Inaki stood there, cowering in fear. Inaki hadn’t felt this much fear in his entire life. The man standing before him was the patriarch of the Yaroka clan. One of the sons of the Sword-Sage of the Yaroka. The Sword-Sage of the Yaroka had been wise enough to leave when one of his sons was the age to become a patriarch, but Hassai had no such son, which is why the Council of Masters ran the place in his absence. This man was the closest thing to a sword sage that Inaki had seen. In rank, he was one level below Sage, with a Platinum band on the hilt of his sword.

“I am sure you are familiar with my son,” Taral-son-Godin Yaroka said.

“Shinra,” Inaki said. “He fought honorably. Nearly defeated and killed me.” Inaki lied, Shinra wouldn’t have lasted a second if Inaki’s wrist wasn’t sprained. Inaki put up a brave face. He was lower of rank, but he wasn’t lower of honor. In the entrance hall to the main castle, Inaki was surrounded by faces. His mother, a few of his cousins that lived in the castle. He was surrounded by people that looked to him to somehow solve this problem. There were no sword-masters to be seen. Only trainees, all worse than Inaki.

“It would truly be a shame for the Yaroka and the Tomoka to go to war at a time when the Sword-Sages are absent. But the rules say, we can wage war when both are absent.”

“Your son fought an honorable duel and lost,” Inaki said. “He was one of the best fighter’s I have had the good fortune to fight. I am indebted to you for creating such a formidable opponent.” Inaki bent on his knee.

“Well, there is one way to avoid war,” The Yaroka said. Unfortunately, I am quite sure that you wouldn’t like it that way.”

“I understand that you are hurt, but your son lost an honorable duel,” Inaki said. “This is no reason to go to war. Your son decided to challenge us, and in the terms of the duel, a death clause was specifically laid out.”

“Fine,” Taral said. “Duel me then.”

“What?” Inaki said.

“Duel me. And I don’t want some crony of your father to fight me. I want you to duel me.”

“I cannot,” Inaki said. “I haven’t even gotten my steel blade yet.”

“You should’ve thought of that before killing my son,” Yaroka said.

“Would your son have hesitated if he could’ve killed Inaki,” Gonten said.

“Thank you brother, but I can handle this,” Inaki whispered to his brother who was standing beside him.

“I am not sorry sir,” Inaki said. “We can argue about this all day, but it doesn’t change the fact that your son lost an honorable duel. This is no excuse.”

“My son was ten times the man you are, and wouldn’t kill someone over a duel with wooden practice swords. Will your bloody honor bring back my son,” Taral said, stepping close to Inaki. Looking down at the boy who was still on one knee.

“It won’t,” Inaki said. “But isn’t dying honorably, the aim of every swordsman.”

“He died very honorably, but that doesn’t bring my son back to me,” Taral said, in tears at this point.

“It is sad that your son died in our duel, but it was a legal duel, with my mother as the witness. Like my brother here just said, your son would not have hesitated to kill me.”

“Then your family would have no reaction?” Taral screamed, stepping over Inaki. In that second, Inaki felt blood flowing down his forehead. He had barely noticed Taral drawing his sword, slashing him, and sheathing his sword once again. Inaki didn’t know what to do, he once again looked around and saw that everyone was looking to him.

“Ask somebody where are the masters,” Inaki whispered into Gonten’s ears.

“Mother is saying they’re on their way,” Gonten whispered after coming back to Inaki’s side.

The other adults in the room didn’t move. There were many of them, both men and women. There were swordsmen in the room too. All the way from children with wooden practice swords, beginner’s whose sword’s had unadorned handles. The highest rank in the room was a Silver, only three levels below platinum.

Yet they didn’t even raise their voices around him. Inaki was now alone, only because he was the son of Hassai. The silence in the room became more and more apparent. Inaki was still bent on one knee, trying his best to both cool down the situation, without giving even an inch to Taral.

“Well,” Taral said. “Will you offer up your head or not?”

