Fully aware

[Ayithe Solete]

((This is something i did a few years back but never finished posting on here. So it may be old but i would like to put up the finished vertion because i enjoyed writing it. Closed Solo))

A loud clunk on the table top as the drink of beer held in a sturdy hand smashed onto the table. He was a large man, his biceps were larger than Ayithes head and he was surely three times her size, never mind in weight. He wore large shoulder guards, one which made him stand out from everyone at the party. It was made from pure gold with spikes repeated in patterns along the rim of the guard. It was stained with blood yet the tips of each spike gleamed as if he left the rest of the guard dirty to remember his victims. The rest of his clothes were the common sight and he didn’t really wear much armour at the moment, so his shoulder guards were rather eye catching this night as he never took them off. Many believed this was to show his wealth, however if you’d been here long enough, it was merely to show off his power.
His stubble beard went straight up to his shaved hair making an entire head of bristled short hair. His eyes always squinted when he met someone for the first time but everyone was well known here, even Ayithe. After travelling for three weeks none stop her tried legs had made rest here for a week or two, this was a like a travelling town, they moved along every now and then depending on how trade was going. Entire houses like the tavern were taken down and carried to the next area. It was an open tavern though, only two walls while the rest was held up by posts allowing the southern winds to keep everyone cool. Ayithe kind of liked it here she regularly stayed at the pub but never joined in to their little tournaments. The man was called Chevoir, Ayithe didn’t know his second name but he was the best warrior in the camp and many came and lost, Ayithe wanted to challenge him but for now she was enjoying just sitting here, fitting in was her main concern.

“All raise your glasses, for it is our Lords 22 birthday.” Chevoir shouted.

Everyone raised their glass, Ayithe didn’t really know what he was the Lord of, probably the camp group. His father had died many years ago and that meant he was to take over with Chevoir as his protector. The Lord stood up and watched to make sure all glasses were raised for him, it was more a sign of respect than fear of him. Only Chevoir could beat him in battle and at 32 he was still a prime fighter which no one would question considering he had never beet beaten. His clothes were always laced with gold thread and he often wore robes with hardly any under garments, not the best sight to see for the guys but the girls liked to admire his muscular body. He had a very cocky nature to himself, didn’t like to be put down or he’d get Chevior to beat them down. A big cheer came from the crowd to which Ayithe joined in, he waved and Chevior passed him a large barrel of beer which he picked up with ease and shook it excitedly over the crowds of people.

“Great isn’t it?” Her brother said panting, “I just ran over from Vails tent, what a woman.” He looked very excited and had sprinted back for the celebration of the Lords birthday. His name was Arckry, Ayithe had always been jealous of her brothers fighting skills and he had spent months in teaching her while they travelled. He was rather bulky himself and his blue eyes shone even at night, he had rather long hair and he had a great outgoing personality to match his good looks. As she turned to him he wasn’t wearing any top but had belted brown leather pants on, his solid boots somehow stayed clean after walking in the mud and he spend little time standing around so Ayithe took every bit of help he was to give her crucial. Ayithe smiled after realising what he said after returning with no top, very crude she knew but it was dancing on the tip of her tongue since he dropped himself in it already.

“Really, what did she think?” Ayithe said giggling.

Arckry laughed and patted her on the back, he sat down next to her as a few people brushed past their table rushing to the now soaked crowd. Ayithe always sat towards the back but not completely out of sight from people. Her brother seemed too interested in everything else tonight than showing her some more moves as he tapped his fingers repeatedly on the table top. Ayithe gathered this and decided to let him enjoy himself tonight. After all they didn’t know how long they would be staying with this group. She sighed and turned to the crowds of excited males, all basically sucking at the Lords feet and following his every word.

“You can leave training tonight you know, I’m sure Vail…is missing you already, show me tomorrow.”

He smiled and kissed her on the forehead, “Thanks sis, enjoy your night” With that he disappeared back through the crowds running like a monkey towards its mate. Ayithe left her chair and wandered back over the beer sodden grass to her own tent, her fighting pole was still in one piece and it would be fun to practice her swing she thought. Gracefully she walked through the crowds that moved out of her way, like she had a force field around her. Beauty was a great asset and the general man when he’s drunk loves perving at a woman with assets. Unfortunately she caught the eye of the wrong man as she walked by, a man who just so happened to be the lord of this group. He stared at her as she wandered by and disappeared threw the camp site, his eyes grew as she disappeared and he quickly hopped down to the floor with a splash tapping Chevior on the shoulder. “Who is she?” She whispered to Chevior while pointing at her walking off.

“Ayithe?” Chevior asked as he nodded. “She joined us lot a few weeks ago with her brother. Great fighters, great people. Quite a beauty isn’t she Dreach? heh” He said with delight.

Dreach being the Lords first name was well known in any area he had been too, he always made a name for himself, his favourite activity so to speak. His hand brushed of Cheviors shoulder as he started to head off in Ayithes direction, the party didn’t stop and the group only got louder as he left through the mass of tents. A few people lay half drunk in between tents as he probed in to group of trees surrounding Ayithe. She was swinging violently at the propped up tree, Dreach watched her, she moved like it was a dance to some sort of music, so graceful and skilled, she sliced at the wood repeatedly in a fluent motion till it smashed into 2 pieces. Her disk blades glinted from the reflection off the moon light and Dreach appeared as a shadowy figure from under a tree. Sweat dripped down her cheek and she stood back breathing slowly to catch her breath, as she held her hips to recover she spotted the man approach.

“Well hello there…Ayithe”

Ayithe’s Disk Blades let out a high pitched scream as she sliced them together into a defensive pose. She watched for a moment as he came into view from the moonlight. Slowly she lowered her weapons and hesitantly smiled, wiping her face in the process.

“Sorry my Lord, I couldn’t see you.” Ayithe said rather panicky. Lucky for Ayithe his good mood wouldn’t let him get all annoyed and he forgave her pretty easily. He still remained partially hidden in shadow but his posture gave away it was him. He appeared rather intimidating and his voice was very quiet when he spoke, Ayithe held on to her weapons even after he stated she didn’t have to. But that’s what worried her more, she had never spoken to him before and after approaching from the dark shadows under the tree it was a scary thought.

“I scare you?” He asked, “I know I do because you refuse to remove your weapon from your hand after I said it was safe. You shouldn’t fear me, I am here because I find you an astounding beauty and I have never seen you here before. I wish to offer a dance back at the main party?”

“I am sorry my Lord but I do not wish for that, I am here only on my travels and I am not really looking to associate with anyone at this mome…”

“ASSOCIATE” Dreach shouted. “You come in my camp and do not wish to associate with me…I insist you do, before…”

Dreach was interrupted by feet squishing in the mud, rushing over to this direction came Arckry. He had heard the shouting and came rushing across to see what’s going on, a slight breeze brushed through the branches of the trees as Dreach gave a threatening stare towards Ayithe, he clenched his fists and turned away slowly walking off back deeper into the camp as her brother rushed past him.

“Hey…you alright? What happened?”

His questions flew straight through her mind as she stared at the exiting Dreach till he disappeared into the tavern.

“Nothing” She muttered. ”Nothing…”

[Ayithe Solete]

“Are you sure?” Arckry asked very concerned.

Ayithe shrugged him off and climbed into her tent, she didn’t like feeling like that and she had always had her family to back her up. Arckry couldn’t always be there and he was the only one with her now as they ventured. He scratched his head and turned to look at the pub, knowing something had happened he decided to leave it till the morning and drifted off to his tent.

Ayithe had got up early, she sat quietly at the same place as last night, this time however the bar was completely empty except a rather large man getting breakfast at the front. She had too much on her mind for the moment to sleep and with the bar being open early she was quite happy just sitting there. Thinking to her self about what was the end of his sentence going to be, she closed her eyes and placed her glass back up on the table. Taking a deep breath she sighed and put her head in her hands, Why me…. She asked. While she pondered about the fact that she might have fallen out with the Boss of the campsite, some ones foot steps were edging very close to her table. She opened her eyes still facing down to the table as she watched in the top corner of her eye a pair of legs stop striding towards her at the table. A tough hand gripped the back of her head and forced her down to the table, face first she kicked back her chair and gripped the hand to trying to remove it. It was a man, he started to say things to her about Dreach shouting and squeezing the back of her head with his rather large hand span. As he shouted she pushed up with her legs at full stretch and got her elbow into his stomach, the man cringed and she quickly stood up and struck him with a large upward kick across the face. His nose spilt into blood instantly as he collapsed with force backwards over a chair, the man was dressed like a normal man would and Ayithe didn’t understand what had happened. Frozen in a moment of horror she stared at him as the bartender and customer glared across at her. She watched the bartender as his face turned red with anger and he slowly reached down behind the bar table, quickly she exited out of the bar before they were to come after her.

