Adventures of Melannya:
Part Five - The Mercenary
I was lost. There was not a doubt in my mind of this fact. The trees were all full in their summer-like growth and the shrubbery underneath was thick from the mild climate that always inhabited my beautiful land. I had to be cautious where I walked, as the roots seemed to want to grasp my ankles upon my passing. At one point, I tripped over yet another limb, but this time I fell face first into the soft undergrowth. My scythe fell out of my hands and flew a short distance from me, and I knew I was in trouble when I looked up to see the same assassin I had been chasing staring down at me with a wicked grin on his darkly bearded face. He brought both axes out and all I could do is stare up at him with a resigned knowledge that my end was very near. The only thought I could think of was that I hoped to not get my own blood on my new robe…
"Thwang!" Someone was shooting a bow at us (and not missing by much). The assassin spun around and charged the newcomer, leaving me to swiftly climb back up on my feet, dust off my blue robe and gather my wits (and scythe too). For a moment, I stood in shock, as the stranger was not someone I had ever seen before. In fact, he was quite beautiful and twice as large as the assassin he was engaged in combat with at this time. I could see the slight coloration of red of his kilt surrounded by beautiful golden chain links for his armor. The new stranger made the dark assassin who was dressed in black leather rather unimpressive and from the damage he was doing with both of his swords, he was giving the assassin a decent beating as well.
"Angh!" The assassin bellowed, angered even further as the new fighter had toss dirt from the ground into the fellow's eyes after slipping to the ground in what looked to be an accident. From the heat of his anger, he became careless and that was the end of him as the stranger did a double slice to his neck, felling him swiftly. Facing me, I tried to curtsey and then said, "My thanks, stranger." The man muttered something guttural in words I could not understand and charged at me, swords still bloody from the previous fight. I held up my scythe in defense but did not attack back, uncertain of my desire to fight him. Startled by my actions, he ceased his fighting and stepped back, staring at me guarded but curious. I tried to smile and say something silly about the weather but was interrupted by the shouts of my fellow Hibernians calling for me from behind.
When I turned back from gazing behind me to note my friends coming up, I felt myself disappointed that the tall fellow was gone. My friend Alektrica came up next to me and grabbed my elbow. He spun me around to face him, "What on Gareth were you thinking, Mel?" He was frowning at me, but I knew I was in trouble with more than just him. Cimyr was almost in tears, which caused me to feel badly about my careless actions. "I'm sorry friends but I had to get justice done for what had almost transpired back there. I was just very angry and wanted to catch my enemy." The faces around me softened some, and downtrodden I followed them away from that place, but not before secretly peeking behind me in hopes of seeing a flash of gold links or red cloth.
Back at the keep, after everyone was healed up and rested, I was excited to find that we a small group of us were going to attempt a raid on a different enemy tower. I had never been to any lands but my own and the idea was very appealing. We gathered again together and began to take ships to another shore that I had no idea even existed before this point. When we disembarked upon the foreign land, I noticed it was a very bland landscape. Sparse trees, little underbrush, patches of open soil dotted this place. I decided that I liked my own homeland much better, and although I obviously had not seen the much of the world yet, I was feeling a little homesick already.
We entered a set of ruins, which was almost a maze if not for the broken walls that we could easily climb over and at spots even step over (some helped the wee ones over the tallest small places). After exiting the ruins, I noticed a tower ahead with a red and blue flag waving at us in the wind. This must be the other enemy's tower that was our goal. I felt my heart race as I saw movement in the precipice and realized there were actual enemies up in the tower. I assisted my leader and began to cast one of my spells that would lower their life force when my heart leapt into my throat. If I wasn't mistaken, up above, looking down on me, bow notched to fire, was the same kilted fellow that had (sort of) saved me back at the last battle! Now what would I do?
Want more? I have many more chapters--let me know & I'll upload them:o)