Private Tales Blood Moon

[Xaldin Abelon]

The afternoon sun beat down on the streets of Alliria unknowingly, unflinchingly. The heat washed over the bustling bodies parading through the alleys. City life never ceased. Xaldin, who spent most of his life in the tundra where no other life could be seen for eternities on end was never unimpressed with the city mindset. Life never stopped for anything.

He was lucky this day, however, to find a spot mostly uninhabited, for the moment at least. He leaned against the cool stone surface of the shop behind him. It was a typical traveller's store, stocked full of food, skins, hunting materials, and souvenir trinkets to attract the business of the most desperate tourists. Xaldin had been in Alliria for about two months now, residing in a humble inn near the center of the city, but far enough away from the biggest attractions to get some privacy. He'd just been shopping when he stopped outside the traveller's shop. A newly bought charm hung off his fingers as he examined it. He'd been told it was meant to keep goblins away. In his experience, though, charms always summoned unwanted creatures and he'd met quite a few surprisingly pleasant goblins.

Every now and then, someone would pass by, usually not alone, but Xaldin found that the quiet was nice after spending so many days wandering through the bumbling crowds of the inner city. His moment of peace was short lived when the sound of growling crept steadily closer and closer. At first it sounded to be far away and Xaldin took it to be a drunk, but as it grew closer the growling sounded less and less human.

Xaldin stepped away from the wall and touched a hand to his bow. It was all he'd brought out with him today considering that he needed to restock his arrows. He took it off his shoulder and reached his hand into his quiver, waiting. Slowly, the growling got louder. Slowly, the quaking of footsteps reached his street. It was heavy. Xaldin could see the archway shake slightly.

Then, the creature revealed itself.

Xaldin took a step back, horrified.

The creature was enormous. Its skin was gray and ashy and spots of it were irritated and inflamed. Though it had the structure of a human, its arms reached nearly down to its knees and the size of its biceps were without a doubt the size of Xaldin's head. If its stance wasn't enough to make him want to hurl, its gaping mouth and rearranged teeth did. Blood dripped down its chin and off its fingers, staining the remnants of its trousers.

"Holy shit," Xaldin murmured; he'd never seen anything like it.

The creature let out a groan and hunched over, planting its hands on the ground and fixating its eyes on Xaldin. It was preparing to strike.

 

[Nikaia]

Nikaia had hoped for a simple assignment. She was in town trying to arrange a trade for more copper so that the smiths in her home city could make more bronze for weapons and armor and tools. She had been demoted from guard captain to a simple dekatrios, a commander of ten men, and flogged for the same transgression which gave her several fresh scars on her mostly bare back.

Her upper torso and shoulders were the only things she protected, and she wore a battle-skirt of leather strips that did little to hide her thighs. Her forearms were protected by vambraces and demigreaves defended her shins. On her head was a helm without a crest, long cheekplates and a nose guard, lifted up on her head to show more of her face. (Corinthian helm). About her shoulders was a blood red cloak that reached her ankles.

In her right hand was a spear, strapped to her left arm was a hoplon shield, 1 1/4 meters in diameter and domed. At her hip was her trusty xiphos sword. The spear was halted with Cornell wood, wood so dense it sinks in water, and her shield was made of the same material, the spear was tipped with bronze and a thin sheet of bronze covered her shield. Her xiphos was cast entirely from bronze, the hilt wrapped in leather for a better grip. Her greaves, vambraces and helm were also wrought of bronze.

She walked out of the tradesman’s office, a small portion of a larger building, and into the quiet city air, well, as quiet as a city could be. She took a deep breath, and relaxed momentarily whilst none of her men were around to witness and report such a forbidden act, which to her people was a sign of weakness. She didn’t let it last long though, in a moment she had her shoulders squared and her eyes forward. She walked only a short distance when she saw the man fingering his bow, and her awareness was heightened. Something was happening, and so she widened her stance to ready herself for it. With the horrified look on the mans face, she hurried over and witnessed it herself, and immediately understood his horror. Looking behind the thing, she saw bodies, nine of them in matching armor. They were her men.

 

[Zier Xya Zythos]

Ah, yes, Alliria. This is a city Zier is definitely considering moving to. Ever since he arrived here, via a caravan, he was astonished by the intricate, architectural designs and patterns. The city was even more peaceful and mesmerising at night. The food? Delicious. In fact, Zier was just marveling at the city from a rooftop he climbed on. It's a habit and he's gotten into trouble for it in the past-- like now.

The shop owner had heard footsteps overhead so he investigated. "HEY! Get the fuck off my roof! Didn't I tell you to stop doing that?!?" He scolded him, gesturing around in disbelief at Ziers disobedience. Zier had climbed up this poor mans roof five times this week despite being asked to stop. In his defense... "Come onnn. This is my best view of the city from up here and I-"

"FUCK OFF!"

"I won't make nois-"

"Alright, stay then. I need to practice my archery anyway." The man took a single step towards his store and with that, Zier was two houses past that shop.

He'll have trouble climbing anymore buildings. He's tried the tall ones and the way down often resulted in pain. That was the only one he could find with an adequate height and view. Screw that guy! As he marched away angrily, he stopped and spun around while being a good distance away. He raised both hands and made a particularly rude gesture towards the man's shop before stomping in typical, teenage defiance.

