It was upon the eve of summer when fifteen year old Zach Harrow stumbled upon the sounds of clashing steel. The sounds were fresh and new to him for he had never seen violence other then for a few fist fights here and there. He followed the sounds for with this new sound came the signs of a possible new life for him. The echo of this mysterious sound flew through the air for miles; he hadn’t noticed that after several minutes he had already ventured from one of the neighbourhood to the other.
It was then that he realized where the sounds were coming from. He had stopped in front of a large pine tree that branched over a small fence that stood before him and the source of the sound. For being such a short child he was able to jump rather high, yet he had failed several times at grappling the branch of the tree, but after a while his determination launched forward and he swung up into the strong branches of the tree.
From this height he could see far in to the distance. The wondrous setting skies felt so close to touch along with all the pine needles that Zach had now wished he had not sat upon. His view was clear upon what was happening down below as well, for in the field beneath two men dressed in robes of glamorous colours. One was a bright emerald green with reddish orange stripes at the folds and down the arms. The other wore robes of the similar pattern yet the majority of it was blue with golden yellow stripes.
Zach’s attention had lost itself in the two men for each carried a rather small, metal sword that sparkled brightly in the Sun’s light. Each of them carried with them a bunch of different patterns of movement that felt different each time they were put to use. It felt as if he was watching two grown men dancing together and the sounds of steel was the beat to the music, as if they were following the essences of music itself.
He was entranced by the composure and talent that these two men had displayed while their act had gone on. Both had shown each other what they were capable of and where their limits had peaked. The Sun had completely departed when the two men bowed to each other about an hour later. Both of them were gleaming in perspiration from the work out. Once each had paid their respects to the other they had dispersed from each and went there separate ways.
Disappointed; Zach jumped down out of the tree and brushed the needles out of his short black hair and cleaned off his peasant-like shirt. As the needles softly fell to the ground, he began to wander back out from the shadows of hiding and returned to the world he had regretted
It had been years that he had spent out on these streets, alone and hungry most of the time. He spent most of it gazing up into the sky and remembered the stories he had over heard about his idle, Blade. The man was well-known throughout the town as the one that returned the country to peace. About three years ago, a civil war broke out among the upper country and the lower, a war that had lasted several years on an idea that was pointless. Blade had only been known during the last two battles of the war. He had created a small resistance force that somehow managed to hold both of the enemies of from destroying each other and by the end of it, they were able to set an agreement on what had happened. However, unknowingly Blade was assassinated a week after peace was thought to be returned
The memories of Zach’s fantasy subsided however when a quick shadow startled him. It did not seem large, but the reflection of the light might have changed the true size of what he had seen. He had lowered himself to his knees and somewhat crawled his way towards what he had seen. Fear had set in but he was not going to let it defeat him. He crawled slowly closer to where the shadow was bouncing, yet he was beginning to realize that it was shrinking.
He tripped over his own feet as he tried to rush forward. As he darted closer he had seen that whatever it was jumped into an open window and disappeared into the darkness. Zach caught up to the building in which the shadow crept into and after thinking a moment, he clambered in shortly after.
His face had hit a hard wooden floor as he dropped head first from the window. He rubbed his face from the fall but managed to stand up almost immediately. He had hoped that no one heard his odd entrance.
His eyes were finding it hard to adjust to the poor amount of lighting in the room, however his eyes were soon stolen as the moon led them towards the only source of light in the room. The silvery moonlight had been reflected off the cold steel of several swords that hung up on the wall across from the window.
He meandered over to the wall carelessly. He had placed his hands upon a sword that reflected the light better then any of the others. The sword’s handle looked warn and after inspecting it for a moment, Zach realized that there was writing scratched into the surface of the blade. He had given a loud gasp after he read it through once. He repeated it aloud, seeing if what he heard was different then what he just read.
“To my son Saber, who may not have realized the greatness that has been bestowed into your blood; you who are the only remaining member of my family and the one I cherish most over anything else upon this planet.
Blade”
The sudden sound of footsteps from the hall silenced Zach immediately. There was no furniture or large objects for him to hide behind, he was completely out in the open and the sounds of the footsteps began to grow faster as they approached the room.
Not knowing what to do, Zach panicked and ran with the sword still in his hands. The footsteps came to a halt as shouting echoed through the halls around Zach once he had been spotted.
Another startling incident occurred right behind him for in the room he had just left stood the shadow he had chased in here. He could now see that it was a burly man dressed in pure black. His hands were already placed upon two of the longer swords on the wall.
Zach could not decide whether to protect the other swords or let the other men in the building handle this culprit. His decision however had been decided for him, for three men came forward and took hold of Zach and easily took the sword out of his hand. The first man that took hold of Zach then noticed the other man. With the sword in hand, the man darted towards the burly figure, however the burly man expected to see trouble and with a vast amount of brute force, struck the sword bearer with the longest and sharpest sword on the wall.
