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The Orc Chieftain turned from the male attacker to see that it was an Elf that had attacked his only remaining elite guard. Letting out a loud roar his eyes filled with anger, as he raised is sword to attack.

Seeing that the Chieftain was not distracted by an Elf who showed up just in the nick of time, probably saving him from a long drawn out battle and possibly injuries, he felt he had to repay the favor. Dropping his sword and dagger he ran towards the Chieftain, his back turned from him, and leaped up into the air. Landing on the Chieftain’s back he held onto his face with dear life, knowing that if he fell he was going to be in trouble. While the Chieftain spun in circles, dropping his sword to the ground he tried his best to grab the man on his back. “Tod Zu Ihnen Kommen VILE Tier, dein Leben ist mein!” He shouted. “Tod zu Ihnen kommen VILE Tier, dein Leben ist mein! Tod zu Ihnen kommen VILE Tier, dein Leben ist mein!” He continued to shout. While he did so a black aura engulfed his hands as well as up to his shoulders. “Die!” Shouting at the top of his lungs the aura fled his arms and went into the face of the Chieftain.

Instantly the Chieftain stopped moving, blood coming out of every hole on his face as the foul smell of his innards burning seeped through his flesh. Dropping like a log the man on his back jumped off and landed on his feet. Quickly he ran for his sword, picking it up he ran towards the elite that had its leg hurt by him. Reaching him he showed no sorrow as he dug his blade into the Orc’s face, through the mouth. “And stay down.”

"Raising your spirits with battle cries" Orrin said, he casually blocked a heavyswordswing and guided it to the ground, his longknife slashing out the orc's eyes. "I.... never could understand that" He continued, he twisted scimitar flickering out at another orc swiftly dispatching it it with a thrust to the lungs, he pulled out watching as the beast fell drowning in it's own blood. "Now now orc's, my friend the dwarf is tired" Orrin called, his voice echoed mockingly and drew the raiders attention to him, "Come....Play with the ghost" they did and he was among them like a twister dispatching them one after another with a swift blow. they fell like whet and Orrin laughed, he watched as the single remaining orc tried to run, which he allowed. he wiped off the blood and sheathed them, he sighed in relief and went to help the dwarf "i'm sorry" He said "I've allowed myself to indulge in bloodlust"

The Orc she had cut at the leg swung his axe, thankfully though his balance was off due to the wound. His nicked axe smashed into the ground cutting deep into the dirt. While he was incapacitated, Fior had an opening…

The glint of steel caught her out of the corner of her eye.

Fior’s eyes widened ever so slightly. Getting the attention of one, which she did successfully, but the attention of both was not intentional. Just like him…She put herself in the exact same position as he; the armored man was in just moments ago. Fior’s free hand sprang for the dagger sheathed at her opposite hip. By the time she had her sword in her left and her dagger in her right hand, the man had jumped upon the Chieftain’s back.

The Orc Chieftain spun and bucked almost like a feral bull to get his opponent, but to no avail. Fior ducked to avoid getting hit in the wrestling. Her own opponent was already up and staggering toward her again. His battle axe was dragging upon the ground—he was losing blood, and with that strength.

The ranger swung her sword at his only other good leg. The Orc fell with all his weight upon his knees. Fior gave him a relatively quick death. Her dagger embedded in the side of his neck straight to the bone. Dark blood covered her blade, hand, and the cadaver.

Seconds later when she removed the dagger, the man was ending the match of endurance and strength with the Orc. His arms glowed black…magic…The black haze covered the Chieftain’s face. The nameless red-ish haired man dropped to the ground, the body of the Orc soon after. Her eyes only lingered for a moment. His clean up.

Fior spun, sheathed only her dagger and jogged to the carcass of her mare. The saddle that had once been held elegantly on the beast’s carriage lay in a discarded heap beside the horse. The sound of buzzing flies reached her ears long before the scent of the remains.

“Disgusting…” Fior grunted before taking a breath. She was not too fond of the smell of death…Crouching on the ground she picked through the saddle. Her bloodied long sword laid on the ground just in case she needed to draw it quickly.

