His breath misted in the cold night air of the Shadowlands. The white moon of Sariour was up and Khorieus took aim with his bow and stilled his breath, years of hunting various beasts in his homeland of Chrace had made him patient and the sight of the enemy filled him a cold fury that granted him greater clarity. The foe were pale skinned creatures clad in dark garments and armour, many carrying a variety of blades or wielding crossbows, their horses were skittish as they pawed the earth and looked to the forest of dead trees. The Druchii were encamped around the ruins of an old fort near the ruined city of Anlec, they believed the fires would help them see into the darkness to find their foes, instead it made them easier to spot for the hunters to see them.

Amateurs thought Khorieus as he looked upon the hated kin, earlier that day, Khorieus and his party had ambushed one of the Druchii sifting through the ruins, the fool had found a jeweled statuette from ancient times and was too busy prying the gems out of it that he did not notice the presence of the hunters. One of the hunters had knocked out the Druchii with a well executed strike from the pommel of her sword to the back of the dark elf's head and knocked the scavenger out, the hunters dragged the dark elf away and as soon as he awoke they tortured him and promised for mercy if they get what they needed, the Druchii party were mercenaries and thugs hired by a lord from the city of Karond Kar searching for a lost heirloom of sorts his family had lost in one of the many wars over Anlec. The hunters had learned that there were over three dozen of the Naggarothi including the prisoner and they were being led by a mighty knight, one of the Druchii lord's retainers, after getting what they needed, the hunters slit the throat of the prisoner and went for the rest.

Khorieus let loose a shaft and swiftly left his place, he heard a single cry of pain which was quickly followed by a hail of crossbow bolts thudding into his former position. Soon the air was filled with shouts and screams of pain as arrows flew from the trees and into the flanks of the Druchii camp, many fell to the arrows which did not kill all but incapacitated the mercenaries, Khorieus stowed away his bow and took up his heirloom axe, he marveled at its design for a moment, it was forged to resemble a roaring lion, the urge to kill and to shed blood soon grew hot, he voiced a loud roar and charged into the camp.

He zigzagged towards the camp attempting to throw off the aim of the dark elves, the arrows kept pouring in and soon he was among them, his axe cleaved through the leather armor of the first dark elf, splitting the mercenary from the left side of his hip to the right shoulder, an overhead chop from Khorieus crashed through the crossed swords of another dark elf who attempted to block it, the axe split the dark elf's head from top to jaw, and so Khorieus lost himself in the joy of the slaughter. The arrows of Khorieus's companions continued to find their way into the Druchii without any striking the Chracian, and soon the ambush was over, Khorieus breathed heavily, he was filled with adrenaline from all the blood and pain yet was disappointed that they did not last longer, he attempted to challenge the knight leading the mercenaries, but the Druchii was struck in the back of the throat by an arrow before he could respond.

As Khorieus began to catch his breath he soon heard the slow clapping of his party's leader. Stepping from the shadows a maiden of malice and cruelty to match the druchii, clad in darkened leather armor and wearing a black cloak was a Shadow Walker named Shaelyn, perhaps in another life Khorieus would have taken an interest in the maiden, he possibly would have even courted her despite her sadistic demeanor. Several other shadow warrior began emerge from the woods, the loyalist Nagarthians knelt over the bodies of the Druchii, ripping out serrated arrows from still living bodies or slicing arteries with their blades to make sure the dark elves would slowly and painfully bleed out.

"Apologies for not allowing the lion enough time to play with his food" she said with much sarcasm

Khorieus glared venomously at the Nagarthyian, but kept his anger in check remembering where he is, "is that it then?" he said with a barely concealed tone of anger "am I part of your war band now?"

With her emerald-green eyes, the maiden gave him an appraising look and shook her head, that simple gesture intensified the cold fury within Khorieus and it sent his heart pounding "Why!?" he asked loudly, the other Shadow Warriors did not seem to mind his rage.

