Jeddy
29-11-2008, 09:29
Raine Alvair sat in the corner playing cards in the little inn she was staying at, She was having a lucky night so far and was raking in the money, Much to the annoyance to the three men she was playing against.
“Guess its not your day eh lads” Raine said in her country accent “Well I’m sure if you keep playin, your win some eh”
She got nothing but grumbles from the men playing and one got up and left
“Well he’s not a good sport eh, well whatever how’s about we get to it eh” she said with a rather big smile on her face.
“I think I’m gonna call it a night to lass” this was from the shorter of the two men, the nicest one as far as she could tell.
“You know what I’ll buy you all a drink for your loss eh, maybe that will get you into the mood to play some more” Raine said trying to get them to stay. “Hey barkeep, another round here please ta”
A serving woman brought three drinks to the table and put them to the side “that will be three silver please” she said with a trained smile.
“Here you are lass three silvers and a gold for your smile” said Raine winking at her.
“Um thank you very much” the serving woman said with a genuine smile.
“now how’s about we get back to playin eh” Raine said focusing on shuffling the cards.
Just as she was about to give them out a rather shady figure came in and took a seat near the hearth at the other end of the inn. He was greeted by the same serving woman that she had just given the gold coin to. She went and got him a drink and then went back to work without a second glance at the man.
Obviously not a very social person eh
Raine thought to herself and went back to dishing out the cards.
She played another two game’s which she won before the short man left wishing Raine a good evening as well as the other taller man, who just grumbled to him.
Raine sat in silence while she collected her winnings from the last matches and put them into her pockets, brushing her arm against her dagger.
“Well its just us left eh, fancy a few more games” she said wearing her biggest grin
The big man said nothing for a minute and then with a horrid grin said
“No lass, I fancy having me money back” and with that he pulled out a knife and threw it at her.
Raine managed to duck fast enough to avoid the knife, then un sheathing her dagger from beneath her cloak jumped up and stabbed the man in the leg.
“I don’t take kind to unfair players or sore losers” she said with genuine disgust “what’s to stop me from killing you right here eh, well I’ll tell you if it wasn’t for the fact that this is a nice in with MOSTLY nice people, I’ll spare them of having to clean your guts of the floor. However if I set eyes on you outside doing anything suspicious I won’t have any second thoughts on killing you” and with that she threw him back.
“Curse you, ya little wench. I’ll get you back for this” he said with pure anger on his face. He limped out of the inn and didn’t look back.
While staring out of the inn watching the man fade into town she came to notice the shady fellow looking at her.
“What you want eh, you even think about doing anything and ya get the same treatment” she said genuinely annoyed.
The man didn’t say or do anything other than look back into his cup which by the looks of things hadn’t been touched.
Raine decided that she had had enough and was going to bed. However before she did that she pulled out gold from her pocket and passed it to the barkeep
“For the trouble” was all she said. And with that she went upstairs to her room. Locking it behind her she got into bed not bothering to undress and nodded off.
* * *
Ryu looked over at the ruckus that had come around, mostly due to drunken gambling he supposed.
"Clumsey..." He thought to himself, to him the knife was thrown far too slowly and inaccurately. Not that it concerned him, not that anyone concerned him really, Ryu was just passing through, and had no intention of making any connections, and it was by far not his way. His affinity for the elements set aside he was always to be a shadow in the wind moving with the sun light and stalking the dark night. He had often mused that there was no doubt a poem somewhere in this world to describe him so fittingly.
Ryu was broken from his daydream by a challenging shout from the woman who had retaliated to the thrown knife.
"What you want eh, you even think of trying anything ya get the same treatment," She said, clearly agitated. This didn’t concern Ryu in the slightest for he was a far more competent blade-master. Inside he did let out a muted laughter at the way this stranger acted. But quickly it was out of his mind and he went back to trying to discover exactly what he was drinking. Upon deciding that it was a waste of time and effort he walked to the barkeep and asked if he had a room spare for the night,
"Sure I have boy, how will you be paying?" He said in an over enthused way.
"I have the money," Ryu said as he handed his payment via the counter
"I'll need your name son," the barkeep replied
"My name is Ryu Sentra," He replied his words almost chilling the air with their icy tone.
That name almost immediately struck a bell, but he couldn’t quite place it, but that didn’t matter, he thought, business is business.
Ryu took the key from the barkeeps hand and walked to find his room; he found it easily enough and hung up his long black coat on the back of the door, revealing light leather chest armour and thick cloth trousers. Hidden each buckle of his chest amour was a small talon like dagger, ancient but well kept. At his waist was his main and favourite weapon, his sword.
The long curved blade resembled a Katana, its grip was firmly wrapped in old faded cloth, and its kashira was shining silver, it bore 5 short chains which hung from it, each with a military insignia on them. Aside from that little ornamentation the sword was plain, perfectly functional. The sword was fastened to the belt by strips of dark coloured cloth, fastened to the hard leather with studs.
Ryu took off his belt and leant the sword against the headboard of the bed, in order to keep it close, he also drew 2 daggers from his boots, and placed one under the pillow and another under the mattress. He wouldn’t class himself as a hunted man, but there are many people who would like to kill him if the chance presented itself. Ryu took off his boots and they fell to the floor with a heavy thud, and he lay in on the mediocre bed, and slowly he began to clear his mind, pushing himself further into a meditative slumber. This laborious task was made harder due to the snoring coming from the room adjacent to his. But none the less he began to drift into his dreamless sleep.
* * *
Raine came awake with something between a snort and a groan; she immediately regretted not taking of her clothes or at least her daggers before going to sleep.
Worst of all she had that horrid feeling that she had just been snoring, loudly.
They will never think it was me. She thought to herself
She got up slowly removing the dagger hilt that had found itself in a lovely little area against her kidney
“That’s gonna leave a bruise” she said to herself in a quite voice “stupid woman”
She went to the window and had a look at the little village she had stopped at. It was a border village that was on the outskirts of one of the ruling bodies of the continent.
There had been a few skirmishes between several of the ruling bodies or provinces as they were called. There was one overly aggressive one that had reportedly taken several plots of land in a smaller province on the opposite of the continent from where Raine was now. The province that Raine was in was called Elanda and was known to be significantly advanced in the field of magic, however you weren’t likely to see a mage anywhere out this far. Raine for one had never seen a mage or magic for that reason and wasn’t to fussed about such things. As long as she had gold in her pocket and inns or taverns in her direction she was happy.
The area surrounding the village was very fertile and green, there were many farms surrounding the village. There was a small outpost located about half a mile from the village that was garrisoned by a hand full of men that would light a signal fire if there was an enemy approaching. The village was all asleep by the looks of things and there was a small buzz from the insects that were thriving in the night. Raine turned away from the window missing the faint orange glow from the direction of the outpost.
Letting out a yawn she went back to the bed and this time putting her dagger somewhere within reach of her hands -not her stomach- she got onto her less than brilliant bed. She drifted off but was stopped by the sound of hooves hitting the ground, lots of hooves to make such a noise.
Raine scrambled to her feet and looked back out the window to see some men on horse back carrying torches entering the village, behind them in the distance was the outpost on fire.
“**** what the hell is going on, why wasn’t the torch lit” Raine shouted to herself still staring at the fire. She lost her focus on it when she sore one of the thatched roves of a building at the far end of the village burst into flame, then another one did the same on the other a few houses away.
Raine rushed to get her stuff and putting her dagger where they were concealed but easy to pull out, rushed out of the room and started pounding on all door shouting “wake up, WAKE UP someone’s attacking the **** village. I SAID WAKE UP” she did this to all doors on the upper floor and then proceeded down stairs to find the barkeep as all around people were just waking up to the destruction that was unfolding.
* * *
Ryu was awoken from his sleep by the clattering of horses, far too many to be a traveller, this made him uneasy, he turned to his window still submerged in darkness, just in time to notice bursts of flame illuminating the still night. Instinctively Ryu replaced his daggers in their correct places, and grasped his sword, not pausing to put on his belt; he walked to the door when a horrendous thunder rumbled from it, which was followed by the voice of the woman he had seen last night. Ryu pulled his coat from his door, again not pausing to put it on, and ran out of his room, down the stairs.
He quickly realized he would have to do something he hadn’t needed to do in a long time, he stood still and concentrated, pulling in the darkness that surrounded him, keeping his eyes concentrated on the door way ahead which lead to the main bar area. Slowly his body began to fade into the shadows, and quickly enough he was invisible to the naked eye, for as long as he kept to the darkness.
He slowly and quietly put his coat on, and fastened his belt, extending his shadow-meld when necessary. Ryu slowly crept from the hall way to the bar, and there she stood, the woman from the night before quickly moving and looking for something, or someone. Ryu walked to the door, but before he could leave he saw a group of people walking into the bar, they would surely see the woman, he was safe, and why should he care?
