Kopii watched as the sun disappeared behind the horizon.
– Oh, it still hurts. – Clenching his fist, he said. He decided to ignore the pain in his leg and arm, for right now it was not so important. He needed to keep moving and find a place where he could wait out the night and rest. Somewhere he could not be found.
Kopii walked as fast as he could, but because of his leg, his speed had dropped greatly. He could not find a suitable place; visibility kept worsening. Kopii could no longer continue; he leaned against a tree to rest for a couple of minutes.
«Ah, ha… So tired.»
– That's it… a little… just a little… I'll just sit down for a second – he said; these were his last words before he lost consciousness from exhaustion. Kopii came to from the cold. A light breeze played with his hair, and the first rays of the sun broke through the leaves of the trees. His body ached, but the fatigue had receded, leaving behind a dull pain in his limbs. He rose to his feet with difficulty, leaning on the tree trunk.
Kopii looked around. The forest seemed quiet and calm, but he knew this impression was deceptive. Danger could be lurking behind every tree, behind every bush. He listened, trying to catch at least some sound that could indicate the presence of enemies, but he heard only birdsong and the rustle of leaves.
He did not know what to do now – the pain in his leg and arm still made itself known, reminding him of yesterday's incident and that there might be someone on his trail. He was lucky that he had not been found while he lay unconscious all night.
«Maybe they really didn't pursue him? Maybe I got lucky; they didn't find me and simply left. If so, then I was very lucky.» – But even so, he hardly believed it; this whole situation could not be called fortunate. To tell the truth, he was never lucky.
So he decided that relying on luck would be too risky and foolish. He stood up and headed back, towards the lake. Kopii did not want to act so rashly, but he had no choice. Running further in an unknown direction was foolish. And going back might be the best idea, for they might not think that he would return. The biggest snag in this was that he might meet them along the way. It was risky, but also justified. A foolish decision might turn out to be the best one.
His clothes had fully dried, which allowed him to speed up. But he was ready to meet his pursuers, so he decided to conserve his strength rather than spend it on running. Walking for half a day, Kopii met no one except wild animals. But even so, he did not relax one bit. He was fully prepared for anything that could await him at every step.
Walking through the forest, Kopii finally reached the place where he had bandaged his wounds. He decided to rest. Leaning against a tree, Kopii took a waterproof bag out of his backpack, and then took the map out of this bag. He was fully prepared to get soaked. After all, the first time he had gone for herbs, a downpour had started towards the end of his gathering, and everything had gotten wet, and some of his things had become useless, and one of them had been the map.
So Kopii had prepared and bought this bag for the sake of one map. Taking out the map, he examined it. This map gave him nothing useful, he thought, until he looked closer and realized that this lake was the only one for several tens of kilometers. If, of course, he had read the map correctly. But he decided not to dwell on it.
And he put it back into his backpack. Continuing to sit and look at the sky, he remembered that the arrows he had thrown away were lying around somewhere here. Kopii jumped up, heading in the direction he had thrown them, but however hard he searched, he could not find them.
«I clearly remember throwing them here. Don't I? Then where are they?»
Kopii wanted to examine the arrows he had been shot with more closely. But he could not find them anywhere.
«Maybe those who were chasing me took those arrows? That was logical.»
But this news did not gladden Kopii in the slightest.
«So someone really is chasing me. Then they might be not far from me, or they have already found me and are waiting for the right moment to attack.» – At such thoughts, his whole body involuntarily tensed.
He understood that he could not relax for a second. Every rustle of leaves, every crack of a branch seemed suspicious to him. He slowly turned, scanning his surroundings, trying to make out at least something that would betray the presence of his pursuers. But he found nothing strange, yet even so, he did not dare relax.
Deciding that he had rested enough, Kopii got up and headed towards the lake. He moved cautiously, trying not to make unnecessary noise, watching every step carefully. Kopii feared one thing – that he would be attacked in the back again.
Kopii was sure that these were ordinary people, not Canoe and Gedo. Kopii understood who was hunting him, and it was bandits. They fit his reasoning best of all.
