Rodetta's trusty steed 'Cinders' took her as far as the mountain trail, but wouldn't go any further it began to whimper and pull away, as if to urge the mighty war princess to turn around. Rodetta dismounted and pet the horse while retrieving her crossbow and javelin from it's saddle.

I don't blame you Cinder, the rumors of this place aren't entirely unfounded, this was the site of some great death and evil at one point and the stench of demonic energy is probably still strong, but I have a campaign to to launch. And this is a very important strategic location for me to scout if we are to ever defeat the Water Dragon Clan, they have a powerful navy you know this.

Cinders listened to his master but the stallion still wouldn't move, he had made up his mind. Rodetta sighed and told it to head back to camp, while Rodetta checked alone, Cinder gave Rodetta a look of worry before turning around and beginning the long trot back to camp.

Rodetta knew the area was dangerous, as she took the steps down the mountain trail which lead to the infamous cove she could feel the violent history in the air. She wasn't particularly spiritual but she had a strong sense that the docked pirate ship of the dead king's crew wanted to be left alone in the cove and she was intruding. She stepped towards the ship as she got down the cove steps and found the boarding ladder. She cursed her father for sending her on another pointless war campaign. The Water Dragon Clan were a pompous but fairly peaceful faction and she knew her mad-king father declared war on them simply for having 'dragon' in their name. Foolish pride knows no bounds. She began to climb on to deck, when she heard a noise.

Show yourself, you're in the presence of royalty...whoever's there.

Athinar chuckled at the young woman's pluck. "Confident, aren't we?" The Void God sat upon the railing of the poop deck, the stern of the ship elevated above the main deck, wheel behind him. His adamant katana sheathed and on his hip, he smirked down at the girl, legs crossed.

"Once, a foolish girl walked into a forest, all alone. Her cloak wasn't the only red thing in the snow once the big bad wolf was done with her." Grinning and licking his lips, he jumped down to the maindeck, crouching as he landed, dispersing the shock of the fall.

"This isn't a forest, Little Red. But it should suffice." Falling into a sword stance, he unhooked his sheath from his belt, and held it right below the sword's guard in his left hand. His right hand grasping the katana's hilt, he pulled the blade about a centimeter from where it rested in the sheath.

Slowly approaching the woman, his eyes glowed red as he drunk in her form, following her every movement. He was on the balls of his feet, ready to rocket off in any direction. If she charged him, he would dance out of the way, dodging to the side. Anything else, he would try to dodge while remaining in his position.

Almost instantly she got a response, a man with strange clothes was hiding up on the masts and let himself be known with cruel riddles and a disrespectful tone, he wasn't wearing the mark of a water dragon, so he must have been part of another faction. There was no time to do a background check, he began reaching for his sword as he advanced. Rodetta wasted absolutely no time raising he shield to steel herself, while still a good distance away from him she pointed her royal javelin in his direction.

You're too noisy to be a scout, I'm assuming you're here for some sort of lost treasure? You'll find none here. Now I have a job to do. So you have one chance to flee, I'm not currently at war with you or your people.

Rodetta's grip on her javelin tightened as she noticed he was bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet, she widened her stance and started to back step at an angle in anticipation of a bullrush attack. Noticing how absolutely large the main deck of the ship was. It looked like a vessel for giants not humans. The morning wind from the cove blew in gently, as if the cove its self was setting the stage for a fight.

Athinar smirked. "Treasure? Why, the only treasure I wish to find is you, Red." His tone made it clear. He was there to try and kill her. "And Little Red, I'm at war with everyone. Don't feel too special." His creepy, casual manner wasn't an act to try and make her nervous. It was actually how he acted normally.

As she backed up, and prepared her javelin, Athinar would slash his sword at her, still in the sheath, making the thick hard leather, bound in metal, fly towards her helm. It was a distraction, rather than an actual attack. Hoping her eyes would automatically track the sheath, he dashed forward, slashing the katana to the left, horizontally, from the bottom of his ribcage.

The assailant seemed very set on taking Rodetta on in combat, and she had no choice now but to defend herself. Although she was a warrior through and through, she was not particularly thrilled at the idea of fighting and unknown opponent during a solo scouting mission. But the war gods had decided her fate and she was always prepared. After taunting her again with promises of violence and death, he moved fluidly and fiercely, like a deadly viper, swinging his sword in a manner that was both wild but precise, it was as unnerving as his voice and general demeanor.

She wasn't sure of his strategy so she just played it safe keeping her guard up until, the scabbard of his eastern sword was hurled at her face with the momentum of a swing. She was fast enough to see it but not fast enough entirely avoid the unexpected attack as it clipped her helmet and obstructed her vision. The scabbard was surprisingly heavy and even through her helmet she felt the impact enough to stun her back step for a split second.

