Hello everyone, sorry for the long delay, had a lot of stuff on my plate at the moment, but its all good now and I hope to get you the next chapter up very soon, I'm looking forward to getting it up as well as another story of mine which I will try to post alongside my next chapter.

Now for the reviews

Terzha: Spice? You want spice… okay I'll se what I can do. (Oh btw do you like awkward moments and sexual tension.)

Fallen Maiar: I would never leave you all hanging like that, I'm sorry I didn't update earlier, as I said had thing to do, but now I'm back and hopefully on a regular basis. Glad you like it, bet your gonna love the next two chapters though, they focus on the massive hammer wielding machine of death that is Mairne Ragetotem. (and maybe a little girl and a crazy yet hot enforcer of justice.)

Kiue Jin: I can understand where you coming from, when I first had this in my head I was thinking on how I was going to do it and what characters to put into it. I did have the idea of an female orc shaman, and possibly an undead, but after a bit of working through it this is what I came up and finalized on, I would have loved to add more but sometimes you cant just add all the player onto the field.

As for my plea for help, you will want to keep a look out on him personnel page, as I will be adding a new story to it soon and when I do I will be giving you a big description of the project as well as what I intend to do. So keep an eyes out. Okay.

ultima-owner: Yes. Yes he is.

Chapter: 08 – Hunted

Mirkwood

It was early morning when the riders final reached their destination, they had travelled through the night to their hidden camp in southern Mirkwood, once known as Lasgalen or the Greenwood, but with taint of the Dark Lord corrupting the forest it is but a shadow of its former greatness. Thirty rangers rode into the small camp hidden within the ruins of a dilapidated castle; all that remained were few blacked stoned walls and towers which seemed to blend in the unnatural gloom that was Mirkwood. Fifteen horses came to a halt in a small courtyard and dismounted without concern, all save one which carried a second passenger on the leading horse, a woman in green and gold flowing robes and carried an ornate staff, she slowly dismounted after the first all the while clutching the her side.

"Are you alright?" asked the rider, his name Lomdognir, he introduced himself on their journey towards this place, he said he was the Commander of the Malladhrim, an order of elven rangers created to stop the spread of evil from Mirkwood. He had long golden-blond hair that passed his shoulders and had a youthful appearance, one would think him no older than twenty, but when dealing with elves they are not as all they would seem.

"Yes, my side just hurts, I only need to rest" hissed the gold and green clad woman in pain as she dismounted the horse, grasping her side lightly as the pain shot from her waist and into every other part of her form.

"Allow me to take you to our healers, they may be of some aid" Lomdognir asked, his voice laced with some concern, but she had already started walking away, using her staff as a walking stick before she replied.

"It is not required, the wound is no longer life threatening, all I need to do is rest and let it heal" she stifled a groan of pain, twice, as she replied, true her wound was no longer a risk to her life but the wound was still opened and an ugly sight. Her hand was covered in both dry and fresh blood, which was hard to see with the soft green glow that enveloped it; she had been trying to heal her wound for the last few hours and was having some difficulty. Likely from the method of attack that was beset upon her, cuts and bruises were easier to heal that burns and magically inflicted attacks, the reason being that flames usually cauterised the wound making it hard for the cells to reform naturally, and magic usually interfered with whatever remedy you are trying to use to heal yourself. And since it was a magical flame it was much more difficult, she was on the verge of losing consciousness many a time while on her way here, if not for the occasional bump from the horse she would have likely fallen unconsciousness and likely bled out before she awoke.

She found a small bench near the wall and took a seat, grimacing slightly and holding back another whimper as she did, leaning her staff against the wall she too leaned back and slowly closed her eyes, taking a moments respite before continuing her treatment. She took in a deep breath before opening her eyes, when she did she couldn't help but groan in exasperation, in front of her was Lomdognir along with four others, all with their hands on the hilts of their swords and looking at her expectantly. She looked right into the Malladhrin Commander's eyes for a few moments, she was gauging him to see if he was trying to intimidate her or was prepared to attack if he needed to, she could see his eyes were almost doing the same to her and though she was willing to fight she knew she wouldn't survive against such a highly train soldiers as close as he was.

She let out another exasperated sign before looking back up at the commander and asking him. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Who are you and why were you Dol Guldur?" asked Lomdognir, his gaze just as hard as his tone, Rosaria looked thoughtful for a moment, not to sure what to tell him. She couldn't exactly trust these people, true they saved her, but one can never be too wary of strangers in a foreign land, especially when they are ones who seem to be either a mercenary band or bandits. But she had little choice in the long run, even if she did answer the questions and in the end they attacked she would still likely be killed, so she might as well play along for now and hope an opening appears so that she could either annihilate them or escape.

