Lorone is an old and battle hardened warrior and general, known far and wide as Sir Lorone 'The Immortal'. After the fall of his army, must get home to inform the king and people of the success of his army and what it cost them, while also having to deal with changes to himself.

>ILAINA<

Ilaina didn't know what to do, sure she knew a few tricks with her knives, but she had never actually used them until that day. She had definitely never used a sword before, and now she had a trained and seasoned warrior that she thought she would be able to trust, trying to kill her.

"Why?" pleaded Ilaina. She looked at Loraine, looked into her eyes for any glimmer that she wasn't serious, but instead what she saw was her own death playing in Loraine's eyes.

Suddenly Loraine was gone and there was another pain in her left side. Ilaina spun around only to see Loraine disappear yet again. It happened again and again, and every time it did, a new cut would appear somewhere on her body. She pulled out a knife with her left hand while she weakly tried to defend herself with the sword in her right hand.

"It doesn't matter, all that matters is staying alive, because... I will kill you," said Loraine. Ilaina could hear the truth of it in Loraine's voice. She knew Loraine wasn't kidding. She disappeared again and this time Ilaina's right knee exploded in pain. She looked down only to see her own knife driven through her knee. Ilaina began to cry out for someone to save her, but she knew it was hopeless. Suddenly Loraine was directly in front of her, sheathing her swords.   

For a brief moment Ilaina thought that maybe she would be allowed to live, but that hope was quickly doused as Loraine pulled Sir Lorone's Immortal's Blade off of her back like it weighed nothing to her and put the tip to Ilaina's heart.

"If this is all you have, then I guess I will just kill you," said Loraine. She gradually began pushing the massive blade closer and closer until it finally pierced the skin, then continued to keep pushing.

Ilaina tried to push it away weakly, but didn't seem to have the strength left. She didn't want to die; she was still young, still had so much that she wanted to do with her life. She couldn't just let herself die here. She started to regain her strength as a fire lit inside of her. She was not going to just give up and let herself die like this.

>Lorone<

Lorone saw the look of determination in Ilaina's eyes, it was exactly what she had been trying to get from the girl. She took Imbee from Ilaina's chest and returned it to her back. It was a brutal way to start off on one’s training, but it had been done the same way to her, except his master had nearly taken her right arm off, but it was one of the fastest and most efficient ways to show a potential student the determination needed to be successful with the training Lorone was going to put Ilaina through.

"Ilaina," said Lorone calmly. "I'm going to put you to sleep now."

Lorone saw the fear pass through Ilaina's eyes as she thought this really was the end, but she simply put her hand over Ilaina's forehead and mumbled the word 'sleep'. Instantly Ilaina was in a deep sleep.

So began the long process of healing that Lorone would have to do so that Ilaina could recover properly and quickly.

”¡ ”¡ ”¡

Lorone carried Ilaina down the path along with both of their packs and weapons. It had been three days since Lorone had attacked Ilaina and she still hadn't woken up.   

It had been interesting at first, trying to figure out how to carry everything with her new, smaller build, but yet again, Lorone had discovered that she was just as strong now as she had been before, if not stronger.   

Lorone was still dreading her first human contact with someone other than Ilaina, especially if they saw her carrying a full grown girl and two packs like it was nothing.

As Lorone walked, she studied the girl in her arms, Ilaina did have long dark blond hair, but now that she looked closer, Lorone could see a slight reddish hugh to it also. Ilaina was right at the age where she was still between being a girl and becoming a woman, and it wasn't lost on Lorone. She may be a woman now, but that didn't mean she wasn't still attracted to other women, and having a young, beautiful girl in her arms was almost too tempting for Lorone.

As she came to the top of a hill, Lorone noticed a small village that still seemed to be inhabited a short distance away. She carefully set Ilaina down and went to work hiding her gender. She had dark brown hair that came down to her mid back, but that wasn't all that uncommon for young men, so she tied in a masculine style and let it hang down her back. Next she covered her face completely leaving only her eyes visible; she already had on semi-loose male clothing that worked rather well in hiding her womanly figure. Once she was ready, she picked Ilaina back up in her arms, much the way a man would carry his wife, and headed into the village.

Lorone got a few curious looks as she wandered through the small village looking for an Inn, but her disguise worked wee enough, because most people took her for what she appeared to be and nothing else, just a man carrying a young woman while she slept in his arms. It was a small village and it didn't take too long to find it’s only Inn. It was a small two story building with a faded old sign that could barely be read, the name of the Inn, ironically enough, was the Immortal's Haven.   

Lorone almost laughed at the name.

As she entered, Lorone was pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness of the place and the cozy felling it had to it. She walked up to the counter where a youngish woman was cleaning glasses with Ilaina still in her arms. "Excuse me ma'am?" asked Lorone. "Can I get a room for two?" Lorone wasn't sure how it sounded to the woman. She had used the deepest voice she could, but was still worried it would give her away. Her worries were relieved though, when the woman responded.

"Of course sir, how long will you be staying?" asked the woman.

"I'm not sure yet, but you see? I've got a bit of a problem," said Lorone. "I was robbed a few days back, and while I managed to fight off my attacker, another got my friend here and stole what money we had.   

"I may not have much experience in running a place like this, but I'm a quick learner and good in a fight and was wondering if I could work for a place to stay while my friend gets better." She normally didn't lie to hard working fold like that, but at this point it really wasn't much of an option, she had to get Ilaina out of the wilderness while she finished the last of her healing. "If you can't answer, then maybe I could speak with the owner?" added Lorone as an afterthought.

