The Ghost from the dust

Ardin tilted his head and smiled, rubbing a hand in her hair "No you really shouldn't, they will probably kill you, stay at a distance, have you ever used a bow?" he was coiling the rope around him getting ready to fight. though it was very dangerous, he was very calm.

She shook her head from side to side. "No. but you cant fight them all on your own!" she looked up at him, hoping he would change his mind about fighting the orcs. Seeing the set expression on his face, she knew that was not an option. "I can try though, if you have one." She whispered, uncertainty in her voice and eyes. She was trained to save lives, not take them, and she wasn't sure if she could kill anyone, even an orc.

He grins and pulls out a black and silver bow from behind his back, is was strong and thick, and he handed her the quiver "Just try your best, and dont shoot me, he pulled out a arrow to show her, Silver feather points towards you and the black feathers point away, and look down the shaft and point the stone head at the target," he givers her is and puts the bow around her neck and ties the quiver around her waist, "Get on the roof" he puts his back on the wall and cups his hands for her to step in them so he could hoist her up.

She took the bow and quiver, slinging them over her shoulder so that her hands would be free to climb. Stepping into his cupped hands, she allowed him to help her onto the roof of the house, careful to move lightly, seeing that the shingle were very rotted. Laying on her stomach, she moved to the edge to peer down at the orcs, waiting for a good time to make her strike, the bow held in her hands.

Ardin pulled out his cloak from his bag and pulled it over him, putting the hood over his head, all that could be seen was his mouth, the rest of his face shadowed. his weapons hidden, He stepped out and began to walk to the Orcs, he looked dark and evil, not like the nice man she knew. "Orcs, you have no right in this place, I order you to leave".

The largest orc, the one she assumed was the leader, jumped to its feet, grabbing a huge two headed ax. "This our land." the orc grunted in broken Common. "Human die!" At this, all the orcs jumped up, weapons in their hands. Svenia cried out as the leader, standing at least a foot taller than Ardin, swung its mighty ax at the man's head. She came to a kneeling position, fitting an arrow to the bowstring. As soon as she began to pull it back, she realized she was in trouble. She was barely able to pull it more than halfway back before her fingers slipped, the arrow falling several feet short of the orcs but gaining the attention of two. They saw her kneeling on the roof and leered at each other, leaving the four others to deal with the assassin, bounding across the grounds towards her.

Ardin ducked down, the ax swinging over his head, with the movement his cloak spread out, and he shot the sword up and impaled the Orc in the neck, the blade sticking out the other side of his neck, the other Orcs look at their leader stunned, as Ardin pulls back on the rope the blade flying back into his hands, and their leader drops to the ground "I will say again, You are ordered to leave".

She dropped the bow, since she couldn't use it anyway, and jumped to her feet, running the length of the house and leaping to the next one. She figured that as long as she stayed up high, the orcs couldn't get to her, since their body weight would cause them roof to collaspe. Looking back, she saw the orc leader fall, the other orcs standing stunned before continuing the attack. She cried out as they circled around Ardin, two weilding clubs, the other two with swords. The paused cost her, though, and she lurched to the side as one of the orcs tossed a stone at her, slamming into her shoulder. Her foot came down heavily as she tried to catch her balance, and the rooted wood beneath her feet gave way, and with a scream she fell through to the floor of the hut. The orcs grinned at each their and ran inside the building to grab her.

Ardin spun the weapon around in all directions making the area around him a layer of death if the orcs came near, he growled as the two Orcs hit Svenia, loosening more of the rope the blade slid out further he leaned back and let the blade cut through the stomachs of the surrounding orcs, then moved the spinning blade up to slash at each of their throats, making a few movements ending up with the rope around him again with the blade in his hand. he stood in the middle as the orcs fell to the ground around him. and he stared at the doorway waiting for the two Orcs.

Svenia landed hard atop a broken table, the breath forced from her lungs. She was just getting the breath back when the orcs entered the building, and she whimpered, trying to move away. She scooted backwards, one of the fallen arrows cutting her palm deeply. "Stay away!" she gasped out, coughing. The larger orc lunged at her, and she screamed, picking up the arrow and thrusting it out instinctivly, the force of his own motions forcing the arrowhead into his eye, and deeper. The orc collasped over her, and she found herself pinned, stunned. The second orc let out an enraged bellow, pushing aside the other orcs body and grasping her around the waist, slinging her over its shoulder as it ran out the door.

As soon as the Orc left the safety of the building a blade was struck into his skull, the Orc's head thrusting back the Handle of the blade in Svenia's sight, blood spitting out at her, then the Orc went limp, and the blade shot back out of his head and Ardin caught it walking over to Svenia, kneeling down and picking her up into his arms "Hey Svenia, Are you ok?" Though his voice calm, he showed concern putting his hand under her head, and looking at her.