He was so mad the ground even shook! He did it again to let that that crotchety old man know who was bos- Wait-- it didn't work the second time. The shaking started again, followed by growling. He couldn't resist investigating the noises, and when he did, he regreted it. What the hell is that??? He never seen something so grotesque and large up close. It looked as if someone beat the fuck out of an Orc then burned it, soon trampling it again and throwing in some knives. It's stance suggested it was hostile. The creature wasn't alone, accompanied by two individuals who look like they know how to kill a bitch. One of them chose an interesting fashion choice... Zier, No! Don't stare at her... LOOK AWAY!

They may be armed, but this creature doesn't look like it'll go down easily. Zier didn't bring his armor for a peaceful stoll through the city. He brought his leather vambraces, single pauldron and leather greaves incase he found himself in a simple street fight. Luckily for him, street fights can get dirty real fast, which is why he brought his sword. The weapon almost appears draconian with it's unusual guard resembling the wings of a dragon as it petrudes more towards the handle of it. The blade has the small depiction of a dragon on it. He has a sword and he knows how to use it, so why not help out He drew his blade from the sheath on his back, hurrying towards the pair and standing alongside them. No 'Hidden dragon: secret lotus!' Stances here; He simply spread his legs apart and pointed the blade at the creature. The men laying behind the beast and clearly dead made his stomach turn. If it killed those nine men, he feels that this small trio won't even make it sweat-- if the ugly even fuck can.

 

[Kiara]

Alliria was full of life with people walking on the streets, everyone was busy with their own things, but if someone stopped for a moment and looked with a bit of attention to the crowd would notice an elegant hairpin moving back and forward. A beautiful hairpin in a shape of a golden crescent moon with a little white wing attached to it, its owner? An elf, dressed in a two piece tunic outfit in bluish shades and pearly white hues with high heels boots matching the vests, Kiara.

The spellsinger sighed, she had the looks of someone that was lost. It was supposed for her to be on her way to Elbion, so, how did she end up there? Oh, right! <“Alliria it’s so close! It would be a shame to not make a little stop and see it with my own eyes...”> she thought. <“It is said that the city was majestically designed and constructed… Besides, according to books, it is smaller than Elbion…. so, if I just take a quick peek, no harm will be done…”> Wrong! This was the first time that the elf was visiting Alliria. Driven by her curiosity and fascinated with the mesmerizing view, Kiara didn’t pay attention to where she was going and as a result, she got lost. By now the spellsinger had been walking for at least half an hour and still, she couldn’t find the gates to leave the city, regretting for not buying the city map when she had the chance. Wandering aimlessly, she reached a secluded street, a little frown adorned her face, obviously this was not the right path.

She turned left, entering an even more discreet alley. The moment she did it, her eyes widen, nine guards, no, soldiers, were lying dead just a few meters in front of her, if that was not enough to make her blood run colder, a gruesome groan done the trick. Slowly she lifted her gaze, her eyes meet the back of an enormous beast, she was shocked by the sight, a question popped in her head. <”How this monster entered the city!?”> Luckily the creature didn’t notice the presence of the elf on its back. Kiara took the chance to back away while she summoned her staff, millions of bluish particles appeared, all starting to converge in one spot, crystallizing and taking the shape of Kiara’s crystal staff.
The spellsinger knew how to fight it, but she couldn’t defeat that creature alone! She would need help, but it would be a problem to let that thing run loose. She had a simple plan, stall the beast as long as she could. Taking a more advantaged position, something caught her attention, there were three figures facing that monster <”Great! I’m not alone!”> she breathed in relief, then frowned once again <”I’m just on the wrong side of the street! ...Terrific…”> Clearly this was not her lucky day.

 

[Xaldin Abelon]

The creature looked between the three forms in front of it, nose pointed to the sky, inhaling the scent of clean flesh. It could sense the movements of the newly arrived advancers. It turned its head to face each.

The first woman smelled like those that he'd just ripped apart. Her exposed skin made her a wanted target, for the creature was hungry- desperately hungry- and the urge didn't seem to be dispersing. With a spear, she had an advantage of not needing to get too close, but with its range, the monster's claws could easily reach her thighs.

The young man seemed hot tempered, angry even, his movements rushed and overexcited. With a sword equipped, he'd have to move fast. Evading the creature's blows and finding its blind spot would prove advantageous.

Preoccupied with the bodies in front of it, the creature didn't register the light footsteps of another person behind him. Xaldin, being the closest, was the creature's first target, though not for long.

From its hunched position, the creature lunged forward toward Xaldin, arms outstretched, leaping a tremendous length. Xaldin, his bow now readied with an arrow lodged neatly in its proper place, ducked his head and rolled out the way. The creature landed where he'd been standing, Xaldin now behind him. Taking the opportunity, Xaldin let his arrow fly, but the creature was too fast. Its eyes locked onto the woman, the smell of her blood blinding compared to the others.

Right as the arrow left the bow, it charged toward the woman, a nasty snarl bouncing off the stone walls of the alleyway and bloody teeth bared in preparation to sink into its new target.