Ryu slowly moved away, past them staying in the shadows as best he could, but not as well as he had hoped…
* * *
While Raine had been searching for the Barkeeps room and the serving woman’s rooms to warn them she had neglected to keep an eye on the door in case of anyone’s entering. She was by the counter when she heard the heavy thud of cavalier boots hit the floor of the little inn.
**** it woman, why didn’t you watch the door she thought to herself with a curse.
She crept slowly to where she could see those who just entered. There appeared to be three men all clad in heavy amour, two with short swords and another with no visible weapon in sight.
One of the men appeared to have seen or heard something and for a second Raine thought it was all over. Instead of heading over to where she was he looked at the wall beside the door leading out of the inn.. He appeared to be looking for something but Raine couldn’t make anything out because of the shadows.
What is he looking at? She thought, but the thought went as quickly as it came and she decided to use this time to find the barkeep and get him out with the serving women.
She turned away to see one of the inns occupants come down the stairs. She tried to warn him to go back up but the men had already seen him and rushed to him with swords swinging. It was over in an instant.
She turned away from the dead body and made a dash for cover before they sore her and gave her the same treatment. She was breathing heavily and tried to calm herself.
Where’s my **** luck now eh, I knew I was winning too much, I’ve gone and used it all up She thought with yet another curse to herself.
She heard the two men who had dispatched the man go upstairs, probably looking for other occupants, Raine hoped there weren’t.
She crept to her viewing spot again and saw the man with no visible weapon still staring at the wall. She didn’t know why he was but she didn’t care, she saw an opportunity to kill him.
She crept as quietly as possible behind him and grabbing the daggers she had hidden in her sleeves made a run at him. She swung one of the daggers for his head but was stopped by an invisible force.
“What the hell ya doing eh” she wailed at the man
“very stupid move you little wench” the man said with a distasteful look on his face “I’ve seen many stupid people in my life but this has to be the worst attempt I’ve seen thus far”
Raine spat at him but he only wiped it of and slapped her hard.
“Now, now little girl be nice to me and I may save you till last” he said with a sadistic grin on his face.
“**** you to hell you pile of filth” Raine said almost growling “take this” and with her other dagger took a jab at him but this to was stopped in mid flight,
“A wonderful thing wind isn’t it my dear, able to move great ships and at the same time stop them dead in the water” he said with a smile and with that she was hurled back against one of the tables in the room.
Raine fought to get free but it felt like a ship had just dropped its anchor on her and she couldn’t do anything about it.
“Time to say goodbye little wench” the man said “It’s been so long since I snapped someone’s neck with the wind, it shall be most enjoyable”
Raine struggled to get free but she was still trapped under the invisible force from which the man had created. She could see him slowly preparing to do what he said but he was taking his time, mocking her all the way. She found she had a little movement in her legs and tried desperately to kick him in a bid he'd lose concentration. All time seemed to stop has she began to feel the end drawing near. With one last try she managed to hit him in the knee, he lost concentration for a couple of seconds and the force holding down Raine dissipated. That was all she needed, with both daggers she cut two holes in the side of his throat as she jumped up. Then as she walked past his dying body she turned quickly and spat at him before turning once more to find the barkeep and serving women.
Well now that that’s sorted it's time I got the rest of the people and get outa here
She had to act quickly as the two men from above could come back anytime soon and with the mages dead body lying there they’ll come looking for whoever did it...
* * *
Ryu could feel the force of the mage he had left behind in the tavern, it was growing weaker, he was no doubt dead. Because of his nature, who he was and how he was raised Ryu felt sadness, yet at the same time a growing sense of power, slowly it built up inside of him until he couldn’t contain it anymore, his cloak of shadows had failed and he was exposed to at least 15 soldiers who now surrounded him. Their shock only lasting a few seconds faded as 3 moved closer to the screaming man, kneeling on the floor, hunched over, just before they got within striking distance of their standard military swords, suddenly Ryu's body convulsed and his arms and head were flung upwards, as he did that a burst of wind flew from around him, knocking most of the guards of balance, and then another more powerful explosion of air followed, pushing windows through their frames, and the remainder of the guards to their feet, and finally in an almighty scream of both pain and anguish A thirds and final blast of the wind hit the soldiers, compressing their amour, crushing their ribcages, buildings surrounding Ryu now lay ruined as he sat there in the flame lit street, slowly he began to rise, his head still facing the floor. even though he wasn’t looking he could feel the heart beat of every single man woman and child in this township, he knew where they were, but none the less he began to raise his head, a flame of passion and revenge burnt ferociously in his eyes as he took his sword in hand and began carving his way through anyone that challenged him.
This new found energy, brought from the life force of the mage Raine had killed improved Ryu's powers, only for a few moments, but both his physical powers and his elemental powers were enhanced, and now he was here for one thing only, to kill.
As he walked the street he saw two invading soldiers scaring a woman and child into a corner, the mother shielded her child’s eyes as she tried to fight back the fear she felt as the guards advanced, Ryu walked over, using both the power of wind and light he appeared between the woman and her attackers,
He turned his head slightly the fire-full eye peering through his long hair, now partly facing the women he spoke one word,
"Leave," his low growling voice left nothing to the imagination, the women got up, still scared and carried her child away with all her remaining might.
Ryu then turned back to the soldiers who, in their own arrogance, began the attack, Ryu deflected the first soldiers attack and the second, separating both of them, although they now surrounded him, he didn’t feel at a disadvantage. Ryu plunged his sword into the ground, and a bubble of earth rose to engulf him, again he had one knee on the ground, crouching inside his earthen fortress, he pulled the two daggers from either boot and concentrated on them, a concentration so immense that they should have burst into flames, had he been so inclined. Instead he focused all of his might into these two blades; quietly they began to crackle as small white wisps began to flicker along the blades. Quickly he stood up casting off his protective layer of earth, the guards still standing their ready to attack, yet before they could muster the energy to their feet they both were struck by a white hot bolt through the chest. One of the guards looked down to see nothingness, what used to be his torso was now replaced with a hole. And quickly he fell down dead; the other had already struck the floor. Ryu held out his hands and his daggers flew back into them, a slight crackle of magic remained and he quickly shook them both once and all magic was gone from those blade and he placed them back into their home, picking up his sword he quickly moved on.
* * *
Raine had found a little door that was half hidden behind the bar, it blended in with the wood and Raine assumed it was so it didn’t contrast with the rest of the main room’s decor. She opened it with haste in part due to the fear that she had almost been killed and because of the two men that were by the sounds of it on there way down.
Shutting the door firmly behind her she headed down a barely visible corridor. She had to look twice in a few spots just to make out the doors but at last she found a room that was locked.
Knocking slowly she heard no response.
“Anyone in there, its Raine Alvair a customer of yours” She said with a low voice “I’ve come to get you out of here”.
No Response. Raine stood on the spot for a second listening in. there was definitely someone in there; she could here what sounded like muffled crying.
It’s got to be the serving woman, unless the barkeep is a softer person than I thought.
She pulled out a little device from inside a secret compartment in her sleeve.
I’m against thieving or breaking in but it’s got to be done eh she thought to herself and got to work on the small lock on the door with her lock pick.
It didn’t take long and she hastily put it back in her sleeve before opening the door.
What she sore were the silhouettes of two people hiding in the corner under the covers of the bed. She could just make out the muffled cries of one of the people under the cover. Raine moved over there quietly and carefully and whispered to the silhouettes.
“It’s all right, I’m here to get you out, I’m not with the soldiers”, nothing not even a squeak escaped there mouths.
“I gave you that gold coin when you bought me the drinks remember” Raine said in desperation. She was running out of time.
She heard some bickering under the covers; sounded like one of the occupants was trying to prevent the other from saying anything. It obviously failed as the covers were done away with and the images of the serving woman and another girl Raine hadn’t seen before came into vision.
“It is you” the serving woman said with a tone of desperation.
“Miss Alvair what are we going to do, Master Harrington has already fled, he didn’t even bother to get us” said the woman with a small hint of anger and disgust.
“Filthy coward” Raine all but spat “well I’m here to get you out of here, most of the tow…”
There was a great rumble as the room around the three woman rattled fiercely. They were thrown to the ground and the serving woman grabbed hold of the girl tightly. Raine just lay there trying to catch her breath back.
Another rumble came and then another each growing in magnitude and Raine heard the sound of the second floor caving in with the muffled shouts of what she believed must be the two solders being crushed under all the rubble. It was a wonder Raine and the other two were still alive and she immediately thanked her luck for her survival.
She stayed lying down until she was sure there was no chance of another rumble then without pause dragged the two now bawling woman to there feet’s and ran into the now partially existent corridor.
“What the hell happened” the two woman said in muffled disbelief.
“I think this be the work of a mage, I had a run in with one before I got you two” Raine said warily “Let’s hope we don’t run into one eh”
A small cry from the girl was the only answer Raine got back.
