Quick Cash

[DuncanDonuts]

Valdr sat, staring at the fire that crackled mildly in front of him, lighting up his face with wavering amber light. The motion of the fire made the angles of his face shift and change, making him look like a hundred different people all in the span of seconds. Valdr glanced down at his Qua’ldi which lay, unsheathed in his lap. In his reflection he noticed how the light played on his face.

This enthralled him, for the rapid shifting of his features just further strengthened his convictions that he knew not who he was. Nor did he believe that they would give him any inclination as to who he might be. These thoughts troubled him, for he could not see the point of existing if he didn't know who he was, and thus not know his purpose for being. What is one to do without a purpose or identity? Wither and die?

Since his awakening from the sarcophagus he had, but vague memories, which did nothing more than confuse him further than he already was. Some of these haunted him, being that they were of death, destruction, and many other numerous cruelties that came with war. Of which war he knew not, only that it was of great importance. When he dwelt on these, they did nothing but frustrate him.

Valdr shifted his position, pulling his cloak closer to him. The night was still chill and the rain the day before yesterday had made the wood moist, providing for a harder time building a large fire to warm his bones. He disliked the chill, seeing that it chilled him to his core, but in a whole he enjoyed being outside.

“I wish I would of thought to buy a thicker cloak before I had set off”, mumbled Valdr as he stood up, sheathing his weapon in one swift motion, brushing off the dirt and twigs that clung to his attire.

With one last glance at the fire as it finally died, and left nothing but the embers to smolder and die at a later time, he climbed into his tent. With what some might interpret as a timid appearance he laid his head down for the night. He disliked sleeping, for it had a tendency to bring back the more frightening of what memories he had. The dreams seemed to make the memories more vivid the when he was awake, which made them all the more terrible. This was not always the case, being that on some rare nights the dreams were of happier times, with people that felt familiar, but he could not put names to the faces. With these last thoughts his eyes slide shut and he fell into a fitful sleep.

Valdr awoke to the noisy chirping of the birds, nesting in the trees nearby. With a yawn, he stretched and crawled out of his tent, shivering as he skin met the frigid morning air. He let his stare fall onto the meek pile of coals and ashes that was the remnants of the fire the night before. He did not bother to try and rekindle the fire, for the sun was rising and would soon warm the air. With the blank stare that usually sat upon his face, he turned east and was content to stand there and wait, since he was in no hurry to do anything.

As the sun rose it illuminated the valley that lay before him in a warm glow. The valley had rushing river that ran done the center, causing the only sound in the valley, other than the birds and the chattering of squirrels. Next to the river lay a road. The road was not very travel worn and was overgrown in many places. The trees there in were of oak, elm, hemlock and many others, displaying many different shades of green in the growing dawn. The only other landmark of note was the crumbling ruins of a tower from some long forgotten era.

The tower was his destination and the reason for his journey. It was in the tower that he would acquire what he came for. What he came for was a simple matter, and it was a matter of money. He hated being limited by such a mundane necessity as money, but as he came to learn, money was important to most others. With people’s need of money, one could not accomplish high demand prospects without it. It was for this reasons that he had set off on this endeavor.

Valdr had set up camp about a quarter mile from the tower on a slight rise, covered with groves of trees. He had decided last night that he would wait there till the morn, as to be able to assess any dangers in the full light of the day. As he was too far from the tower to really be able to see anything through the trees, but the top of the ruins that barely poked over the tops of the forest.He packed up him meager camp, not caring for breakfast, and set off through the woods in the direction of the tower.

[DuncanDonuts]

As Valdr neared the tower he slowed, pausing near the edge of the grass clearing that grew in front of the ruined tower. While he waited, still hidden in the shrubbery, he listened for anything that might signal danger. He did not have to wait long, for as he was about to stride out over then field to the entrance of the tower, he heard a noise. At the sound of the disturbance, Valdr stiffened in mid step and withdrew farther back into the bushes.

The noise he heard came from around the bend, at the curved wall around the base of the tower. As the sound seemed to move closer, it became more distinct. When the sound grew loud enough it became clear that the sounds were that of voices. Valdr could not see from whom the voices came, therefore unable to determine the number of men, for the voices were unmistakably male. Since Valdr was a cautious fellow, he decided to wait and see if the men would come around to the front of the building, to better determine a course of action.

As Valdr was coming to that conclusion, they did exactly that. There were only three men; they were bandits from the look of them. Valdr cursed to himself upon the revelation, he hated dealing with bandit. They were always so cruel and simple minded.

“I should of known there would bandits, they always are when there is any profit involved”, Valdr commented to himself under his breath. With a slight grimace on his face, he cursed to himself for the second time.

