And thus, the fields shall be sown with blood.

[Lye]

((Closed to Arch-Nemesis))

As far south as Raiaera can claim, and bordered against a land torn apart by horrors of a forgotten age, there stirred an untamed force. This creature of old, once shackled by chains of loyalty and law, now found endless opportunities. Unbound by lost ties, those courageous enough to till the soil so close to fabled land fall prey to this evil. Their cries, far from the remaining elven strongholds, go unheard to the mainlands. Children sleep restless, haunted by tales of neighboring farms swept clean of ones once called friends. Fields they played games in whisper silent tales into the wind and sweep the scent of blood south across the plains. Their fear, their insomnia, its tole has wrought them unto desperation and upon the wings of ravens, a single child sends prayer north. It is there, in the wastelands of frost, they seek aide from a group drenched in their own tales of macabre. However, theirs is a force that can be directed, and it is a force that always answers the call to blood.

"Another request, sir." A stout man, round and robust, handed the parchment to Lye.

"And this is special how?" the assassin replied. Sitting atop the several barrels of dwarven ale conveniently kept in the aviary, he opened the tightly coiled note and began to read.

"The bird," the dwarf replied, letting the raven free from his hawking glove, "it smells of sulfur." Lichensith's piercing emerald eyes shifted side to side as he read.

"This means what to me?" Lye asked with a glove pursed to his chin as he focused.

"Demons." The dwarf fetched his wooden tankard from the beaten, crap coated desk beside his superior. It only took moments for him to tap a keg and fill the vessel with a frothing drink. "Remnants in the Tular Plains..."

The assassin folded the parchment and looked to his stocky friend which proceeded to fill his stomach with the freshly poured ale. "The request is nothing of merit, only some settlers being massacred by Thaynes know what."

Lye flicked the paper toward the dwarf and it fluttered softly in the chilling Salvan winds before it found refuge in frothy whiskers. The dwarf's beady eyes narrowed. He plucked the paper from his beard and swaggered back to the barrels for another fill.

"Perhaps something else to occupy your time?" he inquired before he silenced his lips with more ale.

Lye pushed off the barrels into the sopping mix of snow and raven feces. Disgust painted his pale features as he turned to his colleague. How the man managed to live in this filth surpassed the assassin's level of comprehension. However, Bartok was the best damn Raven Lord Lye had seen over the years. So long as the man had ale, he functioned better than a well oiled Aleran clock. Without it, he was a headache and an unrivaled force of nature with a hammer.

"I'm listening," Lye returned as he dusted black feathers from his arctic attire.

"Ahh..." Bartok slammed his tankard back into the Raven crap upon his littered desk. "Last week we got word of a promising prospect to the south. Same scent as the note from today. A Haidain with a knack for killing and a mind for leading. Seems there are a few that operate under his personal employ. I reckon you may be able to knock out two Rocs with one stone."

"I reckon that ale marinated brain of yours is onto something." Bartok did not appreciate the remark at first, but shrugged an approving nod. "We'll let this prospect handle the contract and test his resolve. Perhaps we will bring a demon into our ranks."

Lye shifted over to the caged black birds. The intelligent avian cocked their heads to the side. They knew the look in the assassin's eyes. It was time to fly.

"Send a message to the south. See that this prospect gets it. Let him know that if he resolves this contract, a greater beckoning will demand his services. Should he choose to accept, his efforts will be compensated for."

With an arm gruff with thick hairs, Bartok wiped the moisture from his chilled lips. He sat upon his ragged chair, pulled a leaf of parchment from the desk drawer, and readied a quill.

"What about you?" Bartok inquired. Lye had already sunk half his body down the tower's steps.

"I think I'll travel to the plains. I could use the change in scenery after Eiskalt."

Bartok watched his master vanish into the frigid darkness. A chill prickled the dwarf's dense skin at the mention of that island. To shake it off, he set down the quill, opened another drawer in his desk, and removed a false bottom to produce a flask of Ember Whiskey. Then, with a few seconds of hesitation, he drained it dry. After a cringe and deep inhale, he set it down. His black beady eyes came to rest on the rolls of war reports stuffed into an archive box. The chill did not reside, but he took up the quill and committed it to paper.

