Fantasy The Edge of light

[ElenaIsCool]

Ellida was still shaken by the experience and a scream almost made her jump. Her heart was pumping at a speed that would win the race many times. When suddenly, her body trembling when, she saw something move, her light made a shadow of a large being. Her hand in her dagger and fear in her eyes, she got ready for another creature that would leap at her. But what stepped out of the shadows was the exotic woman from the tavern and the race. She was probably led to her by the light and hoped it didn't lead anything else. Her words didn't calm her down at all, she was still fearful for her life and possibly traumatized by her fight. She was surprised when the exotic woman pulled out a blade. It was very well crafted in her opinion but didn't say anything. Her voice might attract unwanted beings. She didn't think twice before she followed her order, walking close to her. She could provide her with light and possibly heal her if things got too rough while she did all of the fighting. Even as cowardly as it sounds, she didn't want to hear their death screams or fight at all. Why did they have to go through this place at all?

SadistPoet

 

[SadistPoet]

The restricting, tight, confines of the dark-forest were made slightly more bearable by Shallie's new-found elvish ally. She was capable of moving far more smoothly, and avoid unwanted impacts from the low-hanging branches. Every-few moments, Shallie would check behind her to see if the elf was keeping up. Even the slightest amount of separation could lead to her light-source's untimely demise. Shallie could hear the sounds of death behind them. Those entering the tree-line were suddenly being assailed by darkspawn. This meant that the pair were well into their domain. Being so far in was a double-edged sword - on one hand, it meant that darkspawn would be more focused on the larger groups coming in, and on the other hand - it meant that it was far easier for them to become surrounded.

Shallie acknowledged the threat of being surrounded, and elected to bring her right and to the blunt end of her katana, while keeping her left hand on the hilt. This technique was known as half-swording. Shallie picked up this technique from the knights of this land. It allowed her to better control of her blade, and allowed her to use it in close quarters situations. This prevented any accidental slip-ups of accidentally sticking her blade in a tree, or accidentally cutting her new little friend.

Shallie led the way. The sounds of death had either died down, or they were far enough in that the noise no longer was being carried to them. This made Shallie believe that she had the upper hand because of her finely tuned senses. Having no more screams to block out the sound of approaching attackers was a boon, but she was wrong. The darkspawn wolves were a silent foe - capable of sneaking up on the most seasoned ranger. This is why Shallie did not hear the pair of darkspawn wolves until they were within pouncing distance. They pounced from both the left and right, akin to a pincer-like attack. They were both going for the little elf due to her being a light-source. On-instinct, Shallie jolted back and shoved the elf out of their ambush with her body.

The beast of a lady was now being assailed by two beasts. She managed to grip the blade of her katana and run it through one of the wolves, but the other took advantage of this opening and pressed its attack. It pushed forward and brought Shallie to the forest floor. She caught its bite on her vambrace, and temporarily held it at bay. It was only a matter of time before more darkspawn showed up, and grappling with a wolf was not helping.

ElenaIsCool

 

[FromScarsToNew]

Arcron extinguished the flame on his sword to conserve his magic, and stepped into the forest. This was where he belonged. On the hunt, on his own, with nothing to worry about aside from surviving. This was what he had been doing for the past four years, living and fighting every day, and he found himself slipping back from the smith into the hunter. His eyes narrowed, his head slowly turning to catch any movement in his peripherals, crouching as he shifted through the undergrowth. He had traded his sword for a throwing and long knife, and slinked through the woods as he heard the sounds of Darkborn gathering.

Some of the idiots had taken fire with them, making themselves a beacon of a free buffet for the creatures of the dark, and by the sounds of tearing metal and screaming it was open season on the newbies. He shook his head, focusing on what was ahead of him. He had no time for the weak, especially the stupid. As the sounds of the dead and dying slowly began to fade away, he welcomed the silence of the forest.

He loved this.

The danger, the promise of death, and the struggle. The chance to show these bastards who he had become over the four years since the cave. Since he was weak. Since he was worthless.

But most of all, it was a chance to send a few of these beasts back to the void, where they had taken them.

Arcron was startled out of his trance by the sounds of thrashing and grunting ahead. He frowned, as he thought he was the furthest of the group, then moved with speed when he saw a struggling prone form on the ground, pinned by a large black wolf. Another lay dead and bleeding next to them, a hole carved into its chest. He also saw Ellida, covered in blood and staring frozen at the scene before her, trembling at the beast before her. He saw, and moved past them. If they fell, it was their own fault. If they couldn't survive this, then they had no right to call themselves adventures.