"My name is Rosaria Wildmane, Arch Druid of the Cenarion Circle and as for why I was in that dismal fortress; I was looking for the source of corruption to this forest." She replied matter-of-factly towards the Captain, appearing uncaring and bored, she couldn't allow him to appear to have the power in this conversation; her pride and life would be at risk if she appeared meek or submissive in any way.

"Arch Druid?" pondered Lomdognir, not to sure what the term meant, casting the title aside he pressed further "How did you enter the fortress, we did not see any sizable force assault its walls."

"I was the only person to enter the city" she replied plainly, she would have smirked at the look on their faces but bit it back, before continuing "As for how I got in, they opened the gate for me."

This caused the men to lose their surprised look for one of suspicion; she could understand it in a sense, if she was told that a single person entered a fortress through the front door without so much as batting an eye with the occupants that would set alarm bells off.

"Calm down, they let me in so they could try and kill me" she said offhandedly, before she looked Lomdognir right in the eye, her light blue glowing orbs piercing into his dim green, before finishing with a serious and heated tone. "And they paid for their arrogance with their lives."

Some of them took a step back from the tone she used; some even started sliding their sword out of their sheaths, even though they outnumbered her and were at an advantage they could feel that she wasn't just some random woman who was lucky enough to get in and out of Dol Guldur alive. The only one who seemed to not be taken back was the commander; he held his ground but did tighten his grip on the hilt of his sword, Rosaria noticed this but paid no heed to it, even if he did attack she was certain she could be able to dodge it and then fire off a quick star bolt before moving onto the others. But the fact she was in unfamiliar territory and surrounded by what was likely thirty or more highly trained trackers and hunter, that did not bode well with her, she was effectively a prisoner, and if she even tried to escape she was doubtful she would make it out the gate and even if she did whatever sentries they had would make sure she get much further than that.

"As long as you don't do the same, you have nothing to fear from me elf" she stated, much more calmer that her previous statement, they were relieved but did not visibly show it, she regarded the commander once again, who was boring his emerald eyes into her own as if looked for any deception. Even if he could see her pupils behind the glowing light that enveloped the orbs he would see she was speaking truthfully, but as he could not he had no choice but to remain on guard and suspicious, sighing again she leaned back against the wall and waited for whatever was next to come.

"Remove your hood and mask" ordered Lomdognir, she jerked her head upwards to look at the man, 'why' she thought, and she voiced that though and his reply was just as simple "Because I said so"

Scowling at the irritating elf she complied, first removing her hood from her head to reveal her snow-white hair which stretched down past her shoulders and down to her lower back, also were her long elongated ears which were concealed under the hood. This caught them off guard; they had never seen anything like it before, true they had elongated ears, but not to that length, they now were able to take in her almost pristine light purple skin that glowed in the dim light of the coming dawn, and her darker purple lips. She let the hood fall behind her and then moved to her half-mask, which covered her face from her hairline to the tip of her nose, with two small temples that ran alongside her face and coiled over her ears, she placed her hand on the mask and removed it. She revealed her appearance to the five rangers in front of her and all of them could only gasp at what they saw, they were gaping at her in complete shock, Rosaria had no idea why they were so surprised by her appearance, were these people so sequestered that they had never seen a different race before.

She narrowed her eyes at one of the warriors who seemed to not be staring at her face, his gaze was cast slightly lower, then she realised what took them by surprise, she sighed in annoyance once more, they were men, they think with only thing when it came to woman. She knew she was attractive but she didn't flaunt it like some harlot or blood elf, she was to prideful and respectable to do something such as that, she was a night elf and they were a proud and respected people.

"If you don't mind, I would very much appreciate, if you didn't stare at me, particularly at my chest" she stated firmly, but growled at the one elf who was staring at her assets and a moment later he adverted his eyes with a guilty look on his face, she groan in irritation before murmuring a quiet 'men'.

"My apologies, we did not mean to look so intently, we just have never seen someone so... extraordinary" replied Lomdognir, trying his best not to try and insult the woman further, hoping he didn't as Rosaria's face remain completely neutral. "Speaking of your appearance, what are you exactly; I have never seen a race such as yours before."

