Alesande's Awakening

J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op drew his axe up to strike at the mob again when he was hit full in the face by a goblin. This little cretin shrieked and readied it's dirk to pluck out J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op's eyes. Thinking quickly J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op threw his head right then stright down. The goblin hit the dirt with a thud. Any further annoyance from the pest was ended by a massive bear foot crushing him.

J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op tried to reorient himself in the carnage of the battle when he one of his companions getting harrassed by a mob. It was one of the small females, one of the ones who had come to greet him upon his arrival. If there is anything that bear-folk value, it's kinship, and to see someone who obviously understood him so well being harrassed, being subjected to attack by these miserable wretches...

J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op slowly felt his anger welling up and he shook visibly. Few would have noticed the chill winds that started whipping across the battlefield at that moment, but the sounds of an angry bear weren't as subtle. Readying his axe J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op started to wade through the goblins towards the girl.

 

[ooc] some of us are yet forgetting the no sig deal* [/ooc]

Aryth knew how to handle weapons like the dwarf and bear seemed to prefer, yet she would rather use her body than a lump of lifeless metal-if it came to that. But more than any she liked the safety of distance that her bow provided. She remembered stories of goblinoid raiding parties from merchants or drunk guards.

As she surveyed for her first victim, she noticed the largest creature standing still. When opportunity knocks... she thought. But just as she was to loose her arrow a kite flung itself to her back. She missed horribly! Her arrow struck another small goblinoid that fell over a horse very near one of her companians. At least that was not a complete loss of an arrow! She dropped her bow and grabbed at the creature latched onto her back. She secured flesh near its neck and jerked the kite toward the ground. He hit and bounced; which gave Aryth the chance to land a swift kick. In its shock, she knelt beside the small ugly body and deftly administered two precise blows resulting in the desired crack of bone; then grabbed her bow and stood.

She did not give second thought to her foe, knowing full well that it would not rise. She knew that bone was now lodged in its brain and heart. Never to fight again. As she drew sinew and wood to her ckeek she was amazed at the form of the bear lumbering towards their besieged comrade. Her amazement came from the creatures it payed no heed to. Goblins, orcs, and kites that were simply crushed by a paw or swept aside. Nothing made the bear falter or stray in its determination. She had seen that look before. It had been seen in bar fights and street brawls. But moreso in her own composure whenever an instructor had asked something difficult.

Again she berrated herself for losing focus and quickly concentrated on the moment again. She chose her next target and..................

[ooc] *yes it is a peev of mine, it kinda interrupts the nice flow of the story/action! [/ooc]

 

[OOC]Arggggh! Sorry about that. I just forget...[/OOC]
Alayna shot three goblins down and put away her bow, as there wasn't enough space to use it anymore. Instead, she unsheathed her dagger and began to stab her assailants. She dodged a sword from one of her best attired foes and quickly thrust her dagger at the neck, where the armor ended. As the orc fell, she took its sword and scabbard. This will be much more useful to me now, she thought. She turned to face the rest of the attackers. Too many, she thought, but attacked anyway. She beheaded one, ducked to evade another, and swiftly thrust her sword, hacking off the creature's arm. Then for a moment she saw the bear closing, opening a rift in the sea of enemies surrounding her. Help is near! she thought, and that gave her renewed strength. She sheathed the sword and began to concentrate. She extended her hands, pronounced some arcane words, and a flash of fire devoured the critters before her. That will teach them a lesson, she thought. She repeated the spell, and then she readied her sword again. Best to save my energies, she thought.

 

Dran rushed to Alayna's aid. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the polar bear cutting a swath of destruction through the bandits. Well, I could just let him take care of it, but two warriors are better than one...or so they say. As the bear clove a goblin in two with his axe, Dran siezed a kite lunging for Alayna's left flank, and snapped the little creature's spine over his knee. He kicked a goblin in the face as he stepped in behind Alayna. I'll cover your back, madam!

[OOC] How many of these damn goblin/orc/kites are there? It seems we've each killed a bunch already. Did the very mountains empty their dens?[OOC]

 

The orc blinked as J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op ripped him open. Then it collapsed. J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op paused as he swept the area. The mob was thinning but still formidable. Every part of his body ached. While most of his combat training had been much fiercer than this, it only lasted seconds or a minute at most. The longer the fight drew out the weaker he would get.

