“His name is Elucard – a lowly brat from some shoddy no-name fishing town. He is the first student that my fool of a blade kin, Legion, has taken under his wing. I've been eying them closely. You are stronger, Keth. Know this and wield it well. Elucard doesn't have the stomach to be a Rabbit. I want him to suffer.”

Malady spoke to a young elf of about fourteen years old. He had fair skin, short brown hair, and a strong back that years working as a farm boy had shaped far before his grueling Black Rabbit training. He was hand-picked by Malady along with several other lads, but it was Keth that rose to be Malady’s favorite pupil.

Keth raised an eyebrow to his master. He'd been kneeling and intensely listening. He enjoyed the power that his blade had given him over others, another attribute that his master favored.

“Elucard, master?” Keth asked, eager to enter the Blood Forest and make his master proud.

“Both, dear Keth.”

“But Master Malady, Legion won't be in the Blood Forest!”

Malady narrowed his one good eye. He had lost the other to Legion when they were younger. He sneered at his student's vain attempt to grasp his plan, “Fool, Legion will suffer when he finds his student's mutilated body has been swallowed by the forest. He may never take another student again.” Malady smirked imagining the pain on his rival's face, “His legacy will die with Elucard.”

Keth nodded, his eyes lit up with the knowledge of his actions bringing such pleasure to Malady.

“Take those that you would call 'friends' with you. Share the burden with those idiots, and do not get yourself killed. Remember, allies are like mules. They only live to serve you.”

“Yes, Master.”

***

The spider-shaped tree was large and had countless contorted branches that wildly sprawled in several directions. Protruding from the bark were spiky thorns. Rippled leaves carved out the tree's features like serrated razors.

Kneeling in the heavy shadows of the tree were the three elves: Izian, Geven and Myler. Their wrists were tightly bound behind their backs. Welts and bruises marred their faces and bodies. A thick mixture of spit and blood dribbled down their mouths. Only Izian's eyes were fixated on Keth. Spitting out broken pieces of teeth, he chuckled, “If I was free, I'd teach you some manners.”

Keth was growing irritated as he waited for the main event. He slowly knelt down to Izian's level. Drawing a dagger from his belt, he slapped the flat of it on the Izian’s face, “You were trained by Baines and Ridge?”

Izian nodded.

“Very well, it seems Elucard doesn't care for his friends, perhaps you will save them instead.” Keth stood calling for his grunts to untie Izian, “Toss him a blade.”

Izian checked the sword's balance and crouched down in an aggressive stance. He wondered if Elucard really abandoned them again… abandoned him again – but he quickly shook away his doubts to concentrate on the task at hand. He was the most skilled of the trio and a rising student as well. Without him, Myler and Geven were lost.

Keth cast a glimmering smile, “Say when.”

Izian clenched his teeth with rage and let out a furious growl. He rushed at Keth, plunging his sword in the air, but Keth leaped to the side, retaliating with a smart diagonal slice up and across Izian’s side. With a graceful jump, Keth spun around with a butterfly kick that crushed into Izian’s jaw.

Izian was flung backwards, flipping to the ground. Grasping in pain at the soil, he recovered quickly, and responded with a flurry of spin kicks of his own, each one nimbly dodged. Izian attacked again more aggressively. He saw an opening in Keth’s defensive dance and swept at his feet. Keth effortlessly dodged the attack but was met with a surprise flash kick that sent his head reeling backwards.

Keth sailed into the air and crashed hard onto the ground. Stunned, Keth's minions ran to his aid, but the dazed elf violently shook them away, “Enough, you idiots!” he roared as he adjusted his jaw. He turned his attention to Izian, “Okay, enough sparring. You die first.”

Taking his sword, Izian pointed it at Keth. He let out a weak grin. His body was still shaky from the excess adrenaline coursing through his body.

“Say when,” he chided.

Keth, no longer in good humor, dived at Izian as he made a series of slashes, some of which clashed with Izian's blade, but some of which hit their mark. Blood sprayed from the several gaping wounds made by Keth's blade. Izian stumbled backwards from the onslaught and fell on his back from a heavy kick to his chest.

Keth stomped a solid heel onto Izian’s chest and leaned in with all of his weight,”Landing one lucky kick, does not make you a victor.”

Izian squirmed under the hold, “Better to die with a blade in my hands, than on my knees with one against my neck!”

“For you, you'll have neither. You'll just die!” Keth raised the blade, its tip facing Izian's chest. Izian braced himself for the sting of death. At least he had fought and not died like a rabid dog. No, he would die like a true rabbit. Keth moved to thrust his blade down but withdrew his hand in agony as he found himself disarmed by a throwing dagger that struck his blade at the hilt.

A command struck through the darkness, “Enough!”

Both Izian and Keth watched from the shadows of the trees as Elucard emerged from the darkness, a blade drawn in each hand.

Lifting Izian up, Keth tossed him into the nervous hands of his minions, “Be ready to slay them all on my command.”

Keth turned to Elucard and retrieved his blade from the ground, “You killed my allies?”

“None will be killed by my hands,” he shouted over Keth, to his friends' captors, “None of you need to die here. Let my friends go.”

Keth snickered, “They know you are no threat.”

Elucard and Keth began to circle, their eyes locked on one another. Elucard shook his head as he tried to figure out why Keth had it in for him, but no answers came to mind, “So you must be Keth. I don't even know you, why this grudge?”

“This bad blood is beyond you and me, there's a larger plan at work. However, everything hinges on your death. I'd say this wasn't personal, but really, it is.”

Elucard gestured his head toward his three friends, “Let them go, they aren't part of this.”

