So clearly it's in your best interest not to stay and fight this Woban; you would have nothing to prove by doing so, but everything to lose when you inevitably got your head handed to you. Therefore you need to figure out a way to get out of here. If you just turn and run, all you'd be doing is turning this into a footrace, which you know you'd lose just as surely as you would lose the fight. The only way this will work is if you manage to trip up your opponent in the first few moments.


Fortunately, the young Woban has given you exactly what you need. Without taking your eyes off him, you squat down and reach for the spear at your feet. Then you slowly stand, holding the primitive weapon as if you are still considering how best to use it.


"Maika'i loa!" he says in his incomprehensible language. "Ua koho 'oe e kaua ia'u. I keia la he la maika'i ia e make!"


"That's easy for you to say. All right, let's get this over wi— Ohmygod, what is that!"


It's a trick you've probably been using since kindergarten: fake an expression of surprise, point to some imaginary spot past the Woban's shoulder, and then run in the opposite direction the moment he turns to look.


So far, so good! You've managed to momentarily confuse your opponent, and now you are fleeing for your life. The only way to go is back up the hill, towards all the strange ruins. Knowing your head start is only going to last a matter of seconds, you listen closely for the sound of the Woban pursuing you. He doesn't leave you waiting for long.


"'A'ole hiki ia 'oe ke holo mai o'u aku nei!"


You continue running until he is nearly upon you, and then you fling the spear as hard as you can, aiming for his legs. The shaft gets caught between his knees, and in a shout of frustration he goes down to the ground.


Success! But of course now you are out of tricks, and he has the spear again. The only things you have to work with now are your own speed and the timely appearance of an effective hiding place.


You dash up the hill at your best possible pace, not daring to look back and see where your pursuer is. Your muscles are already tired and your lungs are spent by the time you reach the top, but there is no time to stop and catch your breath. This is not some schoolyard game where you can simply call "time out."


Once again you are on the open plain dotted with the mysterious ruins from the ancient city. Now what are you going to do? Your original thought was to evade the Woban by seeking cover inside one of these ancient structures, but the nearest ones seem rather small. They look like miniature stepped pyramids, scale models of their larger cousins in Guatemala. They have entrances leading into some kind of enclosed space, where you are sure you could take cover. The problem is that these smaller structures are probably just dead ends — only one way in, and only one way out.


Perhaps you could do better than this, though. Up ahead, in the middle of town, is a larger structure, where you might expect more opportunities to evade your pursuer. That's entirely theoretical, however, because you have no way of knowing what you'll find. Whatever it offers, that crumbling stone building is another hundred yards or so ahead of you — a distance across which you'll have to continue sprinting, in plain sight of the Woban. 


Think quick! You can hear the Woban behind you, shouting angrily as he sprints up the hill. If you duck into the nearest structure, there is a chance he may not see you. Or you can continue to that larger building and hope for the best when you get there. How does that old saying go — the one about the "bird in hand"?


__________________________________________________

You enter the nearest structure before the Woban sees you.

Actually, that saying goes: "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." Applied to your situation, this bit of folk wisdom is trying to tell you it's better to seek cover in one of the nearby structures, rather than risking everything to reach that larger structure a hundred yards away.


So that's exactly what you do. On your right are three of those miniature stepped pyramids, each the size of a small house. Vines are crawling over each one, with small trees sprouting from cracks in the rock. All three structures are capped with one of those strange statues you noticed earlier, almost like a Buddha with ram's horns, although there is no time to ponder the actual cultural references on display here; the Woban will be reaching the top of the hill any second now, and the only way your strategy will work is if you can disappear inside one of these buildings before he sees you.


Therefore the one nearest you will have to do. You are happy to see that the opening is unobstructed, even if the interior is completely dark. With a quick turn to the right, you pass through a doorway that has perhaps not seen another human being step across its threshold in centuries, if not longer.


A single shaft of light falls into the dark space, but otherwise you are unable to see anything else inside the chamber you have just entered. You back up until you are completely out of the light, and then you drop to your knees, hoping you won't be giving yourself away by your heavy breathing; if you aren't able to quiet yourself, that uphill sprint for your life may prove to be your undoing yet.


And as it turns out, you've found this spot just in time — the Woban is now running up the same ancient street you just vacated.


But then his footsteps come to a stop just outside your hiding place.


"'O na i'a make! Ke pa'ani nei 'oe i na pa'ani o kahi keiki, hnh? E loa'a wau ia 'oe, a laila luku wau ia 'oe!"


He sure is going on about something! Unfortunately, it sounds like he's figured out that if you couldn't outrun him, then you must be hiding.


It takes all of your willpower to suppress your labored breathing; the Woban may not be able to see you, but he can certainly hear you if you don't take control of yourself. For extra measure, you also scoot further back into the darkness until you hit the rear wall.


You can hear the Woban outside, still on the overgrown street in front of the three dwellings. What is he doing? For the first time since this encounter began, you wish he'd say something, because then you could determine with more certainty where he is out there. His silence is driving you crazy with suspense.


Then he appears in the doorway like a living shadow, silhouetted by the bright sunlight of the mountain plain. He merely stands there, holding the spear to his side and sniffing the air. He's trying to smell you! All you can do is hope that a Woban's sense of smell is no more developed than a human's — that, and you hope the purpose of the third eye is not to allow him to see better in the dark.


But then, with a grunt of disappointment, he turns and exits the doorway. This is followed by the sound of his footsteps jogging down the ancient street, away from your hiding spot.


It worked! You fooled the Woban, and now he has no idea where you are. The next problem you have to face will be getting out of here unseen — and then somehow scaling up the mountain to the summit temple, which is of course the entire reason you are here. But these are problems you'll have to break down into their constituent elements, managing your way through them one at a time.


Before you can act, though, you need to gather some intel. You stand up from your kneeling position in the dark, with the intent of slowly advancing toward the door so you can peer outside and see where your adversary has gone. But as you rise, something leathery brushes your cheek.


"Holy crap!"


Your reaction is almost involuntary, and you regret the exclamation as soon as you make it. But the consequences are irreversible: you have just startled a hidden colony of bats, and now they are fleeing out of this cave-like chamber in a flutter of fur and fleshy wings.


Please don't let the Woban see this. Please don't let the Woban see this. Please don't let… .


But it's too late. You hear his footsteps pounding the ancient paving stones, running back toward your hiding spot.


"Ua loa'a wau ia 'oe, ka'u i'a make!" he says. "'Ano ua lilo 'oe i 'aha'aina a ko'u makua kane!"


You have no idea what he just said, but you know it can't be good.


THE END