With Blades and Flames: Awakening

by David Csontos

  You cannot delay it any longer! Stop playing and give me what you have offered! Your little group of men don’t worth anything yet, but I can change that! Bring me your shipment soon or you’ll regret it! You offered me people and no less. You have to weeks to show up at the destination I showed you in the last letter. If you are not there then I will find someone else and eradicate you and your belief. I am not your mate so I deserve more respect than you will ever get. Your time is up.

  -P

  Even though what was in it was short, it was rather suspicious. It didn’t make much sense to Arkain other than P trying to get together people for some other reason. It seemed interesting and also menacing but it wasn’t important. It was just a simple letter so he walked out of the room leaving the key keeper without keys. He locked the door and started running back to the cells.

  “I have got it!” he said once Burdõlwas close, and the both of them were in the fading cave. The sunlight was going down and only a few places could be seen clearly by that time. He ran to the first cell and tried all the keys. Eventually, a big rusty one managed to turn the lock and make it fall down with great noise. He pulled the door open and the person inside hurried out. He had done that to the entire cell with, the man that told him what to do, being the last. Even though he released him, the man stayed there, sitting down and not reacting to anything. Each door opened and the people outside have come together in the middle with Arkain telling them what they will need to do to get out.“We will need to go the way I came through. On the left there is a staircase. Use that and we will climb up to the carriages which we might be able to use to get outside. Then the people that want to help free the others can come back and help”

  “No, that is too risky. We need to find another way” declared Burdõl and started thinking.

  “There isn’t one. The only safe way outside is through there!” said Arkain as he pointed towards the stone entrance but Burdõldidn’t agree. There might be not a good way out. He looked at the boy with a pointy look which showed most of his feelings.“We will need to fight our way out. That is the only way”The freed men kept talking and skittering in the background,“Might be afraid, might be heroic but that is all we got”

  “Then we are going to need weapons”spoke one of the men and stepped outside in front of the boy. His tone was respectful and he was big, muscular but also dark skinned. His hair was short and black and he was taller than anyone else around there.“I can fight, but we need weapons. There is a small stash of unused blades in a chamber near. We need to get there” he continued.

  “Well, looks like I am not just the only one”articulated the dwarf and asked where the chamber is. The man revealed that it is on the other side of the stronghold and that it might be close but well-guarded. He told two of the men to follow him and that they will bring swords and axes back while the others stay here and stay safe. Then, the five of them took off. They were fast and in an instant they were already up between the pillars.“Get back!”whispered Arkain who was at the front and saw the same two soldiers coming closer yet again, probably doing a circle. The iron on them made their steps very loud, which helped to determine their location. As soon as they were close enough, the dark skinned man and his men leaped out to pull the two bandits closer to them. A few hits to the head and they were knocked out. Then, they grabbed their weapons and armour.“Now, the only way to get to the chamber is through a clear plain ground, which means we will be detected unless you act as our prisoners”The boy’s and the dwarf’s hand were pulled back and their weapons were hidden by one of the stones near the stairs.“Go in front of us”said the man and started pushing the two of them outside. The area behind the pillars was similar to the other one, but was more guarded, with a great house that was placed in the middle. On the sides were tents held up with only tree barks. On the left was a smaller building, as was said, which had no windows but a rough shape. It had no roof only a straight stone. The door didn’t exist and there was only one guard in front of it. The others were mainly in the tents, laughing or sleeping. Some were guarding the house and some were just in the middle, training. Archers were facing in from all side.“Let’s go! What are you waiting for?” asked Burdõland picked up his pace. The five of them stopped in front of that one guard which looked at them suspiciously.“What do you want?”he demanded and pointed at the boy with his spear.“Can I show you something inside? These two might have stolen something and we need to check. Maybe you can help us”said the dark skinned man and walked inside. The guard followed him and as soon as they were out of sight, the soldier got put down. His body flopped onto the floor after a great punch.“Always hated these kids”he said and started grabbing the weapons that were hanged up onto the walls and sides. There were shields, armour, swords, knives, blades, and axes, anything that they needed.“You have done great” said the dwarf.

  “What is your name?” asked the boy.

