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Jul 4, 2017 7:01:11 GMT
Post by Keziah on Jul 4, 2017 7:01:11 GMT
Keziah laughed.
“Buddy, when we find her I’m gonna be behind you so the arrow hits you first.” But she liked the sound of this Ginger. The danger Campion kept alluding to only intrigued her even more. She hadn’t expected such a concrete chance to actually learn to shoot a bow so soon - although the young Human had been mulling over what weapons to focus on since she first met Campion and became awed by the Daemon’s casual use of fearsome axes, her desire to use a bow still felt like a distant dream or half-formed wish. To have something real and with such good potential for getting her what she wanted was exciting, and Keziah had rarely had things to look forward to in the past.
After she told Campion about the travellers Nie had spotted, Keziah waited patiently for his decision. She was not so arrogant as to think she should have any say in the final decision about whether they should go for it. She was extremely inexperienced with raiding, whereas Campion had been doing it for years, and Keziah cared way more about surviving than she did about useless concepts like glory. On the other hand, though, she loved that Campion balanced years of experience with a very Daemon-like willingness to take risks. Calculated risks, sure, but he’d never felt the need to be completely sure of success before deciding to leap into a fray. Keziah knew and understood this meant an element of risk for herself too, but she thought Campion struck a nice balance between risk-taking and being sensible. Anyway, it wasn’t like her old life on the streets had been safe.
So Keziah grinned when Campion said they’d go for it, and allowed herself to be hoisted onto Crawk’s broad back. She clung to Campion as the beast fell into an easy trot, wondering if horses were easier. She felt like she was slipping around all over the place.
“Causin’ hell sounds great to me!” She said brightly.
Nie, did you get that? When I jump, you go in with Crawk. Take out as many as you can, but stay safe. Fly if you need to get away.
I won’t need to get away.
Nie was running alongside Crawk now, lower to the ground and smaller than him, lithe black form bounding and graceful with her wings tucked tightly to her back. Keziah took the knife Campion gave her and gripped it tightly in one slightly sweaty palm, nodding at his instructions. He was the expert, and everything he was telling her made sense.
“I’m ready. Let’s ruin their day, huh?”
The group was moving at a steady but slow pace, walking purposefully but unable to jog with the chest they carried on a wooden frame supported between four of them. As Crawk carried her and Campion closer Keziah could tell all were male, with bronzed skin from the hot sun and hair worn in long braids down their backs. Even with her eagle eyesight she couldn’t tell what species they were, though she thought probably not Daemons. Humans or Shifters at a guess - they lacked the whimsical, chaotic beauty of either the Fae or Campion’s brethren. The two not burdened by the chest walked in front, with no-one left to guard the rear of the group. Keziah thought that might be a mistake. Burdened as they were with the chest, the men at the rear corners of the frame would be easy targets. And sure enough, as she felt Crawk’s muscles bunch beneath her and responded by slipping off one side of the warg, rolling once before finding her feet, it was one of those men she saw Nie leap for. Dark and fast as a shadow, the feathered dragon pounced from several feet away to dig reptilian talons into the man’s shoulders. He shrieked once before her jaw closed around his throat and cut him off. Nie wasn’t big enough to crush him but she could pin him down once he fell, the chest lurching to one side and causing the other men carrying it to yell in alarm. From there, the feathered dragon sunk her teeth into his throat and shook her head like a dog with a rat, blood spraying into the air and splattering her ebony coat. Keziah was beside her in an instant as the chaos broke out, the men yelling at each other and the chest crashing to the ground as they drew their weapons.
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Ink
Jul 4, 2017 7:56:05 GMT
Post by Campion on Jul 4, 2017 7:56:05 GMT
If Kez had asked him to do something different than just a full frontal assault, he probably would have listened. He was itching to have a good fight, but not at the risk of her doubting herself. Doubt in a fight meant injury or death, and he wasn’t willing to risk that much for his need to say his natural daemon excitement to kill. She seemed set on the plan and he had to keep from laughing at how she struggled to stay on Crawk. After all, Campion could barely keep on himself half the time.
He did not have Kez’s amazing eyesight, but as they drew much closer towards the rear of the group, he could make out their set up. It was sloppy, almost down right insulting to bandits everywhere really, how they left their backs so exposed. Campion wondered if it was a lure or some set up, but it was too late to have any doubts or change his mind. Keziah had already rolled off of Crawk, and Nie had initiated the attack while Crawk struggled to keep up. The dragon was a lot more nimble and quick, but the Warg was nothing but brute force.
Two men were already down and the rest were scrambling to get their wits together. Campion extended his fangs as he eyed one of the men not carrying the chest towards the front, his eyes dangerously glinting against the hot sun. Crawk surged forward with a burst of energy, and Campion leaned as far forward as he could without falling, careful to not fall off the beast’s back.
The warg was too quick for the first poor fool to gain his bearings. Crawk’s mouth wrapped around one of the man’s arms, and from the speed and power that he had, took it clean off of the man. He screamed in agnony, but only for a second as Campion swung his axe and cleaved into the man’s chest all in one go with Crawk.
Campion lost his balance however from the impact, and as Crawk tried to make a sharp turn, he fell off, rolling into the dusty road while his axe fell out of his hand. Full of bloodlust though, the warg did not stop and he headed straight towards the other man that had not been carrying the chest. The man was armed and a little more ready, but it made no difference. The man’s head was within Crawk’s mouth in seconds, and before he knew what position he was in, the warg chomped down and squished the cranium like a grape. That would be all they’d get from Crawk though; He kept running with the man’s squished head in his mouth and the body trailing behind him. When he stopped, he tore off the meshed flesh and started tearing the already dead body piece by piece. Such was the way of the warg. His berserk bloodlust made him go into a frenzy to tear and destroy; thankfully Campion and Keziah were safe from it.
“Son of a bitch!” Campion yelled as he picked himself up off the ground. He had landed on his chest and skidded on the road with his breasts. He realized how awful and impractical boobs were in that moment.
