“Stay right here,” Elijah told Shadow, before patting the horse’s neck. Shadow let out a disgruntled whinny, not liking the looks of the village. Elijah gave his old friend a playful smirk and then turned to walk into the tavern.
“A’tí cé és,” an Elvish Ruffian hissed to one of his comrades as they watched Elijah enter the tavern.[1]
“He doesn’t look like much to me,” the other Ruffian replied.
Elijah glanced around the tavern carefully as he walked through the door. After taking a second to examine the area, he walked up to the bar and sat down on an empty stool.
“I’ll have a Dwarven stout,” Elijah told the tavern keeper, who appeared to be weary and frightened. Soon after Elijah’s request he received his stout. He sat quietly and drank a few sips while also listening in to the conversations happening around him. While eavesdropping, Elijah learned that the mayor of the village – James O’Dell – had locked himself and a few other people inside his manor, and that the leader of the Ruffians had instructed his men to set fire to the manor by day’s end.
“Commander Kagé said that it would be easier to sift through this town’s ashes for their gold,” Elijah overheard one of the Ruffians say.
“Yeah! And a nice bonfire would be a perfect way to end our stay in this dump!” Another Ruffian replied.
Elijah managed to get a few more sips of his Dwarven stout before a handful of Ruffians walked over to interrogate him.
“What do we have ‘ere?” The leader of this small group said to the rest of his men. “Looks like someone’s lost!”
“Not lost,” Elijah responded without looking up from his drink. “Just passing through.”
“Oh, well then you must be quite unlucky,” the Ruffian replied. “You see, we here control this village now. And ain’t nobody allowed in or out without the Commander’s say!” The Ruffian glared at Elijah for a moment, waiting to see if he was going to get a reaction out of him. When Elijah did not budge, an evil smirk crept across the Ruffian’s face. “So, which will it be? We can take you to see the Commander breathing, or we can take you to the Commander cold?” The Ruffian then reached and put his hand upon the hilt of his sword.
Stolen story; please report.
Elijah closed his eyes and let out a brief sigh before quickly leaping to his feet. The handful of Ruffians standing beside him did not have time to flinch before Elijah had finished cutting them down. It took a second for the rest of the tavern to react to what had just occurred, but once they did, the rest of the Ruffians – roughly two dozen in total – charged Elijah, baring whatever weapons they had on them.
Being surrounded and severally outnumbered did not phase Elijah, especially since his fighting style – The Way of the Water – was well suited to fending off multiple attackers.[2] Elijah effortlessly spun and pirouetted while swinging his blade. It was a brutal ballet, as Elijah masterfully dispatched each of his attackers. When the melee was finished, the roughly two dozen Ruffians now more resembled a bloody pool filled with limbs. Elijah wiped his blade clean and then turned to talk to the tavern keeper.
“You are safe now. I will cleanse your town of the rest of this filth soon.” Elijah then turned and exited The Tamed Hen.
***
As Elijah exited the tavern Shadow looked up from grazing to check on him. Noticing that Elijah was drenched in blood, and having heard the commotion inside, Shadow knew what had happened. The horse let out a snort of disapproval as Elijah walked over and grab a cloth to wipe the blood from his face and hands.
“It couldn’t be helped,” Elijah said, responding to Shadow’s snort. “They must have had a problem with my face or something.” Elijah grinned slightly and patted the horse.
All of the commotion at The Tamed Hen had alerted the rest of the Ruffians in the village to Elijah’s presence, and soon after Elijah finished cleaning himself, dozens more Ruffians had appeared. Along with them was their leader, Commander Kagé.
“What is the meaning of all this!” Kagé yelled as he made his way to the front of the pack of Ruffians now encircling Elijah.
“Someone murderer everyone in the tavern!” One of the Ruffian’s cried out.
“What! Nonsense!” Kagé said furiously. He then finally made his way to the front of the pack and found Elijah standing there, sword in hand. “And who might you be?” Kagé asked.
“My name is Elijah Khan, and I am a knight in the Order of the Shades. I have tracked your band from Blind Gap, and I am here to bring peace to this town,” Elijah responded sternly.
Commander Kagé let out a hearty laugh and then responded. “And how, O, knight, do you plan to do all of that?” A wide and sinister smile appeared on Kagé’s face.
“Why don’t you come find out?” Elijah said coldly, preparing himself for battle.
Commander Kagé snorted and then threw off the duster jacket he had been wearing. He appeared far stronger than Elijah, and he wielded a massive two-handed axe. “What do you say boys,” Kagé cried out to his men. “How about some entertainment!”
The group of Ruffians encircling Elijah cheered out in joy. It was understood that this battle was a one on one, and they were excited to see their Commander clash steel against an opponent.
“You first,” Elijah said with a smile. Then Commander Kagé rushed towards him, swinging his axe downwards towards Elijah’s head. Elijah quickly spun and dodged the blow, leading to Kagé burying his axe in the ground. Frustrated, Kagé quickly pulled his axe from the dirt and swung at Elijah again, this time horizontally, aiming for his midsection. Elijah parried the blow and attacked with an overhead diagonal strike of his own. Kagé raised his axe up and blocked the strike with the middle of the handle. Kagé then kicked Elijah in the chest, causing Elijah to slide backwards a few feet. Thus, their tremendous battle began.
***
Looking on from the window of an abandoned and wrecked house, Lily watched in amazement as Elijah and Kagé fought. She was in awe at every attack, perry, and dodge. Watching Elijah’s masterful and fluid movements gave her hope that her village would be saved. But, as soon as that thought entered her mind she began to remember that her life as a poor orphaned girl in Green Bank was not that much better before the Ruffians arrived. She then began to fantasize, as she often did, about one day leaving the village and traveling across all of Terra, embarking on countless adventures. Then, suddenly, that fantasy was pushed from her mind by the loud sound of the clanking of steel as the fighting between Elijah and Commander Kagé began to intensify.
- A’tí cé és is Elvish for who is this. For more insight into the Elvish language see Appendix E. To ask who are you, one would say A’tí cé tüa. For a guide on pronunciation, see Appendix A. ↑
2. To read more about the different fighting styles of the Shades see Appendix J. ↑