The Saviors : Wrath Of The Sabers

The Promise to a Friend

As they often did, the family sat around a bonfire a few weeks after they had gotten a new member. No one seemed to be against Sam (as Sammel had asked to be called) joining the family, and everyone got along with him rather well. They were enjoying roasted meat as a question struck Paul. Although he had learnt not to ask about someone's past by some tragic experiences, he still found it hard to subdue his curiosity.

"We have known you for some time, Sam, but we know nothing about you ; your life or why you were travelling the forest, " he asked.

Sam did not hesitate, as he saw no reason to keep his past in the dark from those who had saved him from starvation. He narrated the story of his life, and some found it sad while other found it fascinating. The tale he told was as such :

Sammel came from an ancient clan of trained and gifted swordsmen, the Ralicanas. The clan had a history unknown to many. Many branches of the clan lived across the world, in their own tribal villages but they all proudly accepted their lineage and trained themselves in the arts and practices of the Ralicana. Sam was not the son of strong and famed warriors or chiefs of one of such villages, but his parents were very strong if compared with ordinary people.

The Ralicana clan had a tradition, where the swordsmen from several branches of the clan indulged in a friendly tournament. These tournaments were held once in a century and all members of the Clan attended this grand ceremony. The battles were violent but there were no deaths and the swordsmen tried to injure the other as little as possible, and made disarming their opponent their prior objective.

In one such tournament, all the Ralicanas from around the globe had gathered in the magnificent Hall of History. The Hall of History was located in the biggest village of the Ralicanas, and once every century a huge crowd of swordsmen gathered there.

The tournament was greater than what Sam had expected. He hadn't figured he would find such a large number of strong men and women across the world. The people there were young and old (he even met some kids who were nearly as strong as him) ; men and women and people from different parts of the Earth, but at heart, they were all from the same clan.

The battles began and the sound of swords clanking against each other was louder than the cheering of the crowd, which displayed the strength of the swordsmen. Most people seemed intimidated by the competitors, but not Sammel.

The tournament was entering its final stages when the sound of a crowd was heard throughout the village. It sounded like multiple voices shouting in a anger, a battle cry. The sound was louder than the crowd and the swords. Before anyone could defend themselves, hell rained upon them. An army of people with weird abilities slaughtered the crowd and withing seconds, most of the crowd was dead. Sam drew his sword and tried to defend himself.

Some of the swordsmen ran for their lives. Some ran into the woods and some dived in the nearby lake but the persistent attackers chased them and killed them. Sam fought off several odd looking beings but soon, he noticed that his entire clan had been slaughtered and he was the lone survivor. Against an army of what looked like several thousand strong beings Sam was weak. He found running away the best way to survive but he figured that would do him no good.

He couldn't fight the monsters that stood before him and although he realized that if he were to run, the monsters would chase him, he decided to give him a shot. He ran as fast as he could, and he was chased and injured by many of the attackers but he fought them off. When he was finally spared by the attackers, he traveled through the forest. For many days he walked, bleeding throughout his journey.

After several days, the loss of blood affected him and he fell unconscious. He dreaded getting eaten by wild animals or scavengers, but he saw no path to survival.