"Send a demon to the home of demons to recruit more demons..." Bartok muttered. "I'll be needing more whiskey..."

[Arch_Nemsis]

The obsidian feathered raven flapped it's wings and looked at Nosdyn expectantly.

Nosdyn had observed the flight pattern of the smart birds for some time before coming to the conclusion that they were tracking his movements.

SOMEONE or SOMETHING of great skill level had taken an interest in Nosdyn's handiwork.

Or perhaps, it was a mere coincidence and Nosdyn's demonic mind was thinking way more than it SHOULD about such matters.

In his sector of Raiaera, there was a particularly dense killing field. He had no idea it would contain his next turning point. The next portion of his story. Nosdyn looked at the raven, he traveled in Raiaera completely alone. He'd severed all ties to his military platoon prior to that point. They only slowed him down besides. Nosdyn removed the parchment from the bird's leg. Then he began to read it. The mission that he had received was from an unknown employer. HOWEVER, the mission was a "dirty" job and Nosdyn took any dirty job...if the price was right. Nosdyn read the letter and observed all the details of the penmanship and tried to see if there were any mixed codes.

It was a simple request, some town or farm very close by was being attacked by SOMETHING. Something old, and something very powerful. "It's a chance to test my skill." Nosdyn said to nobody in particular. He took the letter, folded it in his packs and looked at the bird. He nodded his approval. "You may go my feathery friend."

The letter did not contain a map to his location, but he did not need it.

He heard stories from the desperate town folks in that area.

They whispered of demons and other horrors in the dark.

Nosdyn was prepared being Haidia bourne.

He gathered up his belongings after he'd set up camp in the middle of the wilderness. He was relatively near by to where the farming area was. There were fields in Raiaera that once produced a hell of a harvest. Now, the fields were too tainted with blood to properly nourish any harvest. Nosdyn could smell the blood and death in the air, it enticed him. But he was now on the verge of defining the Demon he was meant to become. Nosdyn narrowed his eyes as he packed his bags and began to make his way to the farming district. There were small townships all over the southern tip of Raiaera, but they were mostly ruins at that point. The greater government of Raiaera was in total ruin those days.

Fitting.

A son of Haidia was hired to save the farmhands from something...dark and evil in the area.

Nosdyn felt like doing the job for one main reason...there was reward involved.

He wasn't too proud to accept a bloody gold piece.

Nosdyn made his way to the area he figured were the farms in question. From what he'd recently heard, something out there in the wild lands was attacking farms and taking advantage of Raiaera's currently lawless state. There WAS no military in place to protect after the disastrous Corpse Wars. Nosdyn walked in silence, deep in thought. He didn't know what he was going to encounter and he did not have to operate in the same way as a normal operative would have. Nosdyn had his own code to follow. His own ethical values that stemmed from a harsh military life.

Nosdyn looked up.

The ravens were flocking about, and they would clue him in where he needed to go.

He stuck to the shadows and slowly made his way to the largest farm area he knew about.

The closer he go to the collection of buildings, the more completely he noticed the change in the air. The wind stopped blowing from ANY direction and the animals and insects of the wild had gone completely quiet. There was something in the air, something that Nosdyn had grown quite used to in his time in Raiaera. Death. Blood, carnage and crazy violence touched the air itself. Nosdyn knelt down and looked at blood soaked foliage beneath him. The whole area around him, the farmland that it was, seemed to be saturated and soaked in blood. Nosdyn didn't care one shit about the civi's caught in the mess of whatever was actually attacking. Nosdyn cared only about his OWN profit. Nosdyn carefully examined the buildings that were visible on the farmland. Some were newer, but most were actually in the old Elven architectural design. It was likely an olde settlement or township and there were lights from some of the buildings. The farmland itself was a field of several rows and columns of tilling soil. There was an abandoned tiller out in the middle of the field.

Nosdyn saw many ravens swirling in the sky above making their music.

Thankfully that was the only symphony he heard.

There were no town people out and about, but the folks in this area were a minor concern to him.

Nosdyn kept himself hidden in the dark.

