I look up from my position under a large tree and see Baronlief walking my way. I had grown tired of walking about as I attempted to work out my frustrations. The tree was a convenient place to sit and think over what my next steps would be. I press my forehead against my drawn knees as Baronlief sits down next to me.

"So what are your plans now?" he asks.

"Well, there is no way I will be able to afford to buy the shard. Not unless I sell everything I own plus more." I reply as I lift my head to face him.

"Guess we will just have to keep our eyes open for one as we go. One is bound to show up once we get to the higher level areas."

"That will take several weeks and I will be of no help along the way. It is not fair for me to make you and Erothar drag me around until we happen upon one."

Baronlief doesn't reply. I can see his eyes are staring off into the distance as he thinks. A smile flits across his face.

"What?" I ask, slightly annoyed by his happy smile.

"Do you still have that sword you mentioned you were saving for Sarung?" he asks as he stands up.

"Yes…why?"

He reaches out a hand to me and pulls me up.

"Remove it from your inventory and follow me."

I give him a puzzled look but do as he asks. The sword in not too heavy to carry in one hand so I manage to keep up easily as Baronlief leads the way through town. We walk down several winding streets before we locate Erothar sitting on a stone wall eating a sandwich.

"Ero, I think I may have a solution to Taur's problem." Baronlief calls to him.

Erothar quickly shoves the rest of the sandwich into his mouth before he jumps down besides us.

"And what would that be?" he asks as he eyes the sword in my hand.

"We are going to teach her how to wield a sword." Baronlief says with a smile.

I am expecting Erothar to start laughing, and am surprised when he only runs a hand over his growing beard.

"That could work." He says, "She would have no skills to use, but she may just be able to use a weapon if it isn't equipped."

"There's no harm in trying it out. We will see if she can do damage first, before we try to train her."

"I sincerely doubt that it will work." I say as I turn the sword over in my hand.

"All we can do is try it and see. If we fail then we will have to think of something else." Erothar says.

"And if it does work we will be able to search for the chard you need with your help." Baronlief says with a smile.

"I guess we can try it and see if it will work." I say, a smile forming on my own face.

We head out of town and find an open grassy area where other players should not disturb us. Baronlief shows me the proper stance for wielding a one-handed sword when I am not using a shield. It takes me a few tries before I am able to how the sword perfectly for a few minutes strait.

"That's good." Baronlief says, "Now I want you to make a stab at my leg."

"What!?" both Erothar and I say at the same time.

"We need to know if you can deal damage with a weapon that is not equipped. This is the best and quickest way to do it."

"We could go find some creature for her to attack." Erothar responds. "It doesn't have to be you."

"Relax. She can't do that much damage. I'll heal quickly and we will know what we need to know."

Erothar shakes his head and steps back. I look at Baronlief who nods and turns sideways to me so his left leg is outstretched. I take a firm grip on the sword and swing it at his leg. The blade scores a groove in Baronlief's thigh and red pixels fly out. I see his morale bar dip a few dozen points before his healing takes effect and it returns to full.

"Well, I guess you can do damage with a non-equipped weapon." Erothar says with a smile.

"Aye." Baronlief agrees. "Now you have to learn how to use a sword because nothing will sit there and allow itself to be stabbed and slashed."

"That also means we should see if she must use weapons at her level or if they can be of a higher level as well." Erothar adds in.

"Great idea." I say, thrilled that there is a possibility that I could still fight when I don't have access to a staff.

"Let's spend the rest of today looking at swords and possible armor for you. Light armor won't work very well in close combat with a sword. If you want to we can also try ranged weapons and shield types." Erothar finishes.

We go back into town and find the crafting area after pulling the items we need from the vault keeper. We set about making a variety of items for me to try out. I forge several different types of swords at my level as well as a few above my level in case I can use them as well. We check them out discretely and find that I can only deal damage with weapons at or below my level. They also do less damage than if I had the skill to use them by more than half.

"You will just have to strike harder and faster than skills would allow." Baronlief replies.

I decide that I prefer the two handed swords as I do not like having a shield in my way. The javelins and spears prove too unwieldy for my less than muscular frame so I discard them. I prove to be fairly competent with a bow and decide to train with one as well as my sword so I can do ranged damage if needed. Erothar makes some Medium armor at my level but I can't seem to get it to go on.

