Eralion

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Ellelunia watched excitedly as the vision of the tentacle beast sobered her up. She slowed the horses quickly, a stubborn whinny coming from two of the three as they reared and reluctantly stopped. Horse tails flickered wildly as they got nervous, watching the battle unfold in front of them. Clicking hooves gave away the panicked equine hearts as they Ellelunia turned them to the side, blinding them. Ellelunia stood on the bench, letting Orion jump down from his seat next to her. With a hoot of exhilaration, she jumped down, tying the reins to a tree stump located relatively close by. </SPAN></SPAN>

"These men are looking for the honor of battle, not the salvage of rescue!"</SPAN></SPAN>

Ellelunia walked around back, keeping a trained eye on the three want-to-be warriors as they battled the monster, a large splash soaking them as the beast retreated back for a moment. Ellelunia opened the caravan door and pulled herself in, the wooden base shifting slightly with her weight. She grabbed her bag and reached in, pulling out her bow and quiver, as well as fitting her bodice with her throwing knives and poisons. </SPAN></SPAN>

It wasn't until after she had readied herself that she sat on top of Eralion's body, leaning forward and kissing his lips. She lingered over him for a moment, lowering her mouth to his collarbone and licking his skin. She laughed when he shivered, still asleep. She stood as she giggled inward at herself and gave him a quick kick to the side, only hard enough to wake the druids large sleeping form.</SPAN></SPAN>

"We've got a monster to kill, get angry" </SPAN></SPAN>
 
Reaching for Ellelunia in his dream, still and always reaching, but never able to touch her. After what seemed like forever of the same dream he finally stopped trying, and thats when she kissed his lips and licked his neck, he groaned with pleasure, which quickly turned to a growl as she kicked him. His eyes fluttered open to the sound of her voice telling him to get angry.

"Thanks to you, I am now." He pushed his massive form up and out of the carraige, yawning and stretching his arms up and back. Then he heard the sound of the monster splashing, and what could have been men fighting. He quickly removed his outer clothes, only leaving on his druid leather, before following Ellelunia to where he could see the monster in the river.

"Well shit." Speaking the words as he stared at the monster, trying to figure out which animal would be the best for this particular situation. He knew Ellelunia would be quick to run into the fight, so he did not want to delay long, letting her have all of the fun. He looked around for Raeos, wondering what his stance was on the fight. Walking over towards where the men were fighting he thought that maybe they would want to be saved from their fight, and at the same time he thought that having some random animal jump into the fray might scare them off. When he saw Orion at Ellelunia's side he knew that the best form for him would be the same as Orion. A giant cat. He could jump onto the beast, slash it with huge claws, and easily out-manuver the tentacles. With the determination to keep his friends safe, kill a monster for gold, and to save someones family, he began running at the monster, not caring who was looking. His long, muscular legs quickly and effortlessly changing to those of a giant cat. He fell down to run on all fours as his arms turned into the same long legs with giant paws and claws that could not be retracted because of their length. Eralion's head grew out, but not as much as the bear or the horse, for now he had a cats nose and deep black eyes, the brown of the iris barely showing. The new long black whiskers poking out the side of his cheeks that could barely contain his massive canines. Even Orion could be ashamed of his brute strength by seeing how giant Eralion was compared to him. Nearly double the size of the massive pet of Ellelunia's, Eralion pounced onto the front of the monster, clawing into it with every paw, climbing up its body and biting and tearing until he had no more room to climb. As a last ditch effort before jumping off he swiped both of his massive front claws where it's neck should have been, dodging the tentacles that came out of nowhere to attack him as he fought on the body of the monster. His last attack left him jumping off of the body, landing on one of the arms near its claws and swiping at those as well before jumping back to the ground and running away before beginning a new attack.
 
The sounds of a raging battle floated- no, tore through the air into Gregor's ears, and he knew that his targets had found what they were looking for. He tried to imagine what they were up against before he saw it, and the usual ogre or giant came into his mind, but the sounds he was hearing were nothing he had ever heard before. He finally caught back up with the caravan and saw the three running off towards some horrible behemoth in the river.

A long string of profanities and gibberish fell out of Gregor's mouth as he squinted at this beast, attempting to comprehend what was in front of them. Tentacles and sword-like teeth flailed and gnashed at the air and at the six people in front of him.

