A Dive into the Black (Anyone, 2-4 people)

Venture into the tangled forests of Faedwood, far from the walled cities and wide streets of civilization---far from all semblances of law and order. Here amid the shifting shadows and tightly packed trees strange cries echo, their sources growing ever more distant as you attempt to get near. Come deeper still, across a bridge whose builder’s bones are imbued in the masonry and whose names are long forgotten. Here your already doomed soul will meet a man the likes of which you have never seen. He is ancient, having spent his youth long before the bridge was raised. His body is worn and beaten with age, wrapped in robes made of tattered cloth and leather. He holds in his hand a staff of ironwood—gnarled and pitted as the fingers that grip its dark brown surface. One glimpse into his eyes however, would teach you the truth of his entire existence. One glance would unfold the reasons for his hermitage. Unfortunately, that one look would be your last.

Voyage into the forest, seeking the legendary hermit and the powers he wields, safe in your knowledge that one mere look can’t possibly kill you. What do you have to gain from finding this old wizard? Well, you could put to rest the rumours that secretly he has built an unholy army out of the tortured and transformed remains of the forest’s vanished tribes. Or, you could seek him for more personal reasons; tap his knowledge of magic, alchemy and the dark arts---provided he finds you worthy enough…

OoC: Im using Merran, link in sig, I think you should explain this a little bit better, but it sounds kinda cool

BiC: Tales of a legendary hermit intreged the young warrior. His longing to unleash the full potential in his blood had enflamed over the course of the past few weeks. He had been having nightmares, great invisions that tormented him beyond waking. Others near him also suffered as unstable illusions erupted from his mind and pitted several innocents into their own internal hells.

Visions from his past had also began to creep out of his mind and into reality. Visions of his dead mother and the father that had left him. Talking to him, and ridiculing the crimes of his life as he tried to creep into sleep as some form of redemption. Hopefully this hermit may help him to control these powers of the shadow-kin,before they destroyed him from the inside.

Merran had reached the forests of Faedwood several days after he heard talk of a dark hermit residing there. He had recieved the tip from a man he was assigned to kill in a bar on the edge of the land of Hyrule as tribute to save the man's life. He now stood far from his homeland on the words of a condemned man, but he didn't care what it took. The dark powers within him were too much for him to calm alone.

The forest was dark and incredibly unwelcoming...the perfect site for the shiekah. The ultra-violet light of his sword helped to light his way. Merran had wandered deep into the unknown valleys of the wood, wondering how he might be able to find the dark wizard...or if he was even real.

There was talk that the wizard could kill simply by looking at you, this did not scare him. He had faced worse forces and wasn't looking to fight the old man anyway. Merran decided to make a stop deep in the mist filled valley's and set up a small camp. The night never seemed to end in this place; an eternal night that corrupted the mind and brought fear to the heart of many. Merran sensed little to fear in this place, the darkness actually soothed the dark warrior!

As he calmly began to drift into sleep, a sharp pain erupted into his brain. He opened his eyes and drew himself to his feet. A collection of shade's had surrounded the camp, were they came from Merran didn't know. How could they have all came around without Merran noticing?

He quickly rose to his feet, sword drawn and waiting for them to make the first move. A large shade, wolf-like with great red eyes, came forward and charged right into Merran's path. The shiekah disapeared into the shadows, confusing the small band of creatures. He reapeared with a wakizashi right through the large shade's heart. The beast toppled over as Merran dissapeared into the shadow's again. The shades began to panick and scatter with the loss of their leader.

Merran had hoped for this since there was no chance of him taking the lot on alone. He began to chase the creatures down one-by-one as they ran alone through the dark.

As the last of the shades fell, Merran returned to his campsite and cleaned his blade of the black blood that stained his weapon.

"Where had those creatures come from?" He said to himself

"Well I think they came from you, that's probably why you defeated them so easily!" A voice came from behind him

Merran turned to see who had been spying on him during the battle. No one was there.

"From me?" He replied to the darkness

"They animated from nothing around you, I was passing by and heard you scream. Now what would you be doing in these woods?"

"Show yourself!" Merran replied "And I will tell you what you wish to know.

A figure stepped out of the shadows.

OoC: sorry if the dialogue messes with a character's personality...hope it's good!

A small caravan led a tight line of carts, horses and travellers along the borders of the forest. Faedwood was dense and without paths and horses refused to enter it. Illdian sat on the back wagon, slouched slightly, leaning on his sword. Though tired, he didn't trust himself to nod off. They were too near this place. The stories he had heard in the village were too dark and raw to be fantasy.

