Everlasting: Ardemon's Revenge.

It's been a week since life changed and since the day at the log cabin where he had seen the hooded figure and since then he has seen her out of the corner of his eye, For quite a long distance. the shadow has been ducking behind fallen trees and staying out of sight. But no matter how hard it stays silent and breathless its got to be human but, an essence slips behind part of the brain that keeps him aware of its presence and it's showing no signs of restlessness.

When he thought to backtrack and attempt to slip away. alas, she is always one step ahead, almost like "I'm following her" he thought to himself "Or maybe she is leading me where I need to go?", A week since the fires begin to show through the thick canopy of the rainforests North of Nar'dith soon the torch fires lit up the night sky, being seen as far as livga and Tatmig. Both big cities to the South of Nar'dith. But to the north is where the enemy comes from and we've been warned for years they would show up but we didn't expect them so soon.it was a fairy tale to keep the traders and adventurers from crossing the mountains.

A clue as to where to searching was on his mind frequently, then the shadowed figure is the least of my worries and when she does make a move I will be ready. On the downside she looks to be armed, no one I know of would follow me knowing who I am without some sort of blade or advantage over me in mind. I will keep on he thought as he pushed himself through the thick brush along with the vines and mass of oak trees. Which is odd he thought to himself as he heard his footstep in something damp.

He looked down to see he was standing in some muddy looking water about an inch deep. "When did I start treading through the swamp outside of town?" he asked himself in a hushed whisper. He kept moving for fear the hooded woman had planned to strike him while he was in the mess of swampy grass and fallen tree trunks which he had just taken note.

At that second he looked up to see her standing on a tree in front of him and without a second thought he pulled his blade free and took a hop backward to dodge her attacks, it was smarter to keep a little bit of a distance from her; The hooded woman was tense, with some thought she looked like an assassin of some sort; her hood hung over her face only showing bright blue eyes that could be seen in the pitch black and though her face was not shown he could feel her anger grow as she being to take an offensive posture which meant she was here for one reason and it wasn't to play a drinking game or compare muscles.

Although she had a rather fantastic shape the way her clothing squeezed tightly against her body forming around her breasts and up to her neck, the cape that was tied at her neck by two large black pieces of fabric that curled up the sides of her face with another piece of fabric forming a hood that draped over her head and into her face she had pulled over her head, but the way the cape fell down her back was interesting why he couldn't look away as he traced her body from her feet all the way up to her hooded face.

All at that moment, he spoke as she being to speak but she stopped in a moment as soon as he did to let him speak first, "Who are you, and why have you been following me!?!" he shouted at her. the way he had spoken had looked to have frightened her as she stepped back two steps like she had taken a mental blow.

she countered back at him with a solid stutter "Ah i.." she went quiet hanging her head to the ground as she pulled a knife from her side in a moment and threw it at him and in that moment he swung his blade blocking the knife and flinging it into the distance, in that same moment he felt something bluntly hit him in the chest and forced his sword in the air above his head as something sharp stabbed him in the side. he dropped the sword and realized she had tackled him and stabbed him in the side, knocking the knife out of his chest with a swipe from his forearm he swung at her with his hardest swing missing her by a few inches.

She was quick as she came back and countered all of his swinging and was able to get inside and out of his reaching distance within seconds as she continued to land hits on him. Quickly and quietly she reached for his satchel bag and took it from him and leaped away into a tree. He ran after her jumping up to grab her ankle and caught her cape and then in a moment her foot came back and landed on the side of his head.

his vision became a little dizzy, he staggered backward trying to keep his balance but kept falling back to the ground. He finally grabbed a hold of his vision and burst into action. He pulled himself off his back and leaned into his stomach as he grasped the situation. he stood up having gained all control back, bolting toward the tree with hands outstretched. She waited in the tree to kick him in the face again and again as he wouldn't give up, and then finally tricked her and grabbed her shoe and caused her to drop down from the tree and stared at him as his nose was bleeding and his eyes were blurry.

making one last attempt he slowly walked toward her and she held up the bag for him, but soon as he reached her she jumped up and kicked him again right in his temple. The ground spinning out of control as he landed on his back once again; she stood over him. He could see her face and it was beautiful, neither spoke but it was clear she had gotten what she had wanted and it wasn't to take his life. Something in his bag was more important and she had taken it. then again there wasn't anything important in there.

