The Weakest Knight

Author's Note

The Weakest knight was something I wrote around 2 years ago, when I was in the very early stages of writing Sins of The Skies. It follows one of the main characters and their backstory that is significant to a major relationship in Arc 2. I submitted this story to my college's literature magazine, and It had been accepted as one of its entries. In essence, this is my first every fully published work.

Story

Throughout the noble kingdom of Opulus, one man stood upon all with the highest potential. Strapping a sharp, steel sword on his sheath, the middle son of Makarov, Dathan Makarov, set foot on the soil of the red sea where soldiers were entrapped in warfare.

Amongst all swordsmen and men alike, no one had the courage or bravery greater than that of knights. Brimming with strength that could rival hundreds of soldiers combined, they achieved feats demanded by their nation in order to protect the people.

Therefore, many men aspired to be a knight, recognition raining down on their sweat-soaked faces. Similarly, the blue haired boy of Makarov strived for that title– that life of glory. He wanted to feel the fulfillment that was assigned to him by his father, who also strived to reach the pinnacle of pinnacles, and made it, now the present king.

Stepping farther into a battle between soldiers and the rebel attack, Dathan smelled the stench of grime for the first time. The iron musk that wept the town of Hanzou grew more hostile as more soldiers were sent in. Corpses were tolling as Shinobi marked the hearts of future knights with cutting edges. Dathan, however, would not yield his path into knighthood. With his might and honor on his back, he rushed into the battlefield with eyes locked on the swaying katanas dripping with scarlet.

Reflecting a slash aimed for his arm, he stepped his foot beside the enemy, ducking and puncturing his sword into their thigh. Quickly pulling out, he sidestepped beyond their vision and swung the steel onto their exposed back, knocking them down and incising their vain.

It was definitely different from his training on wooden dummies, and the scarlet sludge smeared onto his hand made him feel hesitant. Yet, he would push onwards to the next opponent, slashing and slicing their flesh till they couldn’t even stand up, getting used to the feeling of carving their pride. Single handedly, he neutralized an entire mob of rebels within seconds.

—People knew Dathan as one of the strongest fighters. Able to dismantle armies using only his own body, he built a reputation that rang to every village and land. Except, that reputation would not come to fruition. Known both by his enemies and allies, he would rarely, if ever, kill the enemy. He could spray their insides, disable their limbs, even make them endure a senseless pain, but he could not take their soul from their breath. It was an aspect of Dathan that everyone saw as his eventual death sentence.

—And this stigma began from even his first ever battle.

Bodies laid down on the peddled ground, covered by shredded fabric of their kimonos, but none had lost their breath. For all the strength and swordsmanship Dathan had, he had never cut through one’s internal organs or vital flesh.

Heading towards the center of the city, he passed many gates and patrolling rebels, scattered and on watch for any interception. Within the center were the leaders of the rebellion, and likely where the core of the operation stood. If he were to stop them, the battle would surely come to a conclusion.

Wandering through a roofless hall in between houses, Dathan felt a strange gust of wind. He could taste the malice along with the blowing dust, but that feeling was quickly resolved. It was clear– someone was watching.

“Noble, leave now, or else I will force it upon you.”

Turning his eyes right before a voice spoke, Dathan spotted a girl on a tiled rooftop, clad in a blood-red kimono and holding a katana with the same hue, yet without a spot of actual scarlet glint. The girl held a stern face, giving a stance ready to take one’s life in a moment’s notice. But Dathan did not back down, only reflecting the same pose.

“Sorry, but I have to end this. I cannot have you all cause chaos to the kingdom.” He announced back. Positioning his blade, Dathan swiftly jumped towards the roof, landing smoothly as he launched a wind splitting strike. Afterwards, he could thrust the handle onto her stomach and shove her down to the ground. With this, she will be immobilized and Dathan can proceed further–

“We will cause chaos? You nobles always put the blame on anyone but yourselves.”

As his slash tore through the girl’s kimono, it had failed to reach her skin. His eyes widened, his thought process becoming blank for a split second. Backstepping, she counterattacked with her own handle thrust onto Dathan’s chest, blasting him backwards towards the opposite rooftop.

“–Hk.”

Quickly orientating his body, his feet smashed onto the tiles, sliding up right to the tip of the roof. Although the girl had now revealed strength superior to every other enemy he faced, Dathan was more surprised by what she had said.

“What are you talking about? Your clan has started masses of violence amongst cities. What proof do you have that we’ve caused that?”

“Tsk, how naive can you be. I’ve heard you were strong by both nobles and my own clan, ‘he is the one with the highest potential’. Yet, I can tell this is your first real fight.”

“—.”

“Your face says it all. All muscle, but no knowledge. Here’s a lesson for you, ‘kensei’. For what reason would we meaninglessly attack cities filled with soldiers? Do you really believe we just feel like doing senseless violence?”

Shouting with an irritated demeanor, the girl slowly stepped down from the tiles, reading herself to jump towards him. Dathan racked a rare pulse of nervousness in his veins, keeping him dead still. He finally understood the matter at hand. The fruit of knowledge was now set on the table.

“No, if there was another reason, I would like to hear it.”

