The elf was startled and turned around quickly in fright. What he saw astonished him. Upside down and a little bit away, he could see himself as well as the other elf. The weird thing was that his body had no head. The elf didn't get the chance to even react before he was already completely and entirely dead. The sound of his head hitting the ground also prompted the other elf to turn around, the horrifying sight he saw frightened him out of his wits.
A dark-skinned woman was standing just a meter or two behind him. This dark-skinned woman was exceptionally beautiful, but she wasn't anything exaggerated. Her beauty wouldn't topple kingdoms and she didn't look like a celestial fair of the nine heavens, she was just simply beautiful. Her curves were plenty, but her breasts were quite lacking, she was an elf after all. Normally elves would have more delicate facial features, but their bodies would be a little lacking compared to some humans. There were exceptions of course, but in general, their bodies were more modest.
This dark-skinned woman had mysterious bright yellow eyes, which created quite a contrast to her skin colour. Her ears were pointy, indicating that she was a dark elf. She wore armor made out of high-quality leather from a magical beast, which enunciated her body's curves. Resting in her hand was a long sword made out of a mysterious metal that shone with a silver hue. The hilt of the long sword also had some weird blue metal that intricately decorated it. Thufrat had never seen such a metal, and he had no idea what it was used for.
The eerie part about the whole scene was that the woman's arm and her sword was entirely drenched in scarlet blood. With some drops splashed on her face as well as the few drops that dripped from the tip of her sword that was pointing to the ground, she looked fierce. Behind her, the body of an elf with two curved swords at his side was lying covered in blood, a long scarlet wound covering his back. A meter or so away, the head of the other elf laid on the ground.
Before the elf could feel too much despair, his head was sent flying through the air as well. Thufrat wasn't too fazed by the fact that he had just killed 2 people, the only thing that bothered him was the reason they attacked him. Even though he had done nothing to wrong them, they tried to kill him just because he saw them, that was enough to give Thufrat a reason to not show mercy. The thing that annoyed him the most was the fact that his horse died in that exchange, which would delay his journey.
The dark-elf released a sigh of relief, and after putting away her sword, she held her stomach with her right arm, obviously in pain. Thufrat was going to ask her how she felt, but she interrupted him.
"Thank you for the help just now! I'm sorry if I caused you trouble, but without you, I would've been dead for sure!" She said with heartfelt gratitude. She had no idea who this random dwarf was, but he was powerful, that much was certain.
Thufrat sighed. "I would like to say no problem, but honestly, I want to know why they were so eager to kill you. They wouldn't just chase you around for no reason right?"
The dark-elf looked a little troubled, but she eventually gave in, this was her savior after all, and she felt that he had the right to know who he had killed and why. "If you didn't already know, deep inside of this forest, there's an elf settlement. A peace treaty between elves and dark-elves was supposed to take place there yesterday." Up to this part, the dark-elf had been calm, but she now started to tear up.
"My mother was the representant of the dark-elves, but on the eve the treaty was supposed to be signed, she... she... *hiccup* she was poisoned to death." The dark-elf started crying, even though she had promised her mother to stay strong after her death, the tears couldn't help but run endlessly, she couldn't control it. Her incessant trembling tugged at Thufrat's heartstrings a little.
Thufrat looked at this girl with pity. Even though she didn't tell him why these elves were after her, he could make an educated guess. Thufrat also felt pity for the dark-elves in general. They had gone to sign a treaty for peace but had instead gotten an important member of their race murdered, this was sure to add flames to the conflict that had already existed between them for centuries. Before he could ponder anymore, his thinking was cut short.
The dark-elf started clenching her teeth. "Those damn elves! After they murdered my mom, these bastards wanted to kill me too. I swear on my mother's death, that I'll do everything in my power to get revenge, and kill those bastards!" Her eyes were red from crying and her anger, and they had swollen up a little, making her look quite miserable.
Thufrat was stumped, he didn't know what he was supposed to do in a situation like this. "What are you going to do now? Do you have any plans? If you don't mind me asking."
The dark-elf seemed to ponder something. "I will likely get targeted if I try to go back to my country, and I don't have any reason to go back now that my only family is gone anyways."
Thufrat understood what she was implying, and now that he didn't have a horse, he made a decision. "Do you want to follow me for the time being? At least until we get to a city, it'd be a lot safer don't you think?" His conscience wouldn't allow him to just leave her alone here, especially not with people out for her life while she was injured. At times like this, Thufrat wished he knew the light element, it would be handy after all.
The dark-elf was a little surprised at first, but after thinking about it, she realized that this was probably the best thing she could do right now. If she didn't like traveling with him or if he tried anything funny, then she would just be able to run away. She had one question though. "Are you sure I won't be a nuisance?"
"I mean I can't be sure of anything, but I don't think so!" Thufrat said whilst smiling for once.
Seeing his earnest smile, the dark-elf couldn't help but feel relieved. She had been anxious about what her next course of action should've been. Even if this situation was only temporary, it was more than enough for now, she just needed some time to think. Since they had come to an agreement, they started walking down the long and winding road. The smell of blood would eventually attract magical beasts, and neither of them had an element that was suited to cleaning up the traces they left behind.