The sweat poured down his face and through his matted hair as he breathed heavily, his bare back pressed tightly against the trunk of a large oak. His blue eyes wide and looking to his right, trying to get a view from around the tree without moving his head into the sight of his predator; he slowly closed his eyes and moved his head back with his chin tilted up. He continued to breathe heavily as his toned abdomen slowly rose and fell with each deep breath. As his breathe seemed to get less and less labored he gripped his two blades tightly in his hands and his eyes opened. He was going to get killed out here if he wasn’t careful.
He turned to his left to examine the field. He was on the tree line that separated the field from the forest. Something could easily see him from this vantage even if he was behind a tree. He needed to move inward through the forest in order to lose the predator. His heart pounded even faster as he prepared to move, his adrenaline rushing through him, alert to every sound that surrounded him no matter how small or insignificant. Eyes racing and scoping out the territory that surrounded him, thinking of patterns he could use to escape or what his enemy would do.
The young man tried to get up as quietly as possible so not to make a single sound. The soft leaves on the ground didn’t crunch under his feet as he stood. He had been taught how to step down as not to break twigs or crunch leaves and giving off his location. The young man’s hands gripped tighter yet to his blades as he began to trot quietly but as quickly as possible through the trees and then stopping at one a few meters away from where he had been, pressing his back to it and looking around. The wind blew softly, chilling the sweat on his chest and face.
Airith the wind seemed to whisper as it passed by. He jumped at the sound of his name being spoken. His blades now up in an offensive position ready to strike. Maybe he was imagining things? This suspense was about enough to drive anyone insane. He looked back and forth nervously, no one seemed to be there but that certainly didn’t mean there wasn’t. One of the true natures to surviving was not relying on just your normal five senses. It also greatly depended on a sixth sense… a gut feeling. And his gut told him that there was something close by, very close. Airith slowly moved out from behind the tree, crouched lower as he moved through the thickets and fallen trees and branches.
Airith…It grew louder as if inside his head but he could hear it as clear as a whisper in his ear. He couldn’t tell the gender, it didn’t seem to have one, it was just a voice. Airith…It whispered even louder until he began to panic, he didn’t know what to do, and he just wanted to get farther away so he moved faster.
Airith… Airith…Airith… The voice continued faster and relentlessly until it seemed a constant jumble, it enveloped in itself too fast to keep up what it was saying, other words were mixed in as well like closer…or this way…or watch out… All these words swirling in the air and he finally broke into a full run, fleeing as fast as he could. The voices seemed to be everywhere following him. His eyes darted in every direction looking for where the voice or as it seemed now “voices” were coming from.
He threw himself behind a tree, panting loudly. He felt like an idiot. The whole forest probably knew exactly where he was. He slowly turned to the right and his eyes widened in fear. He nearly dropped his blades to the ground but somehow held his grasp.
“Hello Airith…” The large 6’2 man glowered down on him. The man’s intense green eyes could be faintly seen in the darkness of his hood. In an instant his huge sword swung at Airith’s head. In an instant he ducked as the blade split the tree in two and the top fell backwards. Airith took a sharp intake of air as he prepared for the lightening fast second sweep from that monstrous sword. The large man roared as he swung a second time, this one downwards like he was going to pound Airith into the ground like a nail in a coffin.
Airith crosses his blades as the large sword stops an inch in front of his face, his blades holding the sword in a vice. The larger man just pushed down harder driving Airith practically into the ground. The young prey grunted in pain as his arms began to tire and the sword pushed his blades closer.
An arrow shot through the air and they both saw it heading right for them, followed by about seven other. Airith and the man looked at each other with a sneer for a split second before they pulled back and the arrow hit the tree stump and nearly exploded the bark. Airith jumped back further in shock. If those had hit him it may have severed one of his limbs. He began to sprint through the forest. There was no point in being quiet right now. They already knew exactly where he was. He just needed to find cover or lose them again.
As he ran more arrows flew at him. He ducked and flipped over and under branches quickly in order to create temporary barriers as he fled. He looked back briefly and saw the arrows hit. Thankfully the impact wasn’t as strong as before, most likely due to it had more time built up more force in the shots because they were stationary targets earlier.
He turned a corner and saw the large man rushing towards him and he almost yelped in shock as he brought his blades forth. The man swung furiously at Airith, his attacks were undisciplined and he just swung his sword like an ogre would a large club. Airith parried two attacks then quickly spun to the side, his blade whirling. The predator had seen the attack coming and moved quickly out of the way and swung a surprisingly disciplined and precise blow that Airith almost didn’t block. Even though his blades had blocked the blow it still sent him back into a tree, a large thud could be heard as his back hit and the wind blew out of his lungs. Airith fell face first onto the ground.
“Ervor…” he coughed his opponents name as he tried to get air back into his lungs. Ervor just chuckled evilly as he held his blade over his head and prepared for the final sweep. Airith’s adrenaline kicked in, he would not die here, not like this. He waits for the blade to fall towards him and he rolled just enough to get his leg angled to kick Ervor’s hand and send the blade flying into a tree. Before Ervor could recover from the kick Airith was already on his feet with one of his blades at his opponent’s neck.
“One move and you die.” Airith narrowed his eyes as he spoke, his breathing labored. There was a moment of silence and Ervor began to chuckle. Airith put his blade closer to his neck “What is so funny pray tell?” He said dripping with venom.
Ervor just smugly smiled. “Behind you…”
Airith looked slightly to the side, still keeping an eye on Ervor. He saw a beautiful long haired woman a few feet behind him with her bow drawn with an arrow taught and pointed at him. She grinned and walked slightly closer, her arrow still aimed right at the back of his neck.
