Private Tales Finesse

[Trix]

The smoke creature shifted and the thorns dropped to the floor harmlessly. There wasn't even a hint of blood. Trix set her jaw. When fighting shadows in the past there had always been a person controlling it who had been solid and able to feel pain. Fighting their monsters was merely a defensive thing. It appeared, lacking the obvious master of this thing, that that was what Trix was going to have to do here. All without getting killed in the meantime.

The creature gave a snarl when it noticed its prey dashing out the window and lurched forward.

As it swung to swipe her out of the way vines burst from the floorboards and yanked its fist down giving her time enough to move. It roared as the ivy fell helplessly through its smoke-like body and lunged again for her, and again. They continued this dance in an increasingly dizzy pace with Trix barely getting away from an intended attack before the monsters landed a hit. She wasn't lucky on all occasions however and earned herself several new bruises. The fire had crept closer. As Trix saw its yellow glow in the corridor she jumped for the window too.

 

[Rafael]

The boy came crashing down onto the floor, slowed by the vine like ladder but still hitting the ground hard enough to let a thud echo out. A smear of crimson left upon the ground as he rushed to stand up and continue his flight.

Rafael moved quickly, Tulio under one arm as he practically slid down the vine-scape that Trix had created.

He was almost half-way down when the young Dreadlord came crashing into him. The urgency of her jump met with great dexterity, but unable to account for the lumbering werebat carrying his dog. All of them went tumbling to the ground.

Tulio landed with a surprising deftness, and it was almost assured that Trix would as well.

Unfortunately with only a tenuous grasp upon the vines, Rafael went falling face first. Landing almost directly in the shallow puddle of blood that had been left behind by the fleeing boy. Crimson specks filled his senses, and his head came up a silvery hue touched his eye.

A loud whine escaped Tulio's throat, and then the cracking of bone began to echo out.

 

[Trix]

At first Trix thought Rafael had broken a bone. She had half leapt past him in order to try and help the boy attempting to get onto her horse. The mare was having none of it tossing her head in the air and spinning in circles whilst the kid cursed and attempted not to get trampled. Rafael falling to the floor made her hesitate especially when she could hear the sound of snapping bones. It had to be bad for her to hear it over the roar of the creature, the horse, and the boy.

"Come on, we'll get you to a healer but you have to mov-" Trix stopped when she saw the silver in his eyes and instantly dropped him. Wrong, her senses seemed to scream. Run, run, run! Even Tulio had dipped his tail between his legs.

"What are you?" she whispered but before Rafael could reply the glass above shattered and the monster threw itself from the flaming building.

 

[Rafael]

Rafael struck the ground once more as Trix dropped him. His bones shifting and changing beneath his flesh. Snapping and reforming as piece by piece he transformed. Skin stretching, fingers elongating, his ears drawing high above his skull as fur began to grow down his spine.

"R-RUN!" The word was all he managed to scream out, sounding more a roar than spoken. Flesh tearing itself apart as new skin took hold beneath.

Tulio began to bark, his teeth snapping and baring at Trix as he imposed himself between the Dreadlord and Werebat. He nipped at her heels, urging her to move even as the monster came crashing down into the grass behind them.

Landing with a loud thud just as Rafael suddenly snapped up from the ground.

A loud screeching roar echoed from the now transformed mercenary. His hulking form standing nearly twice as tall as the man. Wings stretching out as silvery eyes caught the Dreadlord. For a moment the monster seemed to stand, then it whirled around. Flapping it's wings only once as it launched itself towards the monstrous figure that had come crashing from the window.

A loud echoing thud ringing out as the two beasts went crashing together. The werebat's claws beginning to dig in and thrash into the other monster.

 

[Trix]

Trix didn't require Tulio's nipping to get her to move; she had no intentions of being any were-creatures next snack. She had only met one were creature before; a werewolf deep within the Falwoods. In its blood rage it had torn out the throats of the two other initiates she had been with and if she hadn't had such control of her magic for her age, she had no doubts she would have died there that day too. Were-beasts had no semblance of mind when the bloodlust took hold.

She scooped the dog up and bolted for the horse.

Seeing her mistress the horse instantly planted her feet no matter how much the boy kicked, his face growing paler and paler as he watched the bat and shadow monster fight. Trix didn't so much as glance over her shoulder.

