Zanado 's canyon looked more convulsed than ever. A gang of soldiers and monks from the Western church chased a man covered in a dirty, threadbare hood. His appearance did not stand out: he was not tall or stocky. His face couldn't be seen, but only an unkempt beard was visible, making him look even more like a hermit. Despite this, the guy would not be more than 20 years old.
That hermit knew very well why they should pursue him, but it was unclear why a guy in dark armor mounted on a black horse commanded that group that sought to take him over. The dark knight told his gang, "Let him live; I will claim his soul."
Suddenly, the subject noticed that he had reached a gorge. There was no choice but to fight. The first to approach the hermit was a soldier who fell dead to the ground before even moving to use his sword. Thus, the scene was repeated with all the other soldiers and priests. Eventually, the only one of that gang left standing was the dark knight.
"That was the "Failnaught, right?" said the knight, in his voice from beyond the grave.
"I'm not going to tell you anything," was all the hermit replied.
"Ha ha ha," that gentleman laughed as he got closer. "Don't think me stupid, please."
As he finished saying those words, the knight swung the scythe he was carrying toward his rival and cast a lightning spell at the hermit. It was impossible to avoid that spell, but it would be worse after receiving a cut from that weapon. The hermit decided to accept the magic, which made him half numb. After that, he could avoid the blow the knight would give him.
The fight lasted at least two minutes, in a dynamic of hitting and dodging that was boring that dark lord. At one point, he feinted as if he was going to strike a blow at the hermit; instead of hitting him with his weapon, he punched him in the stomach. Once he found his rival on the ground, writhing, the knight asked him:
"How much are you looking for to resist? You know you have no escape."
"Fuck off, " was all the response he got from the hermit.
"It doesn't matter. They told me to return with the codex, not with you."
At that moment, when the knight began his last attack, the hermit looked at the edge of the cliff. There seemed to be a running river. It sounded somewhat trite to jump in, go with the flow, and be challenging to achieve and get out alive, but there was no other option.
Just before taking that well-aimed blow from the scythe, the hermit rolled to the ground, cast a weak fire spell at the dark lord's horse, and jumped into the gorge. The horse was scared, but the knight managed to calm it down with blows.
"Damn!" the enraged dark knight yelled.
Some reinforcements arrived within seconds of the escape to see what had happened. The dark lord, without making any gesture, said to them:
"Follow that fellow down the Tairnngire River! The current will probably take him a long time."
By now, the honor of the Death Knight was somewhat damaged. He considered that the mission would be more straightforward and that the "poor weakling" of the cleric he had to chase would not give so much resistance. «That thing is more powerful than what Arundel told me,» the knight thought as he stared at the defile.