Warrior’s Torment
When I was 16 I saw my father and mother killed in front of me. The killer, Li Ting, showed no mercy as he buried his blade swiftly into my father and then drove it through my mother’s chest. I ran and grabbed my father’s blade from his room. Here I charged Li Ting and received a mighty cut on my face from the upper left corner of my forehead across my right eye down to my upper right corner of my cheek. The scar is about a half an inch wide and blurred the vision in my right eye. I fell to the ground after taking the hit and could see Li’s eyes as he turned to walk out the door. The almost seemed to say, “Sorry kid but I had to do what I had to do.” I soon slipped into unconsciousness. I remember walking and then running, I don’t know if I was being chased or chasing, I just ran. Then Li Ting appeared in front of me and I stopped. I felt my body turn to flames as I boiled with rage and anger. I wanted to cut his head off right there, but as soon as I drew my sword he began to fall back. No matter how hard I ran he was just a little quicker, becoming more distant, a goal I could never reach. I felt a cool air brush my cheeks and felt the cool kiss of water on my lips. I soon awoke from my slumber, groggy and dizzy, outside my house, which was burning brilliantly even through the light rain. I tried to sit up, but it felt like my head was tied down to the ground. I managed to get to my knees when I felt a hand on my shoulder. “You’re going to be alright boy,” said the voice behind me. “Looks like you might be looking for who ever done this,” he continued, “and I’m the man who’ll teach you the way of the blade.” I looked up to see two beady eyes and very light grey hair on what seemed a very fit old man. I bowed my head and began to cry, my tears mixing with the, now, little blood pouring from my head wound. “Now, Now, don’t you cry. There’s plenty a thing to be looking to in life. Least you’re ok.” His comforting wasn’t much help until he said, “First lesson: value life for the experience it brings but value death for the knowledge it holds within.” Him saying those words I looked up once more and the tears stopped and my heart ceased wrenching in my chest. I raised my arm for aid, and he pulled me to my feet. “Let’s get out of here, we have a lot of work to do and I think you’ll have a lot of drive the next couple of weeks.” And so we walked off to where he lived in the forest down a beaten trail at a little hut.
For one year we trained from the crack of dawn until the blinding night had settled in. I started with the mind and body, every night meditating for two hours with the sword that was to be bestowed to me. I had increasing weight sizes strapped to my wrists and ankles to aid in my speed. I did push-ups over a group of small candles with my master lying on my back. I had my ankles strapped to a platform where I would reach up with my left hand and grab a stone by my right foot and place it on the ground, after the stone hit the ground my master would swing a wooden sword into my stomach. I would alternate the moving of the stones with each hand and after each had been placed on the ground they were then placed back on the platform. There were various other forms of training that we used that didn’t contain those of the body. I went through breathing routines that would keep my breath silent even under stress. I would be given a stick and be required to block all that was thrown at me no matter the size or shape of the object. I was also trained to rely on my other senses such as smell, hearing and even taste. I was taught the technique of tasting the air, and being able to taste the salt from the sweat that would be evaporating off my opponent. After I had gone through this sort of training for a month or two, never quitting always making sure my body was pushed to the limit and always making sure that I never gave up. I was given a sword made of stone. It was three feet in length and weighed about thirty five pounds. The training with this sword was to be able to attack and block my master’s weapon which was twice the length of my weapon and only about five pounds. This was by no means an easy task and took me a month to get down. “This is impossible. Completely unfair, your blade is twice as long and not even a quarter of the weight.” I complained finally after many failures.
“Ahh but you won’t always be given a fair fight. You have to use your mind when you fight. The first attack doesn’t have to be the final one.” He advised, “A true swordsman doesn’t think with his blade, he thinks with his body.” With that said I lifted the sword and began training once more, now with the idea of moving and dodging the attacks thrown at me as well as making attacks that would barely connect, so I had distance to block the counter attack. “Good, keep your body as well as your mind sharp and your blade will never dull.” The training continued, I learned to fight with the stone sword and was soon able to defend myself well against Master Wong. We would fight all day long and he would only have struck me twice or three times at most. The last two months was training with the blade I meditated in front of every night. This was a well constructed blade, five feet in length and as light as a feather, compared to the stone weapon. For the first three weeks I trained with the blade, and then I was shown something special with the sword. There was a small wire, invisible to the naked eye, which retracts into the handle from the bottom of the grip. I then learned how to control the retraction for the last week of that month. Then my master told me, “I can teach you no more, Fai. You have mastered a very powerful weapon and now you must learn how not to use it. For such a weapon can bring about death and despair to all those around. I am no longer your master but your friend.” That night we had our last dinner together; by morning Wong Tsung was gone and I would be leaving in a month’s time to search out Li Ting and reap my vengeance. I am Fai Yasuo, and this is the tale of what I have gone through since the day I left the forest.