"Go!" she leapt onto the saddle, boy and dog in her lap, and the horse took off down the path.

 

[Rafael]

Rafeal, if the beast could even now be called Rafael, tore into his foe as any beast would.

His claws ripped.

His maw bit and crunched.

Every weight of his muscle, every powerful strike of his wings. Everything went into fighting the monstrous shade which screeched and so terribly howled. Pieces of the beast were torn away, strips of shadowy flesh thrown and tossed asunder.

It was a vicious, violent, and without even a second of mercy or hesitation.

Dreadful howls echoed into the air. Horrendous and bestial screeches reaching out and sundering screeches reaching out as the werebat tore into his foe. Flesh stripped from wings as claws sunk and dragged. The awful pained cries rearing through the sky as Rafael's monstrous maw bit down and shredded their foe.

Blood and bile began to fill the clearing, scattering and salting the earth as the beast beneath the werebeast found itself assailed with a monster to match. Torn away piece by bloody piece even as the Dreadlord began to flee.

 

[Trix]

Tulio flailed in her arms in a desperate attempt to get back to his master but Trix held firm; she didn't know how many times the dog had been with his master when he had changed but she wouldn't take the chance Tulio had merely been lucky up until now not to be eaten. At least the boy was able to ride. He bounced on her mare's withers but he held on grimly, fingers fisted in her mane.

"What the fuck was that thing!?" he shouted over the sounds of galloping hooves.

"I don't know," she growled back and dug her heels in harder sending the mare into a more frantic gallop. What thing was he referring to? Either way her answer didn't change. "Something you have is calling to that thing, kid. What did you steal?"

"I ain't stole nuffin'!" the boy said stubbornly and Trix rolled her eyes towards the sky.

"Look, that thing wants you dead. I'd be doing myself a favour letting it get you. If you don't want to die you'll tell me everything!"

 

[Rafael]

Bestial cries echoed out from outside the manor behind Trix.

Rafael, if the beast he has transformed into could even still be called by that name, fought his foe ferociously. Not as a mindless monstrosity, but something with cunning. He bit, grasped, and ripped at the shadowy flesh beneath him, tearing away strips of 'flesh' before curling and using a stroke of his massive wings to quickly flee before his opponent could offer any sense of reprisal.

Again and again the two came crashing together in thunderous violence.

Gashes of blood took hold of the werebats flesh, and yet it was clear that minute by minute he was winning. The shadowy creature was fast, but Rafael was faster. His wings darting in and out, his maw carving deep ebbs of shadow within his monstrous foe.

It was as the cortosi darted forward again that the creature suddenly turned.

Within the span of a breath, it suddenly bucked and dashes onto all fours. Swiftly, as though knowing it's fate, the shadowy monster darted into the underbrush. Heading not towards Trix and the boy, but instead fleeing in the opposite direction. Moving faster, and then suddenly melding into the shadows themselves. Disappearing as though it had never been there in the first place.

Rafael came crashing down onto the ground, head quirking back and forth. A bestial growl echoing from the werebats throat, ear flickering back and forth as silvery eyes darted in search.

He sniffed the air, a growl of frustration echoing out as his wing beat and he launched himself Into the air.

His shadow flickering above Trix and the others just a second later.

 

[Trix]

"I'll tell you anything! Just don't like that thing eat me," the boy screamed as the shadow fell over them. Trix tensed and looked up to see which monster had won. She wasn't sure whether she was relieved or not when she saw the shape of wings instead of a smoky trail above them. Rafael wouldn't hurt them, would he? Of course he fucking would, he's a werebat. She scowled at herself then kicked her horse harder towards the treeline; the bat wouldn't be able to get through the thick foliage if she made it there. It would give her time to think.

"Start talking kid!" she ordered and reached for the trees with her magic.

"I just told him where to find the box! I don't see what's so special about it anyway, it just some stupid song!"

"What song?" Trix demanded.

"I- I don't know, some nursery rhyme my ma used to sing me I think! The old man would play it at night when he didn't think anyone was listening!"

 

[Rafael]

The shadow flickered above once more, and then it disappeared.

When Trix next looked towards the sky, even with the keen eyes of a Dreadlord, she would find nothing. Peaceful and calm clouds hung in the air above, the sunlight surprisingly pleasant on the skin despite the acrid smell of smoke in the air. One could almost believe that the day would be calm and quiet, that nothing had happened or would.