“No I will not sir,” Inaki said. The more and more this conversation went on, Inaki’s fear increased more and more, and it became more difficult for him to maintain his voice. Inaki got up from his knee, and forced himself to stare Taral in the eye.

“I will repeat myself again, and I hope that you will listen. A man does not reach Platinum as a swordsman without respecting honor. Your son fought me in a duel, and he lost.” Inaki instantly felt fear stab him. In his pursuit of not appearing weak, he had said too much.

“He hadn’t even gotten his actual sword yet,” Taral said, his eyes bulging red as he swallowed his tears. He grabbed Inaki by his shoulders. He shook him hard and threw him to the ground.

“I will not accept this disrespect,” Inaki said, standing up after being thrown. “I respect you for reaching nearly the epitome of the sword, but you cannot barge into Tomoka territory, attack the son of the Sage, and expect not to be given resistance.”

“So you agree, that we need to go to war?” Taral said, wiping away his tears.

Inaki swallowed his fear. This would be probably the stupidest move in the history, “No. You have disrespected not only me, but also my father. I must fight for my honor, you can have your duel with me. But the duel shall be only till first blood.”

“What do I get if I win?” Taral said.

“The satisfaction of having barged into enemy territory, fought the son of the sage, and having left the place unharmed. But, if I die, all swordsmen in the entire Tomoka territory will be let loose on you.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I haven’t come here with an army, I have come here as a father, and a swordsman for now.”

“Good. Aren’t you going to ask me what I want if I win?” Inaki said.

“Well, ask away.”

“If I win our duel, then you will kill yourself, right here and now.”

“You truly are Hassai’s son. You have your father’s stupid guts. Though I don’t think you’ll have the luck of your father to live long enough to become a Sword-Sage.”

“What,” Gonten caught his arm. “He’s a bloody Platinum. So rare, there isn’t enough metal to coat the handle of his sword.”

“Don’t worry,” Inaki said. “I just need to survive.”

“What,” Gonten said. “That’s not how duels work.”

“I propose another challenge,” Inaki said. “If you are not able to draw first blood by ten minutes, then I will win the duel. You cannot expect to fight a boy without even a steel blade without some handicap.”

“I’ll fight you without a sword,” Taral said. “But this would truly be a lot easier if your family just gave me your head.”

“I am sorry sir, but for the good of both our clans, killing is off the table,” Inaki said.

“Oh that’s a disappointment isn’t it,” Taral said.

“Before we duel, I just want to say that I really honor you and wish that I didn’t have to do this.”

“Then you shouldn’t have killed my son.”

Taral sheathed his sword, removed his sheath, and gave it to one of Inaki’s cousins, “Keep this for me. If I lose this battle, give it to your brother there, and let him cut off my head”

Taral stepped forward. There was no indication that the duel had begun, no indication about any witness for the duel. Ivanta—Inaki’s mother—had remained silent through the entire confrontation, almost as if challenging Inaki to try and settle this situation. Which is why he would settle this situation the only way he knew how. With his blade. With not a single word, the duel had begun.

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Inaki jumped to the side, barely dodging a destructive punch. I just have to survive. Inaki thought. Inaki was smart enough not to challenge this man head on, but it was difficult even to avoid him.

He’s fast.

Inaki tried to dodge another punch, but failed miserably, the man’s large fist slammed into Inaki’s chest, but Inaki was quick enough to put the flat of his sword there to protect himself from losing a rib. Inaki was surprised to see that he hadn’t bled yet.

“Oh, you think I am going to end the fight so short,” Taral said. “I know how to inflict pain without a single drop of blood being spilled.”

Taral advanced at Inaki and threw an uppercut, Inaki stepped back, then stabbed forward with his sword. This wasn’t the kind of fight where he could worry about moves that took time to recover from. He had to be fast. If he attacked at all, he needed to be out of there as fast as he could.

