Chapter 3

"Keep the blade up!"

I raised my sword Rainer to meet my trainers challenge. Two whole years had passed since my arrival in Elanor. I began to feel that I had made a life for myself.

Clash! Sword crashed on sword as the final test of my abilities went on, as it had been for the last ten minutes. My instructor was my last opponent as I tested myself to see if I was worthy of the title Shaka'Do.

"Feet never flat, up, up!"

I twisted my sword in a spinning figure eight that ended with an upward twist. My trainer, Reynar Thule, parried with a peculiar thrust. I leapt in, out, and to his left. His two handed battle blade swished harmlessly over my head. I brought my blade to his throat.

"You have proven yourself worthy of the title Shaka'Do." My instructor said. Then he jerked me forward. "Come. There is not much time, and I can feel that you are the one whom I have been keeping this for."

I followed him to the back chamber of the training hall. There, in a glass case, was a strange sword, with a name inscribed upon it.

"'Shear'" I read. "But Shear is the name of the legendary Sword of the Night. How did you get this? And why give it to me?"

"Many years I have been its guardian." He said sadly. "And its wielder. When I grew too old to use its power, I laid it down for the next one to come. You are the successor who I seek. Look." He grasped my arm and showed me two red scars, like a large bite on my forearm. "The mark is left only by the Fangs of Shear." He pointed at the two curving teeth near the end of the blade. "You have felt its bite before, though you do not remember now. And you have the power of a Night Angel."

"A Night Angel?" I asked. "What is that?"

"A Night Angel is a man whose job it is to weigh the guilt in a man's soul, and deal out judgment accordingly. Only you and I are able to see men's souls and their crimes. You are the last Night Angel, and you bear the mark of the Fangs of Shear. This sword is yours!"

I was speechless. The older man laughed. "You are wondering how I knew of your power. It's in your eyes, when they blaze as you read someone's soul. Go now, and take up Shear!"

"Hold up." I stopped him. "What makes you think that I am the one to take up this sword? What am I supposed to do, become a vigilante? I will not kill for pleasure, old man."

"No." He placed his hand on my shoulder. "You are a meter out of justice. I was the last Night Angel, and I alone know the power that Shear contains. When you see the crimes in a man's eyes, you will know what you need to do; but not before you commit a crime of your own."

"What? What crime?" I asked, confused.

"Shear is an extremely bloodthirsty sword. It possesses a soul, and you may find that at certain times it may speak in your mind. At all times that you hold it, you can feel what it is feeling. Shear enjoys nothing more then being stabbed into a body and drenched with blood. It will affect the way you think about killing. Be cautious, but know this: I have named you the Night Angel, and you can no longer pretend that you are a normal person. You have a destiny apart from other men." He turned and showed me to the door. "I hope that you will make me proud."

"But I don't want to be a Night Angel!" I protested.

"You must, Arc Caster." The old man sighed. "you are branded with the mark. You must do it, or Shear will consume you." With that he shut the door on me and I was left alone in the street.

At about six o' clock pm, I walked into the inn where Vi worked and I stayed. "Give me the strongest drink you have, Vi. I don't think I'm sober now and I definitely don't want to be."

"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned, as she passed me a glass of liquor.

"Look." I pulled out Shear slowly. Her eyes widened.

"I thought so." I sheathed it again, quickly.

"That's… wow." She stole my glass of liquor and downed it at a gulp. "That's fantastic."

"Hey, you two mind?" a slender man with a large axe was reading near us, and he had an X shaped scar on his forehead. "I'm trying to work without disruption."

"Sorry," I began. "But this is a public place. You can't expect everyone to be quiet just so you can do some reading."

"I said can it, infidel. You should go before I have to hurt you."

"You bastard. No one is leaving here, unless you are." I said. The alcohol must have been pretty effective. He drew his axe and smiled wickedly.

"Unless you got an answer for this, "little man", shut your mouth, stop talking to your whore, and get out." He stood. "My name is Dmitri, and I don't waste my time bandying words with the lower class."

"Steel is the best answer I can think of." I whipped out Shear without even bothering to look in his eyes. His manners were enough. "Is that all you can say to a Shaka'Do?"

At that everyone cleared out of the area we were in, and hid behind tables. Dmitri swung the axe and I struck with the speed of a lightning bolt.

Had I been sober, I would have considered my actions beforehand. But now that I was drunk, I felt only vile rage that Dmitri would say something like that when we weren't even bothering him. Not about me, and NOT about Vi. I opened up his arm in what had been intended as a simple superficial wound, but he bled quickly and collapsed. Some men dragged him away. I wiped Shear on his tunic and sheathed it, suddenly sober. I hoped the man lived, I hadn't wanted to kill. Everyone around me went silent for a moment, and then one by one they all departed, leaving me and Vi alone.

"You going to leave me here too?" I asked the striking redhead.

