Redemption

[Triston]

Cool water ran down the worn wall of grey stone, casting haunting echos throughout the cavern.  Deep within the shadows of a recess of the cave wall stood a lone figure, dressed in simple brown leather and carrying a massive axe, covered in blackening oil to keep it from reflecting light and revealing its weilder, a lone woman with black eyes and short croped blue hair.  No expression showed on her face as she solomly stood watch over the empty cavern, waiting for what seemed to be an eternity for nothing at all.

    Suddenly a shuffeling from the enterance alerted her to an oncoming figure, massive in size yet slow in movement.  It was one of the caves residents, a large earth elemental, and it looked worse for wear.  From multiple gashes poured forth trickles of sand and rock, the creatures lifeforce.  Now its attackers could be heared as they charged in behind it, making no effort to hide the sounds of there footfalls.  One was a mage, riding upon a jet black stead known as a nightmare, the other a warrior eagerly weilding a warhammer and wearing shining chainmail.  The huntress watched there movements carefully as they circled the prey, observing the way the maceman held his weapon, and how the mage fiddled with his reagent bag while casting, so as to be sure it was still full.  Just as the mage wispered the words of power for a spell of fire, and the macer lunged forward to finish the gargantuan beast, she leapt silently, offering no word of greating or warning, save the flash of her axe.  She targeted the warrior first, but her real threat was the mage, and she knew it.  Dealing a fast slash across his stomach to keep him busy, she did not even pause for a moment as she continued her silent charge upon the mage.  He mearly staired at he dumbfoundedly, clearly not understanding what was going on until the blunt side of her axe met with his head, sending him into a realing storm of stars.  But her timing had been off, and instead of a towering inferno blasting behind her, she was insted greated with a world of searing pain as flames lept from her feet so high they singed what little hair she kept.  The pain was blinding beyond explination, but instead of realing she turned her anguish into rage and wheeled on the mage, nearly cutting him in half with her backhanded swing.  He crumpled to the ground, his full bag of reagents doing him little good now, as the blood rising into his mouth kept any words of power or a command to his nightmare from being uttered.  Applying a bandage she turned to the warrior, who had recovered from his shock and wounds and realized what had occured.  He screamed in physical and emotional rage and made a full roundhouse swing, trying to crush her with a single blow.

    "Young warrior, you should not be controled by your emotions in the heat of battle..."  She mocked him, easily leaping back and avioding the blow.  This only seemed to enrage him more, and he began makeing a cyclone of attacks, each one hitting either air or solid stone, but never his attacker.  "I tire of this now, so your time has come to an end.  This is the price you pay for comming into my home uninvited."  With that she droped her axe to the ground and pulled forth a small Broadsword, moving slowly forwards with every step.

    The young warrior made a wide strike yet again, and with that she quickly stabed into his hand, causing him to drop his hammer and raise his hands in defence.  If only he had ran.  A few masterful strokes later and he fell to the ground, no longer seeming so angry, just sad and afraid.  She looked down at him, bairly breathing and covered in his own blood, and for the first time in years sheathed her sword without taking a life.  She cut his purse from his hip, and picked up his hammer, in which she could feel the tingelings of minor majiks.  She quickly used her axe to destroy it, and checked the mage for anything valuable besides his uselss reagents.  Finding nothing but a few trinkets and a purse filled very well with gold, she began to leave.  The warrior, bleeding from many wounds and without bandages or a weapon stagged to his feet.

    "Would you leave me here like this, alone and dying, surrounded by enemies?"  He croaked out as he stumbled, driping blood, his lifeforce, to the ground.

    "I wouldnt say alone warrior, you have him to keep you company..."  With that the Earth Elemental, now fully healed and rather irate came forth, and the huntress left the room, as the warriors dying screams filled her ears, echoing again and again through the vast cavern.

    "I need to find a new line of work, I am growing far too soft in recent days."  With that Nagi the Huntress, Slayer of the Proud, calmly strolled through the halls of Shame, unbothered by its residence, and often praying upon its visitors for some time to come.

To Be Continued...