Was he getting a weapon…? She thought to herself, it looked as though he was. But that was the problem, they were like gypsies and if one got injured they all followed suit and attacked the offender, which in this case was Ayithe. She ran around the back of the taverns side wall and dashed along the now dry grass field, in between tents and small huts she headed for the trees to the back of the camp. She could use the cover to evade any of them that might be following, she didn’t believe he would be alone, although the morning silence was making her believe otherwise. Walking backwards past the tents she pulled out into the small clearing before the trees only to be confronted with what she was trying to avoid. A clapping sound echoed around the little clearing as Dreach and a few men stood around her exit in a semi circle. Dreach was clapping rather loud and Ayithe stared straight at him, adrenalin started pumping threw her body and she grabbed her Disk blades steadily in both hands.

“Well, you are pretty good, aren’t you? I’ll leave you alone if you agree to dance with me…” Dreach said with a very deceptive face to himself.

“Funny, I thought the party had finished?”

As Ayithe gave her answer to Dreach four men stepped forward towards her with heavy strides, each with a different type of sword they approached with caution. Ayithe did a backwards cartwheel and a man charged as he saw his chance to strike, Ayithe stepped back and as his first swing came crashing down she linked the disk blades and caught the blow from his sword. Immediately after catching the blow her turned into a spin bringing her right Disk Blade around to slice across his chest, he stepped back in pain and the other three men dived in to action. Ayithe followed through on her spin and skipped onto her other foot, stretching out with her leg and swooping the foot of the second man. He fell with a crash, his armour clanging together loudly as it clashed with the ground hard mud. The first man stepped forward once again and, his chest engraved still with a large slice from Ayithe’s blade. She back tracked quickly as he raised his sword to her level once again, he struck quickly nearly catching her off guard. She leaned back far almost losing her footing the blade felt inches away from her face as he swung it through the air with a lot of force behind it. As she tried to gather her feet he swung again, she raised her Disk blades and the force of his blow into he weapons knocked her back again. She slipped backwards and fell back into a large Oak tree as the man took another step and brought his sword down upon her. The man’s blade lodged itself into the tree and the man panicked as he tried to pull it out, Ayithe guided herself around him and buried her Disk blade into his back. She briefly caught her breath as charging footsteps powered up behind her and in a fluent motion she spun around launched a Disk blade from her hand with glided straight into the approaching mans skull, he stood upright as she stared for those few moments and he collapsed on the floor with a large thud. Suddenly to Ayithes left a sword stabbed forward at her, she side stepped getting her remaining disk blade caught around his sword. He grabbed her top tight in his fist pulling her towards him and he snarled like a creature as he stared into her eyes, as he went to speak she kneed him in the groin and his eyes watered as he cringed. His partner with no hesitation drove his sword at Ayithes back and he dropped and rolled to the limp mans side. His sword impaled his partner and Ayithe stole the now dead mans sword as he fell over, her remaining opponent turned to her and with a large swing and Ayithe ducked under the forceful slice bringing herself level with his side and with no hesitation she brought the sword above sliced him down to the floor.
Dropping the sword she panted and took back her two Disk blades, now covered in blood she stood back as a clapping sounded to her ears.

“Not bad for a girl” A croaky voice said.

She watched as yet another man stepped forward dragging 2 maces in chains. They scratched across the ground as the man walked towards her, he was pale yet remained shadowed even though the sun shone down upon him. With to red lines hanging from his eyes they remained almost shut like a foreigner but he seemed to be able to see well enough as he called for Ayithe to raise her weapons. It felt like a torture having to fight for her live again, she didn’t understand their concept but stood firm as she raised her weapons once more. The man started swinging one mace above his head leaving the other to dangle lower by his feet. Quickly he stepped forward and started spinning around, leaning backwards to build up a devastating blow, Ayithe stood back and could only watch as he dived forward she raised her Disk blades and a huge clash of the mace was taken in as she linked them to take the blow. However the lower mace flew along the floor and the chain caught her legs and wrapping itself round with a last whack on her ankle as it came to the end of its chain. She tensed her self as it struck her and he pulled firmly dragging her off her feet, she hit the floor with a thump and knocked her head. Ayithes Disk blades fell randomly leaving her with nothing to defend herself. The man shook his head as she held up he hands to him in a posture of surrender.

“Beg me…” He said, “Beg me to let you live bitch…”

Ayithe lay quietly staring at him till he decided not to wait any longer. He swung it around in a build up without taking his eyes off Ayithe, she closed hers as he suddenly brought it down upon her and a large ringing sound rung down her ears as she lay there, then she felt the mace around her foot loosen. She opened her eyes and her brother had turned up, the man lashed out with another swing and her brother simply sliced off the end of the mace leaving a harmless chain as the man stepped forward in rage. Arckry jumped up and with a powerful swing drove his sword right though the man’s neck and watched as his head fell to the floor.

“There now the odds are even,” Arckry shouted watching Dreach. “Is this what you do. Attack visitors to your little settlement, I don’t see you getting much trade that way…”

[Ayithe Solete]

Arckry stood strong by Ayithes side and pointed his sword directly at Dreach, the light glinted off the tip of Arckrys sword. The hilt was made of silver and the steel sword shone beautifully reflecting every bit of light to touch its surface. Ayithe kicked off the mace from around her legs and checked out her ankle as Dreach and Chevior remained at sword distance from Arckrys blade. Her ankle was rather sore and she stood up relying on her other foot for main support. She clipped her Disk blades to her side and her brother took her hand, “Let’s leave” he said quietly still holding his sword outright. Chevior stood forward and drew a large bastard sword, it wasn’t decorated but with the blade being that big it wasn’t needed. A somewhat evil grin spread across his face and he seemed hardly concerned if at all as he stood upon them sliding his sword along Arckrys blade as he backed off slowly. Arckry shrugged off Cheviors sword and quickly turned, they dashed off into the woods with Chevior on their back. Although being more bulky and slower then Arckry, Chevior could keep up easily as Ayithe limped on. Arckry realised this and stopped as they came to a steep slope, hastily he spun around forcing Chevior to stop.

“Go down the slope, we can’t outrun him like this.” Arckry said now holding his sword with both hands.

“Your smart kid, but I’m afraid you’re not good enough.” Chevior stated to Arckry as they stared at each other. “Step down and move out of my way, I won’t give you another chance.”

Arckry struck Cheviors blade with his own, he stood firm at the top of the slope and allowed Ayithe to move as she carefully slid down the slope tree by tree. Chevior took the hint and took a large shunt forward, his blade came crashing down with a lot of strength and nearly knocked Arckry straight to the floor, Arckry took the blow to his sword and side stepped keeping his feet widely spread. He didn’t want to be knocked down too easy as Chevior was far too strong to be taken on that way. Another large swing came his way and Arckry forced his sword into it knocking the swing into the ground. With that he brought his sword round and tried to slice down on Cheviors Collar bone, which was met with Chevior grabbing his wrist. He sqouse tightly and Arckry gritted his teeth as Chevior followed through by throwing him to the ground as he dropped his sword. Arckry rolled to his left as Cheviors sword stabbed into the ground, hasty to his feet he dodged another mid air swing from Chevior but still couldn’t get to his sword. Looking at Chevior he grabs some dirt in his fists and chucks it at him, it fills the air like mist for a few seconds and digs itself into Cheviors eyes and Arckry dives over the edge and almost rolls down the side of the slope. Hitting a tree he stops and pulls himself up, a bruise quickly pops up on his shoulder but Arckry was fast to ignore it as he takes Ayithes hand once more. They dash out into the road together and quickly head down the stone path, Ayithe looked ahead as a wagon wobbled slowly along clearly having no deadline to deliver his cargo of boxes on the wagons rear. It wasn’t hard to catch up to, its wheels were old and full of cracks, but it was their fastest escape from here. Chevior appeared from the hill side on horse back with another two men, Arckry lifts Ayithe carefully but quickly onto the back of the wagon. Their presence was noticed straight away and the wagon man started shouting furiously at them, both simply ignored as Arckry hopped up right after and without a word booted the angry driver off the wagon, he fell off to the side and Arckry whipped the horses into action to speed off from the approaching horse’s cavalry. The wagon clearly wasn’t fast enough as Chevior and his men closed the gap quickly.

“Get my wagon back! That’s impo….”