  “Ilinoair, I need to thank your help. You have saved many lives”he expressed himself and tried to carry as much weapons as possible. All of them had a handful of war equipment when they took their way back and there was no other option then to hurry because only a second later did they stayed and they would have got detected. The five of them took their weapons back to where the prisoners were with a fast pace because they didn’t want anyone to see them. It all worked up until the last steps, where one of the archers shouted“Oi, they are taking the weapons! They are taking the weapons into the prison!” the words could be heard from everywhere. The soldiers looked at them, then decided to attack with the archer trying to shoot them. Arkain and the others have ran down the stairs, with Arkain also grabbing his and Burdõl’sequipment, and jumped down onto the ground.“They are coming! Ready the men!”shouted Ilinoair and have thrown down his weapons into a pile. Soon, moments later everyone grabbed a weapon and was ready to fight.“Remember! Do not flee! Fight and you will live another day!”commanded the man to the others, who stood in a group and faced their swords forwards.“As soon as you go up the stairs go left! There is a gate we need to get through but only if you want to die should you go right!” yelled Arkain and pulled his own sword out in front of the crowd, next to Ilinoair and Burdõl.“That is fancy sword you got there” said Ilinoair and started running with the others following him. It seemed like ages until they have got to the steps. Everyone was determined but also scared at the back. The boy could see many faces that showed sadness and fear but there was nothing else to do. Nothing else to do. He tried to prove himself that this is the right thing but it somehow still managed to rock his boat. It just didn’t feel like it.

  There were a few soldiers coming. Ilinoair at the front quickly took care of them with two swings and swishes.“This doesn’t feel right, where are the others?”he asked once they could see a little bit of the outside. Still, they continued running towards the exit and that is when they saw. The soldiers, all of them stood in front of the main gates with the other prisoners on the side, next to the walls. Everyone stopped and looked towards the danger.“Ah, here we are! I believe this is mutiny!” said the leader. The same bandit that Arkain managed to deal with back at the city.“But no problem”he continued“You people”he pointed at the sides“still have a chance. We will crush them anyway and after that, if you behave nicely, you can get their belongings! Easy! Except their weapons of course” The people were in chains, every one of them. There were also archers across the walls, ready to fire their arrows. Arkain walked up in front of everyone and raised his sword. Right now, it is do or die. Now, all the eyes looked at him. Every single person was facing towards him. Anticipating what he was going to say.

  “Oh, it’s you again?! This time, you will die!” yelled the man in complete anger. The soldiers behind him were holding their weapons, eager to fling into attack and shed the ground into red.

