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The Unseen Blade

Author: Abby Spencer

Chapter 1 One

Word Count: 1829 | Released on: 21/10/2026

d came down, and

three. A massacre. The kind of bout that made people whisper about the fut

otten, pulled off his mask. His face was red. Sweat dripped f

ut," he

st looked at him, head tilted

it?"

was still clapping. Some of them were laughing. A few parents glared at me, but I didn't care

e gym floor. Brian, the captain, gave me a tight nod. He was decent. Not great. He knew

I wasn't there

there

man, bald, with the kind of deep voice that made you want to sit up straight. He'd

on," h

e muffled behind us. He had that look on his face. The one I'd seen a few times before. Disap

said. "He's fifteen. It's h

d. "Not m

walked onto the strip.

uldn't have

encer I've ever coached. You know that. But you're also the most

laughed. "It hasn't

ill smiling. Teachers always said stuff like that. They acted like being the best wasn't enough. Like you needed

stares from my teammates, and walked out into the

t money on the counter fo

second. Then I shoved the phon

s empty when

e was sleeping. I couldn't remember the last time we'd had a real conversation, the kind

go to Westbrook. Driven me to practices when she was so tired she could barely keep her ey

was here. She was the

hing. And I inten

e TV flickered on. Some basketball games. I didn't care. I stared at the screen, but I wasn't really w

at's going

to be untouchable. To walk onto the strip and know, absolutely, that you were goi

ust because some washed-up coa

up to an email from the s

third time. Then I threw

cracked. I

ltiple complaints" about my conduct. It said I was being placed on probation pending a rev

he best fence

shoes and ran

oring the stares, and burst into Coach Hensley's office without knocking. He was sitting at his

own, C

the cracked screen still displaying the

the screen, and set it down

do anyth

their fencer after the bout. They said you refused to sha

se it

ust looked at me. That same look. Disap

"I'll go to the review. I'll tell th

chair. "I've been asked to submit a recommendatio

"What history? I hav

our mask at a referee. This year, you've received three warnings for unspor

re all ju

at me. "

wo years ago had been cheating. The referee last year had been biased. The warnings this year h

d. "That's what this is. They can't stand that s

said, "You're not being punished for being the be

hit me li

sed that gift to make people feel small. To humiliate them. To show the world that you're better t

urning. I didn't know if I wanted to hit him or run aw

" he said. "I don't want to see you thrown out

ything. I turne

couldn't be alone with the email and the look on Coach Hensl

y. The air smelled like grass and car exhaust. I sat on the curb and

had broken Marc

ored that last touch, when he'd smiled and reached out his hand like he'd already won the whole thing, someth

maybe they were right. Maybe I had. Maybe that's who I was. Someone who c

ed through my contacts, past Mom, past the few numbers I'd saved

scrolling through a school database and your eye catches on something. Darius Reed.

been the bes

I just needed to hear someone's voice who understood what it felt like

Then a voice. Calm. Qu

I didn't know what to say. I did

zed a moment

. Come to Northwoo

sing now. The sky was turning orange and pink. Somewher

everything I

the dust off my jean

orthwood was. But I w

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.”