The Silent Traveler [The book]

Here i will post the chapter's one by one. If you want to be included, post it at the other topic... i need you guys, so that's why i'm already putting the first chapter on (i want names and idea's of your characters!!!! )

Have fun reading, if you find any grammar error's, english is not my native language, although i love to learn!

I've never met people who look so human and still so different from myself.
But then again, neither have I seen on-2-legs walking lions,
although troughout the battle I kept looking for a better description for the creatures i faced.
They seemed to be rather intelligent, some more then others. It also seems they did have an own will, but preferred not to use it, and listen to the wizards.
Well, their not the wizards I faced previously, but everything is so different here.
The world looks rotten, eaten and then puked out again.
There are almost no other humans to be found, although i spotted some gathering in an outpost not far where i'm fighting at the moment.
Diving at the arrows and dodging a blade i lodged my dagger in the groin of one of the "lions", turned around his body and sliced right trough the other half. Although they are big, I've seen bigger, and certainly more frightning, but the sheer number of them alarms me, they seem endless...

Meteors crashing down, stepping away from the area effected by this storm, i see the charr i just nearly cut in half standing up again, and (not suprisingly) re-engaging on me. Stubborn creatures, but they'll be tired before my blades wear dull.
This time choosing a more definitive strike, slicing neatly trough the hamstring of the once injured warrior, incapacitating him, and coming up behind him, i grab my short sword with both my hands and aim between two parts of his spine, when i sense an arrow flying right at me...
Valueing my life above the lion's i decide to open a rift in which i dissapear, and appearing next to one of the spellcasters whom did not attack me, wanting to know more about why this creature is so defensive, and mostly because the arrow was at the point where my skull was only split second ago.
I notice the creatures are not that intelligent, or at least not familiar with my technique, because they are disorientated for a few seconds. In those seconds the arrow which was aimed at my head, ends the job i left unfinished, going in trough the backside of the lion-warrior and coming out with an explosion on the other side.

Now noticing the function of the defensive lion's, as there are two of them, instinctivly trying to heal the now brain-dead lion-warrior. Big mistake, at least for one of them, as i appear next to him, and finding my blade sticking trough the neck of the defensive one.
Killing those will save me alot of trouble, yet i dash up to the group of fire-magic using spellcaster because an endless stream of flares will eventually even hit me, and although i find myself one of the fastest of my kind, i'm sure as hell not the most sturdy one.
Jumping up in the air I grab my throwing daggers and about one second later, 3 dying lions and 4 daggers lighter i make a note to myself that i should practice throwing daggers when i find time... when i find time.
Looking up i notice two things, one of which i react to immediatly while thinking about the other...
the defensive healer who still tried to save the lion warrior, although his brain and skull are splattered amongst the rocks, now switches priority in defending himself when he notices i'm running straigth for him. He starts casting a complicated spell, and moving his staff in a pattern familiar to me, one i noticed from fighting in a bar what seems so long ago.
Remembering how much trouble it did cost me to get rid of the thief who used what he called Shield of Judgement, which i found ironical, i throw my last dagger as quickly possible, doing exactly what i was hoping for, distracting the lion enough to make him stop casting his spell.
i was still about 15 meters away, so i decided to try a new trick, opening a rift, and in the meanwhile deciding the exact placement of the second thing i spotted. The next second the group of lions did not comprehend, and neither did the human spying on the battle, and mostly confused was the defensive lion that found my boot on his face, while dropping to the floor the sight of me backflipping and breaking my long sword on his chest, although my blade shattered it still made a killing blow. I cursed my unawareness of the protective aura which i did not notice him having casted on himself.
This happened split second, and while my long sword rested inside the chest of the lion,
my short sword was planted firmly against the neck of the human spying on the battle.
Not bragging, but him not noticing i opened a rift once again, and stepped out silently behind him,
i know had the upperhand on what looked like what he wanted to be an ambush from his side...

wow, thats really good, i love how you didnt come out and say what proff he was but used the skills to hint at it, amazingly done

Nice

Thanks, i got more coming soon, just have to find some time to work it out perfectly

Seven desorientated lions looking for their prey, and one human looking at the arm belonging to the blade softly pressing against his throat. Although most would definetly describe the situation as life threatening or at least uncomfortable. The human did not show either of those emotions.
I'm suprised he's not afraid, perhaps he does not know the speed of my blade, although he watched the battle i just displayed, so my formidable speed can not have gone unnoticed. Time to know this fearless man.
"Your purse does not contain much, does your intelligence exceed it?"
-"A full purse is not necessary to turn a blade upon your enemy, your unlucky my spells do"

At that point i decided i was not that interested in the strangly clothed guy, and i could rob his corpse as easy as his body. I pulled my blade with the intention to slith his throat but instead of him shutting up forever, he broke in a roaring laugh and at the same time i felt a stinging burn in my thigh. I was sure he did not beat me to it as his body did and still does not show any sign of change in position. When he stopped laughing i was still wincing in pain. "There's more pain coming as long as you try to inflict it". Although i'm not the one that gives in easily, it might seem like a good idea for now until I figured out how to kill him properly. "I guess i'll take the no-pain option then". And as soon as i said that i heard him cast two spells, and when the second spell finished the pain disappeared as quickly as it did appear. I was wondering if this guy was conspiring with the defensive lions, as they seem to have the same purpose.
Although i'm more subtle normally, this guy inflicted a serious wound and cured it without breaking a sweat. "Who are you, where are you from, why did you spy on me and why the hell are you using the same spells that the lions are?" the guy laughed about has hard as he did before,
and responded: "I'm a budoka monk, my history is not of your concern, i saw your remarkable battle skills and was looking at them and as far as the spells, I guess today is the first time you see a monk."

