Consequence Of Choice (Nekrosilisk88 & darkangel76)

Asrath said nothing as they continued along. As dusk approached they came across a small glade. He stopped Elana, "We'll camp here for tonight. I'll be back shortly. I'm going to look for firewood." Without another word he left her there.

As he wandered through the woods, keeping within ear shot of the glade, he contemplated what he was going to do. He wondered what she saw when she looked at him. Probably just a stone cold killer, he'd spent a good deal of time perfecting that image, but now he wasn't sure what to do.

When he had a few logs that were dry enough, and some kindling he started back. One the way he noticed two slim branches that were about the length of a short sword and picked them up as well. When he arrived he set the branches aside, and started building the fire.

Elana sat down on the ground as Asrath left to search for firewood. She was glad that they were finally stopping. She was tired, cold and needed to rest. But she’d never say those things out loud. She wasn’t the sort to complain and she definitely wasn’t about to complain to this man.

As she sat by herself, the sun slowly setting making everything look dark and strange, Elana started humming to herself. It calmed her soul a little and she needed to feel some kind of comfort. She then pulled her cape tighter around her body to help keep herself warm. Her mind began to wander a little. She wondered more about Asrath, what made him the way he was. She wanted to ask, but feared his reaction.

Suddenly, Asrath reappeared, firewood in hand. He set everything down and immediately got to work building the fire. Elana tilted her head as he worked. She knew how to build fires. They were often needed in the temples for various ceremonies. During her early years, like all priestesses-in-training, she had the task of building those fires.

Without saying a word, Elana began to help Asrath pile up the appropriate pieces of wood to start the fire off. She hummed as she did so, trying to occupy her mind with happier thoughts. When the wood was set, she sat back down and pulled her cape around herself, hugging her arms around her body. She watched Asrath use some flint to spark the fire to life.

The warmth radiating from the burning wood felt wonderful to Elana. And the soft glow it cast gave her a little bit of comfort. She looked over at Asrath and bit down on her lip. “So, where do you come from?” she asked, not expecting him to answer her.

He sat down across the fire from her. He didn't say anything to her question at first, honestly he wasn't sure what to say. No one had ever asked him about his past before. "Vargoan. Its a port town past Seras, on the coast." How long had it been since he'd been there, years for certain. He hadn't been back there since his mother died, and he was just a boy coming of age then, 12 years old? 13? He shook his head. those weren't happy days, and he'd just as soon forget them.

"Don't remember too much about it. I was young when I left, and I haven't been back since."He hoped that would be enough, but if not, well he had those branches, and he could keep her quiet for a little while with training.

Elana fixed her eyes on the fire after Asrath mentioned he was from Vargoan. Based on his tone and the curt way in which he spoke, she was fairly certain he didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t want to be reminded about it. She could respect that. After all, she was a stranger to him still, a burden he’d most likely have to kill as well. So why would he want to speak to her. A soft sigh escaped her lips.

As Elana sat there in silence, she found herself feeling somewhat bothered. She understood that she was an inconvenience, but she was indeed a person. A person with feelings, a beating heart and flowing blood. She wasn’t dead yet and they certainly were a long way off from Seras. It would be a while before they got there and Asrath would have to endure her company until they finally reached the city. The manner in which they’d depart was something she had to push aside for now, though she knew she needed to prepare herself to accept death. Until then, she wanted her time to be spent wisely. She wanted to learn things, experience things. It was all she had left. And since Asrath was going to be with her during those times, she felt the need to know him better, at least a little bit.

“It must be difficult being far from your home. Your family,” Elana spoke. “I miss my sisters greatly.” She paused a moment. “I admire your desire to see other places though. You must have a pull towards adventure to make you wander so far from your home.” She smiled a little. “In a way, I envy you. Having seen so much of the world and its people.” She pushed her hood back and looked at Asrath, hoping that she didn’t upset him with her words.

