“Ezra” Ezra replied. “I am a farm boy far from here. I was in the Azard Army until the Fale overran our outpost. I hid in Laton where I met Master Jerold”.
“Alright Ezra” the man said as he dropped his sword. “Sorry about the welcome, these are strange times we are living in with the Warlord Telrin Fallow still living. He won't stop until he either kills the rest of the Unarmored or make them come under his rule”.
“Who are you?” an older Unarmored asked. This man had hair completely white and looked almost as old as Jerold.
“This is Ezra” the one armed man spoke. “He is a soldier of Azard who was discovered to have talent. With him is his trainer, a master Jerold”.
“What do you want here?” the old Unarmored snapped.
“You know damn well what we want here” Jerold snapped back. “My student has shown enough progress that I think he should undergo the Blood Sword Ritual”.
“We don’t teach that no more” the old man snapped.
“What do you mean you don’t teach that anymore?” Jerold asked surprised. “It is the final step of training for an Unarmored”.
“The last of our flock took their blood swords and became Sullied” the old man replied. “They have killed many people with those swords, becoming just like the Devourer. What if training your student brings forward the Devourer or the next Telrin Fallow? I won't have a hand in training a murderer”.
“I think my student can defeat Fallow” Jerold replied. “He has the potential to become the greatest of us all”.
“Impossible” the old man snapped again. “Telrin Fallow is able to wear heavy armor and he is big, a lot bigger than your student. He has two generals and many more Unarmored under his command”.
“Killing Fallow though would stop this hunt of Unarmored” Jerold replied. “Let the kingdoms have their wars, we should not be dying off as a result. Azard has been rounding up any Unarmored they can find that is not under the control of Fallow and having them fight. If things keep going this way there will be no Unarmored on both sides. How long until you think this Fallow will eventually turn and seize power for himself?”
“Fallow did willingly join his kingdom with the Fale” the one armed man replied.
“Telrin Fallow is a king?” Ezra asked puzzled.
“He took over all the small lands the Devourer had before she was cut down” Jerold replied.
“Yes the Devourer was killed” the one armed man said. “It was the Devourer who gave me this reminder of my mortality” the man finished gesturing to his sliced off arm.
“You killed the Devourer?” Ezra asked surprised.
“I did but I had help” the one armed man replied. “Rexford Apprah, nice to meet you” the man said as he stuck out the hand on his good arm.
“Pleasure to meet you as well” Ezra replied. “Is a blood sword really needed to fight this warlord guy?”
“If he is wearing heavy armor then you need something that can bite into it” Jerold replied.
“Why not make a good mace or a warhammer then?” Ezra asked.
“Exactly why he doesn’t need trained here” the old man said. “Already he wants to throw away our customs for his own needs”.
“My student has not asked anything that has not been asked before” Jerold replied. “But I am older than you are and I know the ways. I only came here as a matter of tradition. No wonder Telrin Fallow is killing this order off, it is ran by fools and scared old men”.
“I am not a scared old man” the old man replied. “I am the head of the High Council”.
“You are a fool and you are rude” Jerold replied. “You have not even introduced yourself to my student. Come Ezra, it was a mistake by coming here”.
“Telrin Fallow will kill us all” the old man replied.
“Doesn’t matter” Jerold replied. “I told you my student is something special and you want to turn him away. Telrin Fallow can be taken down as easy as the Devourer was, I think with the right amount of training he can take Telrin out”.
“We won't be safe here forever” Rexford replied. “Telrin will either discover us or we will eventually die out while he helps conquer the known world”.
“None of you even know where Telrin is” the old man said.
“He is in one of three places” Rexford replied. “Cities that are crucial to the Fale conquest. Either him or his generals will be in there. If we can beat any of them it would help our cause”.
“Who is to say this boy has the potential you claim?” the old man replied.
“I am not the best teacher” Jerold replied. “Other than the blood sword, if he had actual training he could be the start of getting the Unarmored back where it was supposed to be at”.
“We need to do something Terrance” Rexford said looking at the old man. “Maybe this could work, our inaction is what brought about the Devourer and the Warlord in the first place”.
“This is madness” the old man said. “You and the others can do all the training you want, I want no part in any of this”.
~
“I told you he is at a level I have not seen before” Jerold said as he looked at Rexford. “His mutation of the talents is beneficial to the fight”.
“He shows promise but Telrin Fallow may be the strongest Unarmored ever to walk the land” Rexford replied. “Without any of our gifts he would be a tough fight for any Unarmored, with it and the ability to wear armor he is almost unbeatable. But Ezra has given me hope, he has sparred with everyone here and has more than held his own. He only needs experience now, maybe with his tricks he can surprise the Warlord”.
“Getting to him will be difficult though” Jerold replied.
“Might as well start now” Rexford replied. “He already has his blood sword, interesting choice he made”.
“I think so as well but he has put a lot of thought into it” Jerold replied. “Our people down the mountain only knew he was making a sword. My grandson happened to have different types of weapons with him and Ezra picked out a little of each for his weapon. Terrance hated his choice though”.
