A Thousand Years
Chapter Four: Sword Practice
Disclaimer: It's still not mine.
"Over the next several months I will teach you how to fight with a wide assortment of weapons: swords, axes, spears knives, bows and arrows, and even your own claws. I expect all of you to give me your full attention during these lessons, not just to humor me, but because the skill syou learn with these will determine how long you ultimately live. Slack off and your skills will be less than worthy, and you'll probably be plucked off by a vampire hunter before your first century has gone by. One thing about humans is that you mustn't understimate them." Kain paced in front of us slowly as he gave his speech.
Melchiah scoffed. "They're just weaklings that can't even save their own skin. Why should I fear them?"
"Because, Melchiah," Kain growled with a touch of irritation, "the only humans you have encountered thus far have been peasants and homeless wretches. You have yet to meet a skilled warrior."
"I'm more than a match for any human," Melchiah sniffed indignantly.
"Oh you think so?" Kain tilted his head slightly, his voice light and mocking. Zephon and I flashed a grin at each other. This was going to be amusing. I couldn't wait to see what Kain had in store for Melchiah.
Melchiah frowned, then fumbled to catch the sword that Kain had tossed at him. He hissed slightly as he cut his palm upon the blade, and glared at Kain as he took hold of the sword as if it were nothing more than a sharp stick, with no posture whatsoever. "Come with me, Melchiah. I'd like to introduce you to a human warrior." He beckoned us all to follow and we did, leaving the village to head into the city not far away. There were far more humans here in the city, and we saw several armed humans walking around.
Kain singled one of those warriors out and smirked to Melchiah. "There you go. A human warrior, all alone. Why don't you prove to him how big and tough you are?"
"All right, I will." Melchiah shifted the sword in his hand and walked over to the human, grinning and showing his fangs. The human gasped and screamed, "Back to Hell with you, vampire!" as he lunged forward with his large battle axe in hand. Melchiah dodged the swipe easily and laughed arrogantly, swinging his sword at the warrior. But the warrior was expecting this, and swung his axe around to meet with Melchiah's blade, jarring it out of his grip and sending it flying. Melchiah stood dumbfounded for a second too long. The axe slammed into Melchiah's side and he fell to the ground with a scream of agony and terror, his side soaked with blood from a huge gash several inches deep. As the warrior raised his axe to swing it down on Melchiah's head, a clawed hand suddenly tapped the warrior on the shoulder.
Startled, the warrior looked over and sucked in his breath upon seeing Kain smirking at him. He whirled around, stumbling back while Kain stood calmly, a strange sword in his hand. There was a jawless skull on the hilt and the blade was double-edged and rippled. It looked to be a very old and magnificent weapon. The human seemed to recognize both vampire and blade, and whispered, "Kain!" I was momentarily startled to hear him speak Kain's name, but then Kain displayed to us what true swordsmanship was.
Kain lunged at the human and as he swung his axe to try to intercept Kain, he lifted his blade to parry the axe, despite its superior size. Ducking under the warrior's guard, he sliced into his unprotected stomach and sides, nimbly dodging the swinging axe. It was a deadly moonlit dance, and Kain was absolutely beautiful. The moonlight reflected off his long white hair, which was flying free with his movement. His Husky-blue eyes seemed to catch the silver moonlight, making them glow. His black lips were smirking, his sharp chiseled features cast into alternating degrees of shadow and light. His muscles rippled as he moved, each thrust, parry, and slice perfectly maneuvered. His deep, sinister laugh sent delighted shivers up my spine. Finally the human slumped down and Kain ran the sword through his chest. The human warrior let out a scream and died, and Kain telekinetically called forth the blood from the fallen warrior's body and fed.
I suddenly realized that we were all staring at Kain in slack-jawed wonder, and I closed my mouth and recovered my composure, slightly tugging at my tighter-than-usual pants, but I still looked upon my maker with awe. Melchiah would be a bloody fool to try to defy or contradict Kain again. Kain looked back toward us, the rippling blade of his sword dripping with blood that was black in the darkness of night. "This is what swordplay looks like after hundreds of years of practice and dedication. Not the clumsy hacking that Melchiah tried to pull off. No, swordplay is an art. It's a dance that must be perfectly choreographed if you are to come out of the dance alive. And your reward is not only your life, but the sweet, adrenaline-pumped blood of your opponent. The blood of a warrior is so much stronger than that of a peasant, and so much more delicious. The stronger the warrior, the stronger and more delicious the blood. Keep all of this in mind."
The following evening, Kain drew me aside to begin my lessons on how to use a sword. I held the sword in my hand and frowned. "This blade is so dull... Surely one could not inflict much damage with a dull blade," I commented to Kain, testing the edge with my thumb.
"Well of course it's dull," Kain chuckled. "You wouldn't want to accidentally maul yourself during practice, would you?"
Well, he had a point – erm, no pun intended.
"Now," Kain continued, shifting to a fighting stance, "Take position, like I am doing. Face slightly to the right, your left arm forward, your right arm slightly behind. Spread out your balance on your feet and place most of your weight in the balls of your feet, not your heels. This is a good defensive stance, because when your opponent attacks you, you can deflect the blow with your left arm while attacking with your right. With your weight balanced, only a really hard blow will knock you off your feet."
I took position the way he told me to, and Kain walked around behind me, adjusting my stance. With his leg he nudged my feet a bit wider apart, his hands guiding my upper body into position. He lifted my arm up to my chest, held slightly out, while drawing my sword arm back slightly. I could feel his breath on the back of my neck and shivered, the skin where he touched me tingling with warmth. Kain spoke again, "Remember the feeling of this, Raziel, remember where everything is positioned."
