"Do you really think you can defeat all of us on your own?" asked the leader Leonard, raising his eyebrows.
Leonard raised his broad sword and stood with his legs apart. "You know very well that I can, Albrecht!"
Albrecht just growled angrily, "All right, then show me this unnatural talent I've heard so much about, but you'll regret it. Whether you win here or not, the church will find you!"
Leonard did not answer, but simply stepped forward slowly. The men behind Albrecht looked at each other with some fear. Apparently, this Leonard already had a well-known reputation, but they raised their swords anyway. They stood next to Albrecht, ready to attack Leonard.
Leonard lunged forward, and with a wide swing, he struck Albrecht, who just managed to block the blow with the side of his blade. Sparks flew as the metal blades clashed hard, but Leonard couldn't stand still, because a second man was already striking at him. He deftly swept to the side and turned into the blow of a third man. He knocked the sword aside and rammed his fist into the man's face, whose nose immediately burst in a stream of blood. Groaning, he fell to the ground, but he was already forgotten, for Leonard was blocking another blow while ducking under another.
He was pushed back as the men took turns fighting him, but Leonard held his ground bravely. Somehow, he managed to dodge or block the men's blows without being hit once.
He radiated an unbroken attitude, as if no one would ever get through him. He struck a heavy blow to the stomach of one man, who just managed to dodge backwards, but in doing so kicked one of his colleagues. Leonard immediately seized the moment and kicked another man in the stomach, who was thrown backwards. Now Leonard was facing Albrecht again. The two men briefly exchanged blows before the other two men recovered, but by then Leonard had already disarmed Albrecht with a heavy blow. He thrust his blade deep into the older man's thigh, then immediately turned to the side to receive another blow.
Albrecht went down, that was a second out of action, only three left.
The remaining three men tried to surround Leonard, but he defended his flank with skillfully positioned blows as he slowly backed away. Nero, still sitting on the ground, watched the spectacle spellbound. He had never seen a man fight so skillfully. Leonard seemed invincible at that moment.
Nero had occasionally watched the city guards practicing, as many of the local children had done, but they were like monkeys with sticks compared to what Leonard was doing here. He seemed to be fighting not only with his sword, but with his entire body. He made no unnecessary movements, no false steps; everything seemed to come as naturally as breathing.
But Nero knew that he was just a normal human being. He would grow old, weak, frail. Even if he could defeat five people here now, could he defeat ten? Could he defeat a crossbow? Leonard was strong, but he was still human, bound by the laws of nature. The men rushed past Nero, none of them paying any attention to the harmless boy sitting on the ground. Their blades made a strange song of sounds as they clashed again and again.
Then Leonard managed to knock one of the men off balance with a lunge to the side and a well-aimed blow. The man fell backwards onto his back, the sword falling from his hand.
It slid across the icy stone floor, landing right in front of Nero's feet. It was large, almost as big as the boy himself. He grabbed the hilt and tried to lift the sword. It was heavy, but he just managed it. The man who had lost the sword slowly got back to his feet. Nero dragged the sword behind him as he approached the man.
Albrecht, who was desperately trying to stop the bleeding in his leg, saw this. He opened his eyes wide.
"He's not going to..." he thought to himself, but then he saw the boy's eyes, which flashed with murderous intent. "WATCH OUT!" he yelled, but this not only caught the attention of the man on the ground, but also that of the two who were still fighting Leonard. Leonard immediately took advantage of this momentary lapse in concentration to ram his sword deep into one of the men's stomachs. The wounded man fell to the ground as his intestines spilled out.
Meanwhile, Nero had approached the man sitting on the ground, who looked back at Albrecht in confusion. Unfortunately, he had turned in the wrong direction; otherwise, he might have seen Nero, who was now swinging the heavy sword over his shoulder. With a disgusting smack, the blade of the sword entered the man's head. It did not penetrate deeply enough to kill him immediately, so the man looked at Nero in horror. He touched his skull and felt the sheath stuck there.
His face contorted as he took a second to realise what had happened, then he let out a roar. Nero flinched, but the man didn't pay any attention to him, too distracted by the sword in his skull, until finally his eyes rolled back and he fell unconscious to the ground. At least, Nero thought he was only unconscious.
"You little freak!" Albrecht yelled, limping angrily toward Nero. "I'm going to do what should have been done the day they burned your bitch of a mother!"
He raised his sword to kill the boy with a single blow, but Nero just stared at him with hatred. He spat in the man's face, who actually paused briefly to wipe the spit away. Nero kicked the man between the legs as hard as he could. For the second time that evening, the man fell to his knees, groaning. Nero attacked the man with wildly flailing arms, but he didn't really do any damage. The man simply grabbed Nero and threw him to the ground. He raised his sword and struck without a second's hesitation. Nero forced himself to roll to the side, but the man's sword still pierced his shoulder. Pain pierced Nero, but by now it was nothing unusual. Nero barely reacted, only hissing through bared teeth. He punched and kicked at the man, but with little effect. The man pulled the sword out of Nero's shoulder to finally finish him off, but then a bloody blade pierced the knight's stomach. Shocked, he looked down at himself.
Then the sword was torn from his stomach. Albrecht stumbled backwards, Leonard had stepped aside. Albrecht fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Nero had seen this sight before and knew that Albrecht would soon die.
Leonard approached Nero. He looked at the wound in his shoulder. "That doesn't look good," he muttered to himself. He pulled Nero's shirt off, and Nero didn't resist. The sword had pierced his shoulder clean through, leaving two holes on either side. Leonard didn't have any bandages or anything, so he went and got a torch. "You should bite down on something, this is going to hurt." He handed Nero his shirt, which he rolled up to bite on.
Then Leonard pressed the torch against Nero's wounds. Burning pain, worse than any broken rib, gripped Nero, but he just bit down hard on the shirt. He couldn't help but think of his mother. Had she had to feel this all over her body?
The hot flame of the torch charred his skin to stop the bleeding. When Leonard was done on one side, he moved to the other and did the same. Nero lost all feeling in his arm, but he could still move it a little. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he didn't make a sound, even when he took the shirt out of his mouth. Leonard was shocked by the boy's behavior, but he didn't know how he would have reacted in his place. Perhaps he would have simply lain down to die, but Nero fought on.
"Leonard..." murmured Albrecht, who was still alive. Leonard turned around. He went to Albrecht and knelt in front of him. "Do you regret what you did?"
This question surprised Leonard somewhat. "Albrecht... You burned an innocent woman. You allowed two small children to be locked up, and one of your men knew what the priest did to the poor girl. I know he told you; he's too simple-minded to think for himself. That makes you partly responsible. I don't regret attacking you, I don't even regret killing you. There are only two things I regret about this whole affair: I regret believing the priest when he called the woman a witch, and I regret that it took me so long to learn the truth. If I had come earlier, I might have been able to prevent it."
Albrecht laughed softly, blood spurting from his mouth, "We were just following orders."
"Only an idiot follows orders blindly."
Albrecht looked at Leonard, his eyes already losing their last glimmer of light. "Then...you are...the biggest...idiot of us all..."
Leonard sighed. "He's right," he said, and it took Nero a moment to realise that he was talking to him. "I'm sorry for what I did to you, boy."
Nero looked at Leonard, the man who had brought him and his sister to the cell. He said nothing. There was nothing to say. He could say he forgave him, but that would be a lie. He simply remained silent, and Leonard said nothing more; instead, he stood up. "Let's go!"