He heard the driver shout a command to his horses. The cart lurched a little as they sped up. Illdian leant back on a crate and sighed. He swayed a little and fell into a drowsy half-awake state. Seconds passed like hours as he slipped in and out, like a river otter swimming against the current. An interesting dream took hold of him. He was sitting on a large, lizard like beast with six thick legs undulating below him. The crate he leant on was now a joint in the creature's spine. He stood up almost lethargically, seeing no apparent need to run or shout; and looked around. The road was half as wide as before eaten up on both sides by trees. The driver was gone, replaced by a muscular being holding long black chains. It bent to the left briefly, allowing Illdian to see the ends of the chains running into the lizard-creature's ear canals. A slight tug by the driver made the beast move faster.

Illdian scanned ahead and saw similar beasts trudging forward in a neat line, towards the horizon. The sky above him however, bore a remarkable difference. It was a vibrant red, like blood in a jar lit from beneath by fire. Suddenly a voice from behind made him spin around.

"Beautiful isn't it? Faedwood has been like this even before it was given the name." Said the hermit. "I know your heart Illdian, you would seek to destroy all I have made."

Illdian gave a shocked look. He tried to answer, tell the old man hovering over the ground that he would never destroy a forest, but his breath came in heavy, syrup-like gushes. Not seriously perturbed, he sat back down, intent on getting back to sleep. As his eyes shut again the voice came again.

"The forest only hides my creation. Let it now hide your corpse."

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Illdian woke up on a bed of softly matted vines and moss. The buttress roots of a tree cradled him on either side. Full realization setting in, he jumped up and immediately felt for his sword.

"Good. Still there." He said, relieved. His bow and arrows were all in place, along with the contents of his pack and cloak pockets.

"A bloody illusion!" he said to himself, walking carefully out of the tree's cove and into a large patch of moonlight. He felt a little calmer in the pallid blaze. He darted into the shadows and began to pick his way through the maze of vines and roots, intent on getting to the core of things.

OoC: wow, I hope this thread isnt dying on me! Havent posted hear for a while!

BiC: The figure stepped from behind the brush, and at first, it greatly startled him. It was an elderly man, garbed heavily with robes and clumps of mud from travelling in the wilderness.

"Such potential, in such a young one..." the hermit said to him "I sense great power in the illusion magic, yearning to make itself known.

"Ummm...I suppose..."Merran replied, still a little startled and very lost for words.His swordhad now been dropped to his side.

"I apologize if I startled you, and I would be happy to help you unlock this power. Although first I would have you do something for me..."

Eager at this new offer, Merran jumped to his reply, "Oh yes! Please I woulddo anything for your aid wise hermit!"

"Very well," He began "There is a dark elf, not far west of here,who would mean me and my forrest harm. I would like for you to dispatch of him for me"

Merran jumped at this new offer and replied "Deal," and then began to make his way off. As he left the clearing, a great smirk appeared over the face of the hermi, as he dissapeared in the shadows.

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Merran sped through the woods, leaping from tree to tree with an eternally watchful eye on the ground. Searching for this opponent he would need to defeat. The woods began to grow thicker as the assasin leaped through the trees. He eventually fell onto a small set of caravan tracks, surely where the dark elf would follow.

Merran sped down the tracks, eager to find his prey.

OoC: sorry if it's really crappy, I don't have much time right now.

Illdian had the habit of using the spirit whisper in every new place he came across. It was a mystic detection spell that required him to be absolutely still with his eyes closed. When in effect, he could sense the location of creatures or people quite a distance away. They appeared as crimson blazes of light in a mass of black and purple. Sitting in a hollow lined with vines and roots, he found a point of stillness he had never achieved before.

Flickering like candles amongst behemoths of shadow, small beasts scurried up and down the trees, across the forest floor and flitted from branch to branch. Larger animals lumbered through the bushes and a long serpent-like beast cut the surface of a nearby lake. He was also acutely aware of himself, watching as if from afar a glowing figure seated in the lotus position.

Among the various objects the ever-open eye found, was a curious being moving quickly from tree to tree. It seemed to shift in and out of view, melding temporarily Moving his sight closer, Illdian observed that it was biped, and armed. By the complex flows of energy moving from head to body, Illdian saw that it was intelligent, sentient.

Suddenly the figure stopped and stared Illdian straight in the face. Two cold eyes saw right through his spirit form and refused to blink until Illdian began to withdraw his power. Fully awake now, Illdian was on his guard. Whoever it was knew the arts of stealth. This person, because he spotted the spirit-form, would know whenever Illdian swept the area again--and stop him.

The entire forest seemed to moan with an unspoken evil. The evils of murder and deceit, lurking within the heart of this dark place. Just hidden enough to keep many of the inhabitants unaware of it's existance, including Merran.

The shiekah sped his way through the forest, more eager and cocky then he had probably ever been in his life. Not only was his nightmares and constant barrage of fear coming to a close, but he would learn to control and master his illusion powers! Ever on his mind, this kept him pulling through the unholy place in search of the dark elf that would do it harm.