"Try equipping it as cosmetic gear." Baronlief says.

I successfully equip it as cosmetic and Erothar checks its usefulness. His spear glances off the armor as does Baronlief's sword. The durability of the armor decreases more than it normally would just like the weapons, but I can always repair it if necessary. I try a few pieces of heavy armor I made up, but they are too heavy for me to be able to move quick enough if I was in battle. Maybe at some point I will be strong enough to wear it, but not now. I slide the bow and quiver onto my back and strap a sword belt around my waist so that the sword hangs on my left side. I do a double check of all of the straps and buckles on the armor before I turn to the guys.

"How do I look?"

"Deadly." Erothar says with a smile.

I roll my eyes as I appraise my appearance in the nearby fountain. The helm obscures most of my face, but my dirty blonde hair hangs over my shoulder.

"Do you think my hair will get in the way of my fighting?" I ask, fingering it.

"It could. We will have to wait and see." Baronlief replies.

We decide to call it quits for the day and take up rooms in an inn. It feels weird to sleep in the armor, but I manage to get a decent amount of rest before the sun appears the next morning. I am awake before the others and I do not feel like waiting for them to get moving. I check to make sure I have all of my gear before leaving the inn. I go back to the same area as yesterday and decide to practice my marksmanship with my bow until the lazy boys get up.

I find a hummock of grass and stand several paces away. I carefully begin to shoot arrows at it. Most of them strike around the tuft of grass for one to two paces but a few of them actually strike the stems directly. I empty my quiver of arrows and walk over to retrieve them so I can start again. I only find eight arrows in the ground.

I know I shot thirty arrows over here. Where are the rest?

My question is answered when I go to place my retrieved arrows in my quiver. The rest of my arrows are there as they have reappeared inside.

They must have a respawn delay. I will have to keep track of how many arrows I shoot from now on. At least I will not have to retrieve spent arrows during a fight.

I continue shooting at the grass for another hour until my arms tire. I'm beginning to wonder where the men have gotten to as they should be up by now as it is almost noon. I put my bow back in the holder in my quiver and set out to go search for them.

I check at the inn first, but the bartender informs me that both men had left around an hour ago. I thank him for the information and exit the inn. I check the crafting area, the merchant building, and even at the auction hall but they are nowhere to be found. I'm about to think they left town without me as I go to check one final place, the stables. The streets twist and turn as I follow the side route on a short cut. The smells of horse, dung, and sweat assault my nose as I round the final corner and arrive at the stables. A sound I am not expecting to hear joins the normal noises of the animals around me…fighting!

I draw my sword and rush towards the gathering of people I see on the other side of the stable area. A ring of players has formed around two men who are furiously engaged in combat. I can't make out who the players are so I force my way through the people until I am standing next to the fighters and can tell who they are under their covering of dirt and sweat.

"What the hell are you two doing!?" I shout to be heard above the clash of weapons on a shield.

Baronlief freezes mid-swing while Erothar spins around and almost drops his shield at the sound of my voice. The other players quickly disperse as they realize the entertainment is now over.

"There is no reason for the two of you to be fighting like this. Put your weapons away and talk like civil people." I continue with arms folded across my chest.

"Taureith! You're ok!" Erothar exclaims as he drops his spear.

He rushes over and envelops me in a hug.

"Told you it wasn't her." Baronlief says as he sheaths his sword. "Taur would never be that idiotic."

"What is it that I am supposed to have done?" I ask as I manage to get Erothar to let go of me.

"We went looking for you after we woke up and you were not at the inn. We asked around and found out that a player had been seen going out towards the fields armed like you are now." Baronlief explains. "We headed towards the fields to see if it was you. We had barely made it past the buildings when a rider came flying towards us. We were able to stop him and ask what the problem was.

"He told us he had just watched a player be killed by a group of other players out in the fields. He described the player as best he could and again it seemed like he was describing you. Erothar feared that it was you and he wanted to immediately ride out and hunt them down for "killing" you. I told him we should wait and see if it was you as you would send us a message here if you had died and been sent back to Erid Luin. The argument escalated and weapons were pulled. It hadn't been going long when you showed up."