It was the beginning of autumn and I had left the hut behind, walking from town to town looking for Li Ting. Every person I talked to seemed to fear the name, not one soul who didn’t cringe when it was spoken. As if I had just condemned them to the devil. I decided that it was fruitless to talk to these cowards. I began to head west, feeling that I was being called that way. The leaves had turned their marvelous gold and red, some even beginning to fall. With a strong wind a tree would be stripped bear of its coat. I came to a forest and stopped. I closed my eyes and listened. Through the light breeze I heard the clash of metal, there was a fight going on. I quickly rushed to view the battle, moving silently but swiftly through the trees and the slowly falling leaves. I came to what seemed to be a small clearing and there he was, Li. I couldn’t see his opponent for his back was turned to me. They weren’t in heavy combat, each making a few small attacks and blocks. I knew what they were doing; Wong taught me the trick of figuring out your opponent before you strike to kill. I remained hidden behind some trees. The two circled each other and I got a look at who was fighting Li. It was an elderly man with a somewhat wrinkled face, grey hair that was long and wavy. His clothes were of a faded light blue and very worn. He wore a soft silk rope with a small silver knob at the end of one side. I knew what the rope was for the man fighting Li was Master Wong. I breathed deeply, and thought that my position was given away, for I saw Li’s head almost cock in my direction as Master Wong swung with his blade. Master gave me a sharp look as he was engaged with Li. The two were now in full combat, each attacking the other ferociously, neither backing off for more then a second. I wanted to run in there and join Master Wong, but I knew that there would be no honor if Li was defeated in such a way. Master Wong swung down and Li stopped the blade, the two were face to face and their blades were the only thing keeping them apart. Li gave a thrust and Master Wong used the force to perform a back flip. He raised his arm to strike once more, when a huge gust of wind came and had blown many leaves from the various surrounding trees into the clearing. My view was blocked a bit but I was able to see what had happened. When the leaves had settled I was given a reminder as to how much rage I had toward Li, for Li’s blade was driven into my Master’s stomach and when he withdrew it, Master Wong fell. I dove out of the trees and ran to my Master, again Li’s eyes seemed to say, “sorry, but it had to be done.” Li began to walk away and I was about to leap after him when Master Wong grabbed my arm. “Fai, do not kill in anger for the blade will betray you.” He whispered, his voice leaving him in his last few minutes. “Remember to not use your blade,” he paused for breath, “for death but for life. Remember all that I,” his voice began to leave him as he finished, mouthing the last word, “taught you.” Master Wong lied there lifeless, and I grabbed my sword and took off in the direction of Li.
I traveled, following Li’s trail, through the woods. When the forest ended, it came to a cliff; on the other side of that cliff was a building. The cliff ended about three hundred feet down and the building, which wasn’t too large, was partly over the edge. Further down I could see a rope bridge that looked like it was about to collapse. Since I could see no other means to get across I headed for the bridge. By the time I got to the bridge, which was about sixty feet in length, I could see Li walking towards the building on the other side. I got on to the bridge and started to cross it as quickly a possible, hoping to catch up to Li. I should have checked the bridge for when I got about halfway across I heard snapping. At the other end there were sharpened daggers that were being launched from a device that Li had set up to booby trap the bridge. As I turned my foot went through a board and the one my other foot was on gave way as well. I grabbed onto the side and pulled myself up, the bridge shaking more then ever. As I got to my feet, the bridge sagged about a foot and became very unstable. I had no choice but to run and got about another quarter of the way before the bridge gave out. I got a hold of the ropes that acted as handrails and began to swing through the air. I smacked into the wall hard making m loose my grip. I began to plummet when I tossed my sword in between two of the boards. I dangled in the air as I had the chord to the sword in hand. I then used the now collapsed bridge as a ladder and began to hoist myself upwards, collecting my sword along the way. I reached the top no problem, the conditioning I went through a year before this event was nothing compared to the climb. By the time I reached the top, the death of my parents as well as my master had played over in my mind a thousand times. I could feel nothing but the rage pulse through my veins; reach my mind to replay the incidents, all to make my heart pound even more vigorously with hatred. I realized that I had run at my top speed to the building, which turned out to be a house, while feeling the poison course through every once of my being. I didn’t hesitate once I came up to the door. With one swift kick it was torn down. The house was fairly simple, a hallway with rice paper walls. There was a sliding door every ten feet which led into a room. At the end of the hallway was the master room, which had a balcony that overstepped the cliff’s edge.
