As the man draws closer and closer, the feeling of impending doom becomes more and more apparent, as if her doom is spelled out by the bulky man's approach.
Before the man can open the closet door, she bursts out, slamming herself into the man, though this only causes him to stumble back and her to tumble to the ground.
Ira groans in pain, she can feel her cut reopening again from her violent movements.
'Great, just great!'
Ira's situation was already dire, not just from the cut she had received prior in the day, but also because of her lack of food, water, and a source of heat to dry herself off, but now she not only has to worry about being murdered and robbed for all she has, but also from bleeding out, which wouldn't take a lot from how much blood she had lost from her cut.
***
"Pr-princess killer!? Y-you! This is all your fault, you damn witch!" The bulky man exclaimed.
"H-huh? Princess killer..?"
Was the reason so many knights had gone after her being because she had slain the princess of this unnamed kingdom? That was a possibility, a ludicrous possible albeit. But had The Men On Horses really slaughtered hundreds, possibly thousands just to find and kill her? It seemed ridiculous to do such a thing in an attempt to kill her. She also had a quick thought on how he could even make out facial features in such dark conditions.
Another thing she realized, the possibility of a Carrier or multiple being present in the search for her was nearly guaranteed, and that the main objective for this trial was most likely to escape or kill those preventing her escape. The latter was basically impossible, she wouldn't be able to kill multiple Carriers by herself.
Her train of thought was cut off by the Bulky man's screaming, "You caused this! None of this would've happened if you hadn't killed The Second Princess! I will kill you for wha-!" Before the man could finish his sentence, an arrow is shot through his skull, dropping him dead.
The three people in the room look on in shock at the scene in front of them. The petite girl let's out a scream, immediately running over to the bulky man's corpse, "Uncle! No, no no..! Please wake up, please! I need you, what am I supposed to do? Uncle, please…"
Ira immediately bolted towards the door, her gut telling her that the moment she leaves the building an arrow or two will be shot at her, so she prepares to quickly dodge out of the way.
Ira slams through the door, immediately jumping to the side, and just as she expected, an arrow is shot right at the area she was just in before having leapt out of the way.
Judging by how she could not see their lustrous armor, she assumed they either were not wearing armor or were covered in black.
This must have meant that they were another group of knights, particularly a group that works at night, silently killing it's prey before they even realized that their doom had been sealed moments before, by the knocking of The Knights in Blacks' arrow.
Ira's body felt unbearably weak, her body hadn't replenished the blood she had recently lost, so her muscles were not getting enough oxygen delivered to them as required, and her body hadn't had time to break down and absorb the energy from the moldy loaf of bread she recently ate. So many things were hindering her at the moment she needed them not to, but even so, she was still an incredibly nimble person.
'Ahh.. it's so hard to breathe..'
She exploded forward, kicking dust up from how hard she was pushing herself forward. Her lungs started to feel a little dry, and then they started to burn, until it was unbearable. Her muscles felt weak and flimsy, as if they would not be able to support her weight in a few moments. Her eyes struggled to make out anything, the darkness shrouding everything.
All she could think about was how she needed to run, run like she had earlier that day, maybe even faster than she had then. But she felt her body slow, and her muscles weaken further, her mind going empty, she had no energy left to think.
Ira finally felt her legs buckle under their own weight, bringing her down, but she immediately jumped back up, continuing to run, but next time that happened, there would not be anymore running, only death.
***
Ira eventually stumbled into a ruined building, she had figured out that they most likely left some buildings untouched to draw survivors, treating them to the false illusion of a safe space, just for them to end up being slaughtered in the next moments.
So as it turns out, the areas she originally avoided, had been the only safe spaces to begin with.
Ira collapsed, she did not have the energy left to walk, think, or even open her eyes, she immediately passed out.
Ira would rather collapse here and die in her sleep, then see the faces The Knights made while killing her.
She did not dream, but if she had, maybe it would have been about the future, and the blessings it would bring to her, if she would even survive to see them, but maybe dying was also a blessing. Her life had been nothing but suffering, she never had anyone to rely on or to trust, and especially no one to take care of her, she only had herself, and maybe that's how she would die, by herself.
Silent tears began to fall in her unconscious state, if she were awake, she would have questioned why they had fallen. Was it because she had no hope of surviving this trial? Maybe the tears had fallen not because of the trial, but before the trial, her life had never been easy, she had to grow up without anyone to help her, she had no parents, no friends, no one.
She was scared of dying alone, people usually found comfort in things they were used to, but not Ira, she wanted everything but to die alone, in the cold, like all those she had know before.
So, she would not, because that was her will.