They headed for the main room and managed to find a small section of rubble that they could climb over, they did so quickly but not silently and Raine was cursing herself for it. There was probably a hundred or so soldiers in the village and here she was climbing about in plane sight. Once they were all out of what remained of the inn Raine got them into the nearest shade she could find. She got her two hidden daggers out in her hands and then proceeded produced another from within her boots.
“Here you may need this” she said handing the third dagger to the older of the two women. “I prey you don’t but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
“I’ve never used a weapon before” she said with a small shiver.
“It’s not so hard, just stab them in the neck and watch them go down” was all Raine said in reply to the woman’s comment.
Looking around from within the shadows they were hiding in, Raine decided that regardless of what direction they went in they were bound to run into soldiers.
The **** inn had to be in the middle of the bloody village didn’t it she thought angrily.
She had to pick a way soon as just standing there wasn’t helping them. All around the inn the buildings had all been through what the inn had. Whoever had done it must have been very powerful and Raine hoped to any of the hundreds of gods she had heard about in her travels that they not run into whoever they were.
Raine couldn’t decide on what direction to head and she could see that the two women were getting scared. She was going to have to turn to her luck. She pulled out her lucky coin from a little pocket that was hidden on the inside of her breast pocket and simply chose two directions appointing one to heads and the other to tails. She slowly flipped it and looked at what it had landed on; heads.
“Well I never go against lady luck and I’m not about to start now so it looks like we’ll be heading in that direction” Raine said with renewed confidence pointing in the direction of a now destroyed church.
“Well come on then we best be quick about this eh” she said starting to move out of the shadows.
They all ran with amazing speed in the direction of the church, maybe it was from the fear that they were moving so fast but there was no time to think of that, neither was there time to see the fifteen crushed and dead bodies that lay mangled on the barely visible floor. And most unfortunately there was no time to see the soldiers that had begun pursuing them…
* * *
Ryu, who was normally so calm and cold, was now caught in the heat of battle, he didn’t care how many lives he killed, once he was threatened topped with the power that now coursed through his veins perpetuated his anger and caused him to show no mercy.
In the back of his mind he had hoped he hadn't caught too much attention. No matter how good he may have been he doubted he could take on the full force of the attacking army.
He carved his way through the streets until he came to a small church, lit by the numerous fires it held a Sinister glare over the town, its gothic figurines and religious decoration set an eerie shadow that would have scared a lesser man. Ryu noted the door now under siege from a number of soldiers, obviously some survivors had sought refuge. Unsure if it was his will to help or the blood-lust that overcame him he immediately sent balls of fire at each of them, whilst not killing them they were wounded from the concussive force and the heat now trapped in their amour. Ryu then sent wave after wave of water at them, cooling the amour in a fraction of a second causing the imperfections in the mass-produced metal to crack, splintering the amour. With out a second thought the earth began to rumble subtly and spikes of solid stone shot up under each of the soldiers, killing them instantly.
All of a sudden, the moment Ryu had been dreading came. The power boost had ended; his body fell to the floor with fatigue from over use of his powers. He fell to the floor, bracing himself on his sword, he needed to get to cover, maybe inside that church but his legs could barely keep him up.
As he scouted an easy path to cover, in either a house or the church, he heard foot steps in the dried mud behind him. Rain began falling, yet it still did not quell the fires that had stricken the town.
He turned to see a very tall man in thick black amour, holding a large flail. A big black metal, most probably iron, ball held by a chain to a sturdy metal pole. He flicked it with no apparent effort and the ball landed with a heavy thud in front of him, the man also drew his sword in his other hand.
"So you’re the one that has been slaughtering my soldiers," He spoke in a very deep and aggressive tone. "This shall be a good fight... I will be sad to kill you,"
"You will not have the pleasure to be present at my death," Ryu spoke, trying to maintain his usual Calm.
"Your words are meaningless, you are crippled, look you can barely stand,"
Ryu agreed, he was in trouble, there was only one way he knew of that could save him now, but that would require a distraction.
* * *
It had begun to rain and Raine and the two woman were still running. Raine had noticed the 5 soldiers running to get them. She didn’t inform the others, she was however thinking of what to do, they were almost at the church and could see a couple of silhouettes outside. More soldiers Raine thought.
The soldiers were gaining on them and at last Raine stopped and pushed the two women into a little gap between two partially destroyed houses still ablaze despite the rain.
She sore the soldiers slow down and without so much as a shiver drew her two most favorite daggers and prepared to fight.
In the little gap between the houses the two serving woman just huddled on the floor, the elder one holding the knife Raine had given her in clenched fists. Raine had no time to tell them what to do; the soldiers were upon her and were forming a circle.
“Were gonna have some fun with you little wench, we love the feisty sort don’t we lads” said what must have been the group leader.
“Yes sir” the rest said in unison.
“Sorry to rain on your pared ya filthy pigs, ya won’t be touching me or anybody else after I deal with you eh” Raine said with a growing smirk “You will regret the day you ever messed with a very lucky gambler”.
To that they all laughed and one of the men jumped at her, she easily dodged him and threw a jab at him. It just bounced off his amour. The man took a swing at Raine but once again she dodged it. This time however she went for the little gap that was in between his helmet and his body amour. The dagger went strait into his throat and he gurgled to the floor joking on his own blood.
“Who’s next eh” she shouted at the other men, she didn’t like the answer.
All of them moved in on her together swords in hand.
With no way of escaping this she drew two throwing knives from yet another secret compartment in her clothing and threw them at one of the soldiers just as another one took a swing at her. She dodged that and thrust her dagger at him trying to reach his throat but missed. She had to keep dodging there sword strikes and using her size and agility, she ran amongst them trying to prevent being hit.
She was going to have to take a different approach. She tossed away any commonsense she had left and jumped on one of the men’s shoulders before thrusting her dagger in his throat, she did the same for two more with a little more trouble until it was just her and the leader. Raine was in a frenzy and she stood there staring menacingly at the man.
She didn’t give him time to do anything before she ran at him both daggers out, he swung his huge blade right at her but she wasn’t going for a frontal attack, she instead slid to the ground on the now muddy floor and went right past him, then in lightning speed jumped up behind him and stabbed him in the back of his throat, then turning him around spat in his face and calmly said “Looks as though you lost eh”.
She didn’t have time to stay there looking at what she had done, she grabbed the two woman still huddled together and forced them to a run. Soon they were within a few houses of the church. Raine could see the figure of a man on the ground and of a soldier standing above him sword out. Raine thought of leaving him there and getting past them via the houses. But something stopped her from doing that. She wasn’t going to leave this person regardless of whether she wanted to or not.
Turning hastily to the two woman she handed them her bag of gold coins and said “You two are going to have to go the rest on your own, head in that direction” pointing to a small gap in between some houses “And work your way around the church. We are almost out of here and if you continue that way and through the forest nearby you can escape. That purse will have enough for anything you may need on your way”.
“But what of you?” The older one said
“I’m going to help someone; I’ll meet you in the town that is in the direction you will be going. Just make sure you alert them as to what is happening here if they do not already know”.
“Ok we will but you must come, promise us you will” she said sincerely
“Here, this is one of my favorite daggers” Raine said handing her the dagger “I’ll be wanting that back so until I come to get it look after it. And trust me I WILL be coming for it” Raine said with a small smile.
With that she pushed them in the said direction and without another look she moved slowly to the church and the two men. It appeared as though the soldier was taking his time about things and was enjoying every minute of it. The biggest surprise was that the man that was on the floor was the man from the inn.
She had to think fast but there just wasn’t enough time and so with a quick prayer to her luck ran out and shouted “A you ya you, you filthy pig, want a real fight eh. Try me on and see where it gets you” she said with instant regret. The soldier was a big person and just how he stood gave an air that he was in command.
What Have I gotten myself into now stupid woman…
* * *
Ryu realized that the big armored man was no longer paying him much attention and so slowly backed of an inch by inch.
The fool women thought she could actually do anything against him, well he was in no state to help. Although he did deep down somewhere feel respect for her basically throwing her life away to distract the man, he assumed that was what she was doing.
However the man turned away from her and focused on Ryu again, he lifted up his sword and looked as if he intended to finish Ryu. However two daggers came hurtling from the woman, one managed to pierce the mans bulky amour in his leg and he let out a short painful murmur. Ryu had to get away and made a break for it (although not a very fast one, because of his exhaustion) the man reacted fast though and was soon on his tale catching up with ease.
** **
Raine was not doing well her attempt to distract the man, plus she had gone and wasted a couple of perfectly good daggers. At least the shady figure had made a break for it, Raine was pursuing the other man who was still going after him. She was going to have to make him realize she was a threat.