Then it hit him. Not an idea, the ogre. He had struggled out of his bonds and knocked J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op over, crushing all the small creatures under him. His comrades, the girl he came to assist and a monk that must have had his same intentions, an amazing fighter considering the noticable hole in his gut, had to scramble away to avoid his falling form.

The half-ogre was injured, which is the only reason he survived the intial attack. J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op rolled to avoid a kick, then caught the ogre as it pounced on him. His paws were in the exact wrong position, to far from the ogre's throat. Thoughts flew through his head and he remembered a trick he learned from his father when he was still a cub.

Mentally he formed the flashfire spell. It would be far to uncontrollable and would just as easily kill him along with the ogre. He fed the power to his hands but in the split second the fireball was forming he swallowed the energy. The ogre's eyes widened as J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op's body swelled. Then J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op opened his mouth and a jet of flame shot through the air, carbonizing the half-ogre above the navel.

Shoving the steaming corpse aside, J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op staggered to his feet, then shot another jet of flame into the crowd, incinerating several and causing a dozen more to scurry away in fear. Then, breathing hard, he looked at the small horde that still had to be dealt with, and he became even more aware of the pains shooting through his body.

 

As the larger members of the enemy party fell, the goblins and kites began to loose heart. When their obvious leader, the half-ogre finally fell to the might of the great bear and the nature magick of the stalwart driudess nearly all succumbed to their fear and set off, scurring through the underbrush like rats in well stocked warehouse. Despite the relative disorder of their escape it was possible to see which direction they where going by the moving leaves and shaking bushes. Morvin, who had felled a cupple of orcs with a few of his favorite dirty fighting moves watched and then turned to his companions.

"Harr harr! Things be looking up fer sure! Ta' think I was starting to fear that we wouldn't get any fighting done all day! It does this ol' dwarf good ta' get his axe in some blood now and again."

 

Dran broke an orc's neck, and looked around. He watched as the remainder of the bandits fled into the mountains. As the monk let the lifeless form slide from his grasp, he felt a sense of loss, something he always felt at the end of a battle. As the killing high began to slip from his body, he turned his attention to Alayna. She had a few cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. Nothing too difficult for his herbal skills.
Milady, he said. Are you alright? Do you require healing?

 

Aryth was amazed at the vast array of skills that this rag-tag group of traveles posessed. She did not kill nearly as many as the others had, but she had perhaps learned a new trick or two.

As the goblinoid creatures fled towards the mountains, and the monk began to heal the wounded, Aryth approached the bear with her former query. As she neared the great form she could see a myriad of blood spatters on its fur. When she got closer, she could tell that they were not spatters from the goblins, but small scrapes in the bears flesh. She dared not asked her question; at least until they were back on the road again.

She was so busy processing the information from the skirmish that she did not even realize that she had begun to clean the bears small wounds with her ever ready poltice for minor wounds. It cleaned the wound, sealed it to begin healing, and even a bit of numb root to dull the pain!

[ooc] I think it best that we make for the mountains after a nights rest? but I think your dwarf may know better flink. I do have the next bit o excitement ready though...........so no fear]

 

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzincrediblezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzdotheyknowzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzhurryzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Alayna glanced at Dran. "No, thank you," she answered. "I can take care of myself, and I do not wish to strain you further." She looked more closely at him, and saw the great gaping wound in his abdomen. "My goodness!" she said, staring at it in surprise. "I think you need my ministrations more than I need yours, sir. You are very lucky that the arrow missed all of your vital organs here, but you are bleeding too much - the arrowhead must have gotten a vein." She carefully removed the clothing around the hole and seeing the seriousness of the wound, Alayna delayed no further and began a healing spell. As she chanted the words in a low voice and slowly moved her hands over the injury it started to heal and fill out. When it was over, she said tiredly, "This should repair the worst damages, but I'll have to apply a salve later and then bandages. You'll have to rest for a while. Don't move much if you can help it tonight," she advised, and began pouring a painkiller on the wound. Then she prepared a fire and started to make a healing salve. She usually carried her own, but this would require a special one to ensure the injury healed properly.

 

Morvin grabbed the young womans hand and gave it a good yank just as she had finished her healing of the great bear. As they made eye contact it was clear to see that this action startled her quite a bit, probably more so then Morvin had intented.

