New life

[Keyra]

They month pasted rather quickly and still little had changed. Hunting parties was still being ambushed and the lycanthropes food supply was still far from where it should be. The newest member to the pack was doing alot better than most had expected, not only did he hunt alone most of the time but he also knew medicine. The pack had been without a witchdoctor for quiet sometime and soon he was considered for pairing with a female. Keyra was taking her cubs out to learn how to survive along with several other she-wolves.

" Well Keyra.... your cubs seem to be growing strong, even with the lack of food they seem to look as though they have been eating more than their fair share of rations... " Bella said to Keyra as she groomed one of her own cubs.

" I give my cubs some of my own food.. so I do without. It shouldn't matter to you... I do twice the hunting you do .. so don't blame your cubs frail appearance on me because of your laziness." Keyra said without looking to the other woman.

Suddenly the cubs had stopped playing in the snow as the forest had also grown silent. Then the scent of hunters had grown thick. Both Keyra and Bella took their lupine forms and started calling the cubs to them. As the cubs drew closer arrows started to wiz over their heads. Two of Bella's cubs was further out and she watched in horror as and arrow pierced one of her cubs killing it. She charged out to rescue the other but as she came out into the open she would soon fall from the multiple arrows that hit her, but she managed to scoop up and toss the other cub to Keyra with her final breath. Now the arrows began to zip by Keyra' s head as she gathered her cubs and Bella's remaining. Kerya lead them back towards the castle but these hunters didn't seem to be aiming at her but at the cubs. One arrow passed by Keyra and claimed the life of one of her own cubs, then another of hers. Just as soon as the arrows started they had stopped.

Keyra sent the three cubs into the castle and she went back for the bodies of her cubs and of Bella. She returned to her elven form and picked up her first cub tears flowing from her as she gently pulled the arrow from their small bodies. Then she could hear the laughter from some men ahead.

" That'll show them ... hey we just did them a favor. Now they have more food to eat." The hunter said to his group as they pulled the arrows from Bella's corpse. Keyra's sorrow turned into rage as she unsheathed her blades and dashed into the middle of them. In moments she had beheaded two of them and plunged her swords into the third one.

" You murdered innocence cubs..... you are more twisted than I ever was.... I hate you hunters more than life itself."

The final hunter ran off leaving his fallen comrades. Keyra went to Bella's body and started to lift it when someone stood over her and lifted the body off of her.

" Let me help you Keyra I'm sorry I didn't make it here in time to assist you .... and save your cubs." Renaults stood over her not looking at the grieving she-wolf.

[Keyra]

Over time thigs changed very little, even now the pack was starting to question their leader's ability to handle the situation. They had very little to go off on now with their numbers getting lower as the weeks went by. Keyra was down to two cubs now and she was doing even more hunting now to help feed the rest of the pack. They would have to travel closer to Zentar's keep which was not very hospitable towards lycanthropes, but they had to risk it. The hunt was going along smoothly until she caught the scent of hunters, but it wasn't alot of hunters..... more like a small grouping no more than four. Keyra didn't think that they would pose much of a threat or even if they would attack her party which had them completely outnumbered.. " Be on y....." An arrow wizzed right infront of her nose and struch the tree beside her before she could finish. Then the trees eruputed in fire as a being of fire ran into the middle of her party scattering them. Then arrows came in like rain and took some of her party down, Keyra reverted to her elven form making herself a smaller target and took out her crossbow.


" Go now take what meat we have and leave ... Now !!" Keyra screamed at her remaining comrades, as she took cover from thearrows. It was then she covered herself in shadows and hid beneath some shrubs, taking in the scents around her. Then a man wearing red walked out and began pulling the arrows out of her fallen party members. The fire pet had dissapeared but the owner was not seen still.

" Come on out Lycan..... We know your still here somewhere." The man said as he was pulling the arrows out. The stench of ale on his breath amazed Keyra. How could he be so accurate for being drunken? Keyra saw that maybe his balance wont be so well and leaped from the bushes and fired two shots from her crossbow, he dodged the bolts and fired off an arrow of his own towards her legs. She leaped over the arrow and had her swords drawn and ready to strike him as she came down. He rolled out of her way but not completely unharmed,she got in a slight cut that leaked some poison into him. But then his wound has healed an his cut healed, and thats when she noticed the teir'dal cleric step out. She almost thought it was Lady Nikkii but realized it was an unknown male tier'dal. Then she smelled the scent of fire nearing her and fell to the ground as a fireball zoomed over her head.

" I see you hunters was trained far differently than I was.... but I will kill you to protect my family." Keyra now had three routes of escape blocked off now.

