The Wanderer's Quest

[The GrandMage]

Linden

The horses, which didn't look at all happy to be so near a wererat, and Liden gave each other a wide area. He nodded, moving around to the front of the group. Looking them over, he turned to Zeslakk. "Mind this for me, would you?" And tossed his helmet to him.

Turning, he began to move, His hands meeting the ground, as well as his feet, moving along the ground like a rodent. He could easilly keep up with the horses, and if they pushed themselves, they'd be there by noonday tomorrow.



OOC: And yes, the lyre is a stringed instrument. I got that same feeling when I saw that. Kind of makes you feel odd, doesn't it?

 

[Zircon]

Altalus

Altalus grimaced as he astrided the horse. He was not a very good rider, but it sure beats walking. He knew that he was going to get saddle sores, but he put that out of his mind. The sooner this ‘end of the world’ thing gets resolved, the sooner they will all get paid.

The Were-Rat, was leading the way. His uncanny sense of smell and direction brought respect from Altalus. But he was careful not to get his horse too close, just close enough to follow. With an empty horse and two pack horses, they would make good time. Holding the reins for the two pack horses, Altalus followed the motley bunch.

He was busy concentrating on not falling off and losing the packhorses to take note of the comfort of the others. The ride through the woods at night was not something done lightly. There were dangerous creatures out to hunt at night. The horses could smell the dangers and so did Altalus. Hopefully they were traveling fast enough not to get into trouble.

 

[Dark Warrior]

Zeslakk

Zeslakk closed his eyes as he rode, letting his spirit guide the horse as he entered a meditative mode.
His mind reached out its tendrils to the future, attempting to see what was there, but all he could see was grey fog - and a fire, burning, somewhere. Bad portents.
He opened his eyes, looking up to the moon to see that some time had passed since he had entered the trance-like mode. His eyes then trailed to the edges of the path, to the growth there.
"I think we're being spied... let us pick up the pace a bit." he whispered to his companions, spurring his horse on a bit.

 

[Lady Talia]

Talia

OOC: you are right sorry guys.. ..no problemo..I had a flute then..


Talia spurred Night onward, loving the feeling of the wind streaming through her long hair. She had hardly heard Zeslakk warning. In response she simply tightened her grip on Night's flanks and he picked up the pace.

Talia never wondered of the future, It was uncharted as far as she was concerned. And these warriors around her...they all had pasts..from which she could learn through my silent observation.


The moon cast beautiful shadows on the forest and she could sense a slight inbalance in the energy around us, the deep reflector could have a point.

Atalus looked a bit uncomfortable on his mount and Talia could understand why, it had been like that the frist time she had rode.

The were rat lead the way and talia didn't even question his direction, he was both competent and confident. Night seemed a bit skitterish, as he always did when danger seemed to lurk.

Talia breathed deeply and began to scan the forest with her mind's eyes, there seemed to a force stopping her search, pushing her away. In response she kicked night on faster nearly knocking Zeslakk off his horse in the process.

She apologised quickly, reseating herself easily somehow that unnerved her even more. Thenight had always seemed like a friend and a foe. It both hid a person and keep things hidden from them.

"What is it ?" Zeslakk asked her. He realised that she had not yer told them her name, but names here were not that important.

"Talia" she answered with out missing a beat.

Suddenly Talia got a vision of a woman tearing through the wooods, fear and blood. She breathed deeply as the feelings of the washed over her body.

Avoiding Atalus' eyes as she quickly looked behind she resolutly looked forward.


Onward... she thoughtOnward into the night.

 

[Zircon]

Altalus

The wind was blowing in Altalus’ face as they spurred on the horses. The howls and feelings of animosity emanated from the forest on both sides of the path. As Zeslakk urged speed, Altalus too felt eyes watching us. The pack horses were well trained, which suited Altalus more. The Were-Rat was not taking the scenic route, although Altalus could see no path. He had to duck quickly several times when low hanging branches threatened to unhorse him. More than a few times, Altalus’ heat seeing abilities had saved him. In this case, much more from embarrassment rather than from injury. Altalus wished that he was on foot and not in such a big hurry. But walking did have its own disadvantages. Altalus saw that his other companions were competent riders. As the journey progressed, Altalus was more comfortable, so he turned his attention to the surroundings.

