There are no such things as heros...

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There are no such things as heros...

Postby kellidir » Thu May 24, 2007 9:18 pm

(( Part 1 of Many ))

Five days had passed since she had wandered into the village, simply looking to find a place where she could wonder and rest without seeing his face for just one night. But the 'siege' had happened. The steep un-climbable rock faces encaged the valley and the solitary road out had been barricaded and on the other side there were almost certainly soldiers. The soldiers wouldn’t let them out, how were they to tell the difference between hungry villagers and hungry brigands? Did they even care?

She felt abandoned, both by her man and by Bree. There was no rescue coming, no hero on a valiant steed with a score of knights. There was no dark stranger with his men, not even a caravan of supplies.

The bard's tales were wrong, things were not supposed to happen like this, people weren't supposed to be left to fight and die. No one spoke of it, but she was certain most had felt the same, and that no-one expected to come out of the troubles well, if at all. There was an odd lack of panic, almost solemn state of acceptance and people carried on. The wooden palisades were reinforced and small patrols would venture out of the village in hope of bringing back enough boar meat and supplies to see out the siege within the valley.

She had wondered for a while, what went through the brigand’s minds in their camp across the valley. Surely their situation was almost as grim as the villagers. Sooner or later the animals in the valley would be too few, the food would run out and so would the drink. And then it would happen. She wasn't sure what *it* would be, only that it would be an act of desperation.

She sat staring out across the fields, her back leant against the village palisades ignoring the light afternoon drizzle. She took a long solemn sigh and looked down at Nymmie that she held in her hands. “I don’t know what to do anymore Nymmie.”

Nymmie remained silent as always, staring upwards and blankly at her.

“I just don’t understand why he had to do it.” She looked up and closed her eyes, letting the rain land on her face.
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Postby Felaion » Thu May 24, 2007 9:50 pm

Gah! Stop making me feel bad! :(
Master Vagandro Rist - Jedi Sage & Diplomat
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Postby Lirandel » Fri May 25, 2007 4:12 pm

You had that one coming... :twisted:

L
"Boots to asses... Or Imps out the airlock." -Antora Kel - Trooper Vanguard
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Postby Felaion » Fri May 25, 2007 4:30 pm

T'aint fair, everybody hates I!
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Postby Haelewulf » Fri May 25, 2007 6:48 pm

*chuckles*
Some people are born to trouble, it would seem!
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Postby kellidir » Fri May 25, 2007 7:14 pm

It had finally started to happen, but it wasn’t what she had expected. It had seemed that Sergeant Keynes had come back from his last patrol with knowledge of some of the Blackwold plans. And so, twenty of the militia, including herself, had followed Keynes away from the safety of the village and into the dawn lit fields. She carried her bow and a full quiver of arrows and a single extra arrow already knocked on the bow ready.

There was an uneasy silence to the group as they made their way across the field, for a number of them, this would be their actual first battle, it was hers too. She knew she had shot plenty of animals and a fair number of goblins before, but she couldn’t help but think this was different. It was a battle, it would be a small one, but it would still be a battle. She couldn’t help but feel the doubt in her mind, these were people, her kind. She couldn’t help but feel deep down inside herself that this was wrong, that it was legalized murder.

Sergeant Keynes held up a hand and signaled for them to stop and hissed to them under his breath “We are almost on them, spread out and advance as I instruct” He started to point at them and point where he wanted the groups to advance.

She watched his fingers as they pointed at her and then pointed where she would start her advance. As she moved as she moved into position she started to feel her heart race. There was a sense of excitement, and under that, a more foreboding sense of fear. She wasn’t sure if she could do what was expected of her or even if she would get the chance.

Kellidir stopped and knelt, she eyed up the wall of bushes ahead and then looked to where the other groups were. Most of the groups were quiet and waiting in there given positions, only one did not appear to be ready. She looked at the group that had stayed where Keynes had stopped, and watched as the group around Keynes tied white rags around their arms. In that moment she felt the sudden shiver up her back. Something was wrong, horribly wrong.

“RETREAT!” Keynes yelled at the top of his voice.

Kellidir glared at Keynes, he was doing anything but retreating, if anything they were now stood in a line, almost battle ready. She glanced at the one of the other groups as they started to move and run back to the Sergeant, and then she noticed the brigands with their bows come up from behind the bushes, their shafts loosing and mercilessly cutting down the running men.

She heard the bushes rustle in front of her and the sounds of those by her standing to run. She stopped thinking, her instincts taking over her. Instead of starting to run like the others, she swiftly stood and leaned to the side, drawing the bowstring to her ear and staring at an unknown face and loosing in that very same moment. She heard the whistle of an arrow flying past her head, followed by the sound of her bowstring and her own arrow flying.

As the stranger was thrown backwards by the full force of the arrow; a thin torrent of blood arcing in the air from the wound in his neck. He was still falling as she had the second arrow on her bow.

“Draw and loose” her uncle Bjorn’s words echoed in the back of her mind. “Don’t aim, trust your instincts”. Bjorn had taught her to use the bow from the age of ten, and she could now use it on pure instinct alone. The fear and excitement left her mind, only the words of her uncle remained.