"My people call ourselves the Kaldorei, it means children of the stars, and we are also known by a simpler term: Night Elves." She stated, watching as their faces contort in a mixture of scepticism and surprise, they could not deny she was a tantalizing creature, but to say she was an elf was something they were having a little difficulty to believe.

"You're an elf?" stated Lomdognir, shock clearly written across his face, a stiff nod was his response "I'm sorry, I don't mean any offence it's just, to say you're an elf, that would mean you and I are of the same race, yet I have never come across your kind before, let alone heard of your people."

"I do not expect you or any other of your kind to know of me or my people." She stated; then remained silent for a moment, deep in thought with herself trying to think of a way to discover where she was.

She could ask these people where she is but the ludicrousness of her origins would likely be met with negatively, no she would keep herself quiet for now, until she could find someone who was a little more open minded and maybe if she was lucky, intelligent. She looked up at the elf once more, his eyes still gazing blankly at her, she ignored the irritating stare he was giving her and shook him out of his trance.

"Tell me, where is it that you originate from?" she asked, he was snapped back into reality by her question and with a few moments to compose himself after being likely caught staring at her he replied.

"I- We come from a place known as Caras Galadhon, in the forests of Lothlórien, why do you ask?"

"I wish to go there; I would request sanctuary from your leaders" she said, 'then find out where I am', she thought, 'and then see if the others are here' "Then I will tell you all you need to know of me and my people, is that acceptable?"

For a moment he stood there slightly taken aback, she had just asked for asylum, after what looked like she was going to attack them and then try and escape a few minutes ago, and now she was asking for help, he was slightly suspicious.

"Why should I trust you?" he said, all the while keeping a firm grip on the hilt of his sword, ready to unsheathe it and drive it through her heart should she try anything. A moment later she lifted herself to her feet, her staff clenched tightly in her hands, she took a step forward and stood face to face with the Malladhrin commander, she looked into his eyes and saw his willingness to fight and kill if needed. She couldn't help but feel like a fool for what she was planning, but she had passed that point now and she had no choice but to wing it and hope for the best, as Tyresa use to put it, she slowly extended her hand with her staff tightly clenched between its fingers.

In an instant their swords were drawn and they assumed a fighting stance, their leader unsheathed his sword and had it at her throat, but by the time he did she had already completed the gesture, she held out her staff, ready to… relinquish it to him. For a moment there was nothing but hostility in the air, Rosaria kept her face stoic as ever but in truth her heart was beating hard in her chest, then Lomdognir glanced at her staff and saw it was outstretched toward him; he looked back at Rosaria incredulously. She stood their her face completely emotionless, even though she was fighting to keep her calm on the inside, Lomdognir turned slightly to the two rangers on his left and motioned them forward, each took a position on either side of Rosaria.

Lomdognir, keeping his sword close to the night elves neck, moved his free hand towards the woman's staff, who of course did not show any signs of agitation of concern, when he wrapped his hands around it there was a brief moment of hesitation in Rosaria. The thought of surrendering her weapon to him was highly undesirable, her weapon was a part of her and to relinquish it was something she found near impossible to do, but with a dissatisfied groan she let it slide from her grasp and into the hands of another. She closed her eyes and thought about the shame she had just cast upon herself, as a warrior and druid to surrender her weapon and herself over as a willing prisoner was highly dishonourable, she took one large calming breath, ignoring the cold steel at her throat, more concerned with the indignity of losing her weapon that losing her life at the moment.

She looked up to see the Malladhrin commander looking at her apprehensively, whether deciding to either let her live or kill her, after a moment he retracted his sword from her throat and the rest followed suit after a wave of his now free hand.

"I will take you to Lothlórien, from there we will decide your fate" he turned to leave, his men following him close behind, Rosaria sank back into her seat, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths to calm her frantically beating heart. She had to get a hold of herself, she had to remain calm and keep whatever pride and dignity she had left in this blight infested hellhole, she was doing this not for herself, she knew that if she had survived whatever brought her here maybe everyone else did. She may not know where she was or if they were alive, but she made a single promise to her companion Tyresa, protect Joana, those words rang through her head like a church bell on an early Sunday morn, and she would make sure that vow was carried out no matter what, even if it was her honour. She leaned back against the black stone wall watching as the world began to brighten as the sun began to rise, even though the new dawn had arrived she couldn't help but be taken in by the blackness that was unconsciousness, she couldn't help it anymore, slowly her eyes blinked themselves closed and her breathing became shallow and quiet, and in that moment she was asleep.