"I have hunted with your kin for many seasons now and this has to be eighth band of Druchii we have successfully slaughtered, why am I not allowed to join you!?" his fists clenched into a fist and his knuckles whitened, the maiden did not show any emotion to Khorieus's outburst

the maiden then spoke in a matter of fact tone "Because you are claimed by Khaine".

Khorieus was taken aback at maiden's open use of the Lord of Murder's name, but more from her words, in his heart he had always known yet he often tried to deny it that Khaine had claimed him. In the centuries of wars he had fought, Khorieus had lost everything, his wife, his only child, his parents, most of those that he held dearest to him were now dead and he did not blame the gods of the light or the under gods, but he blamed the dark kin, the servants of the ruinous gods and the many savage beings that often threatened Ulthuan.

The maiden slowly walked over the body of a dark elf who attempt to crawl away, the mercenary had an arrow lodged into the area where the spine parts from the ribs, the maiden raised her boot over the area behind dark elf's collarbone and slammed it down with enough force to cause a sickening crack yet not kill, the Druchii shrieked in pain and tried to move but could not, the maiden then removed the arrow from the Druchii's back, she tested it and nodded before putting it back into her quiver, she then turned away from the dark elf and strode back to Khorieus.

"We shadow warriors fight using surprise and fear, we do not fight openly like the Lion of Chrace or the Swordmaster of Hoeth, it is in the shadows we fell and in the shadows we survive" she spoke grimly "for the third time you have broken from the formation to use your axe to get in close, we Shadow Warriors would only use our blades if we must or once all the foes are down. We would welcome you as an ally Khorieus Alatanrieth of Chrace, but not as a brother"

The Shadow Warriors soon began to gather what arrows and valuables from the Druchii they could find, they made sure to leave many of the dark elves bloody and dying before regrouping and preparing for departure. Shaelyn gave one last look to Khorieus who stood apart from the group of Shadow Warriors, "Leave the Shadowlands Lion of Chrace, leave Ulthuan for there is nothing but rage and darkness for you" she said and the soon the Nagarthians departed back into the woods, leaving not a trace of their passing. Khorieus stood alone amidst the pile of dying and cursing Druchii, his body trembled with rage; he grabbed his axe and raised it high, roaring in fury before bringing it down into the body of a dead Druchii. Khorieus proceeded to vent his anger on the Druchii who still lived, when dawn came Khorieus had left and all that remained were butchered pieces of meat, some of which still lived and would die a slow agonizingly painful death.

Aelerin strode through the halls of his manor in Lothern, two of his servants accompanied him and others were busy cleaning the trail of mud and dirt of which the merchant followed. The trail led to the library's study room, he took a white handkerchief out and placed it upon the door handle, he opened the door and went into the room, the study room was well-lit by the mid afternoon sun coming in from the windows above, he saw the fire upon the hearth was roaring, he saw a muddy set of scaled armor propped by the door and was thankful the mud did not stain the rich Arabyan rug. He saw a large silver-haired elf clad in a dirty hunters tunic lying comfortably with his back upon one of the arms a large Averlornian divan reading a book, a sturdy wooden table intended for carrying multiple books were placed beside the couch and were stacked with many empty wine bottles, a crystal wine goblet and a silver plate with bits of food upon it. Aelerin took a deep breath regaining his composure and walked forward to meet the large elf.

"I see you have returned dear brother, and have already made yourself at home" he said with a tone of annoyance, the large elf put down the book he was reading and looked to Aelerin, his ice blue eyes regarded the merchant coolly.

"And a fond greeting to you little brother" Said the large elf with a hint of sarcasm, he put the book on the table and stood up. Khorieus was over half a foot taller than Aelerin and was of a considerably large physique, the Chracian walked up to the smaller elf and gave him a crushing hug, the servants gasped and went to help their master but were stopped by Aelerin who gave them a hard look and gently shook his head.

