Chapter 5: The Marksman Strikes

Talon is caught by the Unforgiving Sword mercenaries and must fight for his survival. What chance does one man have against twenty three warriors? Read to find out!

“Are you lost, pretty boy?” a rough looking mercenary said, as he grinded his two short swords together, with a disgusting smile on his face.

“Humph!” Talon said, as he looked around at the mass of armed men surrounding them.  There was a lot, and they didn’t seem the kind of people that would consider a non-violent solution.  “I’d say I was lost, if it meant you’d let me leave to go find my way out of here…but something tells me you all aren’t that courteous to strangers.”

“Go on,” another gruff axe wielding mercenary said with a chuckle, “We’ll give you a five second head start.”

“You can’t be serious!” Talon exclaimed, “I’d rather die in an unfair, over twenty against one battle like this then run away!  I could never live with myself after running from a band of low-lives like you all!”

“I would think someone who was smart enough to get around us so sneakily would know that making demeaning comments to a group of fighters this large, all of which are armed, is not the brightest idea.”

Talon looked towards the direction of the calm, emotionless voice to see a man about his height, with spiky black hair, and sapphire blue eyes.  He also was dressed in a fine dark black tunic, and wore pants that matched.  On his sash was a sword that was not ornate or flashy, but Talon could tell that it took an especially good sword master to wield this blade.

"So you must be the leader of this group." Talon spoke as he observed the calm sword master.

"I am.” The man in black replied, his voice still empty of emotion.  “My name is Kilvren, but I am also known as the Night Blade, as my jet black sword strikes swiftly and silently, leaving nothing but a cold dark feeling of hopelessness, much like the midnight sky.”

Talon put on the front of not being impressed by the man.  "Only a man dissatisfied with his sword skills would come up with a goofy name like that in an attempt to make up for his lack of skill with the blade.  I'll give you points for originality though."

“Perhaps,” Kilvren replied, unaffected by Talon’s insult. “I’d ask who you are…but the truth is, I already know.  You’re name is Talon.  I know you have been with the Valor Mercenaries, though taking a break to serve with the Nazrogoth Army, only to return to serve under the War hero, Lucian, who you have always been dissatisfied and under impressed with.  Judging from the fact that you are here, interfering with matters that have nothing to do with the region Lucian now serves or the Valor Mercenaries, I am inferring that you have finally had enough with the leader that you dislike, and you have decided to become a rogue mercenary of your own.  If that’s the case, Talon, I’ll offer this to you only once…Join the Unforgiving Sword, and allow us to benefit from your skill with the bow.”

Talon couldn’t help but smile at the intuition and straight forwardness of Kilvren.  He was a tough man to read, as he was as emotionless as a rock, but Talon knew that this was not a man to take lightly.

"You’re very smart to discern all of what you have.  It’s all true, except for one minor detail.  You seem to have inferred that I left one mercenary group only to want to join another.  You must be very misinformed to think I’d waste my time with another pack of monkeys, especially one like this pitiful excuse for a mercenary group.”

"Do what you must.” Kilvren replied, again not emotionally bothered Talon's harsh words.  “I am taken back by your brash, rude, and cocky attitude.  I would have expected better from a Valor Mercenary.  My former instructor in the art of sword play, Atticus joined up with your group.  Did you ever meet him?  While I now have very particular differences with my old teacher, I know he would not join a pack of mercenaries unless their integrity and character were to be applauded.  I suppose it makes sense that you left the honorable Valor Mercenaries, if you truly are as arrogant and crude as you act in front of me.”

Talon’s face couldn’t help but let on a little amazement and shock.  While he had never spoken with Atticus, he had many times seen the sword master in battle.  Often Nazrogoth Generals would send forty halberdiers and spearmen to fight Atticus, and none would return.  On the battlefield, Talon would occasionally be distracted with amazement as he watched this one man move so quickly, dodging lances and halberds, never once making a mistake in his strikes, and killing every one of his opponents.

“Well, as you can tell, gentlemen,” Kilvren said, as he raised his voice and addressed his mercenaries, “we have a busy night ahead of us.  It appears the sorceress we abducted a few weeks ago with the hopes of learning her true origins of nobility to sell for a high ransom, has escaped.  As this woman is not to be taken lightly, we don’t have much time to spend on this poor misguided warrior.  Due to the urgency of the predicament we are in, whoever kills Talon will get twice as much earnings this week, and double in food and drink during every meal for this month."

Kilvren stepped back behind a couple of mercenaries in order to observe his subordinates.  As the sword master moved backwards, the mercenaries began to surround Talon.  During Kilvren's monologue the skilled marksman counted twenty-three men.  In order to survive, Talon would have to make the first move and then continue to move very quickly.  He would not allow them to have an opening to strike.

Talon moved backwards, as if he didn't know about the three men standing behind him with swords.  Without a second’s notice, Talon quickly twirled around, withdrew three arrows from his quiver, and shot them simultaneously out of his bow.  The arrows flew toward the three mercenaries, finding their home in the  hearts of the mercenaries.  Each man fell to the floor dead.  Three down, twenty to go.

The momentary shock among the mercenaries regarding the seemingly impossible shot done by Talon gave him enough time to rush towards the mercenary with two short swords, who had done the tough talking to him earlier.  As this man saw Talon run towards him, he attempted to swing both his blades at the blue haired archer.  Talon, ducked for the first sword, and then jumped over the second blade.  In the air, Talon landed on the mercenary’s head, allowing him to do a second jump and knocking the man to the floor.  Talon jumped onto a tree, and climbed it swiftly, until he hit a reasonably large branch he could balance on.