There were two rooms on each side. I didn’t have to open the first two for armed men; I suppose they were Li’s guards. The first man in the right room didn’t get a chance to open the door for I drove my sword through it and heard the grunt from the other side. The door behind me opened up and I quickly withdrew my sword to slice the guy there. He caught my blade with his but caught my foot into his stomach immediately after. I stabbed backwards catching the next guy who would have taken his blade to my back. I turned, grabbed the sword in the recently killed mans grasp turned and threw it through the rice paper walls into a man in the other room. I withdrew my blade as the man fell to the ground. I heard the footsteps of a man charging towards me, so I turned and cut open his chest. I saw the man I had kicked before rise from the ground. I threw my sword into his throat, ran forward and used what leverage I had to split open is head. I spun as I dropped to my knees cutting off both legs of an on comer who swiped and missed, for I had ducked. I stood and drove my sword into his chest. I walked over to the other room to see the last two in this room against the back wall bickering as to who should attack me. “I’ll solve both your problems,” I said calmly as I began to approach them. The largest one of them became so anxious that he leapt forward to attack. I made a swift motion with my blade and cut off his attacking arm, spun and swiped down to cut off his other arm. As he fell to his knees I bore my blade strait down through the top of his head, all the way to the hilt. The last guy saw his chance and moved forward to attack. As he swung downward I took a side step letting the blade flay past me. I then took my pointer and middle finger and jabbed them into his throat. He dropped his blade clutching at his throat, gasping for air. I removed my blade from the man, who was stuck in the kneeling position because of me weapon. The man who was coughing looked at me with despair in his eyes. I turned my head away from him as my arm swung for his neck. I only heard the sound of two things hitting the ground, one was his body. I walked back to the hall not thinking about what just had occurred and moved on down the hall.
I could see figures in the room, what I didn’t know was that they
weren’t males. I made a swift cut through the rice paper wall into one of the
bodies. I leapt through the hole made and with the commotion had laid waste to
whatever and whoever was in the room. I hesitated even less with the room
across from the one I was in. I knew that there were 5 bodies of people and two
that were of animal. I left the room and sauntered over to the main doors. I
heaved one open and walked in. I saw Li sitting with his weapon sheathed in
front of him. He was wearing his coolie hat and his eye could not be seen. He
had on his dark blue suit that I’ve always seen him wear. “Tsk, you cam here
and killed my family and now plan on killing
“I plan on taking my revenge for what you’ve done.” I replied.
“Then let’s see you take it.” Li said, looking up at me. I ran forward and impaled him through the chest. “You’ve taken everything but my life, and now you have that as well. May you be at peace for your revenge has been taken.” I looked in shock. I didn’t expect to kill him so readily or easily. I was stunned as I saw Li’s body fall off my blade. As I began to walk out of the house I saw all the death I cause. I had killed eight men, three women, two children, a dog, a puppy, and Li. “You have mastered a very powerful weapon and now you must learn how not to use it. For such a weapon can bring about death and despair to all those around.” I could only hear those words repeat in my head with master’s voice. I walked all night and all the next day. When night had fallen again I looked up at the starry night sky, “I swear to that my blade will not fell another living thing.” I collapsed and fell into a slumber. My dreams would be haunted for months with the atrocities I caused, and so I sleep very little.
I wandered learning how to use my weapon to its full potential, by not using it at all. I found ways to fight with my sword sheathed. I focused on the different focal points of the body. I learned to use the back of my blade, learning how to make minor cuts and not deadly wounds. All this I did over a month’s time while I walked to the next town. I strolled over to the nearest inn, sleeping on the ground has made my back stiff and I was looking for a nice comfortable bed to have a nice nights sleep in. The inn had many people sitting in the lounge area. The minute I walked in, there was a dead silence. I could hear the people whisper amongst themselves. I continued to the receptionist, “I’d like a room.”
“Umm,” he paused and looked around real quick, “sorry no vacancy.”
“Thank you.” I turned around and left. I went to another inn and another, all had the same response. I began to get the feeling that I wasn’t welcomed. I walked down some alley to get away from the night lights, when heard from further down the alley, “You really the guy who took out Li?”
“Yea, but…” I was cut off.
“Good.” Was all I got when a figure leapt out at me with a claw on each hand and two blades for each claw. I caught them both on my sheathed blade and fell backwards from the momentum. I did a kick-up and turned around just in time to catch the next attack. I took a side step at this leap and the man landed right next to me.
“I don’t want to hurt you. Why are you doing this?” I asked as I began to block his blades and taking steps backwards.
“I was supposed to kill him. Now I’ve changed directives.” He responded as he dove to drive his blades in my chest. I knelt down below his attack and drove my hilt into his sternum, pushing as well as standing up as I followed through. I could hear the wind being driven out of his body. When the man landed his body was on the ground and he was unconscious.