His eyes stared at her over the fire. "What makes you think I've got anything worth envying? Sure I've seen a lot of places, but at what price. Doing the kind of work I do kills you. It's slow, but it happens, with every death you lose a piece of yourself, and eventually you just stop feeling, unless you have a reason too. I have no reason. No family, No friends."

He knew what she was going to ask, before she did, and figured he might as well get it out of the way. "My mother's dead, not that she was really ever there. She was too busy fucking every sailor that came through to get food on the table. My father was one of those sailor's damned if I know which one, hell damned if I know why I'm even here with what she did for a living."

Elana felt her breath catch, her heart twist into a tight knot. She hadn’t expected Asrath to divulge anything personal to her. The fact that he did touched her, but the fact that his past brought him pain made her want to weep. Never did she expect him to say what he did, that his story would be as it was. ‘The emotional turmoil he must’ve endured,’ she thought to herself. No wonder he became the man he did, turning inward, building up walls around his soul, walls that no one could penetrate.

Hugging herself tighter, Elana suddenly realized that this man could indeed feel. Behind those impenetrable walls was a person in pain. Why he chose to live the way he did was still a mystery seeing as he admitted that it was killing him. But maybe that was why he did. Maybe he didn’t feel himself worthy of any other way of life.

Elana felt her eyes become wet with unshed tears. She blinked them away before she spoke. “I’m sorry to have pried. It wasn’t my business to ask.” She hesitated a little. “I’m sorry to have brought painful memories to your mind.”

Elana truly felt horrible. She hoped that Asrath realized this. Looking over at him once more, her eyes softened and she smiled, trying to change the subject, lighten the mood. “I hope to learn more of the world on our way to Seras. I’ve been too sheltered and it bothers me.” She paused. “My whole life I’ve always felt like there was something missing. I’m hoping that on this journey, I’ll learn more about myself and then become truly content with the life I’ve lived.” Her eyes returned to the fire then. She was sure that Asrath could care less, but so long as it diverted his mind from the painful memories she forced him to relive, she’d be happy.

Asrath shook his head. "Nothing you need to apologize for. Only thing you did was be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Bad luck on your part. It sounds worse than its been i guess. Never talk about my past. People never ask. They see my rep and want a sword. Long as i kill, they don't care about anything else."

He sat in silence for a moment, the orange light of the fire danced in his eyes. "Being content is easy. I'm content with my life. All you need to do is figure out what you want and do it." He sighed, "No the greater challenge is finding a reason to live."

Elana frowned a little. She definitely wanted to live, desperately wanted to learn more about the person she was. For most of her life, she thought she knew even though there were parts of her that questioned why she did and went along with some of the things she did. When she left the walls of her temple that morning, she had been filled with a strength, a yearning to find out what she needed to do with her life to make it truly fulfilling, at least in her mind. But now? Now, though she still had the craving to learn, she didn’t think she’d get to reap the rewards afterward. It loomed over her like a dark cloud. A shroud of death, her own death.

“You make that sound so simple,” Elana spoke. She chuckled nervously. “My entire life has been spent answering to others. Doing what I thought my mentor wanted, my sisters wanted, even what my family wanted. And I never even knew them. I was given away as an infant…” her voice trailed. “I’ve never been allowed the chance to figure out what I want.” She felt her skin flush with embarrassment at having to admit something like that. It made her seem like she didn’t know how to think for herself, when she did. She knew her own desires, but was told she could never have them. Not if she chose to stay. And the only reason she did was to fulfill the wishes of people she never even knew and never would.

Elana looked over at Asrath again. Her voice almost a whisper, she spoke, “I do want to live.” She felt her eyes burning a little, so she turned to look at the fire once more.

He quirked an eye at that remark. "Live or survive? There is a difference. I survive. If I get payed when we reach Seras, you'll survive. Living is something completely different. Don't know if I can tell you what it takes to live. Haven't even figured that one out for myself."

There was another moment of silence as Asrath thought again. "I'm pretty sure the answer isn't living for everyone else though. Not that I'm saying living only for yourself is it either. I don't think real living puts people to the extremes they put themselves."