There... Nosdyn thought to himself. He saw a large building which was likely where an assailant would set up camp. Nosdyn slowly began to creep towards that structure. He had no actual stealth powers, but there was nobody up and about to spot him anyway that he knew about. So he walked as quietly as he could towards the larger structure. The town was eerily quiet as he moved. There was not a soul up and about, he suspected very few people were left alive. There were many horrors stalking the countryside of Raiaera and Nosdyn had fought some of them. He'd used his growing skill to defeat whatever had come his way, or, whatever had crossed his path. Nosdyn stuck to the trees and considered where his target would hide. He tensed his muscles tightly and prepared to do whatever was necessary to strike at the target. He knew somewhere, the writer of the letter and his summon watched.

This was the test.

[Lye]

The books never did reality justice. Though the archives were exceptionally detailed and artist renditions were high quality, the junction between the Tular Plains and Raiaera needed to be experienced to understand. In the dawn, a northern wind brought warm, aromatic gusts of winds rich in the tang of sulfur. The arid gusts allowed temperate nights at the cost of unwelcome odor. In the afternoon to evenings, the wind shifted to the south. This time, the fragrances of Raiaera's rich soil, foliage, and ether washed over. Though cooler than the nights, the breeze undoubtedly came welcome to the workers in the fields.

This day, however, the fields remained barren. No one tilled the soil and the sweet Raiaeran winds failed to mask the stink of death with their fragrance. Though only two farm houses sat on his peripheral, Lye knew the request originated from this very spot. One elven structure stood lifeless with shutters latched shut, curtains drawn, and silent in the wind. The other rattled in the breeze while open shutters slammed against the walls and curtains fluttered outward. The stalks of crops lay trampled and dying while smears once bright red had oxidized into a rusty brown. The wild ravens skipped across the torn earth to pick at pieces of food or remnants of those who called that place home.

Lye remained at a distance. No good would come from investigating the scene days past the crime. He looked to the home unscathed of the two and caught a glimpse of movement from the shut curtains. The shadow, no taller than a foot from the sill, had a chance of being the client. Judging by the scribble on the parchment and measly three sovereigns offered as a reward, the neighboring child made a logical choice. The assassin smirked, and tightened his hood over his head. For a child to contact such a dark organization, either they were foolish to ignore their parent's stories or brave.

The assassin continued his venture eastward, where the maps indicated a larger grouping of structures. Too small to be called a city or town, the farmers most likely used it as a co-op to exchange goods from their lands to sustain their homes. He kept off the beaten path, as he suspected the killer would, and stuck to the tall weeds. No footprints, nor trails of blood, marked this path, but like Bartok mentioned, the scent of sulfur meant demons. This far north of the plains and with the sweet Raiaeran winds sweeping south, sulfur had no place here. That, and the small fragments of cloth Lye discovered snagged in the thistle indicated the target's direction. Considering the traditional methods of tracking had been covered up, this was no novice.

As the buildings grew large in the horizon and sun began the decent to the west, one of the circling black birds dropped from above and perched upon Lye's shoulder. It cocked its head and blinked while peering under the shadow of the assassin's hood and into green eyes. Lye raised his hand to his shoulder to which the raven jumped aboard. As he pulled away, Lye did not notice any message tied to its legs, but this bird indeed was one of The Order's.

"What word do you bring?" Lye asked. The bird cocked its head with a squawk and turned away from the assassin toward the conglomerate of buildings. With a hiss and stretch of its wings, Lye looked to the direction of its beak. It pointed out a building that stood above the rest where the sky above circled the rest of its brethren.

"I see it," Lye confirmed to his messenger. The bird closed its wings and tapped its beak against his gloved hand twice, paused, then another three.

"How far is he?" Lye asked. The bird tapped twice, then swept its beak against the glove.

"What about the killer?" The bird raised the feathers around its neck and let loose a long caw. Lye nodded softly and dug his free hand in the pouch at his back. The raven ruffled its feathers then turned to face its handler. Avian eyes locked onto pouch with intense interest. Lye produced a fragment of dried beef and without so much as a second, the bird snatched it from his fingers and took to the sky.

