Unfinished Business

"Back so soon, elf?" Troba spat, his tongue dripping with disdain. He then looked towards Ellie "This thing is still alive? Your more resilient than your teacher" Troba laughed loudly.

Ellie's grip tightened on her needles, but Vigil didn't flinch. He just stared, the red glow on his eyes vivid with fury.

"You talk too much" Vigil said calmly while he concealed his right hand at his back. The hilt of his short sword slowly forming.

The orc roared with rage. "You were supposed to rot in that fortress" he snapped back at Vigil, his hand reaching towards his axe.

"Did you beg the slavers to spare you? Or did this vile doll drag your corpse back?"

A few moments of silence passed, the air was tense and heavy.

A small but dangerous smile formed on Vigil's lips. "Oh, we met your friends", he said. "They really weren't in a mood for guests".

Ellie Threw the bloodied bag right between the two. "We didn't want to come empty handed" she said her voice cold, "We brought you a gift".

The bag rolled towards Torba's feet. His eyes widen in disbelief. The plan had been flawless, both the poison and the slaver. He was certain of their doom, and yet here they stood.

Before Troba was able to shout a command, Vigil was already upon him. He shortened the distance in mere seconds. The short sword was already formed on his hand.

His sword flashed, slicing the axe strap before Troba could fully draw it. At the same time, Vigil's other hand moved, his fingers now sharp claws punched straight through Torba's chest.

Troba coughed blood, his eyes were wide open when vigil leaned close.

"The elder's next" he whispered.

Then he yanked his hand free. Troba was dead before he hit the ground.

Ellie was already dispatching the remaining orcs alongside Lun. Some soldiers ran towards the village gate. Their hands scratched the wooden gate as they pleaded to get in.

Vigil cut down the last 3 orcs with quick slashes and just like Ellie they didn't break a sweat, she had dispatched a few with her needles, the warriors barely had time to react.

He wiped his blade clean. 'These weren't warriors. Why would elder send lambs to slaughter?' he thought. But then the answer came cold and clear.

This was a distraction.

Every second spent here was a second the elder used to run or hide. Vigil closed his hands tight with fury as he remembered the orc's chief words at the fortress. 'That sly fox has been playing these games longer than you've 'been alive'.

Vigil looked towards his familiar, his voice was urgent. "Lun, we don't have time to waste. Scout the village and look for any signs of movement, Go!".

His familiar didn't utter a single word and dashed towards the sky like an arrow.

He then looked towards Ellie, who was extracting energy from the orc's bodies. "We're wasting time here. The elder sent these weaklings to die to buy some time."

Ellie didn't answer him. She dashed towards the gate with tremendous speed, her legs powered with sheer rage. Vigil didn't lag behind either, they both had unfinished business to solve with the elder.

The orcs looked back and saw the duo headed straight in their direction; their weapons were raised but shaking. One orc warrior fell to his knees. "Please, he begged, we were just following orders" his voice breaking.

But Ellie didn't care. Her scissors shined with a bright blue aura surrounding its blades, she flashed her blades twice. The pleading cut off mid-sentence as his body it the ground in four pieces.

Vigil stepped through the destroyed gate beside her, the remaining guards that had survived the onslaught dropped their arms and ran towards the forest.

"Efficient" said Vigil with a hint of surprise on his voice.

Effie stopped moving, her blades dropped tears of blood while her eyes scanned the village entrance. The remaining villagers who didn't run away from the destruction were either too old or too slow to flee. They stared back at her, trembling and waiting for what would come next.

"Where is he!?" Ellie screamed, her voice spread through the settlement, it echoed like it was thunder, filled with immense fury and raw anger.

No one answered at first, a few orc ladies that were close screamed, their hands trembling with primal fear. Until an old orc woman dared to walk forward, her hands were high in the air like they were pleading in surrender.

