The Crimson Claymore

by Craig A. Price Jr.

  Only three draeyks were left, and they battled fiercely against their skilled opponent. Searon debated rushing to her aid, but she seemed to be doing a decent job by herself. Besides, he didn’t want to seem like a threat to her, as he didn’t know the woman’s personality or her allegiance. The two on her left struck at the same time, and she impressively blocked both with the same defensive stroke. She held her hammer steady with her left hand, grabbed a shuriken from her pouch, and bolted it into the neck of the third, causing loud gagging from the wound before the creature crumbled to the ground. Then two battled her, rage showing in snake eyes, and she backed up for a better position, tripping on a fallen axe. Without a second to lose, the two draeyks jumped at the opportunity. She grabbed one of the crossed armor straps on its chest, and her fingers scraped against hard scales as she tumbled to the ground with the draeyk on top of her. A dagger pierced through the rough scales of the creature’s back as its carcass lay upon her.

  Searon slid down the hill and mounted his stallion, shaking his reins, causing his pearl-and-onyx steed to gallop down the hill. The final draeyk glared at Searon as his horse rushed down the hill toward the creature. He held his claymore in his right hand, its weight making him lean slightly on the right from its heftiness. When in range, he jumped from Stripes and collided with the creature, knocking it to the ground along with its axe. He rose to his feet and placed both hands on his claymore, steadying the two-handed weapon, and swung it to each side of him before holding it secure in front of his face. The draeyk rolled and got to its feet with an axe in each hand, obviously taken from a fallen comrade. Both axes spun in the creature’s hands, moving so fast that it was hard to tell whether the draeyk was about to slash at Searon with the two weapons or throw them at him.

  Want to dance? Let’s dance, Searon thought as he gripped his claymore tighter and swung the long blade at an toward the creature’s left temple. The axes stopped twirling, and the one in its left hand abruptly shot up and blocked Searon’s strike while the right swung toward Searon’s armor. He was caught unexpected, and the axe crushed in his plate mail on his left shoulder. He quickly backed away and felt pain and blood dripping down his arm. The pain didn’t slow him and he kept his composure more than he, even, expected of himself. He changed into defense and blocked one strike then the next. The axe struck short of reaching him and was harmlessly deflected.

  Searon dashed forward now, growing impatient; and turning himself onto offense, he knocked an axe to the ground—along with the draeyk’s hand who’d held it. The creature snarled, showing its sharpened yellow teeth. Nothing but rage came from the creature, and Searon held his own against the quickened attacks but had to come up with a new plan to end the battle—and quickly. Many options circled his mind, and he picked one quickly, tossing his claymore toward the creature that leaped out of the way to avoid being struck. Searon dove to the ground, gripping an axe from a fallen draeyk and launched it toward the last draeyk, impaling it in the head. The creature’s jaw opened slightly before falling backward the ground.

  Without a second thought, he rushed to the dead creature and sheathed his claymore. Surrounding him, he noticed, were nine dead draeyk. Vinegar and vomit attacked his nose again, and he looked around. With nine dead that meant the woman had defeated four before he even noticed her. That was quite impressive, and Searon didn’t know of anyone besides himself that shared such a feat.

  Searon rushed to the body that had fallen on top of the woman and jerked it off, tossing it to the side. He was surprised to find nothing underneath the creature but flattened grass.

  “Looking for me?” a deep female voice asked.

  Searon turned around abruptly and saw her standing before him with her teal-and-gold helm wedged between her elbow and breast. Blonde hair hung behind her head in a tight blue silk ponytail with two thick strands falling in front of her ears and down past her breastplate. Her skin was pale blue but radiated light that made her armor glow brighter in the sun. A loose shorter strand of hair that was considerably thinner than the other two fell upon her cheek. She had dark-scarlet lips that added to her beauty. Her eyes were a deep silver sapphire that sparkled as strongly as the gem itself, but the strangest of all were her silver eyebrows.