Looking down at the fallen Orc a smirk couldn’t help but find its way onto his face once more. Even with being killed by having a sword thrust through his mouth the beast still managed to have his facial expression locked in that of pure pain and agony. Slowly pulling his blade out from the Orc’s face small squirts of blood followed the blade as it moved up and out, not even flying high enough to make it pass his face as they fell back down. “When will they ever learn?” He said faintly to himself, referring to the fact that Orcs were not an intelligent race.

Clutching his sword tightly in the palm of his right hand, he cared not about the blood the stained it. He was more focused on the human that had helped make his task much easier, but that still did not mean she had to be friendly since everyone seemed to hate Orcs no matter the reason. Walking slowly towards his dropped dagger his eyes only for a brief second left the woman to gaze upon the Orc Chieftain. The spell he had cast on him had now hade enough time to take full effect, liquefying all his internal organs and melting his eyes out. “So I’m guessing the horse belonged to you than?” He said, his speak directed towards the strange, but helpful, female human.

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Having sat in front of the fire for almost an hour Orion had cooked himself some of his stolen food. It was almost comparable to the taste of dung, a taste he never enjoyed, but when you had to work on a farm as a teen to make up for damaging a man’s house by doing farm work it was bound to happen. The only real difference about the food was that it actually was able to fill his stomach, while dung only made him empty it.

Deciding that the day’s events had worn him out enough and that sitting in front of the fire was no longer useful he figured the only thing left to do was to sleep. Standing from his log he stared into the fire one last time before turning his full attention to his bedroll in the corner. Walking over to it the fire grew dimmer, as if knowing he was going to sleep, reaching the bedroll he wasted no time in lying down and covering up. Closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep the sounds of embers cracking in the fire, besides his breathing, were the only sounds in the lonely cave. “Another day serving the third empire…” He said softly as he drifted into slumber.

(OOC: Sry about thing you were an elf, I have been keeping busy lately and my brain had just been going in every direction at once.)

Pawing through the saddle bag, Fior instantly was looking for the small leather pouch containing all the money to her name. It was something she need, and enjoyed having really. After all, she was only human, and by nature humans seem to have a special place in their hearts for money. Fior included.

“Hmmm…” She hummed once she found the pouch. Shaking it, the ranger heard the unmistakable sound of muffled coins being jostled about. The Orcs were too busy with her horse to realize that there might be something of some sort of value in the saddle bag. Not that the use of money ever really concerned brutes like them. They simply took what they wanted.

Fior made note to keep an eye upon the only other living thing in the camp; for now she could not be sure if he was a threat or not. Too often enough the bad wear the emblem of the righteous. She vowed not to be foolish enough for such runnings.

“So I’m guessing the horse belonged to you than?” He said.

After pocketing her money and two other pouches, Fior reached for her sword letting her fingers trace over the pommel briefly before wrapping around the grip. She scoffed pushing up from the ground to face the darkly clad man.

“Yes, it did—paid good money for her,” Fior responded. Her grey eyes watched him carefully. So long as she felt the weight of her daggers upon her and her blade in her hand Fior could step confidently. “These brutes were suppose to be mine…” She added with a scoff. She just couldn’t let things go.

((By the way Orin, Fior isn't and elf =] ))

"bloodlust, everyone gets it." the dwarf spat as he yanked the arrow out of his side. he thrust it into the last remaining orc alive.
"I allowed myself to get complacent, suffered as a result."
Come on, these must be stragglers from the attack."
Grungnir shakily stood up and started towards the burnt city.
"lets see if there are any survivors, or if we can scavenge some supplies."
He took out a loaf of bread from his pack and tore it in two, throwing half of it to Orrin.
"eat, you'll need your strength, I'll bet that there's worse than orc raiders in that place."
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Fraavel walked through the human palace at ballardir smiling courtly at the foul nobles. He had been in this ruse as the elf Ellyrior for 400 years and he grew tired of it. Still it would only be a matter of time. The shout went up.
"hail to the emperor, hail to the elf ambassador Ellyrior!"
The human emperor, Vahn swiftstrike, was a tall, well built warrior. He had long brown hair and was cleanly shaved. He was wearing full plate armour with a red cloak hanging from his shoulders. By his side he had a long sword. he walked in and sat on his chair.
"So what brings the elves to Ballardir, how goes it in silva my friend?"
"Well enough for me to make the journey down here, but things could change, you know as well as I the nature of this conflict. We have both lost kinsmen. You, your father and me, well you know the story. It pains me to talk about it." Fraaved replied.
"Aye, but the reason of your coming isn't to chat is it?"
Fraaved smiled.
"Quick as ever my liege. No I am here to warn you. I need to talk to you in private."