"Ple-ase" she begged, her voice trembling. "The elder is hidden in the animal shed. He—He ordered us not to"

The duo didn't let her finish, they were already on the move. Vigil looked towards Ellie while on the run, she looked heavy and conflicted with her emotions.

In that moment he understood, both of them were looking for revenge, she too was suffering the loss of her teacher, while vigil himself dealt with the scars of betrayal from one who he thought was a dear friend, perhaps even a brother..

There was no resistance from the orcs, they all moved away, some of them even collapsed with fear. But Vigil remained vigilant, his eyes scanned for traps or any last possible tricks.

They finally reached the animal shed; they both slowly proceed with caution. A few animals were outside, eating the little pasture that the earth provided them with. The cows where too thin, barely holding their life's.

They moved inside, the shed looked empty, there were a few animal beds lying on the ground made of straw, and hung on the walls was rusty farming equipment that should have been switched and maintained long ago.

"Last chance, old man" Ellie's scissors illuminated the shed, blue light spread across her face, giving her a very frighting look. "Or I will bring down the whole damn roof on you"

The shed exploded with movement as the elder made his move. It wasn't an attack but a final desperate move for the small window towards the right.

But Ellie moved faster.

A single needle pinned the elder towards the wall literally. It caught the robe a bit above the elder's head. The orc screamed with fear as felt the wind rushing just a bit over his head.

Ellie smiled. It wasn't a pleasant expression. "Now "she said, walking towards him with deliberate slowness as if she was mocking him.

"We are going to have a very pleasant talk you and I".

The elder eyes looked towards Vigil as if pleading him to stop for what was inevitable.

"Don't look at me you old bastard" he said, his voice laced with content. "You have delayed my journey considerably, but comparing what you've done with Ellie? It's nothing."

The elder's voice cracked as Ellie slowly approached him. "I did what I had to! To protect my village!" His eyes frantically switched between the two.

He flinched as Ellie punched the wall mere inches away from him, the whole shed trembled with her fury. "You poisoned me," she said, her voice barely containing the rage inside her. "

Sold me like livestock. And before that…" a small tear escaped her eyes and travelled across her beautiful porcelain-like skin. "You murdered my teacher in his sleep after he filled your well with water".

The elder dared to open his mouth, either to beg or to lie, but it was useless.

A strong flash of blue followed shortly, illuminating the whole shed, and then a small thud shortly followed. The elder's severed hand had reached the floor, he screamed while his remaining hand clutched with pain.

Ellie watched coldly. "That was for the poison," she said.

Another short and quick blue flash followed.

The orc's ear flew off, falling inside a wooden water bucket.

"That was for my teacher"

Vigil pushed himself off the wall "Ellie."

She paused; her scissors were high in the air.

"Don't make it quick"

Ellie returned with a smile and placed her eyes on the orc again. Vigil left the shed shortly after. Some punishments didn't need witnesses.

The village centre was now quiet, doors and windows were firmly shut, it felt like the village was facing a pandemic and everyone decided to hide. Vigil headed towards the tent where he had met with the elder before, in hopes to find anything useful.

By the time he went inside, the screaming had stopped. He headed towards the elder's table; it was probably the place he spent most of his time in. The table was clean and empty. He searched the drawers for anything useful, he founded some trinkets and a small dagger.

Vigil was about to give up until his fingers reached the last drawer, inside he felt something similar to paper but it felt rougher. He took it out and a small smile formed on his lips.

It was a map of the continent, the ink was fading away with time, some regions were entirely missing and cities that no longer existed. This map would be entirely useless to a traveller but not to Vigil.

A few short seconds passed and his smile quickly faded away. The shortest path for him to take would have him transverse the dangerous mountain, The Maw of Vorkhu. While the longest path would take him months to transverse by horse.

Vigil didn't want to waste time, Valthera was his number one priority. The shortest route was dangerous, but he would save weeks.

He stored the map in his pocket when Ellie entered the tent. Her scissors were clean again.

Too clean.