Suddenly, Merran sensed something watching him. He quickly stopped on a large tree branch and looked into the distance, in search of whatever had it's eye on him. A magic force, whatever it was, invisible to the normal eye but not to that of a master of stealth had creeped over the trees and found him. Merran didn't know what caused it, and he didn't care. Suddenly, the strange phenomena passed away into the night and quickly began to creep back along the path it followed here. The assasin sped to follow this strange force, hoping that maybe it would lead him to his target.

The trip wasn't long, as he had not been too far away to begin with, and he smirked a little to the success of his theory. A dark elf, clad in leather and plate, sat meditating amidst a clearing in the woods with his back facing Merran. He looked significantly plain, mainly covered in a sort of tan colored cloak with no unique features on it. The only thing out of the ordinary about the figure was his golden sword, a true marvel to any who knows weaponry (Which Merran had a good sense of). The spirit quickly withdrew into the figure as the shiekah sat in the dark, waiting for the right moment to strike.

The figure remained in meditation, as Merran lurked in the shadows. Silently, he drew his sword and prepared for the launch. Hurling his body off the trunk of the tree at blurring speed, he aimed the blow right for the dark elf's heart.

In his state of meditation however, Illidian sensed the assasin coming at the last moment and jumped to the side. Dodging the fatal blow, Merran's sword still cut deeply into his side. Blood slowly creeped down the elf's side as he drew his sword, ready to fight his opponent. Merran was no where to be found however, his launch had blown him to the other side of the clearing, allowing the forest to conceal him once again, giving him the upper hand still.

Panicking a little at this advantage, Illidian shouted into the darkness, "Who is there?"

A dark, ominous silence answered his call. Merran knew better then to give his location, and didn't care to speak to his enemy anyway. He still couldn't help but feel as though he had heard that voice and seen that sword before however... He quickly shrug off these thoughts. Emotions and memories took no place during the kill, and that's what he was there to do.

Slowly creeping around the open circle, Merran prepared his second launch on the unsuspecting warrior.

The forest was silent. Illdian stood on his feet, katana arching away from his body like some strange antenna. His attacker had shot past, wounding him and dissapearing back into the forest. A spot of blood slowly widened on his side. He swooned suddenly and fell back on his leg. He collapsed onto his knees, sighing once and falling flat on his chest. The sword dropped heavily onto the grass, like the fullstop in a sentence.

More silence. Merran was alarmed. Illdian's body was sprawled on the forest floor, the bloody spot on his robes now the size of his own head. He leapt down from his treetop perch and came into the clearing. Dissapointment was mixed with relief in a strange, intoxicating cocktail for Merran.

As he stepped closer, he drew away the mud-stained cloak covering the muscle-contoured body of the Dark elf. A tapestry of interlocking yellow-metal plates covered brown leather, punctuated by the grey of exposed skin. His eyes fell to the spot where his glowing blade had sliced Illdian's flesh, and he realised too late the depth of his trouble.

The figure on the ground exploded into motion, leaping to his feet and throwing an arm back. Illdian's back was turned to his mediation-hollow, as a blast of hot air rushed past him and gathered into a wall of flame, striking Merran dead-on and engulfing him. He ran forward, picking up his sword and checking the wound, which was nothing more than a spot of drying blood and sore skin. Illdian held the blade back, ready to strike again at his flaming opponent.

OoC: sorry to keep you waiting, here it is!

BiC: Merran staggered back as the flames slowly died down, no oxygen for them to feed on through the blackened suit of armor. As the smoldering leather became clear, almost none of it had been damaged leaving Merran in a panting breath, but mostly unharmed. The assasin had no time to realize this however, as his opponent sped forward with the agile nature of a hawk; launching a fast attack to the side at him. Impulsively, Merran parried the attack with the blunt end of his sword.

"D***, I need to get a grip. Pull yourself together Merran!" The Shiekah thought to himself, struggling to keep up with the speed of the swordsman.

Trying to pull the shock away from himself, Merran quickly sped against the offensive attacks of his opponent. Although he was an exellent swordsman, the dark elf had made the mistake of charging the the small killer with his larger weapon, leaving himself a bit more open to an attack. Merran quickly jumped to this advantage and counter-acted the assault. Leaving several marks upon his unsuspecting foe.

Illidian shifted back several feet, removing himself from the small but fast glowing weapon of the Shiekah. He wasn't very badly wounded, a few deep cuts on his arms but the golden plates had protected all of his vital areas.

This quick retreat had been yet another advantage to the killer, however, giving him the chance needed to disapear into the shadows once again. The shiekah jumped far backward, landing on the outskirts of the clearing with no more then the ruffling sounds of a brush and then silence.

Illdian cursed under his breath for his foolishness. "Come out you coward and fight!" he cried into the night. Again, only silence had answered him.

Deep in the brush, the killer quietly remenessed over this statement. He didn't like being called a coward. He tried not to let it get to him and shrugged the bad thought off. This time, he wouldn't show any mercy.

