The wet snap of breaking bone echoed across the deserted courtyard, and I fell backward to the ground landing heavily on my right shoulder. Fallen, again. My shield preceeded my descent, the clattering metal ringing across the stone in time with the pulsing pain from my left arm. He stood over me, armoured in jagged black cloth and swirling metal, a great hammer held aloft in his hands. My good hand tightened over the sword still clenched in it's faltering grip and I struggled to my knees before him as he spoke.
"Give up," spoke the phantom, "you do not know how much it will cost you."
I remained there a moment, the wind whistling through my visor, sweat dripping down my brow, the plate covering my left knee catching awkwardly on an uneven burr in the rough stone beneath me. The overcast sky shifted and a faint glow suffused the dim air, a falcon soared high above and a rustling branch betrayed the cat slinking through the dead shrubs that circled the round courtyard. I listened for a moment, breathed, and hauled myself to my feet. My left arm hung limply, my right shoulder dragged down, a twist in my ankle brough a tremor to my stance as I tried and failed to square my shoulders. I met the phantoms eyes and raised my sword before me.
"You say I do not know what this will cost me, I say you have no idea of the price I am willing to pay."
The phantom regarded me a moment and then rushed forward, hammer held high. I sent my broken body surging up to meet him.
One more time.