She pulled out her remaining dagger – she still had a couple of throwing knives – and picking up speed jumped for the man. She landed on his back and attempted to do the same thing to him as she had to the other soldiers. It wasn’t that easy unfortunately. The man flung her off as if she was a toy. But at least he was paying attention to her now, maybe to much. Sword in hand he struck at her and she barely managed to roll away in time. She had to avoid his slashing attacks several times before she managed to get up and once again dodge another attack.
** **
Ryu had found a small area in the shadows where he could just see what was going on. He had to say, he was surprised to see the woman still alive. It wasn’t going her way though. Ryu couldn’t help though, there was no energy left. There was only one other thing he could do, and that would most likely kill him in his current state. He dwelled on it, should he help her. Arghhh his exhaustion was clouding his judgment; he should just get out of here and leave her to her own machinations.
That was not to be, he found himself staggering to his knees and drawing in raw power. It threatened to overwhelm him, devour him but he held fast using every ounce of remaining strength to use perhaps his last attack. It was a continual struggle. His senses became super sensitive and he could here the battle between the woman and the general as if he were in the middle of it. He could also here the approaching soldiers perhaps a 15 minutes from where he was located. Re-enforcements he assumed. Not to worry he would be dead by then –well he believed anyway.
** **
The fight raged on if you could call it a fight, Raine struggled to keep up with her opponent, surely he should have been getting tired but he kept on going.
“HAHAHA, little girl, I enjoyed playing with you....now its time to die” he said with a huge inhuman smile
“I don’t think so” Raine said and parrying the sword that was swung her way. As she did that she jumped to the side and made a break for it, she believed she had bought the shady fellow enough time. The man was having none of it though he recovered very quickly and was on her heels.
She became aware of a sort of high pitched sound coming from all around, she had no idea where from, nor did she have time to care. The man was relentless.
Soon the sound became louder and a glow covered the air –at least that is the only way to describe it. Raine was getting tired and her reflexes would surely suffer. There was little chance of her being to dodge his attacks she was gonna have to hide.
** **
Ryu was on the brink of total insanity, the power that was inside him was going to come out whether he liked it or not. It was now or ever. He knew where everything was he could sense any disturbance in the air. The man was pursuing the now tiring woman. This was it. He stood up, it seemed at once easy as it was almost impossible. His body screamed pain and exhaustion. His mind screamed power and ability to do anything.
He made his way to where Raine was hiding, yet she could not see him for his cloak of shadow he had made. The large man came within two paces of him and then Ryu struck. A full wave of pure power struck out from al of him. It drained Ryu dry, all that life force left him and ripped the other man to pieces. The power turned his amour to ash, his skin peeled off him like rags and his bones were whittled down to nothing. And all the while Ryu was falling to the ground. Becoming more and more unaware of the surrounding world.
He looked up at this peaceful angelic face.
“Are you ok?” The voice asked again
Ryu was confused, he had been here before, but… no this was long ago, and she was…
“Bray?” He asked
“Are you ok?” The voice asked him again Ryu focused and tried to move, but his body was racked with pain. He remembered what he had said that day.
“Yes, I’m fine,” He repeated as he tried to move again, and again the pain of his injuries caused him to grimace and let slip a cry of pain pass his lips. “No your not, Lay still,” Bray said as she rummaged through her bag, “Here, this will help” She said as she gave him a weed of some sort, “Chew it, it will take away the pain,”
Ryu did as he was told, he didn’t want to be this vulnerable, especially as he didn’t know what was going on.
“Bray?” He asked again
“Yes that’s right, my name is Bray? What about yours?” she replied, yet before Ryu could muster a response again his body was racked with pain, and the view around him changed.
"Bray!" He called out.
** **
Raine must have fainted when... when..... when that thing the shady fellow had done happened. She came to and heard the man murmuring something... sounding like bray. She had no clue as to who that was but she didn’t care. She grabbed a hold of him and said “Eh you ok there” she got no answer
“Come on you lazy lump say sommit” he just continued to murmur.
She slapped him hard on the face and he seemed to come around. Is first words were “there are ore soldiers coming, we must leave”
“Well I don’t be thinking you are going anywhere mate” Raine said sarcastically
“We must, they will be here soon” he said very intently
“I have no problem with that, but I can’t see you walking far”.
Regardless he got up, and instantly toppled over.... on to Raine who had grabbed him
“Fine we will go but you are gonna have to do so with me” she said bewildered by his stubbornness, he was still trying to walk away.
“another fine mess this is” was all she whispered before puling him along with her.
* * *
Ryu regained some sense of alertness as in an act of defiance he tried to push away the woman that was helping him walk, immediately his legs weakened again.
"Why did I use that again?" Ryu asked himself silently, as he tried to count the time until his death, that technique could very well be the end of him.
"Oi," The woman spoke "don’t go pushing," she protested as Ryu found his way to his feet. he stood still and took focus. they had left the village behind them yet still thick black smoke hazed his sight and clogged his throat. with out a second thought he cleared his mind and waved his hand, and the smoke cleared ahead of them. Ryu Fell down, all the nerves in his right hand, the one he had just used, seemed to be burning, a constant aching like the heaviness of a laden heart brought him to his knees again.
"What'cha think your doin?" Raine asked
"Clearing the way," Ryu spoke definitely he didn’t know this woman, and he wouldn’t show anymore weakness though fear she might take advantage.
"You some type of mage or something?" She asked
"You could say that," Ryu said, a tone of arrogance in his voice, a familiar sound he hadn’t heard for many lifetimes.
"Well?" Raine said looking at him, still kneeling, "You going to be explaining that any time soon?" She asked
"Not likely," Ryu replied, regaining his cold facade, as he used his sword to regain his positioning on his feet he focused on the hilt, and clasped at it, the mementos that normally adorned it had gone, most probably in the last battle no doubt, even though Ryu thought of himself as emotionless, beaten by life’s harsh ways, he still felt an immense sadness that was no doubt noticeable, but for that brief second, he didn’t care about showing weakness.
And then he remembered.
Ryu stood tall, and his hair fell down his shoulders,
"We should find shelter," He said
"I'm sorry but I’m old fashioned, I like to know someone’s name before I make a daring escape from a village full of soldiers, but seen as we have already done that I think its only fair I know your name, before I go near any shelter with you" Raine protested
"Ryu," he said, not letting out anything more
"Just Ryu?" She asked, "Not got anything more to say or are you trying to pass as the strong silent type?" Raine said, raising her voice a tad, she definitely had spirit.
"Well, generally people greet each other on a first name basis, and isn’t that seen as a more intimate form of acquaintance?" Ryu spoke, he had shunned relationships of any sort for so long, he quoted his observations and former experiences as if he were reading it from an encyclopedia.
"What do you mean 'Intimate'?" Raine asked
"Comrades," Ryu said "Whether we like it or not, circumstance has forced us to enter into a relationship, a relationship as comrades in arms, fighting for survival toward a common goal, at least for the moment,"
"That’s... Cold..." Raine said not sure what to make of Ryu, he was clearly insane, she thought.
Ryu looked around, he recognized this place, they were a rather great distance from the village he had stayed in the vicinity the day before arriving at the inn. he knew of a cave where they would be safe.
"This way," Ryu said as he walked slowly forward not waiting for acknowledgement or aid
"You cant boss me," Raine said as she stood defiantly, she saw him walking none-the-less, and thought it would probably be best sticking with this guy, be he insane or not, for now he seemed to know what he was doing. "Don’t you even want to know my name?" She shouted after him and she broke into a brisk walk in order to catch up to him.
* * *
Raine and Ryu walked on in the direction Ryu was taking them for a while before Raine spoke.
“You know you aren’t much of a social person are you, eh” This comment wasn’t really meant as a question, more of a statement to the obvious. Ryu took it as such.
“Fine suit yourself” Raine responded to the silence. He was great company….NOT!
Another five minutes past and the cave mouth came into distant view it wasn’t much for size but anything was good to sleep in and hide for that matter, surely those soldiers from wherever they came from would be looking for them. She just hoped those two woman had gotten far enough and taken refuge somewhere hidden…well.
“We are here” Ryu said matter-of-factly.
“Yes I can see” Raine said sarcastically, Ryu paid it no mind, Raine persevered “You haven’t even asked for my name yet, or where you planning on ignoring me for the remainder of our journey together”.
“Ok what is your name?” came a rather brisk tone of voice
”Much better, my Name is Raine Alvair” Raine said a lot more softly.
“And OUR journey will end as soon as possible” Ryu said rather tartly, well as tartly as a man with an unemotional voice can say.
“The nerve, I risked my little life to safe your behind and this is the respect I get, A man whom is less talkative than a rock and a cave to sleep in. Oh and then being ditched in the morning most probably” Raine’s voice was back to angry and she felt that little ticking in her head. That wasn’t a good sign.
Silence was the answer. The story of Ryu’s life Raine thought to herself. Well she had other plans for him. She wouldn’t sleep tonight, in case the rock decided to leave in the morning without her.
