Humble Beginnings (In the year 2987 AA)

Raining blows down upon the elf with animalistic frenzy, the theshi seemed to gain the advantage over Lainiel. They both squealed with bloodthirsty extacy as one of them sliced at her arm, drawing blood. One of them was heaving for breath though, weary from many wounds and scratches all over his body. He mustered all his strenght, bringing his axe up high in order to finish off the elf with one massive blow while his companion fended off her attacks with a chipped scimitar. The axe whistled through the air, directly towards the head of the elven druid.

Life slowed down for Lainiel, every movement, noise, everything was stretched out in her consciousness. In slow-motion, she saw an axe coming towards her head, while the other Theshi kept on aiming hits at Lainiel which she could barely parry. In a mere second, an axe was going to split her skull and the other Theshi’s weapons were going to cut her body to pieces.
In this same mere second Lainiel jumped backwards, avoiding the heavy blow of the axe by only a thin hair, being hit by the other Theshi in her side.
She felt backwards in the bush of thorns, now completely unable to defend herself, looking up at the two Theshi bowing over her. She tried to pull herself out of the thorns. She couldn't. She was stuck. She attempted a second time to escape, failing again. The two Theshi looked down at her with a malicious grin on their faces. Tinkles of joy could be read in their eyes as they saw how Lainiel was hopelessly stuck in the thorns. How more she struggled, how more pain she received. The thorns scratched her arms, her cheek, her whole body. The Theshi seemed to completely forget of Tukol’s presence, however. He was Lainiel’s last hope. The question was, was he able to save her in time?

Her stomach turned when one of the Theshi heaved up his axe, readying to chop Lainiel into two.

Still struggling with the daggers stuck deep within one of the theki's chest, Tukol looked up in alarm as he heard the elf fall to the ground. "Crud," he muttered as the daggers wouldn't yank free. Noting the direness of the situation, he let go of the hilts of his precious weapons, a hand rummaging through a pouch inside of his coat. His free hand had already fished forth a tiny thumb-sized contraption made of flint and iron. His other hand retrieved a small, round object from his inner pockets, and moments later, a small, round iron ball left a trail of sparks through the air. The theshi both stopped as they heard the hissing sound, stopping dead in their tracks. Time seemed to stand still as both of their heads turned slightly, their eyes catching a glimpse of the bomb making its way right between their faces before exploding with a loud, sharp pang.

Both of the theshi stumbled to either side, took one or two staggering steps while shrieking loudly, then fell to the ground to join their companions in the afterlife. Tukol wiped his forehead with both of his palms, grinning at his own and the elf's sheer, dumb luck.

Lainiel was unable to celebrate her victory; she could still not free herself from the thorns. They only started to tie themselves tighter around the Elf’s arms. For a moment she lay still, dreaded for what the future possessed for her. Then an idea rose up in her mind; something she should have been thinking of earlier. Gathering some energy, Lainiel casted another Druidic spell; transforming the thorns back into its former leafs. Clumsily and groaning she got herself up. She dumbly stared at the Night-Gremlin. The next moment she turned around and ran away, as fast as she could, through forestland, muddy lakes and everything on her way back to the town. She wasn’t in the mood for this Night-Gremlin attempting to start a conversation with her, or worse; him trying to kill her. She didn’t want to fight more Theshi. She just wanted to find a quiet, safe place somewhere inside the town of Valesburg and crawl up against a tree or wall. She was so sleepy now.

After a few minutes of running she took a break to get some breath, leaning against a tree. She looked backwards to the place where she was coming from. It appeared calm and peaceful. Then she looked to the other side, where Valesburg was located. In the distance she could see grey smoke rising out of the chimneys, almost invisible due to the dark night. Her eyes were good enough spot the smoke though, knowing that Valesburg was only a quarter of an hour walking away from her now.
She was still leaning against the tree, imagining herself waking up in Valesburg tomorrow and finding herself a nice breakfast.

"I'll be damned it that ain't an odd way of expressing one's gratitude for sure..." Tukol shrugged and walked over to one of the fallen theshi, yanking his daggers free from his chest before proceeding to remove the scalp from each and every one of them. Fishing forth a short rope from his inner pockets, he strapped the bloody trophies around his waist, a greedy grin spreading on his face. "More for me, dear elf," he exclaimed, slumping down against a nearby tree.
It had been a trying night. He was glad he finally had a chance to relax, at least for a couple of hours. He doubted anyone or anything would jump him any time soon.