As Talon had been climbing up the tree, he heard several arrows fly into the bark.  From where he was standing on the branch, he knew there were two archers to his left.  Quickly, as he used the tree as a shield, he readied two arrows.  He shot them in the direction he assumed the archers were, and smiled in satisfaction as he heard two voices acknowledge the pain, as an arrow hit their neck.  Two down, eighteen left.

From the tree, Talon started to shoot many of the warriors nearest to him.  Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, and now down to fourteen...Things were getting tougher, as the mercenaries were taking cover under logs and behind trees.  Talon knew he could not stay in the tree for long.  The sniper began to wonder if there was a way to end this battle quickly.  Through his peripheral vision, Talon noticed Kilvren, still standing stoically in the background observing the battle.

“Perhaps if their commander fell, the mercenaries would run in fear.” Talon thought, “That fool doesn’t take me seriously.  He probably thinks since he was trained by the great Atticus he’s untouchable.  Well, if he’s just going to stand out there in the open in a place that’s an easy shot for me…I might as well take it!”

Talon shot an arrow towards Kilvren, but was amazed when instead of hearing the impact of the arrow into a body, he heard the release of a sword, and the iron arrow being cut.  Talon’s eyes turned in awe to Kilvren as he held his long thin black sword out, after cutting the arrow in two!  It was obvious that from this tree, Talon would not have an opportunity to surprise Kilvren, and would be unable to shoot him.

As Talon was in awe of the fact that the sword master had cut his arrow in two, he felt the tree he was perched on tremble harshly.  The archer had to quickly regain his balance as to not fall off the tree.  Talon looked down to see a massive giant of a man, at least seven feet tall, clad in heavy dark purple armor from head to toe, running at the tree for yet another hit.  Talon was convinced that at his speed and with his weight, that he would easily knock the tree down when he rushed into it a second time.

“Well, you’re quite the immovable object!” Talon muttered about the large knight, as he withdrew an armor piercing arrow made from steel.

The arrow flew from Talon’s bow straight into the chest of the knight, piercing the armor.  The purple knight, however, was unaffected and kept running towards Talon’s tree.  Talon muttered several choice curse words, as he shot three more arrows into the seemingly invincible giant, all of which were just as ineffective as the first.  As the knight smacked his shoulder into the tree, Talon leaped off the branch as the tree toppled to the ground.

“Now’s our chance to kill him!” a sword wielding mercenary said to two of his companions.  “Let’s go!”

Talon quickly turned around and saw three men and their blades running towards him.

“They’re too close!  I can’t dodge them!” Talon thought, “What a horrible place to die!  A great warrior like myself can’t go in a place like this…”

As the mercenaries swung their swords towards Talon, a large battle axe came crashing down from the left, chopping all the mercenaries in half.  Talon turned to see the large purple knight holding tightly to the hilt of the axe.

"Guess you didn’t want to share those meals, eh, big guy?” Talon said wryly, with half a smile.  It was just his luck that this big purple knight had a pride issue and wanted all the glory for himself. 

The knight swung his large axe towards Talon, who very easily moved to the right, dodging the weapon.  Talon knew his arrows were useless against the giant.  As he was rolling around the ground and jumping swiftly at times, all in order to avoid the massive purple killing machine, he tried to develop a strategy to get past this immovable and impenetrable object.  Finally, he saw his last ray of hope, and perhaps his only chance for survival.

Talon waited for the purple knight to think he had the perfect killing swing at Talon .  When the axe came down in the blue haired and blue eyed archer’s direction, he jumped high into the air onto the shoulder of the giant.  From the shoulder, Talon leaped over near the entrance of the tent that Oceana was being held in before this battle begun.  Near this entrance, there was a torch lighting the area where the battle was taking place.  Talon quickly withdrew a wooden arrow and set the tip on fire.  The purple knight turned around and started to run towards Talon.  The sniper aimed his flaming arrow very precisely, and shot it into the small opening in the knight’s helm.

The knight paused and made a monstrous yell of pain, as the flaming arrow hit his face.  He continued to run, but by the time he started to move again, three more flaming arrows went into his helmet.  The giant finally fell to the ground, creating a small tremor as his body hit the earth.  The remaining twelve mercenaries (not including Kilvren) stepped back in fear of Talon, who glared at them all as a challenge.

“Come on!” Talon yelled to his advisories with the rage of battle fueling his intensity, “Who’s next?  I’ll take you all on!”

"That's enough!" Kilvren's cold emotionless voice was heard from the background.  "It is clear that I underestimated this warrior's ability.  Men, stand down.  I will deal with the intruder myself.  Talon, you should consider it an honor to be killed by my hands."

Talon breathed in deeply as he raised his bow and prepared to battle the apprentice of the great sword master Atticus, Kilvren Nightblade.

Reviews

[Shep]

I can't stand it know i have to pop more popcorn. and get large bottle of water. Dang this is getting good. Love the fights, love the details. moving on

I will deal with the intruder myself. Talon, you should consider it an honor to be killed (at) change to (by) my hands."

[DarkCrono15]

Good catch! I'll make the change after I finish reading all you're amazing reviews!

I love writing fights and in this story I think you'll see many...I'm just a fan of action I suppose! Glad to see that you enjoy them too =)