It was the elusive woodsman she tracked that caused her nerves to stand
on end,
trying vainly to expand her senses for early warning of his attack. She held
her
quarterstaff protectively out in front of herself walking on cats feet over
the damp forest
floor below. She was of fair height and build but remarkably strong for her
small frame. Her
skin was unnaturally milky white and pure as though not much time had been
spent in the sun,
though nothing could be further from the truth, and her long fiery red hair
fell down past
her shoulders in flowing gentle curls. Her features were slight yet remarkably
stunning by
anyone's standards and her piercing blue eyes gave the impression of ice even
in the warmest
of her smiles.
She could see careless signs of his passage marking the path in which he
took but
took no measure of comfort in the simplicity she found there, he was up to
something. Still
proceeding in a cautious and evened pace manner she continued on through the
endless maze of
trees away from the western sky which even through the trees she could see
the coming of
dark like a blanket emerging from the eastern sky.
Another hour maybe a little longer she thought silently. If he didn't make
his move
soon she would be forced to make camp for the night and hope for the best.
The thought of a night spent in these dark woods without a fire in the cooler
hours of fall
made her soul hang with a sense of dread. Of course she couldn't build a fire
with this
on-going game of cat and mouse still unresolved, she determined-- not if she
wanted to win.
A noise several yards to her left brought her about sharply and she wheeled
about no
longer masking her own passage. Her eyes darted nervously scanning black oak
to black oak
trying to quickly determine the source of the noise. She held herself frozen
for several
moments, breath ragged from the excitement she felt burning in her chest.
After a short time
she finally concluded fatigue and bottled nerves as it's source and turned
to continue her
trek eastward after the woodsman. It was a lingering doubt combined with finely
tuned
instincts that kept her journey from ending all together too sudden as she
whirled about
with cat's grace bringing her staff up with both hands to ward off the head
blow that came
down upon her.
She leapt back from her attacker readying her staff in a defensive manner.
He was a
lean burly man of medium height. His blonde hair was trimmed short and cut
neatly against
his head in much the same way as the curly beard that framed his face. His
eyes cast an
intense stare upon Autumn as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other.
The strike was
almost upon the highlander before she thought to defend. With animal like
reflexes the bulky
man brought his staff down with blinding force knocking the girl from her
feet. Without
hesitation the man struck with incredible speed at the fallen girl but she
was quicker,
rolling with stunning agility she jumped to her feet and rolled about the
mans backside
bringing the quarterstaff up to bear and crashing it down upon his shoulder.
The man
shrugged the blow as if inconsequential and renewed his attack with an even
greater fury.
Blow after blow the highland girl evaded the onslaught of attacks with an
almost inhuman
ease. She knocked his staff off guard and brought him up short of breath with
a severe knock
to the gut. The woodsman hunched over in pain letting a wheeze escape his
lips. The girl
smiled in-spite of herself and spun the staff down upon his backside to finish
the job. The
man however was quicker, recovering from the blow inflicted to his gut, he
swung his staff
up knocking the quarterstaff free from the highlanders hands and brought his
staff down in a
spin into her side knocking her into a nearby oak. He was on top of her with
amazing speed
slamming the staff down for a final blow. The highland girl once again proved
too much for
him, sliding the Sword of Leah free of its scabbard she thrust the sword up
in an arch
splitting the staff in two before the mans very eyes. His face lit up in astonishment
and he
back peddled several paces before he found the sword at his throat.
"You lose." The girl said with a confident grin.
The man's face took on a black look and slowly using his index and thumb
lowered the
blade down from his throat. "You cheated child." He scolded.
The girl secured the Sword of Leah upon her back once more and shook her
head. "How
so?"
"I said use only your staff."
"You also said use any means to win. I figure that a higher priority
than a single
petty rule." Autumn explained.
"And what if you were not to have had the Sword of Leah child? What then?"
The young girl smiled. "And when wouldn't I have had the Sword of Leah, Uncle?"
"Autumn I taught you better. Never rely solely on a weapon. It becomes a crutch!"
"Even so I would of won." The girl chuckled.
"We'll never know will we?" The man bellowed. Autumn knew when
she had crossed the
line with her Uncle and felt that perhaps this was one of those times.
Kurtisan Leah watched his niece's eyes drop to the ground and sighed. "You
know I'm only
hard on you girl because I want you to be the best." He spoke in a newfound
kinder voice.
"I know Uncle Kurt, I shouldn't have used the sword… Sorry."
Autumn averted her gaze
off to the side and heard her uncle approach.
He gingerly lifted her chin until her eyes found his and felt a slight uneasiness
in
the chill that he saw there. He knew it wasn't her fault, she had been that
way since birth.
Eyes like glaciers they seemed to speak of a world of which had turned its
back while
everything else about the girl suggested a warmth like no other. The man momentarily
marveled at the contradiction. "You did well today Autumn. I'll overlook
breaking my rules
this once child. You showed a lot of skill these past three days. And I'm
very proud of
you." The girl blushed and the older man smiled. "It takes a tracker
second to none to keep
pace with me." He chuckled. "I know, I've had quite a few after
me in my lifetime." Autumn
grinned at this. She knew her uncle to have been a bit on the edge. Leaving
the highlands of
Leah at an early age of fifteen he had lived a life of adventure and mischief.
He was even
rumored to have spent several years traveling with the rovers though he would
neither
confirm nor deny this. His older brother, Autumns father, had scolded her
uncle's actions
accusing him of not acting in the manner befitting a prince of Leah. But Kurtisan
had always
shrugged the accusations aside with indifference. He lived life the way he
wished and
nothing was going to change that.
Autumn seemed to realize something and gave her uncle an accusing stare.
"For someone as
wonderful at tracking and deceiving as you claim, you sure left a lot of traces
back there."
Her uncle shrugged. "I didn't wish to spend the night in these woods
anymore than
you child. Besides" He lifted a finger to her nose. "as good as
I am at covering my tracks
and as good as you are at tracking this could have bloody well kept on going
all the way to
the Anar. I don't know about you but I'd rather be heading home than dealing
with the gnome
tribes. At any rate you've proven yourself a decent tracker, it was your fighting
skills I
wanted to test."
"You know I'm better with a sword than a staff." The girl protested.
"Aye, that's why I had you using a staff this time." He answered
her cutting off any
further debate. "Now lets see about getting out of these forsaken oaks
before were forced to
make camp." The girl simply nodded.