Lorone is an old and battle hardened warrior and general, known far and wide as Sir Lorone 'The Immortal'. After the fall of his army, must get home to inform the king and people of the success of his army and what it cost them, while also having to deal with changes to himself.

Lorone jumped awake. As he tried to clear the sleep from his mind the last thing he could remember was being struck from his horse just after the battle had started. He tried to sit up, but couldn't. He tried again, only to realize that it was armor that was impeding his attempts, armor that was much too big, making it awkward to try and sit properly. He ignored the questions that his current situation raised and just focused primarily on figuring out where he was. Lorone managed to, through much difficulty, undo the straps of the armor and get up to look around. What he saw shook him to the core.

Lorone was still on the battlefield, but that's not what surprised him the most. His men had managed to do more than just hold the enemy back, at the price of their very lives they had been not only able to stall the enemy, but to defeat it. The bodies of his men laid scattered across the field, but for every one of his fallen soldiers there had to be at least ten of the enemy. It was truly a sight to behold.   

They had fought against an enemy stronger than they, with vast numbers, and dark magic on their side, yet still they had come out victorious.
Lorone spent the next five days burying the men that had given up all in order to save the lives of others. As he moved among the fallen soldiers, he noticed that his body seemed to be lighter and smaller, and though not at all weaker than he remembered, it was still different.   

It didn't hinder him in what he perceived to be his duty to his men though, so he just put it out of his mind and eventually forgot about it.

On the end of the fifth day, as he finished burying his last soldier, his last friend, he began to prepare for the journey back to his kingdom to tell them of their victory.   

He gathered as many supplies as he could, which was not as many as he would of liked, and put them near where he had woken. It had become Lorone's makeshift camp as he laid his once powerful and always loyal army to rest. After he had gathered the supplies he had been able to find, he began to strip out of his clothes to bathe in the nearby stream, but the more of his clothes he removed, the more he realized the differences in his body that he had been ignoring up until that point had not been his imagination. Somehow, for one reason or another, the great Sir Lorone the Immortal, had become a woman.

He knew this had to be the work of some sort of magic, but for the life of him, Lorone couldn't figure out what kind. He had never before heard of magic that would do this to a man. Upon further examination of himself, Lorone discovered that while definitely younger than he had been, maybe early twenties if he guessed correctly, he still had all of his old battle scars. It was certainly a new and weird experience for him to be looking at a young woman's body from that angle, and weirder still for that body to be riddled with so many gruesome scars. For the time being, Lorone just tried to ignore his new body and made him focus on cleaning the dirt off him, now herself.

Once she had deemed herself clean enough, Lorone started scavenging again to see if she could find some clothing that would fit her better. She eventually found something among the dead enemies. It felt wrong to her to wear something of theirs, but it was all that would fit her new body, so she had to deal with it. Next, she set about finding her old weapon. The massive great sword had on had once been an icon for allies to gather hope and strength from, and enemies to fear the sight of. Lorone was slightly worried that she wouldn't be able to wield it as she once had. She knew that she still had the strength of her former self, but she was also smaller.

Lorone saw the gleam of her sword's hilt from where it was on top of a hill. It had been struck into the ground by someone, but she didn't know who. She had counted the bodies of her men to see if any had escaped, and she was sure that none had made it out of the battle alive. She admired the sight none the less.   

It was a beautiful weapon, made to be durable and to still be presentable in a formal situation, but not so much that it was gaudy. The original smith had given the great sword a name that never fit and she had long since forgotten it, but over the years and through the countless battles in his possession, it eventually earned its own name. It became known as simply as the Immortal's Blade, and Lorone had given it the nickname Imbee. She picked Imbee up and strapped it to her back. It felt bigger than she remembered, but that was just because she was smaller. If anything, it felt lighter.

As Lorone went to turn around, she heard something coming through the air toward her head. Her reflexes reacted before she could and her hand shot out to catch whatever it was, which turned out to be a small throwing knife. "Who's out there?" she called. The only answer was three more knives thrown is Lorone's direction. This time she drew Imbee and blocked all three in a single swift motion.   

She also managed to see where they were thrown from.

"I know where you are now, you might as well come out" said Lorone. All she got in return was silence, so she started to move toward where the knives had come from. She used a trick she had picked up from a foe she had once fought and seemed to disappear and reappear on the exact spot she had seen the knives come from only to find no one there. Lorone stood stock still as she listened for anything that would give her assailant away. There was a rustle of leaves from a nearby bush and she was instantly there with Imbee at the throat of her attacker.

"Who is there?" shouted Lorone. She couldn't clearly see her attacker, but years of experience told her that whoever it was probably wasn't very experienced themselves and was more likely than not terrified. "Show yourself. As long as you don't attack me again I can assure you that you will come to no harm from me."

Lorone watched as she lifted Imbee to her back. What came out of the bush shocked her nearly as much as her own problem had. The person that came out from behind the bush turned out to be a young girl no older than maybe nineteen.   

"What are you doing out here and why did you attack me?" asked Lorone.

"I came looking for my father," said the girl. "He was a soldier in the Great Sir Lorone's Army, sent to protect us from evil." The girl had a faraway gleam in her eyes as she talked about his once great army. All that remained now were graves.

"So why did you attack me?" asked Lorone again.

"Because I've been traveling for days to get here and when I do get here, the only thing I see is one of the enemies with the Immortal's Blade in his hand," said the girl. She looked up at Lorone with a defiant glare in her eyes. "I won't let some evil scum take the Great Sir Lorone the Immortal's sword without a fight," she added, reaching for her belt. Lorone’s sword was at her throat before she could even blink.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Lorone. "I'm not the enemy, now what is your name and who was your father?"

