Winter-Blade

This is the introduction to my book, just giving you an idea of the action and characters.

WINTER-BLADE

"Sorry mam I haven't seen anyone like that around here" said an older bald man as he poured steaming hot tea into a young ladies cup. "Are you sure? You didn't really take very long to think...." replied the young woman as she brushed her brown haired pony tail back along with the sweat on her forehead. "No" said the old man with a grunt, she wasn't fooled by his forced aloofness and this obviously got the better of his temperament. She quickly hid her smile by lifting the cup to her lips and looking to her left. She quickly pulled her head away revealing a strained expression on her face. "It's too hot!" she exclaimed loudly. "Its hot tea mam, why would you even order hot tea in the dessert?" asked the old man with his back to her walking away. "I like it" she replied under her breath and then looked down when she caught a glimpse of a hand on her cup. Her cup began to cool and the steam evaporated in a second.

she looked up to see a man with his face hidden by bandanna and rags, a typical wardrobe of the dessert to protect the skin from the sun, but it was the few blonde hairs sticking out of his disguise that caught her attention and then the tattoo on his arm. "Thank you, I like your tattoo" she said gesturing to his arm. He quickly pulled his sleeve down to cover the cross shaped tattoo before replying. "Don't mention it" he said and then continued walking toward the steps and up toward the rooms on the next floor. Meanwhile a dark haired man sits going over papers in a seemingly small and cluttered room. The door opens across the room behind him but he doesn't turn. "Ok Dalton he just left, are you sure this is a good idea?" asked the much larger and taller man at the door.

"Well it’s too late now if he's gone, don't worry Salem can handle it" replied the busy man. "It's not Salem I'm worried about its anyone who cross's Jeremiahs path" said the larger man. "He won't risk breaking our deal by actually hurting anyone stop worrying Clyde and get back to work. I'm up to my ears in paper work here you need to keep up with the complaints". Back in Barta Stage (A dessert town located on the border of Nextel and Omi) the tattooed blonde man shuts his room door behind him just before taking his disguise off and sitting down. Just as he begins to close his eyes he hears a knock at the door. His eyes open quickly in surprise but he doesn't move until he hears another knock.

Finally he gets up and walks toward the door. He opens cautiously to find the brown haired pony tail woman standing with her arms folded with a snarky partial smile on her face. He stares for a moment in an unimpressed skepticism. "Umm can I help you?" he finally asks with a slight tone of irritation in his voice. Her smile disappears as her eyebrows arch in irritation of her own and her arms move to her hips. "A little rude don't you think? I'm Bethany Silverstone, but call me Beth" she replied and then paused as if expecting a specific reply from the man. "And?" he said with the same irritated tone. "I know who you are Salem, Dalton Selroy sent me to find you. I'm assuming you know why....deserter...." she replied with a now more serious and aggressive tone.

 "I could care less, I did my job" he said and then tried to close the door but Beth stopped it with her boot and pushed her way in. She walked past him and gave the room a good once over. "Listen I don't want to have to get violent" she insisted but with a less aggressive tone. After a moment of silence absent a reply from Salem she turned to him and began talking again. "Just come back with me, Dalton has an offer for you void of retribution for your desertion" she explained now seemingly trying desperately to reach out to him. "I'm not really concerned with his retribution, he's clearly too busy and understaffed to do anything or he wouldn't have sent a rookie" replied Salem finally as he began to wrap his bandanna around his face and walk out of the door. Beth quickly followed trailing him down the hall. "Yes I'm a rookie but I don't think he expected you to get violent....listen Salem your considered a hero in Nextel, your Winter Blade" said Beth.

 "Haha you were just threatening me and now it’s 'We aren't expecting violence'? You’re trying anything that works, I admire the determination but it’s not happening. I'm done with the Templars and I'm done with Dalton" explained Salem. Beth hurried to step in front of Salem and stop him in his tracks. Salem stopped and folded his arms more impressed by her determined tactics than irritated now. But he still didn't reply. "You’re younger than me by two years and you act like you've given years of your life to the Templar service. Get off your high horse Winter Blade (she spoke his alias in such a sharply sarcastic and demeaning tone that Salem's eyes couldn't help but squint in anger) there's a war going on and there are so few Templars left in Nextel to defend it the place is being overrun by criminal organization! We need you! Your country needs you!" Beth began raising her voice revealing her passion for her chosen profession but Salem couldn't get her insulting demeanor and comments from his focus.

 Salem took a step forward and pointed his finger into her chest just below her neckline with an enraged look on his face clearly about to let her have it but before he could open his mouth he heard a loud crash from outside he turned his head quickly in the direction of the noise. Outside flames rose from a large barn just below a red haired man standing atop a bank building in the middle of town screaming to the busy streets below him. "Winter Blade! I know you can hear me! Come out now or I'll start roasting every pathetic denizen of this town!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. After a moment no answer came so the man raised his arms and focused a fireball in each. He then put his arms forward and released orange flames that took the shape of snakes and slithered down to the screaming crowds of people below. Everyone ran in different directions bumping into each other and falling to the ground. The man got quite a good laugh out of this he even grabbed his gut and almost doubled over.

