[gremlin]

Above birds erupted from the trees that they had perched upon and together they flew upwards towards the sky. Her body became as still as she could make it, if someone were with her they would compare her to a statue. Inside her mind seemed to pause and she held her breath as she listened for her approaching enemy. Below a figure crashed through the bushes then came into view, Judith lowered herself on he branch that she stood upon making herself crouch and she pressed a hand against the branch help to keep herself balanced. Judith observed the Dark Elf that stood below her, he was tall and very built like an ox, his shoulders combined where much larger than she could ever be. It would be a challenge to rid herself of this threat though she knew what the others would say if she were caught allowing him to go free. It would be seen as a weakness, as betraying the King who she had sworn to serve and she knew that she had to remain loyal.

Slowly and carefully, she remained crouched as she removed her bow from her back. Judith then removed her hand from the branch and slowly sat up a bit more, she reached into her quiver and retrieved an arrow. As she pulled the arrow back she noticed the Dark Elf suddenly become still, her chest begun to pound within her flesh as she watched his ears twitched. Had he heard her? Judith's hands shook slightly and unintentionally she released the arrow, the Dark Elf turned as it left her bow and within a quick movement he had caught the arrow with his own hand.

It did not take long for her to begin moving, Judith prepared herself quickly then jumped to the ground below, her bow was placed against the soil along with her quiver. Then as quickly as she possibly could she forced herself to stand then retrieve her dagger from her thigh. Judith held the dagger within her hand though she knew that she appeared awkward with such a weapon, the Dark Elf examined her for a moment and a smile grew on his face then crushed the arrow within his palm. "Dammit..." She muttered under her breath, then he spoke to her it was in a language that she could not understand though it did not take much for her to assume what he was planning to do with her if he successfully captured her. Women being such an uncommon thing to come by during war and all, she knew that she was a prize for any man here. Judith had tried her hardest to appear like a man, her hair was hidden within her helm and she wore armor to cover her chest. Though whenever she spoke it was clear that she was not a man.

The Dark Elf seemed to be taking his time, he moved his head from side to side causing an unflattering cracking noise then he retrieved his own weapon from his side. Judith's eyes left him for a moment to examine the weapon, it was a blade that she knew could easily do quite some harm. The blade itself was jagged, she had seen other men carry such weapons and knew the sort of damage that they could cause. If he managed to drive it through her flesh then there was little chance that she could survive, hell there was no chance she could survive! Judith wondered how she would manage to pry such a weapon from his hands and as she had begun to lose focus he charged at her.

The sudden movement from the Dark Elf woke her from her own thoughts, she moved quickly to avoid his first strike though she had barely missed it. Judith ducked, then jumped as he swung his blade and she danced around him avoiding his strikes. Being smaller than her enemy had it's advantages, she was much lighter and quicker than them. It was easy to avoid them but eventually she knew that she would become exhausted if this continued. As the Dark Elf swung his blade again she brought her wrist up blocking the hit, the sound of his blade against her armor caused her to cringe and she jumped back trying to create distance between them.

The Dark Elf spoke again in his own language then laughter erupted from him, Judith hissed under her breath growing irritated with this Elf. They continued for what seemed like a good hour until Judith finally lost her balance, she stumbled backwards and nearly fell onto her back. As she stumbled the Dark Elf swung his blade and it caught her flesh, Judith let out a cry of pain and she quivered as she felt her clothes grow wet. Though there was no time to examine her wound, she would have to do that later if she even lived that was. As she gained control of her balance and stood straight she pressed her hand reflexively against her wound.

The warmth that spread against her palm caused her to panic even more, she felt the wound trying to determine how deep it was and found that she would need medical attention. That's when the exhaustion became apparent, her legs had grown sore as well as the rest of her body. Judith looked up alarmed as the Dark Elf charged towards her, his hand reached around her neck taking hold of her and as she was risen above the ground she felt the air escaping from her lungs. Her body crashed against a tree that stood behind her and she dropped her dagger, she reached up clawing at the Dark Elf's hand that held her neck. She had always been afraid of death and had done what she could to avoid dangerous situations, yet here she was with little chance to survive.

In a moment of panic hundreds of thoughts clouded her mind and she desperately wanted to breath, though no air filled her lungs when she opened her mouth and the Dark Elf that held her laughed. Then she raised her knee hitting the Dark Elf between his jaw and neck. Judith had sharpened a part of her knee guard, making it a weapon itself. As it tore into the flesh of the Dark Elf his face became stiff but his grip around her neck remained. Then finally she managed to bring her fingers under his palm, when she did his grip loosened then finally he released her. The Dark Elf fell backwards against the ground as she fell too and from him she could hear him gurgling.

The first breath was harsh, then shortly as she finally satisfied herself her breathing returned to normal. Judith lifted herself but as slowly as she could while being cautious about the Dark Elf, then once she felt that she could move she took hold of her dagger and crawled towards the Dark Elf bringing herself closer. He laid still, blood coming from his now open throat. Judith had jerked her knee from one side to the other hoping to do as much damage as she could and she certainly had done some damage. Anger grew inside of her suddenly and she trusted the dagger into the Dark Elf's neck, inside his throat collapsed as she drove the dagger straight through his flesh and then his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

"Bastard..." She said to herself then suddenly she felt afraid, what had she done? She had taken the life of another with no hesitation, what had this war done to her? Judith pulled her dagger from his flesh then forced herself to stand, as she did she suddenly realized how soaked her clothes had become with her own blood. Quickly she retrieved her quiver and bow then once they were safely attached to herself she left and begun to long journey back to her camp. She was not meant to be this far into the forest, she had been told that it was too dangerous yet natural curiosity always brought her deep into the forest. Now look at what her curiosity had done to herself, she was near death and a half hour walk from her camp!