"And none taken." Bob said. "Hordes of people have the same situation." He then said in almost a whisper, "I think."

Bob darkened his eyes, "It wasn't as hard for me as for most elves..."

He shook his past away.

Bob was now aware of some other presence in his mind, gently nagging him to snatch the blade from his left hit and be rid of this stranger.

And he was just about to do this, but then realization dawned on him.

Bob gritted his teeth, "Sure, but not this one on my left. I think I've just discovered something about it, and I don't want to endanger you."

He flipped his right sword and caught it by the blade, holding it out. "Take it, give it a swing, it's very balanced."

Bob then realized how much trust he was putting in this elf.

Lex gave a half-hearted smile, at least he understood. He toiled with a piece of hair, frowning as he realised it was now at the length where it would be dragging along the ground.

That would be why the bottom is brown... he thought sarcastically. Jacqueline will have to cut it for me.

He looked up at Bob and frowned.

'A situation for one can mean the world to them, but to another it could be just plain silly. Try not to be too harsh on yourself.' the elf ran a hand through his long hair and sighed, it's not exactly as if he could talk.

He stood up and walked over to Bob, gingerly taking the elegant blade out of his hands.

'Whoa...' he exclaimed, as he placed is finger just below the hilt of the blade. It swung unsteadily for a second then stopped, completely balanced on the pad of his finger.

Lex walked a short distance to a clearing and swung the sword in an arc. He perfomed a couple of complicated moves and smiled, satisfied. Walking back over to the other elf, he almost reluctantly held the blade out.

'You're a lucky man.' he smiled and pulled his whips out of his belts.

'This is what I fight with...'

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Bob asked, smiling as he slid it back into it's sheath.

"Lucker than most, I guess, but only because of these" he patted his weapons.

Bob's eyes widened when he saw the whips. "Those must be fun to fight with, I've only seen them used for torture though. Where did you get them?"

Lex raised his eyebrows in an innocently curious gesture, but deeper thoughts were running through his mind. What did he mean, 'only beacuase of these weapons'? What was the deal with them?

Hmmm...

The elf snapped out of his musings as Bob addressed his whips.

'Oh, in the mountains... where I live. Was out riding with Winter,' he gestured to his grazing horse, 'one night and found them in the snow - covered in blood.' he shrugged nonchalantly, 'Don't know where they came from or whose they were but they weren't using them anymore so I took them in and trained with them. Here,' he offered, 'I'll show you a trick.'

He hoped this man wasn't too keen on trees.

The elf raised the black whips over his head and flicked one gracefully at a tree; clear ice flowed from its tip and covered it all over, like a cold, hard coffin. The other one in his right hand began quivering with the elf's power and he threw it up into the air. The whip danced in the air and landed back in Lex's palm before blinding lightening came from the tip, performed a triple loop above the tree and came down on the top. The ice casing shattered into millions of pieces and shards came flying at them and the stallion. Waving his hand a shield went up and he smiled at his work. The tree was still intact this time!

Placing the whips back on his hips he gathered the ice up into the air, melted it, then compressed it into the size and shape of a large cantelope. It hovered in the air in front of the elf and he smiled. Lex sent it over to Bob where it hovered before him.

'Do something with it if you like, but whatever you do... don't touch it.' he warned, 'It would be equivalent to the pressure of being about 200m under water.' he didn't elaborate any further, Bob would figure it out what it did himself.

Bob watched carefully at every move made in the series of tricks. Every move was timed perfectly, betraying the practice this elf had put in.

When the ice hit the tree, Bob flinched visibly. Not because he loved trees, but it was his natural elven blood reflexes causing a little guilt at huring life.

He shook it away though and watched further. When it was finished he applauded. "Bravo! Hard work pays, doesn't it?" he said with enthusiasm.

His eyes blazed at the opportunity of unleashing a fury at the ice.

"This will be fun." he said to himself.

Immediately, his swords seemed to snap right into his hand. One was burning hot, but Bob ignored it. His eyes blazed in their golden glory, seemingly brighter than the setting sun.

Bob began his attack by sweeping under and across in fast succession. As he did so, his burning scimitar burst into flames, but he continued anyway. His attacks went back and forth, he flipped over and under the orb more than once, his hands a blur.

And then he jumped away, awaiting the result. His attack...under 10 seconds long.

Lex folded his arms and goggled as the other elf attacked the orb of water. This guy must be as good a fighter as what he was! It was hard to come by people with this sort of strength these days. They all seemed to resort to laying back in their arm-chairs and feasting.

His eyes never left the blade as it whirled around, he staggered involuntarily as he became dizzy and rested his hand on his horse's powerful flank to steady himself.

Lex flinched as Bob finished. NOw that the orb had been penetrated, the pressure would explode.

'DUCK!!!' he shouted as he pulled himself and his horse to the ground. An ordinary shiled wouldn't be able to withstand the pressure that was about to come...