***
Blade could now see the seven men up close, walking up the road that led to Star’s place. He drew his sword, something he didn’t do lightly. He could tell that these men were in no wise novices to battle. He knew for sure that the masked swordsman was quite impressively skilled. Blade had walked down a bushy, rocky path, leading him down on the road just meters before them.
“Masked one, is that not the Zakatian sword master?” one of the men asked.
“Hm. It is Blade indeed,” the masked man replied.
Blade walked up to the halted men. The group’s leader stepped to meet him.
“So you’ve hired handymen to help defeat me?”
“Heh! You really think you are of such importance? I apologise, but you do not rank first on my list of priorities at the moment. I have bigger fishes to fry. Still… I will not offend you. I will spare a moment and entertain an old rival… Squad, advance to your position! Don’t get killed. Direct contact with any of the enemies might be unfavourable.”
“I know who you’re after,” Blade said. “You and your men cannot defeat them… You might have a better chance beating me instead.”
“Ha! No need waste so much manpower on one man. I will handle you myself. Men, why are you still in my sight?!” The Mask’s six men bolted down the road past Blade. Blade turned and looked at them. “Hey, focus here. I don’t have all day.”
The masked one drew his two swords. Blade looked at him, seeing vividly the man that killed his parents. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, Blade. It was I.”
“Why pursue me even after the raid has ended?”
“Are you not glad I so often give you your chance of revenge?”
“My brother.”
“I killed him too… not easily though.” Blade still seemed calm.
“Unmask yourself and die honourably,” Blade said.
A laugh came from under the black mask. “I am probably the only swordsman capable of defeating you… since your brother is out of the question… If you win, you can unmask me yourself… If you lose against me… I will certainly kill those children those imbeciles are certain to lose against.”
“Quite ambitious.”
“You know what I admire about you, Blade? Your ability to keep that cool face and hide your thoughts… But I, your mind’s shadow, already know everything that you’re thinking. This is why you cannot win.” The two rushed at each other suddenly.
***
“Stay here!” the Icemaker said quietly, hearing rushing footsteps and heavy panting. Lex ran out to the front door. It flew open as he was about to grab the knob. “Kyle? What’s the matter?!”
“Where are the others? A squad of mercenaries are out for our heads. They’re with the masked man. We’re probably surrounded already! Go warn them!”
“Star and Clover are off. Only Zen and I are here.”
“The witches chose to leave at a time like this?!”
“Come on, Kyle! We can manage a couple o’ soldiers!”
“Can Zen manage to fight?”
“If you are willing to be my eyes,” her voice answered. She was just coming from out of the room, her hands before her.
“You crazy?!” Lex blasted in disagreement.
“Alright! Come!” Kyle rushed over to her and grabbed her arm quickly.
***
The duel of Blade and the masked one drew on with equality. With each swing that the masked one made and evade, Blade revered him in a higher degree. The masked man seemed to know by heart the perfect counters to even Blade’s special attacks. What is this? Is he reading my mind? Am I fighting myself? Blade thought. It had been quite some time since Blade had been in a serious duel with an enemy for over two minutes. This masked assassin was no ordinary man.
It was after singlehandedly wiping out a Herculean battalion of a few dozen soldiers – probably to test his skill, or on a whim – that the Mask’s skill was recognized by the Magmalian supreme general.
***
“Alright,” Zen sighed nervously, “you say there are archers coming. I’ll make us a faint force field.”
“What?”
“An invisible shield around us,” she explained to Kyle.
“You can do that?!” Lex asked in amazement.
“I can try,” she said, smiling. “It’s been a while.” Almost as if it appeared from nowhere, they saw a swift arrow flying toward them with perfect accuracy. Kyle gripped his sword to slice it from the air, but had it been up to him, he would have been killed quite certainly. The arrow stopped around five feet from his face. He made his swing, just grazing off the tip of the arrow. The arrow, both pieces of it, stood motionless, not advancing, not falling. “Ahhh… I can’t hold it,” Zen sighed faintly. The arrow then responded visibly to gravity’s pull. Four armed men were suddenly upon them, one with a lance, one a sword, one an axe and the fourth two foot-long daggers. The men with the daggers and sword ran up toward them.