Elana knew right well that she wanted to live. Not merely survive. She wanted to be truly happy with her life. To experience what it had to offer to its fullest. She also knew that she didn’t want to live such a life by herself. She wanted to share it with someone.

For a brief moment, she allowed her mind to think on such a life before she let Asrath’s words of her own survival sink in. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake the feeling of ‘what could happen once in Seras’ from deep within her mind. That she wouldn’t get the chance to survive let alone live. Never had such a thing like what happened to her ever happen to anyone of the order, so she had no idea what to expect. She was relying on faith. And as the minutes passed, she found her faith crumbling all around her.

“Living for others is definitely not the answer,” Elana spoke. She pulled her cape tighter, hugging her knees to her chest. “I’ve known this for quite a while. I…” she hesitated a moment. “I just didn’t want to admit it out loud. To anyone. No one knows how I feel. I’ve never spoken of it.” Elana heaved a sigh. “I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. But I suppose that doesn’t matter now.” She bit down on her lip as she looked over at Asrath once again. “Do you think you’ll ever find a reason to live?” she asked, genuinely curious. “I hope I do. I wish it with all my heart.”

Asrath looked at her. Time to quiet things down. He picked up the two branches he'd set aside earlier. "Come on training time. We've got a long way to go yet, and if you're going to make you'll have to learn how to fight. We'll start with basic swordplay, should buy you enough time for me to get there if something happens." He tossed one the branches to her, and stepped into a fencing stance next to her.

Elana’s eyes widened as Asrath tossed the branch her way. Luckily, her reflexes were fairly good and she managed to catch the branch.

“What?” Elana asked, somewhat confused. Obviously, she’d hit a nerve with Asrath. He ignored her question completely and changed the subject to fighting in the blink of an eye. She wondered why such a question would bother him.

Awkwardly, Elana stood up holding the branch. She looked over at Asrath who was holding his branch and already in what appeared to be a fighting stance. She tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows. She had no idea what to do with the branch she held so, she tried her best to mimic the way Asrath was standing. She felt beyond silly and could feel her cheeks turning red with embarrassment.

Asrath shook his head. "I'm using a specific form, you don't need to worry about those yet. Just stand so comfortable, balanced, and able to move freely. It does you no good to look fancy if you can't do anything with it. Basics you know are more effective in fighting than all the flair and show a bravo can throw at you."

Once she was in a more appropriate stance, he nodded his head. "Good. Now I'm going to swing at you. Block or deflect my blows, It you don't, I will hit you." With that he started with a few light and easy swings to get her warmed up.

Elana felt beyond awkward. She had no idea what she was doing and her mental state was far from ready to engage in learning something she had no experience in whatsoever. She understood why Asrath felt such lessons were important. In fact, she agreed with him on this point even though she’d never outright said so to him. But his abruptness in starting the lessons threw her totally off guard.

Asrath started swing his branch, his moves fluid, graceful even. Elana just reacted, unable to predict what he’d do, where he’d strike. She managed to block him the first couple times, though her means of blocking was far from efficient and very slow. Trying to recover from one of his blows, she missed the block. His branch struck her arm, cutting it a little.

Elana refused to shout out even though the strike hurt. The sting of the cut made it hurt all the more. But she wouldn’t let on, she just couldn’t. Trying to push the pain out of her mind, she readied herself once again, but her recovery was too late. Again, Asrath struck her. And again, it was in the same place he’d struck before making the pain that much more intense. She bit down on her lip, refusing to let him know that what he’d done had hurt.

Desperate to prove herself and not wanting to be hit again, Elana began to wildly swing her branch. Asrath easily ducked out of the way, her moves predictable, filled with flaws. She knew they were, but she didn’t know what else to do and she definitely didn’t want him to hit her arm again.

Flailing her branch wildly, suddenly Elana’s arm was struck once more. She couldn’t hide the wince this time and she faltered a little, the hand of her other arm moving toward her wounded arm, which was bleeding quite a bit now. She felt her eyes burning, but she refused to shout out. She’d already embarrassed herself by her other actions, she wouldn’t add to that embarrassment.

