• Chapter 1:
    The Silent Swordsmen

    “That X is truly a powerful warrior, question is: What are his intentions?”


    The room was cluttered with many would be powerful warriors, each of them were dressed differently. They were armed with weapons of all shapes and sizes. One had two revolvers holstered handle sides up, nestling their barrels deep in the brown leather belt that held them. To my left, another pudgy warrior held a rather heavy ball and chain, a medieval mace, by the handle. The spikes on the ball were about as long as my middle finger. One mercenary stood alone in the corner, his back leaning against the wall with one foot planted on the floor, and the other firmly on the wall flat behind him. Presumably the long spear like weapon was his choice of combat.
    I sat on the end of the room opposite from the door. I wanted as much distance from the entrance as possible with the maiden, incase of a surprise attack. Ah, I remembered where I sat well, for it gave me comfort in knowing that the fools closest to the door would be the first to die. That was, unless the assassin took the more difficult route up through the window directly behind me. I doubted he would, but just incase I sat directly in front of it with my back to the glass behind the maiden, atop of the back rest. My body sat partially on the window sill with my arms and legs crossed as I rested my eyes, as well as concentrated on the sounds going on around me.
    The maiden sat in comfort on the expensively decorated sofa, rich with matching pillows that had beads on strings hanging off the ends. She sat with her feet nearly flat on the floor; upright and correct in back posture, with her hands clasped in her lap. She wore a deep blue kimono with the sleeves too long for her arms so that her hands were hidden within. She was nervous, I could tell, but she didn’t want to show her fear for some reason. She was very young, possibly still in her late teens and considered very beautiful by the townsfolk. She was a single unmarried woman; her eyes were usually filled with a friendly inviting gaze. Tonight was different though, she couldn’t smile if she tried. Her long black hair hung straight down to the middle of her back, and was groomed noticeably well.
    There were countless other mercenaries in the room using weapons from all over the world. Guns, knives, daggers, katanas, swords, maces, iron knuckles, spears, clubs, and bow staffs and so many more I can hardly remember, and frankly I don’t really care. Some brainless fools even came bare handed with the intention of using martial arts. Some people believed they were very brave. I thought they were very foolish. I pitied them not, for I had a job to carry out. At the moment that was all that mattered. I began to wonder if this assassin would show up at all. I heard a couple of mercenaries nearby talking about him so I decided to eavesdrop on their conversation.
    “It’s said that he’s been moving from town to town killing people of high political rank.” Said one man.
    “He does, I’ve been around a few places and I’ve seen the horror he’s left in his wake. I saw one teenage girl and before she died he cut her fingers off one at a time before slitting her throat.” Said the other.
    “But why are we protecting this wall flower? Surely she doesn’t have anything to do with the way things are run around here.” He replied.
    “No she doesn’t, but the assassin has reportedly also been killing anyone even related to his victims. I assume that he doesn’t want there to be a chance of anyone down the bloodline to come back and reclaim the position.” He responded.
    “That sick b*****d! He has got to go down tonight! I hope I get a shot at him though before we all gang up on him, what with all these amateurs here and all.”
    It was then that I let out a light laugh under my breath, without opening my mouth making it sound more like “hmm” then a “heh”.
    After what seemed like an hour, I continued to sit in my spot. The maiden nervously started to try to fix her hair, looking for something to do with her hands. I was willing to stay put until sunrise as that’s what the agreement was between the mayor and I. He handed me a small sack of gold coins and told me to protect his daughter from harm a few hours previous. The sudden offer took me by surprise, but I took the money and followed him to his mansion. The most interesting part of this was that he went out of his way to come find me specifically. He had already hired all these other fighters yet he wasn’t satisfied until he had me there with his daughter as well.
    That’s when I heard the sound. The sound came from outside, which was another reason why I sat near the window. The sound I heard was very low and almost inaudible to the ears. None of the other warriors knew it yet, but they were going to die soon. I on the other hand, was well aware of what was about to happen. I kept my eyes closed concentrating as I do often. I attempted to focus in on the sound of any sort of movement going on outside of the room I was positioned in.