[Keyra]

" So you was a gypsie hunter, your death is a high priorty you know." The cleric said to her. His words to her was more of an empty threat to her, he looked older than Lady Nikkii and maybe his power was diminishing. Her eyes remained on the human an magician they was the threat to her at the moment. Still something wasn't quiet right to her, theses men alone couldn't do let alone plan these attacks so well they looked less seasoned than she had been. Then that left the question of who was the trainer then and where is he or she.

" Ok boys.... lets see if you can take me before I get you." Keyra had said with a grin. With a quick flick of her wrist she threw a dagger right into the human's bow cutting the twine. She took the moment of his confusion to dive towards him an kick his legs from under him sending him face first into the snow. Now Keyra had Rhynn where she could finish him in a quick swing but, before she could manage that she was knocked from his side by a blast of fire. Her lycan ability was healing her as she regrouped herself, and stood ready to take one the other two teir'dal men.

" Your friend smells odd to me me smells like the pox and of booze.... I don't remeber seeing many dark elves aside from Lady Nikkii an Mr. Kyrinn. Most of the time they steered clear of the main camp an sulked around. You there don't seem to be as grumpy as I remebered Mr. Kyrinn." she said as she looked to the magician.

"Nikkii..... that harlot....." The voice was very familiar to Keyra. And it chilled her to the bone.

[Keyra]

Keyra was hesitant to turn towards the voice, but then again if it was who she thought maybe she could convince him to leave her people alone. She looked over to where the voice came from only to be struck in the chest, as she fell to the ground the form of Kyrinn to shape standing over her his gaze looked through her very soul.

" Your alive.... Lady Nikkii didn't think you would survive. I knew you could, and still grumpy it would seem. Why are you here?"

" You know why I'm here... And I see that Nikkii's incompetance has showed itself yet again. As you know hunter's turned by beast must be dealt with swiftly, and Keyra that is you." Kyrinn said coldly as he readied his sword.

" So this is Keyra Windleaf.... She's younger than I thought, barely out of her childhood." Khael spoke as he looked her face over.

" Mr.Kyrinn why don't you overlook me? I haven't done any wrong. If anything hunters are more criminal than myself, I never killed innocent young..... and laughed over them. And besides Nikkii overlooked my....... new side and her daughter is a more powerful and she is taking resisdence in Neriak with her. Wouldn't a rouge hunter assisting lycanthropes be of higher priorty or is it your scared of them?" Keyra scooted back as she got up and kept watching Kyrinn knowing that he had no compassion for anything it seemed. His other members seemed to be a bit more interested in what Keyra was saying, so she thought maybe they could help change his mind. " You know Mr. Kyrinn it was her daughter that bit you.... I think her name is Darlena... A very violent lycanthrope I seen. She's killed alot of hunters and almost got you too."

" Enough...." Kyrinn said as he watched Keyra. "She is not the standing her, and I will deal with them on my terms an not theirs.... and you have killed a few hunters yourself..."

[Kyrinn the Black]

Keyra scrambled backwards on all fours, putting much needed distance between her and the dark knight. Her desperation soared as Kyrinn started to approach her. He seemed almost to calm for someone about to strike down an old colleague. He did think of her as a colleague didn’t he? Keyra’s mind seemed to race as she desperately searched for a means of escape.

Suddenly a plan began to take form, “Are you to afraid to face me alone? I thought you hated working with others!”

“They’ll not interfere in this child.”

Rising to a kneeling position Keyra readied her crossbow. She swallowed hard trying to steady her aim. Kyrinn terrified her; not because of the skill he possessed but because he was completely alien to her. To Keyra, it seemed that everything about him was a contradiction to every lesson she had learned about people. She loosed the bolt from her crossbow. Kyrinn did not flinch a muscle as the deadly missile screamed past his shoulder. It found its mark in the soft unprotected flesh of the Teir’dal priests neck.

His eyes showed surprise and rage as he fell to his knees, clutching at the small wooden shaft protruding from underneath his chin. His hands glowed blue as he desperately attempted to heal himself, but without a voice there was no way to complete the spell. The magic-user and the drunken Ranger rushed to his side but there wasn’t anything that could be done. The Priest fell forward into the crimson stained snow, his fingers twitching slightly as the last of his life blood drained from his body.

Kyrinn never looked back.

Keyra dropped her crossbow in the snow and went for her poisoned blades. She waited for Kyrinn to close the distance, then when he was in range, launched herself at him with a series of vicious attacks.

He parried every blow with ease. Worse than that, even on the defensive he took immediate control of the battle. With every parry he gauged a little more of her skill, and learned to manipulate her movements. With a sudden twist of his heavy-bladed sword he sent Keyra into an awkward position. When she tried to right herself, she found that she had turned directly into Kyrinn’s fist. The force of the blow sent her sprawling to the ground. Her eyes started to tear immediately and she tasted blood. Her nose was probably broken. Kyrinn did not press the advantage. Instead he silently waited for her to stand and renew the attack.

