Why is Chapter 6 afraid of Chapter 7 . . .
?
Bazil was striding through the forest at a mile-devouring
pace. Dis haste was mivrored by the look of determination on his face.
I must reach my destination before the others find me.
he thought. Unfortunately, his magical powers had been nearly depleted.
He needed rest. To meet one of his adversaries now could be disastrous.
He continued along the forest path for hours, stopping only briefly for
rest, until it was too dark for him to see easily. Then he found himself
a decent campsite and started a fire. As he curled up on the ground near
the fire, he heard a slight sound, yet one that was full of deadly menace.
Rolling quickly, he leveled his staff and fired a blast
of pure force in the direction of the sound, incinerating the bushes and
foliage in that area, as well as the small yet large-fanged bunny who was
the source of the noise.
Laughing softly at his own nervousness, Baz rolled back
towards the fire and prepared for sleep. It was then that he heard
the soft laughing. Leaping up and glaring around, he saw nothing. He cast
a small spell to detect those normally hidden from his eyes, yet still
saw nothing.
"Really, Bazil...didn't anyone ever teach you to look
ABOVE you as well as around you?" the voice was harsh, and held a mocking
overtone.
Seized with a jolt of quick fear, the mage quickly took
control of himself and looked up. There, perched on an overhanging branch
was Goat-Killer, or Julian, as he now realized his enemy was called. His
sword was unsheathed, and naked steel glinted in the moonlight.
"Truly pathetic, my friend" Bazil called up..."if you
truly wanted me out of the picture, you should have never announced your
presence." Never regret an enemies stupidity, I say.
With a slight grin, Julian leaped off the branch
to land lightly on the soft forest ground.
"I merely wanted you to know that you were about to die.
Always nice to let a man make peace, I always say." Even as he spoke, his
sword flew out, on an intercept course with the young mages neck.
Bazil iron-shod staff met the sword with a resounding
THWACK and a shower of sparks. Not wasting any time, Bazil seized the advantage
and attacked, the end of his staff dipping. As Julian moved to block, Bazil
quickly changed course and
smacked the other end of his staff over the back of the grizzled veterans
head. However, Julian wasn't a grizzled veteran
for nothing. As he dropped to one knee, his hand shot out and caught Bazil
by the ankle. He pulled and flipped him onto his back.
Bazil was just too young and spry for the grizzled
OLD veteran though. he leapt to his feet and beat down Julians hasty, unskillfull
defense to knock him with obscene force upside the head, crushing his skull
and leaving him a twitchy, bleeding mess upon the ground.
Suddenly not feeling tired anymore, Bazil worked
a small spell to see in the dark and continued down the path.
I should reach it tomorrow, if all goes well he
thought. Shouldering his staff, he set out into the moonlight, leaving
the broken corpse behind.
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