  She wore tight midnight-blue chain mail with gold patches of plate mail throughout her arms, and golden swirls upon her chestplate. A blue-and-gold plate mail skirt hung at her waist that stopped just above her knees. Her boots didn’t start until her knees, leaving a few inches of exposed silk skin that glittered in the morning sun. The chain mail was skintight, showing the definition of her body, including her tight stomach and belly button. On her sash at her waist was a dagger with a mix of topaz and sapphires in its hilt. There was also a large hammer shaped like a triangle with a thick spike at its tail. His eyes traveled back to her chestplate where they lingered for several minutes. Her chain mail was tight, and Searon had a hard time keeping his eyes away.

  “My face is up here,” she snapped, annoyed.

  “Ah…yes…I am sorry. I was merely inspecting your armor. It is impressive.”

  He knew that she knew better than that, but he felt compelled to have an excuse. Even after being caught, he felt himself having a hard time keeping his eyes away from her body but held his gaze on her face. It became harder to look away from her face than it was from her bosom, as her eyes sparkled so beautifully that he couldn’t gaze away from them.

  She arched an eyebrow and smiled, “Of course.”

  Karceoles trotted down the hill and held the reins close to Searon’s side now. “Oh my, are you hiding melons under that chain mail?”

  She glared at the wizard with intensity in her eyes.

  “My name is Searon. I’m a warrior hunting the draeyks. This idiot next to me is Karceoles, a wizard,” Searon said.

  Searon’s head shook in despair at the remark the wizard had made. He should have expected as much coming from the sarcastic wizard, but even he didn’t think such a rude comment could come from the old man. He should have known better. Fool of a wizard.

  “My name is Starlyn of the high kheshlars of Sudegam,” she bowed slightly, showing a sign of respect.

  “What are you doing out here?” Searon asked, still not finding an opportunity to gaze away from her blazing eyes.

  “I may ask you the same question. A simple human and an old wizard, hardly threatening to these wild creatures,” she said.

  “I think you would be surprised,” Searon said, eyes darting to the wizard.

  “I see…and why are you after the draeyks?”

  “They are foul creatures that have been striking humans for too long, and it is time for their demise,” he snapped.

  Memories flooded his mind like overflowing rivers collapsing over cliffs in waterfalls. It pained him to have such thoughts circle in his mind, and he gritted his teeth using all his will to push the horrors of his past away.

  Starlyn nodded. “I have been keeping the draeyks contained so they won’t strike Sudegam.”

  Searon noticed that she seemed to withhold as much information about her reasoning to fight the draeyks as he did. He quickly brushed it off, as he wasn’t ready to tell her the reason behind his bitterness either toward the creatures. Every time he did speak of it, he felt on the edge of fresh tears that he wouldn’t allow to fall.

  “You’re not doing a very good job protecting the humans from them,” Karceoles snapped with bitterness.

  “Excuse me?”

  “By keeping the creatures away from the kheshlars, you have provoked them into killing humans,” Karceoles spat.

  “That is not my concern; I am a kheshlar,” Starlyn snapped.

  “Congratulations, you know what it is that you are,” the wizard said softly.

  “I don’t have to stand here and listen to this,” Starlyn barked, turning away and clenching a fist.

  “Wait,” Searon beckoned.

  He knew that the wizard didn’t have a way with words, and he was
n’t even sure if he could convince her of anything. He did know that he had to try. The wizard seemed clouded in judgment with his newfound bitterness toward the kheshlars. He hadn’t realized the wizard cared so much for humankind before, and he didn’t understand why. The woman in front of him seemed to be the only kheshlar that was actively fighting the draeyks. With her help and skills, they would be able to confront many more draeyks.

  She turned around to look at him and bit her lip before licking it with her tongue. An eyebrow rose on her face, and she waited. There seemed to be a lack of patience on her face as she glanced a few times toward the wizard.

  “If you don’t like these creatures, why don’t you help us? We’re on our way to attack their camps and settlements,” Searon said, appearing sincere.

  “Only the two of you?”