On closer inspection he saw that the men were human. They wore wool clothes, leather boots and each carried a short sword. The one on right was the tallest and the most built, with each of the bandits getting smaller going to the left. Valdr smiled to himself, he enjoyed the small patterns that seemed to randomly show themselves, they humored him and made life a little less dismal. As he thought this, the bandits stopped in front of the ruin’s entrance, sat down in the grass while the largest sat on the stump that was near the entrance.

Seeing that the bandits weren't going anywhere anytime soon, Valdr decided to confront them on his own. He pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, hiding his slightly pointed ears. Humans and elves tended to not like him right away, being a half-ling and all. Steeling himself, he strode out from the shelter of the undercover, towards the sitting men. As the men noticed him they jumped to their feet, and unsheathed their swords, they smallest also pulling out a dagger that Valdr had not noticed on his initial inspection.

“Hey, who goes there? State your business or be gone.” said the largest man, in a gruff voice.

The three bandits moving into position around Valdr, as the man spoke. They stopped around four feet from him, with the largest in the front and the two others on his sides, the smallest on the left. Valdr had no interest in engaging in conversation with the likes of them, thus kept his silence.

“Ah, I’m talking to you. Are you deaf or something?” inquired the man in the middle, a scowl contorting his face.
Not paying any heed to what the man was saying Valdr just stared at the bandit, concentrating on focusing his inner telekinetic power. His already startling, blue eyes, starting to glow ever so slightly. The bandits readied their swords, looks of unease spreading across their faces.

“What are you…..” not being able to finish his question, for just at that moment Valdr released the pent up energy in one, powerful blast that radiated out from him, distorting the air. The blast knocked the bandits off their feet and pushing them backwards a foot, to the radius of the blast. While the men were still fumbling in the dirt, Valdr grabbed the handle of his Qua’ldi, pulling it from its sheath on his back. With a flick of his wrist, the Qua’ldi unfolded to its full six foot length. Twirling it around his hand he stepped forward and brought down one of the blades, slicing the largest bandit from his left collar bone to his right hip. The man screamed in agony for a few seconds for the time. At that time the smallest of the bandits was already on his feet. The second man was crawling towards his sword, as it was knocked from his grip when he fell back.

“You son of a bitch! Who do you think you are?” exclaimed the man, swinging his sword at Valdr’s throat.

Valdr brought up the end of his weapon, swiping away the bandits attempt at his life. He then swung the other end up to the man’s chest, but was blocked by the guy’s dagger. Valdr swung around his body while taking a step back, disengaging from his opponent with a flourish of his Qua’ldi. While this was going on the third man had retrieved his sword and was starting to charge into the fray. While the man was still yards away, Valdr dove into his inner self and accessed his power. With a grunt, Valdr used his mind to grab the sword and ripped it from rushing bandit hands, bringing it flying past, mere inches from Valdr’s face and embedding it into the smaller man’s chest. As the sword struck home Valdr took a step towards the final man, turning to the left, bending over and bringing up his other leg as he swung his Qua’ldi in front of his chest, bringing it around his back, his upper body and leg following the motion of the Qua’ldi. As he released his weapon he brought down his leg. With his body now facing the right, he watched the Qua’ldi spin through the air in the direction of the last man. When it met its mark, it sliced all the way through the man neck and embedded itself into the tree several yard behind him.

Valdr strode over the tree that held his weapon, wrestled it free from wood, pressed the release on the handle and flicked his wrist, folding it in half, whilst cleaning off the blood. Valdr turned and faced the carnage he just dealt out. He didn't feel any remorse for what he had done, knowing the likely hood that the bandits weren't innocent. The battle had lasted only a few seconds and the valley had resumed the earlier, serine sounds of nature, as if nothing ever happened. As Valdr walked through the newly born graveyard, he reached over his shoulder and sheathed his Qua’ldi. Upon reaching the other side, he stood there staring at the entrance of the ruins, wondering it were perhaps safe to assume that the rest of the bandits were of no skill, like the ones he encountered. He hoped so, because even though he enjoyed a challenge, there was no need for things to be harder then they need to be. With these thoughts, Valdr strode forth to the opening of the decrepit tower.

[DuncanDonuts]

When he reached the arch that was the entrance, he paused for a second. The area that lay before him was lit by a lone lantern that sat on a rough, poorly built table. It gave of enough light to illuminate the small entryway, if only barely. On the back wall sat an old, rotting door. Even though it was rotten it still sat, thick and study upon the large, rusty iron hinges that supported it. Valdr moved forward to the door and grasped the handle, pulling open the door. The old hinges screeched in protest as it swung out.

“Well I guess I won’t be surprising anyone if they’re nearby,” grumbled Valdr, with an annoyed look on his face.

The first thing Valdr noticed was the smell. Like most old places it had a musty smell, but that wasn’t the only thing that permeated the air. There was this odor of sweat, smoke, and human fesses. After being outside for the better part of the week, traveling from the nearest populated area. The concoction of odors made him gag and almost lose control of his stomach. Valdr frowned at noticing this. With this kind of buildup of bad air, meant that they bandits had been here for quite a while. Valdr hoped that in the bandits extended stay, they hadn’t discovered what he himself was looking for.