"Thanks" Orrin said, He tore into the breat with gutso and finished it in a matter of moments. He checked his weapons before looking at Grungnirs wounds "Are you okay?" he asked "Those arrow wounds look deep to me" with that said he began searching the surronding area for any herbs that could help clean the wounds. Nothing, all he saw was nothing but black ground and burnt trees. The ranger sighed "It's a pity a place such as this had to go to waste" he muttered

Thoughts roamed through Nilhithion's mind as he walked down the road that had just been touched by the sunrise. This road was unfamiliar to his eyes, but gave him a familiar impression. Orcs had been raiding these lands and he knew it. He could tell that they were winning too, as the sky had filled with smoke the day before. He was agitated with them since they took any life that he promised himself to. If he could somehow run into these brutes, and make some kind f exchange with their chieftain or whoever was running them, Nilhithion could possibly get to have his own fun. The acute Stalker an ironic appearance as he looked like he was barely dragging himself along with a single weapon that had looked as if impossible to wield for a man only bearing a cloak. His eyes were usually looking to the ground, and nothing there ever sparked his interest till now.

A small pebble was bouncing around with no steady pattern to its bounce. Thinking it was just some bewitched piece of gravel, he walked passed it and ignored its presence. It wasn't long until he began to feel what was bouncing the pebble that he had passed. It felt like an army, but a army that felt this huge would never of had marched along this road, it's too thin. Nilhithion finally realized what was going on. Not any army of humans. It's a small army of Orc. I'd say around a hundred. He quickly turned around to wait for the army that made its was toward him. The Daemons had an alliance with the Orcs and he found their minds easily corruptible. He tried not to stand in the middle of the path and instead kept to the side, just in case they didn't see him, but his huge halberd should give him away with ease. If I'm wrong though, and it's a army of humans, then I'm screwed. Black cloak just screams demon in this world. That's probably why I wear it.

Chuckling at the woman his gaze left her, sure that she was no enemy. “They are whoever’s they are killed by first. Besides this small camp was nothing compared to the main camp held altogether around a hundred or more Orcs.” Keeping his sword held firmly in his hand he still didn’t want to show weakness by letting his defenses down for even a second. “On top of that I have been hunting down this Orc Chieftain for nearly a fort night, way before your horse would have even been killed.”

Walking over to the rotting Chieftain his face smirked at the dead Orc. “I was asked to kill him for a bounty of seventy-five gold pieces, some of which now belongs to you since you helped me out of my situation. I’m thinking twenty-five pieces will be more than enough, what do you think?” Lowering the blade of his sword he still held it tight at the swords tip touched the ground below.

Fior ran her free hand through her hair. This should have been her kill alone; she could have done just fine too…Or so it would have played out if it were in her own happy little self-centered world. Though she was denying it, nine Orcs might have been a little much for her limits.

Fior held her tongue. The wilderness had made her a very outspoken. The trees, or what was left of them, didn’t care what words where flung about no matter how colorful they may be. Fior was stubborn—she still believed her horse gave her enough rights to this camp.

“Time against reason isn’t always a match…” She commented surveying the rest of the camp. It was poorly assembled and barely looked as though nothing more than dogs had been here. Not that Orc were of any higher standing.

Her wandering eyes found themselves back on him. Bounty hunter? Money was always a great sweetener. “Twenty-five is fine,” She replied nodding her head. Pairing that with the money she already had would be enough for another horse. Fior sheathed her blade in name of the future exchange. “Which way then?”

Seeing as the woman sheathed her blade he to thought it wise to do the same. Pulling a small rag from a pocket he quickly ran it down the length of the blade, wiping off the dark Orc blood, than sheathed it. “Well maybe you are right about time against reason is not a match, but I can’t help if I reached them first and decided to act.” Giving a grin towards the woman he actually took the time to notice her looks, she was very easy on the eyes. Gazing at her he only wished he was human as well so he could try to put himself out there, but if he did sooner or later he would have to reveal his true form and it would only go down hill from that point.