  “You will not succeed! People like you will never get anything! Your army, your arrows, what does it worth?! We fight for our freedom! We fight so that we cou
ld live! This will not be our last moment in this world! We will succeed and you will fall, like the people that stand beside you!”yelled the boy with enormous power. Some people stood back, some people stepped forward but no-one anticipated the response. It was definitely powerful.“We fight! We will not give up! Trust me, how many of your soldiers are eager to keep us in here?!” he looked back at the crowd behind him. Burdõl, Ilinoair, the others, free people that value their life. He needed something kind of a reply. Something that tells him that he is doing the right thing. Then, all of a sudden Burdõl nodded his head, followed by Ilinoair. Then, came from the others too, every single one nodded and raised their weapons and shields. He looked at his sword and its handle. Does all of this worth it? The blade was hot and his heart was beating faster. He breathed his last air before it, while the enemy started smiling and grinning.“We will not bend to your will! WE WILL FIGHT!”he bellowed with all his might and started charging. The people, prisoners or not followed him and shouted.“Freedom!”came the yells from behind. Hundreds of footsteps have shook the ground as the armies charged at each other.“Get them!”shouted the enemy leader and stood back so his troops could take over. Arkain charged with everything that he had and had made his first attack.“AAAAH” came the roar and the first sword that he managed to hit have split into half. The soldier fell back and Arkain knocked him out with a bang to his head. This time, all the moves, all the slices came naturally, like he was woken up by a lake of cold water. He was awake. He had awakened from the slumber that was in him. People around him have sliced and cut anything that came into their path. Burdõlwas chopping and cutting, behind him were archers, which managed to grab hold of some arrows and bows. They were now shooting the people on the walls. One, an arrow has struck into the heart of a soldier which fell and crushed his head below the hundreds of legs that were now fighting below. Two, the axes have blown their way through skin and bone, and ripped the other apart, leaving bloodshed. Three, the swords raged in a never-ending storm where the other always lost. There was blood in the air, on the ground and on the killers’ hands.“Fight for our freedom men!”shouted Ilinoair as his friends have been killed by arrow fire. The sun was down and the battlefield was lit by only the moon. Even the torches started to fade out. It was chaos all around and the amount of dead bodies just increased and in the middle was Arkain.“Get the boy!”came the cry from somewhere and more soldiers have rushed to Arkain. His hands twisted and pushed. The first blow was deflected and the second one was his own. Down came the soldier with a pierced chest and the boy went onto the next one. This time, it was a lot harder because two people reached him at the same time. He pushed back the first attacks and deflected some of them. Then, a sword appeared out of nowhere from the right and broke his balance. He fell to the ground but just about when the enemy’s sword could have killed him, another protected him. A long blade have impaled into his view and made quick work of it.“Get up!”came the sound of Agaroth. He started fighting with the two soldiers and punctured their knees so they could fall down. Then, he cut their head off.“It’s not a game anymore! Let’s get this over with quickly!”he thundered and pulled him up. Then, Arkain started fighting alongside him. The soldiers kept coming and they kept cutting them down.“Behind you!”growled Arkain and deflected a blow,“Arrow!”shouted Agaroth and cut a flying arrow in half mid-air.“Get them! Someone! Kill them!” rumbled the bandit leader and pushed his men but a few second later, the two fighters got closer and closer, and have cut a line through the enemies. The people behind them have quickly filled it in and started following them too. Arkain and Agaroth would sometimes just throw a soldier back into the crowd so others can take care of it. It felt like a sudden dream, Arkain had forgot everything and just kept going forward. He pushed through the crowds and kept going forward. You will not escape this time! Agaroth had continued to swing his sword and sometimes grab a dagger to be a bit faster. Burdõlwas protecting the archers while they took care of the remaining enemy. Where Arkain’s group went through have left piles of bodies behind them.“Go! Don’t give up! Keep going!” reverberated Ilinoair and thrown a spear in front of them, which hit a soldier in the rib. You will not escape this time!Arkain’s heart was racing and his feet kept lifting. Sometimes he also jumped but mostly he had to duck. By then, all of the soldiers focused on him and Agaroth who kept going forward killing and devastating everything in his path.“You cannot escape this time!”roared Arkain and started pushing even faster. He was picking up speed, even managed to beat Agaroth. He rushed through the crowd slicing right and left. Swords and shield kept breaking in his path and he just kept going. The bandit leader pulled two swords out of his holsters and tried to get ready for what was coming. The rage though in Arkain made him stronger, it created something that never have never been witnessed before by him. He was massacring everyone around him.“Keep going!”shouted Agaroth and even now, he was following him, with awe on his face. The boy’s hands started to move faster and faster, becoming unstoppable. Every time that he made his attack, it could not be deflected by anything and the people that were stuck in groups could not escape. The sad thing is that they didn’t want to. They were ready to die for their cause. Screams and cries could be heard from all directions. Closer, closer and closer, finally Arkain was a few men away from the leader. One fell, one died and the other two had leaped away into the crowd pushing everyone aside.“This can’t be true!”whispered the leader and was horrified by the sight he saw. It was all gone, his soldiers, prisoners and probably his life. None of this mattered though, his mind have quickly forgot all of this, and supplied his body, arms, legs with revenge.“Come!”he hollered“Come get me! Get me boy! You will die!”Finally, Arkain had reached him.“You will not escape!”he shouted and made his attack. The leader’s swords held up luckily, but all he could do is to protect himself currently because the boy had launched an all-out attack on him.“This is impossible!”he shouted and started screaming from the amount of energy he needed to jump, leap and duck from the boy’s deadly offence. He used both of his swords to push the other sword away then try an attack but it didn’t work. Even though he also tried to launch an attack it was quickly pushed away. His henchmen could not help. The boy was moving so fast that a normal eye couldn’t see it properly. Except Agaroth, he saw everything as he tried to catch up with the boy. He started sprinting through the crowd too, cutting throats and helmets in half.“I am coming! Hold on!”he shouted and pushed through the crowd as much as he could.“If I die, you are coming with me boy!”barked the leader and gave the remaining energy into an attack. The boy repelled it fast and continued to attack.“No! The only one that will die is you!”he roared and became even faster. Faster. Faster. Faster. Faster. His heart was beating like lightning but he kept going. The leader’s eyes could barely follow his moves and was starting to lose sight of everything. He was blinded, out of energy and could no longer do it. Arkain just kept attacking without stopping a single time, and by the end, everything slowed down, everything became quiet. He could clearly breathe and see everything around him. If he would have decided then he could have also killed the people around him. Then, he grabbed hold of the enemy leader, twisted both of his swords out of his hands and in a blink, jumped up to him pushed his own hot blade into the melting armour. It was all done. The blade started to emit a dim light and the man closed his eyes and fell to the ground. His men saw this, and backed up. The movement stopped with everyone staring at the boy. Agaroth was just about to get to him but stopped when he saw him. Arkain was on the ground, kneeling down, with his blade in the enemy’s chest. He lifted his head up to see that it was all finished. The battle was over and the enemy was scarce. There were probably a handful of left once Arkain stood up and looked around. Even they were trying to run through the main gates.“Leave them!”said Ilinoair and pulled back a person who was about to attack one of them. The boy looked around with deep breaths and saw that the people he tried to save were staring back at him. Then, he looked
to the ground and saw the bodies, both from his and the enemies side. From his anger, he wanted to push his sword into the ground and shout but his body could not follow any of his commands. He just stood there, motionless.“Are you all right?” asked Agaroth with worry on his face and that is when he saw, that the people were kneeling down onto the ground around the boy. One and all were kneeling down, towards the boy. It was all quiet except the wind that was now trying to carry the smell of death away. It was Burdõland Agaroth that didn’t do that. The dwarf just stood there, smiling at each other and looking at Arkain.“Don’t expect me to do the same”said Agaroth and looked around“Well, I guess I am not allowed to call you a boy anymore”

