MagusBlade

{~2~}

The moon hung in the sky now, the moonlight illuminating the darkness.

Isao had just arrived at the forest, looking at it from the outside. He felt a sense of annoyance that it was just him that was sent to investigate it, but he didn't have much of a choice. Though, despite his annoyance, he felt somewhat at peace with how quiet the forest was as he stepped inside. His boots crunched the leaves beneath them, a satisfying sound. Though, as peaceful as this seemed, it was strange. He had received a report of soldiers going missing, not a serene woodlands. And it wasn't what he had expected from this forest either. Usually it was a cacophony of chirping, crunching, and the obnoxious sound of birds singing in his ears. Tonight, however, it was silent, the only noises in the forest coming from him. This silence put a sense of anxiety and dread in his stomach. What could have possibly silenced the forest itself? As he delved further in, a scent all too familiar to him rose up. The metallic scent of blood wafted through the air, causing Isao to grimace.

His right hand drifted to his weapon's hilt out of reflex. He glanced around in suspicion, he wouldn't be wanting to take any chances anytime soon. Eventually, the crunching stopped as he began to near a clearing. The scent of blood became overpowering as he neared it, telling him he would find the root of it. On his next step, he became acutely aware he was being watched. Gripping the hilt tightly, he kept walking into the clearing. The anxiety and dread he was feeling settled further into his stomach as he became worried of what he might find in this clearing. He hoped that it was just an animal bleeding out, but he knew better. A scent this powerful meant multiple bodies were near. As he entered the clearing, he saw exactly what he was worried about. The corpses of his men lay mangled, strewn about the clearing. 

"Ah, this is what caused the silence." He thought to himself, inspecting a corpse. Not to his surprise, there were cuts and pierces all over them. "A fight obviously went down here.." He looked around one last time. "But with who?" He said aloud. 

As if this was a prompt, a war cry came from the trees. The sound of rustling echoed all around him as he spun around, unsheathing his weapon just in time. He slammed it against the blade's of another person, causing sparks to illuminate the area. Getting a good look at the person's face, he shoved them backwards, causing the swords to grind against each other briefly.

"Kch!" The person vocalized, getting back into an attack stance, their swords held to the person's sides. Whoever this was meant business, that's for sure.

"Who are you?!" Isao shouted at them, as if demanding they answer. Gripping his own weapon tightly as he prepared for a battle.

"That's none of your goddamn business!" They roared back, sprinting at Isao at a remarkable speed.

As they came into range, they slashed diagonally downwards at Isao with both weapons, creating an x formation. Raising his sword vertically, he slammed it against the other's, halting them in their tracks. He then lunged forwards, causing the sword to fly towards the person's face. They grit their teeth, kicking Isao in the gut. 

"Gh!" He grit his teeth, not having much time to recover as they darted back at him. He took the initiative this time though, slashing sideways at them. Pulling both swords back to block, the weapons ground against each other once again. Redirecting his slash, he swung at their right knee, aiming to immobilize them. This attempt was met with them dropping a sword to block, whilst swinging at his head. Isao ducked, then bringing his free hand back, before launching it forwards into their chest. They winced, moving back. Isao didn't let up though, rushing forwards, he jumped into the air, spinning as he came down, slashing diagonally at them. They raised their swords upwards, blocking it. The force of this slash caused the person's knees to buckle as they skid backwards a bit. They shoved Isao off of them.