 

[Nikaia]

She was aware of the two newcomers to the party, and welcomed the extra hands, she was not about to take any chances with a monster that had slain all nine of her unit. The teenager, overeager and rash by his appearance, would be a wild card for sure and likely wasn’t considering any strategy. The elf was a mage, and with this revelation she found herself willing to expect more from someone with the education necessary for such skill. The man who was there before her was clearly skilled with his bow, and was likely going to keep his distance.

So she immediately put together a simple strategy. She, being the only one with a shield and a long distance melee weapon, she would keep the beast’s attention and do what damage she could whilst the others whittled away at the creature’s life. She pulled her helmet down and turned her attention to the monster.

It’s deduction was flawed. Th reason that her thighs were so unprotected was because they didn’t need to be, with her huge hoplon covering everything except her armored shins and now fully protected head. She took a broad stance, braced her shield, which covered most of her, making only her head and calves visible. And as it charged she immediately thrusted her spear at it’s chest, where the heart would be, the bronze tip of the spear glinting wickedly in the sunlight. The jab was fast and accurate, the result of lifelong training for just that, fast strong and accurate.

If the thrust was avoided, she would step in quickly and slam the shield violently into the creature’s grotesque mouth, hopefully breaking some teeth in the process. If her spear were broken by the beast, she would simultaneously draw her short xiphos sword, also bronze, and stab it in the abdomen with lightning speed before taking a few steps back. Her shield never stopped covering her, giving the monstrosity minimal opportunity to get at her.

She did what she could to stay out of the archer’s and mage’s way whilst staying between the beast and the teenager, giving him cover to leap to and from in order to engage in a skirmish style of combat. It wasn’t hard to figure out that the thing was after her, good, now her simple, unspoken strategy was already working on that front. She could only hope that the others could understand the idea.

 

[Zier Xya Zythos]

It's certainly building up to be quite the spectacle. Ziers heartbeat quickened and he tightly grasped his sword as the monster looked at him. He doesn't know how this is going to turn out, but the odds might've shifted in their favor with the arrival of a newcomer; she seems to have accidentally stumbled upon the fight, and judging by her stance as she summoned her weapon, it appears that she's going to join it. As the beast crazily lunged towards it's target, Zier saw the Archer ducked and rolled out of the way, and he was impressed by his quick reflexes. Although, when the archer fired, the beast dodged it and set it's sight on the women.

The creature was feral and it seems to lack the basic fundamentals of formulating a strategy, attacking whoever it wants no matter the implications. With the new arrival, and the information he's gathered about this creature, his confidence grew each second. This thing appeared to be fixated on the women, and judging by it's ravenous demeanor, it must think she'll be a lovely appizier.

After the womens attack, Zier noticed that she was deliberately staying in between himself and the beast, presumably, to guard him. He wasn't for certain, but he might understand what she's getting at. The rude, defiant teenagers who flipped off a shop had vanished, being replaced by a valiant, determined, analytical swordsman with approximately five or six years of perfecting the blade under his belt.

He stepped over to the side, flanking the beast slowly so he wouldn't disturb it's fixation on the women. After he was at it's side, he took a deep breath, changing his footing and running towards it with explosive speed. He unleashed a rapid series of ferocious slashes at the creature, aiming for it's neck, and primary it's large biceps. He doesn't even know if he'll effectively cut them, but he tries anyway so it's strikes will be weakened incase it attempted to attack the women again. He's confident his burst of speed might do something. Zier was light on his feet, careful not to interfere with the archer if he finds a shot, and occasionally stopping to leap back behind the women so it could focus on her again. His style was precise, unrelenting, fierce yet elegant; it was clear he had a strong passion for sword fighting.

 

[Kiara]

The elf’s mind rushed to access all the information, by the look of it, the monster was attracted not only by movements but would also attack the closest opponent. Indeed, a behavior of a beast driven by pure instincts, but that didn’t mean he was not dangerous. For a creature of that size it was quite agile, and that could be a problem. Then Kiara placed her attention on the three figures, watching their first moves. The archer was agile, and with his swift reactions, he took the opponent’s opening to launch an arrow, the woman acted as an offensive tank, drawing the aggression of the monster to her while delivering furious blows, finally but not least, the swordsman flanked the horrendous monster, delivering a sequence of multiple cuts on its vital points. Everyone seemed to be proficient on their chosen weapons. Perfect, this was people that Kiara could work with.

Even without a plan being spoken, the spellsinger could tell that somehow everyone knew what to do and their roles. This battle should go smoothly, but something was bothering Kiara. It wasn't uncommon seen parties being wiped out after a slight error of the front liners, and usually in that situation, mages and archers were the first ones to be targeted and hunted down, so if that woman failed to keep the attention of the beast, things could get out of control really quickly. Well, right now Kiara had no other option than to trust her.

Kiara main elements were ice and lightning, but for this particular fight, lightning spells were not an option, even though it could stun the opponent while delivering a good amount of damage, there was a high chance of the spell bounce. Not because Kiara would miss the target but because metal was a good conductor and attracted electricity, even magic couldn’t escape the laws of physic, thus, it would not be wise to use such spells with nearby allies handling swords and spears. So, ice magic it is! As the fight developed Kiara noticed the window between everyone’s attacks was small, so her timing to strike was narrow, this meant she could only rely on a single target, fast cast spells, in order to not hit by accident an ally.

