(the blood pits) Letters of the Damned: part I(solo)

by **Antar** on October 14th, 2011, 12:10 pm

44th of Fall,511av

"Who are you? What's this about? Noth asked the figure before him, shifting his sword from his left hand to his right as the two combatants circled each other.

"Does it matter? I just need you to die so I get paid." The figure said before lashing out with one of his daggers. Noth half stepped back a pace to evade before countering with a cautionary thrust to keep the man at bay.

"I just like to know the reasons that I'm fighting...boy." It was true, the figure in front of him was barely older then a child, a man barely out of his teens. A fighter holding a pair of daggers in his fists. A fighter now amidst the jeering crowds of the Blood Pits trying to kill him as Noth tried to figure out why.

The boy darted forward with another attack, holding one the daggers in an ice pick grip aimed to stab down from above at his chest. The other was used in an attempt to parry his gladius and force it to the side. Noth's robe flourished from his moments as he blocked the downward blow with the teethed gauntlet on his left arm, the heavy tines of cold iron gripped the daggers blade in a catch guard as he tried to lever the weapon out of the boys grip with his arm. In his right, his gladius met the blade of the boy's other dagger, and Antar shfted the angle of the blade for the crossguard to ram down the length of the dagger to it's hilt.

For the moment the boy and man were locked up, and sparks had flown from each impact as the shoving match began. The roaring of the crowd grew louder as they showed they loved it. But in that second the shouting of the crowd was eclipsed by the pounding of blood in his ears. Every muscle in the combatants bodies strained, as they each vyed to gain the upper hand and the dust of the pits was chucked up into the air as they circled the ring in their struggles.

The boy aimed an offbalance kick at his nether regions, but Noth stepped forwards, blocking the blow with his calves. He used the opening to shove his helmeted head forwards, and down. Meeting the metal with the boy's skull as he headbashed him. The boy's legs staggered a bit as Antar made good on his advantage to raise the boy's weapons higher to extend the other man's reach longer then his body could handle. A sideways motion of his left arm tore one of the daggers from the grip, sending it spinning to the sand on the far side of the pit.

Antar made a left hand grab for the boy's left wrist, and encircled it as he continued to block the boy's second dagger with his sword. Stepping back and to the side he pulled the boy off balance with his left hand and used his momentum to whip his opponent about himself as the rogue's body twisted to send his opponent crashing hard into the boards of the pit.

He followed up with a sideways chop towards the neck which should have ended the boy's life, but the spry little scamp let his legs drop out from under himself to fall to the ground. The blade of his gladius sank into the wood and moored there for a moment. The youngster took the and poke the dagger up towards his ribs. It skirted along his breast plate and he brought down a teethed gauntlet hard, using the sharpened points as weapons to deflect the blow away from his core, as the boy shifted his grip to try to pierce through the armor. The tines met the boys arm, piercing them to the bone as the kid cried out in pain and dropped the dagger.

Uncaring, Noth lashed out with his right foot to kick the boy hard in the side, and the scamp rolled away for his life, coming to his feet and dashing towards the other blade he had dropped before. Antar let him go. Putting one foot against the boards of the arena, Noth levered the gladius back into his hands and turned as the scamp picked up the weapon. The crowd roared even louder at this close miss on both sides.

Noth reached down slowly to pick up the dagger the boy had lost, and saw it was a kukri like his own strapped to his shoulder. He glanced at it, noting the cold iron of its making and glanced at the boy curiously before securing it on his belt. For a moment, the two just stood there looking at each other, each one pondering who would make the next move. The boy was wounded, his left arm out of commision, the dagger in his right being the only weapon he had left. Noth had fared far better then he, only a slight bruising to his calves and shins from blocking the boy's kick. The scale armor had absorbed most of it.

Finally the boy began stepping to the left, and the circling began in earnest once more. Still curious as to how this came to be; Noth raised his voice to be heard over the din of the crowd. "Let me try this again: I usually like to know the names of those I'm killing, at least if they have some grudge against me. So who paid you to be here and why?"

by **Antar** on October 14th, 2011, 12:47 pm

Earlier that morning...

It had been a pleasant day, waking up like he did on any other morning going about the camp duties, and then for a light five mile run... It had seemed just like any other day. But today had been different for him. Today, on his run he'd been stopped by a beggar. A beggar bearing a note in an unmarked red papered envelope. There had been a name on it; his real name, a time, and a place noting as the blood pits.

