Scene from Freedom's Bonds - Chapter 1

Hatred contorted his face as he stared at me in disbelief. We stayed locked in that position, swords above our heads, for several minutes. I stared directly at him and tried to be as intimidating as possible. It was hard considering the fact that I was only five foot four inches tall and he was at least six feet high. I pushed against his sword and threw him off balance for a second. That was all I needed to get the upper hand. I put my sword to his neck and watched as a small stream of blood trickled from the scrape.  

“What are you doing here?” I asked, placing great emphasis on the ‘you’.

“I could ask the same of you. Do you know the penalty for threatening one of the king’s soldiers?”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. I knew well the penalty – years of work in the labor fields, followed by torture, then death. Yes, I knew of it. Still, it didn’t keep me from challenging this one.

“Of course I know the penalty. Only a brainless person would threaten a soldier knowing the penalty.”

He smirked and countered, “Then I suppose you are the brainless person.”

I felt the blood rushing to my face as I tried to keep my anger under control. Withdrawing my sword and re-sheathing it, I replied, “No. I am not the brainless person. I am simply protecting whatever freedom we might have left in this land. Which is near none.”

The soldier took this opportunity to scurry for his sword and picked it up without stopping. I had expected this and so I readied myself for his attack. He raced towards me, twirling his sword in an intricate pattern. I recognized it from the training I had done when still living in the palace and reacted with the same series of intricate twirls.

Steel clashed on steel as our swords met, still moving so fast they were almost a blur. Sweat poured down my brow as I fought him. I had never fought someone as strong as this, but then again, I hadn’t fought someone for a while. The last time I used my sword was against some wild animals that attacked our village, but they were no match for me. This general…he was different.