That was not the time to ponder his life choices. Quickly he stood up, ears pinned back, and reached to grab his axe as one of the two remaining men ran at him with a javeline keep on throwing it. It would be a guessing game; Campion had no idea what direction the man would throw it, but he would have to move out of the way.
Just as the man was about to throw it, Kali lunged at his arm and tore through flesh. Man screamed, trying to shake the dog off, but Campion took the chance to surge forward and swing his axe as hard as he could at the man’s throat.
There was a wet scream from his throat; Damn axe wasn’t sharp enough and only went halfway through, but the man was good as dead anyways. Instead of leaving him like that, the bunny daemon quickly used his claws and strength to cut through the rest of the way.
The man’s body dropped to the floor, followed by his head as Campion dropped it. From what he could tell so far, the three he killed were human. The daemon was covered in blood now, but it was no sweat off his back. There was one more man remaining.
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Jul 7, 2017 7:29:05 GMT
Post by Keziah on Jul 7, 2017 7:29:05 GMT
It always turned to chaos so fast, Keziah thought. Maybe you learned to react more quickly with practice, to feel more in control, but at the moment whenever she did something like this with Campion Keziah felt like there was no time to do anything but react moment to moment. Most of the skirmish she spent staying the hell out of the way of Nie, Campion, and especially Crawk, who while never aggressive towards her could easily bowl her over while attacking the men. Once the feathered dragon pulled away from the man she had leapt on to initiate the attack Keziah made sure he was dead, nudging him roughly with one boot. His head lolled to the side, blood bubbling from a gory hole in his throat. The teenager, young as she was, was unmoved. Whether her cruel, malicious streak came from personality or from living and surviving on the streets for so long she didn't know, but she cared little for the men they were leaving ruined and bloody on the savannah.
If they'd been smarter, they'd have survived.
She felt like only moments had passed when the fifth man went down, his head severed by Campion's axe and claws. The lone survivor had drawn a sword and was feinting to fend off Nie. The feathered dragon hovered a few metres off the ground, great wings flapping powerfully to suspend her in the air and sending dust and wind buffeting the traveller. She was snarling, her lips pulled back over thin sharp teeth, black eyes glinting. Keziah could see the dark stain of blood matting her coat, turning the black to even deeper ebony. It belonged to the man she'd killed, not her, or Keziah knew Nie would have told her.
The man looked terrified of the feathered dragon as her head snaked back and forth, neck arched, trying to find a gap in his sword thrusts . His eyes were fixed on the terrifying animal above him and he was yelling, warning her to back off. He never even saw the skinny Human girl moving over the flattened, blood-drenched grass on light feet. He was still waving his sword at the sky when the knife plunged into his back, jarring Keziah's wrist as it hit bone and lodged there. He tried to spin but whatever damage she'd done rendered him clumsy within seconds, blood already bubbling up out of his mouth. He made a terrible wheezing sound and Keziah realised she must have pierced his lung as he fell to the side and threw a clumsy, last-ditch swing at his attacker which Keziah side-stepped easily. After than, Nie landed on his back and pushed him the rest of the way to the ground and it was over quickly, the feathered dragon latching onto the back of his neck and pulling back powerfully, breaking bones and nearly pulling his head right off.
"Cool." Keziah patted Nie fondly on the nose, her hand coming away sticky with red blood. Kneeling, she yanked hard on the knife embedded in the now-dead man's back, twice, eventually freeing it from whatever bone it had lodged in. She wiped the blade on the grass before looping it through her makeshift rope belt. Turning back to Campion, she grinned and stuck her hands on her hips.
"That was kind of awesome. So, what do you think is in that chest?"
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Jul 7, 2017 8:42:55 GMT
Post by Campion on Jul 7, 2017 8:42:55 GMT
On instinct, Campion had moved to kill the other man, but it looked like Nie already had him occupied. He watched as the feathered dragon worked on finding an opening with the man’s swings. From the corner of his view, he saw Kez approach the man and ruthlessly plunge it into a vital part of his body. The man gurgled and fell, followed by the dragon finishing the job. The fight felt like it had lasted hours, but it was over quick and they’d done so without injury. He looked over and saw Crawk in a patch of tall grass, grunting and growling as he tore into the flesh of the already dead man. Guts and meat was just being flung around, not even eaten, as he tried to sate his berserk rage. Even Kali was sniffing at one of the corpses, but Campion whistled at her and she obediently stepped away. Last thing he needed was another flesh eating dog.
His rump and side hurt from his fall, but the worst is he would be covered in bruises later. Even attempting to change back into his male form would be stupid painful since his body chemistry and shape shifted and changed. Being part golem didn’t really help him not feel that form of pain.
Looking down at his bloodied self, he sighed at his lack of ability at keeping the killing clean. Oh well. He reached down and tore off a section of clean cloth from one of the dead bodies and used it to clean the blade of his axe. Later he’d have to sharpen it again. A dull blade made it more like a stick than a weapon.
Looking over to Kez as he finished whipping his blad, he smiled at her enthusiasm. It came as no surprise to Campion. She grew up fighting for her life. Seeing gore or killing someone herself no doubt just looked like a means to her survival. “Nice job, kid. You even gave him a killing blow. Brutal.” With his axe clean for how, he looped it back onto his belt and tried to wipe off some of the dust on his clothes and skin. Not that it would make him much cleaner.
Momentarily self conscious, his ears turned back. There was a very important question he needed to ask Kez….”You uh, didn’t see me fall off Crawk, right?” It was downright embarrassing. How the hell was he suppose to stay on that crazy son of a bitch anyways! Still, he wondered if the kid would use it against him if she did see it.
More importantly than that though, was the chest lying on the ground. He knelt and studied it. It was simple in design and overall unimpressive, but there could be some goodies in it. Campion tried to pull the top open, but it was locked as expected. He cursed and looked the dead bodies. “One of ‘em must have the key.” Moving back over the the last man he had just killed, Campion started searching the body.
