The Adventures of Jarod Pillagebane: Book 1: Beware of Zombies

Chapter 1
There was once a son born to two wealthy parents. His name was Jarod. He was very small, however nothing seemed to be wrong with him. One day, at the age of seven, his father took him to a dueling arena. He quickly took an interest in dueling, and was always asking for lessons, or at least his first blade. Finally, at the age of nine, on his birthday, his father gave him his first sword. It was a rusty old hanger, with a hand guard onto which was burnt some markings. However, they were not legible. He was going to need gold to buy the expensive brush he would use to uncover them. He was employed by an arena that hosted duels. He was a famously amazing fencer. One day, he had nearly enough gold to purchase the brush he needed. Today he was fighting the renowned behemoth of a man, Miguel Parry. "Ironic", he thought to himself. He was preparing for the duel. He practiced the move he created specifically for this duel. "You ready, mate? Time to duel", a man named Tobias said. "Yes, I'm ready. I believe I'm going to be doin' well today." The arena was very unique. It was different every time. Different obstacles, different twists, different opponents. And no one was allowed to tell the contestants what was in the arena. However, some drunkards would crack if You gave them a barrel or two of their favored rum. A man told Jarod, It's dirt, with lots of hills. Oh, and stay away from the arch. There are grenades that fall on their unlucky victim when they're triggered, by putting weight on it. But that COULD, work to your advantage, savvy?" He realized he was taking a very long time. He began to walk up the rusty iron stairs up to the platform of the large arena. He finally reached the top. The announcer, Jack Cannonshot, announced in a booming voice that rattled Jarod's eardrums, "Duelists! Are you ready?!" "Aye!" Miguel Parry looked at Jarod in disgust, "At least you will have an honorable death..", Miguel said coldly in a voice like stone. "We'll see", Jarod said mysteriously. "Duelists! Draw your blades!" Jarod drew his hanger, and Miguel drew an ornate and light epee. "Duelists Ready! And... DUEL!!!" Miguel charged at Jarod, and at the very last second he ducked and slid past him, kicking him back while doing do. He charged, and did an astonishing flip followed by several swift lunges and landed on the other side of Miguel, and kicked him into the arch. He was thrust into a massive array of flame and shrapnel. The air was smoky, and he thought he had it in the bag. However, he had just barely avoided it and was infuriated. He charged at Jarod, but he was blinded by aimless rage. He executed a perfect backflip but on the way impaled him with a forceful thrust and a grunt as the blade pierced his vulnerable heart. He hollered out seemingly rehearsed chain of curses, before saying, "Gah....". "GAH..." to you too", Jarod replied with a hearty laugh. The seemingly bloodthirsty crowd screeched with strange excitement and joy at the death of this mammoth of a man. Jack Cannonshot handed Jarod his prize money as he thought to himself, "This is more than enough! I think I'll get a mug o' rum on the way to Charles Bladeginty's shop." He left a bloodthirsty crowd in awe as he exited with gold in his coat pocket and a grin on his face.

Chapter 2
Right when he left the barbaric arena, he set off go Chales Bladeginty's shop. On the way, he stopped at a tavern called King's Arm, and ordered his favorite: light rum with molassasses cinnamon. He paid the tavern owner, Johnny Mcvane, and exited the tavern as he nearly bumped into a massive man that smelled of old cheese and black rum. "Evening, mate",he said nonchalantly with breath so foul Jarod had to swallow hard not to gag. "Fine day, ey?" "Err.. Aye", he said as he passed him and exited the tavern quickly. He started down the way to Charles' shop. He saw a beautiful girl halfway down the path. "Hello!", he said warmly with a smile. "What's your name?" "Nerissa", she replied in the same tone. "Would you please help my goat? His head is stuck in this fence, Heaven knows how or why. Could you help me?""Certainly", he said as he walked over. He did a perfect double backflip and landed a kick to the fence, looseniing the boards so the goat could get out. "How did you do that?", she asked, stunned. "I could show you sometime", he replied with a wink. "Well, I must be on my way. Goodbye, Nerissa", he said hurriedly. "Goodbye", she replied. When he arrived, he was greeted warmly by Charles Bladeginty. "Ah, Jarod! I see you've returned. Do you have the money?" "Aye", Jarod said absentmindedly, thinking about the girl he just saw. Jarod handed Charles the gold, and Charles handed Jarodbthe brush. It came with a blade sharpener and a polisher. "This can make even the rustiest old edge into a thing of beauty, something fit for a king", Charles proclaimed with pride. "Guess that explains the price..", Jarod muttered, followed by a chuckle from Charles. "Use it well, and you will turn that rusty old hanger of yers into a blade fit for a king", Charles said as Jarod was exiting. When he arrived at his blacksmithing shop, which was an old shop behind the Faithful Bride, which had never really had business. Technically, it wasn't even his. No one even knew it was there, so it was more like his workshop. To get to it, you had to go over a gate (more like a wall, the keyhole had rotted and molded beyond repair years ago) via a series of stacked crates. He liked his little workshop, it was one of his most valued possessions. He felt secure behind the large