"Rough day, miss?" The barkeep eyed the intoxicated woman in front of him as she ordered her seventh ale. "Tell me 'bout it, not one single theshi, goblin or ogre as far as the farkin' eye could see all day. I swear, we're hunting the bastards to extinction by the looks of it."

"One can only hope, lass," the bearded man grinned as he handed over another mug. "'Tis your first day, no? Ye can't pretty well expect to run into hundreds'o'em after an hour or two. They dodge funny-lookin' people y'know..." he added dryly as his gaze wandered from top to toe upon the oddly dressed Inette, from the flimsy old leather hat to the nearly matching leather coat, to the huge sword strapped on her back. "That supposed to mean something?" - "Not at all, ma'am."

She sighed, emptying her mug in three massive chugs before spinning around on her chair, leaning her elbows on the counter while she gloomily stared into the bar, where she saw nothing of real interest. She'd spent much of her savings merely killing time... she was here to earn money, and let's not forget - adventure! Yet here she was, busy getting partially drunk. Tomorrow. Tomorrow she'd be lucky, she knew it.

Just a minute had passed, Lainiel was still leaning against the same tree. She was so tired. She had almost taken a seat on the ground here, deciding to sleep through the night here in the dangerous wilderness. Then she reminded herself about all the Theshi walking around and that she could best return to Valesburg. She yawned. She was tired and it was going to be a steady walk for certainly half an hour or longer before she would finally reach her destination.
Lainiel froze. There was a pack of wolves not too far away, howling. For ten counts they went on howling, before they went quiet. Quickly the Elf began running towards Valesburg; it really wasn’t safe out here in the night. Then the howling began again, closer by this time. Lainiel started running faster. If she was to become the target of a pack of wolves, she would never reach Valesburg in time. For a minute the howling continued this time, before they felt quiet again, to Lainiel’s dismay. It meant that they could be following her. She kept on running for a while without hearing anything from the wolves. Suddenly the Elf’s path was blocked by some trees and a little stream. She turned around. At first there was nothing to be seen except for an owl hooting nervously up in a tree. Then a pair of yellow glowing eyes appeared in the darkened forest. Immediately Lainiel turned around and began running again, right through the little stream and further. She didn’t dare to look behind her; when she did at last, she was relieved to see nothing. She was now near the edge of the forest and Valesburg wasn’t too far away now.

Fear filled the Elf when she saw something prowling through the grass and the bushes in the corners of her eyes. Once again, the Elf started running. She was still not close enough to Valesburg to be able to reach safety in time, though. As an Elf she was far more agile and thus faster than the average Human but still not fast enough to outrun wolves.
Once again there were no wolves following her. She realized; they were playing with her. She hated this. She was a hunter, not a prey! Nevertheless, the Elf continued running. Then happened what she had feared for all along; one wolf appeared, chasing her. Then another, and another, and another. The Elf sped up; they were now out of the forest, at the open but hilly area surrounding the town of Valesburg which was now only half a mile away. Perhaps with some luck she was going to reach the town just in time. Could she depend on luck once again? She could have been dead five times by now already if the Night-Gremlin didn’t show up and saved her from the Theshi. The Elf started running on her fastest, the wolves closing in on her with a fearsome speed.

She placed her feet wrongly, stumbled and fell on the ground. She was as good as dead now; within a matter of seconds the wolves would jump on her and tear her to thousands of pieces of Bloody Elf.
She could have been dead if she had not remembered a druidic spell in time. Calling upon the powers of nature, she managed to manipulate the wolves; filling them with doubt. For a moment they stood there, confused. Lainiel used this as a chance to rise to her feet and continue running. When the spell began to wear off after a short minute, Lainiel was distant enough from the wolves to reach Valesburg in time.

What the Elf had not suspected, however, were the closed gates of the town. Locked outside of the safe town-walls, all her efforts were for nothing. The wolves, however, were not attacking Lainiel. They stood a few yards away from the Elf, eying the town, its wall, the smoke rising up in the sky, the lights. So close to civilization was no place for them and they were forced to retreat. Lainiel was relieved; once again today she was saved by only sheer luck.

