The Condemnation -- Chapter Four, The City

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Acra must truly hate men such as I, he thought as he slowly made his way through the thick forest.  The green around him seemed endless as he gradually cut down saplings, bushes, thorns, and other forms of vegetation that, as far as he could tell, wanted nothing more than to swallow him up forever.  He knew he was close to the city and thus wanted even more to escape the forest, but he didn’t feel he was making much headway.  This line of thinking continued for what seemed like ages until, without warning, he’d reached a clearing that ended rather abruptly at a sheer cliff.  He padded over to the cliff’s very edge and looked straight down, smiling as the city below filled his eyes.2

Riuto studied the cliffside and came to the conclusion that it would be far too difficult to simply climb down its face to the city below.  He headed off to the left, hoping to find an alternate route, but was disappointed quickly to find the cliff disappeared into the very forest from which he’d emerged, and he wanted nothing more to do with it.3

He turned back around and walked along the cliff’s edge for a good hundred yards or so before finally discovering its sheer slope gradually eased off, turning after a while until a gently-angled hill another 200 yards ahead.  He started off once more in this direction, hoping to find a place to rest for the night, preferably beside a stream or pond from which he could quench his thirst.4

As he trotted down the hill, he thought he’d heard small branches or leaves getting crushed underfoot, but quickly dismissed it, assuming it was simply the wildlife around him.  He reached the bottom of the hill and was pleased to find a small, fast-flowing stream that seemed to get its momentum from the steep drop above him.  He dropped to one knee and cupped his hands below the water’s surface, then raised them and first washed his face.  He then lowered them into the water once more, this time for a drink, and that’s when he noticed it.5

He had almost no time to react before he felt the “WHOOSH” of an arrow grace his skin.  He rolled onto his right side, spun and stood, facing the tree his adversary was no longer in.  Though his right arm ached tremendously still, popped the hilt from its sheath and gently placed his right hand onto the sword’s handle.  6

This time, another arrow came at him from his side, though dropped a bit and implanted itself in his calf.  Riuto felt the burning of a foreign vessel entering the flesh of his leg, but ignored it as he’d found his target and lunged at him.  He brought his sword to bear in a tremendous arc, though was blocked as his opponent grabbed his arm, wrenching it around and flipping Riuto onto his back.  He rolled off to the side as his opponent narrowly missed impaling him with a small dagger, jumping up and lunging once more at his mystery attacker.  7

He swung his sword in a shorter, tighter half-arc this time, turning exactly half-way through his normal swing and slashing it upward, hoping to carve his opponent from stomach to head, though missed once more as his opponent easily jumped back.  Riuto’s arm felt like it was about to fall off and, indeed, it throbbed greatly, as it was not fully healed and using it to fight was only making it worse.  8

Riuto’s attacker, once shrouded in a heavy cloak, removed and threw it to the ground, though Riuto did not recognize him.  The pain in his arm was beginning to affect his other senses as his vision began to blur and his thinking became more difficult.  He forced himself through it, however, gritting his teeth and tightening his grip on his sword’s handle.9

His attacker took out a second dagger and charged straight at Riuto, changing directions at the last second and going to Riuto’s right, hoping to catch him off guard.  Riuto swung his sword out wildly in response and paid for it as a dagger was imbedded into his side.  His attacker circled around Riuto’s back and was about to put a second dagger into his left side, effectively ending the fight, when Riuto suddenly put every bit of power he had into his left leg, spinning about and slamming his sword blade into the dagger, knocking it to the ground.  He then raised his sword up and subsequently back down in one fluid motion, opening an enormous gash in his opponent, his sword still stuck in his chest as he finished.  Riuto panted heavily and gasped in pain as he removed his sword from the body of his attacker, then reaching for the dagger in his side and yanking it out.  He sheathed his sword, again not bothering to wipe the blood from it, and pulled the arrow in his calf out.10

He was wounded horribly now and knew it, but also knew he could not stop.  It was clear the Condemnations Committee was well-aware of his coming to the city and thus wanted to end his trek as quickly and simply as possible.  11

As he thought of all this, he realized he was slipping to the ground, and before he could even think to draw the strength to stand once more, passed out from his wounds beside the stream, his hacked-up attacker not five feet away.12