“Not going to happen” she said to herself as they entered the cave.
“Guess its not your day eh lads” Raine said in her country accent “Well I’m sure if you keep playin, your win some eh”
She got nothing but grumbles from the men playing and one got up and left
“Well he’s not a good sport eh, well whatever how’s about we get to it eh” she said with a rather big smile on her face.
“I think I’m gonna call it a night to lass” this was from the shorter of the two men, the nicest one as far as she could tell.
“You know what I’ll buy you all a drink for your loss eh, maybe that will get you into the mood to play some more” Raine said trying to get them to stay. “Hey barkeep, another round here please ta”
A serving woman brought three drinks to the table and put them to the side “that will be three silver please” she said with a trained smile.
“Here you are lass three silvers and a gold for your smile” said Raine winking at her.
“Um thank you very much” the serving woman said with a genuine smile.
“now how’s about we get back to playin eh” Raine said focusing on shuffling the cards.
Just as she was about to give them out a rather shady figure came in and took a seat near the hearth at the other end of the inn. He was greeted by the same serving woman that she had just given the gold coin to. She went and got him a drink and then went back to work without a second glance at the man.
Obviously not a very social person eh
Raine thought to herself and went back to dishing out the cards.
She played another two game’s which she won before the short man left wishing Raine a good evening as well as the other taller man, who just grumbled to him.
Raine sat in silence while she collected her winnings from the last matches and put them into her pockets, brushing her arm against her dagger.
“Well its just us left eh, fancy a few more games” she said wearing her biggest grin
The big man said nothing for a minute and then with a horrid grin said
“No lass, I fancy having me money back” and with that he pulled out a knife and threw it at her.
Raine managed to duck fast enough to avoid the knife, then un sheathing her dagger from beneath her cloak jumped up and stabbed the man in the leg.
“I don’t take kind to unfair players or sore losers” she said with genuine disgust “what’s to stop me from killing you right here eh, well I’ll tell you if it wasn’t for the fact that this is a nice in with MOSTLY nice people, I’ll spare them of having to clean your guts of the floor. However if I set eyes on you outside doing anything suspicious I won’t have any second thoughts on killing you” and with that she threw him back.
“Curse you, ya little wench. I’ll get you back for this” he said with pure anger on his face. He limped out of the inn and didn’t look back.
While staring out of the inn watching the man fade into town she came to notice the shady fellow looking at her.
“What you want eh, you even think about doing anything and ya get the same treatment” she said genuinely annoyed.
The man didn’t say or do anything other than look back into his cup which by the looks of things hadn’t been touched.
Raine decided that she had had enough and was going to bed. However before she did that she pulled out gold from her pocket and passed it to the barkeep
“For the trouble” was all she said. And with that she went upstairs to her room. Locking it behind her she got into bed not bothering to undress and nodded off.
* * *
Ryu looked over at the ruckus that had come around, mostly due to drunken gambling he supposed.
"Clumsey..." He thought to himself, to him the knife was thrown far too slowly and inaccurately. Not that it concerned him, not that anyone concerned him really, Ryu was just passing through, and had no intention of making any connections, and it was by far not his way. His affinity for the elements set aside he was always to be a shadow in the wind moving with the sun light and stalking the dark night. He had often mused that there was no doubt a poem somewhere in this world to describe him so fittingly.
Ryu was broken from his daydream by a challenging shout from the woman who had retaliated to the thrown knife.
"What you want eh, you even think of trying anything ya get the same treatment," She said, clearly agitated. This didn’t concern Ryu in the slightest for he was a far more competent blade-master. Inside he did let out a muted laughter at the way this stranger acted. But quickly it was out of his mind and he went back to trying to discover exactly what he was drinking. Upon deciding that it was a waste of time and effort he walked to the barkeep and asked if he had a room spare for the night,
"Sure I have boy, how will you be paying?" He said in an over enthused way.
"I have the money," Ryu said as he handed his payment via the counter
"I'll need your name son," the barkeep replied
"My name is Ryu Sentra," He replied his words almost chilling the air with their icy tone.
That name almost immediately struck a bell, but he couldn’t quite place it, but that didn’t matter, he thought, business is business.
Ryu took the key from the barkeeps hand and walked to find his room; he found it easily enough and hung up his long black coat on the back of the door, revealing light leather chest armour and thick cloth trousers. Hidden each buckle of his chest amour was a small talon like dagger, ancient but well kept. At his waist was his main and favourite weapon, his sword.
The long curved blade resembled a Katana, its grip was firmly wrapped in old faded cloth, and its kashira was shining silver, it bore 5 short chains which hung from it, each with a military insignia on them. Aside from that little ornamentation the sword was plain, perfectly functional. The sword was fastened to the belt by strips of dark coloured cloth, fastened to the hard leather with studs.
Ryu took off his belt and leant the sword against the headboard of the bed, in order to keep it close, he also drew 2 daggers from his boots, and placed one under the pillow and another under the mattress. He wouldn’t class himself as a hunted man, but there are many people who would like to kill him if the chance presented itself. Ryu took off his boots and they fell to the floor with a heavy thud, and he lay in on the mediocre bed, and slowly he began to clear his mind, pushing himself further into a meditative slumber. This laborious task was made harder due to the snoring coming from the room adjacent to his. But none the less he began to drift into his dreamless sleep.
* * *
Raine came awake with something between a snort and a groan; she immediately regretted not taking of her clothes or at least her daggers before going to sleep.
Worst of all she had that horrid feeling that she had just been snoring, loudly.
They will never think it was me. She thought to herself
She got up slowly removing the dagger hilt that had found itself in a lovely little area against her kidney
“That’s gonna leave a bruise” she said to herself in a quite voice “stupid woman”
She went to the window and had a look at the little village she had stopped at. It was a border village that was on the outskirts of one of the ruling bodies of the continent.
There had been a few skirmishes between several of the ruling bodies or provinces as they were called. There was one overly aggressive one that had reportedly taken several plots of land in a smaller province on the opposite of the continent from where Raine was now. The province that Raine was in was called Elanda and was known to be significantly advanced in the field of magic, however you weren’t likely to see a mage anywhere out this far. Raine for one had never seen a mage or magic for that reason and wasn’t to fussed about such things. As long as she had gold in her pocket and inns or taverns in her direction she was happy.
The area surrounding the village was very fertile and green, there were many farms surrounding the village. There was a small outpost located about half a mile from the village that was garrisoned by a hand full of men that would light a signal fire if there was an enemy approaching. The village was all asleep by the looks of things and there was a small buzz from the insects that were thriving in the night. Raine turned away from the window missing the faint orange glow from the direction of the outpost.
Letting out a yawn she went back to the bed and this time putting her dagger somewhere within reach of her hands -not her stomach- she got onto her less than brilliant bed. She drifted off but was stopped by the sound of hooves hitting the ground, lots of hooves to make such a noise.
Raine scrambled to her feet and looked back out the window to see some men on horse back carrying torches entering the village, behind them in the distance was the outpost on fire.
“**** what the hell is going on, why wasn’t the torch lit” Raine shouted to herself still staring at the fire. She lost her focus on it when she sore one of the thatched roves of a building at the far end of the village burst into flame, then another one did the same on the other a few houses away.
Raine rushed to get her stuff and putting her dagger where they were concealed but easy to pull out, rushed out of the room and started pounding on all door shouting “wake up, WAKE UP someone’s attacking the **** village. I SAID WAKE UP” she did this to all doors on the upper floor and then proceeded down stairs to find the barkeep as all around people were just waking up to the destruction that was unfolding.
* * *
Ryu was awoken from his sleep by the clattering of horses, far too many to be a traveller, this made him uneasy, he turned to his window still submerged in darkness, just in time to notice bursts of flame illuminating the still night. Instinctively Ryu replaced his daggers in their correct places, and grasped his sword, not pausing to put on his belt; he walked to the door when a horrendous thunder rumbled from it, which was followed by the voice of the woman he had seen last night. Ryu pulled his coat from his door, again not pausing to put it on, and ran out of his room, down the stairs.
He quickly realized he would have to do something he hadn’t needed to do in a long time, he stood still and concentrated, pulling in the darkness that surrounded him, keeping his eyes concentrated on the door way ahead which lead to the main bar area. Slowly his body began to fade into the shadows, and quickly enough he was invisible to the naked eye, for as long as he kept to the darkness.
He slowly and quietly put his coat on, and fastened his belt, extending his shadow-meld when necessary. Ryu slowly crept from the hall way to the bar, and there she stood, the woman from the night before quickly moving and looking for something, or someone. Ryu walked to the door, but before he could leave he saw a group of people walking into the bar, they would surely see the woman, he was safe, and why should he care?