Speeding out just as before, Merran readied the attack, just as before, facing Illdian head-on. The elf held his sword up ready to cut the killer down as he approached. Merran smirked a little at this, his opponent was falling right where he wanted him to. Swinging strongly at Merran, the golden katana flew gracefully through the night sky...although in vain. At the last second, Merran had jumped his body backwards a mere foot or so, barely missing the edge of the katana. His sword pointed like a gun straight at the open side of Illdian, Merran grinned wildly at his success.

"This coward might just kill you tonight," Merran smirked at him as the blade glowed bright with a bright violet light...but only for a mere instant.

A thick black mist erupted like a gunshot from the whole of the blade with no sound and the subtlety of a plague. It quickly engulfed it's target and imploded in a rush of thick black smoke. Behind the smoke, Illdian staggered still on his feet, but in pain from the destructive attack. A small crater had been left around where the attack had hit him. Burnt earth smoked from the spot as did Illdian's entire body.

"Like it? The silence of the night, but the power of lightning...I call it the Shadowbolt," Merran smirked hatefully at his enemy.

From out of the smoke, Illdian chuckled a little. This fight was getting more and more interesting, who knows? Maybe the killer would be a challenge...

OoC: Ok, there. Have at it!

The pain was like being squeezed in a blanket of spike-mail. The shadows surrounded and then imploded on him, burning off most of his cloak and leaving star-shaped burns across his arms and face. Illdian breathed deeply and sized Merran up through his clearing vision.

The Sheikah was about his height, but built much lighter and seemed more agile. It was his magic Illdian worried about now, as this shadowbolt thing was no laughing matter. He quickly classified Merran as a spellsword with an affinity for stealth and planned to deal with him appropriately.

Illdian stepped up an attack, rapidly swinging with precise, light slashes. He snorted a little as he cut Merran deep across the thigh. Beneath the trees the two fighters seemed to dance in the moonlight, thier respective blades flashing gold and silver onto the leaves. Merran dodged deftly and tried to block a blow from Illdian. His sword bounced back wildly, almost flying out of his grip. Good, Illdian thought, he can't parry my swings with that sword. Now he knows it too.

He swung again--a far reaching slash that pushed Merran back against a bank of mossy dirt and vines. He suddenly leapt back, putting a full fifteen feet between him and the Sheikah. He held his katana back and spoke in his deep, resonating voice.

"Merran. I just wanted to say, before we go any further.." he paused, his eyes closed as if falling into a trance. A moment later he spoke again.

"A people like yours must be very hard to talk to after dark, your special talents must kill the nightlife at home, hmm?"

Illdian held his sword flat against his back, the tip pointing at the moon; his other hand in front with two fingers raised as if uttering a jutsu.

"Was that meant as some sort of insult?" Merran spat back at the elf. "You would never understand the full purpose my people have held."

The assasin sped forward trying to hit his enemy with an upper thrust that had been effortlessly parried. Illdian hacked his sword downwards after the parry and met the blunt end of Merran's sword right above his head. Illdian chuckled a little at the obviously greater strength he held. He simply forced the attack downwards and Merran needed both his hands to hold his sword in defense.

"Your people? They have left significantly no mark in history,and have played a meaningless role through their existance. I have heard little of them, but what I have heard dissapoints me. An entire race left behind to defend a single family?" Illdian was starting to peel into his enemy's personal feelings, whether it was good or bad was still unknown to even him. "Tell me, were your kind enslaved, or just that stupid?"

That had drawn the line. Merran cried with rage, forcing his sword, still holding the force of Illdian's weapon, straight upward into the air. Merran drew his wakizashi from it's case at his side and made a strong cut right into the stomach of the dark elf. Illdian staggered back in pain and shock at the seriousness this being held in his comment. Looking up, he stared blatantly into the face of his opponent that now pounded with a look of pain, fury, and belief.

"MY KIND HAVE ENDURED AND PAINED MORE IN A LIFETIME THEN YOUR RACE EVER WILL! ONLY THE FEW OF US LEFT UNDERSTAND JUST WHAT WE GAVE FOR OUR ALLIES!" Merran's words rang out through the forest, almost vibrating it with power that seemed to erupt unrealisticly from the small fighter.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY! Your kind are no more than rats upon the face of this earth, living your time blatantly and with no sense of fertility or beauty! My kind's time has ended, but we will not quit until we leave with the world in better hands! If a heartless rat like yourself should claim it, then you will have to take it from my corpse!"

This was no longer a laughing matter, Illdian had not meant to upset his opponent this much but the damage was done and there was no turning back on it now. "Then quit this pointless rabble and fight me!"

Merran almost seemed to meld with the air at the speed he charged the dark elf with. Illdian tried to block but the katana was not well designed for combat this close and Merran had the advantages of speed and dual weapons.The onslaught was fierce and gave little time for Illdian to react, cutting him deeply and damaging a good deal of his limbs. Thinking fast, Illdian managed to grab the hand that held the shiekah's longsword and emit a shock magic through his hand and into Merran.

