[/b]"I was a warrior from the moment I was born, my mother made sure." -Donovan Tabris
"Ow!" That was the first scream of the morning, and it had many more follow it. Pain followed after the yelp, and it didn't feel good at all. A conflict took place beneath the house of one of the city elves, and it honestly wasn't worth all the pain just to learn a few tricks. Donovan nursed his injured knee; he found himself getting cracked across his right knee each time. The reason this one elf submitted himself to this kind of torture was due to the person that raised him, Adaia Tabris. She chuckled as she watched her young son nurse his leg, he was getting better each day, but he always had some flaw in his stance.
"That was an excellent round! Your form was weak, however, and you always leave your legs open to assault from any weapon sharper than the stick I just hit you with." Adaia crouched next to Donovan, she knew it was painful for both him and her, but she wanted him to be prepared for the day to come when she was no longer here to protect him.
"Rrgh...I'm trying my hardest, but I'm not getting any better!" These complaints were common, but Adaia could see what her son couldn't, he was learning. She ran her hand through his ebony hair and smiled softly, he would learn how to handle his sword eventually. After all, he shared genes with her, and looks, from his eyes to his dark skin. He had to find his way, but the path was laid out in front of him, he would succeed. With those orange eyes of his burning with determination, she could tell he'd master his blade in time.
"Here, look. You charged right in to the battle, even though you knew that I was more experienced in battle than you. I like that, confidence is one of the paramount attributes a warrior requires. You had a rigid stance, however, and as I said, you lacked any real form of defense. Even if you're using a two-handed weapon, you aren't allowed to let your body become that rigid." Adaia helped Donovan back to his feet and dusted him off as they prepared to move on with the lessons. "Hold your shoulders like this, grip like this, and spread your legs to...here. There you go!"
It wasn't a perfect battle stance, but Donovan was still young, not even ten yet. The battle began again, with both parties eager to win. Adaia was confident in her ability to keep up a winning streak, as well. A one-handed sword hand an obvious advantage over a two-handed one. Not to mention she had years under her belt, whereas her son was still a beginner. He was doing much better as the battle progressed, Adaia could tell he wasn't letting such a heavy weapon lead him around as it was prone to do. The familar sound of wood crashing against wood filled the alienage of Denerim, and although both sides ended up bruised after their spars, it was life.
"Perfect! Use that strength of yours! If that sword swings you around then you're not winning this fight!" Adaia exclaimed as she expertly parried each advancement he made. She wasn't going to coddle him since it'd make for poor parenting, so she expected him to find his way around her defenses. Despite his use of such a heavy weapon he had to fight with finesse, otherwise he'd miss every attack when he got in to a battle. She used her mobility as an advantage over the boy, and he did his best to follow her with his eyes, bad mistake. She ran a circle around him, and struck him in the back of the leg as she came to a stop.
"No! Now you're letting your enemy lead you around. Trust your weapon more than that. Trust your weapon, your training, and yourself." Adaia made sure to beat this weapon in to Donovan's head daily. Above all, she wanted him to have faith in himself.
The battle continued for a few minutes more, eventually neither one of them had the stamina to keep fighting. After battle, Donovan rested his head on Adaia's lap and passed out almost immediately after. A half smile crossed the mother's face, she was glad he took after her more than he did with his father. She didn't like hurting him, but it was the only way she could prepare him for the world. Humans would hate him and spit on him, it was up to him to survive in the world, no matter what.
Just as she was contemplating this she heard somebody beating on her door. No elf she knew made this much noise, she had to see what was going on before anybody else got hurt. She grabbed a basic longsword and her favorite dagger before approaching the door. She placed her ear against the door and sighed, there was too much noise out there for it to be just a couple of elves asking for a drink. She didn't have time to think about anything regarding the matter, however. Just as she was about to retreat her door was forced open.
"Huh. You humans never knock, do you..." Adaia had a blank look on her face, utterly disgusted by the smell of the men in armor. They were dirty, pathetic foot soldiers, so they were going to bother her? It was a waste of time in her opinion, but she had to deal with it.
The men leading the group was a real piece of work, his rotting teeth, short stature, and rotund body caused Adaia to laugh a little bit, she could see unrest within the ranks as well since she stood before them with no fear at all. It was be easy to finish them all up and take a rest for the day considering there was only about five soldiers. All of that armor wouldn't protect them from her, she had been doing this since before most of them were born, after all.
Her smug thoughts were interrupted by something tugging at her dress, and before she took a look at what it was her heart sank while her fear rose. It was Donovan, he'd woken up more quickly than she'd expected he would, prehaps at the knocking on the door? Regardless, he couldn't be here now, he'd get himself hurt. As Adaia motioned to move him, the captain of the group cleared his throat.
"Our handler says you were short with him the last time you met. I think you know the consequences." The fat man was really getting on Adaia's nerves.
"I'm sorry," Adaia replied with a false apologetic tone. "but I don't lay with pigs. You can have him all to yourself if that's what you want. After all, the six of you pigs rolling around in a pin seems more than fitting." That was a horrible way to handle a coversation, but Adaia had a cocky streak to her, she wasn't going to be intimidated.
The fat man practically growled at her before barking an incomprehensible order at one of his men. Without warning, the biggest man in the group grabbed Donovan by his hair and dragged him outside. Adaia went pale when she heard screaming and rushed outside to save her son. She knew it was a bad idea to badmouth those men while her son was still nearby, and yet...no, she couldn't allow those humans to have their way.