...The...six? Gregor blinked several times, suspecting his vice was playing tricks on him, but no, there were indeed six individuals fighting this creature. His targets engaged the monster as he approached from the trail, and he could clearly see the other unfortunate souls who got on this monster's bad side. A father and his two sons. How they had held out this long was a mystery to Gregor, and his uneasiness quickly returned. However, he silenced it with the last of his stolen liquor and hurled the bottle with all his might at the beasts face- well, at what he considered to be the beast's face- an action which caught the attention of one of the two sons and one of the now two large black panthers travelling with the human and the Sahrians. He couldn't see the large Sahrian but shrugged off the idea that he was missing and tried to focus on his next plan of attack.

Tentacles and roaring still filled the air, and in noticing the smashed bottle, the youngest son became distracted for just a split second. The beast, somehow sensing his momentary hesitation, launched a tentacle at the boy.

Gregor's eyes widened and he sprung at the boy, knocking him to the ground several feet away as the tentacle crashed down to the ground, pinning Gregor between it and the river bank. The father ran to his fallen son, and the tentacle lifted off of Gregor, who lay motionless for a very long second, before whipping his head up and shouting at the father, "GET OUT OF HERE!"

The beast swung again as Gregor pulled himself to his feet, just in time to be grabbed rather than squashed. His eyes darted around to see if the boy was alright, but they had not yet fled this insanity, and Gregor emptied his lungs again to bark, "RUN, STUPID!"

The tentacles clamped down hard, trying to crush the body of Gregor, but were met with surprising resistance, and the beast decided instead to hurl the man at one of the large black cats down at the river bed.

Gregor contemplated what the hell he would do once he hit the ground, but realized at this point that his notions of robbing these travelers of their reward money might have just gone out the window, seeing as how the creature would need to be killed first. Also, he was pretty sure his targets knew he was around at this point, though he doubted they knew his intentions.

Strangely enough, as he flew through the air towards the larger of the two panthers, the cat seemed to stand up and catch Gregor in its front paws, extremely surprised that the drunk was not horribly dead.
 
The scene before him was unfolding in an exaggerated surrealism. It felt like a story that mothers told their children before bed to sate their imaginations. Taking a width of skin in his thumb and forefinger he pressed hard, checking his own consciousness. The small sting alerted him that he was not asleep, that the creature before them was real, and that there was a very real possibility of fatalities at this location.

One leg swung over the parapet of the driving bench and the other reluctantly followed. He moved around to the back of the carriage, enter it as Ellelunia and Eralion departed. Ignoring the large disrobing Sarhian, he located the pack that Ellelunia's sisters had given her and rifled through them for adequate equipments. His search yielded a double-edged longsword and a scabbard in which to hold it, the rest of the armor and weaponry seeming either inadequate or unfit for his use. The sheath and sword were fashioned around his hip, opposite his trusty crossbow.

Fear was not an emotion known to Raeos, but caution and trepidation were favored practices. He approached the battlefiled wearily, cocking his crossbow as he addressed the situation. His first shot was at the creatures leg; his arrow found home, but it just barely penetrated the thick skin and the creature seemed not to notice. This couldn't just be easy, could it?

Suddenly, there was a seventh combatant. A boisterous man stepped in front of one of the beast's tentacles, taking the brunt of the attack and getting slammed in to the ground. The soft dirt of the riverbed rippled outwards from the force, the man being pushed down in to it and leaving an indent of his body. Seemingly unphased, the man called out to the family once more. Raeos' mind flashed back to his encounter with Lamira and silently thanked the distance that would be put between himself and his potential family. It was becoming increasingly apparent that emotions, and loved ones in general, were only liabilities.

The man, however, was not much of a concern to Raeos. He focused on the creature, scanning its head and shoulders for possible points of attack. Dodging a swiping tentacle he dashed towards it, pulling out his small knife from the inside of his pack. Careful footfalls brought him just under the thing's head and it snapped wildly at him, its saliva dripping down on to his face. It's nonexistant neck did not allow it bend down and make contact with Raeos. Taking the opportunity to strike, he drove the knife upwards in to the underside of his jaw, striking in the middle and pulling it back towards himself. The creature roared and swung a meatier tentacle down at him, which caught him in the side and sent him rolling on to the riverbed. The creature lifted its large leg and struck down at Raeos, but a responsive roll took him out of harms way.

Standing on his feet, he reached in to his pack and produced a length of rope. He readied himself and studied the creature for a moment, sidestepping a wide arcing tentacle. The rope was brought around the thinner end of the tentacle, tied in to a tight knot at one end and in one swift motion the other end was tied to a bolt on his crossbow. Aiming at a nearby tree he sent the bolt off, it landing in the tree and pulling the tentacle fairly taut and motionless. As the tentacle strained against the rope Raeos moved in, withdrawing his new sword and finding a home for it in the base of the tentacle. It took him three swings to fully dislodge the tentacle from the beast's body. It hit the ground with a loud "thud!" and kicked up loose dirt in to the air. Thick black blood shot out from the hole, dripping and spouting in every which direction. Raeos stepped back from the scene and examined the rest of the creature, having a moment to rest where he was free from tentacular assault.

