Callous Whispers
Prompt
Another fight, done and dusted--merely a typical day in Avenix. The strategic city, with its abundant resources, had been a key battleground of the neighboring states for centuries. Zandor felt he was getting too old for this. Of proud warrior lineage, he had inherited his post as Captain of the Guards from his father, and tomorrow, he would have to pass on the honor and responsibility to the next generation. But as he cleaned the blood off his sword, he could not help but wonder whether that was the destiny he truly wished for his daughter.
300 Words Limit
“Father!?” Adelin whipped her head around as deafening clashes echoed. Screams of rage and pain blended into the chaos, creating a symphony of violence.
She scanned the battlefield, searching for her father’s slate gray armor. Small skirmishes dotted the landscape. Battle standards lay broken and torn, the smell of smoke hung heavy in the air. Her city, her home, was burning.
Low parry...now.
Adelin swung her sword down on her right side, snapping her blade up, deflecting a spear aimed at the exposed segment of her leg plating. The spearman tried to pull back, but it was too late. His spear now lodged in the jagged teeth of her blade. Adelin smiled, loving the weapon her father had given her. It never left her side. Smooth and curved on one edge, cruel and serrated on the other.
She drove her sword point down, breaking the spear. Before the soldier could react, Adelin backhanded him, sending him spiraling. She dislodged the broken spear from her blade and threw it at his leg as he crawled away. The boy screamed. There was no time for mercy. Where was her father?
She sighed, lifted her sword, and decapitated him swiftly.
She needed her father to see. To understand. She had sent for them. She had shown them how to bypass Avenix’s defenses. Peace had made them complacent. It wasn’t enough to inherit the title of captain; she had to earn it in blood.
Look to the north.
To her left, her father cut through enemy soldiers, deadly, beautiful and precise. His gray armor melting like smoke through the collapsing bodies, dual blades striking without error. It was glorious.
Adelin, entranced, drifted towards the carnage. A gauntleted hand rising to cover her mouth, blood still dripping down the knuckles, she hid her smile.