A Soldier inside

Okay here's the second entry into this story the first was short so I decided to add a little more here, there is a lot of good amount of back story here. I hope that anyone who reads it likes it. if you find any mistakes in spelling let me know Grimworld@cyber-wizard.com Include "Soldier Inside" in the subject line. Reviews are appreciated, Thank you ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tekiri watched her tall friend sleep, She had only known him about a year now. She recalled him arriving in town, she was always watching what was going on in town, She knew everything that went on, one of those people that could tell you more about yourself than you could. He came through the gates he looked worn down, She looked over his features, His armor beaten and parts cut through completely. His coat tattered and torn at all of it ends, his hair down to his shoulders, A beard forming. He walked wearily, an exhausted look over his face. She watched him pass the alley she was standing in *Oh great, another mercenary just what we need* the thought sounded almost spiteful, She didn't like the mercenary types that passed through town. They only ever caused trouble, she didn't know where this man had come from or why he was here but she already didn't like him. She followed him across town keeping an eye on him from the darker alleys. figuring he was going to do like most and stop at the tavern get drunk and pick a fight. She was actually surprising to see him pass the bar completely he said something to a passer by who just pointed and said something back, She was too far back to hear what was being said. She continued to follow until he stopped in front of a small inn. This place wasn't usually used by the mercenaries they usually went to the less than honorable Inns, the ones where the beer was cheap and the women cheaper. This establishment generally kept the street women away, usually populated by visitors and merchants. The prices were decent though, and she knew well the food they offered in the restaurant portion was excellent . Some of the anger towards this man she didn't even know started to fade becoming curiosity. she followed him inside, She knew all the workers here. She could come and go as she pleased without anyone thinking anything of it. She watched him pay for accommodations and then on to the room he had paid for. She waited in the restaurant section watching for him to pass by again the front entrance was clearly visible from where she stood. The recollection ended when he started to move a little, Had he woken up? She watched for a minute before turning and walking out of the room, She was starving and thinking about the Inn that was just down the street from this hospital had only made it worse. Her stomach crying out trying to get her attention. She realized that it had been nearly two days since she had eaten, She had spent all of her time lately staying with Everrath and making sure that he was okay. **~~~~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~~~~***~** Everrath opened his eyes there was no one else in the room, it looked to be mid day judging by the light pouring in through the nearby window, He didn't like hospitals everything was so plain. The rooms were small and confining. He pulled himself up to a sitting position he felt a lot better but he was certainly not at his best, His head still ached a bit, He walked over to the window looking outside there were people walking no one that he recognized though. He turned around to see Tekiri standing just inside the door, He hated when she did that, you could never hear her enter a room, She was nearly silent everywhere she went, and you never knew when she was going to show up. His eyes met her for a brief moment then she broke the silence "How are you feeling?" "better, How long did I sleep?" He asked She looked around for a minute before answering "It's been about 5 days." Surprise passed his face "That long?" She started laughing for a minute then bit it back before responding "If I had gotten hit in the head that hard, It would have killed me, I'm honestly surprised it was so short a time" She wasn't really at all surprised, as long as she had known him he never took very long to recover from his injuries. *That's a good thing* she said silently to herself. She knew they way he fought would have gotten him killed many times before if it wasn't for that. The conversation carried off into recollections of their previous adventures, the year in which she had known him they had spent most of out on jobs she still didn't know as much as she wanted about her tall friend. **The next morning** Everrath awoke to see Tekiri standing by the door, he wondered if she ever actually slept, as long as he had known the girl he had only ever seen her sleep one time that he could remember, Even when they were out in the wilderness and it was his turn to keep watch she would busy herself making food for the two of them or sharpening her weapons, or patching her armor, the one time He saw her sleep was when she was hit with a poison dart she slept for nearly 12 hours. "We should go see if there's any jobs of interest for us to do, I know better than to think you will stay down and rest like you should" she said calmly He chuckled for a second before answering "You know me too well Tekiri" Without another word he stood up and stretched, grabbing his armor and fresh clothes he went into bathroom adjoined to his room and got himself dressed, double checked all the straps of his armor, and throwing his coat on over it. He looked in the mirror for a moment then turned back out and walked to the door of his room where Tekiri was waiting for him. They walked across the city toward the center, He was still amazed at the size of this place, Their walk was a quick one and it still it took them nearly 20 minutes to reach the job boards in the center square of the city, He scanned the jobs looking for something that