Fantasy The Ebony Guard: Champions of Namira

[Chao5Th3ory]

As Varick continued to walk along the trail with the rest of the group, the sudden sound of leaves and grass rustling behind them caused him to stop dead in his tracks. He began looking around slowly as if trying to scan the area even though it was currently almost pitch black, the moonlight being their only current source of light. He then slowly placed both hands on the hilts of his daggers before finally speaking,


"Everyone be on guard, i have a strong feeling we are not alone anymore". After that he started walking around slowly to try to find the source of his unease, before eventually stopping and shouting "Show yourself coward!". As if on cue a bandit donned in red and black, who was at least six feet tall, appeared from behind him and held a massive two handed sword above him before swinging it downwards towards Varick.


Varick, having just in time heard the said bandit, quickly turned and unsheathed his daggers upwards in a defensive position as to avoid being sliced in half by the brute leaving them in a stalemate, but it wouldn't last for long....

 

[Thewarsword]

Abelard laughed at Norven's joke. "Your mighty friendly and quite honest my friend, I am glad to share your company"


Having noticed the attitude of his comrades he had to recall his training, and he stayed sober minded and separated from the cheer. A monk's duty is to stay vigilant. Sarvi was apparently the leader it seemed. Appointed by the lord to watch over the cart, but why would you have the archer tied down like that?


Before he could finish his thoughts the assassin found a bandit, but the monk rushed to his aid. As he arrived to the fight he kick the back of the knee of the bandit throwing him off balance. The cloaked warrior wrapped his arms around the throat of the bandit gently pulling back. He could not strike away the monk's arms, holding that large sword...


If the monk didn't incapacitate him, the assassin now had the advantage for sure.

 

[Dreesirk]

Before Sarvi could give a response, someone made a note of alert. A moment later, the sound of clashing steel rang out, and Abelard rushed from Norven's side to where the sounds had come from. Norven quickly turned Nobleflame, the horse rearing up and whining slightly as he did so, and Norven drew the heavy spear strapped on his back (he hadn't time for a shield), and scanned the area.


Not far off, a figure that Norven hadn't seen before and Abelard had engaged a man with a greatsword, with the monk grappling the man's neck. On cue, other cloaked men began to emerge from the surrounding thickets, one of which was charging straight toward Abelard and the other person. Norven spurred Nobleflame forward, intersecting the charging bandit and impaling his lung with the heavy spear. The bandit slumped over, incapacitated and slowly dying.


"Ambush!" Norven shouted to warn everyone else, rearing Nobleflame up again to get a better look around. "Protect the wagon!" Adrenaline began surging through Norven; though he didn't know these people very well, they were all still part of the Ebony Guard together as brothers- and sisters-in-arms, and he had to protect them.

 

[Lain.Laurent]

Sarvi sat upon the drivers seat deep in shock, was this common activity on the outskirts of Windell, if they had just been ordinary citizens half the group would of been dead right now. She quickly retrieved her bow and quiver from the back of the cart while the others had leaped in to action trying to defend their supplies. She knocked an arrow to her bow and scanned the surrounding area for a sign of movement hoping that Varick and Abelard would be enough to hold back the huge brute of a man that had tried to strike first. She didn't have much concern for Norven, he clearly was a man who could defend himself.


A rustle of long grass startled Sarvi and she instantly released her arrow, a loud grunt of pain announced she had managed to hit her target but the continued movement hadn't fooled her, "They are hiding in the-!" she had begun to announce to her comrades however it seemed the bandits had changed their plans and charged towards them now they had been discovered. One of them came running over to the cart too fast for Sarvi to take aim however when the man was within reach she quickly kicked him in the head instead. She suddenly rather liked this high up position on the cart as she took aim at another bandit who seemed to have his eyes fixed on Alisha. She just hoped now that none of these bandits had any archers of their own...

 

[Harbinger]

Alisha was surprised by the attack from the bandits. "They would've payed attention to the group and saw it was bigger than they thought, but I guess they didn't expect that they were all trained killers." Alisha looked at them with a wide opened eye look because she could finally get the taste of blood again before the end of the night. She saw a lone man on top of a small rock that looked like he had a bow an arrow and was getting his arrow out of his quiver. Alisha jumped off her steed and ran as fast as she could but silent enough to not catch the attention of the man from behind. Before he could grab his arrow Alisha was right behind him and grab him and took her fangs and dragged them right into the man's vein. He released a loud scream and blood was sucked up by her. She had finally got what she wanted even though she got blood all over her face and clothing.


