ONE
Sweat runs down my bare back as I take an uneven breath. My arms and hands, tired from routine exercise, hold a death grip on the hilt of the heavy broadsword. Three hours of this every morning gets tiring. I lower the tip of the blade to the ground and pry my fingers from it. The air outside was cool and dry. The cold breeze whispering through the trees sends a chill down my spine. The Copse was a great place to train. A little over thirty miles of trees in every direction along with the threat of Wisps kept most people away making it the perfect training area for me. It's always unnaturally quiet in the Copse with the constant light wind and rustling of the leaves being the only noise. Well... Except for the occasional shriek of a Wisp.
A wisp is a soul of a demon who couldn't make it back into hell. They were given a task by a higher up and failed. No need for the useless in hell I guess. Something about this place just attracts them.
I stretch my arms out above my head and let out a long yawn. "That's enough for this morning."
"Eeeaaaahhhh!!!" A loud screech breaks the silence as a figure stumbles at full speed out of the dense foliage and face plants into the manicure grass of my clearing. I let out a sigh of annoyance. I massage my temple with my fingers.
"What is it, Ed?" I ask. Ed drags himself to his feet, his clothes and hair in disarray. "She's trying to kill me!" He exclaims pointing a shaky finger towards the trees that he just ran out of. She? Who, other than Ed and I, would be out here?
"Who's she?" I ask. Ed glares at me with wide eyes and waves his arms wildly. "Did you think I just so happened to ask for her name as I was running for my damn life?" He shouts.
A cold laughter cuts through the air and a singing voice calls out. "I found you..." The leaves in front of us rustle as a shadow begins to come out of the woods. Sharp wild eyes, gleeful and murderous look over Ed. Her tongue runs itself over shining teeth hungrily. Her sword glints dangerously in the morning light. She was only a child, but she was also a demon. I grab my sword and point it towards her.
"Who are you?" I demand. Her silver hair blows lightly in the wind as she studies the new threat, me.
"Not a target." She finally says. I hold my sword even straighter as I firmly place myself in between her and Ed.
"You're trying to kill my friend. You'll have to go through me to get to him." I state calmly.
"You're friends with a lich?" She asks incredulously. I nod and Ed whimpers that it's true. She shakes her head clearing her mind. She looks down at her sword and starts biting her thumb, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"How does a lich have a friend? Is it right to kill something with a friend?" She starts muttering to herself. I nudge Ed with my foot and glace at him. I jerk my head to the trees, mentally telling him to run. He wipes his tears and puts on a brave face. He slowly gets up.
"Why? Why? Why? Why do I always have to do this?" She suddenly shouts. She she rips into the flesh of her thumb with her teeth and runs the blood along the edge of her blade. The blade changes from a smooth rapier to a black sword made of jagged metal as she leaps towards Ed with so much force the ground beneath her splinters into a crater.
"I'll kill you!" She screams. I didn't have any time to react, I only had time to realize that I was going to lose my only friend. Right as her cursed blade reaches Ed's throat... "Enough, Atreya." Her sword drops from his throat just as fast as it had touched it. A young man in a blood red suit steps on the scene. Atreya, her name I guess, immediately steps beside him.
"Sorry about that, friend. Young demons are just so hard to control."