After receiving this new information, the assassin quickened his pace to a sprint. While he still kept to the tall foliage, he took every care to ensure his steps made as little noise as possible.

[Arch_Nemsis]

Nosdyn smelled death in the air.

It was an olde, rotten scent like too many rotten cadavers left out to dry in the sun for far too long.

Nosdyn walked out on the open field. His mind was troubled by the scenario, and the thought did cross that he could have possibly been walking into some sort of a trap. However, he was a mercenary of sorts, a sell-sword and he would not break a contract if he could help it. Nosdyn rather liked the sell-sword industry free lancing usually provided open opportunity to make a bloody coin. Nosdyn took the moment to double check his supplies. He'd resupplied at a basic camp he'd discovered earlier and made sure his rations and other basic survival kits were present. But that's not what he was focused on. Instinctively, his hand went to the handle of his weapon. That's when he felt movement behind him. A few paces off. He had not yet reached the building which likely contained the target.

Nosdyn immediately turned towards the sounds, he'd heard and saw two civilians present.

They were bloody Elves too.

Nosdyn could not help but grimace behind the mask he wore.

He kept his hand on the hilt of his weapon, but did not activate it...he hesitated. Likely for his own well being.

However, he kept himself ready to spring if the pair before him attacked.

They were both women of the Elven variety.

"You." One of them said. "State your business!"

Nosdyn did not like having to follow orders, or be bossed around. But he decided to play along. Nosdyn wanted to keep an air of civility with potential contacts, or jobs. He wasn't certain if the Elves had hired him directly or not, so they were likely potential employers. "I am here to bring down a Demon." Nosdyn said calmly. He was agitated, but he did not want to cause any more of a stir than need be. He was more than capable of defending himself, but he wanted to be certain that the target was dealt with FIRST.

"Ellysa, he is the one." The second one said. She had a sudden look of fear, and admiration on her face. "They finally sent their agents to assist."

"How can we be certain?" Ellysa asked. She looked at Nosdyn. "Do you know what hunts us?"

"I know he is Haidian Bourne." Nosdyn responded. "And Haidians should be dealt with by Haidian hands." Nosdyn found the two women to be very attractive and agreeable. But he was there on business.

"The rest of the guard folks will be notified that you are here." Ellysa said. "They will know not to interfere with someone of The Order."

Her lips trembled with something more than fear. Nosdyn noticed that and perhaps stared a little more than he meant to. He nodded. "I shall deal with the mark." He said. "Where was it's last known location?" Nosdyn asked.

"There." The other woman said calmly. She pointed to an area beyond the building Nosdyn was heading to anyway.

"Take your survivors and leave this area." Nosdyn was inherently a Demon, and a dangerous individual. But he had his honour, he could live by a code. Nosdyn had a gut feeling that the mark was somewhere inside that big building. "Go someplace safe." Safe? It's Raiaera, Xem'Zund really did a number on this place... Nosdyn thought to himself. He was thankful that he'd recently purchased his mask to keep his face hidden. He knew most surface dwellers did not take kindly to his people. That was probably for the best, but the Elves of Raiaera took allies from all sides of the playing field.

"What about your reward?" Ellysa asked. That tremble was there again.

Nosdyn hesitated. As he looked at her he pondered a lot of things. But those would all wait, he was on a mark hunt at the present, and that took all priority. "Keep some of your numbers behind so that I can speak to you after the mark is taken down."

With that, Nosdyn proceeded to make his way towards the large barn-like building.

Nosdyn noticed that the barn was abandoned. The scent of death was strongest there, but it really didn't bother him. What did bother him was the fact that he felt a presence there. Nosdyn had some knowledge of the olde ways. The knowledge had allowed him to construct his own beam weapon. Further, it had allowed him basic control and maintenance of his weapon so that he could take down powerful marks. His eyes narrowed, the stalls were empty and there was only the sound of wind coming in from the south. Surprisingly, the glow orbs were still operational but they only gave off a flickering light. They needed to be empowered once more. As he studied the orb nearest to his person, he felt a movement ripple through the air. Instinctively, Nosdyn activated his beam sword and pointed at the direction of his mark.

The elder Demon was staring right at him!