With no hesitation Chevior ran over the man who got crushed by the charging horses. Ayithe watched them, it was as if the man hadn’t existed, not a single one reacted to him, not as they approached or ran him over. He now remained motionless in the middle of the road but the galloping horses diverted her attention as now she could clearly see Cheviors grin, Ayithe scrambles backwards over the boxes as Chevior comes along side but instead of looked at either of them lowers his sword as he glances at Ayithe. Ayithe realised he had noticed the state of the wheels, he laughed manically and chopped off one of the wooden spokes. It splintered off and rolled down the road followed by another which caused the wheel to start to buckle. Arckry looked back in despair as Chevior dropped behind to watch the wagon wheel spilt and collapse. The entire wagon dropped back and fired up dirt from the floor the wood and steel hinges screeched as they scratched the floor until the horses panicked and turned, they came free, with Arckry diving off onto the road, Ayithe couldn’t move fast enough, unfortunately getting tangled in boxes as it crashed over the edge. It felt like a life time, the noise was deafening to her as they crashed over and slowly fell apart into nothing but wreckage. Ayithe finally lost consciousness after being hit repeatedly all over by the now destroyed wagon and its cargo, she lay among the wreak and Arckry came rushing over. Stepping over various planks and weapons thrown from the wreckage, he spotted her. A large steel pole used to connect the wheels was trapping the planks over her, but she was breathing.

“Damn it…you lucky sod. You should be dead.”

As Arckry tried moving parts of the wreck a horse came to a halt behind him, it rose up for a second on its hide legs and stamped in front of him. He held his position showing no fear but clearly Chevior had the full advantage, he raised his hands and stood back. The other horsemen dropped to the floor around him and he stood hopeless with no weapon, surrounded and more than likely a dead man. Chevior stepped off his horse and slowly walked towards him, he drew his sword to Arckrys throat and forced him down to his knees.

“What is it you want Chevior?” Arckry asked, “Her death and for what? What will it prove? Killing an unarmed man with your sword, I thought you were above that.”

Chevior stared at him for a moment, then glanced over at Ayithe laying down still in the wreckage. He put his sword away and turned around starting to walk to his horse.

“Let’s see what your worth,” He said mounting his horse. “Come willingly and I’ll keep you both alive.”

Staring back at Ayithe Arckry sighs and reluctantly nods to Chevior.

[Ayithe Solete]

It felt like a long walk back for Arckry, he watched Ayithe hung over Cheviors horse just in front of him. The fine point of a sword stayed against his back, it felt like a needle as the blade top was very fine and constantly pushed into his back made it very uncomfortable. If he slowed down it was only pushed harder so Arckry kept his pace up as they plodded up the steep path which headed up the hill. He was too concerned about Ayithe to be bothered about the sword in his back, every time he would start to ponder about escaping he’d slow and suffer with the pain in his back. Therefore his mind couldn’t stay focused and he ended up having to wait till they reached the camp. The hill wasn’t as steep his escape route before but it was much longer and his legs slowly tired. The speed they had been travelling before now showed as the path was longer than he thought, luckily for Arckry being a wagon path it was easy to walk on, not that it mattered though as they approached the encampment. Arckry’s earlier impression of this place had now changed dramatically, it was strange how many places and people have to sides and Arckry certainly didn’t like this one.
As they pulled up behind a large tent Chevior hopped off his horse to greet another man who quickly took his horse by the reins and walked off. Arckry glared at him until being hit in the back off his head by a hilt of a sword, his head throbbed but he stood straight and walked forward giving a threatening look back at the man. He was shown into a large white tent away from Ayithe who was removed from his view.

“Where are you taking her?” He shrieked, kicking the man guarding him in the shin, it was little hope for him though as he got smacked straight in the stomach with a large staff. He crouched to the floor winded, coughing desperately trying to catch his breath.

“What would it matter what we are doing to your sister?” Chevior bellowed out as he shoved him over onto his side.

“It mat…matters to…me…” He replied catching his breath.

He was then booted by the man he first struck, each strike didn’t feel half as bad as what he saw Ayithe receive. Although the surrounding men tried to prove him otherwise with repeated strikes to his stomach they kept booting him under Cheviors watchful eyes.
Meanwhile Ayithe had been taken to Dreaches tent and placed on his personal table which he cleared with a simple brush from his arm. His tent was covered in animal skin and weapons were racked up on posts along the side of his bedroom entrance. Dreach wafted off the two guards which had carried her to his tent and knocked back a large bear type fur skin, it swayed back and revealed his sleeping area to which he dropped off his top and took a small decorated steel cup. He walked across to a large bucket of water and caught some in the cup as he swilled it through. He brought the cup across to Ayithe, staring at her motionless body he raised the cup above her and tipped it lightly. The water dripped onto her forehead and slowly he moved it down her body until it ran out. Ayithe hardly moved, her breathing remained slow yet her eyes flickered as the water ran over them and they opened ever so slightly. He smiled while devilishly admiring her, sliding his hand down her stomach he leant over and whispered into her ear as she awoke.

“Now…I own you…and your brother.”

Ayithe was still too weak to react and Dreach picked Ayithe up with both arms carrying her over to his sleeping area. Placing her down on the bear skin covers Ayithe watched him as he turned and pulled the skin door shut, it went a lot darker at that moment and everything seemed so silent…

Ayithes eyes opened, straight away it was painful to move her legs and she had to force herself onto her side. A tear ran down her face as she realised what had happened, her naked body felt so sore and she slid over the bed pulling the cover off her. She looked around the room rubbing her eyes, it had to be late morning as Dreach had left the tent with Ayithe still asleep. Her clothes were scattered about the floor by the bottom of the bed and not wanting to see the marks she decided to take them. He legs ached badly as she managed to put her clothes back on and reached for the nearest pole. Once up against the pole she pulled her pants up, it hurt badly with the large bruises which now covered her legs. It was a deadly reminder to her and each step was painful and she took a few minutes getting steady. She had never felt so helpless in her life and her head banged loudly and she stood alone not knowing what to do. She wasn’t sure which tent she was in but knew she had to get her weapons back, looking around the tent there was not a sign of them, she had nothing to defend herself with and immediately broke down and sat against the pole she had first stood up against. At she sat the faint sound of voices was approaching she didn’t know what to do and froze. Staring across tent the talking got louder and she recognized the first voice. The door was pulled back and Dreach stepped in with another man who wore an assortment of leather clothes. Looking up Dreach spotted Ayithe sat still at the back of the tent and smiled.

“Ah, my bitch” He said with sick smile. “Wasn’t that good last night?”

Ayithe sat quiet and watched as Dreaches smile turned into a glare towards her, he raised his hand struck her furiously across the face, she collapsed back wards and he gripped her by the shoulder shouting.

“WASN’T IT? BITCH…”

“YES!” She shouted back.

The tears poured down her face yet Dreach laughed and turned away from her, she feared him and he knew it, he loved it. The second man then grabbed her and forcefully dragged her to her feet and out of the tent. He constantly kept pulling her by the arm and after nearly falling over she unwillingly got to her feet, they took her around the back tents out of view from any strangers to the encampment. She couldn’t help but feel like anyone that they passed was staring yet the guards and camp men didn’t give a damn. They all knew what was going on and ignored it, the only bit of notice they got was any greeting to Dreach as they passed by.


Dreach turned into a rather large tent and slipped in through the main door, Ayithe was pushed forward into the same tent and felt the draft follow her in giving her a big chill as she stepped forward. It was much more cramped in the tent than what it looked like from outside and it wasn’t just items scattered about the room. Chevior stood tall at the back of the tent with two men armed with staffs stood closer towards her, but that wasn’t what she spotted first. Arckry was kneeled down in front but between the two men. He had large bruises along his chest a blood dripped from the side of his face and arms, it was like a nightmare, the tears kept coming and nightmare kept going. The noise of footsteps had alerted Arckry to look up and he watched the man drag Ayithe into the tent, she glanced at him and quickly looked away as Dreach stood by her side. Her eyes scanned the floor around her feet, to scared to look up as Arckry shouted.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?” He screamed at Dreach. “Ayithe…Ayithe look at me, you’re stronger than this, don’t be afraid of them!”

Dreach watched her stare back at Arckry and he glanced up to the guard and nodded. A swift shunt to Arckrys back and he fell forward landing chin first on the muddy floor where the blankets had been pulled back. He cringed from the pain yet sat back up as quickly as he could make himself. Dreach kneeled down to Arckrys level and grabbed him tightly around the neck forcing him to look at him face to face. Arckry pulled away only to be hit in the side of the face by Dreaches fist.

“She’s pitiful, now I own her. Lucky for you, I have no interest with you.” He stood back up and wiped the dirt he had got on his hand off Arckrys chin onto his shirt. “Kill him and make her watch…then bring her to me, I have something for her.”

“You bastard! You lying bastards! You will all pay for this!” Arckry shouted out.

Ayithe was gripped at the back of the head and hair, the pain was sharp but seemed to disappear as they pinned her brother down on the floor, he kicked and shouted at the top of his voice, calling them cowards and slaves to a pansy of a leader. Yet it meant nothing to them, like drones they held him still as Chevior pulled out Arckrys own sword and put it to his throat.

