Arat was walking faster than before almost breaking into a jog, his destination was the waterfall, where he hoped to hide until he could find a way to escape.
He looked back occasionally to ensure that no one was following him. This continued until he reached near the lake where he drank some water and went inside the hidden cave behind the waterfall.
The moisture was the same as before such as the sound of the water. Arat touched the moss on the stone walls of the cave and turning his head upward saw the stalagmites high over his head. For the first time, he had a moment to properly observe the cave. It was quite spacious, enough for about three to four people to walk side by side.
"I hope I can find a way to get around those guards."
Arat murmured in a low voice audible only to himself.
Outside the cave in the vast forest, the sound of fallen leaves being crushed broke the rhythmic song of the birds after a few minutes. resting on tree branches they noticed two men as they flew over them, one covered by normal attire wearing a fur coat and a matching hat and the other wearing normal ragged clothes a grey shirt and a brown pants. Both men carried relatively large daggers and a bow and quiver on their backs.
The man, wearing a fur coat and a matching hat, crouched down and touched the ground with the palm of his hand, where grass, leaves, and small branches had been trampled.
He then stood up, looked ahead, and wiped his dirty hand on his pants, removing the soil on his palm, he took a sip out of a leather water flask he had carried on his belt.
"He is near."
He said after straightening his throat.
"How to you know?"
The other man asked with mixed feeling of teasing and curiosity.
"A hunters gut feeling."
The man coldly replied.
He took a few steps forward and noticed clear footprints in the mud around the lake. Following the trail of mud he reached the stepping stones, observing a few of them which had mud left behind on them turned his eyes at the waterfall.
He drew his dagger and the ends of his lips slightly curled up with his eyes full of excitement.
"Here you are, you filthy cockroach."
Inside the cave Arat who had recently arrived had put his sword and leather bag near the stone wall of the cave close to the entrance where he was facing. A shadow on the water caught his eye. Through the falling water a dark brown silhouette appeared, it was the size of a grown man, it got closer and closer. Arat who was startled by this was momentarily stunned.
After a moment of disorientation, Arat came back to his senses and rushed over to grab his sword taking it out of its sheath He then stepped back into the shadowy recesses of the cave, where the light no longer reached, blending into the darkness as he prepared for whatever might come next.
A man the appeared at the entrance of the cave, his quickly scanning the area, His gaze settled on the leather bag Arat had left near the entrance, and one corner of his mouth curled into a sly grin. He chuckled to himself before speaking in a loud, confident voice.
"I know you are here, come out."
Arat remained silent at the back of the cave, concealed by the darkness he was hidden from view. His intense focus on the intruder was suddenly broken when another figure emerged. A second man stepped into the cave.
Two? He didn't come alone? Shit this couldn't get any worse.
Arat, stunned by the unfolding situation, struggled to find a way out Trapped inside the cave, with no way to go forward or back, he found himself cornered. The walls seemed to close in on him as both men stood between him and any hope of escape. Arat gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, its sharp point aimed at the intruders who had discovered his hideout. He positioned his feet, ready to engage. The men exchanged glances, their expressions carrying an unsettling hint of amusement.
"You sure you have brains in your head lad?"
The man behind the hunter who wore a fur coat and hat blurted out.
Arat didn't respond, his attention fixated on the man wearing a fur coat, The man had black, unkempt hair, a dense moustache, bronze skin, and piercing brown eyes. His thick eyebrows were untrimmed, and his broad chin and cheeks were covered in short, coarse facial hair, giving him a naturally dangerous appearance.
Arat aimed the point of his sword toward the man, the hunter removed the bow from his back and let it fall on the ground, he lowered his body and pointed his large dagger toward Arat and tried to get close slowly.
He wants to shorten the distance. Grandpa has taught me to always beware of my weapons range and to not let such an advantage to go to waste. I can't retreat backwards so my only option is to keep him at a distance and injure him.
