Lifth didn't actually not hear the random responses. She just couldn't care less about them. She knew exactly what was going to happen. She could see it playing over and over again, the vision Sigurd had given her of events to come. And she much preferred certain options to others. They had a schedule to keep and she'd be damned if was going to worry about their feelings when so much more was on the line. Besides, that was part of the vision as well.... Free will was a b*tch sometimes.

She urged Alsvider a little faster. It was a shame she couldn't let the horse go full speed. But she needed the heroes to be able to keep up with her.....She needed them to be able to prove themselves.

Places to go, people to see, enemies to kill, and night is falling. So much to do, so little time. Lifth road on as the sun began to set.

... Well, the monster was dead, and that was that. In spite of Lifth's enraging and sarcastic apathy, William should have simply been grateful to be alive after facing off with such an awful creature, although he could already tell that there was more than likely a lot worse to come later on in the journey.

The elf gazed after Lifth for a long while as she strode back to Alsvider, and, although he had to have been standing at least twenty or so yards away from her at the time, he could swear that his sensitive elven ears heard something like a rather forlorn sigh come from her direction as she hopped back up onto her horse. William couldn't begin to guess what this meant in terms of what Lifth was or had been inwardly thinking all throughout the fight, of course, but he then felt his anger subside a bit, and his face softened into a more thoughtful expression. After another moment, he silently promised himself to try to keep from worrying too much about what she may or may not think of him or any of the others, and simply put his heart into looking after her as he and the rest had all promised to King Sigurd a few days, regardless of whether she would return the favor with gratitude or not.


... He then glanced down at the sword that he had just now remembered was still lying in his right hand, the tip of its blade now resting lazily a short ways into the soft ground. He raised it to eye level, not even consciously realizing how curiously his eyes were studying every inch of the blade's metal as though he were trying to discern some very fine detail concerning the spirit of the sword's owner that might lie hidden somewhere in the deep notches of the metal. How strange that I was able to successfully pull off such a crazy stunt in the air like that; even with my natural agility and small frame surely gravity would have pulled me down a lot more easily than that, but ... perhaps I might try to perfect such a skill in my own way as this journey continues. It has only just begun, after all, He thought.


A shadow swept past him, then, and William glanced sideways to see Kayn and Bael, who apparently stayed behind a moment to check and make sure that the giant they had brought to ground was really dead. Bael stopped almost right next to the much smaller elf, practically towering over him, and watched after Lifth for a short moment with an expression that William could automatically tell meant Bael was none too pleased with the awkward feeling of Lifth's magic that had come over him as well as the elf. Apparently such a feeling was a lot more foreign to someone of his race than it would be with the typically more magically-inclined forest elves. Bael then turned his face to William and asked, "Where is it we are going?"

Seeing as it was this person who had suddenly and mysteriously sprang up in the middle of the fight with the giant, the elf could only guess that Bael really had only just now caught up with the rest of the group, perhaps having left the king's presence belatedly and followed after those who left the city with Lifth. Not really looking Bael's way, William shrugged a little, and hear himself reply in a soft voice, "To be honest, I don't think I really even fully understand where it is that we are journeying to, anymore. ... But Lifth seems to know exactly what to do, and all we must do is follow after her and make certain that she does not fall into the evil hands of whoever is out there watching us ...." He looked back towards Lifth, to see her already galloping into the distance with Alsvider. "I suppose we had best take that task more seriously by makigng sure to keep close behind her; it doesn't look as though she is the type to wait around and see if we are doing just that."

The elf looked off into the thicket of trees some distance away where he had seen his and a few of the other horses run off into hiding when the fighting had started. He whistled, and soon enough the one he had been astride on appeared, almost appearing as though she herself were relieved to be able to come back out into the open. William smiled to himself, and bade the equine creature to carry him forward into the direction that Lifth had gone off in.

Lifth reaches the road a few miles east of Jurston just as the sun falls below the horizons. With the foothills and mountains to the north and the sea directly to the south, the road was turned into a windswept shelf, chilled the the night sea breeze and the harsh weather of the Fimbul winter.

