Love Has Its Reasons
Chapter 6
By: Catriana
While neither Hunters had opted to take any of their pets, they did take their steeds, large, powerful red Raptors with short temperament and a craving for bloody meat. Thunder Bluff was quite the distance from Origimmar, so speed and stealth was what they needed. They had packed well the night before, not planning on going into town for provisions. Food wasn't needed, they could hunt for their own, but Kaniar insisted on having sharpening stones and throwing knives. When Lorkan had argued with her that they were on a scouting mission and they'd probably leave before things got too heated, she merely pointed out that a Hunter who was not cautious soon became the hunted. Figuring she had a point, he brought some knives himself.
The trip, in Lorkan's opinion, had been a bit uneventful. He had expected some words to be exchanged from Kaniar and Rohkan that would keep him amused but the two spoke not a word to each other the entire time. Rohkan seemed a bit deep in thought about something, his gaze darting back between the open road and Kaniar.
She musta freaked on'im again. Lorkan thought, a bit disappointed. Rohkan always went into a funk when she did that, mostly because he would never understand what it was he had done to make her so angry. This morning, before they were about to leave, Rohkan had come to visit him, his usual cheerful smile was on his face, but Lorkan had noticed it didn't reach his eyes.
"Does Kaniar hate me bro?" Rohkan asked as he walked into his brother's little home, his traveling bag slung over his shoulder. He didn't look upset, but then again, Rohkan was pretty good at not always showing what he really felt.
Lorkan had just finished packing and was double checking his gun to make sure everything was working properly. He was also taking his axe just in case he had to encounter close combat. He looked up at his older brother and sighed. He was going to ask if something had happened, but he figured he probably wouldn't like the answer. "Naw mon…" he began "She dun hate ya. Ya adopted'er 'member?"
"Dat don't always mean nothin'." The Shadow Hunter said quietly "She always be mad, when I talk ta'er."
This wasn't Lorkan's business. Kaniar had to tell him on her own that she was insanely jealous and that was why she was being so cold to him. Unfortunately, she wasn't admitting anything to herself, so her chances of admitting it to him were slim to none. "Bro, I dun be claimin' ta understand Kan, she dun tell me nuthin."
That wasn't convincing enough, both of them knew. Instead of becoming upset Rohkan walked over and sat down on his brother's bed. Despite appearances, this situation was really stressing him out, and as badly as Lorkan wanted to tell his brother the truth, Kaniar would one, never forgive him and two, wouldn't admit to her feelings anyway. For a long time they didn't speak, it seemed Rohkan was trying to get his thoughts together.
"Bro." came the Shadow Hunter "I tink Kaniar be da one but it look like she hate me. I be hearin' rumors dat she tink I be disgusting coz I got de women all o'er me."
Lorkan shrugged "Well, you do be havin' a lot of women…"
"Bro." he interrupted "If Kaniar came to me right now an' tol' me she'd be my mate, dem girls be gon' fo breakfast. Dat how bad I got it fo'er."
Lorkan could only stare at his brother with a shocked expression on his face. Rohkan had been chasing skirts for years and not once had he ever expressed being tired of it. Oh there had been some females that he had gone steady with for a while, but it had never been anything too serious. Rohkan was a joker, everyone knew that, but those words…he wouldn't joke around about something like that, nor had he ever said those words, ever. This must have taken some serious thought on Rohkan's part to come to this conclusion, meaning that he had probably been feeling this way for a few years. No wonder he had been flirting with her mercilessly for the past few years, he had been trying to get Kaniar's attention! Unfortunately, she had taken it the wrong way, and instead of feeling that he wanted just her attention, she felt that he was trying to treat her like all the other women, when that hadn't been the case at all. Fully understanding, Lorkan now felt sympathy for his brother. It must be hard for him to feel so strongly about someone when he felt like she hated him. Having someone you loved hate you was probably the worse feeling in the world. Lorkan hoped he never had to experience that.
"She dun hate ya mon." Lorkan said finally, gaining a hard stare from Rohkan. Mental note, now was not the time to play mind games with someone who could turn you into horrible things.
"How you know?" his brother wanted to know.
"Trust me bro, she dun."
After that they chatted a bit more about nothing and Rohkan left. He hadn't said much else since. It was unusual for the Shadow Hunter to not be so upbeat, but then again, they weren't in public either, Rohkan had no reason to be anything but himself. Kaniar seemed oblivious to the entire situation, probably happy that Rohkan wasn't all over her and trying to have idle chit chat. It was then that Lorkan decided that it was high time to get those two started on something that should have been done years ago.
As the afternoon sun died down and evening began to approach, Rohkan looked around, guiding the beast he was riding to a slow trot. By now they were about two miles outside of Thunderbluff and all three of them agreed, this area would be perfect for scouting out the raiders. Rohkan decided that they would camp out two miles west, where they could probably find some shelter that wasn't infested with creatures. They didn't want to take their beasts with them so they 'un-summoned' them so to speak. Animals were summoned to you by magic, you could summon them back to where they came from, which made travel convenient. Rohkan was able to guide them to a rather large canyon, pointing out that there were crevices large enough to house them for the night and protect them from the elements. With little effort, the three were able to get themselves and their supplies to where their leader had found a spot for them and settled down for camp. Instead of bringing tons of food, they brought dried meats, they didn't cook as they didn't want their smoke giving them away. After an hour, Kaniar was sent out to find the general location of the raiders. Since she was the smallest and sleekest of the three, she was the ideal candidate. She also had excellent stealth capabilities, almost rivaling a Rogue's. Neither male was worried about her getting caught.
With the red head gone, Lorkan decided it was high time to have a heart to heart with his older brother. Before, he really hadn't wanted to get involved, but he also wanted to see his family happy, and he knew Kaniar and Rohkan would be happy together. The only problem was getting Kaniar to look past Rohkan's playboy nature, and that was going to be really difficult. Steeling himself, Lorkan prepared for yet another confrontation with another person. These confrontations were beginning to get a tad bit old.
Suck it up mon. "Bro," he began "I wanna talk ta ya bout Kan. Ya love'er?" Lorkan watched Rohkan shift to better adjust himself where he was kneeling. He had been unpacking more camping supplies, his back turned towards his younger brother. Rohkan didn't answer for a long while, so long that Lorkan almost thought he wasn't going to answer. Darkness had already descended thirty minutes ago and Kaniar had been gone for almost two hours. In the distance he could hear the wolves calling out into the night, and the quiet squawking of vultures as they settled down for the night. Kaniar should be back soon with a report on what was going on, he wanted to get this conversation before that, but if Rohkan didn't want to talk…
"Yeh." He finally said, and Lorkan, who had almost forgotten his question, gave his brother a confused look before nodding. Right. So he was in love with her. It was logical, since he did want to make her his mate. Lorkan had almost forgotten that his brother was much older than him, and so had a lot of the old beliefs concerning mating. He wouldn't want to mate with Kaniar if he didn't love her. "She hate me though." Sighing, he turned and leaned back against the rock wall of the crevice letting his forearms rest on his raised knees, his head laying back against the wall. "Been a year now, when I knew."
"So den, why you be messin wit' all dose females?" Lorkan asked. If Rohkan wanted Kaniar as a mate, surely he understood her feelings about that concept. Lorkan knew Kaniar's dream had been to have a mate only dedicated to her, Rohkan's constant flirting and shifting attentions were the exact opposite and therefore made him unappealing in her eyes. But den, he had always been too busy ta chill wit us like he shoulda. He dun git'er like I do.
There was a slight shrug of Rohkan's powerful shoulders and his dark gaze fixed on his younger brother "If she dun like me, why not? Pining an' all mebbe good fo' ya, but me…I dun like dat stuff." As if a sudden thought popped into his head Rohkan found himself grinning widely, as if he had just shared a joke with himself. "Be too bad if she found another, no man be able to treat'er like I could." When Lorkan gave his brother a look, the Shadow Hunter laughed "No lie mon! When I first started gettin' wit da women, dey always like" his voice rose a few octaves to imitate a woman's voice "'Rohkan, you so wonderful, but kinda rough'. I found myself havin' ta hold back, it ain't dat much fun y'know. But Kan, man I can just see it. No man'd be able ta handle'er, jus' like most women can handle me." But there was something more that than what Rohkan was letting on. There was a strange gleam in his eyes, and Lorkan knew that look to be similar to when he had already done something, and was speaking from experience. He didn't speak about it like he had already had sex with her, but somehow, there was a finality to his voice when he spoke about Kaniar's bed skills. Lorkan secretly hoped his brother hadn't done anything stupid concerning magic. The fact that Lorkan knew he could do something devious was all he needed to be concerned.
He tried to play it off "Dere ya go again, talkin' bout sex. Ya got it on da brain mon. Kaniar ain't like dose other females mon, she got better standards." It was a warning as well as a hint to Rohkan. If he wanted Kaniar, he couldn't just think a certain way.
Thankfully, Lorkan didn't have much to fear in that department.
"I know." Rohkan admitted, putting a hand through his hair in thoughtful frustration. His brows were furrowed and he looked a mix between confused and irritated "I love'er for mo dan dat mon." he opened his mouth as if he were going to say more, thought better of it, and closed his mouth, stretching his legs out "But wut be da use? She ain't interested." He sounded so forlorn about it, as if he had lost something deeply precious to him. Again, Lorkan sympathized with him. He didn't want his brother to be so lovesick, but there was only so much he could say without putting Kaniar in a confrontation with Rohkan, which would only end up in bloodshed. When Kaniar was backed into a corner, she sometimes acted like a wild animal and more than once someone had gotten seriously injured for it. Forcing Kaniar to do something she didn't want to do was stupid and dangerous.
There was a shift of noise above them, both brothers reaching for their respective weapons in alarm. When they saw green legs dangle from the entrance they visibly relaxed, realizing it was just Kaniar returning. A bit disappointed that Lorkan was unable to speak to his brother a bit further about his problem, he plastered a grin on his face as his adoptive sister dropped down into the space with them, his smile dropping when he saw the look on her face and her clothing.
Kaniar's leather armor was lightly splattered with blood and she looked murderous. Her dark eyes swept over both men, and if Lorkan didn't know any better, he would have sworn her ears looked a bit redder than usual. She was huffing, but they could tell it was for dramatic purposes, she was feigning irritation. That made them relax a bit more, although Lorkan was a bit curious about the blood on her outfit. She walked into the cavern straight towards the supplies, kneeling down and digging through the bag. The two brothers looked at each other and then back at Kaniar. She hadn't said hello, given a report, explained the blood, nothing. For the most part, she looked uninjured, but it was dark, it was a new moon and despite their excellent eye sight, there was only so much one could see in the dark unless they were a Night Elf. She wasn't limping or catering to any specific limbs, she looked perfectly fine. It seemed like an eternity as she finally found what she was looking for, a sharpening stone, and pocketing the small stone, she stood up, turned towards them and glared. She looked so angry they both fidgeted. What the hell was her problem now?
"Which one of you was it?" she asked cryptically, making both men look at her as if she had grown a second head. What was she talking about? Crossing her arms, her eyes narrowed "Or was it both of you?"
Rohkan raised an arm, tilting to the side a bit to get a better look at her. "Yo, mind tellin' us wut dis be all about? And, could I git a report sumtime tonight?" he said it as lightly as Lorkan thought was necessary. Obviously someone was tripping, and it wasn't them. "Coz, we been waitin' a long time mon." Rohkan, not one to be bested, stood up and stretched, looking down at her with a grin. Lorkan almost groaned. His brother was now challenging Kaniar, great. He watched as Kaniar raised her head to get a good look at Rohkan, scowling. Her earlier stance had been light and they knew she had been joking, but when Rohkan stood up her entire body tensed, even her hands had turned into tight fists.
"Ten in all." Kaniar spat at Rohkan "Five warriors, two mages, one rogue, two hunters. All human. Anyting else mon?" her voice was practically dripping with venom. "An' actually, I was jus comin' ta joke around witcha. My ears had been burnin' de entire time I was lookin'. Thought ya was talkin' bout me and I was gonna tease ya. Not in da mood no mo." she turned away from him and walked over to the other side of the wall were Lorkan was at and flopped down, digging out her dried meat to eat. "Dey be not but three mile north east from 'ere. We leave fo' dawn, we get there in good time."
"Okay, work fo me." Lorkan said before Rohkan could comment. Despite the smirk on his brother's face, he knew Rohkan was steaming mad. He had probably been worried when she had walked in with blood on her and no explanation. "But, wut wit da blood mon? We been kinda worried coz of it."
The look on Kaniar's face showed that she had no idea of what he was talking about "Blood?" she looked at her outfit with slight confusion for a full minute before she gasped as if she had an epiphany. "Ooooh! Got into a fight wit an beast. Must be from dat."
Lorkan felt better. He was grateful that she hadn't gotten injured or worse, caught spying on the enemy. Now he felt like teasing. Giving her a rather sly smile he leaned toward her, putting an arm around her shoulder "Gettin' careless Kan?" he asked her "Gettin' blood on ya while killin' a beast be beneath yo skills."
She shrugged "It been one of da Hunter's pet. Didn't e'en 'ere it, so must be well trained. Dun worry, it was a clean kill. Dey didn't know. No hunter can track me."
Silence descened upon the group. One of the Human's pet had caught her? While Lorkan believed that she did indeed cover her tracks well, that meant that they'd have to be cautious. The dead animal would put the humans on alert, but if it was that well trained that it was able to catch up and cause a problem for Kaniar, that meant that these humans were more skilled than originally given credit for. None of the hunters liked this, because now it meant that their mission may be a little bit more difficult than they had wanted it to be. Lorkan hated it when scouting turned wrong.
"Dis don't bode well..." Rohkan said, frowning. As the leader of the group everyone's lives rested on his shoulders. Kaniar had done nothing wrong, she was one of their best hunters. If what she said was true, their enemies were powerful, maybe so than those under him. Because there were ten of them, the chances of him being able to take them down on his own were slim to none, Lorkan knew that much. So Rohkan had a decision to make: take his group out there, knowing that the Humans would be on the lookout. If he did that, he'd risk them getting attacked and possibly getting killed. A dead scout was an unsuccessful scout, they couldn't tell their boss anything when dead. He also disliked close combat and preferred to fight from a distance.
There was a long pregnant silence as Rohkan mulled over his options. After a few minutes the blue Shadow Hunter sighed, leaning back once again on the dusty rock wall. "We go, but stay low." He finally said "We dun go back broke, we dun go back dead." His voice had finality to it "Got dat?" when both of his charges nodded he seemed to relax a bit more, his features which had been unusually hard and stoic regained their usual cheer. Rohkan wasn't accustomed to losing people, and he didn't want to lose the two people closet to him at all. He'd make sure nothing happened to either of them.
"Let's git some sleep."
They awoke before dawn and quickly packed away everything they had used for last night's camp. Since Thrall had only wanted the bare basics on what the Raiders were doing and who they were, the mission was expected to take an average of two to three days, depending on what they could find. With three of them, there was a possibility of those numbers cutting down, simply because of the strategic advantage they'd have and the ability to pick up on things from numerous directions.
The plan was for the three of them to split up and surround the camp from a decent distance. Unfortunately there was a serious lack of cover from the absence of trees, so they'd only be able to get but so close to the group without getting caught. Fortunately for them, Humans had atrocious eye sight compared to…just about every race in existence. They wouldn't have to go too far as they would if the group were Night Elves or Dwarves. Their camp, as Kaniar had explained it, was nested between a rather large canyon, with only one entrance and one exit unless one climbed. Above the canyon were large rock formations that seemed to jut out of the earth in numerous spots. It could provide limited cover should someone detect them. The individual rock formations were at an average of ten to twenty feet, their widths from fifteen to thirty feet. Fifty feet to the north of the rock formations was a rather large cliff that could give the group an excellent view of the camp without having to get too close. The female Hunter had assumed that the raiders had chosen that particular location because it was so well hidden. The back end of the cavern was extremely high, about a high as the larger cliff structure, so the Humans would not be able to see anyone from there, even if they did, they were completely out of range, and it would be but a simple matter to retreat. From the back of the cavern the other side sloped down, making that side about fifty feet in height. That side was more dangerous as it would be easier to be spotted. Rohkan had insisted that he take that side, giving the back of the cavern to Lorkan and the cliff side to Kaniar. Even with the advantage they had, if the Human Hunters were on the lookout, that would make it dangerous. A good Hunter surrounded by Mages, Warriors, and Rogues especially was a lethal Hunter. They could track and notice things the others could not, and guide them in the right direction.
It took them about forty five minutes to an hour to get themselves there and situated in their places. There was no real way to give the signal that they were in position that wouldn't reveal themselves, so instead they just trusted the fact that they were good at their occupation and would get to where they needed to be. The distance between the three of them was over a few hundred feet at the least, so while they could see each other, they would have to strain their eyes to get a solid glance. All three of them did a sweep of the area for visible traps, thankfully finding none. Rohkan had informed them that they would look over the camp for two hours, or unless they found something significant that needed to be taken back to Thrall immediately. At this point dawn was rapidly approaching and none of the Humans had come out from their camp.
Kaniar was becoming more alert and wary. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck begin to rise as she lay on her stomach near the head of the cliff, looking down at the inactive camp. Something was telling her that it wasn't right down there, that something was terribly wrong. Light was almost afoot and no one had stepped out of their collective tents. Only one of the Hunter's animals was visible, the large boar was laying down dozing, its tail swaying lightly back and forth to keep the flies at bay. When the sun had fully emerged and the first human came out from one of the tents, Kaniar let out a mental sigh of relief. Had the Human Rogue waited any longer, Kaniar would have felt as if they had walked into an ambush. Scooting a bit further on her belly she looked over and squinted, observing. The Human Rouge who had emerged from her tent didn't look very impressive. She had long, shoulder length black hair that was not bound. She was dressed in mostly black with what looked like to be a red scarf over her face. She was walking around the camp looking around suspiciously; Kaniar was assuming for her other teammates. Surprisingly, and with no small skill, the Rogue walked over to one of the supply chests and bent over. Within seconds the lock was open and the Rogue was soon stuffing various objects into a bag Kaniar hadn't seen before. So, the Rogue was robbing the others slowly, it made sense. Before the Rogue could stand Kaniar heard the audible click of a gun and she saw the barrel peeking outside of the tent, aimed at the female's head. Slowly, the Human woman stood, her arms raised in a non threatening gesture. One of the Hunters, a tall male with blonde hair rather impressive leather armor walked out, his gun at the ready. Kaniar couldn't see too many details, but it was obvious that the Hunter was upset.
Humans spoke in a language that she didn't quite understand. It was referred to as Common, and she could only speak words and broken sentences of supposed 'common' language. Kaniar had always thought it was rather complex language, and found Common to be an oxymoron. They seemed to be in a heated argument, in which the female ended up removing all of the items she had attempted to steal and replace them back in the lock.
And then the Hunter shot her at point blank range.
Shouts and curses emerged from the remaining tents as the Humans, in a panic, rushed out, wands, daggers, and swords ready for blood. Kaniar counted all of the Warriors, and one of the Mages. She watched as the Humans began to argue amongst themselves, but she could not understand any of what they were saying. The male Hunter seemed to be overly excited, he was constantly pointing at the now dead Rogue seemingly uncaring as the pool of blood from around her head spread to envelope the soles of his shoes. The Mage was a male, somewhat short and stocky. He was pointing a green glowing wand in the Hunter's face, his face as red as his hair as he screamed back. Kaniar assumed that this reaction was because the Rogue had meant something to the Mage, that was the only real logical explanation. The Warriors, three males and one female, looked bored with the entire situation. All three of them had brown hair and were dressed similarly, the only difference being in their weapons. The female carried with her two long swords, almost like katanas. Two of the males were carrying large broadswords with a smaller sword to their side, the last male carried a rather large battle ax. They watched the Hunter and Mage fight for a bit longer, and then one by one they retreated to their tent, obviously bored. It took a while longer for the two males to calm themselves down and for a moment it looked as if they were about to fight. Instead the Mage calmed himself and turned his back on the Hunter, moving to look over the female Rogue. Kaniar found none of this interesting, except she noticed that the party was missing two people. It was illogical to believe that anyone within hearing range could not have reacted to that gunhot, meaning one of two things. One, that the Rogue was not the only person he had killed since last night, or two, they weren't there. If they weren't there, then where the hell were they?
Move.
Kaniar blinked as the hairs on the back of her neck jolted up in alarm and she rolled her body to the side, missing the arrow that was aimed for her back. White hot pain lanced through her shoulder but she resisted the urge to cry out, instead, jumping up, her dark eyes alert. Already she was reaching for the arrow to snatch it out from her shoulder, grunting when she gave it a hard yank to free it. She was already moving, her knees bent her eyes wild, rage searing up from her gut and to her chest. How had they been able to find her? She had left no traces, was magic at hand here? She growled, risking a glance at the arrowhead. Poison. Wonderful. Already she was beginning to feel the effects, for it was becoming harder to see and her legs felt wobbly. Damn, damn damn! How had she gotten herself into this mess? She was better than this, there was no way they could have spotted her unless…
Da Mage. She thought, taking small note of the fact that her left arm was not useless. Dunno how she did it, but dey were waitin' fo me. She heard a footstep behind her and she turned around, spotting nothing. Her eyes widened in surprise. Were her eyes failing her that badly? It would take a good five minutes at the least for her to feel any real damage from the poison she was estimating, so her vision couldn't be that bad.
"You killed my Sasha you harlot!" the woman spat in harsh Troll and before Kaniar could turn to face the woman, she felt a sharp kick to the head, sending her flying a good two feet before she landed with a harsh thud on the ground, a grunt escaping from her lips. The first thought that came to Kaniar's mind was how had the Human been able to even kick that high, the second thought was how in hell did this Human sneak up on her. Weren't only Rogues able to walk around stealthily? She knew of no magic like this.
Her vision blurring, her arm and now her head in extreme pain, Kaniar managed to sit up, her eyes narrowing. The Hunter female suddenly emerged as if out of thin air. Her hair was long and brown, tied back into a thick braid. Her only weapon seemed to be the bow and arrow, meaning that she had thought Kaniar would be a pushover. The Troll almost smiled, how wrong this Human was.
"When I found my Sasha dead, I knew it was a Hunter who did it, the wounds were too clean." the Human snarled, walking slowly towards Kaniar. Her stance was completely relaxed, completely convinced that the poison and the wounds were enough to keep her Troll counterpart passive. Kaniar wasn't immune to poison, but she had trained her body to become resistant to it. Where a normal person would have fallen, she was merely dizzy and unable to see clearly. Continuing to squint, Kaniar managed to raise her head enough to glare defiantly at her assailant, stringing her along. She had managed to catch Kaniar off guard, but that didn't make the Human a better Hunter. The Human knelt down, smirking at her "I'm going to enjoy taking my time in killing you Troll." She spat out the last part as if it were the most distasteful thing she had ever come across.
Kaniar, was quite done with this crap. Unlike the female in front of her, she was quick in her strikes. With the flick of the wrist, a blade appeared in Kaniar's good hand. She launched herself forward, startling her counterpart and thrust the blade deep into the woman's throat, cutting off all noises and preventing her from screaming. There was some gurgling noises as her throat filled with blood and began to choke her. The Human fell back, her hands shaking uncontrollably as she tried to go for the knife embedded hilt deep into her, but she did not even manage to touch it, her body soon giving out and going limp. She was dead.