The lady had said her name was Talia. Altalus realized that she was avoiding his eyes, although in the moonlight, the brown was not so visible. Red, when he was angry, shines in the night.

Suddenly she stiffened as she had a premonition or something similar. Altalus’ senses could tell that much. That, plus the way she held the reins and the way she clenched her knees on her horse. Clairvoyance it seemed, was one of her gifts, if Altalus was not mistaken. But he shrugged, knowing that sometimes the Gods and Goddesses sense of humor was a double edged sword.

‘Talia, are you alright?’ asked Altalus.

 

[Lady Talia]

Talia

"Talia, are you alright?"

Talia looked around again.

"Yes" she answered slowly and carefully. "I am fine"

Talia smiled slightly then and turned her attention back to riding. Turning again she spoke to Atalus once more.

"Thank you for asking, you are a very kind fellow"

Atalus looked a bit shocked at this as he raised once shaggy eyebrow.

Talia grinned back at him.

"Just sit back and enjoy the ride, the sores will come later"she laughed a little then at his expression, a tinkling laugh that broke through the night drawing all eyes to her.

 

[Dark Warrior]

Zeslakk

Zeslakk listened in on the conversation of the other two riders, a small smile playing across his lips, but the emotion was hidden by the cowl of his robes.
"Stay quiet... we don't want to attract unnecessary attention." Zeslakk spoke softly, just so the others could hear him.

 

[The GrandMage]

Linden

He growled slowly, his eyes darting to both sides as his ears perked and his nose sniffed at the air. They were there, he knew. Waiting in the darkness. Linden pulled free his sword, moving to the side as he yelled back to the others.

"Follow this road until it comes to a fork, take the left road, and if I'm not back, search for a small trail that continues heading North as they road curves. Take that."

He jumped off into the woods at the right of the road they were traveling on, doging through trees and jumping underbrush as he hunted the hunters. Sniffing at the air, he knew they were close. Death danced through the forest, coming to play.

 

[Zircon]

Altalus

Altalus was glad to see some semblance of humor in Talia. His laughter may have been too loud to be able to draw a hush reproof from Zeslakk. Altalus then silently laughed at the adventure that he was embarking on. Life had been rather dull recently, and no answers were forthcoming from the Gods about his fate until now. Whether he lived or pay a visit to Hell, it did not matter. What mattered to him was his memories and his humanity back before all of Hell broke loose.

Linden was edgy, more so now than since Altalus met him. Altalus could understand why. Preternatural senses meant that one will never be alone even when one wished it. Altalus had to lived with it, but he did not like it. The world intruding all the time did have a drawback. No privacy at all.

‘Follow this road until it comes to a fork, take the left road, and if I'm not back, search for a small trail that continues heading North as they road curves. Take that’

The voice trailed off into the night as the Were-Rat ignored the darkness and absence of path in search of the now powerful malevolent thoughts emanating from the forest. We were being tracked and hunted. Grabbing the reins tighter, Altalus was wary enough the let some of his bone protrusions stick out a little bit in readiness.

‘Zeslakk, the horses are tiring. I don’t know how much more we can push them. ..’ Altalus warned Zeslakk quietly over the thumping hooves.

 

[Dark Warrior]

Zeslakk

Zeslakk went to call out for Linden to wait, but the were-rat had already taken into the forest, and there was no calling out to him now.
After Altalus made his warning, Zeslakk thought for a moment.
"That could be more dangerous than pushing our horses just a little further. No doubt this forest comes to an end soon, and there would probably be a settlement on the other side. Another half hour's riding, and if we are still in this damned forest, then we shall see if taking the precaution you mentioned is neccessary."

 

[Silhouette]

Koyuki

The moonlight filtered through the treetops, barely providing enough light to travel as the small slave ran breathlessly through the forest. Koyuki had reached the edge of the dark Jhaalen Woods when she saw them, the Wraiths who were sent to bring her back to him. Their tall sinewy shapes loomed over the hills, their mist-cloth capes encased them in shadows and utter darkness was within their hoods where a face should have been. One had raised a fire-tipped claw, an indication of the demon’s power, toward her and she fled without looking back into the dangerous forest.