Arat aware of his opponent intentions, put all his mind into finding a way to win and come out in one piece after the fight. Small drops of sweat started to form on his forehead. The hunter drew even closer, he paid attention to the blade not Arat himself, holding his dagger defensively in front of his body he approached cautiously, he was now withing the range of Arat's sword.
The cave has enough space for me to use wide slashes, but if my sword hits the stone walls in anyway this guy can close the distance. If he does that, he will either go for killing me or taking me back to those knights alive, if the latter happens, I might have a chance to turn the cards.
Arat seized up the man, when he took his foot of the ground to come closer Arat quickly moved his hip and hands and launched forward, unleashing a straight stab, the point of the sword scratched the man's check, the hairy man took a few steps back and got away, the speed of the child left him horrified, he understood that he should not be careless as he shouted at his partner.
"You want to only stand and watch?"
The other man who stood at the cave's entrance took off his bow threw it on the ground and drew out his dagger reaching the hairy man he stood by his side. Now, they had Arat cornered in every sense of the word. Taking small, cautious steps, they moved closer together.
Tch, I can't stab them anymore, I have to use wide slashes to keep them away, even if I stab one of them the other can easily close the distance and injure me I have to find a better way.
Arat waved his sword trying to end of the men but they were just making him use all his strength so that they could launch an attack when he was worn out.
Damn it. This won't work. I have to change my tactic. I need to make this a one versus one if I want to survive.
Arat took a deep breath lowering the sword near his hip his green eyes glued to the man wearing fur coat, without any hesitation he leaped forward. The legs of the man were now in his reach, the hunter jumped backward dodging the low slash targeted for his right leg. Arat didn't stop once the man was no longer in his reach, he tuned his upper body and directed the slash toward the other man's leg who stood by the hunter's side.
He who had shortened the distance, thought he could take the child off guard and approached him once he saw that he missed his attack. His face reflected his puzzlement as he didn't expect such a trick.
Grandpa has taught me how fight since I was seven. I know all sorts of tricks like this!
Arat who had put all his force on the strike drove his blade deep into the flesh of his opponent, red blood gushed out and the man screamed in pain, he staggered back and collapsed on the ground, clutching his wounded leg. Arat's blade had struck just below the knee, breaking the bone with sheer force.
The expression of the man in the fur coat and hat turned solemn; he clearly hadn't expected fighting a demon child to be this troublesome. He muttered a curse under his breath.
"You foul creature of darkness."
He pulled out the leather water flask he carried and hurled it toward Arat to distract him, he leaped forward as Arat dodged the flask that was aimed at his head, he couldn't both dodge and keep the hunter at bay using his sword resulting in the man to break through his guard and reach him.
The hairy man with brown eyes raised his dagger above his head and then drove it downward with all his strength. His dagger grazed Arat's bare chest as Arat dodged backward tainting it with a black liquid.
Arat retreated back as much as he could until his back pressed against the cold stones at the back of the cave. Closing in, the man assumed the stance to stab again. This time, Arat let go of his sword and grabbed the man's arm before the dagger could reach his head.
As someone who had demon blood running in his veins Arat's physical capabilities far surpassed those of a normal human's child, the hunter was astonished that the child had actually withstood his full force. despite putting his all his strength to push the dagger downward he could barely feel his hand move.
Arat then stepped to the side, letting go of the man's hand as it slid all the way down, the hunter lost his balance momentarily and steadied himself by dropping to one knee on the ground, at this moment he turned his head toward the child only to see that Arat's metal mask alarmingly close to his own face.
Bam!
The hunter felt an extreme pain on the bridge of his nose, which now felt warm. He tasted blood in his mouth and smelled the metallic scent of it from his broken nose where blood was flowing freely, Arat had headbutted him so forcefully that he could hardly believe it. Furious, he clenched his fist and threw a punch at Arat, hitting him as hard as he could.