Nothing more , nothing less.

Before he could ascertain, and potentially torture, the information out the beggar who had brought him this conundrum; the man had vanished. Almost seemingly into nothingness, and the very sensation of someone being able to do that to him left chills upon the back of his neck...

Present time...

"What the petch does it matter? You die, I get paid." the boy spat at him.

"Perhaps you'll change your mind as you lay dying on the sands. Why do you want to risk your life to get paid like this anyways? Whomever sent you after me is playing you for a fool! You're outmached."

This wasn't exactly true, the boy had shown impressive skill with a dagger so far, and the ability to wield one in each hand was commendable. Noth wasn't the best with his gladius but there was no time to switch to his own kukri. Any attempt to do so, would just serve to slow him down just enough to give the boy an opportunity to strike. But half the fight was about psychology, and manipulating or outright intimidating an opponent to reinforce the idea you bore the upper hand was key to begin degrading your opponent's will to fight. 'So was drawing first blood, and he had done that quite well.'

"Shut up. the boy said , taking a tentative step towads

In reply, Noth backed up a step into the fencer's stance, one leg slightly in front of the other with his body turned slightly to the side as the gladius was held in one and a half hands. His right fist curled around the hilt loosely by the guard, and the left loosely held on the circular pommel.

He began to flurry his gladius, weaving it about in a small display reverse swings, chops, slices, and thrusts to keep the boy guessing where the attack would come from as he began to circle faster. The display actually served a different purpose: to keep his opponent at bay until he was in position. He kept manuevering until the boy had been backed almost to the far boards of the arena before raising the weapon at a diagonal above his head in the basic form of the falcon guard. This guard kept the point of the weapon as high as possible at a diagonal for the strike. This guard was for provoking and enemy into an attack and one he was betting on now. His gladius afforded him a slightly longer reach, and a single downwards slash could buckle the boy's one handed attempt to block. However, the dangers in this guard came if one evaded the first swipe, or even if they could gain control of the downswinging arm. Either of the two counters depended on the strength and speed of the opponent. A perilous gamble to be sure.

The boy probably would know this too, if he was even remotely competent and so far his skills belied he was. If he was fast enough, he might even draw the blade across the chest, crunching through bone and slicing deep into the organs of the ribcage in an almost assured kill. But that was not his objective right now.

He wanted to exhaust the boy, press him for any details that were of use, and then let the sands run red with his blood. He had no qualms about the last fact. There was an unwritten rule of the blood pits; two enter, one leaves. Anyone who dared go against that risked being drawn and quartered by the crowd or outright hung for their disregard of Sunberth's bloodsport.

Keeping a sharp eye on the center of the boy's chest , and a tensing in his opponents legs, Antar waited for the signs of his opponent being about to spring forwards."Damn you! Stop playing me for a fool!" Noth smiled slightly, confidently, as he noticed the sign he'd been waiting for: a small bit of sand scuffed up from the arena floor. The boy launched himself forwards with an unrestrained snarl.

by **Antar** on October 14th, 2011, 1:52 pm

It was a test of speed now as the boy sprang forwards. Shifting his back left leg farther to the side, Noth pushed off the sandy soil to sidestep in a half hop to the right. Antar hands were bringing the blade of the sword down in a diagonal chop, right to left which he quickly reversed to pull sideways back across the direction of his path as his momentum began to change. He worked it this way, jumping towards his opponent's injured side in order to deny the boy a chance to hit him with his dagger. It wasn't honorable, mercilessly exploiting an opponents weakness but in the blood pits particiapants didn't possess any honor at all.

Not if they wanted to survive.

As the boy went hurtling towards where he had just been standing the tip of his gladius raked a wicked slash across the boy's left side. Penetrating just below the rib cage to gash out a two inch deep cut in his side as Noth vaulted past him, ripping the blade through the soft flesh of muscles tissue. His right foot stretched forwards to make contact with the sand as he began to follow though with his left leg.

Antar's opponent let out a small cry of pain as he passed, the boy's own momentum causing the majority of the damage to himself. The hired killer's right hand flailed with his remaining blade for a strike at any exposed skin as Noth pulled himself away with another hop. Cursing as a sharp bit of pain came to his senses he would feel his left sting as a small bit of blood from a slash came right above his boot strap.