    It didn’t take long, for within a few moments I began to hear gun fire from downstairs. I could clearly make out what the assassin was doing just by listening. The gun fire was coming from several weapons at once. The ten guards positioned strategically leading all the way up the stairs fired at the murderer in determination to stop him before he even reached the doorknob. I knew that wasn’t going to happen. The next sound I heard made me open my eyes. I looked around to see all the warriors were in arms, facing the door ready for a fight. They no longer talked, they tensed up determined to get the job done. The sound I heard was that of a short bladed katana being unsheathed. At the exact same time I heard something heavy hit the ground with a thud. A human body no doubt. In a few moments I could tell there remained about four guards remaining firing at the offender down stairs but the number quickly dwindled down to one as I heard more and more bodies hit the floor. The last guard was backing up frantically heading up the stairs continuing his assault on the assassin who was quickly closing in on him. I heard two clangs of metal as the bullets were deflected, followed by a thud, then a crumpled roll down the stairs.
    I stared at the door waiting for a signal for me to get up; I did not see one yet. Four guards armed with musketeer swords put their backs to the wall from within the room I was in. Two on each side, they waited the door to fly open but instead they were greeted with a katana blade being pushed straight through the wall from the other side, piercing the back of one of the officers and going straight through his stomach where it drenched his uniform shirt in blood. I could see the look of shock and surprise on his face, white with fear, as the blade began to move through the wall even more. The katana sliced through the wood like it was butter in a horizontal direction meanwhile the one who was stabbed a moment ago got caught on the end of the blade and was dragged up the wall violently and rode the weapon up before decapitating the officer directly next to him. His headless body fell to its knees then his chest hit the floor with a thud. The one who hung from the blade’s body fell limp and eventually slid off the sword falling loosely to the floor.
    All the other warriors watched in horror as their unseen assassin massacred the guards, shocked that he hadn’t even entered the room yet. The sword quickly retracted behind the wall again disappearing from sight for a moment… but just a moment. The other two officers on the other end of the door, taking note of their dead friend’s mistakes, took their backs off the wall and backed up a variable distance keeping their eyes glued to the door.
    A few moments passed, before I realized he isn’t going to come though the door as I initially thought. Nor does he intend to go outside and use the window from the first story. I tilted my head up just in time to see that yes, he did in fact go up into the attic. The katana came straight down in a stabbing fashion and lodged its blade vertically into one of the guard’s hats, piercing his skull straight into his brain as he fell over quickly. The blade began to carve a shape into the ceiling, a square? No a circle of course! This was his entrance. He sliced himself a hole through the ceiling where I expected him to drop down from but he fooled me again… but not by much. The disc of wood fell from the roof with ease but the culprit was not on top of it. The last remaining guard stood with his weapon ready armed in fear with his eyes fixated on the ceiling. He was shaking slightly, his eyes white, scared of what was about to happen next. That was when a rather large section of a support beam within the structure of the attic floor fell directly atop of him crushing him to death. The assassin finally showed his face right then and there, standing on the slanted beam, on the end that hit the floor and was directly atop of his victim.
    By this time the floor was a giant pool of blood. This sickened some of the weak hearted warriors as they vomited in horror. I sat there motionless on the opposite side of the room. The remaining warriors let out their battle cries and leapt at the man full force attacking him head on, but he made quick work of them. It took five minutes but by this time he had already killed about two thirds of the warriors in the room without mercy. The remaining thirteen warriors were all either seriously wounded and losing a lot of blood, or incapacitated and unable to fight.
    I was the only one left. I stared directly into the killers piercing cat like yellow pupils. He had the eyes of a murderer. The kind of eyes that would send chills down any normal person’s spine. I sat calmly on the back of the couch. I haven’t moved in at least an hour. The maiden was starting to panic and had a terrified posture now, instead of perfect one. She didn’t want to die, and for good reason. She was much too young to die yet and she didn’t do anything to deserve such treatment.
    The killer stared back at me, I could feel his intentions. He was so relaxed and carefree about everything, he was letting his guard down. This I knew, but I was going to let him try to get to the maiden first incase he decided to not go through with this. I knew he wouldn’t, but I was hired to protect her, and not to kill dangerous criminals who stood near her.
