Fantasy The Black Plague

[LavenderTea]

Everything was going too smoothly.

It wasn’t a complaint, necessarily. But it was the type of “smoothly” that happens right before disaster. Kind of like the sudden hush in a rainstorm, where the air feels alive, and heavy. You begin to think the storm is over, but just when you peek your head out the door of your home, the clouds come down with a strike of lightning. It set an awful unease in Temperance’s stomach, causing it to roll a bit in nausea. The group moved quickly enough, and dispatched with some of the lumbering infected that moved in too close. Things were fine, she was simply worrying too much. If only it wasn’t so quiet. The suffocating silence made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

The hand on her shoulder pulled her out of her thoughts, and she gave a nod to Luther as he passed by her, taking up the lead. She needed to have faith. After all, Saint Anna had left the Chapter with merely her core books of faith and a sword at her side! Temperance had been given many more blessings. She had been picked for this mission, she just needed to let her experience and training lead her! Inhaling through her nose, she held the air in her lungs for a moment before exhaling through parted lips. It helped to center her, and she offered yet another prayer for the Goddess to help settle her nerves.

Temperance watched as the Stage Fright Knight sidled up to Luther and started a whispered conversation. This encouraged her to move forward, covering their side and allowing them to talk more freely. But as she reached a large puddle, filling a pothole that had been dug in between the cobblestones, she found herself pausing. It was rippling. Temperance looked up at the blue expanse of sky above them, not a rain cloud in sight. Well, that didn’t make sense. She waved an arm over it, but it continued. The knight stalled enough that Luther and Stage Fright passed by her.

That’s when she felt it. Through her feet, a sort of rumble that set her on edge. Then it was heard, a distant sound like thunder that hung too low to the earth. Temperance immediately held a hand up. “Hold on! There’s—”

It was an explosion of splintered wood that tossed and careened over stones.

The brute had broken through the rotting fence between the ruins of a shop. It was a mass of muscle. Its rotting skin had peeled away, leaving nothing but the stringy tissue of tendon, ligaments, and muscle mass that clung to its bones. It had mutated beyond its original form, its body contorted and stretched into a broad bulking mass. It stood far above Temperance, and rounded on her first. The red head cursed her luck, she should have never told Davy she hoped they wouldn’t encounter one.

Its movements were like liquid, its arm fluid and fast like a crack of a whip. A fist met her shield with all of its power, an unearthly CLANG ringing out from the impact of flesh and metal. It should have sent her hurtling backwards, but instead her feet only slid back an inch. Pain ruptured through her arms by the strength of the blow, but per usual Susina filled in the gaps. Webs of roots and bark began to grow in through the gaps of her armor, reinforcing the strength in her arms and thighs. More pain, more strength, more pain, more strength. It was a mantra that helped her move forward, pushing back against the creature’s weight as it leaned down on her. There was an animalistic sort of understanding in its dark beady eyes, like a stag realizing its rival was a hardened tree and not the velvet antlers of its enemy. But unlike an animal, it made a decision Temperance wasn’t prepared for.

It grabbed her shield and pulled her forward, nearly wrenching arm from socket, before it tossed her through the air like a ragdoll.

Then it screamed.

Temperance was sent hurtling over cobblestones, the sky and ground switching places multiple times as she rolled before she landed her knee into the ground, skidding to a stop. Her vision shook for a moment and she felt a gush of blood down her nose before she quickly gathered herself. It shifted before her, and realizing it was going to head for the wizard, Temperance burst to her feet and charged back in. Susina! With a fluid motion of her own, vines sprouted from her hand, wrapping around one of the arms of the mutated infected. She pulled, unsettling its feet. “Eyes on me!”

 

[Soviet Panda]

All things considered, Luther believed they were making good progress. Though the horde was beginning to thicken, all those present knew how to quickly and quietly clear a path through the throng. And what's more, none of them could talk, so when the man named Richter approached him from behind, Luther didn't even jump.

In response to the question, Luther pointed at a building with an orange tiled roof, still some distance off but visible from top to bottom. "That is where we are headed, and should we keep going the way we are, we'll be there in a matter of minutes."

He just had to say something, for at that moment, Temperance began to speak, and an Abomination came crashing through a fence and into their party, quite aware of the Knights. But there was still hope that they could deal with this thing quietly and not alert the... His hopes were dashed as the Abomination screeched, and Luther could feel their invisibility to the Infected being wiped away. "Hurry!" Was all he could think of shouting as he whirled around to lop the head off of a nearby Infected. When he turned back around he saw the thing staring at him, eyes alight with something. It wasn't intelligence, but more as if someone was using the thing's sight instead. But this was neither the time nor place to be pondering such things, as not only had the Maple Knight regained the Abomination's attention, but the chirp of Illumine was heard overhead. And in an instant, a few side streets burst into flame, incinerating the Infected hidden within and singing the stone of the buildings. But that was just a drop in the proverbial bucket, there would be more, much, much more. And they needed to reach that tower.

 

[Viper Actual]

Arianne spun around the instant she heard the abomination though it was already too late. With her being too far from it and the fact that several members of the party were inbetween she couldn't risk a head-on charge. When Luther motioned for them to hurry Arianne nodded and ignited her blade once more. There was no time to stay and fight the abomination, or at least as far as she could tell, and as such the Lady of the Crimson Blades tightened the grip on her blade and charged forth.

It didn't take long for all the commotion to bring unwanted attention though infected that stumbled too close had the misfortune of receiving a swift, burning, horizontal slice to the neck or head. Once Uzhkarok joined in Arianne felt even more confident. Small fireballs soared through the air silently before slamming into targets outside of Arianne's reach with the momentum of the projectiles forcing some of the infected to stumble backwards.

Uzhkarok chuckled and spoke in his demonic tongue;

["They burn so well, these creatures of death,"] said the demon with a snicker while glancing over his shoulder, unknowing if any of the other familiars would understand the words he spoke.

 

[Ayama]

Aema Starag

Proficient - Summoner - Devotee

"I live to serve the Crow."​

--

Location: [The City of Amberfall]

With: [The group, many infected]

Mood: [Very scared]

​

Luther answered her question, pointing out their goal, and Aema sighed in relief- they were almost there. Then she whirled round as she heard Davy's foot connecting with an infected's jaw, Tezrian describing the scene to her as it unfolded. When it was dispatched and Davy pulled his spear from its body, she let out a breath of relief. But it was short-lived, as Brother Vane almost immediately dispatched another- things were becoming more dangerous.