When she had her fill of blood, she lost feeling of all her emotions and her eyes turned to the blood red. She had accidentally went into her rage and had the feeling to kill anything that was around her. She jumped off the rock and landed near Sarvi right beside her. Alisha saw more bandits coming from the grass and yelled to them "Why do you guys keep coming, you know this going to fail for you all right."

 

[Thewarsword]

Abelard was dangling off the ground hanging by the grip of his choke. He imagined this only made him a noose on the giant foe, but the large man didn't seem to slow down at first.


The monk pushed off with his feet, and as gravity pulled him forward he put his knee into the backside of the man's ribs. This to seemed ineffective, but he focused energy into his natural weapons and just kept at it. Slowly the man was coming down.


Eventually, the shorter Abelard was holding up a giant body, he quickly snapped the man's neck in case he was faking. He hoped he got the snap right and paralyzed the man, he could hold valuable information. He slid out from under the body, and let it fall to the ground.


As Abelard turned to face his a new opponent he heard "Wait-" and gargling, apparently he hadn't got the choke or the snap right, or perhaps he was more successful then he thought.


Another enemy seemed to be approaching. Abelard quickly grabbed the striking Halberd from his enemy, and slid along the weapon. His foe pulled it out of his grasp for a swing, but the robed warrior had already gotten close enough to throw this man. His knee wheel throw left the useless halberd on the ground along with his opponent. Abelard raised his right arm, and twisted his torso into a spiral downward the ended with gravity and the force of many muscles in his body contracting, all of this primal energy focused into the throat of the enemy. He watched as what was once a man turn into a flopping fish trying to find precious oxygen.


Soon the cloak came off and he threw it down near his horse. He lowered his scarf to reveal his face to his allies for the first time, and the last for his foes. He lost himself in fighting bandits by Varick's side.

 

[Chao5Th3ory]

Thanks to Abelard's heroics Varick was able to finally swipe the sword away from him with his daggers before chuckling softly and looking up at the bandit that had nearly killed him and spoke, "Well dear friend it seems as though you are no longer in control". The bandits eyes became wide with fear and screaming "Wait!-" Before could finish Varick thrust both daggers towards the man's neck and pierced the skin until leaving only the hilts visible.


All the bandit could do was gargle inaudibly as blood began to fill his throat, before Varick spoke again, "Goodbye you wretched fiend", After those words he then pulled the daggers upwards even more until they exited out of both sides of his neck, creating a v shape in his neck. Blood began Squirting everywhere, including on Varick's mask and hood, and all over the ground before he looked at the man still with a steely grip on the bandit "Thank you Abelard, I owe you one", however Varick couldn't relax as when he turned around he found 5 more bandits, 4 with dual shortswords and one with one greatsword, waiting to attack until one of them shouted "Get 'em boys!" and then they charged after the both of them.


With an exasperated sigh Varick said "Well this is just wonderful...", then he readied his daggers and stood in a battle stance and he muttered "Looks like we're just getting started", before he finally began charging at them as well, both daggers at his sides.

 

[maxacec]

Cas was just about to take a seat when the commotion started. He peeked out of the wagon and saw the attacking bandits. "Whoa, these guys mean business.", he muttered as jumped nimbly out of the wagon, his face looked as though nothing was happening around them. His stomach growled again as he unsheathed his parrying dagger and held on to it in a reversed position, positioning it right in front of him. His eyes looked surprisingly sharp, even to the point of giving him an eerie look.


After a whole 20 seconds of standing in the pose, he gave up and stood straight. None of the bandits apparently had any interest in him. They were all preoccupied with the rest of his mates. 'Well, this is awkward', he thought as his eyes scanned his teammates, looking for the one who needed his help the most.

 

[Lain.Laurent]

Sarvi glanced at Cas just standing there with nothing to do, he looked a bit bemused and slightly out of it, didn't he not see the one on five fight that was happening right behind him. "Cas!" she shouted over the commotion "Take the reins and get the cart out of here!"


With that she leaped off the cart and went running to Varick's aid pulling an arrow from her quiver and quickly knocking it to her bow, she was almost there until a bandit leaped in front of her much to her horror. In fact so much to her surprise that she trod on her own foot and slipped over. She accidentally released her arrow on impact to the floor which got embedded deep in to the bandits crotch causing him to double over howling in agony "You bitch!". She quickly scrambled to her feet giggling to herself "It's your own fault!"


"So is this!" She grabbed another arrow from her quiver and thrusted it in to the mans chest, watching as blood started to dribble from the bandit's lips. With a victorious little jump and skip she quickly went off to find her next opponent.