Ryu slowly moved away, past them staying in the shadows as best he could, but not as well as he had hoped…
* * *
While Raine had been searching for the Barkeeps room and the serving woman’s rooms to warn them she had neglected to keep an eye on the door in case of anyone’s entering. She was by the counter when she heard the heavy thud of cavalier boots hit the floor of the little inn.
**** it woman, why didn’t you watch the door she thought to herself with a curse.
She crept slowly to where she could see those who just entered. There appeared to be three men all clad in heavy amour, two with short swords and another with no visible weapon in sight.
One of the men appeared to have seen or heard something and for a second Raine thought it was all over. Instead of heading over to where she was he looked at the wall beside the door leading out of the inn.. He appeared to be looking for something but Raine couldn’t make anything out because of the shadows.
What is he looking at? She thought, but the thought went as quickly as it came and she decided to use this time to find the barkeep and get him out with the serving women.
She turned away to see one of the inns occupants come down the stairs. She tried to warn him to go back up but the men had already seen him and rushed to him with swords swinging. It was over in an instant.
She turned away from the dead body and made a dash for cover before they sore her and gave her the same treatment. She was breathing heavily and tried to calm herself.
Where’s my **** luck now eh, I knew I was winning too much, I’ve gone and used it all up She thought with yet another curse to herself.
She heard the two men who had dispatched the man go upstairs, probably looking for other occupants, Raine hoped there weren’t.
She crept to her viewing spot again and saw the man with no visible weapon still staring at the wall. She didn’t know why he was but she didn’t care, she saw an opportunity to kill him.
She crept as quietly as possible behind him and grabbing the daggers she had hidden in her sleeves made a run at him. She swung one of the daggers for his head but was stopped by an invisible force.
“What the hell ya doing eh” she wailed at the man
“very stupid move you little wench” the man said with a distasteful look on his face “I’ve seen many stupid people in my life but this has to be the worst attempt I’ve seen thus far”
Raine spat at him but he only wiped it of and slapped her hard.
“Now, now little girl be nice to me and I may save you till last” he said with a sadistic grin on his face.
“**** you to hell you pile of filth” Raine said almost growling “take this” and with her other dagger took a jab at him but this to was stopped in mid flight,
“A wonderful thing wind isn’t it my dear, able to move great ships and at the same time stop them dead in the water” he said with a smile and with that she was hurled back against one of the tables in the room.
Raine fought to get free but it felt like a ship had just dropped its anchor on her and she couldn’t do anything about it.
“Time to say goodbye little wench” the man said “It’s been so long since I snapped someone’s neck with the wind, it shall be most enjoyable”
Raine struggled to get free but she was still trapped under the invisible force from which the man had created. She could see him slowly preparing to do what he said but he was taking his time, mocking her all the way. She found she had a little movement in her legs and tried desperately to kick him in a bid he'd lose concentration. All time seemed to stop has she began to feel the end drawing near. With one last try she managed to hit him in the knee, he lost concentration for a couple of seconds and the force holding down Raine dissipated. That was all she needed, with both daggers she cut two holes in the side of his throat as she jumped up. Then as she walked past his dying body she turned quickly and spat at him before turning once more to find the barkeep and serving women.
Well now that that’s sorted it's time I got the rest of the people and get outa here
She had to act quickly as the two men from above could come back anytime soon and with the mages dead body lying there they’ll come looking for whoever did it...
* * *
Ryu could feel the force of the mage he had left behind in the tavern, it was growing weaker, he was no doubt dead. Because of his nature, who he was and how he was raised Ryu felt sadness, yet at the same time a growing sense of power, slowly it built up inside of him until he couldn’t contain it anymore, his cloak of shadows had failed and he was exposed to at least 15 soldiers who now surrounded him. Their shock only lasting a few seconds faded as 3 moved closer to the screaming man, kneeling on the floor, hunched over, just before they got within striking distance of their standard military swords, suddenly Ryu's body convulsed and his arms and head were flung upwards, as he did that a burst of wind flew from around him, knocking most of the guards of balance, and then another more powerful explosion of air followed, pushing windows through their frames, and the remainder of the guards to their feet, and finally in an almighty scream of both pain and anguish A thirds and final blast of the wind hit the soldiers, compressing their amour, crushing their ribcages, buildings surrounding Ryu now lay ruined as he sat there in the flame lit street, slowly he began to rise, his head still facing the floor. even though he wasn’t looking he could feel the heart beat of every single man woman and child in this township, he knew where they were, but none the less he began to raise his head, a flame of passion and revenge burnt ferociously in his eyes as he took his sword in hand and began carving his way through anyone that challenged him.
This new found energy, brought from the life force of the mage Raine had killed improved Ryu's powers, only for a few moments, but both his physical powers and his elemental powers were enhanced, and now he was here for one thing only, to kill.
As he walked the street he saw two invading soldiers scaring a woman and child into a corner, the mother shielded her child’s eyes as she tried to fight back the fear she felt as the guards advanced, Ryu walked over, using both the power of wind and light he appeared between the woman and her attackers,
He turned his head slightly the fire-full eye peering through his long hair, now partly facing the women he spoke one word,
"Leave," his low growling voice left nothing to the imagination, the women got up, still scared and carried her child away with all her remaining might.
Ryu then turned back to the soldiers who, in their own arrogance, began the attack, Ryu deflected the first soldiers attack and the second, separating both of them, although they now surrounded him, he didn’t feel at a disadvantage. Ryu plunged his sword into the ground, and a bubble of earth rose to engulf him, again he had one knee on the ground, crouching inside his earthen fortress, he pulled the two daggers from either boot and concentrated on them, a concentration so immense that they should have burst into flames, had he been so inclined. Instead he focused all of his might into these two blades; quietly they began to crackle as small white wisps began to flicker along the blades. Quickly he stood up casting off his protective layer of earth, the guards still standing their ready to attack, yet before they could muster the energy to their feet they both were struck by a white hot bolt through the chest. One of the guards looked down to see nothingness, what used to be his torso was now replaced with a hole. And quickly he fell down dead; the other had already struck the floor. Ryu held out his hands and his daggers flew back into them, a slight crackle of magic remained and he quickly shook them both once and all magic was gone from those blade and he placed them back into their home, picking up his sword he quickly moved on.
* * *
Raine had found a little door that was half hidden behind the bar, it blended in with the wood and Raine assumed it was so it didn’t contrast with the rest of the main room’s decor. She opened it with haste in part due to the fear that she had almost been killed and because of the two men that were by the sounds of it on there way down.
Shutting the door firmly behind her she headed down a barely visible corridor. She had to look twice in a few spots just to make out the doors but at last she found a room that was locked.
Knocking slowly she heard no response.
“Anyone in there, its Raine Alvair a customer of yours” She said with a low voice “I’ve come to get you out of here”.
No Response. Raine stood on the spot for a second listening in. there was definitely someone in there; she could here what sounded like muffled crying.
It’s got to be the serving woman, unless the barkeep is a softer person than I thought.
She pulled out a little device from inside a secret compartment in her sleeve.
I’m against thieving or breaking in but it’s got to be done eh she thought to herself and got to work on the small lock on the door with her lock pick.
It didn’t take long and she hastily put it back in her sleeve before opening the door.
What she sore were the silhouettes of two people hiding in the corner under the covers of the bed. She could just make out the muffled cries of one of the people under the cover. Raine moved over there quietly and carefully and whispered to the silhouettes.
“It’s all right, I’m here to get you out, I’m not with the soldiers”, nothing not even a squeak escaped there mouths.
“I gave you that gold coin when you bought me the drinks remember” Raine said in desperation. She was running out of time.
She heard some bickering under the covers; sounded like one of the occupants was trying to prevent the other from saying anything. It obviously failed as the covers were done away with and the images of the serving woman and another girl Raine hadn’t seen before came into vision.
“It is you” the serving woman said with a tone of desperation.
“Miss Alvair what are we going to do, Master Harrington has already fled, he didn’t even bother to get us” said the woman with a small hint of anger and disgust.
“Filthy coward” Raine all but spat “well I’m here to get you out of here, most of the tow…”
There was a great rumble as the room around the three woman rattled fiercely. They were thrown to the ground and the serving woman grabbed hold of the girl tightly. Raine just lay there trying to catch her breath back.
Another rumble came and then another each growing in magnitude and Raine heard the sound of the second floor caving in with the muffled shouts of what she believed must be the two solders being crushed under all the rubble. It was a wonder Raine and the other two were still alive and she immediately thanked her luck for her survival.
She stayed lying down until she was sure there was no chance of another rumble then without pause dragged the two now bawling woman to there feet’s and ran into the now partially existent corridor.
“What the hell happened” the two woman said in muffled disbelief.
“I think this be the work of a mage, I had a run in with one before I got you two” Raine said warily “Let’s hope we don’t run into one eh”
A small cry from the girl was the only answer Raine got back.
