Dragon Knights -Kirin- CH 2

Dragon Knights - Kirin
Pheonix DeLoures
Chapter Two

The sun was beating down on his leather armor,
shining blissfully off the silver blade of his sword, his boots
sinking softly the short distance into the sand at his feet as he
braced himself. His long, dark hair was tied back; he'd learned
from the last battle. His dark eyes focused and unfocused, allowing
him to see his opponent and know him, not as a friend, but as an
obstacle. An object in the way of him becoming the Knight he knew he
was destined to be.

Again, the buzzer rang, piercing his thoughts, and he sprang forward, his sword sliding fluidly through the air, clashing against Fahren's sword, the ring of metal in their ears and their arms. Kirin gritted his teeth and pushed forward, his push braced against Fahren's resistance, and there
they stayed, neither giving way, eyes locked.

"I will kill you, Kirin," hissed Fahren though gritted teeth, "I will be the Knight, not you. I will not share my glory."

Slightly taken back by this display of sheer hatred, Kirin's
resistance slipped a fraction. Taking advantage of the moment, Fahren
thrust his blade against Kirin's, throwing him backwards a step. His blade came down at Kirin, who reacted out of sheer instinct and threw his sword up to block the hit. Steel rang out again, sword scraping against sword as Fahren bore down on Kirin.

Kirin slid his sword down the length of Fahren's sword. He was about to
take a risk, and had to lock his sword against the cross guard of Fahren's. With a heavy push, he released his left hand and punched Fahren in the stomach, causing him to drop his guard and double over.

He whirled around to gain momentum, and slashed his sword for Fahren's head but was blocked and took the opportunity to step backwards, and await Fahren's next move.

It was not long in coming, and Fahren attacked him, sword raised, rage in his eyes. Kirin calmly sidestepped, leg outstretched, and Fahren tripped, falling to the ground with sand spraying outward.

Kirin knew from his training that attacking in anger was a mistake, and knew of Fahren's affinity for rage. It was only a matter of time before he got too angry and made a huge mistake, leaving Kirin the win.

Fahren rose from the sand, his eyes flaring in rage and his face contorted in anger. He charged Kirin again, sword out to his left side. Kirin stood watching him calmly, contemplating his next move. He knew that the Lords wanted to see a real battle, but it was Fahren who would suffer humiliation if the battle went on too long.

Again Kirin  sidestepped, letting Fahren brush past him as he swung his sword and hit Fahren in the back of the knees with the flat of his blade. The hit was a hard one, and Fahren tumbled to the sand again.

"Finish him!" yelled someone from the stands. Kirin's eyes flicked to the side, to see the Copper Lord on his feet, leaning far onto the railing around the arena. "Finish him!" he shouted again, pounding his fists on the rail. Kirin looked down at Fahren who was beginning to rise, strain obvious in his movements. He felt the urge to give the other male a kick, but simply stood still, unsure of what the next move was. He could kill Fahren, the person he'd known the longest, the boy he used to be friends with, and now his rival. If he did that, he had little doubt that the Copper Lord would welcome him into his ranks. But he was still unsure that was how he wanted to be branded.

He bent and offered his hand to the rising Fahren, who simply stared at the proffered hand as if it had some kind of infectious disease and then batted it away angrily.

With a shake of his head, Kirin turned to face his General and the Lords, unsure of where to go from here. The
General nodded at him, but his face quickly changed to alarm, and Kirin whirled around, instinctively raising his sword up, and gasped as he was thrown backwards, his sword barely blocking Fahren's unexpected attack. He landed on his back in the sand, his sword barely resisting the sword that was itching to taste his blood. The young Soldier pulled his feet up, and pushed against Fahren, throwing
him backwards long enough for him to regain his feet, and block the next attack.

"You will not win that way Kirin," whispered Fahren, contempt plain on his face. He stabbed his sword toward Kirin, who dodged nimbly to the side.

The two split apart and stood facing each other. Kirin glared at his opponent, his heart beating quickly, a few strands of long hair falling across his dark brown eyes. His breath was coming faster, but by no means was he tired yet. He flicked a quick glance at his General and the Lords, but they seemed so far away.

Without warning, Fahren swung his fist at Kirin's head. The punch landed, his fist connecting
squarely with Kirin's jaw, knocking him onto his right hip, once more in the sand.

Kirin raised his sword, swinging at Fahren's chest, while at the same time swinging his feet towards his opponent's knees. As Kirin predicted, Fahren blocked the sword, the ring of metal on metal sounding through the now filling arena. Not seeing the kick aimed at the back of his knees, Fahren took the hit and crashed backwards onto the sand.

With a speed usually reserved for animals, Kirin leaped to his feet, and swooped down on Fahren, his left knee pressed against the other male's ribcage, his right knee holding down Fahren's sword arm. His silver blade flashed down and bit into the flesh at Fahren's throat. Beneath his knees, he could feel that his opponent was breathing heavily; his heart was beating unnaturally quickly, but Fahren's green eyes still showed defiance and pride.

"Finish him," commanded a voice from somewhere in the stands. He shot a quick glance into the crowd, and saw the Copper Lord on his feet, leaned precariously out from the railing, one fist outstretched. "Kill him!" he yelled hysterically.

Taken aback, Kirin looked down at the boy whose throat was beneath his sword. Kill him? Kirin could hardly see why. This was simply a routine duel; true it was for the big prize, but it was hardly worth killing a fellow Soldier. Under his sword Fahren pressed upwards against the blade and squeezed his eyes closed, waiting for the killing stroke.

Kirin stood and faced his General, the two, calmer Lords, and the Copper Lord, who was spewing forth curses. He nodded to his General, who returned the nod; the victory was acknowledged. He couldn't see the eyes of the two Lord's, but he could feel them on him as he turned and headed back to the entrance way. Whatever came of that, he would know soon enough.

A cry of rage drew his attention back to the battlefield behind him, and Kirin whirled around just in time to see Fahren rushing toward him, sword point raised toward Kirin's heart, a blind rage in his eyes. The sword pierced through Kirin's flesh just beneath his ribs, and Fahren thrust hard against the sword, throwing his weight against Kirin and the blade buried in him. The two men toppled backwards, Kirin on the bottom, into the sand.

And then the world went black.