«They probably saw him and decided to rob him. But I have nothing to steal.» - Kopii thought, drawing ever closer to the place where the lake should be.
The closer he came to the lake, the more his paranoia grew. He knew that wherever he went, there would be an equal chance of meeting the pursuers. Closer and closer.
Kopii decided not to rush; he climbed a tree and decided to look around. After all, the chance that they might have set up camp near the lake was high.
«How could I not have thought to look at the map right away? It's so logical!» - Kopii did not understand how he could have missed such a turn of events; this is the only water source, so it would be most logical to set an ambush here. Kopii thought, climbing higher and higher up the tree.
Kopii climbed to the very top of the tree, as far as the branches allowed. From here, a decent view of the surroundings opened up, and he could see part of the lake, glistening through the foliage. He carefully scanned the shore, trying to make out any signs of people's presence.
Kopii looked for quite a long time, but he noticed nothing unusual.
«I need to act.» - Kopii began to climb down. If no one was there, then that was very good. After all, he would be able to prepare his own ambush there or try to climb up and head back to Orario with all his might.
At last, the lake began to come into view. Kopii hurried; approaching the lake, Kopii looked around, and after making sure that it was rather quiet, he washed his face in the lake and cleaned his wounds. After the water procedures, Kopii began to think over the next stage of his plan. He had managed to reach the lake – that had been the easiest part of his plan. Now all that remained was to climb up. This was the hardest part. Not because he had little climbing experience, but because he would be vulnerable while climbing. And if he was unlucky, his pursuers could take advantage of it. He wanted to avoid that. And on top of that, his speed was limited.
«Damn, why am I so unlucky?» – He thought, filling with disappointment and a sense of injustice.
A few minutes later.
He devised a risky plan; it was the best plan he could come up with at the moment, and that was – to climb at night, when visibility would be minimal. Kopii understood that this would take much more time than if he climbed during the day. It was risky, but at the same time safe – he did not see the enemies, and the enemies did not see him. Well, or so he hoped.
Kopii only had to wait for night. The sun began to slowly slope towards sunset, painting the sky in crimson and orange hues. Kopii, watching this spectacle, felt the tension in him rising. The waiting was agonizing. He sat, leaning his back against a tree, trying not to think about the coming night. The closer night came, the more he worried.
«Very soon, just a little more left.» - he looked at the sky and whispered to himself. He hoped that his wounded leg and arm would not fail him at an unexpected moment.
Some time later.
Kopii watched as night came into its own. As it enveloped the forest in impenetrable darkness. Only rare stars broke through the thick foliage, creating strange shadows. Kopii felt the cold creeping into his bones. He shivered and rose to his feet, preparing for the upcoming climb.
He walked to the cliff, carefully feeling its surface with his hands in search of reliable holds.
The sky was finally covered in darkness; only rare stars flickered faintly through the leaves. Kopii stood up, stretching his stiff limbs. The night chill bit to the bone, but he knew that now was not the time to pay attention to discomfort. He had to carry out his plan.
He carefully checked his backpack, making sure everything he needed was at hand. «Auu,» - Kopii exhaled, beginning to climb. The higher he climbed, the more confident he became, but with confidence, the pain also grew, yet even so, he could not help but smile.
Kopii had already climbed a quarter of the way.
Whoosh.
Kopii immediately leaped aside, grabbing a ledge on the climb, and a second later an arrow embedded itself there. Before he could recover, he heard that sound again. Kopii had no choice but to let go. He fell like a stone, and upon landing, he managed to do a roll to soften the fall.
But before he could get up, a blow flew into his face. But even so, he still tried to stand and fight back. Kopii jumped back, looking in the direction from which the blow had come. But before Kopii could draw his sword, he heard footsteps in the distance and the whistle again. He dodged the arrow, but could not dodge the blow. He staggered, and his pursuers took advantage of this state and surrounded him. Blows began flying from all sides. Kopii defended himself as best he could, but it was all useless. Kopii felt his consciousness beginning to fade – someone struck him on the back of the head. Then repeated the attack. Kopii's consciousness left him completely. Kopii fell to the cold ground, like a puppet whose strings had been cut