Ron pulled out his sword and gazed straight into the hooded man’s eyes. “Today, I’m finally going to beat you.”

The hooded man smiled and waved his fingers to make a taunting gesture. Ron screamed on the top of his lungs and charged towards the hooded man. The man didn’t panic at all. It was when Ron’s sharp sword blade was about to slice through his chest, did he pull out his diamond encrusted sword and blocked the attack. In a swipe of his grey cape, he had gone to the opposite side of the arena.

“Focus! Is that all you’ve got?” he yelled. Ron didn’t take that as an encouraging statement. The compliment only made his anger rise. He thought of the many battles he had lost against this opponent, and gripped the handle of his sword tightly.

Then, he took a deep breath and ran. He ran into the direction of the man, wanting nothing more than to taste sweet victory. The man smirked. He knew that his opponent was starting to get pumped up, and it wasn’t a good idea to tease him again, so he sneaked behind a huge rock and waited.

Using the forest as a battlefield had advantages—you could use the natural elements to hide. Soon enough, Ron stopped attacking. Instead, he started to look for the hooded man. “Stop hiding,” he said angrily. “Have a proper battle with me instead of avoiding me! Unless, are you too afraid to do that? You coward!”

Suddenly, the hooded man emerged from behind the rock, and gave Ron a sharp poke on the back with his sword! Ron gasped and walked further immediately. Then, he took off his belt, and checked for injuries. Surprisingly, there was only a bruise. The hooded man had hit him with the blunt edge of his sword.

Ron felt anger rising inside him.

“Why are you so strong? And who are you?” he screamed, slashing his sword onto the ground. The hooded man smiled. “I would like to know my strength, too. You might just have to train for a thousand years to beat me.”

Ron felt humiliated. However, he didn’t want to give up just yet. He started noticing that the hooded man seemed to put more weight on his right foot rather than his left one. He had a strategy to beat the hooded man now!

Rising to his feet, he said, “I might not be more skillful than you, but compared to yours, my brain is much bigger. En Garde!” With that, he ran towards the man again.

The hooded man laughed. Things were going to turn out all the same. Again, he waited until the last moment to block the attack with his sword. Then, he hid behind a different rock and waited. However, Ron didn’t start to find him. Thus, after a while, the hooded man walked out of cover. Then, he scanned the battlefield with his eyes strangely, wondering where Ron had gone.

Suddenly, there was a call from upwards. He looked up, and saw Ron standing on a higher platform and laughing. Frustrated, the hooded man climbed upwards. He took large, hopping steps that made him quite fast, and soon he was nearly at the top.

Now! Ron thought, and pulled out his sword he had put away when climbing. Then, he faced downwards and stabbed the hooded man’s left leg!

The hooded man screamed. He found himself tumbling down the cliff, and fell onto the ground. Fortunately, it wasn’t a long fall, and he was still alive. He yanked at the left sleeve of his jeans, and pulled out the sword. There wasn’t any blood.

“I knew it!” came Ron’s voice. The hooded man looked up. Ron had just climbed down the cliff. He snatched his sword from the man’s hand.

“I knew you had a fake leg,” Ron said, and grinned.

The man smiled. “Yes, young Roy, you have grown a lot. You don’t know who I am, but I do. Let’s have another great battle another day. Before that, I will grow stronger, and I believe so will you. With that, farewell.”

Then, with a swish of his cape, he was gone.

Ron looked at the dark sky and smiled. The only light that shone brightly in the night was the blade of his sword.

The Sword Fight