    He walked toward the maiden slowly, crushing glass, body parts, and wood cuts in his path. He even made the floor make a wet spongy noise when he stepped in a puddle of blood. His weapon still unsheathed and bathing in human insides, he stood right in front of the maiden with a crazed teeth baring smile on his face. She was positive she was going to die. I on the other hand was certain she wouldn’t. He lifted his weapon high over his head and just when he began to swing it, in that moment I leapt up and grabbed the girl and tossed her into the corner gently by her kimono, trying not to hurt her. I didn’t hesitate immediately after either, taking the moment of opportunity I jumped into the air performing a sideways flip landing firmly on the floor with my feet. I looked down and saw that the couch the maiden was sitting on was now split in half; one end was sitting on its arm rest’s side now, cotton pouring out of its pillows with its wooden frame and insides exposed. I landed perfectly in front of the maiden who was dazed from the impact when her back hit the wall. I then looked up to study my foe. He had very large yellow eyes in the shape of that of cat’s eyes. He turned his head slowly to face me with a crazy psychotic smile on his face. By this time cotton was flying everywhere from the sofa.
    It had begun, he made the first move. I watched him out of the corner of my eye with a cold stare on my face. This way I gave my enemy little clue as to what I was thinking. He wore a long garment loose in fit and black in color. If the fabric wasn’t so resilient he could pass off as a priest. The man took a right step toward me, making crackling noises as several shards of glass from the now broken window crushed beneath his sandals. His hair was short but parted straight to the back of his head in the middle. The color was black and surprisingly resilient like it had been groomed well. He took another step, one more I thought, one more was all I needed and I’d make my move. He lowered his weapon slowly to the side letting it drag against the floor ripping the rug apart as he continued to walk. The cold stare in my eyes wasn’t enough to make this killer back off, apparently he wasn’t afraid. I called his bluff by kicking a plank of wood from the floor up into the air near my eye level. The wood was a piece of carnage left behind from all the destruction he had created thus far. As soon as the plank of wood hit the tip of its height I leapt into the air and kicked it as hard as I could, sending it straight for his face. This was my warning shot. The killer raised his weapon up in the air with much speed and sliced the wood in half easily. The halves split in two different directions missing him completely. He was unharmed and still intending on walking toward me. However, wood was not intended to hurt him, rather it was a tool to obstruct his line of view, putting me out of his sight for but an instant. In that instant I immediately charged at him and leapt into the air and planted my right foot on his face while his weapon was still over his head, too hesitant to react after his attack.
    He had no idea what had just hit him. Too stunned for him to counter attack, I jumped off his face landing behind him. It was then that I realized he was at least seven feet tall. I was reminded that my path back to the maiden was now being blocked. She was wide open, so I ducked down and swept my foot along the floor so that he would trip. I had no such luck this time as he was no longer stunned and was already keened to my trickery. He jumped! He saw what was coming and jumped over it and came neatly back down on two feet turning round as he swung his sword at me horizontally which I narrowly dodged by bending backward in a limbo like fashion. The blade was so close I could literally feel the draft of air that blew past my stomach as it swung mere centimeters above my body. A chill actually went down my spine for the first time in years, yet I wasn’t scared. I watched as a few of my long black hairs were cut off my head and fell to the floor. I had to create some distance or I’d be wide open. So I continued bending backward and followed it into a few gymnastic back flips.
    Now I was even further from the maiden. Just by judging from his movements and reaction time I knew that this was but a mere child with a new toy. He put far too much faith in his weapon and not enough in his own skill. Realizing that he had an open path to the girl, he turned his attention away from me and began to pursue her again. I was not going to let him come within ten feet of her. I could draw my sword, that was always an option, but I was positive he wasn’t even worth the effort of unsheathing it. I wondered why he was so sure that I wouldn’t do something while his back was turned. I couldn’t take him head on, not with that attitude; there was something he knew that I didn’t. I decided I needed a sneak attack, so I started a running jump onto the wall just beside the offender. I continued to oppose the force of gravity running against it until I got close to the man. I was right, he lashed his sword so hard at me he busted the wall open with a hole size that could make for a window. I dodged it by letting my momentum lead me to the ceiling where I dropped down landing directly in front of the maiden once again. The man and I stood so close together that I could touch him at arms length. I gave him the coldest stare I could muster. Normal people would have cowered in fear at this look.