A monk, as far as i know those are some elite cult in the mountains perfecting the art of martial arts. Now that i take a second look at him, i notice the muscles along his arms and torso, yet i did not know they had healing abilities, let alone the power to cast spells that secretively stab a dagger in your thigh. "What sort of monk are you, the sort that hurts others or heals?" Feeling quite pleased with himself he responds that a true budoka monk can do both, after years and years of training, and even more years of perfecting the art. When i asked him why he wasn't there where the other monks are (like i knew?) he got grumpy and surely not responded to my question.

"Well, lets continue this conversation after we beat the Charr" And while he said this, i could hear the lions, or the so called Charr's, coming up. I expected the monk to crouch down or prepare mentally, or any sort of chanting or whatever, but instead he picked up a huge double headed hammer, which he simply called a Twin-Hammer. Spreading his feet widely he stood ready in horse-stance, hammer hauled backwards waiting for the first warrior-lion to approach At barely ten meters i remembered that there were about eigth Charr's rushing our way, one of them recently arrived and about twice the size of the other warriors.
Thinking back of the previous fight i decided to pick off the smaller ones, instead of fighting a immense lion over and over. When the first charr was only 3 meters away i used a rift to get back and forth to my backpack and grab a set of daggers. When i got back and started sharpening them, i saw the monk making a roundhouse turn with the hammer, stepping forward while doing so, and completly shattering the charr-warrior's head in one single movement. Every sweep seemed effortless and looked like it just ignored their armor or something.
Remembering my task i joined in with a dash and a jump, sticking my daggers trough both sides of the neck of one of the rangers that was igniting his arrows. The archers next to him were prepared and use something the monk shouted i should be careful with, he named it whirling defense. I heard defenses, so i decided to wait till they put their guard down, and simply went for he wizard-like-lion. Not knowing if they could give me valuable information, i decided to incapacitate this one, since it was heavily concentrated on casting those meteor's from the sky.
In one swift motion i made sure the wizard could never use his legs again, looked at the monk shattering the backbone of one of the warriors, and saw the alpha-male charr roaring.

Not trusting this unusual behavior i opened a rift and scouted the area, and saw over fifty
alarmed charr's heading our way. Time to end this battle fast. I shouted the monk to take care of the rangers and that i'll take the big lion, so that we could face the next fifty without having to worry about those. I hope the monk was prepared for the job, as i'm not that much of a tank.
First things first, I stepped trough the shadows and pinned the charr to the floor with my daggers, rolling between the legs and coming up with sword and shield on the other side, coming up for the kill. The charr did not seem willing to follow my plan, and just made an agonizing yell while he jerked both his feet and just ripped chunks of flesh of his feet in the process. In the corner of my eyes i saw the monk chanting two spells, and then slamming the earth with his giant hammer, knocking the three archers down, as well as me.
Blocking the first and second swipe of the unaffected alpha-male-charr, i knew i was in trouble.
Luckily i had learned a set of defensive skills which would prove usefull right now. I riposted his first attack, bashed his sword away on the second, severing his arrety while he dropped his sword, and then chopped his arm off when he tried to engage with his fists. Not waiting for the healing backup
I leaped and drove my sword right trough his heart.
The monk joined me, looked with a nod of approval, and said: Sir Lionheart, nice to meet you...

nice! i cant wait to hear more! Sir Lionheart is proving to be quite the character

So is everyone who wants to be in the book. But i really got attracted by the hammer monk idea. I wanted to introduce more characters in chapter 4, perhaps i should wait a while with it, and increase the depths of the one's i have at the moment

w00t love it...great story. Hammer time.

Sir Lionheart he said. I was so suprised i nearly lost my footing. I know this is a different land, but if the title is the same then i'm honored to even speak with him. Back home there was only one Sir that I have seen, he was a fully trained warrior who took on over two dozen of afflicted on his own.
Yet he seemed unaware of the importance of his title, it meant something else here or he just doesnt give a d*mn. Either way, no way in hell i will let anyone see i was shocked in awe, so i responded with a snap:
"Leave the introductions, we got a pack of those charr's of yours coming." Suprised i knew
the same that he already knew, he looked up and scanned me. "Sadly you can't tank them, i got some spells which would decimate them in a matter of seconds. I get all touchy when you mess with my ego, and i know i look more like i can enter a beauty contest, but that doesnt mean i'm any less then this budoka.

