They had never ventured far beyond the string trail that led to the clearing. Oscar and Dare both knew just how dangerous the forest could be. Neither would have been stupid enough to intentionally leave the string trail, but fate has a way of screwing with people in the most inconvenient of places.
Oscar could sense someone else in the forest. He had always had keen senses, and there was no mistaking the feel of another human presence. He motioned for Dare to keep quiet, something that Dare normally would have trouble with, and they picked up the pace. Who knew what kind of people you could run into deep in the forest, all kinds of thugs, thieves and murderers. Not people that you wanted to meet without being armed.
Dare was completely oblivious to this other presence. He was completely oblivious about a lot of things actually. He was whistling as they walked, while Oscar was tense and ready to run. Something didn't feel right to him, and while Dare couldn't tell what had set Oscar so on edge, he could always tell when something was wrong with his best friend. He always trusted Oscar's instincts. With just a nod between them, they decided to run the rest of the way, as it wasn't a long distance now to the edge of the forest. They were both fast runners, but Oscar could tell that the presence was keeping pace with them. It was definitely following them now, no doubt about it. The strange thing was, however, that Oscar could not hear any footsteps behind them. And then, like the clumsy idiot he was, Dare tripped on a root and went sprawling into the undergrowth.
The person who was chasing them made his move then, at their moment of weakness. Zatirick dropped from the trees and drew his sword. So he was following us in the trees, thought Oscar, At least that explains the lack of footsteps. Unarmed, Oscar's only choice was to dodge and run. Narrowly avoiding the Swordsman's first strike, he pulled Dare up and together they ran into the dense forest off the track.
Zatirick was right on their heels, on the ground this time. Oscar cursed. He was fast, as fast as them, and there was no way they could outrun him forever.
Zatirick smiled as he chased them. Run, he thought, Run as much as you want. You cannot run forever, and you have nowhere to hide. I am the eyes and ears of this forest, and you will not escape from me. Zatirick's smile widened when he realised that they were unarmed, too. Brainless. Still, Zatirick wanted a challenge, so he would let them run. He would let them run as far as they could, it made no difference to him. He could let them run themselves to exhaustion, and then bleed them slowly. Or he could just cut them down now, and watch them try to squirm away. Watch the fear in their eyes as death came for them. Zatirick always felt humbled by death, as if death were the lord that he served, and every kill was an offering to the god of death himself. As Zatirick ran, he imagined how they would look taking their last breaths, as the life drained from their eyes. Oh, how he lived for that moment.
At that moment, Zatirick caught up to them. He grabbed a handful of Dare's cloak and yanked him to the ground. And Zatirick knew that Oscar would not run and leave his friend behind, so now he had both of them. Brainless, he thought. And with that, he drew his sword once again.
"Dare!" Oscar's cry was frantic when he saw his friend pinned down by the masked Swordsman. Dare was struggling, but unarmed there was no way he could fight off the attacker. Dare's struggling became more desperate and frantic but Zatirick only smiled, content with watching his prey squirm. However, the smile was wiped off his face when Oscar landed a hard kick to Zatirick's jaw. He could taste blood in his mouth and he grimaced. He looked at Oscar to see that the boy had taken up a fighting stance and was preparing to fight him. The boy is brainless enough to challenge me when I still have his friend, Zatirick thought. With that, he brought the sword down into Dare's body.
Dare screamed in pain. It wasn't close enough to any vital organs to be lethal, but it was deep enough in his side to be excruciatingly painful. Zatirick pulled the sword out, and immediately blood began to pool around Dare's body. Zatirick decided that he would leave this one to bleed out.
"You bastard!" Oscar shouted. He rushed at Zatirick with nothing but blind rage. Unarmed against an extremely fast and skilled Swordsman, there wouldn't be much he could do. But Oscar never thought much when he got angry. All he saw was the person who had stabbed Dare, and that person needed to be punished. Zatirick swiped his sword at him, but hit nothing but air as Oscar dodged his blows again and again. Not used to facing people who were anywhere near as fast as him, Zatirick was momentarily taken aback, but his sword strikes were no less accurate and deadly.
"Dare, run!" Oscar yelled. Even in his enraged state, Oscar knew that he couldn't just dodge forever, but maybe he could buy enough time for Dare to get away. But Dare either didn't hear or deliberately ignored Oscar, most likely the latter. Dare was incredibly stubborn sometimes. Actually, he was stubborn all the time. There was no way in hell he would leave Oscar behind, and he knew that Oscar would do the same for him.
Oscar was getting tired now, and the Swordsman's strikes were getting closer. Suddenly, the next swipe of the sword caught Oscar's leg and the blade left a deep cut and a growing red patch on his leg. Not good, he thought. He knew that he didn't have long left against the Swordsman, and Zatirick knew this too. The boy is growing slower, Zatirick thought. He is tiring. The brainless one will be mine yet.
YOU ARE READING
Defying Equilibrium
FantasyWho would win if the deadliest sword was pitted against the strongest shield? One might say that neither could win, and so the fight would last to eternity. That is Equilibrium. Until the rules were broken.