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Jul 8, 2017 6:02:35 GMT
Post by Keziah on Jul 8, 2017 6:02:35 GMT
Keziah was buzzing. Surrounded by the broken bodies of the men they'd killed, hands splattered with blood, she felt amazing. Briefly the teenager wondered if that was weird - weren't people supposed to be disturbed by killing? And yet all she felt was exultant, energised. She'd seen death a lot while living on the streets but that was very different to dealing it out yourself and this felt surprisingly powerful. She wasn't just passively surviving a hard life now, she was making life hard for others.
"Course I saw you fall off," she snorted, spinning away from the scene of carnage to raise a brow at Campion.
"And even if I hadn't you look like you ran a cheese grater over your boobs. Nice one, dude." Despite her teasing tone, though, Keziah was impressed he'd been able to fight from Crawk's back at all. Riding the warg was like trying to sit astride a hairy wagon as it rolled down a hill, hitting rocks every few strides. He didn't have a gait anything like a horse from what Keziah could tell and he wore no gear to help balance, no warg equivalent of a saddle. Handy for getting somewhere quick, sure, but Keziah had been relieved to roll off when they reached their quarry and fight from the ground, steady on her own two feet.
One of the things that sometimes made you realise Nie was different - special - was the moment she responded to situations like a person would. The feathered dragon wasn't full of bloodlust like Crawk, she'd lost interest in the man whose head she'd nearly pulled off the moment she was sure he was dead. Then, blood dripping in slow ribbons from the end of her slender jaw, she had turned dark intelligent eyes onto Campion and Keziah as they talked. So she reacted to Campion's exclamation about the key in a very sentient way too, serpentine as she moved between the bodies and used her claws and nose to search pockets. It was sometimes unsettling to see a creature that looked like an animal behave in such a person-like way, though Keziah was used to it. She wasn't at all surprised when Nie slunk back over to her with a heavy brass key clasped carefully between her teeth.
"Thanks, Nie. Got it Campion. Let's have a look." Crouching next to the dropped chest Keziah jammed the key in the now-dented lock and jiggled it until it sprung open.
"Oh man. Boring. What a bummer." It was a spice shipment, probably being shipped from the Boil to the City. That explained the bronzed skin and dark hair of the men carrying it. Keziah rifled through the small glass jars carelessly, making sure nothing else was in the chest, but it was all powders and dried leaves of varying colours and textures.
"Do y'know anythin' about spices? Are any of these worth tryin' to get a few coins for, or is it not worth the risk?" Stolen goods were a funny business to deal with - if the items weren't common they could attract the attention of Hounds if you tried to sell them. If they were worth something on the black market that was better, but it was still difficult to get into black market trading while avoiding the attention of the Crown without the proper contacts, and as far as Keziah knew Campion wasn't a black market trader. Raiders were usually more interested in either straight coin or items they could use for themselves, like food, clothing and weapons. Disappointed, Keziah wandered over to the nearest body, the man who had been carrying the key. He wore some leather bags strapped to his hips and here she had more luck.
"They're carrying water, at least. Oh, and a heap of this dried jerky stuff. Some dried fruit, and hard bread. Not all that exciting but at least there's food and water I guess." Keziah began methodically relieving the dead man of his possessions, spreading each thing out on the ground on a scarf she pulled from his head and lay out flat. With all the men dead they at least had the luxury of picking over their bodies and taking absolutely everything that could be remotely useful, which was exactly what she intended to do.
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Jul 8, 2017 7:28:56 GMT
Post by Campion on Jul 8, 2017 7:28:56 GMT
Campion looked down at his battered and scratched up chest and groaned. She’d probably always make fun of him for the incident now. Would he ever regain his dignity? “Well, I’ve now learned that boobs are useless and just a waste of space. Couldn’t imagine having them my whole life.” The body he was searching was empty handed and he started moving to another one, but that was basically pointless. Kez’s magical bird-lizard did the work for them. What a cheat. It was a little unsettling to see her act with the same sentience as a person. Campion was just glad she was on their side.
He didn’t expect to see much. If it was coin, that had limited uses out in the Savanna, but plenty in the City. Food wouldn’t be locked up in such a heavy duty chest. Maybe small weapons would be in it? When they opened it to reveal the spices, Campion couldn’t help but feel bummed, mostly for Kez. She had seemed excited to see what was in it and, well, they didn’t really have much use for a heavy case of spice.
“I…uh…” He scratched the inside of one of his ears with his pinky and started looking through the spices. “I mean spices are used for a few things like…cooking? Getting really, really high I think if you’re lucky?” It was best to just leave them be if they couldn’t figure them out. Campion didn’t carry much with him, so if Kez wanted to take any for herself she was free to. “Better to just leave them. Wouldn’t even know what we’re selling and how much to sell if for.” They could try to con people, but Campion wasn’t really the best at that sort of thing. He was better at ‘kill now, talk later’.
Kali’s head shot up and she looked down the road where there was a small rise, just enough so that the road beyond could not be seen. She started to growl and flattened her ears again her head and barked. Campion followed her and shot up from where he was kneeling, watching the horizon. “Hey kid, get up. Think there’s more people…” Just as he finished speaking, six more figures appeared over the rise.
Four of them were like the men they just killed. Three women and one man. The two others were full grown hyenas, laughing and yipping in their direction. Behind them trailed two mules full of gear. Bingo.
“Aw shit.” The newcomers were yelling at them in the boil language, probably screaming death threats, just the norm. Still, fighting trained, dangerous animals was hardly on Campion’s list of teaching with Kez. All kidding aside, Campion grew dangerously serious. His whole demeanor changed and his grip around his axe tightened. In their last fight he’d been a little light hearted, but now there were people who were fully aware of their presence and with animals that had incredible crushing strength. “Uh kid, do what you do best. Don’t take any chances.” He had not meant it as an insult. Nie would protect her if he couldn’t. Now with the pending threat, he had no expectation for Kez to risk anything extra.
The hyenas were let loose and sprinted towards them, tongues lolling out of their mouths. They were gaining ground quickly, followed up the four other guards chasing after, two with cross bows in their hands. Campion instinctively ducked down to make a harder target and brought his fingers to his hands, releasing a high pitched whistle for Crawk.
