Chapter 1: Whispering Rumors

[Tierria Selig]

"Are you alright?"

Tierria stared up at the woman before her. From the looks of it, she was elven. Standing up, the girl gave a small bow.

"I'm fine, thank you very much" said Tierria. "Our caravan is being attacked by bandits!"

"How do you heal a man's heart when you always end up wounding it?"

[Phiona Whitefire]

As she rode forward, Phiona caught sight of a scuffle by the fifth wagon.  It was Lilas and Ren fighting back to back and on foot, surrounded by a group of brigands.  Phiona rode past them on her mare, kicking one bandit square in the back and knocking him onto the point of Ren's dinged longsword.  She did not stop to watch the dying man slide off Ren's weapon to the ground, nor to see that, as Ren's sword was currently occupied, the young red-haired man could not block an incoming swordstroke from yet another nearby brigand!  Ren grunted in pain, his lung pierced, and fell back against Lilas who spun around, grabbed the young, caravan guard, and proceeded to use Ren as a shield to protect his own miserable hide!  

Controlling her mount by touch, Phiona quickly wheeled the mare around and slashed at another villain only to have her attack parried by the man.  Weapons engaged, Phiona kicked him hard in the jaw instead.  He fell back and was replaced by two more attacking ambushers, one of which moved forward with a dagger and began to cut at a saddle strap.  Phiona brought her shield down with a clang on that one's head, stunning him for a moment or two.  But the distraction was enough for the other man to unhorse Phiona, grabbing her leg and pulling her to the ground!  On her back and with her sword pinned, she kneed her attacker in the groin.  When he backed away, moaning in pain, she rolled back and onto her feet with weapon and shield still in hand.

She took a moment to breathe and assess the situation.  The surrounding bedlam and tumult was disheartening at best.  There seemed to be more brigands than people in the caravan... and that was not counting those hidden in the woods!  The front wagon was being driven off, almost lost to sight, and Phiona couldn't see Voltaire or Tierria anywhere!  Arrows were still flying intermittantly from the trees into the fray, but not so much now because of the number of bandits in the fight.  The miscreant archers were having to move closer for accuracy, which was dangerous for both them and their targets!  

She heard a cutoff scream close by and spun in time to see her mare trampling the man Phiona had kneed seconds ago.  Beyond that sight, she finally saw how Lilas was misusing the now-unconsious Ren!  With a low growl of ire, Phiona skirted her angry mount and parried four swordstrokes from various attackers in her effort to reach the unloyal caravan guard, but she didn't had a chance to bestow justice for Lilas was, just then, shot in the back by three arrows in short order!  Gurgling blood from his mouth, he fell to his knees, dropping Ren first and then falling onto his inert human-shield.  

The three villains who had been harrying Lilas turned on Phiona instead, quickly surrounding her.  They began to circle her, sizing her up and taunting her with indecent and raunchy jibes.  Her eyes narrowed, she watched them heedfully and kept moving, slashing her blade here and there to keep them back.  In this type of close fight with multiple attackers, Phiona's shield hampered her, so she hastily shrugged it off her arm and then effortlessly flung it at the tallest of the three, catching him in the neck.  He backed away choking from the strike and Phiona quickly spun around to parry the other two men for they had tried to get at her while she was distracted.  She wasn't fast enough, as one of them managed to grab a fistful of her hair .  He yanked on her hard, pulling her off-balance.  She caught a glimpse of Voltaire trying to flatten his rotund form atop the nearest wagon, hiding from the fight, but she didn't have time to contemplate his lack of courage.

Her throat exposed and her back arched, she desperately  tried not to let him pull her down to the ground.  If the brigand succeeded, she might not be able to recover in time and the fight would be over!  Thinking fast, Phiona flipped her bastard sword around, reversing her hold on the hand and a half hilt, and stabbed the villain in his gut... a maneuver that sliced her own tunic open just above her belt.  As she'd hoped, he let loose her hair.  Phiona turned and twisted the blade, extracting a high-pitched squeal of agony from the man.  

With her right boot, she kicked him off her blade and turned to see her one, remaining attacker, a young man who was barely out of childhood.  She knew his inexperience was the only reason she was still alive for he had every chance to kill her only moments before.  But now, his bloodlust evaporated, to be replaced by fear and hesitancy.  His youth would not protect him, though, because she knew that, if left alive, he would continue this mode of life.  Countless innocent people would be endangered.  With resolve, Phiona advanced on him and he backed away, frantically searching for a fellow criminal to help him out of his predicament.

Little did she know that one had arrived to save the boy from his untimely yet well-deserved death!  One of the afore-mentioned archers stood behind her, only four ped away, and carefully raised a nocked arrow aimed directly at Phiona's heart!

"Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning."    -John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801 - 1890)

Edited by: Phiona Whitefire at: 8/16/03 22:38

[Elraralia Horfiwiel]

Looking down from her perch in the tree, Elraralia contemplated whether she really wanted to kill the rabbit, or whether a root would suffice for breakfast instead.  Mid-contemplation, she heard something that made her forget the rabbit altogether.  Was that… the sound of screaming?  Jumping down from the tree, she took off, following closely behind Talyon who had taken off the moment the sound reached the trees they were in.

Dashing through the trees, she began to wonder what on earth would make the people scream the way they were.  The animals in this forest weren’t prone to attacking, that she knew of, and there weren’t any other people in the forest that she had seen, except for Ripp, Aiyana and herself.  But there was that caravan that Ripp mentioned, and it did sound like it was coming from the road…

Running faster, she broke through the brush, and coming upon the group, her suspicions were confirmed: Bandits.  She had had one bad experience with these types of people, in her past; they were the ones who had given her the scar on her face, and since then she had never given them any sympathy.

Looking up, she saw a group of four staring at her, and without any further thought, she grabbed her scourge out of her belt, and rushed in, hitting the first on the skull with a sickening thud and with a look of surprise, he dropped.  The other three, surprise overtaken with the rage of seeing their companion attacked, rushed at her all baring looks of fury that matched her own.  Grabbing her dagger from the belt at her waist, she threw it at the first of the oncoming three, with a deadly accuracy that landed it deep in-between his eyes.  Not stopping to look, she grabbed the man’s sword from his hand, and plunged it deep into his companion’s chest.  Not watching for the last one though, she paid for it with a gash on her back and arm, before she was able to knock him out with the scourge.

Grabbing her dagger, and ignoring the pain that was now coming from her arm and back, she ran forward, looking down for only a moment, when she saw the manner in which many of these bandits had been killed: Ice.  So Ripp and Aiyana were here.

Stopping for a moment, her temper cooled down to a small simmer, and her Kaierian Training stepped in. What really needed to be done was to get rid of the archers, wherever they were coming from.  Killing two more as she looked, she came upon Ripp, who seemed to be taking in the scene.

“Wonderful fight wouldn’t you say?” she asked looking around “Lovely way to start the morning.  I’m guessing you’re the one who left those bandits back there with a melting weapon?”  

Edited by: Elraralia Horfiwiel at: 8/18/03 20:00

[SeverineHalo]

Severine barely noticed those who entered in the fight, like he barely noticed that Lilas was dead and Ren was about to reach that point as well. All he could think about was killing those who harmed Tierria. His sword was swinging conastantly, but with skill none the less. His enchanted bastard sword slashed the back of a bandit, and when one came up to him from behind, Severine quickly noticed the shadow, and stabbed him in the chest without turning around. The blade of his sword at this point was starting to cover with blood. His hair covered his eyes, causing the bandits to try and attack his blind side. Severine was prepared for that. He quickly threw two knives that struck two bandits in the chest.

Seeing a few arrows whiz by him, Severine ran up to the archers with incredible speed, and before either one could reload they were slain within a few strokes from The Sword of Halo. Turning his head to the left, Severine parried a sword attack, and thrusted his weapon into the man's stomach. Before he could even take the sword out, Severine felt a deep gash in his left arm. Howling with rage, Severine pushed the man with strength he never knew he possessed, and decapitated him without further thought.

Gripping his bastard sword with both hands, Severine's braids was hanging over his eyes...which seem to have a light glow of red to them. Not like a full glow in the dream, but it was a color of red none the less.  There were about eight or nine bandits left, including archers. Lilas was dead, and so was a few caravan workers. Voltaire, Zeadon, and Tierria was nowhere to be found, and Gromelson and Jacques were holding their own. As for Phiona...Phiona was fighting a few peds away...and there was an archer about to shoot...

"Phiona!"

Snapping back to reality, Severine ran towards Phiona, and tackled her just in time to avoid an arrow that was aimed for her heart. The two fell to the ground just as Jacques stabbed the archer from behind.  Severine found himself on top of Phiona, and he stared at her for a moment, saying nothing. He could feel her chest breathing in and out rather qucikly, along with his in unison. His hair was hanging down, nearly touching her face. His mind started to steer away from the battle as it wandered on to other thoughts...

"Once again, the lone soldier walks off into the sunset..." -Anonymous

Edited by: SeverineHalo at: 8/19/03 21:35

[Phiona Whitefire]

She took another step toward the young bandit, began to raise her sword, when all of a sudden was slammed to the ground by Severine.  The young villain, realizing he had a second chance at life, turned and ran off into the forest as the archer was cut down by a caravan guard.

Phiona was pinned to the ground, not so much by his weight as by Severine's dark, intense gaze.  She was tempted to kiss him then, but the sounds of battle around them distracted her.  Jacques shouted a warning to them before running to the front of the caravan, where the remain guards were holding off the attack.  