"What, you think that just because I'm a woman, I can't own my own place?" the woman practically shouted. "Your friend there can stay in one of my rooms while she gets better, and don't worry; I'll take good care of her. You on the other hand, can find somewhere else to stay, I won't have some man who thinks women are inferior staying here," she continued.

"That's fine ma'am, as long as she's taken care of. Her name is Ilaina, where would you like me to put her?" asked Lorone.

"Just put her in the first room on the left side of that hallway," said the woman, pointing the hallway in question out. "Put her in there and get out." Lorone quickly followed the woman's orders and took Ilaina to the indicated room, not even taking the time to look around. She put Ilaina on the bed and headed toward the entrance of the Inn. As she passed by the woman, Lorone could hear her mumbling something about arrogant men who thought they were better than women. It all made Lorone glad that she had her face covered so the woman couldn't see her smiling at the irony of the situation.

Just before Lorone reached the door, she turned to the still agitated woman and said in the deepest voice she could muster, "Ma'am, I'm sorry if I offended you, I honestly meant no harm. Lease take good care of Ilaina and give her this when she wakes." She said it with a smile in her voice and amusement evident in her eyes.   

Of course it did exactly what it was meant to do and just angered the woman all the more, but before the woman could go off on another rant, Lorone was already gone. She had more important things to do than listen to some woman wine and groan about the difference between how men and women are treated.

"As Lorone made it to the edge of the village she had only one thing in mind, and that was to see the difference in abilities between the body she had now and her old one. When she had been carrying Ilaina, she'd noticed that she was indeed stronger than she had been before, but she also had a vastly larger muscular endurance and stamina. She had carried Ilaina, Imbee, three swords, and two nearly full packs from dawn till dusk for two straight days and barely felt tired at all.   

Deciding to start with her speed, Lorone took off for the closest tree line she could see, which was nearly a full mile away, at a dead sprint. She made it there in only a couple of minutes, barely winded, so she decided to work on agility next. Lorone stepped directly in front of the tallest tree she could find and jumped as high up in it as she could with a single bound. Looking down she realized that she was nearly thirty feet up. It surprised Lorone so much that she nearly fell off the limb she was standing upon. There was only one thing on her mind at this point, all else being forgotten. With a mad grin, Lorone drew Imbee from her back and another sword from her belt. Holding the sword in her left and Imbee in her right, she wondered just how much damage she could now cause.

”¡ ”¡ ”¡

>Ilaina<

Ilaina jerked awake. The last thing she remembered was being attacked by Loraine, and that she had thought that she was going to die. Ilaina looked around to see that she was in a small room with a single window, a small table, and a wardrobe. She was lying on a soft bed, under a larger comforter and with large soft pillows. She had absolutely no idea what was going on.

Just then, a woman appearing to be in her late twenties walked in holding a sheathed sword in one hand and a bowl in the other. The woman jumped at seeing Ilaina awake and nearly dropped both items in her hands.

"So I see you're awake," said the woman. "My name is Nevaya, how are you feeling?"

"Where am I, what happened, and how did I get here?" asked Ilaina.

"Whoa there, you're still sounded, or at least that's what your friend said when he dropped you off, though for the life of me I can't seem to figure out where you're wounded. As for where you re, you're in the Immortal's Haven, and your friend dropped you off here a few hours ago, saying that you were attacked and robbed," said Nevaya.

"Who do you keep calling my friend, was her name Loraine?" asked Ilaina.

"Well, I don't know what his name was, but I doubt it was this Loraine person, considering that he was a man," answered Nevaya.

"What did he look like then?" asked Ilaina, she had a sneaking suspicion that this man was most likely really Loraine.

"He had his face covered, so I couldn't really tell you that much, but he did have a big great sword on his back, and two smaller swords on his left hip. Also, he had long dark brown dark hair, if that helps at all," said Nevaya.

"Um, ma'am, I don't know how exactly to say it, but my friend that you just described, she's a woman," said Ilaina.

"You must be mistaken, I know a man when I see one, and he definitely acted like a man, plus he came in here carrying that big sword, three smaller swords, two packs, and you like it was nothing. No woman is that strong."

"I beg to differ, I've seen her handle that great sword like was nothing more than a small stick, it's amazing."

"Well, alright hun', whatever you say," said Nevaya, deciding that the injury she'd sustained may have been more mental than physical. She walked over to the side of the bed and handed Ilaina the bowl. "Here," she said. "Drink this, you'll feel better."

Ilaina took the bowl, which was filled with some kind of broth, and gulped it down quickly. She was a lot hungrier than she realized.

"Where is my friend, by the way?" asked Ilaina suddenly.

"He's not allowed in here anymore," said Nevaya icily.

"Oh... Ok," said Ilaina. Nevaya's tone of boice had not been lost on her and she wondered what Loraine could have done to make her so mad. "Um, Nevaya?"

"Yes?"

"Could I please have some more food? It feels like I haven't eaten in days," asked Ilaina.

"Sure," said Nevaya, taking the bowl and leaning the sword against the wall. "I'll be right back."

Within seconds of Nevaya leaving, Ilaina heard a tap on the window.   

Looking over to see what it was, she saw Loraine standing there, looking lightly exhausted.

"Loraine!" exclaimed Ilaina. "Where have you been?" she asked as she opened the window.

"Around, how are you feeling?" asked Loraine.
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To Be Continued…….