“Tell me Chevior, why does a warrior like yourself take orders from him? That coward of battle...”

Chevior trod his foot with his weight behind it into Arckrys face, his face slowly sank into the mud and Chevior stared straight at Ayithe.

“Why does a fool like yourself ask such questions?” He bellowed to Arckry.

“Because one wants to challenge another to a battle,” He managed to squeeze out before it covered his mouth. “If I win, Ayithe and I go free, you win, do what you want with us. Or are you going to take orders from a guy less of a man than you…”

Chevior removed his foot and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. “You’re in no position to be making bargains…”

“Then why do you answer me back then Chevior? Is my challenge accepted or are you going to be a coward like your leader?”

Chevior stared directly into his eyes and let him go, closely followed by the men around him who backed off removing the chains from his wrists. Getting to his now unsteady feet he looked at Chevior closely and smiled a metallic type grin towards him.

“I was wrong, you’re not a coward after all…” Arckry panted,

“Breath while you can, I have no need for either of you. Only my lord wants her, she will remain in our hands until the remainder of the battle.” Chevior said walking to exit the tent. “Tell me where you want your body buried before we start, you have until then to decide.”

Chevoir left the tent with the other man holding onto Ayithe, she left without looking back at Arckry. It was rather a shock that Chevior had done this and Arckry paused for a few moments to catch his breath while wondering about Ayithe. Watched over by the two guards Arckry was a mess, covered in cuts and bruises he splashed his face off with from the near water bucket, each sleeping quarters had one of these leading him to believe that this was someone’s sleeping quarters. Any guests to the camp didn’t go to the sleeping quarters so they were hidden well out of view from anyone, yet Chevior was going to make this public, he had to, to hide the killing from being a murder. Arckry believed that Chevior was going to make it seem an accident, surely he wouldn’t kill in public, although it wasn’t like anyone would question him.
Fighting was a passion of everyone here at the camp especially Chevior, who prided himself on being undefeated here at the camp. Arckry had a rather impressive record himself, although doing little fighting here his past experience was vital. He could hear the guards behind him whispering to each other, they didn’t believe Arckry had the guts to fight in the condition that he as in, but he didn’t care. His family was more important and he refused to let Ayithe be abused by Dreach and his men. Looking at the two men he ripped off his sleeves and wiped up the bits of blood on his head, a few large holes were ripped right through the main part of his chest revealing the wounds that marked his body. Glancing around there wasn’t anything that could be considered dangerous in the tent and as he took his first steps towards the tent one of the men stood in his way, Arckry raised his eyebrow to him as he told him to move back.

“We shall wait until we are called, not when you want to move. Now get back down.”

“Make my day, its bad enough already…” Arckry Replied staring deep into his eyes.

The man brought the staff up to chest level and pushed at Arckry to knock him backwards, force was the first thing coming to mind and that’s exactly what Arckry wanted from him. He took the staff into both hands and let the mans forward momentum bring him towards Arckry and dragged him as close as possible. Without hesitation he kneed him in the groin that instantly released his grip on the staff and Arckry took it as he keeled over. As the second guard had just realised what was happening Arckry swung the staff around cracking him over the head. He fell straight to the floor and the first guard then took a frontal blow to the forehead knocking him clean out. Arckry panted like a dog, he felt so weak over the beating and sleepless night but he had no choice, this burst of energy was just what he needed. He had barely caused a noise and somehow managed to not attract attention, now he needed to escape.

[Ayithe Solete]

Ayithe had been taken back to Dreaches tent, it felt like a prison with no walls, yet she still couldn’t escape. Trapped she was pushed to the floor by the same man who had accompanied her everywhere else, accept this time he left the tent leaving her with Dreach. She sat there shaking, her hair still a mess from when she had got up, every object in the tent held its own memory that she didn’t want to remember, but it was hopeless. Everything stuck in her mind and it just scared her even more, she looked down as Dreach approached her, he kept staring at her, deep into her eyes and it struck fear straight into her heart, frightened that he was going to get her again. In his hand was one of her large bracelets still in the same condition she had always had it in. He was looking at it confused and he placed his finger on her chin to lift her face.

“Tell me, since you have these valuable Disk blades, which will make me a nice amount of cash. I was wondering what is this? Just jewellery, I think not…Defence bracelets perhaps?”

Ayithe eyes flickered about the bracelets, all her weapons had been custom designed for a lot of money and Dreach had no idea what it really was. There were two bracelets that covered from her wrist till just before her elbow they, actually contained hidden blades inside, a deadly weapon especially since not many realise what it is. His every movement felt threatening to Ayithe and if she didn’t answer he took a pose like he was going to strike her. Quickly but again hesitantly she replied.

“Yes…I use them to block attacks…”

Her voice was still very silent, the second he left she looked straight back down to the floor and remained motionless. Dreach placed the bracelet back with the other on the table and turned to look back at her for a moment, he stared down at her and knowing he was watching she tipped her head that little bit lower to avoid eye contact.

“I don’t expect you to look away from me, look up”

Ayithe tilted her head up and glanced at him keeping her head down. Dreach dropped to his knees and gripped her by the throat, he forced her backwards till she was lying on her back. Ayithe gripped his hands desperately not being able to breath but Dreach only held her for a few seconds before releasing. As she caught her breath he sat on top of her and held her by the arms. Still getting her breath back he stared at her.

“The more you listen the less painful this has to be, although I do like the struggle.” Dreach said to her.

Ayithe lay quietly looking back right into his eyes, his full weight was being pressed into her wrists and she couldn’t move an inch. Her breathing was now big breaths and Dreach merely sat on her, suddenly he leaned over and starting licking her neck, she turned away closing her eyes and kicked out. Struggling Ayithe managed to get him to sit up and kneed him in the back, straight into his spine he cringed and shouted out loudly. Dreach let go of her wrists and she got her arm free, stretching across she just reached a table leg which she tried to shake furiously trying to knock off a small box hanging on the edge. Dreach struck her hard across her face and grabbed her arm pulling it back then struck her again. The second blow was much harder knocking her funny and Dreach stood up holding his back in pain. His teeth cringed as the muscle on his back was probably bruised and very sore, then punched the nearest able with the main part of his fist with anger. Feeling foolish for acting the way he did he turned to her as she lay on her side holding her face. Moving back above her he moved over her and sat with his knees digging into her thighs and when she cringed with the pain he struck her again with the outside of his right hand repeatedly.

“You’re going to have to make it up to me…now!”

Before anything else could happen a voice shouted in to Dreach, Dreach paused and covered Ayithes mouth with his hand.

“My Lord, the shipment is here.” The voice shouted.

“Damn it…its early…Fine, make sure she doesn’t leave the tent!”

With that he left Ayithe, she remained lying on her back not moving. Closing her eyes she turned her head to lie on its side and a few tears fell from the pain in her legs and the fact she knew what she was waiting for, not being able to run from it gave her nightmares.

Meanwhile Arckry had made an exit in the back of the large tent he was being held in and left through it. His best chance at the moment was to head into the open section, many travellers hung around here and since it was almost midday he had plenty of people to merge with and Chevior wouldn’t return to the tent until he was ready so he had plenty of time to go unnoticed. He skipped through the sleeping section of the camp and ran down into the public area, each section was cut off with a wired fence, only thin it kept people away from where they shouldn’t be. Arckry jumped over it with ease and ran into the mist of people, he kept a sharp eye out for any guards that might recognise him, he’d been in the camp now a little while and he would be easily recognised by them. Not knowing where Dreaches tent was he needed weapons before he could re-enter their sleeping quarters. Moving around he noticed some camp men walking in his direction and quickly turned his back to them ending up facing a group of well armoured people, slowly he walked across to them and stood with the group.

“Sorry to interrupt your conversation here, but I must ask if any of you have seen where the weapon shack here is?”

A man turned to him confused and pointed out a few meters away to the clearly lit weapons shack, looking a bit daft he smiled back.

“O yeah, can’t see for looking some times, thank you.” He said acting all embarrassed and walked off in the shops direction.

Damn, I could of thought of a better one than that. At least it worked, I don’t think I can go anywhere without being spotted.

Arckry paused for a moment, the guards were easy to spot and seemed to cover every inch of the camp. If he left the camp Ayithe was sure going to be further abused or killed, something he couldn’t let happen. Leaving the sleeping area was a bad idea and it was going to be even harder than before to get back past the guards.

[Ayithe Solete]

As Arckry pondered he spotted Dreach with a few men striding down through the camp. He waved on the guards that stood at the path entrance to the sleeping area and they followed him into the crowds. Arckry froze and glanced around him, everything seemed normal but a few of the main guards had moved.