Elana looked Asrath in the eyes as she slowly let go of her arm. Never had she ever felt so small. She wondered if she’d ever be able to learn, if he would ever find her anything but useless and a bother.

Asrath smiled gently. He remembered when he'd been like this. He'd though learning this art hopeless, except for one old soldier who took him under his wing. "Don't flail. Panic and you'll be struck down. It's better to be struck once, and then kill your enemy than to flail about, and allow him entry. That's enough for today. Don't worry, you'll learn with time. I was much the same when I was first learning. A word of advice, if you can't block an attack, try to step out of the way."

He sat down by the fire once more and looked into its flames. Its warmth pressed against his skin, but he did not seem to notice it. "I'd like to ask you something. What made you decide to become a priestess? I mean your parent's gave you up as an infant. What do you even owe them?" His eyes turned to her once more. The ice that chilled them was still there, but there was a curiosity in them as well.

Grateful that the lesson was over for the time being as well as for Asrath’s strange words of encouragement, Elana sat down next to the fire. She inspected her arm. The cut wasn’t too bad and would heal without too much trouble. The slight bruise she saw surrounding the small wound actually looked worse than the cut itself.

Elana tilted her head when Asrath asked her about her decision to become a priestess. It was the first time anyone ever asked her why. Not even her mentor asked her such a question. She’d been given the choice and she made it. Her decision solely based on what she felt others expected of her.

Elana’s gray eyes met Asrath’s emerald ones. “I suppose I owe my parents nothing. I never knew them and I know I never will. I was told that my parents were devout followers of Girio and that they were very poor, unable to care for me.” She paused. “That’s why they gave me away to the order. They wanted me to grow up in their faith, to serve the god they loved so much.”

Pulling her cape tightly around her body, Elana smiled weakly. “Part of me wonders if what I was told was even true. I’ve never really questioned it until recently.” She heaved a soft sigh. “I suppose it was easier for me to believe something positive than anything else. I really don’t know.”

Elana bit down on her lower lip. “But as to why?” She felt her eyes burn a little, so she turned to look at the fire. She couldn’t bring herself to look into Asrath’s eyes. “Well, it was because it was what was expected. Too many people were depending on me. I couldn’t let them down.” Her eyes teared a little, but she blinked them away, trying to hide the fact that she was crying. Voice calm, she continued. “It was hard. I knew it would be. But…” her voice trailed. “My life has always been filled with sacrifice. I’ve never known life to be any other way.” She looked back at Asrath once more. “And if what I was told about my parents was true, I…” she hesitated a little, feeling her voice waver ever so slightly. “I just wanted to do something I thought they’d be proud of. Something that, had they known me, would make them happy that I was their daughter.”

Hugging her knees to her chest, Elana looked back at the fire again. “And though I love my sisters, my mentor, Girio… I can’t help but feel like something is missing from my life.” She paused. “Maybe I’m just selfish, a silly girl. Maybe I just expect too much from life.”

Elana wanted to cry. She couldn’t believe she’d just spoken aloud about her doubts and her reasons for making the choices she had so far. In the past, she just swallowed everything down, meditated, prayed. But there was something about Asrath, despite his icy demeanor, the fact that he most likely would have to kill her once she reached Seras. She couldn’t place it or explain it. But she felt compelled to share such things about herself with him. She wondered what it made him think of her. He probably didn’t care and more than likely thought her stupid for putting so many others before herself. But such was the way of her life. And now Asrath knew.

Asrath looked at her sternly. "Selfish for what? Thinking that maybe what you want is important? Considering yourself in decision that impact your entire damn life? That's not selfishness girl, that's just sense. If want my thinking, it's damnably idiotic not to look at those points. THouhg I do have to admit I envy you in a way. I've never really had anyone but myself, so i never stopped to consider what others might think of me."