Panic struck, the other two men dashed forward and jumped on the burly man, trying to slow him down, yet nothing that they had planned was going right for in moments all three men laid unconscious on the ground around the burly figure.
Zach was dumbstruck. He froze in his position and watched as the man in front of him took hold of yet another sword. He began tying them all to his waist and although it seemed awkward to see a man walking around with a dozen blades tied to him, this burly man seemed capable of walking normally with all the extra weight tied to him.
He slowly turned away from the wall as he tied the last sheath to his waist and began to turn around towards the window. His eyes pierced into Zach’s for a brief moment before he bent down to pick up Blade’s sword.
The stories of Blade’s courage then swept back into Zach’s mind as he saw the final memory of his hero’s life being stolen away. A trembling foot entered dark room as Zach’s petrified body slowly entered.
“Drop that sword,” murmured Zach in a quiet tone, filled with fear and pain. The burly man took another gaze at him but continued with motioning forward towards the window.
“I said drop the sword,” Zach stuttered, a little louder then before. It did not seem to faze the man however for he did not even pause at Zach’s attempted threat. Gathering the final fragments of his courage he released an echoing roar that froze the thief in his tracks.
The man turned around and froze once his eyes made contact with Zach’s again. He felt as if the man was studying him from head to foot. His presence felt eerie and his stare alone sent chills down Zach’s spine. The man pulled two random blades from there sheathes as he slightly approached Zach.
“Might I ask how what you would do if I don’t drop the sword?” the burly man asked with a pitch of humour in his voice.
Stumbling for words, Zach spat out “I’ll fight you if you don’t!” The man let out a cackle of laughter.
“With what weapon, I seem to be unable to see your weapon of choice.”
Zach was speechless. What was he thinking; trying to take on a man with over twenty weapons with nothing but his bare hands. The burly man just snickered and turned around.
He knew he had lost. He had failed everyone, the innocent men, Blade, himself. He was the only one standing in front of saving the last remaining memory of Blade and he could do nothing to fend the thief off.
Something then reminded him of what Blade had done to save the country. It had not been his actual fighting that saved the world, but his words and actions.
With the warmth of his memories Zach’s courage began to build again. He held a fist and then spoke once again.
“I don’t know how I will fight you, but I can’t let you steal the last fragment of Blade. I refuse to just stand here and let you get away with it.”
“Trust me boy, this sword here has more memory for me then it ever will for you.”
“What do you mean by that,” Zach said, taken back by those few words.
“This sword gives me the memory of my greatest victory, Blade’s sword was won by me when I killed him!”
Stunned by those words, Zach refused to let this man leave, now that he knew the truth about him. But what exactly could he do? The man laughed one last time as he began to step out the window.
It took him a minute to clue in, but Zach’s feet darted towards the thief. He threw his arm forward and grabbed hold of Blade’s sword. The thief quickly pulled out a sword of his own but his movements seemed slow because of all the weight he was carrying. Zach jumped away from the thief and managed to gain his distance as he sprinted down the hallway.
He could hear the thief begin to chase after him but there was little time to take a look behind him. He had found himself lost among the many walls of this building. Whatever this place was, it was definitely easy to get lost in.
Thinking quickly on how to stop the angry thief, Zach noticed that the ceiling had not been completed and several pillars led up to the wooden frame that held the walls together. He was unable to make the first few jumps up but he soon managed to grapple one of the beams that connected the pillars and the frame and managed to climb up before the sounds of the thief’s footsteps came into hearing.
He held the blade down, ready to pounce once the thief rushed in below him. He would only have one chance to do this right. The footsteps were starting to come in clearer and within moments the shadow appeared upon the floor.
Zach released his grip on the wooden pole he was on and launched himself towards the thief with Blade’s sword in front of him. With the point of the sword aimed correctly, Zach had just missed the thief’s skin.
The thief spun around instantly but he was unable to stop Zach’s slow movement. The sword had already pierced the thin clothing the thief had been wearing. Gasping, the man fell to his knees and stared deep into Zach’s eyes. His eyes then opened in shock.
“It, it can’t be, I’ve seen those eyes before! Who are you?!”
“My name is Zach Saber Harrow, I am Blade’s son,” Zach said as he pulled the blade out of the man’s chest. The man gave one last cackle as he dropped effortlessly to the floor.
Zach used the man’s shirt to clean the blood off the sword before he returned it to the sheath. He unclipped all the weapons from the thief and returned them to the wall then with a quick jump he managed to escape the building. By dawn, all memories of Blade and his son had vanished with the rising of new peace.
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