A few hours later, the landscape surrounding them looked nothing like it did before. A small clearing in the forest was now present. Large chunks of earth were torn up, and splintered stumps were all that remained of the trees.
Carin realized from the way he fought that Rune was someone who tended to pull out all the stops when under immense pressure. If she wanted him to adopt her fighting style then the quickest was to come at him hard with the intent to kill. She held back, of course, as killing him wasn't the goal, but she pushed him enough that he would indeed die if he held back.
Rune swiftly jumped back as two swords crossed through the air right where his neck had been. Had he been even a second slower, he would have been beheaded. A notion that made a chill run down his spine.
'Not good. I'm really going to die!'