  “Yes, I’ve been told the kheshlars wouldn’t bother helping us,” Searon said.

  He tried to keep his voice as neutral as he could to avoid discrimination against the kheshlars but still wanted it to remain clear that they would be denied for help. She looked from Searon to Karceoles a few times with doubt on her face.

  “How do you expect to kill them all with one human and an overly annoying mage?” she asked glaring at Karceoles now.

  “Wizard,” Karceoles corrected with annoyance in his voice.

  She glared daggers at him with eyebrows crunched together and eyes swollen.

  “With the element of surprise on our side. We will move too quickly for word to get out. Victory has never been my objective. I have fully expected to not come back from this, but with your help we may be victorious. With or without your aid I will do this. The wizard seems to think there will be a war and with your help we can destroy them once at for all. I had my doubts, but that was before I saw you fight. I believe he is right. If you will not aid us, I will continue my plan, and I don’t expect to return. Until now, that has always been my goal,” Searon said.

  Searon gulped as he finally admitted what he had always known since he set out on the quest. He probably wasn’t coming back, and he hated to realize it. There was only the need to take as many of them down with him as he could before he would be struck down. Then he could rest in peace and meet his family once again in the afterlife.

  “Can you keep the wizard in check?” Starlyn snorted with a half smile.

  “No…probably not. You’ll just learn to tune him out like I have.”

  He looked back to the wizard, who was smirking at him now. He was sure that the wizard knew that much of what he said went in one ear and straight out the other.

  “All right, I’ll help you, but there’s something I must tell you first.” Starlyn shuffled uneasily.

  “What?” Searon asked.

  He looked genuinely concerned as if hoped he could accept what she had to say. She shifted her eyes, looking at him hard in the face and quickly blushing. It seemed as if the kheshlar had been checking him out, and he shifted uneasily. He could tell what she had to say to him was hard for her, and he knew that if they were to travel together that one day he would have to tell her about his life.

  “My sister…changed years ago…she left with the draeyks. She led them in a war against the kheshlars, and I injured her to protect Sudegam. I believe she is still with them. I want to destroy the draeyks as much as you but…but I will not kill my sister. She is not to be harmed. If we encounter her, we capture her and bring her back to the kheshlars,” Starlyn demanded.

  She sighed as she seemed to reminisce of her times with her sister. Her eyes closed and opened with fresh tears drizzling down her cheeks.

  “As you wish,” Searon said.

  He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose a sibling to the draeyks like that. At least his family had only been destroyed instead of turning them as dark as Starlyn’s sister now apparently had become. He didn’t know if he could bear something like that to happen to him.

  “Good, now I have something more attractive to look at,” Karceoles smirked.

  Starlyn stood and glared at the wizard with ice in her silver sapphire eyes.

  “Shut up, Karceoles,” Searon said.

  Chapter 4

  The human, kheshlar, and wizard traveled relentlessly through the meadow without conversation. Searon was thankful that the wizard had kept his mouth shut during the journey. There were fewer trees to travel through ever since leaving the kheshlarn territory, and it made their path an easier one to follow. It also meant that they held less cover from wandering eyes, and so they made pace carefully. Searon only hoped the tales of the kheshlars were true—that they had sensitive hearing—and only that rumor kept him at ease through the open path.

  Often he looked back at the kheshlar with scattered glances, where he studied her. He noticed her looking back at him and smiling without the attention of the wizard. Her smile was sincere, and she seemed to be studying him as much as he studied her. She had long blonde hair that sparkled in the sunlight, with waves that bounced with each stride. His eyes remained on her as often as it did the beast she traveled with. She rode on top of a jaguar, and he admired the beast’s bronze fur with black spots. At first, he had been afraid of the creature when it had approached shortly after the start of their journey. Soon, he realized that the kheshlar had called the beast and she climbed atop it like he would a horse, but without a saddle! It kept high pace along with their horses, and so she hadn’t slowed them in the slightest.

