3: Dinn

As he was tumbling in the air, only inches away toward being cleaved in half, a burst of adrenaline spread through Zayer's body. He barely had enough time and his positioning was unfavorable in midair but a desperate struggle to survive overwhelmed him, kicking all of his senses into overdrive. 'There's still a chance!'

Right before the broadsword was about to split his skull, Zayer's bandaged foot skimmed the ground and violently flexed. The worn out wraps on his foot tore under the friction and heat he released blasting himself forward.

Forcing that one point of his body to redirect himself, Werty was left the image of a flashing red blur.

A bloody, cutting noise ripped through Zayer's undefended shoulder and continued cutting through. The wide sword was making it's way through, grazing his left shoulder as Zayer bent his knees bringing himself closer to the ground. He was now set to clip Werty's lower half at an uncontrollable speed.

~Tsuuususu~

Werty was sent sliding back, as an injured Zayer landed flat on his face where the two had just collided. With blood seeping out his shoulder. Zayer quickly sprang back up to his feet. Seemingly unfazed; he only gasped for air as if he was resting after a light run.

"Fuck! You kicked him too hard Nito!" The frustrated captain reprimanded his subordinate.

"Sorry Ca-!"

"Fuck you!"

"Stop interruptin me n shit..." Sulking to himself Nito kept a safe distance as he analyzed the panting Zayer.

Werty understood that it wasn't really a mistake by Nito, contrary to that the setup was perfect. It was the unknown factor of their opponents true strength that frustrated him. The feeling in his legs was slowly coming back but his smaller opponent was already up after that impact.

As Werty also got off his back and prepared himself he eyed the lightly panting Zayer with even more focus. Silence filled the giant empty hall as Zayer was now standing facing Werty, with Nito an equal distance away behind him. He was clutching his injured shoulder but did not wince in pain.

Throwing away Dinn's sword, Nito also got into a battle ready stance. After catching his breath Zayer turned towards him and let out a provocative smirk.

"What you smilin' about bitch?"

"Two on one and that's all you can do?" An adult atmosphere surrounded Zayer as he snickered. Relaxing his stance a little Zayer gestured for Nito to come with his left hand.

Nito again glanced over at the pathetic looking kid caressing his wounded shoulder. Responding back with his own smirk Nito stood up straight and relaxed his stance.

"You think I give a fuck. I mean look at yourself. Ain't like it's gonna change the outco-"

"Bring it on!" Zayer interrupted Nito's retort as he continued for the older boy to attack.

"Yo! I'm tired of bei-"

"BRING IT!"

"DON'T TALK OVER ME BRAT!"

Jumping straight ahead, the angered thirteen year old was determined to crush the young boy mocking him.

As if anticipating this, the child bust forth at an even greater speed almost instantly after Nito's charge. At his back was the captain left lagging behind as the two in front of him prepared to clash. Werty couldn't help but internally at his subordinates easily provoked personality but he knew an opening would eventually show itself.

-

Nito was racing forward ready to clash with Zayer, when he noticed the boy take off, probably for another drop kick.

Instead of dodging or trying to stop in a panic he stopped running and advanced in a slide forward on the dusty floor. He put up his arms, not to defend, but ready to attack.

Zayer responded as well, shifting himself in midair as an armored left hand swung at him. He turned and lightly hopped back off the fist towards the left as a right hand followed the left and slammed over the empty space he once occupied.

"Hup!"

Dashing to the left as well after regaining himself, Nito closed in as Zayer landed. Reaching close enough that his killing intent was just one step away to becoming a physical reality, he was met with a large cloud of dust. Directly above him a shadow flew by as he coughed on aged dirt Zayer had just kicked up.

"Stop *cough* hopping around YOU- *cough*cough* FUCKING RABBIT-ASS-HOPPING-PIECE-OF-SHIT!"

As he landed a distance away Zayer let out a brief, quiet laugh. As the fluttering deteriorating debris in the air settled around Zayer's feet it also flew into the open wound on his shoulder and he shuddered at the stinging pain.

Resisting the urge to touch the gash he painfully made his way over to the sword Nito had just thrown aside moments before. Making his way forward he caught sight of Werty. The captain knew what Zayer was up to and was also now making a beeline for the free weapon with his own sword in hand.

A goofy smile stretched across Werty's naturally serious face (probably a good reason he always had his stiff and stoic expression). 'This kid must think I'm some kind of moron.' Getting closer to the blade, he could hear the boy getting closer to him.

After reaching the sword Werty planted his foot on the sword and pivoted himself to face Zayer. His vision however took a second to readjust as the image of a pair feet, one wrapped in dirty wraps and a barefoot filled his sight.

The moment he turned around, his face was greeted with the pair of feet that firmly planted themselves square on his face. A painful cracking noise and numbing, almost imaginary feeling sensation spread across Werty's face was his nose was kicked into his skull.

~Tsususuuuu~

As he was sent flying away yet again, Werty lost grip of his giant-slingshot-turned-broadsword. He immediately lost conciseness to the sound of a dying silence around him.

-

Moments later the sound of clashing metal echoed in the large empty room as Werty slowly lifted his now bloody face to see Nito and Zayer going at it, blade to gauntlet.

~Shing~

As the two fiercly faced off against each other, the recently drop kicked captain watched, as he achingly picked himself up. Trying to fix his bloody nose, he watched as Zayer struggled to grasp the sword he just struggled to retrieve.

Shing.

Just barely deflecting an armored right fist aimed directly at him Zayer jumped back as his rugged breathing filled his ears. The boy was left handed and being constantly impeded by his injured arm. This in correlation with his inexperience with handling bladed weapons barely kept him alive.

"Hup!"