    “Mercenary X, I presume….” He said.
    I said nothing. I couldn’t because of what happened.
    “I’ve heard so much about you,” he continued, “you’ve made quite the name for yourself around here. They say you’re unbeatable.”
    He paused to let me respond, but I had nothing to say.
    “Too petrified to speak? That’s ok, for when I’ve defeated you I’ll become more famous and feared throughout the world than ever before!” He boasted.
    I stared into his pupils without losing eye contact.
    “My name is Sikuyo, the most feared katana user in existence. Why do you play this game of cat and mouse with me mercenary? Draw your weapon! Show me your full potential!”
    I was getting increasingly more impatient. His guard was down and he was just begging for death. I thought about drawing my sword again, this time more seriously. I obviously didn’t need my weapon but it might be a lot quicker if I just ended it right away. I wasn’t exactly amused by his limit of skill, but drawing my sword is an honor to pathetic warriors like him. I didn’t have much of a choice.
    I swallowed my pride and reached my hand behind my back feeling for a leather grip handle. I knew exactly where to find it, being that I’ve used it so many times before. I grasped it in my hand tightly and slowly began to pull my sword out of it’s sheathe behind me. The sword’s metal scraped up against the material inside its container that had tamed the beast for so long.
    I could see the look of delight on the killers face, satisfied that I decided to draw my weapon. It wouldn’t be long before his delight would be turned to horror. I pulled the rest of the metallic instrument out of it’s sheathe and pulled it out in front of me with my right hand. My reflection showed resiliently in the metal. It was ironic really, the blade was clean. My hair was long and deep pitch black. The bangs came down to my eyes and nearly always obstructed my view straight ahead of me, which was why I used the corner of my eye often to stare at something. It was dirty, and hadn’t been groomed in months. I could see clearly that debris and dirt had found its way into my hair over time. My face was a mess too; the skin was smooth but carelessly forgotten about. It was stained with dirt and fatigue. My muscles on my arms had gotten bigger since the last time I saw my reflection too.
    All this annoyed me knowing that after this battle it’d be awhile before my blade was clean enough to see my reflection again. I readied my sword into a combat ready stance. The bottom half of the metal, just above the hilt had a peculiar X like shape in it, like as if somebody took a scorching pen and melted the pattern right into the material. It lined up perfectly with the X shaped scar I wore on the entire area of my face. I suppose this was why they called me X.
    The man sprang toward me slashing at me violently with his blood soaked katana with incredible speed. He was very fast, but I was faster. I matched him swing for swing and blocked each and every one of his attacks with a clang of metal that ignited sparks when our blades clashed. I was making a fool out of him, and he recognized it. He began to mix up his slashes doing them in random horizontal, vertical, and diagonal directions. He even thrusted his weapon at me several times, only to be dodged when I turned my body sideways and countered by swinging the fist that held my weapon, planting it straight in his cheek. We continued to make metal clang loudly and quickly at inhuman speeds until he took me by surprise by leaping high over my head and coming straight down at me with a vertical slash, using his weight atop of it to increase the power. I held my blade above my head horizontally blocking him with a loud clang. The force of the blow was so great that it bent the walls warping them into an outward curve like the room had been filled with too much air pressure. He jumped off my blade and back onto his feet sliding back a few meters on the blood soaked floor, and then charged at me once again with his weapon ready. This would be his last attack he ever executed. I raised my blade high up over my head, the blade pointing straight up in the air.
    “HURAHHHHHHHHHHH” he let out his battle cry.
    That was when I released the demonic power of the sword. A swirling vortex of black energy began to engulf the blade; the end of it was getting longer and shaped into the mouth of a dragon. That was the last I saw of Sikuyo. It was later reported that his body was horribly mangled and his entire body’s worth of skin was repulsively peeled off. Good ridins.



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    And the first chapter ends there on a cliffhanger.