Arat clutched his stomach with both hands and crouched after the punch, when he looked up at the hairy man, he saw another fist coming straight at him. The punch landed on his chest. The pain seemed to multiply as it struck the arrow wound. He gasped for breath and tried to distance himself from the man but the man in fur grabbed his shoulder and hurled him toward the entrance.
He threw Arat against the cave wall, slamming him hard into the cold stone. Arat who saw his escape route open wide before his eyes ran toward the cave's entrance to flee. Two arms suddenly wrapped themselves around his upper body as if he was tied by a rope, he couldn't move his arms, the man with his bleeding leg was holding him tight in his place, he was the companion of the hunter who had managed to get up despite the painful attack and his broken leg, he spoke with aloud voice.
"I will beat you dead before I hand you to those devil brides to F**k you up!"
The two men had now reached Arat, one with the wounded leg held Arat's arms while the other advanced with his dagger. Arat used every last bit of strength in his body to resist. He twisted his body to the left and right, making it difficult for the hunter to stab him, the man behind him struggled to hold him in his place due to his injured leg. At times, Arat roared like a beast showing animalistic traits he kicked the hunter to prevent him from getting close and delivering a fatal blow by his dagger.
"This son of bitch is so stubborn."
Said the man with the injured leg aggrieved as he tried his best to keep Arat under control.
The hunter then sheathed his dagger, realizing he could no longer tolerate the demon child using his companion as a shield. He closed in on Arat taking a few heavy kicks but he relentlessly threw punch after punch, landing blow after blow to Arat's stomach, soon Arat coughed a black liquid beneath his metal mask.
"Not so lively now, are you?"
The hairy man said while panting.
The hunter drew his dagger which had a black stain on it. Seeing this, Arat lowered his body, trying to sit on the ground while pulling his head close to his chest, using the iron mask that covered all his head as a shield. The man with the injured leg was helpless, struggling to lift Arat. Arat used the man's own force to his advantage, suddenly jumping and striking him hard with the back of his iron mask. The impact caused the man's nose to bleed severely, and he lost his grip finally letting go of Arat.
Arat freed himself by squeezing out downward from between the man's arms, he kicked his wound on his bone as hard as he could, causing him to cry out in pain and collapse to the ground, Arat quickly stood up and ran toward the entrance, just to feel his leg stuck in place, the injured man who had laid on the ground held Arat's leg with both hands, his face bloody and his nose broken. The hairy man then approached forward with his dagger in his hand.
Arat used his free leg to kick the man's already broken nose, forcing him to let go of his feet, but he held his foot with one hand while he covered his face with the other, Arat then fell on the ground as he tried to force his leg out of the man's grip, at this moment the hairy man had reached over him.
Arat turned to see the figure rushing toward him he stopped the hunter's arm holding the dagger with one hand once more, he then punched him in the face, the hunter lost his focus and the force behind the dagger was lifted, Arat found himself no weapon to use he quickly turned his head to look for anything he could use the area. He found the leather bag within the reach of his hand.
Arat grabbed the leather bag and swung toward the man. The hairy man caught the bag in mid-air, wrested it from Arat's grasp, and hurled it against the cave wall. The sound of glass shattering echoed through the cave. The hairy man then leaped over Arat as he came to a stop.
Arat was startled, expecting the man to advance and drive his dagger into his chest to finish him off. Instead, he suddenly stopped, his eyes turned red, and crimson liquid began to flow out of them. He then staggered backward and coughed; he turned his head to his side.
Arat followed the direction of his eyes that landed on the leather bag near the wall, A reddish gas was seeping from it. The other man who laid on the ground released his grip on Arat's leg, struggling to breathe. Blood flowed from his eyes as he began to cough.
The men started coughing uncontrollably until blood spilled from their mouths as they vomited, they wanted to talk but there was no chance to utter even a single word, soon their coughing grew increasingly violent as they started to threw up chunks of flesh. One by one, their internal organs followed, emerging from their mouths. Eventually, their bodies ceased to move, twitching only a few times before becoming motionless corpses as Arat laid there motionless and watched all of his happen before his terrified green eyes.