Safe from the wolves but locked out of the town, the Elf found a safe and hidden spot between some trees a stone’s throw away from Valesburg. She quickly fell asleep, ignoring her worries about tomorrow. Because she already knew, she just did; tomorrow was going to be a special day.

"Hear that? Wolf!" One of the theshi turned to his superior with a worried frown on his savage face. "Bad omen, wolf cries close, we turn around, yes?" He was met by a silent glare from the tall, armored figure behind him, and rather than raise his voice to protest the red creature turned slowly around and signaled to his companions that they should keep moving. Numerous eyes gleamed in the darkness as the forest itself almost looked like it was coming to life, dark shapes emerging from every bush, from behind every tree. They were many, very many. Under the cover of night, the band moved silently and unseen, hidden from the eyes of Valesburg as they slowly closed in on the town, coming to a halt near the forest's edge.

The theshi that had spoken earlier, quite large and muscular for his kind, and judging from his attire, tribal tattooes and higher quality weaponry, the leader of the band, turned nervously to the armored figure once more. "We ready whenever you give signal. You tell and we kill, yes, yes..." The armored one nodded briefly. "Are the igniters in place?" The theshi commander nodded, flashing a wide, yellow grin. "Then I see no reason to wait any longer. Leave no man, woman nor child standing..."

The theshi chieftan raised his sword high, then jutted it in the direction of the unsuspecting lights in the distance. Torches were lit, weapons were unsheathed, and soon, the fields surrounding Valesburg were full of screaming charging theshi, hundreds of them all waving their torches, spears, axes swords and clubs. The armored figure silently observed the scene from afar, arms crossed while leaning against a tree trunk. "Crude, yet effective."

************************

"You hear that?" Inette was awoken from her stupor as she was nudged by the innkeeper's rough hand. "Hru.... what?" She nearly fell off her chair as she stared right into the eyes of the worried barkeep. "WHA?!" She instinctively grabbed the counter to keep herself from keeling over, irritably staring the bald man down. "The town bells, they're chiming, I think we're under attack!" Inette was suddenly wide awake. "Att... you're kidding, right? You're pulling my leg." The innkeeper furiously shook his head. "Listen for yourse-.." The door slammed open and a young boy appeared in the doorway, drenched in sweat and his eyes wide open with fear. "Hemmet! Hemmet, theshi! Hundreds, thousands! They're attacking the city!" Inette and Hemmet both paled, exchanging glances for a brief instant.

"Get in the basement, Clive. Get all the guests into the basement and seal it." The boy didn't need to be told twice, darting upstairs, releasing panicked cries into each and every room. Soon, the inn was bustling with activity, some dressed in nothing but their nightly garments, hurrying down into the basement, others fumbling with their scabbards and hurriedly donning their armor. Inette grabbed hold of her sword, yanking it free from the scabard strapped on her back. "Didn't think they'd be this brave! ...Or plentiful?"

He couldn't sleep. He had never been able to sleep at night, really. But the townsfolk were generally awake when the dreaded sun was up to warm them up. He despised wasting the night on sleep, but he had gotten more or less used to changing his sleeping pattern to match the surfacers. Yet here he sat, unable to sleep, his tired eyes staring into the woods. Might as well spend the night doing something useful, rather than wasting away here... He hauled himself to his feet, adjusted his coat and headed off in the direction of Valesburg. Perhaps he could make it before the sun rose, finding a comfortable room to sleep away the day in after cashing in his trophies. He smiled at the thought.

As he neared the forest's edge, he noticed lights in the distance. Not the lamps of the town, but torchlight. And it seemed to be heading towards town as well. He narrowed down his eyes, and his mouth twitched as he noticed the wielders were theshi. And no small amount of them either. Cautiously, Tulok crept forward. He couldn't see anyone in his immediate surroundings, but would not take any chances. The theshi were charging towards the fortified town, waving their weapons and torches about as they rushed towards the palisades. Many of them fell to the arrows of the town guard, but despite dozens of them never reaching the walls, the lucky ones who made it had already started climbing the walls, assaulting the archers.

"I can't let this happen to Valesburg! ...Who's gonna pay for my scalps if it falls?!"

