Endless War (Spyke LionxKayLove)

Before Haine's eyes, his enemies were disappearing. Blood was splattered about in the air, splashing onto his sword and his armor, the devilish grin still wide on his face. It didn't matter how heavily armored the enemy troops were, or how strong their shields were. His sword ravaged through everything, cutting into the iron plates and smashing through the wooden shields. He left a trail of enemies bodies behind him, covering the ground where he had started his rampage. The unlucky few who were still alive were crying out, lying where they had been cut down by the vicious Black Knight. Haine paid them no heed and continued to slash left and right, his huge sword swinging in powerful wide arcs.

Before Haine could make another swing to claim the lives of three others, they suddenly fell to the ground, gurgling with knives in their throats. Haine growled, glaring back at the smirking, redheaded amazon. What did she think she was doing? She certainly wasn't trying to help him... just get in his way and annoy him. With that thought, Haine roared out angrily and pressed forward, swinging his sword in strong, fast wide arcs. The allies around him would have to keep their distance or be on their guard, his incredible swings keeping anybody away from him during the fight.

And he continued his battle-rage.

The battle continued well in their favor until they pushed the enemies towards the town gates. No doubt Ortega had already breached the city and was mopping up the enemy there. There were still a few stragglers to clean up, however, and Haine was ready to finish up the job. With one more enemy in his sight, Haine roared loudly, once again swinging his sword in a huge, powerful arc. However, if he had been paying attention, out of the corner of his eye he may have seen one of the amazon warriors, clearly in his way. But he continued his swing, slicing straight through the enemy soldier and flying towards the end of its arc.

But then it hit something. Hard.

The swing was stronger than the swing she had taken at the amazon city, blood splattering from the contact. Haine's muscles didn't stop, pressing the huge hunk of iron straight into her twin swords, hitting them like a truck.

It all seemed to happen before Elegra's eyes in a slower reality.

Before she knew it the huge blade was upon her and against her swords like a rolling boulder, it didn't stop. Fine drops of blood splattered on her face from his blade but she paid no mind as she let out a fierce yell as the sheer force of his blade forced her heels to dig into the ground and move her whole body back. Her arms strained against the power but she held on with white knuckles. The twin swords were pressed as far back against her as they could go now but if they went any further she would be cut by her own blades as well as Haine's.

Thinking quickly as time seemed to catch up she forcefully slid his blade from hers and over her head while doing a graceful and quick back flip away from his blade. She landed in a crouch and took a moment to herself to let her muscles untense from the force that they just encountered. She spun her blades several times in each hand but this did nothing for the beat of her thudding pulse.

Liquid gold eyes then landed on Haine, "You barbaric fool!" she yelled over the battle, just as an enemy soldier advanced upon her she quickly maneuvered out of his reach and slit his throat.

At the end of his swing, Haine felt strange resistance. Normally, his massive sword would just slice through anything; weapons would break, and armor would be cut like butter. There weren't any trees around, and there was no way that Haine would have stricken one of the stone walls of the town. There were few people who could block one of his strikes, and he easily picked out who it could be. Glancing back, he saw Elegra's graceful leap back onto her feet, her hands tightly wrapped around the hilt of her swords. Her angry shout quickly reached his ears, overlapping the sounds of battle that clanged around them. Blood had been splattered onto her face, but he doubted that it was her own.

"I told you..." Haine growled, hoisting the sword back onto his shoulder. "Stay out of my way, amazon. I won't halt the swing of my blade if a mere ally happens to get in the arc of my swing." With blood smeared over his sword and armor, he looked like a true demon, standing on the bodies of his victims.

The amazons were quick on cleaning up the soldiers on the outside, and groups of them quickly dashed by them, shoving the rest of the enemy troops into the wall of the town. There would be few that would escape, and those lucky enough to desert would probably be caught by Ortega's surrounding force. No doubt that the enemies in the town were being invaded as well, and it was only a matter of time until the battle would officially be over.

Elegra's cold eyes ever left the black and red clad knight before her, he was a true sight to be seen if she had thought he was even the slightest bit intimidating before he was far more now. But then again she thought about her own appearance, she could feel heavier drops of blood sliding down her cheek at a sickeningly slow pace.