“Sorry, Elucard, every war has its collateral damage,” Keth said while shrugging mockingly.

Elucard gripped the handles of his swords. The idea of escaping the forest without killing seemed more and more like a daydream. The reality was that Keth needed to be dealt with. This reality needed him to evolve or he would be left behind and so would the people he cared for.

“Very well, master, I won't hold back any longer…” murmured Elucard. His eyes were now cold, his breathing was calm. He seemed to be in a new found moment of peace.

Keth’s face twisted in confusion, “What did you say, rat?”

Elucard dashed forward, folding his blades in a cross and unleashing them in a wave of wind that crashed towards his opponent. Keth’s eyes widened in fear. Flipping backwards, he narrowly dodged the attack, but found himself fighting off a barrage of strikes from Elucard's twin blades. Sparks showered the air as Keth worked overtime to block each swift attack.

In the midst of his own attacks, Elucard lunged forward landing a vicious kick to Keth’s chest. Keth slid backwards and barely had a moment’s respite before Elucard danced amidst a storm of whirling blades, kicking up a cloud of thick dust.

Keth vaulted over Elucard’s advance, but a sharp pain let him know he hadn’t made it away unscathed. He tumbled onto the ground, seeking even a moment to recover. He gingerly hobbled on his injured leg, careful not to put too much weight on the weakened limb. Keth seethed with rage, “So, you do possess some skill, but not enough to keep you and your friends alive.”

Elucard’s mind was clear and his resolution unmoving. He took a deep breath before running forward for another set of attacks.

Using a sly reverse sidestep, Keth twisted around to be behind Elucard, and shanked him with a surprise dagger attack. He nimbly sprung backwards and a smile began to stretch across his face.

Elucard fell to a knee. He exhaled, grimacing in pain.

“I won't hold back… I won't hold back any longer.”

Elucard sought solace in his mind once more and pushed the pain to the back of his thoughts. He buried it deep in the darkness within him and gripped his swords tighter.

Keth stabbed his sword into the ground and reached for a second dagger, “My Master wishes you to die slowly. I think I'll punch you full of holes until your body runs dry.”

“I won't hold back…I won't hold back any longer.” Elucard's mantra continued as he stood once more and rushed for a breakneck attack, but Keth was like a mongoose, juking to the right and following suit with several more stabs to Elucard's legs, arms, and shoulders. The final attack disarmed Elucard.

He fell to his knees. How had Keth managed to bear weight on that leg? He was so sure that he’d disabled him. It would seem that Keth had a mantra of his own. Keth pulled Elucard’s head back with a fiery grip and slipped his dagger under his neck. Keth called out to his allies, “Kill them. Start with the one who attacked me first.” Keth leaned in to whisper into Elucard's ear, “You see, you’re a gangrenous wound on an otherwise healthy body. The body can’t survive with such a festering wound, now can it? No, of course not; for the body to survive, the limb must be sacrificed. I intend to be the blade that frees the body from the clutches of disease. Treasure these final moments and know that you died so that the Rabbits could thrive.”

Elucard's body throbbed with pain from his many gushing wounds. His fingers were numb, and his vision began to fog over. Perhaps it was a gift that Keth's taunting words began to fade. His friends' cries bobbed above his clouded mind. His mantra seemed to fade into the same darkness he’d buried his pain. However a familiar voice cut through everything that cluttered his head.

No pain, no numbness, no distraction, just the voice. The voice of his master, Legion.

“This is you not holding back?”

Elucard was silent with shame.

“Answer me, Rabbit! Is this your all?”

Through the calamity of the events outside, Elucard gave a low, raspy answer, as if he was answering the voice in his mind, “Yes, master. I have failed you.”

Legion's voice became stern, “I don't think it is. I think you're still holding back. I think you're afraid to raise yourself to a higher standard.”

“I'm afraid of what I will become,” he faintly replied.

Keth grew silent. He called out for his allies to withdraw their blades. He looked down at Elucard who seemed to be mumbling to himself, “Speak up, Elucard! We're all waiting for your final words.”

Legion's voice grew calmer, “You don't have to be afraid. You were chosen by Alanna to serve on the Mortal Plane. Embrace your duty to her, Embrace your duty to yourself. Fight. Kill. Live.”

All was silent.

Legion continued, “Are you still going to hold back, Elucard?”

Keth asked again, “Well, what have you got to say in your final moments?”

New-found energy coursed through Elucard's body as he once buried the throbbing pain in his arms deep in the dark soil of his mind. He grabbed a large stone that lay nearby and thwacked at Keth's skull, making blood gush from the side of his head. Elucard wasted no time. He swiped the two daggers from Keth's flailing hands, flinging them at two of Keth’s four goons.

The daggers violently pierced through their necks and crimson ribbons of blood gushed from the wounds they inflicted. Their lifeless bodies fell twitching on the ground as their allies rushed toward Elucard. He swiftly reached for his twin blades and made a quick set of well-aimed slices that slashed clean through their throats. They fell to their knees drowning and gurgling on their own blood.

***

Izian untied his two friends before limping over to Elucard who was standing over Keth.

“You offered me my last words. I shall do the same.” Elucard tapped his blade on the back of Keth's neck.

Keth glanced over his shoulder and sneered at Elucard.“There will be others.”

Elucard didn't bat an eye at the idea of this ordeal not being over, “So be it.” Moments later, Keth's head rolled on the cold, blood-drenched ground.

With Izian supported by Myler and Geven supporting Elucard, the four moved to the light that flooded into the forest from the clearing ahead. They had made it out together. They had made it out alive. They had survived the Blood Forest, but they were all forever changed. There was no going back to their old lives now.