The Absurdium

Anger flashed in her eyes and Mika sprinted for the forest’s edge, intent on catching whoever was there, but she heard the creak of the bow once more and driving her heels hard in the dirt she wheeled and dove for her wounded master, still struggling to get to his knees, blood running down his arm. She landed hard on Master Zhou and drove him to the earth, covering him with her body.

“Lie down!” she screamed into the old man’s ears, but Zhou cried out in pain as he rolled and the arrow shaft, still embedded in his shoulder, snapped under him. In the same instant Mika again heard the whine of an arrow as it passed over her, cutting the back of her shirt as it went. For a moment she was relieved, but then heard a cry and only a few feet away a friend of hers was lying on his back, hands clutching feebly at the feathered shaft protruding from the center of his chest.

Anger gave way to pain and rage and Mika leapt up and charged into the woods, the cries of her school following her. Blood pounded in her head and she felt like a tiger as she sprinted amongst the trees, feet barely touching the ground, eyes scanning furiously for a victim.

There! Behind a large oak twenty metres away, a hooded figure with a bow drawn and dark eyes fixed on hers. Mika dodged reflexively, cutting to the left, and heard the arrow whine past her right shoulder. She closed the gap as the man rushed to notch another arrow. As he drew the bowstring back Mika ducked around the tree and rounding on him, drove her shoulder into his gut with a satisfying ‘Unngh!’ as the air was forced from his lungs. As he stepped back she leapt into the air, coiled, and then unleashed a savage kick to his chest. The force of the blow sent the man reeling. He tripped on a root and fell backwards several feet into a ravine, rolling to a stop at the bottom of a dry creek bed.

Landing nimbly amongst the green shoots and small flowers that covered the forest floor, Mika rushed after her opponent, her fury and the excitement of fighting coursing through her like the strongest of stimulants. The hooded man rolled over his shoulders and sprang to his feet with surprising nimbleness. Pulling back his hood he threw his cloak to the ground in one swift, vicious motion. For a moment, only a few feet apart, they looked at each other. At five and a half feet tall Mika was shorter than her opponent, he was also stockier and obviously older. She surveyed the man. His head was shaved, his dark eyes were set beneath a deep, pensive brow and his face was relaxed and clean shaven. The man’s shoulders and chest were broad and despite his long-sleeved linen undershirt Mika could tell his arms were strong and defined. She thought he resembled some sort of gymnast scholar, or a philosopher with a penchant for heavy lifting. Only his eyes betrayed his erudite appearance as they flitted about, assessing Mika and their surroundings. A faded yellow sash was tied about the man’s waist and when Mika’s eyes fell upon it violence surged inside her.

Pushing off hard she lunged forward, launching a vicious fist at the man’s placid face, wanting to smash it into Oblivion. He dodged by millimetres and stepped out of the way of Mika’s second fist while delivering a rapid kick to her forward leg. Ignoring the blow to her shin, Mika pivoted hard and swung her left leg around at head height as the man raised both hands in defense. The power of Mika’s kick drove him backwards and she leapt after him, kicking twice while in the air, clipping him in the jaw. They exchanged a rapid series of strikes and parries with their fists, and the man slipped to her left and attempted to lock her wrist. Spinning quickly, Mika was able to slip from his grasp and followed through with a roundhouse kick aimed for his head. In an instant however he ducked Mika’s leg and lunged forward, slamming both palms into her chest and launching her backward off her feet. Stunned, Mika was unable to break her fall and she slammed to the earth, the air driven from her lungs.

Trying to suck in air and ignoring the pain in her chest, Mika rolled over and leapt up as he closed on her. Two palm strikes missed her by inches as Mika dodged and then returned a hard punch to his gut. She could feel the strength of his abdominal muscles as the force rebounded through her own arm but she knew he felt her strike. A punch like that would have doubled up any of the other students at her school. Instead, however, she exhaled in pain as he replied instantly with a chopping fist to where her shoulder met her neck. The force of the blow drove her to her knees and a second, more precise strike to the side of her neck suddenly made her arms fall limp at her sides. Suddenly defenceless, terror gripped Mika’s heart and she looked up, her brown eyes wide with fear, just in time to see the man’s torso turn toward her and then his left leg swung into view as he uncoiled a roundhouse kick. Somewhere in the sky above the trees she heard the raucous call of a raven and then Mika felt, and heard, several of the vertebrae in her neck crack as his heel crashed into her cheek.