Merran immediately cried out in pain, and knelt to the ground, dropping his sword from the momentary nerve shutdown the electricity had given him. Illdian took this chance and pulled Merran to his feet by his hair. Using his strength, he launched the assasin forward and let him land on the ground with a hard thump.

As Merran crawled to his feet, regaining strength, he looked up to find the dark elf holding his glowing sword up into the air; examining it's elaborate design and giving it a twirl or two to feel the sturdy light affect that made the shiekah brand so incredible.

This began to frustrate the warrior even more. Still armed with his wakizashi, Merran belted forward at Illdian a few feet and threw the weapon like a dagger right through the hand that held the black and violet sword. It clamoured to the ground as Illdian began to painfully pull the weapon out of his hand.

Merran speared forward and slid just beside Illdian, managing to grab his sword in the process, as he disappeared behind the brush once again. Panting, this time he jumped right back out into the center of the clearing with his sword in hand.

"I hope you liked it, this weapon will be your doom," Merran stated calmly. Through all the hustle that had just taken place, Merran had regained his calm nature and was ready to continue fighting at full concentration. Looking forward at his opponent, he noted strangely how almost all the damage he had done had almost completely faded away, despite the harsh attacks he had made!

"How can I beat him?" Merran quietly spoke to himself, "I need to find a way to kill him instantly...so he has no time to regenerate, but where would such a place be?"

Illdian shook his hand vigorously, making sure the circulation was properly reformed and getting back full movement.

"Come now Merran, I am Dark Elf, child of the Golden Dragon and kin to the Night Mother. My people perfected the arts of guerilla warfare, halting entire legions of our human enemies. I may not appear to be the hiding type, but would you assume I've learnt nothing?"

Illdian looked into the bushes, once staring straight into Merran's eyes. However, his gaze continued to travel, eventually circling the entire clearing. Suddenly he ran forward, sheathing his sword and jumping straight up, grabbing onto a woody liana looping between two great trees.

Before Merran could ponder calmly this strange monkeylike behaviour, the dry air around him seemed to crackle and thicken. With a sudden roaring, the forest exploded into flame, even consuming some of Merran's breath in his nostrils. The entire ring of brush and trees encircling the clearing was consumed with clean, dancing fire. The burn was deep and engulfing and Illdian could hear Merran's scream as he placed a mana-restoring root under his tongue. It was bitter and made him see stars as he swallowed.

"Another time, shadowy one." He said quietly.

Illdian climbed further into the tree and made his way across the canopy, heading for the lake that flickered with the faint orange light of the fire behind and below him.

Ooc: hey new person here! I'll use Kaifraz, link in sig.

Bic: Kaifraz wandered the forest alone, as he always did. He followed the one path he had found in the forest, and walked down it until he was found by an old man who claimed to be an old mgical being.

"I forsee you have great potential. Potential that can be inlocked if you are trained by me." he said, Kaifraz looked at him dubiously

"Not interested." he said slowly.

"But if you are trained then you can return home a hero."

"I can return home..." Kaifraz said deep in thought. He had been kicked out of his home, and was never alowed to return. If this man was right then he could go home, and see his mother again.

This person could be lying but the young swordsman would take any chance he had of getting home. As if reading his mind the old man spoke

"For me to train you, you must kill two people in this forest, they are constantly battling each other and leave me alone. For now." He paused as if thinking "I'm sure it won't be long befor they team up and destroy me.That is why you must destry them first."

With an eager look on his face Kaifraz ran into the forset to find these two, and protect the wizard, at all costs.

Flames erupted from the trees and earth that had coveted the clearing as the dark elf leaped away into the shadows. Pulling the sash tightly against his face to help him breathe, Merran began sweaping away the flames with the end of his thick cloak as he ran after the warrior. The night lead the two through a labyrinth of passageways from the ground to the treetops and even leaping to the sky a few times. Breaking away, the elf needed time to find the old man before he continued this and so did everything he could to lose the trail of the assasin. If it had not been for the brown haired youth walking through the forest however, he may not have had that chance.

Speeding down on the ground close behind Illdian, Merran never saw the human and ramed him hard at full speed and the two tumbled over several feet from the collision. Both leaping to their feet and pointing dual swords at each other, the two warriors were both instantly ready to kill one another.

"Who are you and what is your business in this forest?" Kaifraz bursted out.

Merran didn't have time to play 20 questions with this fool and was losing Illdian more and more with every passing second. "It's none of your business and if you want to kill me then go ahead and do it, I don't have all day."

Certain that this was one of the warriors the old hermit wanted him to kill, Kai praised at this opportuniy. This fighter seemed small and a little weak, and from what he could see, the only threat was that glowing sword the warrior held in his hand.

Swords drawn he simply replied "As you wish, the hermit shall have his corpse," and then leaped at the dark warrior. Merran snickered at this fighter's cocky move and effortlessly parried and kicked him into the ground.