"Whoa, you just make sure those spells hit enough, and i'll tank those weaklings". I lost my temper, my training all over. As my teacher said i don't have many flaws, and i showed great promise in the use of rifts, yet my temper caused my fellow trainee's to fear me, for i could easily scratch my mark after a victorious battle. (something which is commonly done when beating an opponent, yet only in matches outside a dojo ofcourse)
There goes one of my best tricks, i called it Shadow Form, i prepared for a second then walked up to the charr's. The monk was wondering how this, in his eyes little girl, could stand up to around fifty charr's. No matter he trusted me and dropped his defense, gathering power from within. I taunted the lion's and after about ten seconds of stepping in and out of a rift, thereby dodging all incoming attacks, i first noticed an aura around me which felt powerfull, and i saw the charr's getting hurt every second. Then a flash and an enormous thunder cracked the sky and i decided that my current position was not the equivalent of a safe position. Another rift and i stood next to one of the healers, beheading him, rift to the next, another head dropping to the floor, and
i felt my powers nearly drained so i stepped trough the shadows, behind the budoka and held my sword against the back of the monk. "Perhaps warning one for a huge ray of fire could sound like a nice idea, mostly for the one standing in the middle of it".
"Perhaps you shouldn't have let your guard down, because I'm sure that you dont have that retaliation spell on you at the moment." The budoka seemed suprised, yet remained his posture and said "I know that little trick drained you, so either kill me now, or rest with me after i finished the rest." Seeing the remaining six charr approaching on us i thought of stepping away one last time after killing the monk, but what the hell, he might heal me again which saves me alot of pain. "I'll spare you this time, up to you to make me not having to do it again". He nodded and prepared to face the charr once again.

It was an awesome display, but he sure made a bloody mess of it. About one minute and alot of bone fragments scattered across the field the monk came walking towards me, looking like the battle did not exhaust nor effecting him in any way. But taking a better look, i saw that he was breathing heavily, yet his training taught him to disguise it, to trick his enemy's, or ally's in this case. I wish i could do the same, but my trick seriously drained all of my energy, and most of my health as well. "Remarkable, it seems the tides have turned, should i threaten and rob you now that you're exhausted from your trick?" he said. Knowing what position I'm in, i didn't want to give him any more cause then he already had, so i left the smart-ass comments for another day. "I'd prefer a spell or two instead, if you don't mind". He sat down in lotus position and started humming, and after a few seconds the grass in a ring around him seemed to be revitalizing, not to mention i felt much better already.
About ten seconds of this humming, and i was standing on my feet wondering how much energy this Lionheart figure had left after such an intense battle. Feeling more confident, i felt a smart-ass comment coming up, "if i were you i would wear armor, only to protect yourself from the boneshards of your enemy" Hmm, that didn't sound bitchy at all, guess i'm just tired. The monk laughed and start picking parts of skull out of his skin, restarting the bleeding which he cured in the last seconds. "The charr's are gone, so you might as well restart the introduction hmm?"

"Furinka Zan" i said, not wanting to give to much information to my newly formed ally. Scavaging the scene, i discovered the original alpha-male was not what he appeared to be. His armor looked more to a battle-drum species. His throat was magicly enhanced so that everyone could hear his shouts. Recapping the fight against him, i now posessed the spell to do the same, as well as using the shout he used, which now looking back sounded alot like "Incoming!".
The monk finished pulling the shrapnel out of his body, and joined up to me. "nasty looking beasts aren't they? now that you say so they do look like lions, although the people here call them charr." Still hostile to this guy who almost fried me, i responded with a snap: "Charr, lion, budoka... the same to me, just give me a sword, and i'll deliver it trough the heart of my enemy's" The monk once again started his catching bouldering laugh, and then said: "The fight is over, i haven't killed you while i had the opportunity, and neither did you kill me, lets stop the hostile attitude, save it for the charr" looking at him, i discovered that he did not have any intentions of hostility, so i decided to trust him for now. Just when i wanted to grab some bread out of my backpack, an alarming horn and a human hunting party could be seen atop a hill quite far away from us. The budoka grumbled and started packing his bags
Not knowing what was going on, i asked him. "Alot of mistakes and false aquisations, we'd better start moving." not really got the answer i wanted, but i decided to join the monk and ran silently together with him, away from the humans who were chasing us...

friendly fire nice touch. good story.....hunted for past mistakes cant w8 till the next story

Not knowing what i was running from, why i was running from them, and not even knowing why i was joining the budoka monk, i still did so. We kept a steady pace, from which i conclude that this wasn't the first time those guys were chasing the monk. I now understand why the monk was hiding/watching me, and why he didn't help me at the start, not that i needed it ofcourse.
Feeling a bit recovered from the last battle, i stop and turn, setting a trap for the followers.
I summon some caltrops, and shadow step back to the monk, looking at him like nothing happened. He looks back and asks me instead of wasting time on setting a trap can't you just shadow step us to the other side of the mountains...
If it only was that easy, i wouldn't be here running alongside him ofcourse, so i just smiled and kept on running. Looking back i notice my trap had done nothing, as they simply evaded them. These weren't simple villagers who were following me. But they did not gain on us, but neither did they fall behind. Thinking about our options i remembered i had learned a skill from the alpha-male-charr which increased the surrounding charr's movement speed. Perhaps it works the same for running away as it does for engaging. Shouting "Incoming!" and raising an eyebrow of Lionheart, we suddenly feel our legs carry us faster then they did before. After an hour or so, the sun was already descending, he suggested we found a shelter to sleep.
It sounded like a great idea, cause while i had enough energy to keep this up all night, i had better things to do then running away. Frankly anything is better then running away, certainly if you dont know why or whom your running from. Opening a rift from time to time, to scout the sides of the hills, i found a cave which looks fine to me. I call him to me, and we set up a campsite for the night. I found this a perfect time why the hell we were running, and this time he felt obliged to answer:
"I'm living on my own, and without a job, and not being a person who likes to do jobs for other people, i kinda live of other peoples back, without them wanting it" a long description, which i found a hard way to say that he is stealing food from villagers. Although i find it rather suspicious that such a big hunting party is chasing us for over an hour, only because he stole some food. But it doesnt look like he is going to give me a better explenation, certainly not at this point, so i decide to rest my case for now...