Unwilling to keep the space close to his opponent, Noth twisted and used the flat of his gladius to deal the man a stout blow across the shoulder blades. The strike propelled the boy a few feet down the ways to fall to his knees in the sand. Noth took a moment to survey his injury, keeping one eye on the boy. It was just above the lip of his boot, and had been turned aside mostly by the leg grieve, but the three inch line of weeping red belied the fact that a hit had been scored. It was a small wound, not very deep. But it was something that would slow him down. He'd given more then he'd got off course, the boy was clutching his side in pain with the injured arm as he struggled to keep the organs inside. His right hand still held his other dagger, a shorter flatter blade with a cross section that seemed excellent for punching.

Putting a bit of scorn in his voice, Noth heckled his opponent. Seeking to destroy his will to fight. "That's no good kid. You just made it so I'll have to clean my armor. I hate cleaning my armor, boy. Why don't you make it easy on yourself and tell me what I want to know. Why do you want to get paid here anyways? Is it really worth your life?"

With an extreme amount of effort the boy forced himself to his feet and staggered slightly as he gazed at Antar. "Scum like you wouldn't understand. I get paid for your death, it means someone I know might live. Pay for their passage to Mura. That's worth any price; even my life!" With a guttural snarl the boy yelled and came at him again... closing the distance in record time.

In that split second after the boy's words were heard, Noth could only think one thing. 'Oh... Shit.' He'd made a tactical error here. One that was costly; he assumed his opponent would try to have some care for his own life. But that was not the case. The boy, no a man, any man possessed by the will to fight for another's life wouldn't care about their own lives. No matter what damage they took if they thought it was worth it. They'd even force themselves on a target's blade if it meant they could kill them.

The boy was being used to get to him. Of that there was no doubt in his mind, but no amount of pressing him for information would yield anything of value. The boy was going to attack wildly from this point on, trading the last bits of his life to destroy his target. For now, Noth was that target: and that meant it was time to stop messing around. Noth went for a straight forwards parry, bringing the flat of his up to block the dagger aimed for his body as he twisted painfully again to try to get out of the way of the enraged boy's strike. He had to end this, and he had to end it soon.

by **Antar** on October 14th, 2011, 3:22 pm

His opponent's third series of attacks was far different from the first two. He fought with a strength possessed of a madman and forced Noth onto the defensive. Each strike of the dagger was met with a shaky block of the flat edge of his blade as he was pressed backwards towards the wall of the arenas. Small changes in the man's strikes were apparent as the dagger's edge skirted across the cold iron of his gauntlets, as the boy probed his defenses. In a few flourishes he couldn't block, the dull thuds of hits against his armor became apparent.

He knew what his opponent was trying to do, he was trying to find areas without resistance; in an attempt to make him bleed in as many places at once. The more an opponent bled the more harrowing the pain came upon their senses. A multitude of cuts which wouldn't necessarily cause a man to bleed to death would serve to hamper their movements and efforts long enough to make a killing blow. Noth had been lucky so far. He knew that. The rogue just had to find a means to regain the advantage, or endure long enough for his opponent's wounds to bleed out. As soon as the thought occurred, the boy made a sudden shift in his grip, and the dagger was rotated to a backhand strike upwards towards his face.

Reflexively he leaned back and the dagger's edge skirted across the side of his helmet, and the boy's fist cracked solidly into his jaw. Noth's left hand came up to grab at the wrist, encircling the entire arm as he tried to gain control of the knife as he brought the pommel of his gladius towards the boy's face in an attempt to stagger him.

The wood of the hilt met bone, and the nose of his opponent crumpled as the boy fell backwards to the ground. Unwilling to let go of the arm, Noth's body followed after, bringing him down to a knee. Reflexively , he turned the weapon to sloppily draw the blade to the side as they both dealt with the impact. His efforts only warranted a cut across the boy's forehead as the body finished crumpling to the ground. A flash of movement at the edge of his peripheral vision noted an odd stamping of his opponents boot on the ground before a small stilleto sprang into being. The leg was thrown upwards, but Noth leaned into the blow, taking a knee to his armored torso. Using the right arm to wrap around at the leg, while keeping control of the boy's right arm at the wrist, his body protested as he heaved himself to his feet, the boy held in his arms across his stomach, unable to move.

