The Rising Blade

chapter 5

            When he got back to town he found Sam and the border control guard that had given him hard time when Filipe saved him.  The border patrol guard drew her sword and walked towards him.  Sam yelled something but Jason was too focused on the guard to pay attention to what Sam was saying.  As the guard approached him, he noticed he had instinctively reached for his sword.  Maybe that’s what same was saying?  Jason wasn’t quite sure though.  He kept the stare that the guard gave him.  When she was within 5 feet of him, within striking range of her long sword, she asked “Are you the one responsible for the deaths of the villagers?”

             The tone she used was daring him to deny the notion.  Dumbfound Jason just stared at her.  Suddenly questions began to flow into his head and he had to restrain himself from asking too many and making himself look like a fool.  Then he finally managed to ask “Who was killed, and how long ago were they found?  I have been in the clearing practicing swordsmanship with captain Felipe.  There is no way I could have killed the villagers.”  As if on queue, Felipe came up from behind him and said “I can vouch for the boy, I have been training him all day today.  He has not been out of my sight long enough to have cause anyone’s death.”  Jason looked over at Sam to see how he was reacting to the whole situation.  To his surprise, Sam was glaring at him with malice.  Jason made a mental note to talk to him in private later.  “We need to catch these killers immediately.”  Felipe continued.  “Janice, who all died?”  “We had three assassinations total.  Albus, The blacksmith’s assistant.  The medic Darryl.”  She paused for a moment and looked at Jason.  “And a women by the name Rosalynn.”  Jason’s heart nearly stopped.  That was his mother’s name.  Panic and fear building up in his chest he barely managed to ask “where did Rosalynn live?”  She looks through her notes for a minute before finding what she was looking for.  “She lived down on the south end by the school building.” she reported.  Jason’s heart sank.  He sprinted to his house, not stopping for anything.  He heard people calling his name behind him but he didn’t care. He needed to get to his house.  If someone was killing villagers in no apparent order than they probably would be taking easy targets.  When he got to his house he found that the door was locked.  Bending over to get the spare key they kept in the bush, he heard a scream from inside the house.  Alarmed he stood up and instead of getting the key, Jason kicked the door in.  He sprinted into the room that the sound had come from.  There he saw his younger sister, dying, if not dead already.  With tears in his eyes he ran to her and tried to find a pulse, any hope at all.  Nothing.  He heard the door to the room slam shut behind him followed by someone laughing quietly to themselves.  Jason slowly stood up and faced the assassin.  His entire body was shaking from rage.  The assassin dashed forward ad made a quick, but fairly weak overhead slash.  Jason raised his hand and caught the blade.  He felt his hand burning in pain, but he didn’t care.  He was so focused on vengeance that he would do anything to kill the assassin.  He drew his own sword and while the assassin was busy trying to free his sword, Jason killed him without a second thought.  Soon after that when the adrenaline faded he howled in pain and clutched his hand.  Crying he stood up and left the building.  Crying for his family, from the pain.  As he walked down the street, Felipe, Janice, and Sam all caught up to him and started asking him what happened.  Before he could answer he looked Felipe in the eyes, and collapsed.  His last thoughts before he passed into unconsciousness were “what  horrible week.”