Fear latched its icy grip in her as she tore through the forest. Her hood fell back, revealing her white hair now silver in the moonlight, becoming a bright beacon for the Wraiths to follow easily in the black forest. Koyuki cried out in surprise as one loomed up before her, seizing her in its grip before flinging her easily to the left. The Mejiro tumbled to the ground and screamed as the demon yanked a handful of hair.

Koyuki rolled quickly to her feet, her eyes wide with terror. The Wraith brought its claw towards it head, strands of silver white hair could be seen dangling between its talons. A moaning sound whistled from it and two other silent shadows appeared by its side. The demon spoke, its voice hollow with death and pain, “You lead uss on a merry chasse, little kitten…tiss time for you to return back to your masster.”

“Never! I’d rather die!” she tried to sound brave but the demons could hear the fear clearly.

They moved quickly at her. Koyuki brought her staff up only to have it wrenched from her grasp. “Foolissh child!” one hissed, as it snapped the staff in two. The second Wraith grabbed and lifted the small woman off her feet before flinging her against the trunk of a tree like a toy.

Koyuki gasped in pain at the impact and crumpled to the ground, dazed. The first demon reached down to wrap one claw around her throat and lifted her up into the air. She clawed at its grip and kicked helplessly, struggling to breath. “The Masster wantss you back. Tiss time to go home now, little kitten.”

Koyuki whimpered in despair and silently cried out to any god that was listening...Save me from this and I swear I will serve under your name...

 

[The GrandMage]

Linden

Linden ran through the forest, silently moving farther north than the rest of the group, curving around to check for anything. There wasn't much in the area, but he put down a few animals who didn't seem to enjoy him moving through their territory, and caught up to them once they were on the trail. He slowled their pace, no use wasting the horses, and continued on. He had a bad feeling about where they were heading, but didn't show it.

"Not much longer now."

 

[Zircon]

Altalus

The Were-Rat returned with a disappointed look on his face. Apparently he did not find what he was looking for. Although Altalus was not sure if it was a good idea if he had actually found something. The pace had slowed considerably since the Were-Rat’s return. The horses were frothing in the mouth from being ran so hard for a good part of the night.

Altalus got off his horse, walking beside them to stretch his legs and let the blood flow for a while. The soft and sparse undergrowth did not impede progress. Altalus took off his cloak although it was still cool. The forest was still too dark for the other to notice what he was about to do. Holding one hand on the reins, Altalus let the bone protrusions stick out all the way on the top of his palms and his elbows. The protrusions emerged from little slits that closed themselves up when they were retracted. Altalus swung his arms to loosen up his muscles. He cleared his mind of thoughts about Gods and gold. His bump of trouble was acting up, and Altalus had never ignored it.

His eyes were turning a deep red as Altalus scanned the forest on both sides. The horses, transmitting their feelings through the reins, were feeling as skittish as he was. There were small creatures about, nothing to get worked up. But Altalus just could not shake his uneasiness.

A flicker of silver at the corner of his eye caught his attention. The heat signature of human now clearly in his sights. With blood now fully coursing through his body, Altalus hissed loudly to his companions,

‘BEWARE, on yonder…a human accosted by what appears to be wraiths…’

 

[Lady Talia]

Talia

Talia heard the Atalus' warning then and knew what the vision meant. Talia could still feel the faer of the girl it was strong.

"Yes," she confirmed slowing Night's pace slightly" It is a young girl"

Talia saw the look that Atalus gave me but said nothing, she
had the feeling he knew that that is what she had seen before.

Zeslakk seemed to be thinking deeply and Linden seemed ready for anything. Talia touched her sword as she did when she feared uncoming danger, as if to remind her self that they were still there.

I felt Night's agitation and petted his head. I was ready for anything...she thought

 

[Dark Warrior]

Zeslakk

"Wraiths, did you say? Then that means the girl is our friend. The undead..." Zeslakk turned and spat at the name, "...are those that Phoenix feels were not worthy for the Rebirth. And that is how they become the unliving." He spat again, to show his hatred of the creatures. "I suggest we ride hard to help this girl. After that, we shall give the horses a much deserved rest. Are we all in agreeance?"
Zeslakk looked at his three companions, before spurring his horse on just a little more.

 

[Lady Talia]

Talia

Talia nodded her head to show her agreement and mentally prepared herself for what was about to happen. All that was needed now was the other two to also agree,and they the heros would move in for their first real challenge.