 

[maxacec]

"Well, okay......wait, where am I supposed to go?", he asked but Sarvi was long gone. 'I can't just go off on my own.', he thought right before he saw some of his mates were being outnumbered. "More of them ??", he muttered before tapping his face lightly, as if to wake himself up. "Okay...", he said to himself with a deep breath before running off to assist. 'Big one or.... the small one?', he wondered as he ran towards a small opening right between Abelard and Varick in the direction of the charging bandits. Some of the bandits looked alarmed at his pace but his lean size gave them back the confidence to charge. He sighed mid-sprint, "Might as well go big...", his voice trailed as he ran past the two, shooting his wrist crossbow towards the large bandit holding the greatsword. The bolt went straight through the bandit's right forearm, causing him to lose his grip on the sword. He screamed in agony before looking at the bolt which was jutting out of him. For a brief moment, he looked at the bolt in confusion, the pain seemed irrelevant as his brain desperately tried to make sense of what he was seeing.


It was not quick enough however as Cas shot forward towards the large man, pulled forward by the rope attached to the bolt. The bandit staggered at the tug and before he knew it, Cas had slid between his legs along with the rope. The man was left in an awkward position with this right hand pulled up behind him by the rope. In one fluid motion, Cas had jumped clean over the man from behind, somehow managing to slip the rope around the bandit's left hand as he landed right in front of the wide eyed man. He grinned at the shocked bandit as he proceeded to circle the man's legs with the remainder of the rope, causing the man to fall on his side, squirming like a worm but very much immobilized.


As he did so however, he had apparently piqued the interest of the four remaining bandit. His movement was so fast in fact that the whole ordeal only lasted around 6 second and the four men was still closer to him than they were to Abelard or Varick.


"Not good.", Cas exclaimed, his face looking worried for the first time that night. As two of the men headed for him, he could only dodge their non-stop attacks. Though he was certainly fast enough to dodge the attacks, there was no way he could beat two bandits on his own, especially not without his trusty side arm. The other two bandits had decided to continue their charge towards Abelard and Varick, leaving Cas in a one-on-two situation. His constant movement to dodge the attacks, while effective at first was starting to slow down as fatigue kicked in. He needed help, fast.

 

[Harbinger]

Alisha saw the body squirming on the floor that Cas had just tied up. she was still lost from her rage and saw him as an easy piece of prey. She went over to him when the rest of the group was busy dealing with the group. She saw that Cas was still standing by the mans side but she didn't care and bent down to the mans neck. He was yelling for her to get away but she grabbed his neck with a tremendous force on it. She took out her fangs and the man was yelling for her to go away but she stuck them right into the jugular and sucked the blood from it. The blood went all over her clothing but she didn't care and got up. She wiped the blood from her face and went off to kill some more enemies.


She rushed to Varick's and the rest of the groups side. Sorry that I came a little late, I was busy with some things. This is going to be fun. The bandits that were standing in front of them were looking a little nervous when they saw Alisha with blood all over her clothing and by her mouth and her fiery red eyes. They still stood their ground and were ready to try and kill them. Come on boys, we are standing right here for you. Are you going to swing those swords or pick between your teeth with them.

 

[Chao5Th3ory]

The sound of clashing steel was all that could be heard in the area as Varick continued to fight the bandits in front of him, albeit one less thanks to Cas, and he swiftly moved backwards to catch his breath. "This is getting ridiculous" he said as he then attacked one of them to his left. When he got close enough the bandit swung his swords wildly causing him to be open to an attack. Varick took the opportunity and quickly dodged one of the attack and swung one of his daggers upwards, catching him in the neck just like he had done before, blood dripping from the wound and on himself before he then pulled the dagger downwards until it reached his sternum. Then he raised his leg and kicked him backwards, causing the dagger to release rather violently, and him to fall to the ground grasping his wound and gasping for air but to no avail as he slowly began to fade away. "Two down, three to go...".

 

[Lain.Laurent]

One of the bandits went running towards Varick and Abelard swinging a broadsword, it seemed with many of their comrades down the rest were becoming more and more reckless in a desperate bid to deal as much damage as they could. Sarvi quickly took aim this time placing two arrows to her bow trying to be as careful as she could to not actually strike a member of her own side.


The first arrow struck the bandit through the eye, he collapsed to his knees gasping in pain clawing at the air before falling on his front pushing the arrow deeper in. The second arrow however missed the target completely and landed embedded in the the floor between Varick's legs. "sorry!" she shouted at him but there wasn't much time for apologies, one of the remaining bandits had taken her for an easy target and was swinging his sword so ferociously she was only given enough time to dodge the bandits blows and nothing else.