Argh, you fiend!! You've sealed your fate now!

But that split second was all it took for the opponent to close the distance and swing his blade in a heavy sideways arc toward her midsection. But Rodetta was disciplined, although her vision was temporarily skewed she kept her shield tight to her body the whole time and the man's blade whipped against her large dragon scale shield with a hybrid scraping and clanging noise. The attack was blocked. But due to his scabbard attack she was too off balance to launch an effective counter attack so she increased her backpedaling to an instant backwards jump which put her a good 6 feet away from the man. Her lightweight armor allowed her to use her full athletic ability even when fully equipped. Her body started to heat up, there was red energy resonating from inside her armor that any magic user could probably sense.

Athinar raised his eyebrows as she jumped backwards. She had a shield, was she not going to use it? Was she just intent on sticking him with the javelin- oh. Ohohoho. She was magical as well. Not only did she have a shield that could deflect an Adamantine Katana, but there was some sort of red aura coming from her body. Blood magic? Or fire magic? Didn't matter. Athinar had faced countless others like her, in weaker forms, and still won. He'd lost, many more times, but his experience and skill mattered more than raw power.

Dashing forward, he stopped about three feet away, and held the katana with both hands. Thrusting the tip of the blade towards her javelin arm, he tried to bait out a block with the shield. If she blocked, he would summon the Blade of the Void, and grab it with his left hand, transitioning to a Nitojutsu form, or, Two-Sword-Style, he would slash at her elbow from around her shield. However, if she did not block, he would push forward, and try to get within her reach, attempting to run her through the shoulder with the katana.

This man was skilled, dangerously skilled. Rodetta knew very few humans who could swing a sword so hard and be blocked, only to re-approach with no recoil. Its like he shield was a whetstone for him to grind his sword against. To be able to achieve that sort of form one must be expertly disciplined in the complex eastern arts that Rodetta was vaguely familiar with. But the warriors of the east she had seen before were more measured, more cautious and meditated, like machines. This fiend in black was more like a well of living oil, fluid and slippery with his every move, and he was fast, faster than Rodetta herself but not so much where she couldn't stay competitive. She was an expert in her own discipline.

Now she was able to clear some ground just as he began to dart forward to close the gap to 3 feet from her, but she was not going to be chased down again. Like a Cobra strike she expertly thrust her spear at the man's centre chest area as he dashed forward to approach her, as fast as he was, she still had the reach advantage as her spear was much longer than his blade. She caught him in forward momentum so she was confident her attack would hit somewhere. And to be to close as this attack was unfolding would have him end up impaled on her spear as she jabbed it directly in his attack path. Her feet were planted in the ground and smoke began to rise up from the damp wood of the ship's deck, her body was getting even hotter...

Athinar grinned as she thrust her spear at him. "What's the matter, little Red? Don't want to play with me?" Unlocking the only magic that this form possessed, a blue-green flame shot out of his eyes, and suddenly he was twice as quick and twice as strong. Dancing around the spear, he continued closing the distance, slashing diagonally downward from the right shoulder, holding his adamantine katana in both hands.

There was no getting around it, Rodetta was not expecting that, she had distance and form on her side, but the assailant countered with some sort of boost to his speed which made her very accurate spear attack miss, as he curved round the tip of her javelin she realised her weapon had side was exposed, she was not going to be able to block this, but she was still in a fight and wasnt going to cower, not yet.

The War princess couldn't do much in the short time before the now double fast man closed in with his attack but she raised her spear arm and rolled her shoulder to attempt to bock or deflect the blade with her gauntlets. It didnt work. She felt the Katanna impact the side of her bicep, glancing off the thicker armor there and cutting into her flesh around her shoulder and her back, only her shoulder roll kept the attack from going clean through her, but it was a devastating strike leaving a large gash from the back of her collarbone to near the back of her elbow. The moment she felt the blade she let the fire inside her surge forward and all around her. This is what her body was heating up for. An instant forcefful Explosion of flames burst out 9 feet in every direction around her. The area attack was small but it was focused. Amplified by the frightening pain of the sword strike, the outwards shockwave was defensive too, pushing the Katanna back so the blade would not dig any deeper into her flesh. The sound of the magical flame explosion rocked the very core of the ship and some of the dryer wood would begin to catch fire.

I don't want to play with you fiend, but the FIRE will play forever.