Nosdyn recognized the markings of the elder Demon from his history studies. The creature was a member of one of the oldest platoons, Alpha-Bravo Company. Nosdyn recognized the marks and insignia right away. The fellow was a corporal of his platoon, and well decorated. Nosdyn did not know how rank and file was handled back then, but times were different at the modern juncture of history. He carefully considered the situation at hand. The Demon he looked at was an Orc, and one of the older breed. He had dark green and sinewy flesh, his armour was well decorated, and his eyes were red with hatred. However, there was something else in those eyes too. A sort of noticeable respect upon seeing another fellow Haidian, albeit from a different age.

Nosdyn studied the olde one very carefully.

He was clearly a threat, but the Orc did not begin to attack right from the start, that would give Nosdyn a rare chance.

"So the villagers saw fit to send a Haidian for me." The olde Orc said with a gravelly, deep voice.

Nosdyn looked at the glow-orb for a long moment, then back at the corporal. "I am an independent freelancer. I was hired by an outside benefactor, it's nothing personal." Nosdyn took a step forward towards the corporal. He kept his weapon activated the humming of the blade he could conjure filled the barn with sudden activity. "You've got a good gig here." Nosdyn said. "How long have you been hunting these poor saps?"

"Heh." The corporal responded. "Few years now. They've been attempting to get outside help for a long time. Lost contact with my platoon a while back. Been itching to get back into some real action."

"I don't know how long you've been out of the loop." Nosdyn said in response. "But there are only a few ways back to Haidia now." He kept his eyes locked on the corporal. "Your olde commanders in Alpha-Bravo Company are probably long since dead."

"Shit's crazy like that you know?" The Corporal suddenly said. "One day you're on the way to becoming a Four Badge General, and the next...some crazy kid comes at you with a writ." The Olde Demon looked at Nosdyn for a long moment. "You've got hunger kid. I will give you that much. What do they call you?" The Corporal asked.

"Nosdyn. Sir. Nosdyn of clan Krotar." Nosdyn had to give the olde one credit, the Orc was clearly not afraid.

'Krotar eh? I remember old Jrothghar Krotar when I was back in the service. Probably one of your forefathers if I'm not too terribly mistaken." The Orc rubbed his beard as he spoke. "Your clan has probably prospered since my time. Jrothghar was one of the best damned Field Medics of his age, got decorated too was my understanding."

"You're talking about one of my Great Grandfathers." Nosdyn closed his eyes and tried to envision what Jrothghar might have looked like. "To who do I owe the honour?" Nosdyn responded.

"Made Corporal of Alpha-Bravo Company once. The name is Angth Drogyr." Angth said. "You've got a lot of balls coming here on their behalf..."

"I told you already." Nosdyn took another step closer. "I'm here on the behalf of an outside benefactor. I'm to put you down. Like I said earlier, it's nothing personal at all."

"You're here to put me down huh?" Angth started to laugh. "I been on the brink for years now and then someone like YOU shows up to get the job done." He shook his head. "The brass always did have a sense of humour."

"You don't seem to understand the situation here." Nosdyn responded. "Your benefactors no longer live. Alpha-Bravo Company has long since disbanded. I remember your platoon because I study history. But not many are in my specific position anyway." Nosdyn shook his head. "Angth, you would have been a tremendous asset. However, the time has come where I have to complete the job I was given."

Angth looked at Nosdyn for a long moment. "You're serious aren't you kid?" He shook his head. "No matter, even if I were to go back NOW nobody would remember who I was anyway. I would have to start completely over. The prospects for someone like me are much better on the surface world regardless." Angth shifted his body weight so he could more easily move into combat position. He drew the hilts of two powerful beam weapons. One for each hand. Then activated them together, the sound of the weapons igniting filled the air. The blades were deep crimson and Nosdyn recognized their elder markings.

"Bet those haven't seen proper use in a while." Nosdyn said, he moved so that he was properly in front of the olde Demon.

The two started moving in circles around one another.

"Really now, you ready to test that theory?" Angth asked.

"Angth. I will say once more, whatever you might be feeling right now...please remember that this is not personal. I am a businessman and I am fulfilling a contract. Nothing more, nothing less. You don't even really matter to me, nor do these people your value to me is as a MARK." Nosdyn said.

