The Blade and the Blind - Chp I. Indebtment

The smell of mead was in the air surrounding the patrons of the tavern. It was an old building, the wood already brittle, the counter stained with the spots of ale and plonk that the men were drinking here.
   Edstan smirked. "It's uncommon for someone like you to be found in such places." he said, pulling back the hem of his hood. "Yet here you are. I expected to find you somewhere outside. What's the occasion?"
   Gaomee received a large piece of dark bread from the man behind the counter as Edstan appeared next to her. She turned her head into his direction and smiled lightly. ''I am indebted to these people,'' she said and wrapped the bread into a rugged piece of cloth. ''I will and they will not let me depart ere I have paid that debt. They have tasked me to do them a favour in return for their hospitality. Here I stand and prepare to venture into the wild.''
The man nodded.
   "Well now," he said and looked to the bar keep and shook his head. "I have quite a few debts myself, of course they are to be given out when I return. And it's always," he held aloft a single finger. "Always, after I help them. But being a hero, well, I promise to aid them if ever they are in trouble. So when I come to some town, village or great city, half the time I hope that I will not be approached. Alas, I usually am and the cycle begins anew." Brushing his hands off, he tosses Gaomee a glance before looking towards the door. "So what is in the wilderness?"
   ''I have hoped thou wouldst ask. I am certain thou couldst not wait here idle until my debt is paid and we can finally depart to the north. It is thy undertone that gives it away, friend.''
   She smirked into his direction and adjusted the belt over her chest that held her quiver. A broad band of leather that seemed too large for her scrawny appearance. The Elf put the bread away into her backpack as she spoke. ''Orcs have troubled lately these people. And they say at the last skirmish the captain would have spotted a large one. I am to bring this orc's head to the Keeper of this village. Then I can leave.'' She held up her hand in defense before Edstan could come to word. ''It seems a high price, but the expectations are high for one of my kind.''
   Edstan groaned. "You agreed to kill some confounded orcs?" he snorted. "I like a challenge but all you're going to get out of a few slain orcs is their stench over your armor. Takes weeks to come off."
   He brushed his large hands over his weathered breastplate. It was ornate for being fashioned from leather, with interesting patterns that scaled down his broad chest to his waist where a few spare knives decorated an otherwise simple few buckles and straps. "Well, not that I am indebted to you as of now and seeing as I am free, I'll come along as you expected."
The immortal being smiled at him by his words. She did know Edstan's lust and ambition for adventures. He would never become one who would sit all day about and do nothing but to drink and stare into the empty air. This man was a man of the road and deeds.
   ''Then I am glad. I would advice that we leave now. The camp is a few miles away from here in the thick forest of Thinglad,''
   Gaomee explained to him. ''I prefer to do this assassination in quietness and shrouded by the night that approaches us. The orcs are thick and numerous. There is no need for us to take a risk.
   The Knife-fighter cocked his head, a look of anxiety crossing his rugged features.
   "Good! Meet me out by the west gate, be sure to have your belongings in order and take whatever precautions you need for departure. The closest I will get to this town again after this assignment, is the outskirts. For I tire of it and need to see the other side of the horizon. I do recall a certain tree stump I enjoyed nestling under. The wind was sweet there and the bushes ripe with wild blueberries." With that smile still spread across his face, he turned and left the tavern without another word.
   Gaomee remained a few more moments after Edstan had left. The elf thanked the man behind the counter, received an extra something that felt quite like a horn filled with mead; then she made for the door.
   She stepped out of the tavern and took a deep breath. Rain, fresh and cool air was what she met this early evening. She could not see it but the sky was clouded by a thick grey layer. It was her element and exactly the weather that she liked the most; It was so likely to this feeling that she experienced. A mixture of nostalgia and ambition.
   Ælbdís Gaomee raised her hand before her chest as she slowly and carefully made her way towards the stables. Edstan had wanted to meet her at the west gate and today the wind was coming from the east. Orientation was something the blind elf lost seldom and only under special circumstances. But as long as she had the chance to concentrate and not too many noises about her, she felt save. The Elf smiled as she came upon her companion. Sora, a fine steed from the northern regions. Carefully she brushed over the horse's nostrils, letting it issue a strong breath. Despite her blindness, Gaomee mounted Sora with a practiced precision. Patting the horse's neck she gave a silent command that it was time to make their way.