The two warriors quickly followed suit.

"Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning."    -John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801 - 1890)

Edited by: Phiona Whitefire at: 8/19/03 22:38

[SeverineHalo]

Snapping back to reality and emptying the thoughts of Phiona in his head, Severine ran alongside his companion to take out the rest of the soldiers. He thre two more knives at the last two archers. Feeling better about that, Severine proceeded to fight against a nearby bandit who tried going for a side attack.

"Once again, the lone soldier walks off into the sunset..." -Anonymous

[Tierria Selig]

From the corner of her eye, Tierria saw that Severine and the others were starting to chase away the rest of the bandits. Feeling a bit safe, she moved away from the female elf and saw a few of the guards and Zeadon  killed off three more bandits, leaving only 5 running away.

"How do you heal a man's heart when you always end up wounding it?"

[Aiyana Xanthe]

"Stay here!" cried Aiyana as the girl began to move back into the clearing.  Quickly, she bounded after the girl.  Aiming an arrow at a fleeing bandit, she released and was rewarded with a scream as the bandit fell, facefirst into the woods.

"The battle is not over..." Aiyana drew a dagger.  "Here."

She lightly tossed the dagger over to the girl, hoping she knew how to use it.

Aiyana Xanthe-Female Elven Ranger

[Ripp Dide]

Quickly flicking his gaze toward Elraralia a wide smile on his lips,

"Oh indeed," he replied playing along, "Nothing quite gets ones juices flowing like a good ol' roarin' fight."  

Taking in the battle he saw where the caravan guard had rallied to the defense near the front of the wagon train.  

"Well I believe I found the caravan I was in search of, I don't think I mentioned it too you.  And by my guess our aid is sorely need in the front."  Ripp said nodding to the guard.

"After you lady." he said with a sweeping gesture in mock reverence.  

"I am prepared to meet my maker, but, is my maker prepared to meet me?"

[SeverineHalo]

Severine stared at the leftover bandits that were running away. Some ahd already gone, following the captured wagon which Crestus was losing his mind over. Paying no mind to the middle-aged man's cries, Severine sheath his sword.

"We need to follow them" he said. "They had this all planned, with that action probably as a back-up. Capture as many wagons as you can...that's what they figured..."

With a whitsle, Rosebud was right beside its master. Severine quickly jumped on the Aj, and pursued after the thieves. He was the only one that was fast enough to catch up with them. Even a mile away, no horse could outrun an Aj'Nuvic.

"Hurry! I might need someone to back me up!" He called out to the others.  

"Once again, the lone soldier walks off into the sunset..." -Anonymous

[Tierria Selig]

Tierria looked at the female elf who gave her the dagger. "Thank you," she said. "My name is Tierria by the way. Tierria Selig of Uderza."

"How do you heal a man's heart when you always end up wounding it?"

[SeverineHalo]

Severine closed in the distance between him and the run away wagon. He thre two more knives, taking out two bandits on horses. within a minute, he would be fighitng for the wagon...and his life.

great sevy...just great...

"Once again, the lone soldier walks off into the sunset..." -Anonymous

[Phiona Whitefire]

The villains routed, Severine jumped on his mount and chased off after the stolen wagon, long out of sight, calling for back up as he rode away.  She doubted that anyone could keep up with his speedy animal, should they follow him.  And so Phiona turned back to assess the damage the attack had wrought.  

She spotted the young healer, torn clothing and all, and called to her, "Tierria!  Come help!"  Phiona ran back over to the fallen guards, flung her sword to the ground and pulled Lilas' corpse away from the red-haired youth.  Ren was still breathing but only shallowly.  Phiona pressed her hands against the largest wound, attempting to staunch the gushing blood.  "Hurry!"  

"Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning."    -John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801 - 1890)

Edited by: Phiona Whitefire at: 8/21/03 0:55

[Tierria Selig]

Tierria quickly ran over to the spot where she dropped her things when she fell. Taking her sack, the girl quickly ran over to Ren, and kneeled before him.

"Great Seyella..." she gasped, looking at the large wound. "I never dealt with something this severe...but I'll do my best!"

Quickly going through her sack, The girl heard Ren mutter her name. "Ren...please, don't say anything! Save your energy!" Tierria took out some Odea Moss. She then proceeded to apply some of the moss to the bloody wound. "The blood is going to mix with the moss...forming a paste. The paste will then go all over the body..." Tierria sighed, and then repeated the process. "The liquid that is left will become a powder. I'll save that for future wounds..."

After applying some more moss one more time, Tierria wiped her hands. Realizing that there was some blood on her face from the bandit earlier, she wiped her face. Shen then looked over at Phiona. "Patch up the wound" she said. "He should get some rest too...let his body heal..."