Asrath stood up and walked over to small pool near where they were making camp and stripped down to his waist. he neatly laid his garments and chain shirt on his cloak, and began washing. he didn't seem to show any shyness being in such a state before the woman. Even by firelight it was easy to see his well shaped body. He was by no means sculpted, but the tight cords of muscle that rippled under his skin. Ina few places there were scars that reminded him of old battles had he ever wished, or had someone to speak of them with.

Elana sat there, taking in Asrath’s words. ‘What a lonely life he must’ve lived, still lives,’ she thought to herself. It saddened her that he’d more or less been on his own for so long. No wonder he was so cold, had so many barriers shielding who he truly was on the inside.

Elana also pondered what Asrath said about selfishness. And the difference between being truly selfish and merely wanting your life to be fulfilling, happy. She’d never put herself first, her wants, her desires. For the most part, doing such had been all right. She loved her sisters, her mentor. They treated her well, had her best interests at heart. But then, they didn’t know the true ‘Elana’. They knew the ‘Elana’ she allowed them to know. The one she felt they should know. She wondered if making such choices had been a mistake. She was certainly beginning to think so and it was something that terrified her greatly.

After Asrath finished speaking, he stood up and walked toward the small pool of water they’d built their fire next to. Elana was shocked when he started to remove his clothing. First his cloak, then a chain shirt. ‘What is he doing?’ she asked herself, her eyes wide as she watched him.

Elana felt like she ought to avert her eyes. She’d never seen a man in such a way before, had been told that she never could. But she found that she could not, her eyes were fixed on the sight of Asrath standing bare-chested just a short distance away from her. Her breath caught as the lines of his body caught her eye. He was lean, toned and even in the dim light of the fire she could see several scars marring his once perfect flesh. She bit her lip as he began to wash himself and the smallest of smiles made her lips quirk upward. In her eyes he was… beautiful.

As Elana watched Asrath wash, she wondered where his scars came from, what sort of battles he’d been through. She also wondered what the true reason was for his choice in living the life he did. The fact that he had a dark childhood definitely said something about that. But she was sure there was more to it than that. There had to be.

Swallowing, Elana stood up and walked toward the pool of water. She sat down at the water’s edge a few feet away from Asrath. She gently touched the rippling waters that washed up near her in small waves. Looking up at Asrath, her voice a soft whisper, “If you don’t mind my asking,” she hesitated a little. “Where did you get your scars?” She hoped she wasn’t causing him more pain by asking such a question. But for some reason, she wanted to know. She wanted to know more about this beautiful man.

He was quiet as he bathed. His muscles were tight and knotted from the events of the day. A rough battle, and then having to guide a pampered priestess in training through the woods hadn't been easy on his body. At the moment he'd pay anything to get a good masseuse to work on his body. As it was though he'd have to work the stress off himself. Even as he washed, he was rubbing his muscles, working the tension from them and down his limbs.

When he heard her question he paused for a moment. She was awfully curious, of course he imagined he would be too if he'd been cooped up his entire life like that. He glanced at her over his shoulder. "Which one? They aren't from any single fight I've been in. Got most of them in one fight or another, think I picked up a pairs in a couple."

Having finished his bath, he dressed once more, and returned to his seat by the fire. His gaze was one her again as he awaited her answer. It would be interesting to see which of the scars she chose. One of larger ones? Or one of the smallest? Each had a tale, though he didn't remember all of them since they were from so long ago in his past.

Elana saw Asrath pause for a moment after she asked him about his scars. She wondered if she’d done something wrong by asking him. Her curiosity and constant questions were always seeming to get her into trouble when it came to this man. She bit down on her lip and looked down at the small rippling waves that were washing up near her. She didn’t expect him to answer her.

“Which one?” Asrath finally asked in response. “They aren’t from any single fight I’ve been in. Got most of them in one fight or another, think I picked up pairs in a couple.”

Elana looked up at Asrath, her steely gray eyes wide. She really hadn’t expected him to say anything. Or if he did, to tell her to mind her own business, that she had no right to know anything about his life, past or present or future. Yet, for some reason, that was not what he told her.