Mere moments later, Aema stopped in her tracks, hearing and feeling the rumbling coming up through the ground, getting closer. Temperance tried to warn the rest of the party, but was cut off mid-sentence as all hell broke loose. Aema listened in horror as Tezrian described the abomination's attack on the young warrior, gasping as she was thrown up through the air. The creature screamed then, and Aema covered her ears with her hands, an animalistic terror bubbling up in her stomach at the sound.

"Hurry!" Luther urgently shouted as they suddenly became swarmed by the infected, their protection gone. Aema could smell burning wood and singed flesh, feeling a wave of heat roll over them as a nearby street suddenly caught fire. Instantly, everything was chaos, and they were caught in a narrow but deadly battlefield.

As the party began to rush forward, pushing through the infected that now surrounded them on all sides, Aema reached out and took hold of a strap on Brother Vane's armor, so as to be able to keep up with the group as, at the head of the column, Lady Arianne and Uzhkarok cut a bloody, flaming path of carnage for them. She heard the fly buzzing with amusement in her ear at a comment from the Lady's demon, feeling her rising excitement amongst all the chaos and death.

"Tezrian!" she cried out.

About time... the demon's voice came, alive with pleasure. Free to join the fray at last, she flew up above the group rapidly, expanding as she went. The mandates of her contract with Aema stated that she be her inconspicuous eyes at all times except when ordered differently or required to protect her master's life. Since it was clear that their lives were very much in danger, she shed the confines of her diminutive form with undisguised glee, the fly turning into a vicious-looking woman with long, curling horns and leathery black wings.

Wicked sword in hand, Tezrian ripped into the hordes of infected with unbridled savagery, picking them off from the sides of the group as they advanced, making sure none of them got even remotely close to her master. Aema, meanwhile, just barely managed to keep pace with the group as her demon wreaked havoc, blind and useless and terrified.

OOC: Tezrian's so happy ;P ​

 

[NanLia]

Faelian did her best to keep up and in pace with the remainder of the knights, the light and noise causing a great deal of discomfort and confusion. Without Or'galok's shared sight she was nearly blind. Thankfully for her, she didn't need her sight to be effective in combat. An advantage of living within the Dark City - she grew up in such low light that she could navigate and fight without needing to see her opponent. The challenge here was to learn the noises her compatriots made and ignore them, leaving only the shuffling groans of the abominations.

Luther pointed at a tower in the distance she couldn’t see what it was he was showing the others. She knew the general direction and made a note of it; she’d look again when Or’galok shared his sight once more and hope that she could identify it then. The noise rose, commotion at the front of their group as she heard armour movement and clothing rustling. As she drew nearer to where they had been she came to understand the abominations were aware of them.

She had hoped the Silence would have lasted longer she knew Or’galok’s power was diminished in the light. Suddenly she could see clearly again, her demon having given up on his Silence casting and returned to her side. It was in the nick of time too as one of the quieter shamblers was nearly upon her. She stepped back with her left foot, her right hand crossing before her as it grasped the leather wrapped hilt of her long straight sword. In a fluid motion she pulled it from its sheath, arcing upwards before her and easily slicing through the abomination’s skull.

Blood and brain matter sprayed out behind the shambler as it stumbled then fell to the ruined street stones. You’re welcome. Or’galok hissed in her ear, the dark demon reappearing at her side, his own pole-arm axe freed from its straps and ready to fight.

“I would have seen it … eventually.” She whispered in return, reaching up with her left hand to slide her horned helm down over her face, ready to face whatever else may come.

 

[walteryosmite]

By the gods, how long had he taken to dispatch that single monster? It felt as though it was taking longer than expected to at least catch up without being a full sprint... Cause.. you know... Loud noises and all. Just as he was letting out a mental sigh, he realized that he hadn't seen Roshar defend the group in any way. What's going on? He was sure the old man was more eager than anyone to show off his superiority complex even moreso than he already had. Weird... It almost seemed like he was not okay in this situation. As though this whole thing made him far more uncomfortable than the rest of them were.

However, as he got more and most lost in thought, an enormous sound ripped him from his daydream. Both Davy and Haf'Gufa reacted at the same time to the brute crashing towards the group. It hadn't been too loud, maybe they still had a chance? However, soon he would feel his bones rattle as he physically felt the impact it made with Temperance's shield... That noise was enough to alert everything around him.. However, his eyes were fixed on the large woman in armor, worry plastered in his expression. "Please be okay, please be okay." He'd have to recite to himself over and over as he watched her land, a mental sigh of relief as he saw her get up and charge the creature. "Ow.... What is that noise?" He wondered under his breath, glancing over to hear the brute roaring to their flank.

"Hurry!" He heard, but this wasn't his first thought. Luther, their escort and the mastermind for this whole plan... Why would it target him, of all people? The oldest, perhaps? The weakest? The moment that thought even came to mind, the chirp of an unnatural bird came just a moment before an eruption of flames... The moment of shock of on his face as he thought that wasn't quite right. "It knows.." He'd mutter, all the while keeping up basic pace with the group...

Temperance was attempting to perturb the brute, grappling with it. This was his chance, he thought, a large beast for the sea-demon hunter to assist with. The moment he saw the chance he would go into a mad sprint, meanwhile the mother of the deep would begin to wrap her tentacles around his limbs. Two tentacles per limb would allow her to amplify his strength with her own, her control would allow her to move with his own intentions as he soon was racing past the pack. Each infected that would come stumbling angrily out of the nearby buildings would be jumped over or used as a stepping stone, whom would end up dead from teh impact to their skulls.

Once he felt he was close enough he would jump off another of the undead and into the air. With his harpoon in hand he would rear his arm back, Haf'Gufa's tentacles wrapping around the point at which he held the spear. He could see the brute's footing falter as Temperance pulled at its arm, taking that as his cue, he would throw his arm forward with all his might. The strength of the kraken behind his throw would send the spear hurtling at a blinding speed. With all the strength, accuracy was still a must, Haf'Gufa's touch would aid in his aim.

The spear would impact the moment the brute would attempt to return to proper footing; the head hitting his left shoulder, ripping through its chest before plunging itself into teh cobble ground. The impact would be in hopes of knocking it completely off balance, at least enough to either be dispatched or for them to flee.

Landing, Davy would find himself close to Temperance.. not ashamed to say he was awestruck by her powers. He would move over to her, reaching out to grab and pull at the vines with her. Hoping, even more so, to knock it even more off of its feet had it not fallen over due to his spear.