"Well, if that's the case...you'll have to catch me first," Merran didn't like to play games with his opponents, but Illdian was getting away and having the swordsman's help would be appreciated since he was obviously trying to kill off threats to the hermit...but...why would he want Merran dead? Leaping into the shadows, Merran quickly disapeared and went forth in search of the dark elf once again. Should he though if the hermit only wanted him dead? Deep in thought, Merran sped quietly through the wood and struggled to contimplate what he would do next. Kai followed close behind, still blissfully unaware of the intentions of the hermit and hunting the other two warriors in hopes of returning to his loved ones.

Illdian had lost Merran in the forest. It took him a little longer than he had anticipated, but he had done it. Finally he thought, a little peace and quiet for me to think and gather some resources. Illdian settled on a spot high up in a fork between branches. A he crouched there, he resembled a huge armoured insect with its leathery wings folded. He took out some bread wrapped in an old cheesecloth and chewed while he pondered.

"The Hermit must be behind all of this. His powers of persuasion must be quite formidable to hold one such as Merran in his sway." Illdian said to the quiet, still leaves of his tree. "The question now, is why did he threaten me and afterward enlist Merran? The Sheikah does not seem like a minion, he must be getting something out of it."

No sooner did the words tumble out when a ruckus erupted in the distance. Illdian peered through the foliage, looking more and more like his ancestors did so long ago. A clash of weapons and beastial cries made a strange music that he knew all too well.

The newly risen sun gave a peachy glow to the lake and its surrounding banks. The water was still and mirror-like but was slightly different to his nighttime memory. The hulking mass of some huge craft sat in the water. It was pointed in an awkward angle at the sky, telling Illdian that something was off. The body of the lake-serpent was laid out on the sandy banks, its length cut into segments and skin spread over the ground with pegs.

The fighting however had broken out along the forest line, where a group of red creatures advanced on the lake. Moving closer, Illdian could see that the creatures were not merely red, but skinless. Thier muscles throbbed and slid past each other, covered in pulsating veins. He also got a good look at the other fighters, who wore dark-metal armour and mail.

The fighting was intense and Illdian was unsure of what to do next. He dropped to a shorter but closer tree, alerting two of the skinless to his presence. They roared in a gurgling, painful way and charged, running away from the line of fighters near the bank.

Illdian knew if he killed these two and rushed ahead, those men would attack him just as fast. He threw a fireball at the ground in front of the skinless. It exploded in a short column of flame that he hoped would draw the men's attention. As the fire subsided, he leapt up and cut the two beasts down, taking his time with the second one as to be sure they saw.

A red-haired fighter raised his arm and shouted.
"Oi, we got reinforcements! Duck yur head mate!"

A horn blew two rapid notes and the entire line of warriors ran behind a shallow trench in smooth choreography. They ducked as another line of men hiding in the bushes along the trench rose up, armed with bows and crossbows.

Illdian barely got down in time as the wind from the missle weapons whooshed overhead. When he stood up, the men were already dragging thier wounded from the field and into the trench, where short bursts of white light told Illdian a healer was at work.

He killed another two Skinless that had been wounded, cutting one down the middle and beheading another as it staggered to its feet. He stood near the trench and sheathed his katana. A gruff voice exclaimed:

"Welcome to hell, mate!"

The still lifeless trees danced around Merran as he leaped through the forest, barely even noticing the swordsman chasing him and the shining steel swords he bore. Almost all of the shiekah's senses were focused on the earth; searching for some sign that might have been left by Illidian. The ground and trees remained motionless despite Merran's wishes, however, and his nerves were beginning to flare from his frustration. As his hopes began to die, the assasin heard the sound of clinging swords at a distance, and quickly leaped in that direction while closely followed by a very angered Kai.

As the trees began to broaden, both warriors realized that they were comingclose to a clearing. As they hit the final tree that rested by the meadow, Merran stood dumbfounded at the barbaric battle that was occuring below. Skinless creatures were attacking a band of some armor clad warriors, completely hidden behind heavy plates of steel and bulky weapons. Kai quickly came from behind and leaped at the heavily cloaked warrior. Merran spun around and kicked his gut out, forcing the warriors own leap against him and heavying him down into the ground.

"You're trying to hard!" he said as the warrior hit the ground with a thunk. "Why are you trying to kill me anyway?"

"You mean the hermit harm! I can't allow anything to happen to him." The swordsman replied

"What has the hermit done to you that you favor his life?"

"He promised me tha-" Kai cut short as to stop from revealing himself to the enemy.

"Promised you what? What can he give to you?"

"It's none of your concern you cold-blooded freak!" Kai hated even bringing his personal life up around his enemy...he wasn't some sap who got emotional in a fight!

"...well...if you are to kill me, then the hermit won't give you what you ask of him..." Merran was now almost brought to tears at the complete realization of his foolishness. Illidian was surely a good man, and he had insulted his race and attacked him with almost know mercy or compassion. He deserved to be called cold-blooded...