Asrath was definitely a mystery to Elana. She saw what he was capable of, able to detach himself completely from the rest of humanity so as to slit the throat of a single innocent person. Able to tell a priestess-in-training that if she couldn’t provide proper payment, he’d kill her. She shivered at the thought of dying.

Asrath finished up and quickly dressed himself before heading back to their fire. Elana followed him silently. As she sat herself down, her thoughts went back to the scars she’d seen. There had been several and she knew that they each must have a story behind them. He had asked her which ones she wanted to know about, he had given her the choice to pick. Not wanting to pry too much and wanting to prevent him from having to recall anything too painful, she chose one of his smaller scars. A small set she saw located on his left shoulder.

“The ones on your left shoulder,” Elana began, her voice soft. “How did you get those?” she asked.

He winced when she mention those scars, course they were the one's that stuck out. More uniform than the rest, since they were bite marks, and he had a matching set across his chest. "You ever hear of a beast called a Kell Wolf?" The question was rhetorical, and he didn't bother waiting for her to respond. "Big ass fuckers. Easily eight feet or taller at the shoulder when they're full grown. One of the first jobs I ever got was with a party hunting one of these monsters."

He picked up a loose branch and stirred the fire before adding another log to it. "High society folks like to use they're skin for cloaks or coats. They've got tough hide, but it's soft to the touch, and as a the most wonderful shade of colors. Problem is getting a pelt large enough to use. You have to use one pelt for the job because no two have the same patterns or shades."

"Now these guys are nasty enough to begin with. They're predators, and nothing but piss, vinegar, and attitude. Mix that up with a load of aggression and 500 pounds of raw muscle and you've got yourself one hell of a fight. That's why you have to go after them in bands."

"We got the job from a tanner who'd been hired to make a matching cloak and coat. That meant we were going after one of the big ones. Anyway we got out into the territory and started hunting the bastard, unfortunately while we were tracking him, he'd already gotten our scent and was following." He looked up to see if she was still following him or not. She at least looked like she was still interested so he continued.

"They're quiet buggers so unless you're really keen, you wouldn't know they were there until it was too late, and unfortunately that's what happened to our rearguard, he barely had time to let out a yell before it killed him. I was next in line, but i manage to dodge enough that he caught my shoulder, and not my head. Hurt like hell when he bit in, and threw me. I was dazed for a minute after i flew smack into a tree."

The rest of the band was keeping him fairly well occupied, and fending fairly well. Me on the other hand, well I was pist. This critter had gotten the drop on me, and now my left arm was just hanging there. I don't know what I was thinking, or how I did it, but I ended on the beast back, repeatedly stabbing it in the neck. We got a hell of a payday for that haul."

Elana sat there, listening rather intently, as Asrath spoke. He told her of his earlier days when he fought a vicious Kell Wolf. She found herself shivering at the thought of coming face to face with such a creature. And to think he and a band of men actually sought the beast out. And for what? To appease some rich man’s desire for a unique coat and cloak set. Elana would never understand such things about the upper class. Though she understood the appeal of answering such a request. The pay off definitely had to be a good one and from the little she knew of Asrath’s life, money had been something he probably didn’t have much of. Until he left his life behind. The thought of that made Elana’s eyes water a little and she wondered if he’d ever find something to truly ‘live’ for. She found herself hoping so for him.

Tugging on her cape and letting out a small exhale, Elana finally spoke, “I’m sure it was.” She paused a moment. “It must have been frightening though. You said that was one of your first battles?”

The idea of going after a Kell Wolf as one of your first battles seemed like suicide to Elana. She wondered why Asrath would choose such a confrontation for one of his firsts. She also wondered how many other battles he’d been in and which ones were his choices and which ones were not.

Elana shook her head. “I don’t know how you were able to engage in such a battle. I’d have been terrified.” She looked into Asrath’s eyes and smiled. “You must be very brave. Will you… tell me more about your scars?” She bit down on her lip. “I’d like to hear more, if you don’t mind.” She hesitated a little just then. “What about the one I saw on your ribs?”

