Duskblade Trilogy
Prologue: Dawn
Written by:
Fainte

PRELUDE

The desert winds blew at his cloak. The figure walked with ease amidst the sandstorm. The golden sands whirled around him, and his mantle was flying at his back.

The already powerful winds grew stronger; in a rate it wasn't normal anymore. The figure halted walking. He felt something moving. Underground.

The creature he sensed moving came out from under the sand to attack him, a scorpion-like one. An arachnathid, he thought to himself. He vanished into thin air.

The arachnathid looked from left to right. He knew he hit his target.

And so he believed.

The arachnathid's target came out from nowhere, right in front of his face, his gleaming sword unsheathed, and slashed at the eye in the middle of his three eyes. The giant scorpion grimaced in pain, but wasn't ready to give up yet. When the pain subsided at least a bit, he opened his two remaining eyes to search for his adversary. He had vanished again.

No choice, the arachnathid told himself, he started beating the sting on his on the soft ground, creating violent tremors on the ground. He smiled to himself. No escape now for his mysterious opponent.

Until he found his opponent standing on his back, safe from his ground attack.

What? Impossible! The arachnathid thought. The giant scorpion brought down his tail to attack his target.

Sand splashed everywhere, due to the shockwaves in the ground. The cloaked figure cut the attacking arachnatid's tail, the source of this epicenter. The giant scorpion roared in pain, and tried to claw at his back, though he can't reach it.

The figure had vanished again, this time coming out underneath him, stabbing at his chest, the curved single-edged sword sliding with ease through the arachnatid's exoskeleton and piercing the creature's heart. The arachnathid gave the last cry of his life, and fell to the ground. His opponent wasn't there anymore.

The cloaked figure wiped his blade clean of the scorpion's green gooey blood.

So there was a bit of a challenge, after all, he thought to himself.

As he sheathed his sword, the sandstorm subsided, revealing a canopy, and also revealing that it's already dusk. Behind it, was a lush green forest, abundant with forest creatures.

The figure smiled to himself. Ashenvale, at last.

He started walking towards the canopy.