Ruddite Rebellion. My identity is of no concern to you right now. It’s enough for you to know that we’re all loyal servants of King Artrex, the rightful ruler of this land and the sworn enemy of his brother, Vantrax, who you have the misfortune to serve. Our quarrel this night is not with you! It’s with Vantrax, and those soldiers who choose freely to follow him. We are soldiers. We are not murderers! We will take no pleasure in killing boys. You have your whole lives in front of you. Think very hard about your next decision. I ask you to lay down your swords now. Or my friends and I will be forced to attack. And once we begin, we’ll be unable to show you mercy!” he bellowed, hoping to shock the young boys into conceding defeat, without a fight.
Jake knew how his appearance would seem to the young defenders. He looked again at their faces, trying to gauge for himself if his words were having the desired effect. He was beginning to think that his plan was working and he was just about to continue speaking, when his eyes suddenly detected more rapid movement, this time from the soldiers in front of Verastus a little to his right.
Three of the young fortress guards had suddenly broken ranks in a determined effort to get to Jake. The first of them was now running at him as fast as he could with his sword held aloft. As he reached him, the soldier swung his sword down viciously towards Jake’s head in an all out attack. Once again, he reacted without thinking and with astonishing speed. He instinctively ducked underneath the oncoming sword and it whizzed rapidly over his head. His right arm simultaneously thrust his own sword upward and into the ribs of the attacker, in a clean, precision strike. The faultless manoeuvre was performed so quickly, and with such astonishing balance, that the first soldier had not yet fallen dead on the floor before Jake had returned to an upright stance and was facing the second of the three attackers, who followed closely behind the first.
This time, Jake parried the slashing, downward strike from his assailant before swiftly bringing his own sword down and onto the attacker’s right thigh. The velocity and strength of the strike severed the limb and caused the soldier to fall instantly onto the courtyard floor. The young boy began writhing in agony as the blood drained from his open wound, his severed limb now lying by his side.
The last and slowest of the three attackers was still running towards Jake. He was halted abruptly by the giant sword of Verastus, who struck a powerful downwards blow deliberately onto the soldier’s outstretched sword, stinging his hand fiercely and almost causing the young boy to drop it. The soldier stopped running as the power of the blow placed him off balance. He stood motionless for a split second as Verastus inched menacingly towards him. Then he threw his sword down to the ground in capitulation, the will to fight suddenly lost at the sight of his comrades’ fate and the giant figure of Verastus bearing down upon him. Verastus halted his advance as the sword hit the floor.
“I think Jake, that you have their attention” he shouted, keeping his sword positioned towards the head of the third attacker. Jake nodded at him in acknowledgement and once again he addressed all of the defenders.
“That was unfortunate and unnecessary!” he shouted angrily. “As I have said, we really do have no wish to kill you! You can plainly see that you are no match for us. I urge you to reconsider your options once again. There is no shame in walking away this night. Those of you who wish to, can go now. You will not be harmed.” he stated, his emotions still running high at having been forced to kill the young boys, when he’d hoped all along to avoid having to do so.
The young defenders looked around at each other once again, waiting to see how their colleagues would respond. Nobody seemed to want to be the first to react. But suddenly, one of them dropped his sword and began walking slowly towards the open gate, the rebels before him parting and moving to one side to allow him to leave the fortress. The remaining defenders began to follow him in small groups. Each of them laid down their weapons before exiting through the gate