“Selena.” He growled. She raised her eyebrows at him and pulled back the bow tighter.
“Let him go.” She instructed calmly.
Airith looked back and forth between the two and sighed, slowly moving the blade away from Ervor’s neck. He suddenly swung the sword right at his captive’s neck and ducked. The blade missed the mark but the arrow shot through the air went straight for Ervor. In an instant Airith was in front of Selena who gasped in shock as he pointed his blade at her before she could knock another arrow. However her hand was to her side ready to draw out her sword. Behind them Ervor caught the arrow with his hand then dropped it. They both looked back at him.
After a moment of silence he pulled his hood back revealing his full smiling kind face and clapped.
“Well done, both of you were excellent.” He chuckled “Especially that last move Airith, extremely risky but if this had been a real battle it may have been very effective. Though I would not suggest such a move until you are a little more experienced, and you Selena, you almost took off my arm with those first few shots.”
They both smiled by being approved by their master and put away their weapons and bowed to in thanks. Selena turned towards him and smiled and Airith smiled in return and they both chuckled.
“Come, it is getting late and dinner should be ready soon.” Ervor smiled back at them and waited for them to catch up to him. The quickened their pace and walked alongside him back to their home deeper into the forest.
   


Airith, Selena, and Ervor all sat at an old wooden table in their small cabin eating their evening meal. The fire cracked by the fireplace across the cozy room which served as a kitchen and a living area. There were only two beds one of which used to be a storage room before Ervor took Selena to be his student, then it was turned into a bedroom for her and Ervor built a separate room for storage. Now that Airith had also become his student he and Ervor now shared a room, which Ervor was at first not very pleased with.
The meal was silent for a good long while. All of them very hungry from today’s training and were too busy shoving the luscious venison with gravy and vegetables down their throats to hold much of a conversation. Airith and Selena of course seemed like they were competing to finish their meals first, and as always Ervor slowly at his meal. He looked up and wiped off his beard of the bread crumbs from his biscuit and shook his head. “You two should try not to shove it all down so quickly!” he gave a hearty chuckle.
Airith and Selena gulped down their food before answering.
“I am starved!” Airith exclaimed still shoving food in his mouth.
“And if I don’t try to keep up then he will end up eating all of the food!” Selena giggled looking over to Airith who had an insulted look on his face with his mouth still full. Ervor smiled and nodded continuing to eat at his slower pace.
“Why do you eat so slowly?” Airith asked, “You must be starving just as bad as the rest of us, or were sneaking food during the whole practice?” he laughed. Ervor laughed slightly but then stopped and the room grew quiet. He looked at the two of them with a glint in his eye that he usually got when it seemed as if he were recalling memories from a long distant past.
“Well…” he paused for a moment. “After being in so many situations, where you may be killed at any moment and one of the only times that separated you from combat was a meager meal, just enough to keep you going for the rest of the day… You learn to savor and enjoy those meals, you don’t want them to end so quickly because it is one of the only times you have. I guess it is just old habit.” He tried to smile but the others could tell that it was only a façade smile. Ervor never really talked about his past much, almost a sort of unspoken rule amongst them. But they could tell he had probably been through a lot that they didn’t and may never know about.
The room was silent for a moment as Ervor began to eat once more. The two went back to their food but this time slightly slower, weighing his words and understanding what he meant. They tried their hardest to eat slower, as if some way that would make him happier or something, a silly notion but one they found themselves following.
After the meal was finished they began to clean up their wood bowls and put things away. Selena went out to go get more wood for the fire as Airith just finished cleaning. Ervor sat in front of the fire, obviously deep in thought. Airith after a moment decided to go outside and help Selena.
As he opened the door the cool night air of autumn hit him. He saw her sitting on the bench by the wood pile in thought as well, sometimes she came out here just to think and be alone. It must be tough sharing a small cabin with two guys and no girls around, even though Lytael visited occasionally. He just stared for a moment as he saw the wind gently blow her chocolate colored hair behind her shoulder as he came up to sit next to her.
She turned slightly surprised to see him and scooted over for him. Airith followed her gaze up to the nearly full moon and smiled. “Its beautiful out tonight isn’t it?”
“It’s always beautiful.” She nodded in agreement. He stared at her for a moment.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked softly, seeing that Selena was in deep thought.
“Oh!” she sighed a little. “Just about years gone past, being back in my hometown and not having a care in the world.” The young woman spoke wistfully.
“Yeah, it’s nice to think about those days sometimes. When all you had to worry about was your parent’s scolding you for staying out too late, or getting a little scrape on the knee.” Airith sighed. “Life passes you by quickly sometimes.” Selena nodded in agreement then turned to him, looking at him with her soft gaze and he smiled looking back.
He looked back up at the moon. And she followed his gaze, a small blush on both their faces.
“Can I ask you something?” Airith asked as his eyes were still on the countless stars in the sky.
Selena nodded, “Of course.” He took a moment to think over his question, the moon illuminating his face.
“Why did you choose this life? I mean… what stopped you from just going to the city and living a normal life?”
For a long moment she was silent and closed her eyes and touched the small necklace she always wore. “My father gave this to me when I was younger.” She rubbed her finger along the opal gem and looked up at him. “My village was burned to the ground, I don’t know where my parents are but I looked everywhere and I still couldn’t find them. I vowed since that day I would kill the leader of that band of criminals.” He could see a stray tear fall down her face. His hand gently touched her cheek.
“We should go inside now.”