Curse of the Demon King [A first chapter]

Hey guys. So I saw this had no posts, and decided I should inspire some people to start using it. Here's the first chapter of the book I plan/want to write.

Chapter 1 – The Fight in the Garden
“You have to hit me eventually!” Trevan yelled with the same annoyed tone of voice he always used when I hid behind my shield.
“Blocking is what’s going to keep me in the fight!” I said. As much as I looked up to my brother, I’d easily get hit if I tried to attack him. I wasn’t as skilled at sword fighting.
I tried to swing at him. I missed and hit only the air, “It was… the sun. It got in my eye and blinded me.” I said, trying to cover up the awkward swing. He shook his head,
“This child is going to have an easy fight if you just make excuses instead of attacking.” While I could understand his reasoning, I just didn’t feel I could trust myself go on the offensive. I could just as easily slay a dragon as I could try to hit the foe I’d be facing soon.
Trevan began moving forward, hitting his practice sword against the shield I continued to hold in front of my face. Trying to get out of his striking range, I backed up until I was suddenly caught off guard as I stumbled backwards over a shrub, Trevan used this to his advantage, swinging at me while I fell. I lifted up my shield just in time and rolled to the right, trying to avoid another hit. ‘I hope the Gardener won’t mind that,’ I thought, leaping off the shrub, I got up and tried to swing once. The swing just barely hit his shield, but pushed Trevan back a step
I tried to swing again, this time hitting his shield with a little harder. “A second-in-line to the throne could surely hit better than that!” Trevan said, scoffing at my weak attack,
“Well, a first-in-line wouldn’t just nag. He’d lead by example!” I panted. Laughing at this, he put his shield back on the rack and grabbed a second sword.
“What’re you doing, Trevan?” I asked, looking at him prepare a defensive position,
“Try and hit me.”
“I’ve been trying.”
He rolled his eyes, “You’ve barely gotten close. If you can hit me, you are ready and you can rest in the castle until the boy arrives.” He looked at my blade, then into my eyes. I was sweaty from having to practice in the blazing heat, and I eyed the door like an oasis.
I was so caught up with the idea of resting in the cool of the castle, that I almost missed blocking the sword coming at me, but I barely knocked it away with my shield. The next time, I was prepared, blocking another one of his swings. Seeing if I could hit him and end this, I swung at his leg and ended up tripping and rolling behind him.
He easily hopped out of the way, and I just barely missed being hit in the side of the head with the sword, “Stop being clumsy and think before you swing!” he said, his voice cracking from laughter “You’d look rather bad with a bruise on your face during Mother’s Birthday Ball.”
Mother’s Birthday Ball. How had I forgotten? It had completely slipped my mind. What if- The sudden pain caught me off-guard. Trevan had hit his sword into my gut while I wasn’t paying attention. “Never let your opponent distract you.” He said grinning, “Don’t tell me… You haven’t gotten Mother a present?” I shook my head, embarrassed.
“I’ll let you take some of my gold. I’ll let you figure it out.” Trevan said.
His attention was grabbed as the castle door opened and loud boots clomped through the garden.
“Well, here comes your new opponent.” He said, looking at the arriving child, no older than 12, only a couple of years younger than me. He was a noble’s son, meaning he was trained well. These challengers always fought for their family honor, and I did the same. It was inspired in the training camps during the Demon War, where spectators would bet on their fellow soldiers to see who would win. Later it became a more noble fashion and honor tied itself with the reward of gold. People usually fought me specifically instead of Trevan because they knew I wasn’t as strong. They were right, but I wasn’t happy to be famous for it. I couldn’t afford to lose this fight. Not again. If I lost this time, I’d lose not only the fight, but my family would be extremely disappointed in me and I couldn’t bear to disappoint them again.
The challenger and I stood apart from each other, both of us on opposite sides of the garden I had practiced in so much. There was only one simple rule: No killing. It was an obvious rule, but it always was a good rule. Especially when he could easily best me.
I looked at my opponent. His parents had obviously spent a large portion of their wealth for this fight. I could tell by the emerald on his sword’s hilt that they honestly hoped this would give them much honor after this fight. . It’d been so long since I last saw an emerald, or any kind of gem for that matter. After they were all used up in the Purification to kill the Demons, or Blinkers as the soldiers called them, it was rare to find any more. He obviously was fighting for honor beyond belief. Of course, the money given for said ‘honor’ was rather extensive as well. Likely, this was why he came. It was a large gamble for noble families. If your child won the challenge, he came back richer than before. If your child lost however, all that money went to the winner and you had wasted it all. Both our families put much into this fight. The losing families often fought amongst themselves afterwards and usually split apart. My family had been fine for now, but I could only pray I won.
The boy sneered, “You don’t look so tough. Then again, nobody ever said you were!” now laughing at me,
“Well, looks aren’t what they seem!” I said, bluffing even myself when I said it. He readied his sword as I set aside the practice sword and grabbed my own. It was a lot heavier than I recalled, but I adjusted to the weight, lifting it awkwardly,
“Are you going to fight or simply lift a sword?” the boy burst into laughter.
“At least I’m not a child in a man’s armor!” I shouted back, causing him to glower at me.
He charged forward, running across the garden towards me and swung again and again, hitting my shield repeatedly. I tried to avoid having to hit him as much as possible, weaving through the garden, up the stairs, around some shrubs, and everywhere else hoping he would trip up. However, he hit again hard enough to knock my shield into my head. He hit a few more times, each time progressively tiring me and injuring me. Finally my arm grew weak and my shield dropped low from exhaustion. Both the boy and I were tired, but his sword-fighting seemed better than mine. I decided to see if I could hit him, swinging towards his sword arm. He backed up and I swung past, slamming my sword into my shield and causing a sting of pain to go through my arm. The boy pressed forward, and each time I backed up nearer and nearer to the edge of the garden. Finally he trapped me in the corner and began hitting me with the hilt of his sword. The emerald dug deep into my skin and I howled in pain. Finally I realized I couldn’t stay in here forever, so I tried to fight my way out. He backed up once more, my sword careening out of my grasp and onto the floor. As I ducked past him to retrieve it, he kneed my stomach, causing me to fall on the grass, and he rolled me over with his foot, “Looks like I was right. You’re not tough at all. It was like fighting a turtle!” he said smirking, “‘Cuthridge, Battler of Turtles’ they’ll call me!” his laughter now echoing upon the castle walls,
My whole body was in pain, and I could feel blood seeping from my nose. Despite this, I coughed out one final insult to Cuthridge.
“Drop dead. . . Demon bait. . .” I said. I immediately realized my mistake in doing so as the last thing I saw was the emerald on Cuthridge’s hilt.