Fighting animals was not really his thing, mostly because he just liked them a lot, so he'd let the killer beast do it.
Immediately the warg picked his head up and gave a deep, gurggly howl before taking off towards the two hyenas. Kali began to follow after, but the bunny daemon commanded her to hold back. He wasn't just ready to lose her to yeens, regardless of her being protective of her brother that had changed into a enraged creature.
The two with the cross bows shot at the massive beast when he was in range, and both arrows imbedded into his thigh. The warg didn’t even flinch before he threw his full body weight against the closest hyena, which in turn ran into the other. Their yelps filled the air, but they did not die as easily as the people Crawk took on earlier. One scrambled out from under him and snapped at his leg, just barely missing. The other screamed and yelped as Crawk tore into its shoulder.
Campion had no intention to run towards to crossbow men with just an axe, so he looked at Nie and yelled, “Okay I know you don’t trust me that much but I can’t do shit with the cross bows. Take them out!” He wondered if she’d even listen to him, but it was worth a shot. If it was to protect Kez, he was willing to bet.
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Jul 9, 2017 4:24:37 GMT
Post by Keziah on Jul 9, 2017 4:24:37 GMT
Keziah laughed out loud at that.
"They can be kinda handy in some situations, y'know. Most of us wave in 'em the face of stupid guys, then you can get 'em to do what you want. They ain't really for sledding on." Crouched next to the first body she'd picked, Keziah stripped him of everything except his clothing. She had what she wanted of that, no need to bother wrestling with a dead weight to get some useless pants. Soon the scarf had a neat line of jerky, a pile of nuts and dried fruit, a water skin, a skinning knife, the curved sword the man had fought with, the leather bags, a few copper, and a pile of hard breads set out on it.
Before she could move on to the next man Kali's warning growl caught her attention. Keziah stood up, Nie moving fluidly with her to stand protectively behind her with her head over one shoulder, as Campion gave the warning. The figures that appeared on the hill were clearly members of the same party and Keziah fumbled for the knife at her belt. After a moment's consideration she swiftly stooped and retrieved one of their victim's funny curved swords. It was light, much lighter than a traditional sword - a Boil weapon with rather beautiful gold inlay on the handle. It felt foreign in her hand but at least the weight was suited to her and it felt reassuring to be more armed. She nodded once at Campion's directions, not in the least offended - Keziah wanted to survive, she didn't need to be a hero.
It was Crawk who took on the two unfamiliar dog-like animals that were loosed on them, and Keziah was once again relieved they had the warg. Nie had leapt in front of Keziah as Crawk charged and was crouched defensively, wings flared to their full span, lips curled back in a silent snarl. She looked at Campion when he spoke though, and after a moment dipped her head in a nod.
I will deal with the archers. Don't let any of them near Keziah. Her voice sounded in the Daemon's head for the first time - Nie had not deigned to speak to him before this, but Campion had proved himself a valuable companion to Keziah, whom she loved deeply and was utterly loyal to. She bounded once, twice, then took off into the air on broad feathered wings. The sun was setting over the savannah now, and she became a black streak against a golden sky.
Naniene was too fast for the first person with a crossbow to reload after shooting Crawk. Crashing down on him from the sky, bones cracked audibly across the grasslands as she threw all her weight and momentum onto his shoulders, claws extended. He screamed, his spine crumpling beneath her attack, and she hit the ground hard, claws gouging deep marks into the earth as she regained her balance before taking off again in a single movement. The second archer reloaded as Nie circled back and the arrow fired and found home, embedding itself into one of the feathered dragon's wings. An ear-splitting cry echoed over the savannah and Nie pulled back up, labouring, while back down on the ground Keziah screamed.
"Nie!" The magic that spilled forth then wasn't new to the teenager, not really - she'd felt it develop months ago now, but she had never used it. Hands raised, a ball of glowing white light formed between her palms. It seemed to shrink to a dense point, almost disappearing, before it exploded outwards in front of Keziah. When she opened her eyes again a great eagle made of bright white light, its wingspan nearly three metres across, was flapping slowly in front of her. This, Keziah knew, was her spirit guide. The animal that she had the greatest connection with - a now extinct giant eagle that had once lived in the Cliffs of Heaven, hunting animals the size of horses.
The great eagle turned and flew into the fray at her nod. It was empowered to protect its shaman, an alternative to the animal familiar magic many shaman's wielded. It's screech caused their attackers to duck, ears covered, and it dug huge talons into the back of the second archer when she crouched over her weapon to try and block her ears. Blood spurted between claws of glowing white and then Nie was back, on the ground, one wing trailing limply. She arched her neck and opened her jaw, and without warning a stream of bright blue fire erupted from her maw. The dying archer screamed before her vocal chords were fried and she fell silent, her face melting off her skull. By the time Nie's fire died out she was a charred corpse on the grass, and Keziah's eagle was flickering. She wasn't strong enough to maintain the spirit guide in battle for long yet.
"Campion, you have to get in there, Nie's hurt!" Keziah was already running, curved sword in one hand and knife in the other.
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Jul 9, 2017 5:16:49 GMT
Post by Campion on Jul 9, 2017 5:16:49 GMT
When Campion heard Nie’s voice in his head, he nearly pissed his pants.
What he did instead was jump three feet to the left, thinking he was bonkers at what he just heard. It took a second, but he realized it had to have been Nie. The feathered dragon had never bothered to talk to him before, but now seemed like an important enough time to do so. He didn’t need the dragon to tell him to protect Keziah though. That was his intention from the start.
Crawk was wrestling with the hyenas, blood oozing over different parts of his body. Flesh hung loose around the more meaty part of him, but he was still on his feet. A blood frenzied animal would fight till it was dead, regardless of the pain. He was just such an animal, and even with all the wounds and the two arrows in his leg, he continued to bite and snap at the hyenas. One was just not quick enough before Crawk bit onto its back and crushed the yeen’s spine. It only yelped for a moment before falling limp in the warg’s jaws. He dropped the body and focused on the other hyena that was chomping down on his hindquarter.
