Hit him while you can

You take a chance and duck to the side while swinging hard at the spot under his arm. In the slow-motion of an action movie, you watch your sword swish through the air and then connect with the side of his chest. The **** of the blow ruins his aim, and his overhead strike sparks on the stone stairs. Bright red blood flows from his wound.

Your foe growls and makes another swing, hip-to-hip this time, but he is slowed by his wound. You managed to dodge up the spiral staircase and now have a slight advantage in height. You parry his next stroke and riposte back, catching him in the upper part of his sword arm. More blood flows.

He lunges with a thrust for your heart with a grimace of pain on his face. Sweat is pouring from his brow from the exertion and pain, fouling his vision. You sidestep his sword and swing again at him. This time he pulls his swing and parries your blow, but he is too slow to riposte. The momentum of the fight has gone to you.

You are pretty impressed by your sword moves; this all came to you without needing to think about it. You advance down the stair, swinging at him, forcing him to parry and retreat. You thrust the sword point toward him, and, anticipating his parry, shift the sword around his sweeping blade, and stab him square in the chest. You can't escape the sickening wet sound of your blade piercing his body. He has a surprised look on his face as he looks down at the sword that has killed him, and he falls backward, sliding off your blade. He tumbles down the stairs out of sight.

You hear no movement from that direction, so head up the spiral stair.