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Eberron fic -work in progress-
The dawn broke over the bandits and their prey.
The slow moving wagons, carrying various articles for the far-off villages located in the Eldeen Reaches, were easy to follow and the mud, thanks to the week-long storms, would slow down the wooden carts.
Although elemental-bound carts were commonplace now, some merchants not associated with the Houses did not have enough economic pull to obtain these handy magical means of transportation.
That said, they did not have also much money to spare on bodyguards from House Deneith. The bandits were overjoyed that easy prey was still available on Khorvaire.
A fierce-looking hobgoblin oversaw the 7 wagon-long caravan from his vantage point with a spyglass. A gnoll stood next to him, cracking his knuckles. "They be good and ready, Vhurn..." said the gnoll "Just say the word and we be on them" the note of glee was quite obvious.
The hobgoblin watched the carts once more and counted the few bodyguards.
"They only have 5 guards with them... not even one man per wagon... stupid fools!" grunted Vhurn.
He spun on the gnoll and pointed the lead cart "Gneezil, you take the lead wagon. I'll jump the rear one with half of the men. You take the rest"
Gneezil nodded once and sprung to his feet. He quickly fled down the hilltops, using his gray cloak to shield himself from accidentally giving away his position to the few guards.
At the bottom, he met with 11 more bandits, humans, goblins, a couple of hobgoblins and an ogre.
"Time to go, scum... there be nice loot for us tonight!" he licked his lips.
Vhurn crossed the hills quickly, signaling his comrades by whistling bird-calls. He heard several other calls in the distance, aknowledging his orders. He put both hands on the grips of his shortswords. He snickered at the thought of the booty he would be soon getting from these foolish merchants.
The wooden carts moved slowly and each bump in the road made them creak noisily. One of the Denneith guards yawned loudly and blinked against the sky.
"We there yet, Argith?" he asked to a blonde elven woman.
The elf wore a chain shirt and carried the symbol of House Denneith proudly on her chest. Although House Denneith was a human dragonmarked house, she had served faithfully over 50 years and with unswerving loyalty to the House interests all those years. She had accepted a boring job into the Eldeen Reaches with a hand-picked group of bodyguards to help out a small-time merchant deliver some goods into the little villages that dotted the area.
"We will get there eventually Jylnid... just stay awake so I don't have to dock your pay!" she grumbled back, and the other Denneith guards chuckled back.
Jylnid muttered something under his breath, and took a swig of his wineskin.
A young man, around his early twenties and clad in leather, approached Argith quickly from the front of the caravan.
"What is it Genn?" said the elven woman. The boy seemed worried and flustered.
"So sorry cap'n, but I ought to let you know that I saw some strange prints ahead of us, possibly goblinoid... what are we gonna do?" the boy had to take a breath
"Heh, no worries, if it's some filthy goblins, we'll take them on, just you wait!" said Jylnid.
Argith gave the man a scorching look and turned back to the boy
"How many prints did you see?"
The boy paled and tried to look calm, but failed miserably
"Around 3 dozens..."
Everyone stood agape.
House Denneith was known to train the best bodyguards in all Khorvaire... but 3 dozens against 5 were not fair odds, not by a long shot.
Argith quickly composed herself, she had been in tight spots, and she had gotten out of them, some very narrowly, but out she had gotten after all.
"How fresh are the prints?"
The boy told her exactly what she had hoped not to hear
"Only a couple of hours... give or take an hour"
Her mind quickly raced as Jylnid quickly got up and started to put on his scale mail armor.
"Is there anyone else in this caravan that could lend us a hand?"
"Most of the travelers are just merchants, their servants or tourists... they'd as soon drop a weapon from their hands and run than confront bandits... if that's what we are looking at, cap'n" said the boy grimly.
One of the merchants, an old halforc with a gray stubble turned sideways from his cart and mumbled something
"My friend here will help. Never been one to allow bad people to hurt good people" he pointed a heap of rags in the back of the cart.