“Back when Telrin Fallow was a student, he designed a similar blade for a friend” Rexford replied. “Not that I am trying to teach you, but that weapon is said to have a flame bladed or wavy edged. Very difficult to make and even then the only benefit that it has over another blade, would be that its shape would make it hard for another blade to travel along its edge during clinches and lice a hand. But cross guards were made for that, so the choice is curious”.
“The Devourer had a weapon like that?” Jerold asked. “I never heard what kind of weapon she used”.
“The Devourer had a similar blade although this one looks a bit more dangerous” Rexford replied. “Ezra’s weapon looks a bit sleeker and it is definitely darker in color, how much blood did he use anyway?”
“That fool used too much” Jerold said shaking his head. “He knows the power of the blade depends on how strong the Unarmored was, the more powerful the Unarmored the more potent their blood would be when it mixed with the metal during the forging process. I of course told him the work around, lesser Unarmored sometimes use a lot more blood to strengthen their blades to be on par with the others. When I found him he was as pale as snow, he is lucky I know what I am doing or the fool could have died”.
“I heard something about that” Rexford laughed. “He is not the first student to try something stupid”.
“He is the only student I have ever had though” Jerold replied. “At least his weapon came out okay, the metal though looks so dark it looks more black than red”.
“It is the darkest I have seen” Rexford replied. “Normally just a few drops of blood is all it takes, I hope that weapon treats him well. We are already formulating a plan to reach Telrin Fallow, he will be more difficult to bring down than the Devourer was. The Devourer was arrogant and never had any guards. Telrin has his own guard force and never travels anywhere without them, not to mention all of the Una
rmored he has with him. We count about fifty Unarmored are allied with him, it is probably under that number now since you killed off two of them”.
“I have went over your plans and think they are sound” Jerold replied. “Three different teams attack three different locations. I plan on sending my family to help out Ezra in Ramy, his ability to cloak himself will come in handy and allow him to walk around the city undetected”.
“So he has chosen Ramy for the start of this?” Rexford asked.
“He has a friend who is a criminal and very devious” Jerold replied. “But the criminal has a good mind, he thinks Ramy will be the softer target. There is a big temple dedicated to the Knights of Justice there, it has to be volatile for the Sullied there. The criminal thinks Ezra should kill a few Knights using his blade, it will start a war between those two. During the battle Telrin Fallow will be left without his usual protection. If he is in Ramy then he will be forced to fight my group, I think we stand a fair chance. Even if we cannot get to him, many Unarmored and Knights will also perish”.
“The Knights have done nothing wrong” Rexford replied. “We should not drag them into this”.
“The Knights hate us as much as we hate them” Jerold replied. “How often has there been some kind of misunderstanding between our two groups? The remnants of the Enlightened do not start brawls but always found themselves in a fight. The Sullied are completely different, they do not mind fighting and the Knights will find a worthy adversary”.
“Well at least the council can plan for Courier and Kass now” Rexford replied. “How are your people at the bottom of the mountain?”
“They are ready to go” Jerold replied. “They have been here for two months now eating nothing but jerky. I have told them to go but none want to leave until Ezra is ready. The updates you have given us on the war is dampening happiness”.
“It was only a matter of time before Telrin put all of his Unarmored into a big group and used them to push past the enemy” Rexford replied. “They attack at dark and their power will let them know where a sentry is. They can kill the soldier and sneak into camp and cause a lot of havoc before backing away. Already the Azardians have had to switch their capital away from Courier, I think they have found a more defensible position again though”.
“Well then they can use all the help they can get” Jerold replied. “I am taking Ezra to the bottom of the mountain today. He might as well leave now, my family will be happy to sleep in a town before the week is out. I need the names of your contacts, I plan on staying in a small town away from Ramy and setting up a quick escape if we need it. If we are successful in Ramy then we will try to go to Kass then Courier if we have not heard any updates”.
CHAPTER 7
There can only be one Warlord of the Sullied. It is the duty of every Sullied to become greater than their teachers. At least once a year, one of you should try for my position, or for the two positions of General. The fights should always be to the death, this practice will ensure that only the strongest will ever lead.
Telrin Fallow speaking to a gathering of Unarmored
“Something is wrong” Jerold said as Ezra drew his blade.
Ezra left the old man and sprinted down the mountain, there were more people down there than it should have been. Ezra was at a point in the mountain that his powers could detect those at the bottom, it should have only been four but he counted fourteen and all of the newcomers were Unarmored. Just before Ezra reached the point he could see the attackers, two lives were lost to his sight. One life had been an Unarmored, the other must have belonged to one of his party. Ezra looked down and could see the Sullied were at the bottom of the mountain, it was dark and they must have used the cover to sneak up on his group. Ezra shot his tendrils out everywhere and jumped into the battle. By masking his movements the first opponent he fought was baffled and was soon killed, Ezra had an open avenue of attack to his second opponent but a brief pain hit him. Ezra wobbled a little, it was like his muscles were seizing everywhere at once. The pain soon left him as he righted himself and blocked an incoming blade. Ezra used his magic to make his opponent think he was going to stab towards his opponent’s leg. The man went for the block and still had a look of surprise as his head went sailing from his shoulders. The pain hit Ezra again. Ezra soon figured out what was causing the pain, it seemed like every time he killed someone, the pain would come rushing in. He had killed people during the attack at the outpost and none of this happened, it must had been killing the Unarmored. Ezra had to put it out of his mind, there were seven enemies remaining and four of them saw him as a threat, which left his companions to try to fight off four Unarmored on their own. Another Unarmored was killed, Ezra was happy to see his party still had some fight left in them and pulled out his long dagger so he can dual wield.