He looked away from her thinking the last bit of his wife was in the bag but he wouldn't tell her it wasn't hers. he felt something heavy land on his chest and then teasingly grind against him, but his senses were too dulled tell from his head pounding and his sight blurring along with his hearing. she spoke but he could not make out anything as the world collapsed and darkened. Almost as someone was crumbling paper in his ears. He could see her blue eyes fixed on him as everything faded; those

he could feel her fingers on his chest ripped off his shirt and then he felt something drip on his cheek and he could see her eyes dripping with tears and then he felt more falling. "Is it raining or is that the tears of the hooded woman?" he thought to himself, but all he could see were her bright blue eyes as her face wasn't able to be made out anymore and then the black void took him in and he couldn't feel anything. He embraced the darkness and called it his friend, he longed to belong somewhere; anywhere is better then here he recalled as the world echoed at a distance.

Ardmon awoke with a start, the woman looming over him with her hands over the spots where she had stabbed him, his mind becoming less clear but more relaxed, he began to pass out again but her mouth was moving. he could make out. "Thing's are not as they seem.... so sorrr... please... forgive not from here.. Shadow... Can't stop the bleeding." then darkness took his vision.

Again he awoke, he felt comfortable but still felt dizzy and weak. The woman no longer with him but he noticed he was looking up at something white.. a vardo ceiling, a face of a lovely looking blonde woman appearing in front of him. she begins by pushing a candle near his face to look at his eyes, she pushed her face up close, and then she spoke in a very soft soothing voice. "What were you doing in the swamp? This isn't called Bandits ridge for no reason, did you see who at.." Ardemon cut her off mid-sentence." I didn't know the woman, I saw her following me for a while but I believe that she was nothing more than a merc with a blood quest." The blonde lady replied as she continued to check his pulse by holding onto his neck with her two fingers. "You may not believe this but I am a professional physician, My name is Lilith. What is your name?" He glanced over at her as she collected a blood sample with a needle. "What difference does knowing my name make?" she looked at him with a cold expression. "I have been known to have lost all of my patients, but that's because I never bothered to get to know them, maybe you will be my first survivor? they call me the death physician." He looked at her with big eyes. she smiled with a wide grin that ended in a look full of accomplishment that she had finally gotten an emotion out of him." I am serious though, I've only had a handful of patients and all of them passed away, however it looks like you are gonna live. that's my final thoughts on my thorough inspection, however my only recommendation is to get plenty of bed rest so to see you are taken care of ill be your caregiver until you make a full recovery." Surprised he looked at her with his hand outstretched. "My na.. my name is Ardemon Ulitheis.." he stumbled as no one had ever been interested in him other than his deceased wife.

