He had been forced to climb a tree. With his hands and legs preoccupied, he couldn't use his great strength to save himself.
The spear struck him in the back, penetrated his armor, and pierced into his flesh. The spear would have run him through completely and nailed him to the tree if it hadn't been blocked by the other side of his armor.
He wasn't nailed to the tree, but his situation wasn't good either.
First came the pain. It was blinding and excruciating.
He felt the pain everywhere. He from the sole of his feet to the scalp on his head. It was so much that his body spasmed and shook.
He cried out when the spear struck him. He wanted to close his eyes to make his pain disappear. He wanted to lose consciousness, but he held on.
Holding on to his consciousness is the best he could do, though. He couldn't hold on to the tree anymore. So fell down from the tree into the horde of boars below.
He and Ruff had fallen into the midst of the boars. So both of them were attacked immediately.
There was a loud yelp and cry of pain, which Arthur didn't hear. His ears were ringing, and he had too much on his mind to hear what was going on around him.
His vision was swooning, and he was being knocked around by the boars trying to get to him. Fortunately, he was able to find and grab his giant sword.
By the time his hand had clasped the hilt of his weapon, he had been pierced in many places by the tusks of the boars around him.
His armor protected him from being crushed instantly, but it couldn't protect him completely. And by the looks of things, it couldn't stop the boars from killing him.
He thought to himself, "I will die if I don't escape."
He was losing a lot of blood, which was weakening him. He wanted to sleep or at least rest to recover his strength. But the situation wasn't right for that, and he felt the threat of death.
He wasn't willing to accept death just yet. So he struggled to stand.
He jumped onto the top of a boar and held on to its fur with one hand as he looked around. He was looking for Ruff.
He called out, "Ruff! Where are you, boy?"
But Ruff didn't reply. There was no bark. All he saw was blood, bones, and scattered golden fur.
His eyes turned red, and his heart hurt. It hurt so much that the pain of the boar's fur cutting into his hand couldn't match it.
The boar he was on was jumping about and turning in an attempt to dislodge him. This caused the fur he was grabbing onto to cut into his palm like blades.
Other boars tried to reach him, but he fended them off with his giant sword. He climbed onto the back of the boar and placed his two feet on it.
He was still holding on to the boar with his hand because the boar was still trying to dislodge him. But with his two legs on the boar's back, he was able to jump onto another boar's back.
It was good timing too because another spear flew through the air and struck the back of the boar he was standing on earlier.
The power of the spear was so great that it broke its tough hide and sank into the boar's flesh, which caused it to squeal in pain.
He ignored the cries of pain of the boar and looked in the direction that the spear had come from. He saw someone standing on the branch of a tree with a bag of spear beside him.
The man was Irvin. He was looking back at Arthur with a calm gaze.
He shrugged and said, "It is nothing personal. I'm just doing a job."
Arthur had been trying to reach a tree beside him. The boar he had chosen to jump onto was close to the tree. But now, he doesn't think it is a good idea to get onto another tree.
The previous spear in his back had broken off in the rush of the boars for him. Only the spearhead remains in his flesh.
So he still doesn't know that it was a spear that struck him and made him fall. But he can imagine what would happen if he tried to climb a tree while Irvin is throwing spears at him.
With climbing a tree for safety out of the options of things he could do, he could only hop from one boar to another in hopes of getting away from the boar.
But his hope was soon dashed because no matter how far he went, the boars were always following him. They were always trying to reach him.
What's worse is that Irvin wasn't the only one in the trees with a bag of spears. There were many other men and women who had it out for him.
If it were only the boar's, he would have easily been able to escape. But there were people up in the trees constantly making things difficult for him.
They would throw a spear at him at any opportune moment. He had to constantly move and be attentive to his environment while dodging spears or blocking them with his giant sword if he couldn't dodge.
He was injured many times. His blood soaked his armor, and he was in constant pain. But he didn't die.
He didn't allow himself to die. His blood was burning with rage, and his mind was focused. Adrenalin kept him going against all odds.
A little more than an hour later, he rushed out of the green forest with two more spear wounds and a horde of boars.
The boars drew a lot of attention from the hunters at Death's Door. The hunters began attacking the boars. They formed an army that fought head-on with the boars.