Taking a short shuffling run towards the side wall of the arena he slammed the boy hard into one of the supporting posts. A cry of pain and an audible crack was reward enough for his efforts as he jumped back. The boy had tears in his eyes, and his legs were limp, the dagger was the only thing in his grip as he waved it weakly in Noth's direction.

Trying to cut him to the last.

Stepping forwards, Noth planted his boot on the boy's left arm, pinning it to the ground at the wrist before raising his gladius. A single downwards chop in the sand followed by a scuffing kick sent the now separated offending appendage from the rest of the boy's arm and a howl of pain resonated amidst the arena. He stepped back, shifting the blood slickened hilt from his right hand to his left, point downwards as his right hand came back up to the pommel As he surveyed the boys predicament, the sword was raised high as he prepared to deliver the final thrust to the heart.

The boy's eyes looked at him, defeat clearly showing through as through gritted teeth two words were uttered, "Do it!"

A sly note entered his voice as . "At least tell me your name boy and the name of the man who hired you. If you do... maybe I'll ensure this person you need to send to Mura actually gets on a ship. At the very least, you'll get a clean death if you do. A proper one."

The boy's eyes betrayed himself now, as a small shred of hope had been offered, The name is Krieg, the person to send to mura is my sister; Donna. She's bedridden. We own a farm out in the fields since our parents were murdered, only red roof stone barn in the area. The man who hired me: I don't know a name. He visited Donna to tell her of the offer. Not me."

Noth smiled a bit at the information. At least with the name of the boy's sister he had a hope of finding out more information. Coldly, cruelly, Noth spoke as the roaring cries of the crowd to kill the boy began to be heard over the beating of his own heart. "Good enough. Now boy, It is time for you to die: you know that right?"

A stubborn nod was the only thing that was in reply as the boy closed his eyes. "Goodbye Krieg. Your life was far too short. But you paid the price for your efforts well." Without wasting another word, Noth thrusted the gladius downwards; the point piercing the boy's chest. He severed the heart with a sickening twist and withdrew the blade before stepping backwards to stand there breathing. Taking a hankerchief from a set of scrapped garments he'd taken off Ellise when he found her, Noth wiped his blade clean before setting it back into its sheathe behind his right shoulder.

Antar had just killed a man, a boy no less who had been used to try to kill him, and yet he felt almost nothing. He'd long been anesthetized to the horrors of taking a life. One more wouldn't do much to haunt his sleep. He used to remember the faces of all the dead he'd killed, but as time continued on it seemed that more then not they were unworthy of his regard. But this one, he took a moment to gaze at the boy's face , devoid of life and seeming to be able to jump up at a moment's notice if not for the wounds of his body, he swore to remember this one.

Turning towards the blood pits side, a gate in the wall openened for him to go through as the next 'match' was set to begin. Taking a quick stride to the nearest bench he grabbed a bit of alcoholic wine from one of the bystanders who looked to protest a moment before seeing the blood speckled face of the man who had just been in the ring. The drink was surrendered without struggle and Noth used the alcohol to clean and dress the wound on his leg.

It stung like a vagik to be sure, but soon enough the bandage encircled the injury and the leg in a tight wrap. Tight enough to keep the wound clean and the bandage unmoving, but not tight enough to restrict the blood flow. Setting towards the door, the man who ran the pits tossed him a small coinpurse with a random amount of coins inside. "Lucky bastard won a bet on you. Seemed to impress him enough at the end there for him to share a bit."

Antar nodded slightly and fingered the new cold iron kukri at his belt and journeyed outside to get his horse. He didn't turn towards camp though. He turned towards the western aggramon fields and began to ride. His eye searching for the telltale Redstone barn roof the boy, Krieg had made mention of. He had a sister to ... ask certain questions about and it would be long time from now before he could rest.

by **Antar** on October 14th, 2011, 4:48 pm

The ride out to the field was a painful one, with his left leg in the stirrup. Even though the cut on his leg was small, cured with alcohol, and bandaged, each jostling movement of his horse's hooves made the task of staying in the saddle almost unbearable to him. But soon enough, he was riding out to Agremmon Fields. As various farms came into sight, a sign on the horizon filled him a little bit with dread.

From one of the farms in the distance, dark plumes of smoke funneled into the sky. A farmstead was burning. As he approached he stopped a short ways down the road from the burning building to dismount and ponder the situation. He didn't want Dawnstride in any danger from the fire, and already the horse was showing signs of being jittery from the smell of smoke. The mare's nostrils flared and she whinnied bitterly as the horse shook her head and pawed the ground nervously.