Then he remembered them, and the blood-soaked snow. The lives they could have had. The lives they could have saved.

A throwing knife sprouted from the Darkborn's neck, covered in flame as it blossomed into a sheet of fire that covered its right side. It roared in pain, letting go of the arm of the huntress and rearing back to find the new threat, to be greeted by another knife to its eye, followed by yet another a second later to the heart. Arcron emerged from the trees as the wolf fell back off the huntress and to the ground, twitching once then stilling.

"I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I El?" He said with a smile, offering a hand to the downed swordswoman.

ElenaIsCool SadistPoet

 

[ElenaIsCool]

For the first time in her life, Ellida felt better staying with people. The exotic lady was silent, which was good, since the last thing she wanted was to attract some more of those monsters. She had to keep up, since her small and careful steps were slowing the both of them down somewhat since the lady had to check up on her, something that could kill them both.

The silence wasn't calming her. Quite the opposite since Ellida had a feeling of deja vu. It reminded her of her first attack, it was silent like this until that creature, whatever it was, attacked. The shivered at the memory. She had to concentrate and keep on moving.


That is, until she saw on the corner of her eye, A wolf creature of some sort leaping at her. How could they not notice? She was on her guard
and everything was calm. Before she could either blink or become wolf lunch, she got shoved out of the way, the force taking her breath away for half a second. Ellida , now on a sitting position,then saw there were a pair of Darkspawn wolves. She had read about them but unfortunately, none of her books said what to do if you encountered one or in this case, a pair. Her temporary companion had saved he and was currently impaling one to death. She saw the other get ready to attack but she couldn't do more than watch. She gasped softly as it took the lady to the ground, with the lady herself holding it's bite, avoiding her death. Ellida watched, frozen in fear, as the beast and beast of a woman wrestled for survival. She wanted to help but she didn't know how since trying to blind the darkspawn would affect the both of them and she didn't have her bow with her and the noise could attract some more. She saw something move and gripped her dagger, preparing herself for battle.

Ellida didn't expect a flaming knife to come out of nowhere and hit the wolf creature on it's neck. The noise it made startled her before she saw a glint or two before the darkspawn fell back twitching before staying still. Surprised, Ellida looked at the shadow, to find it not there but Instead, a familliar face and voice of the smiling blacksmith, Arcron. His words were met by silence as she gestured him to lower his voice or be completely silent, since it could lead more darkborn or darkspawn to them. After giving him a nod and her obvious look of thanks and relief, she went to check on the lady, to heal her wounds. She was so glad to be surrounded by people.

SadistPoet FromScarsToNew

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Scott paused himself at the entrance of the forest, looking down in the shady shadows, his metal armor giving off a shine from the sun's rays. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and concentrated; this was unlike the race, this place was more dangerous alone, he knows that from experience and so his lungs let go of the breath he had taken in, he opened his eyes, his mind clear and ready for battle.

He pulled out his dagger and twirled it into a downwards position, the single torch he had on should at least be enough to make the journey, he lit his torch and plunged himself in the darkness.

His steps were quiet and organized, no sound escaped his body other than the crackling of the torches fire, he slipped past the trees and the canopy of the bushes so far it has been well but Scott knew this was not how it will go on.

Snap

The sound of a twig's demise at the hands or more correctly stated paws of an unlucky predator. Scott hearing the sound tensed up.

Grrrrrrr

His body instinctively ducked itself as a mangy darkspawn that looked like wolf lunged at him but the ducking worked out in Scott's favour as the creature missed. Before the beast could maneuver into another position to attack, he himself lunged at the back of the creature, his dagger smoothly entering and parting the flesh, sinew of the beast, its journey was to separate the spinal cord at the neck of the creature which it did, Scott felt some remorse having to kill a creature that looked like man's best friend but he knew this darkspawn would sooner eat him than let it be petted.

After unsheathing his dagger from the beast's carcass, like a thunder bolt another beast pounced on his right arm that held the dagger, it's teeth gnawing on the iron covered arm, the crackling of bone and metal would soon attract more so he had to finish this one quickly... Until a third beast bit down on his armored shin, perfect he thought. Scott being on his knees, he twisted the torch downward and pushed its blazing fire in the second beast, it let go of his arm and let out a howl before its throat got snipped by the dagger. He then turned towards the third beast who had almost chewed through his armor, surprisingly. Figuring he had no time until the other beasts arrived to take a bite out of him like he is a king's meal, he ran the torch's bottom half in the eye of the beast and shoved the dagger into its sides, he picked up the beast by its throat and held it with his other arm by the paws, Scott ran forwards with the beast, pushing aside branches, leaves or anything with his handy dandy battering ram that acted like a light source until he tripped and tumbled into an illuminated area.

