That...brings past times to mind and creates a strange longing in the chest

The hornless bitch had vanished, along with her little eldari friend. Knightfall had gone ahead, leaving Korroth to occupy himself until they caught the little runts trails again. Runt indeed, he knew the heir of Ren the hornless was worthless, but becoming friends with an eldari, that was a level of weakness Korroth couldn't stomach. The Eldari were a blight, the only thing holding the heanta back from rulling this land. Anything short of cutting them down where they stood was weakness, and he couldn't stand weakness. All thoughts of weakness left his mind as he walked around a bend, and the rustling of leaves reached his ears through his steel helm.

Korroth stopped, his lumbering form becoming impossibly still. Korroth was a giant of a heanta, standing at 7'9", not including his ten inch long horns, and weighing in at 344lbs, mostly solid muscle. On top of that, he wore thick plate armor and a full helm, a longknife the length of a sword in an ordinary man's hand hung from his hip and he carried a brutal cresent bladed bardiche, with a mace like counter balance on the other end of the 6ft long weapon. Korroths red eyes flashed beneath as he listened for movement, barely moving a muscle.

It was then that someone appeared on the road ahead of him, an unnassuming looking female with large ramlike horns and brown hair, a very uncommon coloring for heanta. It was a surprise to find another heanta here, though that didn't wasn't what had stopped him. It was the gentle rustling nearby, moments before several men and women leapt from the forest around them. Springing a trap. On Korroth. Of all the people in all the freelands, they'd ambushed Korroth. Their idiocy set him grinning, his blood pumping as they closed in around him and the other heanta. As the humans spread out around them, Korroth noticed the eldari creeping in from the back, a long elegant bow in his hand. A strange sight in the freelands, an eldari working with human bandits.

The humans looked to the eldari, the clear leader of the group. "Well well well. Two filty knife ears." The eldari said grinning. The insult was something of a joke, since both heanta and eldari had pointed ears and the phrase could apply to either. Korroth growled. "Right, this is simple. Drop your weapons, and hand over you're valuables, and We'll let you go, preferably back north." He said. One of the humans pushed forward and elbowed the eldari. "We could get a fortune for the woman." The human said, looking towards the other heanta. Korroth growled. Not in her defense. He was simply growing bored.

"Oh the big one doesn't like that idea. I would normally say no, but why not. We'll take her too." The Eldari said, smiling at Korroth. The eldari was clearly itching for a fight. "I don't give a fuck what you do to her. I'm just sick of listening to you worms talk." Korroth growled, voice deep and gravelly, distorted by his helmet. The eldari drew his sword. "I was hoping you'd resist. Come on then, big man." The eldari said. The human next to him snorted. "You know what they say, the bigger they are, the harder-" Korroth moved. His massive bardiche flying downward in an arching strike, catching the human on the shoulder and splitting him open as it cleaved down through his torso.

The eldari lept aside, cursing, and Korroth turned his eyes towards him, as a wave of fear washed over his enemies. The other heanta might notice something but unless she also turned on him, wouldn't feel the effects the mental assault he unconciously unleashed. Some of the human's ran, some collapsed. Other's rallied around the visibly paling eldari before Korroth, ready to fight. The Eldari said no more, but with grim determination he charged Korroth. "Capture the female." he ordered. "I'll deal with this one." That was his mistake. Three humans turned and went for the other heanta. If she was worth the horns on her head, they would be dead in seconds.

Just like the eldari was. The man reached korroth and swung his curved blade. Korroth turned and the stroke hit his armor at an angle, glancing away. Korroth spun and sweeped his bardiche low. The Eldari wasn't fast enough to dodge the cresent moon blade slicing his legs off at the knees with ease. The eldari dropped, screaming in pain. Korroth spun the Bardiche and brought the blade down, severing the eldari's hand holding the sword at the wrist. Placing a foot on the screaming eldari's chest, blade of his bardiche resting against the eldari's throat, he turned to watch the other heanta fight.

Korroth watched the heanta back peddle and deal with each human as they came at her. They fell easily, normal humans were nothing compared to even the weakest heanta. It wasn't enough to impress Korroth, who's attention turned to the Eldari gasping for breath on the ground beneath his sabaton. He knelt down to pick the Eldari up by the throat, leaving his bardiche down to pick up the Eldari's sword. He stepped on the face of a human as he approached a tree and slammed the Eldari up against it, then drove the elegant curved sword through him under the ribs, pinning him to the tree, where he would die slowly. Korroth turned back and retrieved his bardiche, as the other heanta spoke.

"Who are you?" Korroth replied to her question, his red eyes blazing behind his faceplate. He didn't find it suspicious to meet another heanta this far south. Defectors and weaklings liked to join the human bandits to have scrape by a living, but he became suspicious when she walked passed and said that Kyrias was still some distance north. "What brings a nameless warrior so far south? Where is your War party, or did you desert?" Korroth asked, turning around slowly, the clink of chain and plate and heavy bootsteps. He had no tolerance for the weak, and he did not discriminate when it came to killing. But he waited to hear her reply.

