Crimson -- Chapter 4

Crimson was relieved to of gotten into the land of the Khärn without much issue. He had washed his clothes and bathed himself within a small basin he’d found the day before since he didn’t care for smelling like death.

Although he supposed smelling like death would fit him.

Smirking, he continued his trek through the mountainous lands. He stayed in the valleys, moving from shadow to shadow as he went along. He knew he’d encounter members of the Khärn race eventually, yet he didn’t know when. Due to that, he’d need to stay on alert at all times.

It didn’t take long for him to encounter a skirmish between several Khärn. The large, brutish, grey-skinned beings were pummeling one-another in a vicious brawl. He knew they enjoyed conflict, but he wasn’t quite sure what they were fighting for. Of course, knowing the level of their intelligence, they probably didn’t have a reason.

Unfortunately for Crimson, there was no way around the Khärn without being seen. Due to that reason, the slim assassin knew he’d need to resort to violence. Luckily, he knew the Khärn would be more than glad to fight back.

Getting his spear and shield ready, he made sure none of his gear was loose. Once he was sure he was ready, he crept up to a good hiding place and got his bootknife out. He hoped he could kill the dumb abominations without resorting to direct conflict, since he didn’t want to end up with another bruise like the one he’d received back in the desert.

Flicking his wrist back with his knife in hand, he flung it forward. It met its mark, which was a spot right in the back of an abomination’s skull. It let out an unintelligible scream before collapsing upon the ground, which immediately sent the other four Khärn into motion. Crimson had thought that they would’ve kept pummeling each other, but he supposed that wasn’t the case.

Sighing deeply, he tightened his grip on his spear as the Khärn warriors started to search for him, despite being bloody and bruised themselves. He knew he could take them, but a four on one would be a hard fight. But, he supposed he did have the advantage of surprise.

And, knowing that, he knew he’d win. Jumping out from behind his cover, he dashed forward with his spear in hand and leapt up before coming down on the nearest Khärn, sending the spear-tip straight through the grey-man’s neck. Of course, this attracted the attention of the other three Khärn men that were still unharmed. Well, except for the bruises and cuts they’d given each other, that was.

They each had a variety of large, blunt weapons. Well, he wasn’t exactly sure he could call a large, cracked, unsharpened greatsword a ‘blunt’ weapon, but he figured that the savage Khärn probably used them as such.

His thoughts were then cut short as he was dashed at by the three angered beings, whom all tried to hit him with their slow yet powerful strikes. They didn’t seem to have much of a strategy, although one of them did stop to lift up a large rock that he then tried to throw at Crimson.

Crimson rolled to the side, avoiding the boulder before thrusting forward with his spear. He caught one of the beings in the knee, sending it tumbling forward, which thus trapped his spear beneath it. That was bad.

Gripping his shield, he jumped up over the Khärn that was laying on his spear and bashed one of the standing Khärn upside the head with his steel shield. It did as little as he thought it would, and it ended up spraining his arm in the process.

Cursing himself, he let out a sharp gasp of pain as the Khärn punched him in the stomach, knocking his breath out of him. Stumbling back, he barely managed to duck beneath a swing from the abomination’s mighty club. He had an idea, although he wasn’t sure that even the Khärn were dumb enough to fall for it.

Jumping up next to the only other still standing Khärn, Crimson punched it in its rock-hard chest to anger it more. The thing then immediately swung its massive, blunt blade at him. Crimson rolled to the side, avoiding the swing. However, the Khärn that Crimson had bashed with his shield was not so fortunate. It soon fell to the ground, sliced in half by his ally.

Crimson and the sword-wielder were the only two still standing, and he had an idea. Gripping his shield, he ran at the large beast of a man and dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding the man’s blade before jumping up and bashing his shield against the back of the Khärn’s head as hard as he could. He did so several times, eventually bashing the thing’s skull in, killing it. It was perhaps the most brutal kill Crimson had ever done, but it worked.

Sighing, Crimson went over and kicked aside the Khärn that had trapped his spear and took it up. He didn’t like being without it.
His clothes were a mess, and he’d need to find a tailor to get them repaired. Luckily, he knew just the girl back at Ancii that could get the job done. He’d need to pay her a visit as soon as he got back home. Then, after that, he’d need to check up on his father to get his shield and armor repaired.

Crimson -- Chapter 5