His mind snapped back to the prior combatants. Where had they gone? They were mysteriously absent from the battle, having apparently decided that the reward money was not worth their lives. They were much smarter than his own company.
 
There it was; The perfect moment.</SPAN></SPAN>

Ellelunia watched as the battle continued. She had been firing arrows as she stayed at a safe distance, letting those equip with the right weapons get all the glory. Finally when the surprise guest was flung into Eralions arms, she took off sprinting. Ellelunia wrapped her bow around her body, so it would stay with her for her leap of faith. Orion seemed to read her mind, like he normally did, taking up running directly next to her. </SPAN></SPAN>

With a great leap, she found herself using Eralion's giant panther-body as leverage, running up him and rocketing upward toward the beast. She had pulled out both her knives, stabbing into the beasts slimy thick skinned shoulder. With a quick turn, she had made it to its back, stabbing repeatedly to keep herself strongly rooted. </SPAN></SPAN>

Orion had followed suit, using Eralion and spring upward at the disgusting things face. He made it to the top, using his large claws to gauge and swat at what could be considered its eyes. The vile thing shook and screamed, a guttural noise that pierced Ellelunia's heart in a saddening echo of pain. </SPAN></SPAN>

"Orion!" She called, stabbing into its stumpy neck as she climbed, reaching out for her cats tail, pulling him just in time to dodge a tentacle that was whipping around wildly trying to relieve it's body of the intruders. </SPAN></SPAN>

Ellelunia held Orion with amazing strength, dangling him by the tail as he grabbed tightly to the beast with his large front paws. When she saw a clear spot, she flung her companion, landing him safely in the water far enough to be untouched by the tentacles. Somehow, she had forgot about herself, being quickly grabbed and pulled like a tick from the back of the beast.</SPAN></SPAN>

" You're a big son of a bitch, you know that?" Ellelunia scoffed, trying to pull herself out of its grasp. The rubbery tentacle wrapped tighter around her, flailing her through the air and causing the blood to whip around in her head. Her vision was blurring but she managed to reach back into her Quiver, grabbing two arrows and with her other free hand, reaching down into her bosom. </SPAN></SPAN>

Her thin fingers pulled out a small silver bottle, easily disguisable as a flask. Ellelunia flipped the metal clasp and dunked her arrows in, regrettably not still holding her knives; which were currently like splinters in the terrible beings skin. </SPAN></SPAN>

With one great stab, she launched the arrows into the elastic skin of the tentacle, breaking the arrows off at the base so they couldn't be removed. When the wounds started seeping black blood, like it's other injuries had, she began to pour the poison in, adding to the already poisoned wounds. Ellelunia doubted that the mixture was potent enough to vanquish it, but it would definitely be enough to weaken the muscles. </SPAN></SPAN>

It wasn't long until the grip on her failed and she was sent plummeting to the ground. </SPAN></SPAN>

Ellelunia was lucky when she landed in the water, a loud smack sounding off when her body hit the surface. She ignored the stinging feeling as she swam to the top, taking a frantic breath and being greeted by Orion's sweet face. He was stoic and determined, ready for battle with his chest puffed out and strong. They swam to the side and Ellelunia removed her bow and quiver from around her body, tossing them uselessly to the ground. When she fell in the water, her arrows had been washed away.</SPAN></SPAN>
 
Grabbing the thrown man out of the air was not a huge feat, but it was complicated because of the fact that he had paws instead of hands with thumbs. Eralion tossed him to the ground, gently, and got back on all fours, sitting on his haunches. He motioned with his right paw for the man to go away and attempted speech. Why he even bothered was beyond him, he only made growls and odd faces at the man.

In the few moments it had taken him to catch and put down the man Raeos had successfully cut off one of the beasts tentacles. When he saw it fall Eralion roared loudly in triumph, knowing it wasn't the end, but that the downed tentacle would boost the morale of all those fighting it. He did not know what Ellelunia was planning as she ran towards him, but with Orion at her side they would look terrifying to any against them in regular combat. This was no normal combat he knew, so he stayed where he was, waiting for her to make the move. When she didn't try to move around him but continued towards him he stared. If he had been in his Sahrian form his mouth would have been agape. 'She's going straight up, onto the beast.' The thought barely had time to register in his brain before first Ellelunia, and then Orion, had used him as almost a launching pad. He was glad to help, and after Elle had done it he tried to help Orion all the more with a tensing of his mucles and a little bouce when Orion lifted off.

