Alone, We Are Nothing (PM TO JOIN)

[Xanthos]

"Ghuhh", Xanthos groaned as he sat down at a table. The mercenary had once again been duped. Xanthos had accepted a mission from some fine ladies back in Lycia. They were suppose to be going on a pilgrimage or something like that. Xanthos was not paying much attention to there words. His main focus was and will always be the ladies figure. Still he took there contract seriously once he signed his name on the paper. The mission was both simple and difficult at the same time. Xanthos was charged with protecting two young and blonde priestess from Bern to Eturia. A rough and long journey. As a result the trip would be costly. The maidens were short on cash, but high in faith. They offered the mercenary a job with the promise of a divine time once he got to the holy land. Well Xanthos was a man of his word and got them to there destination. At the end he was not greeted with what he expected. Instead of a night to remember Xanthos was gifted with a free baptisement and a few words of thanks. Needless to say he was not happy.

"All of that work and no payoff", complained Xanthos as he stared into his drink. The man then began to swirl it around when he finally noticed the posted sheet. It would probably best to get out of the holy land. At the same time his pocket were empty and he needed money. So at this point he was almost taking any job. Walking up to the board and looking at the request Xanthos figured why not.

"Hey who is Joshua", shouted Xanthos as he walked around the inn. His single edged curved blade hung over his shoulder in its nicely painted scabbard. The blade he held was a bit exotic for the region. While most people used longswords and curved Shamshir Xanthos wielded a katana, the payment he received from his last job.

[Xanthos]

Oh great another church man thought Xanthos as the Joshua revealed himself. To be honest he should have seen this coming. Eturia was the land dominated by the church. Priest and clerics dominated the land. That was were all yhe money was. The knights and common folk fell under them. Still Xanthos was in for another surprise. The church man, who he assumed would be a lowly weak milk drinker, was in fact a lion. Not a wolf in sheep clothing or a lion pretending to be a sheep, nope a stone cold predator, or that was the feeling Xanthos got when the man introduced himself. This man was not looking for a body guard he was looking for a henchman.

"I have to admit you were not what I expected", spoke Xanthos. Before he could continue on another man jumped into the conversation. It was a big guy with a axe. The standard in Xanthos line of work. Not only was the man rude, but he was also extremely violent another standard in the line of mercenary work. He was one of those guys who tried to run the business with power and a big head. They threaten there way into jobs and cut down there competition. They were the type to burn bright in the field for being effective and then die off due to there own stupidity or the pile of enemies they made. From the look of it today was going to be his day.

"I am quite surprised on how violent people are here", spoke Xanthos suddenly. The subject seemed a bit tacked on or out of place with the would be mountain man poised to attack and Xanthos new boss playing his mind games, but for Xanthos this was a serious puzzlement. From what he heard of the holy land this was a place of order. He can see now that that statement was not as true as he thought.

Without saying another word Xanthos walked out in front of the Acolyte and casually walked to a nearby table. His calm posture caught the fighter and thief off guard a bit.

"It looks like..", started the big man, who was not the idiot who started this, when Xanthos suddenly grabbed a glass mug and tossed it at him. The thief was the first to move, drawing his short sword and moving in for the kill. By the time the glass had slamed into the face of the fighter the thief was attacking with his sword. Xanthos however had already started his sword draw. The mercenary knew a lot about blades, he had been fighting with and against them for some time. He also knew about Katanas. The drawing slash from his sword deflected the edge of the short sword blowing the man's strike back. With his sword at the ready Xanthos stepped in to slash at the fast moving thief.

[Xanthos]

Know your weapon. That was a carnal rule drilled into Xanthos since he first picked up a blade. His master always considered it the first rule of swordsmenship. A warrior should always know there weapon of choice. That weapon would determine if you lived or died and what style of combat you would use. Xanthos was using a katana at the moment. It was a fine weapon for slaying both beast and lightly armored men, but it was not a blade for clashing with other swords. Wen the axe man attacked with his burly heavy weapon Xanthos knew that blocking was not a option. As the axe came down Xanthos dashed to his right side. The iron axe came down a inch from his right foot, but this was all in the plan. The part that was not in the plan was him getting backhanded by the burly fighter. It was a quick and effective counter to Xanthos hair dodge. He was planning on splitting the man's bowls, but the blow to the jaw forced him to take a step back. Blood began to seep from Xanthos lip as the man made a mark.