    The village they passed now through, Sora carrying her friend, was small, maybe a few dozen houses with a large mead-hall upon a hill. However, Stangard was highly fortified, with a tall wall of strong wood and several towers overseeing the surrounding lands. Nothing would come near the settlement without being surely spotted. The hills were too flat in order to serve as good hiding spot for groups of enemies that would actually pose a threat to Stangard.
Miles to the north, one could spot in the dim twilight the outskirts of Mirkwood and the woods of Thinglad. That was Gaomee's destination.
   She raised her head at the sounds of hooves.
   ''Edstan?'' she asked into the empty air.
   "Good. You are ready then." he smiled, looking to Ælbdís as he approached. "It is I." he responded. He had made certain to give Aisling, his mare, her share of spiced carrots. Edstan could go no where without her having her share. Patting the back of her mane, the horse buckled and kicked. For it was always a sport to try and kick her new master from her saddle. Ever would he be her "new" master for she was earned through thievery.
"Make way then. It is your bounty."
   Gaomee nodded as she pulled the cloth over her nose. It concealed half of her face. More a tradition by now than an actual use. The Elf took then a deep breath and listened into the night that had now come. The sun was glistening only to the slightest over the horizon as the two companions made their way. A faint line of a bright green mixed with the dark blue of the blanket that was thrown over the land.
   ''Let us seek first a vantage point,'' she said to the sound of the hooves hitting the ground. ''I like to have a point of return should something go as we had not planned.''
Edstan did not answer to that. He would leave it to her to lead them. For a few miles they followed the road, until Gaomee was moving upon the plains, covered in high grass to the north. The hills became here higher, more steep and from time to time they had to dismount in order to lead their horses by the reigns. More and more upwards led the way and shortly before it became tiring they stopped.
   Ælbdís tilted her head about. The sharp wind broke itself by the rough edges of the rock they were standing now next to. A hill with a top of stone, adorned with several gaps and holes. A perfect place to hide horses and equipment. The hill was to that very steep and nothing and no one could make a swift approach upon them. Ælbdís dismounted.
Also Edstan dismounted Aisling, although quickly, knowing that she was going to try and rear him off. He had grown accustomed to this and always kept one foot in the stirrup. Just as he expected, she raised up and Edstan held tight to the reins holding her and waited for her hooves to meet with the soft hills before leaping from the beast. "It amazes me each time you lead yourself somewhere Ælbdís. You must recite the number of footsteps you make or use your keen senses far more than I. I am envious of your hearing and scent tracking which are likely far above my own and believe me when I say that I make a great scout all boasting aside."
   Gaomee smirked as she led Sora towards a gap in the stone. With her fingers she began now to search for a good spot, where she could bind the horse unto, so that if the wind would become loud, the beast would not run astray. ''I hear very well. The wind here tells me the form of this rock. Each gap and each cleft. How large or how tall it rises into the sky,'' she elaborated.
   Edstan nodded. Leading Aisling behind Ælbdís, he whispered into her ears; Promises he intended to keep. Whether she recognized what he had to say or not was beyond him, but his knowledge of elven lore seemed to soothe the beast when he spoke as one of them. "Must be quite an experience. One that I likely will not share in as you do. I've been blinded by wicked men left in the dark for days due to some powder or potent mix of a sort. It's very interesting to say the least." Finding a nice area within the cleft, he reached his large hand between a crevice and grasped a strong root. Giving it a tug or two, Edstan was convinced that this would hold Aisling in place. He tied the reins to the roots and made his way around her to his saddlebag. He took out an apple, holding it out for her and whispered: ''Agoreg vê.''
   Ælbdís had not the luck of Edstan nor the strength. She found no suitable gap for the reins and the rope to be bound at. But the elf relied not much on luck, she was a being that came prepared for any situation. She had to, for being unprepared would likely mean her end as a blind. Turning around, Ælbdís as well reached into her saddlebags and after a short time of searching in them, brought a weird metal hook into vision. It appeared like a little ship anchor, though of course a lot more filigree and obviously old. Rust had been setting itself upon the device. It even made a slight screeching sound as Ælbdís moved a small pipe wrapped around the lower end and brought with that the teeth of the anchor into movement. A fine mechanism, but such things were left unregarded by the Elves of the West. It was due to heir kin's friendship with the dwarves that enabled her to such knowledge. The Elf bound the rope around the lower end, squeezed the anchor into a gap and adjusted the metal pipe until the device set strong between the stone. Nothing could move it now by force.
   She nodded. ''There,'' she said more to herself and turned into Edstan's direction.