He groaned at the fall until he looked around, finding that blacksmith, elf and the exotic woman in it, he felt a bit embarrassed at the whole situation and another blow to his confidence. "Well..." Scott gets himself off the ground. "Looks like we made to the half-way mark on this little race." He remarked albeit quietly as to not attract more furballs into the area. He then realized he had lost his torch and dagger because they were still nestled in the creature, he sighed as he dusted off himself off. SadistPoet FromScarsToNew ElenaIsCool

 

[SadistPoet]

Shallie was pinned by the darkspawn wolf. She had her blade in her free hand, and was ready to drive it through the wolf. Although, before she could have the pleasure of doing that, a flaming dagger flew right into the wolves neck slaying it. Shallie gave it an extra stab through its chest just to make sure it was down for good. The man who threw the dagger offered her a hand to stand up. Rather than accepting this kind Gesture, Shallie stood on her own. She remained silent, and kept an indifferent, neutral look about her face. After standing up, she turned to the elf and looked her up and down for wounds. Shallie could not spot any obvious wounds other than maybe a few scrapes.

The elf began to use its healing magic on Shallie, but she refused this by gently pushing the elf's hands down. "Save," Shallie simply said to her. Before she could continue leading the way, an armored man emerged from the darkness. It was the one she gave a potion to earlier. She noticed he was mostly unarmed. Shallie wanted to win the race, and helping others was counterproductive to that, yet her tactical instincts were taking over. The armored man only having a little dagger severely hindered his reach. He would be forced to grapple with a wolf, and that is not the ideal situation considering they travel in packs. Shallie sheathed her katana, and drew one of her two long-swords from her tri-blade sheath. She walked over to the armored man and offered him the long-sword. The long-sword was of standard quality, and appeared lightly used.

"Aniq neheless ((Arm/ready yourself)) " Shallie commanded, letting her native tongue slip as she offered the blade to the man.

Worthlessplebian ElenaIsCool FromScarsToNew

 

[ElenaIsCool]

But she refused. The lady had pushed away her hands and just said a word. Ellida understood instantly. She should save energy and use the magic if things got worse. The woman was a lady of few words, either because she couldn't speak in their language or because she chose not to talk much standing up and nodding, she didn't know. She stopped the healing process and concentrated on her light orb, making sure it wouldn't dim when an armoured man fell in. He was also another racer, but she didn't see much of him.

Ellida inspected him with her eyes, noticing that his armour looked chewed upon. An image of her body being chewed like that made her shiver slightly, If the exotic lady wasn't there.. She chose not to think about it. The armored man's voice stopped her train of thought and she tensed. His voice alone could lead them to their deaths. Maybe she was being paranoid about noises or her fear took the best of her, she didn't really know. She noticed the lady gave him a longsword and said something in a strange language she could almost recognize. It was in a scroll she read but couldn't remember well. Returning to the more important task at hand, she finished tending to the light and decided to check the armoured man for wounds. If he was injured, it would give all of them a great disadvantage.

 

[FromScarsToNew]

Arcron nodded to the armored man, apparently he was more than just a chew toy. Noticing his lack of a suitable weapon, he reached back to draw his own blade, but saw that the huntress had beaten him to it. She had also stiffed his help up, but that was to be expected. She was a hunter, like him. And even though he did offer help, you had to be able to stand on your own to survive. And judging by the contents of her armor, she wouldn't be taken down by a single Darkborn anytime soon.

"We should get moving, if we stay here too long they will finish up with the others and come back for us." He breathed into the air, keeping his voice as quiet as he could. He had noticed that the huntress didn't speak much before, but now he had a guess why. He had picked up a few different languages in his village, as you do when literally everyone has to talk to you at least once a week, along with his travels. And while most of them were regional and he only knew a few words, there was one that was pretty much universal.

'Move. Quiet. I Lead. Watch Rear.' He signed to her, using hand gestures that most hunters and trappers were fluent in. Didn't make sense to hold conversations when you were trying to sneak up on something, so over the years they had developed a simple mean to communicate by small hand gestures.

With that done, and hopefully understood, he retrieved his throwing knives from the dead Darkborn and started into the woods, heading toward the exit in a crouch, weapons out and eyes open.