After getting a few hours of sleep, as he said he was going to take the guard shift (probably because he doesnt trust me, smart fellow isn't he?) I woke up from a strange noise, and followed by Lionheart moving towards me. "Bears are coming this way, we should run!" he whispered terrified. Thinking back at the bears which i knew, and comparing them with the 8 foot tall Charr's I was not even scared of what to come. But the monk insisted on moving, and remembering yesterday where i put my sword up against his throat without him being scared only a little, i found myself running once more. And although i did not get a clear view of the bears, I could see that these also stood on two legs, and were easily 10 feet tall.
This did not freighten me, yet decided to stick with the monk once more. "The bears come scavaging from the mountains, only at night and most of the time alone. Yet they are incredible foes, and before you killed one some others joined in to help, which make it nearly impossible to kill them." I wanted to alert him to the fact that we were running towards the way we came from, towards the hunting party. But before I could say it out loud, screams filled the air, only outlasted by enormous growl's from what i expect were the bears. If the bears engaged on the hunting party which were probably also hiding in a cave, and certainly alarmed like we were, they probably don't know the understanding of the word fear, or are just not affected by it.
We saw the cave where the battle was taking place, and only shadows displayed what horrible fight was going on. After a while the screams stopped, and we saw four bears stepping out of the cave, covered in blood. I wonder how many bears found death inside the cave, cause the hunting party looked skillful, thats why we ran in the first place.
The night we waited near the battlefield, not daring to get any closer, yet eagerly to scavenge it for remaining belongings. Before the sun came up the bears dissapeared, but only when the sun was nearly at it's highest, we dared to enter the cave.
A hideous display of severed limbs, broken heads and armors alike, twisted faces and blood covered rocks were inside. When i looked more carefully i noticed that there was not a single bear corpse to be found, not a single one!. This means that... Four bears against a hunting party of over three dozen of trained rangers and warriors. Note to self: listen to the monk's advice, it might come at handy.
After looting the corpses we had to decide what to do next. We were walking silently together, probably the only thing that was on our head was wether or not to stay together. My untold opinion was to stay together, because the bear tip still ringing in my head, i'm wondering if there are more of those tips coming...

the gr8 storys keep on comming. btw check this might want to use this...

oh man i crack myself up...or i might be the booze talking.

After walking this way, the silent one, for several hours the budoka broke the silence, with a nearly silent whisper. "Someone is following us." he whispered. I nodded and started smiling, opening rifts and stepping around Lionheart, while actually stepping behind the follower as well, without him noticing.
Ending up next to the monk i told him what i saw, a single female carrying a bow was trailing us, and she had an arrow nocked in her bow, although she did not had the bowstring in her hand. "Could you do the trick you pulled on me yesterday?" he whispered, "As long as you don't pull the trick you did yesterday" was my response.
I grinned and opened another rift, and shadow stepped with unsheated sword next female. Her reaction time was amazing, yet did not help her, she pulled the string back and turned, yet noticed i was so close to her that she couldnt turn by the simple fact that my body was in the way, and my swort tip was puncturing her skin slightly.
Noticing how close the sword was to her heart, she looked disappointed as if she was looking forward to the now-not-anymore upcoming fight. "I hope you got something to make up for your empty purse" i started and grinned at the foul look she gave me.
Hearing the footsteps of Lionheart i looked his way, and my grin turned into a big smile because the giant monk had his hands above is head, and behind him a male ranger with an arrow pressing in the back of Lionheart like my sword was to the girl's.

"I think it would be wise, and better for your friend to drop that sword of yours" the male ranger said overzealous. the female smiled and looked at me as if she was going to retaliate for my comment. I smiled about the idea that the ranger thought i wouldnt sacrifice lionheart to gain all three of their purses, but for now i would be happy with two of them.
"This isn't the same scenario as yesterday is it Lionheart?" i asked. The monk responded with "No, your sword was even closer to my death then this clown's arrow". That was my sign, I used my blade to cut trough the string of the female ranger, while slicing trough her upper body as colleteral damage, grabbing her short sword from her belt,
and throwing it far away, then came up behind her, and had my sword across her throat while using the female as a human shield in case the monk's hint was misunderstood by me. The male ranger was in no better shape, when i looked up i saw the monk clamping the ranger's head between his hands, almost crushing it, and a deep woud showing
from underneath the clothes of the ranger, which indicated he got the same treatment i got yesterday. The monk said "I think it would be wise and better for you if i dropped you... it's a shame i'm not doing so isn't it?"

whuhahah we are a badass team kiad.