“Get behind me!” Zen said, hearing the enemies’ approach. Lex and Kyle stepped back, putting their full trust in the blind girl they risked their lives to rescue. Lex held two spheres of ice in readiness, and Kyle’s sword was ready to join the fight. Zen fixed her index and middle fingers on her temples. Then, there was a sharp zooming sound. The boys gasped in fright and awe. The two men that approached fell, each cleanly divided like Blade’s sword had wiped through them. Their guts spilled and the place was instantly bloody and gory. Kyle nearly collapsed when he noticed that the other three men a few yards off had all suffered the same fate, all in that one instant.
Lex shook. What kind of power…
“Did I get them?” the girl asked almost in a trivial tone.
“Oh… you got ‘em, alright,” Kyle answered.
“AAAAH!” A scream was belted from behind a faraway tree as the last of the five men bolted down the road from whence they had come. Lex hurled the spheres he held at the sprinting archer. He wasn’t one to miss very often. The slab of ice fell on the road.
SLASH!
Zen cut the rock of ice and the man inside in two.
***
Equilibrium reigned over Blade’s duel even still. He constantly wondered how this masked man could possible put up such a threatening fight. Before this, he had no doubt that he was the most skilled swordsman alive besides his grandmaster, his master’s master, who he knew was in hiding, being wanted by every state in the hemisphere. Quick attacks and body-bending evasion persisted. Blade bent himself skilfully as the masked one’s sword shaved tiny hairs off the tip of his nose. With a fast action, the mysterious man quickly swept Blade off his feet. Blade gripped his sword tightly though landing roughly.
“When skills are equally matched, will power is what determines the victor,” the masked one said. “I simply cannot afford to lose, so I will not.” He made a double jab at Blade. A quick roll saved the sword master from the two swords that stuck into the ground that he covered just a moment before. Blade recovered to his feet quickly, skilfully getting himself just behind his opponent with a burst of speed that suggested that he was holding back all along. Blade’s long sword was already at the masked man’s throat. Blade slowly walked backward with him until his back was against a redwood tree.
“You have lost,” Blade said with confident finality in his voice.
“Yet I am alive,” the masked one replied.
“Drop your swords.”
The masked man dropped one of his swords.
“The other,” Blade commanded. Blade’s sword was under a millimetre from the masked man’s Adam’s apple. “I said the other.” The masked man, probably accepting defeat, dropped his other sword.
The metal mask hit the ground as Blade cut it from his enemy’s face.
“You have chosen our fate, Blade,” the masked one said.
With incredible precision and speed, the masked man drew a third sword that was hidden all long. He ran it through himself. It bored through Blade easily.
Blade clenched his teeth in agony. His enemy’s hands dropped loose from the sword they had just gripped. Blade reached around his partner in death and grabbed the sword that killed two of the strongest swordsmen to have walked the earth, certainly the most potent swordsmen in their generation. A groan of pain escaped his clenched teeth as he pulled the sword out of them both. There was a heavy clink that seemed to echo. The bloody sword hit the ground.
Blade dropped his own sword and pushed the probably dead man off him. He then lowered himself against the tree until he was sitting. The tree was reddened by the legend’s blood. “Damn it,” Blade muttered, looking at the fallen man. He quickly ripped his clothes off and tied them tightly around his nasty injury. “Uhhhhh….” With struggle and deep determination, deeper than his death, he slowly rose from the tree.
***
“Do you think Blade is alright?” Zen asked.
“Oh please,” Lex answered, opening the door for her. “No one man can defeat him in a duel. Kyle will soon return with him, don’t worry.”
***
The baneful wound and crippling blood loss had Blade struggling to hang on to life. He landed on his hands and knees, and slowly made his way to the masked man. Blade noticed that this man was still breathing, though his pool of blood was so deep. Blade grabbed him and turned him on his back. Blade’s eyes widened and he gasped, keeling over, shaking, like his greatest fear was upon him. Gathering likely his last portion of strength, he managed to stand, looking down at the face he had longed to see for about half his life.