After dropping back on his feet, Aelerin tried to pat away some of the dirt upon his tunic and gave his guest an annoyed look "so what happened with going home to Chrace?" he noticed a hard look came upon Khorieus and the larger elf's hands slightly clenched

"It did not go as I had planned" said the Chracian with a hint of anger in his tone, his shoulders slumped and he sighed "I did not go to Chrace, not at first... I went to Nagarthye"

The servants gasped at the name of that cursed land, Aelerin told the servants to leave, they obeyed. Bowing their heads they gathered the muddy armor of Khorieus and closed the doors. Aelerin mood relaxed a bit and he turned back to Khorieus

"I see" he said with a creased eyebrow "and what exactly did you seek in the Shadowlands?"

Khorieus extended his left arm and gestured to the divan, the two elves moved there and sat, Aelerin was annoyed at the dirt staining the fine leather cushions, Khorieus proceeded to grab the goblet on the table, he took a sip of the wine and continued "I sought to join the Shadow Warriors".

Aelerin's eyes opened widely with surprise "Why in Isha's name would you wish to join with them!?" he said with more alarm than he wished.

Khorieus gave Aelerin a tired look and simply said "you know why"

Khorieus reached over to grab another bottle which still had wine in it, he gestured to the merchant if he would like some and Aelerin politely refused, Khorieus shrugged and poured himself some more before drinking again. The two were silent for a while, staring into the fire of the hearth, Aelerin was the first to speak

"It's about Laneleis isn't it?" he said sadly.

Khorieus nodded to the merchant and continued to stare into the fire

"not just her, but also Aranith, and everyone else" said the Chracian.

A sad look came upon Khorieus face as he recalled his family, Aelerin too was soon lost in thought. Laneleis was the older sister of the merchant and the wife of Khorieus, the two were married for over three centuries. Sadly as Morai-heg would have it his sister along with the son of both she and Khorieus, Aranith were murdered two centuries earlier along with a group of Chracian refugees heading for Averlorn by a passing Druchii prince who rode upon a dragon, the Druchii prince himself would later be slain by the legendary brothers Tyrion and Teclis.

As the story went, only a single elderly matron survived, and even then she was so badly burnt that she did not live long afterwards, Khorieus and a group of Chracian soldiers had only found the matron and ashes, Aranith would have been around Aelerin's age, if he had still lived. Khorieus had been a noble lord of Chrace, but after generations of relentless war with the Druchii, Chaos, and other fiends, Khorieus was now the last of his house, in time the Chracian became more like an uncle to Aelerin than a brother-in-law, and in the past few years he would often return to visit the closest thing he had to a family left.

Aelerin shook his head, breaking the spell of his grief and looked to the Chracian who still looked into the flames yet not seeing the fire at the same time. Aelerin placed a palm on Khorieus' shoulder, the larger elf looked to the merchant

"I too still bear much grief over my sister's death, but I found the strength to move on and to look to the future" said the merchant with a slight smile "Why just recently I have been seeing Lady Araiel and-"

The Chracian gave him and odd look and asked "Is she not that Sapherian sorceress you were supposed to have a business pact with the father of?"

Aelerin nodded in agreement and continued "And I have asked for her hand in marriage".

"Really? But isn't she a bit... eccentric?" Khorieus said with a creased eyebrow

Aelerin chuckled thankful for the change of mood of the conversation "Well a bit I suppose" said the merchant "but she really is a wonderful person once you get to know her".

Khorieus gave a questioning look and shrugged

"Well I am very happy for you brother and I hope the two of you will bear many strong sons and daughters for Ulthuan"

A dark look suddenly came over Aelerin, he cleared his throat and said "There is something I must say to you though before we proceed" he said with sudden gravitas,

Khorieus nodded

"Do you remember that ball I invited you to attend five years ago?"