Waiting and watching was not one of Eralion's strong points. He walked around the beast, avoiding tentacles, seeing where everyone was. Trying to determine who needed help, and who didn't. He watched Ellelunia pour something into the stab wound she had inflicted on the beast, and was confused by her actions. It looked like a flask. Did she know something about this type of beast or was she hoping to get it drunk? With no time to chuckle as he watched her fall into the water his cat mucles sprang to life. From a quick walk he jumped up onto the nearest arm, careful not to get smashed by tentacles, and began climbing the beast once again. When he reached what he thought of as the head/neck area he swiped with his giant claws again. Now that the beast was down at least one tentacle, and seeming to slow its movements, he hoped all of the distractions would keep the remaining tentacles away from him for a moment. Ripping into the beasts neck with his claws didn't seem to be doing as much damage as he had hoped, so he moved to the back of the beast. There, where it's shoulder's should have been meeting with it's neck, Eralion found the soft spot. 'Perfect.' As soon as he felt the skin of the beast under his padded feet begin to feel a bit spongier he let out a monsterous roar, coupled with a few quick swipes of his claws into the weak area. Black blood began pouring out of the wound, making Eralion roar all the louder. He kept digging, hoping to find a place to break it inside. Going up and down, around, looking for the brain, spine. Anything that could defeat this beast.

The monster made a screeching noise that Eralion had never heard in his life as he tore at it. All of the tentacles came towards him at the same time, trying to knock him off. Deciding he couldn't attack the beast and beat the tentacles back he began the jumping that would bring him back to the river. Splashing down he swam underwater a moment scratching his claws on the rocks below, trying to get off any of the blood that he could off. His swim took him far enough away that the tentacles stopped attacking him, but he could see the beast was very weak. He jumped onto the river bank and shook off the water on his fur, spraying it everywhere. He looked to Ellelunia, who was also soaked from the river, but she was looking at the beast with rage in her eyes, her body tense and heaving with her deep breaths.
 
The big cat set Gregor down with care, far beyond what he expected from a large feline, especially due to his previous treatment at the hands- er, paws of the other big kitty. What was odd, however, was when the panther began growling and grumbling at Gregor and motioning with his paws, perhaps in an attempt to get him to go away. Gregor stared blankly at the cat, saying nothing, but his gaze was broken when the beast roared, even louder than before. A severed tentacle fell to the ground, and Gregor saw gallons of dark blood spurt violently from the wound.

The lady Sahrian and the smaller panther used the larger one as a jumping platform, launching an attack that seemed to surprise and enrage the monstrosity further. The panther clawed at the creatures face, likely going for what it thought were eyes, causing the beast to bellow once more, and Gregor watched with amazement as the woman clambered her way up the creature's body, stabbing it in the neck. Unfortunately, the creature then grabbed her with its powerful tentacle.

Gregor knew from her confidence that she wouldn't go down without a fight, and he watched as she managed to free herself by stabbing the creature again and again, and dumping something in the wound. Maybe some kind of potion or poison. Gregor was impressed, and started to think that maybe these folks would be able to take this thing down after all.

The largest panther leapt up and began clawing furiously at a spot on the creature's back, obviously finding a weak point, and drawing the behemoth's wrath, but the damage was done, and blood poured from the wounds on its back, and it seemed the fight was nearing its end. Gregor could have easily stood back and watched, but the excitement of the fight made him want to join in! When was the last time he had fun of this magnitude?

Wait! he thought. That family! He looked around, and did not see them anywhere, so he assumed they had run off, leaving just the four of them and the giant ...thing... Gregor tried to think of what he could possibly do, being unarmed, and he sized up the monster once more. The big cat's attack on the creature had been extremely effective, as had the woman's poison. The human glanced over at Gregor, shooting him a look of amazement that he was able to even move, much less stand after his beating, but turned his attention back to the fight.

The panthers were each analyzing the current situation, as the beast roared and flailed, obviously in pain and infuriated at the damage these tiny-by-comparison warriors had inflicted on it. The female Sahrian was seething with rage, and Gregor could tell she was preparing for another attack. Even with the beast's weakened state, bleeding and dismembered, the tentacles were a serious problem, especially when trying to launch an attack, but he suddenly had an idea. Picking up several large, palm sized rocks from the river bed, Gregor began hurling them with all his might towards the beast's head, aiming for its eyes and mouth, trying to draw its attention.