Argith, Jylnid and Genn blinked in confusion at the old guy's statement, and all three in unison looked at the lump on the back of the cart where the halforc had pointed with his thumb. They saw a big pile of grey and black rags piled up against a couple of wooden boxes.
While the humans stood there quizzically, the elf saw a metallic sheen under some of the rags.
She approached the cart quickly and got on the wagon. She got close to the dump of rags and poked it softly.
A low sigh came from the pile. She half-expected that, but asked in a clear voice
"Can you help us? Are you in condition to fight?"
The rags moved a bit and a silver eye looked back at the elf.
"Depends... what's wrong?" asked a masculine voice.
"Oi! There be some guys in the middle of the road up ahead!" shouted one of the Denneith guards from the front.
The elf turned back to the pile of rags and was shocked to see that it had disappeared, only the wooden boxes were there, clattering softly when the wagon bumped sideways.
She got up and looked around and saw a very tall person covered in dirty rags walking next to the cart. She was surprised to see that the person, whoever it was, was easily 2 meters tall, but had little bulk.
"Jylnid! grab yer bow and keep a lookout for anyone closing in from behind!" said the elf quickly.
"Aye cap'n!" replied the man as he took out a longbow and turned swiftly on his heels and clambered up another cart in the rear end.
Suddenly, shouts were heard and Argith heard metal clashing against metal. As she turned, she saw ten or more people rush her lone vanguard. She clenched her teeth and ran to the front while drawing her sword from its scabbard.
"Genn! You stay here and help Jylnid and Stukos! I know bandits, and there are gonna be more coming any moment!"
The boy quickly drew his scimitar and ran to the back. Argith noticed the rag-clothed man had sprinted to the front with amazing agility.
The human bandits were having a tough time fighting the lone Denneith guard. The guard was an old man with greying hair and a long ponytail, and he wielded a halberd with a practiced hand. As soon as they tried to get close, the old geezer swung it in menacing arcs, aiming for their necks. The hobgoblins quickly walked to the sides, trying to outnumber the guard quickly.
As the bandits pulled out their swords, the old man just stared at them back in silence. One of the human bandits rushed the man, yelling to his comrades to do the same.
All four quickly lept to their prey, but did not expect the old warrior to deftly swing the hafted weapon into each one of them, slicing their abdomens open. The four of them were dead before they hit the ground.
"Umph! Shows ya filth not to mess with Denneith guards!" the old man smiled wearily.
His smile broke as he saw, a bit too late, two shadows to his left. He felt his lungs pierced by barbed bolts, and pain seared him.
Piglike squeals of delight sounded behind him as he recognized goblins. Two of them had snuck up as the other four were charging him. He fell to one knee and a shadow fell upon him:
An ogre had appeared in front of him, carrying what seemed a tree trunk from an oak.
"Damn... never thought it would end like this... ugh..." thought the warrior, as he clenched his teeth for the worst.
A quick flash of blue metal appeared in front of his eyes and no pain came. Instead, he was showered with bits of wood and he was quite surprised to see a very tall, very lean warforged standing between him and the ogre. The warforged had caught the blow with some sort of blade, akin to a short version of a halberd and deflected it to the side.
The ogre growled menacingly and wound up for another swing.
The warforged quickly lept back and put one hand on the man's chest. The old man felt something like glass against him and grabbed it.
"Drink it quick!" said the warforged.
The metallic man burst to the side and drew the ogre's attention once more.
The ogre had made a big swing and missed his enemy by aiming too high. He tried to quickly recover and make a backswing, but his foe had gotten too close.
The old man saw as how the warforged had put one hand under the ogre's weapon arm's shoulder, and with the other, struck with the blade into the armpit, plunging the blade all the way from down to up.
The gigantic foe screamed and howled in pain and dropped to his knees, he couldn't feel his arm at all and the great club fell onto the ground, clattering loudly.
