text: [Themes: fantasy, romance]
  
  It doesn't matter that two guys are advancing toward you from your right, you don't at all feel comfortable with someone aiming an arrow at your back. It would only take one mistake on your part, and you would be lying dead on the cold hard stones of Aeors.
  
  You rush archer number two with incredible speed, and the other two rush after you. The archer brings his bow up just as you get to him, and at the same time assassin number four closes in on you from behind. A truly un-ideal situation. Well at least if you hadn't expected it.
  
  You twist out of the way the moment your heightened senses see the archer begin to release his arrow. Unfortunately for number four, he is nowhere near as fast as you. The arrow slams into his chest silencing him immediately.
  
  Astonishment colors the eyes of the archer as he kills his comrade, but you don't allow him any time for regret. You immediately advance and stab him through the stomach. Your blade sinks far into his stomach, certainly farther than normal, and you note that if you were any stronger, thn you very well could have your hand wrist deep into his body.
  
  Luckily for you, assassin number five isn't fast enough to hit you before you withdraw your sword from the archer's stomach. Unluckily for you, it seems that assassin number six finally decided to contribute to the fight. He makes his way towards the both of you just as you swing your first slash at number five. He barely manages to block it, and is put on the defensive immediately. You only manage to get a few swings out before number six joins the fight.
  
  A fast thrust is immediately dealt towards you, and as you parry it away, you realized that it was thrown with immense strength. You simultaneously kick out at number five, catching him in the leg, and slash from the bottom up at the newcomer.
  
  Your slash, although extremely fast, doesn't hit him. Instead, he's fast enough to avoid the deadly attack. Well he is. Your sword does manage to catch the edge of his cloak hood thoug, and the cloak material is thick enough that your sword takes just longer than a moment to slice through it. That moment is more than enough to send his hood flying off of his head.
  
  You're so surprised that you nearly drop your sword. Ashyr stand before you. Obviously older, and with a scar on his chin, but Ashyr nonetheless.
  
  You remember back when you first clashed swords years ago. For a brief moment you feel nostalgia, but that moment passes very quickly when you remember that he's trying to kill you.
  
  Number five recovers from the kick and swings his sword in a deadly arc over his head at you, which you block, then Ashyr follows up with an attack of his own, which you parry.
  
  The three of you soon enter a dance of sorts. Blades ring throughout the alley and echo into the night. There's a brief moment where you wonder if anyone will here the commotion, but you shrug it off quickly enough. Your opponents had the luxury of choosing the sight for this fight. You doubt they would choose a place where someone would impede their killing you.
  
  Without your blessing you're sure you would already be dead, for Ashyr certainly kept honing his swordplay since the Academy, and number five is no push over either. You hate to admit it, but you doubt if you could beat Ashyr without your blessing. Someone of his caliber fighting against you would require you to use your blessing to win, and with someone else helping him... it turns the fight into a near stalemate. It is only a near stalemate though, because your increased prowess with your blessing, let alone that Ashyr no longer has strength and height advantage over you, allow you the edge in this fight.
  
  That being said, you aren't really fighting offensively, so you don't get very far in your attempts to take them out.
  
  You decide that in order to effectively protect yourself, and stay alive, you need to focus your attack on one of your opponents.
  
  While assassin five is certainly weaker, you briefly think that it might better suit you if you take out Ashyr first. Of course, there's also the flip side. If you take number five out quickly enough, then Ashyr won't be able to stand alone against you.
  
  > focus your attacks on Ashyr
  You decide that taking out the greater threat will prove to be more advantageous to you in the long run.
  
  To the untrained eye, the fight will have stayed the same, but to the trained eye everything changed in the span of a second. Before you were attacking and defending from both sides, but with your new strategy you only attack against Ashyr, and only ever defend against number five. so long as you sufficiently defend yourself from number five, and constantly press the attack on Ashyr, then you don't get harmed.
  
  Well that's the idea. While it works at the beginning, you soon realize that you've made a huge mistake. On the outside Ashyr has always seemed like he would be an aggressor in a fight, but it is actually the contrary. You remember your first fight. You won after pressing him with a series of attacks, but never once did he truly falter in his defenses. Maybe if you had time you could wear him down, but you don't have that kind of time. You only managed to defeat him before, because of the overwhelming power from the blessing, and because you bested him while he was attacking.
  
  This time is barely different. Except that number five is smarter than he looks, and has begun finding patterns in your defenses. Your deadly speed, strength, and skill are being analyzed and holes are starting to be exploited. Every swing presses you, and soon enough you're having to spend more and more time/energy defending than attacking.
  
  Eventually Ashyr finds a hole in your attacks and manages to put you on the defensive. Despite your vast reserves of energy, you find yourself starting to tire. Your focus begins to wear thin as well, and it's all you can do to stay alive. You attempt to trick yourself into thinking that you need to be protected. It proves that you aren't in the best shape mentally, because you're already trying to protect yourself to the maximum.
  
  Suddenly you lose your grip on your sword, and, consequently, you make an awkward block against Ashyr. It proves to be a fatal mistake. After that clumsy block, number five surges forward and horizontally slashes at you. The blade cuts deep into your right side dealing you immense pain.
  
  Fortunately for you, Ashyr ends the pain with a well placed stab through your heart. Your body falls limply into pools of blood on the ground.