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Chapter 6: The Guardian's Wounds

Markus took a long drink from the worn-out army canteen attached to his belt. He seemed more than parched after walking for more than a few hours and a few miles. His throat jolted downwards as the cold water finally hit him; sending a chill of relief throughout his body. Sweat dripped from his forehead and he was quick to wipe it away in hopes Faye would not recognize the intense fatigue that was now affecting him. His breaths were long and deep; as if he were gasping for air after being trapped under water for several minutes.

"We'll rest here while we wait for those two to catch up" Faye announced; having taken a seat on a nearby fallen tree, she looked deep into the dark fog that was now lingering just ahead of their path. "Don't think I haven't noticed. You've aged and we can't have you worn out for battle, now can we?" She said, looking over at her friend with a grin.

Markus took a seat at the end of the fallen tree, placing his equipment aside and slumping over in an attempt to relax. It was true he'd aged quite a fair bit from the last time he and Faye traveled together. He was only 17 years old when they'd met; a mere boy on the battlefield but he was full of determination and skill. Now, from a rugged young man on the battlefield, he was a worn and wise old Warrior with tales to tell; looking for his one final battle.

"I've grown wise, not old ma' dear" Markus made quick to defend himself. He knew his defense was weak against Faye for she knew far too much about him to belief his covers now.

Faye looked over at him with an inquisitive stare "and I'm supposed to believe that?" she spoke in a low, shallow tone. "You're nearly pushing into your 60th birthday and here you are telling me that you're not old. I see the silver flicks of wisdom in your beard, but as well, I see the scars and bruises of many years in tireless battle. It's worn you old friend."

Markus looked at Faye, a look of submission upon his face, he was defeated and he knew it quite well. "Perhaps that is so, but I can still fight."

"That, I do believe."

A terrifying howl pierced coldly through the silence of the rising morn. Both Faye and Markus were quick to look in the direction from whence it came, seeing nothing more than the thick blanket of fog that had seeped in. Despite his fatigue, Markus grasped his battle axe with strong hands, prepared for any battle that may arise. Faye did not move much more than her eyes, slowly they'd closed in order to determine the exact location of the howl's origins as well, the location of their friends.

"That howl is far enough, for now." Faye spoke with tranquility in her voice.

Within a moment, Faye had flipped over from her seat, just in time to dodge the attack of a dark Orc. His short sword, jagged and worn, hardly fit for killing anyone other than tormenting them to death, sliced the air beneath her. Gracefully she landed behind the Orc, its slumped posture and thin body structure allowing any being to quickly pin point its weak spots. Faye's eyes narrowed, a devious smirk forming over her pale lips as within a flash, she'd unsheathed both her long swords and jammed one of them directly into the spot where the spinal chord attaches to the brain, severing movement completely while the other sword completely cut off the Orc's right leg. A fierce roar echoed from the beast's throat before Markus decapitated it with one foul swoop from his battle axe, tearing the Orc's head clean off.

"There will be more not far off now" Faye announced. She'd formed herself gracefully against the ground, a single knee bent while her opposite leg was outstretched, allowing her to come as close to the ground as possible without eliminating the use of her arms for attack. Both swords were quickly wiped clean of Orc's blood, to avoid attracting other unwanted guests with its scent, and re-sheathed in their holsters. Faye was quick to take a high leap into the trees and another high into the sky, she needed a survey and quickly.

Markus nodded, slinging his battle axe over his shoulders and beginning a run forward into the fog. The blanket of mist was heavy and thick, allowing very limited sight to the point that he could not see his hand in front of his face. Though, with enough battle experience and fighting in the pitch black, Markus' other senses were attuned to him, allowing him enough knowledge of where to go and when to move as to avoid running into anything or anyone.

Faye dropped down the ground; landing silently, crouched to absorb the impact and quickly took into a sprint after her comrade. Closing her eyes, she scanned the area with her mind, the fog useless against her territorial knowledge and illusionary deciphering skills. Her eyes widened and she ran up just behind Markus, he was breathing heavily, his age once more coming into affect. She looked over, noting the anger in his eyes for he knew his old age was keeping him down again. Faye grasped his shoulder, slowing him down to a halt so he may rest for a moment before they carried on.

"You certainly do not want to die here now do you?" She questioned her friend.