“Brother…” Blade breathed, still unable to come to agreement with his vision.
“Blade…” the dying man struggled to mutter. “You will never… understand…”
“You… you killed…”
“I would have preferred you enter the afterlife without knowing this painful truth… Indeed… Ahhh… You have uncovered many more questions than answers…” Blade staggered back again until he hit the bloody tree. The muscles in his legs gave way and he was forced to sit again.
“…Why?”
“My reasons… they best remain a mystery… My dear brother… they are more dreadful than the horror behind the mask…” Blade’s brother exhaled heavily, never to breathe again. Blade’s vision became fast blurry, and everything went black, as death swept over him.
Kyle panted as he rushed over to the horrid scene. “Blade!!” the boy bellowed as he ran over the unmasked villain, his swift feet splashing up the blood. Kyle fell before his master, giving him a small drop of life, a moment longer.
He opened his eyes faintly. “Kyle…” Blood drained from his mouth. “My sword… take it…”
“No! Blade!! Shit!” Kyle panicked, shivering. “Where’s that stupid witch?!”
“It’s no use,” Blade said, his voice awfully faint. “I’ll see you… on the other side… By then… you better be bearded and senile… and half as skilled…” Blade coughed up blood. He held tightly still to the speechless boy. “My sword. Take it…”
He felt Blade’s grip on him disappear.
“No!! Blade! You can’t die! Not here! Not now!” Tears crawled down from his watery eyes. “Blade! Wake up!” But Blade was already…
Chapter 30: Grave Moments
“Zen, stay here. I’ll go see what’s keeping Kyle and Blade,” Lex said, a hint of worry in his voice. She picked up his anxiety, like she had known him for years.
“But didn’t you say he’s the best swordsman alive?” She now sounded more worried than Lex.
“Let’s hope so.” Lex sounded uncertain. He hurried off to the road he saw Kyle take.
“Lex… Huh?” She heard a familiar poof, and smelled something that had already become familiar. Knowing who was there, she began to shake nervously. She heard another similarly sudden sound, and knew that Star had just appeared.
“Come, Clover,” Star said in a commanding, stern tone that sounded unnatural in her still gentle voice. She grabbed on to Clover, whose glare could have almost stopped Zen’s breath.
Star screamed, just noticing the gory corpses though the window. “Wh—Where are the others?!” she asked.
Clover grew pale as she beheld the dead men, their scattered limbs and spilling organs.
“Kyle went after Blade. Lex went after Kyle. On the road behind your house.”
“What happened?! Are they alright?!” Star questioned.
What the— Lex peered out into the distance. His forehead wrinkled. He was certain that he was seeing Kyle carry a man in his arms. “No…” the Icemaker prayed under his breath, then hurried to Kyle. He saw Kyle panting with red, damp eyes, with the load of the bloody Blade. The sword his teacher willed to him was jutting over his back, weighing as felt as much as Blade’s body. Lex grabbed Blade from him and they carefully lowered him to the ground. He watched Kyle fall, probably in fatigue.
“He’s dead.”
Lex stared down at the shirtless man. The darkly coloured cloth was still wrapped tightly around the murderous wound, soaked in hero’s blood.
“But—How?!” the Icemaker asked in utter marvel. “Who could have done this?!”
“The masked man. He killed Blade. They’re both dead.”
Lex stood and looked quickly as he heard rushing footsteps. As he saw Star and Clover, they saw Blade, and stopped dead in their tracks. Suddenly, the already crying witch ran like mad to him, quickly flooring herself at his unmoving body.
“Blade! Wake up!” she cried with a shaking, fearful voice. Her nervous hands lit up with blue mana.
“Now you show up?!” Kyle blasted, finding the power now to stand. “Where the hell were you when he was battling to stay alive?!” Kyle cried furiously.
