The ragged cloak told Loraiel of a tale she had never heard before; the stance the figure held was apparent, even from this distance. The worn clothing underneath told of a journey like none ever journeyed before, a long, difficult path that had been undertaken for the first time. The sagging of his shoulders was no longer apparent, his eyes no longer gazed perpetually at the ground before him, but they were actually level, and slanted at the tiniest angle toward the sky above, the heaven aloft.
This was the same man in appearance, but something had changed within, something so profound that it would be apparent to those who were laying their eyes upon him for the first time.
The smile on Guy's face disappeared as he began to ponder this consequences of this man's... Apperanace. He quickly made up his mind to slay this woman before him and turn tail to fight again another day. Guy charged forward towards the Priestess's turned back, her gaze still fixed on the shadow in the setting sun. The wolves on either side took no action, and were content at watching the spectacle that was about to unfurl right before their keen eyes. Friends and enemies alike lay beside each other, not wanting to be part of the coming events.
Loraiel heard the charge of Guy behind her but could do nothing to avoid the blow, or even to absorb the blow somehow to lessen its force. She was about to take the full force of his charge, so she braced for impact, her back still turned to her foe.
The expected pain never came.
Much to his dismay, a strage doorway appeared ahead of the charging Guy. He could not shift his direction at the speed in which he ran, so he hoped for the best as he neared it.
Moments later, a fit burst through the strange opening, landing a solid blow on Guy's jaw, sending him sprawling into the ground as his momentum fully reversed and flew away from the Priestess and the magical gateway.
He lay clutching his jaw for a short time on the ground as he quickly realized he was still in the middle of a duel, scrambling to his feet as he readied his shield and sword. He expected to be slashed down before he could even begin to stand, but found no opposition as he stood straight once more. He peered over his shield and saw the cloaked figure standing still, his arms at his side, a long cowl masking his face and his expression. Guy didn't have any humorous retorts this time around: just a neverous laugh and a strange gleam in his eye was all that he could offer in greetings.
The head raised a little as Guy peered into the glowing ovals where eyes would be on a human; a red warmth emitted from their places. They seemed to be staring straight through Guy, but he could not tell; the sun had now set, but still a stubborn glow of light radiated from the west. His nervousness caused him to shudder, only to realize that he had shown this menacing enemy some sort of weakness as the shoulders of his enemy moved in a fashion as to suggest that it laughed. It was all that Guy could take: he charged headlong towards the unarmed thing, its cloak fluttering in the breeze before him.
Guy quickly hugged the ground as he swung his sword above him, as the being still had not drawn his steel; at least when Guy last looked. His foe sidestepped as parried Guy's attacking, causing the charge to miss completely as he kicked Guy in the rump as he flew past, sending him almost stumbling up a hill. He caught his balance quickly from his awkward posture and raised his shield quickly to block the attack of even a novice warrior.
He raised his shield to block the increasing twilight of the night, the stars appearing from their slumber as the moon began to rise in triumph of the sun once again.
The blonde-haired man lowered his shield to view the sight of a man with a sword drawn, its point lowered to the ground as if in defiance, as if its owner did not want to continue this fight. The being looked slightly amused at Guy's confusion.
"In what manner will you continue this fight?!" he called, trying to draw some response from the silent sentinel. "Attack, so that I may see your true might!"
As if in answer, the sword twitched, though the hand did not. The cape moved again in accord with another blowing breeze, as if echoing the sentiments of the blade.
Guy took this nonaction as an insult as he moved forward, fuming with anger. Never had he before fought such a defiant opponent; they were either brashly overconfident and dead within moments, or scared for the lives and running in but a moment. But no, this was no ordinary being, he thought; something about this thing was different, but he could not tell what or for what reason. He just knew.
He swung his sword from right to left as he took another step forward, his attack parried by a quick movement of another sword, so fast that he would not have known that the two swords had touched except for the sound made when the two swords collided. He took another step forward as he feigned a thrust which drew another parry, but he quickly reversed his motion into a spin in an attempt to bash the man with his shield.
Another sword, not even a moment after his sword had been parried, smashed into his shield, knocking Guy back in sheer surprise. How could someone move a sword that fast, especially one blade that was so large as his? Guy stumbled backward as he regained his footing.
The sentinent being was now wielding two swords, one exactly like the other as if he held a mirror in the other to duplicate the image of the original. Guy looked up again at the cowled face, directing his gaze from the glinting swords. He thought he saw it smile, right before he began his advance towards the frightened Guy, his swords dancing in the air with the grace and ease of falling leaves in a strong wind. Guy nearly became dizzy trying to keep up with their movements as his foe enroached into his territory more and more.
As the being went into a rolling spin, Guy's shield had barely enough time to intercept the first blow from the left blade, one that did not seem to end until the whirlwind had stopped. His enemy was spinning so fast and with such grace and ease that the many rings of the blades upon Guy's shield sounded like one long strike as they danced up and down, left and right, never ceasing never stopping and never relenting, giving Guy no chance to breath.
His shield absorbing many of the attacks, the terrified man's sword worked in a frenzy in order to parry and block away the most dangerous of blows aimed around his shield at the vital areas of his body. His instincts guided his hands moreso than his mind as his sword and shield worked in perfect tandem intercepting all of the attacks offered by his predator; but still he kept losing ground. At a disadvantage, he nearly tripped over a root as he quickly double-stepped to regain his balance, but the opening presented by his blunder was more than enough needed by the other to take full advantage of even the smallest weakness.
The cloak halted its tornado of blades and quickly struck hard with both blades at the very center of the blocking shield.
It stopped to stand amused at the sight playing out before him.
