A kick slammed into Ki's stomach.
The air burst from his lungs as his body was hurled backward. His back struck a tree with a dull, hollow crack, bark exploding against his shoulders. Pain bloomed white-hot across his ribs. For a split second, his vision went black.
Before he could even gasp, steel hissed through the air.
Ki twisted on instinct. The blade buried itself into the tree where his head had been a heartbeat ago, the impact shuddering through the trunk. Splinters rained down his neck.
He staggered sideways.
Arrows slammed into the ground at his feet, thudding into dirt and roots. One grazed his sleeve, tearing cloth and skin. Ki jumped back, heart hammering, barely registering the sting.
Another hunter rushed him.
Ki dropped low, ducking under the swing, and slashed upward. The blade bit into the man's leg. A wet scream followed as the hunter collapsed, clutching the wound. Ki didn't look back. He never did anymore.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" a voice roared. "HE'S ALONE!"
Ki turned.
The man shouting stood further back, barking orders instead of charging. Thin face. Sharp eyes. Mid-forties, maybe. A leader. Calm. Too calm.
"Attack at once!" the man continued. "Don't give him a moment to breathe!"
Ki didn't hesitate.
He turned fully, planted his foot, and threw his dagger.
The blade spun once through the air before burying itself in the man's chest.
The leader froze. His mouth opened as if to shout another command, but no sound came. His knees buckled. He dropped to the forest floor, eyes wide, fingers clawing uselessly at the hilt protruding from his ribs.
The shouting stopped.
Ki ran.
He leapt between trees, boots slipping on moss and wet bark. His lungs screamed. His vision tunneled. Still, footsteps pounded behind him. Too many. Too close.
A hunter lunged from the side.
Ki twisted and drove his fist into the man's chin. Bone cracked. The hunter crumpled instantly. Ki ripped the sword from the man's grasp without slowing, fingers numb around the unfamiliar weight.
A shadow loomed.
Ki looked up.
A blade descended.
Steel met steel with a sharp, shrieking clash. Sparks burst between them. Ki's arms screamed as the hunter bore down on him, forcing him backward inch by inch.
Then he saw it.
Three hunters had already drawn arrows. Aimed. Waiting.
Ki reacted without thinking.
He grabbed the man's collar and yanked him forward.
The arrows loosed.
The hunter's eyes widened in shock as the shafts punched through his body. Blood sprayed across Ki's face. The weight collapsed against him, lifeless.
Ki shoved the corpse aside and ran again.
The ground vanished.
He skidded to a stop at the edge of a cliff.
A waterfall roared below, a towering curtain of white crashing into churning water far beneath. Mist blasted upward, cold and violent.
The hunters skidded to a halt behind him.
For a moment, no one moved.
They grinned.
Cornered.
Ki didn't turn back.
He jumped.
"CRAZY!" one of them shouted as Ki vanished over the edge.
They rushed forward, peering down into the roaring abyss. Only mist. Only water.
"He escaped!" another barked. "Fire the signal!"
Three bowmen loaded explosive bolts and fired them skyward.
The arrows burst high above the trees, red ash and fire scattering across the sky like bleeding stars. Again. And again.
Far away, a man stood on a ridge, arms crossed, watching the explosions bloom.
Scarface smiled.
"Little rat," he murmured.
Elsewhere in the forest, soldiers sprang into motion. Hounds barked violently, straining against their leashes. Armor clattered.
From one of the tents stepped a man with long blond hair and shining silver armor.
He mounted his horse in a single smooth motion.
"Move," he commanded.
The hunt surged forward.