 

[Chachalotte]

The silence was unsettling, his eyes moving at full speed and his ear open at all noises. Where should he look to? Where should he move to? Well, he should just keep going on a straight line. Anyways, he reached his crossbow, loaded it and looked up at the ground, still moving up from trees to trees. He noticed something moving, near an adventurer. Crap, he was going to be ambushed! Before he could react, the wolf-like creature jumped and bit to death the adventurer and was dragged away. Shooting right now would be a waste, so he put away his crossbow and gave a minute of silence for the dead. He noted their hostility and sneak attacks.
There was no saving them now, and he was left alone. This cold and harsh reality struck him again but risking his life for something worthless was unnecessary. Advance, finish the race and prove he isn't a tiny piece of meat was his first goal, and so he kept moving until he reached a point where a beam of light could be seen. Was he finally getting lucky? He frowned and moved at the point until he met what seems to be the strongest of this race. Right now, he thought he was lucky to have reached them although he still felt a little bit more relaxed to be there. There were blood and several beasts' bodies sprawling around, which means they hold the situation. He jumped down from a tree, appearing behind the group. He raised his arms in the air, showing that he meant no harm. He spoke with a calm and small voice, avoiding to make too many sounds.

"Congrats on killing these wolves. We should allies together against this threat." If there weren't any hostilities toward him, he will crouch and tag along, his crossbow loaded. He just hoped he wouldn't be seen as a nuisance along with them because he felt really tiny. They were like the big contender out of them all, which mean he could try to prove he was worthy to them, or at least a little bit. ElenaIsCool FromScarsToNew Worthlessplebian SadistPoet

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Scott nodded towards the huntress and accepted the longsword, it was good to have a weapon he was comfortable with. He looked at the elf and declined the offer for her aid via turning his head right and left. He expected the longsword, noting its' quality and how lightly used it was. He listened to what the blacksmith said, nodded in approval to his conclusion. He looked at the blacksmith as he made the hand gestures to the huntress, he knew about them thanks to some teachings by his father and time spent protecting hunters.

He lifted up his chewed up armored arm and made 'I Hear' gestures.

While he waited for the others to get ready, he looked through the trees even though it was day still, the trees' leaves blotted out the beams from the sun with only a few penetrating; nothing could be made out that would pose a threat to the group.

Then some adventurer jumped down from the tree and began talking, Scott looked at him with shocked eyes although that couldn't be discernible with his helmet on. He dashed quietly to the crossbow kid before he could utter another word and placed his left hand on the kids' mouth, he then looked behind to see if anything heard what he said.

 

[ElenaIsCool]

And again, her help was refused. Ellida decided not to dwell on it, her help wasn't needed then. The noise of someone jumping from the tree made her jump herself, dagger in hand pointing at the..boy? She recognized him, the shaman. He looked young in human age standards and was speaking pretty casually for her liking, as if they were in a normal situation and not running for their lives. Her thoughts seemed to be what the armored man was thinking because he suddenly dashed to him and put his hand over his mouth and looked around, as if expecting something. The idea of moving on was excellent since she didn't want to stay any longer. Putting the light orb on her palm, Ellida looked at the others, waiting.

 

[explosiveKitten]

The snapping of jaws, sounds of death and eerie howls all made Bridget feel rather unsettled. Sure, she was used to it, but that never made it any easier.

Quickly Bridget found that the creatures they were dealing with were wolf-like in nature- The howling, the snapping of teeth and brush of fur against foliage made that pretty obvious, so Bridget’s course of action seemed pretty obvious to her.
She looked around for a particularly good tree, then scaled that thing with ease, finding just the right level to skirt along through the branches, through the trees, above the ground where her lupine friends were walking. Seems like a flawless plan, if you asked her. Sure, the movement of the branches would probably attract attention, but she was up in the trees. Dogs, and by extension, wolves, can’t climb trees. Cats climb up trees to get away from dogs, right? Well, call Bridget a cat, because that is what she is doing.

While she was skirting along, she came upon a group of people. She blinked and observed them for a moment. They seemed to simply be hanging out, from her perspective. She watches them for a short while as they fumbled around, her green eyes scanning over the group. Little did she know...

She heard some shifting on the ground, and glanced down in time to see two darkborn wolves wandering out of the dark, clearly making flanking maneuvers around the group. Some small part of her (okay, it was a large part) was saying that this was perfect. Eliminate competition. If the rest of these humans could attack each like barbarians, that was fine. She could leave them.

But the small, teeny tiny, infinitesimal part of her heart said, “Don’t leave people to die like that! What would your mothers think?”
She really hated that part sometimes.

