Another Day on the Job {Open}

[Kalak8538]

The man stared right into his enemy's eyes, matching her glare with his own cold and unrelenting stare. He was not going to be intimidated so easily...

The little distraction had taken valuable seconds from him, seconds in which he could have finished this monster. At least one thing was off his mind now: his quarry had not run away from him. She lay writhing on the earth behind him. Hopefully this would be over before she regained her senses, and collect her again.

The armored bounty hunter could practically smell the strong acid on his adversary's claws. This was not magic, or the shield would have absorbed it. That is what made this so challenging. He was walking on glass with this one, a feeling that made many uneasy and fearful. He, however, dismissed these from his mind. It had to be taken down fast.

Without so much as a warning, he raised the tower shield off the ground. A low, sideways swing of the mace was followed by a few steps forward. Distance was its ally, so he had to close the gap whenever possible. The shield would protect a significant percentage of his body against attack, but not all of it.

[Ice]

Della did not even flinch at his stare. She did not fear humans no matter how strong they were. She was not going to be afraid of them. She was taught that all human were was prey. Though she never ate them. That was a bit to nasty to her.

She now saw him swing his mace as he move forward. She could still spit her acid at close range. However she preferred using her claws when a foe was this close. She now prepared to make her move.

She suddenly lunged forward at the man . She was aiming to strike him with her claws. The were just as sharp as they were strong and acidic to boot. She wanted to make sure that he got the message that she was not an easy foe to deal with

[Kalak8538]

The battle raged for what seemed like hours. Both fighters were able to inflict damage onto one another, but nothing that was significant enough to take either out of the fight. His superior armor and strength was matched by her superior speed and mobility. His thick tower shield was the perfect compliment to her acid-coated claws.

Some cuts had hit the armor itself, leaving gashes that were much deeper than they would have been without the acid. The man muttered curses. Replacing those pieces were going to be expensive. Although, not as expensive as the shield. Enchanted items were not so easy to replace or fix.

The captive woman began crawling away from the fighting once she had the strength. Her savior seemed able to handle itself now, and there was nothing she was able to do to help.

The bounty hunter recoiled back, taking a more defensive stance. A block-and-counter seemed like the only tactic that could finish this.

[Ice]

Della was aware of the fact that this human was very strong. Perhaps she was evenly matched with this one. She had talked a couple of hits from him but none had really hurt her. She just wanted the woman to be able to get away.  She now moved back a bit . She was trying to get a bit of distance between her for and herself. She noted that he had also backed off a bit. She had to find a way get the upper hand.

She the swung her feather tail at the man's feet. She was aiming to trip him up. She hoped that he might not have been expecting that. She was a good fighter but not for long periods of time. She got tired after a while.

[Davezilla10]

Frode was having a great time. He just left a small village, with a full belly, and a canteen full of mead. Traveling down the road in his usually rough aspect, he narrowed his eye as he came upon a very unpleasant scene. As he rounded a bend, he saw an armored man fight a... Thing. Tightening the grip on his spear, he observed the scene for a while before noticing, a ragged women with a chain around her neck. This was bad. Quickly, Frode spoke a rune of concealment, and approached the women. Speaking another rune, her chain snapped with a loud crack. Frode then spoke in whispers and in a gentle tone said "Run, I'll do what I can, but for now you must get out of here." At that Frode turned away from the women, and tried to figure out who was responsible. Neither of the fighters seemed very.. Innocent. Speaking a simple rune to increase the volume of his voice he said "Cease this useless bloodshed! I cannot condone such barbarism!" At that Frode readied his spear, for any conflict.

[Kalak8538]

The woman found that her neck was no longer weighed down by metal. She rose to her feet, and wiped a joyful tear from her eye. She ran off back down the trail, knowing that the situation was under control. She disappeared and left the three alone with each other.

The man had set up a defensive stance, waiting for an attack such as this to exploit. He lifted his leg, and brought it down with great force onto the incoming tail. Now, it could not get away. One well placed strike would end it at last.

The armored man heard another coming, but paid them no mind. He could not afford to fight this thing any longer. One more blow was all it took. Once it was dead, he would deal with the newcomer. Once again, the mace was raised high into the air.

The booming of the newcomer's enhanced voice took the man off guard. The sheer sonic force forced him to stagger, messing up the attack. Still anchoring his foe's tail, he readied the mace again. Before it fell, he called out to what he could tell was an elderly man.

"This does not concern you, old man!"