"Look here, asshole! Over here! Fuck you, I'm talking to to you! Come on, this way!" Gregor kept pelting the creature and moving away from the rest of the group, drawing its full attention on him. "Yeah, that's right, follow me, ya big fuck! You like rocks?"

He called out to the woman as he kept up his assault, explaining his plan in a few words as possible.

"Hey, lady! Got any more'a that poison?"
 
Ellelunia was shocked at the way the older human reacted to the giant monster. She arched her eyebrow at him, wondering if his idea to throw rocks at the horrible death monster would work. when the beast started following him, she nodded her head in approval.

"Nice going old man" She said as she grabbed a long length of rope and started running towards the danger. Like always, Orion was right by her side, carrying in his mouth, one of her knives that had been shook loose from the things back. Her feline companion was covered in it's blackened blood, but she did not worry. She knew Orion was conditioned for the type of poison she used, over time as she raised him, he had even started to grow a tolerance. Ellelunia grabbed the knife from her companion and nodded to him, as they took off in seperate directions- both with something in mind.

She found her way up into a nearby tree, using her flexable arms and legs to swing and jump to the top and through the other trees, reaching what she figured was the closed tree top to take her back to the head of the stenching thing. Ellelunia launched herself forward, tucking and rolling as she hit it's shoulder. This time she didn't have Orion to watch her back, but he did what he could from the ground.

The large cat took to attacking it's feet, swiping and biting at what seemed to be it's ankles. The monster let out another horrible screech, stumbling back and almost causing the Sahrian on it's neck to fall horribly to the ground. Ellelunia managed to hold on, using the length of rope she had to go around the beasts throat and hold her own body steady. She reached in her bodice, withdrawing more poison needles. These needles were just like the one she had used on the lecherous rider to get her horse. She burried them deep in the gashed Eralion had made, making sure to get as much of the poison in as possible. Hopefully being this close to it's spine, the poison would have a greater effect. Ellelunia made sure to use the knife, stabbing into the beast repeatedly. It's not like it couldn't help at that point. Blood was spurting back at her as she stabbed viciously downward, squirting over her neck and breasts.

Ellelunia held tightly as she beast flailed around. She scanned the forest from her arial view, searching for her companions and the three men who had been fighting the monstrosity before them. She noticed the men huddled up within the forest, afraid to go back to town alone, but far enough that the beast wouldn't notice them. She let out a happy sigh, knowing she was the only one in immediate danger.
 
The battle with this creature was taking too long. He could feel his muscles tiring as he rolled this way and that, avoiding tentacles and claws and all manners of gnashing, destructive attacks. Striking back whenever he could, he wasn't making any significant progress aside from his first salvo and medium sized cuts on different stages of the beast's form.

Who the hell is that guy? The older man who was trying to divert the beast's attention did a bang-up job at it. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he was able to wade in to the water by the thing's side. It turned towards the man issuing rocks and taunts and was caught off-guard by Ellelunia's attack, rearing up and flailing wildly as she and Orion went on the offensive. He ducked low in the waist high water, staying out of the thing's field of vision. Terrible roars were coming from it now. Its blood was filtering into the Ox Tail, staining the crystal blue water with a disgusting cloud of ever expanding blackness.

Suddenly, there was an opening. Seizing the opportunity, Raeos took off towards it in as much of a run as he could muster. He lifted his legs high, muscles burning as he churned through the water. The beast, suffering from the efforts of Ellelunia, had pitched to the side and was leaning away from him, exposing its soft underbelly. Grasping his newfound sword in both hands, he loosed all the air in his lungs and produced a growling, guttural noise as he plunged the blade in the creatures exposed flesh.

The beast emitted a high-pitched screech as the blade sunk in to its most vulnerable point. Raeos' blade ripped further down its stomach, exposing him to acrid stench of the creature's insides. As a latch ditch effort it swung a tentacle down at him, and being in waist high water he couldn't easily avoid it. It caught him clean across his midsection and flung him backwards, knocking the air out of him. His grip on the sword ended and it stuck out of its belly, the killing blow unfinished. However, the creature had never been in worse condition and was very clearly losing this battle, now leaning almost fully on its side and threatening to roll Ellelunia right off it's back.

Standing up in the shallow water, Raeos inhaled deeply and pointed at the clearly dying creature. "Bearcat! Finish the damn thing!" Five words were all he could muster, grasping his side and doubling over after. His whole body was burning at this point, not familiar with such intense combat, especially in water. He was a rogue, a scout at best, and toe-to-toe fighting was not his forte.
 