   Edstan simply smiled. "Anchors." he said with a shake of his head. "I've a story or two to tell on those, but now is not the time." Pulling his hood back over his head, he checked his bracers and trappings to make sure they were secure. Ælbdís had mentioned assassination and that meant silence. Looking around the entire area, he could spot figures moving in the darkness barely, but not enough to identify whether it was an orc he was staring at, or just a goat. They roamed these parts and were infamous for eating the food stocks and during a time as such, they were worth more dead than alive.
   "Are you aiming for one particular orc or a whole charade?"
   The Elf stepped forward until she had reached the steep edge, where she kneeled unto the ground.
   ''One particular is the target. I believe the Keeper of Stangard means a strong and large exemplar, thinking it the orc's leader. They want to cut the snake's head of, us being the blade they wish to use.'' She laid her head unto the ground, remaining silent for short. Few people, especially those in towns who were not familiar with the wild, could barely imagine how far the vibration of a single step could be felt and in Gaomee's case even be heard. ''It might be even the same orcs that wounded me. So the debt is extended. But I fear for us being terribly outnumbered.''
   Edstan smirked. "You're actually wondering whether we are going to be outnumbered? We already are technically. Two against many and had I not come, you would have been alone so the thought is silly, Ælbdís. " Not bothering to mock her actions to see if he could find a better read out of what she was scouting for, he instead looked to the dark horizon again. He could see the thicket of trees and began treading down the hillside. "You said it was near Thinglad. We are not exactly near it. Let's make for the forest."
   Ælbdís nodded at his words without responding and followed his steps. They wandered down the steep, careful not to set small stones loose and to betray their location to a possible orc party. The abomination were now most active, now that the sun had gone and they dared coming from the thicket, haunting the game in the night with their crude bows and poisoned arrows.
   The man whispered just above the breeze. "Be wary of the wildlift. Orcs are just as easily riled by a simple doe's stirr." he warned.
   With hands resting on both hilts to his blades, he continued carefully into the forest. The ground was littered with dead branches, loud enough to crunch if barely any weight was pressed on them. With a gentle nudge of his foot, he skid them from his path and crouched over, keeping himself as small as he could. His eyes scouted what could be a lead on an orc party. Orc filth, blood, their intricate arrows or other foul things would be a dead giveaway and given the borders of Lothlorien lay near, he doubted even orcs would be that careless.
   Gaomee's steps were silent. Wherever she tread no sound issued and that was her greatest weapon. Due to her blindness she preferred the night and the approach in a stealthy manner. She sneaked right behind Edstan, taking her large bow from her back. An arrow rested on the weapon. The elf sniffed the air, trying to determine anything that would help them to locate their prey.
   On and on went their way through the thicket. It was quiet. Only the foliage of the highest trees sometimes rustled up by the wind. But no animal stirred and nothing seemed to move.
Edstan's eyes had been scanning the undergrowth and while he could spend time scouting the areas, he had learned long before that if anything lie dormant, it was certain to come to him if he lay in wait. There, in the north, something had stirred. Creeping towards the sound, he moved as silently as he could make of it, lowering his eyes, he saw naught but a squirrel. That was when he heard the sudden break and out leapt an orc. Drawing both his blades, he managed to parry the overhead swing and called out back to Ælbdís.
   The blind Elf heard the shout as quick as it had issued. The sound of the orc breaking through the thicket, the rough leather which noise lay in the air as Edstan's knives were freed. Ælbdís drew the tendon back and let fly - the arrow missed and flew further into the night as it then vanished. A curse she let go over her lips. The sound of metal grinding on metal wasclearly echoing through the forest as the man battled the orc. The second arrow hit its target. Howling up in pain the orc stumbled to the side as the long projectile pierced his crude armor, broke a rib and let dark heart-blood gush forth through the wound. Edstan's blades brought the howling to an quick end.
   The knife-fighter took a deep breath, lifting his eyes to Ælbdís with a wild grin spread over his face before turning to look back in an alarmed state of being. The last he wanted was to be taken by surprise yet again, and he circled around the corpse of the orc to avoid that issue entirely. "Well," he pointed the end of Tempest towards the slain creature. "There is an orc. 

One of many and likely not the one we are looking for. That would be too easy."
   Ælbdís knelt down to the dead creature, taking the shaft of the arrow with a hand. It was stuck as she found and had pierced deeply. But she would not leave one of her precious projectiles behind; each one of them were valuable and one she might have lost already in the woods. Ælbdís hence drew the knife Anghigil, set the blade by the wound and with a crunching noise she cut the orc open. Its stinking entrails with a wave of black blood laved forth upon the forest ground as the elf bend the ribs apart and retrieved back her arrow. ''This was a solitary orc. If it were not so, the howling would have attracted even more of them,'' she said and then began to let her fingers roam over the still twitching hands and fingers of the monster. ''Now tell me something ...'' she apparently asked the orc. Her fingers continued their search.
