Last Warrior

The midnight draws near, I sit and sharpen my blade in fear. Will I be able to survive this night, will I be able to fight back the dark. My Brethren all fallen, yet I still live.

Our mother, preparing my meal for the battle ahead, while I sharpen my blade on the whetstone. “You don’t have to go.” My mother kept pleading with me. “You know I cannot.” I grind my blade, it shines brighter each time I cross it. “I am the last one. I must fight back the dark.” She hugged me tight. “Your brothers said the same, and they did not come back.” I lay my sword down. “They all died fulfilling their purpose, they all died with a smile on their lips.” She hugged my tighter, her warmth radiating over me. “I just want one of you to come back.”

Our mother always shone brighter than anyone, especially when she would smile, but as my brothers went down one by one, she found it harder to smile, harder to be happy, but even then, each time we would leave for battle, she would wave us off with a warm smile, holding on the hope that all will return. Just like before, she waved me off with her warmth as I returned to the battle nobody will know of, nobody will ever hear of.

I look down the dark battlefield, the creatures amassing far off. I sat down in anticipation. “Well partner, here come the hordes. You and me are the last to remain.” My sword shining bright in my lap. “Last of my brothers left last fight, but you remained with me.” I rub the sword. “You always stay with me, you always protect me.”

The Dark wave closes in, I stand up from my seat and march onwards. My sword held strong and high, its shimmer blinding the oncoming wave. “One last fight, just you and me.” I can hear the screeching and growling of beasts ahead, their claws that scrape the ground, their jaws and clobber as they run. “You should not have come.” A low echoing voice speaks. “I’ve taken all you hold dear, all you had loved. What keeps you coming, what keeps you search for death?” I just smiled and raised my sword higher. “The notion that it is my destiny, it is my purpose. Mostly, to be able to protect my mother’s smile that you would darken for ever.”

My sword held high, I cut through the dark creatures. The weaker one’s were sent first, to tire me out, but they barely even reached me, evaporating within my blades light. The deeper I reached, the more grotesque and powerful the enemies became. “You are alone warrior. Lay down your weapon, surrender to the hordes.” I slashed the creatures around me. “I shall never surrender, never lay down. As long as I live on, your kingdom shall never spread.”

The creatures piled on. Sharp claws swung and scratched before I could manage to repel. As my body started to slowly waver, so did my will, and so did the shine of my sword. These pesky monsters, they never let out. I thought to myself as I struggled on. My sword now bleak, my will wavering. What fool I am, I believed I could fight alone. I looked at the hordes, at the dark of the world.

My soul weak, my eyes bleak, I look up to the stary sky, as the monsters overrun me. I did my best. As I had almost given up, I saw a light travel up, small, dim and thin, but as the end of it, a flower of light blossomed, coupled with a loud bang. The creatures jumped back, the light dazzling and weakening them. “They have joined the fight.” My will restored. “They have appreciated our lives.” My sword burned brighter as more and more flowers bloomed and illuminated the sky.

“No, those pesky mongrels.” The low voice Yelled. “No matter, their powers are insignificant.” More and more creatures swarmed. “Send as many of them as you wish, but with the power of the blooming flowers, your creatures stand no chance of defeating me.” I shouted with all my might as I cut through them and pushed towards the end of the dark. “You dare oppose me.” The voice grew louder. “I slew your brothers one-by-one, I’ve destroyed worlds after worlds, yet you deem yourself worthy to stand in my way.” The darkness leered closer, creatures of unimaginable size and power came towards me. Battered, bruised, cut and abused, I finally reached the darkness itself.

“Come out from the darkness. Stop hiding yourself under the cloak of void.” A guttural laughter echoed my head. “I do not hide in the void child; I am the void.” The darkness formed into a body. It compressed and formed to resemble body similar to my own, the only difference being, the body lacked any light or reflection.

A sword formed in its hand. “You fought hard, and searched for your demise, the lease I could do is bring you down by my own hand.” It laughed. It slashed at me, but I blocked it, yet the weight of the hit pushed me back. “You cannot defeat me; I have been here before you were created.” It slashed and pushed me back again. “Your weapon of light? I saw it be forged, I know how it will rust.” The void slashed again, the more I blocked it, the more my sword was getting consumed by it.

“You thought the light of your sword could oppose me? Not even your mother could oppose me, and she is the strongest light upon this world.” Voids attacks were relentless, they pushed me to my knees. “And the flowers these pesky creatures have made, to me they are less than a flicker of a candles flame.” I breathed heavily, out of breath, out of ideas and out of my own weapon. “Tell me your final words child, so I may memorize the last futile attempt to stop me.” I smirked. “Annum novum faustum felicem.”

The flowers stopped to bloom, but the light started to shine brighter than ever. “What is this? You were the last to fight me, last to be fell.” I slowly rose up as I watched over the Horizon. “The people from my family, they never truly fall.” Large number of men and women, shining bright in armours of light, carrying their own respective weapons. “We just wait for the time we are needed once more; we wait for our time to start again.” My own body rejuvenated and rested. “We might not be able to kill you, nor defeat you.” My family closed in. “But we will fight, we will push you back, and each one of us will lay down their life again and again to keep you back.” I slashed, my sisters arrow flew and hit the void. “Every single one of us, all 365.”