For an improvised party, everyone was in sync, fulfilling their roles, always aware of the movements of each other, attacking and getting out of the way, allowing everyone to attack, maximizing the damage dealt. Such a nice compatibility for a team that had never fought together before, it was clear that experience was the key.

In a swift move Kiara lifted her arm, softly whispered a chant, in front of her, four sharp spikes of ice started to form. Seizing an opening she aimed for the beast’s limbs, intending to decrease the monster’s mobility. The first ice dagger landed on the leg, cause it to bleed, but unfortunately the second missed the creature’s foot, crushing on the stone floor. This was not an easy task, the openings between attacks was extremely narrow. Furthermore, that thing wouldn’t stay put. After the male elf jump out of the way, Kiara took the chance to launch the remaining spikes. This time both of them found its target, one hit on its shoulder, opening another wound, while the other landed on the beast’s nape, but unfortunately the last shard didn’t penetrate the rough skin, but none the least, left a nasty frostbite.

Sure, Kiara knew that the beast wouldn't die with such attacks, but slowing the creature’s movements would be advantageous, this was a team fight after all, providing assistance during a combat was also important and sometimes crucial. Everything to guarantee that all of them would come out of that fight alive, this was Kiara’s goal.

 

[Xaldin Abelon]

The woman jabbed her spear at the monster's chest, the force of which seemed to make a sizzling sound as it sliced through the air. The creature batted it away. It raised an arm and swung down on the spear, not quite breaking it, but swiping hard enough to knock it out of the woman's grasp. Before the creature had a chance to redirect its aim back at the woman's legs, hoping to sweep her off her feet, she rammed her shield into its jaw. The creature howled, stumbling backward as a few of its teeth fell to the ground. A clump of blood dribbled from its mouth and its jaw was aligned at an awkward angle, but it was hardly fazed. As the creature gave a roar, its jaw popped back into place.

The woman gave another stab, this time with her sword. The stab landed, drawing a line of fresh blood from the creature's chest. Again, the creature hardly noticed and the wound began to stitch itself up. The skin slowly sealed. It wasn't a clean heal or an accurate one, but it worked. Seeing as the woman was now in the creature's range, it swooped both its arms down in an attempt to cut her, reopening its wound, but she was quick and had jumped back before the hit landed.

As the creature was about to charge forward, an array of slashes danced across its arms and lined its back. It whipped around with a shriek of pain to confront its assailant. The fresh marks began to heal, just as displayed earlier, though the lines closest to the neck seemed to linger for longer.

The creature swiped furiously at the man with the sword. Each movement it made opened wound after wound, each mark trying harder and harder to keep up with the monster's motions. In an attempt to finish the man off, the creature opened its mouth wide, exposing its remaining teeth, painted red with the blood of the soldiers lying on the ground, and lunged forward, aiming for the man's neck.

In its blind rage, it didn't seem to notice the fresh, icy cut on the back of its foot. It wasn't until a blade of ice lodged into the creature's shoulder that it reared, crying out as the ice pushed through the skin. The creature wrapped a hand over the spike, pulling it out. Another shard brushed past its nape. A frost ran down the monster's spine, chilling its whole body, leaving it distracted and howling.

Xaldin whirled around in the direction of the ice, noticing the woman with the cresent hairpin. She could do magic. Drawing another arrow, Xaldin jumped to his feet and rushed toward her, arrow outstretched. The ice worked well as a distraction, seeing as the monster was now clawing at the back of its neck, roaring tremendously without notice of the other two fighters in its range.

"Quickly," Xaldin shouted at the wizard, "can you enchant this?"

If he could secure an arrow in the monster's neck, which appeared to be its weak point, the other two could finish it off with ease. They would have to move quick, though. The creature was no longer preoccupied with the cold. Instead its eyes were locked onto the woman who'd casted the spells.

 

[Nikaia]

As soon as the ice daggers were done being launched, she took the opportunity to charge. Bracing her shield against her shoulder and covering her head as well, she did something either very dumb or very brave. She charged, and used her shield as the cap of the battering RAM and charged headlong into the monster until her charge was halted, either by the monster's strength or the wall. Once stopped she would attempt to cut off one of its arms, and hopefully even it's head. And she would again jump just out of reach once her attack was finished.

She heard the man request an enchanted arrow, which makes sense, but she herself wasn't a big fan of magic. Her solution was always "kill it as many times as necessary", but she wasn't going to complain. She wasn't going to be letting this thing leave alive, not unless it killed her like it killed her men, then she might die with honor, or restore her lost honor.

She was keeping herself in front of the thing until it struck, then she'd always sidestep and make a cut or stab. If she got the opportunity or it goes she'd pick her spear back up and use it, either up close or throw it. While keeping it's attention on her, she gave the others opportunity to strike more critically. It was good to see that her new and sudden companions were competent.

 

[Zier Xya Zythos]

Zier leapt back when the creature spun around to face him. He didn't notice it from the womens attacks, but after his, he saw that thing can heal. Fuck! it'll be even more difficult to kill this bastard now. Then, he saw the cuts around his neck heal significantly slower than the rest. He can't charge it head on; he'll need an opening to hopefully stab it's neck.