  Chapter 18: Goodbye

  It took a while until they have burned the dead but after that, there wasn’t any more reason to stay. Although it was dark, everyone agreed that the best thing would be is to stay until the sun to show up then travel back to their own home. It seemed like not just from the city that the three of them came from, but from all around of Warldenpeople have been taken away. It seemed like these people have taken pretty good care of slave trade. Eventually, the many that had nowhere to go settled down in the stronghold and decided to create a family and a home there. The ones that hoped they can still have their family back have included as many supplies in their bag as it was possible for the travel. There were plenty of food, clothes and equipment. Enough for an army, or a small group of people. Opposition was quickly eradicated afterwards and most of the people were thankful for Arkain. At times, pairs and small groups would come up to say thank you and promise to pay it back to which Arkain would reply“No, I have plenty of things. Try and continue on with your life like this has never happened” He did not like that people suddenly believed that he is the chosen one, or anything similar to be honest. All the people have been released and have received clothing and warm food, which some of the women cooked up in the kitchen-like room. There was a lot of noises, but this time full of life, feelings and reality. Burdõland Agaroth had chosen a room inside the fortress saying that,“We better sleep under a roof in warmth. We might not have this luxury for quite a while after we are gone” The two of them quickly went to sleep but Arkain stayed outside. Somehow, he just couldn’t sleep however tired he was. Even at midnight, people were awake and danced, sang and played. One of them has even found an instrument, the other a flute. They have made a great bonfire in the middle of the back area in front of the house, and people started dancing around it. Women even children had made their way closer to have a bit of a share from the happiness. I just wonder what happened to that man, he thought as he walked to the main gates and stopped outside. When they went back to get the man in the prison cell he was gone and no-one even knew who he was when the boy asked them. He just vanished into the ground. The trees outside the plain rock desert had somewhat of a calling. It seemed like the forest, the rivers, the lakes, the bad and the good were all forgotten. He wanted to go back. It felt being outside, even if the conditions were bad.“Care if I join you?”came the sound from Ilinoair, who was leaning against the wall, looking the same way as Arkain.“Feel free” replied the boy.