Again the Chracian nodded, Aelerin continued "well when we were there Araiel saw you for the first time and asked me who you were, I was a bit jealous and worried at the time because I already had eyes for her, then she spoke of a seed of darkness within your heart which would blossom into flower of blood and fire"

The Chracian continued to look to the merchant with clear grim understanding

"At first I thought it was some silly bit of insight she was making up to sound like a seer, but after hearing of you wanting to join the Shadow Warriors… I…" the merchant became silent struggling with the words to find, the Chracian remained silent as well waiting for Aelerin to continue, the merchant cleared his throat and continued

"I think that once we are married and settle down, I think you should-", the merchant paused when the Chracian raised his hand

"you do not wish me to be around when you have children"

Aelerin's eyes widened "h-how did you know" he stammered,

The Chracian pointed to some of the books on the shelf

"You have a poor taste in literature brother, I borrowed a few books the last time I was here and I find the works of the human Sierck to be amusing but a bit too melodramatic"

the Chracian grinned and showed no sign of anger as if he knew this was going to happen

"I also question the sanity of a human who thinks it is appropriate to be in a relationship with a creature that survives only on blood. Although I do like the stories of the Jaeger human despite his dwarf friend, yet I find it hard to believe the tale with Lore Master Teclis".

Aelerin's shoulder slumped and he spoke

"so you knew?" he asked "you do know that those touched by Khaine are often locked up far away and only released in times of war" The Chracian nodded grimly, and replied

"I have and that is why I have decided to leave Ulthuan for a while".

Aelerin again was surprised "where will you go? To Arnheim to further fight the Druchii? To Lustria or Elthin Arvan?"

The Chracian leant back and took another drink from the wine glass he let the drink slosh within his mouth and spoke "Elthin Arvan seems like a nice idea I suppose, last time I was there was sometime after Lord Teclis decided to teach those humans magic and that war with Asavar Kul, I hear the humans are constantly in danger form orcs, beasts and other things".

Aelerin nodded and said "And I suppose you have booked passage already and are simply here to say your goodbyes",

Khorieus shook his head "I have not the contacts to do so yet I have the coin to book such passage but your home was my first destination, and now I have the means to acquire it" said Khorieus.

The merchant gave the Chracian a skeptical look and said "You don't plan to borrow from me do you?"

Khorieus chuckled and replied "of course not, what sort of brother would I be if I borrowed money and never paid back, no I saved up a lot of money over the years and I have brought you some things you can sell"

The merchant groaned knowing immediately what they were "You made sure to clean and tan them this time right?" questioned the merchant.

Khorieus laughed and said "Of course I did, and you will find as usual they should fetch a high price, all I want is my share of the coin for doing the actual hunting"

Aelerin sighed and said "well let me inspect what manner of horrifying beasts you have slain and deduce their worth"

Over the next few day Aelerin was busy helping Khorieus, he had sold the hides which had belonged to at least three manticores, four chimaeras, two hydrae three basilisks and eight others from creatures Aelerin was not even sure if there was a name for. The hides sold well to leather smiths and alchemists, a large portion of the coin went to Khorieus and Aelerin also worked on helping book passage to Elthin Arvan or the Old world as the humans called it, he quickly arranged a meeting for the Chracian to a human associate in the Foreigners' Quarters named Raphael Borgia, a Tilean merchant who is part of a shipping company that did lots of business with Ulthuan, Araby, the Empire, Bretonnia, the Dwarfs, Cathay and other nations.

Khorieus walked through the filthy streets, he was assailed by the noise and smells of the various humans of many nations, he passed by an Arabyan merchant who claimed to be selling perfumes that would make a human man smell desireable to an elf maiden, more like make a maiden faint thought Khorieus when he took a whiff of the overpowering aroma, he saw a well dressed human man shouting things in the language of the Brettonians to a crowd of men who seemed to shout agreements as well in Brettonian, the congregation devolved into a brawl when a group of angry armored humans who shouted angrily in the same language.