She quickly moved through the trees, shaking the leaves as she shifted the weight in the branches. With only a moment’s hesitation, she unsheathes her short swords, before she drops out of the trees, directly on top of one of the wolves.

It was cut off before it could even yelp, but the sound of Bridget’s weight falling to the ground caught the other’s attention, which caused it to growl. She turned quickly as it began to stalk towards her, leaving her shortswords still impales in the first darkborn. The young elf reached up and pulled two throwing knives out of her shoulder sheathes, staring at it as it sniffed the air in her vicinity.

Right. They’re dogs. They can probably smell me.

She sighed, and when the wolf lunged, she threw a knife right into the side of it’s neck, which succeeded in slowing it down. However, it continued to fly towards her, she expertly dodged out of the way, but the beast twisted and grabbed her by the tail of her tunic, causing her to fall over.

For a brief moment she thought that would be it, but clearly the beast though so too, because it immediately leaped on top of her, jaws wide open, perfectly in time for Bridget to thrust her other throwing knife right up through it’s soft palette, skewering it’s would-be brain.

The now visible elf shoved the limp wolf body off of her, huffing and blowing a piece of loose hair out of her face, she finally looked at the group and realized that they could see her.

She waved cheerfully at them, before getting up slowly, retrieving her knives from the dissolving wolf body, then grabbing her shortswords from the other corpse. She quickly shoved them back into their sheathes before turning to the others.

“... Well, shall we?” Seems she had invited herself to join the group.

ElenaIsCool Worthlessplebian SadistPoet FromScarsToNew Chachalotte

 

[SadistPoet]

Shallie thought of how coincidental it was for so many people to show up at one location. Her eyes darted between everyone with an odd suspicion, and she paid extra attention to the two latest arrivals: the small boy and the dark-skinned elf. This suspicion formulated in a single word, "Doppelganger" she said as she pointed her blade at the pair. It was not unbelievable that the darkness would sometimes birth creatures that could take the form of allies. After-all, darkborne came from the deaths of other creatures. Shallie approached the dark-skinned elf, and the small boy, "Cut self. Blood black or red." Her voice, despite her simple grammar, had a commanding tone in it.

Shallie had reasoning for why she picked these two, but did not have the words to explain it. Both came from hidden positions, rather than moving along normally. This gave Shallie an uneasy feeling despite both appearing rather nimble.

explosiveKitten Chachalotte

 

[FromScarsToNew]

Arcron was already a dozen feet into the trees again when he heard the huntress speak. He paused, sighing, and contemplated just going on without them. If it was just going to be like this then they would only slow him down. He looked up into the darkness around him, and saw something shift. The shadows seemed to condense and fold in on themselves, starting to move, He slowly backed up back into the clearing, catching the eye of the armored man and nodding his head to the woods. Whatever was going on between the swordswoman and the little people, he didn't want it to cause them to be eaten. Worthlessplebian

 

[ElenaIsCool]

Another elf? Ellida wasn't expecting that, probably since she didn't really take her time examining everyone back at the tavern. She looked young and was dark skinned, and she couldn't quite pinpoint her age. The exotic woman's word took her by surprise. Doppledangers? Here? She read about them but never really saw one. She tensed at her last words and shivered. Ellida decided to be helpful by being on the lookout for darkborn or darkspawn. She knew they had to keep moving or the light orb would attract unwanted visitors.

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Scott let go of the boy and stepped back as he let the huntress deal with these two... pests.. explosiveKitten Chachalotte

He moved back further and knelt down at the ground, one knee touching the forest dirt, his position was facing towards the river or where he assumed the river to be based on the currents. He looked up and saw the blacksmith nodding his head towards the forest, Scott picked up his longsword with silence he went towards the blacksmith.

He communicated a message in gestures to the smith. 'Careful. Unknown. Creatures.' While he was communicating the message, Scott's eyes picked up a shifting in the woods, whatever they were going to do, they have to do it now before something bigger than those creatures takes a peek at them. FromScarsToNew

He lifted up his hand towards the elf with the light orb and ordered her through his hand to move just a bit back. ElenaIsCool

 

[explosiveKitten]

“What?”

Bridget raised an eyebrow at the approaching woman- Hoooo buddy she’s tall- and she found herself shrinking back from the taller woman. Damn, she was intimidating.

“Wh... no, I’m not going to just cut myself! The smell of blood will only attract these monsters!” She said indignantly, crossing her arms and furrowing her brows, only to soon make eye contact with the lady’s sword. Ooh. That thing could cut her before she could get out of range. Maybe... maybe just do as the scary lady said.

