First Battle

The travelers run into their first battle.

Suddenly, Aris’ eyes burned, turning not from the darkish grey that indicated he was content, to a paler grey, steely.  “Get down,” he hissed.  Dest’rei immediately shoved me to the ground, grabbed Alonwyn’s bridle and pulled him towards us, then crouched, muscles tensed in wariness. 

            Aris glanced at us, and Lynya, who was curled beside me said urgently, Give him your sword.  Now!  I realized that this was no time to argue and immediately handed my sword, hilt-first, to Aris.  He took it, and swiftly turned to the direction we had come from.  Dest’rei did the same, waving his hand as he unsheathed his own sword.  A shimmering pale green mist surrounded the area around us.  I knew that the green mist was Dest’rei’s magic; what the mist was supposed to do was beyond me. 

            “Assassins,” spat Aris.

            My heart pounded with excitement.  Now I could see what Aris was warning us about.  Six men, all armed with knives and two with swords, had appeared, seemingly from nowhere.  They advanced towards us.  Dest’rei nodded at Aris and in response, he sprang forward, running at the men.  My breath caught in my throat with fright.  I had no idea how good a fighter Aris was, and he was outnumbered.  Dest’rei too, now launched himself at the men.  Lynya’s tail lashed back and forth as it did when she was agitated.

            Being trained in fighting arts myself, I could analyze the battle.  Dest’rei had a strange sword.  It was extremely thin and maybe a hand shorter than a broadsword.  However, though it didn’t seem very sturdy or strong, it suited Dest’rei’s fighting style.  I had never seen anyone fight like him.  He didn’t engage long with the other man.  His sword darted gracefully in and out, taking full advantage of every opening.  His movements were smooth and fluid and he swayed with the battle.  It was amazing to watch.  There!  The strange sword had easily turned aside one of the swordsmen’s thrusts.  In the same motion, he flicked the tip of his sword upwards and slit the man’s throat.

            Aris’ approach was distinctly different.  The swordsmanship was no less superior, but instead of Dest’rei’s quick, easy movements, he tended to move abruptly.  His attack was a furious onslaught of rapid blows that were hard to follow.  I watched, impressed, as he took on the other swordsman.  A swift overhead, a side cut to the right, then a thrust.  A backhand side cut before a diagonal upward slash.  He engaged the other man’s sword, and with a peculiar twist of the wrist, the other sword went flying into the air.  As he delivered the killing stroke, he caught the other sword and tossed it to me.

            Surprised, I caught it.  It was fairly well balanced, not perfect, but it would do under the circumstances.  With a rush of adrenaline, I threw myself into the battle, immediately killing one man before stabbing another in the ribs.  Despite myself, I felt a bit of queasiness.  It was one thing to practice against a wooden post and quite another to actually kill a man.  Luckily, Aris had already taken care of the fifth man, and Dest’rei had his sword at the last man’s throat.  I let the point of the borrowed sword touch the ground.

            Aris gave me a tense smile, but his eyes had gone back to a normal shade of grey and he had relaxed slightly.  I could practically feel fury radiating off of Dest’rei as he grasped the man’s collar demanded in a calm, but threatening voice, “What was your task here?” 

            I leaned closer automatically to hear what the man had to say.  He choked out, “Sent…to kill…the princess…” 

            “By who?” hissed my teacher.  “I don’t know...” the man replied.

            A white flare blazed.  I said, “He’s lying.” 

            Dest’rei raised his eyebrow at me then curiously, then nodded.  Our captive had suddenly gone pale.  Dest’rei whispered, slowly, clearly, “Now tell me the truth.”

            Unexpectedly, the man’s voice turned venomous.  “I suppose it doesn’t matter what you know since you’re all going to die anyway.  You, princess, will die quickly.  You, elf, and your little Alliance brat will die slowly, under torture.  Like the one we’re working on now.  You know, the blonde one with those strange blue eyes?” 

            There was no white flare of light that indicated a lie.  Aris leapt forward and beheaded the man with a quick sweep of my sword, panting in rage and fear.  Then he sat down shakily, dropped my sword, and put his head in his hands.

             I began to walk over to him, then stopped, looking desperately at Dest’rei.  The elf reached for my sword, wiped it on the ground, and handed it to me before indicating that I should leave them alone for a little while.  Obediently, I headed towards Alonwyn, taking his bridle and stroking his mane. 

            Walking a bit away, I called to Lynya.  She sauntered over, as only cats can do.  Don’t worry too much about Aris.  He’s just scared and worried for his friend.  Dest’rei will take care of it, she assured me. 

            I bit my lip, answering, I know.  It’s just…I can’t help worrying.  Lynya rubbed her head against my leg before saying, I understand.

            After about half an hour, Dest’rei came to me and said softly, “Let’s just go a little further, and then we’ll rest for a bit.”  I nodded, catching a glimpse of Aris’ face.  His eyes weren’t that calm grey anymore.  They were stormy and angry, and a little fearful.  Tentatively, I watched him.  He gave me a half-hearted smile, but it was only a shadow of his usual sincere grin.  Sighing, he started on his way.  “Follow,” I murmured to Alonwyn, and he docilely trailed me as we continued north. 

 

Author's Note

Constructive criticism and compliments gladly accepted.
By the way, what do you think of the fight scene? Some people liked it, some people said it was too short. I can make it longer, but what do you think?