She halted Alsvider and waited for the others to catch up. Luckily they had reached the spot just in time. Any longer and their attackers would have begun up the road. Lifth waited for the ambush to materialize out of the brush coating a ridge near the sea. Just as planned. Five figures stalked forward through the darkness. Things were going to get interesting.

"Hello boys. Glad to know we didn't keep you waiting." Lifth turned and addressed the heroes for the first time since leaving the giant. "They've come to stop us. I believe they are working for our friend that sent us the hand. If you would be so kind as to take care of them I promise I won't be a b*tch for the rest of the night. And it will be a long night....Trust me boys."

-----------------------------------------

The 5 figures stand ready, waiting for a reaction to Lifth's words. They appear human, but stand as if they've seen quite a bit of action. Mercenaries.
2 carry longswords.
1 carries a shortsword and buckler.
1 carries a two hand axe.
1 carries a bo staff.

------------------------------------------

Kayn followed Lifth for a good while. The sun was already contemplating settling down for the night. By now the mountains seemed quite closer than when they were when fighting the jotun. It was actually becoming quite a quiet ride for a good while. Kayn was actually working on his sensing skill as they rode. He was actually able to pick up on a stray deer that was roaming the forest and kept up with it till they were a good ways past it.

It is also common amoung dark elves that with their sensing ability, to detect hostility in the host they are tracking. It was because of this that Kayn was jerked from his calm state that he settled in over the past few hours of riding.

"Hello boys. Glad to know we didn't keep you waiting."

With that, five burly looking men stepped out from hiding. They were decently armed and didn't seemed a bit suprized to see two elves. Kayn eye-balled them each. ("I'm pretty sure that staff user was the one who wrote that explosive rune message... I should return the favor.")

"If you would be so kind as to take care of them I promise I won't be a biznatch for the rest of the night."

Kayn couldn't help himself, "Somehow I doubt that."

Without wasting another second, Kayn leaped from his horse and made a mad dash towards the two longsword users. This obvious rush is an attempt to get the enemy to strike back at Kayn as he attacks. With that in mind, Kayn draws upon magic. Feeling the hundreds of years of knowledge he's known, he reaches deep within him summons upon the element of fire.

"Fire Clone!"

Right before Kayn made contact, he rolls out of the way and leave a blazing figure of himself in the line in which he was currently running.

Bael followed behind the group during the day, Halberd ready at his side. Rather than worrying about the strange magic-user girl or their destination, he concentrated on the movements of the horse below him, the feel of the exercise of riding, and the grip of his weapon. Those were things that he knew. Things that made him comfortable. Bael was slightly relieved that there wasn't much conversation in the group.

"Hello boys. Glad to know we didn't keep you waiting."

Bael eyed the men up and down. He didn't really understand sarcasm, but the look on the men's faces, their drawn weapons, and Kayn's mad dash made him realize those weren't the ordinary men you'd call "boys". Bael identified seasoned combatants through their posture.

It was 5 against 3, 4 if the girl could fight – something Bael doubted very much. He felt a familiar, pleasuring tingle up his spine as his normal senses went blank and combat senses took over.
The world went blurry as Bael's attention focused fully on the enemies. Adrenaline shot up inside his veins, and the enemies started moving in a slow, slimy, honey-like way.
The horse below him was not trained for battle and was not armoured. Using it would certainly kill the beast, and that was not what Bael wanted. He dismounted with a leap.
Bael quickly scanned the battlefield for anything that might prove useful in battle. The rest was discarded promptly from his mind.

To the others, Bael had only seemed to leap from the horse and enter a fight stance with right foot forward. But there was a heavy, stern atmosphere around him now... as if he and the man who had traveled with them on the horse were completely different people.

Bael looked sideways at William.
"Preserve your space. Don't let them get behind you. If you get wounded, shout and we'll regroup."
With those words, Bael exploded in forward momentum and charged at the staff-wielding mercenary, swinging the halberd at him with full force.

... The elf had been wondering why Lifth appeared to stop ahead of him so suddenly, and in such a strange place. It had looked as though the five shadowy figures that came before the human girl had appeared to just walk right up out of the sea and through the darkness of the brush, and though Lifth did not seem to have been taken by surprise, William certainly was. "Whoa, girl!" He brought his horse to a halt, and, seeing the others dismount, he too felt obligated to do so and come to Lifth's side.