She sighed. "Of course not, Arc. But I can see their point." She sighed again. "Arc, there's something I've been meaning to tell you. I know now isn't the best time, but I feel that I need to tell you as soon as possible. I know that you have achieved the Shaka'Do, and I'm just a bartender, but do you think that there could ever be a chance that you could care about me? I think… I think I might be falling in love… with you."

I was stunned by her openness. Was this really Vi speaking? Before I could answer, however, Vi sat up and placed her hands on my cheeks and drew close so I thought she was about to kiss me.

"Please." Vi whispered. "I need to know." Her green eyes seemed to be drawing me closer and closer…

At that moment the war bugle sounded from the wall. Enemies were attacking. The bugle sounded to call all soldiers to the gate. My new ranking as a Shaka'Do stressed that to remain a Shaka'Do I had to participate in the defense of my home.

I got up. "I need to go."

"No! Arc!" Vi cried. "Please … don't go… Stay with me…"

I shook off her clutching hands, and sadly ran to the main gate. I desperately wanted to tell Vi how much I really did care about her, but my duty called me away from her. As I sprinted through the city towards the wall, my mind wandered through our past. I had known her a good while. We had grown close throughout the twelve months I had lived in the city, and we had no secrets from each other, as well as a deep trust in one another that others would call incredible: if they knew about it. High ranking people weren't supposed to have such a good friendship with the commoners, so we had hid our friendship, instead communicating across crowded halls and squares in a discreet manner. A note slid into the bartender's hand when she passed the customer a plate of food was not noticed by the others at the table. And a meaningful glance from the girl serving drinks to the to-be Shaka'Do guest was not uncommon, for there were many love-struck girls in the town. I really didn't know why, because whenever I looked in the mirror I only saw a slim young man who had unnervingly intense eyes. And now Shear.

The roar of heavy battle machinery startled me from my thoughts. I was on the wall top, and looking down, I saw a sight that made despair shoot through my limbs. Thousands of hideous, demonic creatures were organized for an attack on the castle! I heard the thud of a battering ram being driven against the gates. Then something huge cast a shadow over the wall tops, and I looked up in time to see one of our catapults hurl a huge boulder into one of the enemy siege towers, causing it to collapse. But the demons far outnumbered our men. Looking with a spyglass, I could see that not all of the troops were demons: I could make out contingents of human ninjas, and even a hideous giant! It was about as tall as the city gates, and it was the giant that was swinging the battering ram: a huge bronze hammer that he swung again and again at the gates.

Looking around me, I saw that the wall guards were just standing there in shock. "What are you doing?" I yelled. "Fight!"

I picked up a crossbow and began sending arrow after arrow down into the enemy troops. The other soldiers followed my example. I felt a satisfaction that I realized with a start came not from me but from… Shear.

A siege tower dropped its huge ramp onto the wall top. Hideous Black skeletons poured out. A sword came at me from behind, and I whirled and sent Shear home into the demon's throat. Another came low, and I kicked it out of the man's hand, and slew him too. Suddenly, the field seemed empty. There were no more men in the tower, and the men were setting alight to it. I cleaned Shear on the cloak of a dead foe.

A deafening crash followed. The ram broken its way through the outer gate! At this rate, the inner gate would soon fall. I could be of more use there, in physical combat, then in archery on the wall. I swiftly ran down the stairs, but stopped in my tracks when I was only halfway down.

Vi was standing there, held back by a huge soldier! He had come in from a siege tower, and had slipped past the defenders. As I ran towards them, Vi drew a dagger and plunged it into his arm, and dragged it in a circle, a maneuver I had taught her to use if she was ever grabbed by an enemy. That's my girl, I thought with an instant of pride. I thought Vi could handle it by herself. However, with a bellow of pain, he slapped her and reached for a sword.

Drawing Shear, I hurled myself at them with a cry of rage. How dare they even touch her! The man turned with the sound of my cry, but it was too late. Seconds later, all that was left of him was a mangled corpse.

I stood over the fallen soldier, trying to catch my breath. "You okay?" I asked Vi.

"Y-yes." She stammered, clutching her bloody dagger.

"Its okay, Vi." I said, giving her a hug. "It's okay. I'll protect you."

"I can take care of myself, but thanks for the offer… I was just…" Vi trailed off. "But now you're here. I trust you."

Then I noticed a dull, throbbing sound. I pulled Vi into the inner room of the stone tower and poked my head out the window.

A massive, steaming hot tidal wave was headed straight for the city.

Wait; there are no bodies of water near the city!

Then it hit me: the enemy had a wizard, or at least a mage with them. For all I knew it could be a sorcerer or prophet.

I ran back down into the room. I grabbed Vi and shoved her into a closet. Then I locked all the doors shut.

Then the tower went flying down the city streets, carried on waves of boiling hot water. I saw Vi leap from the scalding deluge onto an adjacent rooftop as I was swept past.

"Vi, take cover!"

Before I could finish, something struck me on the head, and I knew nothing more.