Shalan finished her bread without butter, deciding against the foreign condiment, her eyes watering as she tried to fight yet another yawn. "Temple of the Fates?" She raised her gaze, her attention caught by this off name. Was it like a Temple for the Gods? Lifting the bowl to her lips, she drank a good amount of the broth, quickly mopping up what dribbled over her lip.
To her credit, she kept her face calm when he asked about her sword, her eyes trained on her bowl. "My sword?" She spooned a chunk of meat into her mouth. "Its an heirloom. My father's. Or was. Taken in victory in an old battle." Hopefully, her tone didn't betray the slight exaggeration of the truth.

"As far as stories, I'm afraid I don't have many." Shalan quickly tried to sidestep the topic of her sword. "I keep relatively isolated. As you can imagine, elves are not welcome everywhere. Hence my reaction to your hospitality." She took another large spoonful and chewed. "The single story I can think of that would interest either of you, even if mildly, was when I was camping on the edge of a reserve, and suddenly a herd of buffalo came running. My options were to be crushed to death by their hooves or grab my belongings and run." Shalan gave Korra a secretive smile. "I think I had run perhaps five miles with them before I was able to find a safe place to hide."
Finally looking at Keiro again, Shalan held out her bowl. "May I trouble you for another serving?"

The quick flicker of mistrust at the elf's uneasy evasion of his question over her blade would have been missed by all but the most intuitive of folk, and it was quickly replaced by a small chuckle to the end of the buffalo story. Korra clapped her hands and giggled as Keiro stood and took her bowl," Of course," He said with a genuine smile, ladling some more soup into the bowl and slipping it back to the elf as he sat down to finish his own.

"Pappa's stories are about battles and great heroes and ancient monsters that don't prowl the earth anymore," She said 'prowl' with immense pride. She had only just learned what it meant a few days ago," Why don't you tell her one of your stories, pappa?"

Keiro chuckled," I don't think she would find them interesting. However, I have been wondering..." He leaned forward, his keen eyes buried into the female," How have things been in Aeine? It has been a long time since I have been there, and news is hard to come by these days," Everyone knew what that meant. Famine would have brought travelers with news, prosperity would have meant ballads making their way here about court politics and duels, and plagues would have brought hordes of emigrates to say so. No news meant war.

Shalan smiled softly in thanks as she took her bowl back and dug back in, eating a bit more slowly this round. Licking her lips, she looked up at Korra. "Ancient monsters, huh?" She glanced to Keiro, pondering which monsters, exactly, he'd actually faced. Dragons were of course the most fierce of ancient monsters, but they'd been absent from the world for a long time.

She blinked when Keiro leaned toward her and, instinctively, she straightened, subtly leaning away from him as she watched him. "Aeine?" The elf asked. It rang a bell. Falling silent, she thought quickly, placing the name with the large city she'd passed. "Oh, Aeine," Shalan nodded. "Uh, good, I suppose. It's still standing."
For a few seconds, she fell silent, and immediately a voice in her head chided her. This man and his daughter were opening their home to you, and you've been nothing but dodgy. Sighing, she poked her stew with her spoon. "I didn't go into the city. To be honest, as an elf, I face discrimination often. It gets worse in cities. As a single elf on the road, I get more than discrimination, and I prefer to steer clear of humans as often as I can." She fidgted, aware that the young girl beside her would possibly be curious as to what she meant. "It looked busy, though. Wagons of trade and children running about in play."

Going back to her meal, she got through half of her second bowl before she looked to Korra. "Which of your father's stories is your favourite?"

Most of his life spent in one of the most complex and populous courts in the world, and not only surviving but thriving, had taught Keiro how to keep what he was thinking off his face. It wasn't just letting your face go blank, because that drew attention. It was keeping your face looking the same way even if something surprised or shocked you. Therefore, when the elf spoke, the only indication that he had something to say about what the elf had revealed about his homeland was a slight tightening around his eyes. A quick evasion, followed by a light explanation for her small amount of knowledge of one of the largest cities in the world. And to anyone else, it would have seemed to be reasonable. Many human cities were known for their prejudice over the different races.