"Take that ...", spoke the fighter. He was going to say pretty boy, but he realized that Xanthos was not pretty. As matters of facts go he was down right creepy. His low cut blonde hair and lavender eyes were kind of strange together. His face was average at best and his pointed ears just gave him the creeps. He was wondering if he was doing the guy a favor by ending his life. "Alright time to end this", he spoke as he prepared his axe and charged in.

"Indeed it is", spoke Xanthos as he placed the sword back into its sheath and rushed at his foe. The axe man swung first predicting his oponents speed and path. What he did not account for was Xanthos quick athletic skills. The swordsmen planted his right foot and jumped straight in. His body slammed into the fighter before his axe could come down and take his life. Both men tumbled to the ground into a heap.

"You dam..", before the man could finish or get to his feet Xanthos ponced onto him with his new sword. The mercenary slammed the scabbard into the man's jaw hitting him on the button. He then drew the blade and lunged it into the man's throat.

"The name is Xanthos", spoke the mercenary after he picked himself off the ground. He then swung the blade removing the blood and looked toward the original offender. "Now there is only you."

[Xanthos]

Xanthos paused for a moment to get a read on his opponent. He was a fighter, a meat head one at that, and he had great strength. Blocking his axe with his katana was out of the question, it would chip the blade. That meant that he was going to have to dodge around. The place was still quite a mess. There were over turn tables, blood, and glass everywhere. With that in mind Xanthos had a Idea on how to handle the situation. His opponent was a big man using a weapon that threw him off balance if he missed. If he littered the fighting area with chairs and tables then he could take away his footing and topple the beast.

"Order revived", spoke the mercenary as he grabbed a nearby chair. He tossed the wooden furniture at the hulk of a man and then rushed forward with his katana drawn. Seeing a nearby table Xanthos got a idea. The axe also had another glaring weakness. It was the main reason that people considered blades to be the superior weapon when they fought against each other. axes suck at blocking. It was possible to block with a axe but it was rare and difficult to do. There were some strikes that you were just simply have to dodge. If you attempted to block with a axe you were a goner. One of those attacks was the great horse cutter strike, a favorite with the katana.

Charging forward Xanthos rushed up to a nearby table and hopped onto it. Without missing a stride Xanthos jumped from the table with extreme high and came down with his sword poised to cut the man right down the middle. His shinny new blade gleamed as it cut through the air leading both Xanthos and the fighter to there destiny.

[Xanthos]

He dodged, Xanthos did not expect that. He had under estimated his burly opponent, but that did not mean he was not ready. Ther was always a chance that the great horse slayer strike could not work. The key to not diying was always be ready for that. As Xanthos hit the ground he told his body to move. The fighter was foolish enough to gloat which gave Xanthos more time to act. However it seemed that rolling was unnecessary as a bolt of magic hit the man's knee and threw him off his strike. The blow caused him to miss his mark and to take a hit to the head.

"I had it under control", spoke Xanthos to Joshua. He was sure the guy did not believe him though. "well if you look at it from my view I just saved you from being fire wood and took down both the big guys. Not only that but I set up your win against the sneaky one. So looking at it that way and the comment you made, I guess you must have tripled the amount on the poster without me knowing. For the price I am working with, I am doing one hell of a job. However all jokes and banter aside what is up with these people. You don't just up and attack people in a tavern! I swear this place seems more and more mundane by the minute. So much for the holy land, more like the violent place."

Taking a minute to calm himself Xanthos placed his sword back in his scabbard. He knew he could draw it quick if he needed it. "As for gathering info, poorly. I suck at small talk and I often strike out with the ladies. I am pretty good at torture though. However I prefer less blood and more starvation."

[Xanthos]

It was strange to Xanthos how people could just change. At one moment the barkeep was cowarding behind the bar and out right refusing to call the guards. Now the man was speaking up and seemed as if he wanted them simply gone. It was understandable. They did just trash his bar. However Xanthos had to wonder why now? He sure did not say anything to the big guy with the axe. Though there was always the possibility that he simply feared the man, but his employer seemed to think otherwise. Wei let him and the keep do there thing as he looked around the place. The bar was a mess.

Whatever was said between the barkeeper and the acolyte stayed with them. Xanthos heard none of it. His focus was on the three downed enemies. He had to be sure that they did not get up again. Most of them were out cold so Xanthops did not expect much from them. The call was made to search the thief. Xanthos knew he was going to have to be careful. The man was knocked out, but you never really knew how long that would last. Thieves were also know to cary many knifes so Xanthos could be in danger of being stabbed.

:Great! The help always ends up with the icky jobs." With that Xanthos walked up to the man. Ripping the man's shirt Xanthos tied his hands behind his back for security and then began to search him. During his search he had found at least three separate knives.