“A-alright... fine. Just-“ She pulled one of her (clean) throwing knives from its sheathe and ran the pointed tip down her palm, making a thin cut. The young elf then squeezed her hand into a fist to squeeze a little more blood out till it dropped just a bit, before she held her palm out, “there? That enough? Sheesh.”

The young woman wrinkled her nose and dug in her bag for a bandage to wrap around her cut and walked passed the big woman, “Look, if ya’ll don’t want me, that’s fine. I was perfectly happy to just skip along in the trees, and I can easily just go back to doing that.”
She turned and flashed her narrowed, jade green eyes at everyone in the area as she finished tying up her hand.

She took note of the big man in armor wandering around, making hand gestures. She tipped her head to the side at the look of it. She wasn’t sure why he was bothering with hand gestures. What for? Maybe he was mute? ...Maybe. If that was the case then she would feel like a jerk for making fun of his gesturing.

ElenaIsCool Worthlessplebian SadistPoet FromScarsToNew Chachalotte

 

[Chachalotte]

Taking a step backward, he understood and stop speaking when the armored guy released him from his grasp. ( Worthlessplebian ) That was stupid of him knowing how the wolves were reacting, he got a little too joyful when he joined the party forcefully.
He tilted his head at the woman that appeared near him ( explosiveKitten ) before seeing a blade pointed at him. ( SadistPoet ) Her reaction was fast, which was a good thing if they were dangerous. He recognized that as a strength rather than some futile attempt at scaring them. She was probably anxious, so he didn't even bother to argue and proceed to cut the same spot as the Doppelganger did. He showed a drop of blood and nodded at her, showing he truly meant no harm to them. He then turned toward the Doppelganger and put his finger on his lips telling her to be quiet, and jokes on you, that's another hand gesture. He didn't require more trouble right now, so getting along them and staying silent was probably the right idea. They were so close to the exit, just a little bit further and they would win.

 

[SadistPoet]

Shallie was satisfied by the proof the pair provided. She had learned that being paranoid is what keeps oneself alive. Her attention was diverted from the pair, and instead focused in on there surroundings. Shallie moved the back of the group to watch their flank. This had turned from a race to a serious situation. The darkborne were far more active than they usually were at this hour. Shallie began to feel suspicion that something was amiss in the land. Was this the start of the rising darkness her people had sent her to defeat? None-the less, this was no time to ponder over 'possibilities.' The reality is that they were being stalked by darkborne wolves. Shallie kept her blade at the ready - keeping a careful eye for any movement.

 

[FearItself]

