[center][color=gold][h2][b]Ego and Arrow[/b][/h2][/color][/center] Jariel was as always disappointed by the Kurgan 'warriors' he was training. Well, training probably wasn't the best word for the pummeling he was giving them, with the only advice he handed them, if you could call it that, being to get up and try again. He had demanded 20 of them fight him knowing full well at a certain point adding numbers was meaningless since they didn't even have the space to attack him, but that wasn't really the wait, was it? No, it simply felt good to pummel humans, to feel superior compared to these mayflies who could never hope to match his experience.~ But somehow, despite his horrible teaching style, they were getting a little bit better, taking in new moves and learning to parry by observation and trial and error. This session however was interrupted by a rider coming in the village's training field at full speed before deftly jumping off his horse to then kowtow in front of the elf. "My lord! I come from a stream east, Bikhaan riders-" He caught his breath as Jariel smiled with satisfaction. That human fucker Ella had been right again! She had expected a retaliation from Ordun and instructed him and his riders to keep watch over the few watering holes of the dry region, knowing any substantial force would have to stop to one of them. "Good! Get me my armor and prepare yourselves for battle." He said with glee. Most of the Kurgans let out a cheer for battle and began to prepare, but some looked at each other with worry. One finally spoke. "M-my lord, didn't Tyrant Ella command us to move the population to the castles once we caught sight of Ordun's reprisal forces?" Jariel looked at the man with an annoyed expression before pulling out one of his swords from its sheath with lightning speed, placing it under his throat. "Ella just wants to be part of the fight to have a share of the loot, but didn't want to wait in your ugly fucking muddy village for it. Send a messenger warning her of my upcoming victory and never question me again." The man gulped and nodded, Jariel then removed his sword, but not without sliding it against the human's skin and drawing some blood. "We ride, to victory!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ And so to meet the Bikhaans Jariel and his riders went. From the start one might have expected the outcome: Jariel and his riders were outnumbered, something he expected to overcome with the sheer determination and skill of his Aspirants, something he might have been right to think, if only the Bikhaans had been so kind as to fight in melee, the way Jariel would have wanted them to fight. They did not. The elf let out a scream of frustration! His horse had been shot from under him, same as those of all that was left of his Aspirants as they huddled in a circle to form a shield wall to block the arrows raining on them. From time to time they replied by chucking spears at the enemy riders but it was inferior in every way to their bows! With every moment, the circle of riders closed in on their position, their shots becoming more accurate. Jariel stood proudly at the center, a dozen of arrows sticking out of his magically tempered armor while more clinked and clanked against it to fall harmlessly on the ground. Some had went through, but it would take much more to bring down a Tacenian! Even wounded he was, Jariel still had the energy and focus required to seize a spear being thrown at him mid flight before in a fluid motion twirling it around and throwing it back, sticking it in the chest of a Bikhaan who had dared to get too close to him. He didn't care, he'd kill them all himself if he had to, he was Jariel Silorian and had lived for five centuries, the human who would kill him wasn't born yet! But before he knew it, the number of his Aspirants had further dwindled and he saw the enemy lining up for a final melee charge to break up the last remaining stuborn survivors. Finally, glorious melee! As the enemy charged, Jariel put all his strength and rage in his blade, ignoring the lance breaking against his chestplate as he swung and decapitated the horse in front of him, his blade continuing to then split its rider in half. For a moment, the battlefield seemed to stand still at this display of strength, but as the dust fell, it was clear that he was now alone. More arrows hit his armor harmlessly, some being struck midair by his blade as brave men surrounded and charged him. Unlike his aspirants during their 'training' at the camp, these men were more afraid of what would happen if they failed to hit the elf than what would happen should they manage to hurt him! Something hit him behind the head and even with his helmet things started to become blurry. Then, a lucky hit. Jariel tried to scream as he raised a hand on his neck, but all that came out was a gurgle. He tried to charge the man who had struck him, but his legs refused to follow and he fell down to his knees, a look of... surprise on his face. He was going to die. How could this have happened? He was Jariel, he was Tacenian... [b]tl;dr: The man in charge of watching the Ordun border thinks he can face its forces and fails to do so.