She did take a moment to inspect her surroundings and note that mostly ever enemy was dead as far as she could see. There might still be a battle going on on the other side of the gates before them. But her blood still simmered from the close call of one of her women almost having their head taken from her body, true it was partially her fault for getting so close but still, she was mad at the man not her warrior.

"How dare you, " she said in a strong voice advancing on Haine she threw both of her blades into the ground, their sharp tips sinking into the trampled ground easily. on either side of her and she continued walking towards the man until she was chest to chest with the beast, armor scraping together, "Listen to me well," she put gauntlet covered hands on his upper chest, even standing on her toes, "Don't. Hurt. My. Warriors." she told him and with each ward her whole body tensed and with that she pushed him as hard as she could telling the momentum push her back her nimble feet literally climbing up his armor.Making this the second back flip of the battle, and like their first fight if she timed it right her armored covered boot could collide with his chin.

Haine's blood boiled as he glared back at her. He swung his sword abruptly, splattering more blood off of it and onto the ground. He had told her to stay out of his way... and he had told her the consequences of being in the swing of his sword. He growled, lifting his sword and placing it upon his shoulder, standing tall and staring down at her. Bodies littered the battlefield around them, the sounds of thrashing metal clacking in the air. The amazons were probably cleaning up now, finishing off the warriors that weren't able to run away in the chaos.

He glared hard as she approached him, his eyes following her movement. It was then with her words that he had understood that it wasn't her that was in the way... it was one of her warriors. One of her little amazons had gotten a little too close to him, and she had been forced to move up and defend her from his sword. The thought made him huff in her face, giving her a devilish, toothy grin.

"If your warriors get caught in the way of my blade, then blame it on them for being weak." He hissed in her face, refusing to back down. It was then that she began her move, shoving against his armor to once more flip backwards.

Her foot would have caught him, if it wasn't for the fact that it wouldn't work on him twice.

Haine snarled angrily, shifting his head to the side while her foot cut through the air, the amazon landing gracefully back onto her feet. "I'm going to make you wish you didn't do that, you stupid amazon bitch..." Haine growled back angrily, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly with his hand. He stood there, glaring at her with his icy blue eyes. He wanted more than nothing to take his sword and cut into her flesh, slicing through her bones to drain all of her blood onto the ground. And almost nothing would stop him.

"Hmph." He grunted, turning around, his cloak fluttering behind him. "Not yet." He said coldly, more to himself then to her. "Our final battle shouldn't be here."

As she landed gracefully on her toes she glared straight back into his blue eyes that seemed could freeze the very blood soaked ground they walked on. Her nerves were solid, holding her in place, as she watched him turn. She was only slightly surprised that he had called her such a name, "Barbarian!" she replied, her jaw set so tightly that it hurt.

That man was going to drive her into madness, she thought, Goddess, why was she to do this?

She jerked up her blades from the ground and began to command the women around her, "Be sure no enemies are left breathing!" she barked in her own language, "Find Daphne, I want a report on damages, injuries, and the people of this village. Make sure that no civilians were harmed." she shouted as she cleaned off her blades with the edge of an fallen man's cloak before sheathing them both behind her back, "I also want news from Commander Ortega," as she spoke women listened and hurried off, some nodding some simply doing as they were told but all in her line of site seemed to be unharmed.

"Elegra!" shouted Jade, her bow in one hand as she jogged up to meet with the red haired woman, "None made it out of here a live, a scout tried but we stopped him before he got far."

"Good, we wouldn't want the main forces to know that their outpost has been taken back quite yet." Elegra replied with a nod, "Go gather your arrows, they are too finely made to waste them on one battle alone." she told her, patting her on the shoulder before she was off.

Elegra was not too proud as to help her women begin the clearing of the dead bodies, this was something that was often not spoke of in the stories, but it had to be done.

The battle outside the walls was over, and if the screams coming from inside the town held any indication, the battle was ending there was well. Ortega was rather known for his swift victories, and something like this wasn't out of the ordinary for him. From what Haine could see, casualties were low. Maybe some of the amazons had a few minor scrapes and bruises from arrows or sword, but he couldn't see any fallen allied warrior lying in the pile of bodies that littered the camp.