Apex Predator

Zeed had just pulled his Rapiers blade out of the spine of one of the Darkborn wolves when he turned to see natalie cleave two out of the air in a single stroke. "If you could not put me to shame in front of my subjects i would be very greatful." he said gesturing towards the Tavern owners son who looked pale and terrified. Surrounding the three of them were the still dissolving corpses of nearly a dozen of the beasts. "Of course your majesty, ill make sure to let them get to you next time." Natalie rebutted in a sarcastic tone. The tavern owners son continued looking utterly terrified but was pointing past the pair into the woods where the adventurers would soon be. Something big and furry just went deeper into the forest. Though it was hard to get a good look at its shape it was apparent that this was a very large creature. At least as big as Elmer the Clydesdale, and twice as heavy by the looks of it. "No..." The Blonde knight said preemptively however the prince already began walking towards the direction that the beast was coming from. "I am not going to leave them to die by that beasts hand and that is final. I will slay it, and you are welcome to stay here if you want." with his back already turned to her he pulled a lumen stone out of the bag that the Tavern owners son held "What say you cedric?" he asked the young man. "Well your majesty, im not particularly keen on staying here alone but i dont wanna get a closer look at that thing. Cant i just take the horse back to the stables? Please your majesty?" he added the title at the end as if he had forgotten, clearly the kid was terrified. "Go, but give me the stones, take one for yourself and be careful, tell your father to have a meal ready before we return." he said with a sarcastic tone.
~~~
A strange Half roar half bark filled the air and the darkborn wolves that were gathering in the shadows seemed to react to it becoming far less aggressive and more focused on forming a ring around the heroes. A few moments later the sound of large branches snaping filled the air as a massive Darkborn beast barreled through the trees. It was easily the size of the biggest of grizzlys, but more muscular and dense. It didnt slow its charge in the slightest heading directly for the center of the group aiming at the one bearing the light...

Spoiler: Darkborn Beast

 

[FromScarsToNew]

Arcron stilled, a feeling fo cold dread making him shiver as he saw that the wolves had them surrounded. Their eyes gleamed from the darkness, reflecting the light cast by Ellida's spell, full of murder and hunger. He slowly moved backward, feeling his back press to the armored man's, both glancing over their shoulders and nodding. Now wasn't the time to be picky about help, and it seemed like they would need all they could get with the two dozen canines that were circling them. He spied the huntress getting into a stance, blade draw and head on a swivel, while the two small newcomers also turned and saw the creatures at the edge of the clearing.

His eyes twitched, then flicked to a sudden movement to his right, when his ears were assailed by a roar that he had heard only once before. He froze for a moment. 'For forge's sake, you have to be kidding me.' He thought, sheathing his knives and drawing his sword, signing quickly to the armored man and huntress. "Alpha. Brace yo..." His signs were stopped short by the first sight of the creature, and its eyes focused on the light in the middle of them, and the small elf holding it.

"RUN!"

Arcron screamed at Ellida as he saw the monster burst forth from the shadows of the forest, leaping in front of the group and Reinforcing his entire body. He felt his muscles bulged and bones crack with the magic coursing through them, and he cried in pain as he swung his blade at the creature, hoping to end it there with a single strike. Only to have a paw swipe him away, sending him hurtling into a tree at the edge of the clearing, the wood cratering at the impact and driving the shattered bark into his back, creating another cry of pain.

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Scott's body tensed at the sight of all these darkborne wolves like they were an mass of shadow and death moving towards him, he slowly backed up and that's when he bumped into the blacksmith's back, he turned his head and nodded. Death was in the air as his eyes picked up the shifting movements beyond the trees, he heard there were still some people that prayed to gods, in the past he called them fools and he still might call them fools but if those gods were merciful they would help them right now. He saw that huntress getting into position, he agreed with her thinking so he readied his stance too.

Then that roar came, his ears were appalled by the sound it created but he stood firm, a roar like that can only come from a great beast and he wondered would this ragtag band of adventurers be able to stop this. He looked towards the blacksmith giving signs but then it showed... That great monster, it looked directly towards the elf with the glow.

"Unbelievable" muttered Scott in fear.

Scott saw the blacksmith get launched into a tree near the clearing. He charged at the monster and at the last second dodged a swipe that aimed for his head, his left palm began to glow and then a blood red silky material that looked like a spider's web stuck itself to the creature's neck, Scott groaned as he warped the magical material around the creature's neck, he next wrapped it around the beast's left paw constraining its' movement slightly; but that was not enough to stop the horrific animal as it swiped at Scott's chest with its' right paw , sending his body back into the ground beside it, if it weren't for his armor, Scott would be dead as his chest plate was ripped to shreds, 4 ribs broken and the bones in his left hand were shattered. He cried in pain. "The... web lasts.. for an... 2 hours.. MAGIC FIRE BURNS!" He roared the words followed by another grunt of pain.

 

[ElenaIsCool]

Ellida was not calm. Far from it actually, her body was trembling and her heart was beating faster than normal. This was no race. If she thought it would be a nice run but not a fight for their lives. She regret ever leaving her cabin. It was brighter there and less dangerous.
Ellida partly wondered if the other elf could help her with the light, not like it was tiring since it was one of her simplest spells but it would be nice to not have everyone relying on her for light. Her thoughts were cut short by a sign by the armoured man, signalling her to move her light. She did, but noticing the atmosphere tense. The exotic lady had her weapons drawn out And so did the armoured man and Arcron while the other two were on guard. It only took a second for her to see other darkspawn surrounding them. Oh crap. She could feel herself looking for her dagger, not taking her eyes off them, that is until she heard the roar.