As the creatures stance shifted to go on the offensive, Zier sheathed his sword to avoid having to limit his movements to accommodate to it's weight. Counterattacking could be risky because he doesn't want to mess up by dodging while looking for an opening, it's too much to focus on. He swiftly ducked under and weaved past the beasts wild, savage swipes. The brute's muscles are large, therefore making it slow. Zier is much smaller so It's uncoordinated blows are easily to dodge.

The lunge for the neck is where he decided he needs to make some distance between him and it. He quickly ducked under it, rolling to the side in a way that resembles how the Archer did. In the moment he ducked, he saw an ice shard penetrate it's foot. Cool! She's an ice mage. Maybe she could teach me how to do that! After the ice attack, Zier saw the women charge it with her shield while delivering a few a slashes. This is good, it'll be on the defensive and they can buy the archer some time to get his arrow enchanted.

During her shield charge, Zier placed his hand over the ground, clenching it slightly and raising it up, commanding two, small balls of lava through the cracks in the earth. They quickly solidified into sharp, seven inch obsidian shards. He shot his arm out towards the creature and one shard took off towards the back of it's neck, and the other at it's lower back.

The second should paralyze it from the waist down if it tilted it's head to avoid the first; the implications of the first are obvious. He doesn't have to worry about missing altogether and striking the women because of her shield, but hopefully they can deal some critical damage. On a side note, Zier had never been in perfect Sync with his teammates, especially with people he's never even spoken to. Yet, what better way is there to get acquainted with each other than on the field of battle?

 

[Kiara]

"Quickly," Xaldin shouted at the wizard, "can you enchant this?"

Kiara didn’t want to attract the beast’s attention, so she only nodded her head while stretching her free hand just above the arrow, working on the spells. She would not only enchant the arrow with wind element, to increase speed and penetration, but also, augment it with ice essence to provide more damage and since the creature had healing abilities, the cold would slow down the regeneration of the cells, delaying the healing process.

Though the spellsinger was focused on the enchantment, she remained aware of the battle, hearing each movement of the beast. That was when her senses felt its murderous intentions, that thing was targeting her now! She was a fast caster so in no time the arrow was ready.

The elf turned her attention to the monster, her plan? Invoke a frost wall, not only to protect herself and the archer from a direct hit, but also the wall would provide them cover, blocking the beast’s sight while they moved to a new location. Thankfully, this was not necessary since the female warrior charged against the creature. Kiara was glad that she could rely on the woman to keep that thing occupied and maintain its aggression.

Anyway, Kiara took this chance to back away a bit, since the monster was now aware of her presence. Close fight combats in such a narrow space would easily turn into a death sentence for her, so better keep the distance.

Then something caught her attention, the male fighter, he was a caster too, user of lava magic, a variation of fire! Now that was a spell she didn’t mind to add in her grimoire! She took a mental note to ask if he didn’t mind to at least explain how it worked.

Taking advantage of the beast being momentarily immobilized due to the obsidian shard, and before that thing could take the shard out and start healing once again, Kiara summoned another ice spell. This one froze and glued both creature feet on the ground, the ice reached its ankles, keeping the beast in place. If that monster wanted to break free from that reinforced ice, then better be prepared to rip its skin off and end up with exposed flesh, damaging once again while slowing its movements. The elf hoped that someone would take this opportunity to deliver a deadly blow.

 

[Xaldin Abelon]

With a clang the creature fell to the ground, its attention too locked on to the mage to notice the other woman charging at it. It rolled over in an attempt to dodge, but the woman's sword found its way into the creature's arm. The blade dug deep, creating a gash down to the bone. The creature growled ferociously, its arm beginning to heal, but slowly and painfully. As it gripped its arm, the woman had the time to pick her spear back up and made a jab at it, digging the end of the weapon into the monster's chest. The creature smacked it away again.

Xaldin gave the mage a quick thanks and aimed his arrow carefully. The moment the creature smacked the woman's spear away, it twisted its body in a way that revealed its back to him. Xaldin let the arrow fly, the mage's magic causing it to zip through the air so fast he could barely follow its trail. The arrow lodged itself right into the middle of the monster's spine, the ice magic spreading quickly. The creature arched its back and let out a howl as the ice numbed every nerve in its body. Its injured arm lay at its side, but the other curled up to its chest.

The first obsidian spike flew up from the ground, landing in the creature's lower back. Suddenly, its wildly shifting feet stood still and as if to enforce it, a mound of ice crystalized across its feet. The creature was totally immobile. The skin surrounding the obsidian spike in the creature's back began to sizzle. It was burning. Letting out its final howl, the creature waved its good arm around as the second obsidian spike impaled its neck.

The creature let out a choking sound and grabbed at the spike in its neck. It tried to tug it out, but the spike wouldn't budge. The skin at its neck began to burn, the flesh turning a disgusting, wrinkly pink. The wound wouldn't heal and the monster was burning from the inside out.

After an agonizing moment, the creature stopped moving and its hand fell to its side. Its dead weight caused the ice at its feet to crack and shatter. The creature fell onto its back, snapping the arrow in two. Its was dead.

Xaldin ran from his position next to the mage and hesitantly crouched beside the now dead creature. He ran his fingertips over the creature's skin, then yanked them away.

He grumbled, "It's hot. Very hot."

Xaldin reached his hand out again, this time touching the creature more lightly. As his fingers graced its skin, the flesh began to crumble and crack. And then it turned to ash.

