The clang of steel echoed faintly in the training yard as Vayu's dagger struck the wooden dummy's neck. Sweat traced a line down his jaw, his breath steady but eyes slightly unfocused. The sting of yesterday's failed observation test still lingered in his mind. Even though his instructor told him he passed but he knew he did poorly.
I thought I had noticed everything… yet I missed, I clearly overestimated again.
The memory of his instructor's quiet shake of the head still gnawed at him.
"Hey, did you hear?" Vayu turned. Two trainees had stopped nearby, voices lowered in excited whispers.
"Shen's gonna challenge someone from the Hunter Squad".
"No way REALLY?".
"But This time its different, they say if he wins, he'll be the youngest to ever join the hunter squad".
Vayu froze mid step "Shen" A calm, unreadable face came to mind. A fighter whose skill were unmatched among his peers, champion of last challenger festival.
Challenges weren't unusual the Hunter Squad was an elite force, and every year, hot headed fighters tried to prove themselves. Most walked away bloodied and humiliated. Some won and joined the squad, but still some pillars were there in hunter squad who had remain unchanged for more then a decade.
But Shen? Shen was different, and Vayu knew it, Shen's unlike others wont go for the weakest he will go for the strongest .
Three days later
The central arena where the village gathered for festivals or any announcements was alive with noise. Nearly everyone was there, packed shoulder to shoulder with spectators , veterans, merchants who had closed shop early just to watch this fight. Word had spread fast that, Shen was challenging the leader of the Hunter Squad.
AFTER sometime Shen arrived.....
1st elder rose up from her seat and said "whom u wish to challenge Shen?".
"I wish to challenge the Squad leader of hunter squad"
"You can't challenge the leader directly," 1st elders voice carried over the crowd, sharp and clear. "You first have to be part of the squad before you can challenge the leader".
A ripple of murmurs passed through the stands.
Shen, standing in the arena's center, seem to be lost in thought "Then," his voice was calm, he said "Then I'll fight the highest rank I'm allowed to challenge."
The 1st elder announced "That would be the Right Vice Commander."
Gasps, That was no small leap. The Vice Commander was known for his ruthlessness, efficient style and brutal nature.
The Vice-Commander stepped forward, Tarak was lean and scarred, with eyes like cold iron, at his waist hung twin curved daggers, their steel blackened to kill the gleam of the daggers.
As the say everyone has their own story , Tarak the right vice commander also had one. He was not always this cold and ruthless. Once, he had been a gentle boy, content to spend his days with his father's in carpentry stall. He and his father crafted doors, tables, and chairs for the townsfolk . But one evening changed his life, as they had almost finished shaping an wooden door, the last order of the day. Most vendors had already shut their stalls and left, the market falling into its usual quiet.
BUT the quiet was shattered with the low, predatory growls.
A pack of wolves, thin and desperate from the drought, rushed into the market. With security patrols absent, there was no one to stand in their way. Tarak's father acted on instinct shoving his son behind the stall's counter and stepping forward with nothing but a half-finished plank clutched in his hands.
Tarak could only watch through the narrow gaps in the wood. He saw the wolves circle his father and saw his father try to ward them off, heard the snap of teeth and the heavy thud of his body falling . By the time help arrived, the wolves scattered… and his father lay still, blood pooling beneath the door he wanted to finish.
In the weeks after the attack.
Tarak's hands, which once used to shape wood, now gripped weapons. The warmth in his gaze was replaced by revenge. For the next 3 years he trained and worked hard and joined the Hunter Squad.
Months later after joining the hunter squad, deep in the forests beyond the safe borders, he found them. The same pack the same eyes, but this time he was the predator, he did not hesitate. The fight was a blur of steel and blood, his twin curved daggers flashing like slivers of night. One by one, the wolves fell, their snarls cut short, until the forest floor was silent except for his ragged breathing.
When it was done, Tarak skinned every last one of them. The pelts, still smelling faintly of the wild, were carried back home and nailed to the walls of his house. To others, it was creepy but for him they were trophies.
From that day on, people spoke his name unease. He had avenged his father… but some whispered that in killing the beasts, Tarak had became a beast himself.
Shen drew his own shorter, single edged blades, thin edged like wings. He stood relaxed, almost too relaxed. But Vayu could see it, the weight on Shen's stance, the way his feet seemed anchored to the ground, ready to move at the smallest shift with the opponents movement.
Then the 1st elder announced "NO killing or underhand methods are allowed".
The bell rang.
The Vice-Commander moved first a blur of dark steel.
Shen sidestepped, daggers flashing up to deflect. The clash rang sharp, but before Shen could strike, the Vice-Commander spun low, slashing a dagger toward Shen's ankle.
Shen hopped back, the strike missed cutting the air where his foot had been, The crowd roared.
They circled. The Vice-Commander feinted left but Shen didn't follow, then the vice commander darted in close, aiming for the ribs. Shen's left dagger caught the blow, while his right slicing toward the Vice-Commander's shoulder. A twist, a lock, and for a heartbeat they were chest-to-chest, blades grinding.
The Vice-Commander broke first, pushing Shen back with a sharp kick to the shin. Shen staggered a step , but enough for the Vice-Commander to launch a furry of attacks.
It was a storm of cuts and thrusts, each one angled to kill. Shen's defense was precise, his blades snapping up at impossible angles, sparks flying as steel met steel. But every parry cost him ground. His knuckles split, blood streaking the hilts.
A shallow cut bloomed on Shen's forearm. Then another across his thigh.
The Vice-Commander was smiling like he was enjoying.
Vayu leaned forward in the stands. Something felt off. Shen was holding back. The pace, the reach, the angles… none of it was the ruthless efficiency Vayu knew he was capable of.
And then it happened.
A feint from the Vice-Commander drew Shen's guard high but the real attack aimed low, the dagger was aimed at Shen's abdomen. As the dagger reached the abdomen .
STAB.