 

[OverconfidentMagi]

"Here Crow," Roshar spoke to the dark-haired young woman. His voice was cold and hard even as he touched the curved handle of his walking cane to her hand. "There will be rubble," he added as if to justify his odd gesture. He walked beside her, silently observing as the others fought.

"Monster." It was not an accusation. It was an invocation. And in response the ground rippled as if some great beast beneath stirred. Because one had. Roshar had woken his demon.

Roshar's shadow, sharper and deeper than it should have been, swelled. The street around the old man darkened as his shadow expanded to cover the ground and creep up the bottom of buildings. The strange effect moved and shrank as it tore itself away from Roshar's feet. The beast had moved off. The odd shadow was large, but it moved quick enough that even his own eye had difficulty keeping track of where it went. He lost sight of it completely as it moved between the buildings. But he knew the beast's temperament well enough to know about where it would resurface.

Davy and the strange girl knight were attempting to topple the largest foe, pulling on vines that appeared to be something from the knight's demon. They were connected to the thing. That was no good. Roshar grabbed for his sword, only to realize he had not pulled it from the beast before letting it lose. Damn it. His heartbeat caught. Damn it.

"Let go!" He barked, loud at the two fools holding onto the massively deformed dead. He had barely gotten the words out before a massive shadow passed over one side of the street next to them. The darkened buildings' walls swelled and bulged as from them emerged the pointed head of some massive creature. A dark nose, followed by teeth. So many teeth, all ringing a gaping hole dark enough that it may have been the same bottomless shadow the creature emerged from. Roshar's demon slammed into the large abomination, teeth grabbing onto fetid flesh and not letting go, the speed and mass behind the impact sending the two monsters crashing from one side of the street fully across the other.

For a brief instant as it emerged fully, Roshar's demon was visible. It was a massive black shark, covered in spiked scales and scars, with a red-handled sword sticking out of its back. Then it was hidden from view again as momentum and continued thrashing, both its own and from the creature pinned between its teeth, carried them both through the buildings again on the far side of the street. Roshar shielded himself as stone and wood rained into the street as a result of the destruction, keeping himself between the worst of it and the blind crow.

The old man had continued walking before the debris had even finished raining down, an out of character urgency in his step, in his eye moving back and forth through the dust, searching. The beast emerging from the wall had blocked his line of sight. Roshar hadn't seen if Davy and the knight girl had reacted in time, if they'd even heard his late warning. An old but familiar taste of sickness crept into his mouth. "Davy!" His firm voice carried. He needed to know that the boy hadn't been caught between his monster's jaws as well. Between the abomination and his beast, any hopes of passing through quietly had vanished.

 

[PhantomSamurai]

Marcus watched as everything went to hell real fast, he witnessed the others dispatching monsters left and right. They were all powerful individuals, he was so busy watching the others fight he almost didnt notice a few monsters approaching him rather quickly. "pay attention you big oaf" Azagog yelled in his ear causing Marcus to snap to attention. He jumped back just barely avoiding being struck by a blow from one of the infected. He pulled his very large sword from his back and lunged forward swing the massive blade.

He managed to behead five infected with just one swing, another came up behind him attempting to catch him off guard. It failed and he grabbed the infected by the throat and gave it a brutal headbutt that split the monsters skull open, Marcus was thankful for being covered head to toe in armor as it meant he didnt have to worry about having any of these things touch his bare skin. He threw the now limp body at an approaching group of infected causing a few to be knocked down, "alright you bastards let's go, lets see what you got!" He yells rushing at the large group of infected. He managed to carve his way through them but it was tough they were alot more durable than he anticipated, his armor now bore claw marks and dents but he would not give up.

He started looking around for the others in their group, and started fighting his way towards them.

 

[LavenderTea]

The crack of metal ripping through flesh and bone before splintering into the stone below nearly surprised Temperance enough for her grip to grow lax. The beast shrieked, pinned by a harpoon, and it caused the Maple Knight to quickly readjust her grasp, digging her heels into cobblestones, and straining to pull the brute over. If they could get it down and pinned, it would give everyone a chance to get out of here. Suddenly Davy landed beside her, his arms and legs reinforced by his contract’s own limbs as he added his strength to her’s. If this wasn’t some sort of life or death situation, she would have complimented him. She had never seen anyone launch themselves into the air and land a blow like that! She truly was with the greatest of the Knightly Orders!

They continued pulling until Temperance heard someone yell, off in the distance, but the words were lost in the shrieking. Then she heard something else. Susina’s voice, feminine and powerful, deeply rooted within her chest, echoed out of her ribcage.

Move.

Temperance looked back just in time to see the massively approaching ring of shadow and teeth. The Knight didn’t even pause to think. Susina’s vines retracted to her body, while Temperance grabbed a hold of Davy, and dove out of the way. She twisted her body, so her back would take the brunt of the damage as they hit the ground and skidded across the stones just as the maw of the creature slammed into the brute. They didn’t have a chance to stand as the demon and undead barreled into the building beside them, and it completely collapsed, bursting with debris that rained down on them like hail.

The female knight twisted once more, torquing her shield up and over herself and Davy. Susina! A golden glow radiated from her breastplate before the earth rumbled beneath them. Vines, roots, and wood shot forth from the dirt, splitting apart the cobblestones, twining together into a wall that curved over them. The Maple Knight slowly rose to her knees, then her feet. She pushed her shield up to reinforce the web of roots protecting them, as the front wall of the building beside them careened before crashing down on top of them. “Stay down please!” It was a whisper-yell to the Knight of the Waking Sea, as she felt the brunt of the impact tear through her arms.

Temperance pushed upwards still, digging her feet into the ground, her arms outstretched to hold her shield aloft, making the wall of roots above them into an alcove. Your legs are your roots, your arms are your branches, your core is your trunk. Stable strength. All that was important to her right now was making sure Davy and his contract were protected beside her. The pain of the debris impacting the wall and her shield didn’t register. She breathed, watching as the bark increased across her arms, welding the plates of her armor together. It connected her arm to her shield to help strengthen her hold and bear the weight. Temperance closed her eyes shut, straining to hold herself upright as she heard the thunderous noise of the bricks and stone land all around them. That, and the booming cacophony of two beasts thrashing and fighting against each other. She heard them drift away to the other side of the street, buildings tearing down beneath their struggle.

