The Vanguard part 2 of 2

   Jill was so angry from her conversation that morning she was hardly watching where she was going. Her steps were interrupted as she tried to put on her last armored boot. She hopped on one foot as she slid the armor over her leather boot. Just as she was fully armored up she fell forward into a group of travelers. These ‘travelers’ looked more liked bandits or thugs. Jill had the best luck.

            “Watch it girlie” Said a large brutish man. “Easy, Trom” Said a hooded man in the group. Trom, the large man, smiled “No, we have been walking for days and out of all the space in these mountains this clumsy girl falls right on us” Trom replies. “She has some nice armor. I think it would look better on me” said a girl brandishing two daggers. “Listen we have work to do and robbing one lone soldier isn’t part of our plan” said the hooded man. “Well majority rules, Locke. Who else thinks we should make this clumsy bitch pay for crashing into me?” asked Trom as he raised his hand. The dagger girl raised her hand, Lock, the cloaked man, just glared from under his hood and the fourth member of the party a silent man with a spear also raised his hand.

            “Just run, get out of here” Said Locke. Jill was angry and now had someone to take her aggression out on. “No way, this fat tub called me a bitch” Jill replied. “You three will be lucky to leave here with your spines intact” 

            The spearman lunged forward at Jillian. He wore a blue bandana, blue baggy pants, sandals, no shirt and was very tan. His spear looked like it was for hunting and not something a soldier would carry. Jill swatted the spear away as it flew straight at her. The force of her gauntlet smacking the spear away knocked the hunting spear out of the man’s hands. The assassin girl spun and slashed with her daggers. Jill reacted quickly, so quickly that she either had amazing reflexes or she could slow down time. Jill ducked to dodge the blades and then gave an uppercut punch to the assassin’s jaw. Bones cracked and teeth shattered under the force of Jill’s armored fist. While Jill was busy delivering an uppercut, Trom swung his hammer right into Jill's left side. She was knocked sideways from the force of the hammer strike.

            The assassin clutched her broken jaw. She couldn’t talk to reply but went after Jill while she was down. Locke moved in quickly and pulled a cutlass out from under his cloak. He moved in front of the assassin and blocked her daggers before she could strike out with them. “Don’t do this” Locke warned. The assassin’s face squished up into a horrible glare and then she tried to stab Lock in the stomach. A gunshot rang out and the assassin fell over dead. Blood poured from her mouth and a large wound in her stomach. Gun smoke drifted out from beneath Locke’s cloak.

            Trom and the spearman turned to Locke in disbelief. “You killed her!” the normally silence spearman said then charged at Locke.

            This distraction gave Jill enough time to unholster her Axe. Jill’s axe was a double blades war axe. it was thinner and lighter than most battle axes that barbarians carried and soldiers rarely used axes. This was special made to compliment Jill’s agility and strength. To make up for the lack of weight, the axe’s blades were always very sharp and could cut through armor and bone.

            Jill held the axe handle with one hand and let the blade hit the ground. She glared at Trom with fierce intensity.
Trom ran forward holding his giant hammer in the air, ready to smash it down on Jill.
Jill swung her large two handed axe with one hand and slashed Trom’s chest. The large man yelled and lost balance. He stumbled and fell, giving Jill enough time and an opening to attack.

            Red markings began to glow on Jill’s black armor. The armor was enchanted with runes and when activated made Jill increasingly more powerful. The red runes lit up in the center and then spread out to her arms and legs. Jill walked toward Trom with her axe resting on her shoulder. Red runes burned brightly in her armor and her eyes looked more red than brown. “Ready to die bandit?” Jill asked. Her voice was different, more menacing and every breath was visible. With every breath Jill looked like she was exhaling steam or smoke. Trom saw this transformation and for the first time in a long time he felt genuine fear. Trom saw Jill's glowing red eyes and her smoky breath and worried that soon she would be breathing fire. At that moment she appeared to be some manner of dragon or demon.

“Hey, lady, look I’m sorry. Ok? We’re even. I give up” Trom said as he dropped his hammer. “Remember what I said? You will be lucky if you leave here with your spine intact and you don’t look very lucky to me” Jill hissed.