"Noted. Now let's see how good you are." The two Haidian Bourne charged one another.

[Lye]

The barn for which the raven spoke crested over the weeds. By the time Lye had arrived, the sun had found its way to the horizon and exhaustion teased at his ribs. As he took a moment to catch his breath, his emerald gaze spotted a pair footprints unlike his own. Beside which, another pair much larger marked the earth. With each breath, the assassin noted a fragrance far too familiar and unlike the stench of decay, these kills smelled much fresher.

Lye stood and let his breathing fall shallow, then halted entirely. The wind hissed through dry grass, the forest canopy in the distance contributed a soft rattle, and birds sang their evening lullabies. Among this transient beauty, Lye made out a different sound, voices.

Two of them.

His lips curled into a grin. This initiate already began proving his worth in speed and efficiency. Lye rolled his shoulders, loosened some muscles, and flexed his neck to each side. Then, with a hand in his rear leather pouch, he produced a barbed prong attached to some cable. So far, the echoes of battle had yet to join the evening symphony, and Lye aimed to oversee the event from start to bloody finish.

He faced the sun battered barn with tool in hand, and with only a thought, darkness crawled along his hands. It scampered along the steel cable and penetrated the barbed tip. Then, like the stories of ghosts told to children, it lifted into the air, possessed. Lye willed it so, and like a whisper in the night, sent the barb floating above the rooftop. With the slack still in hand, he buried the barb into the wood with as little sound he could fathom.

Then, he began the climb.

With all the muscles in his core taught, the assassin began up the barn’s side. Each step tested the wood for structure and more importantly, noise. He shimmied up the side, away from windows, and as he reached the apex, strange noises began to emit from within. Lye harvested his climbing tool and returned it to his pouch. Then, with a mental link to the plane of shadows, he became incorporeal and fell through the roof into the shadowed rafters below. He landed, perched, and cloaked himself from mortal sight with dark magics.

It was then he noticed the Haidian Nosdyn with glowing relic in hand. Mere paces away, another demon much larger, held a similar object. Their stances, the silent aggression in their eyes, these objects were weapons.

Then, they charged.

Lye’s unseen lips twisted in amusement. The initiation had begun. Just how well would this new blood fair?

[Arch_Nemsis]

Thus, the almost beautiful dance began.

The demon general swung his weapons at Nosdyn, becoming as a storm of blades. Flashing lights filled the barn's chamber creating a ethereal and cascading glow. The general named Angth immediately activated his best abilities to attempt to strike Nosdyn down. The swipes and slashes were skilled, terribly skilled, and the sounds of all three humming blades were maddening. There were no animals present in the barn since Angth had made suitable sacrifices of them to the deity of his appetite. Angth's flurry of attacks came like a tsunami, a storm. He half expected that Nosdyn would immediately submit to the battle and enter the realm of the great beyond. However...something that Angth had not prepared for occurred.

***

Nosdyn timed his counter strikes as fluidly as he possibly could.

He's fast.. Nosdyn thought to himself. I only need to kill him, I don't need to prolong this any longer than necessary. Each time the two warrior's blades clashed there was a burst of energy. The clashing sounds resonated throughout the barn, swirling through the air and sending sparks everywhere. The sparks were as tiny crystal-energy fragments that burst off the parent blade energy forms. From time to time energy touched the muscular forms of either warrior. Neither flinched. Both were far too interested in besting the other to care about self-damage. The jockeying slashes and movements continues for the better part of half an hour. Neither warrior growing tired, and Angth only having a slight edge to Nosdyn due to his years of experience and potentially superior powers. Surprisingly enough, it was Angth that broke their current round of melee and jumped backwards attempting to catch his breath. Nosdyn saw that opening...

"Wait...ARGH!" Finally defeated after approximately a half-hour worth of fighting time, Angth fell down to one knee looking up at Nosdyn with a crazed expression in his eyes. Nosdyn's weapon had impaled his chest, as Nosdyn had instinctively thrown it through the warrior's heart.

