The Beginning

 There’s an uneasy silence in a battlefield in feudal japan, both armies were decimated, standing left are a dozen men surrounding a single man. 

he men, fully armored, ashigaru and samurai alike, from both sides of the conflict, point their weapons towards him.

The assailant wears rugged clothes and is soaked in blood, his untied hair flowing with the wind, while he holds a single crimson sword.

He is surrounded by pieces of the warriors and the grass around him is painted red. The silence is interrupted by the occasional thunder.

A shot can be heard, one of the infantry men shot with his arquebus, the bullet is easily deflected, this shot reignited the fight.

Three samurai draw their swords and rush towards him, clashing metal is heard, but his movements are akin to that of a wild beast, they alternate attempting to attack and backstepping. While other warriors, with less protection lunge with their spears to no avail.

Rain starts pouring slowly, crimson red eyes can be seen through the strands of hair. A laughter can be heard as his foes are sliced by a razor sharp red mist. The last man standing against him is a young peasant who picked up two swords from the fallen warriors.

Both men rush towards each other brandishing their swords. A lightning strikes the horizon as their blades crash, the man with the cursed blade sheathed his blade, making a clicking sound, the teenager’s thoughts are “mom, I won’t be home for dinner tonight” as the rain pours down.

 A laughter can be heard, the last swordsman standing laughs at the sky while a rain of blood falls on his body.

Chapter III: The beginning

 “Let’s do it.” Karasu says as he reveals his red eyes, the mask and the eyes give him a demonic visage.

Alex charges holding his shield high, holding his sword behind, Karasu steps forward unsheathing his sword.

They clash their blades, Alex keeps his side protected by holding his shield near his right hand. He pushes his opponent’s sword aside again, as he advances, alternating sword and shield strikes. On the chess board, now the black queen piece is the one pushing forward.

Surprised by Alex’s change of attitude, Karasu clears his mind. He’s not used to having his blows deflected. “This is the first time Kegare has a hard time cutting through, if she were a regular blade, she’d be broken already.” he thinks while attempting to land a strike again.

Alex, impatient, provokes “What’s it? Can’t hit someone without doing a surprise attack?” He bashes his shield on Karasu’s face. Who loses his balance and steps twice before regaining his footing. Alex follows with another blow, this time, a punch coming from his right hand, while holding his sword with the flat site pointing towards Karasu’s face.

As the knuckles hit his left temple, he grips his sword again, and kicks Alex’s sheen. This time regaining his posture, he sheathed his sword. “No more playing around…” he says. And in a flash, he disappears from Alex’s field of view, followed by a loud boom. Behind Alex, a clicking sound.

Alex feels the pressure of the slashes, while he holds his shield steadfast, the ground in front of him shatters slowly, the very air around seems to be distorted with a red hue. Oddly, the cracks go around him. He turns around, to see Karasu trying to hold a faint laugh.

“You… you won! Hit… hit me with the sword!” he utters while shaking.

Alex, confused asks “Are you oka-”

“HIT ME NOW!” Karasu shouts. Without turning towards Alex

“Okay..?” Alex slashes, without much finesse. As soon as the blade hits Karasu, they are sent back to the auditorium. Alex, confused, feels like he just swung his sword in the air, while Karasu, respectfully, puts his sword on the ground and he lets go of any contact.

On the desk, the white queen is toppled, and one of the contracts is cut in half. “Congratulations Alexander.” Agenor says. Both contracts ignite into green flames, leaving no smoke nor ash.

“This is a surprising turn of events.” Agenor says, as he gets up from the desk. He adjusts his glasses. “Carlos, you could have won this easily...”

Karasu grabs his sword, and gets up “Sorry to interrupt sir, he managed to hold all my attacks with his shield. Kegare can cut through almost anything you can think of…” he says while removing the oni mask, “...that is what distracted me.”

Alex sheathes his sword on his hip, the scabbard provided by the order fits perfectly with the uniform, and it feels way more comfortable than his previous gear. 

Agenor whistles while he is distracted and requests: “Alexander, please, leave the shield with us if possible.”, the young man nods and hands the shield to him.

“Also, get your possessions and bring them here to the order, the room you stayed in will be your new home for now. Do you have any relative or.guardian in need of money?” Agenor asks while taking a huge stack of money from his shirt pocket.

Alex, annoyed replies “What? Do you expect me to accept charity now?” his pride doesn’t let him simply accept it without deserving.

Agenor raises his eyebrow and replies. “That is the commission for slaying the dragon, it’s no charity, it’s payment for your work, Carlos officially is the one who cashed it, but you are the one who did all the work.”

Karasu turns away and continues “I just stole your kill, you deserve this.” He continues walking towards the exit.

Agenor shouts “Not so fast!” he clears his throat and says “You will accompany this gentleman home, and you better get along, you will supervise him from now on”

Both boys shout “WHAT!?” in unison.

Agenor just shrugs and hands the cash to Alex “Will you be taking the payment or what?”

Alex takes the cash and says “thank you.” as he walks away. Karasu holds the door and nods towards the agents inside as he closes it.

They leave the order’s headquarters, it’s the end of spring. They feel the scorching sun in the sky, wearing their uniforms, three layers of black fabric only worsens the sensation of heat.

 “Holy shit, it’s not even summer yet!” Alex says as he steps outside of the gates, this headquarters is stationed between avenues, without any shade on the path.

“Well, I will request a ride, type your address here.” Karasu says as he hands his phone to Alex, who quickly types and hands back the phone to Karasu.