“You’re good,” came a voice from behind me in the streets. “Come follow me. We’ll give you a nice place to sleep for the night.”
“We?” I questioned as I looked up from then body on the ground.
“Yea me and some of my pals.” Came the reply. I followed the stranger, keeping in mind that I could be jumped again by this guy and his “pals.” We continued down the street and walked into a small house. When we walked in, three people immediately jumped to their feet who were sitting at a table playing cards. There was one more who was sitting on a couch watching TV, he didn’t move. “Settle down it’s me, Jobe. I brought someone new. He’s really good, I think he’d be a great help if we ever need it.”
“You’re always bringing new people.” Came a reply from the one who was furthest from us at the table. “Name’s Orin, he’s Shinso and she’s Yen. Ohh the guy on the couch, well he doesn’t talk much. Actually he doesn’t talk at all but he’s really good with darts and the sort. His name is Yakato.” Orin finished.
“I’m Fai. And what do you mean I could help? What do you guys do?” I inquired.
“Well, we are sorta like assassins for hire, but not quite.” Yen responded.
“Yea we get all the info on the person or persons that we’re hired to take out.” Jobe continued.
“And if we don’t think they deserve to be killed then we don’t do it, but if they do…” Orin was about to finish when Shinso cut him off.
“We eliminate them.”
“I should let you know that I have sworn never to kill.” Fai remarked.
“Then how is he any good Jobe?” Orin asked
“You should see him in action. He’s amazing, totally knocked the guy in the alley out with one blow. I bet he’s still there; drove the wind right out of him.”
“But that doesn’t help us any Jobe.” Orin continued.
“Sure it does. It’s for all the people we come across that shouldn’t be killed but are in the way of the job.” Jobe defended.
“Listen I don’t want to cause trouble here.” Fai began, “You don’t look like you need another hand, so I’ll just leave,” as he whispered to himself, “Not like I’m welcomed anywhere else anyways.” He turned to walk out the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“You’d make our job easier if you stayed.” Yen spoke. “We could really use it.”
“But you have plenty of people” Fai said at the same time Jobe spoke up.
“Alright let's see who wants good ol’Fai with us, eh?”
“Well I’d like him to stick around.” Said Yen
“Sure, another player for a game of cards.” Shinso replied.
“I don’t like it, too many people.” Orin commented.
“well looks like it’s three to one, or maybe four to one, or three to two,” Jobe thought about it, “Yakato, do you have an opinion?” with no response he continued, “well then it’s three to one. Welcome Fai and enjoy your new home.”
So this is where I came to live, with Jobe, an expert with small blades on his feet, elbows, heels, and normal wielding, also I believe him to be the leader, Yen being a great hand to hand fighter, Orin was amazing with the axe, both large and small, Shinso could use three things with great skill, the sai, nunchaku, and the bow staff, and as said before, Yakato was excellent with throwing objects and the sort. I had stayed here for practically a year, being the youngest in the group. In that time we completed many jobs. I started to wear a coolie as well as a black veil so to keep as much of my identity hidden, being that I would cause more harm then good if people knew who I was. So we, or I should say they, had put an end to many evil men, where as I was the one to get them to their target without harming too many people. I had gotten close to Shinso and Yen, Yakato was distant from everyone, Orin seemed not to trust me, and Jobe became indifferent then his friendly way when we first met. We were going on another mission and Jobe had talked to everyone about something, while I wasn’t in the room. Shinso seemed insulted by something and Yen was sad. Yakato was solemn as always and Jobe and Orin seemed excited. So I got filled in about the mission and we left that night. The building that we arrived at had no guards, and was merely a stone building, maybe two or three rooms. Something didn’t feel right, as if something bad was going to happen. “Alright, we’ll follow you Fai. You ready?” Jobe said. I gave a nod, stood up and made dash for the building. Once I got to the door I opened it and darted inside. I was expecting to see a lot of men ready, but instead there was no one. I heard the door slam shut behind me, the others weren’t in the building with me. The lights cut out, and would flash at random intervals. I thought I could see a figure at the end of the hall, where he came from I had no idea. The he began to charge after me, and I had no where to run, I saw no doors, I was trapped. The figure was about seven feet tall and seemed like it was made out of armor. I saw no eyes and felt no breath when it slammed its hand into my neck and lifted me into the air.
“Are you Fai Yasuo?” Came an ominous voice.
“Yea,” I struggled to say as I grabbed the strong arm with my left hand and my coolie and veil fell from my head, “what do you want?”
