《Live by the Sword》A Very Serious Swordsman - Chapter III: Premeditated Suicide (3)

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--As the tiny flame flickered into life, Zarak's eyes made out the silhouette of something massive and hairy, about eight steps ahead of him. Eight warped legs held it suspended in the air, like the twisted branches of a knotted tree. Its eight eyes glistened, reflecting the light from his match stick. And beneath them, what seemed to be four twitching, jagged jaws, drooling with excitement. Why the beast hadn't already jumped him was beyond Zarak. However, it still might do so at any moment. There was no mistaking it, he knew this feeling well. He was staring into what was quite likely certain death. His hand slowly brought the dwindling match to his left arm, and lit the cloth wrapped around it. It burst into flames almost immediately, as it was drenched in lamp oil; revealing the lurking predator. And lying flat at its feet, what seemed to be, Zarak's sword. This just keeps getting better. He didn't even notice it fell out of its scabbard until now. A plan formed in his mind as he sprang into action.

--His right hand moved ever so slowly, to his waterskin. The spider did not respond. He gently brought the waterskin to his mouth, imbibing himself with the hard liquor stored within. The spider remained still... With his left hand ablaze and in front of his face, Zarak spat out the drink at the beast, as hard as he could, dousing it in flames. His legs propelled him forward akin to a mountain lion sprinting after its prey. A spit of web flew past him. The aim was off, possibly because the flames obscured its vision. The beast jerked in shock, screeching, but quickly recovered to stab forward with its legs. Zarak dexterously tumbled beneath the attack, and the spider's legs slammed just behind him, tearing up the ground, and carving a deep gash in his armour's left shoulder plate. At the end of his roll, he grabbed his blade off the ground and sliced to his left, cutting off two of the spider’s right legs. Green liquid came gushing out of them. The spider lost footing, and its head came down, within his reach. His blade swung once more; came down like a guillotine. The four jagged jaws sheared like scissors. The head of the beast was severed...

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--But not before its jaws dug deep into Zarak's leg. Blood was gushing out. He opened up the beast's maw, using his sword as a lever. It clutched to his leg much like a bear trap, but with a bit of effort, it came off. He suddenly felt very light headed. He took off the shin guard covering his bitten leg. The shin guard was bent out of shape from the force of the bite, and the wound itself was rather nasty. If the armour wasn't there, he'd probably be one leg short right now. There was still a lot of blood, everywhere. His vision was fading. Feeling as though his strength might fail him at any moment, Zarak heated up his sword with the flame on his left arm to singe the wound. Pressing the searing steel to his wound was almost as painful as the bite itself. The bleeding stopped, and Zarak collapsed. He quickly chugged one of the three healing potion vials strapped to his left hip. As he was gulping down on the supposedly magical liquid, he sure hoped the shady merchant who sold it to him wasn’t a grifter. Almost immediately, it felt as if the potion was working. The intense pain that took his breath away was replaced by a tingling sensation in his leg, and a wave of warmth spreading about his body. But something was wrong. He kept feeling worse. He was sweating like he’s being cooked alive. Then it dawned on him... The giant pale spiders are a poisonous species. The nausea and weakness he felt, the dullness of his senses, it all added up. Or was that the giant brown spiders? He always confused those two. As he came upon this realization, he began to curse, his mind slowly fading away.

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-Thank you for reading. Is this the end for our fledgling protagonist? Come back on Monday to find out.

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