Shaine gave a little gasp and picked himself up clumsily off the stranger. He nervously dusted off his jacket, for all the good it would do, and spoke sheepishly, “Um...sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to--”

He spun around as the old man’s hand reached from the tub and yanked the stake from the beast’s eye with a disgusting sucking sound. 

[i]Holey moley![/i] The old man was still alive!

The squire moved to the tub and peered inside at the man, “Hey, mister, are you okay?” 

As the adrenaline started to subside once again, [i]for the fourth time today[/i], Shaine was starting to feel very sore and very exhausted. His hands trembled slightly, his head throbbed, his back hurt in various bruised places, and the burn on his thigh stung with an intense pain that hurt more than anything [i]ever[/i]…and he once had a broken arm. This was so much worse. 

[i]Suck it up, soldier![/i]