Then the werebat came crashing down onto the ground just a few paces ahead of Trix.

A clatter and spray of earth went up as the massive form of the werebat crashed into the earth. Several large gashes decorated the creatures side and flank, rips in his wings showing that although the Shadowy monster had fled, the fight had been closer than originally perceived.

As Rafael, if one could call the best that, crashed down Into the ground Tulio began to furiously bark.

His armor clattered and clanged as he wriggled and did his best to reach his wounded master. Scrounging forward like some sort of slippery eel that had been covered in oil, not thinking for a second about pausing or coming to a stop. Despite the monstrous form of his master.

 

[Trix]

The fiery mare reared. Even the most well trained warhorse would not take kindly to a beast that reeked of death and violence landing in front of them so suddenly. Trix cursed as she tried to stop the horse from bolting, the kid from slipping, the dog from running off, and her own seat in the saddle. In the end she lost the battle and Tulio went spilling from her arms quickly followed by the kid and herself after a final, hearty buck from her steed.

Her ankle made a sickening snapping noise as she landed.

The mare bolted off leaving her charges groaning on the floor. Only Tulio seemed happy to be free, bounding over to the werebat.

"It's going to eat us!" the boy wailed as Trix stumbled to her feet. Fiery pain flared up her leg threatening to empty her stomach but she fought threw it and dragged the boy to his feet, practically throwing him behind her.

"Just stay behind me," she muttered and below them the ground began to quiver as her magic called to the fauna around them.

 

[Rafael]

The werebat didn't move, it only stared, a low growl echoing from it's throat.

Then Tulio quickly began to bound forward, practically falling over his own feet as he rushed towards his friends. Happily wagging his tail and rushing so fast that he nearly barreled into the great beast standing before him.

For a second, Rafael didn't move, then slowly the werebat bent down. It's movements far more...jerked, and clearly pained that it should have been. A massive clawed hand came down, and slowly began to pat the hound on the head.

Once, twice, and then a third time before it raised up once more.

Then, without a sound, the werebat began to step forward. It moved, wings half dragging on the floor as it slowly began to make it's way towards Trix. Each step seeing massive claws press into the earth, ripping up the ground as he tread towards the Dreadlord.

Behind him, Tulio followed closely behind, almost bouncing as he wagged his tail.

 

[Trix]

Trix held her breath as the dog bounded forward waiting for the moment he was crushed or ripped to pieces. She might have been able to rescue him but, in a cold hearted way, she knew the beast would be distracted whilst eating him and she might be able to get the kid away. But instead the beast turned to them. She took a step back and pain lanced up her leg. She wouldn't be able to run fast or for long.

The roots of trees began to creep from the earth.

"Run, kid," she muttered quietly. "RUN."

Then she threw the weight of her magic behind the trees around them as they lunged for the werebat.

 

[Rafael]

t lashed around the werebeasts leg, and almost immediately a loud roar bellowed from its throat.

Jaw unlatched, and the stench of blood and bile filled the air as Rafael leaned forward and let out a blood curtling scream. The sound so powerful and piercing that it would be enough to make the stomach turn, the sort of noise one heard in their nightmares in the midst of the night.

The scream echoed through the clearing, resounding drowning out all other noise.

Birds instantly fell silent, mammals and insects alike began to flee. In an instant, all of nature seemed to agree all at once that it was best to free themselves of this place. That Rafael would soon be slaughtering and eating his way through anything and everything still staying out.

Yet as the sound carried, leaving the ears ringing, Rafael didn't move any further.

He did not lash a claw through the vine catching him. He did not pounce on Trix and tear her limbs from limb. He did not even seem to struggle against the tether which now grasped at his leg.

Instead he stared at Trix, bright silvery eyes fixed on her form.

 

[Trix]

The boy bolted. If he did what she thought he might and hid somewhere in the forest she would be able to find him; if she survived.

Trix watched as vines wrapped around his legs and tried to pin his wings to his side then watched with a grim set to her jaw as he sliced through them. She kept them coming though. Root and vine they tried to twine him in their net and pin him to the floor. But.. why wasn't he attacking her? She had never been an initiate who had fought first and thought second; there was always a reason behind her every move. Which was why she didn't run as soon as he was secure enough to buy her some time even with her broken ankle. She glanced to Tulio who was trying to bite at her plants and then to the bat.

