• Chapter one: Arreth


    It was a warm evening and the humid summer air was calling out the mosqitos. The sun was low and the sky turned a mellow orange. The birds cooed and the cicidads buzzed. In the dense woods of the tall mountains, a group of thieves retreated into the shadows and called it a night.

    "Great work men, we must have taken the entire lot!" The head of the group laughed and the others joined him. They took cups and thanked the gods for giving them 'what they rightly earned.'
    They cooled down and started a fire. After a moment of looking over their things, one of the men bolted up. "Where's Gid?!" He started throwing around the blankets, and began to panic. The other men scanned around. "He was here a moment ago..." Said one voice. "Didn't he lag behind?" Said another.
    The leader stayed quiet, thinking to himself.

    Suddenly, a bloody shriek echoed through the woods, followed by the sound of metal knives slicing against eachother like a chainsaw. All of the men bolted up! "Gid!!" One man shouted, but the leader slapped him. "Quiet! Do you realise what has happened!?" The men looked at the leader. "...There's a bounty hunter after us now... and if I'm right-"
    Just as the leader was about to finish, the hunter himself came into view-dresses in a casual summer kimono with black tied pants, holding an impressive double curved sword that had three knives hidden within each of the blades. "Hello, Ladies," he said mockingly, "I'm here to take you to the nearest exchange station." He smirked and held up the sword, which was bathed in blood. "And I don't give a crap if I'm going to carry all of you there-dead or not."

    The leader glared at him. "Arreth, you have nerve standing in the presence of the leader of the 12 thieves. We're the finest of the thieves in the area!" One man pointed at Arreth. "You'll get it for messing with Gid and Leader Welson!"
    Arreth laughed and pointed back. "Twelve? I only see eleven." Welson grinded his teeth and yelled, "Get him, boys!"
    Arreth's eyes went into a cold glare, and in a flash, all of the men but Welson were on the ground. Welson found himself against a tree-his neck trapped between the two curved blades. "H-how did..." Welson went white, and his hands shook. Arreth did not move.
    "Do you want to give up your pathetic life like those fools?" Arreth rested his finger on top of a circular switch on the hilt of his sword. Welson stared at the hunter's hand and shuttered.
    "Is it true...? What they say about your sword?" His voice stuttered. "They say your sword is a demon that shreds people to nothing with no mercy."
    Arreth smiled, "You're stalling."
    Welson screamed, and grabbed Arreth's hand, trying to stop him. "NO! I'm beg you! Don't kill me like the others... Let me go please! I can't go to the exchange, you don't understand what they'll do to me!"
    The hunter slapped Welson's hand. "I'll let you confirm your rumors." Arreth tapped the switch, and the large hilt opened a serries of shutters. When the last one opened, a pair of deformed eyes on a layer of dead skin opened and shot a gaze at Welson. Without a moment for Welson to react, the sword went wild and tore down the tree along with Welson's body. The wooden giant fell and it's boom roared through the mountains.

    All of the birds went quiet. The sun was down and oddly, the mosquitos had vanished.