Valdr thought it unlikely, being that the excluded location would make it hard for the bandit to make camp here and still be able to pray on the innocence, in a timely manner. The only explanation was that whoever was leading the men here, heard the same rumor as he did, had yet to find it and was staying here till it was found.

“Is that you Dalian, yah ripe lazy bastard?” called a gruff voice from down the hall, interrupting Valdr’s train of thought.

“Where did you leave the drink? I can’t find it.” inquired the same man.

Valdr unsheathed his qua’ldi, but did not unfold it. He quickly and quietly moved down the stone brick hall, stopping once he neared the side door from which the voice had rung forth. Leaning against the uneven wall, Valdr slowly inched the blade of his weapon around the corner. Using the reflection on the blade he was able to see a stoat, unclean man facing the other direction. The man was preoccupied looking through a decrepit cabinet, most likely in search of that drink. As quickly as possible without making any load noise, Valdr strode over the man. Once upon the bandit he brought the parallel blades of his folded Qua’ldi up to the man’s throat as he was straitening up.

“Make any sound and I’ll slice your filthy neck.” growled Valdr with a blank look on his face.

The bandit stiffened but held his tongue.

“Now I’m going to ask you a few questions and you’re going to answer them” Valdr stated, still with the blank stare.

The man nodded, careful not to touch the blades at his throat.

“Who’s leading you?” asked Valdr

“He’s called Thainin the Quick, you’ll be sorry you ever mes….” replied the man getting cut off as Valdr brought the blades to the man’s skin.

“Has he found the treasure rumored to be here?” inquired Valdr.

“No, it’s a waste of time if you ask me.” answered the bandit.

“Well no one asked you if it was worth the time or not, now did they.” whispered Valdr as he leaned in, closer to the bandits ear.

“How many men does Thainin have under his command?” queried Valdr.

“Sixteen and they will kill you before you get anywhere near Thainin.” replied the man.

“Make that twelve.” said Valdr as he drew his weapon across the bandit’s neck, leaving behind two red slits as he let the body fall to the floor. Valdr stepped away from the corpse, twirling the qua’ldi around his hand, cleaning it off and sprinkling the walls with blood.

As he surveyed the room, he sheathed his weapon on his back. With the rank air now permeated with the metallic smell of blood, he looked about the area. There was not much in the room aside from the cabinet. A table sat in the left corner near the door, with two chairs. Some stale bread and a moldy wedge of cheese sat on a wooden plate next to an empty lead goblet. Probably the meal of the man he had just slain. A rusty iron war axe stood, propped against one of the legs of the table, the weapon of the bandit most likely. The torches on the walls were the same as the ones that lit the hall. Nothing else occupied the area, save the dirt and bugs that called this place home.

Stepping out of the room and back into the hall, Valdr looked back the way he had come. Seeing nothing new he looked the other way. At the end of the hall there were two sets of stairs, one leading up and the other leading down. Valdr stayed where he was, debating whether or not to take the one going up or the one going down. Going up first, he decided was the better option, being that he did not know how far down the stairs went and that there might be men upstairs. Not that there wouldn't be men downstairs, he just didn't want any coming down after him if they discover the bodies of their fellow bandits. Better to have only enemies in front of you instead. Plus most of the tower had fallen long ago, leaving only three to four floors. Coming to that decision, Valdr set off to the end of the hall and started to climb the stairs.

[DuncanDonuts]

Valdr did not have to go far before he heard another set of voices. There were only two, one was surprisingly gentle, and the other sounded as it belonged to a younger man. Upon hearing the voices Valdr slowed his pace and stopped to where he could just barely peer over the top of the stairs. Seeing no one, he quickly ascended the rest of the steps. The upper floors were quite a bit taller than he expected.

“I guess I was right, there are probably only three floors in this place.” mumbled Valdr under his breath.

The hall that stood before his was an almost exact copy of the one downstairs, aside from the fact that this one had a doorway on either side of the walls. The two voices that heard were coming from the room on the right. They seemed to be having some sort of argument.

“I don’t care what he said. I just think that nothing good will come of use staying here!” exclaimed the older voice.

“But think about what we could gain. We could have good food in our bellies for months.” responded the younger man.

The older man grunted and cleared his throat.

“From what I heard the boss is having trouble understanding whatever is written on those damn walls. If he hasn’t solved it in the month and a half that we have been here, I find it unlikely he ever will.” retorted the older voice.

The younger man seemed too turn away; because his voice got quieter as he said, “You can’t be sure of that, the guys pretty smart. He’s a lot smarter than the lot of us, that’s for sure.”

“Speak for yourself kid. If you’re so optimistic, why don’t you go done there and ask’em if there has been any progress?” said the older one coldly.