"How do I know you're telling the truth? I can't even see your face," said the girl.   

She was right though, Lorone had completely forgotten that she had her face covered. It was supposed to be to hide her gender so she was less likely to be taken advantage of as she travelled, but in this case, it was clearly working against her.

"Alright then," said Lorone. "If I uncover my face, will you believe that I truly do mean you no harm?" The girl nodded her head in agreement.

With a sigh Lorone unwrapped the cloth she had used to hide all but her eyes. She winced as the girl gasped in surprise, Lorone still didn't know what she looked like after her change, but if the rest of her body was anything to go off of; she figured that the scars on her face would still be there just like the rest of them. There were three scars in total on her face. One was a thin white line down the left side of her face, going over her left eye. Another was a jagged looking scar just above and at the end of her right eyebrow, and the last was an X shape on her right cheek. All three had been earned in battle and she had once been proud of them, but they weren't the thing you would normally see on a young woman's face.

"Wow, you're so beautiful," exclaimed the girl. "But it looks like there's something on your face."

"They're scars," Lorone said distantly.

"Oh, sorry... So anyway, my dad's name was Lox, my mom said that he was a flag bearer in Sir Lorone's Army," the girl said, obviously trying to change the subject.

"Well, I'm sorry to say, but I'm afraid your father is dead. Don't be sad though, he, along with the rest of the army fought bravely to the last man and saved the kingdom," said Lorone.

"How do you know so much?" asked the girl.

"Because, I've spent the last five days burying them," said Lorone quietly.

"Oh, so what is your name?" asked the girl, again changing the subject. Once Lorone actually took the time to look at the girl, she realized that, even if a little young, she was quite beautiful. She had long dark blond hair and sky blue eyes.   

There was still a small amount of baby fat on her face, but Lorone could tell that once she got a little older, the girl would make a very beautiful woman.

"Lorone is my name," said Lorone, realizing her mistake only too late. "I mean Loraine."

"That's a pretty name," said the girl smiling. "Why did you say Lorone first though?"

"I don't know, I guess I was just distracted with us talking about Sir Lorone's Army and all," Lorone lied easily. It felt weird to her to be referring to herself in the third person. "So what's your name?"

"Oh yeah, my name's Ilaina," said Ilaina excitedly. "So can I ask a question?"

"You just did," said Lorone, laughing inside at the glare Ilaina gave her. "What is it?"

"Where did you get those scars?" asked Ilaina.

"Which ones?"

"The ones on your face... Wait! There's more?"

"The last time I counted, there were fifteen or so larger ones and too many smaller ones to count, why?"

"Oh, wow," said Ilaina a little timidly. "Where did they all come from?"

"They're just old battle wounds," said Lorone, thinking nothing of it. "Nothing to be so shy about!"

"How can you have so many scars from old battle wounds, you barely look older than me," said Ilaina.

Lorone had a mischievous gleam in her eye as she answered, "I am far older than I look Ilaina." The way she spoke to Ilaina was similar to an old and experienced soldier speaking with a young and overzealous one who had yet to see the hopelessness of real battle.

"Oh, um... Can... Can I see them?" asked Ilaina nervously.

"See what?" asked Lorone, lost in battles long past.

"Your scars," said Ilaina,

Lorone didn't really see too much harm in it until she remembered her current circumstances. "Maybe later, okay?" answered Ilaina trying and failing to hide the blush that was quickly spreading over her cheeks. "For now let's just get going."

"So you know how to fight, right?" asked Ilaina.

"I do," answered Lorone.

"Can you teach me?" asked Ilaina.

"Why?" Lorone answered with her own question.

Ilaina stayed silent for a minute, but eventually responded. "My dad used to show me tricks to protect myself, but he would never teach me how to really fight. He always said it wasn't a woman's business to fight." She had a sad look on her young face that didn't seem to fit there.

"I guess I'll see what I can do," answered Lorone with a sigh. "No promises though!"

"Okay," said Ilaina happily. She bounded over to another bush and disappeared, after a few moments she reappeared with a pack and a walking stick. "Alright, I'm ready to go," she said.

Lorone just started walking after packing the things she had been able to find, and then proceeded to look around. Eventually she found what she was looking for in three swords of nearly identical make. Two of them she strapped to her right side, the sheathe’s extending behind her, one slightly above the other. The third she kept in her hand as she approached Ilaina.

"Ilaina," Lorone said with as friendly a smile as she could muster and warm eyes.   

"This will be yours while I train you." Lorone handed her the sword, which she took eagerly. As Ilaina unsheathed the blade Lorone drew her own two swords. She held one in her right hand at an upward angle while the other was held in a reverse grip and kept close to her forearm. She faced Ilaina and got into a solid stance with her feet.

"Ilaina?" said Lorone, all friendliness gone from her voice and a cold and emotionless expression.

"Yes?" asked Ilaina too distracted to notice the change at first.

"Would you say that you trust me?" asked Lorone.

"Yep," answered Ilaina. "If you meant me harm, you probably would have done it when I attacked you."

"Okay then," said Lorone.

Ilaina looked up at Lorone, finally noticing something was off about her, but by then it was too late. Lorone disappeared and reappeared behind Ilaina. Ilaina started to ask what that was, but noticed a stinging feeling in her left arm. She looked down to see a cut from her shoulder to her elbow in her shirt, and a quickly growing red stain.

"Defend yourself," yelled Lorone. "You have a sword and knife, use them!"
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To Be Continued…….