#lowfantasy

Prologue - The Strange Swordsman

A story by Tales "Anzol" Horita Windson

This was supposed to have been an easy job, on a day like any before it. But it seems fate had another plan entirely in stock for me. "Jail away the thugs that've been causing trouble near Downtown Square" was a simple task really, one my squad was given specifically so me and the other new Recruits could get some first experience.

We'd made our plans, Guard Sarge Durvak was certain of their M.O. and it was a simple matter of waiting around their preferred alleys once sunlight dimmed down.

We donned cuirasses and doublets instead of our halberk uniforms so the noise of chainmail wouldn't give away our identity as Guardfolk and concealed our dress even further with hooded cloaks. As soon as the sky reddened we began investigating, we walked with a lot of distance between each other attempting to bait the bandits into outing themselves thinking they'd found an isolated, easy victim. That's when i saw a shady group of three men follow a cloaked figure into an alley, I glanced at Durvak and already he was making his way towards the alley so o quickened my steps too.

But before we got there we heard a loud sound, as if something heavy just crashed and then a scream of pain. We ran towards the scene to see one of the men crashed into a pile of broken wood, the other two with weapons in hands and the cloaked figure, a man within his thirties unsheathing two blades.

In his right hand, the man wielded a straight sword with a long blade with a curved tip. It was a slender blade with only one sharp edge not unlike the Guard's Sabres but far less curved overall. In his left, a dagger with a blade broader and thicker than usual and both a handguard and a crossguard. I'd never seen such a dagger, much less this combination of weapons among any of the guards or even the soldiers in the army.

While I was still distracted with the unusual armaments one of the shady men shouted:

"Ya old fuck…! Y'just had t' make it hard'r didn't cha? Well, I jus' hafta take yer stuff from yer corpse then!"

The man that crashed into the planks got up, and immediately the thugs rushed the strange swordsman who immediately ran into the leftmost bandit. The bandit haphazardly swung his blade, a large broad knife for chopping into meat, bone and wood.

"Try actin' so tuff when yer dead!"

But the swordsman was unfazed and blocked the strike with his sword and immediately stabbed his opponent right below the armpit. He then stepped inwards and pushed at the men with his shoulder at the one still hurting from crashing into wood. He ran towards the third one in the middle who attacked with a hatchet, but his arm stopped as it met the dagger mid-strike, cutting his wrist open with the impact before the sword was thrust through his stomach. With a kick the swordsman wrestled his blade back out of his opponent's body turned to the third thug, now drenched in his own partner's blood and held up his guard again. The thug, armed only with a small shiv was visibly disturbed and quickly turned tail before he noticed us in his way.

"P-please help me! Tha' man's a craz'd murder'r! Ya' gotta call th' Guard before he'll kill me!"

He grabbed onto one of the other Recruits cloak and pointed to the swordsman

"Look, he's gots weapons! Tha's illegal! He's dangerous, 'm tellin' ya!"

The thug seemed genuinely scared, unfortunately for him we'd already been here long enough to know he was our target all along.

"Dharah" Durvak ordered me "Help Palkur arrest this thug. Tazegh, Fumith, you check if the other two are still alive."

We snapped when we heard it, like we were in a trance watching the battle before still unfolding before us, but soon we moved to our current tasks. While tying the whining thug's arms and legs so he wouldn't flee I stole a glance towards Durvak as he approached the swordsman, which was currently wiping and sheathing back his sword.

"Citizen, you are in violation of the Law of the Emperor against carrying and using military weaponry by civilians. Come with us quietly and you may be released after only the confiscation of your weapons and paying a small fine."

"And what if I refuse to go with you?"

The swordsman looked directly into Durvak's eyes without any reservation or regard for his authority. His voice was deep and rough and he spoke slowly and clearly but had a strange accent, as if his words were smoothed out.

"Then I'm afraid we'll have to take you by force."

Durvak unsheathed his saber and attempted to cut at the strange man who immediately blocked it with his dagger, unlike the thugs, however Durvak was trained fighter and knew not to attack senselessly, that's what he'd drilled into us during our weekly training sessions. He had attacked while his opponent only had a weapon of much shorter reach and he'd now step back to keep attacking from outside his opponent's weapon's threat zone.

Or so i thought, but the strange man stepped inwards while Durvak's saber seemed to be stuck on his dagger, he wrapped his right arm around our Sarge's neck and pushed him, tripping over the leg he'd just positioned behind him.

With a 'thud' our leader was on the ground and left out a muted groan, the swordsman then stomped on his right hand and kicked the saber out of it, before another kick to the head.

He ran towards Tazegh who had just lifted a thug's body on her back and kicked her with a stomp in the chest, pushing her back considerably and into Fumith, who was still knelt down trying to raise the other thug.

"Leave that bum here Palkur, and go find some backup! There should be another Guard squad on patrol somewhere nearby"

"But what about yo-"

"I'll try to buy some time. I'm the best fighter among the recruits after all. I should at least be enough so Sarge Durvak and the other Recruits can get up. Now go!"

I said so, but in truth I was terrified. Still, I had to steel my resolve if we had any chance of survival whatsoever. I unsheathed my saber while Palkur got away and got into a stance.

The man was just a dash away from me, right outside my striking range. But just when I thought that it was a good sign, he darted within. I panicked and cut at his head's height but he parried with his dagger just as with Durvak. I only had a month and a half of training in the Guard, but at least I knew not to be hit by a technique I've already seen if I could help it. Instead of retreating I put my weight forward to resist his push. But the push never came, instead he twisted in place as he grabbed my sword arm with both hands after releasing his dagger and threw me over his shoulder.

I fell so hard on the ground my consciousness began fading in and out, my body hurt all over from the impact and I had difficulty breathing. I could hear the other recruits saying something and shouting for my name but I couldn't make sense of any of it.

By the time I could finally get up it was already too late, the man had gotten away and we couldn't find him anywhere anymore. Tazegh were mostly unharmed, with just a few bruises from their collision, but me and specially Guard Sarge Durvak were battered and had some more serious injuries.

The thug that was tied down was the only one still alive as the other two bled to death while we waited for support to arrive as me and Durvak could hardly move properly on our own.

Part-time Reaper | Katherine Ross

Young Adult, Low Fantasy, Supernatural

magic // reapers // adventure // action // undead // limbo

100,000.

That’s how many souls 15-year old Rachel Moore owes Death, the agreed price for her life— all in all, a pretty killer deal. According to protocol she shouldn’t have been allowed back at all, but she was lucky enough to find herself in slightly special circumstances. After all, it’s not every day that the son of Death gets you killed after accidentally pushing you in front of a bus. Though, he did say he was sorry. DJ, a lazy bum who’d rather spend his time drinking sodas while playing video games than reaping souls, finds himself grounded top-side and is to remain by her side until she repays her debt.

A worse team has never been founded.

But together, Rachel and DJ must rely on each other as they face the dark world of Limbo where the dead are alive, the supernatural lurk around every corner, and they just can’t catch a break. And if that weren’t enough, while also trying to survive the day-to-day dangers of Limbo, if Rachel can’t reap enough souls by the end of her allotted year, her own will be Death’s for the taking.

But, no pressure.