“Please sir, I was hungry, I’ve haven’t eaten in days, I didn’t want to take it, but I saw you had more…” The boy doesn’t get to finish his sentence as the man slaps him across the face, knocking him to the ground.
“Shut up child, you have made your bed, now you must pay the price with your life!”
“Rademer stop this foolishness,” another man yells as he grabs Rademer by the arm and pushes him away.
“You dare touch me like I am a lowly peasant, are you actually defending this boy?”
“He’s starving for god sake, let him take the bread, you have proven your point, killing him will do nothing!”
“It will do plenty Jensen, it will teach all the other rats out there not to touch what is mine, like you will learn.”
“What? Are you threatening me now?”
“You must be reminded who you serve, though it breaks my heart to do this, I must break you, for if I don’t others will think they can do the same, and I can’t have that now, can I?” he says as he draws his sword.
“Don’t be a fool, walk away, no one will think any less of you,” Jensen says nervously as he pulls out his own sword.
“You put on a brave show, and the crowd has been mystified, but I can see what is truly in your eyes, I can see the fear, you realise that I am greater than you, for you are but a petty stone on the road, who will be stepped on, or, thrown to the side.”
“Do you entertain yourself with your words?” Jensen asks as they slowly circle each other, swords ready to strike.
Rademer laughs, “I do not do it to entertain, I do it out of repetition, this dance is nothing new to me as you know, and I only offer words to soften the blow that I will bring down upon your skull, words that will make you feel less ashamed of the defeat that will be at my hands.”
“You’ll find that I am not as easy to kill as you hope!” He yells as he attacks, the swords clash together, as Jensen brings his sword down powerfully, but his attack is blocked and Rademer drives a boot into his stomach, sending him crashing to the ground. Quickly he tries to scramble to his feet, but instead, comes face to face with the end of Rademer’s blade.
“I told you, there is only defeat here for you.”
“Do it then, add another kill, continue to build up your reputation, your name, so that all who hear it, fear it.”
“What is a man if he does not have a title?”
“Is that how you see yourself in this world? Is this how you find meaning?”
“Meaning? There is no meaning to be found boy, title brings respect, so, either you respect my position, or die, there is nothing else!”
“How pathetic, to live your life building a reputation that is built upon a lie, I’ve seen the true you, I’ve……”
“My life is no lie,” he yells as he swings the blade, removing Jensen’s head with one clean stroke, blood gushes from the severed stump and his body falls to the ground, as his blood flows quickly from his headless corpse. Rademer turns as a knife is thrust up, into his chest, he looks down upon the boy, hate is all that he can see in his eyes, as the boy twists the knife, he falls to his knees, gasping for breath, and for the first time ever he has been surprised. He curses his stupidity for forgetting about the child, allowing his anger to focus on Jensen, when he should have taken the child out first and then… His eyes widen as he watches as the boy grits his teeth, lets out a volatile scream, and then slashes the knife across his throat, then spits in his face as he feels everything begin to shut down.
“Death to the pig dog!” he yells as Rademer collapses to the ground, his blood gushing from his torn throat like an open tap, intermingling with Jensen’s.
END
You can read the original 50 Word Story here, I’d be interested in what you think of the full story that came from the short.
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