The swordsman landed smoothly to the somewhat rocky ground on two graceful feet, and took a few steps forward to get a better look at the five strangers. The next few moments were a blur as far as he could remember - Lifth talking to the strangers with the same kind of boldness and sarcasm that she had always seemed to address her guardians with, the strangers suddenly pulling out weapons from seemingly no where and holding them threateningly out towards William and the other heroes. When it had finally come to the elf's senses that he was about to have to fight with these mysterious people, the first thing he thought of was to try to get Lifth out of the way before she could be hurt, but he found himself glancing around to see that she had already slipped away, somehow. He had a vague memory of just now hearing the chiding words, "Please take care of this and I promise not to be an annoyance for the rest of the day."

William glanced back at the oncoming strangers, then down at their weapons, then to his own sword, and finally sideways to the sea bordering the road. He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat, then stepped forward to Bael's side, who subsequently turned to him and said, "If you get hurt by them, shout for us and we'll regroup." Nodding, the forest elf turned his eyes back onto two of the strangers who had caught his attention, as he saw that they were carrying longblades much like the sword William held. ... Although their swords are probably already stained with far more blood than this one will ever be. I wonder if they were the ones who sent that threatening letter last night. Be careful, William! He thought, at that moment wishing beyond anything else that he could somehow avoid this fight that he was now just seconds away from being caught up in. This would be different in many ways from that mock battle with Sigurd's guards or even the giant from earlier that day.
The elf took his stance, and waited with shortened breath for the hostile strangers to come to him.

As Kayn runs forward the 5 men quickly spread out. The two longsword users stand next to each other, the axe and short sword user stand to the left, and the bo staff user stands to the right.

Just as Kayn reaches the longswords, one steps forward and thrusts toward Kayn. It's just the chance Kayn was looking for. Kayn sidesteps the thrust and a fire clone scorches to life as the man's longsword thrusts into it. The fire raps itself around the blade and burns up it, blazing around the man for a brief second before extinguishing. The man cries hoarsely as the flames char parts of his skin.

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Longsword user 1 - HP: 9/15

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As Bael swings the bo staff user duck, plants his feet, and sweeps a soft blow at Baels legs (which hits but can barely be felt through Bael's armor) and somersaults into the air while swinging a blow towards Bael's unprotected head.

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As William takes up stance the Axe wielder inclines his head to the shortsword user before charging forward. The axe wielder swings in a high arc at William, obviously intent on cleaving him in twane.

The shortsword wielder makes no move and merely watches the battle.

Using Fire Clone to dodge the enemies attack, Kayn takes the opportunity to strike at his opponent as he writhes in flames. Kayn kicks off with his feet and drives his weapon towards the mans side.

... But, it wasn't either of the mercenaries with longblades that came at William. It was the scary-looking person with the large axe. He lunged forward, raising the axe over his head.

Somehow, the elf did not panic this time. He tightened his grip on the Northern Longblade with both hands, kept his eyes intently focused on the axe swooping down from overhead, and quickly raised the sword over himself to block the blow. Ordinarily the elf would have expected both his own physical strength and a normal sword's natural resistance to easily fail underneath the weight of the much larger axe, ... but the Northern Longblade was another sword altogether, and it would not break so easily, in that much William had faith.

Bael quickly entered a secondary battle stance to recover the balance from the enemy's low sweep. Seeing the enemy somersault upwards, Bael does a swift rolling sidestep while ducking his head to avoid the blow and parrying the bo staff with the halberd's blunt side.

Completing the sidestep, Bael swings the halberd in a diagonal upward movement aimed at the opponent's torso.

Kayn's attack is blocked as the second Longsword wielder sweeps in to defend his ally. The first man, now recovered from the flames twirls around the second man with a slice aimed at Kayn's head.

--------------------

William balks slightly as the crushing weight of the axe drives into to Northern Longsword, but holds his ground. With his momentum still carrying him forward, the axe wielder stumbles, attempting to recover and retain hold of his axe.

