I silently crept out of the camp, careful not to break any branches, twigs, and such, as I went away to refresh myself by taking a walk through the Trollshaws... Oh... why was I even bothering?
I shook my head as I cautiously avoided the various twigs and branches scattered around the glade, and made my way, quietly, to the forest that was Nan Tornaeth. I wanted to see what it had become, in my absence of two thousand years, and I felt a foul stench in the air: I wrinkled my nose as I passed various decayed bushes and flowers, all eminating a strange scent, and I felt something within me stirring: The corruption, no doubt, sensed a similar power nearby. I could swear I saw my shadow twitching slightly, by it's own accord.
"What could be in here?" Mirror Daerundros cackled in my thoughts "Shut that despicable mouth of yours, foul being."
"I would becareful if I were you, you would not wish me near this place." Mirror Daerundros said loftily, and for a moment my vision was blackened by my Mirror Self, evil looking and still terrible in the raiments of white, taking my hand and dragging me through the darkness. I lurched forward slightly, but restrained myself with little effort.
"Turn back now." My mirror image's voice echoed in my thoughts, "Or else I shall dominate you."
Not a chance. I gritted my teeth as I felt some slight bumps within my very core being, and it took me moderate effort to get my mirror self back into the internal cage within me with which I trapped it in. I groaned and panted.
As I ascended the slopes, I felt my Mirror Image restlessly struggling to get out of the cage, and I sensed it grew in power: I had to focus most of my willpower at it to keep it subdued.
When I got to the ruins, I peered around and saw men seated around the campfire, they were talking loudly, much to my amusement and I had no problems hearing what they said.
"Well, Rioc, what is it?" A woman asked. She had a pale face, rather dull red hair, and a disturbing series of marks and shapes inked onto the left side of her face. The man she adressed had a long bushy beard, and seemed well into his 40s. He was shuddering with fear.
"A camp." He said slowly. I sharpened my ears, "Three Elves, a Woman, and a Man."
That was surely us, I thought, as I observed the circle of Hillmen. Their faces turned from merriment to concern and confusion. I had to edge closer, for their voices had gotten quieter.
"Well... what did you see?" Another woman asked inquisitively. This one had spiral markings on her face. She had black hair that went to her hips and she carried a stave. The man in question shook his head, his face now rather pale in comparison to the others. He seemed mortified and shocked.
"Three Elvish women." Rioc shuddered. The others laughed.
"You are scared of such women?" The woman with red hair laughed, "I could warrant they do not even know how to fight?"
"Fool! Sidhn!" The man yelled, "They are great warrioress!" He flapped his arms in the air in awe, and the woman named Sidhn recoiled at his loud voice. He continued.
"They single-handedly defeated five trolls in Tal Bruinen! I watched them!"
Sidhn, now rather haughty, glared at Rioc, before asking once more, "What did they look like?"
"Umm... the woman had jet black hair that fell to her shoulders, and a scar on her left cheek... She carried daggers, but she seemed to be... rather doubtful of fighting. The man had black hair drawn into a ponytail, and is rather roguish from my guesses. He had a tan complexion and he fought with daggers." Rioc gathered his breath again, "The three Elvish women...--"
"Weaklings!" The black haired woman spit out, Rioc hushed her.
"Do not interrupt. The three Elvish women... one had brownish to black hair.. I don't know. She carried a simple sword. The other two... they looked terrifying. One of them had pure black hair. She carried a shield and a scimitar. Her eyes... I shall never forget those eyes.. one moment, they were sea-blue, the next moment... they were the purest, most terrifying black. She looked very capable of killing something with only one hand. The other was more terrifying. She had wild red hair, and several strange black markings on her face. Her eyes had strange green acid rings to it, and She carried all sorts of weapons, from spear, to shield, to a scimitar similar to the other Elf-maids one. I think those scimitars were twins." Rioc's voice was low and rather mortified.
"Haha!" Sidhn laughed out loud, "You are scared of three measly Elf women? You should be ashamed of yourself!"
Enough was enough. Angered by the provocations the women sent at us, I decided it was time for action. My shadowy mirror nodded in agreement as my vision was blurred by her for a short while.
"I am serious!" Rioc yelled, "They would vanquish--"
"--you and make you pay the price for provoking us?" I interrupted, coming out of the shadows, my eyes black. The circle of hillmen gasped as I slowly trod towards them: None wielded a bow nor crossbow, "No one dares to insult my sisters and my companions."
The men immediately ran to meet me, and swift was their death as I sommersaulted over them and slashed each of them and left them wounded. The women, especially Sidhn, looked terrified, but the bold Sidhn came forward to me.
"I wish to learn from you." She said. I shook my head. Her eyes narrowed, the taint of corruption and anger visible within her ice-grey eyes. She crouched
"I do not teach those who serve evil." I said contemptously. Enraged, she sprang forward to meet my eyes.