 

[Zircon]

Altalus

Altalus nodded in agreement, but did not say anything as he let his white teeth shine in the night. Mounting his horse again, Altalus spurred his horse onwards as Zeslakk had suggested. He knew that he need to be ahead of the others before he could get into the fray. The horses did not deserve to die and Altalus was not about to let his hard work go to waste.

Altalus let his protrusions stick out fully, and that included those on the heel and front of his feet. Altalus was careful not to spur his horse to death from these protrusions. The horses were foaming harder and their breaths steamed heavily in the night.

 

[The GrandMage]

Linden

Eyes glowed in the darkness of night, watching the situation as the others foolishly rushed in. One did not attack an opponent until one knew what it was. Wraiths were a form of the undead that Linden particularly hated, because they were immune to most normal weapons, their bodies having little physical substance. He knew silver weapons could hurt them, but holy weapons were far more effective. As it was, he had neither on hand, nor anything non-physical with which to attack.

Judging his companions and his enemies, he tried to calculate the outcome. Zeslakk had talked about a deity, and seemed the type to carry holy weapons, but that might not be true. The other two had their own quirks, but he feared for their ability to instill real damage. Sighing at the rash actions of his comrades, Linden rushed headlong past them, as they tried to kill their horses in direct assualt.

The wererat passed through, throwing himself into the wraith holding the captive, which let go, more in surprise then anything the force could have done. Scooping the person up, he resigned himself to running with the burden, perhaps buying his allies time to do what damage they could as the wraiths took action against his theft of their captive.

 

[Silhouette]

Koyuki

One moment she was dangling in the air, struggling to breathe and the next, she was sprawled gasping on the damp forest floor like a fish out of water. Before she even had a chance to gather her wits about her, something gathered her small weight easily and took off running.

Koyuki pressed white hands against a solid wall of muscle, peered up and gasped in fear at what she saw. Be it man or beast or even both, she could not tell but Koyuki decided she preferred whatever fate it had in stored for her over what the Wraiths had planned. As such, the petite Mejiro remained silent and still, as the being carried her away.

Suddenly the night air was torn asunder with inhuman howls and screams. She quickly glanced over the creature’s shoulder, her eyes widen with horror. The Wraiths had followed, and one was hovering almost above them. Its vaporous hooded robe billowed behind it as it stretched fiery claws toward them.

As another unworldly cry screamed from the darkness of the hood, the Wraith released a stream of red demon fire from its claws. Koyuki screamed out a warning before covering her head with her arms...

 

[Dark Warrior]

Zeslakk

Zeslakk watched on as Linden darted forward, rescuing the young woman. A grim smile graced his lips as he began to raise himself in the saddle, preparing for the battle ahead. As he neared, the wraiths did not look at him, in turn turning their attention to the woman and her new saviour.
"Fools." Zeslakk thought as he stood up in the saddle, crouching down whilst controlling the horse with great skill. When he was within moments of the wraith, he pushed himself up and forwards, his body doing what no unechanted one could do, flying over the heads of the wraiths, performing a side flip, and landing gracefully in front of the creatures. They halted for a moment as they looked at their new opponent with cold, unfeeling eyes.
Zeslakk let out a scream in his native tongue, holding his hand up, his palms pointing to the undead beasts. He made a quick gesture with his fingers which would inform the wraiths of his priesthood, his devotion to the very god that despised their existence. The symbol made by his fingers made the wraiths moan and pull back just a little, and, seizing the opportunity, Zeslakk reached behind his back with his free hand, pulling free a holy symbol from the back of his belt. The tip was sharpened, for just such uses, and with no further thought he threw it at the first wraith. His hand maneuvered it with divine magic, and within a moment it had peirced the creature's chest, where no normal weapon would wound. The creature gave a terrible hissing sound, before it collapsed and dissapeared.

 

[The GrandMage]

Linden

He ran, and as he ran, he heard a scream. Looking over, he saw the flames, and darted backwards and to the side, cauing the wraiths to pause as the changed direction, their agility dulled by their own selves. Then, Linden smiled as Zeslakk showed his wide knowledge of holy skills, resigning himself to the much easier task of running like Hell.

He was very glad that his little bundle of whoever it was wasn't struggling. This only made his job easier. What Wraiths focused on this new threat to themselves while the wererat got himself to a good distance from the action erupting, and set his kidnapped captive down, and sat down, one eye appraising the situation, the other the cause.

