A Reckoning

Summary: Balnor the badger slaver returns to settle the score with the Seer of Ferravale

Perhaps it's because he felt the need for some fresh air...or maybe he wanted a peaceful place to think about something...or maybe it was a prenominition, warning him of an imminent threat to his life. Whatever the cause, Nightbreath wanders through the orchards now, constantly peering around him warily.

Balnor is leaning on a tree. He cannot be seen very well. He looks slightly rougher than he did and as he sees Nightbreath a small smile forms on his face.

Without /seeing/ the badger, Nightbreath suddenly stiffens. Without turning his head, he says quietly, "So. You return."

Balnor gives a low chuckel "of course my old friend. How could I stay away?"

Nightbreath slowly turns to face the badger. "/Friend,/" he hisses, "is a strong word." He slowly reaches into the folds of his robe, uncoiling something which is hidden to view.

Balnor grunts "true true." he still appears to be relaxed and his arms stay crossed. He sees the movement of the ermines paws and sighs

Nightbreath grins slowly, a terrifying sight as his lips curl back, exposing intricately carved teeth in a barbaric-looking grin. "So...I never did like leaving debts unpaid. Shall we settle this thing?"

Balnor sighs "If we must." he draws his long sword.

"You seem reluctant, evildoer. It seems odd that you would seek me out, yet be hesitant when the time comes." Nightbreath doesn't draw any weapon yet, but if you look closely, a dark rope's end is clutched in his paw, just barely visible against the Seer's black fur and the mottled gray of his robe.

Balnor shrugs "I am just reluctant to get blood all over the place."

"/Blood is the conqueror's anointing oil/Staining the baptisimal font," Nightbreath recites. "Blood is of little matter. If these grounds be not stained by blood now, then surely they will in the seasons of war to come." He inhales deeply and sighs as his eyes unmist. "Ah! But now--" His grip tightens on the rope and his other paw beckons to the badger, unafraid and challenging Balnor to make the first move.

Balnor looks oddly at the seer as he says the words but he trys to shrug it off. He takes a step toword Nightbreath but does not do much for the moment.

Suddenly with a swift flick of the wrist, Nightbreath's blade-rope is revealed. The Seer whirls it expertly above him, saying in a thunderous voice, "Come closer and ye shall do so unto thy peril, heathen!"

Balnor lets out a faint growel but stays where he is, letting Nightbreath do the moving.

"Come and meet the fist of Starcaster, ye scrapings of the shadows below!" Nightbreath whirls the rope faster, preparing to strike, but still allowing Balnor a chance to flee if he so wishes. A dangerous fighter, indeed, but a cold-blooded murderer, the Seer isn't.

Balnor stands his ground and holds his blade in front of his face "I am not going anywhere." he says calmly. .

"Ah well. So be it. Heathen..." Nightbreath whirls the rope faster and faster until it's almost invisible. "Thy..." The Seer grits his teeth, ready to fight. "Time..." Divine fury wells up in him, a pure, righteous rage. "Is..." He raises his other paw above and ahead of him towards Balnor, and the ermine's silvery cloak swirls around him, making this all look very dramatic. "Up." He strikes downward with an elegant, arcing slash to the left of Balnor's blade. "DAY SHALL COME AGAIN!" he yells to the endless sky.

Balnor ducks quickly and stabes out at Nightbreaths leg.

Nightbreath quickly jumps aside, bringing the blade back around him again for another strike at Balnor's head. "Last time it was thine ear...Now I aim for thine HEAD! Return to your master, scum of shadows!"

Balnor backs up slightly and grits out "I have no master." He slowly loads his sling. Now he has a loaded sling in one paw and a long sword in the other

Balnor leaves Nightbreath's group and wanders off on his own.

Nightbreath shakes his head. "Fool. A beast as blind as thee serves the Shadow, yet is under the illusion that they are a free beast. The beasts you locked in chains are freer than thee." Without warning he strikes again, whipping the blade-rope down again.

Balnor gives a grunt "I am as free as I need to be." He sees the blade and almost doges but his other ear is taken. He frowns and starts the whirle his sling

"One ear...two ears...one HEAD!" Nightbreath says as he brings it around again. "Fool. Thou are less free than a corpse in a prison cell. You are bound to the will of forces you cannot comprehend, heathen."

Balnor steps back and slings a stone at the ermine "you can call me what you want. Fool and heathen are just names."

Nightbreath quickly ducks, at the same time striking at Balnor's footpaws with the blade-rope. "Aye, just names...As you shalt be just a corpse."

Balnor frowns "strong words for a creepy toothed ermine." he jumps back but gets cut on his foot paws

"GO! Join your master in the darkness below!" Nightbreath retracts the blade-rope, and whirls it in a figure-8 in front of him.

Balnor still backs up some "as I said before, I have no master."

The blade-rope thrums faster and faster in the air, but this is a defensive maneuver, not an attack...yet. "Your master is any beast! Any beast who has the half-brain needed to take advantage of your simple mind and twist you to their ends!"

That was the last straw. Memories flash into Balnor's mind and he compleatly loses any control over himself. He flings himself hacking and slashing at Nightbreath.

"DAY SHALL COME AGAIN!" Nightbreath leaps back and coils the rope somewhat, shortening the length of the portion used as a weapon, drawing it closer so he can deflect the strikes. He whirls it in a circle in front of him, repelling the badger's strikes

No rope on a blade will stop this badger. At the momment he is seeing red and he keeps hacking and slashing and now he starts to swing with his sling.

Nightbreath's cloak as well as his robes are torn in several places. The Seer tucks his blade-rope away entirely and keeps his empty paws near his sides, simply dodging

By this time Balnor is fighting out of anger and bitterness. He keeps going with hack after hack and slash after slash, but he seems to be geting tired

/Just keep dodging/, the Seer thinks. However, several slashes take him across the chest, not deep enough to touch the heart, but they are bleeding quite nicely. He grits his teeth and jumps backwards again.

Balnor is starting to get very tired. He is still very mad though.

Nightbreath steps forwards, standing tall. He keeps one paw straight at his side, even though the other one swings loosely. He weaves to the side of several strikes, then, after a moment, he flicks his wrist and something flashes into his paw. He thunks the paw into Balnor's chest...and blood flows.

Balnor gasps as the thing in his chest sticks. he slowly falls to his knees and than he falls forword with a slow moan. His eyes cloud and he slowly fades out of the land of the living and into Dark Forest.

Nightbreath stands there panting for a moment. "There...'Tis finished." Swiftly stowing the dagger in his sleeve again, he steps over the corpse and walks back into town.

The body of the now dead badger starts to stiffen and soon flies are drawn to the rotting corpse.

Groups:

• Ferravale