“So what are you guys saying we should do?” Hedger finally asked. “It’s not like it’s any of our business.” Rex shook his head and said, “The fact that we are the reason he got here makes it our business. Besides, the people on that convoy are soldiers. Me and Max were once soldiers too so we can’t just ignore this.” Maximus wasn’t really that loyal to the army. He knew that the armies of Ares ran more of a dictatorship than a kingdom. And their great leader Ares was actually an over-powerful madman who enjoyed the war more than he enjoyed the victory. But he was also not willing to have any more blood on his hands, intentional or not. That was part of the reason he left the army. “Let’s go and have a chat with our friend Mr. Hood,” Maximus said, “and if he’s up to what we fear let’s stop him.”
They moved as fast as they could to the cliff. When they got close enough Hedger glided higher to see if he could spot anything. “Hey guys, I can see our hooded friend waiting on top of the cliff,” he said, “and I think you called it right Max, I can see some movement at the end of the trail. I think it might be a pair of military vehicles.”
“Is the guy armed?” Rex asked.
“I can’t see him lighting up any bombs, if that’s what you mean.” Finally, they climbed to the top of the cliff (Hedger just flew) and when they reached there the man was already facing them. “Didn’t expect to see you three again,” he said.
“Yeah, well we were just wondering what you were doing all the way out here. It’s Not exactly the place for a stroll,” Hedger said.
The man turned back to face the trail. The convoy which Hedger had spotted earlier was clearly visible now. And it wasn’t just a single transport truck either, there were two armoured cars along with it for security. Maximus realized that whatever was being transported must be pretty valuable. “So what is it that you think I am doing?” the hooded man asked.
“Well, ambushing the military convoy heading our way with some explosives does come to mind,” Maximus said. The man turned to look at him but the expression on his face was still unchanged. “Well, you are only half correct,” he said. “I do plan to attack that convoy, but sadly I don’t have any explosives with me.”
Maximus was trying to figure out if this man was stupid or crazy. He was talking about taking on a heavily armed military convoy on his own and using what, just his sword. But what worried Maximus was the confidence with which he said he would do it. As if it was nothing more than child’s play. “You can see that we might not be very comfortable with letting you do that,” Rex said “after all it’s like you said we are ex-military.”
The man just looked at the ground. “I guess soldiers can’t easily forget their loyalty even if it is to a sadistic tyrant such as Ares,” he said this more to himself than to the others. Then he turned to Rex and said “This is not your fight so just walk away.” But Rex pulled out his gun and pointed it at the man then with a grin on face, he said “Sorry, I never learned how.”
For a second Maximus thought that it would end here without any further trouble. But he realized how wrong he was a few seconds later, because what happened next happened in a blur. In a flash, the man who was standing at least seven feet across was suddenly right near their noses. And the only thing faster than him was his sword. Maximus didn’t even remember seeing him draw his sword but by the time he was in front of them it was already in his hand. Then with one swift slash he took out Rex’s gun. At first Maximus thought he had just knocked the gun out his hand until he realized that Rex was still holding the gun’s handle. The man had actually chopped off the gun’s muzzle in one strike. Now it was Max’s turn, and before he could even reach for his sword the man gave a kick on his chest. Maximus was thrown back by this. It was like being hit by a hammer more than a kick, like his foot was made of iron or something. Then in another fluidic movement he had his sword at Hedger’s neck. Then he said, “Now, let’s talk.”
As a swordsman, Maximus couldn’t help but admire the man standing in front of him with a blade to his friend’s neck. He had never seen such refined swordsmanship in his life. And there were some pretty good swordsmen in the army. But none of them had this kind of speed and precision. And his sword, now that he finally got a look at it, he couldn’t call it anything lesser than a work of art. It was long and a bit broader than most blades and it had no curves. Instead the entire blade was straight and had sharp edges. The blade was silver and the hilt was black. Also, the hilt looked like it had been designed for royalty. It had magnificent carvings on it and had silver strands running across. It also had a dark blue gem at the place where the hilt and the blade met. Maximus knew that the sword was no ordinary weapon and he had no doubt that the one wielding it was any different. After all, he had just taken out their entire party, and even his cloak hadn’t come off.
The man stood there with the blade still on Hedger’s neck, but suddenly a rumble came from below them. The convoy had almost reached the bottom of the cliff. The man then sheathed his sword and said “I don’t have time for this.” Then he took Hedger by the shirt and threw him across, straight at Rex with enough force to knock him to the ground. Then he jumped off the cliff and amazingly just landed on his feet, or foot, as Maximus noticed that he let his left leg take most of the landing impact. Then he went and stood right in the middle of the trail waiting for the convoy.
The three of them finally got to their feet. “What do we do now?” Hedger asked. Rex looked down at where the man was standing, and said, “I guess we jump.” Maximus did not approve of this idea, he went to the edge of the cliff to look at the drop. He was sure that he wouldn’t die or anything, but he was also uncertain if he could walk away from it without a broken leg. “Umm, not sure if that’s a good idea Rex,” He said.
“Oh come on now we’ll be fine,” Rex said, and gave him a pat on his back. Too bad Maximus was standing a bit too close to the edge and the pat pushed him over it. In his panic Maximus grabbed on to the only thing he could, which was Hedger’s tail. Rex tried to catch them but it was useless, and he just ended up hurtling down along with them. They fell as a ball of hands, wings, and hooves, and landed roughly on the ground. Maximus finally got up from that mess and checked to see if he was alright. Luckily nothing was broken. Rex and Hedger got up too and Hedger said “Well that was fun,” shooting a dirty look at the other two.
The man barely took notice of the commotion they made. Maximus couldn’t blame him. With an entrance like that they wouldn’t have even scared a mouse. But Maximus had already decided that he was going to challenge the hooded man. Seeing him fight had stirred something inside him. Maximus was a good swordsman, but he knew that the man was better. But the thing was he just couldn’t resist trying to find out how much better. “Hey hood guy,” he said drawing his sword, “let’s settle this man to man, sword to … sheath.” Maximus had tried to pull out his sword from his backpack but he had forgotten one thing, the fact that he had only bought his cursed blade along with him today. So when he tried to take out the sword it came out of his bag with the sheath still intact.
“Why the hell do you have that thing with you?” Rex said from behind. But Maximus didn’t have time to reply as the army convoy had just reached them.