Once the bricks seemed to stop falling, Temperance gritted her teeth and pushed all the way upwards, punching a hole with her shield through the mass of roots and vines. Sunlight beamed down on them once the debris of the building rolled off and settled. Temperance immediately clasped onto some vines and vaulted herself upwards through the hole she had made. Upon seeing they were safe for the time being, she raised the visor on her helmet to get a better look down at Davy, and dropped her hand for him take so she could assist him out. “Are you and your contract ok!? Here, take my hand!”

walteryosmite

 

[Soviet Panda]

The Abomination was not so easily defeated. Even after half of it's body had been consumed by the shade shark and a building collapsing upon it, it refused to die. Hatred drove it from the ruins of the building, nothing but a head attached to a torso and an arm, it clawed it's way from the rubble, unleashing it's hate filled shriek as it's head broke the surface of the ruins and locked onto the Maple Knight that had stopped it from tasting the sweet flesh of the mage. It would consume this morsel instead, the glow of magic hidden just underneath it's armor marked it to be just as sweet as that other mage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luther was not as spry or energetic as he had been in his youth, and even then it was but a single breath compared to these Knights. But even they would collapse underneath this tide of flesh. "We must get to the tower!" he shouted over the din, Illumine burning large swathes of the horde into charred, ashen husks. And almost as if on cue, the phoenix wheeled around in the air to burn a strip in the direction of the tower.

 

[Viper Actual]

Cursing between slashes and cuts at the undead horde, Arianne's eyes flashed with a fire within as she desperately tried to clear a path for the others. Despite all the training and powers she possessed it was simply impossible to make any sort of dent in the oncoming hordes of undead and had it not been for Uzhkarok and her companions she would have no doubt been dead by now.

As another one of the infected perished to her flaming blade Arianne glanced briefly over her shoulder. Moving beside her was Uzhkarok, burning brighter than ever while snickering. Scores of infected were set ablaze by his flaming projectiles though it would seem that not all of them fell right away. This created an unfortunate side-effect of having burning infected trying to claw their way towards the party though Arianne wasn't worried.

When Luther shouted she could do nothing but silently agree. The question was just how they would manage such a feat? These dead know no end, is there truly no limit to them?

Arianne's thoughts would have to wait however as Illumine cut a fiery path through the infected in the direction of the tower itself. Hoping to use the space to her advantage Arianne charged forth once more with renewed energy, cutting and slashing on her way forward while another burst of fireballs and molten projectiles were deployed by the still-snickering Uzhkarok.

 

[Ayama]

Aema Starag

Proficient - Summoner - Devotee

"I live to serve the Crow."​

--

Location: [The City of Amberfall]

With: [The group, many infected]

Mood: [Super scared]

​

Aema heard the sound of a sword sliding from its sheath and knew someone else had joined the fray. The dull thunk, followed by a blunted rolling on the cobblestones, told her that an abomination's head had recently parted company with its shoulders. This was almost immediately followed by a wetter, crunchier sound and a whispered comment from the Volhkvy. Aema tried not to picture what her demon had done to cause that sound, though visions of blood and tissue and bones swam through her addled mind regardless.

The battle noises from the front of the column told of larger creatures than they were dealing with, interspersed with grunts and cries and heavy- possibly bone-shattering blows. She was so focused on the sounds up front that she didn't notice someone coming closer to her until Roshar's voice made her nearly jump out of her skin as he spoke in his familiar cold tone and touched his cane to her hand.

She blinked in surprise beneath her mask, turning her head in his direction and cocking it to the side in a universal expression of confusion.

"Don't you... need that?" She'd heard the unevenness of the man's gait since he first joined them and, with cobblestones and rubble and an increasing amount of undead body parts, this hardly seemed like the time to give up his walking aid- not when they needed to reach the tower with all possible haste. Besides, he could use the cane as a weapon.

He ignored her, instead choosing to call his demon which, judging by the rumbling of the earth beneath their feet, was massive. He called to the head of the column, where the struggle with the beasts was ongoing. There followed a roar and a great crash, and bits of stone and wooden splinters pelted the group. Roshar called for Davy, sounding uncharacteristically worried.

Aema heard the distinctive clang of heavy armor and a shouted challenge and knew that Azagog's master must have joined the fray. A spine-chilling shriek came from one of the creatures, making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. This was followed by Luther's desperate cry, sounding small and dim amongst all the chaos. "We must get to the tower!" Another great wave of heat washed over them, and Aema worried inanely that they would end up roasted alive.

They're going to burn the entire town! she panicked, fear hastening her unstable steps.

As Tezrian continued to lay waste to the undead around and behind them, her gleeful battle cry weaving in and out of Aema's hearing, the Proficient held on desperately to the strap in Vane's armor as the group sped up and surged forward, worried, even as she used his cane, about Roshar being left behind.

OOC: Tezrian: Wheeeee~ ;P ​

 

[walteryosmite]

It was hard not to be proud of himself in those moments. The monster was pinned and the two of them were nearly moments away from knocking the beast over. However, his focus seemed to shift in a moment... This feeling, everything felt so surreal... What was happening?

"We're about to do it!" He'd think to himself as he watched the behemoth begin to teeter, his eye growing wide as everything started moving so quickly. Mother had seen the shadow first, reacting quickly. Temperance too was already reacting before Davy could even properly get a look at what was coming.. In quick succession, Mother had wrapped him entirely in her tentacles from head to toe... meanwhile Temperance was pulling him and Mother out of the way, protecting the two as much as she could with her heavily suited body.

"I can't move....It's so dark." Was the best thought he could muster... his place in reality had shifted so violently leaving his mind was in utter shock. "Don't move." was all he could hear of the outside... Sounding drawn out and mentally absorbed to the T. The silence in his mind was deafening as Mother refused to let him go, knowing full well that he would want to get up to help.

The sound that would break his shock was the thunderous wave that crashed over them. "A storm?!" His mind screamed, as he tried to wriggle free from mother's grasp... however, his own fear would cause her to tense up and tighten around him, like a child holding onto a toy. "We have to make sure the city is safe!" Davy would shout, though drowned out by the hail of stone and wood.

This would be Davy's first instance of a certain condition of war... The shellshock that wrapped his mind would keep him from thinking straight, everything had shifted so quickly that he could barely comprehend what was going on.

"Light?" The sound was stopping and suddenly there was light he could see even through mother's tendrils. A single hand reaching out from between Mother's grasp. An unfamiliar hand would greet him, strong and lined with metal..