He passed by many vendors and merchants selling their wares to the other humans and he saw a few elves too here and there, he asked around for directions to the home of Raphael Borgia following the instructions of Aelerin, he was pointed to a street called Colombo's Way which had become an unofficial Tilean district in the Quarters. As he made his way through he passed a group of pale and rather scrawny human women who tried offering their 'services' to the Chracian, he respectfully declined wondering if the women were trying to appear more elf-like in appearance, if so then it was a laughable attempt, he noticed many human men and more of the painted women coming out from dark alleyways, likely rutting but one couple that caught his attention was a cloaked man being led a tiny human girl he thought was a child, he was pretty sure the cloaked figure was an elf for he was much taller and moved with more grace, but the small human he realized was actually a Halfling after noticing the girl's feet were overly large and barefooted, the cloaked elf notice the Chracian's curious gaze and quickly scampered off, the Halfling girl was shouting foreign curses at the fleeing elf.

When Khorieus got to his destination he found several armed mercenaries patrolling the streets of the district. The mercenaries gave Khorieus no trouble, but occasionally he would see the humans chasing away other humans he assumed were non-Tileans, he arrived at a simple townhouse which looked like nearly all the other buildings in the district, built by the elves but were decorated in a human style. He knocked on a door and was greeted by a human man with a pointy beard and mustache dressed in a ridiculously garish outfit with puffy sleeves and pants and a massive hat with a bird's feather on top,

"Greetings sir elf!" said the man in almost perfect eltharin who gave a respectful bow with a flourished removal of his hat, the man was bald and Khorieus could swear he saw his own reflection on the man's head. "Come in come in" the human said.

Khorieus obliged and walked in, the townhouse was cozy at the least with many bit of decorations and painting he assumed were Tilean in origin, the Chracian was seated on a chair that was a bit too soft for his liking another human man in a less ostentatious but similarly garish attire offered the elf a steaming ivory cup of black liquid with a strong aromatic smell, he graciously accepted the cup and took a sip, noting the liquid was very bitter and hot yet he soon felt more awake.

The man he had met at the door sat down on a larger chair and he too drank a cup of the dark brown liquid enjoying its taste, "You enjoy the coffee yes?"

Khorieus nodded politely "Raphael Borgia I presume?" said the elf.

The human seemed to beam at hearing his name and nodded.

"Yes that is I, good elf, Raphael Borgia of Remas at your service. I understand from my good friend Aelerin that you seek passage to the Old World?"

Khorieus nodded at the human's words and the man continued

"Well I have a ship coming in from home in about a month's time and in the next month after repairs it will leave for the city of Marienburg"

Again Khorieus nodded, and the man continued to speak

"Good then! All I need is for you to sign a few papers which does not make my company liable in the event of your unfortunate demise at sea and we will be finished."

Khorieus gave a curious look to the human at hearing this "unfortunate demise?" he questioned,

Raphael gave Khorieus a questioning look of his own and said

"You do not know? At that time of the year the Norscans will be out hunting"

Khorieus gave a feral grin at hearing this "where do I sign up?" he said and the human smiled.

And so the day carried on with Khorieus signing a few documents, he clasped the human's hand and shook it sealing their deal. When the Chracian left he felt more alert and was rather happy at the prospect of possibly seeing battle with the Norscans and his arrival at Elthin Arvan.

The following two months were spent by Khorieus using the coin he had saved to purchase supplies and equipment he felt he would need in Elthin Arvan and reading books to learn about the human languages. In the past he had sold most of his family's heirlooms to other noble houses, the only truly personal things he kept were his family's axe an un-enchanted but masterfully forged ithilmar weapon, a cloak made from the pelt of White Lion he had slain when he was younger and his golden pledge ring to his wife.

He had met an enchanter to imbue his kit and to purchase new ones for himself, he now had a pair of new rings which should protect him from enemy spells, an amulet which bore the rune of the goddess Isha to grant him greater vitality and protection from disease or poison. He purchased a set of ithilmar plate armor which was inlaid with runes of protection against physical weapons, he purchased an elegant long bow of Ellyrian craftsmanship which bore runes dedicated to the hunting god Kurnous, enchantments for his cloak to help conceal him, a leather case of potions and elixirs and finally he had his family's axe enchanted which at the word of command would blaze with white fire. The cost of his gear was enough to pay for a small army but he had been saving up a lot of coin over the decades from the hides of great beasts to his encounters with the Druchii in the Shadowlands and now he put it to use.