Though somewhat concerned for his companion, the bunny daemon was more concerned about himself and Kez. He watched as Nie flew into the air, drawing the attention of the two crossbowmen. Campion took that chance to charge at the two remaining men, one holding a sword just like the one Kez picked up, the other had…nothing? He cursed, realizing his mistake as he shortened the distance between him and his targets. She had to be a magic user.
Nie took out of on the archers, but soon following it he heard a crossbow, followed by a deafening scream of a hurt animal and her concerned person. At the same time Keziah used her shaman abilities to call on a massive bird-thing, Campion had used his magic to conjur his own spirit animal, a rabbit.
It had no actual ability to fight or do any damage or anything, but his attackers didn’t know that. The one with the sword swung at the spectral creature as it darted past, completely distracted by it, while the magic user stepped to the side to avoid. Campion took that chance to swing his axe up over his head and down at an angle to the man with the sword. It cleaved through the woman’s jugular, all the way through the windpipe, and down past the collar bones before it stopped. Quickly Campion tried to wedge it free, but there was not enough time before the one without a weapon retaliated, realizing the spectral bunny was more an illusion than a threat.
It was weird. One second Campion had been standing up, the next he felt himself nearly folden in half as his whole body was forced to the ground. It felt like a massive rock was on his chest, keeping him from getting up. Not a point on his body could move.
The woman reached down and picked up the sword of her now dead comrad, intent on giving Campion a killing blow. Her eyes burned with rage and she swore something in the boil tongue. The magic she used altered the gravity around Campion. He had no way to get up. But he was not alone.
Kali pounced onto the woman’s back and tore into her throat. There was a guttural scream before her body slumped to the floor and Campion could feel the weight lifted off of him. As he struggled to get up, his ears turned stiff with concern. The hyena that Crawk was fighting managed to escape the warg and was sprinting for Kez as she ran towards Nie. Desperation could be heard in his voice as he screamed, “Kez! Watch the hyena!” Crawk was chasing after it, but the hyena was smaller and faster than him. Campion sat up, but had issues getting his legs to react like they should and couldn’t stand for the moment, no matter how desperate he was.
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Jul 11, 2017 9:27:51 GMT
Post by Keziah on Jul 11, 2017 9:27:51 GMT
Keziah's focus was singular as she ran over the blood-soaked grasslands - she had to get to Nie. The choking, nauseating smell of burning flesh filled the air, carried on a thick black smoke, from the dragon's fire on the second archer, but she ignored it and kept on running. Leaping dead bodies, weaving through the panicked mules, Keziah didn't notice anything else. She didn't see Campion go down, didn't see Kali save him. The sound of the dog's snarls were lost in the cacophony around her, and in the deafening ringing in her own ears, the thumping of her heart.
Keziah! Stop, I am fine. Fight - fight!
Nie's voice in her head caused the ringing to stop. Keziah shuddered to a halt, chest heaving and breathing harsh, as relief overwhelmed her. Nie's telepathic voice was strong, urgent. She was injured but through the feathered dragon' tone, through the connection that had been forged between their minds by a Goddess, Keziah could tell the wound wasn't lethal. She had a second, maybe two, to process this - to go from sheer panic to relief so sweet she could have cried - before the hyena leapt and hit her so hard she flew back several feet and landed hard on her back.
She couldn't breathe. Winded, the shaman wheezed as she instinctively raised her arms to shield her face. The hyena was baying, a strange high-pitched sound that was nothing like the bark she expected it to make. Whatever training it had had it going for her head, butting aside her arms in frustration but not biting down. She was too winded and shocked to scream, and seconds felt like hours as she narrowly avoided getting her throat ripped out by the beast once, twice. Then, more by luck than anything else, her left hand landed on the hilt of the curved sword that she'd dropped when the hyena hit her. With a furious screech Keziah threw all her strength into heaving the blade at the hyena's head and found her mark with the flat side, rendering it more of a club than a sword. Still, she hit it hard enough that it yelped and staggered off her for a second, long enough for Nie to seize it by a back leg and hold it for a heartbeat until Crawk caught it.
After that, it was over pretty fast.
Keziah lay there for a moment, just trying to catch her breath, before sitting up with a dazed expression on her face. The men and women that had attacked them were all dead, scattered around the savannah broken and bloodied. The mules had panicked and run off into the darkening savannah, though laden as they were they wouldn't get far. Nie was at her side as she got to her feet and checked herself for injuries, but miraculously she was fine - a bit bruised, a few scrapes, but no serious injuries. Nie, on the other hand, still had an arrow embedded in the muscular part of her wing. Keziah ran gentle hands over the dragon and found where the bolt had pierced, causing Nie to hiss. She'd need to deal with it right away, but first she peered around the feathered dragon to where Campion had gone down.
"Dude, that was intense. You alive?"
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Ink
Jul 11, 2017 20:42:59 GMT
Post by Campion on Jul 11, 2017 20:42:59 GMT
There was a sense of dread that filled Campion’s heart when he saw the hyena plow into Kez. His first thought was that she was dead, a goner. There was no way a human with almost no combat experience or even any physical strength could deal with something like that. It all happened in the blink of an eye; Campion was there, still stuck on the ground, trying to get the tingling sensation out of his legs, watching as Kez fought back. He felt a surge of pride for her, because damn she was tough.
The hyena was staggered and the daemon knew that meant it was done for. Crawk was practically on top of it, and Nie holding it by the leg insured that the massive beast would catch it. His mouth closed around the hyena’s head and, like the man from earlier, squished its skull like a grape, letting the body fall to the floor.
Campion let out a sigh of relief. Now he really hoped they were done. He tried to stand up, even with the tingling sensation in his legs. For a moment, he was successful and took a few steps towards Kez, who was busy trying to get the arrow out of Nie, but then they just buckled under him and he fell to the ground.