“Hm?” Before pushing onto the tiles beneath her feet, she stood with a hint of confusion leaking out of her eyes. “Really now– many knights like you have attacked my brothers and sisters for just visiting these cities. The screams they couldn’t give out when the edge of those swords slit their necks. Such clear tyranny that even foreigners could see it. If you nobles are standing on corruption, we will surely stand on our pride and vengeance.”

The fierce words she gave out were ones that even she was shocked by its furiousness, her mouth becoming dry. Dathan, with a slight jaw drop, couldn’t comprehend those resentful words, and his grip on his sword loosened. However, that left his stance vulnerable, and the girl sprang immediately, her long, coffee-hair flowing as if the world put a spotlight on her while she closed their distance within a split second.

“If you really don’t stand with those knights, then let go of that blade and die!”

Dathan was hit with a doubt that slightly obeyed those words, but his survival instincts caught her blade with his own. Clashing steel to steel, the boy of blue and the girl in red commenced a sword dance along the top line of the rooftop. The hums of swords whipping in the air grew at a faster rate, with each of their faces coming nearer as they approached the terminus.

As he stepped back and forth, Dathan couldn’t wrap his mind across what she said. He could not possibly condone what the soldiers have done to the Japanese, yet he shouldn’t easily believe the enemy’s words, who kept attacking without hesitation.

“Say, why haven’t you tried to kill me, Makarov?” The girl muttered into his open ear, intruding his thought process like a cannon shot, and he hesitated to answer. Swinging and turning, the fight was fixed to a deadlock. Clanks so loud they spit fragments of flame. What could Dathan do to turn that flame into confidence? To answer her in truth?

As his mind tried to calm its internal chaos, the girl endured through every slash and hailed her question more with a fierce shout, throwing a thrust towards his arm. Dathan, moving at the last second, pushed onto her, moving them to a high speed until he leapt. Holding on the haneri of her kimono, he swung her light body onto the next rooftop at a brutal velocity.

“Tch, you won’t catch me off guard that easily, Makarov.”

With the girl’s vision twirling, seeing both the Earth and sky, she ducked her head before slamming into the tiles of the distant roof. Performing a graceful summersault, she uncurled right as she launched off the ramp of the roof. Tucking her hand into her kimono, she pulled out a obijime rope midair, tying it up into a lasso and throwing it to a nearby rooftop spike. Keeping her speed, she swung around the building in a loop. Letting go of the rope, her body rammed into Dathan from the back.

Spitting his saliva from the impact, he fell and rolled onto the tiles, gaining bruises and tears on his clothes and arms. With the sharp burn on his limbs, Dathan bit his molars as he tried to scrape on the tiles with his sword. Coming to a stop, he immediately stood up just to meet a punch to his cheek, throwing his head backwards. Plucking off a tooth onto the air along with a red mist, his skin shockwaving throughout his face after the aforementioned punch.

Aggressively, without any hint of kindness, the girl handed bruise after bruise. With his senses being splintered and torn, Dathan could only think. Think, think, think, think. What should he do?

He could kill her, for his life is in danger– no, he couldn’t, not when he can’t confirm the truth… So what? Why should he care? Why shouldn’t he kill her? Why does the truth matter?

Feeling his breath falter, he gulped the air with all that he could. As his body was beaten by fist and blunt, he gave up his stance and fell on his back.

“Wait–.” The girl mumbled.

Flipping his entire body, he bent his knees as his feet landed on the ground, and propulsed back to the girl, blade swinging without resistance. The girl narrowed her eyes and met his sword. Now, at the defense, she curved her body to find an opening, and many were found– a bit too many in fact. But there was no problem in sight.

Slashing back, her katana sliced his skin, so deep that his scarlet insides spilled in swerves. Dathan weakened, and at any moment he would be unable to make another move, and thus the last strike would be taken to end the fight. 

–Yet, even after dozens of more strikes, Dathan went on. His strokes did not weaken, nor did his stance. He stopped caring about his own safety anymore– it was now a full offense.

Splitting a sweat, the girl kept up with his pace, metal ringing louder and louder with each intersection of contact. But Dathan was strong, strong enough to land a lethal blow. Even with his weakened state, he could kill her.

“I won't…”

The taste of iron trickled his lips, and his throat gave a barely audible struggle of a voice. Even then, his eyes were kept locked in on hers. Getting closer, his mouth formed a soft smile, and then he spoke again.

“Because,”

Coming to a conclusion, there was only one way to settle the issues laid bare in his sight. Continuing the dance of swords, he suddenly knelt instead of deflecting the girl’s katana, swinging his sword straight at her lower abdomen, a strike that for sure would slice through and end her life. Widening her eyes, the girl quickly moved her hips backward to evade it. But–

“–Hk!”

“I’d rather not feel my soul waver just so I can meet the ends.”

With a clang echoing throughout the air, the katana launched into the air, spinning until it hit the ground nearby. Stiff in shock, the girl fell on her bottom. But as Dathan pointed the tip of his sword at her face, she began to realize what had happened.

“Tsk, you were aiming for the handle the whole time. Are you wanting to respond to the call of the void?”

“You’re a smart lady, you know. Now, let's have a more proper discussion.” He chuckled as he quickly placed his sword back into its sheath.

The girl that day saw the birth of a knight, who showed no mercy in letting anyone keep him from pursuing his goal in the way he wanted.