“I’m here to kill you.” Came the response as I then was able to see that there was something under all that metal. There was no way I could use any of my skills through the type of armor this guy was wearing. Not a single spot was not covered by the armor except a small seam where the helmet met the body armor. I felt his grip grow tighter and I felt my body begin to get heavy and tired. I had to act quickly so I lifted my right arm, with sword in hand and planted it at the joint I saw. With a swift flick of the sheath I had maneuvered my weapon under helm and popped it off the guys head. He looked surprised to see I was able to complete such a task. I made a quick thrust and jabbed my weapon into his throat. He dropped me both of us clutching our necks and coughing. We both recovered at the same time. I looked at this beast of a man and he looked back.
“Listen, I don’t want to hurt you.” I said. But it fell on deaf ears as he moved forward and grabbed my shoulders. Just as he grabbed me he thrust his knee into my stomach forcing the wind out of me as well as throwing me up against the wall again. I hunched over clutching my stomach with my free arm. I could see starts from the blow delivered and could only hear the footsteps of the approaching enemy. I pictured where his placement would be and drove my sheath forward as I began to stand up. I heard the howl from the man as I saw that I had hit my target. The man stumbled backwards clutching his eye. I ran forwards and dove underneath his legs making sure that my weapon would catch his ankles. I pulled with all my might and the man fell on his face. I took a few steps forward and used my hilt to knock the man out. I continued down the hall to see where it led. I saw that there were two passages, one to the left and the other to the right. I continued to the right and found that it had an opening at the end of the hall to the right. This opened up to a room and in the center of the room stood Orin. “What’s going on?” I inquired.
“Well you see you’re worth a lot of money right now. We’re being paid to take you out, dead or alive. We decided that dead would be best.” Orin responded.
“Orin, I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Good, it’ll make killing all that much easier.” He said as he charged drawing forth his giant axe. I let him come for I’ve seen him fight and he needs to prepare for the swing. He lifted the weapon above his head as he got closer, that’s when I made my action. I propelled my sheath forward so it hit him in the shin as he was taking a step. The chain reaction it caused almost killed him. It threw off his step and he began to tumble forward. He lost control of his axe and it landed right next to him when he fell. I went and retrieved my sheath as he stood up. “That was tricky.” He said as he quickly grabbed his two small axes. He threw them with great might and I had blocked them both. I didn’t see the next attack coming, being that I was distracted by the axes. He drove his shoulder into me sending me flying further into the room. I stood up to see him charging at me again with his large axe once more. I couldn’t prepare for the attack so I dove out of the way as I saw a red rod fly out of no where and hit Orin in the hands, making him drop his axe once more.
Shinso stood at a window, “Sorry Orin, I can’t do this. It goes against what we do and I’m not comfortable with it.”
“You fool! Do you know how much
he’s worth? We can sell him to the highest bidder and never have to work again.
Well then you’re out, no cut for you. Leave before I kill you.” Shinso gave a
look of disappointment and turned to leave. The he crashed through the wall
with the guy from the hall. The guy had a halberd this time. “Ahh, this’ll make
my job easier. Let’s get him.” Orin said as he retrieved his axe once more. I
could not defend myself against such powerful foes, at least not at once. My
only defense was to dodge their attacks. I went through a series of flips and
tumbles to avoid their blades. I began to get very tired when Orin was struck
in the head by Shinso’s nunchaku. He faltered a bit allowing me to block the
attack from the big guy. “That’s it, now you’re a dead man.” Orin turned to
fight Shinso. Orin couldn’t complete an attack for he would get smacked with
Shinso’s nunchaku. You can see the aggravation build in Orin’s face. At this
point I unsheathed my sword to block the blows from the halberd. The guy kept
me at a distance, not letting me get close enough for an attack. Orin prepared
for a downward swipe and Shinso was out of distance, so he launched his
nunchaku at Orin, hitting him in the face as he drew his
“SHINSO!!” Came a holler I never heard before. Yakato entered the hole that was made previously in the wall. You could see that Yakato was enraged. He let loose many darts and shurikens. Orin blocked most with the broad side of his axe as he advanced; catching some in his arms and legs. Yakato made an escape and Orin followed. The large man checked me against the wall and ran to follow up. He pinned me to the wall with the shaft of his halberd and proceeded to lift me up.
“Fai…” came a females voice from the entrance I came in. Yen looked in shock. “I’ll help.” She said as she moved forward.
“No, get out of here.” I commanded, “You’re gonna get killed.”
“But...”
