A Mystical War

The Brawl

The elven guard led Anastasia and me down to an open field surrounded by trees on all sides. There were a few elves wearing armor training, who turned and sheathed their various weapons as we approached. "Okay, Anastasia, show me what you got," I said, grabbing a training sword off a rack. "Just Ana is fine." Anastasia said, grabbing the training sword and shield I held out to her. "Okay Ana, name's Robyn, and we're not doing baby training today. We're testing exactly what you can do," I warned her, "Show me your stance." She got into a half-way decent fighting stance. "Okay, spread your legs a bit more, raise the shield. What's the first rule of combat?" I grilled her. "Uhm..." "Keep your eyes on your enemy, but at the same time stay alert. Isonall fighters will not fight fair." She nodded, looking like she was hanging off of every word. I quickly darted towards her, and to my surprise she was able to block my blow with her shield, deflecting my blade down the side. I was off balance, but she didn't notice. I straightened myself, turning to her, "Good job, but always, if given the chance like that, sweep the leg. It'll knock them down and give you time to decide your next move." I explained. She looked down, her bright eyes dimming a little bit. "Don't worry, you still caught me off guard with that block. Keep your head up." I told her. She beamed when I told her that.

It was about three hours of non-stop training. I even had her take on two people at once, helped by an elven soldier, and she was able to hold her own. Not really taking us out, but holding us off. We were interrupted by Jericho. "I was able to talk the others into supplying Al-Draenor with some soldiers," He said to us. When he said this, Ana ran and hugged him. "Thank you," I heard her whisper to him, and he just smiled. "How many soldiers?" I inquired. "Enough to help," Jericho responded, looking me in the eyes, then he held out his hand, "Keep her alive for me, will you?" He asked, tears pooling in his eyes. "Yes, sir. I will." I took his hand and shook it.

I walked to the entrance of the forest, followed by twenty elven soldiers, and Ana right by my side. Ana looked nervous. "First time leaving the village?" I wondered aloud, looking at her from the corner of my eyes. "Yeah, I've always been warned about it. Thieves, bandits, highwaymen, marauders." She said, shrinking a little bit with each word. "Eh, don't worry, you've proved you can hold your own in a fight long enough for help to come." I said, with a teasing tone, and she chuckled softly. I heard a snap of a tree branch, then saw a hooded, masked, figure step out of the tree line. He had a dagger in his hand, his other was open, palm facing the sky. The elven soldiers started reaching for their weapon. I grabbed my blade and got ready for a potential fight. The man started approaching us, slowly, but with determination. Then, he disappeared. Not even a cloud of smoke. One blink and he was gone.

There were more footsteps all around us, there were more people, dressed the same as the first figure. They all had knives, and that same mask, a black base with an etched smile. They were quietly chanting gibberish. I gripped my sword tight, wishing I had grabbed a spare shield from the elven village. One of the cloaked figures rushed Ana, dagger ready for a stab. I pushed Ana out of the way and my armor stopped the dagger from doing any harm. The figure punched my helmet, surprisingly denting the visor to the point I couldn't see. I grabbed the figure by the throat and threw it to the ground. In the split second I had, I ripped the helmet off. My long black hair fell around my shoulders and face. I quickly brushed it out of my eyes right before another figure reached me. Ana quickly tackled the figure and pinned it to the ground. The circle was slowly closing around us.

I rushed one of the figures and stabbed it through the gut with my blade, Ana took care of the one she pinned and was helping out an elf who was picked up off her feet. I was about to run to help when I got grabbed by one. I quickly stabbed it and threw it down. It turned to dust before it hit the ground. "What the hell?" I muttered, then got grabbed from behind. I got picked up and slammed back into the ground, where they then climbed on top of me, pinning me. I was fighting all the while. I tried to swing my sword at the one on top of me but another one kicked my sword from my hand. Before I knew it, I had a dagger to my throat. "Lord Kof would pay good money for you, head captain." The figure on top of me said. That's when I heard horses and shouts, and some familiar voices belonging to Krys and Jeni. Krys appeared in my field of view first, and threw the figure off of me. Jeni was following behind and stabbed it on the ground. Krys offered me his hand and helped me up. I looked at the battlefield. Ana and a few other soldiers were fighting off the last few figuress.

Jeni was flipping over a figure, stabbing it in the back. It disappeared like every other figure. We quickly cleaned up the rest of them. I was standing with everyone else when Jeni stood up from a pile of dust that was fighting us. "Cultists, hired by Kof. Got a note here," She called out. I walked over to her and took the note. It read: 'They should be coming out of the woods around Emarius. Take them out before they get back to their camp.' I gave the note to the commander. "How the hell did they know where we were going to be?" I said aloud. I received nothing but shrugs.

We made it back to camp with no other altercations, but we were all on high alert. The commander was leading the way on his horse, which was normal. I could feel Ana staring at me, so I turned to look at her, "Yes?" I asked, a little more hostile than I wanted to sound. She blushed and looked away and mumbled, "Sorry. It's just that I wasn't expecting you to be so, I don't know, pretty?" I looked away from her, hiding my own blushing cheeks. Krys, who must have overheard, let out a little chuckle.

About an hour later, I was standing on the edge of the training ground, watching Jeni teach Ana some techniques, admiring Ana from a distance. 'I can't get too attached. She's not going to make it long in this war, not with Kof somehow knowing where we are. Bloody magic.' I thought to myself. Ana was keeping up with Jeni step for step. I couldn't help but be entranced by Jeni's well planned actions, remembering the fun we used to have, but there was something about Ana's adaptability that kept pulling my attention.