Saunas aren't my thing. Thanks for the advice though.
by ------------------------------------
Not dead….yet….not….dead yet……not…… DEAD!
Fury, anger, sorrow…..all burned behind the eyes of Gojinn, and deep within the once proud King’s heart. His once proud best friend had tried to kill him, all because their own greed got the better of them. Things had changed, and they ended up here because of their intense hatred, and they couldn’t even put it behind them. Like children, they bickered and argued, and kept the fight going. All they had to do was just admit their faults, and walk away, or patch things up. Instead, Red had tried to track him down and kill him, while he was weak.
Weak….
He defined weak as not being able to compete, as being unable to fight well.
What a joke that was. Right now, he was on his hands and knees, unable to breath easily, to stand, or to raise the damn sword he had taken. He could only assume it had some royal significance. He stared at the blade, and slammed it into the rock, embedding it there. He grabbed the handle, and used both hands to raise himself to one knee, and then stand up completely. He turned around entirely, sweeping the sword from the Earth, and stared at the men who began to climb to their feet to fight. They glared at the man who had just sealed them in a watery grave, and raised their weapons from the ground. They pulled up shields, and some even took off armor to fight faster, and quite possibly hope to swim away.
Grinning, Gojinn tried his best to stand up straight. He knew what he was about to get into, and fighting alone now, with two wounds that were bleeding, he’d need to end this fight fast if he planned to survive. He spit one more mouthful of blood away, and raised the sword, taking a stance, as he listened to the serenity of the water, lapping on the rocks…
And the island suddenly came to life again, drowning out the sounds, and making Gojinn and the soldiers charge one another.
The army was thinned down in the cave, but it didn’t mean there was only a few left. In fact, Gojinn simply rushed into a sea of men, carrying the sword at his chest level. He slashed down a few men, before rushing head on into a group of shields. Having his sword bounce off the heavy metal, he quickly used his free hand to grab the shield and move it aside, hoping to thrust into his enemy with his own sword, but he failed, and instead, had a sword thrust his way!! He side stepped, and then ducked, as a club flew over his head, cracking a soldier right in the shield, causing him to become distracted. Gojinn used the opening to stab him, and then pull the blade through his side, placing it in the soldier next to him. Both men froze with shock, and then collapsed in agony.
Gojinn let out a cry of pain and victory having taken these men down, and turned slitting the open throat of a man holding nothing but a heavy rock. Blood sprayed into the air, and showered many a soldier, and Gojinn as well. He fell to his knees, at which time, Gojinn diverted his attention elsewhere. Three heavily armed soldiers stepped up, wielding a club, axe, and what looked to be a lance. They raised their weapons, but only fought one at a time! The club bearer was first, and brought the club down with such force, it cracked the rocky cave floor. Gojinn had hopped down the slope a bit, and caught a nice level part. Slowly he backed up, allowing his enemy to step down as well.
Face to face, they dueled. Gojinn stabbed with the sword, which the soldier moved out from enough to simply be scathed by it. He brought the club down, and slammed Gojinns blade to the rock. Not wanting it to break, Gojinn ducked with the blade, and let it slam down, quickly standing up without it to grab his enemies weapon. He placed both hand on it, and leaned toward him, smashing him with his shoulder, trying to dislodge it from his hands. The soldier shakes Gojinn off though, and thinking quickly, Gojinn ducks, as he simply heaves the club at his head again, trying to crush the King’s skull.
Gojinn sweeps up the sword, and as the soldier follows through with his heavy swing, Gojinn stands and plunges the blade into the small slit between his shoulder and chin, severing his jugular. He pulls the sword back and moves, as the man stumbles about, pouring blood all over the armor…
The soldier wielding a lance stepped up next, but the island again shook quite violently, and a crack opened beneath them all!! Gojinn dove, and cleared himself, but the other two were far too slow in their heavy armor, and fell in!!! Water began pouring down into the cracks, which made Gojinn worry. If the island was sinking, then why was water leaving….and not coming back in?! He had just about figured it out, when a huge chunk of rock went flying by him.
It slammed into his sword, and while he wondered where it had come from, he didn’t have time to wonder…
Because now a bigger problem had arisen. Gojinn was weaponless, and the army was still in strong numbers.
The island shook again, and Gojinn took off, diving for the sword that had begun to slide into the crack. Not wanting to lose his only chance of survival, he quickly stood, blood still pouring from his wounds. Gasping for air worse than ever before, he hunches slightly now, taking a defensive stance.
COME ON!!!!!!!!
The soldiers slowly regrouped and formed a line, and Gojinn began to panic. He was outnumbered and cornered on every side. He was surrounded by men with weapons, and was bleeding to death fast. He didn’t know what to do. His powers were useless, and he was too weak to fight off them all to escape. He could never swim out of the cave at this rate, and besides, bleeding to death in the water, when sharks could be about, was not his favorite option right now. The soldiers began throwing spears and Gojinn scoffed, knowing this would end horrifically. He batted a few down with his sword, knocking them to the sides effortlessly. He side stepped others, spinning around and ducking, using the sword as protection. It still wasn’t enough. The blades of the spears rained down, slicing his arms, cutting his legs. Once they seemingly stopped, he turned, only to find three men had held fast, waiting, and with Gojinn shocked, they whipped their spears. Obviously trained well, two of the spears struck him in either thigh, and he dropped to his knees in agony.