"Easy girl. Easy." Noth muttered as he tried to get a good look towards the burning farmstead. From this distance the color of the barn roof could be easily seen to be orangy red, as if made of colored stone.

'Shyke it all.'

Antar tied Dawnstride's reins off by a fence and knelt down on one knee. His hands hovered a moment as he closed his eyes to concentrate. Marshalling his djed he began to shield his boots. It was a rough sort of job, one that seemed innocuous to the situation, but not entirely. He'd have to run towards the burning house, and he didn't want to take the chances of anyone hearing the sound of his running footsteps while he approached the domicile at the run.

Slowly his djed seemed to travel like lightning in his veinds, from the pit of his stomach up towards his arms and down into his hands. Small visible lines of power shown an irridescent blue as they began crisscrossing like threads on a loom between his hands as he placed the spun net like constructrion across his boots. Laying the blue lined 'net' in order to wrap around the soles as he tasked them for silence.

One boot , and then the other.

Checking his weaponry one last time, he began to sprint towards the building. His legs pumping with the effort he heaped on top of the injuries he had sustained in the blood pits. The run was not a pleasant one, and he vaulted a small wall at a leaping stride. The impact of landing forced him to hiss in pain as he looked towards the main door of the farmstead. His heart, seemed to beat loudly in his chest as the adrenaline propelled him forwards. But his caution warned him to halt for a moment to listen. Inside, on the first floor, the muffled sounds of a female screaming could be heard.

If this was the farmstead the boy had talked about; it meant his sister whom he wanted to question was still alive. Cursing his luck, Noth glanced upwards and noted the smoke coming from the second floor windows. The heat of the fire was intense, almost feeling as if his face did after being sunburned. Drawing his cloak around him tighter, he took out his waterskin to douse himself as thoroughly as possible before taking out another set of bandages to douse them as well before tying them about his nose and mouth. A wet down cloak would not catch alight as easily and a wet rag around his mouth would help him breathe without coughing on the smoke in the air. Rushing the door, he shoulder slammed it open just above the lock breaking it free from the old wood. In an instant, he had gone hurtling from the relative safety of the outside and into a burning inferno.

He crouched lower to the ground, trying to stay below the heavy smoke as he made his way towards the screaming girl. The entire experience was disorienting to him, and not once, but twice he bashed his knee into a table, and a chair as the rogue made his way through a kitchen area. In the distance, down the hallway on the others side the girl's shrieking continued. A brief flash of a shadow moving out of the corner of his eye was the only sign of anything else amiss before a weigh slammed into his stomach, bearing him to the ground as he was thrust back into combat with an unknown opponent.

by **Antar** on October 18th, 2011, 4:00 pm

A glint of cherry red from the fires was enough for noth to raise a gauntletted left hand up to deflect a dagger strike coming down for his chin. It grated past the side of his helmet and into the ground as he triggered the mechanism on his right gauntlet. Noth instinctively grabbed for his opponents head with his left hand as the stilleto sprang into existence on his right as he punched the blade forwards into his opponents neck.

Aside, from the blood spray, the limp corpse was the only sign he succeeded. But to ensure the job was finished properly, Antar pushed the assailant off him and rolled to a sitting position on the corpse's chest and wrenched the blade to the side, tearing through the arteries as the figures hooded cloak fell off its head revealing eyes that were narrowing in shock from a life cut surprisingly short.

A woman's gaze stared back at him, her cheeks marred with tattoos.Sometimes conflict was ended swiftly, with seemingly little struggle. Just by doing the right thing at the right time. It was a hazard of the circumstances; and any mercenary worth their salt would tell you that. The sound of a girl screaming came again, and Antar gasped in pain as he levered himself to his feet. The days events were taking their toll, and he knew he had to move quickly to figure anything of this out. The corpse of an enemy might prove worthwhile to search but not immediately. It was too dangerous. Especially with a fire burning all around him. Taking a hold of the corpse he tossed it out the main doorway and turned back towards the hallway at a shambling run.