But he knew differently. Back nearly twenty years, when Keiro was starting his career in the army, a war had been fought between the elven clans to the northeast. The reason was that the larger clans had established trading relations with Aeine, and the fighting had gotten bloody. Therefore, at the behest of the heads of these clans, Aeine sent their forces to help. That had been Keiro's first command, at sixteen. He remembered that war mainly because it had been the first time that humans and elves had fought side-by-side, although certainly not the first time that elves had fought each other, or that humans had fought elves. They had won, and unified most of the larger clans. The Queen then declared that elves have open access to their city. It was a decision that brought violent opposition at first, but elves slowly became more and more accepted among the people to the point where they walked among humans as if they were among their own people. It was the only human city in the land that accepted elves in such a manner.

Everyone knew that. Especially the elves. The ones that had been at part of the treaties, anyways. Which meant that this elf was one of the rebel clans, the ones that had retreated into the mountains and maintained their independence from human rule. These were feared by the elves that were a part of the alliance, because they had been deeper entrenched in the darker and arcane magical arts that had been long forbidden by others of their kind.

The thought made Keiro's hairs at the back of his neck stand on end. His first instinct was to kill the elf, get his daughter away from her, but he couldn't do that, not yet. He was too curious. He tilted his head, catching a better view of the elf's sword as she asked Korra a question, which he missed.

The girl, more intrigued with their visitor than her food, quickly blushed as she was asked a question, hiding her embarrassment with three spoonfuls of soup before she answered," The story of Jorrahm highlander, the one about him travelling through the elflands and climbing their mountains to fight the great dragon Grathorrax, and taking his hoard of treasure," She grinned at her father, who seemed distracted with his own thoughts," What about you? What is your favorite story?"

There was something about Keiro that suddenly made her nervous. Not in his face, as he looked like he was merely enjoying the night. A mask, Shalan guessed. But his eyes. There was a glint in his eyes that hadn't been there before she'd answered him. Suddenly, she felt slightly panicked. Had it been a trick? How? He'd just asked about news from a city, and she had said she avoided it. How could that be misconstrued?
Swallowing, she focused on her meal, trying to calm her mind. Surely, she was only imagining the sudden change.

"My favourite?" She repeated slowly, half aware Korra had asked her a question. "Oh, well," He leaned on her hand, her long fingers folded under her chin, her eyes on Korra. "My mother used to tell me a story when I was a much, much younger elf." Shalan grinned shyly to the girl. "A story of people that were only as tall as the long tailed rodents in the forests. They were tiny. And they lived in the most peculiar places. In hollowed trunks of trees. On lily-pads that lazed on the calm waters of ponds. Beneath rocks in articulate underground mazes."
She smiled. "I liked those stories. Now, I often look closely at odd looking tree roots, hoping to find tiny people."

Pushing her near-empty bowl away, she sighed. "Thank you very much for the meal," Shalan put a smile on her lips as she looked to Keiro. "But I feel the call of the bed, once more. If I may, I'd like to return to it for more sleep." She stood, clutching her sword, as if worried Keiro would take it from her. She bent slightly in a subtle bow as she stepped from the table. "Thank you for the conversation."

Despite there being no heroes or much expansion on what exactly the stories were that were her favorites, Korra was enraptured, eyes wide a bowls as she listened, her imagination hooked into the idea. While she disliked getting her hands dirty with soil and mud, to the point where she refused to dig for worms when they were going fishing for in the nearby lake, Keiro had a feeling that she would be paying a lot more attention to the ground now. He smiled distractedly as the elf declared that that was about as much energy as she had for the evening, and that her bed called for her.

"Good night, Shalan," Korra called after her," Good dreams," And then she turned her eyes on Keiro," Pappa, what does articulate mean?"

Keiro chuckled, finishing off his own dinner," It means detailed, long and hard to follow. Much like your own thinking process," He shook his head, standing," Time to get to bed. I'll clean up alone tonight, but only if you go straight to sleep. And say your prayers."

Korra yawned," But I'm not tired..."

"Right," Keiro answered with an eyebrow raised," Just lie down then, and see if sleep won't sneak up on you."