 

[Hoax]

Ren had spaced out for a while, but snapped back into reality at the first sounds of fighting. She slid off the horse and flicked her wrists, the hidden blades clicking into place as she ran. She went straight for the bandit attacking Sarvi, using the force of her running to knock him to the side with her shoulder, before jumping back so she was side by side with the fellow red-head. "Ouch, you bas**rd." Ren grumbled, a long scratch running down her arm from the man's sword. A few drops of blood dripped down her blades, before falling to the ground. She sighed. "Of course. It's always my blood on these damn things. Funny."


Ren turned to Sarvi. "Do we kill them?" She asked, looking a little pale at the thought. "Or can we capture them?"

 

[Lain.Laurent]

Sarvi smiled highly grateful that someone had come to her rescue before they had managed to injure her or do even worse damage. "Thanks, I am surprised that none of them have gone for you yet, the best thing to do would be to kill them, if we let them survive they might harm others and they are too much of a liability to bring them with... us"


It had only just occurred to her that might not of been the best answer, if they were to be apart of the Ebony Guard wouldn't they have to do this with a sense of honor and decency. Was it really up to them to decide the fate of these people, if they were true members of the Ebony Guard capture would of been preferable and brought to justice . It would mean taking them back to Windell... starting their adventure from the beginning was not an inviting one.


"Kill them, search to find anything of use they might of had on them, pile the bodies and burn the remains"


They would just murder others if we let them go free she thought trying to justify it to herself.

 

[maxacec]

Not wanting to rely on anyone else, Cas had climbed up a tree in the desperate attempt to escape the two bandits. It didn't take long for the two bandits to lose interest in him as they had other things to worry about. For the first time since the whole ordeal began, things were looking up for them as the bandits no longer outnumber the group. Lifeless bodies laid down everywhere; bloodied, battered. One in particular did more to Cas emotionally than the others.


Disgusted at Alisha's decision to kill the unarmed bandit he had tied up, he could just stare at the bloody mess that was once a defenceless man. 'I-its my fault....I did that to him.....I shouldn't have left him like that......I ....h-he's dead.', he thought, now griting his teeth in regret as he stayed on the tree. He didn't know why he felt the way he did. All he knew was that it felt wrong. Just wrong. He punched the tree he was on as if to relief some frustration. All it did was hurt his hand.


Long forgotten was his hungry stomach and as the end of the skirmish looked within sight, the scarlet moon had appeared out in the horizon. As if to signify the feelings surrounding the moment.

Spoiler

~The Scarlet Moon~

 

[Effervescent]

As the fighting commenced, Valdemire released a small sigh. His red eyes lidded with bemusement at the entire situation. Bandits were often predictable, and it was likely they thought their cart of supplies was a good find for their camp. Atop his horse, he counted the heads calmly through the chaos. This particular band of bandits seemed more numerous, which likely either meant their entire camp was engaged in the fight, or they were one of the larger gangs in the land. After his assessment, he slid off his saddle and seemingly disappeared.


It was night, and the night is always favorable to a vampire. He gained the ability to wander through the battle unnoticed. Some have described this particular stealth to carry a sound akin to a whisper, though without any intelligible words, and a heavy feeling of dread. It was the only sign of a hidden vampire's coming. Valdemire slipped through the fight, wandering past Varick and Abelard and dodging Sarvi's arrows. He watched as Cas climbed up a tree and took note of the bandits that had followed him.


Eventually, the bandits lost interest in Cas, and Valdemire took action. Already, his presence was felt, and the eyes of the two bandits grew wide. He could hear their hearts begin to race as he positioned himself behind the larger one.


"Did you hear that?" the large one asked the other. But before there could come a response, Valdemire lept from the darkness, latching onto the bandit's back as he ripped apart the side of his neck. It was enough to send the other bandit reeling for safety, and his current prey screamed and tried his best to throw the vampire off him. Valdemire clung to the armor with one arm while removing one of his tonfas with the other. He swung his blade over to the bandit's side, the prey stumbling back with the blow.


The bandit was vulnerable, and the scent of his blood strengthened Valdemire's resolve. Lunging forward, he plunged his blade into the bandit's chest and feasted. This was not a man he would allow to turn. He was not fit to be a vampire.

 

[Dreesirk]

Norven was glad to see that his companions were efficient at fighting, though he was also a little saddened at some of their wanton bloodlust. It was of no matter at the moment, however, for it seemed the elf had become surrounded by two of the remaining bandits. Norven spurred Nobleflame forward to help his comrade, however, the shadows seemed to erupt around one of the bandits, quickly taking him down in a spurt of blood. "Must be one of the vampires," Norven thought to himself, "It's almost terrifying watching them fight."