            Jill charged forward Trom picked up his hammer and blocked Jill’s on coming axe attack but the axe split the head off of Trom’s hammer.
Jill grabbed Trom by the throat with her black metal gauntlet and began squeezing. Trom choked and dropped what was left of his hammer. “Stop! That’s enough!” Locke said from the background.

           Locke had been fighting with the spearman and was trying not to kill any more people. Once Lock let his guard down the spearman charged passed him and tried to stab his spear into Jill’s back. Jill spun around with uncanny speed and swung her axe. In one move she sidestepped the spear, turned around and swung her axe. the spear stabbed into Trom instead of Jill and as the spearman accidentally stabbed his boss Jill’s axe sliced through the air and chopped the spearman’s head clean off of his shoulders. the spearman's head bounced when it hit the ground and then rolled down the mountain path. The spearman stiffly clung to his spear but the rest of his body sagged over, bringing Trom’s body toppling over as well.

            Locke walked up to Jill. “I should have been warning them to run instead of warning you” he said grimly. He put down the hood of his dark gray cloak, revealing a young man with short spikey light brown hair, a bandanna around his head keeping his hair in place, tanned skin and blue eyes. Locke would normally have a big bright smile on his face but today he was wearing a grim stare.
“It had to be done. They had no respect for the life of others” Jill said coldly.

            “Neither do you!” Locke replied angry as he gestured at all of the bloodshed. “I have respect for innocent lives. You’re friends wouldn’t have spared me, so why should I spare them?” Jill said as she turned quickly to face Locke. Locke flinched as he expected her to attack him.
“they weren’t my friends and you spare people because you are better then they are, not equal” Locke replied. “Nice ideal, but I have been in too many wars to agree with you” Jill said as she turned away and continued down the mountain path. “Thanks for the help” Jill shouted back without turning. Locke nodded “Yeah, I thought I was helping” He said almost too quietly for Jill to hear. “You didn’t really need any help” Locke muttered.

            Jill continued down the path, leaving the dead bodies and the young Locke behind her. She found it odd for a bandit to stick up for a traveler and even stranger that he had a gun. Guns were new technology and almost no one had them. This had Jill feeling curious, but not curious enough to go back and bother talking with Locke again. Jill was still on a journey and couldn’t afford any more interruptions or set backs.

The first snowflakes of winter could be seen drifting over the kingdom and Jillian had little time to waste.

The Vanguard Part 1 of 2

            The cold winter wind blew through the White Mountain peeks. The small town of Wolfpeek was miles from any other town or settlement. Anyone who traveled through the mountain pass would stop at Wolfpeek to rest before continuing on their journey. The town population was very small, only a handful of determined people lived there all year round. They were the ones who maintained the general store, the Inn and the stables that the visitors relied on. The town population was low but visitors were so frequent that the town never felt empty.

            Jillian Cole was a woman with medium length black hair, pale skin like the snow and reddish brown eyes. She was not a towering figure or even an extremely muscular one, yet she still managed to be an intimidating figure. Jillian walked into the horse head Inn, he black metal armor clanked and rustled with each step. Her whole body was armored but it wasn’t the bulky suit of armor knights had, this was designed for mobility. The joints and under the arms had thick black leather instead of metal plate to improve on speed and flexibility. The only color she had on her armor besides black was the red scarf that was wrapped around her neck and hung down to her midsection.

            The horse head Inn was a large, dimly lit room full of tables and chairs. There was a bar and in the back was a set of stairs that led to a second floor. The second floor was more of a large loft with a row of beds. Night had passed over the land and the Inn was full of travelers drinking and laughing. Even the most seasoned traveler could find an interesting story or bit of new information in the Horse head Inn due to the number of people that passed through on a regular basis.

            Jill walked toward a chair in the far corner of the room, she undid her weapon strap and removed a large battle-axe from a holder on her back. She set the axe against the wall and sat down with a heavy clunk. Just as she sat down a barmaid walked up to Jill and with a bright smile asked “What can I get for you today, Sir?” Jill brushed her hair out of her face and stared on the bar maiden. The Barmaid was pretty enough, with blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair.