“Twenty five it shall be than.” Walking around the camp sight he quickly turned over fallen Orcs and picked badges from their armor, grabbing the nine from the elite and than the one from the Chieftain. “Orcs make for good money when you get paid half a gold for a regular badge, three for an elite, and than an upwards of twenty-five for chieftains and Warlords all depending on how dangerous they are. Pulling out from behind the flaps of his clothing he revealed a large leather pouch that was heavy with badges from Orcs. “So far I have almost one hundred fifty badges and soon to be more if we get lucky to find more Orcs. The real money is with the Dark Elves though and the Daemons if you go to the Elves.” He didn’t know why he was telling her such things, but hopefully it made him look friendly. Quickly opening the pouch he tossed the badges in and sealed the pouch back up and hid it once more behind the claps of his cloths.

“I go to Ballardir, I see council there from official men, and gold for the bounties I have gathered. If you want to come with me you are more than welcomed, but I can also just pay you now and we can be on are separate ways. I would enjoy your company though; it’s been far too long since I have had a traveling companion, more so a female one.” Looking at her, eyes fixed, he waited for her reply; hoping it to be a friendly one.

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(Yes I know Orion is still in the cave I put him in, just bare with me and in the next post or the one after this will make since.)

Running as fast as he could Orion jumped to his left as an arrow flew by, than quickly clamored to his feet and took up running once more, behind him Orcs shouted and cursed as they caused after. He had been caught and now was running for dear life, knowing exactly what would happen to him. Again he jumped, this time to his right, as another arrow flew by. Thankfully Orcish arrows hisses loudly through the air as they traveled, making them easy to hear and position even with your back turned. He used that fact along with the Orcs firing at him being bad shots to his advantage. He felt assured that he could dodge the arrows left and right without injury, but wouldn’t let his confidence get the better of him. Again he heard arrows, this time from all sides, ducking to the ground he dropped into a position that looked like the push up stance with arms fully up. When the arrows flew by he jumped to his feet, the maneuver was costly as it forced him to stay down while the enemy behind could still move forward, but it saved his life and that was reason enough to do it in his mind.

Behind the Orcs cursed and shouted more and more, they human they chased was faster than them and their arrows, while they kept missing, could only slow his down and force him to stop just for brief moments. If they wanted to capture, and later kill, him they needed a faster way to get to him. As low pitched echoes sounded the Orcs found their answer to their problems. Gaining fast on them were their fellow comrades who had in the beginning lagged behind to prepare their mounts for riding. They didn’t ride horses, but rather hell hounds, a hound like beast that was slightly shorter than a horse but a foot or so longer. They were beast of the Daemon realm, having no fur but having skin the looked as if it was in a state of decay. The hounds were carnivorous, so unlike a plant eating horse, they alone served as weapons as their teeth sunk into the flesh and bone of the enemy.

Hearing the howls Orion knew right away what was coming for him, and he knew he had little time before the beasts called Hell Hounds would be upon him. Stand his ground and fight or keep running and hope that his God, the one and only God he worshiped, had something waiting to save him ahead were his only two options. Deciding that he would trust in his God, and knowing that if he even tried to fight he would sooner or later be overran, so he kept his pace, every second trying to force his legs to move faster. Again he could hear arrows whizzing through the air and with a quick step to the right was able to have a tree cover his back. Moments later the sound of the arrows hitting the tree could be heard as he continued to run with all his might.

Now just behind the Orcs on foot the riders on their hounds had blood lust in their eyes, the human was their, but whose exactly was still to be determined. “Faster!” A shout came from the lead rider. With snaps of their reins the riders turned left or right, going around the Orcs on foot, than picking up speed to gain on the human. “Faster! Faster!” The lead rider shouted again as he snapped his reins and forced his hound to run even faster. After about a three minutes of charging towards the human they could finally see him ahead, closing in smiles overtook all of their faces.

Fior neglected to clean the fuller off of her blade. The amount of blood upon it was not overwhelming as it was on his blade. The blood would not harm it, and of anything, it would be easier to clean off the steel if it were dried. Blood was blood.

