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A tall, silent figure slid silently into the shadows of the tent. The two women who were the current occupants of the tent, did not seem to notice his arrival at all. If they did, they did not acknowledge him. Indeed they were lounging on couches piled with cushions and furs, sipping from golden goblets crusted with precious stones whose contents were kept filled by a tall slave girl, who was pale with fear and whose right cheek bore an angry red welt. Another slave stood with a platter weighted down with cheese and fruit and meat pies.

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The children were not what he expected. Of course, he had not really known what he had expected. A son and daughter yes. Perhaps a pair of unruly urchins like his brothers and sisters had been presenting to the world for years now.

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As raids went, it was standard stuff. A large group of heavily-armed raiders had swept through the village. They had raped, looted and burned what was left over. They plundered the crops and winter storage, stole even the red dyes and set the fern fields alight. After killing all the men, young and old, the elderly and nursing infants–both Pery and Nevi winced at that–they had herded the remaining off, probably headed for the slave block or brothel or slavery to the bandits themselves. All more-or-less normal raider patterns.

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Pery reigned Leaf in at the top of a rise and scowled into the distance. Faintly she could see the blackened skeletal remains of what had once been a small but thriving village. It had been famous for the fine woolen cloth and the deep red dye they made from a fern which could only be grown in this part of Iris. It was from their many fields of the blood-red Nilva ferns that the village received its name, Red Hollow.

And it was here that Perytas decided to call home.

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Iltherian's Sword - Chapter 14


“Now, hun,” Dal grinned from behind clenched teeth at Nevi and Bobcat, “explain yourselves.”


Nevi blushed, looking sheepish, “Well, you see, it’s like this...”


Dal could see Bobcat roll her eyes as she finished for Nevi, “...you’re not gonna believe this but we’re on a secret mission.”


Dal’s eyebrows climbed so high they disappeared under her bangs, and Bobcat laughed. “See, Hun, I told you she wouldn’t believe it.”

iltherian-s-sword-chapter-13

Iltherian's Sword - Chapter 13

Damarie snarled, glaring into space as a half-elven archer attempted to heal the wound Pery had inflicted.

The archer sat back, slightly paler than he’d been before. For an elf, even one of the half-elven, it was tantamount to pouring down with sweat. He shook his head, “I cannot heal it all the way; there is something hindering me.”

iltherian-s-sword-chapter-12

Iltherian’s Sword - Chapter 12

A day later they crossed the bridge. No one said much of anything as they did. Not that anyone could’ve hear anything that was said. The roar of the river prevented it.

Pery regarded the raving water with awe. She’d been over the Grey Kite river any number of times, but she’d never seen the river so high, so close to washing even such a high bridge as the Greenswath Bridge. Under normal conditions, the river flowed some thirty feet below the bridge, but now a mere four feet separated them from the water.

iltherian-s-sword-chapter-11

Iltherian’s Sword - Chapter 11

Branches and bushes whipped at Perytas, but she ignored them. In truth, she didn’t even notice when she was clawed by the trees or underbrush. The only thing she was concerned with was a kind of panicked urgency that blotted out everything else.

Which was why she struggled so hard when, quite unexpectedly, she was lifted from Leaf’s back. She struggled so violently that both she and her captor tumbled to the ground. The impact did not loosen her captor’s hold and she continued struggling against the arms binding her.

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Note: Any dialogue encased with **...** indicates they are speaking a foreign language.

Iltherian’s Sword - Chapter 10


“That,” Dedrick said as they began climbing up the crumbling stairs to daylight, “was easy.”

Perytas, who was nursing a spectacular purple bruise from the day before, gave him an acid look. He countered with a smouldering look of his own that made her cheeks go ping and she averted her eyes.

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Iltherian’s Sword - Chapter 09

Any lingering dreads they might’ve had burned away in the watery sunshine outside. When Perytas stepped from under the rib-bone arches, it was as if there had been steel bands binding her chest which suddenly burst and she could breathe freely again. She realized that, from her companion’s expressions, that they were feeling something similar.

iltherian-s-sword-chapter-08

Iltherian's Sword - Chapter 08

“Well, he really seems to like you,” Perytas said quietly to Dal as they watched the men cautiously unbolting the door and peering outside. Apparently the coast was clear because the motioned the others to follow.


“Who? Noa?” Dal seemed genuinely surprised. “Bah, he is just a friend. I am certain he acts like that with all women.”

“No,” Sharina’s voice was wry. “He only acts like that with you. I have been here any number of times with other women and he never acted so...unrestrained or openly affectionate.”

iltherian-s-sword-chapter-07

Iltherian's Sword - Chapter 07

Perytas stepped under the arches leading to the prison with trepidation. She’d never been to the prison before and she didn’t quite know what to expect. From the sour expressions on the others’ faces, she took it to mean that they weren’t all that happy to be here either.

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Iltherian’s Sword - Chapter 06

“So, you understand what is required of you?” The woman sat in the deepest shadows of the room. It was hard to see her face, but to some in the room that didn’t much matter, because they were focused either on her long, voluptuous form or the rather large purse she’d tossed onto the table.

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Iltherian’s Sword - Chapter 05

Perytas yawned, staring at the fountain outside the window as it bubbled and sparkled away in the courtyard. She wasn’t really sleepy, but she was feeling the heat of the late afternoon. As was, apparently, everyone in Dratan Town. The taproom had few patrons, and the salon where she sat was completely deserted.

She turned her head at the scrape of a boot on sanded wooden floor. Dedrick smiled at her from the doorway, “I would have thought that you would be resting like the rest of the town.”

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Iltherian’s Sword –– Chapter 04


The room was swathed in deep shadows, in spite of the candle burning in a sconce and the fire burning in the grate. The shadows were the kind that encouraged the suffocation of sound. And indeed this was the case for although the room was occupied, the man sitting at cubbyhole desk muttered in low tones almost too quiet to hear and the only other sound was the skritching of pen to paper.

iltherian-s-sword-chapter-03

Iltherian’s Sword - Chapter 03

It was silent here. The silence of undisturbed centuries. A silence so complete it crushed everything else.

There was a stirring here. It wasn’t a very loud noise. A mere whisper so slight that anywhere else it would’ve been overlooked. But here it was as a cacophony, an assault on the deep silence.

'Ah, at last, at last...it has finally come...'

iltherian-s-sword-chapter-02

Iltherian's Sword - Chapter 02

iltherian-s-sword-chapter-01

Iltherian’s Sword - Chapter 01


The sun was setting over the Dratan desert in a red blaze and the heat wasn't pressing down on the world as it had been just an hour before. The sunset painted the darkening sky shades of magenta, indigo and violet.

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Iltherian’s Sword - Prologue


'Curse them, it cannot be.'


A dark figure lay on the floor of an even darker room. It rolled and gibbered, pounded on and bit at the floor. It didn’t care what it looked like, so sunk in despair and fury was it. It indulged in, reveled in its tantrum not caring if anything or anyone might stumble upon it. Indeed, it would have destroyed them to appease the violent emotions crashing through it at the moment.

blogging

I'm not really into blogging. Always seemed like getting up on a soap box and preaching or whining, whatever the case may be. Or diary writing, which I never got into despite the innumerable diaries I bought, or was bought, as a child.

I like writing, don't get me wrong, but writing about myself and my oh-so-exciting (READ: SARCASM) life is just something that I can't stomach. However, I do love writing stories and I had an idea while playing this game. An idea that's morphed into a story.

yo-what-s-up

Just wanted to say, I'm having a good day today.

Hoping you are too (^-^).

Cya.