One Last Knight. A Series of Short Stories.

Hey hey, and welcome back to the gates of Enverdolmal!

I hope that this finds you all well.

I'll keep it short yeah?

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Each and every Reader!

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I will leave you to what you came for, and I hope you love it just as much as I do.

See you all back here soo enough!

I present to you:

"In the arms of a Ranger. Part 1.5."

Enjoy.

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Pomilio sprinted through the forest just as fast as the trees before him would allow.

He dodged in either direction as needed, kicking off of trunks and rolling over boulders as he went. 

He had dispatched the small group of Twiglobs not 10 minutes before.

It would take at least another 10 minutes before he caught up with the caravan from Stoksted, even with his speed-boosting runes active beneath the cuffs of his boots. 

As he shot through the forest, Inwabran flashed before him at random intervals, the razor-sharp katana slicing away all of the low-hanging branches that Pomilio simple couldn't slow down to dodge at this point. 

He had a weird feeling that seemed to linger over him.

He was not one to be bothered so easily...

The Twiglobs that he had laid low had been strange.

Different.

As not only a Ranger, but a Dwarf, he was not overly fond of "different."

Nature was as nature was.

The creatures behavior had been off. Even for what they were.

Firstly, the sun was still high in the sky, regardless of the rain clouds that constantly came and went.

Twiglobs were mostly nocturnal. 

Aside from that, humans and humanoids didn't tend to be a part of their diet.

The group that he had dispatched had seemed either frenzied with hunger, bloodlust, or a combination of the two. 

Lastly was a fact that actually bothered the typically unshakable Dwarf: The Twiglobs had somehow saw through his invisibility spell...

He put a bit more haste behind each pounding step.

---------------

Leena's caravan was guarded thoroughly by ten solid Sell-Swords.

But the Twiglobs had waited so silently and still

That the road-wary folk had simply fell for it...

Once the lead warhorse walked by 

It would swiftly die

They would make sure it fell first.

The slaughter would start

Quickly drive them apart

When separated it would only get worse...

The Sell-Swords had ten there in total

They were all quite mobile 

They each had their very own horse.

The Robed One had planed for the chaos 

She'd watch from the shadows

Lean back, watch it all run its course. 

The first of her monsters had left forward with not a sound made

It bent back and swung hard

And

Leena Lux had lost her mother

While sleeping in cover

The blood had sprayed a few yards...

And

Her father had let out a shout,

Had thrown his arms out

but unarmed he would fall next.

On came a couple of dozen

They came on in floods and

The Sell-Swords hardly had the time 

To find context. 

It was not her original plan

To kill of the men,

But fack it, it got things moving

The lead horse had gone down.

At least five monsters leapt on the mount

And the man who rode it,

They had quickly slew him. 

The last nine had to regroup

Take a second to try to recoup

But the numbers ran through them...

Within a few minutes

There were just three men left

They didn't hold their breath

No on would rescue them...

The civilians had little chance

Most turn to run at the first glance.

Just a few took a combat stance

Just three with a sword

 And and axe

 And a lance.

They swung

 And they swung

 And they fought

 And they screamed 

 And they danced.

Each of them doing what they could

To keep it all good,

This was their very last chance. 

Three Sell-Swords together 

With three more now to assist..

If they could hold out 

For a while

Somehow just resist...

---------------

Pomilio could hear the fighting just ahead of him.

Maybe 30 yards.

He slid under a fallen tree

Skipped back up to his feet, pushing off of the packed earth with his left hand, and kept on. 

He had to get to that caravan...

20 yards. 

He heard shouts or alarm and alert, screams of pain and agony. 

He caught a slight movement ahead and above him.

He glanced up. 

In the trees, and heading in the same direction as he was, were more Twiglobs.

Pomilio lost the little color in his face that he had left...

Their were dozens.

They zipped over his head swinging like wooden monkeys at a pace just a bit faster than his own. 

He swallowed the dry lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat and pushed on. 

He could suddenly hear the tell-tale creaking sound that a large group of the things tended to generate.

Suddenly...

How?

Why just now could he hear it, and not before? 

He didn't like that this situation continued to get that much stranger.

10 yards.

A group of the Twiglobs seemed to take notice of the Dwarf that which sprinted below them.

They diverted from their path and dropped from the trees, landing awkwardly before Pomilio and effectively blocking his path. 

THWUMP! THWUMP!

THWUMP! THWUMP! THWUMP!

The Ranger didn't slow his pace or break a sweat.

Inwabran warmed and vibrated with anticipation. 

Pomilio scanned the group an a split-second, his Ranger-mind doing quick and efficient combat math. 

Years of experience activated his muscle memory. 

The group consisted of but five.

He cut through the small force in the span of roughly ten seconds flat.

The two front-most Twiglobs landed and lashed out in unison, their spindly fingers cutting through the air at speeds that would give the average man trouble. 

Pomilio was far from thus. His reaction time was nearly twice that of the average human on their best day and at their top form.

He leapt, twisting in mid-air to his right while swinging his deadly sword in a two-hand grip.

The creature on his left was decapitated swiftly, Inwabran purred in pleasure.

Heat began to radiate from the base of the swords blade.

Halfway through his first spin, Pomilio's blade found and past through the torso of the second creature just as the first one burst into a cloud of bug dust.

His sword bit hungrily into the wood-like flesh as it slipped effortlessly through.

More dust filled the air.

Completing his turn brought him face to face with the remaining three Twiglobs.