[Ice]

Della growled as he stomped down on her tail. Not only did that hurt but now she was trapped. She saw that the man was going to strike her with his Mace  . She tried to get her tail free from the man's foot. Then a loud voice made her aware of the other man's presence. She also noted that the man she was fighting with did not hit her with his attack . This gave her time to counted .

She put her hands up to try to block his attack. Yes it could certainly breaks them but she really did not have a choice at the moment.

[Davezilla10]

Frode frowned distastefully as he said old man. With a smile he says "You don't like age? Shall I spare you from my fate then?" Without waiting for an answer Frode pulls his arm back and with surprising speed hurls the spear at the armored man. Not pausing to see if the spear hit its mark he mumbles a rune and fire jets out from his fingertips in the man's direction. This man seemed to be the culprit behind that young girls plight. Frode wasn't aware of slavery in the region? Perhaps this man is some kind of law enforcement and the girl was in the wrong? At these thoughts Frode frowns and begins to move closer to the conflict.

[Kalak8538]

"Another one..." he thought.

Not only was this new opponent hostile, but he was also hasty in his attack. The bounty hunter lifted his armored foot off his first enemy's tail in order to take a new defensive stance. It was not something he wanted to do, but a spear traveling that quickly through the air would have definitely penetrated his armor and wounded him. Maybe worse...

There was only a split second before the hurled weapon glanced off the giant shield. The words "Too close..." was uttered in his subconscious. With the spear THUNKing into the dirt behind him, the only thing left was the approaching fire. It did not concern the man. Not in the slightest.

Still in his rock-solid stance, the tower shield began to glow. Immediately, the jets of flame were attracted to it. Instead of making contact, they were absorbed into the very metal of the shield. It was a special enchantment, one that allowed this manhunter to subdue many a magical foe.

The fighter was not in a good spot, and he knew it. There were enemies on either side of him, and the wear of battle was beginning to take its toll. He could not figure out his two opponents. Were they allies? It seemed unlikely, judging by how quickly and recklessly that attack was thrown. The elder would have hit the other creature with that attack. That meant he did not care for it, right? He stayed in his stance, shield glowing with magic energy in front of him.

He had to watch them both. It was unknown exactly who would be first to make their move...

[Ice]

Della saw the older man throw his spear at the one she had been fighting. The man had moved off of her tail. Della moved it back around her. She did not wish to get caught like that again. After the spear what thrown Della saw the flames that the man shots well. She moved so that she did not take a chance on getting burned. She growled unsure of rather the old man was friend or foe.

She moved to where she could watch both men for a few minutes. She wanted to see rather she would need to attack both or not. It was getting to be quite confusing for her.

[Davezilla10]

Frode began to doubt his actions. What if the girl deserved her fate? What if the rude armored man was attempting a rescue until he arrived? The spear flung into the air and placed itself back into Frode's hand. First, he must decide who is at fault and whether or not they could come to some agreement. If not - violence would get the job done. "I'd like to inquire as to who had that poor girl shackled like some kind of animal." Frode's eye glared at them as if daring them to lie to him. Taking a step forward he spoke a simple rune that made his elderly form more regal and intimidating. It wouldn't be polite for him to show weakness to potential enemies.

[Kalak8538]

The creature moved away. It was almost completely obvious that these two were not allies. The elderly man had just happened upon them by coincidence.

The armored man remained cautious of his surroundings. There was no telling what the beast would try now that she got her distance. He dropped his mace into the ring on his belt, and used that hand to take a contract from under a plate of his armor.

"That "girl" is a criminal, escaped from her prison in Connlaoth!"

He spoke confidently, and with annoyance. He did not care who he was talking to, or his visage. This was justified to him. With a flick of the wrist, the paper unrolled, showing the escaped captive's likeness, as well as her bounty.

"I was bringing her back to receive justice, when this... thing... attacked."

Rolling the parchment back up, the man used it to point at his original opponent. He tucked it away, and once again gripped the mace.

"She is gone now. I will have to track her down again because of you!"

[Ice]

Della was watching as the man she was fighting spoke to the older man. She really did not care if the girl was evil or not. After all she was evil herself. She heard him call her a thing.. well that was pretty offensive to her to say the least. She gave a snort and nothing more. She did not really have a reason to continue fighting this human. Nor did she want to fight the old man.  However she would watch just to see what would happen next.