"Alright," She rushed off to their room. The cabin was too small to have one room for the both of them, but he had built two beds. Hers was nearer to the fireplace, his own closer to the window. Keiro smiled and moved to clean up most of the food. The stew was moved into the basement, which was cooler and drier than the rest of the house, and he used the water from a bucket to rinse out the plates and spoons. He cleaned the table of crumbs and put the bread away as well before moving into the room. It had been less than ten minutes, but Korra was already asleep. Keiro smiled, moving over to the bed to cover her with her blanket, bought when she was a child. It was made of wool, and was quite warm.

But Keiro was not going to sleep just yet. He tiptoed to a chest near his bed and opened it, pulling out a dusty book, and moving out into the dining area.

Shalan crossed the yard, her eyes on the building before her that held her temporary bed. Her feet were quiet on the ground, the leaves the went under her feet made little noise. It was one of the perks of being an elf.
The downsides, though, she met every day. Until today. Strangers being so kind and hospitable! It was so alien to her.

As she opened the door and slipped into the shed, she pondered on Keiro. Something about the man bothered her, though she couldn't put her finger on it. It had something to do with the way he looked at her. It was similar to the way her kin could stare into your eyes and seem to be reading more than your expression. He had keen eyes.
Shalan almost felt bare before him, and it made her uncomfortable.

Growing drowsier by the minute, Shalan tucked her sword under her blanket and piled her back atop it before laying down, leaning against her belongings to keep them safe. She was barely able to fold his arms over her chest before she fell asleep.

It was early afternoon when she woke next, and she blinked her eyes to slowly adjust to the sunlight that was spilling into the room. For once, she took her time waking, and arched in a stretch and groaned loudly before she sat up. It had been so long since she'd been able to sleep so luxuriously. Shalan couldn't remember when she'd last had a bed at this point. It had been weeks of piled leaves or wrapped in her cloak on holes she'd dug in the ground.
Almost reluctantly, she got up and ran her hands through her hair to brush it out. With a yawn, she made an uneasy decision to leave her sword and belongings be. Afterall, they'd left her unbothered this long, there was no reason for them to steal anything from her.

On slow feet, she stepped out of the barn and shielded her eyes, looking around for a clue as to where Keiro or Korra might be.

His reading had been more than informative, although it had taken him hours to find the right passage. His reading in the elven tongue, once sharp out of necessity to read troop movements and the like, had long grown rusty. It was a complex language to speak, much less read, very much less write. The format of the blade had been what he had seen, but the signs and writing on it, if there was any, had been invisible to him, so he had to go on what he knew about the scabbard and kind of sword. It took him most of the night, but he finally found what that sword meant. What he found sent a chill down his spine as he looked up from the book, his eyes red from lack of sleep as the sun began peeking out from the edge of the horizon.

Korra, of course, was not far behind, and he coudl hear the half-asleep steps from their room as he leaned back, stretching his back. There was a dull ache behind his eyes, but he knew he couldn't sleep not yet. He pushed himself out of the chair and moved over the to pantry, pulling out a loaf of bread, lathering it with butter and honey and adding a skin of water and a portion of dried venison strips. The moment he was finished with the bag, Korra stepped out of her room, eyes narrowed, if still blurry from sleep.

"You didn't sleep last night, Pappa," She grumbled," Your bed is still made."

"Is yours?"

She nodded and plopped down in her seat," Why didn't you sleep last night, Pappa?"

"I had things to do, pumpkin," Was his answer as he placed the loaf of bread and a cup of cooled milk in front of her for breakfast. Honey wasn't something that she got to have often with her bread, so without asking further questions, she wolfed down the bread. While she did so, he packed some of the skins that they had hunted a little while ago, along with a couple of ivory trinkets cared out of the teeth of a bear that they had killed during the last winter," I have a job for you today Korra," Keiro said softly," I want you to take these skins and trinkets to town and sell them. And bring this," He pulled a necklace of bronce and gold beads," To Kel the miller, and ask him if he could put you up for a week or so until I get there."

Korra, ever intuitive narrowed her eyes again, wiping crumbs from the sides of her lips," What's happening Pappa?"

"Some bad people are going to be coming here, and I need to prepare the farm against their arrival. I don't want you to delay, though. Take Harsel," Their horse," You know who to sell the things to, right?"