Keyra was slow getting to her feet. She remembered being faster than Kyrinn so she should be able to get through his defense. Again she launched a desperate attack, but this time her opponent reacted more offensively, meeting her twin swords blow for blow. Every time their blades clashed, shock waves of force rattled her body. He was wearing her down, it almost felt more like a test than a duel. She hated being toyed with.

“Why don’t you fight me for real!? Are you still afraid!?” she screamed.

Kyrinn responded with a series of three quick strikes, pushing away her blades and cutting a deep wound into her shoulder. Keyra howled in pain but only grew more determined with the injury. The battle raged onward but Keyra just couldn’t gain the edge she was looking for. Kyrinn never pushed the duel but every time Keyra made a mistake she was rewarded with another angry red gash on her body. It wasn’t long before she was bleeding badly from several deep cuts to her torso, arms, and shoulders. For a brief moment her world grew bright and hazy, and when it did Kyrinn struck. He side stepped the staggering girl and delivered a kick to the side of her knee that snapped bone and sent her down into the snow. When she hit the ground one of her blades went clattering away from her landing at Kyrinn’s feet.

Keyra lay there for awhile, trying to let some of her strength return to her but she just didn’t have anything left. She had lost too much blood, her unnatural regeneration couldn’t keep up with the damage being inflicted. She tried to crawl to her feet but couldn’t. Her leg was bent at the wrong angle and wouldn’t respond. Still; she couldn’t let it all end this way, she swore she’d beat him someday and it was becoming apparent that this might be her last chance. Keyra half crawled, half drug herself to where her blade had fallen. Kyrinn watched her struggle without pity or satisfaction. She rose to her hands and knees without looking up at him, but instead of reaching for her fallen sword she struck hard with the one she had retained. Her attack was easily parried but she managed to pin his blade for a split second. Pinning the blade meant she would be unable to use her other hand to take up her second sword without falling so she took the hilt in her mouth and jabbed upward as hard as her neck would allow. The surprise attack caught Kyrinn unprepared and though it was awkward and weak, she managed to sink the tip of the blade into his forearm.

Kyrinn looked down and smiled, “So this is all your anger amounts to?”

A swift kick to the side of Keyra’s head sent her sailing into the ground for the final time. Her body was wracked with pain and completely exhausted. All she could do now is lay there in the snow and wait for the end.

“…Hurry up…and…finish…me…”

Kyrinn turned away and sheathed his sword. He spoke without looking at her,
“I can kill you whenever I want too. Right now though, it feels too much like cleaning up after that worthless Princess.” As he walked from the clearing he added, “I’ll inform Djivan that you were mortally wounded and left in the wilderness to die. If you manage to survive somehow I wouldn’t leave Castle Lightwolf.”

“…You think…you’re so smart…You think…you’ve…won…but…you’ll be…dead…before sunrise…”

If Kyrinn had heard her he didn’t respond. He and his two remaining companions disappeared from the clearing as silently as they arrived, leaving the body of their fallen comrade to rot where it fell. Keyra’s world faded into darkness as she slipped into unconsciousness.

[Kyrinn the Black]

It was less than half an hour before the small wound in Kyrinn’s forearm erupted in searing pain. He halted the tiny company and removed the armor from his arm and shoulder to examine the wound. The flesh around the cut had died and turned a sickly green color. The infection was spreading fast.

“We need to hurry back, I need to get to a healer.”

The small group picked up its pace but by sunset Kyrinn’s arm was hanging uselessly at his side. The three hunters stopped to check the wound again and found that the discoloration had spread downward through his hand and upward past his elbow. The limb had died completely and it was Kyrinn’s guess that if it was allowed to spread into his body there would be nothing that anyone could do to save him. Even at a hard night’s march they wouldn’t be able to make Zentars Keep until almost morning. Unfortunately it didn’t seem like Kyrinn would last even another hour.

“I wondered why she didn’t change…” Kyrinn mused, “It’s all so obvious now, I can’t believe I allowed myself to grow so arrogant. She planned on poisoning me from the very start. I’m immune to a diseased bite from her wolfen form but not from the poison she coats her swords in. That’s also why she killed the healer. I thought her a spoiled brat simply lashing out because she didn’t get her way, in reality she was removing the one defense against her venom that I possessed.”

Kyrinn’s two companions looked on with concern but dared not speak a word. Kyrinn could see the pity all over their faces and it made his blood boil. He was not helpless and this was far from over. He knelt in the snow, propping his useless arm onto a fallen tree. He then drew his heavy bladed sword, pausing a few seconds to speak.

“I’ll not allow this. That little wench will not be the one to take my life.”

“What are you…” was all that Rhynn could get out before the strike.

Kyrinn's story continued in Unbroken