[/b] [center][color=gold][h2][b]The only thing you can do[/b][/h2][/color][/center] "I do not understand. We are more numerous, we are the more skillful warriors- why not ride out and crush them?" The human asked to his Mistress. Ella pouted, annoyed that her boy-toy was being so chatty today. She guessed she could understand however; here they were, naked in her chambers after a session of lovemaking while an army camped outside the castle, having just burned down his village after he had been ordered to burn down his own crops to deny them from the invader. She understood however. Cormak, unlike many of her previous Chosens, cared about his people. After his promotion during the raid on Ordun, he had came back with many ideas on how to improve things for his people, good ideas even, but now it was all gone and there was nothing he could do to protect his home. "Because I'm telling you we're not doing that, isn't that enough?" She said from the bed to Cormak as he paced around the room, audibly annoyed that he'd question her. He turned to look at her and sighed before being silent for a moment. "...Do not misunderstand me, my Tyrant. I am not questioning your order, I am just wondering why we do what we do. I want to understand so I can better serve you." Ella raised an eyebrow and smiled, amused that Cormak actually had quite the way with words. He was still questioning her of course, but he did endear her to answer. "Because you can't outskill an arrow." She said with a shrug. Cormak frowned, uncertain what this meant so she continued. "If we go out, they'll just get on their horses and leave, then when we turn our backs on them, they'll ride back in and pelt us with arrows. And I don't have anything against that. The only way to beat tactics like this is either get them to follow us in a forest, which we don't have any near and if they're smart, they don't follow us in, or to have more missile units than them, and it would take months for me to train you guys to use bows, years for you to actually be good with one." She explained. Cormak looked at her for a moment, taking in what she said before sitting on the bend and leaning forward to rest his chin on his fist. "...After this, I will have every man and child train archery for one day every week. I now understand that this is an area in which we are lacking." Uh. No raging against how dishonorable this was? Just acceptance of the facts. Ella was pleasantly surprised. She moved from the bed to sit beside him and give him a pat on the back. Suddenly however, the door flung open, showing one of Ella's elven companion. "Ella, you might want to come and see this." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The first thing Ella noticed with great satisfaction when she reached the gatehouse overlooking the Ordun camp in front of the castle was how a lot of them were shitting themselves, literally. Looks like they had drank the water from the well she had 'spiced up' for them. The second thing was a very large man clad in a huge heavy bronze armor screaming at the Castle. "Tyrant! Come and face me you craven knife eared witch! You attack peasants in the middle of the night and hide behind your walls when Oran-Shor's retribution comes for your head! See how you fare in combat against a true dragon hearted warrior!" Ella's reaction was to have a half snort/half giggle of amusement at the challenge, though behind her Cormak stepped forward and placed a knee on the ground. "My Tyrant, allow me to face this upstart in your name." Around him, Ella's elven cohort frowned at the suggestion. "Watch your mouth, thrall, you are unworthy of such an honor!" Still amused, Ella winked at Cormak. "Yeah thrall, don't think you can just rob me of my fun." The elf nodded in agreement until his eyes widened in surprise as he turned toward Ella. "W-wait, you can't mean-" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The doors of the castle opened to show a single Tacenian walking out. Ella was barefooted and wearing luxurious silk gown probably worth more than the Legionary would ever make in a lifetime alongside a simple shortsword at her side. She raised her arms as she walked toward the man who had been taunting her. "Here I am, manling! The knife eared bitch who enslaved your kinsmen, killed your priests and pissed on the altar of whatshisname your dragon god." There was a moment of silence and... hesitation, at the sheer overconfidence displayed before them. The bronze clad warrior finally raised his hand to undo the brooch holding his cape to free himself from it and let the sun shine on his armor. "Oran-Shor blesses me this day for his light has blinded you to your own hubris and I will be his tool to teach your kind humility." Saying this, he took out his sword and readied his shield. Meanwhile, Ella pouted. "Hmmmm... I think I will kill you with... a thumb. The left one. The right one's too powerful for you." She said clearly while raising her thumb, provoking a bout of laughter from the assembled elves and men on the wall behind her. With this, she began walking toward the would be champion of Ordun as he did the same toward her. He wasn't mediocre, but Ella could tell from his swings that he had the vibe of 'best student at the academy'. With a certain natural talent and a few tricks since he was left handed but lacking real experience. She simply dodged and weaved, strategically placing herself with the sun at her back as she seemed to move with supernatural speed, starting to dodge his next move before he had even began making it. Until all of a sudden there was a flash of light that blinded the human as Ella stepped to face the sun and drew her short sword at the perfect angle to aim the light at his eyes. In the same swift motion, she sliced at his sword hand, Tacenie alloy effortlessly slicing through his leather gloves and his fingers. As he reeled and screamed in agony, Ella was a blur of movement as she struck at his heel and the inner elbow of his shield arm to make him fall to his knees with his tendons sliced. The Bikhaan tribesmen watched in silent horror as the Tyrant reached down and took one of the Champion's fingers from the dirt. "...I never said I'd use MY thumb." Ella declared loudly with a sadistic smile on her face as she brandished her new 'weapon' and placed a hand on the man's helmet to steady it for the final blow through its eyehole. [b]tl;dr: Ella explains why she decided to just wait out the riders before facing a champion in a duel.[/b]