Lionheart seemed to be using more force then necessary, and altogether way more aggressive then i have seen him before. Not really disturbed by this i still asked him if he knew who those weaklings where. "they are scouts belonging to the hunting party we saw being slaughtered last night". He had a fierce look upon his face, and honostly i don't want to be in the position of the male ranger. Well, that's quite logic, but i think my skull already would have given in to this immense show of force.
"Are there any others of your party remaining?". The female seemed to refuse to answer, and the male was in no position to do anything except suffering. "SPEAK, SPEAK OR YOUR FRIEND DIES" yeez, he was really pist off. The female finnaly couldn't stand the sight anymore and gave in, "No, No." She cried, "Please, I'll tell you anything, just let him go!!!"
Not seeming to react, or even aware of the fact that he was using that much force, the budoka suddenly came back to his senses, pressed a little harder, and then let go of the now falling ranger. The ranger fell and just looked like a pile of limbs, the female rushed over and tried to awaken him. Only now i noticed they were sweethearts, and that i saw those before, in the village. These were Lady Lala and Ed, the famous heroes of this area, perhaps hero after the encounter with Lionheart. The heroes here aren't that impressive...

Several questions popped in my head, three that were the most important. First, why were heroes hunting petty thieves, second being that we could ransom them for a fair price, and the third question being if Ed was married, cause he looked kinda cute, even knocked out and laying on the floor. Leaving the third, i was wondering about the first two. If they were ransomable i might get alot out of this, because the budoka seemed to be kinda infamous, which could leave me with some options. A couple of scenario's popped in my head, yet the best to killl the budoka, gaining the ransom and moving on to another part of this godforsaken place. Needing to clear my head and wanting some answers from Lionheart i tied up the lovers, (not together, regarding question three) and took the monk outside of earshot.

"What's this all about? When i first asked about the hunting party, you said lies and false aquisations, then you said you robbed people, and now i notice the heroes of this region are hunting you? I want the truth, right about... now." Looking at the emotion on his face this was clearly not the right way to get this out of him, so i changed my approach. "Sir, I've been with you for a day or two, and so far you have been kind, what could there be that you did wrong?" A tear fell from his eye, and he explained what happened.

"I was a graduated budoka, eager to learn more at the monestary. When the charr attacks begun i the villages around our monestary asked for our help, and we offered them to stay within our walls. The charr sieged the monestary yet were unable to drive us out. Hundreds of villagers were inside, and about one hundred monks. We were not prepared for such a group, and we did not have enough food for all those mouths to feed. Being monks the high-priest did nothing, because every life is valuable on his own. Yet for us all to survive we had to do something, so me and 2 monks who thought alike, waited for another bombard during the night, took the hundred oldest villagers under the false conditions that they would be safer somewhere else, and slaughtered them inside one of the unused wings. Then we bundled our forces and diverted some of the bombard stones onto the the corpses to masquerade our plan. It was a perfect plan, everyone thought it was an accident. And the remaining people survived the siege, although starved. But then one of the others couldn't take the guilt and killed himself after telling the whole story, and thereby banning us from the monestary. Since then the villagers have made it a task to hunt the two of us down."

This made more sense to me, yet i had to decide what was the next step, and how to get that Lala away from Ed...

sometimes the right choice is the hardest. the plot thickens. pretty sweet.

Time to decide what to do. Can i trust Lionheart, should i release the heroes and perhaps recieve a reward, ransom them, kill them and steal their money.
Until i knew more about the worth of those heroes, and got abeter idea of the budoka I wanted to stay on the move, keeping the heroes with us until we decided what to do with them. But right after we started walking we stumbled upon a human patrol. The budoka seemed to have some undealt issues with the humans as well, because as soon as we saw them, he tied the humans to a nearby tree, and prepared for the upcoming battle.

The humans spotted us, and start running toward the monk and me. The monk was just standing there, hands folded, glowing with power. When the first human engaged on him, he started moving his hands in a pattern, continiously without stopping, although the humans started attacking him with swords and axes. But as soon as the first weapon nearly touched his skin, it seemed to bounce back on his aura, just like reversal of fortune, but then seemingly damaging the attacker. After the first three attackers took severe injury's, they started engaging on me.
Purely concentrated, an assassin the way we are meant to fight. Pulling my daggers i just stood there, unprepared to the untrained eye. The humans knew better, but still decided they could take me, fast so that they could take Lionheart afterwards. Wrong.
As soon as the first came in range, i blocked his overhead swing, made a clockwise turn around my vertical axis, taking his arm of with one clean cut, turning back around and slicing open his gut. As he dropped to the floor, i rushed over to the next, clearly not being able to dodge his attack. Yet before his attack made contact with me, i stabbed one of my daggers in his shoulder, while shadow stepping at the same time, thereby not being hit by him, and moving on to the next, appearing behind him, grabbing my dagger with both of my hand and ripped it along his spine.
Opening a rift to my previous target, sticking the dagger i still had trough his throat, then pulling both out, i turned to face the final four opponents. When the first warrior engaged, i was ready to counter attack him, yet before he stroke, he suddenly got knocked off his feet. Not interested why, i turned to face the second, seeing a blinding flash behind me. Jumping up, i threw one of my daggers at his legs, diverting his attention. the dagger missed but my kick didnt, although he blocked it with his shield, he fell down, I dived after him, rolling and scratching along his body with my remaining dagger. At the end of my roll i grabbed his sword arm, driving my dagger in his eyeball, right trough into his brain.
Taking the sword from his now-lifeless arm, i turned to face the first warrior again. Before i needed to defend myself, i saw a spear of light flashing and burning it's way into his back. It did not take long before my daggers, and the spears of Lionheart took care of the other two, and after the battle we looked around us, feeling quite statisfied. At that point all of my questions disappeared, and got replaced by only one. "How many humans are there around here?"