Haine gave his sword a light twirl, splattering the blood that covered its blade onto the ground before slipping it into the clip on his back. His job was done, his fury sated for the time being. He took a moment to stretch out his arms, feeling the joints pull and groan. The battle was alright- he didn't find for as long as he could have, or killed as many enemies soldiers. It wasn't as dangerous either... there wasn't much of a thrill for his own survival.

Haine walked by the amazons, taking a moment to glance at each one. He had to admit, they were indeed battle-worthy... although he still didn't approve of female fighters, he had to give credit where it was due.

Finally, Ortega sounded the horns of victory, blaring from inside the town. The yell of his troops was easily heard, bellowing through the air. And not soon after the rickety, poorly crafted gate slowly crept open, revealing the familiar soldiers within. Ortega stood at the front, his armor splattered lightly with blood.

And he didn't look happy.

Elegra looked at her reflection in the shallow bowl of water that she drew for herself from the town's well. The woman staring at her had blood spattering on the side of her face, green eyes wide and war paint smeared down the side of her cheek. War always seemed to leave her feeling empty but then again she was exhilarated for winning a battle such at this. It wasn't the fiercest battle but she was happy that everything went smoothly.

She splashed the cold water onto her face, cleaning the blood and paint, as well as on her arms. As she started to pat her name dry with a rag, Jade walked up her her, bow and quiver in hand. "We've inspected the city, no citizen was harmed... By our hands."

"Good," she said with a nod as she stood, "Make sure our allies are tended to. I want our people to be the ones that show the first grace." she said with a wave of her hand.

Jade did as she was told and soon enough her women were scattered about helping the men that were injured from previous battles, preparing food for the whole town, and sharpening the blades of weak weapons. It seemed to be going well, they were exchanging jokes back and forth, demonstrating battle moves and simply relating to one another.

Elegra simply sat on the ledge of the well in the center of the village, cleaning her blades, she only did this so that she was available to all of her people if they should need her at any time. She didn't feel the need to find Ortega, he could find her when they needed to talk. As she concentrated on her blades a little blonde haired girl ran over to her and tugged on her elbow.

Elegra smiled softly as she stopped what she was doing and looked at the girl below her, her cheeks were smeared with dirk but she smiled widely none the less. The girls small fist was curled around several little purple flowers that she held up proudly to the Amazon.

"Hello there little one, are those for me?" she asked and received a nod, "I am honored." she said as she smiled and knelt beside the little sprite, her blades on the ledge of the well.

"Did you know these are snap dragons?" she asked and the girl shook her head, looking at Elegra with wide brown eyes. "Well, they say that these flowers are craved by the greatest of dragons, they were being eaten so fast and so many that the flowers became worried they would be no more." she took the flowers from the girls hands and pulled her onto her knee seeing as she was kneeling on one knee, and started to braid the girls hair, braiding the flowers in with her blonde hair.

"And a fairy took notice, and gave the flowers a way to fight back, they began to snap at the dragons, making it too much work for the dragons to bother trying to eat the precious flowers when they could snap at them." she smiled as she finished the girls hair, the girl touched her hair to feel what Elegra did, "So, if you ever see yourself at odds with a dragon, these my dear are what you need to keep you safe." she said with a smile as the girl took a flower from her own hair and tucked it behind Elegra's ear before smiling and running off in the direction she came.

Ortega slammed his hands down onto the table, rattling the wood and the food that was placed on top of it. The two officers and two guards that stood by his side and the door jerked in surprise, their eyes moving to one another. Never had they seen their commander act so angry, fury blazing in his older eyes. In front of Ortega stood Haine, standing and looking as defiant as ever. His sword was upon his back, his massive arms crossed in front of him. A frown hung loosely from his face, his icy blue eyes not showing a hint of regret. The small group of warriors were in a small hovel in the center of town, given permission to make it their base until they moved out.

"You... stupid... " Ortega growled through his teeth. "Arrogant... SONOVABITCH!" Ortega shoved all of the plates off of the table, moving his hand up to point right at Haine's face.

