Carpe Diem, Page 32

You rise up from behind the tree and throw your javelin at the horse, impaling its neck and bringing it to the ground. The baron now lies trapped beneath his massive steed! He cries out for help while his soldiers are attacked from all sides.

Two soldiers come to the baron’s aid. One kneels down, attempting to help him up, while the other goes for you. He charges, his full armor clanking as he holds his halberd at the ready. You raise your sword as you face him. His halberd comes down in a flash, but you manage to slip away. Then it comes up again; he raises the polearm to swipe at your head, and you narrowly dodge that strike as well. His flurry of blows keeps pushing you back further and further — it won’t be long now before you are pushed up against a tree.

As you retreat however, the guard is becoming visibly more tired from his furious assault. This is your moment to strike. The guard attempts to jab the point of his halberd at your face, but you slipover to one side and up, sinking your blade beneath his sallet, ending his assault and his life.

You then rush towards the downed horse again, to ensure the baron doesn’t get away. As you approach, the soldier trying to help the baron instead takes up his arms and charges at you. At just the right moment, a stone flies through the air and strikes him on the side of the head, toppling him to the ground.

Now that your way is clear, you crouch over to baron and look him in the eyes. You sense a dark shadow present in the back of his eyes, as if you’re staring into pure evil itself. You raise your blade in the air and prepare to strike him down. The guards who were assaulting the guerilla fighters had by this point thrown their weapons and fled. This is it!

Yet, as you are about to bring down your blade, Tani calls out, “Don’t do it!”

He descends down to you, jumping over the guerilla traps along the way. “He’s ours!” he cries. “You’ve done your part, friend.”

You heed his words and move back, leaving the baron’s fate in their hands. The guerilla fighterss have waited for this moment for a long time. They tie a rope around the baron’s neck and drag him out from beneath the horse, nearly choking him in the process. Their vengeance hasn’t been satisfied by this though: next they take the rope and throw it over a tree limb, yanking the rope tight to rid themselves of their tyrant once and for all.