Okay, I did it. I did this for someone who wanted ideas for a story and decided Id post it here for that story I promised. Enjoy it if you want. “Argh!” He grunted in pain. The blade had swept cleanly through his mail and carved into his shoulder viciously. A sickly feeling began to gather in his stomach as his right arm, limp from exhaustion and injury, dangled his own blade. She smirked, he knew it. Under that elegant helmet was that smirk, satisfied with self-wealth. He watched as she returned to her tall stance, waiting for him to recover. “Come now, you know you cannot best me. I’ve practiced this for years, and you’ve only begun two weeks ago. It’s a shame that these sorts of things always end in the losers’ death.” A shame for you, he thought. Arlin raised his bloodied arm, with the loose chain-mail draped over it like a shoddy blanket. Blood was clearly being lost in vast quantities as his vision began to swirl and his head felt considerably lighter than it should have been. He firmly gripped the sword in both hands out in front of him. “I’m ready.” He said weakly, but defiantly. Claudia scoffed at him audibly, which only served to heat him up more. She would never get joy like that from him. Breathing hard, Alrin sloppily rushed forward to her upright, armoured figure. His imagination of swiftly taking her down muddied his mind and she easily parried his simple down-swing to the side. His balance was off and he fell forward onto his face, his sword clattering to the ground in a very noisy manner. The entire chamber echoed with it, carrying the sound through much of the expansive room. Coldly the polished marble floor embraced him. “Tut-tut. It may seem a bit brash of me to go along with your challenge, when you’re so inexperienced, but you challenged me, and I don’t refuse challenges.” Claudia mocked him. Her precise steps grew closer to him until he could sense her standing right next to his beaten body. Alrin’s head was turned, so he didn’t see it, but he guessed she had her rapier hovering just above his back. “We all make mistakes.” She said in her usual bite. Wait, Alrin thought. She didn’t say this in the same way she did everything else. It wasn’t as demeaning or as cold. It was… understanding… “I’ve made more than I should have.” What was she saying? “Numerous people have fallen to me, but even more have fallen in my name. They died for me, and I didn’t even commemorate them…” She paused. Alrin turned his head to where he figured she was with her sword, and was surprised that she was knelt beside him, with her illustrious helmet off. Her plated white armour sparkled by the chamber’s chandeliers and sconces on the walls. Claudia’s silky white hair flowed ever so gently around her shoulders onto her chest-pieces’ pauldrons. “I’ve made many mistakes, but none were so rash as yours. But I do not think you deserve the punishment that comes with losing a challenge. Although you’re an absolute idiot you can still improve.” She stood up, helmet in hand, and sheathed her rapier. Then she did something Alrin never expected, even more than the confusing anecdotes. Claudia stooped down and put out her hand. Slowly Alrin forced his right arm to go up, clenching his teeth through the explosive pain. His chain glove met with her armoured gauntlet, and she shook his hand as one would an equal. Alrin stared up at her face, framed by it’s cascading hair, and felt something different about her, for a change. Perhaps it wasn’t exactly that he liked her, but maybe he respected her. Claudia straightened back up and walked, in her perfect way, to the chamber’s wooden exit door. Alrin watched her the whole way, appreciating something he had never appreciated before in his entire life. That sometimes you don’t really know someone until they’ve your life in their hands, and they spare you, even when all you can think of them is hatred and spite.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 02:29:55 +0000
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