Stories of Giladriis: The Paladin's Squire

Part Three

Cianna was had never been more thankful that the Minotaur people lacked archery skills than when she was running from them. Arrows launched past her but only one had even some within a few feet of her. When they first started perusing her the night before, they were eager to test their archery, raining arrows down on her as if she were a prized animal during a hunt. By now however, most of the Minotaur had run out of arrows or had thrown their bows out of anger from missing so much.

    Cianna Vinelash had pointed ears that easily identified her as an elf. Her long and curly deep green hair and fairly tanned and smooth skin made it easy to tell that she was one of the forest elves. The mountain elves usually had lighter hair and pale skin, whereas the forest elves had colorful and bright hair and tanned skin. She wore clothing that she had designed herself. It looked to be a silky purple dress, but had been redesigned for travel and combat.

    The skirt that ran all the way down to her ankles had a large slit that ran up the side of her left leg all the way up to just below her hip, making it easy for her to maneuver without ripping it. Under the skirt she wore a pair of black pants and black leather boots. The upper half of her dress had a section missing in the center that showed of her flat stomach and belly button, while the rest of the top was fitted around her torso and chest perfectly, leaving barley any view of her cleavage. The sleeves went all the way down her arms and crossed had a hole at the end for her to place her thumb through so that the sleeves would stay in place.

    Around her neck she wore a silver amulet the size of her fist that looked like a dragon fly whole head was made out of an emerald the size of her eye. The amulet hung from a silver chain. She had a ring on her left index finger that also had a small emerald set into it. On the back of her neck she had a tattoo of a swarm of dragonflies that seemed to be flying down her spine until it was hidden under her clothing. She had a bow made from a golden colored wood on her back as well as a set of arrows that had brown feathers on them.

    Cianna gripped the rolled up map she held tight, making sure she did not drop it, as she almost had once already. The entire reason she was running from these Minotaur was because she had stolen the map she held from them. These Minotaur did not belong to the Minotaur Empire, who was allied with the forest elves. They were part of a bandit gang who had attacked a caravan of forest elves a few days ago and had stolen the map from them. From what Cianna had been told, the map had important information regarding the rumored invasion force that was gathering to attack Fleurydia, the home of the forest elves.

    For the first time since they started chasing her the night before, an arrow came dangerously close to hitting her. She let out a scream as she stumbled, not expecting an arrow to actually come that close. She tripped over a root that was sticking out of the ground and tumbled to the ground. A few seconds later the ground began to rumble as the gang of Minotaur chasing her grew closer.

    A quick white blur passed by her just before one of the Minotaur were able to stomp on her. As the white blur passed by she noticed that the Minotaur was on the ground with its head by its feet. Razeem jumped from his horse while slashing his sword at another Minotaur. Once he landed he slapped the horse's rear. The horse ran off back in the direction Razeem had come from.

    Razeem dodged to the left and parried a slash from one of the Minotaur who was holding a two handed sword. The others quickly joined the growing crowd, and before long there were six Minotaur encircling Cianna and Razeem. He smiled as he held up his sword and shield towards the closest of the Minotaur. "You face Razeem Lugso, Warden of the paladin order. I suggest you back off... now."

    A few of the Minotaur laughed. Cianna would have laughed too if it was not her life that was on the line. Minotaur lived for close combat. She had met a few members of the paladin order before, but not even a Warden could stand up to the brute force and raw strength of six armed Minotaur. She drew the bow from her back as she stood up and drew back an arrow. "You sure now how to make an entrance Warden," the Cianna said with a faint smile on her face. She would never admit it but she actually found the human to be rather handsome.

    Razeem slammed his shield into the first Minotaur who tried to charge him. As the Minotaur stumbled backwards he plunged his sword deep into the beast's chest quickly pulled it back out. As he did he swung the sword to his right, cutting the hand off of another Minotaur. Cianna's first arrow was swatted away by a third Minotaur, but the second one found its way to the Minotaur's throat. Razeem finished off the handless Minotaur as the first one Cianna killed hit the ground.

    Another Minotaur charged towards Razeem but before it could come within reach of his sword a dagger found its way into the beast's skull. A moment later Olsyn ran up and pulled his dagger from the Minotaur's skull and ran to his teacher's side. He smiled and held up his long sword. "Figured you could use a hand," Olsyn said as he breathed quickly. He had to run to catch up to Razeem before the fight ended.

    Before Razeem could speak again, two more Minotaur were attacking him. He held up his shield to block both if their attacks. Before he could retaliate Cianna shot one of them in the shoulder with an arrow while his squire cut the tendon in the other's right leg. The one with the shoulder wound backed up as he saw the other fall to the ground. Without hesitation Razeem lifted his sword the head and slammed it down on the fallen Minotaur's neck, beheading him. The remaining Minotaur, having questioned their ability to beat the paladin, his squire, and the elf, decided to retreat.

    Razeem and Olsyn wiped their swords off on the clothing of one of the fallen Minotaur. After their swords were clean they placed them back into the safety of their sheaths. Razeem ordered his squire to search the corpses for anything useful or important while he spoke with the elf. "Are you hurt," he asked Cianna as she began gathering what used arrows she could find.

    She gave him a quick smile and looked away. "Thanks to you two I think I will be alright. I doubt they will try to come back for me." She blushed as she turned away, embarrassed both at the fact that she had needed help in the first place, and that she had received it from somebody who she was finding more and more attractive. "I am Cianna Vinelash, by the way," she added.

    Razeem bowed his head lightly and then pointed to Olsyn. "I am Razeem Lugso and this is my squire, Olsyn Windrift. Our Gunder Copperbeard is nearby. I am sure he will be sour that he missed the chance to kill a Minotaur. You know how Dwarves are about them." He chuckled and then jerked his head towards the direction his horse had run off in. "We should set up camp while there is still a little sunlight. Would you like to join us for dinner?"