The ambitious met the steadfast as a baton struck a spear staff. The sound of clashing weapons echoed across the clearing. The power-hungry faced the courageous as one struck and another blocked. The baton swung and was rebuffed repeatedly by the stout staff. Kindness opposed mercilessness as Aadi defended against the law keeper. Not a single blow penetrated his defences. Good stood against evil. Besides, “You aren’t Aaron Flint,” said Aadi, blocking another overhead blow.
The law keeper had begun to sweat. He hadn’t had a good workout in a while. Opponents who could challenge him were few and far between, in these parts. What ‘enemies’ he faced were generally innocent people, whom he had framed for petty offences and non-existent crimes, and dispatched in the ‘name of the law’. The law keeper wasn’t a slouch with his mace, but he couldn’t break Aadi’s guard. Every swing was blocked or parried. Each time he thought he saw an opening and tried to take advantage of it, Aadi repulsed him. It was almost as if…
The law keeper recoiled as the spear staff was suddenly thrust towards his face! The attack caught him unawares and as he dodged it, the law keeper berated himself for his inattentiveness. It had only been momentary, but Aadi had taken advantage of his lapse. The spear staff brushed past his face and missed him only by a hair’s breadth. The law keeper regained his footing and blocked another swipe of the staff. He thought, “He’s toying with me.”
He wasn’t wrong. Aadi had indeed held back. Initially, he had been testing his opponent, judging his skills and how much the blood facet of Flint’s soul had influenced him. Apparently, blood magic wasn’t at work, or couldn’t work here. Either way was just fine with Aadi. Then, he had begun to dance with the law keeper, leading the evil man away from the cottage as far as he could. The woodcutter’s family were now safe to shelter in their house. The villain hadn’t even noticed his prey escaping his grasp. He was trying his best to penetrate Aadi’s guard, but all his efforts were in vain.
Again the staff came, thrusting towards the law keeper’s chest. He swatted it aside with his baton, but not without significant effort that left his guard open. Aadi used the momentum of his deflected blow to segue into a swing, connecting his staff to the law keeper’s ribs. The once-confident, arrogant man groaned in pain as Aadi struck and he staggered. Aadi swung his staff the other way and smacked the law keeper’s head. The villain arched his back and struggled to keep his balance. Aadi took a single step forward. He swept his staff diagonally downwards and the law keeper’s legs left the ground.
Hitting the ground with a thud, the man lay flat on his back. Small puffs of dust rose into the air and Aadi stepped into their midst. Brandishing his spear staff, he swung it overhead and smashed it against his opponent’s chest. The law keeper’s tabard absorbed most of the blow, but he gasped for air as its remainder hit home. Aadi reversed the staff almost immediately. The upward motion carried the bottom end of the staff straight towards his enemy’s face. The law keeper’s jaw cracked audibly as his face tilted sideways from the impact!
Aadi stepped back to take stock of the fight. A part of him wanted to finish the law keeper off. His enemy was down and vulnerable, but another part of him held back. “It isn’t honourable,” he thought as he looked upon his foe. Aadi wasn’t sure if the villain could stand, but something in him made him wait regardless. The law keeper didn’t have any honour. He was cruel, merciless, and lecherous. Aadi didn’t think that he would be in the wrong to strike the man down as he lay on the ground. “Still, it isn’t worthy,” he muttered and then thought, “Worthy, of whom?” The first words that came to his mind were ‘a warrior’, but he couldn’t dwell on them for long.
His opponent was slowly rising to his feet, groaning. The law keeper’s mace had fallen to the side and rolled away from him. He grasped at thin air, trying to get a hold of his weapon. Blinking his eyes, he patted the ground with his hand in despair, seeking his mace. Aadi watched him for a moment and said, “I’m here.” The law keeper whirled towards his foe’s voice, but his vision was still blurry. He stepped backwards and shielded his eyes from the sun. With great effort, he managed to see Aadi standing before him two metres away. He grunted and asked, “Who are you?”
Aadi smirked and replied, “You don’t need to worry about that. Better get your guard up.” Then, he stepped forward, dropping his spear shaft and hefting a wooden stake in its stead. The law keeper growled and raised his fists. He wore but leather gloves and those were nothing compared to the gauntlets the Unflinching donned. Aadi strode confidently into the law keeper’s melee range. His opponent began this second round with a left jab and he was surprised when Aadi didn’t dodge it. As the law keeper followed his punch up with a right hook, Aadi used the impact of the jab to move his body smoothly. He stepped sideways and towards the law keeper, moving the wooden stake ever closer.
The law keeper was taken aback as his punches proved ineffective. He had never fought an equal or someone better than him till now. He had trained well, to be sure, but there is no replacement for an equal or better sparring partner. His shock made him ignore Aadi’s right hand and thus, the stake that was very close to his body now. Aadi, with a simple motion, stabbed it into the law keeper’s ribs! The villain stifled a scream as he scrambled sideways and knelt on the ground. With his left hand, he grasped the stake by its hilt and pulled it out, gritting his teeth all the while. With a sigh of obvious relief, he chucked it to the side and raised his eyes to find Aadi.
That had been an unfortunate mistake, for him! Aadi had judged his hand-motion accurately and repositioned himself. The stake glided through the air and struck the ground with a bounce, stopping right on his outstretched palm. The law keeper gaped at that sight and made to stand swiftly. Aadi didn’t waste a moment. He bounded towards his enemy, who desperately kicked at him. With his left hand, he grabbed the law keeper’s leg and pulled it and the evil man close. As his right foot stepped next to his enemy’s left, Aadi drove the stake into his throat.
The law keeper gurgled and his eyes rolled back into his head. He coughed blood and slumped to his knees. His body quivered as Aadi held the stake tightly. He stared at the law keeper with murderous eyes and watched as his life left his body. Eventually, slowly, Aadi let go. The villain stopped trembling and toppled forward, face down on the ground. Aadi breathed in deeply and sighed long and aloud. He looked at the sky, the ground, the grass, and the forest outside the clearing. Everything was just as serene as it had been before this fight. To nature, it was as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. “That’s life, I guess,” mused Aadi, patting the dust off his clothes.
He had won. The realisation danced in his thoughts and he suppressed a smile. The entire clash had gone extremely well, for him. He had planned, prepared, and executed an almost flawless ambush. His enemies lay dead. Just to be sure, Aadi glanced at the law keeper’s thugs. There they lay, still as any corpse could be, on the ground nearby. “It’s over,” he thought and wondered what would happen next. He had set out to change the blood facet’s memory of the past and in that, he had succeeded. However, what was next? He hadn’t an inkling. Ember hadn’t mentioned anything about the aftermath of a memory alteration. In fact, Aadi didn’t remember receiving any instructions on how to exit said memory!
“What should I do?” he pondered. Just then, he felt a tug on his pants. A small part of his mind screamed, “Enemy!” but he ignored it. The force of that pull had been too light. Aadi turned his head and saw the woodcutter’s wife standing outside the cottage’s door. She was looking at him, but she wasn’t the sneaky one. Suddenly, he heard a young, bubbly voice ask, “Mister?” and looked down. There was the little girl, Aaron Flint’s daughter, standing beside his feet! How she had managed to sneak up behind him, Aadi would never know. At this instant, he didn’t care. “Yes?” he asked gently, with a matching smile. The little girl beamed instantly and asked, “Is it safe now?”