She nodded, fear suddenly in her eyes as she put on a brave face. With Keiro's help, she was able to saddle the horse and placing her food and water in the sadllebag and seeing her off. He wondered if he should have told her. Told her that the bad people, or person in this case, was already here. Once Korra and the horse wout of sight, Keiro returned to the house. Underneath his bed, he pulled the loose floorboards and yanked a dusty chest out from inside. His armor was in the chest, but he left it where it was, wrapped in oiled cloth. He pulled out his sword, a hand-and-a-half blade that had seen him through more than his fair share of battles, as well as a pair of long knives that he strapped tio his waist. He strapped the sword to his back, pulling it out and applying it and the knives to a grindstone that he had in the house. He had something to eat before resting for a little while into the afternoon.

The sound of the barn door opening brought him back to himself, as the hinges were slightly rusted and they creaked loud enough for the entire countryside to hear. He pushed himself to his feet, stretching gently to get some blood flowing into his body again and he stepped out, facing the elf for a moment, rolling his neck as he smiled," I don't think you have been entirely honest with me, Shalan..."

Shalan blinked in the daylight, turning her head back and forth for a moment to try to catch any sound of her hosts. Them Keiro appeared, and there was something more about his demeanor that gave Shalan chills. Ignoring it, she walked toward him, her body tense, almost waiting for him to attack her.
At his words, though, she paused, her face going blank. "I have not lied to you." she admitted, standing some few meters away. "I did not seek you out. Your daughter brought me here." She reminded him.
What did he believe she'd been dishonest about? Or that she'd kept from him?

"Give me the word, and I will gather my things and leave this very moment. No question's asked. I am grateful for your kindness and hospitality, and I do not want to overstay my welcome." Her amber eyes flickered over his face. "Have I done something to threaten you? Or your daughter?"

He sighed. Her words were quick and easy, and she seemed to be telling the truth. And from the history of the cult that that sword belonged to, he didn't think that she was. She was a scout, like the kind that ants used. And they never settled for small towns and villages in the wilderness. They liked big cities, large groups of people, usually humans. He tensed up," I don't think I told you, but I was involved in the elf wars. They didn't trust us at first, and not for a long time, but they began to understand that the humans of my city did not mean them any harm, and indeed wanted to make communications between humans and elves, and thus they instructed us on the various more dangerous elven cults," He took a step forward," Personally, I would have preferred it if my daughter had never seen you, never brought you here, but as she did, I find it my obligation to tell you to turn your sword and yourself over to me," He scowled.

Fucking elves. Why did she have to step into his life and much everything up?

Shalan tensed, noting the way he did as well, his shoulders squaring. She swallowed, exhaling slowly, trying to clear her mind of all the confusing thoughts. Elf wars. Shit. I should have done more research, Shalan chided herself. At his mention of the more dangerous elven cults, Shalan caught her breath, suddenly feeling much more nervous. Her fists clenched as she let her held breath out.
"I think I would have preferred it if your daughter had never seen me, as well." Clearly, her welcome was over. Shalan took a step back to increase the distance between them after he stepped forward. "I have done nothing to make it necessary that I hand myself over to you. Or my weapon. Obligation or not."

Tense, she turned around to start back toward the barn, her head turned to address him over her shoulder. "I will leave, and you can forget I was ever here."

As she took a step back, he took a step forward. The conflict in his mind was clearly shown on his face. It had diminished in the sight of her suddenly getting very nervous at the mention of him having been involved in the Elven wars, but it was still there. The sword was the same as the one in the book, there was little doubt of that, but what had she actually done to be deserving of the ill will that was generated around that blade? As she said, nothing. And normally, he would have taken that at face value and let her be on her merry. But the elf wars had taken a toll on him. Some things had been taught, ingrained so deeply inside him that he couldn't just shrug them aside. It was something more important than his conscience, even his safety at stake now. If the stories were true.

If.