He spent a final night in the manor of Aelerin, the two elves had bid each other farewell, Khorieus had jokingly promised to bring back the hides of many beasts to the merchant. Khorieus made sure to head to Lothern's temple districts and made offerings to the gods of light especially to Mathlann for his journey, he had even gone to the secret shrines of the Cytharai to make his offerings to appease the under gods.

When he went to the docks he found the human ship, a large galleon that was carrying a lot of goods from the elves and was occupied by several gruff looking humans, he showed his papers to the human captain and was allowed in. The humans didn't mind Khorieus presence some speaking in a butchered version of eltharin and explaining that Khorieus was not the first elf to be carried aboard the ship, when the ship finally casted off Khorieus took one last at Ulthuan and wondered if he would ever go back.

In the weeks that followed the Chracian stoically bore the filthy living conditions of the ship, he had quickly grown bored of constantly looking to the sea and spent much time practicing his language skills and had insisted on learning seamanship from the humans who showed him how to tie ropes, how to tell the weather and a variety of other things. The humans often told each other and Khorieus himself stories of sea monsters, pirates and marauders as well as many outlandish tales, one thuggish man claimed he was the bastard son of an Imperial lord who was the cousin of the current emperor Karl Franz, another said he was on the run from Bretonnia for trying to overthrow the king, and another even claimed that had escaped and outsmarted an infamous human man-hunter named Brunner.

Although Khorieus had doubted many of the stories the humans told, he pretended to believe them trying to be at least civil, but comfortable knowing at the least among the tales which he felt were true were the ones of battles on the sea, but soon even stories and labor would bore him and he would grow restless hoping that something would happen to the ship. It was on the 42nd day of the voyage that the Chracian's prayers were answered.

Khorieus meditated within his cabin clad in his simple hunter's garb, his legs were crossed and his axe was placed on his lap, he had once fought alongside a great Sword Master from Hoeth who helped show him a few methods the mysterious warriors used to clear their minds. As he cleared his mind, he heard a frantic series of poundings on the door of his cabin, a little worried he went to the door and opened it to see one of the sailors a deformed Brettonian man named Jules looked to the elf with a worried look, the man babbled something in bretoni and the elf quickly picked up Norscans and raiders. Khorieus nodded to the man and went to grab his kit, he hastily put on his armor and cloak making sure the straps were tightened, he grabbed his bow and axe and checked once more if everything was in place, after checking he rushed off towards the main deck.

The noon time sun blinded him for a little as he came upon the main deck, the place was filled with frantic sailors who were shouting curses at the Norscans and firing arrows from bows or crossbow bolts at the marauders who were sailing closer and closer aboard their long ships, Khorieus went to one of the portsides to see two Norscan ships heading towards the galleon and on the other side were two more ship, he brought out his bow, knocked an arrow and took aim. He stilled his breath and viewed his foes, there were many of them, large muscular and hairy men who wore little in the way of armor and garments, many sporting ritual tattoos, scar and brands which hurt the eye to look upon, Korieus recognized many emblems and runes dedicated to the blood good, and so with a whispered prayer to Khaine , he fired the arrow.

The arrow flew straight into his target, the arrow head misted with arcane rime before striking a Norscan into the center of the man's exposed chest, and it was not long before more elven arrows would find their way into the bodies of the Norscan marauders. Some of the marauders had more sense and began raising shields to ward away the arrows and bolts, others took up bows and throwing weapons of their own to strike against the sailors, soon the ships closed in with frightening speed and the Norscans began to board with grappling hooks.