She was still in shock from the fall and killing the orc, even it was pretty much by accident. "I... I killed him," she whispered finally, her eyes regaining some of their focus. "I didn't mean to," she looked down, and saw her white robe stained with bright red blood. The rest of the color drained from her cheeks, and she pushed away from him to stumble to the side of a house where she emptied the contents of her stomach. "I killed him!" she cried, tears running down her cheeks. She wiped her face with her hand, not even noticing that she was smearing her own blood over her cheek from the cut on her hand.

Ardin walked over to her and put a hand arm over her shoulder, kneeling down and looking at her "The first time is always hard Svenia, look at me, your going to be okay, just calm down and breath," He rubbed her back and stood up, puller her close to him and holding her bloody hand, "come lets get you cleaned up, the river is just over here" he waited till she was ready before he guided her to the river.

It took several minutes for her to calm down, only then aware of the deep cut on her hand. She pressed it to her chest to try to stem the blood flow, and let him lead her to the river. With her other hand, she held onto the medallion at her neck, whispering a short prayer, both her hands glowing with blue light. When it faded, the cut was gone, a healed scar in its place. She washed away the blood on her face and hands,rinsing out her mouth, but she knew her robe was ruined. "I dropped you bow back on the first house," she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself and shivering. Her voice was dull and listless, the fact that she had taken a life hitting her hard.

He kept watch sitting there incase she needed his help "It's just a bow, you not have to worry about it, he turned to look at her "here let me see, h walked into the water, to her cloths and all, and took her hand, "Hmm, you have some skill, thats good, but I want you to listen to me," he knelt down in the water "Things happen for reasons, That is my believe, It may seem like a bad thing, but what you did wasnt your fault, you are still inoccent, it was his fate and purpose to die, and you were ment to live on, do not think about what has happened but what is happening".

She nodded slowly, looking up at him, the tears still in her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered, forcing herself to give him a tiny smile. "One day I should be able to heal without leaving even a scar." she took in a deep shuddering breath and looked down, shuddering as she saw the stains still covering the robe. "I hope your right. I knew things wouldn't be easy beyond the Temple... I just didn't expect it to be this hard." she whispered. She splashed out of the water, heading to where she had dropped her pack by the waters edge, fishing around for her spare clothing. Clutching it in her hand, she looked back at him and smiled slightly. "I'm going to go upstream and wash and get changed. I'll be back in ten minutes."

he smiled "If you like I'll wash those cloths, for you, you've been through allot, You should take it easy, just get dressed, I'll promise not to look, and you can rest while I wash, I am used to killing your not, you should lie down" he stood and held out his hand, waiting for the cloths.

She hesitated, then nodded, darting into the trees to pull the bloodstained robes off, replacing them with the clean white dress she had grabbed. She came back to the river and handed him the bloody robes. "Thank you,"she said again, numbly moving to sit at the bank, wrapping her arms around her knees, her eyes unfocused.

Takes the cloths with a smile and sits down, throwing her his cloak "Here it will help you stay warm" he dunks the robe into the water and scrubs, whisteling, and starts talking to himself in another language "Ketsu yaming, veetcka leek" he chuckles as he gets to work, the boots soaking in the water, he decides to take them off and put them on a rock to dry, "You did okay Seven, I want you to know that, I am proud of you, I never expected you to even hit one of them."

She wrapped the cloak about her shoulders, letting its warm soak into her wet skin. She rested her cheek on her arm, watching him wash her robes. "It was an accident.... he didn't see the arrow, I didn't shoot him," she sighed, letting a few moments pass. "What was the language you were speaking?" she asked finally.

Ardin looks over his shoulder "It is from a race that most do not know, they are the children of dragons, and are the same ones that gave me that sword with the markings, It is called Se-aken the ancient language I learned it while helping them fight the Emperor" he looked around. and continued to scrub again. "And That is a very good achievement, Even I havent tried to kill someone with an arrow without the bow. good job"

She had to crack a smile at that. "Like I said, it was an accident, a fluke." she straightened up, leaning her back against a tree and sighed, looking at the scar on her palm, running the tip of her opposite finger over it. "How long ago was that?" she asked absently.

Ardin looked over "Hmm, how long was what? he stopped scrubbing and looked at the robe, not seeing anymore red, then hung it on a rock to dry, taking his shirt off and putting it in the water to wash as well. a black symbol was burned into his back the size of his fist.

"How long has it been since you helped them fight the Emperor?" she clarified, looking up at him. She spotted the strange symbol on his back, but she didn't say anything about it, as he had already told her what it was. She got up, looking at her robe and smiling as she noticed that he gotten the bloodstains out of it. "Thank you so much!" she smiled happily.

Ardin smiles and nods "You are very welcome," he scrubs away at his shirt, not sure where the stains were but he would scrub till the water turned clear around the shirt. " I has been one hundred and twenty years since then," he looked at his shirt sure If he should tell her everything. " It was a long battle"