Mother would begin to unravel herself from around him as he appeared to calm down, even as temperance was pulling him out into an onslaught of abominations. Davy's eyes were wide...the remainder of a building surrounded them both, the infected dared closer by the second... His spear? Where were they going?

"T-Temperance?" He'd speak in an uncertain voice, glancing off to see a torrent of fire envelope a portion of the city... Boy did that snap him back, even as Mother Haf'Gufa was pulling at his face to try to 'wake' him up.

"I-I'm fine! We have to run!" Were his first words back in reality. "H-Have you seen my spear?" He'd ask, hesitant to know what had likely happened to it. The shark would have easily gotten a good bite through the handle.. a small shaft of wood now the only remainder of the weapon as the tip stood, embedded in the ground where he had last seen it.

Even as he tried to start walking from the rubble he felt his knees buckle. What happened? His mind was still in a flurry but he knew what needed to be done... "Move... damn it..." He'd utter to himself, gritting his teeth as he gripped his knees. In all reality he hadn't felt fear and truly lost like this since his first encounters with the monsters of the deep..

"Mother.... Help.." Was all he could muster as he held onto Temperance's hand, Haf'Gufa would not let go of him in all of these moments... For more than a singular reason. She feared Davy's reaction, as it made her feel equally afraid...As well as wishing to help this child she chose as her contract.. And of all things, she clung so tightly due to the jar that sat on Davy's back. The jar that had shattered on impact when landing with Temperance.

 

[NanLia]

With regained sight Faelin watched Temperance and the boy make futile attempts at the oversized behemoth, if it hadn't been for Roshar calling for them to disengage she would have done so herself. Even Or'galok seemed put off, possibly even surprized by the large abomination. She watched the large shadowed creature glide alone smoothly, tearing through smaller abominations making its way towards the behemoth. She'd never seen anything quite like it; it resembled a larger version of the small fish creatures found in the deep pools beneath the city, but this was certainly something far more vicious and a thousand times the size.

She paused, raising a hand to prevent the large pieces of rubble from hitting her helmed head and once it seemed the majority of it had settled she continued onward, the direction they'd been travelling through the cloud of dust and debris. She could hear the old man shouting in the distance, garbled by the noise of fighting and dead around them but she didn't doubt what the message must have been. The Tower - it has been the point where they were headed to begin with; that wouldn't have changed now. Faelin pushed forward, she could see the blind Crow had been taken care of; she hadn't been in a position to do much herself with her loss of Sight from Or'galok.

Speaking of, the demon still lurked at her side, poleaxe at the ready, already removing the skulls of those abominations that wandered to closely. "Go Soul Reaper," The demon tilted his head only briefly before moving into the fray to join the other demons in blood letting.

Faelin moved swiftly through the rubble to catch up along side the Crow being lead by another Knight. She could see now she held a strap from the knight armour. "Child on her parents strings." Faelin spoke. "This is what we do in the Dark City when children start to learn to walk." She kept pace with the pair. "To keep them from falling to their death in the Pits." An abomination shambled towards them, grotesque maw misshaped and hanging open, blood and drool oozing forth. Faelin suddenly regretted being able to see them clearly once more. She turned to face it, the abomination picking up speed as it approached its would be prey.

Within a few feet the abomination lunged for her, clawed hands outstretched. In a whisper of movement she side stepped the beast, pushing a large piece of rubble in its path with her foot. It swiped at her impotently, tripping over the brick and flaying onto the ground. She knew it wouldn't be long before it regained its stance, she swiftly stepped in, running the tip of her long thin blade through the back of its head, silencing the abominations growls. She was soon alongside Aema once more. "Let's hope we arrive at the Tower and find it free of dangers. I am formidable with my sword but not against so many at once."

Midrick Ayama

 

[OverconfidentMagi]

"Davy!"

Roshar couldn't see the boy. Was that broken wood part of the ruined building, or was it Davy's spear? Was that glass from a store's front window, or was it the cumbersome jar Davy carried? Was that streak of dark blood from the dead, or was it bright and fresh? He limped slightly as he pushed through the battle raging around him, ignoring his companions and the dead alike. Where was the boy?

The abomination let out a cry as his beast tore into its rotten flesh. Roshar imagined Davy being swallowed up by that cursed creature's maw, those wicked teeth tearing through his flesh, imagined the boy's screams within the two warring monsters'.

"Begone beast!" His barked command was tinged with anger. There was another crash of displaced rubble as the massive shark released its undead prey and sank beneath the ground once more. He'd let the thing out. He'd weighed destroying the abomination against the collateral damage letting his demon out might cause, and he'd chosen wrong. He should have known better. He was cursed. People around him always died, and he always lived. He'd played nice, he'd kept low, he'd been good! And the first time he steps back on this cursed land this happens. He'd promised to bring the boy back home. If the boy died here, he would still make good on that promise.

A hand grasped onto Roshar's shoulder. "Let go," he said as he tried to shrug off the gesture. The hand gripped harder, fingers trying to rip apart the heavy clothing he wore. Other arms and forms reached out and gripped Roshar's body. His frustration and anger rushed to the surface. "I said let go!"

The undead's head exploded from the force of Roshar's backhand. He crushed another underfoot. His body was swallowed up by shadow as the beast returned. Roshar pulled his blade from the ground and wielded it like a pick, bringing it down into the skulls of the undead as they tried and failed to break through his steel skin. There was no skill in this dumb violence. In seconds the undead that had surrounded him were broken and still. Far too soon. He'd been good. Hot anger hissed out of him between clenched teeth.

A sight extinguished his rage quicker than it had flared. Davy. He and the female knight were freeing themselves from the remains of a destroyed building. Roshar stepped towards them, and then ran, his bad leg slowing him to an unsteady jog as he approached. He threw his blade before he was close, embedding it through the mouth and skull of the first undead attempting to take advantage of the humans' distraction.

Roshar climbed over the rubble, only stopping when he was close enough to reach out and grab the boy. He did not. He picked up his sword and held it towards the boy. "This isn't the time for slacking off, boy. Keep moving your feet." He turned to the woman knight and bowed his head. "Thank you." There was an odd forcefulness even in those two curt words. She had protected something he'd failed to protect. Whether she recognized his words for what they were or not, he owed her now.

His heart still hammered fast within his chest, stirred awake by the thrill of killing. Even after years of being good, playing nice, his heart remained as black as it ever was.