He scowled, taking a handful of steps forward, his blade held at the ready as he approached her, moving to cut off her escape. He was a tactically thinking man, after all," I'm sure you know what that sword represents, Elf. What it means? Even if you have been away from your kind for very long, you would know those tales. As do I. At best, you killed someone, stealing that sword in which case it needs to be judged in the court of magic in Aeine, declaring that blade safe to use and free of any dangerous enchantments. At worst, you are the part of the cult who is famed for that blade, in which case if I don't stop you, the lives of thousands will be at stake," He looked harder now. He was a soldier, and that was what he reflected, his eyes keen," Therefore, in the name of the Queen of Aeine, I must ask you to lay down you weapon and remand yourself into my custody for escort to Aeine at once."

He remembered those lines like they had been burned with a brand into his heart. They had been said to him once, after all, and by his best friend, with pleading eyes, begging him not to fight," To deny my request is to deny the request of the queen, and therefore punishable by death after tria in a court of Her choosing."

Shalan paused when Keiro cut her off, her fiery eyes glaring at him impatiently. Irritated, she listened to his reasons. Either she'd killed for the sword. Or she belonged to a cult. Evidently, to him, it was not possible that she'd been given the sword. She was about to voice this unvocalized option, but decided against it. It would do nothing but postpone his attempt at authoritative action.
Curse the child for bringing her to this man.

"I serve no queen of yours," she said back, her voice steady but her tone icy. "I am out of your jurisdiction, my lord." Her amber eyes went up and down. "I am hardly intimidated by some aged, outcast of a soldier, who is stuck in the woods carrying for his child. Live off your earth. Be a father. But don't pretend you're a soldier, willing to toss it all aside for this pathetic little cause of yours. Now, if you'll move out of my path, I'll be on my way, and you can continue on denying my existence."

Keiro smirked," Ironically, I don't serve her anymore either. But old habits die hard, I guess..." He had never been a lord. Sure, he had had the title granted to him, Lord General, after the Elf wars and, more specifically, after the Queen's rebellion, but he had never taken to the title, and never enforced it. Well, rarely inforced it, anyways. His smile turned playful when she mentioned that he was an outcast. Aged he was, and a few years past his prime. Also, slightly out of practice. But in his day there hadn't been a bladesman to match him for skill, speed or intelligence.

Not quite. He remembered two men and one elf who he knew was better than him, and he had fought them. The elf had been arrogant and had tried to toy with the young human bladesman. He had been surprised when the quickly backpedalling soldier suddenly jumped forward and planted a broadsword through his chest. The second had been human; Older than Keiro and in his prime too, but he had slipped on a patch of ice as he was about to deliver a killing blow. The other had been a young man, quicker, smarter and stronger than Keiro had ever been, but he had been intimidated by Keiro's legend, coming into the fight despairing of defeat, and thus beat himself. He had been lucky, he knew but he hadn't gotten this far on luck alone.

"I'm guessing you don't know who I am, Elf," He growled, rolling his neck, moving closer to her, spinning his blade in an eight-figure to loosen his wrist," I won't introduce myself, but let's see if you can guess before this fight is over..." And with that, he closed the distance between them to attack. Sure, he was a bit rusty in the details, but he hadn't gotten complacent, or fat. He was just as fast he had been those five years ago, when the queen sent her lover and three assassins to kill him, and he had send her lover's head back to her on the sword that he had stolen from her.

Shalan moved to step into the barn, moving around Keiro, only to find her path blocked by the nuisance of a man. She frowned, her amber eyes dark under her furrowed brow. When he swung the sword, her eyes followed it for a second. He had cut her off, the door into the barn behind him, and beyond it, her belongings. More importantly, her sword. But there seemed to be no letting up, from him. Still frown, Shalan debated on her next step.
She could attempt to get around him. Of course, the ass would engage her for it, and she'd likely fail, and possibly take injury. She could surrender now, and look to escape later. But there was little chance she would manage that. Clearly, this man was no fool. He'd lock away her belongings, after he went through them.

Suppose there was only one option, then.

Inhaling, Shalan turned heel and fled away from Keiro, drawing him away from his home and into the woods. He'd know the trees by heart, for sure, but they would hopefully still serve to slow him down.