Our attention went back to the rangers. What to do with them, their friends appear so hostile, that turning them in for a reward will not be possible, but since their heroes, a ransom sounds quite nice. Nothing is as bad for the morale as your local heroes being killed by a renegade and a stranger.
Perhaps i should get some more information on the status of those rangers, so i started to talk about it with Lionheart, which i grew quite fond at, he doesnt say much which is really appealing, but knows what he can do and what he's good at, which is about the same.
"Sure, I need to meditate for a while. Can you tie them up completly, to make sure they will not escape, since i don't like being killed in my trance." After this responded, i carried out my idea of going undercover inside the village i passed by, which i remembered the rangers, lady lala and ed from. But first i tied up the rangers, silly beings. They were shouting and yelling at me, treathening me with everything and anything, while clearly i had a dagger in my hand and they were tied up. Strange guys, those "Ascalonians" as Lionheart called them. I "calmed them down" and after they were out of conciousness I tied them up more then necessary to keep them there, and then stole one of their cloaks and headed out for Ascalon...

we're bad to the bone baby.

I'm even getting worse next chapters, be careful there Monk

Are there more of you guys reading this, or is force the only one? If you want to give any hints or comments, or want your character to be added to the story, please respond...

My potential characters are getting depleted, i need you guys.

im reading it!!! while working on my story in the mean time, awesome job so far dude

When i arrived, there were the remains of a city, where not even an attempt of reconstruction has been made. Although i know the Charr invaded a couple of months ago, the only thing which was there were a couple of tents. I looked for a main tent, the place which i spotted before, where i saw the rangers getting a reward. After hiding for a while, i came to notice that they held an awkward grudge against Lionheart, yet they still prioritised on the Charr. When i knew enough about Lionheart, his actions and the rangers, i decided to go over trough a large area which looked like a training area.

There were several youngsters being trained, and a dozen of elderly rangers doing target practice. They seemed to be in a good mood, because they were laughing, some at the struggles of the new trainee's, and some at the gambling that was going on, apparently on who could hit the bulls-eye. Always looking for profit, immediatly was looking for a way to profit to this bet of theirs. So i challenged their best ranger to their game. Not being a trained ranger, i ofcourse couldn't beat him. Then I offered a new bet, which i explained as the following: "We both get two arrows, and both should be shot at your own target. The one to hit his target the fastest with both arrows, gets the money." The ranger, overconfident after his recent victory quadrupled his bet, while taunting me to do the same. I said i would only go for ten times the amount, unless he was scared, under one condition: you could try to distract or influence your opponent, but not touching him or his bow. He thought I was bluffing, and couln't say no while being with his friends. The friends also made bets, all in the favor of their champion, and each bet got counter offered by me. We alligned at our own targets, and recieved a countdown from one of the bystanders. "3,,,2,,,1... GO" All the rangers were yelling at me, which did not disturb my complete concentration ofcourse. I shot my first arrow, opening a rift in mid air, loading the second, firing it at my target, opening another rift, grabbing my daggers and landing right before his target. When i landed there, his first arrow already was right in the bulls-eye, the second coming up real fast. This was were my concentration was for, waiting for the exact timing and then swatting away the arrow which was ment for the bulls-eye, or my head as i stood in between. I opened another rift next to the bet jar, to make sure no-one could interfere between me and my semi-fairly won contest...

Yells which contained senteces like: "That's cheating!!!" "GET HIM!" "Cheater" flew by, yet I grabbed the jar and stood their, resilient. They charged at me until their champion raised his voice: "STOP!!" Apparently being a figure of importance, the rangers stopped approaching me and stood with their weapons ready. "Although unexpected, and not completly approved by me, this stranger did not break the rules of our game. YET, a stranger wearing the cape of one of my rangers interests me." Thinking quick, I responded: "This morning I came across a cave containing two dozen of smelling bodies, already looted." "Yet their clothes were still there and although stained", pointing at the blood stain i made while overpowering the female ranger, "still usable". Suprised by my story, he lowered his bow, which had an arrow ready on it. I knew this, and was ready to shadow step away might he choose to fire it anytime soon. "Two dozen of my rangers? There is only one group that big i sent away, to chase that treacherous budoka." Suddenly getting aggressive again, he raised his bow, "How do i know you just made this up or even killed them yourself, you sneaky assassin?" I was quite suprised he knew my kind, yet i did not show this ofcourse. "Why would I lie if i could use the same technique i did to win our little bet, to get out of your range and live without seeing any of you ever again." Considering his options, my point clearly had it's effect, and my plan worked perfect, the whole plan unfolding in my head...

what plan? what plan? more!

My plan seemed to be working perfect, setting a trap for the budoka, getting a huge sum of money, and not getting killed in the proces.
There was only one flaw, that was the fact that the rangers were with the budoka, who could ruin it all. There seemed only one solution to my problem, and it wasn't going to be pretty...

