Legends of Avia: Nemesis

The Helper

The man slowly pulled himself up the rocky mountainside, wondering why the woman who sent him here always seemed to put him into the most inconvenient areas in relation to where he needed to go.

I really should look at a better way of making a living, he thought, pressing his foot into the solid-looking cliff. He used the strength in his legs to hoist himself up to the top, then fell breathlessly on his stomach. Or at least come up with a better way to develop some upper body strength. Too much more of this and I'm going to be too tired to continue with the mission.

The man, Raven Darkmoon, sat up and got a look of the surrounding area, attempting to get a bearing on where it was he needed to be. He noticed that the western side of the area began sloping downward, and felt that was the way he needed to go. He stood up, dusted himself off, and began his trek in that direction.

After a few hundred yards, Raven saw that he was near some sort of digging site, though he wondered just what it was the people here were digging out, as the hole was at least a hundred feet deep.

On the other side of the giant pit, there were two people huddled against a massive golden-brown boulder. It wasn't an extreme distance to walk, but it was far enough that the heat of the sun on Raven's back, mixed with the exertion of his recent climb, made it quite the trek. By the time he made it within range of the pair, he was sweating and wishing for a very cold drink.

The obvious sound of his approach alerted the pair. One was seated against the rock, his gloved hand covering his opposite shoulder. Despite not being close enough for detail, Raven was well aware of the blood streaming from underneath his hand. That one had strange colored eyes, almost blue but with a kind of pearl tone that seemed to change the color vibrantly with the angle of sunlight. His dark hair was half pulled up, the rest left to fall to his shoulders and long pointed ears swept back much farther than seemed normal.

The other wore heavy looking armor, a horned helm on his head, and a bright red fiery beard with thick braids woven through the mess. It was hard to get a clear look at his eyes under the bushes that covered them. The tone of voice made it obvious the shorter man was frowning as he commented on Raven's approach.

"Bah, humans! Always late. Well? Where were ya five minutes ago, eh?"

The elf frowned at his companion, but his gaze lingered on Raven. "He's different, Oonra."

"Different?" The one named Oonra barked in return. He turned his attention on the elf as he continued, "Why, cuz he be a wee bit taller than ya?"

Raven shrugged his shoulders. "Give me a break. I had trouble finding the place!"

Kiirion, ignoring the quip from the new stranger amongst them, addressed his friend. "He's cloaked in magic."

Oonra took another look at the human. "He's nae wearing a cloak! Are ye blind as well as stupid?"

"I think he means," Raven said as he gave a quick nod to the elf. "I'm not from around here. You look like you've seen better days."

The elf gave a small smile in return. "Yes to both of those accounts. Though it seems even armor wouldn't have done anything for me either. How are you fairing, my friend?"

Oonra slapped his hand against the metal plating of his chest guard, the armor piece clearly torn by what could have only been a set of four claws. "Aye, just a scratch. Bastard got lucky when he threw me. Would'ya believe a wee pebble took me out?"

"Are we going to blame a rock for my near death experience?" Kiirion asked, though he sounded irritated, the smirk playing at his lips said otherwise.

"Aye, we are! Now get that fancy arse moving. The quicker we get to Silver Moon the faster we hunt that bastard down an kill it!"