Athinar saw the glow surge through her body a split-second before he chose to jump backwards, attempting to get away from the flames. While not entirely successful, he did manage to turn his body away, and tuck his head and arms into his body, leather of his outfit taking the brunt of the damage. While still burned, it wouldn't reduce his effectiveness in combat. As soon as he was launched into the air by the shockwave, he threw the katana at the woman, and performed a flip worthy of Errol Flynn. As he landed on his feet, burns causing his left arm to become a burnt, ashy mess, smoke trailing from his outfit, he held out his hand, and summoned the blade. Winking at the girl, he took a sword stance, and held the Blade of the Void in both hands, waiting for her to approach.

Fire has dual uses, she was able to keep the man away from her even for a split seconds and she felt a sigh of relief not only from that, but from the intense flames cauterizing the wound that he just gave her. She was still in a lot of pain, but she now at least wouldn't bleed out, the fight was still on. She had a moment to notice the man surviving the attack and while heavily burned and smoking he was very much alive and active. His eyes were still glowing, and Rodetta deduced that whatever power increased his speed probably increased his durability to withstand her attack as well. She wondered how long the boost would last but not before taking action!

Burns doesn't it? This whole ship will become your personal oven, fiend.

She wasn't just taunting, the ships mast had indeed began to catch fire in certain places, it was a slow burn because most of the wood on the ship was damp and keeping the flames from catching to quickly but the flames had already began to climb the mast, getting closer the ship's very flammable sails. As Rodetta shouted she hurled her javelin at the still airborne man, he was descending but the javelin had homing abilities so at this range even with her arm in pain it was a blisteringly fast projectile.

During the jump the man had thown a Katanna at her, which was fast but not as aerodynamic as a homing javelin which gave her enough time to raise her shield once again and block the oncoming sword, deflecting it away at an angle. She pulled out her own sword immediately after the block and took a fighting stance along with her battle cry.

I am Rodetta the Red, hear me roar!

Athinar's first priority was the javelin. As it came rocketing directly down at his head, he slashed downward, directly parallel to the spear, hoping to cleave it in twain. Even if that happened, Athinar would take a tiny hop backwards, just enough to dodge if he missed, and cause it to impale itself in the deck of the ship.

Carefully examining the flames, Athinar saw that the main deck of the ship had maybe... a minute before it was consumed by flame. So he did what any normal man with a sword made of a portal to the void would do. Activate the portal.

The blade would retain its shape, as a vacuum sucked the air, fire with it, into the portal. After less than a second, a circle untouched by flame, around Athinar, which was around 12 feet in diameter, appeared, and Athinar reverted it back to its' blade form, making it moveable again. Taking a low stance, Athinar taunted Red by winking and saying, "Now, now, little girl. Don't get too fired up. You might burn yourself."

The Javelin had a lot of force behind it, even when struck by the man's new blade it was only enough to offset the strong homing capabilites enough to narrowly miss him, but the long projectile found itself lodged into one of the ship's masts behind him . Which means it could be retrieved later. The strange portal that the man withdrew his sword from seemed to have some sort of reverse wind effect with was sucking up some of the flames around the ship. The rising fires were extinguished but some of the flickering cinders still remained and started to regrow again. Magical Dragon's fire was a lot harder to put out completely than regular flames.

The assailant then took a crouched stance and began to taunt her which made her blood boil quite literally, her body began to heat up again but she didn't approach, instead she threw down her Caltrops onto the ground, in a semi circle, scattered neatly about 5 feet in front of her around her. The caltrops were so sharp that the literally stuck into the deck of the ship, impaled themselves into the rotten wood which held them there in place. Rodetta smiled as she re-seathed her sword and pulled out her crossbow! Shooting a bolt at the man's torso on the quickdraw, needless to say, these flew much faster than the more powerful javelin.

I wonder when your dirty tricks will run out.....

Athinar reacted to the bolt quickly, which, while it was faster than a normal bolt, Athinar was faster than a normal human, so dodging it would be like dodging a normal crossbow bolt at a base human level. Pushing himself to the side, he smiled as he felt the bolt scrape his ribs, drawing a thick line of blood in his side, and cracking one rib.

Licking his lips, he dashed forward, and moving in a serpentine manner, as to dodge any attacks made by Red, Athinar reached the caltrops. Rather than deal with them, he performed two quick slashes on the wooden deck in front of him, blade cutting through like butter, forming an 'X' in the wood. Then, winking at Red, he stomped on the weakened area of the ship's deck, causing a jagged hole three feet in diameter to fall through, right in front of where the caltrops were located, and fell through to the lower deck, landing on his feet as splinters and wood rained around him. Ducking into the shadows of the rotten ship, Athinar lie in wait, shrouded in shadows, watching the hole and listening for Rodetta's heavily armored footsteps.