  When the light from the stars touched them, she only seemed to glitter more in their glow. Her namesake was true, and she shone with their same intensity. It was almost as if she glowed at night, but it came and went with each smile that graced her lips. Searon wished he could get her to smile indefinitely because it brought such a profound beauty to her that he could never even dream of.

  They agreed to stop to rest for the night, or at least for a time. There was nothing past their plan besides to stop and rest to find food. The kheshlar took off west through a small forest without a sound despite the scattered broken branches that lay among the bare trees. Searon decided to head east to search for wild game. His stomach was grumbling for something besides dried meat and water that filled his saddle.

  He stalked the bare forest for what seemed like an hour before he heard the faint footsteps and the sound of a trickling stream. Peering through a prickly bush, he noticed a large wild boar drinking water. It shone black with stiff bristles and fine fur. Searon hadn’t seen such a large boar before, and his mouth watered at the savory flavor it could create over a hot fire.

  His hand dropped to the back of his sash where he grabbed an arrow from his quiver and detached his bow from his back. Its fine oak exterior molded in his hands as he remembered handcrafting it as a young man. The smooth texture rested in his left hand as he notched the steel arrow with his right. He hardly used the bow for more than hunting, and most of the time it stayed with his saddle and horse. Keeping his aim steady, he licked his left index finger and checked for wind. It was blowing to his left slightly in the same direction the small stream was heading. He held his bow tight, aiming to the right of the boar, and let go of his arrow. It whistled through the air with barely a sound, and before it could reach the boar he already had another out and notched. He didn’t need the second arrow, as the first one struck the boar in the heart.

  He walked to the large beast that lay by the stream, taking its last drink. At least it became hydrated at its death. With struggle, he hefted the beast onto his shoulders and struggled forward one step at a time. He didn’t expect it to weigh so much, and his mouth watered even more at the amount of meat he would have.

  Back at the camp, Karceoles sat on a stump with his long-stem pipe in hand in front of a fire. Both the pipe and the fire were smokeless, and Searon set the boar down beside it. The wizard laid his pipe on the stump and rose to his feet, tying the boar to a few large branches he seemed to acquire with twine.

  “Magic trick?” Searon asked, glancing back at the fire
.

  The fire burned the wood, and it turned black, but there wasn’t any smoke or the smell the smoke would produce. There weren’t even any ashes or sparks traveling from the wood, and the tasteful crackling that Searon enjoyed so much was absent as well. It was rather impressive, and he was fascinated by the useful tactic for traveling.

  “Well, you don’t expect me to let them know our whereabouts, now do you?” Karceoles bit his tongue.

  Starlyn approached and sat on the opposite side of the fire, where he now sat roasting the boar, with some vegetables and fruit that she picked while he hunted. She quietly ate from a shaped wooden bowl and made no notice of the others. It seemed she was deep in thought as she slowly picked at her food.

  Searon filled his emptied water skin from the stream into a tin kettle. He added a few thick black leaves from his pouch before placing it next to the fire. It would be nice having some hot black tea with the fresh boar for once.

  “Want some boar?” Searon asked with a disapproving look at her bowl.

  “I do not eat animals,” Starlyn said, still avoiding his gaze, and her nose seemed to cringe in disgust.

  “Why not?” Searon asked, bewildered.

  “No kheshlar does; it is cruel to end the life of a living creature just to settle our stomachs. We can better ourselves and don’t need meat to survive,” Starlyn said, looking deep into the wizard’s eyes now.

  “Yeah, but what about those poor plants? You tear them to shreds, and they are living as well. It would be better off if we all just starve and die,” Karceoles said.

  “Plants still live when you take from them; animals do not,” Starlyn said.

  “Not all plants continue to live after picked. The animal’s offspring are like the plants seeds; when the plant dies the seeds are left to carry on the family. The same goes for animals. All creatures die one day, and animals are meant to be eaten; it’s the circle of life. Meat makes us stronger, as we are not naturally strong like your kheshlarn kind. We must have more energy to feed our bodies for the strength that we need,” Karceoles defended.