The Reunion
Early afternoon, when the sun was rise,
Two figures stood inside the abandoned ruins. They faced each other.
The Dark Elf faced his light counterpart from a distance. The breeze blew his silver hair gently.
In other hand, the light-haired elf maiden stared her opponent fiercely. She greeted,
"It has been a long time, Azeritz…"
The tall, dark-skinned elf replied, "Yes, Elmyra. The last time I saw you, you were still a little girl,"
The maiden called Elmyra, returned, "That's the old time…what do you want?"
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Azeritz produced the scroll and spoke, "You are looking for this? Unfortunately, I was bound to my master to deliver this. For the sake of the old time, please stay away! I hate to hurt my childhood friend,"
Shaking her head, Elmyra answered, "I can't, Azeritz! I have the duty to hold! You've stolen something from the Kingdom of Aden! It was my duty to take it back!" She immediately took her bow and pointed it to her target.
Putting the scroll back, the Dark Elf pulled his blade and took a bone shield, saying regretfully "Then you shall die because of your duty…I am sorry,"
The elf maiden shouted, "I won't go down without a fight! Do your worst!" She shot arrows toward the Dark Elf, however her opponent quickly blocked the volley with his shield. Sprints like lighting, Azeritz charged in a zig-zag pattern, try to confusing his target.
The girl realized that and began to shot rapidly. Yet, it did little to stop the advancing Dark Elf. Elmyra decided to try something different. She took another arrow and shot…
-##-
The loud explosion hit Azeritz's hearing. He could ignore the pain due to the smithereens, but not the noise. He assumed the elven ranger had used the burst shot. If one of those arrows hit him squarely, Shillen's dark blessing did little to heal him. Still running avoiding the arrows, the Dark Elf suddenly slides to the nearby ruins. At that time another arrow exploded close to him.
-##-
Smile slowly crept to Elmyra's face, as she walked toward her opponent's hiding place.
-##-
Azeritz realized that he had to exploit the remaining time. He wished not to harm her, but she started to irritate him. Whispering a brief prayer to Shillen, the Dark Elf suddenly leaped from the hiding place. This surprised the ranger. As her opponent brought the blade vertically, she forced to use her bow as a shield. The strike cleaved the bow into two, but the elf maiden backpedalled to the safety.
-##-
This time, it was Azeritz's turn to smile. What he would do was sent an incapacitating strike to her…and everything would be easy. He pulled his sword-holding hand backward, ready to send a powerful blow to the defenseless elf.
-##-
Before the Dark Elf landed the blow, Elmyra unsheathe…a blade and parried the incoming attack. The counter sent Azeritz reeled backward. Composing himself, he commented,
"I don't know that the Sentinel use the swordsmanship…"
"Then you are in a big surprise," Elmyra explained with a smirk, "I am one of the Sentinel that learnt the swordsmanship!" She charged toward him. They attacked and countered simultaneously, almost like dancing. As the fight progressed, Azeritz found the shield had become a hindrance. His time was short…he must end this quickly.
-##-
To Elmyra's surprise, the Dark Elf threw his shield away. She asked,
"What is the meaning of this? You would be defenseless without it!" Her dark counterpart answered,
"On the contrary, Elmyra! Since the separation of our people, we, the Dark Elf had honed our fighting skill into the point of not need the shield," Calmly, he pulled a saber and crossed it with his blade. Then he swung and whirled those weapons skillfully, even made Elmyra believe he had nothing on his hands.
Azeritz continued, "Nobody had ever survived after see the Blade Dancer in action…" he sighed inwardly, "Not even you, Elmyra!"
Undaunted, Elmyra positioned her blade in front of her, "By Eva's grace, I shall defeat you!"
The Dark Elf responded, "Prepare to receive Shillen's bane, elf!" Both of them charged each other, and the blades impacted violently. The elven ranger matched the strikes gracefully, yet her opponent holds a greater advantage. The pair of blades swung simultaneously, gave to the wide reach. The elf was forced into a defensive. To make it worst, the Blade Dancer had imbued his blades with a freezing attribute and scathing slash. Elmyra gritted her teeth, as the cold sensation pricked her skin and its swing sliced it. If this situation was continued, she would be gone. She must do something…she didn't want to die at the hand of her former childhood friend.
-##-
Believing the victory was at his hand, Azeritz was ready to perform a double slash. This opening was immediately exploited by the ranger. She bowed almost close to the ground, and then sprang forward with a stabbing motion. The Dark Elf was caught unaware to the maneuver; he forced to put his blade together into a powerful slash. A loud clang echoed inside the ruins…both opponents stood mutely. A moment later, the Dark Elf knelt and held his right side. It was bleeding. Elmyra's attack had hit him, but not fatal.
-##-
In other hand, Elmyra struggled to hold her pain. Azeritz's desperate blow had grazed her shoulder. It wasn't lethal, but enough to cripple her temporarily. Suddenly she recalled that the Dark Elves laced their weapons with poisons. She frantically called healing magic to expunge the poison.
"Don't worry, I didn't use poison…" Azeritz explained, "Not to you, at least…"
"How can I trust you?" the Elven ranger accused, "After all, you are a Dark Elf…"
Shaking his head, the Blade Dancer answered, "Still not believe me, huh? I am a Dark Elf, but I still your childhood friend…" Suddenly something came; it was a huge wolf with an armor helmet. The beast growled toward the girl. Elmyra turned wary, but Azeritz went to the wolf, saying,
"That's alright, Krave!" he calmed her, "She's not our enemy…" Then he climbed to the wolf and looked back to the Ranger. Elmyra rose and held her wounded shoulder. She noticed that he was wounded as well,
"You are wounded…let me…"
Azeritz stopped her, "Don't…Eva's magik didn't mix with Shillen's. I'll be alright." He continued,
"I assume this is over, and decide to spare you. If you still insist, then I am forced to kill you on the spot…"
Elmyra sighed, "I accept the terms, but it doesn't mean that our fight is over…"
The Dark Elf nodded, "So be it! I hope we'll meet again in the convenient time and place," Patted his wolf, he stirrups and left the elf alone.
Azeritz, you don't know how I miss the old times…now how would I explain this to my masters?
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Note: the fanfic was based upon Lineage II. The scene is not inspired by the trailer
Lineage II belongs to NCSoft