Page 107 - KCN 2020

The Lone Archer

Joyton Fu Hung Li

Drawing his bow, Jamal felt someone’s gaze boring
into his back. He turned back and saw a tall, white-
bearded man. “Don’t shoot me, please, I mean you no
harm”, the old man said nervously, seemingly frightened It didn’t take long for Jamal to spot a disorganised rabble marching towards him. Jamal
by his appearance. Jamal shot an arrow at him anyway. gasped. The barbarians. They’d come back for more, or possibly, for revenge. He knew he was in
The old man managed to evade it unscathed. Jamal, per- grave danger. It was only a matter of time before they discovered his presence. However, it was far
turbed, shot another arrow and injured the old man. The too late. Jamal couldn’t combat thousands of people all by himself. He was bewildered and lost; he
ensuing pain was unbearable, and the old man groaned didn’t know what the best course of action would be.
as if something was burning his leg. Jamal soon realised
why the old man had come to him. A horde of barbar- All of a sudden, a volley of fire arrows rained down from the surrounding cliffs. Tons of
ians was closing in on their location. Jamal fled as he immense rocks rolled down the cliff as if thousands of huge waves were crashing into the walls of the
knew that he was far too weak to handle all of them. cliff. Amidst the mayhem, Jamal was able to get himself out of the battleground. As he was about to
escape, he saw the old man he previously rescued battling one of the barbarians. As the fight between
As he was preparing to set off, he saw the old the villagers and the barbarians escalated, Jamal decided to fight alongside the villagers. The vil-
man groaning pitifully, trying to hide behind some sparse lagers’ army successfully impeded the barbarians from marching forward despite some minor losses.
bushes. “Should I save or leave him?” Jamal hesitated Though they were worn out and exhausted, they didn’t plan to retreat as they knew that this was their
for a moment. Suddenly feeling remorseful for his ear- final chance to stop the brutal and monstrous barbarians from seizing control of the entire desert.
lier, impulsive actions, he dashed towards the old man,
hoisting him onto his steed and rushing away. The bar- Since the beginning of the battle, the old man had been fighting bravely against the barbarians
barians signalled for a troop to capture them, as their despite his injury. Jamal had forgotten about it long before they arrived at the village. Nevertheless, it
orders were to kill anyone suspected to be from the didn’t take him long to realize that the man couldn’t continue the fight, or even defend himself. After
village they were pillaging. Knowing that the barbar- dodging the first strike from the barbarian soldier, the soldier countered him with a strike from his
ians would show them no mercy, he sped away, faster blade’s hilt. Seizing the opportunity while the old man was off-balance, he fatally stabbed the feeble
than before and as quick as his old horse could go. old man through the torso as Jamal watched in horror beside him. Out of abhorrence and animos-
ity, Jamal rushed towards the barbarian immediately and stabbed him with his blade. Cradling
After a few days of travelling, they arrived at the the old man, Jamal carried him away for the second time while escaping from the battlefield.
northeast. It was desolated, bleak and strange. There were
isolated houses, dehydrated corpses as well as dried riv- “There is a letter in my pouch. Take it,” the man requested. Jamal shook his head, not want-
erbeds. Life seemed to have shut down there. Even the ing to accept the man’s death. Jamal’s own actions had caused the death of this man. It wasn’t
sand lost its lustre as it was covered by ashes. Soon, a just the arrow; no, Jamal’s own choice to ignore the pillaging and war around him for this long had
small village appeared within Jamal’s sightlines. “Alright, caused the barbarians to gain power. With his last bit of energy, the old man fished the
this is my village. Thank you for helping me,” the man letter out of his pocket and pressed it into Jamal’s hands before taking his final breath.
said. This was the first time the old man had spoken to
Jamal as Jamal was at best curt to him. Jamal nodded, Jamal shed a tear, knowing that the only way he could atone for his wrong doings was to
letting the old man disembark and rushing away. rebuild his village and deliver this letter for the old man.
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