The Crimson Claymore by Craig A. Price Jr.

quiet as they galloped. The morning air felt cool through their nostrils, almost too cold, as Searon began to shiver.
    Suddenly, the fog cleared a small area, and someone appeared before them. Searon raised his claymore while Karceoles lifted his zylek and took aim. As the fog thinned, they recognized Starlyn standing before them, hammer raised and stained with blood. She had heat rushing through her body, and her face held rosy cheeks and luscious red lips that Searon found tempting.
    “Humans, fighting draeyks, they need help,” she gasped.
    Three draeyks lay on the ground, dead before her feet, and she swiftly attached her hammer to her sash. She faced north and glanced back to the two of them before dashing forward back through the fog.
    “Let’s go!” Karceoles called.
    Starlyn kept well ahead of them despite her being without an animal to ride. They were blindly galloping into the fog and had to trust their horses’ instincts that followed Starlyn’s scent. His horse, Stripes, suddenly stopped unexpectedly, and he was tossed from the saddle where he collided with Starlyn. The two tumbled onto the ground with Starlyn falling on top. Searon’s eyes never made it all the way up to her face, and Starlyn rolled her eyes before getting off of him. He froze in place for a moment after she was gone before shaking his head from the memory and rising to his feet. She pulled her hammer from her sash, and Searon followed suit, grabbing his claymore from its scabbard.
    In the distance, Searon noticed a clearing through the fog and watched as a human was struck down by a draeyk. There were two dead humans sprawled on the ground now among four dead draeyks. There were still two humans left standing that were putting on a fierce battle against the last three creatures. The last two warriors both battled without helms. Searon figured they had been caught by surprise or their helms had been knocked to the ground during the battle. One, with straight black hair that nearly touched his shoulders and a clean-cut face, held a higher skill with a weapon than the other. His fighting companion wasn’t as skilled and held an axe instead of a broadsword. He blocked attacks fiercely with the wind tossing his thick brown dreadlocks across his face.
    The two fought well with each other and had obvious practice in teamwork. However, the man in dreadlocks that held an axe began to slip on his strikes. He injured two of the draeyks in the shoulder, but they snarled and jumped at him using their own axes to slice him down. His voice cried out in pain just before his body went limp.
    Searon jerked his horse’s reins, causing the animal to dash forward. He looked to his side and noticed Starlyn next to him with her hammer drawn and a fierce look upon her face.
    The lone warrior struck hard with his sword, holding it only with his right hand. It was shaped like a broadsword but seemed to have a smaller blade allowing him to maneuver the sword with only one hand. He stabbed at one of the draeyks while punching another one. The third he was able to strike down after a series of blows, leaving him only two left. One jumped forward and struck his head with the backside of the axe, and the warrior fell to the ground.
    Searon’s stallion slid in front of the two draeyks before they could give a deathblow. He blocked their attacks and was joined by Starlyn at his side. The two battled perfectly together against the draeyks. Their strikes were almost in unison with each other, and they switched opponents. When they switched, it confused the creatures, and their guard was let down. It was long enough that both were able to deliver deathblows at nearly the same time. Searon’s blow came from overhead, slicing the scaly creature’s skull in half while Starlyn’s was an uppercut that shattered the creature’s jaw with her hammer. Starlyn turned to Searon and grinned, causing him to smirk back before nodding.
    Karceoles finally arrived next to Searon as