"What could they possibly be thinking? The town is well defended, few are even reaching our walls..." Captain Terrence Greymoore ran a hand through his graying hair as he overlooked the battle from a small wooden tower upon the palisade. He couldn't see much, it being in the darkest of night, but torchlight indicated where the theshi gathered. The defenders seemed to fend off the rampaging savages quite well, few ever reaching the top of the palisades. And those who did were swiftly cut down by the town guard, accompanied by eager mercenearies.

"They are rushing blindly to their deaths captain, we have already slain over a hundred of their number by the looks of it. They cannot possibly be more than three hundred total." The captain's advisor, a young man by the name Garlet, a confident grin on his face, was up there along with him, now and then shouting orders to messengers who ran off to different parts of the palisade walls with his command. "Even theshi are not this dumb. Something must b-" the captain was cut off by a loud boom, and as he stared down at the palisade in awe he witnessed a huge explosion blow a huge hole in the palisade, theshi swarming inside the town. "Get at least two dozen guards down there and defend that brea-" before he finished this sentence as well, a second explosion sent tremors throughout the palisade. The western and eastern palisade now had two major breaches in them, and the bloodthirsty theshi were running loose in the streets, engaging in battle with the militia on the inside.

Captain Greymoore sharply drew his breath as he spotted the source of these explosions. Many of the theshi who ran towards the walls had no intention whatsoever of surviving. The torchbearers were loaded with black powder explosives, and ignited themselves the moment before they reached the walls, screaming loudly as their flesh seared and they sought to blow parts and bits of the walls with them as they died. "Ye gods..."

*

As a third theshi fell before her massive blade, Inette called out for the man beside her to protect her as she recovered. Together with three other mercenaries, she blocked the entrance to the inn, keeping the dozens of civilians locked inside safe... but for how long? The theshi were everywhere, and they were outnumbered and surrounded. She brought her sword up with a grunt and impaled another of the creatures as they nearly skevered another of her comrades. "Why did I put my money on size..?!" Gritting her teeth, she brought her greatsword upwards with both hands, determined to continue the fight until she dropped dead along with her comrades.

Sleeping peacefully for a few hours, Lainiel was brutally woken up by the sounds of a marching army. She had barely opened her eyes and she saw Theshi storming the palisade walls of Valesburg. The Elf had not recovered of the shock yet before the creatures had blown breaches into the walls.
She was watching it all from her save hiding spot, fortunate that the Theshi were not able to see her there. She sat there, watching the Theshi finding their way into the town; murdering all who could not properly defend themselves, realizing that she should help the town. She wondered how; the flat open land surrounding her hiding place was overrun by Theshi. The number of Theshi still outside the town and alive was surely above the hundred, there was no chance Lainiel could do anything against them. If she would betray her position, she would likely end up the same as the unarmed civilians of Valesburg will in case the Theshi would be able to defeat the militia. When she was still a child, she had heard ancient Elven tales back at home about heroes of old. Those were probably able to defeat whole armies on their own; but not she. She was just a random, weak Elf. If she would have had those bombs like the Night-Gremlin had earlier today, then she could perhaps try to do something. The problem was; she did not have any miraculous weapon, she was not able to cast revolutionary spells and there was no other solution to aid Valesburg effectively and stay alive. The truth struck her; she was stuck in her hiding spot. There was no way to escape before the Theshi were gone and there was no way to help Valesburg.

(Co-writing this post with Revan for co-RPing reasons)

As the horde of theshi continued to pour into the city, the defenders of the inn were starting to get weary from the constant stream of bloodthirsty midgets hellbent on their demise. One was down, a deep wound in his chest, and the remaining three were having a more and more difficult time keeping the horde at bay. There was no time to think. Parry, thrust, dodge, sidestep, lunge. Inette wasn't thinking, she just waved her sword in the direction where the enemy was, and darted around not to get hit herself. They were unorganized and crude in their ways, but not exactly weak. Many a time she gritted her teeth against the pain as tremors shot down her blade and into her hands from parrying a mighty club or sharp axe. Finally, her greatsword fell to the ground, Inette being too exhausted to wield it any longer. A theshi squealed with glee as he rushed towards her, twin blades gleaming wickedly. Then he fell to the ground, several arrow-like objects plunged into its back.