He was rushing it too much, but he was eager to move away from being exposed on the road with some pack mules running about, all the while being surrounded by a bunch of dead bodies. Muttering under his breath, he whistled for the warg to come over.
The blood frenzy was gone. It was a valuable tool in a fight, but only lasted so long and afterwards, it rendered the warg exhausted. There was a limp in his gait as he walked over to Campion with the two bolts in his leg. One he reached the bunny daemon, he plopped to the ground and rolled onto his side. Even though Campion joked about how much of a dick Crawk was, he was still very attached to the animal and cared for him a lot. Back when he was just a dog, Campion had saved him as a puppy with his sister, Kali.
“Ah, you idiot,” he muttered with concern as he gently pet the warg’s wiry fur. “Don’t be so stupid next time, okay?” His ears swiveled in the direction of Keziah as she check in on him, and he couldn’t help but just laugh.
The fight was intense and, for a moment, a little scary, but Campion was a daemon. He thrived on chaos, and that whole fight was a perfect example of it. In his eyes, it was quite fun. “You know that weird feeling that you get in her arm or leg sometimes? It feels like there’s needles or somethin’ and you have a weird tingling sensation like its asleep? Yeah, that’s what my legs feel like. Dumb bitch almost folded me in half.” But now she was dead. Good.
Campion tried to get up again and found success that time, even with the weird feeling still in his les. He studied the arrows that were in Crawk’s side. They weren’t in too deep, thanks to his thick skin. He then took the chance to go up to Kez, all wobbly in the knees, and stopped her before she could take out the arrow in Nie by giving her a damn strong hug. “Glad you’re okay kid.” Looking down at her, he let her go and grinned like an idiot. “That was badass though. Just think; when we get back to the City, you can tell your friends how you single-handedly told a hyena you wouldn’t be its dinner.”
On a more serious note, he turned to Nie and studied her wound without touching it. “We’ll get it out, but we need to put somethin’ on it to stop the bleeding. Right now in the position its in, while its bad, it’s keeping a lot of the blood from poolin’ out. Let’s go grab those pack mules and look on the new bodies. I bet they got some salves or something.” No one traveled without something to help with injuries. Well, unless you were Campion or Kez.
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Ink
Jul 12, 2017 5:49:57 GMT
Post by Keziah on Jul 12, 2017 5:49:57 GMT
An eerie stillness fell over the savannah at the end of the fight. Keziah’s spirit guide was soaring over the gory scene but it landed and caused a great whoosh of dust as it hit the ground, so that Nie flattened her ears irritably. Keziah, though, didn’t flinch. She reached out to touch the great eagle’s curved beak and found it felt real despite the animal being made of light and very slightly transparent. There was a heat to it, too, though it was unstained by the blood of the battle. Silently, Keziah thanked the eagle and watched as it faded from view, like a fire dying down to embers in the course of a few seconds.
That done, and Nie’s wing inspected, Keziah took the opportunity to check herself over properly. After flexing each limb and walking around in a circle she decided that apart from some bruising, received when the hyena first hit her, she was completely fine. A shallow cut above one eye was the only hit the beast’s teeth had made and it wasn’t even bleeding any more. Which meant that they’d killed something like twelve people all together, and apart from the crossbow bolts and Campion walking around looking like a baby deer that was about to fall over, they were okay. All in all Keziah felt very lucky, and in the wake of her horror at Nie’s injury trailed a feeling of exultant pride. They’d done it. She hugged Campion back and grinned, a little feral and a little relieved.
“Glad you’re okay too. I don’t think it’s too bad actually, once the arrow is out I reckon she’ll heal.”
Of course I will. Nie’s voice sounded in both of their heads, her tone dismissive. It’s no big deal. Stop wasting time gossiping like fishwives and go find those animals that ran off.
Keziah laughed and nodded, agreeing with the feathered dragon. If mules were anything like horses, the animals would have stuck together, instinctively wanting to be with each other rather than separated. She grabbed Campion’s hand for a second to steer him in the direction she wanted to go, picking that the mules would have chosen to bolt back the way they’d come - familiar ground. Sure enough, when they crested the hill the two animals had stopped not all that far away, too tame and oriented to people to take it into their heads to run far away from their owner’s last location. Keziah grabbed the lead rope of one and handed the other to Campion, before having a quick poke around through the belongings strapped to the mule’s back.
“Oh yeah, there’s definitely food in here. Water, lots of supplies, tents even I think. Let’s strip the bodies quick smart and get off the road, yeah?” She’d learned enough from Campion so far to know lingering at the site of all the carnage was unwise. Though it was growing dark quickly, travellers could still come across them any moment if they stayed here.
Nie, of course, was already doing just that. There wasn’t much left of the first archer she’d crushed - his body was crumpled and folded so badly she was having to pull aside great chunks of flesh with her claws to get to his pockets - but already a neat pile of loot was stacked next to him including his crossbow and remaining bolts.
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Ink
Jul 12, 2017 7:31:06 GMT
Post by Campion on Jul 12, 2017 7:31:06 GMT
The ‘summon a giant spectral eagle’ thing was pretty damn cool. Campion was fond of animals, though preferably cute ones. A giant bird was far from cute, but it was still impressive. He took note of the hug that was given back to him, and he realized what it felt like to have a sibling. Truth be told, part of him wanted to turn her. There would be so much potential in her as a daemon, like a longer life span, the natural strength, but again he had to remind himself that she had no desire to do so. Part of him really admired that about her.
She, and Nie, both seemed pretty sure about how bad the wound was, but Campion still was set on not pulling anything out till they had something to stop the bleeding. Even with Warg, who would have less tissue damage than Nie, he was going to wait. Again he jumped when Nie’s voice echoed in his mind, and the jump made his wobbly legs give in, making him tumble to the ground and landing chest, and face first, in the dust. His already scratched up boobs were even more scratched up, only with his beautiful face. Great.