he thought would be a decent challenge and paid good. Tekiri found one first that she seemed to like the looks of. He walked over to where she stood reading the post. He looked at the post for himself *that one does pay decent* he thought to himself. He continued to read the post, it stated that a nearby village was having trouble with looting, a local gang of bandits had been giving them trouble. The reward for taking care of the problem was 5000 Gold pieces, That was enough to get him and Tekiri by for almost 2 months. Without another thought he scanned for who to contact regarding the mission and tore down the post and started walking toward the listed address, Tekiri just behind him "This will be easy" she said with a smile His face was a little more serious "if they are paying this much I think it might be a little more difficult that you are assuming, Although you're right it shouldn't be too bad." They rounded the corner 108 Tennar street this was the place, the name listed was Graysarr. He knocked on the door and waited for a minute the door was opened by a young man maybe in his mid teens, The young man politely asked how he could help them. Everrath held up the sign and asked to speak with Graysarr. The young man motioned for them to follow and led them to a small room in the back of the house, an older man sat at the desk inside. He looked up from his work to see the two standing in the doorway he looked the 2 mercenaries up and down and his eyes locked onto Everrath's hand noticing the now semi-crumples posting that he held he spoke "I assume you are here to ask about that job?" he said without hesitating. Everrath looked at the man and nodded that he was indeed here to learn more about the situation. Graysarr looked back and started to speak. "I am Graysarr the lord that oversees that village he spoke choosing his words carefully, I am here to find hired help for the village, I myself live just outside the gates here, this is my second residence for when I am in town on business" the man explained "the bandits have become so problematic that I the villagers can't handle them on their own anymore, I am willing to pay you 5000 gold pieces to take care of the problem, by any means you deem necessary, I don't care what you have to do to get them to leave us alone." Everrath looked back at Graysarr like he was keeping something from them, But nodded in acceptance and told Graysarr that he and Tekiri were willing to take the job, The village was a half a day to the west. if they left now they would be able to get there in the mid afternoon. With a look over to Tekiri the both nodded and turned to let themselves back out of the residence and headed off toward the small nameless village to the west. The trips wasn't very eventful, the walked in near silence most of the way, Tekiri now and again glancing over since she had recalled his arrival to the city while she was in the hospital room she had wondered what is was that brought him to that forsaken hell of a place. never lifting her eyes off the road "I'm curious Everrath, I've never asked what it was that brought you to the city the city. You just kinda showed up" "It's a long story" he stated simply she though to herself *we have the time* "I'm listening" her words full of curiosity "Well it started with a fight about 2 days away from the city, a group of deserters from the military just after this war had broken out. They had thought me an easy target" He looked back over his shoulder at his smaller comrade "I fought them off but I realized that I had about 3 days worth of supplies left so I headed to the nearest place I could get some first aid supplies and food. Some materials to repair my gear." "That doesn't explain why you stayed" she stated. more of a question than a statement He grinned "The city was attacked if you remember, after the fight I decided after the fight I'd leave in a couple days, I just never got to it" he looked back to see a look of disappointment in her eyes *what did she want me to tell her?* he asked himself *it's not like I could tell her the real reasons behind it.* "There's the village" he pointed up the street changing the conversation. they quickened their pace to get there. He wondered how long he would have to wait before the bandits showed themselves. He had his answer soon enough it wasn't even an hour after night fall he heard a loud noise just around the corner from the small inn they were staying in, the only inn this town had in reality. Both the adventuring mercenaries grabbed their weapons and quickly moved toward the source of the noise, There was a good sized group of bandits raiding a small workshop. "I'd stop that if I were you" Everrath stated calmly "Who do you think you are" one of the bandits piped back at him "Who I am doesn't matter you have two options right now" he looked at them again taking a mental count *9 of them* he told himself "You can either stop and walk away from this village and don't come back, Or you die tonight" the bandits just laughed at his statement and continued what raiding the small workshop. He spoke clearly "Then I guess that means you choose to die" Tekiri was only a step beside him and quietly he spoke to her so that they wouldn't hear him. "we need to keep the one there in the cloak alive I assume by his equipment being superior to the others and they way he holds himself that he is the leader of this group" Tekiri nodded and readied herself waiting for Everrath to move in first. He pulled out his sword and locked his eyes onto one of the larger bandits in the group and broke into motion toward the larger man. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There you have it, the second chapter, I still haven't fully decided on which directions I would like to make this go in, I guess only time will tell, Don't forget to leave feedback any questions can be emailed to the address listed in the header of this chapter, the next will likely be coming soon.