"I'm not going to die just yet!" Markus replied, wielding his battle axe with fearless strength.

"Damn" Faye said as she looked around, "it's gotten a lot thicker."

"I can't see a damned thing" replied Markus, his eyes and ears scanning for any sign of danger.

A small Orc, an obvious assassin in rank, slunk into the fog, closing in on Faye. A small axe was clasped in his hands as he let out a powerful shriek just as he readied the killing blow. A dark cloud swirled in around him from above, clearing a small patch of fog in its wake as it seemed to nearly swallow the beast in its darkness and leave him dead on the ground.

"You're late." Faye mocked.

"Humph" was the only reply as the cloud unfurled itself, leaving only crimson eyes to be seen in the darkness. Aod had swooped in silently from above; letting the breeze carry him on his large wings to follow the Orc assassin with his dangerous eyes until he could make a move. Within a moment, Aod had spun himself around, and with little more than a flick of his wrist, cut a large Orc warrior in half.

Faye flicked up two small throwing knives from a leather band on her thigh and tossed one, with great precision, into the Orc's throat, rendering his voice useless to form any shriek or cry that would bring the attention of his comrades. The other was tossed into Aod's shoulder, just above his collarbone. Her arms then folded and she smiled victoriously.

"So then where's the kid?" she questioned.

Aod did not wince for a moment before looking at his wound, letting a bit of blood show before he pulled the weapon out and threw it back to Faye. "He's over there" he replied, pointing to a large tree that seemed to be trembling.

Faye snatched up the knife, just before it nearly struck her in the face and spun it quick to flick off the blood and re-sheathed it with the others at her thigh. Walking over to the tree Faye looked sarcastically with curiousness. "Trees in these parts do neither tremble nor whimper without wind" she spoke into the fog before reaching up into the leaves and grabbing Vaan from his hiding spot.

Vaan fell to the ground with a thud, "hey!" he spoke in his defense before rubbing his head from the impact. Looking around cautiously, as if paranoid, "aren't you scared there are more of those things around!?" Vaan spoke with a panic in his voice.

Faye quickly turned her attention back to Aod who was sitting calmly against the base of the tree; his face expressionless once more and his eyes closed. "Orcs only travel in groups of 3 to attack, so we've got little more to worry about than this fog now." Faye spoke absent-mindedly as she knelt down beside Aod before looking over towards Markus who had taken his own position sitting at the base of a tree not far from the one they sat at. "Are you alright?" she questioned towards Markus.

"Aye I'm fine ma' dear, just take care of that boy." Markus said, closing his eyes and smiling, finally able to rest peacefully after the battle they'd endured.

Faye nodded before looking back at Aod's wound. It wasn't very large, just enough to cause any normal person to halt for a brief moment to allow the attacker time to get close. A few drips of blood seemed to seep from the small hole, but nothing of great severity. As Faye pushed Aod's cloak off his shoulder, giving her a better examination of the wound, Vaan stared curiously as to what exactly she was going to do to him. Slowly she placed two of her fingers on the wound and watched as it began to close as if never being made at all. Vaan's eyes were wide in wonder to her abilities; she was putting in absolutely no effort to the healing process at all. Aod's eyes opened and he looked in Faye's direction just as she finished the healing. Faye's attention was on the wound and she smiled, placing her hands on her knees before looking up at her partner with a confident expression on her face "all done."

Aod smiled in return to her kindness before fixing his cloak and standing up. Vaan was still awe-struck at what he'd just seen with so many questions running through his head.

Faye stood slowly from her position and looked up at the sky. "Unfortunately we've got little time to rest now, our destination needs to be reached by dawn and it seems dawn is almost upon us."

Markus slowly opened his eyes and stood from his seat at a tree's base and once more slung his large axe over his back to be carried as they moved onward.

Vaan still sat, letting out a heavy sigh as he had just gotten into the hopes they'd be able to rest for some time.

"Serpent's Fangs isn't far off now." Markus spoke, his voice still mild with weariness, but better than before. "We'd best get a move on if we're to make it by morn."

With the final words being spoken, the group moved forward again through the thick fog as the sky became brighter and brighter with the rising dawn. They would go toward Serpent's Fangs their destination to determine their next operative mission in the war and in which direction to head.

I SWEAR I'll update more often now, cuz I know you love reading this stuff..xD

-- Lady De Wintre --