Asrath held a finger up. "I think one story from my past in a night is enough. We both need our rest, you especially since the training I'm going to be putting you through will take a toll on your body. We'll be getting an early start tomorrow so rest up." With that he laid down and laid his sheathed sword across his chest, his hand on the hilt.

He was a fairly light sleeper and especially somewhere where he was in danger, the slightest sound could wake him. It kept him alive, and if those idiot bandits had been following them, it might well save her as well tonight.

Elana frowned as Asrath told her he would not tell her anything more that night. She wondered why he was being that way. Had she over stepped her bounds? She just didn’t know. But given his tone, she decided not to press him about it. She watched him lie down, his sword lying across his chest and followed suit. She curled up into a ball as she laid down.

Elana stared at the fire for what seemed like forever. She knew she needed to sleep, but she just couldn’t. Whether it was because of all that had happened that day or because she wasn’t used to sleeping under such conditions, she didn’t know. After another long while, she finally just sat up and stared into the fire.

There was a slight rustling of leaves as a small breeze blew through the glade. Elana glanced upward at the trees. The sound was relatively pleasing, but not soothing enough that it could lull her to sleep. She began to look around their little camp. The nearby trees, the stars overhead, the small pool of water, the fire. Then, her eyes landed on Asrath. His chest was rising and falling as it would when one was asleep. She wondered how he was able to sleep so peacefully when she could not.

Finally, Elana stood up. She stretched a little and then walked over to the pool of water. She sat down near the water’s edge and let her fingers play with the small rippling waves as they rolled up along the slight shoreline. She smiled at how cool the water felt against her skin. It was calming, refreshing. She removed her shoes and let her feet get wet. A small gasp escaped her lips as the shock of the water’s coldness registered throughout her body.

Elana stood up then, holding the skirt of her dress up with one hand, her shoes in the other as she began to walk along the pool’s shoreline. The water felt nice and made her feel at peace. She looked over at Asrath who was still sleeping and smiled. With him asleep she felt that she had the freedom to walk further up the shoreline. After a bit, she stopped and sat down once again. She pulled her feet out of the water and dried them off before putting her shoes back on. She glanced back over at the camp. She couldn’t make out Asrath’s form all that well any longer.

“I suppose I ought to go back,” Elana whispered to herself.

“I don’t think so,” came another voice. One Elana didn’t expect to hear.

Gasping, Elana turned around. There before her was one of those bandits who’d attacked her entourage earlier. Immediately, she turned to run. But she was stopped fast by a large hand that gripped her arm pulling her backwards.

“You are not going anywhere,” the bandit said with a grin.

“Asra-“ Elana started to scream as a hand suddenly covered her mouth and yanked into the woods. She was pulled for several minutes before she was finally thrown onto the ground.

Asrath heard movement, and opened an eye. Just Elana being restless. He wasn't surprised by this really. She had probably lived in a degree of luxury her entire life, and now being out in the wild like this was unnerving to her. He closed his eyes, though he didn't go back to sleep, he was listening to her movement. After a few moment he heard her wander off. He sighed, he'd go look for her later if she didn't come back.

A few minutes later, he heard other footsteps. These weren't Elana's they were too heavy, and there was no shuffling. Opening an eye once more he saw one of the bandits he'd been fighting with. His blade cleared the sheath as he rose, and the bandit didn't have time to react as his throat opened up. Idiots didn't know who they were dealing with, but that wasn't his chief concern at the moment. Elana was probably in trouble. He heard a muffled scream not far from the camp. He moved towards the sounds of someone trampling through the brush.

He saw a couple of the other bandits as he moved, they didn't know he was there until he struck them down. He was swift and silent, a shadow of death. He finally caught up to the bandit with Elana, and watched as he threw her to the ground. In one fluid movement, he raised his blade, and brought it down upon the man's head. The bandit spun around in surprise, and collapsed as half his head slid to the ground.

Asrath looked at Elana darkly. "I'd think you'd have more sense than to wander off alone like that. Hopefully this will be the last we see of these brigands." He didn't say anything, but motioned for her to follow him back to the camp.