“Fine, I will.” he replied, his voice getting loader as he faced the doorway.

Shit, thought Valdr as he noticed the shadow moving to the doorway. Valdr tried to move back to the stairs, but was too late. As the boy, for it was a boy, stepped out into the hall and noticed Valdr. At first the boy just stared at him unsure of what to do. The boy looked about seventeen or so. He had slight stubble on his chin and brown hair, but was as unclean as the rest of the bandits were.

Slowly he squinted his eyes. “Hector I think we have a problem.” said the boy as he drew two daggers from behind his back.

“What? What are you talking abo……” his voice dropping off as the older fellow noticed Valdr when he stepped into the hall, alongside the younger one.

“Well now, look at what we have here.” He said as he drew two short swords from their sheaths on his belt.

“What have you done the other men downstairs?” asked the younger man as a scowl contorted his face.

As with the men outside, Valdr said nothing, but reached over his shoulder and drew his qua’ldi from its sheath. He did not unfold it, because even though the hall was wide, it was not wide enough for him to effectively wield it fully extended.

“Oh, a quiet type. Well I guess we’ll just have to force you to talk.” growled the older one.

As he finished speaking the younger man drew back his right arm and threw his dagger at Valdr. At the same time replacing it with the one in his left hand and drawing a third from his boot. Valdr had noticed the kid’s motion and turn to the side as the dagger flew past, striking sparks off the wall as it struck. Without hesitating the boy threw the second dagger. This one Valdr blocked by swinging his qua’ldi up and deflecting the dagger into the right side wall. Before the second dagger had got to Valdr, the kid threw the third one. Valdr leaned to the side, but was to slow and the dagger grazed his upper right arm. Valdr grimaced at the pain, but made no sound. Now out of daggers, the boy rushed back into the room as older man stepped forward and started towards Valdr, swords at the ready.

When the man was only a few feet away he leaped at Valdr, swinging he right hand sword at Valdr throat. Valdr knocked it away with a swipe of his weapon and circled it back down blocking the second sword the man had swung at his legs. The man then stabbed at Valdr’s chest, buts was blocked as Valdr brought up his folded qua’ldi horizontally, using the shaft to knock away the blade. At the same time Valdr brought up his weapon, he leaned back and jumped, doing a backflip while kicking the man in the chest. The man grunted and stumbled back a few feet, falling on his ass in front of the door that he came out of. Cursing the man slowly got to his feet. Valdr took the opportunity to run forward and bring down his weapon with both hands, but only to meet iron as the boy standing on the other side of the doorway blocked it with a bastard sword that he must have retrieved from the room. Valdr mumbled a curse and disengaged, stepping back a few feet.

The boy helped the man to his feet, keeping his gaze on Valdr. At least the hall isn’t big enough for them to stand side by side and swing their swords at the same time, thought Valdr. This time the boy approached him, holding the sword out in front of him. Once the kid was close enough he jabbed at Valdr, who stepped back, avoiding the blade. Without pausing he jabbed again, which again Valdr avoided. That having failed, the boy tried to swing at Valdr instead, but was to slow. Valdr took the opportunity and stepped into the boys guard. With both hands gripping the shaft, he slid the qua’ldi up under the boy's ribs and into his heart.

Valdr stood there, face to face with the young man, watching the light leave his eyes. Valdr felt the warmth of the blood on his hands as it ran down the qua'ldi. After supporting the weight of the body for a few seconds, Valdr withdrew his weapon and let the corpse fall to the floor. He felt no remorse killing someone so young, for he was sure that the kid had killed before and was not innocent.

[DuncanDonuts]

The other man's eyes followed the boy’s body as it fell to the floor. A look of anguish covered the man’s face as his swords fell limply to his sides. He then turned his gaze upon Valdr, his face tinted red with rage.

“That was my nephew you son of a bitch. I’m going to gut you like a pig and feed you to the crows for that!” screamed the man.

Howling at the top of his lungs, he ran at Valdr, raising his swords above his head. Upon reaching Valdr he brought down his weapons with all his force. Valdr blocked it with the flat of his blade, but the impact pushed him back, almost making him lose his balance. In rapid succession he bore down his swords. Once. Twice. Three times. On the third impact, Valdr knocked away the blades, sending sparks as they stuck the wall. Bringing up the shaft, Valdr hit the man in the face, breaking his nose and making him stagger back. The man recovered quickly however and didn’t give Valdr a chance to end him. With a now bloody face, the man blocked Valdr’s attempt to slice him from shoulder to pelvis with one sword and swiped at Valdr’s legs with the other causing Valdr to dance back.

Not giving Valdr a chance to recover, the man charged. Instead of trying to block, Valdr sidestepped, letting the man run by. As he rushed by Valdr crouched, swinging his qua’ldi low, sweeping the man of his feet. While doing this Valdr brought his weapon up, making the man do an unintentional front flip. Once the bandit had done a one eighty in the air, Valdr twirled his folded qua’ldi around his hand and brought the edge down on the man’s throat, decapitating him.