Have they been alerted to my presence, I must take this chance to get back inside the camp…

Fearing the alarm was up he walked into the sleeping area, calmly as to not alarm anyone from a distance he headed straight towards the back out of view. It seemed rather quiet yet only a few men had left this area it should have been more active to his thinking, yet it didn’t bother him to carry on through the camp. The midday sun had emerged a lot brighter now and Arckry shielded his eyes as he ducked past a few smaller tents and then quickly shifted towards a larger tent guarded by a single man. It wasn’t the best of ideas to take him on in front of the tent in case he was spotted, yet he had to be guarding something because most other tents had no body near them.

Weapons…yes it has to be weapons, I could use one, or maybe mines been put there.

Arckry crouched behind the tent out of sight and looking around him quickly he pulled the tent pegs out. The back of the tent was now loosened and he slid underneath it pushing them back in as best he could. Although they appeared rather wonky it would have to do for now and he pushed through some animal skins into an large sleeping area all messed up. In the next part of the tent lay Ayithe. Too frightened to move to any sound as she heard the shuffling behind in the bedroom, she didn’t react, staring at the roof of the tent she remained motionless breathing slowly trying to keep calm. The animal skin was pulled back and she closed her eyes, in her right hand was a small stone, she had cuffed her hand to conceal it waiting for who ever it was to touch her. Arckry had passed through the animal skin and instantly noticed his sister lying still on the floor, diving to his knees he quickly got upon her and lifted her head up.

“Ayithe!” he whispered quickly, yet in panic Ayithe raises her hand to smash him across the head. Arckry caught her swing effortlessly and watched as she opened her eyes. She was too scared and weakened to do any damage now and at the sight of Arckry she cried lying in his arms.

“Don’t worry about what’s happened, your ok now and I’m going to get us out of here…”

Ayithe just cried in his lap, she barley moved as he tried to stand her up and Arckry sat her back down against the tent pole.

“What have they done to your legs?” Arckry said still whispering, she didn’t reply. Only a whimpering left her mouth as she cried and he held her still to keep her quiet.

“Please tell me Ayithe, you must speak to me.”

It hadn’t taken long for his talking to be noticed by the guard outside and knowing that only Ayithe was suppost to be in there he turned round drawing his sword. Carefully he entered pulling back the tent doorway with his short sword, the beaming light shone into the tent straight onto Arckry and Ayithe. Knowing he couldn’t be spotted Arckry dashed across the tent into the entering foe. He grabbed him by the throat and booting the sword from his hand, it stabbed into the mud easily on the inside of the tent floor leaving neither the chance to retrieve it. Hitting him across the face, Arckry chucked him to the ground and they collapsed into the flattened grass as he held onto Arckrys arms. Ayithe didn’t move as the two struggled even as the guard got n top of Arckry, he pulled out a knife from a holder around his ankle and tried to stab him. Arckry grabbed his hands as they fell upon him and tried pushing back, slowly he was being over powered as the man forced all his weight downwards onto the knife. Arckry struggled trying to push back having to watch the knife creep towards his chest, he glanced at Ayithe before looking back at the man.
She wasn’t moving, desperately she shouted to her crying out her name yet she wouldn’t move and just cried covered her eyes. His heart pounded as he watched her and it hurt to see that she wasn’t going to move, she was too frightened to do anything and it twigged the anger in his heart. With pure desperation and determination not to die and leave her, he pushed forward with an amazing bout of strength catching the man with surprise. The mans arms were forced across to Arckrys side and as he removed his left hand from the knife his face was met with a powerful right hand blow from Arckry. He rolled off him and dropped the knife which was retrieved by Arckry before he could get back up.
Realising that Arckry now held the knife he stood back and held his distance, standing in a ready stance with his feet spread wide he slowly came forward aiming to grab Arckrys hand. Arckry was ready though and as he leaped forward Arckry grabbed his arm and twisted it flipping him over to the ground with a loud thump. Arckry then dived down grabbing the man by the mouth, sitting him up and ferociously stabbing him repeatedly in the chest until he moved no more. Arckry then knelt releasing the body from his grip, he was surprised how close he had come to death as he wiped the knife clean on the grass. Walking on his knees across to Ayithe, she was still shielding her eyes and he pulled back her arm from her face, she was petrified, realising what state she was in he placed the knife down the back of his pants and picked her up putting her arm over his shoulder.
Across the sleeping area yet another guard was walking back to Cheviors tent, he entered and spotted the men laying still on the floor. Rushing down next to them he checked their pulse, it was there but slow. Briefly checking around the tent he hastily left and ran back out towards where Chevior was waiting. Chevior was determined to fight and prove to Arckry that he was the best fighter there was and he was no coward. Placing on his armoured chest plate the guard came swiftly through the camp site towards him.

“Sir! Chevior sir!” the man shouted.

“Uhh…what now?” Chevior replied.

“The prisoner has escaped! There was no sign of him around the immediate area but I came straight to you sir.”

“Let our Lord know, but do not send out patrols. If he asks why, tell him they are long gone.”

Clever boy, however I will get my fight with you Arckry, for now you run but only until I get you alone.

The guard nodded and turned away, heading off quickly he ran off to find Arckry, Chevior turned around and picked up Arckrys long sword. He admired it, it was a beautiful specimen of a sword and Chevior shoved it in his own hilt to keep until he needed it.

Arckry helped shove Ayithes bracelets back onto her wrists and he smiled at her. She puffed out with a large breath as Arckry lifted back the tent entrance while taking the sword the guard had dropped out from the ground. A man ran past in a hurry away from the tents and Arckry took another look outside for further enemies. It was clear and Arckry lifted Ayithes arm over his shoulder and helped her leave the tent. Their movement was rather slow and it was pure luck that they would make it out of the camp site unseen, yet most men were busy sorting the next load with Dreach and their path remained clear.
They shuffled along past a few burn out fires, logs surrounded them which had clearly been used for seats and a horse stood at the back patiently attached to a tree. Some weapon racks lay along side a caulk board which had prices scribbled all over it. These still had to be passed onto the Weapon Shack in the public area and various ones were littered along them. Arckry stopped to read the board, it was a large list yet kept in alphabetical order it was easy too sieve through. It was a large assortment of weapons with high prices, they couldn’t spot Ayithes disk blades on the list. They must have been else where much to Ayithes disappointment yet she showed little emotion at this moment in time.

“Wait!” Arckry shouted,

A list labelled valuables was sat along side the board, the prices were much higher and sat at the bottom of the list it read…

‘Disk blades:

Custom made, high quality, top condition. $ 10,000’

The rack was quite large and Ayithe scanned the rack thoroughly, standing out easily from the group was her Disk blades. She grabbed them quickly and hooked them back on her belt, Arckry hurried Ayithe along and they moved on quickly towards a large sturdy horse. It was tied up and Arckry helped lift Ayithe on to it and untied its reins from the tree branch. Then hopping up in front of Ayithe she held onto him tightly around the hips as a big cloud covered the suns bright rays creating a large shadowed area within the camp. Arckry looked up as they steered the horse away from the tree, as he was about to gallop off he spotted a man stood still by the assortment of weapons, it was Chevior, just arrived he saw them sat upon the horse and stood still.
It was a shock, Chevior drew Arckrys sword and held it out towards him but Arckry just stared and then kicked the horse with his heals, the horse huffed and galloped off at top speed leaving Chevior stood there, but rather than call out he turned and readied his weapons, he knew exactly where they were going.

[Ayithe Solete]

Chevior turned around away from where they had escaped, he had full confidence in what he was doing as the only village was about three miles away and even that had no other towns for many miles. Chevior checked his armour was on correctly shaking like a soaked dog to make sure it was tight and not going to let him down. He sheaved Arckrys sword and tied it up over his back then took his own sword in his right fist, which he clenched tightly and butted the hilt against his shoulder guard.

I’m coming for you, victory is mine…

Nodding his head in thought he looked back up as a guard approached him from the inner camp. He was armed up in full gear, a large plate over his chest and fabricated chain mail over his arms and legs he stopped a few yards to Chevior and shouted across to him loudly.

“Chevior! We believe they will head for the village to the west, it’s the nearest place to escape us. Only Dreach wants us to follow, your horse is waiting at the stables.”

“I shall be there” Chevior replied while nodding.