 

[PhantomSamurai]

Marcus kept slashing his way through wave after wave of enemies but they just kept coming. Even with all his training and all his strength he was beginning to get fatigued and that meant his reaction time would begin to falter. He could not allow that to happen for even the slightest hesitation or wrong move would end with him being swarmed and engulfed by the infected, he let out a loud yell as he swung his giant blade taking out another small group.

He brought the sword back and prepared to swing again but it happened he was too slow, a dozen or so infected launched themselves at him. He was not going to be able to get his sword swung fast enough to stop them, it was over he was going to be torn to shreds. He dropped his sword which made a loud thunderous boom as it hit the ground. If he was going out he was gonna tear a few of them apart with his bare hands, he readied himself when suddenly a wall of black flames shot in front of him incinerating the entire group of infected that were pouncing.

He looked over to see Azagogs hand outstretched and smoking "you big dumb oaf, you have the solution to your being tired in your damn armor" the demon says pointing to his chest where the berserker vials were. "use them or die cause I'm not saving your ass again" he finishes disappearing from sight again, Marcus looked around he saw more infected coming which meant he had only a few moments before they were on him. He was wary about using the vials because he still didn't trust Azagog but at this point if he didnt use them he would be dead soon anyways, he grunted and pulled a vial out of his chest piece.

"well here goes nothing" he says slamming the vial gainst his armor causing the liquid inside to splatter over his chest plate, at first there was no reaction but then it happened. The red liquid suddenly started moving on it's own and slipped into his armor and absorbing into his skin, he let out a loud yell as he felt immense pain more pain then he had ever felt before. It felt like every nerve in his body was on fire, it burned him to his very soul, this was the price one had to pay to use a berserker soul vial. He screamed in agony as he felt the fire invade every bit of his being, but soon the pain subsided and was replaced by the feeling of immense strength and pure anger. He could feel his power growing, he was now surrounded by a black aura and his face under his helmet no longer looked human he had grown fangs and his eyes had turned completely black like that of a shark, his hands had grown claws under his armor and his feet resembled that of a lion.

Marcus let out a beastly roar and picked up his sword which now seemed to weigh next to nothing, he smiled under his helmet this power felt good he liked it and he was going to use it for all it was worth. He dashed forward with incredible speed for a man of his size wearing heavy armor, he slammed his body into the wave of infected sending a bunch of them flying in different directions. He grabbed on by the neck and gave it a headbutt causing its head to explode, "now let's have some fun you bastards" he shouts laughing and begins to swing his sword mowing down wave after wave of them. Azagog watched from afar smiling and chuckling to himself

"I really do like this one more than the others that came before, his anger and ferocity is going to help me achieve my final goal" he says holding out a small red and black chest that had a mysterious black energy flowing into it from the battlefield. Marcus made his way towards the rest of his companions cutting down enemies with ease as he went all the while roaring with anger.

 

[St. Boethius]

Jacob Stewart has been pursuing something ever since he had been locked inside the Tower in Amberfell and that was knowledge. As a Cleric of Respite he had been dispatched to the city of Amberfall with a detachment of Solemn Soldiers to assist in quarantine of the Plague. Long before the city fell and and his brothers and sisters had been working tirelessly to stem the tide of new cases: even resorting invoking martial law and burning bodies.
the Order of Eternal Rest May not be respected as fighters, but they’re word was considered law in terms of medicine.
for the sake of the Many the Few who had been infected were unceremoniously executed and burned regardless of the progression of the plague. Unfortunately with such harsh methods fear and distrust were born in the populace. While most people did their best to follow the instructions of Jacob and the other Clerics some people opted to openly defy them or withhold information.
The Fall of Amberfell was quick. Cities are actually very similar to a person. When a person is sick certain symptoms lead certain results. If one system fails... it’s only going to result in cascading problems. The breaking point for the city was the unexpected vitality of the plague and the selfishness of mourning families.
To the Order there is no middle ground, yet families began burying sick relatives in secret and lying about it to authorities. This allowed the plague to mutate as it continued to grow and change in the infected bodies. The city had been warned about the dead being controlled by the plague, but they had assumed anyone sick had been burned to ash. The mutations in the plague caused drastic changes in the infected. Bodies began to develop grotesque tumors which would burst and infect the healthy living people. Increased aggression and body altering began next. Skin became as tough as leather and the tumors acted as armor. The Order was quickly overwhelmed and ordered a retreat into the tower. Forced to abandon most of the city and now trapped the only thing left to do was figure out how it all went so wrong.

This is what lead Jacob to his current task of performing a vivisection on a restrained patient. Covered in head to toe in thick leather garments Jacob calmly annotated his observations to another cleric who was writing down the information with a gleeful grin.

“The virulence of the plague has been severely underestimated.”

Jacob began as he used a scalpel seemingly enchanted with a dark aura to cut into the heart. The man Jacob was cutting into didn’t even seem to be sentient let alone capable of feeling pain. He had cancerous growths bulging out underneath his skin which seemed to be incubating something. As Jacob finished drawing a sigil kept secret by the order He took a step back to allow the magic to do its work.

“ the plague replicates itself at an astonishing rate. Even using the curse of rot just barely manages to overcome the plague. The longer the plague gestates inside a host the more severe and complex the mutations to the host become. It is recommended that all patients regardless of severity of symptoms should be terminated and burned.”
As Jacob said this the two watched as the infected man began convulsing as the curse turned his blood black and his body began to rot away rapidly. Sensing the death of its host the plague began fighting for survival. Absorbing mana from the environment as fuel the mans body went from humanoid to a mass of flesh that was practically eating itself trying to outpace the curse. A few minutes later and there was only the smell of death and decay in the air as the flesh died. Jacob looked to Charon in the hopes that he was wrong, but the ferryman just silently shook his head. There was no soul for him to send on. This was a reoccurring problem. After a certain stage in the infection something happened to the infected that caused them to lose their souls and become monsters driven by the Instinct of the body.

 

[LavenderTea]

Davy was experiencing shock.

Temperance had felt it too once, when she was just a squire out on her first mission. Facing abominations was soul destroying. They had once been human after all. Now every day humans had become monsters, feasting on others, and destroying the land as they knew it. It was chaos, and even now she was pulling the young knight into the thick of it with her. His experience on the sea had made him formidable, but this was entirely different for him, wasn’t it?