Parts of its legs were still in tact considering it hadn't been hit there and its trousers were still in one piece, but the rest of its body was completely indistinguishable.

 

[Zier Xya Zythos]

Everything was, yet again, going according to their unspoken plan. Zier cringed as the womens sword cut deep into the beasts arm, to the bone. He hadn't seen an injury that severe in front of him before. For a moment, he almost felt sympathetic for it as it let out an animalistic cry. The pained screeching of anything, insentient or not, can be very unpleasant to hear-- especially to witness.

That feeling was swiftly shoved aside by the feeling of satisfaction, victory! That ice trap is something Zier would've loved to do on that merchant from before. He didn't even see the arrow hit its back until after it struck. Zier stood up and walked over towards it as the archer crouched down to touch it. He leaned in closely as the archer grazed his fingers across it, perplexed at how this thing is even alive. Then, it turned to ash, and Zier felt nauseous; it's disgusting. Despite that feeling, he couldn't help himself, looking over the ashes... "Hah! FFFUCKER!" Anddddd he's back to his normal self, with extra emphasis on the F. He normally would've showed his opponent some respect, but he'll make an exception because it's a monster.

 

[Nikaia]

Though glad of victory, Nikaia didn't celebrate, whilst everyone else was busy, she went to the bodies of her former comrades. All of the spears were broken, four of the nine swords were shattered, and all of the shields were heavily dented. They had fought hard and well. Even a few of them had bruised knuckles on their right hands, which meant that even when their swords were lost they kept fighting, to the last man. And since she was the last one left alive, she had to bring back proof that she had fought and killed the monster else she'd either be executed or flogged and banished for cowardice.

She sighed and said a simple prayer to her gods, that they would grant her men rest in paradise. Then she added a small prayer of her own, asking the goddess of law and justice to see her name cleared and her honor preserved. After these short prayers she stood up, she'd have to send a message home, so that the bodies could be carried back atop their shields.

She returned to the group. "What was that monstrosity? And how did it get here?"

 

[Kiara]

The monster lifeless body hit the cold stone floor. For a moment Kiara didn’t move. Now that the threat had been dealt, her mind was elsewhere. She looked at the nine bodies, noticing that they carried the same equipment as the woman, they were her comrades.

Being a kind-hearted elf, Kiara wanted to at least give a comforting word, but she was not sure of what to say, she didn’t know her, and warriors like her would most likely take ‘I’m sorry for your lost’ as an offence, thinking that the elf was pitying her, or her dead comrades, so Kiara tried another approach.

Once the woman finished her prayers, Kiara intercepted her, her eyes were locked on the dead warriors. “They were brave honored men, I can tell by just looking at them, but, their fight is over.” She paused, her features softening as she turned her gaze to face the woman. “Is there anything that I can do to assist you? I’m sure that you won’t simply leave their bodies here.”

Finally, the elf turned her attention to the beast just in time to see its body turn into ashes. Still a question lingered on her head <“How did this beast enter the city?”> Her line of thought was interrupted as the female warrior spoke the same concern but out loud.

 

[Xaldin Abelon]

Despite their victory, the creature's presence was still a mystery. The swordslinger seemed to be enlightened by the creature's defeat, leaned down next to Xaldin in examining its newly ashen form. Xaldin couldn't wipe the mystery from his mind. He'd encountered countless monsters before now- he'd made a living out of it- but none had ever been so mindless that they were unsavable.

The two women were pondering over the line of fallen soldiers farther down the alley. To be able to wipe out so many people with such ease only to fall easily form the use of magic? What was this monster's story? It clearly had a weakness to elemental magic and maybe even magic in general, but to burn from the inside out was unheard of.

"I suppose introductions are in order," Xaldin said, drawing attention back to the monster, "My name is Xaldin. I've been hunting monsters for the past few years, but none have ever appeared like this before my eyes."

Xaldin felt around the pile of ash for anything, any sign of a clue. As his hand brushed over the torn trousers, he felt a lump in each of the pockets. Brows furrowed, he emptied its contents.

The first thing he pulled out was a small, rusty dagger. It looked old and unwanted, but there was a symbol stamped into the side of the sheath, a marking of a blacksmith. As Xaldin held it up to his face to get a closer look, he was disappointed that he didn't recognize the marking.

The second thing he retrieved from the monster's pocket was a folded piece of parchment. Upon opening it, he found a list of ingredients smudged onto the paper. Luckily, it was still legible. Moonwort, Sizweed, Sunwater, Garlic: that's what was listed. Xaldin wasn't sure what such ingredients were to be used for, but he figured that showing it to an alchemist would suffice.

The last object was a small, bronze key with the number eleven carved into the face. It looked to belong to an inn of some sort and from the make of the key, it wasn't a very fancy inn. It must be to someplace located near the outer city or the slums.

"Look at these," Xaldin laid the objects in front of the team, "I'm not sure what this monster is or where it came from, but perhaps these could be of some use?"

 

[Nikaia]

Once the woman finished her prayers, Kiara intercepted her, her eyes were locked on the dead warriors. “They were brave honored men, I can tell by just looking at them, but, their fight is over.” She paused, her features softening as she turned her gaze to face the woman. “Is there anything that I can do to assist you? I’m sure that you won’t simply leave their bodies here.”

