The former human being that was Zeke appeared to me as a bloody visage. Her clothes now mere tatters, her face and skin covered in crimson liquid. Blood stained the ground beneath her, the expression she wore was that of complete exhaustion. Once lively eyes were now dull and glossy. I sensed that she would drift into unconsciousness within seconds. Some how, though, she stood, and held a cutlass firmly in her right hand. She spoke in between short, stuttering breathes. “Let’s finish this...” she held up her sword and prepared to attack. I poised myself as well, ready to strike.
The mere sight of her brought guilt unto my character. I couldn’t bring myself to just kill the obviously helpless woman. “Listen... we don’t need to do this.” I attempted to reason with her. “....we both can still leave this alive.”
“Shut ya... yap...” she struggled to speak, her breathing now audible from a distance. “You’re goin’ down.... just like... those other pricks...” she motioned her blade towards the wreckage out in the ocean. With that, she slid her bare feet in the sand and began charging at me with her cutlass raised high to attack. Now was the time, I knew it. I would have to end this life to preserve my own. I pushed my body with the little energy left in my legs, and jetted towards Zeke. Sand clouded in a trail behind the both of us as we bolted, our weapons cocked to kill. Despite the resistance from the sand, we both propelled at high speeds, deep battle roars accompanying our rallying charge.
As we approached each other, our blades clashed with a torrent of sparks and ferocity. Our swords grinded and growled against one another, each of us pushing to gain ground on the other. No thought traced either of our minds, killer instinct now controlling our bodies. A sudden change in weight alerted me, Zeke began spinning out of our deadlock and spun to attack me. I spun with her quickly. My sword reached around with a whistle in the wind as hers made an opposite motion. The blades missed one another.
They had found their targets in the flesh of myself and Zeke. I heard Zeke spurt out a gulp of agony or some similar sensation. An immense pain wracked my lower body, causing me to grind my teeth and grunt. I realized that my stomach had just been sliced open deep. Blood spilled heavily onto my feet and the ground beneath it. I began to fall backwards from the blow and I caught Zeke’s image in my eyes. My sword still lay buried deep in her clavicle and neck. She was a goner. I was to, I knew I would die now. But a lack of energy and blood prevented my mind to create the proper angst and sadness. Falling, I simply carried thoughts of how bothersome the impact would be. I blacked out before my body hit the sand.
“Do you understand now, Michael?” Des spoke in his beyond reality voice. I stared upon my felled target, a stone slab now in two pieces in front of me. My fine steel grasped tightly in hand, I viewed in near disbelief. But that wasn’t what this lesson was about. Quite the opposite. “Belief in one’s self, or the lack of disbelief is the defining factor in the mind of the warrior.”
“You mean, like....” I massaged the bottom of my chin in deep thought.
“Do not think!” Des’ voice became stern. “That is the key to success in battle. Do not allow your mind to hinder your body’s actions. Serenity of the mind is the only way you can allow your body to act, attack, and defend on it’s own. Free your mind and let the techniques burned into your consciousness defend you and your body.”
A sudden flash of sensation racked my body and my blade was side ways in the air before I knew it, slicing a large rock in half. It had been throne by Des, who now stood in front of me directly, as if challenging.
“You see how you allowed your body to defend itself? That is because you had no time to think, only to react.” Des stomped the ground in front of him and presented a short Kodachi* from his side. “However...” Suddenly, Des was rushing me at lightning speed, slashing from all direction. I panicked and my body halted all function. I simply fell backwards on my feet, attempting not to die. A foot shot into my gut and caused me to fly back several feet onto my back. I grunted in pain and looked to the sky yet again. The sun was becoming a familiar sight after having my ass beat. “See what you just did? Clearing your mind allowed you to attack and defend against small, or unthreatening obstacles.”
Des began the process of retying his hair in a more comfortable fashion. I stay on the ground groaning as I listened to his hard lesson. “You must learn to completely free your mind and senses, and don’t allow a human opponent to frighten you. Thought must be left behind, you must fight by instinct. You must move and react by this alone. Otherwise, a skilled opponent will kill you. Never faulter, never retreat. That is the core of my teachings to you. Those are the teachings of our style... The school of...”
The sound of scattered voices and an steady beeping slowly shook me from my dream. My memory. I stared into a heavy bright light and for a moment, I thought I was on the fast track to the pearly gates.
“Listen! I’ll handle the expenses!” DW’s venomous shriek disproved that theory. “Shit!”
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*Kodachi: a japanese short sword, a step above a dagger.