Another fell, then another, then another, all of them howling with surprise as heavy bolts found their way to their targets, plunging into them before the surprised savages fell roaring to the ground. A short, coated figure darted into sight, taking up position alongside the others, his twin daggers drawn. The gleaming yellow eyes revealed the newcomer to be of the Hun'var, a night gremlin. Inette had only rarely seen such creatures, as they rarely leave their ancestral home of Thinya. She wondered for a brief second why on earth one among their kin was here, but was interrupted in her philosophing by a cry of alarm to her left. The theshi were not giving up, and a new wave approached. Wearily, Inette reached for her greatsword, clutching it with both hands as she heaved for breath. She The sound of explosions were constant, and she saw many fires being ignited within the city itself. Valesburg seemed to be approaching an untimely end...

Merely a few feet from Lainiel's hiding place, a heavy pair of plated boots hit the ground with dull thuds. Ragged breathing was heard, and the elf could discern a spiked, armored figure in the dark. Along with him were three theshi, all of whom seemed different from the rest of their kin. Larger, better equipped and probably important. The theshi didn't seem comfortable in the company of the human-sized person clad in the grotesque, spiked platemail, and they shifted nervously as she, as it turned out to be, spoke.

"The artifact is hidden within the Captain's quarters. The area won't be as heavily defended as the abodes, as they won't suspect what we're really after... Follow in my footsteps and we should reach the building without any major trouble."
The three smaller figures nodded hastily, darting after the heavily armored woman as she hastily started walking towards town. The battle was inside the town itself now, the theshi still alive all being within the walls of Valesburg itself. The smell of cinders was thick in the air, and the fields surrounding the burning city were illuminated by the roaring flames.

As the four important Theshi moved towards Valesburg, Lainiel decided to follow them and try to interrupt whatever sinister plot they had created. Prowling, the Elf tried to crawl through the grass, only the top of her head rising above it. With some luck, the Theshi weren’t going to see her in the dark. They didn’t, at least not yet.
She feared the worst for the Town of Valesburg, not much hope remained that it was going to continue to exist beyond this day. There wasn’t much Lainiel could do, but she supposed that least she could do was to make sure that these Theshi couldn’t get their hands on whatever they were after, or perhaps even kill those seemingly important ones. Or try to.

Into the town she followed the important Theshi, trying to remain hidden as much as possible. Once inside the town, she managed to follow the rushing important-Theshi, trying to remain in the shadows, rushing past fights or backstabbing the Theshi who were in a fight with militia who clearly had a chance of winning. She could keep up well with the important Theshi, only a few of the normal ones trying to intercept her, which she was able to defeat easily, with the advantage of being rested. It seemed like they were approaching the ‘leader’ Theshi’s destination, the Captian’s Quarter. As she had hinted, this place wasn’t well guarded, and thus there were no fights here. Lainiel could hear the screams of death and sound of steel clashing and crushing steel around her, in other parts of the town. Here it was more quietly and calmly than in the rest of the battle-drowned village, so Lainiel had to make sure the four Theshi wouldn’t see her, as she was easily noticeable now there was no chaos of war. Hiding behind corners, doorposts, bushes, signs, trees, anything, she kept on following them, wondering when they would finally reach the place where this ‘thing’ was they were looking for.

None of the theshi, nor their larger companion seemed to take notice of their elven stalker. They seemed far more determined to reach their goal, the captain's quarters. Perhaps this was their sole reason for attacking the town? But what could possibly this humble town have which required a full-scale assault?

The armored woman walked straight forward, ever staring ahead of herself while her companions fought off the unfortunate guards who got in their way with relative ease. These theshi were no doubt highly skilled in comparison to their kin. One of them turned out to be a caster of sorts, as a swordsman who got too close to him suddenly burst into flame as the little red creature chanted a few short words of magic, running off screaming in the opposite direction before falling to the ground, never to rise again.

At last they reached their goal, the captain's headquarters. It was empty. The three theshi remained outside while the armored woman stepped inside alone. The building had yet to catch fire, standing amongst the inferno as one of the few untouched buildings yet. The remaining theshi stood vigilantly stood guard at the entrance, unnaturally disciplined in comparison to their wild brethren and sisters. Theshi were generally known for their inability to cooperate, and their greatest flaw in battle was their recklessness, idiocy and desire for chaos. These seemed different though, not paying any attention whatsoever to the fighting which didn't concern them nor the woman inside.

