Kaavi's fingers tightened around the sword, his vision blurry.
Roderic's body seemed to shift between two positions. He took a step forward then another, Kaavi watched his shoulders, his feet, the angle of his feet and the sword in his hand.
Everything he need was Infront of him but his mind simply struggled to hold it all at once.
Roderic lunged.
Kaavi moved.
Steel struck steel.
The force drove Kaavi sideways; he recovered and slashed toward Roderic's shoulder.
Roderic blocked.
Kaavi stepped away, his breath uneven.
The headache had become a constant pressure now, spreading from behind his eyes to the back of his skull. He could hear everything.
The sound of fire.
The heartbeat of horses.
Viktor whispering something behind the wagon.
Veyl's breathing.
Gavril's uneven breath.
Every sound seemed to exist at once.
Echoing.
Roderic came again.
Kaavi raised his sword.
He was a bit slow to deflect the blow; he took on the blunt force through his sword. Pain flashed through him.
He staggered, Rodric stepped forward to finish it.
Kaavi pulled at his cloak; the heavy fabric slipped from his shoulder and fell between them.
For an instant, Roderic's vision blocked.
Kaavi moved through the opening and his sword came around.
Roderic barely managed to turn his blade in time, his sword scraped across Kaavi's. He stepped back; his expression had changed.
Although the old man was struggling against him, but somehow, he was holding his own. And slowly he was becoming a bit difficult to predict, maybe he was a veteran thought Roderic.
"You should be on the ground."
Kaavi's breathing was ragged.
Roderic stared at him. For a brief moment, neither spoke. Then he smiled, not because he found Kaavi amusing.
Because he believed the outcome was already decided. He glanced toward Kaavi.
Roderic suddenly deflected something.
An axe came cutting the air towards his head.
He barely saw it coming in time. He twisted aside, the axe buried in the tree behind him.
Roderic stared at it. Then slowly looked toward Gavril.
"The poison was enough to put down a horse."
Gavril leaned against his remain axe.
"Well…" He breathed heavily.
"...lucky for me... I am not a horse."
Roderic's expression changed.
Annoyance.
He didn't find the joke funny.
Gavril straightened.
Then he glanced toward Kaavi. He opened his mouth.
"You should probably focus on your opponent in the middle of batt..."
Roderic turned his attention back toward Kaavi. His fingers tightened around the sword.
That was all the opening Kaavi needed.
Kaavi moved. His sword drove forward.
The blade entered beneath the man's ribs and passed deep into his chest.
Roderic froze. His mouth opened. No words came.
Kaavi stood inches away, both hands gripping the sword.
Then Kaavi pulled the blade free, Rodric looked down at the blood spreading across his clothes.
His knees buckled, he fell into the snow.
Gavril stared at the body. He frowned.
"I was in the middle of something."
Kaavi stood motionless, his sword hung loosely from his hand.
The remaining assailants had stopped moving, for the first time since the attack began...
They looked uncertain.
Kaavi slowly lifted his head; his eyes moved across them. His expression was empty.
Almost calm.
But there was something beneath it.
Something none of them had never seen before.
Kaavi took a step toward them.
The nearest men raised his weapon.
Kaavi didn't stop.
The man attacked.
Kaavi turned aside, his sword flashed.
The man dropped.
Another rushed from behind.
Kaavi spun.
The blade found him before he reached striking distance.
He fell beside the fire.
Third man dropped his weapon and raised both hands.
"Wait."
Kaavi kept walking.
The man backed away.
"I was force…"
Kaavi struck.
Veyl stared.
He had expected Kaavi to stop once the immediate threat was gone.
But he didn't, there was no hesitation. Only a cold and relentless purpose.
Viktor watched from behind the wagon. His eyes never left his grandfather.
This wasn't the Kaavi he had known, not entirely.
Gavril tightened his grip.
Last of the attackers hesitated.
There were fewer of them now.
Kaavi stood among them.
One of the remaining men stepped backward. Kaavi looked at him. He charged.
The man raised his spear.
Kaavi moved before the spear reached him; his blade slipped past the wooden shaft and stuck the man's side.
The man collapsed.
Another tried to circle around him.
Kaavi turned.
The sword caught him across the chest.
The last two exchanged a glance, one dropped his weapon, then they stared running.
Kaavi followed. His boots sank into the snow with every step, yet he never stopped.
The fleeing man glanced back, Kaavi caught up to them.
One of them fell down while looking back, Kaavi stabbed him in the neck.
The last one kept on running.
Kaavi pulled out his blade and then threw it toward the fleeing man.
The bladed stabbed him in the leg, he fell.
Kaavi walked toward him, he pushed the sword deep into the man's leg, then pulled it out.
The man kept screaming in pain, he looked at the bodies around him then at Kaavi.
His hands were shaking.
"Please..."
Kaavi stopped.
For a moment, it looked as though he might actually listen.
The man's eyes filled with hope.
Kaavi lifted his blade, striking the man's skull splitting it open.
Silence returned.
The kind left behind after something terrible has finished happening.
Veyl stood beside Viktor.
His knives were still in his hands, he kept his body between the boy and the clearing, scanning the surrounding trees.
Nothing moved, no one else came. Only then he lowered his knives.
Viktor looked toward Kaavi.
"Grandpa..."
Veyl followed his gaze.
Kaavi was standing near the edge of the clearing; his sword pointed toward the ground. Blood dripped from the tip; his shoulder rose and fell with each breath.
He looked… calm.
Too calm.
Veyl had seen men after battle before. This wasn't exhaustion, it was something else.
He tightened his grip on one of the knives.
Just in case.