“Now join your nephew in the everlasting sleep and be at peace.” whispered Valdr with a blank stare. Six down, ten more to go, thought Valdr to himself.

Valdr reached down and used the dead man’s shirt to wipe off the blood from the shaft and blade. Valdr stood and sheathed his weapon in one fluid motion. Walking over to the door that his to assailants had come from, he looked in. Inside there were six makeshift beds, three against both side walls. A chest sat against the back wall. Aside from the torches on the walls there was nothing else. He walked over to the chest and crouched in front of it. He undid the latch in the front and opened the lid. Inside it was depressingly meager. It contained a rust dagger, a set of clothes, and five gold pieces. Valdr pocketed the gold and left everything else.

Closing the lid, standing up, and turning around he walk across the hall to the other room. This room was slightly bigger than the other one, contained eight beds and two bedrolls all cramped together. Seeing nothing of value, Valdr left room and turned down the hall, back to the stairs. As he walked down the hall he stepped over the bodies of the bandits, not even looking down. Once reaching the end of the hall he ascended the rest of the stairs. At the top he saw that he was right, there were only three stories, if you consider the one he was on. He himself didn’t think of it as much of a one, being that the whole thing was missing a roof, besides the slight overhang that covered the stairwell. This floor had a hallway with two rooms like the last two. Valdr strode over so that he was standing in between both doorways. He glanced both ways and saw that each room had nothing in them except for the remains of the roof and leaves. The one on the left did however have a small tree growing out of a pile of rubble.

Turning around he walked back the way he had come. Reaching the stairs he started descending. Once he reached the second floor he paused, the air reeked of blood. He glanced at the bodies. Seeing that they had not moved he continued on down the stairs. Coming to a stop at the bottom, he stared at the other end of the hall, at the door from which he had come in. Still staring at the door, he pondered on whether or not he should leave or continue. He believed he could best this Thainin guy, but was unsure that he could beat him and the ten others at the same time. He hoped it didn’t come to that. If it did though, he might be in trouble. Steeling himself he turned away from the door and headed down the stairs.

[DuncanDonuts]

Reaching the bottom of the stairs he proceeded down a hallway. The hallway came to an area where it met up with another in a T formation. Looking left to right, Valdr saw that both directions look almost identical, even the curve at each end looked the same. Valdr didn't think it mattered which direction he went, so he headed off down the right. The curve ended with a doorway without a door. Peeking around the door, Valdr surveyed the area.

The doorway that he stood at opened onto the side of a balcony with stairs at the center, leading off over a bridge that spanned the chamber. The chamber was vaguely light from torches that were haphazardly spread over the area. Along each of the large side walls there were openings that had dirt, roots and rocks pouring out from them and into the room. At the bottom of the chamber there were paths and patches were the debris had been cleared away, there was a main pathway directly under the bridge that led to the dais at the end of the chamber. The bridge was supported by arches that reached from pillars on the side walls, the pillars being placed in between the openings. From Valdr’s position he was relatively close to the ceiling along with the balcony and bridge. If you looked down it would be hard to make out faces and anyone at the bottom probably couldn't even see that the bridge was separate from the roof.

Down below were some more of the rubble had been removed, the bandits had set up little camps and fires. At the end of the bridge there was another balcony that led off to the sides. On either end there was a spiral staircase that led to the bottom of the chamber. The staircases let out on either side of the dais. The lack of lighting made the staircases nearly invisible in the corners where they sat.

Valdr started making his way over the bridge, looking over the every once in a while. As he looked over he could make out the vague shapes of five bandits spread out into the three camps that were set up. One sat around the fire closes to the dais on the right side of the walkway. Two sat at the second camp that was halfway down on the left. The last two men were at the camp near the back wall, also on the left.

When Valdr reached the other balcony he decided to take the staircase on the left since it was darker than the one on the right, therefore less likely for him to be noticed descending. As Valdr proceeded down the staircase he acquired a better view of the chamber. The closer positioning revealed that sections of the clearings contained what looked like the remnants of old stone pews. Valdr realized that the chamber must actually be a temple of some sort. The openings on the sides must have been were the beautiful stain glass windows had been and the tower he had come in was just part of a larger whole. Valdr wondered at what could possibly have happened to bury such a massive building.

When Valdr was five steps from the bottom, the step gave way and crumbled under his weight. With a curse Valdr tumbled forwarded, down the rest of the stairs. It’s only from his training that he didn't get hurt and was able to land with a forward roll. He avoided injury but he certainly didn't avoid causing a ruckus.
The commotion caused the men around the camps to leap to their feet and look in the direction of the stairs. The first bandit to arrive looked much the same as the ones early, but carried a claymore and wore a breastplate. The bandits from the middle camp arrived next; one was stocky with a short sword and a shield with leather armor, the other was taller with a beard, he carried a spear and wore chainmail with an iron helm. The bandits from the camp farthest away arrived last. The taller of the two was bald, had a beard and had his sleeves rolled up to his shoulder, exposing the runes tattooed all along his arms. The second man held a bow and kept his distance.

