The wind howled as it blew through the waist high grass. To the north and the east, nothing could be seen for miles on end, only clear skies and green grass. But if one were to turn the other way, the sight was quite different. A black shadow covered the land for as far as the eye could see, which wasn’t far. A cloud of dust, grass, and soil swirled faster than any mortal mans eye could follow. The tornado had touched down mere seconds ago. It fell from the sky and connected with the earth, picking up any and all nearby debris. The shadow of the tornado passed by the two swordsmen in the field, covering them in darkness.
Though they had heard the tornado, they dared not look at that approaching danger, for there was a far more sinister threat that was a lot closer to them. Each other.
They held their swords in ready position and circled around each other, waiting for someone to strike first. Neither daring to do so. Sweat and dirt covered their faces and hands, making it difficult to hold the sword. To make it worse, the grass hid any signs of potholes or other obstructions in their battlefield.
The man facing the tornado flicked his eyes up for a second to measure how far it was just as the other man attacked abruptly at the same moment. James was able to block the attack just in time, but was pushed a few feet back by Weston’s strength, his blind rage putting more strength behind the blow than what James had expected. Weston attacked again, but James easily blocked it and forced the tip of the sword into the ground. James then kicked his opponent in the chest sending him back a few feet back towards the tornado, a sight that made him all the more nervous.
“This is ridiculous Weston!” He yelled over the roar of the wind as Weston tried to stab him through the gut. “This won’t solve it! Well both end up dying if we continue to fight! Just look at the tornado!” Weston’s eyes flashed with anger as he brought his sword down on James head, but was blocked yet again.
“Like I would turn my back to you! You liar! You back-stabbing-traitor!” He punctuated each word with a new and powerful maneuver.
The tornado was closer than James was comfortable with, it would be less than a few minutes before it reached them.
“You are blind, Weston!” James yelled. Weston’s sword sliced through the air from above and James used his own to toss it to the side, but was a second too late. He tried jumping to the side to avoid it, but it connected with his shoulder and cut through the muscle.
James didn’t dare show any sign of pain as he switched his sword from his right to his left hand. This wasn’t going well. Soon they would both be dead, and nothing would be proved or disproved, except that maybe their feud had gone too far. And it had, and was, and was getting worse with each passing second.
Lightning struck the ground nearby sending debris everywhere, just narrowly missing the two combatants. Soon the field was on fire, but they paid no notice as their slices became clumsy blows, and their parry’s became weaker. They were wasting precious energy that they would need to escape the impending danger.
James ducked another attack aimed at his head, but this time tried a different tactic. He dropped his sword and lunged forward into Weston’s stomach with his good shoulder, knocking the sword out of his hand. Weston was too surprised when he hit the ground that James was able to roll him onto his stomach before he could do anything about it. He drove his knee into his back and lifted up his head by his hair, forcing him too look at the tornado. Blood was pouring out of James shoulder onto Weston’s back.
Weston didn’t say anything, but his lack of struggling told James all he needed to know and more.
“The horses already ran away!” He yelled into Weston’s ear, only now realizing how loud the Tornado truly was. “If we leave now, we might be able to run far enough east to escape it!” Still Weston didn’t say anything. James slammed his face into the dirt and brought it back up. “Say something!” He demanded.
“North! We go north! I know a place!” He yelled back and James couldn’t help but smile. Maybe no one would die today. He stood up and grabbed Weston's sword and tossed it next to him as he was getting up, and then found his own and sheathed it.
“Come on lets go!” He urged. Weston picked up his sword and focused it at James. The fire was getting bigger and bigger by the second as the wind from the tornado blew it around. “Weston, put it down, and lets go! We don’t have time for this! If the tornado doesn’t kill us, the fire will!”
“You stole her! My own brother! You took her! The only woman I ever loved…” Tears were running freely from his eyes, leaving clear trails through the dirt, sweat, and blood caking his face. “And then you killed her!”
“No! I didn’t kill her! She killed herself, Weston! You saw the-”
“Lies! Stop lying to me! You backstabbing bastard, you killed her!” He ran at James with his sword raised as the brother prepared for the attack. The wind pulled at both of them towards the tornado, but James held his ground as he drew his sword back out of its sheath. Weston continued his charge, the fire licking at his boots with each step. Weston let out a cry as he brought his sword down on Weston, but only managed to hit the fire that had been behind him as James rolled beneath the attack and behind Weston. He raised his sword. This was his chance to kill his brother. But the moment came and went as Weston turned around with a ferocious cry and tried to take another blow at James that was easily blocked.
The wind continued to pull them towards the tornado. The battle began to take place on the run, with Weston every once in a while trying to take out James legs with his sword. But before long, Weston stopped trying to take his brothers life as he struggled for his own. They were running as fast as they could, but were not moving. They had evaded the fire for a while, but it was coming at them faster and faster with each passing second. This was it. The fire blasted them in the face and burnt at their clothes and face, knocking them backwards as the tornado picked them up into the sky and threw them around like toys.
The fire seeped into the tornado, a fiery trail that eventually encircled the whole thing as it transferred onto the grass inside the tornado. To any outsider, it would have looked more like a giant swirling ball of fire than a tornado. And then the fire started to gradually fade away, and then the tornado itself followed it. Leaving two brothers, both badly burned, injured, and unconscious, miles away from each other, neither knowing that the other was still alive. Or at the moment, whether they themselves were still alive.
Just seeking any and all advice for this piece. It was my first attempt at a sword fight, and I'm interested to see if anyone has any advice for it as far as how it was written, the plot and basically the whole shibang.
Thanks in advance.
). Here's an example:
