She was falling. Somehow she could see her body crumbling and reform itself, without any resistance or pain. Everything was moving slow, a warm blue light was enveloping the space around her. And then, she was flying. No, falling at a great speed and saw the other end of the portal getting closer. She felt sick and drowsy, but she tried to control an effort she tried to outstretch her legs forward, she knew if she didn't do this, her head will hit the ground first. The air around her felt thick but the years of expertise helped her do the move with ease. Her heels hit ground with a loud thump. "This will hurt tomorrow" she thought, her eyes raising up to take in her surroundings. She was...

...in Ashenvale.

Her jaw dropped in surprise. "This cannot be!". It was the same place from where she left... But the fog was missing. And the dead bodies from earlier. She looked around suspiciously. She knew Ashenvale pretty well, for her to be mistaken. She was there, but at the same time it was different.

A jolt of electricity made her eyes wide. There was no sound. No birds chirping, no water falling, no wind. Kyra looked up. The sky was dark, a maelstrom of black clouds was covering what appeared to be a pale shade of sun. "What is this place?"A loud pop startled her, made her turn around in surprise and draw her weapon. Only to see the portal closed shut right before her eyes.

"No turning back..." she said at loud, regret in her voice.

"Ya' got dat' right, elf" a low, annoyed voice in a thick accent rumbled behind her, breaking the silence.

She quickly turned around with her weapons at ready, the grip placed firmly on their hilts. Her hooded eyes looked over for the source of the voice. Only to find ...nothing. He melted in to shadows. "A rogue..." she thought, and this reflection seemed to bother her greatly. Rogues were unpredictable, ruthless and most of them had no honor. They always fight dirty, resorting to nasty tricks, so there is no chance to get out from a fight with a rogue unscarred. They never loose, even when they die in a duel. You are left with either some poison that is hard to cure, or wound that will heal in a great deal of time. Kyra yelled at the nearby formation of trees, where she could sense the rogue's presence lingering

"Show yourself! Have some honor, at least. Let's have a fair battle...".

No answer, no movement in return to her request. She bit her lip impatiently. She felt her heartbeat in her throat, the anticipation of a fight made her veins pump unexpected levels of adrenaline. She missed it so much.

"Want to play hide and seek, rogue?" she whispered

"You are making me angry...don't say I did not warn you. You better show yourself" she whispered trough her clenched teeth

"Then I will make you..."she thought to herself.

Rogues may be tricky and unpredictable, but she was a seasoned fighter as well and had some tricks up her sleeve. Kyra's eyes slowly scouted the surroundings, focusing her gaze and attention on every move the opponent could make. Her eyes were narrowed, glancing trough her eyelids, her body tense, feet planted firmly in the forest sand, breathing evenly, she waited for a brief mistake that could betray his whereabouts. She could hear her own heartbeat, jumping in her chest, the tip of her ears twitching in that rhythm.

And suddenly, there it was. Her patience paid off. Kyra felt him moving at her left, and with a swift motion, kicked the dry dirt off the ground with her left foot, the dust cloud surrounding the rogue's frame, getting him out of the shadows.

"Got you!" She smiled slightly. The rogue's frame materialized before her eyes, close to her. He looked confused, and shook his head, dust getting in to his eyes. He did not expect a dirty move from a warrior, and was caught off guard, and he stumbled backwards a few stepes.

Without losing momentum she launched forward, aiming to hit her adversary in the head with both weapons hilts. She did not want him dead, she wanted him wounded, tired, but alive, so she could question him. With a swift body turn, Kyra raised her hands up , swords lifted, jumped as high as she could in the air.

A hard kick was plunged in her stomach which launched her backwards in to a nearby tree trunk. The sudden counterattack surprised her, needless to say hurt her ribs, and she barely landed on her feet, one hand pressed in to the tree to stop the impact. It took alot of strenght to steady her entire body with one hand, and she hissed. The kick was hard, she could feel her muscles twisting and turning but it was bearable.

He was strong. There was no doubt. Her silver eyes locked with a pair of red ones. "Troll..."she realized with disgust, and released a low growl.

In front of her, a couple of feet away, now with one eye closed was a pale blue, tall troll, dressed from head to his big toes in black slim fitting leather gear. He was at least one head taller than her, with broad shoulders, muscular arms and legs. The troll had short tusks, that surely could cut through flesh, adorned with silver and golden rings. His hair was short, red and spiky. His daggers were drawn out, and the troll was hunching in a full combat stance. He had a pained grin on his face, the left corner of his mouth curled in a snarl. He did not bear any faction specific markings, so she assumed he was a hired assassin. The thought made her skin crawl. An assassin hired by cultists.

Neither of them made any move to attack the other. They were inspecting each other, as to see what they were dealing with. They both waited for the other to attack, to spot any mistake the opponent could make to be used against it. They both knew that whichever attacked first, could have the disadvantage.

"I don't have time..."Kyra thought to herself, and charged forward in a straight line. And as the troll was ready to melt in to the shadows, she suddenly changed her trajectory, getting past him, much to his surprise jumping up behind him and hitting him with her sword hilt in the back of his head. He might be a rogue, but her speed was also impressive. The blow was met with a dull thump resonating from his skull.

She smiled, and leaped back, but her happiness did not last, as her grin was met with a blue, precise elbow. Kyra tried to avoid it, jerking her head back, but it was too late. The blow landed on her face, making the faceguard cut through her skin, and she fumbled two steppes back. Pain shot through her lower lip and chin, and blood filled her faceguard. She felt blood trickling on her neck towards her chest, and quickly brought a hand up to fix the faceguard position. The taste of blood made her veins pump new waves of adrenaline into her body, a feeling she forgot she enjoyed.

This momentarily distraction made her lose focus for a second."Damn it all..." she thought in panic, and ducked her head, just in time. A massive blue foot was getting too close to her face, and she quickly crossed her swords in front of her, putting all of her strength in her arms, parrying his kick. The impact made her stumble back a few feet. With a scream, she quickly, twisted the blades, separating them, producing a red gushing wound on his foot. The rogue hissed, and jumped back a few steppes, limping.

Kyra prepared her swords, and regained her composure. She could see his bleeding foot was not giving him any trouble, even though red stains were shading his steppes. But while bleeding, he could not melt in to shadows, and that was good. She smiled. One point for her.

She quickly charged towards him, taking advantage of his temporarily impairment. To her surprise, he jumped up when she got close, just as she did before, landing with his knees bent, behind her, daggers aiming for her kidneys. She quickly twisted her body, dodged the hit, with her swords. Only this time, her nose was met with the trolls forehead. A loud crack and a surprising burst of pain made her stumble backwards, as jolts of light flickered though her vision and she fell flat on to her back . She quickly rolled over, as where she landed before the troll frame jumped with his daggers in front of him, burring them in the dirt, where her shoulders were seconds before. He growled in frustration. Kyra's anger was building up too, materializing in a battle cry that erupted from her lungs.

"Kill or be killed it is then!" she thought, and in a second, she jumped on the trolls back in a desperate move, holding her swords at his throat with both hands from the two ends, trying to cut his throat open, her hands being protected by plate gloves, and his neck being dangerously exposed. She gripped his ribcage with her legs in a dead lock. She could see the blood on his neck trickling down, a huge blue hand gripping her blades for dear life, as he was trying to save his throat . The troll tried to shake her off by moving side to side like a cornered animal, making her helmet fall off in the process, releasing her silver locks. He flung his head back with full force, hitting her nose again, and she let out a pained cry. In seconds she felt the swelling, and even more blood was oozing from her face. He swiftly got up, throwing her over his shoulders on the rough ground, knocking the air from her lungs, making her loosen the grip on impact on one of her swords, that fell inches from the elf. A blue foot was towering over her head, at great speed, trying to crush it, but she turned faster than he anticipated, his foot hitting the forest floor. Now on her belly, she plunged her remaining sword in the ground for balance, attempting to get up as fast as she could, dirt and dust mixing with blood that was running from her lip, the mask making in impossible to spit. Before she could turn around or even get up, a heavy weight fell on her back, pinning her frame face down, with her right eye inches from her plunged blade, her stomach clenching. A knee got planted with great force on her back, the troll crouched next to her, in a prowling pose, and a strong, merciless hand gripped the silver hair, yanking her head upwards , the other arm suffocating her neck in a dead lock. And from her right side, she heard him loud and clear.

"Calm...down...elf..." he said furiously through his teeth in a perfect Common.

Kyra roared, and bit the arm that was holding her, her sharp teeth sinking in his flesh, aiming to bite it off for good. He yelled in pain, and released her. With her right elbow she hit his face full force. A short crack and a loud pained roar let her know that she broke his nose or a tusk. She crawled up, hands digging in dirt for leverage, to get to her lost sword. A strong hand dragged the elf's right foot, and she fell back down. She rolled on her back, her eyes never leaving her opponent frame. Kyra tried to hit the troll with her free foot, but he grasped that one too, trying to drag her under his frame. He was incredibly strong, a murderous stare adorning his features.

But she was agile, much more agile than he anticipated . She brought her abdomen up, with her feet caged in his hands, using that as a stepping stone, planting her hands firmly on the ground, and with a quick swing, clasped her knees on both sides of his head, in an attempt to twist his neck, or impair his hearing at least . Something plunged mercilessly in her right leg, sharp pain lanced through her limb and colorful spots flashed in front of her eyes, making her gasp from the sudden pain. He let out a thunderous roar, released her legs, rose up, and with his both hands squished her ribcage, a crack making her gasp. She felt her guts smashed together, blood vessels bursting. The troll swung her body, and tossed her in front of him, on the ground.

She rolled over on the ground, to attenuate the rough landing, her right boot falling off in the process, and she just kicked it aside. She quickly got up and took her battle stance, getting her sword from the forest floor, her eyes never leaving the blue frame in front of her, tossing one of the swords blade first at him, aiming for his chest. He dodged the swing partially, by jumping on the side from the trajectory of the weapon, but the blade still manage to bite savagely on his right side, under his ribcage, a gushing thin wound filling rapidly with blood forming there.

Sweat rolled down her skin in thick, salty beads. She could feel her heart throbbing inside her chest. Her skin felt like it was roasting, her eyes felt heavy in their sockets. She could feel the blood from her face, running on her neck in a hot, sticky steam.

The troll was fixating her as well form a few feet away, he himself was upright, breathing carefully. There was a momentary flare of anger covering his features. His face and mouth were full of blood, and he spat on the ground , crimson leaked from both his nostrils and his nose was twisted to the right, it seemed broken. He was holding his right arm outstretched, with his dagger at ready, using his left hand to cover his fresh pouring torso wound, blood trickling through his fingers. The blood from both of their faces, mixing with dirt and sweat was painting both armors and the ground with red stains.

None of them moved for a couple of seconds, eyes staring, teeth clenched. Both of them breathing carefully, as not miss any move from the other. It felt like the world itself stopped for them.

And then, they both charged at eachother with equal speed, force and anger.

The sound of steel clashing was echoing in the still and silent forest. Her blades were vibrating when they collided with his daggers, his strength surprising and overwhelming. But she continued to strike, precise blows, one after another. Her determination and fury made him stumble back with each hit, with each parry. She was remarkably rigorous and fast. He felt every impact of the blades, his strength fading slowly under her persistence.

The troll parried one last blow, and held his daggers up, blocking her swords, gritting his teeth. Then, he brought one leg up, and with what remained of his energy, hit her hard in the stomach, sending her back a few feet. He quickly jumped back and crouched, putting some distance between them.

Kyra stumbled back, planting one sword in the ground, to maintain her balance. She breathed heavily, the vigorous rain of blows she applied before took their toll on her. The troll was staring back. He too looked out of breath. She smirked.

They were equally strong and experienced in battle.

"A worthy opponent" she thought, her eyes never leaving the still frame in front of her, when suddenly...he smiled wickedly at her. Kyra widened her eyes in shock, as her hands started to weaken, beyond her control, a a cold sensation, like a wave of ice water surrounding every limb, creeping higher until it passes her mouth and nose. Her heart rate accelerated in her chest as if it would explode. A dense fog took over her mind, the image in front of her starting spinning out of control, fading in to nothingness. "You honorless bastard..." she muttered before collapsing in to the ground, hitting the forest floor with a loud thud.

"About time..." she heard him whisper, before darkness took her entirely