"That doesn't explain why you thought I wouldn't be 'that idiotic'." I reply.

"Taking on an entire group of rogue players with your sword alone? Not even a highly skilled player would do that, let alone you in your current status. You are smarter than that." He says with a grin.

I smile.

"Yeah. I'm not that stupid."

During this entire exchange Erothar had been kneeling by my feet with his head hanging down. I reach down and tousle his black hair gently.

"I only went to go practice shooting since the two of you were being lazy and still sleeping past dawn." I say. "There was no reason to be worried. I can take care of myself and am smart enough to not get myself killed."

Erothar says nothing and stands up. He will not look me in the eye and only nods when I ask if he is ok. We go back to the inn and eat a meal before going out to the practice field as I call it. Baronlief puts me through the basics of how to use a sword in combat even though my arms are tired from shooting. I quickly memorize the stances, attacks, and blocks and Baronlief gives his approval of my progress.

Over the next few days I practice sparring with either him or Erothar so I can learn how to adapt to different types of enemies. I seem to be a natural swordswoman and I am able to disarm Baronlief often. I keep getting hung up on my hair and Baronlief takes advantage of that fact at times. After I pick myself up from the dirt for the fifth time in a row after he had grabbed my hair and thrown me to the ground.

"Ok. I'm done." I say as I stand back up.

"Finally had enough?" Baronlief says as he sheaths his own sword.

"I'm tired of you pulling my hair in a fight." I say as we leave the area.

"So…what?" Erothar asks.

"I'm gonna cut it off." I say.

"But it looks so good on you." Erothar says.

"Looks don't matter here." I say as I find one of the other players in town.

I tell her what I want, and the girl draws her dagger. She pulls out strips of my hair and slices through it so that it is all just past my jawline. Hair doesn't grow here, so it won't change now that I have cut it. I thank the girl and give her a handful of silver coins to pay for her help. It feels weird not having my almost waist long hair and I keep feeling the hair tickle the back of my neck.

Erothar looks me up and down as I come over to where he is waiting with Baronlief.

"What do you think?" I ask them.

"Your hair definitely will not get in the way of the sword now." Baronlief says.

"Definitely." I reply.

Erothar only keeps looking at me before walking away. I think I upset him, but I don't care to go and ask him how or why.

Days pass as I practice using my sword every day. I get Baronlief to show me some of his skills as well as a few tricks I can use in a tight spot. I manage to disarm him once or twice, but I am usually the one laying on the ground covered in dust at the end of each session. Erothar tends to avoid the open field when I am sparring with Baronlief, as I no longer see him watching the endless matches I am put through. Once or twice he comes when Baronlief has something he must do and doesn't want me to go without practice. Erothar doesn't speak to me outside of correcting my form or grip on the hilt.

I corner Baronlief one afternoon between matches to demand he tell me what is going on with Erothar.

"Just give him some time. He is just adjusting to the new you after having fought with you day and night for the past two months. He will come around eventually once he feels comfortable with you sword prowess." Baronlief explains.

I still don't understand why it would take him longer than Baronlief to adjust to my no longer using a staff to fight. I shrug and resume my ready stance as Baronlief's sword arcs towards my body once more and the match begins anew.

Once Baronlief believes I am competent with the sword we start out on foot around the area. The fighting is somewhat trying as I engage the different types of creatures and enemies we fight. I enjoy getting back into the action even though I collapse onto my bedroll each night sore and tired.

We collect quests and errands from the local NPCs and work our way through the tasks given to us. I manage to reach level 40 while both of the men manage level 42. We have traversed all over Rhovanion and we amass much wealth by selling craft materials we do not need to other players. We are constantly pausing to craft new gear as we hit the new levels. News comes in of players making it to the slopes of Mt. Doom, but every group that tries to fight the final boss fails and are all sent back to level one. I'm beginning to think that there is no way to beat the game and that we will be stuck in this infernal game forever.

The only way this game will end is if you assemble the perfect team of fighters. Players who know each other intimately and have no need to communicate during battle. They would have to be able to act and react in perfect unison and have complete trust in each other. That is the only way to do it, and it will never happen as there is no way a group that large can be that knowledgeable about how everyone fights.