The Crimson Claymore

by Craig A. Price Jr.

  “I really must go,” she said before taking one last look at the two of them and rushing out the door.

  Noraes turned to look at Searon. “What was that all about?”

  Searon smirked as he took a sip of his tea.

  Chapter 38

  Searon stood against the breeze at the gate facing the wilderness beyond Legain. He gave half of his army back to his brother as well as a quarter of the north men to help defend. His own force would be a lot smaller than before and would be forced to make swifter strikes. It wasn’t what Searon wanted, but he also didn’t wish to leave his brother as defenseless as before.

  He embraced Noraes in a half hug with a partial smile. As Noraes hugged him back, he slipped something into Searon’s sash. Noraes did it in such a way that nobody surrounding them noticed the motion except for Searon. He shook his brother’s hand before peering into his sash to find a single white rose.

  “Give that to her for me,” Noraes whispered.

  “I will,” Searon smiled.

  “I will miss you, Brother. It has been too long, and yet our ways must part. We both live such different lives, and must go down such different paths.”

  “Take care.”

  Searon turned and mounted his stallion before galloping to the head of the army. Starlyn and Karceoles awaited him there along with a protection of guards. He edged close to the kheshlar and kept his hands from view by his guards or the wizard. After one hard look toward the wizard, Karceoles swiftly avoided his eyes and turned his horse away. Searon pulled out the single white rose and handed it to Starlyn. She looked around quickly to make sure nobody was watching as she snatched the beautiful flower from his hand and smelled it before tucking it into her breastplate. Her gaze strayed away from Searon to look back toward the city where she most likely searched for one last glance of Noraes.

  “Thank you,” she murmured.

  Searon nodded and led his stallion forward, motioning his army to follow. The journey ahead of them was to be long, and he scarcely planned to stop any place for too long. All the men were ready for another long journey with thick blood pumping for another taste of battle. They did not complain, as they traveled with scarce breaks, but continued on for duty.

  After a fortnight, they left the southern cities for the wilderness to the north. Searon varied from his original course to the west where he knew of a small village he had visited in the past. It seemed like such a long time ago that he traveled to the village of Augealia, and yet the memory was a fond one. He had been there long before he had followers, back when it was only him searching for stray draeyks to slaughter. After Augealia was when he had met the wandering wizard.

  He hoped by coming to the old village he could discover if there were any draeyks nearby. After all, he had done them a favor the last time by destroying the savage beasts that attacked the village. Searon didn’t wish to bring the entire army into the small town. He knew there wouldn’t be enough provisions, and it might frighten the townsfolk. Instead, he pulled aside Starlyn and Sh’on.

  As they walked from the camp and onto the worn road surrounded by farms, Searon noticed that not as many farmers were out and about. The farms on the sides were bare, and he only noticed two farmers that were in the gardens. Both of them looked drained of life and barely moved their shovels.

  When Searon reached the gates, he noticed that there were no guards outside and the doors were shut tight. He tried to pry them open, but they were shut solid and nothing he could do would make the gate budge.

  “A little help, mage?” Searon asked.

  Sh’on smiled and raised a hand that glowed green, and soft sparkling left his palm that blanketed the gate. In one fluid motion, the large doors snapped open a crack. The three of them had to use their strength to pull one door far enough to slip in.

  As they walked through the village, it almost looked abandoned except for a few of the guards patrolling the streets. The village was small with only a handful of shops that all appeared closed. Searon didn’t notice the shops he had seen in the village so long ago. It had been such a lively place the last time he had been there, but now it seemed so lifeless.

  One of the guards Searon had recognized from the gate so long ago approached them. His sharp chin and pointed nose were unmistakable as well as his attitude. Richard was his name, and Searon remembered him all too well.

  “Still killing draeyks for coin, Sir Mercenary?” the guard asked sarcastically.

  “No coin needed. I have decided to raise an army to strike the draeyks in their own camps.”

  “You seem to have come a long way from a mercenary.”

  “Only as far as is necessary to defeat these creatures once and for all,” Searon said as he looked down the streets again to see only emptiness. He noticed that many of the merchandise at the markets was still out, and yet nobody was at the businesses. “Where is everybody?”

  “We are in lockdown. There are draeyks outside of the village that we cannot defend against.”

  “How many?” Starlyn asked.

  Richard paused as he looked at Starlyn. “A real kheshlar. I always thought they were only from stories. I didn’t know you ever left your forest. Tell me, kheshlar, why have you left your home?”

  “How many?” she repeated.

  “I would say over two hundred, yet less than three.”

  “We’ll take care of them for you,” Searon said.

  “With only three?”

  “As I’ve said, I have an army under my command now. A mere three hundred is nothing to us after how many we’ve already slaughtered.”

  The guard raised his eyebrow and studied the three of them. “If that is the case, by all means.”

  Searon nodded and turned around to walk out of the village. They closed the gate as they left, and Sh’on locked it. When they were far away from the village and the farms surrounding it, Searon placed his hand on Starlyn’s shoulder. She turned back to look at him and seemed to understand what he wanted right away.

  “Find where they are, and come back to camp.”