The dwarf however, felt no sympathy as he yelled out his opinion for all to hear.

"Are ye daft woman?! Using good healing herbs on that bloomin' mongrel?! A good chop at the back of his neck is what he needs, I say. Then we'd be able ta' have a feast fit for the mountain halls!"

The bear had laid itself upon the ground, exhausted by the battle and its wounds. Throwing the young woman aside, Morvin rased his axe and aimed for the creatures neck...

[OOC]
Alright, I wasn't quite sure of what to make of your zzzzzz post Blinky969. I thought you might be sleeping or perhaps in an exhausted trance. Anyway, I think we can work something neat out of this. Someone undoubtably come to your rescure, or perhaps something else might happen...
[/OOC]

 

J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op was running until he met the blackness. It spoke to him in words he couldn't understand. It was telling him what to do, but he didn't understand it. It reached out to him but he shied back. His body rolled to find a comfortable position, and his mind braced itself to fight this blackness. The blackness changed as if sensing his apprehension. It formed into the shape of a huge bear, a hundred feet tall. It looked as if it was going to speak.

His meditation was interrupted but a red flash of searing pain. He opened his eyes to see a battleaxe lodged in his left shoulder bone, inches from his jugular. If he hadn't shifted he wouldn't have seen anything. Through the pain J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op shifted his eyes towards his assailant, the dwarf from before. The look of hunger on his face instantly cleared his mind. Using his other three paws he started to rise, readying his magic to fight back.

 

Aryth was completely startled by the dwarf's hand on her arm. She could sense the dwarf's desire to kill the bear, roast it, and have a feast. He said those words with such conviction that it seemed as if he had never given second thought to eating bear; or even killing them.

When the dwarf tossed her aside, Aryth could do nothing more than fall to the ground with exhaustion. She watched as the dwarf swung his mighty battle axe and buried the blade fully in the bears neck! The great beast woke and eyed the dwarf. Morvin once again had the same look as when he was fighting the goblins. As the bear began to rise Aryth could only think of one course of action...........

Aryth forced herself to rise, and put herself between the bear and the dwarf. We must not fight with eachother, lest how can we fight the evil we are sent to find!?! she shouted with all her might, then collapsed into the arms of the bear. The blackness overcame her, and she could no longer fight it. As she drifted off towards unconsciousness Aryth pondered if her role was to be the mediator, or if she was simply there because she was royalty..........

 

Dran gasped as he remembered the wound in his abdomen. He looked down as Alayna tore his tunic off, and saw the gaping hole and the white color of his skin. His mouth worked as he tried to say something, but nothing would come out. Then Alayna laid her warm hands on his stomach, and the fire of magic began to spread through him. Suddenly, he felt like being a monk was a petty thing. An attraction to Alayna took hold of him, and he wished more than ever that he could have her in his arms. Perhaps he would break his vows, though it dishonor and unman him, for this beautiful woman. Why not take a wife, like this pretty Alayna, and settle down? Why not...? Dran settled into a peaceful sleep.

 

J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op's blood boiled. His glared at this miserable traitor. He set himself up to charge the dwarf, who was yet undefended, his axe still buried in the bear's shoulder. Then the girl who had been treating him got between them. He barely heard what she said, but then she fell into his arms unconcious.

Glancing from the gril to the dwarf and back he understood, she wanted him to spare this worm. He growled. He took a step backwards laying the girl down, but keeping his eyes on the dwarf. Then he started walking back towards the trees. When he reached them he plucked the axe from his shoulder and with a great heave sent it shooting out across the camp and over the canopy on the other side. The deadened thud came echoing from the forest. Then J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op walked away.

After two hours he reached a small pool in the forest. It's crystal waters led into a small stream. In the center of a pool was a square stone shaped like an altar. Had weeds not been carpeting it he would have thought he was in druid territory, but it appeared untouched for centuries. He laid in the stream, not wanting to color the pool with his blood, and let the water run over him. Then he doozed off into an exhausted sleep.

 

The battle had ended faster then Jenya had thought it would, all the small creatures had ran away, into the mountain while the larger creatures lied dead, on the ground.

"Well, I'm glad that's over" she had said to herself, since she was away from the battle and there was no one near her. She then looked over to where the group was at, and she saw the dwarf, the disgusting creature launch his axe into the shoulder of the large bear.

