The Princeling 231.

Riley Hait the mercenary ranger ducks, if he had waited an instant later, he would of lost his head to the sword that barely passes over him. The human ranger raised and trained by the elven warders of the principality of Envadarlen, spins and thrusts his short sword at one of those very same warders who brought him up.
Lothalis Miladelè the elven swordmaster leaps back to avoid getting a sword thrust in the gut, the elven warder in the service of house Aelvilth takes a few steps back as he eyes his opponent the mercenary ranger, who he helped to train. The elven swordmaster keeps his eyes locked on the torso of the human he wants to kill, who in the intervening three and half years since he's seen him, is a far more accomplished swordsman than he ever was, infact if the warder Miladelè didn't know better, he would think he's fighting a completely different person than Riley Hait.
The lane is quiet apart from the exertions of the two combatants, the owner of the small tavern has closed the front door of his establishment. While no one has said a word apart from Mira Reinholt the mage warning the ranger Hait that his opponent's longsword is a magical sword of protection. And Dorc da Orc has warned the two of them who are fighting, that if either one of them knocks over his barrel of ale, he'll kill the both of them.
They're silent as they watch Riley Hait fight the elven swordmaster Miladelè who they know from their time when they joined the royal army led by Halvelnín Aelvilth. Even then a few days ago, they knew the elven warder wanted to kill the mercenary ranger for a crime Riley Hait committed in the principality of Envadarlen.
The only sounds coming from them are an occasional gasp from Lisell Maera and Tamric Drubine, and the sounds of noisy eating from Dorc da Orc whose meal was delivered to him just before the tavern owner shut the door, noisy eating interspersed with grunts from the ork warleader, grunts which are sometimes echoed by his pet pig Piggy, who has woken up to watch what's happening.
The ranger Hait hasn't yet blocked a sword swing with the hidden rods in the leather armour over his arms, for the simple reason the elven swordmaster is swinging too hard, which could possibly break the mercenary ranger's arms if he was to block them.
Riley Hait knows that the best time to block with his arms, is to do it when he's fairly close to his opponent, when the swing is at the weakest, and the longsword hasn't built up any momentum, though getting fairly close to the elven warder is proving to be quite difficult.
Lothalis Miladelè spares a quick glance at the others in the lane sitting at the two tables infront of the small tavern, he knows them from their time helping out Halvelnín Aelvilth, when the heir of house Aelvilth led an army that helped defeat an army of the usurpers who had occupied the lands of house Ollinsállé.
For now they're keeping to the ranger Hait's word, they're not interfering, and are just watching the two combatants trying to kill one another, though the swordmaster Miladelè does know that the ork will be true to what he said, and will kill both him and mercenary ranger if they accidentally knock over the barrel of ale next to him.
Riley Hait who has also drawn one of his long daggers, which he has in his left hand to parry his opponents weapon, never thought he would spend the morning doing this, especially after the battle that raged throughout last night, a battle where he along with the elven swordmaster who is trying to kill him, fought on the same side.
Lothalis Miladelè is thinking the same thing, he also didn't think he would spend the early morning doing this, but when he caught sight of the mercenary ranger who killed the former warder commander of Envadarlen, he knew it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. The elven swordmaster in the service of house Aelvilth wants revenge for what was done to Gulucéan Salavín the warder commander of Envadarlen who was cut down by Riley Hait in what was an unprovoked attack from behind.
It may of seemed unprovoked to anyone not there, but the ranger Hait had his reasons for killing the former warder commander of Envadarlen, even Helbe the elven thief who despised the mercenary ranger when he first met him and read his mind, eventually relented a bit in his attitude towards the ranger Hait when he delved deeper into his mind at a later time, and found out why he actually killed Gulucéan Salavín.
For Riley aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman he only has faint knowledge of what the person whose body he's taken over, did three and half years ago, killing the then warder commander of the principality of Envadarlen. He doesn't particularly care all that much about what happened then, what he does care about is not getting killed right now, as he doesn't want to be brought back to life and put in another body again anytime soon, because that's worse than getting killed in the first place.
The ranger Hait drives his opponent back with a series of quick thrusts and swipes, the mercenary ranger who was raised and trained in the elven principality of Envadarlen is in lighter armour than the elven swordmaster, so the natural quickness of elven kind isn't really that much of an advantage to the warder Miladelè.
Riley aka Zubutai Timaginson with an underhanded toss, throws the long dagger at the face of Lothalis Miladelè, who blocks it with a bracer as he lifts his left arm, he takes a step back doing so, nearly losing his balance in the process. Seeing the advantage he's created, the ranger Hait quickly advances, and goes to thrust with his shortsword, he's lucky he does so, as he's almost gutted as the elven warder wildly swings his longsword, and the thrust of the mercenary ranger's weapon just blocks it.
Lothalis Miladelè stumbles back a couple of steps, and goes around the corner into the yard next to the small tavern, while Riley Hait after he leaps back after their swords clang against one another, follows the elven warder around the corner.