----------------------

The bo staff wielder's feet barely touch the ground before he launches himself into another somersault, narrowly gliding past Bael's halberd as it sweeps toward his middle. Still midair, the man lifts one hand and whispers words as two beams flash forward toward Bael.

The clash of metal against steel rang loudly in William's ears. He was nearly forced down to his knees from the force of the blow, but was relieved to discover that his opponent's axe had not quite reached the elf's fragile skull. The one with the heaviest weapon in the group going after the little kid, huh? He thought, half-sardonically. They certainly have no sense of honor, do they? But I suppose I could not expect that from someone who would be willing to cut off some helpless person's hand to send as a threatening warning.

William felt the weight of the stranger brush against him as the man's earlier attack that had been parried caused him to lose balance and stumble on forward, ... and that was where the elf swordsman found an opportunity to strike.

Knowing well ahead of time that this was the first instance in his entire life that he would ever truly cause harm to another living being (as far as William was concerned, the giant from before could not possibly be considered anything other than a monster that came from the bowels of the Abyss itself, so it did not count as a living creature), the elf heard himself softly murmur, "Forgive me ....", as he swiveled his body out to one side before the stranger would topple over him completely and, before the man could reclaim hold of his axe in mid-air, William quickly and fluently used a one-handed slash outward and down across the man's left wrist with the Northern Longblade, hoping to injure his hand critically enough to disable him from even being able to pick up the axe and attack with it any longer.

(... Hope it isn't considered god-modding for me to assume that my enemy was left-handed when it came to using weapons, Kajak. ^_^)

I find it ironic that I was so looking forward to battle, but when we came to the giant, I froze. It wasn't fear that did so, t'was a sudden realization that I was of no match. Back there I was of no use and nearly died thanks to my lack of action. I shalt redeem myself. No longer will I be taking foolish chances! Time to show what I'm truelly capable of.

Ende attempts to take control of the axe wielder. If successful, I have him attack the bo staff user by performing a leaping slash.

Wargolth walks in, anxious for battle. Knowing his own mighty strength, Wargolth hardly hesitates as he attacks one of the mercenaries carrying a longsword.

"My skills won't be needed to eliminate these guys."

Bael ducks under the beams and rolls to the side; his armor clangs and pinches in awkward places as he does that. Completely unaware of the damage the hard armor did to his own body while rolling, Bael slashes upwards against the man still in mid-air. He wouldn't be able do dodge while flying.

@ William - The axe wielder has no time to react as you slash down across his hand, severing it completely. The axe falls to the ground with a heavy clang.

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Axe Wielder HP: 13/18

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@ Ende - As you appear on the scene you immediately Dominate the nearest enemy Who happens to be the axe wielder SK just mutilated. The spell works, but it seems the man can no longer wield his axe. Regardless, he heeds your command and leaps toward the Staff wielder, slamming his large fist into the man while he's still midair, sending him lurching forward towards Bael.

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Staff Wielder HP: 11/14

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@ Wargolth - Appearing out of nowhere you slam into the longsword user acting Kayn, sending him to the ground with a vicious slash from your own longsword.

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Longsword Wielder 2 HP: 8/15

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@Bael - The Staff wielder, attacked from behind by his ally, Has no control as he flies into your halberd swipe. The attack literally cleaves the man in two.

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Bael Critical attack!

Staff User HP: 0/14

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@Bael - However the magic missiles curve back around, and seemingly seeking vengeance strike you full force in the back. Lurching you forward to the ground.

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Bael HP: 5/11

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The Burned Long sword user lashes out at Wargolth, attempting to drive him back from his ally.

The short sword user, still not engaged in combat flashes, and appears about 30 feet away towards the sea. He's far enough away to run should someone turn to him, so I'd worry about the others first.

William stared in horror, belatedly realizing what he had just done, as the stranger suddenly fell to his knees, groaning in pain and clutching his right hand over the other, ... or what was once there. The elf had not expected to completely sever the man's left hand from his arm. Especially as huge and muscular as his arms were in comparison to the young elf's, William did not think that he could have swung even the fabled Northern Longblade sword with enough force to do that. Have I ... really become this strong in just these last few days? William thought. ... Enough to have not only survived through two separate battles already, but also to be able to cause this much pain to a mercenary who must be skilled in the art of killing?