“It’s not too late! I can save him!” the witch, Star, had powered up her hands with blue mana. “No! Blade!” she called. Kyle shielded himself from the bright mana. She belted a terrible bellow, and her mana slowly changed to red. The bright red light covered Blade’s body. Suddenly, the brightness cleared and her mana disappeared. She knew there was nothing she could do. She grabbed on to Blade and put her head down on him, calling his name, knowing he could neither hear nor answer. Clover just stood a few meters off, observing.
Kyle stood firmly with a grim look on his face, a new countenance. “Come. Let us bury him,”
Zen jumped, startled by the sudden sound of Star’s spaceshifting. “Come,” she heard Star say in a solemnly soft tone. Zen imagined the worst. She jolted as a hand touched her, but relaxed when she realized it was Lex’s.
Zen clutched to him silently. His gentle touch had somehow calmed her. “What happened?” she whispered in his ear.
“Blade…”
Tears welled up in Zen’s eyes.
“We are digging a grave for him.”
“Oh god…” she said, stuttering, “This is all my fault.”
“What? No!” Lex could hardly keep his voice down. “Are you crazy? How could any of this—”
“Because of me,” the girl snivelled, “Star went after Clover and so she wasn’t… there to save Blade.” Lex felt her shaking. She was getting into a fit. He hugged her tightly.
“There’s no way Star could have known he was in trouble… He probably died instantly…” Her shaking calmed, and she totally relax her muscles, making Lex struggle to hold her up. “Do you want to lie down?”
“No,” she answered quickly. “I’m coming to the graveside.”
“You don’t have to.”
“This man killed a hundred men to save me!” she insisted.
Clover looked at Lex and Zen with unspeakable bitterness. Her eyes were narrowed, and she knew Lex was avoiding eye contact with her. She wondered what they were whispering to one another. She quickly looked down at her feet as she saw Lex’s eyes make a glance in her direction. I wish that was me down there… in that dark grave.
Kyle forcefully wedged Star’s old shovel into the hard soil again. Sweat washed down from his face. He rested the dirt upon the pile and pau
sed to inspect the grave he had dug. He released the shovel, breathing heavily. Thunder echoed through the skies. Clover looked up. The sky was dark, like a mirror before their hearts. Kyle bent and grabbed Blade’s feet. Lex took his arms, and they lifted him and gently lowered him into the grave. Lex rose quickly and stepped back from the hole. Kyle went over to Blade’s head and lowered himself, gently touching the man’s face.
“You taught me well, Blade… I will become strong for your name’s sake…and feed your sword… with the blood of our enemies…” There was a long while of silence. It was shattered by a frightening, thick streak of lightning across the skies. Zen jolted. Lex held on to her. Rain drizzled. “The heavens weep…” Kyle said, “But I no longer… I will follow your path, and shed no more tears. I will speak with the sword that you have given me. Find peace… Watch and guide me, Master.”
The evening of the burial dragged on into night. No one had eaten. Their hunger, well at least their appetite, had evaporated with Blade’s life. Kyle looked over to where Blade would have been lying, but the sword rested in his place. Kyle hardly touched it. Though bloody it still was, to Kyle, the sword had a kind of holiness about it. It was to him a sacred sword he was unworthy of holding. He slowly got off his bed and walked over to it. He slowly, with steady hands and the face of a noble warrior, held the scabbard it was in. He lifted it. It was the heaviest of the few swords he had ever wielded. He smiled, even snickered a little as he mused at how Blade used to wield it so gracefully as if it were a feather. Even in your death, I honour you more, my master.
Zen and Clover were seemingly asleep. Lex sat up in his bed observing Kyle. He knew that Blade’s passing had struck him even more than everyone else. He looked over to the door as it was opened. Star was standing there in her night dress. It was very thin, and made of well-refined silk that was provocatively translucent. It stretched down to a little below her knees. Lex stared at the woman for a moment, probably just noticing the beauty Blade was musing after all along. She looked even more beautiful to him than when he had first seen her. “Hungry?” she asked in a sullen voice not loud enough to wake the girls. She seemed to force a slight smile.
The Seventh Spirit Page 42