Nosdyn stood there watching his opponent dying. "You intended to talk your way out of this did you not?" Nosdyn shook his head. "Consider this. Times have changed, even if you would have killed me they would not have accepted your likes back home. You've grown soft. There is no room for the weak." Nosdyn knelt down before Angth and looked right into the fellow's eyes. He savoured every moment of the dying warrior. Suddenly, Nosdyn grabbed the sides of the man's head. "Only the great beyond awaits you!"

Snap! Nosdyn skillfully snapped Angth's neck. The warrior fell to the ground, defeated. Nosdyn then maneuvered so that he could turn the warrior to his front side. He removed his weapon from Angth's chest and shut the blade off, reattaching it to belt. Suddenly, Nosdyn found himself at a loss. He'd beaten a far superior opponent, BUT, he wasn't certain what the contractor wanted. Do I carve out his heart, or simply retrieve Angth's head as proof of the deed? I've never done this sort of contract killing before... Nosdyn thought to himself as he stared at the now dead warrior before him. To take out some frustration, Nosdyn kicked the fallen warrior's body, the chest area where there was now a bleeding and gaping hole. Nosdyn did the next thing he thought would matter, he took both of Angth's rune blades. He would keep one for himself and dismantle the other for spare parts. He placed both of the weapons for himself in his supply pack.

That was when he felt it.

A crowd had gathered outside of the barn. Five representatives of the village walked towards Nosdyn. One took point...the leader of the group. Nosdyn narrowed his eyes. Instinctively, his hands went to his blade and he activated the beam weapon.

"Wait!" The leader of the small group of villagers spoke. He was a male Human, he had short blonde hair and brown eyes. He dressed in simple commoner's garb.

Without ever knowing why, Nosdyn did hesitate. He figured he needed to hear these people out at least for his own selfish reasons, and his own survival...he was greatly out numbered. He knew that right from the numbers of the entire remaining villagers before him. Nosdyn kept his weapon at the ready just in case they attacked. Nosdyn eyed the leader and spoke to him, only to him. In his mind, he counted off how many were gathered before him in case shit went south. "Speak freely." Nosdyn said carefully, trying his best not to offend the survivors after they'd already gone through their ordeal.

"Nobody sent help. That monster was tormenting and torturing us for months...we thought it was all over." The leader introduced himself. "My name is Paul Blue. I represent this town. I don't know who sent you or why, but you have shown tremendous skill in killing the demon."

Nosdyn realized something that would forever separate him from most of the savages of his race. He shut down his weapon and attached it back on his belt. These folks were not hostiles. "I was sent by someone who I cannot disclose." Nosdyn looked at the man directly in his eyes. "The target has been neutralized." Nosdyn said carefully. Nosdyn wondered right then if his contractor was watching the proceeding events from some location...it was likely. Then a thought dawned on him. "You'd do well to burn the body to ashes." Nosdyn continued to look at Paul, there was a tension in the air. Nosdyn spoke a moment longer. "What is that you want?" Nosdyn asked.

"We wanted to thank you, and reward you. You have saved this village and her people from imminent disaster. There has not been a demon general active in these parts for a long time. You have done us a tremendous service. Is there anything we can do in exchange for what you've done today?"

Nosdyn actually thought about that. "I will need a base of operation...a house is what your people call it. If there is one available I'll take one of those as reward for my services." Nosdyn did not truly belong to any township, city or village. He simply wandered this way and that, however, he knew as part of being a member of that powerful faction...he would need resources of his own. Nosdyn knew he was probably asking for a lot...but he could have asked for more. He simply needed an asset that they could provide. He was prepared to work for it.

"You plan on staying here long term?" Paul asked.

Nosdyn nodded in the positive. "My contractor will need me to be able to provide resources, and contribute to the cause." Nosdyn was thinking several steps ahead. Life was a thinking man's game, a tactician's game. Nosdyn decided he would need to contribute as many resources as possible. He was thinking on the fly, advancing himself. Nosdyn allowed himself a moment to relax for the first time since he arrived at the village and gotten his mark. "But yes, I intend to stay long term. However, I will need to be frequently mobile." Nosdyn explained.

And thus, the villagers and Nosdyn began to develop a rapport.