The Horse in the Prince's Stables

Chp. 32

try not to let the picture on the side worry you too much... >w>

ps: i know someone requested an actor for drake so they could better visualize the fight scenes... and if anybody i think karl urban would be my choice. he was so wonderfully evil in priest! so yea. imagine him. i would post a pic of him, except the picture spot has already been filled....

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                                                                                          =32=

=Philip=

          I struck the ground hard, the air rushing out of my lungs. Stars briefly flashed across my vision before I shook my head to clear it of the pain. My back throbbed with a dull ache as I rolled over to push myself up. I had to use my sword to help steady myself.

          Kaelyn, who still had been rearing by the time I was staggering to my feet, finally started to come back to the ground. Before I could wonder why she had thrown me off in the first place, she collapsed completely to the ground. She didn't make a sound as she fell. Her eyes caught mine. Within her gaze was a strange sense of fear and a calmness. How that was even possible I couldn't even comprehend.

          And then I spied the arrows.

          Kaelyn!

          I glanced up on a whim. The man who murdered Alex stood just inside the castle entrance, hiding in the shadows, a few archers standing with behind him. Only he had the crossbow aimed directly at my chest. Without a second thought I threw myself to the side. Arrows hissed by my head, soon accompanied by a stinging pain on my shoulder.

          Landing on my hands, I rolled back into a crouch, gritting my teeth against pain from the arrow. Quickly examining my arm, I realized that luckily the arrow only grazed my shoulder, giving me a wound deep enough to hurt terribly, but shallow enough so there wouldn't be any lasting damage. From there, I managed to place the fighting between myself as the crossbowman.

          He couldn't get a clear shot.

          But I couldn't get back to Kaelyn.

          Before I could do anything about the situation, three men came right out of the crowd and attacked me! All of them were yelling like crazy, their swords held high. Taken by surprise, I only just managed to block their wild strikes. Their form was terrible however. Weak stances, bad posture... I used this to my advantage. 

          As the man on my right swung for my head, I ducked quickly, spinning on my foot and thrusting one leg out and kicking his feet out from underneath him. Then I pushed myself upward, sweeping my blade across towards the other men's throats. Instinctively they backed up. However they both lost their balance and toppled over. I leapt over them and dove into the battling chaos. 

          Left and right I cut down my enemies, trying to keep a clear head. This was the best place to hide until I could reach the archers and kill them. Only when they were dead could I get back to Kaelyn.

          A sickening dread filled my stomach as the memory of the arrows flashed through my mind. I couldn't help but wonder if she felt like she was making up for what happened to Alex. 

          That better not be the case!

          An arrow hissed past my ear as just as I pulled my sword out from another enemy. I quickly ducked as more flew by, digging into the backs of their own men. They screamed in agony and collapsed to the ground, writhing and trying to grab at the arrows. I winced as I pictured myself among them, but kept on moving forward.