 “Couldn’t we get a ride from the order?” Alex points out.

“That is… complicated.” Karasu says. 

He removes his fabric mask and grabs a cigarette, he says: “The nearest driver is 10 minutes away” then lights his cigarette. He offers them to Alex, who politely refuses again.

As soon as the driver arrives, Karasu takes a metal case, slides a small tray filled with ashes and a couple of old filters. He discards the cigarette on said tray and puts it away in his pocket again.

They both enter the black car and take the back seats. While inside, they adjust their swords, so they don’t bump on the car walls while the ride takes place.

“So, the girls… What's the deal with them, are they Agenor’s assistants?” Alex asks. 

“They are his daughters.” Karasu replies bluntly.

“So what? Do families join their ranks as well? Doesn’t seem fair.” Alex implies.

Karasu sighs “It was their mother. Their mother was a slayer, Agenor joined in after she passed away. They both did the test at the same time as I did.”

The driver interrupts “Are you fans of the order?” he says with a rural accent.

 Karasu attempts to reply “Well, we are actually…” 

The driver shifts the gear as he merges on the highway “I ain’t knowing much about this order, they seem to take tax money and not do much when they are needed.” he remarks.

Karasu keeps silent.

The driver continues “yesterday we had a man killed while trying to save his daughter’s dog I heard on the radio.”

Karasu leans his head against the window. “The order takes no tax money, it’s not a branch of the ;government…” Karasu explains.

“Well, this explains why they only act on noble neighborhoods, ten years ago they didn’t even arrive until that dragon started burning the mansions nearby. They do be working just for profit.” the driver says.

Alex gets annoyed as well, the sound of the footsteps muffled by the rubble echoes in his mind. He remembers the blonde hair of the woman who rescued him: “I’ll leave him with you, there are more people over there…” he faintly remembers her voice.

Alex closes his fist. He is about to shout, but Karasu puts his hand over his chest and whispers “not worthy."

The remainder of the time, the duo stays silent.

When they arrive at the slum entrance, they take their leave and politely wish a good day for the driver. “It’s over there.” He says as they enter the place.

Kids run on streets without pavement, small houses made of improvised materials and some dogs are all in sight inside this maze. Alex navigates with ease, leading to a bridge, made of wood and scrap metal, crossing over a smelly river.

Karasu is visibly uncomfortable. They reach the old tracks, beneath the highway, the columns serve as foundation for improvised homes, one of them is Where Alex lives. He opens the lock and removes the chain of the metal gate and unlocks an old wooden door.

Inside, nothing but an old bed and a wooden box beneath a window with cracked glass and a stove without an oven. “If you want to use the toilet…” he points towards a fabric hanging over a door frame. 

He opens the box: “alright, everything seems fine.” He closes the box and lifts it overhead. He struggles to speak while lifting, “let’s just pay a visit to grandma…”

“I thought you said you had no living relatives.” Karasu inquires.

 “She’s not related by blood.” Alex replies and follows “she took care of the children that survived… that attack. This whole community is made by survivors.” They leave the house. Alex does the locking routine with an arm, while holding a box with all his belongings.

They go to one of the houses in the slum, where an old lady attends to a vegetable garden while some children help her. Alex hands her the money he received, he gives his keys and she hugs him.

Soon, he leaves all this behind. Back in the organization, he receives his shield, completely broken from tests. An engineer wearing goggles, and messy curly short hair shows him blueprints of a shield, he nods in approval while she talks.

He enters his room and lies down on his bed and thinks to himself “One week until traveling to Malta… Well, I need to study this." He takes a textbook of Maltese and starts reading it.

🟆🟆🟆

Deep into the night. A fair skinned woman, with a bob cut and blunt bangs, with deep green eyes walks inside a shed in the rural area. She wears the order’s uniform, but with slight differences that highlight her femininity without hindering her movements. Her belt carries six swords on her hips, 3 on each side. And the boots accentuate the silhouette of her legs.

Two men accompany her and an old farmer follows. “Sacre bleu.” the farmer whispers to himself when he sees the destruction and what remains of some livestock animals.

The woman signs with her arm for them all to stand back. The silence is broken by a roar. “Retreat, I will deal with this.” she says with a soft voice. 

“Yes ma’am” the junior slayers reply, as soon as they escort the farmer away.

From the shadows, a white draconic figure emerges, walking on all fours like an ape, with a hunchback posture, a pair of horns, spikes along the spine, a long thin tail and red eyes. He crawls towards the woman, who stays stoic. 

The creature stands upright, towering over two meters in height with a chiseled musculature, he looks upwards and starts howling in a high pitch, as if he was crying.

The woman takes her hands off her swords, as he whimpers and puts his head on her shoulders, she embraces him, and he starts sobbing, as he slowly turns into a human again, tall, but thin, with white long hair. 

As she hugs him, she whispers “It’s okay, it’s okay” while he sobs

Behind him, the moonlight reveals through the cracks in the shed’s roof, a winged dragon, already dead. With broken limbs, the jaw dislocated and parts of the scales scattered around the shed; wood beams and tree trunks puncture the dragon’s body, as if they were used as weapons, such is the result of a brutal battle.

The young boy embraces the woman, with his arms covered in blood. He can’t gather the energy to say anything aside from “I’m sorry.”

The moonlight illuminates the woods around the farm, with patches of destruction here and there, the fields of crops and grass broken by the impact of the fight leading to the side of the shed breaking.

She embraces him tightly, “It’s okay, everything will be alright” she reassures in a calm manner and soothing voice.