As the small group of bladesingers rushed through the forest, more signs emerged to guide them, a broken branch a lost sack of grain, the first sign of blood , then finally passing a corpse of a human female, her body twisted and bent in an unnatural position, the more signs they passed the better they understood there foe. as they closed ground, sounds of battle started be heard, Saltor, aid by a hearing enchantment, heard the guttural language of the orkin, and relayed this to the group, Kyra asked Corllion if he had any knowledge of the race, he nodded once not wasting and breath on a spoken answer, he became more grim, his education in his past life had included many lessons on the goodly and evil races of the lands, this was compounded by study on how to best combat each of them. He knew unaided his strength would fail to compare, so he silently cast a speed and strength spell on himself, this had a extra boon for him, all beneficial enhancement spells always seemed to work better or more strongly on him than others.
He had long waited for this day, his first blooding of actual combat against a evil foe.
All his senses where dialed up to the max, his brain took stock of everything, the slope of the ground the angle the sun was shining through the boughs of the trees and how the resulting shadows could possibly create unwanted shadows, or provide cover if needed. He marveled how easily his mind started to focus on these details, for just the night before had he ever noticed this level of detail in his surroundings, he could feel Oathkeeper practically vibrating in her sheath.
When they group finally caught up to the caravan, they could see they last pitched resistance to the orkin enemy, was about to be broken, if they didn't immediately intervene all the merchants lives would be lost. Without hesitation or instruction, they all entered the fray, and the first four orkin fell before they knew they had a enemy joining the massacre, the merchants breathed a sigh of relief that help had arrived just in time.
Corllikn drew Oathkeeper and beheaded the first orkin he came to, and quickly moved on to the next closest enemy in line, another slash of his blade and a throat was cut, the only reason the head didn't come clean off like the first orkin was the beast was already in motion to rise up for a powerful strike on the boy that was in front of him. As Corllion moved deeper into the field of combat, Oathkeeper started to sing, his sight was all of a sudden enhanced, and everything infront of him seems to slow down a touch, as he swung her in a back slashing motion, Corllion could see Kyra engaging with her third orkin , he could tell she was doing well, and need no help from him, to his surprise she used his path of destruction, to her advantage, and found spots to strike at enemy's that where distracted by the fall of there fellow kind, quickly the helpless cry's of the merchant ms was replaced with the throaty pained cry's of the orkin wounded, but each one was silenced quickly. With a follow up strike, from the group of demon like elf's that had entered the fray on behalf of the merchant's. Seeing the members of their raiding band,cut down in mere moments, made the remaining orkin lose all heart for the battle, and they tested to make a swift retreat into the deeper dark woods, cry's of battle and the dying, still echoed from the woods. Upon the battle being joined Saltor had skirted the field of combat mak in by a guess at the direction the orkin would flee, and toon up a position, of advantage, and waited to strike, he did t have to wait long, in a span of just a few heartbeats, the orkin band was shattered and the survivors where fleeing directly towards him, as the made it to the tree line a short sword flashed three times all three slash's found vital areas on three different orkin's two feel immediately and the last one actually made it five steps past Saltor, before grasping at his ribs knowing a blade had passed through him and struck his heart.
Upon join the battle Gorham could see the enemy was woefully out matched in skill and almost even in numbers so he did not engage in battle and chose to go render aid to the merchants, and in doing so was able to save the life of three with wounds that would have been fatal if not attended to immediately.
Brosh was only able to strike down one orkin before the raiding band had tried to escape.
The Orkin band had thought this would be an easy target, and it would have been if not for the group of bladesingers showing up, and sending them all to there grave's. The orkin scout had stayed a safe distance from the caravan so it believed itself to be safe from the carnage that the raid had turned into, as it turned to make his departure from the area, a think blade pierced its neck and cut his throat.
After Saltor had dispatched his first three foes, he had sought to find out if the raiding band had scouts posted about, this was the only one he was able to find. He knew that he would find no others.
In the aftermath of the battle, Kyra replayed the events in her mind. She looked over the corpses of the orkin, specifically the ones Corllion had fled. He looked at their garb , and markings. It went beyond Silverswords, precision of his cuts he not only dispatched each foe with a single clean stroke in the most vital areas, or at least in a spit to ensure certain death, but also rendered them unable to fight nor even to protect themselves, no Corllion not only did this but also only engaged he most seasoned and highest ranked orkin in the group. All the facts she had before her , spoke to a very well seasoned and experienced sword master not a newly pledged member of a guild. And again he performed flawlessly in the group fight, she went into the battle, think to keep him beside her so she could cover him due to his lack of experience in real combat much less group combat. But she was left in awe of his battle prowess. She couldn't even fathom, what his skill would be like in a century or two.
The merchants where , extremely grateful for saving them and their caravan. They had spent a great deal in hopes that the far off reaches of the realm would have a need on their hand crafted textiles. They gifted each of them a dark green forest cloak. It practically made the wearer, disappear in the forest. The leader also gave Corllion a bracelet with three little charms on it. One looked like a tiny sword the another was a small flame emblem, and the last looked like a miniature horse. He was given instruction on how to make use of the item. Each one could be bonded to an item. Then with a encantation, it would bring the item to life. For the sword it would upon command summon his sword so it wouldn't have to worn or shown, the fire would immediately start a camp fire for warmth or cooking, the horse would freeze in a suppended state, and the enchantment would actually heal most wounds over time, for the horse. Corllion ask what kind of spell was used to make the charms thinking it to be a very practical try item. For making traveling extremely light.
Although the merchant was unwilling to part with the knowledge on how it was made he would sell , him any charms that he wished if he already had them prepared for selling some at the trading town they were heading to. Corllion purchased charms that looked like a small boat, a coil of rope, a looking glass, the kind , captains of sailing vessels used for sporting far off objects and a small book. They parted shortly after, but before they took there leave the merchant told them of the township they hailed from if they where to ever find themselves in that part of the realm ask for him by name and he would buy them a meal and tell them where to find the best deals on supplies in town, if he didn't already stock them, himself.
Back on the road once the returned and meet up with Teish, and the others, they continued on towards there destination, recounting the fight to the others. Teish was astonished with how Kyra was telling of Corllion's deeds and performance in the battle. For she rarly ever heard Kyra remarking any member other than an elder in such a way.