The rangers introduced me to their leader, which was a elderly female, but she seemed to be quick on her feet. Accompanied with her were several others. One of them was called by the name of
Kiad, which was an angry looking female covered in a cloak, which had swords hanging at the sides of it. Her complete outfit was white, except for a small patch of it, which was bright teal. Another girl who stood out was referred to as Dam, yet i heard someone calling her mistress, at that point i was wondering who's cause she looked quite pretty. Hmm that reminds me of Ed, wonder what that Lala girl was doing with him, if she wasn't tied to a tree. I notice myself smiling when i wander back from my little fantasy world. The girls were having a debate about wether to expand or to remain here in Ascalon. I noticed it was quite crowdy in the city, and i can't see why anyone wants to live here in this godforsken place. I agreed with Dam, although she seemed to be supsicious about my arrival.
After i got introduced to the bunch, I had to explain all that I know, thickening the story a bit to please the crowd, while maintaining the original story to not raise any suspicious towards the rangers, although they seemed humble in the surrounding of these leaders. That Kiad did not look like she was from around here, her skin was dark as if it was tanned by running in deserts for a couple of weeks. Perhaps she was a visitor as well, although a well known visitor because her opinion was valued greatly amongst the others. Their grudge against Lionheart seemed to be the only reason they needed to assume i was right, and the budoka should be hunted down immediatly.
Although i liked the way people take action around here, this did not fit in with my plan, so i had to come up with something that made them wait for a day.
I have seen what he has done to two dozen of your best rangers, perhaps it's better to be well prepared this time. They did not like my advise because i was saying they should bring more of them, cause they weren't strong enougn, only putting it nicely. Yet they didn't seem to be eager to lose another dozen of humans, so they decided to wait for three days, gathering everyone they could spare and then heading out to kill the monk. Although this was way more time then i needed nor wanted, it was better then having no time at all.

The first day i returned some of the money to the rangers, to set in a good mood (or call it bribery, whatever) still leaving enough profit ofcourse. I also looked at the what they called it the
"Holy warrior", or Kiad Sauk as she told me when i stepped up to here. "They see me as a holy warrior, because of the fact that i can take the form of their deity, what apparently made me holy."
In my eyes she looked more like a female farmer with a really weird looking scythe, it looked like a ugly dragon put on a stick. Didn't look like she could cut alot of grain with it, although effective on the reed. If it was as effective on moving target's she could be a formidable foe, or a perfectly usable friend. No matter what, after talking to her i got to know a bit more about her background, which scared me altogether. She has been to the mainland of factions, where i'm famous. Hope she doesn't connect the dots...

im innocent i tell ya, im being tricked, INNOCENT!!!

you leave us with that?
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!
im okay now, but really, more!

yeah wth is that.....MORE!

Didn't have much time to write, so just wrote a mini chapter... don't worry more is coming as soon i have some time to write it

ya, i cant always find time to write on mine either, but your doin great, keep it up

At this point, although my options were limited I still had everything figured out. Either I would make the rangers stand on my side and get the reward for the monk, or tag along with the monk and ransom the rangers. Both had advantages, but I preferred to upset none of my new formed-allies. They both seemed easily manipulative and helpful ally’s, I should not waste such expendable sources.

After sleeping in Ascalon my decision was made up, although this was the most difficult option, it could also be the most profitable one. This was the real reason why I “advised” them to wait and gather more men. I needed to convince the rangers that I was on their side, before the humans found them. I went up to Dam, the angry looking female which was some sort of leader. Dam was quite old, battered by experience. Looking into her eyes you could see that she lost more than is good for someone, and only now I noticed that she was really old, almost an elder. Yet her hands were steady, her eyes fixed on a goal determined to accomplish that what is necessary for them to survive. She wore the outfit that looked similar to the others, yet her had some extra attachments, which I suspect are decorations, asking her about it didn’t seem fit at this point.
Actually looking around me, every RAID member, as her division was called, wore those sorts of decorations on their armor. Although everyone wore different sorts of armor, plate or robes, they had the same colors which was a mixture of brown and red to blend in with the torn landscape. They were made to endure, to be comfortable, to allow everyone to make the movement they wanted not hindering them in any way. Dam seemed to be some sort of captain, listening to the orders of someone else, yet I see no sign of the chief.
Telling her the story I made up last night, I tried to convince her that we needed to find a scouting party to find the monk. Yet we could not have sent too much, for he noticed the others before, and she remembers what happened to them. “I do not see why you are needed for searching the Monk” said the stubborn leader. Obviously I could not tell her that I know his exact location, or even that I know who he is. “I happen to be an experienced scout, plus I have the ability to move trough terrain which is not accessible by your rangers”. “Ha! There is no terrain my rangers cannot move through!”
Either she had an immense faith in her rangers, or they were incredibly skilled, perhaps a bit of both.
Apparently she did not thrust me to go alone, yet I do not understand, I could walk away anytime I want to, yet I wanted to gain this women’s thrust. “Perhaps our beloved guest can scout faster than us, but combined with the knowledge of your men, she will be even faster” was the diplomatic answer coming from Kiad as she entered the tent. This was exactly what I did not want to happen, but there was no way of not accepting this offer. “Make it happen Luke” said Dam. One of the men who resided in the tent stood up and mumbled “Ur mom will make it happen” yet went out, apparently to fetch others for the scouting party.