Trollshaws

Zul'kal rushed through the thick underbrush, breaking branches and sending leaves through the air at his speed, jumping over roots and weaving his way through the trees, he was running for dear life. Behind him he could hear the sound of his pursuers close on his tail, their light footsteps making it difficult for the troll to hear as his heart thumbed heavily in his chest, he looked to his left and saw a shadow pass through the trees not only twenty feet away from his. He grimaced; he was in a difficult position, they were surrounding him and no matter how far or fast he went they would always catch up to him a minute or two later, his head snapped to the right as he heard a whistling sound pierced the air.

One hour ago

Zul'kal sat in a large branch just above the ground and was resting peacefully, by his side was his trusted bow and his quiver, he lay along the lengths of the thick branch and slept, he had been through a lot recently. For the last few days, he had assisted in the assault on an ancient titan city, fought against indescribable creatures, and now was trapped in an unknown land with little to no idea where he was in relation to anything. He sighed in his sleep; he would worry about it later, for now he would keep dreaming about that very fine female bartender from the Sunreaver Sanctuary in Dalaran, The Filthy Animal, Mimbihi was her name, ah, he loved her short red hair and equally fiery eyes.

He hadn't seen her in a long while, a few months now, oh how he missed her smile, she was really something, he thought, he dreamt about her for a while, he enjoyed those dreams, maybe even more than those lecherous ones he had on occasion. Remembering the talks they had when he was in Dalaran, they conversed about their younger days before they were brought into the horde, their favorite food and drink as well as some fun times they had in their own adventures. Zul'kal may be a perverted bastard, hell; most of his dreams emphasized that, usually with very lewd encounters between himself and many different females, from elves, orcs, trolls, humans and on one occasion a goblin.

He smirked inwardly on that, but when he thought about her he didn't feel that, he saw her as more of a close friend rather than some fantasy he could use to keep his mind busy when he was doing something boring. Maybe when he got back home he would take a week or so off and see her, it would be better than just taking up another scouting or assassination mission for Mairne or the Warsong Offensive, but before he could plan out his vacation he heard something off in the distance. Opening his eyes he listened intently to the sound of nature, searching for any sounds that did not belong, he did not have to wait long, he heard horses neighing far off in the distance, maybe two hundred meters to the south-east, but from what he could hear they weren't moving, wild nags maybe, he though. He was inclined to take that thought and pass it off as nothing, he was tired and he didn't want to deal with anything for the moment, he slowly relaxed and leaned back against the tree and rested his head on the soft bark.

But he was drawn out of his respite when something caught his attention, he heard something close by, just behind the tree line, he turned to the source and as he did he heard the sound of something along the lines as a light whine. He sat up quickly and turned to his left, but was forced to lean back again as an arrow veered towards his head, with a hard thud it embedded itself into the branch of the adjacent tree, and he turned away from the arrow just as he heard another similar whine coming from his front. Sensing the danger he rolled over the branch and fell to the ground, just as he fell from the perch the tree which he once rested against was struck with three arrows, landing on his feet he turned once more to the left to hear another arrow veering towards him, quickly ducking he narrowly dodged an arrow intent on piercing his neck. He stumbled as he dodged the attack, not fully prepared for it, this cost him as he had no time to dodge the next arrow that lodged itself deep into his right shoulder, and a brief cry of agony could be heard from the troll as the arrow pierced his flesh.

He looked at the offending object with disdain before having to roll out of the way as more arrows were launched towards him, seeing no other choice, he turned to his bow and quiver and rushed for it, all the while breaking the shaft of the arrow and pulling it free from his shoulder. He groaned is pain as both the arrow and a splatter of blood flew from his shoulder, casting aside the bloody arrow he turned to the side to hear another whine pass through the air, grimacing slightly he ducked low, escaping with only a small cut along the back of his chest guard. He had enough of this; closing his eyes for a moment he focused on summoning one of his aspects to help him, a moment later his eyes shot open, his body felt more nimble and quick, just in time to dodge a small volley of four arrows.

He weaved through them with apparent ease, one arrow intent on striking his leg and the others aiming for his torso and the last for his head, leaping forward he twisted his lithe form through the two arrows that would have struck his chest and the other his temple. Once they passed he flipped back and landed on his feet before leaping away again, this time dodging three more arrows, he planted his palm onto the ground and pushed himself off the ground once more, before twisting midair to land facing towards his equipment. As soon as he touched the ground he crouched low and shot off like a bullet towards his gear, passing by any other attack sent at him with ease, when he was close enough he leapt to a small perch near his equipment and used it as a spring point to jump the rest of the way to his weapon and ammo.

