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"He&039;s got a fire inside of him that I&039;ve never seen the likes of before," Calihye admitted "And never does he run faster than when there&039;s a hundred eneht beside hi her pride to finally spill forth "When our fellow hunters look at the board outside of Ironhead&039;s, they&039;re going to see the naht there on top!"

"Calihye and Parissus," the half-elf corrected

Davis Eng and Pratcus burst into laughter

"Only because we&039;re being generous on this last kill," said Davis Eng

"It was a giant!" both woether

"After that," the soldier replied "You tere dead before you got to the wall, had not Coate the bounty"

"So says yourself, bluster-blunder!" Calihye roared in defiance "We had the goblins beat clean Was your own felloanted a piece of the fight for hi"

"Commander Ellery," caard the i into the rooles kept escaping his e

"Commander Ellery," Calihye said in deference, and she offered a slight bow in apology "A title well-earned, though all titles see your pardon, Coonsbane"

"Given the occasion, your indiscretion is of no concern," said Ellery, trying not to appear flushed by the coreatest renown all across the Bloodstone Lands Technically, Ellery&039;s last naonsbane immediately preceded that name, and the halfelf&039;s use of the reat a compliment as anyone could possibly pay to Ellery She was tall and sli frail about her frame, for she had seen many battles and had wielded her heavy axe since childhood Her eyes ide-set and bright blue, her skin tanned, but still delicate, and dotted with many freckles about her nose Those did not detract fro a touch of girlishness to a face full of intensity and power "I wanted to add this to the bounty" She pulled a small pouch from her belt and tossed it to Calihye "An additional reward from the Ar whether Athrogate would be pleased when he returns," Davis Eng explained, and that thought brought a grin to Ellery&039;s face

"I expect he&039;ll not take the deate&039;s ascent"

"With all respect to Athrogate," Parissus remarked, "Mariabronne the Rover has ether"

"A point hard to argue, though the ranger accepts no bounty and takes no public acclai, and the way he spokea distinction between Mariabronne the Rover, a nahout Damara, and the tomen

"Mariabronne made both his reputation and his fortune in the first few years following Zhengyi&039;s de Gareth took note of hihted him, there was little point for Mariabronne to continue to compete in the Vaasan bounties Perhaps our two friends here, and Athrogate, will find si Gareth?" Davis Eng said, and Pratcus was bobbing so hard trying to contain his laughter at the absurd iht over

"Well, perhaps not that one," Ellery conceded, to the aht, didn&039;t sht

His face showed the hard work, the battles, of h, with his unkeht brown eyes shone with the luster of youth rin of his was both co and mischievous, a smile that could melt a woman on the spot, and one that the noh the ranks of the Bloodstone Ar, and had moved beyond even those accolades upon his release froyi&039;s fall

Mariabronne the Rover, he was called, a name that almost every man, woman, and child in Damara kneell, and one that struck a chord of fear and hatred in theof his service in the Bloodstone Ar of Mariabronne&039;s service to King Gareth and the people of the two states collectively known as the Bloodstone Lands Working out of the northern stretches of the Bloodstone Pass, which connected Vaasa and Da Galena Mountains, Mariabronne had served as tireless bodyguard to the workers who had constructed the massive Vaasan Gate More than anyone else, evenGareth himself, Mariabronne the Rover had worked to taress was slow, so very slow, and Mariabronne doubted he&039;d see Vaasa truly civilized in his lifeti the journey wasn&039;t the point He could not solve all the ills of the world, but he could help his fellow men walk the path that would eventually lead to that

But so Soer that great trials ham&039;s summons, he realized, for had the old half-orc ever bade soham, he was called, and proudly called himself - prompted suspicion, of course, of the curious kind if not the malicious But what could it be, Mariabronne wondered? What sensation was upon the wind, darkening the Vaasan sky? What omen of ill portent had he noted unconsciously out of the corner of his eye?

"You&039;re getting old and timid," he scolded himself

Mariabronne often talked to himself, for Mariabronne was often alone He wanted no partner for his hunting or for his life, unless it was a teement, a warm, soft body beside him in a warm, soft bed His responsibilities were beyond the call of his personal desires His visions and aspirations were rooted in the hope of an entire nation, not the cravings of a single ainst the rising sun as he looked east across theSuh the breeze still carried a chilly bite Many of the rated north hunting the elk herds, and without the more formidable eneoblins, h up aaze linger to the left, to the south, and the vast wall-fortress known as the Vaasan Gate

Her great portcullis was up, and the ranger could see the dark dots of adventurers issuing forth to begin theate, for the nu and the bounty hunters could no longer be assured of their silver and gold coins

Everything was going as King Gareth had planned and desired Vaasa would be tale entity of Bloodstone

But so warned him far in the recesses of his mind, that the dark had not been fully lifted froham&039;s summons is all," he decided, and he ear

Coreat wall that was the Vaasan gate a short while later She hardly knew the tomen, Calihye and Parissus, who had ascended so far and so fast a of bounty hunters, and in truth, Ellery was not fond of the little one, Calihye The half-elf&039;s character was as scarred as her forht with the best of the warriors at the gate and drink with them as well, and Ellery had to adlee at seeing a wohest rank on the bounty board

They had all been laughing about Athrogate&039;s reaction, but Ellery understood that it truly was no joke She knew the dell, though few realized that the two had forged such a partnership of mutual benefit, and she understood that the dwarf, whatever his continual bellowing laughtersurpassed

But all accolades to Calihye, and soon to Parissus, the niece of Gareth Dragonsbane thought However sheone was a bit crude for Ellery&039;s tastes, as well - she, Athrogate, and everyone else at the Vaasan Gate had to adhters and better hunters Monstrous prey had thinned severely about the Vaasan Gate, but those tays seehter Rare was the day that Calihye and Parissus left the fortification to return without a bag of ears

And yes, it did sit ith Ellery that a pair of wo the few at the Vaasan Gate, had achieved so much Ellery kneell from personal experience how difficult it was for a woman, even a dwarf female, to climb the patriarchal ranks of the warrior class, either informally as a bounty hunter or formally in the Arht and one argument at a time She had battled for every prohty axe frore ielded it and had earned the pluh deed and deed alone

But there were always those voices, whispers at the edges of her consciousness, people insisting under their breath that the wo of both the naonsbane, served as explanation for her ascent

Ellery reat wall, planted her hands on the stone railing and looked out over the wasteland of Vaasa She served under many men in the Ared and won She served under many men in the Army of Bloodstone who did not kno to lead a patrol, or set a proper watch and peri encampment She served under many men in the Arularly, all on account of poor planning

Yet those doubting voices re in heart