Chapter Two

The Leader cocked his head to the side, obviously surprised that this lone Khajiit had the nerve to challenge him. He turned to the other two and pointed his thumb towards Korban. Immediately the tall Nord tossed the girl to the ground, and the other let go of the horse, causing it to bolt into the trees.

"Rolik, Badar, teach this idiot a lesson in respect!"

The big Nord reached Korban first, and swung his left arm in a huge haymaker. Korban swiftly ducked under the attack and delivered a sharp punch to the Nord's chin. He barely flinched as he pulled his right arm back and lunged right for Korban's face. Without even thinking, Korban used his left arm to deflect the punch to the side, then delivered a powerful blow to the Brute's now exposed shoulder. He heard a satisfying crack as he dislocated the shoulder, making his attacker drop to his knees in pain.

Korban turned to face his next opponent, the thinner man who had been holding the horse. The man lunged at Korban, who casually side-stepped the clumsy attack, then repeated the move again as the clumsy idiot tried again. Turning angrily, the thief drew a small steel knife. they circled each other for a while, until Korban was standing between him and the collapsed brute. The thief lunged at Korban again, but as he moved to avoid the attack, a hand grabbed his leg from behind, and caused him to lose his balance. He looked over his shoulder to see the brute grabbing his leg with his left arm, while his right still hung uselessly. Just as Korban turned back to face his armed assailant, he felt the knife graze his right shoulder. Wincing in pain, he yanked his leg free, and grabbed the smaller man's armed hand. In one movement, he turned the man to face his wounded companion, then twisted his arm behind his back until he could yank the knife free from his grasp. Korban then took the knife and drove it into the thief's lower back, in a blow designed to wound, but not kill. He then tossed him to the side and delivered a powerful kick to the first bandit's face, knocking him backwards into the snow, where he lay unconscious.

Korban heard a sword being drawn behind him, and pivoted on his feet to see the leader facing him in a fighting stance, about ten paces away.

"This would be a lot easier if you would just die!" he spat at Korban, who simply lowered his hood, tossed his bag to the side, and drew his own sword, the elven blade gleaming in the sunlight. The leader let out a wordless roar as he charged at Korban, his steel blade held high above his head. Korban raised his blade to deflect the blow, but staggered backwards from the force of the attack, which only just stopped short of hitting him and cutting his chest open. A confident grin showed itself on the Nord's face as he struck again and again, Korban only just managing to avoid being sliced open. Underneath this furious onslaught, Korban's mind worked furiously, searching for a opening in the attack that he could exploit, but finding none. Finally he spotted his chance, as the Nord raised his blade high, Korban used his left arm to punch his chest, just underneath the ribcage, in a strike that drove the wind from his lungs and gave Korban a chance to catch his own breath while his foe doubled over wheezing. Korban took the opportunity to kick His opponents right knee, nearly dislocating it. Before Korban could take full advantage of this, however, the Bandit recovered from his coughing fit and shoved Korban back. He retook his stance, albeit with his now injured knee facing away from Korban, and swung his sword wildly at Korban's head. This time Korban was able to deflect the injured assailant's attacks a bit more easily, but he still found himself unable to get any strikes in himself. As the Nord made a stab at Korban's left, he took the opening and grabbed his opponent's wrist, forcing the sword away. Korban turned to face his opponent, only to see a fist rushing at his face.

The blow collided just under Korban's right eye, causing his head to ring and knocking him backwards into the snow, his blade falling from his grasp. He looked upwards at the sky, only to see the Bandit Leader towering over him, his sword held in a killing position above Korban's chest.

"End of the road, cat" The Leader proclaimed triumphantly, as he brought his sword up high and prepared to bring it down.

Korban prepared himself for the end, he could see no way out of this now... no way that he could escape... he felt certain that he was doomed.

Then, just as Korban closed his eyes, he saw a blade hit the bandit's left shoulder. The attack was clumsy, and barely pierced the skin, but it grabbed certainly grabbed the bandit's attention, as he spun to face his attacker.

"You!" he snarled as he laid eyes upon the one who had dared to hit him.

Korban followed his gaze, to see the Dark Elf holding a Short steel sword in a clumsy combat stance. The Nord grabbed her throat and growled at her face,

"You little bitch! You're gonna regret that!"

Korban saw his chance and leapt to his feet, picked his blade up from the ground , and slashed at the Bandit Leader's back. the blow tore through his lower back, and he roared in agony as he let go of the Dark Elf, and dropped to his knees. Korban drew his sword back, and then plunged it into the Nord's heart, his blood staining the white snow as he fell forward, dead before he hit the ground.

Korban bent down and wiped his sword on his fallen foe's shirt, before returning it to it's place at his side. he turned and saw the elvish woman struggling to her feet, clutching her throat and coughing.

"Here, Jaji help you" Korban said softly as he extended his hand to help her up. She took his hand and got slowly to her feet, before dusting herself off.

"Thank you, uh... Jaji was it?"

Korban chuckled softly to himself, before explaining,

"This one's name is Korban, Jaji is what this one calls himself in his own language".

"Ah, I see, well it's nice to see that there are still some decent people left in this world, Korban. My name is Lia, by the way, Lia Tahaelu". she said as she returned her own sword to it's scabbard. Korban gestured towards the blade.

"You are a Warrior?" He asked her, his head cocked slightly to the left.

"Kind of. But no one has really ever taught me."

Korban simply nodded at this statement, then looked over the scene around them.

Many of Lia's possessions were scattered over the ground, there was one man unconscious, another lying face down groaning with a knife in his back, and the third was dead. The brown horse that one of the men was struggling wandered out from amongst the trees, and Lia rushed over to it.

"Indoril! Are you hurt?" she exclaimed while checking him for signs of injury. Korban walked over to where Lia's things had fallen, and started to pack everything back into her bags for her. When he had finished, she walked over to him and picked up one of the bags, while Korban grabbed the other. As she was refastening them to her horse's saddle, she looked over towards him.

"Thank you so much for your help, I almost feel bad for asking this, but I'm afraid that i might get attacked again, and you might not be able to help me next time."

He nodded at her to continue.

"Would you be able to come with me, just to Windhelm. After this experience I really don't feel safe on my own. I hate to be a burden on you, but, well..."

Korban really wasn't the type to travel with company, but for some reason he felt as though they had something in common, and so he made his choice.

"Fusozay, this one will travel with you to Windhelm".

That is chapter two ^.^ As before, let me know what you think, what i did wrong and any suggestions for what should happen next.