The Blog of armine

Zamiel was making his way from one side of the forest to another, his mind on Klarissa and how he would see her again, when suddenly he was attacked from behind and felt a strong hand grab him across the neck.

As his unseen assailant attemped to drag him down to the ground, Zamiel reached for the sword that he always carried with him and released it from its place in the holster.

Using techniques and manoeuvers he'd learned from an early age, Zamiel fought his way out of the deadly grip holding him captive by the neck.

Moments later he spun around to face his attacker directly... his plan had been to warn the person to either leave or face a cruel fight, but he was given no opportunity to speak.

His attacker was also armed - and it was immediately obvious to Zamiel that he fully intended to kill.

Zamiel raised his sword high, having no choice but to fight to preserve his own life.

Zamiel's attacker was strong and also well-trained; their battle went on for a long time but in the end Zamiel took him down. He would have let his unknown assailant live, but the opponent kept trying to slash Zamiel to ribbons until his last breath had expired. The experience left Zamiel numb, as he hitherto had never killed anyone and it had given him no pleasure to do so. As he kicked piles of dirt onto the bloodied dead enemy, an exhausted Zamiel reminded himself that he'd had no choice in the matter. If he had not killed the attacker, the attacker would surely have killed him.

Tired and in need of a good washing, Zamiel left the area and headed toward the nearest river that he knew about.

As nightfall descended in the forest, nocturnal creatures crept out of their hiding places to feast on Bruno's rotting corpse (character Bruno is from previous text; not shown).