And so did it happen. The scouting party consisted of me and two others, an incredibly cheerful and cute girl, called Snowy by the other, which was a ranger called Canmar. I did not get much introduction to them, because they apparently were ordered to move as fast as possible. I knew where the budoka was located, so I said the cave was that direction, which was not that far off. Every now and then I shadow stepped unto higher ground, like I was trying to remember the way. It was also necessary to keep up the high paces the rangers had. When I clearly remembered the terrain I started double stepping, looking for the place where I “stored” the rangers. When I found them, the monk was nowhere to be found. I sent the rangers towards a cave, where I “spotted something” and shadow stepped to the tied-up-rangers trying to look as friendly as possible...

ooooooooo, and the plot thickens

That Luke guy sounds awesome

muhahaha

didn't knew if you'd like it

well of course with my super awesome incredible mega power skills i knew u where luring me into a trap. No doubt bout it. but dont look behind the big rock i might be drunk and unaware there. nice chap. keep it up.

whuhahahahahahhaha briljant. honestely put a bad chapter up some day so i dont have to keep sending praises....nicely done. when will the 2 storyline clash.....exciting.

im missing a god.

Forgot to put it in italic so i edited it.

Yup, but to be honest, do you really want the god of death to be involved in this battle, sounds kinda like the one person/god you wish to avoid

i'm missing several gods, as Dhuum, Abaddon and Kormir are gods as well

Thanks for the many praises, love it

Hi there, how are you holding up? I said, removing the strap that was keeping them silent. Some expected curses and swears came as answers. After that initial wave, the female responded, “Just perfect, except for being tied up to this freaking tree!” “If you do not attack me the second I untie you, I will solve your little problem there”. Of course I did trust them as far as I could throw ‘em, but I did not have a choice if I’d want my plan to work out.
“I know we’ve gotten off at the wrong foot, yet only in the last couple of hours I found out that the budoka was lying to me” I said while untying them. Because they were thrown offguard by the fact that I was suddenly helping, or because they did not have their beloved bows, they decided not to attack the instant they were both free. Reaching out I introduced myself, “I’m Ed, and this is Lala” the male said, getting a thrust between the ribs, “My real name is Yvette, if only one person calls me by my own name that would be great, since even you don’t seem to like it.” Apparently they were a couple (sadly) and at the moment not afraid or in an aggressive state, since they are chatting eagerly.
“Please stay here, I’ll try to fetch your weapons.” I shadow stepped once more, in search for Snowy and Canmar, hoping they did not see what I just did. There are a lot of risks taken with this scam, yet I’ve done worse and came out on top as well.
They did not see what I did; in fact, Canmar will never see anything in his life, as it seemed like an invisible arrow lodged itself in his upper thigh, which is the trademark of lionheart’s reflection spell. Two things made me reluctant to check if he was alive, the first being the enormous pool of blood around him, which indicates that he has way more wounds then I can see, and the other being Snowy’s painful scream. I did not expect them to win from the budoka if they had engaged in a fight, and perhaps expected them to die, yet what the monk did turned my stomach around. After he killed Canmar he subdued Snowy and pulled her to a nearby cave, where he tried to rape her. I must say she is really pretty, yet this is not the way of a monk. At this point I decide that I will ally myself with the rangers, and do not want to know this bastard in any way.
But he is strong, and therefore I step to the once-prisoned-rangers, throw them a bow and quiver, then jump back and while doing so pull back the string with an arrow loaded. Not stepping behind him, because at the moment he is unaware that I’m aiming an arrow at him. So all I can do is hope I’m not shooting myself with the arrow I’m just firing. Seeing it fly he looks up and smiles, I see his lips moving and at that moment I’m happy with one thing and one thing only, that I aimed for his feet. It’s never a good idea to try a new trick with the risk of death. As soon as the arrow hits him, the place where the arrow struck should be redirected to me, yet I shadow stepped split second before the arrow struck, thus dodging it and slicing the hamstrings of the monk when I stepped out of the rift. I knew he could not have casted another of those skills on himself for I placed my mark on him.
Dragging snowy with me, the poor girl is in a shock, I came across the two rangers. They recognized her and took care of her, obviously not trusting me. They took her back to ascalon and as soon as we entered we were treated as heroes. They did nothing to prevent me from getting credit as well.
I’m wondering what they are up to…

ok....im a super villian. Time to join the french foreign legion....or maybe the canthan foreign legion? Good stuff, a bit darkish.

Yeah it was getting a bit to happy and friendly, while the main idea was to have some sort of villain team... So snowy had to take 1 for the team xD

(soooory kim, at least i said you looked pretty )

lol, well done

super villians asamble!!

Yah true, but it has been weeks since i put up one, so i thought i could make this one a long chap

Did you like it tho?

well im dissapointed, i was hoping when i got back from vacation there would be a ton to read but i have to do with 1 new chapter....its still pretty good.

Yeah i know, but i had my own vacation

Exams at the moment, planning on writing the next chappie next weekend, and will be making a shitload more then

Sorry

well i forgive u.....feel better?