“GO!!” I screamed. She nodded in acceptance and left. I heard a groan from outside where Yakato left. I kicked at the sides and couldn’t do anything that would reach his head. Just then I saw Yakato with a great gash across his chest, which I assumed to be from Orin as well as his groan. I saw him ready a few darts in his hand as he let them loose to the back of the halberdier’s head. He stumbled from the toss and the guy let me go as he turned to see who threw the darts. He took a few steps toward Yakato and gave him another slice perpendicular to the one he already had. Yakato fell lifeless. I began to run forward as the large man turned around. I drove my sheath into his jaw taking him off his feet. The darts that were already in the back of his head drove completely in, ending his life. Just as he hit the ground I heard what sounded like a fight outside. By the time I reached where the fight was I saw Jobe lying face first in a puddle of blood and Orin was walking away bleeding a lot from many wounds. As I approached him he fell to his knees. When I walked around to face him, I could see he had a slit throat, most likely from Jobe before he was killed. Orin looked up at me as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell forward dead as well. The only one I couldn’t account for was Yen. I hopped she made it out safely.
I returned to the house to see Yen crying profusely at the table where we would play cards. When I closed the door, she turned around with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry.” She mumbled out and then bowed her head.
“What happened? Why was Orin fighting us?” I asked. Yen regained her composure to explain.
“You se when you were out, Orin had told Jobe about a great hit. It required taking out that halberdier and capturing you. It was going to pay big money. After you were filled in on the mission, Orin said that he was going to bring you in dead and he wanted us to back him up just in case he couldn’t do it. Well all decided against it only after the fight between you and Orin had broken out. Now they’re all dead…” she trailed off, “all dead.”
“Listen, I don’t hold anything against you. Shinso, Yakato, Orin, and Jobe all fought valiantly. It is clear to me that people want me dead, so I’m going to leave. You’re welcome to join me, but it is very dangerous, I presume.”
“I’ve got no where else to go, I’ve got no one to go to. I’ll accompany you where ever you go.” And so we packed our things and left the next morning. We traveled away from the town in whatever direction our feet took us. Over a period of a couple weeks, Yen and I started to become closer then just friends. Our friendship had actually evolved into a full blown relationship. We became even closer then ever before. We decided to build a house on some mountains. There was a nice spot found in the next month. The spot was only a few hours away from town and it had the most amazing view. From the position you could see the beautiful landscape; the rolling hills below to the beautiful plains far off in the distance. You could see the powerful rivers that ran from here to there, in all their magnificence. At night you could see the small lights gleam in the town and could see every star in the night sky. The land changed it’s already beautiful view into something more amazing when autumn stroked its fingers across the land, changing what colors it could from the ordinary to the flamboyant, a gorgeous display of red, gold, and some even unimaginable colors. We hired some townsfolk to help us with the building, for some reason they seemed not to know who I was or they just didn’t care. The town was small but quaint. The people were all friendly and seemed to be happy all the time. They offered countless times to have the house built in the town, but we thought it best to stay away. So this is where we stayed for years past. In fact we had a child the day our house was finished. We named him Jinso. This is where the tale takes another turn for the worst for me. A man named Zhen had found out where I lived. He apparently was the man who wanted me dead so badly and has been sending out the countless men to kill me. He made the decision that I was doomed to be alone. I had gone to town for some supplies while Yen and Jinso stayed behind. Jinso was learning how to fight from both of us, for when he didn’t use the sword he would use his fists. When I returned Yen was hanging upside down from the ceiling. She hung above a pool of blood, all from small cuts all over the body. It was clear that she was tortured to death. I was afraid to continue, but I searched for Jinso. I found him in his bed, tied to the four posts. His eyes were cut out along with is tongue. A scorpion lay in his bloody mouth, its stinger still jammed into the roof of his mouth. There were two short swords stuck completely through his legs and into the bed. There was a message that was nailed through his heart, ending his agony that read, “You killed my son and ended my legacy. You destroyed my grandchildren, and now I’ll make you suffer a thousand different punishments. Live a thousand death you monster.” Zhen’s name was carved into my ten year olds chest.
I felt the demon within awaken from its long slumber. My soul craved for blood once more. I spent the next seven years finding any and all of Zhen’s people, and delivering a pain that would take years to fully heal, still never doing so much to kill a single one. The rage, hate, despair, and all other feeling I have ever felt was put into every stroke of my weapon. My sword never entered the sheath again after it was drawn for the first distribution of pain. Many bones, as well as bodies, were broken along with swords and the sort. Over the course of time I was told many stories of Zhen, and how he was a great warrior that possessed many secrets. I was looking forward to the fight I was going to have with him. I entered the next town and began to head to the place where all Zhen’s people were located. They always had the most expensive inn, all for the people’s protection. Zhen would give a town a militia for menaces and problems for a fee. This was forced onto the people by Zhen, when he would beat out the schools that would take students who would be fighters. They didn’t, however, stop the schools from teaching. So I was on my way to the inn when my arm was grabbed by someone in the alley. I pulled away and was ready to strike, being that most people that ever got close to me were trying to kill me. “You’re Fai right?” came a female’s voice from the dark.
