[Cimmerian]

Bulvard stood tall amidst the fallen bodies of Orc and warg, covered in their foul
blood. His ancient long sword gleamed in the pale light. His eyes wore a glazed look.
He was in a trance. His body motored on by reflexes and instinct.

He was in a fugue state. His mind filled with images of a calmer, pleasant time.
Music and laughter and voices of loved ones echoed in his mind's ear as his body
moved ahead cutting down the foul evil beasts that surrounded him.

He was not aware of anything or anyone else, he moved on like a machine. Aronja,
his falcon, flashed in and out around him, she seemed to lead her master on. An
invisible umbilicus of thought linked the bird to the warrior and wherever the falcon
darted, her master followed sword in hand, slashing and rending a path through
the decadence until all of them were decimated.

Suddenly and arrow pierced into the falcon's side and the bird fell to the ground with a
squawk. The aftershock rippled through the mental connection and hit Bulvard like a
cascading tidal wave, causing his body to be thrown across like a rag doll. Hitting
the ground hard, the warrior lay motionless near the carcasses of the foul ones. His
horse, Arod, had long been missing and the elegant falcon, Aronja lay on the far
side, blood trickling out of her breast.

A shadowy figure with a longbow in hand, the unseen assailant, slowly crept out of
the darkness and moved towards the fallen warrior.