Roaring with pain, Gojinn raised the sword, but had forgot about the third spear, which was more delayed than the other two. This one came down, and struck him in the left shoulder again. Gasping in pain and shock, he simply slumped to the ground. That was it…
The sword slipped from his hand, and he laid there, gasping for air, as he tried to drag himself from his enemies with his right hand. They slowly gathered and raised their weapons… and Gojinn gritted his teeth…
Go……………to Hell….
The island quaked again!! The soldiers tried to stand their ground, and Gojinn used his hand to pull himself to a sturdy looking rock a few feet away, and latched on with his arm, clinging desperately. The crack that had opened before, exploded to pieces, and in the soldiers went! Gojinn held tight, as the gap stopped not far from him, yet the island didn’t stop quaking! The water level dipped again, and Gojinn felt a slight shift of his weight to the right side.
The island was sinking! The cave was slowly surfacing, as the island sank elsewhere, tilting it out of the water! He sighed with relief! He might have a chance if he could swim out of the cave, where it had raised high out of the water! The relief he felt allowed him to reach across his chest, and grasp the spear tightly. It had gone through him…, but he pulled and yanked it out. The pain was overwhelming, and he felt nauseous, but the overwhelming adrenaline from the fear of dieing and the will to live allowed him to reach down now, as he slowly sat up, and grab each spear. He pulled up and out, yanking both from bone and tissue, tearing his legs apart. Blood squirted everywhere, but he ignored it, as it quickly stopped, whether from a lack of blood to spare, or it had simply clotted somehow. He gave himself another minute, and another violent island quake, before he began to stand.
The pain was his main focus though. He fought it off, with every stumbling step. He reached for his sword, but soon realized it had been swallowed in the last quake. The cave was empty finally…the soldiers dead…
One last thing to do then: Escape.
He set his eyes to where the boat was, still burning away. Grinning, he felt victorious. He just had to get away now, and he could meet up with Red on the beach, and find a way out before it all went to hell. He could do it!! The burning boat covered a decent portion of the water, meaning Gojinn would have to go under and swim out if he even had a shot at escaping. He couldn’t resurface for air, for a while at least. The boat was massive, and what he didn’t see, was the fleet of them just beyond. Small paddle boats, Viking looking in their design, floated there burning to nothing throughout the cave entrance.
And then the worst happened, his weight re-shifted…and he heard a terrible rushing noise that made him dive and then paddle and kick like a mad man. The cave or at least a portion of the island snapped apart, and now the entire thing was sinking again. The enormous gap where he’d fought all the soldiers was filling with water now that it was submerging slowly. The cave filled back up, and the once somewhat calm boats covered in fire, began floating all over, back and forth across the cave entrance.
The island quaked!!! The cave itself shook, and crumbled! Chunks of wall began falling apart, the ceiling was giving way and stabbing down into the water with its jagged structure!
Ca……n’t….d…..ie…..ye……..t….
Gojinn could barely breath at all now. It had become so shallow, that the “running” he was picturing himself doing along the cave wall, grasping at the sides, was him pulling himself along the wall with his right arm only now. His left arm was so damaged in his muscles, he could barely close a fist at this point. The water was so cold and rough too, that it was freezing him, and it was too much for his legs to kick against. His face had lost all color, but he kept on. He had to…….
A small opening! Day light!!!
STOP
PLAY
He pulled himself further, and watched as the exit to the cave the boats had once used, fell to pieces, and not a speck of light passed through. His heart sank, but there was still light in the opening ahead! He pulled and pulled, and finally made it. He grabbed the edge, and dragged himself with his right hand now, barely using his legs to push himself towards the light shining in the tunnel. The roof above him was giving way. The entire cave was crumbling at this point. He crawled some more, and then he heard the way he came in fall apart, and the opening to escape was jagged and small. He hadn’t a chance to go back, not that there was anything left back there…
Gojinn hurried on, pushing himself with his feet every so often, as he dragged onward with his hand. And then the light faded…. Leaving a single candle to light the room he was in. The tunnel off in the distance must have too caved in, or at least flooded from the sinking. The candle had been lit by a soldier whom Gojinn stared at. A large piece of jagged debris had broken loose at some point, and landed on his shoulder, tearing through his chest, killing him. Gojinn too would face the same fate now…trapped forever in this fucking hole, doomed to sink to the bottom of the sea.
He had started out this Halloween Night in the attempt to retain Gold. Now all he wanted was his life, and even that was forfeit. It seemed everyone had gotten their wish. They had dethroned him, and taken his life. He hadn’t a chance… and deep within the cave it finally clicked with him that this was it, and he was sitting in his final resting place.
He sighed, and laid back against the wall. The sound of rushing water was all he heard, as he propped himself upright. He closed his eyes, and tried to keep breathing, but even that was becoming increasingly difficult. His heart rate was so high, and the blood pouring from him was too much.
His eyes shut against his own will. He felt cold begin to take him over, and work its way up his body, until he could no longer breathe. And in the cold darkness, Gojinn let out one last breath of air, and finally slept… forevermore….