"No!" Adaia screamed out as her longsword pierced the back of one of the men, severing his spinal cord in an instant. He dropped dead, and Adaia was faced with four more armed soldiers. That sneak attack may have been enough to take one of the men down, but she still had to deal with his partners. On the bright side, the bigger man dropped Donovan to the ground. Good thing, too, considering that weapon of his was already drawn by time she raced outside. She was glad this fight was happening in the alienage, she knew it well, and the area was open so she had plenty of space to move around should that be what it comes down to.
Another man, who smelled just as foul as his friend, charged at Adaia with his weapon raised. His form was sloppy, She dashed underneath his right arm as he brought his blade down. Without turning around Adaia jammed her dagger in to the base of the man's neck, once again destroying the spine of the enemy. Three left, and she could tell they weren't happy that she was doing as she pleased. As another came from the front he made sure she couldn't get around him with wide arcs of his blade. Clever, but she had an answer to this.
She was seemingly backing up in fear from the odd man flailing his blade around, and as she backed up she came in to contact with one of the buildings in the alienage. As expected, she ducked at just the right moment and the soldier's blade slammed in to the wall. He got it stuck in the wall, but she couldn't relax just yet. She was at a disadvantage on the ground, but she wasn't weakened. Before the man could attack again he received a foot to his guarded abdomen. While the armor prevented him from being cut as easily since she'd yet to find his weakness, he was not impact-proof. As he stumbled backwards she rose to her feet and ran him through. At the while, she was wondering how such a normal day could go so wrong.
The blade went through his arm, she was surprised the low-quailty steel actually worked in such a way, but soon she saw the armor was just as bad as her weapon of choice. Further, she noted that her strike had just barely missed even touching him, he didn't fit in to the armor. She considered him lucky as the pommel of his blade caught her in the side of the head. Her ears were ringing, her skull hurt, and she still had three targets remaining, but giving up just because she was hurt went against her lessons.
She noticed odd things when she took that hit, but she couldn't say she was surprised. All of the guards that were supposed to protect the alienage stood by, watching with unfeeling eyes. All of the elves she shared a bond with returned to their homes, frightened for their own lives, and for their own families. There was no sound in the entire world, no sound expect for her own breathing. She shook of the pain from the blow to the head and just barely avoided a longsword aimed at her torso. She stepped to the side as quickly as her body allowed, but the blade still ripped in to her skin as she dodged. Seeing her own blood wouldn't scare her, she was used to it.
The two blades clashed midflight, and as they did so the advantage passed to Adaia. She pushed up closer to the soldier and ran her favorite dagger through his neck. The dagger destroyed his throat, and as he dropped to the ground the battle seemed to become even harder. She was wasting too much energy fighting such a small group of humans. Maybe it was just age getting to her, but she felt as if she may not have the best chance here. She placed her hand against her wound and shook her head, the smell was starting to irritate her just as much as the smell of these soldiers. She had to fight on, however, she had to fight to save her child.
Now came the captain and his bodyguard, both attacked Adaia at the same time, but with two weapons she believed she had more than a chance of taking both opponents with her. She turned her longsword backwards and hit the fat man in the stomach as he approached, knocking him backwards. His partner was more of a problem, however. Adaia and the strange bodyguard both brought their blades down at the same time, as the swords met sparks flew, but Adaia was far from finished. She drew her sword back and stabbed forward, but the bodyguard had the exact same idea as her. The blades crossed each other in flight, and both Adaia and the soldier struck each other in the shoulder. She wasn't fast enough to avoid it, and then the fat captain came back around. She took her sword back from her enemy's shoulder and brought it around in a circle, planning to take the captain's head off.
He blocked it, to her surprise, with his own sword. Adaia couldn't imagine having any kind of luck right now, her shoulder hurt too much, and her side was burning. She couldn't move any faster with her arm injured, yet she continued to fight on. She fought the enemy in front of her, and the one behind her, and she didn't allow either to get the better of her. Blood continued to fly, Adaia's blood moreso than her enemy's. Finally, Adaia ducked and the two almost slashed each other, they were finally starting to figure out that attacking Adaia from both sides was a bad idea. She took a hold of that slight pause and shoved her dagger up through the bottom of the soldier's chin, and last came his ugly captain. With her blade still held backwards she shoved it in that direction, taking out her last enemy. However...she recieved a similar wound, to be honest, she wasn't surprised.
She couldn't see him, but she could hear the fat man's dying gasps, it was satisfying for some reason. Adaia didn't move from where she was standing, she wanted to hear the fat man's last words before she went to check on her son.
"I'll see you in hell!" Was what the man shouted as the light faded from his eyes. He dropped dead on the spot, right after impact. Adaia nodded, she expected he was going to say that. She walked forward, and the fat man's sword landed on the ground, leaving her with a large sword wound. She knelt next to Donovan and examined him...he seemed to be alright. She put her hand on his face and nodded, glad that she was able to protect him, but she was a bit put-off that he had to see that.
"You're alright. Good..." Adaia closed her eyes and attempted to take a breath, but it was a little more effort than she expected. She died, right in front of her son, defending him down to the last second. The last scream of the morning echoed through the alienage, and only silence followed.
*More to come later today*
Modifié par Ultimashade, 11 janvier 2013 - 08:08 .
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