The man turned away as soon as he replied and Chevior followed patently taking his time. The dark clouds had quickly moved on unfortunately in their direction of travel, it had spread over the sky for many miles and if they travelled under the black clouds in search of Ayithe and Arckry it would down pour. Chevior sighed it had only just rained yesterday and not even a day was passing that the sun would remain up high and bright. Although it was predictable, rain often fell here rather constantly but with the high sun, hopes had been that the rains would pass for the short period of the summer.
Chevior arrived outside the stables, the door was left ajar leaving Chevior to presume they were still inside. He rubbed his stubble beard as he entered the stables, another man was holding the large wooden door open for Chevior, he promptly shut the door after him as he came through and Chevior walked up to the group still saddling their horses. Dreach was already up though, he sat on the largest of horses at the front of the men, while four armed guards stood saddling their own. Cheviors horse was already prepared and waiting for him. Without paying much attention to the group he stepped forward and hopped up onto his horse with ease. Dreach trotted past them and Chevior followed closely as the remaining few got upon their horses. Chevior exited the stable finding Dreach waiting outside, looking straight out at the exiting road from the camp Chevior pulled along side Dreach who’s face was very tense.

“You never killed him,” Dreach said with an angered tone to his voice. “I told you to kill him…”

“I was going to face him one on one my lord. It would have been a great victory…” He replied glancing at Dreach.

“You disrespect me,” He said giving his first direct look towards Chevior. “You are sworn to protect me and do as I say…yet you decided to follow your fighting code…”

“I do not and have never killed in cold blood, I have done many things to appease you my lord but I have never killed a man unless in battle. Killing a man like that is not my job.”

The four other men left the stables and stopped behind them, each waiting patently as Dreach trotted forward ahead of Chevior and turned to face them.

“You will find and kill him, any man refusing to do so will live to regret it. I will not be upstaged, remember this,” He stated staring straight at Chevior. “This is not your job, this is your life…Onward, and I want them delt with!”

With that Dreach turned and headed off to the main road, the group followed close behind with Chevior remaining silent as the horses galloped off past the rest of camp.

Meanwhile it hadn’t taken long to reach the village of Garnberry, it was a quiet town mainly full of farmers yet since the village has expanded a Christian group took place here and have almost completed construction of a church on the edge of the village. The clouds have reached and gone beyond the town already, shadowing the town from the powerful sun. The wind slowed down dramatically and the clouds stopped drifting across the sky making the village look somewhat eerie yet with the powerful legs of the horse Arckry and Ayithe arrived quicker than they believed they would. Entering the village Arckry slowed the horse down to a trot patting it on the back of the neck for completing the task at hand so well.

“You done well my friend, I’ll let you go free after this.” Arckry whispered to the horse’s ear.

Arckry looked about as the horse trotted in, no one was walking about the main village especially as the weather was building up for a downpour. Ayithe still clung onto Arckry, now she was resting her head on his back as he peered through windows looking for anyone to talk to. To their left was a dimly lit Inn, Arckry looked up and directed the horse towards it, a well dressed man stood inside behind a counter with a lantern either side of him to keep it lit up. They stopped at the front of the inn, a large sign wrote,

‘Harverns Inn’

Arckry slid off the horse and pulled it across to a stand by the inn, then stepping up the stand he let Ayithe slip off into his arms. Her legs were still badly bruised and finding it hard to walk he held onto her and carried her into the inn. He turned and knocked the door open with his backside as he helped Ayithe into the inn. The man looked up watching Arckry carry Ayithe into the inn.

“GOD,” The man shrieked. “This ain’t no hospital…”

“I know, don’t worry mate, she just got bad legs.”

Arckry spun round to a bench and placed Ayithe down on it, she sat up and smiled back at him as he checked her out.

“You alright sis?” He asked, Ayithe got herself steady as Arckry held her arms.

“Yes…” She replied a little worried.

Her voice was still very jittery, she kept her head low and seemed frightened to do anything without being told to first.

“Hey, keep your head up.” Arckry said lifting her face by the chin. “Remember confidence is the power of everything around you, without it your suffering so keep your chin up.”

Ayithe smiled again, Arckry was much happier she was smiling and he hugged her quickly before turning to the inn man. Who by now was wondering what to make of his new customers.

“Harvern I presume?”

“Yeah it is, want a room stranger?”

“Well yeah, as a matter of fact a room…” Arckry paused in thought, the man was rather confused at the sudden stop mid sentence and waved his hand by Arckrys face.

What am I doing…they are bound to come look for us…I’m so stupid.

“You alright?” The bar man asked confused.

“Yeah sorry, I just realised…errrmm, we don’t have any money, my bad.”

Arckry quickly turned and stood Ayithe up from the bench, she placed her arm over his shoulders and he supported her weight as they exited the inn. The man was confused yet didn’t want to leave a passer by out on the streets so with a helpful hand called them as they left through the door.

“Hang on, if your short of cash try the Church, it may look like its not finished but its only the spire that needs finishing. Those religious guys are more than happy to take in strangers.”

“Thanks, your very helpful mate.” Arckry replied heading back out onto the streets.

The horse was still stood by the inn entrance, although not tied up it hadn’t moved and Arckry decided to let it go free. Ayithe sat back on the stand they had used earlier as Arckry removed the saddle and reins, it stood for a brief moment but with a smack on the backside it galloped off through the village. Arckry watched it run off and smiled, lifting Ayithe over his shoulder again they started walking through the village towards the church. It was rather large and wasn’t hard to spot as they walked, being the tallest building and still not yet finished surely someone had to be inside. The large spire and bell tower were still being built and boards lay stridden about with ropes holding it together to large poles stretching up above the current churches height.

[Ayithe Solete]

It had started spitting as they approached the village, crossing the shallow stream the horses came to a halt at the entrance to the village, the large noise of thunder had shook the sky warning all below that their was going to be a downpour. The whole village appeared very dull and dark from the thick black clouds lingering low above the village. Dreach hopped off his horse and tied it to a tree by the stream, each of the other men followed and tied their horses along side Dreaches.

“They must be here somewhere, “Dreach said pointing at the two closet men to him.” You two with me, you other two with Chevior. I don’t want much attention to us so don’t do anything stupid in front of the villagers.”

The group nodded and headed off in two groups of three. Chevior wandered up the left part of the village as Dreach went right past the few inns, the village was pretty empty accept for a boy who came rushing through the village presumably towards his house. Dreach watched as he charged up a small path and into a small wooden home, looking a bit scared of the thunder it must have spooked him Dreach thought. They walked up a wide stone path a few more houses were littered further up it and Dreach was willing to go to each door and ask for help if need be. The rain slowly but surely was getting heavier and heavier as the searched the village, Chevior had been knocking on each door as he asked if they had noticed anyone about just before the storm. Fortunately for Chevior the rain just ran down his amour with no problem and he wiped his nose clean from the cold raindrops. It was hard to think and Chevior found himself scratching his head every few minutes confused at where to search.

This is pointless, its cold, wet and I can’t concentrate in this damn weather… Chevior thought to himself,

there were few trees for shelter in the village and being so spread out that Garnberry was only the church further up stood out. Another crack of thunder shook the sky and Chevior far from wanted to stay outside any longer, he waved on the two guards to follow as he looked across at a building.

“Harverns inn, lets take shelter over there, I’m sick of this damn rain.”
The two men agreed and they jogged across the main path to the opposite side to reach the small inn. Chevior stepped in first spotting the inn man stood waiting patently behind the counter, he smiled expecting another traveller to his inn.

“Looking for a place to stay traveller?”

“Why no, my apologises but we couldn’t remain in that storm any longer. The cold messes with your head, I hope you don’t mind us for a few minutes?” Chevior said with an friendly voice to match his smile.

“Sure, but if you ever need a room, please just pop round.”

Chevior smiled and nodded, the two guards sat knocking off the rain from their clothes and armour. One rested his sword along the arm of the bench and pulled out a white cloth, he began wiping it giving it a gleaming surface as the inn man watched carefully, yet was too use to having travelling knights come through to be worried.

“So,” He said wondering. “How come you be only passing through here and not staying, not another town for quite a distance.”

Not thinking about the purpose of what he was doing he replied with what he was currently thinking.

“Trying to find two people, I don’t even think they came here now…I mean they aren’t stupid enough to go where we might find them, the guys too clever for that.”

“Ah, reminds me of too earlier people that came here.” The inn man said getting into the conversation at hand. “Sent them to the church, the girl he was with couldn’t even walk, guy was nice though, friendly chap.”

It didn’t click at first, Chevior had been paying little attention while wondering where they might of actually gone to escape. He was tapping his fingers on the counter then turned too the men who were looking bored hoping the rain would pass quickly. Just then did the mans words sank into him, he looked back then quickly peered out the window towards the church which was sitting not far up the road through the pouring rain.

“How long ago was this?” Chevior enquired.

“Not long, maybe twenty minutes ago. Church is still occupied you see, you never know they might be the people you re looking for.”

“Thanks” Chevior replied pleased with the mans answer.