Fior responded to his genuine show of friendliness with a tight smile. If she didn’t need a new equine, she would have debated really whether the money was worth it, or just tie him to a tree. This man was almost tempting that. “Or may you jumped in too quick,” She shrugged. “You strike me as someone without much patience for a hunt.” He didn’t have the air of hunter, but that of something…else.

The ranger stood back watching him lift badges from the strewn about cadavers; or what was left of some, like the Chieftain. Fior didn’t really get too deep into the business of bounties, but only on occasion did she do so. They were more along the lines of hunting down beasts for farmers and the like. Money for the hide and the likes. In that sense they were not so different.

“I take it you do this for a living…” Fior scuffed the bottom of her boot upon the ground, kicking up dust around them. Her eyes fell to the ground to watch the dust settle once more in the absence of wind, but they quickly veered back to his pale face. Ballardir was her home; she had not been within its walls for quite some time, but still it was her home.

Fior wondered from time to time the fate of the city, but hearing that he goes there still; that means Ballardir must still be standing. A part of her, the one that had grown with the wilderness around them wanted to take the second offer, but other part wanted the first.

Conclusion: the first option.

“I will go. I have not been to Ballardir in a long while,” Fior replied with a nod of the head. “I am Fior, by the way.” That was all as far as she was concerned that he needed to know.

Chuckling at the woman’s response it brought a smile to his face. “Oh I have much patience for a hunt, but after I have found my prey I see the hunt as over and the struggle of life or death as begun. I even surveyed my surroundings and used them to my advantage such as a hunter like you would; I just act faster since sheath is not a long lasting ally on my side.”

Walking closer to the woman his smiled faded, but his aura of friendliness didn’t. “I do this amongst many others to survive in these trying times. If I can kill an Orc and in return get paid than I do it, same with Dark Elves, and any other creature worth some monetary value.” Listening to the woman speak she told him her name, Fior, a beautiful name to say the least. “Well Fior my name is Cimeies, its nice to meet you acquaintance. We should be moving out soon though, it wont be long before the other Orcs decide to come back and I have a feeling that twenty against two odds are tipped against us just far to much.”

Nilhithion's body remain ed stiff in the Orc's grasp. Though Nilhithion's face was covered, the foul breath of the creature before him could be smelled with the greatest potency. He thought he was somewhat saved by the sickening breath when he was taken away from the other Orc like a rag doll of some sort. This would have made a fun ride, but the Orc's hands were like rocks against his body. Nilhithion began to struggle in the Orc's grip, but not to break the Orc's grip. He grunted as his body began to twist and turn. In an instant, Nilhithion had slipped out of his cloak, leaving it in the Orc's hands.

"Stupid Orc." Nilhithion whispered before grabbing his folded fan shuriken from his waist. He pulled the weapon behind the brute and quickly swiped its Achilles tendon. The Orc fell on his left as that leg became paralyzed. Nilhithion's cloak fell softly to the ground, while his halberd fell hard on top of the incapacitated Orc. Nilhithion had been quick with his movements, but was foolish to forget that there was nt only one other Orc in front of him, but a whole army of them behind him. He looked to the Orc that had nearly sufficated him with his bad breath, and then back at the army.

"I surrender." He said admitting defeat, but he still held his weapon with a firm grip. Nilhithion had the slightest feeling that the other might charge at him, but he also thought about the others come at him too. "I'm a Daemon. Don't we have an alliance or something close to that." Nilhithion added, hoping his race was a good enough excuse not to kill him.

"It's too quiet," Tsuinken thought to himself as he walked quietly through the woods, stalking a group of orcs he had spotted the previous evening, "I dont like it." Suddenly a branch snapped some ten yards to his left in the underbrush.
Drawing one of his twin elvish blades he advanced on it ever so slowly. He pulled back the bush prepared to stab the orc he thought hidden there. Instead he found a human child, she appeared to be about 8, very young by his standards. "Why are you here?" Tsuinken asked the child.
"The orcs raided my families home this morning. I ran into the woods and have been hiding here since, please help my family sir." The young girl asked him.
"How many?" Tsuinken asked. I feel partly responsible for this. Damn, I should have tracked them faster! He thought.
"I couldn't really tell, sir. I think I saw about 13 of them but i'm not..." Tsuinken didn't stick around to hear her finish. He saw where she had come from and ran as only an elf can toward the house.