"Then Die!" She shrieked rather agressively, charging at me with her stave and her long dull-red hair. I simply stepped aside and stuck my foot out, and she tripped. ((Sidhn is a character who has serious anger issues, lol))
"I do not kill women." I said simply. She proceeded to try and slash at me, but I was too fast for her: I simply leapt up with my left leg, spread my legs out and turned myself in the air diagonally, before I landed on the back of her head and made her stumble with the weight of my entire body. Astonished, I tried to retrace the manouvre, avoiding and slaying the various men who came to Sidhn's aid, while I kept her busy with various feints, trying not to hurt her with my blade, as I thought of the recent moves I was doing.
I wondered at the movements that I made, and it seemed a force was behind it, influencing most of my movements. However, I staggered a few times: Mirror Daerundros was fighting to take control of me, I knew. On and on, we raged in our minds, the advantage lying with me, as I danced around my opponent in reality, while in my mental thoughts I fought an internal battle with myself, my mirror image. I felt how she tried to take control of my thoughts, but they were all in vain as I laughed and saw a vision of my mirror self chained up and bound.
Back in reality, Sidhn was already on knees before me, panting, exhausted, and defeated.
"How could a filthy Elf like you beat me..." She panted, "I... Champion of Rhudaur."
"A thousand years of training." I said simply. Sidhn stood up, and before I knew it, she had taken my glove and marked it with a strange spirally symbol that swirled around the glove. Bewildered, I raised my hand and took my glove off: My hand remained unmarked, but the glove was covered in the black symbol, the circles obvious among the brown of my glove.
"What is this sign supposed to mean?" I asked incrediously, peering at the glove with curiosity.
"Why, it is a mark to show that you have survived an encounter with the champion of Rhudaur.
"Pah." I tossed my head arrogantly, "You are clearly no match for me."
Sidhn clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, "You should be wise to take caution, Elf-filth, for from this day on, you shall be hunted by me, personally."
"You will be sorry..." I rolled my eyes. The camp would surely slay her once she dared to attack me.
Sidhn, on the edge of fury, charged at me with her staff, but, I, once again too quick for such an overwhelmingly slow mortal, even for a "Champion of Rhudaur" - if that was what she really called herself - turned in a three-sixty arc and hit her back with the blunt side of my blade.
"Too slow..." I taunted her. She collapsed before me in a heap of exhaustion, as the throng of onlookers that had flocked to us during our battle hurriedly circled Sidhn to check on her. I stood there looking at her with concern, before my vision was blocked by my mirror image once again.
"I am a part of you now, Daerundros. But I am yet very fragile." She told me.
I coughed, but I ignored her words and focused myself on the scene before me.
My mirror self flinched as I pressed her tainted being hard, with the weight of my willpower, and I could feel her slowly retreating into an empty corner within my body. I sighed. Back in reality, Sidhn was already standing up, looking at me with heavy-lidded eyes.
"I shall meet you soon." She said, nodding at me.
"Perhaps." I said in a bored way, "In a thousand years." I muttered under my breath.
Slowly I descended the slopes away from the Hillman camp, my blade lightly covered in blood and shining crimson under the cover of Dawn. I had to get back to Minyelaire before they would notice that I was gone...
Author's Notes
Daer has now officially started the path to controlling her tainted counterpart! It's going to be interesting to see how the situation develops.
Why is the spirit revealing itself when it is supposed to be subtle, you ask?
The corruption within Daerundros is only small, like... really really small. It is not a spirit itself, but rather, a sort of a small lifeforce struggling to live on its own. When Daer spent all those moments with Minye, a small lifeforce from Minye's spirit latched itself onto Daerundros, hoping that the host was weak enough for it to drain her life and grow in power. But that small lifeforce was wrong: Daerundros was overwhelmingly strong in spirit compared to Minyelaire, with whom the small lifeforce once lived before. Since it was born from a spirit, you could say it was a baby lifeforce: When Daerundros was afflicted, she could sense something was bothering her very soul. At that moment, the small lifeforce had no choice but to reveal itself and plead with her, hoping that it would be spared of life. Daerundros was overcome with pity for the thing, and decided to let it live, but she chained it up within her body, so that it would not bother her. That's when the spirit became strong enough to send her visions, she became annoyed at it, but she was very surprised when she saw how she had somehow gained more strength, more agility, and more quickness, since she had detected that lifeforce. Anyway, Mirror Daerundros is obliged to do this sort of stuff, because she's like a parasite: She needs sustainance from her host, which is Daerundros, and she is well aware that her host could hurt or wound her (spiritually) if she overdoes it. Kinda makes sense doesn't it?