  Starlyn nodded and silently took off in another direction. Searon and Sh’on continued back to camp where they explained to Karceoles what was going on. They began preparing the army for battle. Searon sat down on a stump as a large force of men prepared for battle and took his knife from its scabbard to feel the blade. The titanium was smooth and crafted with such perfection that it didn’t seem like a mere human could have made it. The sharpened blade was exceedingly fine, and he knew if he were to graze his bare skin with it that the blade would turn red.

  After only half an hour, Starlyn came back to the camp where she walked through a crowd of men to reach Searon. He watched as all of the men that parted for her continue to stare as she passed. She knew as well as he that with her being the only female in the army that all sorts of advances were to be made. Searon knew that she was more than capable to take care of herself, but he also put word out that if she were to be touched that a noose could be easily found.

  “Did you find them?” Searon asked.

  “Yes, they are northwest of the village. We can travel through the forest to find them so we don’t draw attention to ourselves.”

  “Perfect, how many?”

  “Three hundred and forty-seven.”

  “How many men would suffice without large causalities?”

  “Five hundred, at least a hundred of them archers, and we should be able to make short work of them.”

  “Etherond, Xython, and Sh’on, with me. Find your best men to complete this task. Andron and Karceoles, stay here with the rest of the army as we dispose of this small force of creatures.”

  “As you command,” Etherond smirked and turned around to speak with his men. His bronze cloak glittered in the sunlight as he walked away barking commands.

  Searon gathered himself together and got on his stallion with Starlyn at his side and led them toward where she saw the creatures. In a matter of half an hour, they had arri
ved at the camp that was filled with slaughtered animals and cook fires. The clearing was small and yet crammed with all the creatures as they fought with each other for scraps of food.

  Etherond gathered his men behind the second row of trees and told them to hold fast and prepare. Searon and Sh’on organized the archers behind the first rank of trees until they were scattered enough so every archer was open for a clear shot. Sh’on looked at Searon, who nodded back at him.

  “Loose!” Sh’on whispered.

  Arrows shot out of the trees in a flurry along with wisps of green magic. Many draeyks fell, but a lot of the arrows bounced off the scales of the creatures and tumbled to the ground. Searon held onto his claymore tightly, awaiting the attack that would head his way. As he suspected, the creatures became outraged and began charging into the forest where Searon already had his defenses set.

  Archers continued to fire until the reptilian creatures neared the forest, at which point they ran back to the third line of trees and behind the swordsmen. Some of the men were knights, cavalry, and others were swordsmen or men with axes and maces. The trap ensnared the draeyks perfectly as the creatures ran past the first wall of trees to the second. Searon stayed behind a thick tree on the first rank and watched as the creatures ran past him. Starlyn stood at the tree nearest him, and both prepared to attack from behind once the last of the creatures broke through the forest.

  The draeyks fought gallantly but ultimately met their demise. Many were hard to kill because of their thickened scales that were as hard as some of the men’s armor, but between the mass of arrows and warriors they began to fall one by one. Searon jumped out and fought hard against their back ranks with Starlyn by his side. Her thick hammer crushed snouts and heads one by one as she swung it about. Some draeyks were skilled enough to block her first few strikes with axes before being crushed under her blows, but none compared to her caliber of skill.

  Etherond fought like a madman with loud echoing laugher as he went from one foe to another. His skill was impressive to say the least, even at moments taking on three of the creatures at once. He fought a line from the front ranks all the way to Searon where he formed in a triangle with both him and Starlyn. The three struck down anyone that came at them. Since the draeyks had been on the offensive, none had rushed into the forest with crossbows ready, and so the three hundred creatures with axes fell in a span of a quarter of an hour.

  Searon inspected the injured and dead and was quite happy to have only three deaths. There were over thirty injuries, some severe, but most were light. Everyone would be able to make it, and Sh’on and Starlyn quickly attended to the injuries.

  All of them traveled back to the camp, where Searon decided to give his men a rest. He asked Starlyn to accompany him back into the village in the morning to tell the guard of their progress. With the news, hopefully they would be able to settle the minds of the villagers so they could come out of hiding once more.

  Searon yawned and decided to get some rest before heading out in the morning. He lay down next to his horse where he kept warm under some wool blankets under the stars. Before he closed his eyes, his memory flashed back to Victoria, and he knew he wouldn’t get much sleep.

  Chapter 39

  When dawn arrived, Searon left silently with Starlyn. He rode his stallion with Starlyn at a trot, enjoying the brisk sunshine that warmed his face. His heavy armor stayed back at camp along with his helm, and he wore only his red-brown leather armor. Starlyn only wore her dark-brown armor rather than gold metal so she would be lighter.

  The village gate was open, and so Stripes walked through. It seemed even emptier than it was before without even guards patrolling the streets. They continued on until they reached the village’s barracks where he saw the same guard that had sent him out. He was surrounded by at least twenty more guards, and the one closest to him was a captain. Searon recognized the captain as the one who gave him a sack of coin to fight the threat of draeyks the last time. His hair was short and spiked of a dirty-blond hue and he had two large gold hoops in each ear at the cartilage. He raised an eyebrow as he stared at both Searon and Starlyn.

