade jabbing out towards my head again. It was good to know he wasn't holding back with me, he trusted me to defend myself. I watched as he spun around again from the momentum he had. As the sword started to come back towards me I threw mine down into the sand blocking it, he had been aiming towards my knees. We stopped for a second eyeing each other."That's a dirty trick," I told him as I started to spin around, pulling the sword with me, aiming for a high attack which he deflected easily, spinning back towards me. I blocked his next attack moving quickly to bring his sword back to my level. He knew better than to try another time so he took the opportunity to spin back around. I had already lowered my sword so that his attack would be moot anyway, moving the sword to my right side and blocking the incoming jab from him. He spun again and this time I ducked underneath his sword. I was getting tired of his fancy movements and decided now was the time to start playing more offensively. I grabbed the front of his cloak pulling him closer to me, as I did this he became distracted enough for me to get the upper hand moving him against the closest wall the sword to his neck. He smiled at me, breathing heavily, and looking down between us. My eyes followed his, he had a small dagger pointed at my stomach."You should be ready for anything." He said, smiling at me and pushing me off of him, his sword still in his hand with the dagger in his non-dominant. Once I regained my footing he swung the dagger at me followed by his sword spinning around again. I blocked it with all the strength I had bringing the blade down from above my head. I knew he was going to come back around with the dagger again so I grabbed his arm with my left hand before he could stab me with it. I tried for another attack but he ducked just in time. The sword coming down to my left I grabbed the blade with my other hand trying a different move, maybe blunt force would do the job. When I did this he was jabbing at me again with the fucking dagger. I had blocked it successfully. He went to my non-dominant side with the sword. I knew this would hit me if I wasn't careful. I quickly maneuvered my sword behind my back to catch the blow he was aiming at me. The metal clanged as I knew my quick thought had saved me. He watched me thoroughly bursting with pride at the complex move I had just shown him.I took a moment to breathe and moved my elbow towards him to bend the dagger from his hand. I knew he wouldn't be able to hold onto it, as his palm was facing upward. I retrieved the sword from behind my back, twirling it above my head and bringing it down to him, he blocked it with his own. The force that I had applied to it cut into his robe tattering the fabric easily. He hissed at the contact, it brought him to his knees.I moved just as he decided to attempt another spinning jab at me, I blocked it quickly as I had seen this coming based on his previous fighting movements. What I wasn't expecting was for him to come around again, his sword cut through the pants I wore, the sting of the metal against my leg stunned me for a second. I could feel the blood dripping slowly out, hot beads rolling down my leg.Taking advantage of the distraction I had endured he retrieved the dagger from the sand. He held the dagger, putting the tip of his sword at the crossguard. He came forward attacking yet again. I blocked the blow as he put the sword behind his back gripping both the dagger and the sword together now as he went in for another attack. I blocked it, jumping backward and ducking as I saw it coming around again. As he was spinning I grabbed the dagger that was facing me, the blade meeting flesh. I let out a grunt of pain. He didn't notice as he ripped it from my hand twirling around again. I brought my own sword up gashing through his shoulder as I jumped out of the way of the blades. He didn't miss a beat as the blood ran down his arm.I moved forward on him attacking once, twice, and a third time. He blocked each time with swiftness. I brought my sword over my shoulder attempting a high attack but missed. I brought it back up from the ground causing him to block from below. I twirled around bringing a blow to his right side. He blocked it, barely, the weapon had loosened from his hand. I pulled it out of his hand holding it at my side with my left hand. I brought my own sword to his neck, my elbow hovering above the blade that was pointed at him. I was ready defensively and offensively for the next move. I watched his eyes knowing that it was over the second we made eye contact. I moved away letting the sword put some distance between us as I maneuvered to hold the sword correctly. I threw his sword that I had commandeered to the ground and brought my blade slowly away from his neck. He took me by surprise as he tried to jab at me with the dagger, not willing to give up. I put the sword between his arms grabbing his wrist as I pushed the dagger toward him. He would have stabbed himself in the neck had he not immediately dropped the blade in the sand, seeing the move coming. My breathing was ragged as I moved away from him."You weren't taught by a swordsman, Eris." He paused as I threw my sword into the ground. Letting my breathing catch up, and my heart slow down. My hair had loosened from its ponytail, flyaways surrounding my face. I pushed the strands out of my face as I went to sit on the concrete slab of steps."You were taught by a butcher." He finished his thought smiling as he kneeled down next to me. His eyes found mine as I laughed dryly, he wasn't wrong. He picked up my hands, I winced as I realized the cut had been deeper than I anticipated. Concern washed over his face as he flipped over my palm looking at the skin that was torn apart by the blade of his dagger."I'm so sorry," He apologized immediately looking around to find something to wrap my hand with. I stopped his frantic looking grabbing his chin, his breathing hitched in his throat as his eyes met mine. The silence stood between us as he leaned forward slowly capturing my lips in his. It was a soft but needed kiss. I shivered as I felt his tongue break through into my mouth. I welcomed it, happy for the first time in a long while. I grasped at his robes trying to pull him closer, opening my legs so he could fit between them. He took the opportunity, leaning my back against the steps. He broke the kiss shortly after not willing to put my hand in any more pain. He pulled away from me, moving me back to my sitting position. I groaned unhappily, he chuckled knowing exactly what I wanted."We'll have plenty of time for that later, right now I need to tend to your wounds." He said moving an arm under my legs and one behind my back picking me up bridal style."Fine." I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck trying to be careful not to touch his own wounds. I slipped a little touching his shoulder where the fabric was torn, he winced slightly as I touched it."I'm sorry…" I paused. He shook his head at me."No need to apologize. Tell me about your butcher." He said, giving me a peck and starting to walk us back up the corridor to the main part of the museum."Well, he was incredibly stubborn, but I knew I needed to learn from the best so I put up with his attitude. He was pragmatic and cynical, we spent a lot of time together. I think in the end some of it rubbed off on me. It was one of the best decisions I ever made." I said unwilling to get into the grim details as Ardeth started up the stairs. Some things were better left unsaid."You have shown incredible skill. No woman in the Medjai handles weapons so your mastery is a breath of fresh air. I would love for you to teach me some of your movements." He said as we reached the top of the stairs."I'd be happy to, as long as you show me some of your fancy twirls," I said to him. He laughed at that, a melodious noise that made warmth flow within me. It was a complete 180 from our latest interactions and I needed more of this tender loving man that was carrying me. I studied the tattoos on his face and his delicate features. I knew almost instantly during our swordplay that marrying him was the right decision for me, he countered me perfectly. But now I knew entirely that he was going to be my weakness until I died.

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Search "The Witcher - Geralt vs Renfri 4K UHD" on YouTube, link will be added to the comments though I'm not positive it will show up.Disclaimer: I don't own anything in 'The Witcher' or 'The Mummy'. Only my Original Character within the story.