"I am SO fucking sick of you!" He snarled in Haine's face, his temper taking over. "You charged in like an absolute dumbass like always, and because of that we had to rush in. Because of that, we last a handful of men who didn't have the fucking element of surprise! Their deaths are all on your hands!" Vorkus, who would normally have something to say to the black giant, was also silent, watching from the side.

"If they died, they were weak." Haine huffed, looking down at his elder commander. "If they don't survive, then there is- "

Ortega's armored fist suddenly collided with Haine's cheek, directly onto the healing wound that Elegra had given him the other day. It quickly reopened with the impact, blood splattered over Ortega's fist. Haine growled, taking a step back as pain flared over his face. No one, not even the black knight himself was expecting Ortega to make a move like that.

"You... " Ortega growled, standing up to the taller knight. "I'm regretting ever picking you up from the dirt that I found you in... I thought you had potential, but all you're doing is killing mindlessly, not caring who you hurt." Normally, Haine would furious, reaching out to attack Ortega for giving him a blow.

But for some reason... he couldn't.

"I'm taking you off the front lines for a while." Ortega said, moving back over to the table and taking a seat. "I need some scouting, and someone to deliver a message for me." Ortega glanced over at one of his guards. "I want you to find Elegra and bring her here. I have some orders for the both of them... " His guard nodded quickly, making his way out of the door.

Haine stood there quietly, holding his burning cheek, the blood drizzling down his skin. There was definitely fury building up in his chest, but something was stopping him from acting like it. Ortega had been his commander for years, and he had never struck a blow against him in anger. Perhaps it was the surprise? Haine wasn't sure... but there was also something pulling at the back of his mind. Something that was starting to boil over.

But he wasn't sure what it was.

Elegra had returned to sharpening her already pristine blades when a slightly nervous soldier came up to her at a fast pace. She only watched him out of the corner of her eye as he spoke to her.

"Miss.. Um.. My lady..." he scratched the back of his head as he tried to figure out the correct way to address her before giving up and simply saluting her before relaying information, "Commander Ortega wasn't an audience with you." he said not looking straight at her.

"Fine," she said in a sharp tone, "Lead on soldier." she instructed, not quite knowing how the small town was set up yet.

Soon enough she opened the door that led into a tense room filled with men, typical, after a battle these men would already be tensed again to fight. "You summoned?" she asked as she started towards the table, glancing at Haine, then at the bloodied glove of Ortega's and connecting the dots quickly. Whatever Haine had said, he deserved it, but she wouldn't question the subject.

"Do we already know where we are heading to next?" she asked, grabbing an apple from the slightly disheveled table and taking a bite.

Ortega was taking deep breaths to calm himself, his fists still clenching tightly. He shot a glare back at Haine before looking at Elegra, anger still raging behind his eyes. "Yes." He nodded, straightening up. "But, I'm going to need some scouting done before then along with a message. I don't want to make my move so rashly, and I want to make sure that I know exactly where the enemies and that the rest of our military knows what I plan on doing." Ortega grabbed a chair and sat down with a sigh, running one of his gauntlet hands through his hair.

"I'm so tired of this war... " Ortega mumbled to himself. "I'm tired of running back and forth, losing fortresses just to conquer them back later. And I'm tired of this arrogant black knight who thinks he can just run into combat without following orders!" Haine said nothing in response, holding his hand to pressure the reopened wound on his cheek.

"Elegra," Ortega addressed her, gazing over. "Both you and Haine will scout ahead of me and deliver a message to a city for me. Together."

He finally got a reaction out of Haine.

The dark knight glared his icy blue eyes at Elegra, switching back to his commander. "What?" He growled, clenching his own hand into a fist. "I- "

"ENOUGH!" Ortega slammed his fists into the table. "I won't have two of my best warriors at each other's throats for the rest of this war! I need both of you to work together, and both of you to at least respect one another! I will not have anymore conflict between you two, is that clear?!"

Elegra nodded along with the Commander, she was about to suggest that one of her women give his back a good rub down seeing as there were some that were quite skilled in that area, and seeing as he looked highly tense. But the amazon's thoughts were haulted dead in their tracks as Ortega told her what she was to be doing.