Bearcat obliged by jumping over to where Raeos had just been with the sword, deftly avoiding all tentacles thrown at him. The beast was in its death throes, flailing tentacles and arms everywhere, but Eralion was able to avoid the random attacks against him. He made it to the soft underbelly where Raeos' sword was protruding, the beast roaring in protest to the constant attacks made against it from Ellelunia, Orion and the old man. Swiping a giant paw into the end of the sword Eralion succeeded in stabbing the sword down to the hilt into the monster. Being a cat he didn't have a way to move the sword up, down, side to side or out, so he improvised. Using his claws he swiped at the gash in the side of the monster, breaking apart where the sword was, ripping out the insides of the beast. Eralion was covered from head to tail in black blood and guts, but the beast had finally stopped moving, and was quickly losing all of its life force though the giant hole in its side. Taking one more swipe of his paw Eralion severed all the organs within reach, finally cutting off the wailing the beast was making.</SPAN></SPAN>

Breathing heavily Eralion waded into the water of the Ox Tail, trying to clean off as much of the gore as he could. Shaking his thick coat of fur off and going back into the water he ran his body along the rocks in the bottom of the river, keeping as upstream as possible from the dying beast, whose black blood was continuously staining the river. After a few minutes of cleaning himself he slowly walked to where Ellelunia was, his head dizzy and his head aching with fever, giving her a sad look.</SPAN></SPAN>

"Arghor meorg." Was all he could get out before he collapsed next to her.</SPAN></SPAN>
 
She couldn't see the carnage from her place around the monsters neck, but she could smell it. The overwhelming scent of blood and guts wafted up to her blood covered face, which scowled in disgust. Ellelunia had been thrown from the beast when Raeos had attempted to land the final blow, which wasn't a very extended fall, but enough to leave a mark. She was lucky enough to land on her back as she tucked and rolled to lessen some of the impact on her body. She finally landed like a ragdoll near some trees, trying to stand. Her body was exhausted and her knees wobbled as she finally managed to stand. Ellelunia gripped a nearby tree trunk to balance herself, watching as Eralion followed Raeos' advice. The other man was still throwing rocks and seemed to be enjoying it a little too much, putting all his strength behind the stones even when the monster had fallen on its side and went silent. </SPAN></SPAN>

"Orion…" Ellelunia spoke weakly as her feline companion trotted up next to her, his fur wet from the river he had fallen into. He leaned against her as she fell to her knees, unable to stand despite her strained attempts. His wet fur cooled her sweat covered skin, opening her eyes from the sleep her body wanted to pull her into. </SPAN></SPAN>

"Eralion" She breathed as the druid ran up and collapsed at her side. She was quick to wrap her arms around his thick feline head, touching her forehead to his. Life seemed to breath back into her as her body was rejuvenated with adrenaline. She opened his mouth and looked inside, seeing the black blood of the beast had definitely gotten inside. She wondered how much he had ingested and how much poison had gotten into his system. </SPAN></SPAN>

"Change back! Druid! Change back!" Involuntary tears formed around her eyes as she started running her hands over his damp fur, wishing he was in his true form. She ran her fingers gently over his muzzle as she shouted orders to Orion, who jumped up to follow her command. </SPAN></SPAN>
"Get my pack! We need water!" Orion ran to the caravan, jumping in and searching thoroughly through the cavalcade of packs and leather satchels that were piled inside. </SPAN></SPAN>

Soon enough he came running back with a canteen in his mouth and a leather bag around his neck. Orion was incredibly intelligent and as he returned to Ellelunia, he managed to open the canteen for her as she rummaged through her bag. Ellelunia pulled useless items out, searching for her homemade poison remedy. When she finally got her hands on the small vial, her fingers trembled. She pulled the cork plug with her teeth and snatched the canteen from Orion, who was panting with exhaustion. She positioned herself so her legs were underneath Eralions body, pulling his head into her lap the best she could. She made sure his face pointed toward the sky and that his large fanged mouth remained open. </SPAN></SPAN>

She poured the clean water in his mouth, holding it closed so he didn't spill any. She repeated the process until the whole canteen was gone, waiting impatiently for him to open his eyes and respond to her frantic calling. </SPAN></SPAN>

"Druid, wake up! Druid! Eralion…."</SPAN></SPAN>
 
The Sahrian, Mr. Moneybags, and the two cats worked very efficiently together, and Gregor was glad that he could give them the opening to take down this monstrosity. He watched as the huge creature was gutted and made the river run black with its tainted blood. Gregor scanned the forest's edge and saw the father and his two boys from earlier, and he felt relieved that they were in fact alright, but at the same time annoyed that they had not taken his advice and ran as far away as they could. But, the beast was now very dead, so Gregor supposed it was not worth his time to lecture them.