She did the one thing that he didn't expect her to do. He had expected her to use some sort of magic that the elves had said her clan was infamous for using. He was expeciting her to fight, trick and try to find a way into the barn where her weapon was. None of the above. She just turned tail and ran. Honestly, he hadn't expected her to do thart because it was the most foolish option she had. She was running through a forest that he had spent the last decade in, without her weapon, without anything needed for basic survival in the wild. She wouldn't be able to get anything in the village, as they were a bit more prejudiced against elves than he was. Where was she going to go?

She wasn't stupid. She would have a trick up her sleeve, one that would require her to be out of his eyesight. So he either stayed where he was, letting her get away and waiting for her to come back, like she would, or he went after her, not letting her get out of his sight.

He sighed, groaned, wondering why he didn't just let her leave, and broke off at a sprint after her. Her tracks were hard to follow, being that she, like all elves, had a light tread, and the ground was dry and hard, making little impressions. But he followed her as best he could, keeping up a prodigious speed. He was still in good shape and the afternoon sun allowed him to move quicker, keeping her in sight without much trouble.

They moved to one of the highest points in the forest, where the top lost all underbrush, allowing for a clear view of the surrounding countryside. He climbed up to the top out of habiot, cirling around her, letting her gain a little on him so that he could find the fastest path to intercept her. His eyes scanned quickly over the countryside, and he was about to move away from his vangtage point to continue the chase when something caught his eye.

He squinted his eyes, pausing in midstep to process what he was seeing. It was a pillar of black against the mid-afternoon sunlight, smoke rising high in the sky. It was a thin plume at first, but then it was starting to grow in thickness and strength, as the wind caught the flames and spread them. A forest fire? No, it was too far away, and while it hadn't rained in some time, the ground was too moist from underground lakes to catch any sort of fire on it's own, and certainly not spreading at that speed.

"Gods no," He whispered, altering his trajectory to abandon the chase on the female elf. The people in the village were horrifically paranoid of fire so they wouldn't let any of their buildings to catch fire, or spread in that manner. It was spreading oddly, from different points in the village, which meant that someone was setting the fires. The villagers weren't the ones setting them, so there was only one explanation.

The village was being attacked. And he had sent Korra there, thinking she would be safe. He broke the chase of the elf instantly, sprinting down the hill at a speed that he didn't know he had, knowing that he was too late, and not caring.

Shalan bolted through the trees, agile on her feet. She darted between the thick trunks of the trees, he body shifting gracefully to displace her weight as she moved quickly. Behind her, she could hear Keiro's heavy feet, and she kept her breathing steady. Gods, he was fast. She'd underestimated his agility, as a human and an aged, though not elder, man.
Her eyes straining on the landscape before her, fleeing as fast as she could. She arched around, closer to his house, then changed quickly and ran deeper into the woods, climbing a hill in hopes of slowing him down, flying down the other side.

When she turned around, Keiro wasn't there. It didn't encourage her. Still worried he'd just taken himself out of sight, Shalan kept her feet moving, once more arching toward the barn in which her sword lay. There was a chance Keiro knew she'd come back for it, but if she were, at the very least, able to get there first, she had a chance.

The barn came into sight, and Shalan stopped, leaning against a tree, panting. She didn't see Keiro, and there were no footprints near the door. Catching her breath quickly, Shalan darted for the barn door, yanking it open and rushing in, her ears straining for any sound.
Quickly, she went to the little bed, tearing off the blankets to access her belongings, shouldering her satchel and pulling her sword to her hip. Without a second thought, she was out the door again.
It was then that she smelled the smoke in the air. For a second, she thought Keiro had let his home catch fire, but it was too strong, too .... different. This was no hearthfire.

So that's why he gave up chasing me, Shalan realized, happily jogging back into the woods. It wasn't twenty meters that she stopped again, glancing over her shoulder.
The child. Shalan pursed her lips. She's why he took off. She must be near whatever is on fire.
With a groan, Shalan turned back around and jogged toward the direction the smoke came from, taking a detour to hide her sword and satchel inside the barn again. The child shouldn't have to suffer, and, despite her current disagreement with Keiro, he had helped her.