Three of the men made a semi-circle, cornering Valdr. The bald man and the archer stood a little ways back behind the others. The bandits looked at Valdr with grins spreading across their faces, believing that their superior numbers would make this an easy fight.

Still crouching from his roll, Valdr stared back with a blank, studying look. Glancing from man to man, Valdr assessed each one, looking for any signs of weakness or preemptive strike. The bald man in the back possessed those runes, which inclines him to being able to use magic of some sort. Fighting mages one on one can be tricky enough, but when they are with others it’s even more so. With the strategic placing of the men this would be difficult to come away from unscathed. They might be underestimating him because they don’t know what Valdr can do, but Valdr himself doesn't know what they can do either.

[DuncanDonuts]

Valdr slowly straitened himself, eyes never leaving his opponents. Suddenly the bandit with the claymore rushed forward and swung at Valdr. Valdr ducked under the swing and then had to roll to the side as the man with the spear came in a millisecond after the first and jabbed at him. Valdr pulled out his qua’ldi just in time to block the back swing of the claymore. Pushing off the claymore Valdr spun off to the right, dodging an arrow shot from the archer in the back. The bald mage was chanting something to soft for Valdr to hear. He had his palms pressed together and the runes on his arms started to glow and crackle slightly.

The spearman stepped towards Valdr and swung his spear at Valdr’s head. Valdr ducked under the swing and swung his qua’ldi, extending it to full length and causing the spearman to dance back. The spearman jabbed at Valdr three times; the first Valdr blocked by twirling his weapon around his hand knocking the spear aside. Valdr twisted his wrist making the qua’ldi twirl in the other direction, knocking away the second strike. On the third attempt Valdr knocked the tip of the spear to the ground, stomping on it about a third of the way up the spear, breaking off the blade and part of the shaft.

Valdr then had to quickly leap back to avoid losing his leg to the downward sweep of the other bandits claymore. As Valdr was leaping back he barely had time to lift his qua’ldi, blocking a swing from the bandit with the shield and keeping his head. Since his sword was blocked the man lunged forward and bashed Valdr with his shield. Valdr stumbled back and ran heavily into the wall behind him and slumped to the ground just as an arrow stuck sparks off the wall were his head had just been.

“I have to end this soon” grunted Valdr as he staggered to his feet.

He didn't have much time to recover before he had to dodge the thrust of the claymore and block the swing of the short sword. The man who had the spear threw away the splintered shaft and pulled a dagger from his belt. The bandits disengaged and pulled back for a breather. They must have timed the respite because at that same moment there was a loud snapping sound, like the sound of cracking ice.

The sound was coming from the bald mage. The runes on his arms smoldered a blood red and there was a bluish white mist that encased his arms. In his hand he was growing what looked like a javelin made of ice. Bringing back his arm the mage threw the javelin, another started to grow in its place upon the first's release. Valdr stepped to the side as the ice flew passed, but instead of continuing strait and shattering on the wall it curved through the air and came back in Valdr’s direction. Upon seeing this Valdr sprinted off towards the nearest pillar. The javelin flew faster than Valdr could run, almost catching up to him. Right before Valdr slammed into the pillar and get impaled, he used his momentum to run up it quite a few feet, the javelin barley missed Valdr and shattered on the pillar. After using up all his momentum, Valdr pushed off the pillar and did a back flip with a corkscrew, landing with him facing the bandits.
By this time the mage had the next javelin fully formed. There wasn't a blue mist covering his arms anymore and the light of the runes had also faded. He must have only charged enough for two of those things thought Valdr.

The bandits were quite a distance away so Valdr focused on the mage. Instead of throwing the ice the mage grasped it with both hand and snapped it in half. Now with a half in each hand he swung back his arm and threw the half in his right arm, shifting the second half into his right hand as he released the first. As the ice flew the mage made it weave through the air, making it hard to tell were its going to strike. Instead of trying to dodge it Valdr spun his qua’ldi, making a twirl like a windmill. It was spinning fast enough that the ice shattered when it hit and no shards got through. Hefting the second piece the mage threw it, making it curve through the air and come at Valdr from the right side. Valdr saw it coming and stepped forward, turned and brought his weapon down, shattering the ice in midair.
Having exhausted his arsenal the bald mage stepped behind the other men as the bowmen let loose an arrow which Valdr easily sidestepped. The wizard put his palms back together and the runes started to smolder slightly again. Having learned that they weren't skilled enough best Valdr with melee weapons, the bandits were content to sit back and defend the archer and magician.