The two guards had stood up and steadied themselves as Chevior turned back and nodded to them. Without looking back they charged back across the road at full pace and up the road, to Chevior the weather had already changed although the rain kept falling as they came up front of the church. The rain was running a slight steam down the roads washing the stones and loose mud down the paths towards the end of the village. The water swam around Cheviors feet as he stood in front of the church, the doors were large with even larger windows either side of it. The stone walls were huge solid blocks of granite and shaped perfectly making beautiful patterns along the walls, this wasn’t clear from a distance but up close Chevior could see it all. He pushed forward against the doors and with a large creek they opened. Chevior came in with the two guards still close behind him and, it was highly impressive with coloured glass windows and decorated walls and boards. Statues stood all around the church of what appeared to be the same man, and an large altar and tables stood powerfully at the top end of the church. A few priests stepped forward to Chevior as he stood at the stone entrance, wondering what he had stepped into he greeted the priests.
Towards the end of the church main hall a small wooden door silently shut as Arckry closed it, he grabbed a chair and placed it leaning under the door handle. Arckry was now worried at the fact he was now trapped in the church, it was a shock that Chevior had entered here, after Arckry only realised it was not closed thanks to a resident. He leaned against the wall in thought, his only escape was the tower, not finished it was a spiral of boards and poles making some temporary stairs to an unblocked roof.

“Arckry?” Ayithe shouted, her voice still sounding very timid.

Trying to keep calm he didn’t answer accept running across to her in the sectioned off room. The rain was slightly coming in through the tower block but not enough to bother anyone passing through to the rooms. Having nothing to pick up Arckry lifted Ayithe onto her feet and holding onto her they moved into the tower block again, watching the door to see if it moved.
Cheviors voice echoed through the church and they could hear him walk across the church as he spoke to the priest. Chevior promised no harm would come to them while inside the church and came to the decision that taking them away peacefully was their only option. The church wouldn’t allow it any other way. Placing his hand firmly on the door handle he twisted it and pushed to open it. It clunked against the chair and refused to open, he pushed it again and rattled the door trying to make it give way but with no success. Drawing his sword the nearest priest went to grab it from his hand but got pulled back by the two following guards. Looking mortified at the use of weapons he cried out and tried pushing forcefully to get through. Chevior drove his sword with all his might into the door, pulling it back out once again he drove it into the door creating a large hole by the handle. Butting the weakened hole with the hilt of his sword he forced a chunk of wood out and hacked through the hole to break the top of the chair holding the door shut. With one final push he shoulder barged the door open sending the chair flying across the floor, Chevior stepped into the room with the priest screaming out loud fighting to get past them.

[Ayithe Solete]

“I’m sick of you…”The guard shouted throwing him to the floor.

Chevior turned and watched as the same guard pulled out his Falceon blade and thrusted it into the lying priest. He showed no care and wiped his sword clean on the priests white robes, looking around him the remaining priests backed off keeping silent not wanting to suffer the same price. The man shook on the floor for a few moments as Chevior barged past the guards with fury, he kneeled down dropping his sword only being able to watch the priest die without help.

“You idiots, not on holy ground…I swore we would not…” Chevior bellowed out.

But the guards ignored him and ran into the room drawing weapons, clearly Dreach had already spoken to them. Chevior knew he wasn’t trusted anymore and pulled himself up using the church bench beside him. The Priest was no longer moving and remained still not breathing and the other priests gathered around him with Chevior picking up his sword while stepping back in anger and shock. Brushing his hand over his face he turned away from the priests and followed the guards into the tower block, infuriated Chevior held out his sword and slowly entered the room.
Arckry and Ayithe had climbed the temporary stairwell to exit the tower and not far behind were the guards moving at a blinding speed up the stairs. Arckry let Ayithe go and drew his sword, sitting her down on the step she used the banister to stand, Arckry knew they were not going to get away from the guards who moved much faster than they could.

“GO! There has to be a way off the top!” Arckry shouted to Ayithe.

Panicking she forced herself up the stairs as Arckry turned to face their attackers, they were armed with a Falceon blade and a normal short sword. Arckry hopped up a flight of short steps to give himself the upper advantage as the guard bearing a Falceon blade stood up to him. Charging straight up to Arckry with a large swipe, he was surprised as Arckry easily stepped over the attack turning to deliver the same attack from the other direction Arckry steadily jumped up and booted the man with force in his face. The guard fell backwards careering down the stairs into his on coming ally who managed to narrowly shift his sword out of the way of him. They bumped clumsily into banister and rushing to keep up he pushed his fellow guard back forward and up the stairs, using the momentum his accent was quick up the stairs to yet again perform another slash at Arckry. Arckry stood tall and ready yet again and confidently blocked the guards attack with ease, it showed as he smiled and sliced his sword along the guard’s chest. As the guard cried out Arckry noticed his armour had proved to be worth while as his sword hadn’t accomplished what he had hoped, however without hesitation a swift kick to the side of the mans head knocked him over the banister and down the stair well.
Landing with a crunch Chevior had appeared a few spirals down, he was peering over the edge to look up at Arckry. Although Arckry didn’t gain any time to peer back the second guard had followed through after him. Raising his shield high the guard charged into Arckry using his body weight to put some power behind the charge and he cleanly swept Arckry off his feet knocking him to the floor. Now standing above him and being more bulky than Arckry it felt like a giant peering down at him. Arckey watched as the guards sword was driven down at him and quickly still managing to keep a hold of his sword Arckry knocked the blade aside leaving it to be stabbed into the wooden stair. Before the guard could respond to his sword being stuck in the ground Arckry turned his sword and drove it into the guard’s chest. After a large wail Arckry simply pushed his aside and removed the sword. The sound of Cheviors following footsteps had become louder and Arckey was too hesitant to look down after him, getting back to his feet he hopped up the stairs quickly as the guard he thought he had just killed stood back up, bleeding badly and spitting blood he picked himself back up and still persisted in chasing Arckry and Ayithe up the stairs.
Ayithe was already kneeling at the top of what was soon to be built into a bell tower for the church, the rain had soaked the wooden platforms and it poured over the edges and onto the lower roofing. Ayithe checked franticly around for an exit but the drop around still proved to high to be dropping from as Arckry arrived at the top behind her.

“There’s no way down…” Ayithe muttered, while shaking from the cold down pour of rain that was now hammering down upon them.


“There has got to be…” Arckry shouted trying to be heard over the rain as it clattering loudly upon the wooden structure.

Quickly the guard approached Arckry from the stairs his eyes fumed after being stabbed and he wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve. Arckry turned to face him, standing between the guard and Ayithe, who failed to turn around still staring off the edge. Darting forward Arckry went glared straight into his eyes holding his sword high by his side. The guard quickly drove his sword forward straight into a stabbing attack to which Arckry struck away with his own sword and then bringing it forward he struck the base of his shield with all his might forcing him to track back a few steps. In a defensive slice to stop a following attack Arckry again knocked the sword off course with his own. Then with a twist he followed through with a powerful spinning slice which struck and spilt the guards shield instantly, with a large crunch splinters fired into the air forcing them to cover their eyes and with the quick confusion, Arckry drove his sword into the guards chest yet again. This time the guard stuttered back himself and Arckry wasted no time in pushing him backwards off the edge of the platform.
From the front of the church Dreach was stood with two more of his guards, standing at the top of the tallest building had given them away and he watched as one of his guards fell to the ground Dreach signalled with his hand to his guard stood beside him, holding a crossbow he raised it to fire upon the unaware Arckry as he went to fire another body appeared, Chevior now stood by the two and Dreach was quick to stop and wait for Chevior to take them down.

“I want them dead, if you get a chance, shoot them, I shall take care of the girl…” Dreach told his men as he began to stride off towards the church entrance.

Arckry turned as the sound of footsteps brought his attention to the appearance of Chevior, now trapped it seemed there was no avoiding him this time. Arckry aligned his sword to his sideward stance making sure to keep Chevior at a swords length. Chevior stood at the top of the stairs knowing full well the only way down now was the construction rope hanging down through the centre on the tower. He watched while blocking the stairs, Arckrys eyes glanced at the rope knowing Chevior wouldn’t strike them on the church grounds unless he had no choice.

“Ayithe,” Arckry shouted, “go down this rope…I shall follow once your clear.”

“You should give yourself up, Dreach can’t be far…I won’t strike you down on this ground but I cannot let you pass. As soon as you leave I won’t hesitate…”

As he finished his sentence Ayithe had grabbed the rope and slid down without a word, it was much quicker than the stairs and Arckry held onto the rope ready to follow her down breathing heavily the rain ran down his face as he refused to drop his sword from Cheviors direction.