"Wh-what do you mean? The sorcerer promised me!"

"He lied."

"Shut up!" Kai leaped from the earth and began slicing at the assasin with great speed and strength. Merran almost disappeared under his great cloak as he began evaiding up the trunk of the tree. As the two climbed up, Merran made out the sound of an explosion of some sort. Exherting great force onto one of the branches, the shiekah launched himself up into the air to get a glimps at what made the sound and almost chuckled when he saw what it was.

Below them in the battelfield, Illidian had began aiding the warriors in fending off the skinless creatures and had casted a fireball in the process. Quickly looking back down at the human who meant him harm, Merran was surprised to find him waiting on the branch he had leapt off of. "Why won't he jump?" Merran thought to himself. "Oh well, maybe I can go talk to Illidian now."

Merran grabbed the ends of his large cloak as he began to fall and used it as a crude parachute to carry him down to the edge of the battlefield. As he began to land, a sharp pain penetrated through his leg and he stumbled to the ground from the pain. In an unfortunate accident, the shiekah had landed just as the volley hit and one of the arrows had pierced him. To make matters wose, three of the skinless reatures had seen him and charged the crippled warrior. Pulling out the arrow, Merran chucked the bloody item directly into the brain of the closest creature and then sliced completely through the other two. Limping as he walked, the assasin began making his way to where Illidian now stood in the trench. He prayed that they wouldn't see him as an enemy and was now a little worried that he couldn't defend himself if they did.

Ooc: Sorry this took so long but internet access has been restricted as of late. But its all fine now.

Bic: Kaifraz looked up at his opponent as he used his cloak as a crude parachute. The swordsman didn’t jump after him because he was too busy thinking about what he had just been told. The hermit lied. If that was true then he was wasting his time here. Because he would never be able to go home.

The young swordsman turned and jumped from one tree branch to another, occasionally stopping to regain his balance. Soon he was almost away from the clearing when he heard the sound of fighting. He paused and turned back.

Skinless creatures were charging across a field toward a group of men in a trench, and had almost made it. Soon the swordsman noticed the one he had attacked, and another, who was presumably the other one the hermit had mentioned. Both of them looked out of place.

A skinless creature held its sword high, ready to bring it down on a man’s head, and without thinking Kaifraz jumped and drew his blades. He hit the ground, using the speed to cut the creature into three pieces, using both swords at once.

It wasn’t long before he was surrounded by these creatures, and was fighting for his very life.

Why did I have to jump? Kaifraz thought to himself.

"Gerfrutz mate!" The red-haired fighter shouted jovially. "The name is Gerfrutz. I'm the leader of these here mercs. As you can see our airship crashed here last night, thanks to some damned skinless frikkin birds!" He paused and kicked aside a muscle-and-bone limb that had been severed during the fighting.
"And we've been fightin' ever since. They are pretty dumb, these beasts. That bit o' fancy footwork you saw a while back kept em from crossing the trench more than once. I guess whoever made them forgot brains along with the skin ay?"

"Made them? You mean they are undead?" Illdian asked frankly over Gerfrutz's loud laughter.

"Heck no, they bleed, breathe and they taste damn good after a roasting."

"I see. You even caught the lake-serpent. You said--"

"Yeah. But the mama got away last night when a propeller cut a bit of her tail off."

"Right, but you said 'made them'. How could new life be made? And by whom?" Illdian said, struggling to keep up with the energetic man as they walked along the trench.

"So many questions." Gerfrutz said, almost to himself. As they walked, a bady injured man moaned as a stub of arm spurted blood.
Gerfrutz's face erupted into a hundred wrinkles and for a moment Illdian saw someone a great deal different to the one he had been speaking to. Gerfrutz seemed old and tired for the first time.

A white glow lit up the section of the trench and the healer stood up quickly. The man was gone, in a pool of semi-dried blood. The robed healer made a apologetic face. Illdian broke the silence.

"Be prepared, master Gerfrutz. Enemies may come in other forms from this cursed forest. They may have much more than bare muscle and serpentine bodies. Be wary."

OoC: Sorry it's been so long! Finals took place all week last week and I didn't get home till last night from out of town, I hope this won't happen again. Sorry again guys!

Blood trickled down Merran's leg as the warrior limped as quickly as he could into the trench. This was so degrating...a combat expert such as he shouldn't be reduced to crouching in pain inside of a trench! A man in white was rushing down the path stopping every so often to release a white light from his hands onto someone who sat in pain such as Merran did. Reacting to the sight of the healer, Merran almost jumped up to catch the robed man's attention.

The healer proceeded in moving towards the wounded man and lay his hands on the wound. A flash of white light erupted and all that was left of the injury was some dried blood and a small tear in the boot. The assasin jumped to his feet and thanked the healer, who had already moved to another wounded man. In the corner of his eye, Merran made out the figure of a dark elf in leather and plate...Illdian! Making his way to where Illdian stood with a red-haired fighter, the dark elf noticed the aproaching assasin and pointed to him, implying that he was telling the red-haired man who Merran was. As he drew closer, both men drew swords and pointed them at Merran's head.