Perfect, thought Valdr, this gives me time to focus. Valdr dove into his inner self, accessing his power. Upon reaching it his eyes started to glow slightly and sparks crackled in his hair. Valdr continued to condense the energy as the mage finished and signaled with a tilt of his head for the others to advance.
This time the mages arms were cloaked in red mist that moved like fire, but weren't as substantial as the real thing. The runes had returned to their earlier smoldering. Having noticed the change in Valdr, the bandits moved towards him slowly and cautiously. As they advanced the mage raised his hands over his head and began chanting under his breath. As he chanted a ball of fire started to form between his hands.

When the bandits were half way to Valdr the churning ball of fire had reached the size of a watermelon. The wizard stopped his chanting and inhaled deeply, leaned his head back and blew heavily into the fireball. As soon as the mage released his breath a large snake of flames roared forth from the sphere of fire, lighting up the whole chamber. The bandits must have seen the mage do this before because they didn’t even flinch. It also explains why they had such smug looks on their faces earlier. Most people would be frightened by such show of force and would have given up or surrendered. Luckily Valdr wasn’t most people.

The fire snake circled towards the ceiling, towering over everything and everyone. Upon reaching its peak the snake reared towards Valdr and opened its maw, revealing fangs of flame a shade lighter than the rest of it. Roaring instead of hissing, the snake swooped down and circled around Valdr and the pillar that he was still standing near, encompassing him with walls of fire. The fire snake ended its circling with its head in front of Valdr. With one last roar the snake dived forward attempting to swallow Valdr whole.

Right as the snake was about to strike Valdr released all his pent up energy in a single telekinetic blast. The blasted pushed the air away from him along with the fire.The fire didn’t weigh very much and was blown back farther than most objects. The redirected inferno engulfed the three bandits that were advancing. As the fire dissipated the three men lay burning, withering and flaying in pain. After a while they lay still and made no other sound aside from the crackling and snapping of their burning flesh.

The mage was patting at the hem of his clothes that had caught fire. The glow on his arms had faded, having used all his energy on the snake. The archer was holding his face, which was red and he seemed to be temporarily blinded.

The mage had extinguished his attire and drew a curved dagger from inside his robes. The dagger had a greenish aura that fluxed sporadically. The archer had recovered some and fired a shot at Valdr. His eyes must have still been messing with him as his shot went wide. Reaching out with his mind Valdr grabbed the arrow, stopping it in midair. Valdr rotated it around so it was facing back the way it came. Using his mind Valdr launched the projectile back towards the archer, impaling the arrow directly into his eye. The archer died instantly and slumped to the ground, laying still.

The last man standing was the mage, who wasn’t looking very smug anymore and his complexion had paled with fright. The wizard's features then became stern as if there was something he had come to realize or except. He placed his palms together with the dagger between them and began to chant. The runes on his arms began to smolder again and sparks started to snap along the blade of the dagger, adding to the greenish glow.

Valdr started to dash towards the mage in an attempt to interrupt whatever the mage was trying to do. He was to slow however and only got half way there before the wizard had finished. The mage shifted his hands on the dagger’s hilt that had grown to allow both his hands to fit. The mage gripped the handle tighter and whispered a quick word. As soon as the word was spoken electricity arched up the blade and extended three feet. Now wielding a sword of lightning the wizard charged at Valdr. Valdr, having no intention to see the effects of the weapon, used his mind Valdr pulled the charred shield from the dead bandit to block the mage’s strike. The lightning blade sheared right through the shield, but got deflected enough to miss hitting Valdr.

Valdr knew that a prolonged fight with this guy would not be a good idea. While stepping away from the enemy, Valdr went inside himself and used his power to create a telekinetic shield. Valdr formed the shield around the mages head and condensed the shell to the point in which air couldn’t pass through. At first the mage looked confused and stumbled in his advance on Valdr, but then soon realized what was happening and started to panic. He dropped his sword, letting it hit the ground. Once making contact with the stone floor it reverted back to its dagger form.

The mage pounded on the shield with his fists, but to no avail. As rage mixed with panic, the wizard stumbled towards Valdr, but fell to his knees from lack of oxygen. Now crawling to Valdr the mage began to slow, than he shuttered and crumpled to the ground and lay still.

Valdr waited a second and stared at the wizard to make sure he was no more. While he sat there he cursed at himself for not thinking to do that earlier. Well they really didn’t give me much time to think I suppose, thought Valdr.

“You guys actually had me worried for second” commented Valdr to the dead man. “People who can use more than one or two elemental magic are rare. Too bad you didn’t know how to use it more effectively. The whole snake thing was flashy but not the most efficient way to use it.

(1 telekinetic blast, 2 telekinetic grabs, 1 telekinetic shield. 0/6 left 5 min till full recharge.)