When I woke up, I was on the floor. A blob that looked almost human looked down at me. Trevan. I had failed, and it showed in my brother’s face, It was racked with disappointment and anger, “You… You… You just can’t do it! You can’t fight!” he shouted, “Now you’ve lost another battle! Our family wasn’t raised to lose fights. Our family was raised to win them.”
My voice shook. “Trevan, I’m sorry. . . Okay? I did my best! Isn’t that all right?” I said, but it only got Trevan angrier, “Your best is atrocious. You didn’t get a single hit on him. And why? Because you were afraid of messing up? Caen. . . I know you. I know you can do better than this. Our family has been fighting for generations. Our grandfather was the General Lenn. He was the one who lead our people to defeat the Demons. He was the one who discovered the powers of gems and used them in battle. He used what he had to his advantage. Dad fought in the war too, you know,” he explained, sitting me down alongside him on one of the benches around the outside of the garden as birds flittered around the sky. My head was still a bit hazy, but I nodded in agreement. “He helped fight for the kingdom, and once the war was over, he helped Grandfather to build the castle we live in today. If we didn’t attack, we would have nothing.” I knew it was true, but he didn’t understand me.
“I know our family was raised to fight, but I just can’t! I’m too awkward, and no matter how hard I try, I end up losing!” I shouted at him, now both of us stood up,
“Caen, some day you’re going to end up on a battlefield. If you want to live and protect this kingdom, you’ll learn to fight or you’ll die! Do you want that?” He yelled, “This is the point where I should say ‘It just takes time’ but it isn’t! People have started to say that the Cult who summoned their Demon Lord have begun to gather. Nobody knows where, but if they’re returning, trouble could be closer than you think, little brother! I just don’t want you to be caught up in something that you aren’t prepared for.” This news shocked me. How long had he known? Did the whole family know?
“When did you hear this?” I asked.
“I discovered it this morning. Father told me before your practice. I figured he’d tell you sooner or later.” Trevan said, a frown forming on his face.
“Is there anything else I should know?”
“The Magic Academy in the west is preparing for the worst. I think you need to do the same. Chances are, this could just be a false report, but it’s better to be prepared for nothing than to be unprepared for everything. For now just. . . Go to your dance class. The Ball will take all this off your mind.”
As I walked away, too many thoughts swirled throughout my head. Rumors of war, losing the fight, the Ball, a gift for my Mother. All of these fought for my attention as I walked towards the castle doors.


Let me know what you think!

Also, I do plan on re-writing it. I decided I was going to break the trope of 'The wise Older Brother' and instead go for 'The Wise Younger Sister.' Or rather, the one who's actually defensive and smart.