Twin scimitars shined in the gloom ahead of, twinkling with every wavy motion they took in the failing torchlight. The weapons though did not matter in light of the pale face that stared hard at him, bringing to surface memories of pain, anger, and self doubt. Where once had been a tender smile that he found solace in on countless occasions, now he found a cold cruel smirk, taunting him, urging him to act.
Sophia, she was back.
The fact that she had shaved her head barely registered with him, but subtly it affected his view of her all the same, making her look all the more harsh, and so much unlike the childhood friend he had grown up with. She was a pale shadow of what she had been, just like him. What monsters they had both become.
Wordlessly she stepped forward, slashing hard at him with her dual scimitars, and flicking his longsword up at the last moment, the metal crashed with a thundering clang in the night air as he parried, disbelief still plain on his face. She was back, but all those years of spent hating her suddenly vanished and it was like they were children again, practicing in the backyard while their parents worked. She'd grown to be good with her swords.
Fluidly, she spun around, her blades coming at his sides with all the fury a woman scorned could bring to bear. What had he done to her that brought so much anger? He ducked under the blows, the sound of the twin swords whistling by just over his head more than a little unsettling. This was not some mere spar, now they where fully grown and their lives hung in the balance. No longer did wooden swords belong in their hands, as bloodstained over the course of time as they were. He remembered then what had been done to his parents, and his fury returned, his heart desiring nothing more than retribution against his woman he had loved and trusted with all his heart. She needed to feel what he felt, and perhaps she did, though Darian would entertain no notion of it. He needed to be strong to do what needed to be done. Severing the head of the beast that had tormented him for so long.
"Does it give you pleasure to look upon my face again, lover" He spat, drawing a flash of emotion from Sophia as slashed at him from both sides at once. Working the sword left and right, he barely managed to pick off the strikes to save his flesh from further ruin, allowing him another few moments of sacred reprieve.
His heart pounded in his chest as sweat poured down his marred features, Sophia continuing to come on wordlessly as she tried to cut him into pieces again and again. Fear held no hold on him in a time like this, only anger, and a cruel desire to see her spend her last moments in pain and humiliation.
Before she could bring her swords up to an readied position he came on, stealing the offensive, slashing at her high with his longsword, while his left foot suddenly kicked out, slamming into her midsection solidly. Somehow she managed to halt the progress of his sword reaching for her throat by falling backwards under the weight of his kick, and in the bat of an eye she recovered from the blow and was cutting at his knees with a vicious swipe of the cold steel clutched in her fists forcing him to fall backwards to avoid serious injury. Still she managed to graze him, carving thin lines through his night leather armer, that dug ever so slightly into the tender flesh underneath.
He stopped wheeling backwards when his back hit a wooden wall that defined part of the alleyway, and pushing right off the wall he came at Sophia with his longsword held high over his head, bringing the blade down hard. As expected her scimitars crossed before her in a defensive X meant to catch the sword, stealing the weight of the blow. He'd planned on that particular move, and had already thought ahead on how to counter it as he wrenched it aside mid strike and instead used the weight of the strike to bring him past her, using the temporary blind spot her scimitars provided to get behind her without her notice.
It was as simple as the extending his arms out, her life hanging quite literally on the edge of a sword, and pressing hard forward, he lunged to pierce her back, but unexpectedly his fury dissipated, and the tip of his sword stopped at the small of her back where it idled lacking true purpose.
Could he really kill the love of his life?
"Drop your weapons Sophia, for the sake of all the love you once held for me" Darian spoke quietly, unable to hide the tremor in his voice. Before him the tip of his sword dropped a notch, his will to even harm her fast fading. His vision grew blurry as tears glinted in his eyes.
The woman he once knew as Sophia laughed harshly, and before he could even register it has spun around and knocked the tip of his blade out to the side. Where his fury had wavered, hers burned even brighter as she came at him with frenzied strikes, leaving him heaving with effort with every parry. The clang of steel filled his ears, and without his anger, he found only half of his heart into fending off her attacks, and slashes adorned his armor in numerous places.
