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The Unseen Blade

Chapter 3 Three

Word Count: 1701 | Released on: 21/10/2026

sleep t

h Darius over and over in my head. The way he moved. The way he

let me. I knew that now. He'd let me score. He'd

he'd wa

de what you're w

supposed to give up? My talent? My

hampionships. Me, younger, faster, hungrier. I watched myself destroy opponents. I watc

ook away.

, I made

early for anyone to be here. Too early for coaches or students

s was alr

, writing something. He didn't look up when I walked in. He

ere,"

n see

t to l

dn't look u

ne had ever asked me why I wanted to fence. They'd

nt to be the

not a

s my r

, unreadable. He studied me for a long m

low

with old gear. Masks hanging on hooks. Foils stacked in racks. A

your shoes

es. And your socks

d at hi

re not going

ng in his expression stopped me. So I took off my shoes. My socks. M

d, "you're go

k wh

m this wall to that

. "You're

ver j

I came here to fe

g is not about your hands. It's not about your speed. It's not about your power. It's ab

st fencer i

est. That's not

anted to prove him wrong. But I remembered what had happened last time I los

k a b

said. "O

as harder tha

tally, it was torture. Back and forth. Back and for

ng. He didn't offer encouragement or criticism. He just

ess. This was a waste of time. I could be fencing. I cou

kept w

the hour, Da

id. "Tomorrow

t's

did I

expression softened. Just a fract

omething without winning," he

day, I wa

er that. And th

No foils. No strips. Just walki

almost nothing. And every day, I felt somethin

day, I asked

id you

oked at me with those dark eyes. Then h

oes tha

sport. I stopped loving anything. I became a machine. A weapon

lly. But something in his v

ened to yo

. Then he said, "I'll tell you

y, a girl walke

t made her look smarter than everyone else in the room. She was carrying

e new kid,

I've been he

ch Miller is losing his mind." She walked toward me, her eyes scanning m

who yo

an eyebro

mentio

s, watching us with his usual expressionless face. Som

ack to me, "are you going

train

n't the same

h something. "You were at Westbrook. State champion your sophomore year. Runner-up last

his wrist. It

what the r

ighten. "The re

. Analytical. She wasn't judging me. She

at I think. It matters what the team thinks.

't even

recedes you." She tucked her tablet under her arm. "If you want to be part o

want to be par

o be very lonely for

watched her go, my chest tight

home and found my

he looked tired. She always looked tired. But there was something

to talk,"

ross from her

g to the gym every morning before class. They s

ust tra

ing fo

ated. "

s were shaking. Just slightly.

ere done with fe

ught s

chan

ghost in a gym. A text in the middle of the nig

I said. "Someone

stand

e reached across the table and took my hand

he said. "You k

kno

ing through. I'm not going to pretend I know what's b

come the only thing that matters. Because if it does, you're

r hair that hadn't been there a year ago. She'd sacrificed everything for m

mise,"

know if I

ed into the gym and foun

asn't watching from the corner. He was s

e said, "y

r in my chest. Exciteme

he lesson

on. Just

oil, and stepped onto the strip. Dari

rde,"

sed m

en I a

Chapter End

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The Unseen Blade

Abby Spencer Young Adult

“Caleb "CJ" Jackson is the best fencer at Westbrook Academy and he knows it. Arrogant, hot-tempered, and untouchable on the strip, he's spent years proving that talent justifies his attitude. Then comes the state semifinals, where an opponent named Marcus Webb matches him point for point. When Marcus scores the winning touch and offers a handshake, CJ grabs his wrist and twists hard. The bone fractures. The match is forfeited. CJ is expelled. Six months later, CJ arrives at Northwood High, a struggling public school with a joke of a fencing team. He walks in like he owns the place, critiques everyone's technique, and tells them they're all terrible. He's not wrong, but he's cruel about it. Then he sees Darius Reed. Darius moves like a ghost. He doesn't attack he simply isn't there when opponents try to hit him. CJ challenges him. Darius ignores him. CJ persists. Finally, Darius says: "You're not ready." CJ laughs. He's the best fencer in the state. He loses 5-0 without Darius ever launching an attack. Humiliated for the first time in his life, CJ reluctantly accepts Darius's offer to train him. The style Darius teaches the "unseen blade" is everything CJ isn't: patient, controlled, still. CJ hates it. But he can't stop thinking about it. As CJ trains, cracks begin to appear in his armor. He learns Darius was once the best fencer in the state before deliberately losing the finals and quitting the sport entirely. He starts to respect his teammates: Jazz, the comic relief; Tyler, the quiet moral compass; and Maya, the brilliant manager who refuses to be impressed by him. Maya is the first person who doesn't take CJ's crap and the first who sees through his arrogance to the fear beneath. Then there's Leo Vance the team's star, the rich kid, the only person who can match CJ's ego. Their rivalry becomes the engine that drives them both to improve. When a college scout offers CJ a scholarship, he realizes this is his only path to a future his only way to repay his mother's sacrifices. But the offer comes with a condition: he has to prove himself at the state championship. The only problem is that the team is terrible, and they're nowhere near ready. CJ is faced with a choice: pursue individual glory or help his teammates succeed. For the first time in his life, he chooses the team. The journey to states is grueling. CJ faces old rivals, new threats, and the ghosts of his past-including Marcus Webb, now the star fencer at the school that expelled him. When the final match comes down to a deciding bout, CJ must face his greatest fear: losing control. He wins. Not by unleashing his rage, but by channeling it. The Unseen Blade is a story about a boy who thought he was the best-and discovered he was just another person, flawed and afraid and desperate to be loved. It's about the difference between talent and greatness, between winning and worth. And it's about the quiet moments that change us the mentor who sees through us, the rival who challenges us, and the girl who refuses to give up on us even when we've given up on ourselves.”