She quickly swallowed the piece of apple and met the hulking man's gaze with her own blazing gold ones, "Why do I have to go with him?!? He-" but she too was stopped from protesting as Ortega yelled and shocked everyone into silence.

Elegra took a deep breath to calm her own rage and ground her teeth as he spoke, "Fine, if he needs a baby sitter to watch over him then so be it." she said, crossing her arms, "My women will be perfectly fine without me for a while." she said pursing her lips and looking the knight up and down once, giving a small smirk at the reopened wound, he deserved that.

"We can leave as soon as possible."

Haine shot a fiery glare over at Elegra, his hands clenching into tight fists. Numerous obscene, furious thoughts fought around in his head, but the pain burning in his cheek kept his mouth shut. The wound that he kept as a reminder from the small skirmish he had in the amazon was strangely taking a long time to heal, and now that Ortega had angrily reopened it... well, it would take much longer now. Towering over her, Haine walked on by, his icy blue lives never leaving hers. Viciously, he snatched the door handle and slammed it shut, smashing the wooden door into pieces that clanked loudly onto the ground. When he was gone, Ortega sighed, shaking his head.

"Do me a favor, Elegra... " Ortega said quietly, looking up at her with calmer, regretful eyes. "I don't know if you amazons believe in fate, but I'm sure that you two were destined to meet. I'm not sure if you two will be allies or enemies, but I want you to keep an eye on him. That man has never let any person close to him, but I'm hoping that you can. You're one of the only few who can match him in a fight, and maybe that's why you can do it." A guard walked by the commander, quickly handing him a canteen.

"I'm sure he's getting ready." Ortega stated, giving her a nod. "So in the meantime, let me tell you about where you'll be going and what message I want sent."






Haine leaned against the gate in the town, smothering his bleeding wound with a small piece of torn cloth. As much as the pain screamed into his flesh, he ignored it, watching the soldiers and amazons make their way around the town. It appears that the villagers who lived had been poorly beaten and starved, small families huddled around in their hovels while tired soldiers delivered them small portions of their rations. It would be a while until a proper supply route was made, so for now the soldiers would have to share their food with the peasants. The soldiers themselves were still warn, though the small victory had rekindled a small hope within them.

A small, fragile boy suddenly caught his eye, wearing nothing but rags on his body. He looked left and right, as if he was trying to find somebody. When his eyes met Haine's, the dark knight couldn't help but taste bitter nostalgia, and he quickly looked away. However, when he shifted his gaze back to the boy...

He had disappeared.

Haine blinked his blue eyes before growling softly to himself. Again, that weird feeling was slithering through his body, nagging at the back of his mind. It had always been with him, but until recently he had been able to ignore it. Ever since he met the amazon, the feeling had grown stronger and stronger, coursing through his battle-hardened veins, softening them.

"It has to be her fault... " He said to himself, trying to find something or someone to blame. But was it really? He shook his head, cursing at himself for those thoughts. He was not going to be weak, not now. He was in the middle of a war, in the middle of surviving. He wasn't going to let a little weakness slip up. He was not going to be vulnerable.

He promised himself he would never be vulnerable again.

He took a deep breath, looking back over the town, waiting for the red-headed amazon to show her face.

Elegra met the ice blue eyes with her own burning ones, not backing down. Her thoughts simply jumbled together, she didn't like this, having to trudge along with him and deal with his gloom. It seemed to always drain all of her energy to interact with him. But as soon as the big brute left Elegra's form relaxed and she rested against the back of a chair before her, her hands holding on either side of it as Ortega spoke. She nodded and thought about his words for a silent moment, there was always certain stings that the goddess liked to pull, making certain people meet at appointed times and there was no way to run from it. She would face the duties that assigned to her weather she liked them or not.

"I can do that for you, but only because you... Asked so hopefully. And the goddess be damned I cannot deny the request of a good man." she told him in a steady voice, "What kind of message are we delivering exactly?" she asked, one hand now on her hip as she took another bite of her apple, "I don't suppose it's simply to say, 'Well, that was easy, our new amazon friends are amazing' is it?"