*
Inette skevered the last theshi aiming for her throat with one last swing of her massive blade. Now truly exhausted, she fell to her knees, let go of the sword and fell on her knees to the ground. Over a dozen dead theshi lay in front of her and her now two remaining companions, a middle-aged man wielding a spiked mace and a worn shield, and the mysterious stranger of a night gremlin who was now busy reloading his crossbow, having sheathed his daggers now that he had time to tend to his obviously favored weapon.

"Get inside. Rest up," the large, middle-aged man said to her as he nodded at her. She was too exhausted to bother arguing, nodding as she picked up the hat she had lost in the confusion, pulling it over her head before crawling inside the inn, leaning against the wall while she heaved for breath. The other two kept a stoic watch over the inn as she rested up. Things seemed to grow less intense around the inn itself, but the sounds of battle indicated that this battle was far from over.

Terrence Greymoore paled at the news as his right hand spoke, nervously running a hand through his graying hair once more. "Garlet, are you certain of this? No one should be aware of the artifact's whereabouts, least of all her!" The breathless second in-command struggled to catch his breath, having run all the way up from the streets to his superior to bring him the dire news. "Saw it myself, captain. Flanked by three powerful theshi she went straight for the quarters! There can be no doubt!"

The captain fell silent, turning to face the direction where his office was located as he clenched his fists. "All these lives, all this needless bloodshed for a mere trinket... Nevertheless we mustn't let it fall into her hands. I leave you in charge, Garlet. Don't fail me!" Without another word the captain drew his blade and headed down the stairs from the tower, running in the direction of the quarters. As he passed the inn he noticed two weary mercenaries, a night gremlin and a fairly oddly dressed human, both seemingly idle at the moment. He motioned for them to follow him. "You there, you two. Follow me. The theshi have been cleared from this part of the city, the remaining troops should be able to fend for themselves."

The two sellswords nodded without question and followed the elderly man. Fatigued as they were, they seemed more than capable of at least a little more action before the night was at an end. "The leader of the theshi has barricaded herself inside of the captain's quarters. I need your help in order to get to her. You two distract the guards and I'm sure I will be able to handle her myself..."

"Her? You seem to know who's behind this?" The coat-clothed woman panted forth the question while holding on to her hat as they ran, making sure it didn't fly off. "Aye, I do. Too well, I'm afraid, I'll explain once all of this is over. This is more dire than a mere siege," his voice trailed off as they approached the streets nearing the captain's office. Two theshi got into their path, but were quickly silenced by powerful bolts fired from the night gremlin's quilfire crossbow.

They snuck behind a corner and peered at the building, where three important-looking theshi guarded the entrance. They could see flickering light in one of the office's windows, probably from a newly lit candle or lamp. "Curse it all, looks like she knows where to look..."

Inette was about to ask him, but a stern finger pointed in her direction silenced her before she could speak up.

"We'll have to deal with this matter swiftly, and efficiently. These are not mere theshi, but highly trained soldiers, and the woman inside could easily deal with a small army of her own... 'tis important that you take out her underlings quickly, and let me deal with her, understand?" The captain was met with mute nods. "Good. On three... one... two..."

Hiding behind a doorpost, Lainiel waited for the Theshi to get the thing which they seemed to want so much. She was curious what it could possibly be. She saw how the tall woman went inside and how the three elite Theshi kept guard outside. Lainiel also noticed the three Theshi’s uncommon discipline. Suspicion rose up in her; these certainly weren’t normal Theshi. The fact that they had a non-Theshi companion with them, who they seemed to be afraid of, made it all more confusing. Also, Lainiel started to wonder why the Theshi had attacked Valesburg at all. Was the fall of this town worth a full-scale attack? Why?
She fixed her concentration on the building where the large armoured woman had gone into. She figured that there lay the answer on most of the questions, remembering the conversation between the woman and the ealier Theshi back at her hiding place.

Lainiel kept on waiting. Minutes had passed already, and the woman still hadn’t come outside.
A loud noise to her left awakened Lainiel out of her pondering. A house not too far away had completely burnt down, collapsing noisily. The fire was spreading through the city quicker and quicker. The woman would have to come outside quickly now, or Lainiel would have to flee because of the fire. Holding her breath, she stared back at the building where the woman went into, hoping she would come outside again soon.