"You've got that right. No retreat, No surrender. That's our way of life, our law, and they died by it. Your sympathy is appreciated. As for help, unless you can send a message across vast distances quickly, then I'm afraid that there isn't much. Well done out there mage."

"I suppose introductions are in order," Xaldin said, drawing attention back to the monster, "My name is Xaldin. I've been hunting monsters for the past few years, but none have ever appeared like this before my eyes."

"I am Nikaia, of Methos. I have experience with some monsters such as chimeras, but none like this. I will assist however I can in our next course of action."

With his mention of the clues, she came to a conclusion. "Leave the recipe with an alchemist while they find out what those ingredients go to and we paid up to investigate the other two, a mage and a fighter pair would be best."

 

[Zier Xya Zythos]

Zier was saddened to see the women approach the bodies of her men. He'd say something, but he's not good offering any condolences, and the elf seems to have that covered. He doesn't know if they were close or not, but he hopes that she has some sort of closure considering that they've slain the creature and avenged them.

As if this ugly thing couldn't get any more mysterious, the archer has pulled three, miscellaneous objects from its pockets. He closely examined each object and no information was given to him. Surely these objects must mean something, but he has no idea what. He doesn't even care for garlic.

He turned to his new, sudden team and stood up. "Sup. My name is Zier and I'm from Fal'addas. You both," He looked at the women and archer, "looked like you were in trouble so I thought I'd help. That was also my first monster. I'm glad i did help because that was awesome!" He smiled at them with excitement, thrilled off their victory. "If we did all that without thinking up a plan, imagine if we did!" He knows they all felt that strange bond as well. Certainly, they must've. It was possibly a combination of experience and instinct. Without any knowledge of weaponry and spellcasting, this would be a much different story.

 

[Kiara]

“I see...” Unable to do much more for the woman, Kiara lowered her head before lifting it again. “I didn’t do much, just provided assistance, but let me say that I was impressed by how you handled the beast.”

As everyone introduced themselves, Kiara took some mental notes. Xaldin seemed to be very reserved and perceptive. Nikaia had a strong personality and follow an honor code. In battle Zier was serious, but out of it, his personality would change to a more enthusiastic one. The spellsinger suppressed a little giggle, finding funny how mismatched the male elf’s personality were between those situations, and how the fire element suit him.

“I'm Kiara, a mage and adventurer affiliated with Elbion Magic College. It’s a pleasure to meet all of you. On all my journeys, I too never encountered a monster like this one.” Then she remembered that she was supposed to be on her way home, but, there was no way she would leave this mystery unsolved, furthermore, Elbion wouldn’t go anywhere. She had made her mind.

Resting her index finger on one cheek, the elf examined the objects, thinking for a few moments. <”This is not right… these items make no sense. Why would a monster carry an inn key around? It's not like someone would rent a room to that thing!“> Clearly something was wrong. Suddenly a wild idea crossed her mind, but quickly pushed it away. It was way too soon for her to formulate a theory, but one thing she was sure, those items would prove to be important clues.

Agreeing with Nikaia’s plan, Kiara offered to search out which inn the key belonged to.

 

[Xaldin Abelon]

Xaldin stood up from his spot next to the monster, holding each of the objects in his hands. He gave the key to Nikaia so she could use it in her search and handed the rest to Zier. Picking his bow up from off the ground, he swung it over his shoulder and shuffled the quiver around until it was in a comfortable position.

"Here's what I propose," he started, looking into the eyes of each of his new teammates, "Kiara and Nakaia, you can carry out your search for the inn. I suggest looking someplace closer to the slums from the look of that key."

He turned to Zier, "We can go see an alchemist. There's one that I know of near the slums. That way we're all in a close proximity to each other. If there are any more of these beasts, I'm sure we can all find our way back to each easily."

Xaldin thought of the knife. He didn't frequent any blacksmiths, but they could probably ask around for anyone who recognized the marking on the sheath.

"Once we've found what we're looking for, let's meet at the crumbled fountain in the center of the slums. Then, we can regroup and share what we've found."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nikaia and Kiara, as they searched the slums, would eventually stumble upon a rather sturdy-looking inn standing proudly in the center of the street which connected the slums to the outer city. The inn was called The Dancing Dragon and once inside, the two would find a gruff, dwarvish man standing on a stool behind the front counter.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Xaldin would lead Zier to the alchemy shop he'd visited periodically, which was called the Bubbling Broil. It was quaint and rather cheap and there wasn't much to buy, but it served well as a healer's shop. The wooden tabletops were well dusted, but the walls seemed to be ignored as they were riddled with dust. Piles of books, ingredients, mortars, and pestles lines the shelves.

The shop owner was a tall, komodi woman names Aracel Centyre. She was kind and helpful and hardly ever turned down a request. She served as a healer in the slums, her potions and concoctions often given out for free to the poor and sickly. Her skin was a pale white which gleamed silver in the now setting sun. She was a woman who looked like she lived many lifetimes, but never spoke a word of her past.