Nito leaped forward letting loose a combo of fists. Constantly dodging and deflecting all of Nito's aggressive attacks was all he could manage. He was not a practitioner of the sword and his experience with most weapons as was limited to basic use.

Catching his breath he gripped on the handle tightly with his blood drenched left hand, trying his best to force his body to remain firm as blood was still slowly seeping out of his wound. In the corner of his eye he could see Werty getting closer with his own sword.

Werty placed himself an even distance away from the panting fighters. All three were now positioned in a neutral triangle. 'This kid has some pretty high stamina. Nito is just as tired as he is,' Werty cautiously observed.

"*Inhale*Stop fucking dodging you bitch!" Nito demanded. He could barely keeping his breath under control, trying his best to not show how tired he really was.

"*Pant*Pant*You're pretty strong even though you look like a giant walking stick. *Pant*You look part twig so I underestimated you." Zayer continued with his insults in his childish monotone voice.

"SHUT THE FU-," as he was getting ready to start again Nito was interrupted yet again.

"STOP FALLING FOR HIS PROVOCATIONS YOU DIMWIT! He's just trying to bait you," Werty said with an obviously annoyed tone.

"Not again Cap'n." Nito responded with sadness in his small voice after being interrupted yet again mid-sentence. As his bony face looking down dejectedly, a loud tap resounded in front of him.

The second he lifted his eyes back up, his gauntlet covered fists quickly came up to cover his face as Zayer was only a meter away from his face ready with another one of his signature drop kicks.

As Nito was pushed off balance he tried his best to remain stable as the pair of feet planted themselves onto his arms.

Using Nito, Zayer jumped towards Werty with his sword in hand stretching behind his back.

Getting ready for an over head slash, the bloody nosed captain started sliding to the side before he noticed the sword Zayer held was now spinning towards him.

"Ughh."

Looking down to his side he noticed Dinn's sword embedded into his side. And as a sensation of pain swept over him he couldn't brace himself for the next one of Zayer's attack as the young boy ran forwards and leaped in to attack.

Trying yet again to lift his sword in response to the incoming attack, he was too slow on the guard as Zayer managed to kick his sword out of his grasp.

Jumping away from a now stumbling Werty, Zayer caught glimpse of Nito making his way towards the two. 'Not yet.' Quickly responding Zayer jumped in again at Werty but this time knee first.

Without landing Zayer was still soaring through the air as his knee smashed into Werty's already bloody face. Werty's body violently plopped to the ground as Zayer distanced himself.

"Ayyauuurrrghhh!" Nito dashed his way towards Werty who passed out yet again after another shot to the face.

'Shit.' Zayer winced again as more dust settled in his wound. The dusty room was now covered in footprints, streaks, and blood as clouds of dust were slowly setting themselves down.

"Captain! Get up!" Crouching down, Nito was bawling as he shook his captain again and again. Blood spew across his chest and all over the floor from Werty's thoroughly beaten face. "Captain! you gotta wa-!"

"Jhut sha 'uck UUUPPPP!"

"CAPTAAAAIIIN!" A teary eyed Nito hugged his injured Captain's head with no regard for towards his obviously painful condition.

As Werty's smothered cries to let go reached his ears, Zayer was grabbing at his wound as he crouched down. Regaining his breath he carefully watched the two. 'That was too much.'

"Haa~Huu~Haa~Huu~Haa~"

As he watched the two completely ignore him, he recollected his stamina in safety. He was at his limits but he wasn't gonna be going down without a fight. He had struggled to protect his home for far too long in memory of Riaz.

"Captain are you alright! *Sniff*Sniff* I thought I lost you there for a se-"

---SNAP---

Being interrupted yet again, Nito snapped his head towards Zayer's direction. This time however he wasn't interrupted by any sound but by a numbing aura and he wasn't alone. The injured Werty painfully turned his head towards the same direction but he wasn't looking at Zayer.

Zayer himself was also now looking at what the other two were looking at. A strange wave of an eerie feeling full of fear washed over all three of them.

*Shiver*

Their primal instincts in their heads were on full blast, sounding the alarms all over as they shivered in silence and turned their full attention to the room's enterance.

Suddenly the doorway exploded and cloud of dust swept through the already dust covered room.

Bits and pieces of ruble were starting to roll down the sides of the broken doorway as a wave of dust flew through the room.

Zayer didn't even bother to stop the microscopic debris from sliding into his gash as his hands covered his face and he squinted to make view of what was to come next.

~SHINE~

Footsteps rang through the room as the dust had started to settle and the bits of crumbling rock had traveled their full distance. A shadow was walking towards them with what appeared to be a glowing white sword in hand.

A head slowly became visible as the figure emerged from the plume of smoke. Standing there a familiar figure with brown hair made his way over before stopping far away from the three. Standing with a glowing white sword that looked to be made of light, a pair of blue eyes that were eerily glowing as well, sclera and all, looked over at them.

"Di-Dinn..."

----------

"He-Ha~!"

In a mountain's cave, the cry of an elderly man echoed along the walls outside into the summer night air outside. "The tides are beginning to pull."

With an immediate attitude he grabs his long garbs and makes his way out the cave without grabbing any of his scattered items scattered across the cave.

Outside the two moons shone brightly. Unlike the smaller and more stable blue half moon on the horizon the full white moon high above the valley slowly shifted into a deep red and then back into it's calm white occasionally. The elderly priest carefully made his way down the summer valley.

"After centuries, the tides are being pulled. Let's hope these waves soar high and crash hard," the old man chuckled.

---------

All around the world, words of warning to darkening and unpredictable times were relayed to every kingdom/nation. All forms of clairvoyance were rendered useless and all religious groups began to warn of these dark ages to come to the rulers of society.

CHAPTER 3 END