   Edstan said nothing more, allowing Ælbdís the time to search her foe. The kill had been quick, but had he been more alert as he claimed to always be, he'd have caught the orc in midswing and slit its throat. A simple and clean kill by all merits. It ran through his mind smoothly and he silently cursed himself for not have made that sweet kill a reality. It would have to wait for the next orc. That was when the first whiff of the orc blood filled the air and Edstan scowled. No one, not even orcs, could have become accustomed to such stenches. Stepping away from the corpse, the man made use of the time to look from whence the orc sprang. Perhaps something could be found there if not on the orc iteself, or maybe Edstan was giving the orc too much credit on it's intelligence.
   Gaomee stood up and came up to the man after searching the dead foe. With her hand stretched out she held but a faint piece of skin, that she must have cut loose. A symbol was burned into it, probably many years ago, for the burned edges had healed and had left a crude scar.
   ''What dost thou see here?'' she asked Edstan offering him what she held.
Edstan looked to what was being offered and he simply eached out and took it. Any normal being would have been content with seeing such things from a distance, but not him. Sniffing it, he furrows his brow and hands it back to Ælbdís. "Nothing. The orc was stupid as they are known for." he says quietly. "This is your scout, Ælbdís. I can find you a camp of orcs but to find one above the others?" he blinks and turns to face her. "I don't even know exactly what we are looking for. You told me not any real details. Was there something you wanted the men in the tavern not to hear?"
   The blind let the piece of skin simply fall. It was of no use after her and Edstan's judgement.
''It must be the camp's leader we are looking for,'' she told him. ''Probably guarded heavily, but also easily discovered. If we find the camp, we will find its leader and once we located him we can plan of how to dispatch him.'' Ælbdís walked a bit further into the forest, taking cover by a stone. ''What could prove hard is to take the leader's head, as requested for proof.'' Turning her head to Edstan she smirked. ''That is why I brought thee.''
   Edstan corrected her. "No, you did not bring me. I offered myself and came. Even had you said no, I would have stalked your footsteps if but only to look at your lovely rump. It is very provoking you know ..." Flashing a wink to Ælbdís, though she would not catch it, he rested his calloused hands on the rough surface of the boulder and looked out from behind it.
   The pace they were making was slow, but Edstan knew that such recklessness, especially at this moment, would be unfruitful. Sucking on his index finger, he held it up to catch the direction of the wind. The trees made it difficult to detect, but he could feel it brushing from the west. Edstan began to think of life as an orc, even as foul of an idea as it was. If he were to make a camp, it would have been deep within to shield from even the slightest of breezes. That would make striking a fire more simple, but of course, he was overthinking again, or so he kept telling himself.
   "Where would you have us go?" he asked. "The wind presses against us here and I feel the orcs would be further within the cover of trees."
   Ælbdís Gaomee had already a handful of leaves in her hand. Smelling on them she let them fall again. On Edstan's comments she had learned not to respond. It was who he was.
''These orcs are little different from their brethren to the north, they might be even from the same tribal order,'' she explains like a scholar. ''They cover their armor in rancid tallow. Blades of Men often find no hold to strike true on such surface. But the stench of it is far to be perceived. There is tallow on these leaves and surely on the bushes ahead. We follow the way our orc took. His path will be ours.''
   Edstan gestured to the open paths in the forest and scoffed. "Well take flight then. My ways will not be sufficient in the manner of which you wish to find your orcs. I go in, blades flashing and dispatch those that are riled to flee with a knife to the back of their head. Works every time."
The Elf however held her hand aloft as she began to venture through the thicket. ''Be wary, friend. Let us dispatch them quietly. A storm of the camp unleashing upon us could spell a bad doom.''
   It took not long until they found something. The forest here was more or less open, mighty trees giving each others space to let their crones grow further and further, while anything smaller than themselves began to suffocate.
   Gaomee stood suddenly still. ''We are closing in. Dost thou smell it?'' The elf drew her face to a mask of disgust as she sniffed the air. It smelled burned, a thick stench of smoking flesh and fat.