The goblins looked back in astonishment and saw the warforged. As the ragged cloak whipped from the breeze, they recognized the blue tint in the armor.
"This no good! Boss never say the Thunder be here!" one whispered to the other.
"Better go away! Loot no good if Thunder see us!"
They hastily dropped their crossbows onto the ground and bolted into the shrubs, escaping as fast as their stubby legs would allow. Even as Argith saw that in astonishment, she also saw a gnoll and a couple more of humans pop up from the sides.
"Hey! Look out!" she yelled at the warforged.
The gnoll pulled out a weighed chain and swung it over his head menacingly.
"You take the woman, I'll crush this trash into tin cups" he mocked the warforged. The men nodded sharply and ran to the sides, avoiding the warforged and the old warrior.
The blue warforged turned his head to the old man and said quietly
"Go to her quickly, I'll take on this bandit"
The veteran was surprised to see a couple of silver eyes looking back at him. Not only that, but the face of the warforged looked less... well, less alien and more like a person.
He gulped the potion quickly and felt less pain from some of his wounds. He stood up and nodded back to his helper. He lifted the halberd from the ground and went to help his superior.
The gnoll kept the chain swinging in wide circles over his head. He didn't fear a rusty tool of the Last War. He had beaten several of them previously, this time would not be different.
The 'forged stood there, watching the gnoll intently. After a second or so, he took up a stance and said quietly
"I know that style. You have already lost"
The gnoll was furious! How dare that useless piece of crap say that?!?
The gnoll quickly struck the chain into his foe, but was surprised to see that nothing was there.
He turned quickly to the left and saw the 'forged sprinting towards him. The fool! A chain gives you the advantage of reach! He'll be flayed twice before he could lay his metallic hands on him!
Surprisingly, the 'forged did not evade the first chain lashing. It clanged loudly onto his side dully. As Gneezil wound up the chain back for another strike, he saw the 'forged spun on the balls of his feet and raise both arms, as to protect his own chest from the next attack.
Ha! Faulty human-created thing! Fighting me without a weapon? I'll sho-
His thoughts were cut short by an intense cold feeling on the base of his neck, followed suddenly by a strong metal hand grabbing his lower jaw. Stunned, he looked downwards, terrified, to see a blade of some sort protuding from the 'forged's elbow, pricking him so slightly on the nape of the neck, and the other hand of the 'forged, stopping his body from going ahead and impaling him. He looked up and saw silver eyes watching him back.
Those eyes were not angry, nor vicious, but they were stern.
"Drop your weapon and run away, never to stain roads again, or I'll come back for you" said the metallic man.
The gnoll dropped the chain onto the muddy road and whimpered once. The 'forged pushed him back and stared at him intently, daring him to do anything else but running away.
The ogre had slowly inched its way behind the metal man. As he raised a claw-like hand to grab the 'forged, the agile warrior deftly spun on his heels and plunged the blade into the massive hand, nailing it into the ground and sending forth massive screams of pain from the ogre.
The warforged spun about and punted the ogre hard on the nose, cracking it and knocking it unconscious.
Gneezil obliged and turned tail on the spot. He ran as fast as he could, for as long as he could and never watched back... no booty was worth that scare!
Meanwhile, the fight at the end of the caravan was going badly for the Denneith guards. Several hobgoblins, well-trained and brutal in their skill, were quickly gaining ground. Argith had taken at least 5 of them single-handedly, but the boy and Jyl were probably dead.
She was angry at how easy the defense was falling. There still stood 8 more hobs and she felt her strength run out swiftly. If only a cleric were around... or perhaps a Jorasco healer...
A menacing, eye-patched hobgoblin with a mean greatsword tried to push her back with his blows. As the elf blocked each attack, the increasing vibrations felt on her arms let her know that soon, her stamina would run out and one wide slash from that blade would send her into oblivion.
As the hobgoblin pressed on, he relaxed a bit and grinned at her almost defeated foe.