"Can you... understand me?"

 

[Rafael]

A low growl dragged from the Werebats throat.

It's towering form loomed over the Initiate, rippling muscles patched with small runs of fur shifted. Claws dragging through roots and vines as Trix's magic attempted to bind him. One hand seemed to lash forward, slicing through a trio of growing trees that whipped towards Rafael.

His jaw snapped towards the Dreadlord in answer.

Massive teeth clattering against one another just a few inches short of her face. The stink of his breath permeating the air and making the threat more than clear. Stop trying to tie me up[/]

The werebat seemed to say without a single word.

Snapping at the air in front of Trix's head, letting the rotting stink of his breath fill the air as the threat carried forth. It was clear that he understood her, clear that he knew what she was saying.

It was now a question of whether she would understand him.

 

[Trix]

As that gaping maw came towards her Trix said one final prayer. There had been no Gods in Vel Anir for centuries now, but the Luana family and its branches had hailed from a land where religion was a common part of life. Even as they had given themselves over to the Anirian Kingdom and embraced its ways, the quiet prayers to saints and gods had not stopped fully. It was to one of those Trix said her last farewells to.

The end did not come.

She opened one eye to see those razor sharp teeth mere inches from her face... but she was alive. She stared at those razor sharp canines that were as big as her forearm and then at what was making him and the dog agitated. Gods but this could be a bad idea. Trusting the silent voice in her gut she slowly let the vines fall away.

 

[Rafael]

The roots fell away, but the monster didn't move. It stood there, just inches from Trix's face. It's nose scrunched, and then a deep breath filled the Werebats lungs. As though it were taking in Trix's scent. After a moment, a low growl echoed through the monsters throat, and then very slowly it took a single step back.

None of the threat was really gone.

Even if Trix used her magic they both knew the Werebat could close the difference and rend her torso in just a few meager seconds. Yet the beast seemed to have no Interest in doing any such thing.

He was no mindless monster driven by only hunger and rage.

No, he was no werewolf.

The bat was cunning, smart, it was here and it wanted blood, but it did not want the Dreadlord's. A low, almost strange clicking escaped the Werebats throat, and with a massive claw tipped wing it motioned to Trix's ankle. A silent question of her injury.

Tulio had ceased his barking, having sat himself down just short of the monstrous Rafael. Tail now wagging, apparently pleased that his current two favorite people were once again getting along.

 

[Trix]

The Dreadlord still eyed the werebat up like it might change it's mind at any moment and devour her whole. She did, however, take a step to the side and sit down on the tree Rafael had felled in his descent. It was as close as she could get to showing trust. At least for now.

"Probably broken," Trix grimaced and glanced down at the foot. There was an odd jut to her boot she had a nasty feeling might have been bone. She dare not take it off though for she'd never get it back on and right now it was acting as a compression that kept the swelling down. "Thanks for that," she shot him a glare. Her horse and the kid had fucked off to Kress only knew where.

"Did you... kill that thing?"

 

[Rafael]

The werebat did not seem to respond to her prodding, only shaking it's head when she asked about the monsters death.

A low growl escaped Rafael's throat as the creature was mentioned. An almost innate hatred now setting into the beast standing before Trix. It was almost as though the werebat itself, the monster in the Cortosi, despised the creature that had escaped.

His head turned, a wing raising at the same time.

He pointed in the direction the monster had fled.

Then, for a moment simply stood there. A few seconds passed, and then his body seemed to tense. Trix would the ripples of the werebats muscles, stretching and extending before he suddenly leaped forward. Without word of warning Rafael launched himself at the Dreadlord.

Grabbing her before she could offer any objection. Forcing her arms around his chest and hurtling both of them into the air. Massive wings stretching out as he swept into the sky. Claws grasping Tulio as they soared into the sky.

 

[Trix]

Trix would deny it for the rest of her days but she screamed as the werebat leapt towards her. The vines shot up to protect their mistress but it was too late. They were airborne. Instinct made her fight the thing until they broke the tops of the trees and she realised just how high they were climbing, then she clung to it and muttered quietly beneath her breath a mix of curses and prayers to the Gods of her Ancestors.

People were not meant to fly. It was unnatural.