Grabbing his equipment on the fly he attached his quiver to his back and grasping his bow tightly, glancing to his right he saw more arrows coming, using a nearby branch he altered his flight and dodged the arrows effortlessly. As he landed he pulled out an arrow and readied it all the while running towards the only clearing he knew did not have any hostiles, due to the fact he had not seen any projectiles come from its general direction, then to his far right he heard a single whine, ducking instinctively an arrow passed harmlessly over his head. Seeing the trajectory of the arrow he turned to its original source and fired off one of his own into the nearby woods, a moment later the arrow exploded in a ball of fire, bathing the green and blue serenity of the forest with a red hue.

Sadly he didn't know if he hit his target or not, he heard no screams or cried of alarm from his attacker, but without another word he turned away from the forest and resumed his sprint towards the trees. Looking to either outrun his pursuers or draw them out so he could kill them, he knew he couldn't beat this many in a direct fight, he needed to get them someplace where he had the advantage and then take them out, but sadly this wasn't his jungle, it was theirs.

Present

An arrow struck the tree in front of him, its metal arrow heard burrowing deep into the bark, not deterred by the very apparent miss, he ducked under the arrow and continued on his way, he knew what they were doing; they were trying to lure him into a trap. He had been a shadow hunter for most of his life and he knew every single tactic in the book, he knew the best place to lay a trap and the right time to shoot an arrow, he knew every trick they did and he wouldn't fall for it. They were trying to lure his into a kill box and there they would finish him off, even with the aspect of the monkey he couldn't dodge a hail of arrows shot at him from all directions, he needed to turn the tables on these guys.

A moment later three arrows whizzed past his cranium, a hairsbreadth away from piercing his neck and head, he grimaced at the near miss that would have killed him if he was but a millisecond to slow. Seeing no other choice, his instincts kicked in and he channelled another animal aspect, he closed his eyes and a moment later he opened them showing off his golden hued eyes, then he sped off faster than any normal creature would be unable to. Leaping over roots and stone while ducking under low level branches he sped through the thick forest, his now animal hearing picking up the sounds of arrows flying through the air towards him, ducking he dodged once more three arrows, all intent on piercing his side. Rushing off in another direction his senses picking up the sound of many hurried footsteps and heavy breathing from his pursuers, removing his bow and drawing a single arrow, he fired it off into a seemingly empty area, it pierced through the air quickly reaching its destination but its intended target could not be discerned what-so-ever.

But then a blur passed through the spot, its form hard to make out as it rushed along the left flank of the Shadow Hunter, then as it passed between one tree to another it was violently struck and knocked to the ground, the only other sign his arrow had met its mark was the pained scream that escaped it lips. A smirk marred the trolls face as he continued to flee, the whimpering cries of his pursuer and his fellow comrades slowly falling behind, their footsteps and breathing soon becoming all that harder to hear. He continued his run until he heard nothing but the sound of the billowing of leaves on the wind, stopping abruptly he collapsed to his knees, completely exhausted, he would like nothing more than to allow himself to simply fall into the dark abyss that was unconsciousness. But the Loa's weren't smiling on his this day; he was being followed by, at most, a dozen highly skilled hunters, he was outnumbered and likely out of his league, they were good, they were very good.

Sure he could say he was better than them all, but when you're fighting against more than just one slightly less skilled archer and tracker than you, then you can't say your better than them. You could be the best swordsman in the entire world, but even one man can't fight his way through a dozen other swordsman, no matter how inferior they were to you, unless you're Varro, he through with a smirk.

But that smirked died quickly as a grim demeanour returned to him, he was trapped, even though he took out one of their boys it was likely they would continue to pursue him, with much more determination now since one of their own was likely dead or dying at this moment. Since he couldn't run from them nor could he allow them to capture him, he detested being captured, especially after that incident in Zul'Drak, so he was pretty much a dead man.

He was dead man walking and the only hope he had was to kill those who were after him, which was better said than done, he had enough arrows to carry out the task, but it was likely so did they, he groaned in exasperation before he straightened himself up. He took a deep breath and then focused on calling on another aspect, for a moment he stood there his eyes closed before his eyes shooting open, his golden hue still present in his eyes but now black slits replacing his once round pupils. Turning back the way he came he drew one arrow from his back and silently skulked back towards hid prey.