The daemon sighed and pushed himself up carefully again. He narrowed his eyes at Kez. “Don’t you dare say a word,” he stated. She was defiantly the type to tease him about it. The teasing didn’t actually bother Campion, so it was just part of the playful banter to warn her against it. His head turned over to Nie as well and he couldn’t help himself. “Or you. Shh. Nothing about that.” Following Nie’s wishes, he let Kez drag him to where she believed the mules headed. He could certainly smell them. Damned things stunk, and they were animals that the daemon was not a fan of. Kali started to follow, but then looked back at Crawk and returned to the Warg’s side, licking at his body full of wounds.
Now they were talking. Campion felt a lot of gratification for the small, intense little fight they had. The mules were loaded, at least for a small riffraff of bandits. He dug through searching for anything they’d need or want. There was even some salted mystery beat. With a whiff, he could tell they were till good, but whatever animal the cuts belonged to, Campion had no idea. He grabbed a sack off of the mule and emptied out the useless contents in it, like heavy garments and thread. Then he started grabbing as much material as he could that they needed, such as the meats, water skins, and one of the tents. There was even some gauze and ointment. Perfect. Besides the tent, he managed to stuff it all in the sack and he threw it over his shoulder.
He did a bit more searching, but for now he was certain they were set to go for a good week, if not a little less. Since they had little time, he quickly rummaged through everything else and found a small, rather uniform and uninteresting dagger. It was different than normal, angled along the middle and slightly curved at the tip, but it was better than the silly thing he’d given to Kez earlier.
Walking up to her he held it out, the hilt closest to her. “Here. It’s a better knife. Now let’s go patch everyone up real quick and get the hell outta here.”
Campion was only slightly tired from the fight, so he managed to jog back to where Crawk, Kali, Nie, and the many dead bodies were. The selfish daemon side of him wanted to take care of his own animal first, but he felt he owed it to Nie and Kez to help them. Pushing his general uneasiness of the dragon to the side, he approached her and studied the arrow again. It’s be an easy fix, but painful. “Alright Nie girl, this is gunna hurt like hell. Brace yourself.” Campion nodded at her then grabbed the shaft of the arrow as close to the dragon’s body as he could. At the same angle that the bolt went in, he pulled it out in one quick motion, trying to tear as little flesh as possible.
Blood oozed, but Campion quickly placed a heavy piece of the medical material over it and motioned for Keziah to come over. “Put lots of pressure there, and I mean a lot. When it slows, put on a fresh piece on and see if you can’t make it stay there with…something sticky around here.” There had to be something, he was sure.
While Kez was with Nie, he rushed back over to Warg and started doing the same with him. First he pulled out the first bolt, and Crawk grunted in annoyance. Wargs were strong for many reasons, and not dying easily was one of them. He'd be fine with some blood oozing here and there.
The sun was on the horizon, making its way out of the sky as it was steadily becoming more dark. Campion could do fine in the dark, but he didn’t hold the same expectation for Keziah. That and many of the predators in the Savanna liked to hunt at night. Like lions. Fuck lions.
“A shame we don’t got more time. Those hyena pelts would make you a pretty penny.”
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Ink
Jul 16, 2017 2:04:58 GMT
Post by Keziah on Jul 16, 2017 2:04:58 GMT
Keziah tried very, very hard not to laugh at Campion's reaction to Nie's telepathy. She had been focused on the battle the first time Nie had spoken to him and had missed that reaction, but this one she could hardly fail to notice. The guy jumped like someone poked his backside with a branding iron and Keziah clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle the inevitable laughter, which was the absolute best she could do to meet his request. Nie, on the other hand, flicked her ears up and stared at Campion as he clambered back upright, and the gleam in her eye was distinctly, humanly amused.
"You'll get used to it," Keziah said with a snort.
"You should be honoured, I don't think she ever spoke to no-one else but me before."
She went through the pack on her own mule too, undoing the cinch on the beast's girth and letting the pack it carried slump onto the ground. It was carrying mainly water and some food, all of which she gathered up into a pile to haul back to the main site of the battle. She'd need to sort and pack it all there. Campion didn't keep a pack animal - they slowed you down, were more useful for long journeys and slower pace than a raider tended towards, and attracted attention from potential attackers. So she finished pulling the tack off the creature and then let it go. It stood there placidly, too tame to wander off, but it had grass and Keziah figured it would either make for water when it got thirsty or be found by someone who could use it, or become food for a savannah predator. Either way, it was no longer of any interest to her and she let it be. The knife Campion handed her was definitely more interesting - she examined it for a moment before tossing aside the battered old hunting knife and replacing it in her belt.
"Thanks."
Back with Nie, Crawk and Kali, Keziah dumped the loot in a pile for sorting and went to Nie's head, grateful that Campion was going to help. Keziah would have tried, but the Daemon had more experience than her with injuries. She held the feathered dragon's head while Campion prepared her, and didn't let go even as Nie arched her neck and hissed dangerously at Campion. She didn't snap though, and Keziah hurried to place pressure on the wound like Campion directed. Once the Daemon headed off to help Crawk she fetched water and the linen bandages she'd found in the mule's pack earlier, and after a little trial and error fashioned a passable dressing for Nie. It would only be for the night, until the bleeding stopped - then she'd wash it again and let the sunlight do its job of keeping the wound dry and sterile.
Now, it was a matter of sorting the loot. They couldn't take everything - the party they'd attacked had been carrying supplies for twelve on a long journey from the Boil to the City. They were only two people, and had no pack animals. Keziah emptied her bag and packed in as much of the food as she could fit - salted meat in small wooden boxes, fresh and dried fruit, jerky, hard cheese, a range of raw vegetables, salt, dry biscuits. She filled her water skin and took two more, enough that she could still easily carry it strapped to her hip. She took the time to go around each body and take any coin they were carrying, splitting this fifty fifty and giving Campion his share. The total between them wasn't a huge amount, but it was coin and would buy them some things in the City. Keziah also took a package of leather, buttery soft and light brown in colour, rolled up and probably on its way to a crafter in the City to be made into something - saddles, clothing, boots, who knew. It was nice quality though, and she thought she could either sell it or have it made into something she could use.