Tamric Drubine, Lisell Maera and Caerik Alsair all look at one another for a few moments, then they rush up off the benches they're on and move to the front of the yard to continue watching the two combatants. Mira Reinholt the mage has already got up, and has walked over to the front of the yard to see what's happening, while Dorc da Orc grumbles and mutters to himself in the ork language as he stuffs the remains of a roast ham into his mouth. The large ork then gets up, picking up his barrel of ale in the process, and follows after the others to see what's happening, his pet pig Piggy has already trotted over behind the others, and has sat down to continue watching the two combatants.
Riley Hait steps around a hitching post and blocks a swing of the elven swordmaster's weapon with his shortsword, the mercenary ranger kicks out to one side of the hitching post, causing the warder Miladelè to hop back unless he wants to get kicked in the right knee.
Lothalis Miladelè does a standing pivot kick as he swings his longsword at his opponent again, the ranger Hait ducks down to one side of the hitching post, and rolls away with a tumble to avoid his opponent's sword, and kick.
The ranger Hait gets to his feet, and spins to his right as the swordmaster Miladelè advances, swinging his longsword down at the mercenary ranger from Envadarlen, who is in actual fact a hordes outrider from the southern tundra.
The elven warder's sword barely misses to the right of Riley aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman, who is thrusting up with his own weapon, which hits his opponent's blade, sliding up along it, to the right gloved hand and bracer of Lothalis Miladelè, which it's going to hit.
Nothing happens, and Riley Hait briefly pauses in confusion which almost costs him his life as the elven warder swings his longsword back up and to the side, almost taking the ranger Hait across the top of his head.
Seeing what just happened, Mira Reinholt the mage calmly says in a clear voice in the common language "If you try to injure or kill him with a stroke along on or near his sword, it won't work" the once powerful mage continues with "His sword will protect him" the Vexilian mage in exile then says "You'll need a clean strike to kill him" the mage Reinholt as he watches the two combatants then silently adds, even then his sword might protect him.
Riley Hait grimaces as he recalls his opponent's weapon is magical, though it's good to know what he now has to do to defeat his enemy thanks to the explanation given by Mira Reinholt. The ranger Hait shuffles back a few steps as he takes his other long dagger from his belt while keeping an eye on his opponent, who has just glanced back behind him at the mage Reinholt, and glared at the spellcaster who was once the most powerful mage of his generation to be found anywhere in the Southlands.
The swordmaster Miladelè looks forward and advances again, and once again the mercenary ranger throws a long dagger, this time at the body of Lothalis Miladelè, who twists his body to one side, the long dagger still hits, though it skims harmlessly off the chainmail armoured top the elven warder wears. As the warder Miladelè is hit, the mercenary ranger rushes forward, reaching behind himself to the back of his belt as he does so, while the elven swordmaster swings his weapon around at Riley Hait.
The mercenary ranger gets in close, and for his troubles gets a punch in the face as Lothalis Miladelè jabs with his left hand, while swinging the longsword in his right. The ranger Hait winces in pain as he eats the punch, so to speak, but he doesn't fall back, and instead lifts his left arm, the hand he's holding his shortsword in, and before the longsword of Lothalis Miladelè picks up speed and momentum, the mercenary ranger blocks it with his left arm.
The same time the magical sword of the elven warder hits the hidden iron rods in the leather armour on the ranger Hait's left arm, Riley aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman is bringing his right arm up and around at the slightly startled swordmaster Miladelè who can't believe his weapon didn't just take off the arm of the mercenary ranger.
The punch dagger Riley Hait has in his right hand takes Lothalis Miladelè in the left side of his face, going into his mouth, smashing teeth and slicing his gums and tongue apart. The elven swordmaster drops his weapon and stumbles to one side when the ranger Hait rips the punch dagger out of his face, the mercenary ranger punches the warder Miladelè again as the elven swordmaster lifts a hand to his ruined mouth, this time Riley aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman stabs the punch dagger into the side of Lothalis Miladelè's neck.
The ranger Hait grabs a hold of the swordmaster Miladelè, and gets behind him, then through the traditional black hordes cloth covering the lower half of his face, Riley Hait the mercenary ranger says in the elven language "Fuck your mother" he follows that up by quietly saying a name, then whispering a few brief words to Lothalis Miladelè, before ripping the punch dagger across the throat of the elven warder.
Lothalis Miladelè the elven swordmaster dies with a look of shock in his eyes, not just because he's been bested, but also because the last thing he heard before dying is the reason Riley Hait killed Gulucéan Salavín the warder commander of Envadarlen, and he realises that him wanting to kill Riley Hait has all been a waste of his time, and as it turns out, a waste of his life.
The ranger Hait lets go of the dead body of Lothalis Miladelè which drops to the ground with blood spraying from the wounds in it's throat and neck, no one says anything for a few moments, then breaking the silence Dorc da Orc says "He dead" followed by a peel of laughter from the large ork . . . . . .