His running chewed down miles fast. He didn't feel the burning in his muscles, the ache in his body that told him that he was pushing it too hard. He didn't care. She had to be safe. She was his savior, the bright light that had shone into his life when there had been only darkness. He loved the little pest, no matter how annoyingly right she was all the time. She mattered, and nothing else did. Not a strange elf and her sword, not the men that were attacking the village, and not a Queen that held his heart in her cold, uncaring hands.

He finally reached the village, his lungs and legs burning with the effort, sweat pouring over his forehead. His feet hurt, but he kept moving. The palisade wall would have put off most raiders, but not all. As he reached the gate, or the splintered remains of the same, he saw that it had been battered down using a tree trunk. Blood was on the dirt there, which indicated that a couple of the boys that knew how to handle bows and arrows had put a few of the raiders down. The fact that the bodies had been taken away told Keiro the tale of the battle without him needing to see where it happened. The villagers would have been more concerned with putting out the fires than burying a handful of dead bandits.

He stepped inside the gate, seeing what had ensued after the gate had been battered down. Bodies were strewn over the muddy ground, mostly of men, but a handful of women with hammers, pitchforks and other such improvised weapons. They had probably come out once it was apparent how things would go. Keiro's eyes moved across the grown, his eyes hard, his body still. They moved all the way to a group of five of the bandits that were still around. They were drinking from a barrel, one that keiro recognized as belonging to Marrus, the local innkeeper. There were two girls on the ground, in the mud, chained together, clothes missing. This group had stayed behind to enjoy their spoils of war a little longer, Keiro mused.

The fury that filled him wasn't a white, all consuming heat that most men felt. his fury was like ice, a blizzard of divine proportions, the kind that would kill anything in it's path without thought, without remorse. He knew the two girls. One was Tania, barely sixteen, Marrus' daughter, and the other was Melina, daughter of Harrod, the tanner. The two were inseperable. They saw Keiro walking determinedly towards the drunken bunch first, eyes and mouths wide open in panic and hope.

Then a couple of the bandits caught side of him," 'Ey look," One said with a course southern accent," Looks like we missed another one."

Another one stood, drawing his sword," 'E looks right pissed. I'll kill 'im and we can get back to the party..."

The man advanced on Keiro, staggering a bit from the strong drink but gathering his wits enough for a wild lunge in Keiro's direction. The man's reaction was a swift as it was terrifying. He swayed his body, the blade missing him impossibly, hands snapping out, one cracking on the bandit's wrist, making him drop his blade, the other lancing into the man's throat. With a clean, smooth movement, he picked the falling blade out of the air and spinning, slammed it into the bandit's throat. Blood spurted as the sword was drawn out, and Keiro kept moving forward, barely missing a step.

"Fock," One of the men gasped, mouth gaping. But it wasn't long before they realized what was happening an were scrambling for their weapons. One dropped as Keiro's hand snapped back and forward, throwing the sword spinning through the air to plant itself in the man's chest. Another had his ax in hand and attacked, but missed keiro as he ducked and stepped forward. His own sword was in his hands, the tip tinged red as the axman dropped, trying to keep his guts from dropping to the floor. The two remaining bandits exchanged worried glances before moving forward, the one closest to Keiro swinging his sword sword. It was almost condescendingly parried and Keiro rolled his blade, slashing the sharp metal across the man's jugular. Keiro moved like liquid, flowing around the last man's attempted strike, blade spinning as he pulled it into a backhand and ferociously slammed through the man's spine. He fell face first to the mud, twitching.

Shalan darted through the trees, moving swiftly toward the smell of the smoke and the cloud she could see above the trees. Stupid move. She thought to herself, scolding herself for chasing after them man who'd just threatened her. Stupid move. Stupid move. Stupid move.
Swiftly, she moved toward the city, arriving to the gate to see Keiro lay the man in the mud. He was a great fighter, there was no doubt about that. If she'd engaged him, Shalan had doubt's she'd have survived it.
And now I've chased after him into this. The elf grumbled at herself.

For only a few seconds, she struggled between the choice to move forward and offer her help, or to turn around and run. He'd never be able to find her. I can't. Shalan sighed. The little girl...
"Keiro," She called, walking forward, eyeing the blade in his hand warily. "Ally or not, that girl is not my enemy." She stopped a dozen or so meters away from him, her head high. "Let me help you find her."