“Don’t see many women in armor? In such a well traveled place like this, I thought you would have seen it all” Replied Jill, she smiled in her best attempt to be friendly. The Barmaid looked surprised “Oh I am sorry Madam. I-its dark and your hair was in your face and I thought, well don’t mind me now. What can I be getting’ for ya?” She said nervously. Jill tried to smile again but had reached her limit. “Just an ale, thanks” She said. The Barmaid nodded, gave a nervous smile and ran off.

            Jill wondered why she was trying to be nice. She wasn’t one for small talk and rarely let things slide. The barmaid reminded Jill of someone she used to know. The barmaid returned and set the beer down on the table and gave a smile and Jill smiled back. Jill figured she must either be exhausted or had spent too long on the road alone because she was never this friendly.

           Jill tried to focus on the journey ahead, she pulled maps, papers and letters from her bag. She had letters from all kinds of people, Lords and kings to farmers and sailors, every letter asking for her help with a battle, fight, war or just asking to scare off some local gang. The maps were covered ink, little notes about places she had been and drawings of landmarks.

            The night continued on and Jill mostly kept to herself, drinking her ale and thinking about her journey. But as she made plans for her trip ahead her mind kept bringing her back, back to a simpler time. A time when Jillian didn’t always wear armor and she still had people she considered friends. The peaceful days when she had a hometown and made plans to settle down.

            “Excuse me Madam, will ya be needing anything else?” Asked the Barmaid. Jill looked up from her drink and her pile of papers. She had maps, letters and scraps of paper spread out on the table in front of her. Most of the night she was studying the map but the last half hour she was just staring at it as her mind drifted into memories.

            When Jill looked up she saw the Barmaid’s expression had softened. She no longer looked afraid of Jill and her smile was warmer than ever. Jill was pulled so suddenly from her memories she had to assume her own expression must have been pitiful enough to make a once timid Barmaid now feel sorry for her. “What is your name?” Jill asked. “Andrian” Replied Andrian the barmaid. Jill smiled. This time it was a smaller yet more genuine smile.
”Andrian would you like to have a drink with me? Its been ages since I have had someone to talk to that wasn’t a brutish man” Jill asked. Andrian giggled “Yes we do get a lot of those” She replied. Then she smiled and hesitated before speaking again. “I think my shift is almost over, most people be needin’ sleep more than they need beer right now anyway” Andrian replied.

            Jill stayed at the table and put away her maps as Andrian talked to the Innkeeper. Andrian came back to the table with two fresh beers. Jill found it surprisingly easy to talk with Andrian, Jill didn’t have to intimidate anyone or keep up her guard. The barmaid was a genuinely nice person, a little simple maybe, but nice. Plus if Andrian did try something, Jill was pretty sure she could win in a fight. Cheerful, little strawberry blonde trying to fight a heavily armored traveler with a battle-axe. The thought of Andrian trying to pick a fight with anyone made Jill laugh.

            The sun was starting to come up and the two women were still at the table talking and having a great time. Jill was drunk and tired but kept drinking and didn’t want to sleep. Andrian reminded her of someone and the thought of this mystery person kept weaving in and out of her head. Andrian was in the middle of a funny story when she noticed Jill lean forward like she was going to fall over. Before Andrian could react Jill kissed her on the lips. Andrian’s eyes went wide and she froze. Jill pulled back and drunkenly began to apologies. “Sorry, I had a nice time but I think I should go to bed. I didn’t mean to…uh, Sorry again. I should go to sleep” Jill said sounding flustered. She tried to stand up and as she did she almost fell right over. Her armor clanked and rustled as she slowly got to her feet. “I am just gonna…” Jill said to Andrian as Jill motioned to the upstairs. Again mentioning she needed sleep.

            Jill began to stumble off, embarrassed and angry. Embarrassed that she kissed a person she just met and angry that she let her guard down. Getting this drunk and exhausted was dangerous when you traveled alone. Andrian caught up with Jill and smiled. “here let me help” She said to Jill. Jill nodded and smiled again. Andrian waved to the barkeep as she led Jill away from the main room, through a door and into a small room with a bed. “I don’t want you getting robbed or something in your weakened state…so you can stay here in my bed. I live here at the Inn so...” Andrian said nervously. Jillian leaned in and kissed Andrian again. This time Andrian wasn’t shocked and Jill didn’t pull away.

