As slightly as a mother would hug her child, the wind blew through the ragged buildings from across the sea. Tools hammered on hard steel and hearths blazed on, preparing the Elmore's war machine. The market district was bustling with people. Some were merchants, some were farmers. There were even gaurds prowling the streets, looking for anyone who wishes to break their law.
A boy, not much older than 13 was looking at the myriad of wares a weaponsmith presented outside of his shop. The weaponsmith, named Avero, noticed the amazement on the young boy's face. "You gonna be a soldier, boy?" Avero chuckled in his naturally husky voice. The boy merely looked up and nodded slowly, unable to speak. Avero smiled, and raising his hand up to his face, he spoke softly, "Let me show you what real soldier's use, huh boy? I'll be righ' back with it."
The boy watched Avero slide into his smithy, leaving the stand outside unattended. The boy quickly looked over the swords laying elegantly on the cloth. He spotted a large sword, laying by itself at the edge of the table. It was a shiny steel blade, a good 4 feet in length. The blade was straight and two sided, and sharpened for use. The hilt was long and heavy, and wrapped in dried strips of buffalo leather. The handguard was curved, and had rounded knobs at the ends of them. The boy knew it, this was HIS sword. He looked around, and over his shoulders, and saw no one suspicious...and grabbed the sword from it's resting place on the red cloth.
Another boy, smaller and younger, sat crouched behind some barrells down the road. He was obviously nervous, the long beads of sweat sticking to his tunic a testament to that fact. He had been keeping himself occupied by reading the inscription on the barrel:
PROPERTY OF GLORMICH
RUNE TERRITORY OF THE
KINGDOM OF ELMORE
He had just finished reading it for the 47th time when he heard footsteps pounding hard unto the packed dirt comming his way. He peered his steely blue eyes over the barrells and saw his brother sprinting full speed down the road, holding a beautiful gleaming sword in his hand behind him. The weaponsmith was behind him a few deet, his face red with rage. His brother's eyes met his for a split second and the younger boy nodded. He took off behind the building next to the barrells, parallel to his brother. There was a gap between the buildings arond the next corner, not more than 8 feet wide. The younger boy prepared his hands, ready to catch what his brother held.
As the younger boy neared ever closer to the gap, his mind raced. He wasn't more than 20 feet away from the gap, when a thought struck him. "What if I miss?" He had no idea when his brother would get there, and if he wasn't prepared, he could get hit with the sword. He slowed down abruptly at the gap, and there was no sign of his brother, he couldn't hear the footsteps, he could only see the road only 6 feet ahead of him. His palms were drenched in sweat, his eyes burned salty from the perspiration that had entered them. His breathing was erratic and he staggered for air every second. He felt faint with all the emotion and fear he posessed, and his ears rang loudly. All he could hear was the ringing, and his own heartbeat as it assaulted his ears. He stood, on the verge of colapsing, when all went silent...
He still stood in the gap, holding his hands out in front of him. He didn't hear the ringing, or his heartbeat. No, he heard his brother's voice! But he heard nothing else, not his brother's footsteps, not his pursuer's footsteps, not even his own breathing. How could he hear his brothers voice? No, he didn't care how. The younger boy listened intently to the voice bouncing around in his head. It was saying, "Twenty... fifteen..." The younger boy knew his brother was good at juding distance, so he must be calling out the distance to the gap! "Ten... five..." the voice called in his head. He leaned slightly forward, and just a split second later, the figure of his brother passed. The sword flew through the air and shined in the sun, and time seemed to stand still.
Into the hands of the younger boy the sword landed, and he was dumbfounded for a second. Then his instincts too over and he hid behind the building, just as the weaponsmith sped past. The boy stared at his reflection in the blade, amazed at it's beauty. And there he sat, for a good long time.