When it had happened to her, the knight she served had been able to knock some sense into her with the pommel of his blade and a loud voice. But Temperance didn’t think she had it in her heart to do the same. Instead she placed her other hand upon his, clasping his hand between both of her’s, as she said. “Listen Davy, just take deep breaths, real slow! In, and out. I know it is really really scary but I’m right here with you! I’m not going to let anything happen to you! We’re gonna go to that tower, meet everyone else, and we’re going to fix this plague! All you have to do is take one step, and then another!”

The sound of the rubble tumbling caused her to lift her head and turn to see the Old Veteran climbing up to them. At first, she thought he was going to reach out to Davy, but instead a sword was pointed and his gruff voice made orders. There! Just what they needed! Her eyes widened a bit as the Old Veteran then turned and offered his thanks. A wide grin bloomed over her face in response. “Of course! See Davy? Nothing to fear! I’ll keep a hold of your hand and we’ll get out of here, ok?” Temperance did her best to lace cheeriness into her words, even though it warbled a bit with the chaos around them. Still, if kindness could get the Waking Seas member moving, then she would use all she could!

Unfortunately, abominations tend to have different plans.

For a split second it felt like time had stopped, until the giant hand of the creature snatched onto her vulnerable middle, and crushed her. Pain followed a gurgle of shock, before she was ripped away from the other knights, her hands slipping from Davy’s as she was pulled over the rubble, sparks catching from the metal of her armor being dragged across stone. Then she was lifted into the air, left dangling like a sand doll. Temperance cursed herself for letting her guard down.

Quickly she tried to get a gauge of her injuries as she felt Susina turn frantic against her chest. Her breaths were coming in pained whistles, and the taste of blood was on her tongue. That was bad. But she was alive! That was good! She could heal herself later, after making sure everyone else was ok. Realizing where exactly she was, Temperance looked down just as the abomination opened its maw. It’s jaw seemed to unhinge, opening wider and wider as if…. Oh no.

That was definitely, definitely bad.

Grasping the hilt of her sword, she yanked it free and prayed. There was still too much she needed to accomplish before reaching the other side. She had been chosen to defeat the plague. She had been chosen to protect these knights. Her journey couldn’t end here!

A glow began to pool from her chest. It wove itself over her shoulder and down her arm until it kissed the blade she carried, lighting the steel in a radiant light. As the monster carried her closer to its mouth, she swung. Her sword ripped through its flesh, like a warm knife through butter, detaching arm from torso. Temperance fell, and landed in an ungraceful heap of bark and rubble. The sword’s light blinked out, but it was enough. The Goddess had answered her!

Slowly she pulled herself up, nearly doubling over from the pain of her ribs, but the bark began to regrow, helping her hold her stature as she looked back to the knights. “Go! I can finish it!”

Maybe. But even if all she could offer them was time, she’d do it.

 

[Soviet Panda]

The abomination recoiled in pain, grasping the stump that was now it's hand with it's other, though now much smaller, arm. The thing was rapidly regenerating even in the midst of combat, it's torso sealed and no longer dripping black ichor, and the previously completely missing arm was now beginning to reform. This was truly a horror, even among abominations. But it was weakened, and it's guard was down. One fell strike to it's head would be enough to finish it. But was it smart enough to anticipate that?
LavenderTea
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luther hacked at the ever growing horde as the infected of Amberfall rushed towards this newfound sign of life in their streets. Illumine above scorched the city with reckless abandon, having little care for a city as far gone as this. Even the stone would warp under the intense heat of the phoenix's direct attacks, leaving smoothed strips of red hot stone that scorched any flesh that came in contact with it, infected catching ablaze as their close lit. But even then they poured onward, heedless of their inevitable death by flame or the possibility of spreading the fire to other infected. They had progressed marginally towards the tower, it's top peaking out over the top of the encroaching buildings. They would make it, they needed to make it.

That was when the first muffled pop was heard, and a cluster of infected were ripped asunder from an unknown source. The more observant of the party would notice a faint, silver shimmer streak across the horde, another muffled pop, and another small cluster be torn apart. But it was not just one, there were two, no three, four, many silvered streaks raced up and down the horde, creating a path of limbs and broken bodies. Among the carnage, more obvious small figures worked quickly to clear the path, reducing the chance of tripping as best they could. These figures would be quickly identified as Brownies to the daemonically knowledgeable of the party, but who had time to wonder where they came from or why they were helping?
OverconfidentMagi Ayama Viper Actual PhantomSamurai NanLia walteryosmite Midrick
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the tower, a Will-o-Wisp floated gracefully down to where the Order of Eternal Rest members were performing their gruesome research. "Lady Hildrid wishes for you to prepare for guests," it whispered, it's voice sounding distant and carried on the wind, even this close, a shared trait amongst these daemons renown for luring people astray. It did not elaborate on what it meant by 'guests' before it silently ascended the tower to presumably return to it's master.
St. Boethius

 

[Viper Actual]

Arianne had just cut down a pair of infected with one single swipe of her flaming sword when Uzhkarok called for her attention.

"[Mistress Haldas, look! Reinforcements!]"

Indeed, the infected were seemingly getting cut down in large scores by an unknown party. At first it would appear that some powerful magic was at play but when Arianne glanced towards the group's resident sorcerer she realized that he had nothing to do it.

Looking at the carnage with awe while running Arianne questioned whether or not the silver streaks were magic or just really powerful beings.

"Who could harness such power?" She asked aloud, somewhat baffled as to why the individual responsible for the silver streaks hadn't used the very same powers to clear out Amberfall in the first place.

 

[St. Boethius]

Jacob listened to the voice of the Will o Wisp as he retrieved his research journal from the Sister and made some final notes. He couldn’t help but quickly turn his head and gawk as the spirit as it staged they had guests incoming. Such a term hadn’t been used once during they’re incarceration in this tower. He had had plenty of ‘patients’ or ‘research material’ but never had anything been referred to as a guest. This could only mean one thing...
“.... Guests huh... well then sister apparently I must leave the sanitation of the room to you if you think you’re up for it.”

The nun furiously nodded her head and accepted the responsibility. This was the first time Cleric Jacob had allowed her to do anything other than take notes! She was new to the Order so she wasn’t trusted with important tasks. Certainly nothing as important as the handling of remains for blessing and burial!

with a smile hidden underneath the mask that was reminiscent of a vulture Jacob silently nodded and left to clean himself up and prepare.If they were having guests then they were likely going to bring more research materials with them. Returning to his quarters Jacob gathered what he would need before receiving these guests. Jacob refilled the many pockets that his outfit held with various medical supplies, disinfectants, scalpels, oils, herbs, and spell components. All stocked up Jacob threw a cloak over his shoulders which covered the upper halves of his body and was emblazoned with the symbol of the order.