A few hours passed as they conversed about this and that and how he had been attacked, his dead wife and somehow she had gotten him to talk about his quest to rescue her soul from the land of no return. She got up and retrieved got a large flask of water and a small tin mug from a small shelf next to her. she poured water into the tin mug and returned an sat next to him putting the mug to his mouth letting him drink some water. "Well you are going to need someone with the know-how in the medical field, I am coming with you." she smiled at him, he was more confused because she still didn't tell him her name. "Right! my name is Stella Bridget Solcron and yes as Solcron health potions.. my father is the owner of a potion shop." he looked more confused as her face was lit up that he might know who she was. "I am sorry Stella, I've never heard of him or you." Her expression went blank. "You know that potion shop that opened up in the town you were coming from? I had just come from there delivering my father's latest merchandise, he won't let me work in the shop or help him discover new medicine so I'm stuck out here with this guy... BRENAN!!!" A man with a short beard peaked his head from behind the canvas that was directly facing him, the front of the wagon at his feet and the rear at his head. "Yes, m'lady?" She smiled at him. "This is Ardemon. he will be our newest addition until we reach the capital and if he wishes to continue with us when he is fully recovered then I would be happy to leave the potion delivers in your care and then I will join him on his journey." He looked unsatisfied with her answer. he spoke in an uncaring tone as if this wasn't the first time he had heard her say this. "Your father will have my head if you do not return with me. " she snapped back. "You hate my father so what do you care about my whereabouts?!" he pulled his head out as he realized the horses were not following the path anymore. the wagon jerked hard, the force of the wagons quick maneuver had thrown bottles and vials everywhere.. some breaking and some falling on ardemon, he didn't flinch but instead had a look of solid annoyance on his face.

Stella picked up the clutter and gave him one that hadn't broken but instead landed on his chest and fell onto the blanket beside him. "That's one of the new potions my father made, while you are in the state you are.. I think you should give it a try. I mean it can't make you any worse but instead, it will give you energy and slow the burn of calories. so in turn you do not have to worry about your body not having enough to slowly heal your wounds. you might actually recover faster; also we have two crates. I don't think my father will notice if a few vials disappeared." She spoke a lot but this is longer than any conversation he had in his life. Smiling to himself he thought she had reminded him of his late wife, her portrait popped into his head. her smile made him feel safe. her image moved in his mind, Naomi snapped her fingers. but his eyes opened as he realized he had fallen asleep with the vial still clutched in his hand, He popped the cork and pressed the vial to his lips and drank the sour but somewhat sweet and bitter liquid. Handing the bottle to Stella, she turned around to the small work station and continued to prepare other herbal potions. "I said earlier he wouldn't notice, I was wrong, he will notice however I know how to make the Jaktunn Potion, I am the actually the person who discovered it. so ill just make some more and replace the ones you use. so don't let it bother you." he turned his head to face the ceiling and closed his eyes hoping he could imagine his wife's face once more as he had done before but nothing happened, only pitch black and the loud voice of his inner demon calling to him.

Ardemon's slowly drifts off into a slumber, he dreams of life before the fighting and the wars. the days he had with his wife. the easy times of being a simple farmer. but the memories faded as he re-lives his most painful one, the day he couldn't save the only person he cared about. but Ardemon knew would face the consequences for being late, and he found out how severe and critical timing was after it was to late. If he hadn't stopped to help the old woman with the wagon. if he hadn't stopped to rest. he might have been on time.

Everything had a reason and hated thinking that his reason was to become stronger, that he had to let her go because he was to relient on Naomi. Either way he wasn't ready to say goodbye; he was suppose to have children and grow old with her. but that was only wishful thinking. Whispers.. he could hear them loud and clear this time. "Go to Shadowmans hood and face the sea of the dead. Learn of the gods and obtain an element." Before he realized it he was staring at the ceiling yet again. Stella not far sitting up against the side of the caravan wagons wall fast asleep. "She must have fell asleep" he thought to himself. Realizing there was no more pain he could hear the whispers but faintly. He jumped up and grabbed his equipment and sword and jumped out of the wagon hoping not to make any sound, the wagon kept rolling down the dirt road meaning he hadn't woken stella and he hadn't alerted Brenan. "Good" he thought. He started back the way the wagon he was in with stella had come from an sure enough the whispers grew. but suddenly they became faint again, he started to go back and then they became louder until he found where they would go quite an then he saw a path that lead deep into the woods off the dirt road.