If Taral had been using a sword, the fight would’ve been over by now. Inaki jumped back as a flurry of punches flew at him. He didn’t realize when the wall hit his back. He ducked, and looked up, and saw that there was now a dent in the wall. If that punch had hit Inaki, let’s just say, he and Shinra would have been having a fight in the heavens.

While Inaki was ducked, Taral kneed Inaki in the ribs. And for the second time in the same day Inaki wanted to throw up. But he had to keep moving. He threw himself forward, having nowhere else to go. He jumped over Taral’s leg, which was kicking at him, the kick still hit Inaki’s legs in midair, flipping him over.

Inaki landed on the ground on his back, staring upwards. His sword was no longer in his hand. Inaki knew only enough hand-to-hand combat to go against an incompetent lout like his brother. Taral’s foot came down at Inaki’s face. Inaki rolled to the side, and threw himself onto his feet. A punch came at his head once again, and he threw himself onto the ground.

“How much time left,” Inaki screamed.

“Five minutes,” Gonten said.

Inaki had managed to survive half the time. The match was less of a duel and more of a chase. Inaki spent his time running in the make-shift ring, trying to dodge. He didn’t even have the time to pick up his sword, forget getting a hit in. Inaki was also too short to get a punch in. He would have to be too close to Taral to even try to attack him.

Survive, I just need to survive.

A punch landed on Inaki’s jaw. Inaki felt incredible pain. But his jaw was still attached. It hadn’t broken. Inaki was flung to the ground. He felt his body seize up. Inaki counted the seconds in his head. He had only three more minutes left to go. How could he survive?

Groaning, and shaking he got to his feet. Taral walked up to Inaki and punched him in the stomach. Inaki vomited his lunch, but no blood just yet. Inaki tried to doge, but couldn’t. Taral grabbed Inaki by the throat, and slammed him against the wall.

“I am not going to kill you and start a war,” Taral said. “What I am going to do is politely ask your family for your head. If they don’t. Then you will be the ones starting the war.”

Inaki had had enough of diplomacy. Taral began welling up with tears in his eyes. When Inaki looked into his eyes, he wondered something. What would I have felt like if Shinra had killed Gonten? Inaki didn’t know whatsoever how he would feel. He wasn’t sure of his feelings about Gonten.

Inaki couldn’t breath. He was long his consciousness, losing himself in his thoughts. But he focused. The man was distracted. Inaki braced one kick and kicked the man in a place that would make sure that he wouldn’t be able to have another son to replace Shinra.

His grip slipped. He was a great swordsman, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he had to be the best at hand-to-hand combat. Inaki pulled Taral’s arm off his neck and began running, with all the strength he had left in his legs.

“Only one minute left.”

Taral ran at Inaki and was there before Inaki could even see anything.

“Consider this beating a warning.”

Taral punched Inaki in the chest, he felt as if his heart skipped a beat. Taral then kicked Inaki in the side. He then head butted him. He punched him in the cheek, but only created bruises, didn’t draw any blood.

“Ten seconds left,” Gonten screamed.

Inaki could barely stand, he wasn’t able to see clearly. His left eye was swollen shut. He felt like his rib was at least bruised if not broken. He fought to stay on his feet. He fought harder than he had fought against any opponent in his life, harder than he had ever fought his father in his subconscious in the spring.

Taral landed a punch straight on Inaki’s face. In one punch Inaki’s lip busted. He bit his tongue, spraying more blood. His nose also exploded into a stream of blood.

Inaki couldn’t move his body. He hit the ground, and though he held onto consciousness, his body wouldn’t listen to him. Inaki could see through his eyeslits, that Taral had taken some paper, and was writing something on it.

He threw the paper onto Inaki.

“Read it out,” Taral screamed.

“If the Yaroka don’t get Inaki’s head by the next week, then the Yaroka will be at war with the Tomoka. The battle shall take place at River Hachi,” Lisping through bloody lips, Inaki read out.