[DuncanDonuts]

Valdr studied the body for bit more, wonder if the runes themselves gave him more than one magic or if they just augmented what he already possessed. Crouching down, Valdr inspected them closer. Valdr recognized them as demonic runes. They spoke of nature and the elements, but contained no inclination to being the source of magic.

Valdr suddenly stiffened and clenched his jaw. Images and sounds flashed through his mind, blurring together into almost unrecognizable smudges. They were images of fire and carnage, limp bodies of men and grotesque creatures littering fields upon fields. Then visages of throbbing masses of men, light playing off the blades of their weapons and armor as they thrashed and wailed against an equally large trove of monsters.

Some seemed to linger longer than others giving Valdr a distinct feeling that they were of greater importance. Every now and then he would catch a snippet of conversation, sometimes a plea of help or one of mercy, accompanied by an unpleasant scene. He saw people that looked at him the way family and friends do, but no matter how hard he strove he could not place names to those faces.

Then just as suddenly as it sprouted, the torrent of memories withered and ceased. The muscles in Valdr’s body slumped in sudden weariness. It had lasted only a span of seconds, but left him feeling like he ran six miles at top speed. Maybe it was his instinct to survive or just pure luck that Valdr avoided the misfortune of suffering an episode during battle. They only seemed to strike when he closely examined or focused on anything that held strong relevance to his past.

With slightly shaking hands, Valdr reached down and grabbed the deceased mages arm. Slowly Valdr ran his thumb across the runes. The runes were actually imprinted into the man’s skin and puckered slightly around the edges. Looking at his thumb, Valdr found that some sort of residue covering the pad of his thumb. It glowed slightly, like the stain left when you squish a firefly between your fingers in the dark.

Valdr fished through the mages robes looking in all his pockets, but didn't find what he was looking for. You would think a mage would have some sort of small bottle or vial, thought Valdr, settling instead with the piece of ruff parchment that he had discovered in one of the pockets. Reaching down again, Valdr thoroughly ran his thumb across one of the larger runes, and then he ran it across the parchment, depositing a thick streak of the mysterious residue. Valdr folded the parchment and placed it in the small sack that hung from his belt.
He would have to find someone to help him identify what it was when he finished here. It would have to be someone that has extensive experience with demonic magic. The residue must have something to do with augmenting one’s natural magical abilities. It would explain how this single man was so powerful in a range of magic instead of being mediocre with each, or excelling in only one or two, like most people with any elemental magic.

Valdr’s thinking was interrupted by a sizzling and popping sound coming from over his left shoulder. Turning to the sound, Valdr’s face dropped lower into a frown. The noise was coming from where the dagger had fallen to the ground. Valdr watched as the dagger continued to melt into a puddle that boiled and sizzled around the edges. When it was finished all that was left was the leather wrapped, oak handle. All the metal now lay in a steaming puddle that resembled greenish-black mercury.

It must have been linked to the wizard’s life force somehow, thought Valdr. “That’s too bad. It might have been handy, and if not it would have fetched a fair price.” commented Valdr, out loud.

Valdr spent the next ten minutes scouring the camps for anything of value. He didn't find much that appealed to him; he acquired a few gold coins, a roll of bandages. From inside a tent with robes and strange objects hanging from the ceiling, which must have been the mages tent, Valdr obtained a bag containing a smoking pipe of some sort, along with a smaller bag that stored a slightly sweet and sour, aromatic herb. Valdr was fully aware that some people indulged themselves with smoking cigarettes and pipe tobacco, but Valdr was certain that this wasn’t tobacco. It was inside another bag with a pipe so it must be some kind of smoking herb. Valdr decided that he would have to try it at a later date, when he had some time to relax. He probably would have to wait until he made his way back to his camp where he had left his travel-sack. He would have to strike up the fire again, which the late mage obviously didn’t have to worry about.

Standing still he looked around the walls for a way out, aside from the stairs. Valdr noticed an entrance behind the dais that had eluded him early, being blocked by the bridge when he first entered the chamber. On the opposite side there was an overhang supported by small, ornate pillars. The overhang protruded over a set of rotting double doors, wrought in intricate iron designs, rusted with age. They were pushed open and almost ripped off its hinges by a large pile of rubble.
Seeing that he wouldn’t be able to proceed that way be strode off in the direction of the dais and the entrance behind it. Walking through the door, Valdr beheld a second chamber that contained a large, decrepit table with chairs in equal disrepair. On the far wall there was a wide set of stairs that steeply led down. They must lead to the crypts where the honored dead slept and hopefully where Valdr will find what he was looking for.

At least Valdr didn’t have to worry about fighting Thainin along with ten men. It would only be five men now, which are better odds for Valdr. He might even get lucky and find the men separate from Thainin and are able to take care of them first, leaving Valdr free to engage him one on one.

(0 telekinetic power used. 6/6 left, 15 min have past granting full recharge.)