   The man actually didn't find the smell of smoked flesh to be so bad. It was the fat however that had him heaving if he focused his mind on it. He succeeded. "Smells like a wonderful cookout. Not like lovely trout or salmon back in Esgaroth, nay, but still something of which we will catch offguard." he says happily. "Let us move closer. Collect this head and be rid of this stalking. I prefer a battle."
   The Elf prepared her bow. ''Let the four winds guide us in silence,'' was her short prayer and then suddenly she ran in total quietness in between the thicket. She manoveured quickly around the rocks that stood tall between the bushes and trees as if she could still see. Her perception relied however since long time not anymore on her eyes. Fast Ælbdís sat over a fallen treestump, then took cover behind a rock. They had found what they were looking for. Not a hundred steps before them lay the encampment of the creatures they had been hunting. The light of the fires were clearly shining through the night and they were bright although it was raining. Grunting, gnashing and other despicable sounds were finding their way through the air to the two companions.
   Edstan whispered: "Well that was easy enough a track." he said with a shrug. From the distance, he couldn't tell how many were within the camp, but with fires like such he assumed at least twenty. Those were high numbers, even for him. It would need to be quick and he knew that he might be called to use his bow...which Edstan still lacked proper training for. He merely carried it for intimidation purposes. "So what are we waiting for? Let's move closer!" he bloated, biting his tongue to keep himself from howling like a wild animal. He drew closer, keeping his broad form along the sides of the various boulders. Falling to his waist, he crawled the rest of the way until he was nestled quite neatly. Again, he looked to see whether he could catch sight of any orc, only to be met with quite a plummet and he caught himself just in the knick of time.
   Gaomee tilted her head from side to side.
   ''Dost thou see anything?'' she asked the man in a low voice. She herself had already perceived something like a wall before her. It must be rocks in the forest that had been forming a circle around the encampment. The echoe of the sounds and the wind brought her the image to her mind.
   Edstan shook his head. "No." he muttered. "Just a bit of a drop. We ought to circle the crevice. I am sure you can hear them rummaging about." he said, standing back up. His eyes were alert for anything but luck happened to be with him this time. Up ahead: a lone orc-warrior. Stalking his prey more carefully this time, he prepared to make one clean and killing jab to the creature rather than being caught off guard yet again. As he closed in, slowly at first, he knew that the sound of his approach would become more and more apparent until at last the creature turned to meet Edstan's outstretched arms being held high in the air. His hands carried both knives and with all his might, he struck down on the creature ...
   Ælbdís had caught the approach that Edstan had made. And while he was about to engage his foe, it was a whisper in the wind that spoke: ''I climb the other side.'' In that moment, the Elf had jumped already, falling a few meters to the ground and catching herself lightly. Then she darted forward, out of sight up unto the boulders. She had to learn the exact location of her target.
   The knife-fighter lay his belly flat against the boulder to catch his first look at the orc encampment. There it was in all it's terrible keeping and with so little defence and population that Edstan had the nerve to take his horn that slung across his shoulder and blow into it to alert the nearby foes of the impending danger.
   Looking up above him, he caught sight of Ælbdís lithe form sulking the light storm. Transcending the boulder, he weaved his way around the tents and barricades and waited, waited for Ælbdís to make her move.
   Whether it be by bow or her leaping forth, he'd wait before moving in.
   Ælbdís Gaomee turned her head as the orcs had been alarmed by the sound of the horn. She heard them rummaging, preparing and growling, howling, seeking for the foe that would come. The loudest and most deep in voice must be the one she was stalking over all the time they had set out.
   Ælbdís knew now where her target stood. Her heart began to quicken in pace, for she was aware of that she had only a single shot. One attempt and Edstan would join the fray of battle, would engage the foe and the orcs would do so as well.
   She took an arrow from her quiver, set it silently upon the tendon and drew it back to her chin. The elf didn't breathe. She focused long, her arm holding strong the force with which the bow was bend. Everything she blended out. The sounds of the orcs, the clashing of their crude metal equipment as they ran about, went into formation for a possible attack. The voice of the Anduin in the far background vanished from her mind. Edstan's breath. And then there it was. Thirty steps in front of her, Ælbdís heard the dumb pounding of the orc heart. It became quicker with every passing moment, that seemed like a small eternity to the Elf.
   Then she let fly. The arrow shot forth, cut through the air and split rain drops falling from the sky into thousand wet splinters. The sound of its flight was a short screeching whistle until its journey suddenly ended. Biting through skin, flesh, it found its target's heart. The orc issued a defeated howl as all power had gone from it.