He kicked her on the knee sideways and the elf dropped onto the mud, with no more strength which to raise her weapon. The hob raised the sword high above his head and prepared to strike the fatal blow.
A black shadow, quick and bristling with fury, passed from one side to the other. Suddenly, the hobgoblin had dropped the two handed blade onto the ground and was trying to stop the gush of black blood from his neck.
Argit saw to her right side, a female shifter, her eyes red with rage and three inch long claws gleaming with blood. She didn't recall being that far up into the Reaches... were did this woman pop up?
The girl was probably in her early twenties, her long mane of hair was tied up in a ponytail and a headdress carried totemic charms which dangled at her movements. Her lean and petite body framed wiry muscles, and her tan skin glowed from the sweat and blood of her foes.
A couple of hobgoblins, seeing that the greatsword wielder had fallen, charged at the shifter girl.
As they charged her, she stood up and stared at them intently. When they were merely three feet apart, she bared her fangs and dove into them, claws first.
With her right claw, she crossed the first foe across the face, relieving her enemy of his eyes.
Her left claw quickly grabbed the other enemy's weapon by the handle and lifted up, so the hobgoblin would overshot his mace swing.
When he did, her free right hand opened up in razor claws, which plunged deep into the belly of the humanoid. As the hobgoblin stared stupidly at her from the pain, she gutted him from the bottom up. Several viscera dropped messily onto the ground, followed by their owner.
The blinded hobgoblin tried to get up but met its demise as the grizzled old halberdeer got the drop onto him.
"You all right cap'n?" he asked as he helped the elf get up.
"Ye-yeah, I think so... who is that girl?" Argith said perplexed
"I think it's one of the tourists that came along... she's, well, from around here it seems"
"What happened up front? Are the merchants all right?" she turned to face the old man
"The warforged took care of the tougher ones... bet he's on his way here now"
Argith looked perplexed at this sudden turn of events. She was not ungrateful, but she was very curious about it.
Another pair of hobgoblins tried their luck against the shifter, but she dispatched them with practiced ease. The others looked slightly taken aback by her ferocity and didn't approach her more than necessary.
As she snarled at them, taunting them to come closer, a loud mocking laugh ringed over their heads.
"You forget, this b***h can only shift for so long... just wait her out and she'll be a piece of cake soon" said Vhurn. As he did, he took out his twin swords from the scabbards and twirled them in anticipation.
*Damn it! I can only hold out for a moment more... gotta give it my all to down the small fry quick! thought Elianna. She licked her lips and bared her fangs once more.
"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!" she growled as she leapt into the face of one of the hobgoblins nearest her, and ripped out his face and chestplate.
As the hob fell onto the ground lifelessly, she spun about and jumped at another one, but the goblinoid lept back, trying his hardest to avoid her flurry of attacks.
Vhurn smugly smiled and he took a step forward. He then noticed a blue sheen moving down the caravan, inside some filthy rags.
The hobgoblin, while avoiding the shifter's attacks, tripped on the old man's halberd and crashed onto the mud noisily. The feral girl was upon him in an instant and everything went black.
Vhurn quickly charged the girl as he saw that her features, while bloody, went slightly less feral. One more of his henchmen also charged, rallyed by his boss' boldness.
The old man reacted quickly and slashed quickly at Vhurn, but the hobgoblin sidestepped aside, letting his companion take one for the team. The hobgoblin lept over Elianna and plunged one sword into the old man's right shoulder. Elianna quickly got up and, feeling her feral rage vanishing, swiped quickly at the hobgoblin leader's back.
Vhurn sensed the attack in time and dodged it, not finishing the old man, but doing enough damage as to disable the old fighter. Elianna felt he rush wane and tried again to at least catch the leader's flank, but the hobgoblin was too skilled when pressed into defense.
And just like that, Elianna felt herself go numb at the knees and arms. Her breath got shortened and her sight lost some focus. She unfortunately, still could see the leader's smirk. Damn! This was not good...
