Akisane traded blows with the inferno of a man. Sweat poured down his face and burned his eyes. The grip on the handle was slick. Worse, Darksun fought against him. Why? Every strike took double the effort.

Darksun pulled a thrust to the side. That ruby is part of the Core Shield. If you fight too hard, you may release it.

The Ruby flared a steady stream of flame from the Butcher’s gauntlet. “I had higher expectations. The only thing Akitomo has ever said about you is that you’re gifted with the blade and that maybe you could someday be the best swordsman in the realm. But you’re pathetically average. The only thing that surprises me is you’re impervious to heat. It’s as if you had your own ruby. Let’s see how far that extends.”

It appeared Akisane became immune to fire when he learned to firewalk. When the flames engulfed him, he saw the sky boil red with yellow arcs streaking heavenward. He drifted in and out of another realm. Was this one of the lost powers of the elemental druids?

The funnel of fire around the Butcher expanded. If it continued, it would burn the city block to the ground.

Darksun deflected a blow but resisted when it was time to draw blood. It’s time to go.

Even if Akisane wanted to, he was surrounded. Though the soldiers stepped back, they still encircled. However, skirmishes broke out among them and the peasants. Obey me! He forced all his effort into a swing.

Darksun wobbled but finally slackened as much as a sword could. Fine. I’m as light as a feather in your hands.

Akisane sprang forward and launched a dozen attacks. He sliced his opponent's arm and thought he was about to win when the gauntleted hand closed on Darksun.

The Butcher laughed and drove a knee into Akisane. “There’s the spirit.”

To create leverage, Akisane dove to the side and pried downward in a twist to free the blade. Aren’t you stronger than the gauntlet?

Yes, but I’d free the ruby. Don’t you understand? This is what Thailoc wants. His super-will has brought you face to face with the Butcher. If he gets the ruby, all he needs is the iron shield. Is there such a thing here?

An iron shield? I don’t know. Things come in and out of the city all the time.

If you don’t know, then the answer is yes.

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The Butcher hacked down, and when the Duke’s son went to meet the swing, he hammered with the gauntlet and immediately swept with his leg.

Akisane lost his footing and crashed onto his back. He moved his head just in time to keep his brain in his head as the hammer fist smashed where it had been.

The Butcher flourished his sword and barred his teeth. “In battle, everything’s a weapon. You don’t have the commitment to beat me. I will fucking eat your face.”

Darksun slashed and thrust, but the gauntlet latched onto it again. Akisane expected the knee and voided it, but then he felt the grand captain lean close, and pain exploded.

The Butcher's teeth closed on the Akisane’s ear, and cartilage cracked and popped between his jaws.

Darksun drank the light of the inferno and moved as a black arc.

Fingers flew, and the Butcher looked at half a hand. He had a smear of blood on the flesh around his mouth. The metal-encased fingers at his feet showed the white of bone. His hand would never make a fist again. The ruby fell from the gauntlet and crashed to the earth like a sledgehammer. It sank into the ground.

The Butcher turned and ran. He ran!

Akisane followed, running with his sword cocked back for a swing. Then the arrows came and whistled past him. Lines of archers darkened the sky with their arrows.

Firewalk.

The few remaining flames wooshed with one last hurrah, fading as the ruby buried itself deeper into the ground. The sky turned red when he switched sides, and Akisane caught the Butcher as if the grand captain was caught in honey. The archers pulled bowstrings fractions of an inch at a time. He sliced both Achilles' heels. He left the fire realm and made ready to finish the job.

The Butcher screamed and fell to his knees. His head rolled to find the Duke’s son.

What came next was the most disgusting thing Akisane had ever done—ever imagined doing. The spine and ligaments put up a fight before ripping free. Anyone who saw him must think him a monster. Yet, dropping the head into a sack, he looked up to see a family looking at him with admiration.

Soldiers broke ranks and fled, but peasants had already surrounded them. Though they were well armored, it was two to one, then three to one as peasants cut them down.

The wife went to a knee and grabbed Akisane’s hand. She cried as she said, “Thank you. Thank you.”

The husband gently pulled her back and looked up. Eyes shone in a dirty face. “We’ll never forget what you’ve done for us.”

Akisane staggered back and looked around the smoking road. Thousands of Dunaguardians stared at him. He reached down and grabbed the Butcher’s demon blade. He decided to drain it. He’d done this to a living person, and it hadn’t felt right. Could it work on a corrupted pure sword? He knew that it worked when the power flowed in and filled rings. Why should he ever stop drinking the energy from the sword? It was the sword or him. He knew only when the sword turned to rust and scattered, which would survive.

Someone in the incoming crowd yelled, “He’s not like his father. He fights for us.”

You’ve given Thailoc the Core Shield.

Lopside patted him on the back. “You’re one of us. Whether you want to admit it or not.”

Shank motioned for Akisane to leave and mouthed, “Let’s go.” It was a good idea.

Henry (Akisane)

Level: 16

Focus: Telekinesis

Secondary focus: Shadow walker, fire walker

Weapons: Darksun Sword - 85% corrupt, decay+12