  “The draeyk threat is gone now. You can tell everyone it is now safe to come out,” Searon said.

  The captain only shook his head and smiled as he looked behind Searon. Searon abruptly turned around to see a man with a long black beard with white flecks that hung past his waist. He wore a black cloak with purple robes exposed in the front and gold jewels that pinched his long beard together in three spots from top to bottom. His hair hung down his back near to his rear where it was a curled mess. There was no hood to the cloak, and his red eyes were haunting to stare at.

  “It is never safe,” the guard whispered from behind Searon.

  Searon didn’t turn around but continued to stare at the strange man in front of him. He held what appeared to be some form of zylek, but unlike Karceoles’s it was metal instead of wood with four spikes that looked like a hand holding a small skull at the tip. The skull’s eyes seemed to glow red while the rest of it appeared to glow white. At first, Searon assumed it to be some form of wizard or warlock until he saw the skeleton that stood by its side. The skeleton was a full body of bones completely attached and a head shorter than the man beside it. It held a cleaver in its left hand and a bone shield in its right.

  Searon knew what it was as soon as he saw the skeleton. He whispered, “Warlock.”

  The warlock held a dead scorpion in his pale-white left hand. His eyes seemed to flash and shine brighter as he looked at the scorpion. More than the man’s retina appeared red, but it was his entire eye that seemed to take flame. They almost appeared like small balls of fire that seemed separate from his face. He blew a green mist that surrounded the scorpion before waving his zylek about the creature in three turns. The scorpion levitated in front of his eyes and began to glow a dull yellow.

  Suddenly, the ground shook all around them, which caused Starlyn to stumble and fall. She reached to Searon and grabbed his shoulder to keep from falling. He was barely able to keep his own balance and held onto her tightly as they both watched in horror as the scorpion grew in size. It continued to grow larger until it reached three heads taller than a human. Six red eyes glared toward Searon and Starlyn before blinking a few times. The creature stood on two thick hind legs with four arms at its front and two pincers. A stinger came from its rear and curled up so it floated near its mid-back.

  “Kill them,” the warlock whispered.

  Searon pulled out his claymore in a stride ready to face the creature. At that moment, his stallion reared and knocked both Starlyn and him from saddle. The horse galloped away from both Searon and Starlyn toward the gate of the village. He stood up next to Starlyn, who already had her hammer held tightly in her grip. Searon rushed toward the creature first, and after two slashes was blocked by pincers. The creature’s tail slammed against Searon’s chest, causing him to fly backward into a stone building.

  Starlyn stepped up next, but instead of attacking she seemed to wait for an attack with a defensive stance. She stood so that her side was facing the creature rather than her entire front. It took a moment before the scorpion decided to lunge forward with both pincers snapping where Starlyn’s head was only a moment before. She ducked and rolled toward the creature, bringing up her hammer to crush against a pincer. The other claw came at her and slammed against her hammer. Her weapon flew from her hands, and she watched as it skidded across the dirt. The scorpion brought its tail toward her, and she dove into the air to avoid it. She landed on the middle of the tail and ran all the way up it before jumping off. As she fell toward the ground at its back, she took three shurikens from her pouch. The first bounced of the hardened shell of the creature and sprang back toward her face. She only had enough time to tilt her head to the left, causing the star to slice of a long strand of her bright-blonde hair. The creature turned to her when she landed, and she threw another, but the creature easily deflected it with a claw. Her third shu
riken soared past the creature’s defenses until it penetrated into one of the scorpion’s six eyes.

  Starlyn didn’t waste a second of time as she dashed away from the creature and toward Searon. He was back on his feet, and when he noticed her coming toward him, he put his claymore back in its scabbard. His arm secured around her, and they turned around to see the scorpion walking slowly toward them.

  Searon led Starlyn between the shops and into the alleyways that he remembered in detail. When they thought they lost the creature, they noticed the guards appear in front of them with swords out. There were five, and each one had glowing red eyes. Searon let go of Starlyn and stood in front of her as he unsheathed his claymore. He felt her shiver behind him, and her eyes were wide with terror. She seemed clueless at what she could do, and the sight of her frightened Searon. He never imagined that Starlyn could be afraid of anything, but for once she seemed as human as he.

  He clashed blades with the first two men and ducked as a third slashed a high sword at him. His left hand dropped from his handle and grabbed the dagger at his sash. He threw it forward, and it struck one of the humans in the neck. The man’s eyes turned from red back to brown as he fell to the ground. Searon only glanced at him for an instant before going back into defensive posture against the other four men. He was able to catch one of them off guard and struck him through the chest between plates. It dropped another, and yet it was a mistake as a sword slammed onto his right hand, cutting deep through his leather gloves. He dropped his claymore and fell to his knees. Swords came at him from all directions, but he rolled on the ground, covering his bleeding hand as he dodged one slash at a time.

  Starlyn remained still as he ran up to her and stood by her side once more. The remaining three rushed at him, and both he and Starlyn dodged several attacks. A sword hilt hit the top of his head as he dodged the blade, and he crashed to the ground with his face in the dirt. Starlyn dove and rolled to Searon’s claymore.