By the time she was done - Campion, too, who she assumed was doing the same - it was dark. Nie had spent most of the time eating the hyena that had tried to kill Keziah, wisely making the most of a source of fresh meat she didn't need to hunt down. Keziah glanced at the hulking shape of the fallen beast and shrugged.
"I ain't good enough at skinnin' things to handle somethin' like that anyway. Where we headed for the night?"
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Jul 17, 2017 4:59:53 GMT
Post by Campion on Jul 17, 2017 4:59:53 GMT
“Uh yeah, I feel um…very honored for being spooked and falling on my butt. Thanks, Nie.” Campion grumbled, but he meant the thanks. Maybe it’d be easier to get used to being around her if he could hear her speak rather than just see her do all the things she did openly by choice. Thank the gods that Keziah was there to hold her head when he pulled out the bolt. He felt that Nie really would have used his arm as a chew time if she wasn’t. Well, maybe not, since he was actually very unclear about how the dragon felt about him.
Campion did a last search and scrambled a few more things together, making sure he was quick and thorough. Now it was important to get off the road and camp somewhere for the night. Camping in the Savanna was always dangerous. It was important to get a fire going for the sake of warding off the natural, nocturnal predators, but since it was a flat place it was very easy to see the fire from miles away. The best place to camp up was to find a clear spot amidst very tall grass so the fire was a little more difficult to see. There were no caves for shelter, no huts and few trees. It was always a chance out there when camping at night, and that’s why Campion loved it. It was really helpful to have an animal too. They helped in their own way with keeping watch. On the plus side, if they could not find a place to make a fire, they had plenty of dry food to eat and the nights were fairly warm.
Ready to go, he whisteled for Kali and Crawk, who reluctantly stumbled up from his resting place. He moved over to Kez and brushed against her affectionately and Campion mumbled under his breath. Stupid warg liked the kid more than him.
“Well, we probably won’t get to far before we need ta rest. A fire probably ain’t a good idea, especially if someone comes across the bodies so we may have to just deal with the warm night.” He started moving off the road, but towards the direction they had originally been headed before they went of course to find some people to kill. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and find a place shaded already. I’m going to be really sore in the morn’ and I don’t want to deal with the sun at the same time.”
He threw his pack over his shoulder and made sure he had everything he needed, like his axe. Warg was injured and, though Campion was sure he could still carry him and Kez, he didn’t want to strain the big guy anymore. The road turned from solid ground to hard and dusty earth and calf-high dry grass poking at any exposed skin on Campion’s legs. He felt gross and battered, and that was saying a lot for a bandit who was used to being gross, and a golem that didn’t feel pain like most others.
All the tingling sensations in his legs were gone now, which was nice. As the night started to get darker, he summoned his little rabbit spirit guide again, using its spectral form as a small light source to show the way. To many other daemons, Campion’s magic was a joke, but he didn’t really mind it much. It wasn’t all that useful, but he didn’t like magic to begin with.
Finally after about an hour, just as it was getting really hard to see, there was a small “forest” of tall grass that reached up to campion’s neck in height. It was dry and prickly, but it’d do for some form of shade and even a big of comfort. The grass could be patted down and used as a medium between them and the hard ground. Nie and Crawk could easily be covered by it as well. It wasn’t the best option, but it was something.
“Let sit and eat. I’m starving after that fight. Then I’m probably going to sleep for a day,” he joked as he sent Kali and Crawk out to sniff out any predators or other visitors that could be nearby.
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Jul 20, 2017 7:37:23 GMT
Post by Keziah on Jul 20, 2017 7:37:23 GMT
The people they'd killed had been carrying more water than Keziah and Campion could feasibly take, so Keziah took the opportunity to indulge in a quick bath of sorts, washing away the splattered blood and scrubbing the dust and sweat from her face. There was enough, in one of the extra skins, to wash the blood from Nie's face and claws too, and the feathered dragon appreciated being able to restore the ebony gloss to her coat and the silky fur of her mane. They might chance upon a watering hole sometime before the city but there was no guarantee, and even if they did it was risky since they attracted predators. It was nice to be able to take the opportunity to use a rare excess of water, since this happened so infrequently in the savannah this time of year.
"Thanks for saving my butt, Crawk." Keziah stroked the Warg's nose affectionately as they all turned to leave the site of their carnage. The blood was pooling and congealing, the bodies already causing flies to swarm, and Keziah was ready to get out of there before it all attracted more trouble. They had all the food and water they could want for a while, and as much of a thrill as it had been, she needed to rest and gather her thoughts and, probably, not push her luck too much for one day.
"Sounds good to me." Campion's plan was sensible enough, she figured, and out here she trusted him to be the expert in how to stay alive. It had worked out well for her so far.
She lingered over the crossbow and bolts Nie had stacked next to one of the bodies for a while, but after hefting it onto her shoulder for a moment Keziah decided it was too heavy for her to travel with or even use very effectively. She wasn't particularly tall or stocky in build, unlike the muscular desert woman who had been its original owner. So she abandoned it, taking only the nicer knife from the stash of weapons their victims had been carrying, and settled in to walking behind Campion. Nie followed close by; she wouldn't be flying for a few days, until the wound at the base of her wing healed, but she was lithe and agile on the ground as well as in the sky so it wasn't much of a problem.
By the time they reached the long grass that Campion suggested they stop at, Keziah was starving and hurriedly agreed to stopping and eating. The adrenaline of the fight had well and truly worn off - her feet hurt, she ached like she'd been tackled by an oversized ugly dog, and her stomach was literally growling. Nie immediately flattened the grass by turning several tight circles like a huge glossy black cat and then stretched out and fell asleep, exhausted and sated from her meal of hyena. Keziah sat down next to her, leaning against her shoulder, and dropped her pack in front of her to rifle through it.
"Good idea, I'm so freakin' hungry. What food did you find in the raid?" Keziah pulled out the salted meat first and tore into a chunk experimentally - she hadn't a clue what it was, maybe some weird Boil animal, but it was rich and strong and tasted like heaven.
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