Finally an she exposed an opening he couldn't pass up, and jabbing out his blade he broke through her block to slash at her shoulder. Metal rang against the ground as a scimitar dropped from her grasp involuntarily, and Sophia snarled, coming with improvised swings. It was as if he hadn't deprived her of one of her scimitars, and now her attacks came at him twice as fast, coming at him with wide slashes aimed to disembowel him.
Harder than he had imagined possible, she struck at his blade where it connected with the hilt, slinging it out wide with the weight of the strike, and knocked the sword completely out of his hand when she came back on again with an overhand slash that hit the same spot.
Wordlessly he fell backwards, scrambling backwards as fast as he could as soon as he had his hands and feet underneath him. It did little to deter her as she flipped through the air, her feet landing on either side of him, and before he could even gasp, he found the edges of her blades to either side of his vulnerable neck.
"Like when we where young" She spoke simply, and memories flooded back to him of that day so long ago that it had been almost forgotten underneath all the pain. Tears traced paths through the blood matting his cheeks, as warmth flushed his features. She hadn't disappeared. Her blades clashed to the ground to either side of him, and suddenly she was kneeling over him, embracing him in a passionate kiss.
"Some things never change, Darian" Sophia said, the hint of a smile playing across her features. He matched her smile brining a free hand to pull her in close for a hug. His other was cold, almost like a detached part of him, and in his grasp, she stiffened as he stabbed her breast with the dagger clutched in his right hand, and looking into her twinkling blue eyes he smiled genuinely as tears continued to flow down his cheeks.
"Other things do change I've found over the course of life" He replied quite simply, emotion choking up his voice. She could only gasp in response as he pushed the blade deeper till at last she slumped in his arms, and her eyes where devoid of life. Warmth spread between them as her life blood poured from her chest, a grim reminder of the love they once shared.
He let her fall from him, to crumple against the ground, and throwing his head back, called out in a primal scream, letting out all the pain and rage that had ever filled him in one loud shout before he too crumpled besides her, blacking out from sheer emotional exhaustion.
At last, Sophia was home.
Sophia, she was back.
The fact that she had shaved her head barely registered with him, but subtly it affected his view of her all the same, making her look all the more harsh, and so much unlike the childhood friend he had grown up with. She was a pale shadow of what she had been, just like him. What monsters they had both become.
Wordlessly she stepped forward, slashing hard at him with her dual scimitars, and flicking his longsword up at the last moment, the metal crashed with a thundering clang in the night air as he parried, disbelief still plain on his face. She was back, but all those years of spent hating her suddenly vanished and it was like they were children again, practicing in the backyard while their parents worked. She'd grown to be good with her swords.
Fluidly, she spun around, her blades coming at his sides with all the fury a woman scorned could bring to bear. What had he done to her that brought so much anger? He ducked under the blows, the sound of the twin swords whistling by just over his head more than a little unsettling. This was not some mere spar, now they where fully grown and their lives hung in the balance. No longer did wooden swords belong in their hands, as bloodstained over the course of time as they were. He remembered then what had been done to his parents, and his fury returned, his heart desiring nothing more than retribution against his woman he had loved and trusted with all his heart. She needed to feel what he felt, and perhaps she did, though Darian would entertain no notion of it. He needed to be strong to do what needed to be done. Severing the head of the beast that had tormented him for so long.
"Does it give you pleasure to look upon my face again, lover" He spat, drawing a flash of emotion from Sophia as slashed at him from both sides at once. Working the sword left and right, he barely managed to pick off the strikes to save his flesh from further ruin, allowing him another few moments of sacred reprieve.
His heart pounded in his chest as sweat poured down his marred features, Sophia continuing to come on wordlessly as she tried to cut him into pieces again and again. Fear held no hold on him in a time like this, only anger, and a cruel desire to see her spend her last moments in pain and humiliation.