He waded out into the river, morbidly curious about what the hell they had just fought, and began poking around the creature's spilled innards with a stick he found nearby. This was some kind of demon, its blood black as night, and while it had organs, they were not what one would typically find in any known creature. His biology lesson was cut short when he saw the larger cat suddenly collapse near the Sahrian, and he could hear the panic in her voice as she called for water, and began rustling through her pack, furiously searching for something. Gregor reasoned his exposure to whatever demonic taint the creature possessed, along with being covered in the poisoned blood may be to blame, and hoped that the creature's death would be the only one this evening.

He watched as the Sahrian poured some liquid into the large cat's mouth, along with a great deal of water, and Gregor began wandering closer to the group. The big cat's breathing appeared to stabilize but he did not yet wake up, and Gregor's approach did not go unnoticed. The human glanced over at him, and Gregor met his gaze with a nod. The other cat, which Gregor had run into just a few shorts hours ago, recognized him and was unsure how to respond to his being here.

"Hi big kitty. You 'member me, huh?" Gregor brazenly invaded the group's personal space, and decided to try and start up a conversation with the human, leaving the Sahrian to her revival duties.

"So. That was kinda fun. Aside from all this, I mean." Gregor said, gesturing at the groups poisoned comrade. "I dunno what that thing was, but for a minute there I didn't think y'all were gonna be able to deal with it."

The human just stared at him, his mouth agape, apparently lost for words at the old man. Gregor looked at the Sahrian, who briefly glanced at him with tears in her eyes, before turning her attention back to the big cat.

"He's tougher than he looks, I doubt this'll take him out. I don't even know you guys, but I can feel these things out, ya know?" He smiled at Mr. Moneybags, who was still unsure of what to make of Gregor, and said, "So, care to buy me a drank when we get back to town?"
 
Eralion fell at Ellelunia's feet, hoping she could help him to not feel so dizzy anymore, but what she did was terrifying. Ellelunia's hand shot up high into the sky, seemingly higher than physically possible, and she punched down with all her force into Eralion's ribs. At the same time Orion jumped on his back and held him down with his big paws, roaring into Eralion's ear.

"What are you doing to me!?" He shouted at them, the dizzy feeling taking over, making him unable to defend himself. 'Why are they attacking me, what did I do wrong?' He asked him self, and at the same time he had the thought Ellelunia started stabbing him, grinding the weapon into his side. His body was convulsing with the pain, he couldn't handle it. Eralion looked up into the sky, it was swirling purple and black, tendrils of silver lining the edges of the black and purple. The trees had a grey tint to them and they swayed in the breeze. 'This is it, I'm dying. The colors, Ellelunia, Orion.'

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, for whatever I did, I'm sorry." His voice drifted off as he fell into a blackness he thought was death. When his eyes popped open he was terrified of what he would find, thinking for sure he would be in some type of hell for all his wrong doings. His body involuntarily went back to his Sahrian form, the pain barely registering from what he had already felt. He began looking around then, and saw his head was on Ellelunia's lap, he tried to move but his body wouldn't listen and he just moaned.

"Elle...?Where am I?"
 
A slow trudge took him towards the beachhead as he watched Eralion move in for the killing blow. In some odd way he found himself cheering for this cat, this druid, that he had considered dispatching just days prior. One hand was curled over his chest as though it could hold the pain back and the other was balled and stretched out towards the beast, waving crazily as the large cat ripped apart its soft underside. Yeah, cat, get it! The pain in his body was superseded by the utter enjoyment of the creature's destruction that had consumed him for the entirety of the battle.

His remarkably slow pace finally took him to Ellelunia's impact site, where he fell down on to his rear. Hands were placed behind him, a casual lean taking over him as he surveyed the outcome of the battle. Eralion had done what none of them could - he had finally killed the thing, earning them the thirty gold pieces. Thinking back on it now, it didn't really seem worth the money. Raeos had taken at least that much from the slavers they encountered and that battle was far less dangerous than this one. Worse yet, his beautiful scarf now had signs of battle; it was slightly torn, fraying at the end, and was littered with black splotches. Having grown quite fond of the fashion of the thing, this happened to be close to the forefront of his mind. Perhaps once he was healed and they collected the reward he could find a new one.

The pair of cats approached them, the larger grumbling something and plopping down beside the two of them. Ellelunia seemed to spring in to action, realizing something that Raeos had yet to. She grabbed his head and immediately began inspecting him, her eyes welling up with tears and panicky words coming from her. He leaned forward, pulling his hands back in to his lap as he crossed his legs, and peeked towards the two.