"Leave Merran. You can't take us both." Illdian spoke firmly to his opponent.

"Illdian, I apologize for earlier...I don't mean you any harm I swear it," Merran pleaded at the warrior, "The hermit of the wood...he convinced me to...I...I had made some bad alliances. If it makes up for anything I did, I will help you all fight off these creatures and tell you that there is another warrior out here who has fallen under the hermit's control. He is a little obnoxious but could be a threat."

Illdian sat in thought for a few second, his sword not dropping from the position it held at the shiekah, but finally yeilded, "Very well Merran, let's get to work."

Merran was a little startled at first. He didn't expect Illdian to forgive him quite so quickly and was a little questioning of what he was planning. It didn't matter though, he was finally on the right side now and would try to make amends for his mistakes earlier. It seemed that he would never be able to control his abilities now though, but he would worry about that later. There was work to be done.

With weapons drawn, the three warriors; The red-haired commander Gerfrutz, The dark elf adventurer Illdian, and Merran the nightstalker; then charged from the trench behind a fresh volley of arrows, and straight into an oncoming carrion-like creatures. Somewhere nearby, a human kensai was slicing his way through the same army and an old hermit sat atop a tree watching them all like maggots, his intentions still unkown to all.

Ooc: here is my post (at last!!!) Major appologies for taking ages.

Bic: Kaifraz slashed and parried so many attempts to cut his head off he had lost count at about one hundred. Not that he had really tried to count. The man he had jumped down from the tree to save was nowhere in sight, and hadn’t even thanked him.

That’s what I get for helping someone in a war. Kaifraz thought to himself. One of the skinless creatures brought its sword up high, ready to cut him in two. Soon it came down in an arc, straight for his head. The sword glittered in what light made down here.

The swordsman had just enough time to deflect the weapon. But unfortunately it cut deep into his side. Kaifraz screamed in pain, and dropped his weapons, clutching his side.

He slowly lifted his head to look at the creature that would kill him. Then he noticed someone on a tree branch out of the corner of his eye. His head snapped round to look at them. It was the hermit. The same one that had tricked him with the promise of going home.

The young tracker let out a scream of rage and, grabbing his swords, stood up and cut another of the foul creatures in two. Kaifraz was tiring and there was always more of the skinless to replace the ones he killed. Even though he wasn’t sure if they were actually alive anyway. Their eyes looked dead, as dead as he would be if he wasn’t careful.

Illdian stood in the trench aside captain Gerfrutz and Merran. The Sheikah had only minutes before formed an alliance with them, and Illdian still eyed him closely. Despite the captain's neatly choreographed tactics, conditions were rapidly deteriorating. The skinless had broken through on the far right flank, causing a courageous soldier to detonate some sort of powder bomb, killing him and collapsing the trench on that side.

Illdian was beginning to doubt the captain's state of mind, as the burly Gerfrutz merely smiled and began issuing orders double time. Even Merran sensed something was wrong. Illdian drew his bow and kept the quickest of the skinless from reaching the trench, while Merran leapt out occasionally to cut down the very nearest.

A whiff of sweat and blood.

"Oi mate, get ready for another charge. The boys are ready t' bust them skinless open like a bag o guts." Gerfrutz said close in Illdian's ear.

"Right. I'll tell Merran." Illdian said, moving over to the panting Sheikah.

"I'm afraid we have a difficult choice, Merran."

"What is it?" Merran replied, sheathing his sword.

"Master Gerfrutz has contracted a disease, far too common amongst leaders of men."

"A disease? From the Skinless?" Merran asked perplexedly.

"No, his brain is ignoring what his eyes see and ears hear." Illdian said, looking at the sad state of the trench, and the men in it.

It bore all the marks of an extended engagement. Bloodstains covered the living and the dead; soldiers fighting on, painfully ignoring the bodies they tripped over as they ran. Dust and mud, mixing with sweat and the aroma of uncovered filth created an unholy miasma that burned the nostrils and choked in the throat.

"Gerfrutz is going to order a charge--and I don't have to say what its outcome is going to be." Illdian said out of the captain's earshot.

Merran stared at the captain, trying to glean some of the information that seemed clear only to Illdian. Sensing his next question, Illdian turned around.

"Experience."

Suddenly a ruckus erupted on the left flank, drawing both fighter's attentions. A man wielding twin swords was in the centre of a closing ring of skinless. He bravely cut them down as they approached, but was near swamped. Illdian did not recognize him as one of the captain's men and immediately jumped the trench. Merran was soon running at his side.

"A friend of yours?" Illdian asked, drawing his katana swiftly.

"No, not really. Remind me as to why we're going to save him?"