Chapter 1 has been rewritten.


Yang Branwen ended most of her other fights without much fanfare, there were a few people whose weapons held strong against her blade, but they all broke eventually. Still, she was tired; it wasn't often that she was forced to communicate with strangers.

"Your signaculum or your life?" For the tenth time this night, she held a life hostage. The tip of her blade pressed against flesh. On this night, her sword, an odachi, was finally tasting blood for the first time since she had received it a few months ago.

'I still don't understand. I have no problem using it, but why did mom give me such a long sword as a reward? A smaller sword would serve me better.'

She could close gaps pretty quickly, and she hardly struggled in a clash, there was no reason she needed to have a four foot long blade.

"Ha? You dare challenge me!?"

Yang blinked. In the nine other times she had done this: seven people gave up the scrap of metal and two chose to die. None had been so brazen as this boy in full body black armor. She gave a quick glance to the left of the boy, where his dismembered arm laid limply. "I've already won."

"Fool! As if a flesh wound could decide a fight!"

She blinked again, and she once again confirmed that he was missing the arm he had held a black sword with. "I've sliced off your left arm." She clarified in case he had gone into denial.

"I'm right-handed!"

Yang shook her head. "If you don't offer up your signaculum, then I'll kill you and search your body for it." She didn't have to play along.

"Then never shall you win, for I have hidden my seal deep in the forest. However, shall thou best me in a duel, then I shall reveal its location to you."

She refused the urge to blink and to look at his arm again.

'He should know how pointless this is.'

She sheathed her sword and took a few paces back. "Stand and fight." If this was what it took, then she would do it.

"Be honored; tonight you shall perish by the blade, Noir Sanglier, wielded by the Du Chevalier." The boy in black introduced himself as he picked up his black sword off the ground. He charged forth recklessly with his sword raised high. "Hiyah!"

A silver blade flashed in the moonlight as she effortlessly sliced off his right, and only remaining, arm. The black sword swam through the air before its blade sank into the soft forest ground. "There." Yang began sheathing her sword. However, she paused her motion and took a quick step back.

"Had enough?" The armless boy in black armor had tried kicking his opponent.

She couldn't resist the urge to blink and stare at the boy for a moment. "What are you doing?" She completely unsheathed her sword and held it at the ready.

'Something isn't right.'

Not once in her life has she met someone unfazed by losing both limbs.

"Coward! Why do you dodge? What honor could be found in fleeing?" Du asked as he walked closer. His black metal clad boot shot out again in a fierce kick.

She took another step back.

'What's going on?'

Her eyes glanced at the fallen limbs, she saw seared flesh and bones, her opponent was human. Still feeling like something wasn't right, a golden glow surrounded her sword. She began taking this fight seriously.

Du drew a line in the ground with a foot, and then he took a few steps back. "I see that I've frightened you. Rest knowing I've never used my might to harm the weak. As long as you don't cross that line, I shall never hurt you, but know that if you do, then your life is forfeit. Flee safely, for I do not hunt."

It was an odd situation Yang found herself in. The man she had completely disarmed was showing her mercy. Even though she had the clear advantage, she still couldn't help but feel wary of her opponent.

The boy in black armor had displayed no combat prowess nor a threatening air, and yet she struggled to make a move against him. Any thought of attacking him made her wary of a trick. There hadn't been anything so far and nothing even hinted at one.

However, Du had shown neither fear nor shock, and that was enough to give her pause. There was nothing for her to analyze. A part of her wanted to slice him down, but another part worried he had something up his sleeve.

The golden swordswoman was brought to a halt by the black knight.

Her steel felt warm in her hands, and her fears and worries melted away. This sword was a gift, a reward. It was a symbol that she possessed strength. She sheathed her sword, then she stepped forward, crossing the line.

Death.

The spectral hands of Death grasped her soul like a vise, paralyzing her body.

The black blade, Noir Sanglier, rose up from the ground unassisted and shot itself at her chest, towards her heart.

"Fool." Du turned around, and he spoke softly. "Welcome to the eternal night, young one." He gazed gently into her golden eyes. He blinked.

"I… was… born in flames." Yang's voice was like steel. Her words thrummed with power, and then she unsheathed her sword, and like a switch had been flipped, the night turned to day.

"By the gods!" He exclaimed as blinding golden flames engulfed both the sword and girl. The flames burned away Death's grasp and melted Noir Sanglier. Then a figure wreathed in fire stepped forth. And, for the first time, Du Chevalier showed signs of fear.

She hadn't wanted to use this power so soon, but she had encountered a surprise so it couldn't be helped. "Burn."

Golden flames crawled along the ground, trees and air, and devoured the knight. The roaring flames died down after a few seconds and most of them returned to Yang. And then she sheathed her sword, snuffing out all the surrounding flames. The night took back its rightful place.

'Now then, let's finish this.'

In front of her, on the scorched ground, sat a black helmet. The chest and legs had been consumed by flames.

"Your signaculum or your life?" For the eleventh time this night, she repeated the same ultimatum.

"…haa," the black helmet signed. "Shall we call this a draw?"

Yang started to unsheathe her sword, molten golden embers burnt the surrounding air.

"I jest! Thou are the victor! However, I may have told a light fib." Immediately after he revealed this fact, he almost frantically explained, as her sword glowed brighter. "It is deep in the forest! And it is hidden! But not by me!" He lost a bit of his fancy talk.

"Explain."

"This isn't my first loss tonight, and the previous victor snatched the thing off my neck, but they didn't destroy it. They instead offered me a deal. I could earn it back by offering up ten intact seals from other people."

"…Seriously?" Yang blinked.

"Verily!"

'I guess that's one way of gathering them.'

She was familiar with the concept. Some leaders of animal packs often ate what others had hunted.

'Still, what was the point?'

They only had to destroy ten seals to pass, and anyone someone they had defeated could win against would have to be weaker. It would be quicker to not play this game. "Tell me more."

"Okay, uh, they told me I had until sunrise to bring at least one or else they would destroy my seal. And that tomorrow I would need to bring at least two by sunset, and for every day that passed, the number would grow by one."

'What? Days? Are they really planning on waiting that long?'

Yang couldn't understand. She only had to destroy one more seal before she was done, and she was certain she could do so before sunrise.

'And then what? Oh, I would need to protect my seal until at most fifteen people remained. I see, if someone was finished with the first part and wanted to avoid fighting, they could hide and force other people to thin the herd.'

"Uh, hey, so you agreed to spare me if I revealed its location, right? I'll even lead you there if you want."

Yang could tell that this guy wanted her and the other person to fight. She picked up the black helmet. "Lead the way." It was of no concern to her.

"Can you grab my arms too, please?" On the forest ground, disembodied arms clad in black armor wiggled like centipedes.


Thanks for reading! I'm always open to feedback, so please leave a review, or reply in my forum, about what you liked or hated about this chapter or the whole story. If anyone wants to be a Beta Reader, then PM me and we'll talk details.

In case you glossed over the AN at the top, just know that chapter 1 has been heavily rewritten, and so has the beginning of chapter 2, while the rest of the chapters just have some light edits. Major details have been added and altered, for example: the names of the kingdoms have been changed.

Sorry for the wait and for the half chapter.

Yang is a hassle to write alone, I don't know why but for some reason I struggled to imagine how she acts when she's alone. And unfortunately I have to use crutches, OCs, to get anywhere with her. In the original draft, she killed the Black Knight and then I couldn't imagine how to connect her to the plot.

And yet while I was brainstorming, I came up with a handful of side-OCs that I could use for this Act.