Khorieus had stowed away his bow and had taken up his hunting knife and a spare cutlass the human sailors provided, for his great axe would be difficult to use in the close quarters of the ship, he tested the weapon first and was satisfied that it would be serviceable enough before charging into the Norscan boarders. Up-close, Khorieus was comparable to the Norscans in terms of size and physique, he was only slightly taller and was only slightly slimmer of build compared to the savage humans but he had many centuries worth of combat experience to aid him.

He parried a Norscan blade with the cutlass and jammed his knife into the man's throat, he weaved to the side and avoided a thrust from a spear before gutting his attacker with the cutlass, a sailor near him was desperately fighting a losing fight to a Norscan almost twice his size with cudgel and cutlass, the sailor fought like most of the others with the ferocity of a cornered beast. Khorieus aided the beleaguered man by thrusting his cutlass at the Norscan, the marauder raised his shield to block the Chracian's attack and swiped his axe at the elf, Khorieus had time to barely dodge the blow before the sailor struck the marauder over the side of the head with his cudgel and a cutlass into the groin.

With adrenaline pumping through his body and the sound and smell of battle and blood, the rage of Khaine descended upon Khorieus, he reveled in the killing as he swatted the mace of another Norscan who tried to bash him before driving his hunting knife into the human's throat, he took an axe blade to the pauldron of his armor and roared in pain and fury before driving both his blades into the center of the human's belly and ripping the blades to the sides in a massive grin, the smell of the man's blood and entrails further excited Khorieus and he decapitated his foe, he moved on to the next foe and killed after kill after kill before there was a lull to the battle.

He noticed a large Norscan warrior wielding a pair of maces and clad in a full set of red and brass armor pummeling many of the sailors into blood pulps, the warrior noticed Khorieus's presence as well and pointed one of his maces to the elf, roaring a deafening shout of challenge. The sailors and the marauders eventually parted between the two and made space, Khorieus glared at the Chaos leader gripping his blades tightly recognizing his foe as a chosen champion, he noticed there was a large double bladed axe shaped like an angry bull strapped to the champion's back, the champion threw his maces to the side and drew his axe blade, the man pointed to Khorieus's own axe and the elf understood, the two warriors both now had their axes out, each blade glowed with arcane energy and Khorieus was thrilled at the prospect of this duel.

The two warriors circled each other gauging their strengths, Khorieus was surprised the human actually bothered with this considering that most followers of the blood god were psychotic maniacs who fought like beasts. Khorieus heard the marauders begin to chant constantly repeating "Rjorn, Rjorn, Rjorn" he assumed this was the name of the champion he fought, soon the Chosen charged towards Khorieus with surprising agility the chosen's axe was held in both arms, his stance made it clear the Chosen intended for a horizontal swing, the elf thrusted his axe towards the chosen, who quickly swung his own axe towards the elf but at the last moment adjusted its grip and forced the demonic weapon upwards, parrying Korhieus' weapon. Korhieus let his right hand go from the axe and struck his gauntleted fist towards the Chosen's helmed face, there was loud clang of metal upon metal and it felt as if the elf had struck an anvil, the Chosen snarled and head butted the elf knocking the Chracian back and now sporting a bloody nose.

The elf shook his head as pain seared through his face and focused, he saw the Chosen charge at him once more, and this time the elf charged as well, the two swung their axes at the same time, but this time Khorieus ducked and spun underneath the axe blow and attempted to deliver a sweeping strike to the chosen's feet, the chosen swiftly raised his boot that was closest to the axe and stomped down, trapping the lion headed axe blade.

The chosen quickly raised his axe up and thrusted the demon faced pommel into the elf's back, more pain exploded unto Korhieus's body, the blow would have killed him had it not been for his enchanted armour, swiftly he thrust his head towards the Chaos Champion chin, using his conical helmet as a weapon, the strike knocked the Chaos Champion back but again it felt like striking metal and Khorieus was momentarily dizzied. The two warriors made some space for each other and soon they came at each other again and again and again.