They headed for the main room and managed to find a small section of rubble that they could climb over, they did so quickly but not silently and Raine was cursing herself for it. There was probably a hundred or so soldiers in the village and here she was climbing about in plane sight. Once they were all out of what remained of the inn Raine got them into the nearest shade she could find. She got her two hidden daggers out in her hands and then proceeded produced another from within her boots.
“Here you may need this” she said handing the third dagger to the older of the two women. “I prey you don’t but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
“I’ve never used a weapon before” she said with a small shiver.
“It’s not so hard, just stab them in the neck and watch them go down” was all Raine said in reply to the woman’s comment.
Looking around from within the shadows they were hiding in, Raine decided that regardless of what direction they went in they were bound to run into soldiers.
The **** inn had to be in the middle of the bloody village didn’t it she thought angrily.
She had to pick a way soon as just standing there wasn’t helping them. All around the inn the buildings had all been through what the inn had. Whoever had done it must have been very powerful and Raine hoped to any of the hundreds of gods she had heard about in her travels that they not run into whoever they were.
Raine couldn’t decide on what direction to head and she could see that the two women were getting scared. She was going to have to turn to her luck. She pulled out her lucky coin from a little pocket that was hidden on the inside of her breast pocket and simply chose two directions appointing one to heads and the other to tails. She slowly flipped it and looked at what it had landed on; heads.
“Well I never go against lady luck and I’m not about to start now so it looks like we’ll be heading in that direction” Raine said with renewed confidence pointing in the direction of a now destroyed church.
“Well come on then we best be quick about this eh” she said starting to move out of the shadows.
They all ran with amazing speed in the direction of the church, maybe it was from the fear that they were moving so fast but there was no time to think of that, neither was there time to see the fifteen crushed and dead bodies that lay mangled on the barely visible floor. And most unfortunately there was no time to see the soldiers that had begun pursuing them…
* * *
Ryu, who was normally so calm and cold, was now caught in the heat of battle, he didn’t care how many lives he killed, once he was threatened topped with the power that now coursed through his veins perpetuated his anger and caused him to show no mercy.
In the back of his mind he had hoped he hadn't caught too much attention. No matter how good he may have been he doubted he could take on the full force of the attacking army.
He carved his way through the streets until he came to a small church, lit by the numerous fires it held a Sinister glare over the town, its gothic figurines and religious decoration set an eerie shadow that would have scared a lesser man. Ryu noted the door now under siege from a number of soldiers, obviously some survivors had sought refuge. Unsure if it was his will to help or the blood-lust that overcame him he immediately sent balls of fire at each of them, whilst not killing them they were wounded from the concussive force and the heat now trapped in their amour. Ryu then sent wave after wave of water at them, cooling the amour in a fraction of a second causing the imperfections in the mass-produced metal to crack, splintering the amour. With out a second thought the earth began to rumble subtly and spikes of solid stone shot up under each of the soldiers, killing them instantly.
All of a sudden, the moment Ryu had been dreading came. The power boost had ended; his body fell to the floor with fatigue from over use of his powers. He fell to the floor, bracing himself on his sword, he needed to get to cover, maybe inside that church but his legs could barely keep him up.
As he scouted an easy path to cover, in either a house or the church, he heard foot steps in the dried mud behind him. Rain began falling, yet it still did not quell the fires that had stricken the town.
He turned to see a very tall man in thick black amour, holding a large flail. A big black metal, most probably iron, ball held by a chain to a sturdy metal pole. He flicked it with no apparent effort and the ball landed with a heavy thud in front of him, the man also drew his sword in his other hand.
"So you’re the one that has been slaughtering my soldiers," He spoke in a very deep and aggressive tone. "This shall be a good fight... I will be sad to kill you,"
"You will not have the pleasure to be present at my death," Ryu spoke, trying to maintain his usual Calm.
"Your words are meaningless, you are crippled, look you can barely stand,"
Ryu agreed, he was in trouble, there was only one way he knew of that could save him now, but that would require a distraction.
* * *
It had begun to rain and Raine and the two woman were still running. Raine had noticed the 5 soldiers running to get them. She didn’t inform the others, she was however thinking of what to do, they were almost at the church and could see a couple of silhouettes outside. More soldiers Raine thought.
The soldiers were gaining on them and at last Raine stopped and pushed the two women into a little gap between two partially destroyed houses still ablaze despite the rain.
She sore the soldiers slow down and without so much as a shiver drew her two most favorite daggers and prepared to fight.
In the little gap between the houses the two serving woman just huddled on the floor, the elder one holding the knife Raine had given her in clenched fists. Raine had no time to tell them what to do; the soldiers were upon her and were forming a circle.
“Were gonna have some fun with you little wench, we love the feisty sort don’t we lads” said what must have been the group leader.
“Yes sir” the rest said in unison.
“Sorry to rain on your pared ya filthy pigs, ya won’t be touching me or anybody else after I deal with you eh” Raine said with a growing smirk “You will regret the day you ever messed with a very lucky gambler”.
To that they all laughed and one of the men jumped at her, she easily dodged him and threw a jab at him. It just bounced off his amour. The man took a swing at Raine but once again she dodged it. This time however she went for the little gap that was in between his helmet and his body amour. The dagger went strait into his throat and he gurgled to the floor joking on his own blood.
“Who’s next eh” she shouted at the other men, she didn’t like the answer.
All of them moved in on her together swords in hand.
With no way of escaping this she drew two throwing knives from yet another secret compartment in her clothing and threw them at one of the soldiers just as another one took a swing at her. She dodged that and thrust her dagger at him trying to reach his throat but missed. She had to keep dodging there sword strikes and using her size and agility, she ran amongst them trying to prevent being hit.
She was going to have to take a different approach. She tossed away any commonsense she had left and jumped on one of the men’s shoulders before thrusting her dagger in his throat, she did the same for two more with a little more trouble until it was just her and the leader. Raine was in a frenzy and she stood there staring menacingly at the man.
She didn’t give him time to do anything before she ran at him both daggers out, he swung his huge blade right at her but she wasn’t going for a frontal attack, she instead slid to the ground on the now muddy floor and went right past him, then in lightning speed jumped up behind him and stabbed him in the back of his throat, then turning him around spat in his face and calmly said “Looks as though you lost eh”.
She didn’t have time to stay there looking at what she had done, she grabbed the two woman still huddled together and forced them to a run. Soon they were within a few houses of the church. Raine could see the figure of a man on the ground and of a soldier standing above him sword out. Raine thought of leaving him there and getting past them via the houses. But something stopped her from doing that. She wasn’t going to leave this person regardless of whether she wanted to or not.
Turning hastily to the two woman she handed them her bag of gold coins and said “You two are going to have to go the rest on your own, head in that direction” pointing to a small gap in between some houses “And work your way around the church. We are almost out of here and if you continue that way and through the forest nearby you can escape. That purse will have enough for anything you may need on your way”.
“But what of you?” The older one said
“I’m going to help someone; I’ll meet you in the town that is in the direction you will be going. Just make sure you alert them as to what is happening here if they do not already know”.
“Ok we will but you must come, promise us you will” she said sincerely
“Here, this is one of my favorite daggers” Raine said handing her the dagger “I’ll be wanting that back so until I come to get it look after it. And trust me I WILL be coming for it” Raine said with a small smile.
With that she pushed them in the said direction and without another look she moved slowly to the church and the two men. It appeared as though the soldier was taking his time about things and was enjoying every minute of it. The biggest surprise was that the man that was on the floor was the man from the inn.
She had to think fast but there just wasn’t enough time and so with a quick prayer to her luck ran out and shouted “A you ya you, you filthy pig, want a real fight eh. Try me on and see where it gets you” she said with instant regret. The soldier was a big person and just how he stood gave an air that he was in command.
What Have I gotten myself into now stupid woman…
* * *
Ryu realized that the big armored man was no longer paying him much attention and so slowly backed of an inch by inch.
The fool women thought she could actually do anything against him, well he was in no state to help. Although he did deep down somewhere feel respect for her basically throwing her life away to distract the man, he assumed that was what she was doing.
However the man turned away from her and focused on Ryu again, he lifted up his sword and looked as if he intended to finish Ryu. However two daggers came hurtling from the woman, one managed to pierce the mans bulky amour in his leg and he let out a short painful murmur. Ryu had to get away and made a break for it (although not a very fast one, because of his exhaustion) the man reacted fast though and was soon on his tale catching up with ease.
** **
Raine was not doing well her attempt to distract the man, plus she had gone and wasted a couple of perfectly good daggers. At least the shady figure had made a break for it, Raine was pursuing the other man who was still going after him. She was going to have to make him realize she was a threat.
She pulled out her remaining dagger – she still had a couple of throwing knives – and picking up speed jumped for the man. She landed on his back and attempted to do the same thing to him as she had to the other soldiers. It wasn’t that easy unfortunately. The man flung her off as if she was a toy. But at least he was paying attention to her now, maybe to much. Sword in hand he struck at her and she barely managed to roll away in time. She had to avoid his slashing attacks several times before she managed to get up and once again dodge another attack.
