Contests

Contest #1 - 1st Place: @Cameron_Jones

Congratulations, Cameron_Jones! You made 1st place in Contest #1!

Here's the story!

***

She wiped the blood from her cheek and picked up the sword. His eyes followed her blade as she pressed it against his neck.

"Don't. Move."

Her warning came again. Except this time, the emptiness in her words was gone. She meant it. The cold metal felt like prickling ice against his skin; if he flinched, his head would roll.

Prying his brown eyes away from the sharp iron, Leon glared at the knight before him. They had danced a dance for the ages, but sadly it was over. She had easily bested him. Won over him with honour in her stride. Her sword glazed about, effortlessly cutting him down again and again. Her strength was unlike any he could have ever imagined. Her cunning was stronger than any lions and her bravery easily outweighed that of her kingdom combined.

And that's why, he was not about to end it here. For he had spent countless years running around, scraping by on what he could find. Improving his skills to take what he pleased, when he pleased. Developing a knack for pickpocketing, a skill for bluffing, and mastering the art of lying; none of it will go to waste.

A smirk crept onto the thief's face, pulling his lips up to one side as two different soldiers recovered to hold him; Taking an arm each, restraining him to the spot.

"Ya got me," Leon grinned, keenly watching the warrior who had stopped him.

The She-knight let out an exhausted sigh, retracting her blade. Blue orbs analysed the damage done by just one man. The now restrained thief had ripped through her battalion like they were insects. More than half of her soldiers fell; victim to the blades of an incredibly skilled man. How he had found them so soon was a mystery.

She had purposely brought her squadron deep into the Vellation Woods, with the intention of setting up a camp for the night. The plan was to leave clues dotted around the beaten track; with the intention of leading him into an ambush and finally capture him. However, they still had days left to act out said plan, they had barely unloaded for the first camp when he struck like a ghost in the night.

"You are finished. We have you captured, just as we had planned," she finally declared, pointing a hateful glare at him.

"Just as you planned?" Leon asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Yes, it is just like we planned. Although it took many more men to hold you down," regret tinged her voice as she did another take of the battlefield.

Blood splattered the muddy ground, making the soil a curdled fusion of crimson sludge. Bodies sunk into the earth as their lifeless weight was forced down by gravity. A soft wind dragged a lingering metallic smell straight into her nose, the disgusting scent made her nostrils twitch. The sheer amount of knights who lost their lives was unfathomable, especially to only one pair of hands. He had torn through them without malice, his blades sliced metal and skin like they were nothing but butter under a hot knife.

She had never seen anything like it before. How he leaped and hopped over them, how he used the trees around him to dodge arrows. He used everything he could and never broke a sweat. In all honesty, he was a great swordsman, he just didn't have a single drop of honour. That became evidently clear when they crossed swords. His tactics and techniques had none of the fluency a knight would; but had the precision and agility of an assassin.

"As you planned?!" Leon erupted into hysterics. Laughter ripped from his throat, creasing him over in the arms of his new 'guards'.

"What are you laughing about?!"

"Did you think I didn't know?!" The guard's tensed against his arm. "That I walked into this soldier filled forest without a plan? Come now, Lady Angelica."

"How do you know that name?!" She – Lady Angelica – exclaimed, brandishing her sword once again. It felt heavier than before. Fatigue. She was tired, it took a lot of effort to restrain him, more than she'd like to admit.

"That I'd kindly just wander in here, find some clues and think I've got you?" He bypassed her question like she'd not said a word. "You really believe I'm that gullible?!" His laughter ceased, reducing to a chuckle between words.

"But you still came! And you came alone!" Lady Angelica desperately protested.

A small chuckle escaped Leon's lips. The kind one could only hear in their darkest nightmares. She was wrong. He wasn't alone. He was never alone. This entire time.

"You really believe I'm alone..." as eerie as the midnight frost of winter, his voice chilled those around him. The guards that had been holding him were too frightened to keep the thief close. He exuded an bloodlust more ferocious than a wild wolf. Even Lady Angelica had to readjust her clammy grip.

"Aaahhh!!" The first cry came during the silence, slicing it apart with ease. Bushes and leaves rustled where wind was nonexistent.

"You really believe I wouldn't have a plan..." slow, petrifying steps eased towards the female knight.

"Urk..." Second came a gross gargling of blood as the next soldiers throat slit from left to right.

"You really are too naïve."

Bones snapped simultaneously when two silhouettes leaped down onto the remaining guards, digging their heels into the poor soldiers necks as they were used as landing pads.

Lady Angelica couldn't believe it. This man, the most notorious man in the kingdom, had slain her strongest fighters. They had been out matched by a small group of five, with that man at the head of it all.

Defeated, and utterly outmatched, she collapsed to her knees. Her sword clattered away from her as all hope of living disappeared from her being. A cold metal tingled her neck.

"You've lost Angelica... You should have never challenged me."

***

Read the next part for the 2nd Place winner!