The sunlight bled through the trees, shining its crimson hue through the treetops in sunrise. The birds, normally chirruping their chorus of the morning, were silent, save for the occasional cawing of a crow. The wind was completely still, not a rustle from the trees or the swishing of the tall grass. The cool, spring air was crisp and clear.

The Valley of Avalar was still in anticipation.

Hunter strode down the small, grassy hill; the opposing forces stationed about forty yards away from the bottom of the hill. And leading them, standing in the front, three meters away from the rest of them, was the enemy he was about to face.

Desraa!

Though he was nervous, he dared not show it, lest his opponent notice it and use it as an advantage against him. He was drawing closer, his sword sheathed at his side.

Today was the day of reckoning. The time had come.

The duel between two masters was about to begin.

Hunter had reached the bottom of the hill, still in plain view of the rest of his army, which stood at the crest of the hill. Looking back, he could faintly see the color of purple. He smiled for the first time that day.

Spyro was watching, and undoubtedly, so was Cynder. Somehow, this gave him a sense of comfort. Should he go down, and Desraa's forces attack, Spyro and Cynder would be there to fight. He arrived at the circle of fighting, a thin smile on his face as he confronted Desraa.

The other cheetah, of slightly smaller build than Hunter, and a longer, thinner sword at his waist, stared at him, with a broad smirk. He asked him the first question, his army leering behind him.

"Do you agree to fight on this day and time?"

Hunter replied, his eyes cold and his former smile gone. "Yes."

"And should quarter be asked…"

"No quarter will be asked."

Desraa smiled, his smirk widening. "Or given. A fight to the death. I like your style, Hunter."

He gave no reply back, only an icy stare. Desraa laughed.

"And should I win, my forces are free to overwhelm yours and kill them. Should you win, my forces retreat. Agreed?"

Hunter curled his lip at him. "I dunno, Desraa. Do you agree with your own terms? On your word of honor, do you accept?"

Desraa smiled disarmingly. "Yes, of course."

"Than so do I. Let us fight."

"Yes, indeed. Let us fight!"

With this said, both warriors adopted a fighters stance, shoulders broad, legs bent at the knees. Slowly, the sound of metal being rubbed against leather was clearly heard, and both warriors gradually brought their blades to their faces, in a diagonal cross block across the face. The rising sun glinted off of the blades, their silhouettes outlined by fiery red light, covering the entire sky a shade of blood. Neither of them moved.

Hunter breathed in deeply, calming himself. He kept his eyes intently on Desraa, watching him without shifting his gaze. One false move, one mistake… and his life would be taken.

Desraa narrowed his eyes slightly, seeking an opening. Hunter did the same, and slowly and deliberately, the two warriors circled, each of them seeking a place to attack.

Suddenly, as Hunter stepped to his left, Desraa whirled his sword, yelling a fierce war cry. He made a lightning fast slash to his face, a glittering arc in the red hewn sky.

Hunter, more by instinct rather than by skill, whipped his blade into a diagonal block, and at that same instant, he heard and felt a sharp metallic clang as both swords made contact with each other. He retaliated instantly, and dragged his blade across Desraa's, in the same action, pushing his sword downward toward the ground. A soft thud was heard as both of their blades buried themselves into the ground. Desraa took full advantage of the situation, and threw a backhanded punch at Hunter's face. It struck him squarely on the cheek, and Hunter felt himself careen backward, fortunately bringing the blade with him and out of the dirt. He stayed on his feet, and pointed the sword at Desraa, who yanked his blade free from the ground, and made the same action, pointing his own slightly longer sword back at Hunter.

They could both distinctly hear their own armies begin to shout, echoing out among the Valley. Hunter did not pay any attention to them, only gazing at Desraa's swordpoint.

The fight was on.

Hunter, deciding to go on the offensive, quickly lunged forward, slicing straight downward, but Desraa was quick. He brought his blade upward, blocking his head. Hunter's sword struck it square on the center, with such force, that Desraa was forced to his knees, his left knee pounding the ground. Hunter quickly withdrew the blade, his sword making a distinct hiss as it raked across the metal. Desraa lowered his sword in an instant, and hurled himself into a catroll, just as Hunter's swordpoint buried itself into the earth where he had just stood. Recovering drastically fast, Desraa pushed himself forward from his kneeling position, with the point of his blade zooming straight toward Hunter's heart.