** **
Ryu had found a small area in the shadows where he could just see what was going on. He had to say, he was surprised to see the woman still alive. It wasn’t going her way though. Ryu couldn’t help though, there was no energy left. There was only one other thing he could do, and that would most likely kill him in his current state. He dwelled on it, should he help her. Arghhh his exhaustion was clouding his judgment; he should just get out of here and leave her to her own machinations.
That was not to be, he found himself staggering to his knees and drawing in raw power. It threatened to overwhelm him, devour him but he held fast using every ounce of remaining strength to use perhaps his last attack. It was a continual struggle. His senses became super sensitive and he could here the battle between the woman and the general as if he were in the middle of it. He could also here the approaching soldiers perhaps a 15 minutes from where he was located. Re-enforcements he assumed. Not to worry he would be dead by then –well he believed anyway.
** **
The fight raged on if you could call it a fight, Raine struggled to keep up with her opponent, surely he should have been getting tired but he kept on going.
“HAHAHA, little girl, I enjoyed playing with you....now its time to die” he said with a huge inhuman smile
“I don’t think so” Raine said and parrying the sword that was swung her way. As she did that she jumped to the side and made a break for it, she believed she had bought the shady fellow enough time. The man was having none of it though he recovered very quickly and was on her heels.
She became aware of a sort of high pitched sound coming from all around, she had no idea where from, nor did she have time to care. The man was relentless.
Soon the sound became louder and a glow covered the air –at least that is the only way to describe it. Raine was getting tired and her reflexes would surely suffer. There was little chance of her being to dodge his attacks she was gonna have to hide.
** **
Ryu was on the brink of total insanity, the power that was inside him was going to come out whether he liked it or not. It was now or ever. He knew where everything was he could sense any disturbance in the air. The man was pursuing the now tiring woman. This was it. He stood up, it seemed at once easy as it was almost impossible. His body screamed pain and exhaustion. His mind screamed power and ability to do anything.
He made his way to where Raine was hiding, yet she could not see him for his cloak of shadow he had made. The large man came within two paces of him and then Ryu struck. A full wave of pure power struck out from al of him. It drained Ryu dry, all that life force left him and ripped the other man to pieces. The power turned his amour to ash, his skin peeled off him like rags and his bones were whittled down to nothing. And all the while Ryu was falling to the ground. Becoming more and more unaware of the surrounding world.
He looked up at this peaceful angelic face.
“Are you ok?” The voice asked again
Ryu was confused, he had been here before, but… no this was long ago, and she was…
“Bray?” He asked
“Are you ok?” The voice asked him again Ryu focused and tried to move, but his body was racked with pain. He remembered what he had said that day.
“Yes, I’m fine,” He repeated as he tried to move again, and again the pain of his injuries caused him to grimace and let slip a cry of pain pass his lips. “No your not, Lay still,” Bray said as she rummaged through her bag, “Here, this will help” She said as she gave him a weed of some sort, “Chew it, it will take away the pain,”
Ryu did as he was told, he didn’t want to be this vulnerable, especially as he didn’t know what was going on.
“Bray?” He asked again
“Yes that’s right, my name is Bray? What about yours?” she replied, yet before Ryu could muster a response again his body was racked with pain, and the view around him changed.
"Bray!" He called out.
** **
Raine must have fainted when... when..... when that thing the shady fellow had done happened. She came to and heard the man murmuring something... sounding like bray. She had no clue as to who that was but she didn’t care. She grabbed a hold of him and said “Eh you ok there” she got no answer
“Come on you lazy lump say sommit” he just continued to murmur.
She slapped him hard on the face and he seemed to come around. Is first words were “there are ore soldiers coming, we must leave”
“Well I don’t be thinking you are going anywhere mate” Raine said sarcastically
“We must, they will be here soon” he said very intently
“I have no problem with that, but I can’t see you walking far”.
Regardless he got up, and instantly toppled over.... on to Raine who had grabbed him
“Fine we will go but you are gonna have to do so with me” she said bewildered by his stubbornness, he was still trying to walk away.
“another fine mess this is” was all she whispered before puling him along with her.
* * *
Ryu regained some sense of alertness as in an act of defiance he tried to push away the woman that was helping him walk, immediately his legs weakened again.
"Why did I use that again?" Ryu asked himself silently, as he tried to count the time until his death, that technique could very well be the end of him.
"Oi," The woman spoke "don’t go pushing," she protested as Ryu found his way to his feet. he stood still and took focus. they had left the village behind them yet still thick black smoke hazed his sight and clogged his throat. with out a second thought he cleared his mind and waved his hand, and the smoke cleared ahead of them. Ryu Fell down, all the nerves in his right hand, the one he had just used, seemed to be burning, a constant aching like the heaviness of a laden heart brought him to his knees again.
"What'cha think your doin?" Raine asked
"Clearing the way," Ryu spoke definitely he didn’t know this woman, and he wouldn’t show anymore weakness though fear she might take advantage.
"You some type of mage or something?" She asked
"You could say that," Ryu said, a tone of arrogance in his voice, a familiar sound he hadn’t heard for many lifetimes.
"Well?" Raine said looking at him, still kneeling, "You going to be explaining that any time soon?" She asked
"Not likely," Ryu replied, regaining his cold facade, as he used his sword to regain his positioning on his feet he focused on the hilt, and clasped at it, the mementos that normally adorned it had gone, most probably in the last battle no doubt, even though Ryu thought of himself as emotionless, beaten by life’s harsh ways, he still felt an immense sadness that was no doubt noticeable, but for that brief second, he didn’t care about showing weakness.
And then he remembered.
Ryu stood tall, and his hair fell down his shoulders,
"We should find shelter," He said
"I'm sorry but I’m old fashioned, I like to know someone’s name before I make a daring escape from a village full of soldiers, but seen as we have already done that I think its only fair I know your name, before I go near any shelter with you" Raine protested
"Ryu," he said, not letting out anything more
"Just Ryu?" She asked, "Not got anything more to say or are you trying to pass as the strong silent type?" Raine said, raising her voice a tad, she definitely had spirit.
"Well, generally people greet each other on a first name basis, and isn’t that seen as a more intimate form of acquaintance?" Ryu spoke, he had shunned relationships of any sort for so long, he quoted his observations and former experiences as if he were reading it from an encyclopedia.
"What do you mean 'Intimate'?" Raine asked
"Comrades," Ryu said "Whether we like it or not, circumstance has forced us to enter into a relationship, a relationship as comrades in arms, fighting for survival toward a common goal, at least for the moment,"
"That’s... Cold..." Raine said not sure what to make of Ryu, he was clearly insane, she thought.
Ryu looked around, he recognized this place, they were a rather great distance from the village he had stayed in the vicinity the day before arriving at the inn. he knew of a cave where they would be safe.
"This way," Ryu said as he walked slowly forward not waiting for acknowledgement or aid
"You cant boss me," Raine said as she stood defiantly, she saw him walking none-the-less, and thought it would probably be best sticking with this guy, be he insane or not, for now he seemed to know what he was doing. "Don’t you even want to know my name?" She shouted after him and she broke into a brisk walk in order to catch up to him.
* * *
Raine and Ryu walked on in the direction Ryu was taking them for a while before Raine spoke.
“You know you aren’t much of a social person are you, eh” This comment wasn’t really meant as a question, more of a statement to the obvious. Ryu took it as such.
“Fine suit yourself” Raine responded to the silence. He was great company….NOT!
Another five minutes past and the cave mouth came into distant view it wasn’t much for size but anything was good to sleep in and hide for that matter, surely those soldiers from wherever they came from would be looking for them. She just hoped those two woman had gotten far enough and taken refuge somewhere hidden…well.
“We are here” Ryu said matter-of-factly.
“Yes I can see” Raine said sarcastically, Ryu paid it no mind, Raine persevered “You haven’t even asked for my name yet, or where you planning on ignoring me for the remainder of our journey together”.
“Ok what is your name?” came a rather brisk tone of voice
”Much better, my Name is Raine Alvair” Raine said a lot more softly.
“And OUR journey will end as soon as possible” Ryu said rather tartly, well as tartly as a man with an unemotional voice can say.
“The nerve, I risked my little life to safe your behind and this is the respect I get, A man whom is less talkative than a rock and a cave to sleep in. Oh and then being ditched in the morning most probably” Raine’s voice was back to angry and she felt that little ticking in her head. That wasn’t a good sign.
Silence was the answer. The story of Ryu’s life Raine thought to herself. Well she had other plans for him. She wouldn’t sleep tonight, in case the rock decided to leave in the morning without her.
“Not going to happen” she said to herself as they entered the cave.