Sorry for the wait again, I had a busy school week. Mostly description in this chapter, so enjoy! I'll try to get another chapter later this week to make up for it...

"ORNA? ORNA? WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" I yelled, throwing away all logic of her actually hearing me in the raging blizzard. I had taken off running and had expected her to be right behind me. Unfortunately, she seemed to have gotten lost and was nowhere to be found.

"LITTLE MISS ORNA? COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!" I screamed again desperately, my words lost to the howling winds. I had managed to retrace my steps back to my starting point, but again, Orna was nowhere in sight. Undaunted, I continued my search for her, blindly walking around until my foot hit something hard. I reached down to examine it and was immediately struck with fear as I recognized the shape: a Sahuagin trident. Dammit I cursed, If those Sahuagin find her first they'll- I ceased anymore thoughts about what may happen and frantically began to follow the scattered path of tridents lodged in the snow.

I was unsure of what exactly was driving me to go to such lengths for a girl like Orna. I mean here I am, a Master Assassin, risking my life in this blizzard for an ecstatic young girl. And for what….a kiss? I slapped myself. No. Not back to that again. You've committed countless heartless assassinations throughout the war and you're risking life and limb for love? "What a wimp I am." I laughed to myself. "What's stopping me from just leaving her behind, right here, right now? Nothing, that's what. I should just-" And then I saw her. She was curled up in the snow, possibly to conserve warmth or to avoid detection. Her back was to me, and I could make out the faint shape of a Sahuagin trident lodged in her back. All selfish thoughts immediately left my mind as I ran over to help her.

"Orna! Hey, you alright?" Of course she's not alright you idiot! I said, my mind berating me at the foolishness of my comment. I curled my arms around her body and held her against me. Her skin was ice cold and she was shivering uncontrollably. On the bright side, she was alive, but for how much longer was unknown.

I heard a soft growl from behind me and immediately whipped out my blade and spun around, decapitating a lunging Sahuagin in the process. Shrieks resonated from around me as more Sahuagin began to creep up on me, attempting to avenge their fallen comrade. I quickly picked up Orna and slung her over my left shoulder, holding her in place with my left arm as I poked the approaching Sahuagins with my blade whip. They began to appear all around me, pure hunger and rage filling their eyes as they slowly inched closer to me. Usually, this would be no problem, but if I had to carry Orna, I would be weighed me down. Sahuagins were expert hunters, using the classic "surround and kill technique to hunt their prey. This circle proved to be no exception. My eyes darted back and forth to look for an opening I could abuse. Finding nothing, I decided to make one. I focused my willpower to my blade and soon felt its power radiating next to me. GODLESS!

Purple energy blasted form the tip of my blade, completely wiping out the Sahuagins standing in front of me. Seizing the opportunity, I hoisted Orna onto my shoulder and sprinted through the gap. The Sahuagins quickly recovered form their shock and began to chase after me, slithering at incredible speeds after me as I bolted away.

I had travelled through this mountain enough times to know the signs pointing to the exact location of the cave. My eyes spotted an odd green rock on the side of the path wedged between two snow covered ones and I breathed a sigh of relief almost there, just 1000 meters more. I heard a whoosh sound as a trident flew past me that could only mean one thing: the Sahuagins were getting closer. My feet were aching from the difficult trek through the mountain but I couldn't give up now. 800 meters. Even in the midst of the raging blizzard and my adrenaline-pumped body I could hear the hissing of my hunters. 600 Meters. I felt a sharp pain in my back, just to the right of where Orna's head hung. Sahuagins' spears carried a poison, weakening the body to the point of exhaustion and making the victim easy prey. I had developed quite the resistance to such venom, but that wasn't enough. I could see the faint outline of the cave in the distance, almost obscured by the blinding snowstorm. 200 Meters. My eyesight began to get hazy, but I fought off the pain as I forced my legs to move one stride after another as I continued forward.

Hard, rough rocks replaced the mushy snow on the ground as I approached the opening of the cave. It had a small entrance, just high enough for a fully-grown man to enter. Stalagmites covered both sides of the cave, giving it the appearance of a gaping maw. Suddenly, fear struck me as I realized my predicament: the Sahuagins were still behind us and would follow us into the cave. Panic began to rush through me as I arrived at the entrance, desperately trying to think of a way to avoid confronting the fish-man army. Usually I would stand at the entrance and kill them as they funneled through, but I could feel the poison creeping over my body and fighting would have to mean putting down Orna and leaving her vulnerable.

Ear piercing shrieks erupted from behind me and I turned around to see ten, not twenty, no thirty Sahuagins slowly slithering on the rocks towards us. I sighed deeply, there was only one thing left to do. With a roar I bolted into the cave's opening, thrusting my blade into the sides at full force as I entered. The cave shook behind me as stalactites began to fall down. I looked behind me and snickered as rocks began to cover the entrance of the cave, flattening any Sahuagins that tried to follow us in. I gave a sigh of relief and reached behind me for the trident wedged in my back, swearing as I pulled it out. it was over.

The cave eventually stopped shaking, so I sat down, lifted Orna off of my back, and leaned her against one of the walls. Even though there was no light in the now pitch-black cave, my eyes could still make out her unique yellow hair shape. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing slightly. I gave a painful laugh this was all her fault. She had aimlessly travelled the wrong way and attracted the Sahuagin hunters, gotten herself wounded and poisoned by their tridents, and she had forced me to run from a fight, something I vowed NEVER to do.? She's unconscious and vulnerable a voice in my head said you COULD kill her now. She's done nothing except slow you down so far, and I'm sure she won't last against that ice demon… I shook my head and took a deep breath, it was still a long way until we would arrive at the Morgan, and an even longer way to the Egor Mountains, plus she's proven herself worthy in combat…

I lay down as I felt the poison beginning to make me unconscious. It wouldn't kill me, or her for that matter as its purpose was to weaken, but even someone as battle hardened as myself could not withstand its effects for long. I gave the sleeping Orna one last look as I drifted off into sleep. Sure she was annoying, and talkative, and overly energetic, but she had trusted me, some one she just met, to take her safely from St. Lamia all the way to Mistral. And why? Because I promised her. No one, not even Kuhla trusted me that much. You don't just pour all your trust into someone you just met! There had to be another motive. But what could it be? Love? I drifted off to sleep with Orna's words echoing in my head.

"But there are also moments of happiness when you are dating." Orna explained. "You know, those magical moments between you and your beloved when you share secrets or stories or even a kiss…"