"Hello, I'm Linden. And you'd happen to be who, then?"

 

[Zircon]

Altalus

Altalus was surprised by the speed of which the Were-Rat filched the captive from right under the noses of the Wraiths. Altalus veered off in the opposite direction, and tied the horses to a low hanging branch. His heat vision allowed him to see where the Were-Rat was heading. Good. The wraiths were following him, instead of the rest of his companions. Altalus ran as fast as he could when he saw one of the Wraiths raised a demon-fire towards the captive. The light shone brightly in the night. Altalus knew that his weapons were useless in doing any harm to the Wraiths. But the vestments were a different story.

Altalus jumped up a low tree. With a blur of his hands, Altalus soon had some partially dry branches under his arms. The forest floor had more but it was too wet to burn. He was running again as soon as his feet touched the ground. Fumbling for his flint and tinder, Altalus tried to light the leafy branches on fire. He cursed silently because he knew of no magical way of lighting a fire. The flint and tinder method was slow and cumbersome. Altalus’ swearing was soon heard in the forest, as the Wraiths were getting closer. One branch caught a tiny flame, but as Altalus tried to blow it bigger, the flame died.

Trying again and again, he finally got the tiny sparks to catch hold. Now with some pathetically burning branches, Altalus leaped into the fray. The trailing Wraith was the first one to catch the flames. Altalus did a cross-hand slice with his elbows. The flames quickly caught hold of the dry cloak and loose cloth. The fire stunned and confused the Wraith, enough for Altalus to use the flames to light the remaining branches. Waving those crude torches like weapons, Altalus hoped that the bright flames will scare the Wraith. He did not have any other weapons to fight against the undead.

Zeslakk seemed to have more luck in dealing with the Wraiths. Altalus hoped that he had more of those Holy Symbols, or this fight will be the shortest in history.

 

[Silhouette]

Koyuki

Koyuki tripped over a tree root as she scrambled away from the being. Her large silver eyes widened in surprise when it spoke. She was half expecting it to devour her. Instead it simply stated its name. The small woman tilted her head as she studied the wererat. It did not display any loathing towards her unlike others who openly displayed their revulsion toward her kind, the albino Mejiros.

The wererat was big, even sitting it returned her intense scrutiny at eye level. She continued to stare until she realized it was rude and hastily looked away to the forest behind it. The Wraiths were nowhere to be seen. Apparently they had traveled quite a distance into deeper woods to safety.

Her worried gaze returned to wererat. Finally she spoke softly yet clearly, “I am called Koyuki.” She began to pull her hood back over her head, hiding her white hair and features from view when she suddenly paused. She looked back at the strange wererat and spoke sincerely, “Thank you Linden. I am in your debt.”

 

[The GrandMage]

Linden

His long, hairless tail sliced through the air as he watched the battle, shaking his head. Flames? A Wraith? It might piss it off, but that's the best it would do. It'd be better to try and get them to attack each other, ducking attacks, because they're weapons should hurt each other. Well, 50/50's better than nothing.

"Koyuki, huh? Nice to meet you, Koyuki." His glowing eyes peered at her as he watched her every movement. "You seem surprised. Is it because I'm a wererat, or because being a social outcast, like your own kind, I'm being polite and civil? And as for being in my debt, you're better off being in debt to the loons out there fighting. Me, I collect on my debts."

 

[Dark Warrior]

Zeslakk

One of the wraiths screamed towards Zeslakk, lashing out with nothing more than it's deadly claws. The priest dodged backwards, once, twice, and then under, and as he came up, he grasped the wraith's wrist. At first the action seemed impossible - to grab that which was not really there - but at second glance, the fiery white aura around Zeslakk's hand revealed the nature of the grasp. The wraith screeched and fell back, giving Zeslakk enough time to pull another of the holy symbols from behind his back, darting forward and using the item as a dagger, thrusting it into the creature, once, twice, cutting through its defences before it finally died with a horrifying scream.
Zeslakk turned to see that both Altalus and Talia being attacked by the wraiths. There was no sign of Linden nor the girl he had saved. Zeslakk quickly looked from Altalus to Talia, trying to decide which was in the most trouble, but no decision came to mind, and he rushed towards the nearest of the scruffles, Talia's.