A Story About A Warrior

Exhaustion and fatigue seemed to weigh heavily upon the youth's shoulders. His head nodded involuntarily and his eyes slowly blinked. The tip of his sword slowly fell to the earth and his grip on the hilt was slowly being loosed.

"Where is your master now, boy?" said a voice from nearby. "Where is the warrior that is your father?"

The youth slowly looked up at his assailant. He was a man fully clad in pitch-black armor. He raised his sword and attempted to swing at him but the assailant simply stepped back at the weak attempt.

"You are nothing without him. You are worthless. You are weak."

The youth's knees were weakening. He realized that he was being subjected to Speech-craft. Simply by words he was being defeated and his strength was being sapped from him.

He fell to his knees and struck his sword to the ground and leaned on it. He felt tired.

"Let me just close my eyes for a second," he thought. He brought his forehead to the hilt and his eyes slowly closed. His final glimpse of consciousness was his hilt and his sword. It reminded him of the cross.

The assailant drew out his own sword.

"Yes, you are nothing. You are better off giving up. This will all be over soon." He raised his sword high and prepared to strike down the youth.

"What are you?" asked a voice somewhere deep within the youth's spirit.

"What do you mean?" replied the boy.

"What are you?"

"I don't..."

"What are you?" The voice was small yet still.

Realization grew in the boy. He suddenly felt a burst of energy rising from within him.

"I am... I am a warrior." His eyes slowly opened.

"I am a warrior!" The sword was coming down at him.

"I AM a warrior!" The youth rolled back and declared it again, "I am a warrior." He narrowly missed the swing of the sword. He was laughing now. His energy returned to him.

The assailant was surprised. The youth lunged at his sword and plucked it out of the ground. He swung it at the assailant who parried with his own sword.

"How can this be?" the assailant was confused. "My Speech-craft has lost its effect. But how?"

"You cannot defeat me. Not now. Because I am a warrior!" In a quick step the youth twirled himself and swung hard at the assailant hitting the armor and cracking it. The assailant reeled back and felt for the crack.

"This is not over. This is far from over." The assailant leaped backwards and disappeared into black smoke.

The youth was smiling and laughing. He was glad to have survived the battle.

"I am a warrior. I am a warrior like my Father."

He smiled and looked up at the sky and whispered, "Thank you... Father."