 One little boy backed into a corner as the snakes slithered toward him. All six of them almost came together as one as they began to reach him when a man stepped in front of him. The snakes slithered up the man and wrapped themselves around him setting him ablaze. The red haired loon stopped laughing and looked with his mouth open wide as the snakes dispersed into smoke on the body of the man whose whole body was glazed over in a thin sheet of ice. "Your ugly mug is the last freaking thing I wanted to see when I stepped out here Jeremiah Winston" said the man. "I see you've heard of me Winter Blade, you've seen my picture in the paper no doubt.....well I've heard of you too kid, looks like we've got matching tattoo's" replied the red haired man as he pulled up his sleeve revealing his cross shaped tattoo. Salem hurried the boy away into Beth's arms who took him inside quickly. "I'm glad you finally showed your face coward!" screamed Jeremiah as he formed two large fire balls one in each hand and began hurdling them at Salem.

 More and more Fireballs came, at least 20 as the spot where Salem was standing became engulfed in a circle of flame. Jeremiah glanced to the left to see Salem running up the side of the building next to the bank running on a path of ice to the top. Before he reached the top Jeremiah formed one huge fireball with both hands and brought it down on the building sending half of it crashing down. Jeremiah ran to the ledge of the bank building to see a large dome of ice around Salem. Jeremiah drew the sword at his side which then lit up in flames and then jumped down in a downward slicing motion toward Salem. But the dome of ice disappeared quickly revealing Salem holding several small ice shuriken between each of his fingers. He tossed them all at Jeremiah at once. The crazed loon swung his sword wildly to deflect them but could only deflect a few. Most of them stuck in him and as he hit the ground he lost his footing on a slick patch of ice and fell to his back quickly bringing his sword up to guard against Salem's fist covered in ice he then leaped to his feet and began slashing away at Salem with his flaming sword.

Salem moved backward dodging and guarding with his ice covered right arm until finally he was able to side step and spin around behind Jeremiah forming a large ice hammer with his right arm and slamming it into Jeremiahs back sending him flying and then rolling on the ground bouncing off it and into the twin doors of a church down the road. Jeremiah slid into the altar at the end of the long hallway of the chapel and quickly tried to clear his blurred vision and grab for his sword. He looked up to see Salem walking slowly toward the church and then crack his neck just before entering the doors. As soon as Salem stepped foot inside he began running and formed a long chain made of ice out of his right hand. Salem quickly dashed to the left and ran up the wall running on ice to avoid the swarm of bird shaped flames Jeremiah unleashed from the tip of his sword while still struggling to stand.

 Just as Jeremiah rose to his feet Salem dropped the chain downward forming a large spiked mace at the end he swung it around (now upside down on the ceiling right above Jeremiah) and nailed Jeremiah with it sending him into the wall. Salem dropped and landed on his feet but just as he landed Jeremiah began hurdling fireballs at the ceiling causing it to fall down in pieces. Salem guarded himself with a partial ice dome just above his head but this distracted him from Jeremiah who closed the distance between them quickly and grabbed Salem's shirt with both hands and then covered him in flames he then tossed him toward the church doors. Salem being glazed over with ice to guard against the flames slid out the door and far into the street. Jeremiah quickly ran to meet him outside as Salem stood and brushed himself off sighing with clear annoyance.

Salem stood with a cocked neck frustrated but unimpressed while Jeremiah stood out of breath almost bent over sweating profusely. A large crowd of people circled around them watching "Your too good for me Winter Blade....but you've got one weakness I don't...." said Jeremiah as he formed flames around his sword that began to grow and form into a long whip about 20 feet in length. "Or should I say two.....one is that you don't have your sword so your powers are halved....and two (he said as he began to raise his whip) is compassion!" he screamed and then began whipping at the innocent bystanders around them. Salem instantly lost his cool and began to run toward Jeremiah but this caused him to drop his guard and allowed the ginger loon to meet his first step with a cracking of his whip causing Salem to spin backward holding his burned hand. Salem quickly formed an ice shield with his burnt hand and guarded against the next crack. He stepped backward blocking more whip cracks.

 "I know you don't want to kill me Winter Blade but I'm afraid that's just not an option here if you want to stop me" explained Jeremiah. Salem spun quickly deflecting another whip crack with his ice shield and the crowd watched in awe as his ice shield began forming into a giant ice shuriken, even as he was still spinning. Salem landed on one knee facing Jeremiah and let the shuriken fly out of his right hand toward Jeremiah. The shuriken struck Jeremiah hard in the chest and sent his sword flying out of his hand as his body flew back into the church wall just to the left of the doors he stuck there on the wall. Salem walked over to him calmly trying to hold back the slight smile on his face. "You missed my heart" said Jeremiah with a grin. "Oops" replied Salem changing Jeremiahs expression to an ugly sour one he then placed his hand on Jeremiah and froze his whole body solid freezing his face as it was.

Beth walked up to him with a big smile but before she could talk Salem turned. "I wonder how he knew where I was and that I didn't have my sword? What I looked like?" he questioned in an accusative manner. "How should I know?" she replied. "Dalton" he said. "Time to go home, any news on Salem?" Dalton asked Clyde as he walked toward the door. "N...." Clyde was interrupted by the door swinging open hard. Dalton turned to see Salem toss a frozen Jeremiah Winston on the floor in front of him. "Where's my sword?" he asked with an impatiently raised eyebrow.

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

The intro gives you a good idea of what the action looks like and character personalities but there is much more deepness and complexity to the storyline as it goes on!

Reviews

[Stapleton]

I will add spaces between the paragraphs for my next chapters I didn't mean to post it as a wall of text like this.