The Last Hunter

Chapter 3- Family

Instantly, my instincts took control of me.

Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

I drew in a deep breath, calming my brain, analyzing the situation.

I'm good with my bow, but I don't want to hurt him. Reluctantly, I drew my sword, and charged toward Ryan. He immediately met my blade effortlessly.

He was very skilled, and it was hard for me to keep up with my parries. We

clashed and slashed at each other, and I could tell I was doing him no damage. He slashed at me, and I received a small gash on my arm.

I cried out in pain. "Agh!"

I could see his apologetic eyes look me up and down, pausing, but saying nothing.

I blocked his next move, then dashed away so I could use my bow. I pulled out my rayarrows, and began to fire rapidly. I wasn't really trying too hard to hit him in order to hurt him, but I aimed for his shield and armor to prove to the counselors I could use a bow properly and hit the target.

As I shot, I had to keep running from him and some daggers he was throwing, making it quite difficult to not just shoot, but to not hurt or kill him. At one point, I accidentally shot past his arm, giving him a long, bleeding cut.

"Well, I guess we're even for bodily damage," I muttered, as I dodged a dagger he threw past my head.

I reached for my arrows, and found I only had one left.

"Dang! Better make this last one count," I murmured. I skidded to a stop, knowing I had very little time to prepare for the shot. I leveled my bow and released. Whoosh! My arrow zoomed past his arm, knocking his shield out of his hand, pinning it to a tree behind him.

"Yes!" I cheered, congratulating my shot. I grinned at Zephyr as he smiled and nodded at me, that is, until a dagger grazed past my ribcage, pinning me and my shirt to the ground beneath me.

"What?" I said with bewilderment, "I thought..." I started struggling to get the dagger out of the wall, but it was in deep.

Ryan walked toward me, sword in hand, breathing hard, covered in sweat and a bit of blood. "Wow, that was crazy!" He muttered to me, "I thought I would die; you are relentless." He took a breath. "Man, I thought the battle would last a little longer."

I struggled, but he placed his sword on the other side, perfectly pinning me down. I can't go down this easily! I thought.

"Hayah!" I yelled, then kicked Ryan's sword out of his hand.

I Jumped up, ripping the fabric of my shirt, making the shirt tear across the bottom, exposing skin up to my belly button and across my back. I kicked back a very stunned Ryan, and drew my sword.

We slashed at each other, and I jumped out of the way of his blade several times. We gave each other minor cuts and bruises, though Ryan hit me a bit more than I did him. He wore out slower than I did, but he was beginning to sweat more.

Finally, I knocked his sword out of his hand. It clattred to the ground, making him use his free hand to grab a dagger instead. I jumped out of the block and knocked the dagger out of his hand with my sword, and he ran to his sword.

We fought a little more, until Ryan finally knocked the sword out of my hand. He pointed the tip at me, me being completely defenseless, as I had lost my shield in the battle. I took off my shoe and threw it at him. Ryan laughed, but held his ground.

"You can't do anything. Come on, admit you lost!" he told me.

"I don't want to die," I whispered. "Will I die if I don't admit it, that you win?"