Hunter twirled himself to the left, twisting his sword into a parry as he did. Desraa's sword was knocked aside, and he had barely any time to react as Hunter carried his sword with the momentum of his spin, and it cleaved the air, straight towards Desraa's unprotected neck. The smaller cheetah had no choice left but to fall.

He violently dropped downward, and yelped as he felt a sharp pain on the right side of his cheek. Thinking nothing of it, he rolled to the side, bring his sword across his torso. Sure enough, he heard a loud metallic clang, followed by a vibration in his paws. He rolled once more, and as quickly as possible, pushed himself up with his free hand, and looked to his right. Hunter was right there, once again pointing his sword at Desraa.

"Try again, Desraa."

The cheetah general felt the side of his cheek, and felt a sharp sting once more. He could definitely feel blood on his fingers, and a small trickle of blood soaked into his fur. He winced. He had not expected Hunter to be this good with a blade.

Still keeping calm, Desraa brought his sword across his face in a fighters stance, waiting for Hunter to make the first move.

Hunter brought his sword closer to his body, and began to circle Desraa warily. Both sought another opening, but neither gave one. That's when Desraa made his attack. He leapt forward with a flurry of the blade, aiming for Hunter's chest. Hunter saw the blade coming, and swiftly parried the blade to the left, knocking it aside. Without any hesitation, Hunter slashed at Desraa's neck in retaliation.

Desraa had no time to smile, only to realize his plan had worked. He ducked the blade, and it whistled over him harmlessly. He launched himself at Hunter, pushing forward with his legs. His sword was still outward, away from Hunter's body, but Hunter's torso was completely open to Desraa's attack. He bulled into him, and Hunter felt himself fly backward, the wind knocked out of him. He slammed into the ground hard with a loud thud.

A cry of dismay went upon the onlookers on the top of the hill at seeing Hunter fall. Desraa smiled broadly as he stabbed down at Hunter's chest, victory gleaming in his eyes.

Hunter could see Desraa's sword, flying down at him, aiming to pierce his heart. Only his experience with a blade and quick reflexes managed to save his life. With a loud yell, he gave a deft swing with the blade, and it made contact with the tip of his sword. Desraa's triumphant look turned into one of shock as his sword was knocked to the side, its point buying itself into the dirt. Hunter didn't give a moments hesitation as he threw his legs up, kicking Desraa hard in the center of his torso. The force of the kick drove the wind out of him, and he fell backward, letting go of his sword in the process.

Hunter got back up onto his feet, and grabbed Desraa's sword, which was still sticking up in the ground from him letting go of it. He yanked it from the ground, and advanced to the prone figure of Desraa, which was clutching his stomach in pain, gasping for air. He had no chance as Hunter twirled his swords over his head, bringing both points to aim at Desraa's chest. They hovered there for a moment, before plunging towards Desraa with incredible speed.

Desraa was helpless. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for the pain of the swords to pierce his body. Waiting for the darkness of death to envelop him.

It never came.

He could hear the excited roar of approval at the top of the hill, matched only by the roar of his army, which was one of disapproval toward their leader.

Puzzled and relieved at the same time, he slowly opened his eyes. His eyes were greeted by Hunter's, staring into them, piercing them more than any sword could. He gave no pity in his voice as he spoke to Desraa, his voice as cold as ice.

"Pick it back up, Desraa. Face me again." Hunter stepped back, drawing his own sword from the ground, but leaving Desraa's still in the ground. He whipped the sword into a warriors salute, then back to the ground in a ready stance, awaiting Desraa's next action.

For the first time, Desraa felt something take him in the pit of the stomach.

Fear.

Nervously, Desraa lifted his weapon again, holding it with two hands and pointed forward at Hunter, at the ready. He needed to find something… a weakness of some sort to turn the tide into his favor…

Without any warning, Desraa gave an ear splitting yell, and sliced down at Hunter with eye blurring speed. Hunter countered the blade with a swift block, and swung his sword at Desraa's neck again. But this time, Desraa was ready. Twisting his right leg, he wacked the sword aside, leaving Hunter exposed. Swiftly taking advantage of this situation, Desraa swung in a wide arc, and at the same time, propelling himself forward with his right leg.

