The sword battle began in earnest with no additional preamble. The blades clashed and sang as they whipped through the air. It was not a duel with rules and bounds; rather, it was an outright fight to the death. Rezkin spun as the grandmaster’s blade sliced through the hood that hung from his back. The man was fast and determined. The young warrior dropped to the ground to avoid another swing aimed at his head. He popped back to his feet and sliced at the grandmaster’s legs, barely nicking the man’s thigh as he pulled back his leg. Rezkin had scored first blood, but it was only last blood that mattered.

Rezkin thrust his body forward to ram the assassin, but the man was too fast and swept out of the way. The young warrior tucked into a roll and came to his feet, Kingslayer in his right hand whipping over his body to intercept the swipe from behind that might have separated his head from his shoulders. As the blades clashed, he twisted his form, bringing Bladesunder across the grandmaster’s midsection. The blade gouged into the man’s leather armor but did not pierce his flesh as the swordmaster darted aside.

The grandmaster lobbed a dagger at the Raven, which the young warrior deftly deflected with a flick of his blade. Rezkin ran at the older man, catching him in a flurry of strikes and thrusts, which the grandmaster met with determination. Ultimately, the older man was unable to contend with the speed, agility, and dual-blade techniques employed by the young warrior. In fact, many of the techniques and combinations he had never before seen. At times, the Raven did not seem to have any technique at all, switching between beautiful, sensuous sword forms one moment and then becoming an uncouth brawler the next. The grandmaster observed steps and stances reminiscent of nearly every kingdom the assassin had seen, and yet he could not put a name to the style. The Raven was completely unpredictable, and that was the grandmaster’s undoing.

The grandmaster lunged expecting the Raven to parry or dodge, but he did neither. In an unprecedented flash of speed, the warrior slapped one of his blades on either side of the grandmaster’s, grasped both hilts in one hand and then shoved the grandmaster’s sword aside, forcing him to either let go or cross his arm over his body. Opting for the latter, the grandmaster’s arm was trapped when the younger man lunged forward and enwrapped the grandmaster in an iron embrace. Rezkin shifted his grip to drop one of the swords and brought the pommel of the other around into the grandmaster’s temple. He struck the man with enough force to split the skin but not so hard as to knock him out completely.