Retendis groaned in agony as the shaft of the arrow in his side was broken, he let out another pained whimper before the other started treating him, and he was leaning against a tree now with three rangers looking over him. Elladan looked down at the ranger for a moment before turning back to the forest to watch for their quarry, they have been chasing the creature for the last hour now and had been forced to halt their hunt after it was able to injure one of his rangers. He had been there where the ranger was struck; he had been hit cleanly between the fourth and fifth ribs on his right side, from what they could tell he was likely going to die, if not today then in a few days after they return to Rivendell. Though it was a horrible thing to have one of his soldiers die under his command his thoughts were on other matters, such as how his subordinate was injured, he had been struck with incredible accuracy, he was able to mortally wound his target on the fly as well as striking in a near impossible spot.

From what he had heard from the ranger that had witnessed it, being only a scant few feet away from the now dying man, the creature had fired off his arrow long before he had even seen the ranger pass by, in fact he was sure that it was the only spot where he would be able to strike the ranger without any obstacles. It was an impossible shot, there was no way he could have done it, even he wasn't skilled enough to pull off a shot when he couldn't see his target, but he did with what could be considered apparent ease. This was bad, if this beast skill was on par or even better than all of those here then it was unlikely they would come out of this without casualties, this hunt had become that much more deadly.

"My lord" Elladan turned to the left, standing there was one of his rangers, he was panting slightly, likely from the arduous pursuit they had all just been relieved of "our scouts have lost sight of it"

"Are there any tracks?"

"No, they saw they go on for fifty meters or so before completely disappearing, they said he..." he couldn't finish when a ghastly scream echoed through the forest, all rangers turned to the source of the disturbance and drew their bows. Elladan turned to the rangers and motioned them to follow; five rangers rushed to his side leaving only one to tend the injured Retendis, six in total moved forward towards the area where they last heard their comrades scream, moving quickly they covered much ground but still remained obscured from the font of the cry. Then as they neared it another shrill cry from afar, had it not been for his hard training or long experience Elladan would have been shocked and full of fear at hearing his brother scream, he pushed himself harder and moved to try and save his brother.

Crashing through a small fern he came upon a surprising sight, standing before him was a creature unlike anything he had ever seen before; it was a seven foot tall lanky man, very short, fine blue fur covered its body. It had two long protruding tusks coming out from its upper lip. A long set of ears that stretched as far back as its untamed shoulder length red hair, just like its long ears its nose shot out more than any other creature he had the pleasure of seeing, covered in dark brown and purple armour which looked as if it stole the light from around it, two large jagged pauldrons adorned its shoulders and a sense of worry took his heart. As in the creatures three fingered grip was his brother, the life slowly being choked out of him, the beast turned to Elladan and regarded him with cold eyes before throwing his brother away, who was taking in large gulps of air on the ground.

"You gonna pay for messin' wit' me, mon" stated the Troll, before he quickly drew and arrow and fired it at the elven lord, Elladan dodged to the right just as the troll released his arrow, even though he had prior warning of the attack he was only just able to dodge the attack, he felt the air current generated from the arrow brush against his cheek.

Elladan turned back to the creature and to his shock saw it rushing towards him, its oddly ornate bow in its hand, ready to deliver a devastating strike while he was unbalanced, seeing the bows wooden-like plate veering towards his head he acted. While he fell backward he grabbed the hilt of his sword in a reverse grip and quickly pulled it out of his sheath and in front of his face, metal clashed against metal, small sparks shot out between the two weapons as they fought for supremacy. But because of his current stance Elladan was forced off his feet and onto the ground, his back hitting the forested floor hard eliciting a groan of discomfort from the elf, looking up he saw the troll coming in for another attack. Quickly he tried to raise his sword but it was knocked aside by the bow and his arm pinned under his large two toes feet, he aimed his bow at the elf's head and quickly drew and arrow, pulling it back along the bow string he intended to impale the elven nobles head.

Looking up he saw the dark arrow head gleam in the early morning sun, as he looked up and do nothing but wait for what was his inevitable death, then before he could release his arrows he leapt away from the downed Elladan. As he leapt away four arrows flew by where he stood only moments ago, turning to his left he saw four of his rangers emerging from the tree line, the troll turned to them and with his arrow still ready to be released fired it off at the emerging group. Unlike their lord the ranger who was struck could only move fast enough to be struck in the shoulder rather than the chest, he spun on his feet before collapsing to the ground, then from behind the troll emerged the fifth elf of the group, sword in hand. As he dove down at the troll intent on stabbing him through the back he was violently countered, spinning in his heels the blue skinned troll deflected the blade with his bow and then sucker punched him in the face, sending the ranger to the ground in a heap.

