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CUT SHORT

A swallow flies by on the wind and sings such a happy tune. There is such a warm and gentle breeze blowing today, it's strange. I've come to this tree at the same time every day for the last month, but for some reason today just seems different. I guess it's because today is the day that I am going to die. You seem to notice things in a greater detail, like you were blind to everything before now, when you know that you are about to die. I smile to myself and look up in the tree. The swallow has landed in the upper branches and is preening its glistening blue feathers.

"How I envy you swallow. Able to travel the world, see new places, and if you don't like a place or you're in trouble...all you have to do is fly away." I look down at the rapier that is lying in my lap. How I wish I could just go away and forget all my troubles like the swallow. In the distance I can hear a pair of heavy boots crunching over loose rocks and dried leaves. I place my left hand on the base of the scabbard and follow the stitching to the guard.

How I wish I didn't have to fight this person, but by my honor I must do this. The sound of the person I have come to duel is getting closer. I look back up at the swallow. It has finished with cleaning its feathers and is now looking down at me. It chirps solitary note at me then flies down to land on my left knee and starts to sing to me. It sings such a happy tune, as if it is trying to cheer me up.

I smile at the swallow in its attempts to cheer me up, but it stops singing suddenly, looks behind me, and then without warning it squeals and flies off. Within that instant I hear the sound of metal on metal which I take as a sword is being drawn from its scabbard. I grasp my sword and simply roll out of the way as the tip of another rapier passes right where my left ear was. I roll around until I end up with my feet under me and I'm facing my attacker.

"Now why did you have to dodge my thrust? You would have saved yourself from an embarrassing death." I look up and there standing a few feet away is a young man. The man is dressed in a gentleman's cloths, including a pair of white gloves, and polished wingtip shoes. "It's such a shame, now I'm going to have to put forth a bit little more effort to kill this insolent dog". Even the way this man speaks makes me know that he is from the upper classes of citizens of this land.

Even though he may act high and mighty and is a well-known sword fighter, I still will fight him. He and those like him need to learn that even though you can cage a dog, put a leash on said dog, and train them to do whatever you say, you should never underestimate what that dog can do when it's backed into a corner.

I slowly stand and unsheathe my father's old rapier and look into his eyes. This man has taken too much from my mother and father, my friends and neighbors, and even the entire village. The look I give him is one of pure hatred.

"Is the dog ready to get its beating? Or am I going to have to come over there and remove that look on your face."

"You should know something."

"Oh, and what's that?"

"When a dog is backed into a corner, that's when it's at its most fierce."

The man just laughs. "A dog is still a dog. Now come over here with your tail between your legs so I can punish you for your lack of respect to your betters."

I toss away the scabbard and slowly walk over to him. There is only one way to beat someone like him, and make sure that he won't hurt anyone again. I just hope that it doesn't come to that, but if it does then I'm ready to do what is necessary for the village.

He raises his sword and prepares to bring it down on my head. I raise my sword and prepare to block when he changes his stance. Instead of bringing it down upon my head, he changes it to a quick thrust. I almost don't see this transition in time and quickly step to the side in a vain hope to avoid the strike, but fortune doesn't favor me as I feel the blade bite into my side. I wince and can feel the blade has bitten deep into my skin, but fortunately it only scrapes rather than penetrating my side.

I bite back a yell and stumble away from his blade. 'That was to close. A little closer and that would have been the end of me. I would have to be more careful from now on.'

"Well it would seem the dog isn't as quick as it thinks it is. Do you enjoy wasting my time?" He shrugs as if not really able to hold onto one emotion or another. "If you want I can kill you right here and now, or I could cut you down. It's your choice."

"Kill me now if you wish. At least that way I won't have to hear your preachy voice anymore." I bite back at him as I give him a hateful look.

"You insolent dog," he says with a scowl on his face. With that he lunges again, but with anger clouding his thoughts and judgments. This might be my only opportunity to be able to walk away from this duel and reclaim both my families and mine honor. Unfortunately I don't react fast enough to his angered feed speed and his sword bites into my other side, and this time it's penetrated my skin. I yell out in pain as his blade sinks into the guard and stops there. "May this be a lesson to you and any other filthy mongrel down in that worthless village down there? Don't insult your betters".

I have only a moment to act but I act, in which I switch my grip from a normal grip to one of a burying motion. The tip of my rapier is thrust down and goes into his right shoulder. He yells out in pain, releases his grip on his rapier, and jumps back. In doing so my blade tears at his flesh, in which a simple puncture from my father's rapier has now turned into a gash/tear in his shoulder.

A surprised look spreads across his face as his left hand jumps up to the wound to stanch the flow of blood. He removes his hand and a look of utter disbelief spreads across his face as his white glove is stained a deep satin red.

"As I said before. A dog is at its most dangerous when it's backed into a corner." I pull the rapier out of my side with a small squirt of blood following it passing from my body. "Now you're without your weapon, and wounded." I stagger to the side a bit as the pain from my wounds has robbed me of my balance for a second, but with a wince I regain my footing and see that he is still in utter disbelief. I guess nobody has ever struck him such a blow, and seeing his own blood for the first time has robbed him of his senses. The whole time the thought never occurred to him that he just might be fighting for his life.

He is probably so used to the high life that nobody has ever even raised a hand to him, even when he had done something wrong. I slowly walk over to him with his rapier in my left hand and my fathers in the right. From shock, his expression quickly changes to one of fear as sudden realization has finally awoken him to his situation. He takes a step back for every one that I take forward, then falls over a root that he didn't see. I slowly walk over and place the rapiers in a scissor position over his neck.

"P...p...please, s...s...spare me." He stutters.

"Did you show mercy to the villagers? What about my mother and father, what about them," I ask him with not only rage within my eyes but also that of my tone, but ignore him and whatever his answer might be as I turn my gaze towards the heavens. 'Mother, father, today you are avenged,' but just as I am about to look back down at him, a swallow crosses my vision. Not really understanding why, my gaze tracks the bird in its flight, then it flies down to me. Not really understanding what has gotten into the strange bird, it lands on my shoulder and shakes its head; as if it's trying to tell me that what I'm going to do is wrong. I smile, close my eyes, and give the bird a slow nod.

"But I am not like you, I do know what mercy is. But know this..., if you ever hurt any other villager without reason, I 'won't' show you mercy." I released the blades from around his neck. "Oh and I'm keeping your sword." The boy stumbles for a brief second as he can't seem to get his feet under him, then finally gets up and quickly runs off holding his wound, in which as I can hear him crying out for some as he disappears around a bluff. I watch him as he runs off, but when he is far enough away I sit down against the tree and lean my back against said tree. I am startled nearly to jump upright when I hear something chirp nearly my shoulder and see that it's the Swallow. 'Had he been there the whole time or just landed back on my shoulder once I'd sat down?'

I close my eyes and listen to the song of the swallow and enjoy the warmth of the sun's rays. My last thoughts are to that of my mother, father, and all the other villagers that have been punished or hurt by the hands of those that were supposed to protect us. I smile to myself in knowing that I had done my part to make my village a better place and as I feel the beating of my heart slow as my life flows out of me, I slowly close that of my eyes and allow myself a last peaceful breath before I fall to my side and pass on from this life.

The swallow, startled at the sudden-ness of having its perch fall out from underneath it, quickly takes to wing and quickly soars back into the heavens on wings that softly glint in the warmth of the warm sunlight and sings a sad song of a life that was cut to short.