“Yes, I am,” I said prepared for an attack. Out stepped a woman, about the age of twenty six, in a very nice dress. She was about five foot with long back hair put up. Her skin was fair and she was petite. Surprised I asked, “and what do you want?” She stared at me her almond shaped brown eyes glazed over as if she was starring at someone famous.
“I never thought I would see someone as handsome as you.” I found out why her eyes were glazed over as I could smell the alcohol from her breath. “I’ve heard so many stories of your liberation of many towns.” She said as she stumbled forward some more.
“I don’t do it for the towns; I only mean to make my presence known to Zhen.” I responded as I moved forward to catch her from falling down, dropping my sword in the process. I knelt down to retrieve my sword once the girl regained her footing. I sheathed it in time for me to catch her once more, only now she was unconscious. I brought her to a nearby inn. Once I walked in I saw the receptionist try to leave the room. “Hey, Hey you.” The receptionist froze in his place in the middle of the door way.
“Me?” he turned and pointed to himself.
“Unless you were planning on getting someone else out here, I suggest you come back.” I said while glaring at him.
“Y-yes sir.” He stammered as he rushed over. “And w-what c-can I help y-you with?”
“I need a room for this girl. I’ll be returning after I take care of something.” Once I had finished, he seemed to loosen up, or he became bolder.
“Ahh yes, after you fight you want to have the girl. Yes, yes, not a problem. It’ll be…” I cut him off.
“Listen, this girl just needs to sober up. You would be better off if you stayed your tongue. You never know when someone will cut it off.” I dropped three gold pieces on the table, plenty for a night for two people. I then brought the girl to the room and left her on the bed. I turned and walked out heading for the larger inn.
The men there were weak compared to the other towns. It seemed that they have been getting more pathetic as I get closer to Zhen. There were fewer this time as well, only twenty. I returned to hear yelling from my room. I darted through the door to see a Zhen warrior trying to have his way with the girl who had arisen. “You have you chance to let her go and run away. Else I will have to hurt you worse then I have hurt anyone yet.” The man laughed as he stood up dragging the girl with him into a hold. He held his small knife to her neck.
“And if I kill her, what then?” he said confidently.
“You won’t have the chance.” I said as I threw my sword strait into his shoulder which was the arm that held the knife. He dropped it as he screamed in pain and the girl fell to her knees. I walked forward and grabbed my sword. I drew it out slowly giving it a one hundred and eighty degree turn with the last inch of the blade still in him. He reached for the knife and I brought my knee to meet his chin. I knelt down to the girl and asked her to remove his shoes, and she did so seeming worried. I walked over and placed my foot on the hole made from my sword and pressed lightly. As he other arm leapt up to grab my foot, I drove my sword through it and pinned it to the ground. I then took one of his shoes and jammed it in his mouth to muffle his screams. I then retrieved his knife and made two cuts on each exposed foot, one on his heel the other on the balls of his feet. I then made small holes in each toe. When I finished I shoved the knife through his other hand and pulled out my sword. I took both shoes and gave them to the clerk. When I returned I made the man leave, making sure he walked out of the inn and didn’t crawl. I went back to my room and the girl seemed scared of me instead of the awe she had before. “He should had just left. I gave him the warning and I would have done worse had you not been in the room.” I then walked over to my bed and lie down with my sword held in my right hand and against my chest, as I’ve done for these past several years.
I awoke the next morning, the girl still asleep in the other bed. I walked over to the window and gazed outside, breathing in the fresh cool air. The girl got up soon after and never took her eyes off of me. “What were you expecting; a hero clad in gold armor that’s soul purpose was to slay evil?” I said, getting tired of her stare.
“No, well I mean…” she paused, “I was expecting...”
“A monster?” I cut her off. “I let the man live, I’m not heartless. I could have not come back. He would have taken you and probably hurt you.”
“Yea but…” she began.
“I just gave him what he deserved and no more, probably less though.”
“But so much pain, why not just kill him.” I shot a glance at her and she stopped and bowed her had, as if she had insulted me.
“I have my reasons. The only man I see to kill right now is Zhen. Now that you’re awake and well, I’ll be leaving.” I said as I stood up to walk to the door.
“Wait, can I come with you?” she pleaded. “I don’t want to stay in this town anymore and I can’t leave on my own, with what bandits may be out there.”
“I wouldn’t be any safer.” I proceeded towards the door.
“You can protect me. Like a hero in gold armor.” She smiled at what she said, as if it she cracked a personal joke.