wall, where he wouldn't be pestered by the EITC to pay a ridiculous amount of taxes. It was his safety. His solitude. His escape. His FREEDOM. When he entered his shop, he closed and locked the door and sat down with his delicious, sweet, light rum. He unsheathed his hanger, and set it on his desk, with his light rum next to it. He got to work he dipped his brush in a barrel of water he kept in there. "Oops. I needed that....", he said as he felt foolish. "Oh well. I'll just go get bother barrel. There's one over here....", he said as he walked over and grabbed a barrel full of water. He tripped on a rock, and it spilled. But something fell out of that water. He gasped. It was of the finest, most well-balanced daggers he had ever seen. On the blade was carved the following inscription:'' The well-known warrior will stop the flow, of the of the ridiculous taxes Beckett's orders show, and obliterate the tyranny that rules the hour, or we'll all end up under Beckett's power. If done, and Beckett's blood is spilled, the long lost prophecy will be fulfilled: "The cruelty needs to end, to let our wounds mend. Pirates, unhanded, Beckett's men, disbanded. And if you can only perfect it just right, strike down Beckett with all your might, you will leave his men shaking in fright. And with gifts you'll be showered, for your bravery, that towered, for killing the coward, for shooting his head: the war will not end, until his blood is shed, the war will not end, until Beckett is dead."'' Jarod looked up in amazement. What could this mean? That he had to kill Beckett to end the war? That he had to disband his men? It all seemed so unreal. Seemed like this whole thing was a dream. Though he wouldn't admit it, part of him wished it was. He went over to his desk, and felt dizzy. He took a swig from his rum, and that seemed to do the trick. He found a small sheath, connected it to his belt, and put the dagger in it, but then unsheathed it to look at it. It really was a thing of beauty. It had a cruel, curved blade that had jagged points on it, shaped like arrows. He had seen a dagger like this before. It was known as a sword-breaker. You would catch a blade with it. Then, one flick of the wrist, and it just snaps the blade right off. He ways dreamed of having one of these. It was a fine weapon as a dagger, too. He pricked his finger with it. "Ooh!", it literally made him wince as he pulled it away and put it in the now-filthy water. He sucked his finger. He polished and sharpened it. It looked amazing. It had a long curved handle wrapped in a cushion with wire on it, with a silk covering. He had seen weapons like this before. When he had seen a general of the EITC. Made with pure gold. The hand guard curved around almost half way to the start of the pommel, which was actually made of steel, though it was bejeweled. He had no idea how it hadn't rusted at all from being in a large barrel of water, but just to make sure, he cleaned it with the brush, polished it, put it back in its sheath. He began to work on his hanger. He picked it up and scrubbed the blade first. The brush worked surprisingly well. All of the rust, grime, and scratches were coming put quickly. After about 20 minutes, the blade looked great. It shined translucently in the warm Caribbean sun. He began on the handle, which only took about ten minutes. He was amazed. He never knew how amazing his sword was! It was tempered, quality, steel. The pommel was connected to an ornate bronze, hand guard that had an engraving of a galleon flying a a black flag with a pistol pointing at a grinning skull from above, with two crossed cutlasses starting at the right and left top corners. He picked it up, and did a few practice slashes. It swiped the air as the blade swung gracefully around. It felt so much lighter than it did before. He created a new move, where ducked and avoided a blow and then slid back, tripping the enemy while doing so. He would then flip to get up, do a front flip, and land with a heavy downward plunge to the victim. He names it the 'Unexpected Killer'. His sword looked fantastic. He thought up a move he would use in battle. He would duck and dodge a blow at the last second, and throw his newly-acquired dagger at the enemy's heart, then yank it out. He dubbed it to be referred to henceforth as 'The Heartripper'. Jarod then tried it on a dummy, whom he placed an apple where its heart is. He tried the move on the dummy, and literally ripped the apple right out. Hence, 'Heartripper'. He wiped the apple remains off of his dagger, and sheathed his blades. He went down to the dock, and found that an EITC Treasure Fleet was being loaded. He saw a massive chest, and realized it was the tax money! He sneaked over behind and EITC soldier and kicked him off the dock with a sharp kick to his back. Fortunately for him, he knew how to swim, however, his his fellow soldier whom Jarod did the same to was not neatly so lucky. He sunk like a rock. A soldier spotted him, and Jarod knew he was about to alert his fellow guards of Jarod's "activities". So, he did the only thing he could. He stabbed him forcefully through his heart, and before he could react, Jarod picked him up and threw him into the water. He slyly picked up the chest, walked back, but a gold coin fell out, and they were after him. He turned a corner, just dodging a bullet by about an inch, and felt many more whiz by his ear, before he sprinted over to a rickety wooden latter. He got up just in time, and as they were climbing up, right before the first man was going to make it up, he kicked it down. "Phew", he thought with a sigh of relief.