   Edstan had followed after the orc the moment the arrow let fly to pierce the Orc's heart. Rushing out from behind the tent as the beast approached the now visible Ælbdís, Edstan thrust both blades deep into it's sides and before the beast had a chance to swat him away, he used all the muscle in his arms to tear the blades up, through vital organs and flesh until both blades were nestled right beneath the armpits. Pulling the blades free, he brought Tempest, his fabled knife, back full swing and decapitated the orc.
   It's head slammed into the rocks ahead and the body going limp slumped to the branches in a thick coat of stench and blood. Stepping around the corpse, Edstan rummaged through the sharp branches, scraping his arms and fingers despite his best efforts to avoid such trivial injuries and took up the head.
   Stepping back, he didn't bother to signal towards Ælbdís and simply made his way back between the pass and waited for her there while inspecting the lifeless eyes of that which was slaughtered.
   Gaomee was now discovered and it was clear that the time had come to make their way back to safety. An arrow flew past her quite close. Drawing back her tendon a second time she answered the attempt and turned immediately. She had no time to make sure that she had hit. As fast as she was able to she jumped down rock for rock, until a cackling laughter interrupted her. A long thrusting weapon bit after her; would not have been for her reflex, she would have been seized by it. Thrusting her bow forward, she hit the flat nose of the orc. That gave her the time to draw Aldoreel with one hand, letting it strike over the creature's chest. With a snarl, followed by a squeak it fell, alarming the others of her location.
   Edstan took deep breaths. Their job was complete but there was still the issue of making it back to the horses and then even still before, making it through the forest with the orcs pursuing them. It was not many that were on them, but still one orc meant many were near. Holding the head up, he wanted to be reassured they had the right orc and asked if that were so. That was when a large thud came from behind as an orc leapt down to try and cleave Edstan in two. To his advantage, the orc had not thought of the height and landed quite recklessly into the ground with a sickening crack. It still alarmed the man and he drew one of the many knives lining his waist and let it free to become lodged in the skull of the orc, where it lay dead and twitching
   His elven companion turned in surprise. The orc that had jumped down had been not the only one. To several they came from the thicket, from behind the trees and swung their crude weapons, ran against the man and the Elf, certain to overthrow them with their sheer number. Ælbdís held Aldoreel ready, a shout in elven came over her lips as she parried a heavy blow, the axe of her foe sliding overher own sword. Her leg flew up, crushing the creature's jaws with her knee.
   ''Up the steep! Quick!'' she called out and made for retreat, another arrow missing her sharply.
Gaomee ran as quick as she could, taking leaps over rocks and thick bushes. In her flight she switched to her bow. Edstan barely avoided an arrow shot, sending him rolling across the floor. As he fell to the ground she stopped, covering him by sending off two arrows which one earned her a painful squeak of one of their followers.
   Edstan stood, brushing himself off and avoiding giving any thanks until they were completely out of the mess. Noticing he had dropped the head, his eyes quickly scanned the hills until he found the lovely trinket and took it up to take it under his arms while making yet another run for the exit of trees. Such was his momentum that his hood flew back, exposing a sweat coated face as Edstan breathed raggedly, doing his best to keep himself composed and calm.
Gaomee breathed in deeply as they reached their vantage point. It was a run that had drained her and the orcs had surely gotten up to them, but since the edge of the forest their advance had gone slow, finally had ceased. Time had gone beneath the notice of the two companions and the first solitary rays of the sun had driven the orcs off. They dared not wander beneath the bright light on the open fields. They retreated back yonder the black shades of the forest, leaving the Elf and the Men.
   Ælbdís rested her arms against her knees and took down the mask from her face, breathing in the fresh and cool morning air. ''That was too close, good friend.''
   Edstan panted and dropped the head near Ælbdís feet. "There." he said, spitting flem onto the grass. "There is your prize. Mine waits for me in the tavern despite me stating that I'd wait for you outside the gates. I think my um" he pat his thick neck. "Throat requires substance and what better than a good mead?"
   He could see one of the watchtowers in the distance from Stangard. It was only a bit away and that was refreshing. "And I'll not hear about how it is not well for me to drown in such things. It's how I celebrate." he said before she had a chance to scold him. "And what did the men of Stangard do for you that I did not that you owed them an orc head?"
   Gaomee closed in to stand aside him, cleaning Aldoreel on the grass from the orc-blood.
   ''They shared their food with me, gave me a bed and to drink whenever I would wish for it. Mistrusting these men are,'' she said and sighed. ''But good in the end.''
   For a moment she was quiet. A faint rumble in the distance calls as harbinger for the thunderstorm that was approaching them.