            Morning came too soon as the light of day shined through the shutters of the small bedroom. Jill woke up to find she was naked in bed with Andrian the barmaid. “Shit shit shit” Jill muttered. She was relieved to see that her armor and all of her possessions were not stolen or lost while Jill was in her drunken state. In fact all of Jill’s things were neatly piled in the corner of the room. While most would consider it a victory to end up in a pretty girls bed after a night of drinking, Jill didn’t. She had to be careful, so many things could have gone wrong and she couldn’t afford to let her guard down.

            Andrian rolled over and put her arms around Jill. Jill blushed as she began to remember the things they did together. Drunk Jill was as fearless and bold in bed as she was in battle. Sober Jill could handle the carnage of battle but having a naked woman next to her made her embarrassed and nervous. “Maybe I have been alone for too long if this is how I am acting” Jill told herself. 

            “I had a great night” Andrian said with a giggle. Jill blushed again and then turned to Andrian. “S-so did I” Jill replied. Jill realized who Andrian reminded her of. To her surprise Jill realized that Andrian reminded her of Delana, Jill’s previous girlfriend. Delana had red hair, not strawberry blond, her eyes were different and in many ways looked nothing like this Barmaid. But there was something about Andrian that made Jill think about Delana. “Maybe I am going crazy and every girl is starting to look like her” Jill thought. Andrian had similar mannerisms and her behavior was close to Delana, but Jill didn’t make the connection right away because they two didn’t actually look alike. It also explained why Jill let her guard down so quickly to a stranger.

            “I am still on a journey. I don’t think I can stick around. I am sorry if that upsets you” Jill said rigidly. She felt guilt from letting her guard down and now risked hurting someone who reminded her of Delana. Andrian stretched and got out of bed. “What? No, don’t worry about it. I know better than to expect a traveler to stick around. Besides I am looking for a husband, not a wife. I got to keep my body pure so I can’t have sex before I am married. So this helped keep my urges at bay until I find the right man” Andrian said.

            Jill’s eyes went wide, she didn’t know if she was more hurt, surprised or relieved. “Well g-good. Because I can’t stay so that makes things easier. But, uh, we did have sex, so you can’t call yourself a virgin who is waiting till marriage” Jill said, trying to speak carefully so as to not show emotion. “heheh, you’re so silly. No I mean real sex. Like with a man. you’re a girl, we can’t make babies or nothing so you don’t count” Andrian said as she got dressed. “I-I don’t count?” Jill stammered feeling hurt. “No, its just like girls helping each other out…” Andrian said then paused. “We are all just looking for a husband right? I mean you are a soldier so you must do stuff like this all the time just to get by. You can’t end up with a girl, how would you have babies?” Asked Andrian.

            Jill stared with unblinking eyes. “I guess you can’t have babies. But no I am not looking for a husband, I want a wife and to settle down. This isn’t a game. I don’t just sleep with strangers while I wait for prince charming to show up and put babies in me! And yes that did count! You aren’t a virgin you are a whore” Jill said. He anger grew as she spoke and couldn’t hold it in at the end. Jill put on her clothes grabbed her gear and stormed out.

            Jill wasn’t looking to start a life with anyone right now and this worked in her favor. Jill could leave without any guilt. This worked out. Jill was still upset though. She might have slept with a stranger in a moment of weakness but it still meant something to her. Andrian might have been a stranger but having traits similar to Delana, who Jill loved, made Jill feel like there might have been a connection. Jill wasn’t planning on staying but that doesn’t mean that night they spent together couldn’t mean something. Two ships passing in the night, but still a memorable night. “Oh it was nothing eh? Just wait in the mountains for a man to come rescue you?” Jill muttered as she angrily marched down the path, slowly putting on her armor as she went. Jill was also annoyed that she let her guard down for someone so foolish. Jill wouldn’t insult marriage or starting a family, but the thought of waiting for a man to come swoop and start making babies together seemed like weakness. Jill wasn’t about to wait for the woman of her dreams to swoop in and carry her off to a perfect life of marriage and happiness. Everything in life takes work