 

[Zier Xya Zythos]

He took the parchment and grabbed the rusty dagger-- loosely. Gross! He nodded in agreement to Xaldin's plan. He gave Kiara and Nikaia a small wave before following Xaldin to their destination. Zier had never been to the slums, and with the few alchemist shops he's been to, they've been more efficiently dusted. The walls look completely neglected and the spiderwebs creep him out. Although, he'd prefer spiderwebs than getting his throat ripped out by a savage monster any day.

Zier perused around the small shop, not taking an interest to anything in particular, but still looking around out of curiosity. Turning and seeing the shop owner, he got startled and jumped back a bit, getting a cobweb on his arm. Pardon his reaction. This is the second Komodi he's seen up close, and this one's eyes looked deadly. "Sorry about that, sometimes I get scared easily.." He said, smiling and brushing off the cobweb. He held the parchment and rusty dagger out to her. "We were wondering if you can help us out with these items? The words on this parchment looks like a recipe of sorts, but I'm uncertain. Then there's the symbol on this old dagger which also confuses us."

 

[Nikaia]

Nikaia was happy with the arrangements. That way each group had a mage and and warrior. Though Zier was a bit of both, and Xaldin was restricted to archery, it was still an effective setup. Besides, it kept the teenager from going a little too far with his observations, of nikaia to be specific. Nikaia was aware that most women covered more of themselves than she did, except for women back home, she was about as modest as they were, but she didn't really care. Her body was guarded by a shield bigger than she was, so armour on the total or thighs was pointless, her arms, calves, shoulders and head were the only places where armour was necessary, and that's where the armour was.

After searching around a bit, they came to the inn The Dancing Dragon. And Nikaia went in with Kiara, and true to her people's way, was very direct about her questions. "Is this yours?" When the dwarf answered yes she asked immediately after, "who did you rent it to last? Describe them, and give me a name if you can."

 

[Kiara]

Kiara unsummon her staff, there was no need to carry it around. The crystal staff burst, releasing millions of bluish particles that dispersed in all directions, gently fading into thin air. Then the spellsinger followed Nikaia, this time paying attention to the path, so she wouldn’t get lost, that would be an embarrassing situation, but... oh well, Kiara’s orientation was not the best and she had no idea where the slums were.

Entering the inn, both females went to the dwarf man that was behind the front counter. Kiara would try a smooth approach, but before she could say a word, Nikaia went straight to the point, making the questions. The elf didn’t know if she should be impressed or intimidated by the woman's direct approach, well it was not a bad thing, it was just… the way Nikaia was, and Kiara would respect that.
Finally the elf added “Also, could we search the room? There is something that we need to check.” she asked in a calm and polity tone, there were high possibilities that the room could contain more clues about this mystery. “And… If I’m not mistaken, I’m afraid that your tenant will not be able to return.”

 

[Xaldin Abelon]

Aracel looked at the list Zier had slid across the table. She gave him and Xaldin a slight smile and flicked her red eyes back to the parchment. Her eyes narrowed and her lips outlined the sounds of each ingredient. After a minute of pondering the list, she set the paper down on the counter and ducked under to pull out a scroll or two.

She ruffled through the first scroll, whispering about the mysterious effects of sunwater. Then she flipped through the second scroll, furiously.

"What is it that you want with such a concoction?" Aracel asked, eyes narrowed on the two wanderers, "you aren't planning something, are you?"

She slid the paper back to Zier and picked up the knife, "Those ingredients, if mixed together, would make a very explosive boil. It would be very fatal if used on a vampire, though I can't fathom why you would want anything to do with those monsters."

She sent a judgemental glance at Xaldin, aware of his involvement in monster hunting.

Setting the knife on the counter, Aracel ran her finger over the marking stamped into the sheath, "I can make a batch for you, if you wish. Work is work."

"This doesn't have anything to do with Doran Trante, does it?" she asked, holding the knife up to the light hanging dangerously from the ceiling, "I know he's smart enough not to wrap himself up in the squabbles of his customers."
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The dwarf behind the counter of the Dancing Dragon took a look at the key, confirming that it was, in fact, a key to the eleventh room of his establishment. He sighed and looked between the two women who'd disturbed his rather peaceful evening.

"Give me one moment, lassies," he said in a thick accent.

He stepped off his stool and waddled to a bookshelf behind the counter, where he stepped up another stool to retrieve a large book locked with a key. Coming back to his position by the counter, he pulled a key from a necklace strapped around his neck and unlocked the book.

The dwarf flipped toward the end of the book, revealing that it was a recording of all the customers who'd rented rooms at his inn. His finger traced down the list, trying to find the last listing under room eleven until it stopped under the last name.

"I don't usually reveal the privacy of my customers," the dwarf raised his eyebrows, "but the man currently under this room is named Ellion Sharp. I can't say I remember everything about my customers, but I can say that he hasn't been back in a few days."

The dwarf sighed again, rubbing his temples, "Seeing as you have the key to the place, go ahead and do what you want. If he's not coming back, then I'll have to throw his stuff out."

Once the two made it to the Ellion's room, they would find a heavily disgruntled sight. Against the wall the bed laid against, they would find an array of spears, unmistakably iron in make and shaved into a stake on the other end. There was a desk standing underneath the only window in the room which was covered in a stack of books detailing vampires, The Danger of the Moon and An Alchemist's Guide to Vampires being a few.

In the center of the desk, neatly folded and stamped was a letter addressed to a Melina Sharp.