Ezra rotated between hiding his movements and sending fake movements at his opponents, the Unarmored froze at the maneuver and found themselves soon fighting from a defensive stand point. Ezra was not trying to kill these men, what he wanted to do was put himself inbetween his friends and the Sullied. The closest man towards Celeste was killed quickly, Ezra tossed his long dagger at the man, it was awkward but struck enough of his flesh to make the man falter. Alex had thrown a knife that hit his neck and Celeste had caught him in the chest with an arrow. Albert was fighting a smaller man and had just won the fight, he was bleeding from many wounds but they did not look serious as he held the Blood Sword he had taken aloft and waited for another attacker. Ezra joined Albert and realized Jerry had to be the person that was killed.
“Keep them busy” Ezra said as he stripped off his vest and tossed it behind him to Alex, the throwing knives he had would come in handy. Just as Ezra thought, one of the Unarmored tried to take advantage of Ezra taking his eyes off them and charged, Ezra had already read Alex and Celeste and ducked as a knife and arrow shot towards his attacker. The man died as did the man behind him who could not dodge Ezra’s sword. It was four on four now, Ezra had his tendrils on both friend and foe and took a step forward. The pain disabled him for a second, then he was back to normal.
“If you have a shot take it” Ezra screamed. “Nothing you do will hit me”.
Ezra jumped into battle, his first opponent swiped up to intercept the arrow but had his stomach opened up by Ezra’s blade. Three attackers remained and the pain hit Ezra again, killing Unarmored was definitely doing something to him that he did not like. The Unarmored on his left soon died, Ezra felt Albert pick up an arrow and fired at the same time as Celeste, the Unarmored didn’t see any of the movement but was focused on Ezra at the time the two arrows slammed into him. There were two opponents left and Ezra could see the fear in their eyes as he went on the attack. One was a woman, she turned and tried to run but was shot in the back multiple times. The last opponent charged. Ezra hated to admit that he was impressed, his opponent just went on the offense and did not worry about blocking anything. Ezra had to stay on defense and despite his training he could tell his opponent had more experience with the blade. It came down to talent versus experience, Ezra was taller, faster and stronger, his opponent looked a little older and was probably fighting the fight of his life. Ezra doubted the man knew when he died, Ezra spun around so quickly and was amazed how cleanly his blade cut through his opponent’s neck. The fight was over, Albert ran over to Jerry’s still form and Ezra could see his body deflate. Ezra sent his power out and wanted to see if anyone else was coming and his heart dropped. There were twenty more Unarmored coming along with almost fifty other men. It was unlikely they would be taken by surprise. These Unarmored were probably tougher and were definitely smarter, the others thought they had easy prey and Ezra appeared behind them before they could formulate a defense.
“More are coming” Ezra said as he looked out at the rising dust cloud. “They will be here within the hour”.
“Only two horses remaining” Alex said. “The Unarmored killed ours and when they thought we might escape they killed th
eirs as well”.
Ezra looked around and could see Jerold had finally made it, the old man was white as a sheet and was looking over Jerry’s body. Ezra wanted to say something but had no idea what, the enemy was coming and they had numbers. Jerold couldn’t even grieve properly, the enemy would be here quickly”.
“Jerold!” Alex said sharply and got the old man’s attention. “Ezra says there are more enemy and only two horses remaining. Someone has to warn whoever you two have been seeing in the mountain and the rest have to get the hell out of here. You are the oldest and our leader as of now since I am not making the call. What are we doing?”
“Ezra take Celeste out of here” Jerold said looking at Ezra.
“I am not going anywhere” Celeste said crossing her arms. “I am willing to fight and die”.
“You are a girl” Albert replied. “They would make you wish you were dead. You need to go sweetie”.
“I said I am not going anywhere and that is final” Celeste said just before Alex struck her hard over her head with the back of his dagger, knocking her unconscious.
“Alright that is settled” Alex replied. “Now what?”
“Albert we have to leave Jerry” Jerold replied. “I need to warn the High Council, they have traps in place that can hold the enemy off for a while. I can trigger some of them, but I am going to need help up the mountain. Ezra you and Alex head to Ramy, you are going to have to probably come up with something different than what I originally planned. The Sullied are not far away, take Celeste and go”.
Ezra nodded and hopped on a horse, Alex took the one with Celeste and took off. Ezra wanted to argue about the plan but decided not to, during his time with the Unarmored he had learned a lot about Telrin Fallow and who he was as a man. Telrin Fallow was willing to kill, Rexford had told him during the ambush of the Devourer that Telrin set the entire building the attack happened in on fire knowing it would kill his friend. Ezra could not be allied with a man like that which only left him one alternative, to kill him.
The Blood Blade Page 6