[Ayithe Solete]

“I find rope burn more appealing than returning with you…”

Ayithe had reached the bottom and Arckry glanced down at her and hooked himself tightly onto the rope. Sliding his sword into the rear of his pants he let himself slide down the rope leaving Chevior to stand alone at the top of the spire. Without a warning, as Chevior stood by the top of the spire a whistling sound ripped through Cheviors ears causing him to be unsteady, he glanced about and around the church, then before he even realised what had happened Ayithe’s scream echoed out from the inside of the church. Chevior held his ears and then rubbed them as he turned to peer down the spire’s tower in deep curiosity, the once hanging rope was gone and staring over the edge of the wooden planks Arckry lay motionless on the floor surrounded by a pool of his own blood after the fatal drop from the broken rope. Ayithe had tried to stand, erratically she wandered about the base of the tower. Her legs not wanting to let her stand as they crumpled under the loss of her brother. Falling back to the floor she cried out again as tear after tear emerged and ran down her face. Her lip trembled as her entire body began to shake and lose feeling. Forcing herself upon his body she fell on him and gripped his shirt tightly.

“Do…n’t leave me…get up…GET UP!” Ayithe cried desperately wanting him to get up.

While Ayithe’s eyes frantically searched her brothers body in distress, she completely ignored the fact that some ones footsteps were approaching her from behind. They moved slowly until suddenly then appeared in the corner of her eye, Ayithe failed to move as her body tensed up and her eyes hardly glanced at the black muddy boots that now stood along side her.

“I could hear your whining from outside…”

Ayithe slid back onto her right leg and her eyes slowly moved up the figure with the familiar voice. Dreach stood looking down at her, not got the first time either. The thought of being in the tent again drilled itself into her mind and her eyes watered as she began to drag herself across the floor, too distraught to move properly and Dreach simply followed above her and smiled, sickly enjoying the fact that she was in distress.

“See what happens when you disobey…Some people learn…others clearly do not and this is what happens to them…”

His words were slicing through Ayithe as she remained sat on the floor, it felt like an eternity as she couldn’t get herself to move properly. Dreach grabbed her arm and forcefully dragged out from the spire floor and into the church. Ayithe kicked out helplessly as the stone floor scratched her skin and Dreach ignorantly pulled her though the seats into the main aisle bashing her head against the various chairs. Slipping from his hand he went clunk as she bumped her head on the floor. Dreach snarled in anger and grabbed her again and pulled her right up to her feet, managing to stand with support from Dreachs arm she looked up at him her eyes still red and watering but he paid little attention as he pulled out a dagger from his belt and held it to her neck.

“Pass my regards to your brother, tell him I enjoyed spilling your blood on his church.”

Pushing the knife at Ayithe’s throat she caught his hand and managed to hold it still about an inch from piercing. Dreachs eyes strained as her breathing intensified and she booted him powerfully in his thigh knocking him down to one leg. Ayithe quickly knocked his hand away forcing the knife to leave his hand. Reaching for his sword Ayithe quickly followed up for a powerful kick to his face sending him crashing to floor. Screaming she grabbed one of his disk blades and quickly lunged at him thrashing down with her weapon towards his face. Desperately he grabbed Ayithe’s wrists and forced them to roll over so now Dreach sat upon Ayithe and instantly her eyes connected with his, all she could think of what the night back at the tent and as his hands gripped around her neck it felt like the horror was repeating itself again. Ayithe immediately pressed her fists into his chest and unaffected Dreach didn’t move until the sudden sound of a sword being released for battle, a sharp unbearable pain ran through Dreaches chest as he gazed down upon Ayithe who stared at him determined to end his life for what he had done. His breathing slowed down and he looked at his chest to find two large blades had protruded through his chest. They had ejected from the bracelets on her arms, what he had previously thought were harmless.

“Die…” Ayithe said discreetly to him as his grip loosened and he his body weight fell onto her arms. Turning to one side Ayithe retracted the blades and he rolled off her to the ground, the surrounding guards watched in horror as she remained grounded taking what little revenge should could from his death. The guards proceeded to step forward drawing their weapons at Ayithe but before they could get close the large familiar blade of Cheviors strung itself across their path. Sending them back to the large church doors, they withdrew their swords and Chevior walked up to Ayithe who still sat in turmoil, her life ruined in a day and when her soul could have joined her brothers it had all stopped. Chevior gripped Dreach around the neck and legs to carefully pick him up into his arms. He didn’t turn an eye to Ayithe and seemed to trust in the fact she wasn’t going to attack him, he believed she knew it was in her best interest to not hold out her weapon. Turning away from her he walked away powerfully towards the exit of the church, while the guards held the door open for him, he paused.

“For your own sake, I hope I never see you again…Just don’t fear me…”

Ayithe wiped her face with her hand but couldn’t stop the tears from coming, she watched Chevior exit the door and it shut silently behind him as the priests came to help Ayithe to her feet. Not really understanding what he meant with his last sentence she had no intention of following. The priests hand gripped carefully around hers and pulled her up, her eyes drifted across to the church tower and then back to the priest whose caring arms held her upright. He knew where she wanted to be and he nodded.

“Don’t worry, I shall help you to him, let us sort you out first and we shall bury him.”

[Witchblade]

Story

Continuity: - 6 Well this is definitely a character developing quest, but I’m not exactly sure where you’re going with it. There is no aftermath written in and since—as you stated—this is something that you wrote a while ago I’m not sure how it’s going to fit in with your character, I hope you know though. The emotional trauma of getting raped and seeing your brother die is not something a person can easily live down; this is going to have reverberations down the line of other quests.

Setting: - 6 The setting wasn’t too bad. You described it well enough to give the reader a clear picture in their head of where they are. There were times when you interacted with it but for the most part it was just a picture in the background to the storyline taking place. The end of the quest is when you started interacting with it the most, having the characters use their given surroundings to try and hide in, but even this was not done that well. Why hide in an obvious village when you’ve got the cover of an entire forest to keep you safe?

Pacing: - 6 The pacing of the story wasn’t bad. It kept me interested throughout it, wondering what would happen next but I wasn’t riveted to my seat. Certain things during the story that unfolded kept me from enjoying it to the fullest extent. When Ayithe is out practicing by the tree and Dreach showed up, Arckry came in way too quickly. I’m sure the sounds of shouting would carry, but it was only Dreach shouting, not Ayithe and even at that if you pace it all out in your mind he’s shouting for a totally of three to five seconds, that’s not going to grab many people’s attention. There should be a pause of time for someone to notice the shouting first off and for them to actually get there.

Character

Dialogue: - 6 The dialogue was nothing special. That one part when Arckry and Ayithe get in the wagon accident and Arckry find Ayithe unhurt and says, ‘Damn it…you lucky sod. You should be dead.’ Does not seem like a very brotherly thing for someone to say after finding their sister alive. It just kind of stood out to me as something a little on the odd side. The times when Arckry is convincing Chevior not to kill both him and Ayithe were rather poorly done. They didn’t seem like good arguments to me for someone like Chevior who seemed to be used to doing the dirty work.

Action: - 5 The majority of the action throughout the story seemed to be fine. Everything seemed to be in character for the most part between Arckry and Ayithe, though Chevior is a character that I find bounced around a lot. In the beginning of the quest it seems like he’s described as someone a little on the pompous side and throughout the quest you get the idea he’s used to doing the dirty work Dreach orders him to. Yet, at the end of the quest you portray him as a more caring individual. It was almost as if Chevior kept changing personalities and actions to suite what direction you wanted the story to go in next. Arckry can’t die yet so you have him convince Chevior to fight him one on one. You have them cornered in a church, but still they cannot die so Chevior’s personality shifts so he will not attack on holy ground. And here’s a question for you; just how easy do you think it would be to shoot a rope on a dark, rainy night from about twenty or more feet away while someone is climbing down it and constantly moving the rope?

Persona: - 7 Emotions were well done throughout the story. I wish there had been an actual description of Ayithe getting raped by Dreach, and though that may sound awful it’s because it would have been very emotional and traumatic. Instead all we get is the aftermath, the emotions from Ayithe and how much pain she is in, but the one aspect you left out of that is how violated rape victims feel afterwards. They want to take a shower and wash away the evidence of what happened to them.

Writing Style

Mechanics: - 8 I didn’t see anything glaringly wrong with the way you write. There were of course the occasional spelling mistake; the kind that word doesn’t pick up, but I don’t take marks off for those. Rereading your work will usually catch them, though as I’ve learned from time to time you can still read over them and not even notice.

Technique: - 6 I didn’t notice any use of literary devices throughout the quest. There could have been some foreshadowing in the beginning concerning Ayithe and Dreach but nothing really stood out to that effect. Perhaps if you’d gradually brought that scene into the quest instead of having it in the first post there could have been room for some foreshadowing.

Clarity: - 7 Well, he quest flowed well enough and made sense well enough. There were some character personality issues that glared at me and I’m sure would bother any reader but they didn’t subtract from the clarity of the quest.

Wildcard: - 6 An overall good quest.

Total: 63

Ayithe receives 400 experience and 250 GP!

[Cyrus the virus]

EXP added!