Inaki lost consciousness, disappointed in his own ability. He couldn’t stop the war.

Inaki woke up the next morning. When he opened his eyes, he saw a smiling face standing over him.

“I surely was a lot kinder when I beat you,” Takehito said.

“You,” Inaki said. He was conflicted about this man. The only thing he knew was that this man made him think about uncomfortable things, and he didn’t want to think about those uncomfortable things.

“Yes, me,” Takehito said. A friend of mine told you to check on you.”

“Who,” Inaki said, getting up.

“Your brother, Gonten.”

“How long has it been,” Inaki asked.

“Not too long, just a day or so,” Takehito said.

Inaki sat up in his bed and groaned in pain. “I know you’ve heard the news, so can you tell me what should I do?”

“Give them your head. You did kill his son,” Takehito said.

“I killed him in a duel,” Inaki said. “I had to lie about him being a difficult opponent, the only reason I didn’t kill him in a few seconds was that my right wrist was injured.”

“As if that’s true,” Hassai said in his mind. “All I hear are excuses.”

Inaki shunned his disappointment. Of course he was giving excuses. He had no other options in this situation.

“Well anyways,” Takehito said. “If you dying means avoiding war, would you do it?”

“No,” Inaki said. “We can’t set precedent of just agreeing.

“Do you have a swordsman who can stand up to him right now,” Takehito said.

“Most likely,” Inaki said.

“Well anyways, I’m leaving. My true reason to come and speak to you, is that your brother is leaving with me. I don’t stay in one place for too long.”

Inaki didn’t know how to feel about his brother leaving. He of course felt disappointed that his brother was giving up the sword, but that wasn’t the thing that hurt him the most. Did he love his brother? Would he miss him?

Inaki didn’t know.

“Don’t worry, we’ll write often,” Takehito said.

“Where are you going right now,” Inaki said.

“A far way actually, but for now, our destination is the Gael clan.”

“The spearmen?” Inaki said.

“Very nice people,” Takehito said.

“You are going to take my brother into the den of the snakes whose leader my father killed,” Inaki said.

“Oh don’t worry, the new Spear-Sage has no problem with your father,” Takehito said. “During his pilgrimage he drank tea and ate biscuits with him.”

“My father bloody killed his father,” Inaki said.

“It’ll be fine, anyways, I’m taking your leave, get well soon.”

Inaki tried to get out of his bed to pursue Takehito to ask him more questions. Inaki took a single step away from his bed, and hit the ground.

“You should rest, otherwise your wounds won’t heal,” Takehito said, closing the room of Inaki’s door.

Inaki stood up and went back to sleep on his bed, worried about what would come next.

The next time he woke up someone else was in his room. This time it was evening. His mother was waiting there, sitting on a chair at his bedside.

"I am sorry mother," Inaki said.

"What are you sorry about," Ivanta asked. "Are you sorry that you are about to bring war or that you were a complete disappointment yesterday. No one expected you to win against Taral, but such a pathetic display. When your father hears of this, I am sure he will banish you."

"I am sorry for it all."

"I would've sent your father a letter to reach home now but I don't even know where he is," Ivanta sighed.

"I am sorry."

"Are you just going to keep saying that? What was the need to fight him and even if you did you should've done better. He's a platinum at this sword not punching."

"I am sorry."

"And the only hit you got in was a desperate below the belt strike, do you have any shame."

Inaki swallowed his tears, "I am sorry that I was born instead of someone greater than me, I am trying to be the swordsman Father would be proud of."

"Maybe next time you think of killing an opponent, ask yourself if they belong to one of the largest Sword clans in the province.

"I will."

"The healer will come with a medicine that will dull the pain, get ready to train, we can't have you going rusty especially at this point."

"Okay. I will train as hard as I can.

"You better."

"I will."

The healer soon came with the medicine. It was a horribly bitter concoction. Once Inaki ate the medicine, he got up, walked out of his quarters, and stepped into the training room, thinking about what he would do next.