Several minutes had since the duel began and soon a number of the chaos marauders lost patience and attacked the sailors, the battle began once more in earnest but both sides kept their distance from the dueling warriors. Khorieus was breathing heavily now, sore and bleeding from multiple wounds but so was the champion, the elf's heart sang with rage and joy at finally finding a worthy opponent, the chaos champion felt the same and as the two warriors paused they began to laugh, the sound of the laughter caused both sides to pause once more, Khorieus' laugh was rather deep but plain sounding laugh of joy as if he had heard a funny joke, the champion's laughter though had been a booming sound like thunder.

The two warriors were far enough from each other's weapons, champion pointed his axe towards the elf and spoke in the Dark Tongue, many of the sailors felt sickened by the swirl of magic in the air but Khorieus was not worried for the warriors of the blood god did not use sorcery to slay, the champion finished his spell and spoke in a rich deep voice using his native tongue, yet when he spoke his words were completely understood by all who heard

"It has been a long time since I have fought a foe as worthy as you elf, you skull will make a fine offering to Khorne!"

Khorieus nodded in acknowledgement and replied in perfect Reikspiel "And to you as well man of the north, Khaine will feast well upon your soul."

The two warriors saluted each other with their weapons and charged forth once more the two fought and dodging, parrying, and striking each other, both were equally matched in skill and in equipment. Khorieus knew he could keep this up, but he was not sure of the sailors, who still fought against the marauders, he knew he had to end this as soon as he could and so he decided against his better judgment to fight dirty.

He quickly disengaged from the chaos champion who roared in anger and gave chase to the elf; Khorieus cleaved his way past many marauders and shoved aside a number of sailors, the chosen did the same but cared little of who get in his way, eventually the elf stopped by the starboard of the ship and turned to face the champion, the chaos champion raised his axe and brought it down in an arc, the elf charged forwards and threw his axe down, he lowered his head and slammed into the rushing chosen's groin and grabbed the chosen by the thighs, the adrenaline kept him going and with a great heave used the chosen's momentum to carry the man and hurl him over board, the chosen roared angrily at the elf and soon hit the seawater, sinking like a rock. Khorieus felt a bit shamed at himself for using such tactics, he grabbed his axe and looked at the stunned crowd of humans, he then shouted angrily in elvish.

"WHO WANTS TO DIE NEXT!?", and he charged back into the fray.

When the battle was over, about half of crew were dead, none escaped unscathed and were brought down inside the ship to have their wounds tended, the captain was dead and so was his first mate, the deformed Brettonian Jules and those who were still able enough to move around began to tiredly loot what valuables they could from the Norscans. None of the barbarians survived as each had fought to the death, Khorieus himself had reaped a bloody tally and was now busy helping tend to the wounded. The ship's barber surgeon himself had joined the fight and busily sutured a wound on his waist before moving to the other crew members.

The ship was anchored while the Norscan long ships were still hooked to the galleon, the crew soon warily boarded the long ships seeking to find gold, one of the men took a banner from the largest ship claiming that there is a large bounty on the fleet of the Norscan leader known as Rjorn Bloodbull who had been terrorizing the coasts of the Empire, Brettonia and other human nations for over sixty years.

Aboard the Norscan ships they had found many wretched and emaciated slaves with broken minds who saw the sailors as their new masters, reluctantly the sailors used the slaves to gather what treasures they could while Khorieus inspected many, the elf often suggested to throw away certain baubles and pieces which gave him an uncomfortable feeling, a number of sailors of course refused when their sense of greed overcame their superstition and more fights would break out.

By the end of the day they had thrown their dead overboard giving last rites in the name of the gods Manaan and Mor and setting the chaos ships ablaze, the former slaves quickly learned about the new ship they would work upon and helped it sail off following their destination. After three more days of sailing and following their course, the ship was finally in sight of Marienburg, Khorieus looked towards the human city and towards the lands of Elthin Arvan and was filled with a strong sense of eagerness, the battle with the chaos champion whetted his appetite for death. He gripped his axe and stroked the sides of its blade lovingly while whispering

"soon…" and he grinned dreaming of the foes he would fight and the blood he would spill.