After The War

Magic

Everyday is a new day, coming with it's own issues. But also with their own solutions to the issues. That was something my father used to tell me every day. Twice a day on the days that I would come home from school, crying and sniveling because the other kids were making fun of me. My dad always had a way of explaining things to me in a way that I would have to stay awake for an hour or so after they went to bed, just thinking about what he said, before I finally understood it. But I couldn't see a way out of this. There wasn't a solution that I could come up with to get me out of the situation that I was in. I should have known that without my friends, without my family, I was helpless. I was nothing more then a kid who had gotten himself in way over his head. I did't have any powers, I didn't have any special talent. I was, am, a run of the mill student who sat at the back of the class. Sleeping away when I was tired. Doing my homework only when it suited me. I was going to pay for my lack of incentive, and today, fate seemed to be coming to collect.

"Come out come out where ever you are kid. I know you're here. I can sense your presence. I can smell your fear. It's only a matter of time before we find you. You might as well save us the time and effort and come out of hiding. I promise to make it quick and painless, but that's only if you come out of hiding. If you don't. Then I promise, that once we find you, I will make it anything but quick and painless. I have orders to bring you in. The boss wants to see you alive, to question you himself." A voice snarls, making me jump slightly. The voice is 5 feet from me, and judging by the sound of it, slightly to my left, facing in my direction.

I try to think harder, looking at all the different possibilities of escape but I don't see any. The only end result that I could see, was that I would have to fight my way out of it. But I still didn't like my choices. There was 4 of them, and I didn't know what training they had. I couldn't let that stop me though. I had to get away. I had to fight to stay alive. To finish this war, whether it cost me my life or not. It was the only way that I could make sure that Lexie, Kissa, and Cody, along with everybody else, could have any chance at a normal life.

I close my eyes, grit my teeth, and bolt out from under my bush, effectively giving away my position to the enemy. With a single motion, I draw my sword, gripping it with both hands. It may lower my defenses, but it would increase the power of my strikes. I was always a defensive fighter, believing that the best offense, was a solid defense. But this was different. I had to win, take them out before they can take me out, and to do that, I had to use as little blows as possible. That's where the 2 handed strikes come in. I slice through one of them before the rest can even look in my direction, the screams of the man piercing into my ears, and going straight to my heart. I never wanted to hurt them. I never wanted to see their blood on my blade. But this wasn't the time to be soft. This was the time to be rock hard. To kill them all before they killed me. But what if I can't? Is this as far as I'm meant to go? I think to myself, watching as everything was in slow motion, the body fall. From this point of view, I can see the light leaving the man's eyes.

A footstep sounds off behind me, and with a quick duck, I dodge the staff that's being swung at my head. I take a quick look, noting that everybody has a weapon now. The tallest has a set of heavy, double faced hammers on chains. Great, now they have projectiles. Gotta keep my eyes on that. The smallest guy has a double edged sword, almost exactly like mine. The only difference is that where the hilt of his blade meets the hand hold, there isn't anything there. It's almost like the sword is a literal extension of his hand. The third and final guy only has throwing knives. Not that that makes a difference, if any one of these guys gets under my guard, I'm screwed. I back away slowly, making sure to keep all three of them in my line of sight. That doesn't stop the little guy.

With a roar of anger, and a look of defiance, the small fry charges me, bringing his sword into a powerful over head swing. I would've died right then and there if my instincts didn't take over. My brain starts to process the sight faster then I could've thought possible. If I hadn't raised my sword arm at the last second, it would have sliced me into multiple pieces. Not ribbons, but chunks. I look around me, and with a small gasp, I see that everything IS going slower. Not by much, but slow enough to at least, maybe, give me a small chance against these three. All hope of that quickly vanishes when they all charge.