Suddenly she saw something moving behind a corner on the opposite side of the street. She readied herself for a possible fight. She now saw that there were three of them, hiding behind a corner. They weren’t Theshi but two Humans, and the Night-Gremlin which had helped her in the forest earlier. She was relieved; she knew, or she thought she could trust the Night-Gremlin. That meant that together they could take down the Theshi and find out what they were here for. Holding her breath due to her nerves, she kept on waiting. She would assist the others fighting once they would charge the Theshi.

Tukol calmly removed the safety switch on his quillfire, awaiting the captain's command, always keeping a vigilant eye on the theshi. They could hear several crashes and loud noises from the captain's quarters, making the theshi jerk their heads towarrds the entrance for an instant. It seemed the woman wasn't finding whatever it was she was looking for.

"Three...!" Tukol quickly raised his crossbow, firing a volley of deadly bolts towards the seemingly least defended theshi, one less muscular than the others, only wearing a loincloth and a shoddy armor of decorative bones strapped to his body. Two of the bolts hit their target, and with a loud piercing scream the theshi clutched its stomach, staring wide-eyed at the thick bolts protruding from it, blood gushing from his wounds.

Reloading his crossbow once more, swiftly and efficiently, Tukol nodded silently to himself while the others charged into the remaining two.

Lainiel didn’t have to wait long for combat; she charged after the Night Gremlin did. She screamed as she ran towards the two remaining Theshi, attempting to gut her victim. She had underestimated the Theshi, however. This one wasn’t like the normal ones; this Theshi belonged to the elite.
Lainiel got hit by a powerful blow, stumbling backwards. Then, the Theshi managed to kick one of her daggers out of her hands. She couldn’t do a thing before her second dagger got pulled right out of her hand. The Elf wasn’t unarmed yet. She quickly took her staff off her back, holding it horizontally, pointing with the end towards the Theshi, keeping distance between her and her foe. This wasn’t going to work though; the Elf looked like she could use a hand.

With a loud yell, Inette charged towards the theshi already busy fighting the elf, her swinging her sword in a powerful downward arc. The theshi, equipped with light leather armor and two nimble maces, managed to tumble away from her blade just in time, the sword crashing into the ground where he stood only moments before.

At the same time, captain Greymoore had rushed his own foe, knocked the theshi's battle-axe from his hands and delivered a deadly cut to its back before sprinting inside of the office. He didn't appear to be wasting any time getting inside, not even bothering to finish his enemy. The now wounded and very enraged theshi turned his attention on the two women to his left, picking up his axe and rushing the human while screaming his lungs out.

Lainiel took the opportunity to finish off the mortally wounded Theshi, which was left bleeding to death by Captain Greymoore. She impaled the creature’s body with her staff. With a something that sounded like a thud, the staff entered the body at one side, leaving through the back together with some blood and organs streaming out. Then she advanced towards her next target; the Theshi who had disarmed earlier. Lainiel heaved up her staff up in the air and smashed it downwards on the head of the still confused Theshi. It was not enough to kill him. Instead of being weakened, it appeared as if the Theshi got stronger. Enraged, the Theshi jumped towards the Elf’s leg, trying to tackle her down. It worked, and together with the Theshi, Lainiel fell on the floor. She tried to push the Theshi off, but the Theshi clamped himself to Lainiel. He pinned down the Elf with his right hand, punching her face with his left. She tried to bite the Theshi’s arm, but instead of retreating his arm as Lainiel had hoped he would do, the Theshi kept her pinned down. This Theshi was of the elite kind, he was not going to be hurt by the Elf’s little attempts to free herself.
For the second time that minute, The Theshi was under control and Laniel nearing the brink of death. For the second time that minute, it appeared like the Elf could use some help again.

The theshi pounded away at the hapless elf again and again, his knuckles bloody both from his own wounds and the nosebleed he managed to inflicy on Lainiel after repeatedly raining blows down upon her. With a savage roar he tossed his head backwards, screaming out with pure rage in his voice... Then toppled helplessly off his adversary as a huge sword cut deep into his skin, nearly splitting him in half.

Inette was given little time to enjoy her victory though, as she heard loud sounds of battle from inside the captain's quarters. There was the sound of clashing steel, followed by Greymoore's hoarse voice, screaming in pain. The theshi which Thukol had penetrated moments earlier with bolts was lying face-down in the dirt, dead from the looks of it.