Here came the questions, but perhaps he would be the first one to give an answer, only time would tell. "I could direct the same questions at you. But this could just be a popular time for adventure. They are pointless questions anyway, neither of us really cares what the answers are." That may have only been true for her, but maybe the statement would leave him too absorbed in thought to decide to attack her before she was gone, but one could only hope. "Perhaps you're looking for that other one, but last I saw her, she was even further south." She had continued her slow retreat while she spoke and by now there should have been a fair bit of distance between them. Even if he was a dumb brute, which wouldn't be unlikely, he could still be too dangerous for her to fight seeing how easily he had killed that eldari, and she couldn't really afford to assume he was. It was only sensible that she put what curiosity she had aside, get far away from him and continue returning north to Kyrias.

She slowly increased her pace as she got further away until she finally, while still managing to look rather nonchalant about it, stepped back into the forested area. From there she retained a brisk walk while making sure to keep her steps light and on hard surfaces that would leave only a sporadic trail for her to be tracked by, and she kept it up until she thought she had made it far enough. If she was lucky, she was right, otherwise today was going to get a lot less fun. Especially if he was some sort of bigwig among the heanta's hierarchy, getting the attention of those at or near the top was bound to be exactly the kind of pain in the ass that she wanted to avoid, being largely beneath notice perfectly suited her. The more notable one was in heanta society, the more wrapped up in politics and the bigger the target on their back was, whether that was a good or bad reputation, notoriety was just not fun.

The heanta responded by stating she could ask him the same questions.
"You would soon find yourself pinned to a tree for trying to question me." Korroth growled back. He took a step forward, but let out a tisk as she started to walk away. He didn't have time to deal with rabble, and started to turn back, when she wondered if he might be searching for the other heanta. There were plenty of Heanta in the freelands, but only two besides Korroth who might be worth mentioning. Knightfall, and the Hornless brat. The female kept walking, and then tried to Vanish into the forest. If she knew where Valatrix was, she would tell him.

Korroth followed after her. He wasn't quiet, but he never tried to be. He liked his prey to know he was coming for them. It made the kill more entertaining. He followed into the forest, watching for signs of her passing. She was clever, and left almost nothing to show she'd gone that way, but he was aware enough to spot some signs of her passing. He kept on the faint trail until she stopped trying to hide it. Then he sped up, tracking her quickly until he caught sight of her. Korroth pulled his oversized longknife from its sheath and threw it with such force that it hit the tree ahead of her and stuck all the way through it. He stalked after her. "Enough games. I am Korroth Vex of Clan Vandel. The Warlord's hound. You will answer me, or you will die here." Korroth said.

"Who are you? Have you seen Valatrix of the Hornless clan, worm?" Korroth demanded. He wouldn't let her walk away so easily this time.

The male certainly wasn't the most docile, even among heanta, so the choice to get away was probably the right one, but he wasn't stupid either so she had been tracked anyway and he could probably run faster than her, not to mention being called a coward would probably cause a lot of undesirable trouble. As he said, there would be no more games, at least none like the one so far. "I'm hardly anyone, just Minervium. I can't say I really remember much about her, just that she was rather easy to talk to and had some connection to the hornless. She was quite a ways south but that must have been..Hmm, I wonder how long it was. Perhaps she has gone elsewhere by now, I doubt anyone like us would stay in a foreign town for long."


He was after her, he had even said as much, and while trying to withhold too much about the encounter would surely get her killed, she might gain more by not throwing that Vala girl to this Korroth. It was true that it was at least much of a day since she last saw her and that she could very well have moved on by now, but hardly long enough to forget who she was. Since Korroth already seemed to view her as lowly, there was some obligation to show some spirit, but if he wasn't amused, she might come out of this missing a thing or two. "What might she be to you? Are you perhaps chasing a runaway bride?" She allowed herself an amused smile and dropped into a squat while watching him for a reaction. "Those hornless types are big news aren't they? Trying to build a close relationship with that clan could be quite rewarding for those politically minded types. It certainly would make sense." Perhaps she was being a bit too cheeky, but if he didn't kill her immediately, he might tell her valuable information. "Whatever your reasons, if you're not too prideful, it might be worth having some help" she commented, obviously meaning herself.

Korroth grunted. It was her, there was no reason for other hornless clan members to be down that far. "Some connection to the hornless? Did you note her lack of horns? Only two heanta in existance currently lack horns naturally, which makes their clan name ridiculous as they are not all hornless, but I doubt you met with Celeana The hornless herself." Korroth said. He lowered his Bardiche, but not his guard. Not that he was worried about the pipsqueak before him. But he had also decided killing her wasn't worth his time unless she tried something stupid.

Minervium asked Korroth why he was looking for Vala, and questioned wether she might be a run away bride or not. Korroth snorted at her impertinence, but had to give it to her that she had some backbone to question him. He preferred a bit of spirit to someone cowering before him. He hated weakness like that. "There are no runaway brides in Kyrias. You accept your alliance, or kill your potential husband. No, she is not my bride to be. She is an obstacle for our Warlord." He said. She asked about alliances. "No more rewarding than trying to build one with Clan Vandel or Drakorius." He replied. She offered her help, and he snorted. As if he needed it. He didn't need her or Knightfall to help destroy the hornless welp. But he humored her, with a question. "You do not hail from a clan do you, Minervium? Have you accepted your place in life, or do you intend to try to rise to status of elite? Is that why you offer help?" He asked her.

Korroth looked at her again, and noted the instrument on her back. "I do not need you're assitance. But play that for me," He growled pointing to the instrument. "And I will introduce you to our Warlord. He always has a use for ambitious heanta. Or I can forget you exist, and you can go back to hiding in the shadows of your betters."