Wincing as her body protested movement, Kaniar stood up and walked over to the fallen Hunter. "Ya know mon…" Kaniar said, bending over and snatching the knife from her enemy's throat "Ya dun gloat befo' ya kill. Ya kill and den gloat." As she said this she wiped the blood from the blade onto the Human's vest. Sliding the blade into its hidden sheath she also began to relieve the Human of her burdens, namely her money and supplies.
As she finished, she felt the hairs on her neck once again stand on edge and something that she hadn't sensed before flared up, consuming her. There was another here, the Mage probably, and somehow, she did not detect it. It wasn't like stealth mode, Kaniar could somewhat see that and sense the danger, it was one minute not there, the next minute danger. It didn't make sense. It could have been teleportation but she didn't know it could be so random. In fact, she knew that magic had not evolved to the point where people could teleport anywhere they wanted when they wanted, there would be no need for travel if that were the case. Kaniar didn't get it, how were these people just appearing?
Unfortunately, she was not given much time to think about it. She readied her ax to strike, and as she turned, she was shocked and surprised to find the female Mage standing two steps away from her. To add on to Kaniar's dilemma, lightening was sparking in her hands. There was no time to even think as the spell was unleashed and white hot pain lanced from her head to her toes. She couldn't see, she couldn't scream, all she felt was pain upon pain as the spell worked its way through her body, the streams of lightening licking at her skin with sickening pleasure. The force of the attack flew her backwards ten feet before she landed with a harsh thud, her body still spasming from the aftershocks. It felt like an eternity before she was able to fully sit up, her eyes were open but everything was so dim she knew that she was quickly beginning to lose her sight. Her hearing was completely shot to hell, and her legs felt like rubber. Great. She was slowly beginning to think that she was indeed getting lazy in her skills, and she was making excuses for herself like people appearing from thin air. There was no way she should have been beaten this badly from two female Humans.
The human grabbed her neck and electricity shot through her body once again. Her eyes widened but she could barely see the woman in front of her. She willed her body to move but it denied her wishes. The pain was unbearable, never ending in its pursuit to harm her, to kill her. Indeed, she felt her body growing weaker, number to the lances of pain. Her vision was almost gone, she wasn't even sure if she was screaming or not. Her internal organs revolted against her, blood filling her throat and forcing its way into her mouth, where it burst forward in an agonizing cough.
And then she stopped thinking.
The blood triggered something primal within Kaniar, all logical thought flying out the door as her animalistic side kicked in. The Hunter had grown up in the wild with the animals, she had adapted some of their behaviors. Lorkan had once told her that when people backed her up into a corner, she often acted like a scared jungle cat, striking and lashing out on whoever came near her in fear and fury. Kaniar had never really taken notice of it, because it was something that had been ingraved into her brain, but as her vision went from blurry to crimson and a bubbling heat began to rise into her chest, something deep inside of her knew that Lorkan had been absolutely correct.
Kaniar's hand immediately went to her blade, and with a strength she didn't know she had, she grabbed the blade and shoved it deep inside her attacker's side, twisting. The grip on her neck disappeared, but she wasn't dead, and Kaniar wanted to make sure her attacker saw the worms by noon. She removed the knife and then stabbed again rapidly in the same general area, causing the human to stagger back in alarm and pain. Kaniar wasn't finished, she somehow launched herself up and onto the Mage, knocking them both over. With a vicious snarl Kaniar continued to stab the woman below her, her mind blocking out everything except that she had to kill, and she'd keep stabbing until the woman no longer breathed. Kaniar stabbed the woman's chest so many times she had lost count, and it wasn't until the hilt kissed the Mage's forehead that she stopped moving, and Kaniar stopped stabbing. Her breathing heavy and labored, Kaniar scrambled off of her attacker and away a few feet on all fours, snarling and growling, waiting, no daring the Human to get up again to attack. When no attack was forthcoming the Troll stood up, wobbly on her feet, and lifted her nose to the air, sniffing.
No danger. All good.
The red haze that was washing over her mind in waves began to subside, leaving Kaniar weak, poisoned and nearly blind. She had only one thought in her mind at this moment.
Rohkan gonna be pissed.
And then everything went black.