Outside the doorway of the room , Noth busted down the door with a heavy kick and burst inside only to see a girl of twelve screaming from where she lay in a bed. Heavy layers of smoke hovered by the ceiling. It was a wordless scream, one of abject terror, and the signs of her illness were apparent to anyone to behold. Her legs were limp, and her cheeks were flushed as she blearily looked at him, tears streaming down her face as she was too weak to move. The only thing she could do was scream as the smoke grew within the room.

Her terror filled eyes met his, silently pleading with his as she croaked out a name,"Krieg, Help! Krieg"
She was in a state of panic, and Noth slapped her once to bring her attention to his as he lowered his face next to her own, his face shrouded by the cowl of his robe as he pitched his voice. He slapped her once, lightly to call her back into some semblance of attention. "Be silent, Donna. They're still here. I'll get you out, I promise."

Not wasting any time, Noth grabbed the covers of the bed and tossed them over the girl, and tossed her up and over his shoulder as he turned back towards the blaze of the kitchens. He could feel Donna on his back, trembling in fear as she stayed quiet. Whether she knew he was Krieg or not, was not something that really mattered to him at the moment. Antar had more important things to worry about. Things like running the gauntlet of obstacles back to safety as he tried to keep watch for any other assailants around..

The trip back through was a nightmare , and the second seemed like millenia as the the sound of crashing girders behind him spurred the rogue onwards as he ran out the front door with his prize. Ten feet out the door , he tripped over the assailant he had killed and found the wrapped up Donna falling from his clutches to land with an auidble screech on the hard earth. Part of the blanket she was covered in was on fire, and noth took a moment to beat them out with his gauntlets and wet robe.

Behind him, the sound of the farmstead caving in on itself shook the area with an audible groan and the rogue turned about to stare idly at the scene, he closed his eyes and lent a quick prayer to any gods who were listening to thank them for his own safety as he realized just what a close call it had been.

For just a moment he let down his guard, a cold voice in the distance behind him hollered at him. "Oh so that's what you would do, Imagine, saving the life of some wretched girl ? Have you truly fallen so far these past years, Anthony?"

Noth's eyes snapped open, one hand reaching up to grip the hilt of his gladius as he wheeled towards the source. It was the beggar, the one who had given him the envelope this morning, now armored and armed with a longsword and simply smiling at him as he held up his right hand. Within it's grip, another red envelope was held, turned towards him. He could see the lettering on its side, spelling out his name. He eyed the figure coldly assessing him, and the distance between the man and the girl and the corpse who held his answers... though the man might hold even more of those then the other combined.

Noth shifted his feet and moved to the side a little. Vaguely noting the sound of his heels on the soil marking his shielding efforts had expired into nothingness. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the last of the burning sensations from the smoke from his senses as he took a hard look towards the Beggar's shrouded face. It was as if he wished his efforts could pierce the cowl and figure out what this man's plans were with just his will alone. Keeping his own voice level and calm, the rogue spoke. "I am getting petching sick of you and these games , Beggar. Who are you, where do you know me from, and what do you want from me?"

by **Antar** on October 18th, 2011, 5:01 pm

"All in good time, Anthony. All in good time. For now, I'll let you have the next task I have for you and leave you with a passing thought: They think you died in that shipwreck. I won't tell them, I just intend to kill you myself for old times sake. That's all it really is. But first I want you to suffer like they made me suffer when you botched the job. They should have killed you then. I know I would have... You'll have no more of an explanation from me right now. It wouldn't do to spoil the fun, I've prepared for you." With those words the Beggar threw the envelope towards the blanketed figure of Donna and turned away arrogantly showing Noth his backside.

That was a foolish thing to do, Noth's instincts and training told him that was the perfect time to attack, so he rushed the man. Drawing his gladius at the run from the sheathe, he thrust forwards seeking to skewer the man for his foolishness. But the exact opposite came into effect; he'd been played for the fool and had acted the way the beggar had expected.

Like a twisting snake the beggar's robe flourished, as he dodged out of the way, allowing Antars thrust to pass him on a side. An arm wrapped itself around his quickly and pulled him off balance as his gladius was forced high and away from his target. From the man's belt, the longsword was partially drawn from its scabbard, the steel pommel knocking into Noth's stomach from the side, driving the breath out of him before the man kicked him backwards to send him tumbling to the ground. The gladius fell from his hands to stick point first in the soil as behind him the crackling fires mocked his ears with its laughter.