“Draw and loose … Draw and loose”

In what seemed to be an eternal heartbeat, the brigands in front were gone. She looked for the those that had been next to her. Her eyes settled on the body of a young boy who had been no older than fourteen. The boy hadn’t stood a chance and laid motionless and bloody on the grass.

“Eyes on tha enemy lass!” the bushy bearded man gripped his axe with ferocity “Put some shafts in em!”

Kellidir simply nodded and did as she was told, hearing the voices over and over in her head. Nothing seemed to make sense and she had almost stopped thinking for herself. All that seemed to exist were the bushy bearded man, the enemy and those three words.

“Draw and loose … Draw and loose”

And so she did, she looked to a group of desperate militiamen surrounded by the enemy and started letting the shafts fly, the first striking a man in his side, the second hit the same man in the back as the sheer force of the arrow span him. She loosed more shafts, one after another.

She heard men roaring their battle cries to her side, and started to turn toward them, but felt the bushy bearded man nudge her and point back to the group she had been firing at.

“Help ‘em lass, I ‘ave yer back” The bushy bearded man raise his axe, causing the closest brigand to raise his sword high, exposing the belly to the bushy bearded man’s fist.

Kellidir stopped watching him and set her eyes back on what was now the main struggle and loosed more arrows at the brigands, burying two or three shafts into each victim. Instinct prevailed and those words repeated over and over in her head.

“Look out lass!”

Kellidir looked around and saw the bushy bearded man reach out for her, grabbing her by the jerkin and pulling her forward. That was when she felt it, the searing burning sensation of pain as the tip of the blade just managed to slice through the jerkin and across the back of her shoulder. She cried out in pain, stumbling and falling to her knees behind the bushy bearded man as he swung the axe at the brigand.

“Surround them, and kill them!”

Kellidir, looked up at the source of the voice and saw Keynes and his men descending on them, their blades covered in blood. It was that moment Kellidir realised what happened. They were betrayed, out numbered and facing their deaths. She did what she thought was the only thing she could do … she stood and drew her short sword, holding it in her left hand, her right arm hanging by her side.
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Postby Sayvara » Sat May 26, 2007 1:35 am

(( Oooh... absolutely riveting! I love it! :) ))

/S
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Postby kellidir » Fri Jun 01, 2007 12:48 am

“Keep running!”

She followed the order unquestioningly and almost blindly, each thump of her booted feet on the earth vibrated through her body, making the wound on her shoulder sear painfully. She was vaguely aware of the warm damp feeling she felt across her back as the blood soaked through her shirt and the leather jerkin. She wanted to fall to her knees and just stop and wish away the pain, but there was something commanding in those words that wouldn't allow her to give in.

“Don't stop!”

She could just make out the town's palisades in the distance ahead, and that too gave her more strength. She ran harder, her thighs burning with exhaustion, the jolts of pain in her shoulder occurring faster and more frequently. She was aware of the moans that escaped her mouth as she panted and she didn't care. The Palisades meant safety, and safety meant life, and she was far from ready to give up on life.

...The pair of them were surrounded by a half dozen of the surviving brigand ambushers, half of which wore the rags on their arms as sign of their defection to the enemy. She held the short sword tightly in her hand, her body shivering ever so slightly with the icy taste of fear, but she was stubborn, and like the bushy bearded man behind her, she wasn't ready to give in...

Kellidir glanced sideways at the elf running next to her, his marble features seemingly cold. She didn't know where he had come from, or why he had chosen to interfere with the battle. The only thing that mattered was that he had come.

... “Kill them!” Keynes words rang out like thunder in her mind, she saw the man in front of her stepping forward, his blade swinging through the air. She raised her own to meet it, the sound of steel smashing on steel rang out through the air, the pure force of the blow pushing her against the back of the bushy bearded man. And then it came; her assailant looked at her vacantly, his neck spraying blood across her where the thick shaft had torn through the neck...

“Watch your footing!”

She felt the strong arm of the elf grab her by the scruff of her neck, pulling her straight and forward, not letting her stumble completely to the floor. The palisades were closer now, and soon they would be safely within reach of the town’s archers. But even then they couldn’t stop, she knew the brigands were trying to run them down and finish the slaughter.

... She screamed as she swung the short sword, slicing though a brigand’s trousers and into the flesh, the blow forcing the man to fall to the ground. She looked around frantically for her assailants and felt the bushy bearded man’s hand on her shoulder. “Tha lot of ‘em are running!” She turned, moving to face him and stopped as she set eyes on their unexpected ally…

“Lirandel…” she muttered between breaths as she ran.

“Don’t talk! Run!” The elves voice was cold, harsh and commanding.

She did as she was told, and kept running, each stride taking her closer, and as she passed through the gates of the palisade, she felt the relief wash over her. She was alive! She slowed and came to a standstill and swayed for a moment and fell to her knees on the floor catching her breath.

“Physician, now!” the elf grabbed her by the arm and yanked her to her feet.

She looked up at him as he half pulled her along, she couldn’t help but notice how stern and gloomy the elf looked. Were all hero’s like this?
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