She pressed her face into the bats fur and kept her eyes squeezed firmly firmly shut and wished for land beneath her feet.

 

[Rafael]

Rafael moved through the air with a surprising swift and smoothness.

One would have expected the flight to be tumultuous or shaky, but the beat of his wings were few and far in-between. He sliced through the wind as though it were not there, cutting just below the clouds. The chill air racing over their forms.

Tulio hung from The Mercenaries claws, his tail slowly wagging back and forth. If Trix took just a singular glance away from the werebat's fur she would catch the hounds eye, a loud and happy bark ringing out. It was clear the dog was used to traveling this way, or at least too stupid to realize what was really going on.

It was almost ten minutes later when Trix would feel the fall in her stomach.

The soft descent would be felt before it could be seen. Rafael's wings beating once or twice more before slowly he turned and they began to fall.

Ebbing down from the sky the Werebat and his companions touched down onto the ground. Tulio dropping from Rafael's claws and landing with what appeared to be a practiced roll while the afflicted Cortosi and Dreadlord came to a riveting halt upon a small plateau. Thin wispy grasp swaying around them on a small untouched Ridgeline that overlooked the region.

Almost as soon as they touched down, Rafael let go of Trix.

His form tumbling down and over, the unnerving sound of shifting bone echoing out once more as the werebat screeched in pain. A sound which turned into the howling of a man in agony.

 

[Trix]

"Stupid dog," Trix muttered after her one bold look downwards. The mutt seemed to be enjoying it dangling there! Clearly it didn't realise that the only thing keeping it alive was the werebats benevolence. If he had wanted to move elsewhere all he had to do was say - screech? - she could have found her mount and ridden. Like a normal person. She swore up and down she was never letting him do this to her again.

The swearing got a lot more intense when they began to fall.

The landing was by no means gentle and as the werebat went tumbling so did Trix on her bad ankle. Not that she minded with fauna reaching up to cushion her fall as thick moss. It was a relief to be back on the ground no matter how she got there. She would have lazed there, luxuriating in the feel of the earth, if it hadn't been for Rafael's screaming.

Rolling to her feet she watched grimly as the werebat shrank back into a man. She'd seen Davi shift before but it was not like this. For him it seemed natural, like shouldering on a new coat. This looked like agony. When he finally stopped, Trix tentatively limped forward, tugging off her jacket.

"Here..." she offered, draping it over his ahem midrift.

 

[Rafael]

Every fiber of his being ached with pain, his whole body violently shaking as he half lay on the ground. Tulio slowly padded him to his naked form, softly pressing his cold snout against the back of the Werebats head. A soft chuckle escaped Rafael, and he took a ragged breath as his fingers scraped through the dirt.

"Kress fuck." The mercenary swore, swallowing hard as he took another deep breath.

Changing was never easy, but doing so back and forth within an hour was an experience that he'd never had before. It felt like he had been torn apart, and then quickly stitches back together. Every muscle, every bone, every tendon feeling both overstretched and torn, the ache almost stopping him from standing.

His breath was stuttered as he stood, sheepishly reaching out to grab Trix's coat. Tying it around his mid-riff.

"Thanks." Rafael said. "It uhh…usually…it drops me near some clothes."

Unlike his wolfish cousins, his own monster was smart. Less a hungry beast and more a clever creature. The thing seemed to be able to reason, even strategize. Something Rafael had never quite come to terms it. "It uh…I'm not sure why it changed back so quick."

He admitted. "Usually it keeps hold for a few hours."

Which meant there was a reason.

 

[Trix]

Trix said nothing as Rafael gathered himself but she didn't take her eyes off of him. She looked like an animal who knew the hunter trying to coax her from her hiding spot had a dagger behind his back. Did it always need blood in order to trigger the change or could it do so more at will? Could it simply decide to take control when it wanted? She knew a lot about Werewolves but from what she had already seen, whatever the fuck he was was in a class of its own.

Which left her knowledgeless.

Keeping him in her peripheral vision, Trix half turned to look at where they had been dropped.

"I don't see anything a giant bat would like out here..." she sighed and thrust a hand through her hair. It had come completely out of her braid now and tumbled down her back in boundless waves. "And my horse is miles away now, and you're...." she glanced sideways at him. "Well I'm not fucking flying again whatever you are."

Which left her fucked. That was where she was.