"Petching predictable would be an apt term. You never were one for swords before, and your ability to use them doesn't seem to be the best either. You need work, you need to regain that killer's edge. I want you at your best when I kill you." The man's sword was resheathed in its scabbard and the beggar turned away once more towards the closeby fields.

Anger flashed through the rogue's veins, and the djed was summoned almost instictively as the Res began to weep from his palms. The translucent fluid streamed up and over the lips of his gauntlets and back towards his palms to collide into a hastily gathered sphere as a cry of rage came from his already parched throat. The man turned and arched an eyebrow at the display, having only the time to mutter, "Interesting, you seem to have learned some new tricks." With barely a moments notice the Beggar bolted into the cornfields, disappearing from Noth's sight.

In his rage, Noth sent a wash of blue colored flame after him, scouring the closest are of the field like a flame thrower as his mind saught to kill what had come to harm him. He knew something had been amiss now. There was someone who knew his past, even if it did not necessarily mean they were connected to... his former employment.

For a moment, he stared at the cornfield as now crisped vegetable seeds made popcorn, as their stalks smoldered. He didn't see a sign of any corpse there and he pondered what was happening. He knew it was only a matter of time before the past came back to haunt him, and the blood in his veins screamed for him to kill this man quickly, and then kill anyone who may have known about him in the slightest either. To disappear to safety in another town. But he knew that wasn't going to happen, he just had to buy himself enough time to train, to get better. There was one thing that made him believe there was some hope to keep this shrouded from view long enough to get back to his normal routine.

The man had called him Anthony. It was one of the few names he used when 'on a job' which meant the man probably had been only remotely connected to him... or another 'prospect' he had been unfortunate enough to work with. But he had a clue: there was only one job he'd ever failed at before... which made whatever the connection was quite ominous indeed.

That thought chilled him to the bone as he rose up and gathered up his things in time to think about what he had to do. He looted the corpse, finding only a small pouch with vial of acid and two sticks of blackface.

He'd take them all to see if the vest had any notes later in its pockets which might give him a clue. Unfortunately, he found none. The crimson red robe of his dead assailant gave him nothing to work with: it's pockets were bare.

A small squeaking cry alerted him to the girl again and he ventured towards Donna. He had to leave now, it was too dangerous to stay. The fire and the fields would summon other farmers to check to ensure the damage wouldn't spread to other fields. If he didn't move now, to secure Donna to ask her any questions he'd never get the chance.

Hoisting the sick girl up and over his shoulder he made his way back to his horse and tossed her up over the saddle before painfully mounting Dawnstride as well. Leaning the girl back against his chest , he made his way back towards camp. Not saying a word to anyone who was there as he entered his tent to lay the shrouded bundle down gently upon his bedroll.

Slowly removing the blanket's the battered form of Donna came into view. She was unconscious, and several burns marred her crippled legs. A twelve year old kid, hanging between illness and pain. The burns weren't life threatening but her overall condition worried Antar, and propelled the rogue to make his way out to gather a pot of boiling water, and scraps of bandages from the barrel as well as a few other items from around the camp before returning to his tent, including a bit of still warm broth from last nights meal.

by **Antar** on October 18th, 2011, 5:47 pm

When he returned to the tent, Noth took the time to tie down the flaps of the tent before he turned towards the cage where Ellise was held. Unwrapping the cloak from around her cage he cage he brought the animal out into view and set her on the bedroll beside him as he rummaged in the chest for the human sized collar.

Ellise looked up at him, chirping in confusion as she saw the collar he held and then the sick girl trembling amidst the blankets. "Hold still Ellise, I need your help for now. This child is an innocent one, unlike you she did not attack me; though she has information I require. I need to ensure she stays well and can answer my questions. You will help me in this. You will not do anything that is not useful to me or you will go back into the cage. Now I'm going to unlock the collar and you are going to switch back to your human form. Do you understand?"

The kelvic chirped a little in distress, and fluttered her wings. Noth spoke a bit coldly to her to stop her squawking. "Nod if you understand Ellise, and I will begin by removing your collar. Disobey me in this, and I will view this quite unkindly. You are not to speak unless I tell you to. Now nod."

For a second the falcon shivered as she stared up at Noth, and then a head bob signalled her ascent to his demands. Slowly, Noth unlatched the jesses, and unlocked the falcon sized collar and stayed back. A wash of light encompassed Ellise and soon enough, her white robed form was kneeling in front of him, her eyes staring at him behind the white mask he had covered her human face with. For a moment he placed the human sized collar about her neck and left it unlocked and unlatched.