[Davezilla10]

Frode removed his previous rune and seemed in deep thought. While she did break the law who's to say that law was actually just. Or perhaps she angered someone influential and they had her imprisoned. There were just too many possibilities to completely trust him. But there is wisdom in law because without law there would be utter chaos. Frode smiled and bowed his head apologetically and in a gentle tone said "Please forgive me. If you'd like I can retrieve her for you." It was a ruse of course. He needed more information. The girl can provide that. Frode has already gotten involved. Leaving now would just be lazy.

[Kalak8538]

First he attacked without cause, and now he offers assistance? The elderly warrior was highly unpredictable. That, perhaps, that made him the more dangerous of the two enemies...

There was no way he could be trusted. The armor-clad bounty hunter suspected at first that this new opponent was attempting to take the bounty for himself. Of course, this was laughable. Even if he had the bounty letter, it would be no use. It was a very... specific clientele. Clientele that knew exactly who they were expecting.

"Not likely." he responded, collecting himself.

Mace and shield at the ready, the man started down the trail in the direction in which the girl had run. He remained cautious of both enemies, even as he went pacing off. There was a lull in the combat, and he needed to test their resolve to stop him. He expected an attack from either direction at any time.

"If you truly wish to help, take care of that monster."

It was obvious who he was referring to. Although she had disengaged, he would rather not confront the creature on his way back.

[Ice]

Della was carefully watching both men as they spoke. She was not really in the mood to continue fighting. The girl was free so she felt that Hermon was done. She heard the man she was fighting tell the older man to take care of her. She gave a short trying not to laugh. It seemed that the armor man was a coward the could not find he his foes. That was humans though. Always afraid of something.

[Davezilla10]

As the armored man turned his back Frode looked at the thing. "I apologize for my intrusion. I would like to ask you some questions but it appears I do not have any time. Another time." At that he disappeared and reappeared some ways down the road. Hopefully he'll intercept the young lady before that man does. Frode would love to just drop the whole thing and move on but it has now peaked his interest. That and it just makes sense to finish what you've started. That man seemed dangerous however. With that thought Frode willed his form to change. His blind eye switched places with his good eye and his spear was replaced with a staff. His features seem sharper and his beard grew shorter and with a reddish tint to it. This would do nicely.

[Kalak8538]

Ever on guard, the warrior spun around when he heard what had happened. The elder had vanished, like a whisp of smoke in the air. This was another form of magic, he was sure. Where had he gone? The man was paused, until a sudden realization hit.

"Damn!" he exclaimed suddenly, before taking off in as much of a sprint as he could manage.

There was no telling exactly what fascination the old man had with his prisoner, but he would be damned if that elder got to her before he did. He left the creature where she was. She did not seem as much a threat anymore, and there were bigger priorities to attend to.

-----------------------------------------------------

Down the path, the girl was still running. Without her bindings, she was able to cover more ground than her armored persuer. However, another sight ahead startled her. She saw as someone magically appeared further down, and did not know what to make of them.

She dove into the brush, running in a random direction to get away from any whom she did not know. It was not the safest option, but it was the easiest one that her panicked mind could conceive. It was better to avoid any contact with others until she could escape in earnest.

She did not get far. In the fallen leaves and underbrush, her foot caught something. It was a somewhat-concealed sack filled with some sort of metal, as well as some other heavy things. She fell immediately to her stomach, just barely getting her arms under her in time to break the fall. After her ordeal, she lacked the strength to rise again. Hopefully, she though, she would be hidden enough to avoid detection.

[Ice]

As  the older man spoke she just listen . She was not sure if she need to say anything or not. It seemed that everyone was leaving. She would soon do the same. The girl was free and that was all that mattered to her.

Della watched the two men as they left. she supposed that she would now need to go and get her bag of stolen goods. The thing was that she would have to go in the same direction that everyone else agent. So she sighed as she moved in that direction a bit sore Frome the fight.

[Davezilla10]

Frode turned his head to the brush. Thought he heard something. In case the girl tries to sneak off Frode tore off a piece of fabric and drew a simple rune on it. An alarm rune. Can't be too careful. Walking along the trail he also changed his apparel. It becoming more clean and luxurious. This was again with the same thought that one can never be too careful. Along the trail Frode saw the armored man sprinting toward him. In his newly crafted voice he said "Now now lad. What exactly are you rushing off to? Hm... Perhaps you know that lady that passed by? If you want I can tell her where she went." This was troubling. Apparently he did pass by the girl. This was starting to get annoying.