Young Writers Society

A coil of heat writhed inside Leed as he struck blow after blow. It was something that had been bred from war, sprouted from the boiling blood that watered the ground, and fed with the roar of all the animals crashing together on the field.

Drops of sweat seeped into his eyes, blurring his vision painfully. Again, his horse screamed beneath him, its muscles straining with the brute strength of the black beast. Tightening his thighs around the horse, Leed brought down his sword in an arc which took with it the life of a soldier. Blood splattered onto his face, and he could finally release a heated breath.

The soldiers of Uxoel were tangled with the opposing army that held fluttering signs of Ichel high above their heads. As Leed cursed and urged his horse forward into yet another group of soldiers, his sword glinted silver in the light of the sun. The graceful stretch of blade shared a rhythm with the thing that thumped violently in his chest. Blood rolled along the sword and wetted the grass even more.

As the soldiers from Ichel swarmed Leed, he quickly came to a realization that being on horseback would only urge him into standing at attention. With no hesitation, he flung himself off of his horse just as a blade cut into its forelegs. The horse released a sound of death and crumpled behind him. Ignoring the cold air of lifelessness that had been poured over him, Leed raised his sword then leapt onto a soldier, ending his life.

When his vision opened up more with the deaths of the opponents around him, he whipped his head up and saw a knight approaching him atop a cold-eyed horse. The knight’s amber eyes were smoldering with the fire of a man who had tasted blood, and Leed glared back, his mouth opening to yell furiously.

The knight’s brown horse didn’t stop in its fast approach, and Leed had enough time to realize that his opponent was one of the Ten Knights of Ichel, the harsh men trained brutally from birth.

As the knight stormed toward Leed, the soldiers quickly jumped aside to part a way. White foam flew from the brown horse’s mouth. Leed tightened his fingers around the hilt of his sword, and shifted to the side when he saw the first strike coming to meet him.

It was a precise, deadly blow, full of malice yet control. Silently breathing with glee, Leed danced along the other sword, pushing away the full impact before it could reach his bones. The knight with amber eyes jumped off of his horse. Before he could regain his balance completely, Leed sliced down to his neck.

The flurry of two silver blades began as soon as the knight came up to meet Leed’s sword. Leed’s eyes narrowed, his white hair flying around his face and into his eyes. He could feel hot sweat wetting his back.

Once, the other knight gained advantage and kicked Leed onto the ground. Growling, Leed scrambled away from a stab and managed to pull himself onto his feet. Then he plunged into another round of exchanged strikes, trembles from each blow traveling down his arms.

He only noticed that his back was now facing a cliff, a long drop to the sea, when he saw a glint of victory inside the opposing knight’s eyes. The amber orbs were brightened with victory and longing to spill the blood of the Third Knight, and Leed abruptly recalled a name.

He was fighting Linjay Visis, the only knight who was said to be at equal match to the First Knight of Uxoel’s bloodlust.

Clenching his teeth, Leed now struggled to put all that he had into his strikes. His sword howled along with him, ringing with a challenge to separate its opponent’s head from his body. It seemed as if a century had passed when Linjay began to take more steps back than forward. With each breath that he took setting fire to his lungs, Leed grinned and raised the tip of his blade for what he thought would be the final blow.

And his whole world swayed. There was a dull pain blooming from his side, spreading all around his body like blood released into clear water. When he blinked next, he knew that his back was thudding heavily against the ground, the force making him choke, and Linjay was driving something like ice into his side.

Crimson spread in front of Leed’s eyes. He coughed violently, and couldn’t resist when Linjay tugged him up forcefully. The sound of war faded away from him, which he scrambled for blindly.

With his head spinning with the howling winds, Leed faintly felt himself being thrown over the cliff’s edge, down into the rocks and sea.

The only thing he could hear was his sword screaming as it broke. The severed bond turned into a thousand blades and tore viciously into Leed’s chest. And the ringing of the sword forever shattering, he imagined, would stay with him for years and decades and centuries, breaking on a rock under a cliff.