Meliss took a long time to come to terms with the lose of her lover. In this time Harquin protected her by staying away from any civilization as she was, in the eyes of the Shadow Warriors of Nagarythe, still a Druchii. For days they travelled the Shadowlands of Ulthuan and managed to avoid the patrols of the Shadow Warriors.
Then the day that Harquin had been hoping for and dreading at the same time. As the day's light started to fade from the sky they started to make their way to a a decent camp sight for the night. On the travels Harquin was alittle ahead to lead the way, always seemeing to just miss a patrol or find the blindspot needed. But now he stops all of a sudden and turns to face Meliss,
"Here"
Meliss looks around and sees nothing but a couple of fallen trees and asks,
"here? doesn't look good for a camp s..."
"whats wrong?" Harquin asks though he knows the answer. The child is going to be born. This is what he sacrificed all those Elves lives for in attacking Gur Korund. This is the moment in time where his plan begins to take shape, it all starts here now.
"i think the child is comming!"
"good now just breath and sit down i'll get some..."
"your not going anywhere!"
Harquin spun round and was surprised to see several Shadow Warrios taking aim from atop trees or hiding insde a shrub. This was not part of the vision he had. Their leader was one that had a mighty bow that surely was magical in its making.
"Harquin help, its...ah!"
"You can't be here it must change!"
"i have no idea what you are talking about but if you consort with Druchii scum then you shall die like the animals you are!"
The first arrows fired from this leader missed Harquin by a hair's width as he dodged to the side. He drew his Longsword and so did his opponent.
"If this must be how it goes then so be it!" Harquin shouts at his adversery and charges. Two more shots fire and miss and then the two Elves were clashing blades together. Harquin thrust his sword one way but was only met with a counter attack that he narrowly dodged with a cut on his cheek. The Shadow Warrior fought well but Harquin was always one step ahead of him and never there for his strikes to land. A swift kick to the stomach of his adversary and Harquin held his blade's tip against the throat of his fallen opponent,
"yeild and i will spare your life for i have no wish to kill one of my own brothers"
But a drawing of several bow strings nearby made Harquin pause and allow the Warrior to get back to his feet.
"You have bested me and i yield but you have not bested my people" and that must have been a password as all at once they let loose their arrows and Harquin saw in a matter of seconds him being hit by several and falling down into a pool of blood and the screaming of a child stopping. Fires soon erupt all around him and he drawn swiftly back into the present time and has but one thought 'no'. He twists his body while jumping to avoid the arrows but one still manages to find its mark into his left thigh. He then charges the closest warrior and impales his sword straight through his neck decapitating in one quick move and then like a well rehearsed dance he was moving between the Warriors striking left and right paying no heed to the pain in his left leg. After only a few minutes he stands in the middle of a circle of dead Shadow Warriors panting to get his breath back.
Harquin scans the area but finds that his opponent had disappeared from view. For a time he forgets his situation while he tries to make sense of what just happened.
"Meliss!" he screams in sudden realisation and truns to face where he had left her. But the pain in his leg is too much and he stumbles to the ground. He lays there staring at Meliss for a time wanting, praying for her to move or to hear her speak.
"Meliss! No!"
Harquin begins to crawl over to her and breaks the arrow in his leg making him cry out in pain again. But he reminds himself of his first every vision and forces himself to move forward,
"come on, please" he begs to the world in general as he draws close to her.
"Meliss?" he checks for a pulse on her neck but finds nothing,
"it cannot be...not with everything...no...ju..." but a sound stops him from even breathing and his heart from beating. A newborn was crying. He looks down by her legs and sees whats is making the noise, A baby Boy looking back at him and crying. 'Is there a more beautiful sound?' Harquin thinks to himself as he pushes the body of Meliss aside and pulls himself closer to the newborn. He wraps him up in a bundle of his mother's cloth torn from her dress. As he does so he notices a small birthmark on the child's chin, it fades quickly and makes him wonder if it was a trick of his mind but he swears he saw the mark of Saphery there.
"Then theres still hope, isn't there? Its good to finally meet you, Altatar!"
Continues alittle more....
As to who the shadow is i will have to keep you guessing!