With only one bandit left, Norven dismounted Nobleflame and set his spear to the remaining bandit's head. "Stand down, and you may very well leave this night with your life. It's your choice." The bandit, a terrified expression on his face, dropped his weapons steadily and began pleading with Norven and the rest of the group for his life. "Kneel down and don't look up until you're told," Norven told the man. He quickly complied.


Without moving his spear, Norven turned his head toward the general direction of the rest of the group. "Anyone happen to have any rope?" Norven asked them. Interrogating this man could provide valuable information, and Norven didn't much want to see anymore blood needlessly shed.

 

[Lain.Laurent]

Sarvi nodded "I believe there is rope in the back of the cart but are you sure about this? Think this through Norven, what are we going to do about him, he might be too much of a liability unless we hand him over at the next village we come past?"


She walked over to the cart and started looking for some rope, it was the first time she had actually gone to look at the sort of supplies that had been left for them. Making a mental note to do that sooner rather than later next time she found the rope and returned to the group passing it over to Norven, technically it was his captive and therefore should be the one to tie him up.

 

[Dreesirk]

"I'm sure about this," Norven replied to Sarvi's worries. "A man can't do too much when he's tied up on the back of a horse," Norven chuckled at the idea. It wouldn't be too pleasant for the man, but he'd be alive, and that's more than what his buddies could ask for.


Sarvi retrieved the rope and passed it over to Norven, who thanked her for the help. Flipping his spear and thrusting it down into the ground, Norven began to tie up the bandit. Though he wasn't a ship-hand or anything, Norven figured he could tie a decent enough knot to keep the man from escaping. A couple of minutes later, the bandit's arms, hands, and legs were bound together so that he was shaped more like a caterpillar and less like a human.


Before Norven continued, he turned to scan the rest of the area. "Is everyone alright?" He asked his companions.

 

[maxacec]

Cas slid down the smooth tree, touching the gound lightly. His face didn't give out much as he slowly walked over towards the mutilated body he couldn't help feeling responsible for. 'I know he's not a good man but,... Not like this.', he thought as he crouched over the corpse, retreiving his roped bolt. As he pulled out the bolt from the man's arm, a few droplets of blood had sprinkled onto his cheek. He tried to wipe it off, causing a faded stain of blood to be left on his face.


Quietly, he slipped away from the group and headed into the wagon. His unnamed horse simply stared at his as he entered, not making a sound. The wagon was the only thing that made him feel at home.

 

[Effervescent]

Valdemire soon had his fill of the bandit's blood and sat upright contently. Crimson streaked his chin and cheeks that had dripped onto his light armor. It was only a matter of time until such a thing were to happen, so he paid no mind to it. His focus was on his next task. Beheading his victim was the only way to insure he did not rise again. As Norven spoke in the distance and Cas moved back to the caravan, the sound of swift brutal spurts could be heard towards the woods where steel collided with flesh and bone. Valdemire's choice of weaponry did not allow him a clean and easy cut.


He rose from the woods, the remaining blood striking against his pale form as the vampire made for his horse. Norven had tied up the final bandit quite securely, and it was almost comical in the way the once-menacing bandit now likened to a harmless worm. An airy chuckle escaped his lips as he rummaged through the satchel attached to his saddle and produced a clean rag. He wiped down his face and neck of any remnants of his feast and looked out to the others. It became apparent to Valdemire exactly how they all came this far, but through the appreciation came mild concern for the vampire woman. His lips pursed as he searched for her where he stood.

 

[Harbinger]

"Why don't we just kill this man he caused a lot of trouble, he deserve to die for the things he could have done to the rest of the travelers along this path. Plus he might be holding some secrets for us." The man was starting to scream when he saw Alisha come near him with the blood all over her. "He might taste good also."

 

[Effervescent]

"Stay put," Valdemire commanded Alisha in exasperation. He calmly folded the bloodied rag as he approached his fellow vampire, mostly with the intent of preventing her from doing anything rash. "Let Norven do as he wishes for now." He fixed his stare on Alisha threateningly. He would not be remiss to end her, for she was already appearing to be a liability and a headache. With a slow turn of his wrist, he offered the rag to the girl as it dangled between two fingers. "Clean yourself up. You look a mess."

 

[Harbinger]

"Fine, do what you must norven. I'll see you lat and we can chat later. " Alisha walked over to valdemire and calmly took the rag out of his hands. She cleanned her face off but couldn't do much about the blodd on her clothin and just left it the way it is. She stood near Valdemire and could tell he looked disappointed in her. " Im' sorry I actd like that, I'll try and keep it down next time. I just lost control of all my emotions."