He slightly lifted up my left arm, which had begun to drift downward, fingers brushing warm tingling fire over my bare arm. "Now, we'll start with a basic sword attack combination." He brought my right arm up, his chest pressed against my back as he held onto my arm and moved the sword down in a diagonal slash to the right. He then lifted my sword arm up again, twisting my wrist to reposition the blade to make a horizontal slash to the left, before drawing my sword arm up to make a downward slicing motion. All the while I could feel his body pressed against mine, his arms around me, guiding my arms, and I could feel the hard muscular curves of his body and found myself quite distracted.
He guided me through the moves twice more before placing his clawed hands on my shoulders and turning me toward a large wooden post. "Practice that combination on this post. I'll watch you to see how you perform." It took me a moment to come out of my daze, but I readjusted my stance and went through the combination attack, the dull blade chipping away into the thick wooden post. "The last move of the combination is rather slow and akward," I commented to Kain as I hacked down on the post in the third move again. "Surely the ones I fight will see it coming and have ample time to move?"
"Ah, that is true, Raziel, but when one does see a sword coming down at their face, it tends to make them back up and reconsider what they are doing." Kain watched me as I continued with the combination. "This will also require you using your imagination a bit on this one. Imagine the post before you to be something you despise and want to get rid of. If there's one of your brothers you particularly dislike, imagine the post to be them."
"Like Melchiah?" I smirked over my shoulder at Kain.
He laughed and nodded, "Exactly. Pretend that the post is Melchiah, acting all holier-than-thou, mocking you and taunting you." It wasn't that hard to do at all. I hated Melchiah just because he was so goddamned annoying. I imagined him standing there in all his puny arrogance and went into my combination more vigorously than I had before. Kain was watching as the sword moved faster and faster through the combination, and at the perfect moment he yelled, "Finish him!" Spurred by his voice, I spun around and slammed my dull blade into the post, slicing it clean in half. I stood panting for several moments, staring at the severed post, the adrenaline rushing through my blood. Lowering the blade, I looked to Kain, whose silver-blue eyes watched me with intense approval.
"Well done, Raziel, very well done. We will make you a top ranking swordsman in no time at all." I glowed under his praise and felt as though I were on top of the world. Now, please don't think I am so easily amused, but I was a young fledgeling vampire and I had just received praise from the one being that mattered to me, the one being I respected and admired the most. You may laugh at me, but he was all that I knew and I didn't know if it should have been any other way.
Kain dismissed me, and called Turel to take my place as he taught him next how to fight with a sword. I suddenly felt a flash of jealousy as I saw Kain placing his hands on Turel to adjust his stance as he had adjusted mine. Yes, I admit it, I was in love with Kain... Or lusting after him at the very least. But how could one not? His white alabaster skin, his long silken ivory hair, his elegantly slanted ice blue eyes, his tall and muscular form, the sharp chiseled features of his face, his deep and sinister laugh, and his prideful, arrogant, accented voice... I was completely smitten with him.
"Hey Raziel, is that a dagger in your pants or are you just happy to see me?" Zephon called out to me as he walked up.
I could feel the blood rush to my face and I scowled, "Zephon, that line was popular in ancient times."
"Ooh, you're blushing!" Zephon cackled. "Well at least some of that blood is getting back into your head. But seroiusly, what are you so happy about? Did Kain feel you up or something?"
If only, I thought to myself. Instead I replied with a question of my own. "Zephon, what do you think of Kain?"
"Me? He's pretty damn sexy, I think, and I love that evil laugh of his, even though I'd never want it directed at me." Zephon shrugged, then grinned at me. " You're infatuated with him, aren't you?"
"Completely and hopelessly," I admitted with a sigh, rubbing my forehead. "Zephon, please, promise me you won't let anyone else know. It's embarrassing enough just thinking about it."
Zephon laughed and slapped me on the back. "Don't worry about it, Raziel, my lips are sealed. Does Kain know?"
"I hope not! I haven't even the slightest idea how he'd respond!" The very thought made the blood rush back into my face.
"Hey, maybe he'd invite you to do a little more sword fighting after practice, if you get what I mean. Flesh against flesh instead of metal against metal?" He grinned at me and laughed as I glared at him in embarrassment. "But seriously, Raziel, I wouldn't be surprised if he did. You're pretty sexy yourself, you know."
I looked at Zephon, startled, and he nodded to me. "Seriously, you're quite a looker. You've got a very nice muscular body, high cheekbones, almond-shaped eyes, and they're a really nice stormy blue..." Note: Yes, my eyes were a stormy blue before they turned gold, just as Kain's eyes were a light blue before they too turned gold.
"But I'm short!" I complained bitterly with a laugh. "Melchiah's the only one shorter than me. I only come up to a little above Kain's shoulder!"
"Hey, height doesn't matter, Raziel. Look at me, I'm freakishly tall and willowy, almost taller than Kain for goodness sakes, and I'm the second weakest of the bunch." Zephon shrugged and spread his long slender arms.
"I suppose," I relented, shrugging. "Anyway, all that sword fighting has made me hungry. Not that kind of sword fighting!" I scolded Zephon at his sudden burst of laughter. "You're hopeless, Zephon! I'm going to go into Meridian and grab a bite to eat, if you'll pardon the pun."
Zephon laughed, shaking his head. "See you later, Raziel." I nodded to Zephon and bid him good luck with the sword practice before heading off towards Meridian. Little did I know the surprise that awaited me there.
A/N: That's it for right now, I'm still working on the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed it!