Turning away from the downed man Zul'kal regard the five elven rangers before him, now he understood why they were giving him such a hard time, he didn't notice at first but they all had slightly elongated ears. Most elvish warriors were highly skilled when it came to using a sword or bow; they would go with something quick and all rounded rather than something bulky and slow, that's why he had such difficulty with them. Elves live a lot longer than all other races and that leads to a lot of experience, especially as a warrior, he was starting to have second doubts now about fighting these people, after all he knew he could go on par with a night elf sentinel but a team that was out of the question. And right now he felt like he was facing down a squad of them right now, he may have killed one or two, depending on the first guy he got, and disabled two more, but now that they had regrouped he doubted this will end in his favor.

He looked at them and saw the one he was choking earlier had gotten to his feet and drawn his sword, he gritted his teeth now, that was not good, he wasn't the up close and personnel type, if they came at him with that he was a dead man, quickly regeneration or not. As he looked at them he noticed something, two were missing, as he noticed this he had to take a step back as an arrow would have struck his temple had he not, as soon as he did however they were upon him. Two of them charged him, sword in hand, both to his surprise looked completely alike, the first surge forward bring his sword down on top of the unprepared troll, who could only raise his bow to stop the attack. When they connected he had to defend against another attack that was aimed at his midriff, looking down he saw the blade coming in quick, ready to cut him in half if it made contact, thinking quickly he reached for his belt and hulled out his dagger, with some effort he blocked the attack.

For a few moments the three struggled to overpower the other, one trying to cut into the trolls shoulder and the other trying to cut his in half at the waist, while the one on the receiving end of both attacks struggled to keep either of those two from happening. With a grunt he pulled off a very difficult to manoeuvre, he knocked the first's ones sword off his bow and towards his twin, and then shifting his weight and jumping he was able to flip to the side and over the second's one's blade. This was pulled off in an instant; both were thrown off balance and knocked into each other unceremoniously, while Zul'kal landed gracefully a hairsbreadth away, but before he could even rise from his slight crouch the twin warriors attacked again. Crouching low he put as much strength into his legs as possible as well as calling upon an aspect to help him, he leapt back twenty feet in a single bound, sliding to a stop he readied his bow and drew and arrow.

As he took it between his fingers he was forced to dodge as a hail of arrows attacked him from the side, leaping away again he saw the three remaining rangers standing their drawing more arrows to fire, as he landed he directed his attention to them and fired. They reacted quickly enough and dodged it without consequence, Zul'kal grimaced and muttered a curse under his breath, and he couldn't keep fighting like this, before he could retaliate against the archers one of the swordsmen was upon him. He brought his sword back to strike, taking the initiative Zul'kal rushed forward and intercepted the swing with his bow, stopping it dead in its tracks, and he then brought up his dagger to cut the elf's throat, as it moved towards him it was stopped by another blade. Looking slightly to the right he saw the other swordsman had saved his twin, he clenched his teeth in irritation, but before he could do anything his attention shifted to those further on his right.

The archers had just released another volley towards him, leaping back quickly he put as much distance as he could from the two swordsmen before he retaliated against the archers, drawing a special arrow he quickly shot it towards the three rangers. But to their surprise the arrows trajectory was far off than what one would expect from what they had seen so far from the troll, it struck the ground just behind the three, who took little interest in it and returned their attention back to the troll, without them noticing the light blue object that was wrapped along the shaft of the arrow. As soon as they turned away from it the arrow exploded into an overwhelming light of blue and white, the rangers screamed as they felt their legs up to their knees was frozen in place and unable to move.

Zul'kal grinned devilishly as the two swordsmen, who in turned glared dangerously at the troll, he had the archer where wanted them and now all he had to do was kill these two and then move on to the archers. But that was all well said than done at the moment, before he could think of a plan they attacked once more, attacking one at a time to try and take his attention away from one opponent to they could strike. This went on for a few minutes, small cuts started to mar the shadow hunter's body as he narrowly dodged thrusts and slashes from the two swordsmen, without so much as being able to land a single blow against them, he was in trouble right now. He couldn't use his aspect correctly against these guys; he needed speed to counter their attacks as well as some dexterity to block some of their more difficult to stop attacks, almost every moment he was switching between them and it was starting to take its toll. His breathing was laboured and his heart was pounding in his chest like an engine on a damn siege engine, he couldn't take much more of this, he was wounded bleeding and had little strength left to keep fighting, if that didn't change he was likely going to go berserk and either get killed or rendered unconscious from the exertion it would put on him.