Rodetta was bracing herself as she saw the man run towards her after scraping by the crossbow, she was expeting him to bull rush her while injuring himself on the clatrops but he very cleverly cut his way down to the lower level of the ship with a small hole in front of her while he waited for her. Rodetta had to fight every urge to jump down with him and engage him in tooth and nail combat but she knew he would have the pre emptive strike, and after being glanced once be his blade she was in no hurry to feel that pain again.

Luckily her heated up body was storing some more fire energy and she decided to put some focus in her right hand after tucking her crossbow away and created a sphere of red magical energy about the size of a goldfish bowl. This took a bit of concentration but because she wasn't being immediately attacked she was able to pull it off. This was her explosive fireball ability, perfect for this situation. Peeking over the edge of the hole in the deck she looked at the man and simply said.

Catch.....

And dropped the powerful fire bomb into the lower deck having it explode right where he was standing. The blast radius would be about 4 feet in every direction, with a very powerful blast indeed, but the key difference was where the upper deck was soaked with rain and moisture, the lower deck was mostly dry and very flammable, the billowing smoke alone would choke a man to death. Rodetta took steps back after dropping the sphere and raise her shield in anticipation...

BOOOOOOOOMMMM!

Unfortunately for Rodetta, Athinar was halfway back into the aft of the second deck when she threw a fireball. While it was pretty, it did very little, and allowed Athinar to move even farther back, towards the stairs that led up to the maindeck, through the hatch. Ducking behind a support beam, Athinar kept his attention on the hole, but listened for movement behind him.

Rodetta heard the blast and wasn't sure if it was a direct hit or not, but she heard no screams of pain, so she assumed he was still alive. The lower deck was now on fire, the dry plankwood and cobweb covered barrels were now cloaked in heavy flames and it was spreading rapidly, even faster than the fire on the upper deck. Within seconds the whole floor was drenched in thick black smoke, and it was billowing up from the hole in the floor. The damage to the lungs and eyes of anyone down there would be substantial, not to mention the intense heat. Even Rodetta winced at the aggressively bad smell of the roasted old wood.

Rodetta didnt move from where she stood though, she was still trying to see if she could spot any movement although the smoke had obscured her vision, she quickly loaded another crossbow bolt behind her shield.

Father doesn't let me in the kitchen anymore, I have a bad habit of burning every meal I make.

Heh. Looks like it was time for Athinar to get creative. Dashing down the stairs, to the hold of the ruined, almost sunk, pirate galleon, he let the ship burn above him. Cutting a circle in the galleon's hull with the Blade, he stepped back as the water pressure pushed the planks forward, and let the water jet into the room, while diving through the jagged hole into the water of the bay. Dispelling the blade, Athinar swam towards the surface, where he broke the water quietly, looking up at the smoke coming from the main and first gun deck.

Grabbing one of the lines that were traditionally tied to the sides of the ship to allow men who were tossed overboard, he pulled himself, hand over hand, towards the half-deck, moving unnaturally quick, like a spider. A cannon went off beside him, the ages-old gunpowder having been detonated from the heat of the fire. So the main and gun decks were most likely aflame. Those weren't Athinar's destination, anyways.

As he reached the half-deck, Athinar was surprised to see more flame pouring out of the hatches to the first gun deck, rather than the firestorm being on the weather deck, where Little Red and he first clashed. The fire was quickly approaching the half-deck, so he would have to move quickly. With the last thirty seconds of his supernatural speed and quickness, Athinar went to where he knew the aft cannon to be, a single six-pounder.

Cutting the cords that kept the cannon from flying back into the helm of the ship, Athinar repositioned the cannon aiming it at the mainmast. Grabbing a burning cord of rope from the stairs, Athinar gave a mock salute to the fighter, and dashed back up, touching the makeshift 'match' (in the classical sense, this world hadn't made phosphorous matches yet,) to the firing hole, which elicited the loud BAM of a cannon. He smiled, even as his right ear began to bleed from the loud sound, and the cannon crashed through the aft railing on the half-deck, raining splinters down on the ocean below.

When the shot crashed into the already-burning mainmast, it caused the flaming canvas, cords, and timber of the ship's sails to crash into the main deck, as the mast itself fell back towards the helm with a creeeeak. With a smash of wood crashing into more wood, and a shower of splinters, the mast fell onto the half-deck, leaving the crow's nest behind the aft of the ship, above the water. Jumping onto the wooden beam, he scanned the burning wreckage for any sign of the enemy.

(Of course, if Rodetta comes up the stairs before he fires, assume he fires at her, and the mast doesn't fall.)