Nilhithion looked back and forth from the single Orc to the army of Orcs. The brutes hadn't believed him, so he was clearly going to be wasted by their overwhelming strength and brutality.

"Halt!" A commanding voice ordered from inside the crowd of Orcs.

It didn't sound like a screaming wild man with a raspy voice, so he guessed it wasn't an Orc. The Orcs stepped aside, so their leader could come into view. It was a Dark Elf, which relieved Nilhithion greatly. The Dark Elves were perhaps the the most brilliant of the alliance, leaving the Orcs with brute strength and numbers, and the Daemons to cut down the enemies numbers in ways no one could comprehend. Nilhithion respectfully stood silent and lowered his weapons, as he saw that the Dark Elf was the only thing that had saved him from death. After hearing the Dark Elf's orders to the Orcs and his proposal, Nilhithion felt that he was suitable to work under. He grabbed his cloak and put it on his left shoulder, folded and strapped his bloodstained weapon at his waist, and picked up his halberd in from the ground with his right.

"Well... I'm a Stalker serving the Daemon army, and my job permits me to travel in order to kill off any remnant of rebellion as I see fit. I haven't taken a soul in days, but you and your Orcs smell of blood, which only means that you were able to find life and and leave death. It would hurt to follow you and your brutes. Hell, it might make the hard part of my job easy. My name is Nilhithion, and I'll be more than glad to join you." Nilhithion stated before quickly slipping on his cloak, so he would be able to hear the Dark Elf's reply.

Within minutes Tsuinken reached the edge of the wood and clearly saw the house the child belonged to. To his surprise the orcs were still here, stationed in the houses side building. "What the hell are they doing in there?" He wondered to himself until he saw the burning pyre. The orcs had thrown the bodies of the girls family into a pile and were using them as fuel for their cookfire, over which hung the body of the horses owned by the humans. "Those bastards will pay for this?" He whispered under his breath.
Drawing both of his deadly blades he charged across the 20 yards in the blink of an eye and was among the orcs. He jumped into the middle of a group, who had been gathered in a circle discussing who knows what, spinning as he fell slicing each of the 5 orcs into shreds. By this time the rest of the orcs had grabbed their weapons and were eyeing him warily. Suddenly their ranks split and an orc appeared with a fully drawn bow and released the arrow. Tsuinken did not think, he allowed his old training from nearly 100 years ago take over, he did a quick backflip and watched as the arrow soared below his face. As he was falling he took aim at the archer and threw one his elvish blades, knowing anything that got in its path would be dead.
A second later he landed and was rewarded with seeing his blade protruding from between the eyes of the orc he had been aiming at. Taking advantage of the surprise the orcs felt at his maneuver he cleared the space between them and sliced an orc from left shoulder to right thigh with his remaining sword. Doing some math in his head Tsuinken realized he still had 6 orcs to go.
He faced the remaining group of orcs and prepared for their charge. As he suspected they all charged at the same time, which was very much to his disadvantage. He jumped backwards, grabbing his second sword from the corpse of the slain archer. "Come on then you!" He roared in their faces ready to face anything they could throw at him. They shied away from him as he yelled but that didn't distract them long. The first orc reached him and he easily side-stepped the swipe of his axe lopping the orcs head off with one sword as he blocked the overhead sword swipe of another. Soon as his first blade was free of the orc he had beheaded, he stabbed the orc who's sword he was blocking under the jaw, blood spurting everywhere from the wound. Swinging his free sword he cut another orc at the tendons behind his knees, causing him to fall helpless to the ground. pulling his other blade free Tsuinken flipped behind two of the enemies and beheaded them both with one scissor like slice of his blades. This left just one orc capable of combat, as he turned he spun his swords slicing its gut open. It opened its mouth but no noise came out, just its dark life blood.
Walking back to the orc he had left alive and unable to move he asked "What is your plan?"
"That is none of your business, elf," He spat the word out, "I'll never t..." The orc never finished what he was saying for one of Tsuinken's blades was in its throat.
Suddenly from behind Tsuinken toward the building came the sound of clapping. Turning around he spotted someone he thought he would never see again in this world. "Hello old friend." Fatost said to Tsuinken.