Chapter 3: Breaking The SnareA Chapter by ewest1220 "Everyone in the clearing knew the kind of creature standing in their midst. She was now a danger to him as well..." Chapter 3: Breaking the Snare
Issak smashed into the ground in the middle of the circle. The momentum carried him into a roll as he swung his blade wildly at one of the bandits. It was all the man could do to scream as the blade ripped through his chest.
Before the man had hit the ground Issak had fully analyzed his surroundings. Years upon years of fear and pursuit had trained his senses, the mind of a warrior dead set on what the damned did best.
He was standing along the southwest edge of a five man circle. The woman he had heard was standing in the middle, a look of fear plastered on her face. Issak sighed, even though he was saving her she could not be trusted. Everyone in the clearing knew the kind of creature standing in their midst. She was now a danger to him as well.
“Get him!” hollered a large man with an axe as the other men began to close in on him.
Issak's heart skipped a beat, something was wrong. This was no mere rabble, they were holding their blades like infantrymen and were even attempting to flank his position. These soldiers were none other than the Amas, they had to be.
The Amas are a military unit that raped, pillaged and plundered in the name of killing creatures like himself. Beautiful irony filled Issak's mind and excited his senses. He rushed forward to meet them. For whether it was on purpose or by accident; killing was what he did best.
As he charged one of the men sped ahead of the mass. Issak lowered his blade, letting the tip lightly brush the soft grass, a classic trick.
The man who had sprinted ahead raised his sword in the air screaming at the top of his lungs. He slashed downward towards Issak's exposed face. But that was exactly what Issak wanted.
Issak raised his sword to block the oncoming blade. There was a sickening crash of metal on metal as the man's face filled with shock. Issak's blade slid down the length of the broadsword, through the hilt, his hand, and his arm finally ending at his shoulders. Separating his head and half of his arm from the rest of his body. Issak once again gave life to the wind hurling the two parts of the man's body at his next victim.
The bleeding parts of the bandit smashed against the next man with a sickening crunch of breaking bones and bodily fluid. Knocking the second bandit to the ground. Covered in the dismembered debris of his friend he lost what little sanity he could muster to fear. His screams were interrupted briefly by the sick gargling sound of his failed attempt to hold his stomach.
Issak stared at the two bodies remorsefully. However he knew that leaving that man alive would only leave another fight later. So he called on life and death to create fire. The man, still throwing up, was immediately engulfed in bright white flame.
Issak turned away from the disgusting mess to see one of the bandits running away frantically from the echoing screams of his dying friend. He smiled softly and, once more, create a blast of wind that sent the man flying towards him. The force of the blow making him drop his sword.
Issak took his left hand off his blade, which was dripping with blood, and caught the flying man by the throat.
“I will destroy you!” the man gasped. “You monster!”
“Do it then,” Issak sneered. “Kill the monster.”
Issak threw the man towards the makeshift fire pit. He was instantly engulfed in flames as the two mens' screams echoed in the clearing. A chorus of death. Issak turned to meet the only two people left in the clearing.
Issak sheathed his longsword slowly. Studying the man with the axe and, more importantly, his weapon.
The battleaxe, he knew, reaped success from pure chaos. In order to best the gargantuan weapon he needed to stop it's momentum. He slowly pulled the two daggers from inside his cloak; ready to meet the man before him.
The man gave an anguished yell as he began to swing his axe in the air, building momentum slowly, but surely. Once he was satisfied with the speed of the weapon he began his advance.
Issak smiled softly. “Finally,” he shouted over the weakening screams and the whistle of the axe. “Someone who is worth my time!”
The bandit charged, screaming loudly at his adversary. Issak watched as the massive axe came swinging toward him horizontally. He rolled opposite the direction of the great blade. Kicking up at the axe as it whirred overhead. The large man lost control of his weapon and it smashed into the ground.
Issak lunged forward, manically slashing with the two blades at the mans chest. The sound of metal on metal reached his ears through the cotton shirt. “You're wearing chainmail?!” Issak thought furiously. “Fine then.”
He changed tactic in a fraction of a second, now aiming the break the chains around his body in a perfect circle around his shoulders. This would successfully remove the chainmail protecting this pathetic man from his fate.
“There's the front done,” Issak thought over the smashing of metal. “Now I just need to hit his back...”
Crack! The bandits large fist collided with the side of Issak's face. Knocking him off his feet and sending him, face first, into a nearby pine tree.
Issak stumbled back to his feet, head spinning. The man had reassumed the motion of the axe. Unaware of the condition of his armor the bandit resumed his charge with an enthusiastic cry.
The man swung and swung his axe at Issak. But the blade failed to make contact with every strike. Issak shoved the man, knocking him off balance for but a second. But that was all he needed. He rolled underneath the man's shoulder and struck his back. The bottom half of the chainmail fell to the floor with a thud.
The bandit, suddenly aware of his condition. Raised his axe over his head, putting all of his effort into one final stroke. But, as before, this was exactly what Issak wanted.
Issak raised his two daggers above his head in a v-shape. Catching the axe between the blades. And with it's motion stopped; it's lethal potential erased, the bandits eyes filled with fear.
Issak lowered his right arm, letting the axe slide along the blade in his left hand. And stabbed the man in the stomach with his newly freed weapon.
The man's axe fell to the floor with a final thud and Issak stabbed with his left hand into the defeated bandit's throat. A sinister sucking noise marked the disembodiment of the man's head. The body grew limp and fell onto the exposed blade of the axe. Breathing heavily Issak then turned on the woman, who was now petrified by fear.
Elizabeth stared at this man, this monster. His sad eyes lost their blue glow as he approached her, sheathing his daggers. She was perplexed by him. He had been taught to fight, and, unlike most of his kind, had an uncanny control of his power. Any other man would be dead or insane from this kind of power.
What was this man? Who had trained him? And why train a monster to kill with more efficiency? She tensed as his eyes fell upon hers. Starring deep into hers, a piercing and mournful stare. As if he was reading her very thoughts.
Elizabeth slowly drew the knife from her side. She had to kill him, to save him and the world from what he was.
“Do it,” said the man in a low soft voice. “I am a dead man, you can try to kill me, but.” He paused and gestured toward the charred, blood soaked bodies.
“You are no man!” Elizabeth shouted, her hands trembling. “You are one of the damned, a monster!”
The man looked at her somberly, then turned to leave. Suddenly, as recognition flared angrily in her mind, Elizabeth threw the knife at Issak. But he was to quick for her. He snatched the knife out of the air and threw it, not at her, but at the tree next to her. Issak sighed, then walked off into the trees.
Elizabeth collapsed in the blood soaked grass and wept. She had not recognized the man at first. She had been a member of the Amas ever since she was 12. Ever since that day...
She knew now that petty tricks would not work against this man. She would finish the work she started long ago. But first... © 2012 ewest1220Author's Note
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Added on August 1, 2012Last Updated on August 2, 2012 Tags: Book, Dark, Reflective, Fantasy Author
ewest1220Columbia Falls, MTAboutI have been writing for as long as I can remember. I have been featured in about 4 books, have won several contests for my work and currently have a paperback edition of my works. (Titled "A Winter Wa.. more..Writing
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