Crestus was heard compalining in the background. "What!?" he cried. "It's best if we keep moving! Severine will get our wagon back, and if we move now, we'll be in Sheren village at midnight!"

Tierria glared at him. "One of your guards is fighting for his life...the other one is dead. Have you no compassion!?"

"Of course I do m'lady...but its better with one casulty, rather then many."

Tierria stared at the selfish business man for a long time. In a way, he was right. If they were to coem back with full force...and some of the supplies in that wagon had to be weapons. That meant they could come back with a stronger arsenal. That is if Severine wouldn't suceed. Severine...his eyes were filled with rage earlier. She could see a faint red glow...a look of madness...he had no problem killing off his enemies without mercy. What made that strange was this had to be the first time Severine had to kill anybody! Things were starting to get weirder and scarier as time passed on...

"Be careful Sevy...Seyella, guide him well..."

"How do you heal a man's heart when you always end up wounding it?"

Edited by: SeverineHalo at: 8/21/03 22:08

[SeverineHalo]

Severine was now right beside the bandits moving along on his right. One of them on a horse tried to attack him with his sowrd, only being knocked down with a kick. Squatting on Rosebud, Severine moved closer to the wagon driver. A moment later, he jumped onto the wagon, and kicked off the driver, and a few others who were with him. Stopping the wagon a few peds away from the enemy, Severine did a somersault from the wagon, and faced the thieves...hair in front of face. This time, he had his twin daggers out. He wanted to make this as quick as possible.

"Alright all of you..." he began to say to the eight bandits that were left. "I was having a great day...a nice, easy day...but you all had to make it hell! Well...it's time for me to return the favor..." Severine felt his blood boiling as he ran towards them, cutting the throat of one of them without much effort.

Seeing this, the seven that were left began backing away.

"Forget the wagon!" one of them shouted. "Retreat!" His companions listened to that advice, and started to escape.

Giving up on chasing them, Severine sighed to himself, and sat on the dirt road for a moment, to recollect his thoughts. Everything was a blur to him ever since this fight began. He felt like he was being controlled...that something was manipulating his rage. Loyal as it was, Rosebud went beside Severine, and waited for its master's next command. A few minutes of sitting around, Severine looked back, and saw the wagon still there, horses and all. The horses that were free had run off.

"Well...might as well return this to its rightful owner..." Severine walked towards the wagon, and got on it. "Rosebud! Follow me back to the others!" He then manuvered the wagon around, and drove it back to where the rest of his party would be. After fifteen minutes, he saw the rest of the group in the distance. Nearby Tierria and Phiona, he saw three new faces. All three of them were elves. Each of them just had a different hair color. An eagle was perched on a branch nearby, and Ren was on the ground, being patched up by Phiona.

"Severine!" greeted Crestus, smiling as he walked towards the wagon. "You've come back with the wagon!" he approached the Shendar a hand out. "Thank you so much!" Severine only walked past the man, and went over to Ren, whose face was covered in sweat.

"Severine..." Ren managed to speak, but ended up coughing up blood.

"Hey..." said Severine in a soft voice. He took a damp cloth from Tierria, and put it on Ren's forehead. "Looks like you've had a fight soldier. Tierria...he's going to be alright, right?"

"He should recover in due time..." he heard his friend  say.

"Good..."

Jacques walked over, shaking his head. "What a bastard. I never thought he was capable of this..."

"Who?" Severine raised an eyebrow, suspicious of the man's comments.

"Lilas...I never knew he would do that. I mean he used this poor kid as a shield for crying out loud! No honor as a soldier...no honor at all. If you ask me...he deserved to die..."

Severine was confused by the man's comments. He thought Jacques was one of the last people to say something like that...right next to Gromelson, who noded in agreement to Jacques' statement. Ducsil was walking towards the party from a far distance. He was chasing bandits in another direction.

"Kid's not the greatest fighter like us...but he has heart..."

All Severine could do was nod. After smiling at Ren one more time, he stood up to face the elves who stood next to each other.

"I figured that you three helped us. From the bottom of my heart...I thank you all." Severine had put out a hand. "My name is Severine."

"Once again, the lone soldier walks off into the sunset..." -Anonymous

Edited by: SeverineHalo at: 8/21/03 22:18

Advanced search

[Members]

Members Total Members: 2849 Latest: abigailjordan Stats Total Posts: 214569 Total Topics: 8052 Online Today: 67 Online Ever: 216 (November 30, 2006, 09:08:03 AM) Users Online Users: 0 Guests: 27 Total: 27

[Artimidor]

	Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2005, Simple Machines TinyPortal v0.9.8 © Bloc
Theme based on Cerberus with Risen adjustments by Bloc and Krelia Modified By Artimidor for The Santharian Dream