"Nooo! You damn beast!" She had screamed towards the dwarf, anger beginning to rise in her. "That's right, you're a dwarf, I remember what I've heard about your kind. You're beasts, you hide yourself in mountains to get away from the outside, you care for only yourself! You shouldn't harm that there bear, he did nothing to you! He's not a beast, you are!" She had nearly collapsed from the anger that was growing in her.

She then stopped for a while and began taking deep breaths, to keep her standing. She didn't want to see anyone get hurt, but she saw the bear get up and she sensed a battle. Before anything could happen, one of the females of the group jumped between the battle, to try and stop it. The bear then took the axe and chucked it across the area and he quickly got up and left. Jenya decided to let the bear go and she quickly took a seat next to a large oak tree.

 

Morvin took a few steps backward as the bear launched his own blade back at him. Fortunately, The war axe landed in some bushes a few feet behind the dwarf. The bear then took off, and within seconds it had disappeared in to the thick pine forrest which surrounded the party.
Morvin knew that he was lucky. Had not the young noble stepped in front of him and hindered the bears revenge he might very well be dead now.
The bear was a mighty opponent, and the grizzled old dwarf was way past his prime. Morvin hid his relief as much as possible so as to not show any weakness and picked up its axe, checking it for damage.

Then, one of the nature folk suddenly rushed forward and scolded him! The dwarven warrior was taken aback by her accusations and for a moment his lone eye just stared at her while he desperately tried to form a response. In the end, the only thing he could think of was to tell her what he really thought.

"Ay now! Quit yer whining wench! Ol' Morvin doesn't trust that rabid mongrel further then he could throw it. I say we be better of with it in our bellies with a mug o' ale then with its filthy claws around our necks tha first time it gets a chance!
He paused for a second, giving her a peircing look with his old red eye. As he did, there was a sudden crash in the depths of the forrest. Morvins attention shifted and he looked over the female's shoulder in to the endless rows of trees. The elf was about to let him know a thing or two but he just gave her a gesture which essentially ment for her to shut her mouth.
The seasoned dwarf leaped atop a rock to gain some elevation and scouted the surroundings. He then whiffed the air with his rather large and bulbous nose.
"Bloody blast it..." He said to himself.

He jumped down and picked up the unconscious girl whom had collapsed during his brawl with the bear. He then turned to the elf woman again and said with a slightly trembling voice: "I'd love ta' stay and argue with ye lass, but we can't stay here. There be things a lot more dangerous in these woods then orcs and goblins..." He then raised his voice and yelled to the others. "Quickly now! The pass of Wotan is not far. We must get out of these woods as soon as possible!"

 

[ooc] aight...........things are movin along, and I should wake soon. but lets get to the pass, or at least outta the forest!

I do have the next happening waiting, so it shall not be long 'ere we see action :thumbup: [/ooc]

 

Morning pierced though the canopy and J'rtluhgfralt'uynar'op wake with a start. He had had some very weird dreams, a contingent of animals fighting. He shook his head and rose from the stream. His wounds still ached but the bleeding had stopped. There must be something about this pond, I feel better than I should.

He stepped out onto the ground and shoke himself dry. He almost stumbled when he tried to support himself with his left paw. Shifting back onto his other legs he growled. He also realized his father's axe was still with the group. Gathering some energy he touched a tree. His mind flashed back to the way he had come. Focusing further he heard the sounds of a sizable band marching. North...

He started walking northward, stopping only twice, once to quickly snare a deer, and the second to break a crude club off from a tree. The next time that dwarf tried anything he would be ready.

 

Aryth slowly and grogily came to. She felt as if she been sleeping for days and yet that had not been long enough. Never had her hours of practice been like that. Never had those long hours come close to the reality of what she just experienced. As she thought of these things, she lifted her head to see where they were.

She knew from the swaying motion that she was on a horse. As she looked around, she noticed that she was laying on her horse; which was being towed by one of the elven females. She noticed the dwarf and the monk just ahead of them' and that the mountains appeared much bigger now. She must have been out for sometime as they had obviously covered more than a little distance.

As soon as she noticed the mountains one of the women told her not to hurry things! Which was all well because her head began to hurt. Aryth hung her head back down, and contemplated some of the dreams she had had. Vivid dreams. Very vivid dreams. Were they dreams??