Blades 23 (NaNoWriMo)

I saw it.

Right before the blade landed, Yami managed to block my sword's trajectory – which was a straight slash that would have pierced his lungs – with his left hand. He had managed to avoid certain death, but the fact that was now apparent to him was that with that earlier move, I had gotten him in a corner where I would deal a severe injury whatever he did.

The bloody stump that was once his left hand was a testament to this fact.

I looked down to see his bloody hand lying limp on the floor, a mixture of disgust and mild amusement running through my mind. He grabbed his stump and moved backward slowly, even as I took my eyes off the appendage and looked back at him. There was a mixture of agony, anger, and frustration plastered on his face as he struggled to get as far back as his pain could permit, before ripping off his shirt and wrapping it around the stump.

“Great first aid skills, but a wasteful action nonetheless. Your head’s dropping next anyway.”

I was scared of the steel in my voice as I said this. A lack of fear or shock at the plain desire to kill this man that was welling in my body. I felt no hesitancy, no remorse, and no negative dispositions. Maybe it was the fact that I knew he was a demon that would continue to hunt us if I let him go, or that it was just the right thing to do; killing him, that is.

Or maybe it was the soul-lust of the death sword.

His face was one of pure frustration. There was anger, yes, that could be read, but his inability to take out his anger on me was the root of that frustration. There was a handicap, he was losing blood, and I was about to decapitate him. For the first time, the smug look on his face disappeared, and he registered fear.

“With this level of skill, did you think you could have beaten Kendrick?” I asked mockingly, trying to catch my breath. Cutting his hand with the life sword had definitely given me an energy boost; the withered hand on the floor confirmed that, but my body would have to adjust to these sudden losses and recharges.

“So…that’s the ability of that sword, eh? I should have figured.”

I turned to see Yami. He was a fighter, at least I had to give him credit for that. He was on his feet, a slight hunch in his step, and he was almost pale. He was bleeding out obviously – First aid couldn’t help the loss of an appendage, especially at the wrist.

“You have a fighter’s spirit…”

“That sword radiates a lot of life energy. I could feel it right before it… amputated me,” he said with a surly grin. “It also absorbs energy from parts which it cuts, right? That’s why that hand is withered, yeah?”

His analytical prowess was commendable. A more-than-worthy wielder of the sword, this one, I thought. Too bad you went the wrong way.

“And that’s why I lost my balance. You managed to cut my right leg and absorbed the energy when I was using it as a pivot. Y-you… you have a sharp mind, I’ll give you that!”

I smiled. “You’re not in the position to talk big, considering you’re about to die!”

Dashing forward, I thrust out the Life Sword, determined to impale him and sap all his energy. But somehow, he anticipated it and dodged before grabbing the length of the sword. The sword glowed immediately and I could feel the energy leaving it.

His wound!

I looked at it closely. The cloth had torn off, but it was healing. A new hand wasn’t growing, but the injury had stopped bleeding.

This guy, I thought. He’s using my ability for his own benefit!

“Surely you would have known that your ability was useful to you as it was to anyone else, right? I f I don’t get caught, I can also absorb some energy and…”

“Tell me, how will you respond to – “

He saw it out of the corner of his eye, but it was too late. I was swinging the Death Word straight for his neck

An explosion rocked the room, making the walls crumble and throwing both of us away from each other. My two swords were in my hands, thankfully.

“Fifteen minutes already?!” Yami shouted. “Damn, this didn’t go as expected…”

I stood up slowly, my body aching slightly. I was hurled at the ground with the force of the explosion, so I still wasn’t in good shape to fight. Neither was Yami, whose wound had broken open again.

“This will be the…”

The door opened swiftly and Frost burst in. Taking the scene in, she smirked and said. “We’re leaving.”

“What?! I’m just about to…”

“No, we’re leaving. They had already started blowing up the place, the rest of the operatives. We have done away with them, but this place isn’t gonna last very long.”

With that, the ceiling began falling apart. Looking at Yami one last time, I walked away with her, having a feeling that although this would not be the last time we would meet, this would be the last time we would fight.

@Leo_kitti, @Hanzell, @gertu13, @Gwenie I’m back, I guess.