Hunter had next to no time to react to this unbelievably fast attack, and could only manage to make a clumsy counter swing at Desraa's coming sword. He made contact with it, but not before the tip of the sword raked his chest. He cried out in pain, clutching his injured area, and immediately felt a trickle of blood on his hands. He was not able to look down at his injury as Desraa came at him again. Ignoring the cut on his chest, he parried away his sword once more, but Desraa kept coming, his swordpoint seeking to bury itself into flesh and fur.

Hunter found himself battling for his life, driven back by Desraa's mighty assault. Both of their swords clashed constantly, so quickly, that their swords were barely distinguishable from each other, each one merely a blur. Slashing, stabbing, and hacking, both opponents were locked in the hideous and beautiful dance of death.

Hunter fell back, dozens of wounds covering his body, blood matting his fur together from head to tailtip. Desraa was no better off either, and had suffered a similar number of injuries from Hunter's blade. Both were dripping with blood, but suffered no severe injuries. Nonetheless, they went at it once more, matching sword for sword, tooth for claw, slash for parry.

Both Hunter and Desraa were beginning to flag, but despite their exhaustion, neither fighters would yield to one another, and they kept on, their paws numb with the reverberation of the metal in their swords. Desraa slashed down at Hunter's head, but Hunter brought his blade up to meet it in midair, and yet another clang resounded as Desraa made full contact with his own sword. Unfortunately for him, Hunter had left his chest completely open to strike. Hunter shifted his feet forward, dropping down into a kick to Desraa's belly.

He flew back, his sword grating against Hunter's as he was sent sprawling on the ground, his grip on his sword loosening, and the second he made contact with the ground. The air whooshed out of his lungs, and his sword came out of his grasp, to fall onto the ground over three meters away. Before he could make a chance to reach it, Hunter was upon him in an instant, his sword point underneath Desraa's chin. He barely moved his mouth as he plead with Hunter.

"Please… Mercy! Don't kill me!"

Hunter's voice was pitiless and cold. He stretched his neck forward, his face was touching Desraa's face.

"You do not deserve mercy, scum. But, I cannot bring it upon myself to kill you. You aren't worth my time. Depart from this Valley, coward, and never come back. Take your army with you, and remember forever the day you fought Hunter of Avalar."

Desraa watched in shock as Hunter removed the swordpoint from underneath his chin, and slowly sat up, leaving Desraa there on the ground. He turned his back to Desraa, and began to slowly walk away from him, sheathing his sword as he did.

Desraa still lay there, humiliated by his defeat. He turned his head to his army, which stood behind him, looking upon him with disdain.

His feelings of gratefulness began to slowly melt away, shifting into anger. He had left him there alive, a humiliation of immense proportions. His feelings of anger began to boil over as Hunter began to draw further and further away from him. Finally, he could no longer sustain his emotions, and quietly rolled over onto his side, and as silently as possible, he grabbed the sword. He had to time this perfectly…

He pushed himself up with his free hand, and charged over the short span of field between them, screaming with rage. His swordpoint was pointed at Hunter's unprotected back.

Hunter felt, rather than saw, Desraa charging behind him. He reacted with the speed of lightning, and quickly sidestepped the blade, and Desraa charged past him, his sword still pointed forward. Hunter brought his sword back behind his head, and swung the blade with all of his might.

Desraa's head flew over five meters before landing on the field below. His headless carcass collapsed onto his sword, falling forward with the momentum.

Hunter flicked his dripping red sword into the direction of Desraa's army. His voice was like thunder, loud and imperious.

"Leave this valley, and take your dead leader with you." He motioned over the beheaded Desraa with his free hand. "And never come back."

The shock of their leader's defeat was too much for their simple minds to bear. Every grublin, troll, ogre, and beast left the scene, fearing what would happen to them if they were to stay. They fled the scene, taking with them the decapitated carcass of Desraa, fleeing in humiliation.

Hunter was victorious, and he rose his sword to the sky, and one last final warcry rang out among the Valley of Avalar.

Authors Note: I just had to write this. It's an idea I've had since I began Fanfiction. I hoped you liked!