The battleground roared, men screamed and yelled all around, the smell of iron and mud could overwhelm most people, their troops held the position behind a small hill, the objective was to take over an enemy fortress.
For the past 4 or 5 months the camp had made its way up the Cithroam continent, the weather slowly growing colder and drier, the landscape transformed from large plains, long hills and forests to the more mountainous and muddy north, for a long time now they have been in search of the enemy rebellion leader, each time they tought they where growing close he disappeared once more, this grueling rat chase throught the continent had slowly drived commander Geralt a bit mad, even Leif who had trouble understanding others could see that almost everything made him angrier with each day that passed.
Leif rested his head against the trunk of the tree, sitting on one of the branches almost 5 meters off the ground, with the training he has endured for the past months he could easily jump up without using any runes, purely by controlling his inner magic he could jump up there, if he used the help of the lesser spirits he could jump almost twice the height, but doing multiple things at once correctly was difficult, most of the times he tried he just blasted off the ground and ended up with his back hitting the floor.
Someone approached by horse, the morning sun was begenning to work its way throught the leaves, Leif looked down to see the same brooding old man that always came his way when the commander ordered so.
Leif: [Brott.]
The man looked up at the branches, the boy looked down at him.
Brott: [Child, the commander has requested your presence.]
The man turned his horse around and begun to trot away.
Leif: [Does he want me to save his butt again?]
Leif shouted at the man but he didnt even turn his back, the boy snickered at his own quip as he hopped down from the branch. Ever since the training begun commander Geralt had been making the boy prove himself in battle, "testing his training" as he said, but to Leif it seemed more like he only needed him to prove himself when their army was in trouble of any sort.
He walked among the trail leading to the camp behind the hill, he never liked to be near it, prefering to sleep away in the woods to avoid the terrible smells and the loud noises the soldiers made, who knew men could smell even worse then the horses, once he crossed the muddy paths of the camp he entered the commanders tent, inside he could see the familiar rugged faces, Bowen and Brott talked while pointing routes on the map set on the table before them, sadly Rigge wasnt present, after taking a arrow to the neck during a invasion he layed in bed for half a day before diying, Leif never knew much of him but he felt a bit sad for Bowen who was his great friend, once the boy stepped forward the commander turned to him.
Geralt: [Crows, good you came.]
Leif: [What do you need me for?]
Geralt: [We have tried to seize this fortress for the past 2 weeks, its right in the middle of our supply lines and just far enough into the mountains where the only place to attack it from behind is dropping from a cliff.]
Leif: [You want me to jump in the walls?]
Geralt: [Indeed, we plan on an all out attack by the middle of the day, you will climb up the east of the wall, the plan is for you to make enough of a distraction for us to destroy de frontal gate with a battering ram, can you do that?]
Leif: [So im just the distraction? Can i jump out anytime?]
Geralt: [If you think youre in danger then yes, jump out, but try and give us as much time as you can.]
Leif: [Can do, and what about the payment?]
The boy aaked with a grim, the commander simply sighed.
Geralt: [3 iron pieces.]
Leif: [4 iron pieces.]
Geralt: [3 iron pieces and 15 coppers.]
Leif: [25 coppers.]
Geralt: [15. coppers.]
Leif: [Tsk... fine 3 irons and 15 coppers.]
As he turned around to leave the tent, the general stopped him.
Geralt: [Thank you for your work Leif, without you we have to take much more drastic measure to win, youre saving many lives.]
Leif: [As if i care about that...]
He said as he left, once out he walked away from the camp, into the forest, the rocky terrain among the grass and roots crackling beneath his feet as he stepped in, he had at least a few hour before the attack and didnt want to waste any of his energy, he stoped, looking up at the same branch he was sat on before, over 3 times taller then him, he closed his eyes for a second, feeling the warmth in his legs, the blood running throught his veins, filled with energy, clenching his jaw and squatting slightly, by kicking the ground the boy projected himself into the air, grabbing on to the branch and lifting himself up, he sat down and pushed his back against the trunk.
A short nap was more then enough for him to conserve his energy, he had already eaten earlier and wouldnt have problems keeping up during his invasion, he closed his eyes and drifted into a shallow sleep, his sword sheathed and dangling from his hip, he enjoyed the soft wind passing through the leaves and branches, after an hour or so he opened his eyes once more, turning to the side he dropped from the branch and his feet pounded into the dirt, the time should be about now, he walked back into the camp, reaching there he could clearly see the soldiers preparing themselves for war, the commander sat on a reddish brown mare, Brott and Bowen by his side, once the commander catched sight of the boy he resorted to a simple nod, a message Leif understood very well, quickly the boy made his way through the forest, heading to the east in wich the forest grew clser to the enemy fortress.
