Blademaster

It’s so dark here. The tunnel is damp and cold, its been abandoned for a while. I squeeze the hilt of my swords, their weight is comforting to me, reminding me that I am far from helpless. I listen, my sharp ears picking up the thumps and scrapes that were sure signs that the enemy was close.

I whisper Firebrand and flip a switch on the sword in my left hand and instantly, fire pours out from six large vents on either side of the blade. Then I rotate a dial on the sword in my right hand as I say Arcblade, and dangerous amounts of electricity jump up the split blade like a Jacobs ladder.

My swords bathe the abandoned subway system with brilliant light, illuminating the shapes of the monsters within. They don’t see the light, they are completely blind and def, they only respond to touch. Unfortunately, they are more sensitive than humans, the foul magic that animates them makes them acutely aware of any living thing around them. Their heads turn slowly, probing the emptiness between me and them, pinpointing my exact location.

“Zombies!” I spit the word out before it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I watch as they slowly begin to amble in my direction, disjointed and unstable movements at first, they soon are running, the unnatural speed of their undead bodies quickly closing the distance between us. I slide my foot out and raise Firebrand past my ear, ready to strike at the first body that comes within my reach.

Firebrand comes down in a wide arc, making a clean gash across the face of the closest zombie, dropping it to the ground. Quickly after I bring Arcblade up in another round swing and split the second zombie in two. I weave a furious web of fire and lightning around me, for every zombie that falls one takes its place, all trying to get close enough to me to pin me down, or beat me unconscious.

A limb comes down from above and Arcblade removes it from its owners body, then I spin while rotating Firebrand 180 degrees, just fast enough to plunge it tip first into the body of the same zombie, its rotting flesh burning away as the naked flames pour out of the blade inside its chest.

I rip Firebrand out in a spray of cinders and spin around, holding both the swords out, cutting a gash through the chests of the four zombies in front of me. I smirk with satisfaction as each of them fall backward, clearing the path for a wave of new opponents. I push off from the ground as hard as I can, flipping over the pile of dead bodies only to bring my swords down in a devastating cut as I land, splitting the skull and most of the body of a particularly large zombie.

Several quick swipes and jabs finish off the remaining zombies and a bored sigh escapes my lips as I turn off Firebrand and Arcblade, turning on the sonar receiver in my helmet that allows me to navigate perfectly in total darkness by sending sonar waves into the visual feed in my visor.

The tunnel system winds around to the right and I can see from the sonar pulses my helmet picks up that more zombies crowd the tunnel up ahead, just around the bend. There’s something else there, something that the databanks in my visor don’t recognize. Its tall and gangly, having little muscle on its body, but its face is unnatural looking, almost insect-like with huge eyes and an exposed brain.

A quick scan and my linkup to the Templar base’s databanks reveal its nature. My visor brings up the details and as I read, a smirk crosses my face. It’s called a Zombie Summoner. Its name is a joke actually because it doesn’t summon zombies, it finds them all over and bends them to its will, combined with the power to revive fallen zombies makes it a more challenging battle.

I put Arcblade and Firebrand away and pull out Nightshade and Void Bane. Nightshade is a shorter blade with a hollow tube running the full length of the blade, connected to a vial of lethal neurotoxin. Void Bane is a much longer blade with a crystal edge that pulses with a purple light, generated from a miniature portal into the endless void from where it gets its power.

I slowly make my way forward monitoring the zombie summoner and its minions. I look for a way around where I can come at them from behind but none are within range of my radar.

“Here we go” I mutter and start to jog, slowly building up my pace until I’m running at full speed. The zombies wont be able to react fast enough to get between me and the summoner. I weave in and out of the confused zombies, ducking under their guard. With one powerful kick, I launch myself off the back of a zombie and with a triumphant scream I raise Void Bane above my head, ready to bring down in a lethal cut the moment the summoner is in range.

A sudden flash of orange light to the side throws me off guard and before I have a chance to see what it was, a huge zombie slams into me, throwing me to the ground several feet from the summoner.

I take Nightshade and drive it up into the zombies chin but it’s not able to pierce its skin. I place my foot against the zombie’s chest and push with all my strength. The zombie is heavy but I manage to send it flying into a group of zombies nearby. I stand up and take a step back, readying myself for what promises to be a tough battle.

My sonar picks up a small movement behind me and Void Bane swings around, splitting the hidden zombie in two before it had a chance to act.

All at once the mass of zombies charge at me, I swing Voidbane in a furious arc, dropping three zombies at once. I try to fight with only Voidbane, not wanting to waste the deadly venom in Nightshade that the zombies are immune to.

Every time I cut down a zombie one takes its place, and just as the zombies around me have all been killed, the summoner reanimates them and sends them all charging at me again.

I know the longer I stay pinned down by the endless tide of zombies the closer I get to being killed. Between cuts and slashes I look for a way to get out from the middle of the fray. From between two zombies I see a pile of rubble that would give me an advantage, so I cut them down and dart through before any other zombies can block me.

A quick jump puts me right on top of the pile, head and shoulders above even the tallest zombies. My radar shows the group of zombies not to far behind, their constantly mutilated and reanimated bodies unable to move quickly, gives me enough time to pull myself together before Nightshade flies from my hand, tumbling end over end only to bury itself deep into the stomach of the zombie summoner.

I use Voidbane to finish off the crippled zombies, most of them missing limbs or heads. After the last one falls I walk over to the twitching body of the quickly fading zombie summoner. With one deft motion I pull Nightshade from its stomach, giving the demon one last satisfied smile before leaving it to its death.

I activate the comlink that connects me with the templar base above ground.

“The threat has been contained sir, I’m comin home.”

(I want to say that I don't claim to own the rights to Hellgate London which is where the idea came from as it belongs to Flagship Studios.)