Still in the air, his left knee shot up, the top of his grieve catching the one in the center squarely between its twisted, dripping mandibles with a wet, loud crack.

Several of its teeth-like spikes flew down its throat.

The blow stopped the dwarf mid-air and blasted the broken Twiglob backward and into the base of a tree. It crumpled to the forest floor before bursting into a small cloud of black flakes.

Pomilio dropped to the ground and dropped further to his right knee just as the two remaining monsters leapt at him in unison.

His timing was impeccable.

They slammed into each other in the air above him, growing tangled as they did.

The skilled Ranger took to his left hand and spun as he kicked out and upward, unleashing a devastating flurry of kicks and slashes with his lightly-armored feet and Inwabran's biting edge as he spun once, twice, a third time.

The rain of Twiglob parts that showered the area around him quickly became that of bug dust as he snapped his katana into its sheath and shot forward once more.

The living blade whispered its pleasure somewhere in the back of Pomilio's mind, pulsing slightly within its sheath with the newly stored energy. 

By his fifth step, he burst from the forest and into the small clearing in which the caravan had been ambushed, landing silently and sliding to a stop.

His right hand on the handle of Inwabran, the other drawing forth his crossbow. 

He had no more color to lose in his face...

The sight before his was dire indeed. 

Nearly 100 Twiglobs circled the besieged caravan.

Pomilio quickly backpaddled and took to a tree to gain a better vantage point.

He could see a small group of survivors fighting at the center of the mass of Twiglobs, between a trio of over-turned wagons.

They were ragged and torn and bleeding and tired.

And if Pomilio didn't do something now, they would all be dead.

100 to 1.

He liked those odds.

He like the idea of the story that would be told.

He like above all else, the fact that this could all be a lot worse.

Twiglobs were very much like ants or bees.

They tended to have a Queen.

The difference was that Twiglob Queens relished combat while most others avoided it.

If he could find the Queen in this crowd and lay her low, he could get the rest of them to scatter. 

He took a deep breath and did his best to calm himself.

He heard a whistle above the din of combat. 

Inwabran shouted to him in the back of his mind.

A single word.

"DOWN!"

The seasoned Ranger knew better than to ignore his blade.

He instinctively rolled backward and off of the branch on which he was perched. 

A split-second later, a heavy lance struck the trunk of the tree at the level at which Pomilio's head had once been. 

The impact was thunderous both literally and metaphorically as the lance released a powerful blast of lightning and sound upon impact, blowing apart the top and bottom half's of the tree. 

Pomilio fell as the top half of the tree came crashing down to his left.

He rolled backward as he hit the ground, dodging the fallen tangle of branches and jagged splinters. 

He slid to a halt, snapping Inwabran from its sheath and taking a combat stance. 

The deadly blade seemed to giggle with glee, warming as its excitement grew. 

Between the Ranger and his new opponent, the fallen tree burned.

He could see nothing more than what appeared to be long and flowing black robes...

The sound of chains sliding over one another suddenly permeated the area as the Robbed figure raised its right arm, the sleeve rolling back to reveal what Pomilio perceived as a rather dainty hand. 

The women in the black robe pointed at what remained of the tree, drawing the wary Dwarfs attention back to it.

The heavy lance jutted from the trunk, electricity dancing over its surface.

The robbed figure suddenly yanked at the thin chain that was linked to the weapon, and it flew back to its owner at a speed that caught even Pomilio off guard, slapping itself into the outstretched and waiting hand. 

The woman's head cocked to the left as she released an aery and high-pitched giggle that made Pomilio's ears itch. 

The words she spoke caught him off guard more than the weapon had.

"You hurt my buggy bugs!" 

She said.

A statement to which -while true- the confused Ranger had not clue as to how to answer. 

One came to mind before he could bite his tongue.

"And ye killed the lot of these innocent people..."

He said, his voice rough and gravely, yet clear as day. Her words clicked suddenly.

"Wait...yer bugs? How..."

He began, his eyebrow raising in question. 

The woman cut his question short with a stamp of her foot.

Electricity flared where her foot at struck the ground. 

"Not innocent! Not matter!"

The Robed figure said in broken common tongue as she stabbed the blade of her lance into the ground at her side and crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. 

Pomilio could feel the pulse of electricity and Aether emanating from the strange and apparently hostile Robed woman...

He shifted his stance a bit, got a better grip on Inwabran, and made himself ready.

She spoke again, this time her voice climbed as she did, irritation evident and clear. 

"They take wood, they all die. You hurt my buggy bugs, you die too!"

And with those words, she snatched her lance up and charged, thrusting as she did.

The fallen tree between the two was slashed to pieces just a second before Pomilio moved in reaction, leaping backward and unleashing a wave of defensive strikes and parries. 

Inwabran laughed aloud with glee at the chance at battle and bloodshed.

Pomilio worked the deadly blade with ease and calm.

The Robed woman pressed the attack in rage and indignation. 

Their blades crossed, the fight was on.

---------------

Leena lay on her side beneath the bodies of her parents.

Her eyes clinched shut so tightly that it hurt.

She prayed.

She shook.

She cried.

She feared.

She waited.

She could hear the people and monsters fighting around her.

Neither side had found her.

She hoped that the right side did...

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Welcome back to the gates!

I hope that this chapter part was enough to get you all by.

I will have new content and lore and Character dives out soon enough, thank you all for being do patience.

Safe travels out there folks.

And as always"

Stay safe.

 Stay healthy.

 Stay vigilant. 

-Redd.