They attacked once more, both blades raised high above their heads, a far cry from their usual tactics, as they came down on him he struggled to keep his bow up and he felt his already weakened arms starting to give out under the strain. Then suddenly his entire world was flooded with pain, it started in his back and coursed through his entire form, his knees started shaking uncontrollably, he nearly buckled under himself. Then the weight that above him suddenly was lifted and he stumbled forward, he looked around confused and saw one of the swordsman ram his sword towards him, having only a moment he tried to redirect it, he was partially successful. Instead of going into his stomach it entered along the side of his waist, he let out a pain cry as the cold steel cut deep; he grabbed hold of the swordsman arms to stop him from doing any more harm but had little strength to resist him.

As he felt the steel inside his body and his mind start to go blank and his form begin to go cold, he felt a new sensation run through his body, he felt his heart pump that much harder and his muscles tense for the oncoming blood bath. Elladon watched as the creature struggled to remove his sword from its side, after all the fighting it put up, it was finally beginning to fall, he had to admit this creature was cunning and skilful, a shame it was a beast and killed some of his men. As he looked over the beast shoulder he saw a single ranger standing there bow in hand, he was the one who wounded the creature long enough for them to deal the final blow, turning to his brother who was panting heavily. Before he could ask him to finish this creature off he felt his blade tremble, turning back he saw the troll entire form trembling, he thought the troll was going into some form of shock or was in fear, but when he heard a low growl escape its throat he knew otherwise.

Then in an instant his sword was ripped out of the trolls side, opening up a large wound along the waist, Elladan was so shocked that he didn't have time to see the fist that sailed towards him, he felt the entire world go dark for a moment before he awoke on the ground a few seconds later. Looking up he saw the troll lean down and pick him up by the collar of his armor, he could see the rage and murder in the beast eyes, the troll through the elven noble aside and then advanced on his twin. Discarding its bow he resorted to using its hands, Elrohir raised his sword to defend himself but his weapon hand was caught by the troll, twisting his arm slowly into an uncomfortable angle he brought the elf to his knees. When Elrohir dropped his weapon no longer able to hold it in his twisted arm, the troll drew back its fist, he was struck hard in the jaw and fell onto his hands along with his knees, the troll then grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him up before tossing him back onto the earth. As he hovered over the downed Elrohir and reached for him, but when an arrow was lodged into its shoulder it let out a roar, before turning towards its attacker and rushing off to confront it.

Zul'kal turned to the elf ranger in the distance, it drew another bow and fired it, it was lodged into his stomach, which further angered the berserk troll, rushing forward he tackled the elf to the ground and started to beat his skull in. Every time he retracted his hand to deliver another strike it came away more bloody, for Zul'kal he had no idea what was going on, his blind had been overshadowed with a single desire, kill everything and anything in sight, as he delivered the later blow, which was rewarded with a sharp crack he turned to see one of the swordsman attack him from behind. As he brought his sword down his arm was grabbed by Zul'kal and then another was wrapped around the elf's throat, he watched as he choked the life out of the swordsman, he tightened his grip around the delicate stem, earning himself a wheeze from the elf.

Before he could crack the offending creatures neck however, Zul'kal felt a sharp pain course all the way from his arm from shoulder to his elbow, he stepped back, bewildered as to what happened before it was replaced with anger. He turned to see his hand still wrapped around the elf's throat, his twin next to him with a newly bloodied sword, but his forearm was no longer connected to him, he looked down to see his arm had been severed in two, just below the elbow. Blood seeped and spurted out of the stump slowly, he took a few stumbling steps backward and when his back came to rest against a tree he collapsed against it. Slowly his anger drained away from him and so did his anger, his adrenaline died down and the pain that was masked by it returned tenfold, he didn't have the strength to cry out in pain or even more, he felt so weak, he just wanted to rest.

He looked up at the two swordsman both brandishing their weapons, looking ready to put him out of his misery, but he wouldn't be awake to see the final blow coming, his head slumped forward as the last of his energy gave way, and soon his eyes flicker out and darkness took him.

There you have it, hope you like how this chapter went, left it with a cliff hanger, will Zul'kal live or is this the end of the Shadow Hunter of the Dark Spear tribe.