The elf looked over and saw the axe that had been intended to kill him lying harmlessly a few feet away. If the stranger was no longer able to wield it, then he couldn't possibly prove much of a danger to even a little elf, William thought to himself, then there was no reason to continue fighting him. The main principle of the swordsmanship style he had been taught nearly all of his life, after all, was that of never killing if it could possibly be avoided. William turned away with a heavy heart, and somewhat angry with himself for - even in spite of all of the mental preparation he had gone through since accepting Sigurd's call - not having fully discerned what it would mean to fight and hurt someone else while at the same time risking being hurt yourself.

William was stopped, however, by the grim-looking human named Ende standing right in front of him. Him again .... The elf thought. Where did he come from so suddenly? I could swear that he and that other person Warlgoth did not leave the place on the hills where we'd fought that giant until long after the rest of us had gone ahead ....
Ende had an extremely malevolent look on his face, and for a moment the elf felt very afraid, but he then realized that the human was staring well over William's head and at the axe-wielder still kneeling, unable to continuing fighting, behind the swordsman. Ende was definitely casting some sort of spell, ... and if William remembered the strange language correctly from the fight in the throne room a few days ago, it was the exact same spell that caused one's opponents to turn against each other.

In spite of the danger that these five sinister strangers posed, William wanted desperately to shout for Ende to stop, for the very nature and purpose of such a spell was nothing short of abhorrent to the delicate senses of a forest elf, but he could not. He had to remember that, in spite of what he personally thought of Ende (and what Ende no doubt thought of him), the human was fighting on the same side as William after all, and therefore without him the axe-wielder could very well come back after William and possibly try to smash the elf's skull in with his one remaining fist if it were not for what Ende was doing at this moment.

The elf then heard a cry from farther behind Ende, and saw what looked like Bael being struck in the back by a spell, and then a flash of light that enveloped his entire body and did not clear for at least the next several seconds. Ende did not budge, still concentrating on his spell. He probably wasn't even conscious of any of the other various general sounds of battle that reverberated all around him. In that case, William decided it was up to him to go help Bael. As far as the elf knew, he was the only one in the group at the moment who had any capabilities in healing, anyway.

William did not even turn back to see the horrifying show of the man now about to be used as a puppet to dance on Ende's strings, but just ran on light elven feet by Ende, giving him a glance that showed both his grim will to help Bael even in the midst of such danger and wary disapproval at Ende's fighting style as he went past, and towards Bael. He stopped short of the wounded man, taking a quick moment to look around and make certain that Kayn, Ende, and Warlgoth had the full attention of the enemy before he would risk leaving himself completely vulnerable to attack in the next few seconds by casting his healing spell. It looked like he had some time.

"Light of Heaven shine strong, all pain be gone!"

Wargolth was not about to give up the fight. Yet, he still refused to use Skills; he thought it just wasn't worth it. He charged back at the longsword wielder, confident on finishing this battle.

I notice a strange look of disdain from the little elf. The look on his face was priceless. Almost, bringing me to uncontrollable laughter. Seems he doesn't like how I do things. In that case, I'll put this poor man out of his misery.

Ende forces the unarmed axeman to the ground. He then points his hand in the axeman's direction and blasts two bolts of energy into his back.

@Wargolth - The burned sword user lands a slash across your arm as you hammer down on the second swordsman. You ignore the wound, intent on finishing your opponent.

-------------------

Wargolth HP: 11/14
Backlash charge = 1

Swordsman 2 HP: 1/14

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@Ende - The bolts slam into the axe user, burning the flesh of his back horribly. He lurches up it appears your dominate spell has been broken. And he's coming for you!

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Axe user HP: 5/18

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@William - You play the tune and a light warmth washes over the heroes healing their wounds and temporarily making them more resilient.

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Bael HP: 9/11

Wargolth HP: 14/14

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The second swordsman rolls away from Wargolth and rises batter and nearly broken. The first swordsman leaps to the side. Both of them have an intent look in their eyes.

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The axe user grabs his axe in his right hand and drags it along the ground running towards Ende.