Suddenly a feeling of fear and anxiousness rushed over him but he pushed it aside and started to venture down the barely visible path. He could hear twigs snapping as if something was creeping in the woods but he thought nothing of it and continued walking as silently as he could until the whispers became so unbearable. he looked around for the source of the voices but only saw a rock. that even looked remotely suspicious. He walked closer to the rock-like formation and it dawned on him that this was no ordinary stone sitting in the ground, it was a teleport stone. But then again that magic isn't even supposed to exist anymore, it was banished before he was born as it always took the user somewhere random, rarely did one work. he had never used one as he had never run into one but his grandfather had always spoken about it like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

How he had traveled to a world where the wagons were made of metal and the villages were built out of the most elegant materials and how there were metal birds that carried people in the sky, things only a fool would tell anyone. He also taught him Ardemon how to use the stone should he ever find one. of course, he used a rock off the ground as an example. Remembering what his grandfather Hildon taught he pressed his palm against the warm stone. He began to think of something that would calm his mind and channel his inner energy into the teleport stone.

Just as he was losing hope of it working, Something flashed into his mind and he could hear water flowing in the distance, almost like a raging river. The world collapsed beneath him and all around the world shattered like glass and fell away into an empty void under his feed.. colors gathered at his feet like and then disappeared, he looked up as he could hear the sound of the river approaching faster as if he was in a whirlwind the colors came from the sky and spiraled around him and then bleeding into existence as if he was spinning so fast the world suddenly stopped and he was standing in a river up to his thighs holding onto a stone that had been a solid white had now become bright see-through blue with a shiny gold symbol which he couldn't fathom the meaning.

The water crashed into him but not enough to pull him under, just enough to make him uncomfortable and hopefully not slip and fall into the water. He struggled to pull his hand free of the rock, as if the rock had grabbed onto him, he could feel it let go of him as if a magnetic force had held onto him keeping him and kept him from being thrown from the rock as it was teleporting. But the only thing bothering him now was the obvious question as to where he was teleported to. He looked around and inspected his surroundings, he was in a river about 2 feet high, it looked as if the river went on ways and then dropped into a waterfall.

But the most nagging feeling that he questioned was why was he able to use the stone if it was banished magic? he had been told by Tildon that only certain people possessed the magic and nessicary amount to even use one. He turned around and slowly made his way towards the bank of the shallows of the river heading against the flow of the water as to not get swept under, finally making it one step at a time he slowly makes his way stepping onto some rocks and then hopping rock to rock to what looked to be an old bridge that washed out with a storm. but it made sense why no one has ever seen the teleport stone, it was hidden under a small bridge. but now the small wooden bridge is gone it was able to be found.

He did a check to see if he had lost anything in the water but everything looked to be where he had left it in his bag. He walked away from the river with it at his back until he found a trail, he walked for what seemed like hours, every twenty minutes he would drink from his water canteen to keep hydrated. the ground became less grass and more sandy as he crossed into a desert area, the air became thicker and humid. it became hotter and harder to breathe, but he was determined to find a town or something as if he turned back now he wouldn't make it back as the water he had left was almost gone.

The longer he walked the more tired he became until he started to feel light headed, the world became a distant scene as he finished the last bit of water from his canteen, it wouldn't be smart to eat any food as if he had eaten it he would throw it up. The world spun as he slowly fell to his knees, he could no longer walk so he crawled. his hands burned from the sand so he lay until night came. dizzy and thirsty he laid until everything fell from sight, a voice called to him, an he suddenly snapped his eyes to a woman with long brown garbs, short black hair behind a hood, her dark blue eyes and pale skin confused him. she helped him to his feet and assisted him and walked him a few yards to what looked to be a small metal door in the ground. "Adventurer?? are you alright? you need some water???" she pressed a water skin to his lips and he drank as much as he could before he ran out of breath. "Thanks, I have no idea where I am.. i lost my way while I was heading north.. i don't think this is where I am suppose to be." she giggled at him and sat him down next to the metal door, she brushed it off and then threw it up. it smashed into the sand and then she grabbed his arm and help him inside. it was like an entire city underground.