NaNoWriMo Novel Teaser: Blades
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Within the blink of an eye, Yami managed to move forward and narrowly avoid getting sliced at the neck; the sword did graze his chin and draw blood, but he turned immediately to face a visibly surprised Kendrick.
“Well…” Kendrick said, amused, “It appears you’re not all talk, eh?”
That was… fast. He had managed to close the distance between them and still wrap around to Yami’s back.
“You… are something else. But that was just my first peek at your ability. You’ve been demystified. There’s nothing more to you anymore,” Yami said, slightly bending as he prepared for his next attack.
“I wouldn’t bet on that if I were you.”
Yami charged towards him with the staggering momentum created by running in that streamlined position, but Kendrick saw through the movement perfectly. He managed to dodge the swift successive strikes, but just as he dodged the last one, he blinked and Yami utilized that brief period in which he let down his guard to land a punch to his left cheek.
“Urgh!” Kendrick exclaimed, spitting out as he landed on his butt. Thankfully, it wasn’t blood. The punch did connect, but not perfectly to inflict serious damage.
“What… the hell… was that?” he asked out loud, getting up immediately. The cruel smile on Yami’s face already told him that something was amiss.
“You… you don’t listen, huh? I said it – you’ve been demystified. But my abilities… they are light-years beyond your understanding. Gove it up now, while I still have the capacity for mercy. If we go at it again, I’m going in for the kill.”
He gauged Yami’s expression and steeled his face. “Just what kind of a man do you think I am? Think I’ll surrender because of one weak-ass punch? Feh! You’ve got to be kidding me...”
“Heh, quite the fighter, huh? I guess you don’t know that there’s a thin line between courage and stupidity. Here, I'll gift you that knowledge… as a souvenir to take with you to the afterlife!”
“The mouth on you…”
Yami charged at him – as usual, at a speed that was nothing too hard for him to track… but as the boy came within striking distance, something happened. And this time, he caught it.
The spell was broken.
Quickly angling his blade, a brief flash of light shone within the corridor, distracting Yami for a split-second as he avoided the one-armed thrust of the black blade and brought his sword down on Yami’s shoulder.
The metal clang! Reported that Yami had still managed to bring his sword up for a block.
But it was weak, and the hurried defense left a lot of loopholes. Angling his arms upward, he drove the point of his sword into Yami’s shoulder. As the boy groaned in pain, he capitalized on the situation to land a full punch on his face – a recompense for the gift earlier – and kicked him in the belly as the boy crashed to the ground.
Rushing in for the kill, he drove his sword into the tiles and chipped them as Yami rolled off and managed to get up, his shoulder bleeding again. A few days before it was the arm, courtesy of Maverick, and now, the shoulder.
“I have to say.” Kendrick started, “that ability of yours is something I didn’t expect at all. And for a moment there, it was about to work for you.”
T-this b*stard, Yami thought, he knows about that?
“I know the speed of my attacks, and your movements show that under normal circumstances, you won’t be able to dodge even one of them. I was wondering how you were able to dodge my killing strike the first time, howbeit narrowly, and even get that punch in too.”
Kendrick advanced slowly towards his target, dragging his sword on the ground and enjoying the screeching sound it made.
“But you really don’t have any superior reflexes, and neither are you faster than me, are you? You just used the power of that blade. Darkness, huh? Not a bad ability at all. Casting a fleeting illusion of darkness for just a brief while, you were able to evade my attacks and also distract me, effectively slowing me down and slowing you to get a lousy punch in.”
“You… saw through my technique?” Yami said, trying to get up.
“Exactly. And I thought I was the one blinking. But during your last attack, I saw the way you turned your blade – quite similar to what I do for my Halo, which is what I just used. It’s the exact opposite of your technique, you see.”
“Why you…”
“Rest.”
Within a split-second, Kendrick closed the gap between them and rained a barrage of blows and hits with the flat side of the sword on Yami’s face and body, culminating with a knee to the abdomen that sent the boy reeling and crashing into the wall at the end of the hall about 6 meters away.
“That look on your face… is it surprise? Did you really think that I was a fair fighter; a refined sportsman who wouldn’t hit below the belt or strike an enemy who’s on the ground? Think again, you piece of trash. I’m more or less like you – a thug who’s known the streets for his whole life. Even though I had no plans to ascend the throne of the Viper Gang, my father, the leader then, trained me like I was going to. So abandon all thoughts about me being a civilized fighter who you can wreck with your unpredictable mix of Asian martial arts and street fighting. I’m just the same as you, and I will beat you within an inch of your life before collecting that sword.”
“Heh…” Yami said, getting up as blood oozed from his cut lip. “Fancy words for someone who didn’t use the blade of his sword. Aren’t you going to kill me, or is this a game to you?”
“There’s no fun in killing you immediately. I won’t get to fight like this in a long time. So what else have you got, or is this all the sword of darkness has to offer?”
“It appears…” Yami said, lifting his sword, “that your sword didn’t bring about any mental enlightenment, nor did it make your brain faster at understanding things…”
“What the hell are you…?”
“You’ve played into my trap. Eclipse!”
Kendrick watched in shock as all went dark.
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“Come on, get back!”
I heard the words as I stopped convulsing and looked around.
Lance was in the room, an empty bucket in his hands as Frost held my dace and looked at me. “What the hell happened?”
“It… was a trance or something. But I could see them. They are fighting… Light and Darkness.”
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@Leo_kitti @Hanzell @Gwenie @gertu13 I’m back 😋😋! This just gets hotter!
Neexxxtttt!!! Why'd you have to cut it short like that ;;-;; but this is a mice welcome back gift :"))) i loved that action but I'm gonna wait for more ;;-;;