After only a couple of minutes of wallking he reached a wide river that ran down the hill, on the other side there where only a couple of meters of barren terrain until the wall of the fortress begun, he walkeed up to the edge of the river, seeing if he could spot any guards or enemy soldiers around, once he saw the fort was barely guarded from the east, he closed his eyes for a second focusing his body's heat on the legs, taking a few steps back and running back to the edge of the river, with a powerful push the boy soared over the river, clearing almost 6 meters with a single jump the boy landed on the muddy terrain on the other side, quickly he ran up to the wooden wall of he fortress, pushing his back against it and crouching down, he closed his eyes and heard all he could, the sounds of talking, laughing, and screaming coming from inside the fort, he stood up and looking to the top of the wall made out of tree trunks.
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Closing his eyes the boy felt the vital energy flwoing throught his veins, exhaling, feeling his core and the beating of his heart.
Leif: [[Kehir]]
Kel, meaning lesser, and Khir, meaning to fly, the boy's body slowly begun to float up, with his boots against the wall the boy quickly ran up the tree trunk, once he finally reached the top he jumped, soaring throught the air, looking down he could clearly see all of the fort, it was slightly bugger then their camp behind the hill, with three main crude buildings and many tents, the walkway built out of planks along the wall had little to no guards, he could see 3 on the east, 5 at south and 2 on the west walkway, he dropped down on two of the guards on the east while they talked, taking their lives before they could even scream out, cutting the first man's throat and then spearing the tip of his sword into the other's neck.
As he ran along the walkway the third guard fumbled his sword out of its sheath, the man on the chest, as the blade pierced his lung the man let out a barely audible and choked scream, he fell as the boy took the sword out of his chest, feeling his ribs scrape across the sides of the blade.
Leif had learned a great trick to use during battles, even though he could barely use ÍlHy for 3 entire seconds, he found that it used up only a tiny speck of his energy, meaning he would use it multiple times in a row, even if the rune only worked for a few instants it was enough to slice throught a mans arm like butter, being specialy useful to attack ungarded enemies or those who relied on their heavy armors.
After just a few seconds the boy was running towards the north walkway while one of the guards sounded the horn.
???: [Enemy!! Enemy attack!!]
The boy swinged his sword on the first guard, the runes engraved on the base of his blade emanated a soft glow as it sliced through the mans axe and with it his throat, the mans head fell back, hanging on to a small piece of meat and skin, blood spraying out of his arteries and veins all over the walkway, the horn continued to sound as Leif looked over the edge of the wall, a flood of warriors ran to the gate of the fortress, he could see commander Geralt sat on his horse, Brott and Bowen by his side as he commanded over 50 men to carry a battering ram up the small hill.
When he turned around he could see the enemy warriors climbing up the stairs to the walkway, the 2 other guards that stood on the north side of the wall ran over to him with their blades in hand, the first man sliced down with his blade, wich was easily dodged by Leif, shoving his blade into the mans stomach, the sword reinforced with ÍlHy speared through the leather and chainmail like butter, upon pulling it out the boy's hand was covered by a torrent of blood spilling out from the mans insides, diving forward towards the second guard, the man roared as he bringed down his axe, Leif swinged his sword to meet the crook between the metal blade and the wooden hilt, using the runes just before they met he sliced through the wood, making the blade go flying, but he didnt stop, forcong the slice forward the boy opened a hole in the mans ungarded neck.
Just then he heard something, someone stepping up into the walkway, two powerful thuds, as if it was a bear stepping, he turned to see a massive man, with dirty blonde hair and a same colored goatee, the man was almost twice the boys size, he was used to feeling small in comparison to others but this was the first time he had ever been so dwarfed before, not only that but the man also emanated a powerful aura of vital energy, Leif could sense his strength easily, this man was probably the strongest warrior he had ever seen.
???: [Secure the gate!! Prepare the spears and the arrows!!]
The man shouted orders and the others followed, he turned to the boy with a smile.
???: [Dont bother with this one, he's mine.]
Leif prepared himself, this wasnt the kind of battle he would usually take, if he was in disadvantage or overwhelmed he would usually run away and avoid the enemy by any means, he looked over the wall again, the battering ram was now begenning to smash against the gate, the strength of several men being used to bring it down, just a couple minutes more and the battle would have been decided, the proce for this danger was 3 iron pieces and a few copper ones, was this enough to make him put himself in such danger?
As he thinked the man stepped forward, now with a long axe in his hand, he smiled pointing the tip of the axe towards the boy.
???: [Tell me kid, should you be really on the battlefield? I dont like killin kids ya know?]
Leif ignored the man, simply lifting his sword to guard himself.
???: [Heheh... great then, lets get on with this...]
With surprising speed the man dashed forward, bringing down his axe, the boy managed to jump to the left but the attack was quickly followed by a horizontal cut of the axe, Leif jumped over the slice and kicked it down, swinging his sword towards the mans face, the blade was stoped by his hand, the boy quickly jumped away.
???: [Heheheh.... good... very good boy.... tell me your name.]
Leif huffed, despite the short encounter he felt his heart tighten, he came close to dying quite a lot of times by now, but every second he spent next to this man felt like sharp needles where piercing his skin, Leif never saw himself as the prey but this man was a true predator.
Leif: [Im Leif... Crows...]
Thoren: [Thoren Galdr, its good to meet you, Leif.]