Before she could bring her swords up to an readied position he came on, stealing the offensive, slashing at her high with his longsword, while his left foot suddenly kicked out, slamming into her midsection solidly. Somehow she managed to halt the progress of his sword reaching for her throat by falling backwards under the weight of his kick, and in the bat of an eye she recovered from the blow and was cutting at his knees with a vicious swipe of the cold steel clutched in her fists forcing him to fall backwards to avoid serious injury. Still she managed to graze him, carving thin lines through his night leather armer, that dug ever so slightly into the tender flesh underneath.
He stopped wheeling backwards when his back hit a wooden wall that defined part of the alleyway, and pushing right off the wall he came at Sophia with his longsword held high over his head, bringing the blade down hard. As expected her scimitars crossed before her in a defensive X meant to catch the sword, stealing the weight of the blow. He'd planned on that particular move, and had already thought ahead on how to counter it as he wrenched it aside mid strike and instead used the weight of the strike to bring him past her, using the temporary blind spot her scimitars provided to get behind her without her notice.
It was as simple as the extending his arms out, her life hanging quite literally on the edge of a sword, and pressing hard forward, he lunged to pierce her back, but unexpectedly his fury dissipated, and the tip of his sword stopped at the small of her back where it idled lacking true purpose.
Could he really kill the love of his life?
"Drop your weapons Sophia, for the sake of all the love you once held for me" Darian spoke quietly, unable to hide the tremor in his voice. Before him the tip of his sword dropped a notch, his will to even harm her fast fading. His vision grew blurry as tears glinted in his eyes.
The woman he once knew as Sophia laughed harshly, and before he could even register it has spun around and knocked the tip of his blade out to the side. Where his fury had wavered, hers burned even brighter as she came at him with frenzied strikes, leaving him heaving with effort with every parry. The clang of steel filled his ears, and without his anger, he found only half of his heart into fending off her attacks, and slashes adorned his armor in numerous places.
Finally an she exposed an opening he couldn't pass up, and jabbing out his blade he broke through her block to slash at her shoulder. Metal rang against the ground as a scimitar dropped from her grasp involuntarily, and Sophia snarled, coming with improvised swings. It was as if he hadn't deprived her of one of her scimitars, and now her attacks came at him twice as fast, coming at him with wide slashes aimed to disembowel him.
Harder than he had imagined possible, she struck at his blade where it connected with the hilt, slinging it out wide with the weight of the strike, and knocked the sword completely out of his hand when she came back on again with an overhand slash that hit the same spot.
Wordlessly he fell backwards, scrambling backwards as fast as he could as soon as he had his hands and feet underneath him. It did little to deter her as she flipped through the air, her feet landing on either side of him, and before he could even gasp, he found the edges of her blades to either side of his vulnerable neck.
"Like when we where young" She spoke simply, and memories flooded back to him of that day so long ago that it had been almost forgotten underneath all the pain. Tears traced paths through the blood matting his cheeks, as warmth flushed his features. She hadn't disappeared. Her blades clashed to the ground to either side of him, and suddenly she was kneeling over him, embracing him in a passionate kiss.
"Some things never change, Darian" Sophia said, the hint of a smile playing across her features. He matched her smile brining a free hand to pull her in close for a hug. His other was cold, almost like a detached part of him, and in his grasp, she stiffened as he stabbed her breast with the dagger clutched in his right hand, and looking into her twinkling blue eyes he smiled genuinely as tears continued to flow down his cheeks.
"Other things do change I've found over the course of life" He replied quite simply, emotion choking up his voice. She could only gasp in response as he pushed the blade deeper till at last she slumped in his arms, and her eyes where devoid of life. Warmth spread between them as her life blood poured from her chest, a grim reminder of the love they once shared.
He let her fall from him, to crumple against the ground, and throwing his head back, called out in a primal scream, letting out all the pain and rage that had ever filled him in one loud shout before he too crumpled besides her, blacking out from sheer emotional exhaustion.
At last, Sophia was home.