 

[walteryosmite]

The unease that rattled within Davy's mind would linger ever softly. Temperance's attempts to soothe him were not in vain, her physical contact with his hand was helping to ground his reality. The curious hold that Haf'gufa had on Davy would move to attempt to touch Temperance's hand... though the both of them froze as they watched Roshar approaching. Davy refused to look at the man, especially when he decided to point his weapon at him rather than checking on his well being. At the moment of Roshar's approach, Davy's hand would grip at Temperance's armored fingers.

It was only moments later that Davy realized that his hold would falter, his hand closing as Temperance was yanked away from all of them... Davy's head raised to see her being pulled away by the abomination... Blood... was that... her blood? This was certainly not his first time seeing blood, but it seemed to hurt so much more that this person was injured on more than one occasion because of him.

Davy's eyes would widen as he felt something more than the panic he had previously felt. An unearthly anger was welling in his chest, though this was far worse than he had ever experienced in the past. "Mother." He would whisper under his breath, though soon realized that she was gripping at his skin tighter than ever. Glancing up, his ears would catch the gravely borbles of the furious Haf'Gufa that sat upon his shoulders. "No, mother! Calm down!" He'd plead with her as, his worried gaze for Temperance was now angled upwards as the sky above began to grow dark, as it did the day prior. However, these clouds were no gentle summer rain. The darkness of the clouds were sparking with the anger of Haf'gufa, the cracks of thunder as lightning danced amongst the darkening sky. It had truly been ages since Davy had felt The mother of the deep so enraged... Though this was his first time experiencing it while conscious.

With their unique connection he was quickly being overwhelmed by her demonic emotion.. His once vibrant eyes were growing dark, fading as a viscious dark blue liquid began to fill the once blue orbs surrounded by a sea of white. Those eyes would soon be the color of the darkest waters, the liquid gently trickling down his face as the first drops of dense rain began to fall. It seemed as though the most of the rain was congregating near the waking sea's knights, Haf'Gufa already appeared to be increasing in size with the new abundance of water. As Haf'gufa grew, her kraken traits began to form, the light trickles of blood that formed from Davy's skin were the first signs of her suction cup's claws extending. Meanwhile the usually plain colors of the Mother of the deep would begin to gain darkened veins of blackened water, much the same as Davy's eyes.

Davy no longer seemed phased, the almost puppet like movements as Haf'Gufa appeared far too large to fit upon his shoulders. Even though Haf'Gufa was near the same size of the Abomination, Davy was the first to move.. watching the monstrosity reaching out to Temperance's collapsed form only aided in the anger that welled. Davy's body moved as though Haf'gufa was physically moving him, swinging him out and at the disfigured arm. Davy's foot would be the first to make contact with the 'elbow' of the massive arm. Even as rain fell and made everything slick, the impact was solid and had knocked both the monster and himself free of water for a moment... the loud crack of rotting bone was all that accompanied the now horribly disfigured limb. Even as the monster roared in pained fury, the other limb reaching over to retaliate against the seemingly defenseless Davy. Haf'gufa would reach out to catch the furious hand, the talon like claws digging into the horrid flesh as she grappled with the monster.

It was almost clear that Davy had little to no control over his own movements at this point. The unnatural movements he made as he started walking towards temperance, reaching down to pull her onto his back. As Davy was collecting the injured Temperance, Haf'Gufa was demonstrating the power of her tentacles. With a tentacle wrapped around the shoulder of the massive abomination she would begin to pull back. The claws of her suckers would begin to rip through teh flesh until her tentacle was freed from the monster's skin.. The arm was left nearly completely torn off, now completely backwards as the joint and muscle had been shredded.

"Mother." Came a quiet call. "Mother." It came a little louder as Davy attempted to pull away from the fight with Temperance on his shoulders. "Mother!" It was increasingly harder to keep up with his voice, the near complete possession was murder on his mind. "MOTHER!" His cry came just before another crack of lightning and thunder... Haf'Gufa's fury was drawn away for a moment... her attention grabbed by her partner. At that moment she almost immediately understood what was wrong, Davy was bleeding pretty badly from where she held onto him. Temperance could hardly move and Davy was struggling just to keep conscious. "Please..." His voice came as another whimper, though it spoke waves to the mother of the sea.

Mother seemed to regain at least a minute amount of Davy's usual control, realizing there were more important things right now. Her hold on Davy would loosen as she helped him get far enough away to avoid the struggle that only intensified. Mother would begin to wrap her tendrils around the base of every limb of the monster, unfortunately having to avoid its neck as that mouth opened far too much for her to do so safely. She would begin ripping at the joints once more, though soon lifted the beast and slammed it to the ground... If only she could managed to deliver the final blow, but Davy was not equipped to do so.

 

[NanLia]

Noise. Chaos. It surrounded her. It drained her strength. Her head throbbed at each and ever clash of metal or pitched howl of the undead. It neared to be too much to handle, too much to try and block out. The sun continued to burn her vision, even with her demon's help to suppress it. Everything in her mind and body told her to flee, to run and hide in the darkness, to seek out sweet silence. She pushed on, ignoring her fatigue and pain.

Faelian's chest heaved beneath the light armour, feeling as if it were twisting around her, threatening to constrict and cut off her air all together. Sweat beaded and ran down the back of her neck, soaking into the linen fabric. Each breath in felt like fire in her lungs as she struggled to keep them steady. She held held her sword tightly, despite the shaking in her limbs. Hilt up, blade down, as she countered and batted the baying limbs that reached endlessly towards her. She knew now she would never had made it this far without the borrowed sight of her demon, her partner, Or'galok.

The first of the 'pops' she had entirely missed; she stumbled over a detached limb where it had fallen in the path before her. Nearly fell to the ground only to be caught by her demon partner. He continued to whisper at her. At because she couldn't hear what he was saying, not over the constant assault of noise. The second 'pop' confused her, she thought perhaps she was confused, her mind playing tricks on her but soon she heard someone ahead speak; reinforcements.

As she neared it was clear that someone was helping them, clearing the path before them. She was not about to question who or why; that was something for them to ask once they made it to safety. If they made it to safety. Or'galok nudged her from behind, a cool dark hand on her back, urging her forward toward the clearing.
Soviet Panda