Guy's arm could not be felt by even himself. The force that struck his shield had dented the center of it inward, numbing his entire arm. He struggled hard to hold his grip on his mobile wall, but he could no longer keep his fist closed around its grip. It fell to the ground with a resounding clang. He was still looking down in disbelief that his mobile wall had for once failed him as he heard the sounds of movement in front of him. He offered his sword up in defense, but instead was ensnared between two blades.
The vice-like grip of the pincers offered no options left for the blonde-haired man but to left go of his weapon. The entertainer juggled the broadsword between his own, looking like a show from a circus that passes through town. It twirled into the air, under the blades, behind the being, and they held it at last tauntingly in front of its owner. Reflexively, Guy reached out to claim ownership to its sword, but its current owner had other plans in mind. Throwing the steel high up into the air, the performer focused on something within his mind with his eyelides shut tightly, his sword weaving slow patters before him.
In an instant, the sword flashed down between his two blades, with sparks flying off of the falling blade as the twin blades danced around it. The priestess watched as the cloaked figure was surrounded with the flying sparks produces from the impact of steel so fast creating the illusion of a fire as the sparks continued to light up the area around the being, but not the being himself.
Guy's sword finally fell to the ground as the swords stopped in their fury, pieces too many to count hitting the grass and dirt and rock beneath their feet. When guy looked up once again, the thing now held only one sword that was dipped under his shield. He knew from his recent experience that the coming attraction would not be pretty.
The sword rose up and threw the shield into the air as the being froze, his sword high above his head, ready to strike downward at a moment's notice. With the twilight passed and the night in full motion, Guy looked up to see the silohette of his shield against the backdrop of the bright full moon. He watched as it sunk back towards the earth in a free fall, right back to the place where it had landed.
The being opened his eyes again, the red orbs becoming visible to Guy as they saw through him. He saw a reflection of light offered by the moon from his shield as it fell in front of the sentinel, his sword still high above his head. In the next moment, the sword left its perch from above and swung straight down, so fast that Guy's trained eyes did not even see a small glimpse of the quick movement. But what he did see was his shield, formerly whole, falling to the ground in half.
He could only stare in disbelief. "If you could do that from the beginning," the terrified man stammered, "why didn't you just do that before we even began!?" The incredulous look on his face told the cowled man more than he needed to know to form the correct response.
"Because, my friend," an all too familiar voice began, "frankly, it..." The voice trailed off as a sinister grin appeared once again under the cowl which covered its face. "It was amusing," it finished with an amused laugh. In normal circumstance, it would not have bothered even the most scared child, but it froze Guy to the very bone.
Even the Priestess, who was a good length away, heard Guy swallow hard whatever he had left in his parched moutj. "What do you plan to do, kill me? Eat me?!" He tripped while he was stepping back and landed on his rump, his feet closest to his hunter.
"No, something that even you do not deserve for your past crimes and misdeeds," the hood answered. "I grant you mercy." Both Guy and the priestess looked at the dark figure, nearly invislbe even in the shadow of a full moon. "But I warn you sir, if ever I see you again, I shall not hesitate to strike you down." His eyes lit up once more, showing their fire to the frightened man.
Guy quickly gathered what remained of his belongings and did not look back as he left the thing to its own dealings. Rynn by this time was fully awake and watching the spectacle unravelling before her. This man that she had saved a few months ago had now easily toyed with a man she could not defeat, even at her best. This man amused himself with Guy's antics, making him believe he was on equal footing with the higher being. Something was different about him, that much could be said. The way he stood, his shoulders back, no longer stood, his head held high, no longer gazing perpetually at the place where his feet would tread. The aura he carried with him was no longer of a deathly sort, an eternal sorrow that dogged him wherever he went that would be felt by all those around, but instead, a sort of fire emanated from the man to kindle the spirits that may be near and close to him.
The dirt where his foot would fall was blown away by some unknown force, although only a little; it was like there was a pocket of air between his sole and the earth. Bushes tried to part as he passed through them, no branches catching any part of his clothing, not even the tattered edges and holes of his cloak. He moved to the clearing in which the priestess tended to the former assassin's wounds. Her clan disbanded, he considered her now a mercenary, a sword for hire to the highest - or most persuasive - bidder. The same could be said of the pack of wolves: the false prophet was now gone, and they were once again united under the wisdom that was Rravka, who was now laying doggedly under the night sky.
He knelt beside the two as he held out his hands before him, saying something under his breath as his hands began to light with an inner glow. He mouth stopped moving as his hands glowed their brightest, their light moving from his hands to Rynn's flail body, damaged by Guy's actions. The light passed over and throughout the woman's body, closing wounds and erasing bruises the instant the light passed, fading into the next area as it continued to pass through her legs and feet, healing Rynn completely.
The priestess raised a curious eye up towards the figure kneeling over her friend's body. She did not understand how he could fully heal a body that was so badly worn; even that feat was beyond the farthest limits of her own innate powers. She did not question, though; something had indeed changed within this man's sojourn to an unknown place. He stood once more and turned, the breeze catching his cloak once more as he began to walk against the wind, his clothing fluttering behind him.
She began quickly, not wanting to act to late. "Wait, my friend. I must thank you for your..."
"There is no need for your graditude," the familiar voice so gently interrupted. "I have a score to settle with...that fiend." His hand neared a branch is he bent to his will. Looking back, he added: "It is enough to know that both of you are alive, and as of now, for at least a short time, safe. I must continue on, seeking an end to my journey, and the prize that lay at its end." He turned again once more toward the still rising moon, heading off in another direction known to him but not to the pair laying in the opening of trees, one sleeping soundly and the other looking on.
Loraiel wondered to herself what me may be seeking; after all, what more could a man like this need in this word? Gasping, a single word formed in her mind: power.
The cloak disappeared as it moved further away, the means still unknown to the goal that was known.