“You don’t deserve to have your life in danger just for being around me. I am more of a threat to you this town.”
“Not if this town pushes me to suicide.” I was shocked to hear that. One of the most dishonorable ways to die and she seemed well prepared to commence with it.
“I couldn’t let you dishonor yourself like that.” With reluctance I agreed to take her along. So we continued, moving from town to town beating the Zhen warriors. Over the next few months I learned who she was and why she wanted to leave. Her name was Yulin and she was a basket weaver with her mother. When the no longer could support themselves Yulin’s mother sold Yulin, for a very high price, to a brothel. When I had found her, she was drunk from her first night “working.” She had chosen to drink so as not to remember the horrible night. Because we were spending so much time together, I divulged to her all that I was, and had become. She was sad for me, saying that I had to be cursed for living such a life.
“I am sorry that you life was filled with such sorrow.” She continued. “What of looking to the future? Honoring the past, you parents your master, your love but finding something to believe in again.”
“I do not deserve to believe in anything. Whatever I touch dies. I can’t love for it will only be taken away. You are right; I am cursed in this life. I will be until I die.” I was cold, but in time Yulin was beginning to soften all that I learned to harden in the past seven years. I began to feel once more and I enjoyed living again. I actually started to laugh now, for the first time in seven years. The time came where we entered a city. Zhen owned the largest building there.
I gazed upon the black stone and knew from the feeling I had roll down my spine that this was going to be a tough battle, one that I might not be able to make it out of. We walked to the closest inn and got a room.
“Look, Yulin, I am going to Zhen’s tonight. You are out of the old city and no one knows who you are here. You can start over, but I have something to finish.” I said as we settled in our room.
“And what will you do when you come back?” she asked with such a positive outlook.
“If I come back, then I guess I’ll head back home and farm again.” I responded.
“Make it back, for
“I’ll so what I can, but if I don’t make it back,” I dropped my coin sack on the bed, “that’ll be enough to keep you well fed and housed until you find a job.” I began to leave.
“I want to come.” She exclaimed.
“No, you’ll be a distraction and Zhen will require all of my attention.” I responded.
“But…” she began but I walked out of the room and headed to the final battle of this escapade that started so long ago. The gates were closed but they were no problem to scale. For every guard met I gave an ultimatum, live and walk away from this place, or be dealt worlds of unimaginable pain. The majority having o take a few hits to the face and chest before surrendering to the better choice of the two, but some not succumbing to the wiser of the two choices, left bloody and unconscious but alive. I continued level after level making sure this building would be clear of any and all of Zhen’s warriors. I approached the large double doors at the top floor and knew hat Zhen would be waiting behind them. I opened them slowly and saw him sitting smug behind his desk, the stone room cold with three pillars on each side.
“So you’re the one who has been causing me all these problems. Impressive, you must be very skilled. How bout you work for me, as a trainer. Teach my men to be great warriors. I’ll pay you well.” He purposed.
“You bastard…” was all I could stammer out. Pictures of my son and wife burned through my head.
“I guess that’s a no then. Well
guess I’ll just have to kill you then.” He stood up; standing a good six feet
tall with extremely muscular arms and bulky hands, walked to the front of his
desk and drew forth his sword. I unsheathed mine and for the fist time had it
held, blade ready to cut deep into flesh. We both ran towards each other. There
was a loud clang as the swords connected as we ran past each other and turned.
Zhen laughed, “you are no match for
I awoke with a start. I was in the inn, in the room I had purchased with Yulin. I looked around and saw no one. ‘Was I dreaming or perhaps I was dead’ was the thought that ran through my head. I heard the door open and I reached for where I would keep my sword and there was nothing. “You won’t need that anymore.” Came a sweet female’s voice. I slowly turned my head to see Yulin’s bright smile. “Farmer’s don’t need swords.” She finished with a tear in her eye. I was surprised to see her; I thought I was dead for sure.
“What happened?” I asked
“Well I went into the building at dawn, and you really cleaned out the place. I went all the way to the top floor just in time to see you fall into unconsciousness. I brought you out and got you medical help, the best in the city. You were asleep for the entire day, and most of today too. It was because you lost a lot of blood. You’re not supposed to leave for another couple of days, the bed that is.” She finished with a little giggle. “I’ll be taking care of you until you’re healthy again. It was when I looked into her eyes and felt a warmth envelope me that I knew that I can be at peace once more. I felt a love once again. Her smile, her eyes, her nose, everything fit perfectly on her face, and to me she was absolutely amazing. I was seeing her in a new light, the light of love. At that point she became my world, my life, my everything and I was alive, awaken from a rage full sleep once again.