Ellida felt herself freeze in complete shock and fear, her blood running cold and hairs on end. What was that? She couldn't think because of the noise of an approaching creature. Her fears were confirmed when she saw a beast staring right at her.


Oh Crap.

Arcron's voice already read her mind as she ran out of the way, terrified. She saw him leaping infront of them and slicing the beast only to have him being swat away like a fly. Her eyes widened. Just like that, with that humongous paw it had. Arcron's cry made her more than worried. Was he dead?. She tried not to think of that. The armoured man then charged at it, wrapping it with a web of some sort? She got her hopes up too soon because he was also swiped away too close for comfort. His cry gave barely helped. Magic fire? Was it vulnerable to it? She didn't have much time to think. She let the light float. Being the light holder was probably the worst thing when walking in the dark.

Ellida looked, panicked. The element available was only the ground. She couldn't make an elemental big or strong enough in such a small place. She could make a force field, that could last probably an hour or more but it would take a toll on her since it depended on magical energy. Since there wasn't any here, she's have to use hers. Arcron was close enough but not the armoured man. Ellida cursed internally. She had to get him closer or he would die. Snapping out of her thought, she did the stupidest thing she ever thought of. She ran to the armoured man and tried to drag him out of there. He didn't look good at all. Her sudden movement got the attention of the beast, with it's giant sized paw going straight at her. What that thing did to both men, who were strong, would do to her, who was weak, she didn't want to think of. Muttering the words at the last moment, Ellida made a force field that took the creature by surprise. It was made by her own magic and would keep her and the armoured man safe for a while but she knew she wasn't able to hold it for long since it was trying to break it and each hit made her face more fearful.

 

[SadistPoet]

Shallie's initial reaction to the large beast was to wait for it to make a move and counter. It did not appeared to have any form of natural armor, and its weight would make a countering strike more effective. Unfortunately, her companions were not on the same page as her. The well-armed man, who seemed to be a form of hunter, moved up front to make an attempt to fend off the beast. He was subsequently flung into a tree. Shallie was about to make a move when the armored man moved up front, and used some sort of spell to project webs onto the beast. Unfortunately, Shallie was forced into action once he was cleaved through the chest by the beast.

The little Elf ran over to aid him. No no! Shallie thought. If the elf broke off she would catch the beasts eye. Shallie did not move the intercept the beast, and instead relied on a different plan. She sheathed her katana, and took several steps back, trying to create a short distance between her and the beast. The beast was just about on the elf when Shallie decided to act. She used her technique Run them through, and dashed forward with inhuman speed. As she dashed, Shallie drew her katana, and then hacked right into the bests front-left paw. Shallie came to a sliding halt, now sandwiched between the elf's barrier, and the beast.

Shallie stood with her blade at the ready, taking deep breaths. This technique was an exhausting one, but its use was necessary. The strike happened so fast, that the beast had not comprehended its front left paw had been cleanly amputated. It moved to attack, but stumbled forward as its body could not support itself properly. Shallie went in for a finishing blow, but the beast suddenly threw itself forward with great power. Despite there being a barrier between the elf and the beast, Shallie stood her ground to protect them. She moved slightly to the left out of its direct line-of attack, and ran her blade into the beasts side. However, part of the glancing strike sent Shallie right into the elf's barrier. She hit it, and bounced off, rolling out of the landing about five feet to the left.

Shallie stood back up once again, and waited for the beast to make another move.

 

[Chachalotte]

Great. Once they came all together, they were surrounded by a large crowd. His fear was soon confirmed once he saw a huge beast he heard about briefly before. A giant beast, able to deliver a large strike with its paw and charge forward with deadly strength.

Aaron's eyes twitched. How could he compete with that? Anyways, this wasn't time to be depressed. Think. The creature aimed directly at the light source, so either it was attracted to it, or was smart enough to try to blind them. He had 11 bolts left, and his daggers were useless against him unless he would try charging it from the trees... But they were in an open field. The beast was huge and was able to fend off two members with ease, but at least they acted quickly and stopped the beast charge and even slowed him down. The woman with a sword wasn't a joke, and succeed at making him fall for a brief moment, and thanks to that, he was able to place himself a little bit further and aimed his crossbow, which was already charged. He closed one of his eyes and aimed at the Darkborn its right eye. Despite having a thick skull, his eyes were all exposed! The bolt entered into the beast eye and closed it. Thanks to that, the beast now had both of his sides weakened and was slow down from the spider web.

Now, they only needed a fire of some sort. Magic fire? Does anyone in their group have that? Aaron gasped with satisfaction until he was soon reminded of the other wolves when one run straight toward him with its sharp teeth. The boy hasn't noticed he was getting a little too far, so he rolled on the front, but the wolf succeeded at biting his left ankle, which wasn't protected compared to his upper body. He took one of his daggers, aiming at the wolf mouth that gasped in pain and went back. He put his crossbow on his back and tried his best to walk toward the group that was holding the beasts while recharging his crossbow, trying his best to not succumb to desperation. There were still four people on the move, and the Darkborn was also getting hit. With a few more hits, and if they take down their boss, the wolves would probably run off in fear anyways. If the wolves and the Darkbeast were all going to them, he wouldn't have any other choices but to use the only magic that he has. But he knew that seeing how he was already physically strained from the course and injured, he would probably fell unconscious and using it as the last trump card was the only way right now.