Battle 1

She was riding through the forest. Her horses hooves rustling over leaves, and braking twigs as it moved. She moved her left hand down to the hilt of her sword, before placing it back on the reins of the horse. The sword was still there. Not that she needed to feel it in her hand to know. She knew from the comfortable weight on her hip. Southerners looked down on people like her. But up here, in the north, she could do what she had been born too. Up here, she was told, that either she did what she was born too, or she could get back where she came from.

He was supposed to be just a few hundred paces further up, but she could not see anything. The forest was not that dense, and she should be able to see now. See, and be seen. But she could see nothing. To kick her horse into a gallop, would only make her heard before she was seen. And she needed to be as close as possible before her presence was known.

Her doubts, however, were removed as she saw something gray appear between the trees. She kicked her horse into a gallop, and headed between the trees, hoping to god that the horse didn't trip on anything now. That she somehow, managed to get where she was supposed to go.

Her hopes came through. Running through the trees, the horse didn't trip on some roots, or a stick. It rode through the gate, where two guards were shouting “hold” at her. She ignored them, and barged through it, and into the courtyard. The two gate guards came running after her, but she was running for the front door before they caught up to her. They'd yet to notice who she was. Good.

She was not so lucky with the two who were guarding the next door, though. “it's her!” one of them shouted, and pulled his sword out. His companion followed, and she was forced to show hers as well. The first of them came charging down the short flight of stairs, trying to make use of the higher ground. He came at her, his sword swinging downwards. She stooped low, and slashed at his legs. Having nothing to stand on any longer, he fell over her back, and as she stood up, she threw him off, making him tumble down the stairs.

She didn't even glance behind her, before striking out with her sword once more. The next one parried her swing, meant to slice at his arm, but he was no where near skilled enough to make much of a challenge for her. She attacked again, this time downwards towards his right shoulder. He parried that one as well, but too low. Sliding her sword, up along his, her sharp edge cut into the side of his head. He screamed, as he dropped his sword and clutched the side of his head. She stabbed him through the chest, before she continued.

Kicking in the door, she came into a large entry hall, with a stair leading up towards the second floor, and doors leading into other rooms. She already knew the layout, and headed through the second door on the right. There were plenty more guards, so she needed to hurry. While she was in the small corridors, they could not overpower her, at least. The problem came when she needed to leave in a hurry again, as well. The horse would be taken away, if the soldiers guarding the place had any brains in them. Or, if they were really smart, the horse would be killed. Then she would be in for a long pursuit, probably riding a horse with no saddle, granting there were horses in the stables here. She didn't want to think about the alternative.

The corridor she was in had many doors, but only one of them was of interest to her. The one at the bottom, leading to the basement. Where the owners had had built some holding cells, in case there should ever be need of them. She ran towards that door, and down the cramped stairs that followed. On the bottom, one more soldier was guarding. He had no chance to even draw his sword, before she cut through his neck. Ignoring the blood and his falling body, she moved on. She walked through a door, and came upon a hallway, with heavy metal doors on one side. Three of them.

“Hey.” she said. The reply came from the second door down.

“What time is it? I just barely got to sleep. Can't come and save me when I'm rested?” a man answered.

“Midday.” she replied, as she walked over to the door. She held her hand over the lock, and focused on her arm. Heat gathered in it, focusing on the palm, but it scattered up her arm, nearly all the way to the elbow. Once the heat got nearly painful, she let go of the concentration she had, and the lock blew up, at the same time as the heat left her hand. “Now get out. I need to be out of here before they kill me.” she said.

“They after you too?” he asked.

“Now they are.” was the only thing she replied, before she headed back outside. The hallways were empty. A bad sign. The entrance too, was empty. She stopped at the door. “How many soldiers are there in this place?” she asked him.

“About fifty.” he answered.

“Forty seven of them are beyond this door.” she said, and turned about, facing him.

“Sword.” he said, holding out his hand.

“You can handle that many?” she asked. Not really doubting him, just curious if he thought they stood a chance.

“Course not. I can take on forty of them. I'm leaving the last seven to you.” he said, as he took the sword she handed him hilt first. He kicked through the door, and it popped off it's hinges. Two times was the limit, she guessed.

On the other side of the door, was what seemed like at least fifty soldiers, standing between them, and the horse she had left. They had not touched it. Stupid soldiers. He jumped down the whole flight of stairs in one leap, and landed hard with soldiers on three sides. Front, right and left.

She watched, as he slashed, chopped and swung her sword around. A spray of red seemed to surround him, and the air seemed to be covered in a red mist. The sweet metallic smell of blood lay heavy, as the last three fled his sword. He was covered in blood, as he walked up to her, and handed her the sword back, hilt first. She didn't really want to touch it though. The hilt was sticky with blood as well. Killing nearly fifty people was not something that left a blade clean, but it seemed to her that he had made the blade messier simply because he wanted to annoy her. Looking down on herself, she sighed and took it. It wasn't as if she was clean either. Cutting of someones head always left it's mark on you.

“You should probably get changed.” she told him.

“You brought everything I need, so we can do that once we're gone. Once the reinforcements this guy asked for from his neighbor comes in, I don't want to be here. Forty, fair enough, but more than a hundred, and I'd be dead before I got the fourth of them down.” he said. She nodded, as she sheathed her sword. It pained her to put the bloodied thing in the scabbard, but he made it seem urgent to get away. No time for maintenance now. She dashed over to the horse, swung into the saddle, and extended a hand to him. He got behind her saddle mostly from the force of his own leap, not from her pulling him up. She kicked the horse into a gallop again, and they rode into the forest, leaving the massacre behind them.

“How many were there?” she asked.

“Thirty nine. I killed thirty four, and wounded two. At least one of them, mortally.” he answered to her back, and before long, she noticed that he was asleep, though she was galloping. She shook her head, as she rode on.