Chapter nineteen (Jason)
Jason slashed at his enemy, trying to make a nice, long gouge. But he didn't. Miss Lael's sword blocked Jason's attempt. She stepped back to regain balance and struck at Jason's head. He ducked with no time to spare. Jason repositioned himself into a defensive stance.
It will be easier to attack when she's tired. He though strategically.
The two rivals’ swords clashed in the air. The sound of the combat echoed through the silent forest clearly indicating that a fight was taking place. Jason swirled over one of Miss Lael's attacks. Her long hair whirled around in the chilly air. It distracted Jason for a moment. Some of the hair slashed across his face, and it hurt more than he thought it would. Almost like a whip. Jason thought with a small smile.
She swung her sword to attack Jason. He side-stepped away. The sword just missed his stomach. Now paying more attention because of Miss Lael's obvious talent, Jason started to go on the offensive side. He managed to make a cut in her left shoulder, a small one; the sword had just barely touched her. It’s not a deep wound, it won't slow her down a bit..., thought Jason.
Shocked for a second, Miss Lael took a step back. She still had her sword in one hand and her shield in the other. She steadied her helmet, for it was crooked. Jason could have made a slash, but he decided not to. After all, his trainer, Sir Nathaniel, always told the orphans: "Never attack someone who isn't ready, for it wouldn't be a fight, it would be cruel and treacherous, just like the Furie."
Jason remembered some of the other rules of fighting: Never lose sight of who you are fighting; Always keep your sword steady in both hands if you feel like you could lose a fight; If no one is attacking, make sure you don’t stay still, keep moving...
Instinctively, Jason now slid his shield up his arm, and held his sword in both hands. Hopefully this will work, Jason thought as he planned his next move.
When Lael came back to fight, Jason quickly swirled around her and slashed at her feet. Unfortunately, Miss Lael also had a trick up her sleeve. She jumped over his strike and swung her sword down towards Jason. He was sure it was the end. I lost, he thought, I'll never become a Sir in Parton.
But surprisingly, Miss Lael missed. Her sword slammed into the ground. It was stuck. Now was his chance. He could strike. He could kill. But that wasn't the plan at all. The voice of Sir Nathaniel came to his thoughts: "Never kill, unless you have to."
So Jason took his sword and hit her hard on her head with the hilt. She fell unconscious, with only the 'thud' of her body hitting the ground.
Jason watched Miss Lael as she breathed slowly, lying on the ground. To Jason's relief, she was still alive. Although his move couldn't kill a lady like her, he still made sure she was alive.
Once again, Jason was walking through the forest in search for the golden sword made by Ansel himself. When he had finished fighting Miss Lael, he had remembered to quickly get away, because, with all the noise they had made, any of the other knights and sword-maidens could have heard. And that wouldn't be good.
If Jason could get to the sword without any other people to fight, that would be just great, but something made Jason doubt that that would happen.
A while passed, and the only important thing that had happened was a long shriek in the forest. It surprised him, but he recognized it, although it still frightened him.
He kept on repeating to himself: Never give up, never give up. You can do it. Almost there. But, often, it only made him want to give up even more.
In the seemingly long moments that went by, Jason was able to think a bit. He thought about the weird things he had seen: the trees, the creature... In the end, they had all ended up being visions of sorts. Weird, he thought.
Jason didn't even walk behind the protection of the trees anymore. He started to run across the forest. It was still light out, so he could see clearly. He glanced around each tree, each rock desperate to try to find the sword. He was more and more convinced that he was lost. The chill air swooshed around his face, blowing his hair around. He started to sweat. He slowed down to a stop. He breathed heavily for a moment, catching his breath from all the running.
He felt good when he stopped running. His heart felt new and strong. He felt like he wanted to run even more, but he just couldn't find the energy. Then it hit him. His stomach felt painful as he remembered. I haven't eaten yet! Jason jumped up from the ground were he had sat and thought about food.
I could eat berries, he thought, trying to bring his scout years back to his memory. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, timbleberries, huckleberries... Jason repeated the names of all the edible forest berries he new. The bear scouts had helped him after all. Jason smiled. He never thought he would be stuck in a forest before. But, unfortunately for Jason, there were no berries to be seen. For berries didn't exist in Zuchon. How dumb a I? I'm not on Earth! He thought in a sigh. What will I eat now?
Jason tried a few leaves. The best ones were disgusting, gross and definitely not Earth plants. Some were orange and had yellow fuzz. Some were light green and had pink flowers growing right on the leaves. Some had different shapes too. Some were thin and triangular, some were thick and circular, some had yellow fuzz, some were orange and had pink flowers growing on top of them! But they all had something in common: they were all unique and strange.
Jason spat out the last taste of the disgusting leaves. No more leaves for him! He continued his unfruitful search for food. He didn't even think about the sword anymore, he was to hungry, and starting to get weak.
The fact is, Jason was in the biggest forest of Zuchon, Ziljon. It covered the whole north and north-west territory, not the best place to get lost, especially alone.
Jason was sitting along the riverside. He had finally found some food and drink. Although the slabert that ran through the river could have been better tasting, to Jason, this was Heaven. There were fish-type creatures that swam in the slabert. They had slimy purple scales and surprisingly, had no eyes. They weren't easy to catch at first, with his bare hands, but with a a few sticks and rocks to block parts of the stream, Bingo! Jason was able to catch them as they jumped out of the water and then he devoured them, wiping his mouth with his hand at times. Each one was about the size of Jason's wrist to the tip of his fingernails. Jason was very pleased to have found some source of nutrition. He was almost done eating one when he heard something. It was a voice, a voice he recognized, Sir Azriel.
"Enjoying eating, huh? Well, you won't anymore!"
Sir Azriel's buff body approached Jason in a flash. He jumped over the stream without even skimming it, a stunt Jason would never be able to pull. Sir Azriel's short brown hair was topped with a silver-coloured helmet. His arms, legs, stomach, chest, were all covered in armour.
Jason gulped down his last bite of the fish creature. He jumped up to his feet. Sir Aziel was still far away, but if Jason did nothing, the worst could happen.
Jason had taken off his helmet and shield and had put them beside him, where he was eating. There was no time to grab them. He sprinted off to the depths of the forest, hoping to lose the knight.
Clutching his sword, he ran as fast as he could. His full belly slowed him down, but Jason realized that Sir Azriel wasn't talented in running either. His big, strong body was disabling him from going through tight spaces between trees and bushes, although Jason could.
"Are you scared, child?" Boomed Sir Azriel's voice from far behind Jason.
Jason, now running with a cramp, tried to find a place to hide. A place where he could rest and hopefully lose sight of Azriel for the day.
At first, he hid behind a tree. But with almost no shelter and few other trees around, Jason would have to change spots. He sprinted across the forest, now trying making the least sounds as possible. Hiding spot! Come on! Jason almost felt like shouting a curse to the sky but what good would that do?
Then he saw it, the perfect hiding spot. A cabin. Well, more like a tree-house. It was high in a tree, Jason had barely even seen it. Quickly, he jumped onto the first branch. He climbed the tree as fast as he could, scrapping himself as he did so. Finally, he was only a few branches away from being safe inside the tree-house. He stepped on what might be the last branch he would have to step on. Then he heard something. A sharp 'crack'. The branch had snapped.
Jason's stomach seemed to rise up to his head. He was falling. A fall like this could be life-threatening.
"No...", Jason managed to whisper as his hands slipped off from the tree-house edge. He closed his eyes. All he could do was hope to live.