Vhurn quickly began to pour some cruel rage onto the shifter girl. He didn't want to kill her, at least not immediately, but he wanted some fun. He started to try to cut off one of her arms, but as he tried to, she did her best to switch onto defense.
He pressed on, and one swipe was lucky enough to cut deep into her left arm. She bit her lip to avoid giving her foe the satisfaction of her aknowledgement of pain, but blood started to dot the ground quickly, and it wasn't the goblinoid's blood.
Vhurn spat and grinned, talking in a heavy common tongue "I will cut off your arms and legs little woman... and then... the fun will start" he licked one of the swords and began to advance menacingly upon her.
A blue streak of metal flashed next to him and he jumped back to dodge a jab to his midsection. He saw the tall man in rags carrying some sort of blade jump at him at the last possible second. his new foe was very agile, but he had defeated hardened Valenar warriors before. This mysterious enemy would fall as well.
"Who you be? Take off those rags, you coward!" spat Vhurn
The tall figure grabbed the rags at collar height and tossed them aside. Argith, her elder soldier and most of the remaining hobgoblins gasped. Vhurn merely grinned and twirled his swords.
The warforged was tall, yet not bulky. His lean frame was unlike any other warforged created in the Last War. In fact, some would say that he looked more organic, more like a person and less than a machine, as the face was peculiar in that it showed more emotion than a normal 'forged. His metal plating was a sterling blue steel and mithral. Attached to the back of his left arm, was some sort of club, from which a long thin blade sprung.
"Ah... Thunder, is it?" asked the hobgoblin, feeling adrenaline rushing up and down.
"It's actually Bolt, but close... enough is enough. Go away with your men and leave us be. Your gnoll lieutenant was fled and your ogre minion lies helpless on the ground. You are finished for today" spoke the warforged gravely.
Vhurn laughed heartily and shook his head.
"Sorry as this caravan might be, loot's loot after all you tin b*****d. And lucky for me, I'm going to kill the famous Bolt too, so you better be prepared. You're one rare warforged... and it's going to be a treat for old Vhurn to kill you... GET READY FOR THE DOLUURH!!!!" screamed the leader of the bandits.
Bolt quickly parried his blows and started to study the movements. The leader of the enemies was very quick and possibly even better than him at melee, but that had never stopped him. Slash after slash, Bolt was starting to get the timing of his foe and switched slowly from defense, to offense.
With whirling movements, the blade on his arm became a part of him in a deadly ballet of death. Vhurn gritted his teeth as he comprehended what the rumors were about the blue 'forged.
His enemy threw himself into fights with abandon... not wild, but calculated. Seemingly random, but actually possesing some sort of strategy.
His double sword thrusts were deflected quickly, and almost too easily. Trying to even the odds for him, he kicked the mud into the forged's face, but the metal opponent just kept on coming.
As he tried to feint, he noticed that instead of just trying to decipher the bluff, the forged plunged into a risky opening. The hobgoblin snatched his opportunity to maximize the potential of damage, but was very disappointed as Bolt had countered back with a hit on an opening that Vhurn had created when he mistook Bolt's opening for an error. He tried to thrust his sword at the forged, but the blow came too late.
As Bolt spun around, he flicked his wrist and the blade sheated itself into the grip, as he did so, he caught one of Vhurn's swords between the two halves of his weapon grip and twisted hard.
Vhurn was shocked to see one of his swords break as easily as a twig. Desperate, he kicked the 'forged hard in his abdomen and grabbed his remaining sword with both hands. He would kill the thing and do it now!
As Bolt backed away from the kick, he lifted his weapon up to block the swing and instead of just blocking the slash, he went down onto the muddy ground. He rolled to the side quickly and avoided getting cleaved in twain.
Vhurn, trying to press his advantage, hacked at the floor repeatedly but missed his mark each time.
 Tsunami K · Thu Sep 14, 2006 @ 08:31pm · 0 Comments |
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