Take off the robe, Ellise." The kelvic trembled a little as she began to comply, slipping the white cotton robe from her shoulders to reveal the tunic and pants underneath. For a second her hands hovered over the buttons of the shirt as if wondering if she should continue."Stop. You did well, I will need the robe to help keep the child warm. Now hold still."

The kelvic shivered as Noth continued to watch her, assessing whether enough of her spirit had been broken enough for her to not resist. There was a slight tinge of relief to her features as she pondered the idea he would not wish her to be naked in his presence. Slowly he closed, latched and locked the human sized collar shut before the key was placed back around his neck. He spoke to her with a smile, "Good Ellise, very good. You are learning. Do not leave the tent as we must now help this child. She is like you, before I met you. Injured, and in pain. You know now that there is much I can do to help her and you become better. Stronger. Now it is time to get to work."

Under his direction, Ellise and himself began to treat the wounds of the girl, bandaging the burns with fresh bandages as they began to work diligently. Donna was in a sweat soaked shift, shivering with all the the signs of fever and shock and together they worked quickly. He directed Ellise to slathered bits of honey over the wounds as he guided the bandages to enwrap the burns. Keeping them free from the air's touch.

Dipping a small hankerchief into the water he lay it across Donna's brow, in order to cool her head. Slowly, he instructed Ellise to get the child out of the sweat dampened clothes and towel her dry and the kelvic responded to his orders without question until the process seemed complete enough to allow Donna to rest, her breathing returning to normal as she was bundled up tight amidst the blankets and robes. She was still in danger of losing her grip to the fever and shivered, so Noth instructed Ellise to lay beside her, to keep Donna's body warm as he tended to his own needs. He shucked off his armor , down to his tunic and checked the wound on his thigh again, He knew that rebandaging it was a priority but a bit of water for the girl came first. At least he was unencumbered by his armor and helmet now.

Kneeling down to rest beside his kelvic companion in order to draw the blankets over both Ellise and the girl. Covering them from head to toe. For himself, he leaned back against the cage and stretched a leg out to block the tent entrance as he began his vigil throughout the night.

There were times when he and Ellise had to feed the girl some broth, and let her drink simple mouthfuls of water before she lapsed back into unconsciousness. After such times, Noth eyes seemed to weigh themselves heavily upon his head and his body ached for him to sleep. But still he remained conscious.

The red envelope the man had thrown weighed heavy on his mind and he opened it just before Syna's light peeked its way above the horizon. There was a date, and a location upon it. Nothing more: 46th of Fall, South Woods, Aquillar hot springs.

His thoughts wore themselves along the same tracks until his eyes grew too heavy for him to stay away. In a moment of weakness, he nodded off, only to awaken an hour later to the sight of the white masked Ellise standing in front of him, holding his waterskin to his lips for him to drink. His bandage on his leg it seemed had been changed without him knowing about it.

He surmised the kelvic had done it, and even yet: she had not run away... or slit his throat in the night. Whether this was whether she wanted to stay, or simply chose to believe he was the best one capable of helping the girl he didn't know. But he smiled and nodded cordially to her, "Thank you Ellise, you have proven yourself very useful today. Perhaps I shall take you hunting as a reward tomorrow on the 46th? Or perhaps we shall take this girl for a nice bath at the springs to help her recover a little. I do not know yet. I do know however, that you are learning and that is good."

He could not tell if the kelvic smiled, but a small nod came his way before Ellise scampered back towards the covers to hold the girl tightly. He took a moment to sigh, and look out through a gap in the tent flap towards the rising sun and pondered just what he was going to do. Krieg had said his sister was sick, and needed passage to Mura to cure her. And it certainly seemed like the child's frailty was apparent to anyone who viewed her; a sign of a lengthy condition to be sure. If he could find a way to break her fever, and get some information, maybe there was a way to get her better. Or a means to send her off with someone who might have her best intentions at heart to the Isle.

Gods above knew his was as black as they came...

~Fin

Thanks for the read.

Antar's Skills/Spoils request :

by **Cachet** on October 19th, 2011, 7:49 pm

Antar :

Spoils :

Conclusion: A nice read, I do enjoy your threads.

Anything seem out of place? Any questions please feel free to contact me ASAP.