"Er..what's wrong with him?" His voice was unusually quiet and quizzical.

She ignored him and instead called to her cat, Orion retrieving the requested items and aiding her in their application. Still unsure of what exactly was happening, his head tilted to the side and began to turn over possible scenarios in his head. Perhaps Eralion was allergic to the thing's blood, or perhaps its blood was poisonous. But, it had gotten all over himself and aside from the pain in his abdomen he was not hurt. Maybe the cat had ingested some of the blood and that was the problem; certainly this could be the case, given the ferocity of Eralion's attacks on it.

His thoughts were cut short by the arrival of another man. It was the man he had just glimpsed in the battle, the man whom had taken several clean shots and was still up and walking around. Raeos stared in disbelief at him as he sauntered up to Orion, speaking to the cat as though it were his own. When he directed comments towards Raeos, his stare continued unabated. Again, he repeated in his mind: Who the hell is this guy? The drink comment riled him up, stirring his blood enough to make him shake his stare and respond.

"Look." The word came out amid a cough, his throat clearing to allow the rest of his words to come through unfiltered. "I don't know who you are, but we don't need any of your simple minded shenanigans right now." He gestured towards the once-more-sahrian Eralion as he spoke. "There are bigger problems right now."

One foot casually slid out towards Eralion, poking him in the shoulder and responding to his question before the teary eyed Ellelunia could. "You're still at the Ox Tail, buddy. I think you ate something nasty when you tore in to that thing. Good job, though." On some level he had begun to care for the well-being of the two of them, and witnessing the horsecatbear come back from the brink of death tugged at the tiny remnants of his heart strings. His eyes shifted back to the old man, the glaze in them shifting from a warm caring overtone to one that was much harsher and far more standoffish than before.

"You'd do well to leave." His voice had followed the change in his eyes, becoming cold and off-putting.
 
Gregor sensed the hostility in Moneybags' voice, and could see it in all four of his eyes... err... well, yeah. The man was not happy about Gregor's attitude about the whole situation, but Gregor did not understand why, as it would seem that the other big kitty was going to be fine.

Gregor responded to Moneybags' thre... suggestion by moving a step closer to the man and locking eyes with him.

"My simple minded shenanigans kept that boy from getting splattered. My simple minded shenanigcans kept you all from being lunch or worse. Simple minded. Never heard of respecting your elders? I've got pants older than you. I didn't have to do shit for you guys out here, but I think my shenaminans worked out pretty well. If you don't agree why don't ya ask Gnashy McTeeth back there- Oh wait, you can't, because he's dead."

Gregor lightly jabbed a finger into the man's chest, eliciting a heavy wince.

"What's that?" Gregor sized up Moneybags, poking him again in the same spot. "Rib, huh? Bruised if you're lucky, broken if ya aren't. I remember those. Gotta bind it up. If it hurts to exhale, it's broken. Couple weeks'll set it right and if that's all you pull out of this shitshow, count your fucking blessings. Your catman guy looks better already, so don't let that eat at you. He ain't dead. Y'all look like you could use a drink after that anyhow. I know I do, but that's business as usual."

Gregor stepped back and started to wander over to the father and his sons, who were still cowering behind the tree line.

"I thought I told you to get out of here. What're you doing bringing your kids out here for this?"

The father just shrugged and said to Gregor, "I...We... needed the money, and there's very few ways to earn it nowadays, and I never expected ...THAT... What was I supposed to do?"

"Gee, I dunno, RUN AWAY, maybe? Take your kids home instead of trying to fight some demon? I gave you an opening to get out, why not take it?"

The man hesitated, and said, "We still need the money. It's a father's duty to keep food on his family's table, to keep his family alive."

Gregor put his hands on the man's shoulders, and said, "Don't tell me things I already know. I... was... a father. We do crazy things for our children."

Gregor turned and stumbled back to his unwelcoming battle companions, locking eyes with Moneybags again.

"Least you could do is give a tired old lush a lift back to town."
 
Ellelunia quickly wiped away her tears as Eralion was filled in. She couldn't stand to be around the three men any longer. She was so terrified that Eralion wasn't going to survive, that she let her emotions get to her; something she swore she would never allow to happen. She got up, keeping a stoic face and walking over to the older man as he spoke, or rather, grumbled at Raoes. </SPAN></SPAN>

"We'll give you a ride, thank you for the assistance" She said blandly, not letting herself rejoice their victory. She was growing too close to them, especially the Druid. </SPAN></SPAN>

Ellelunia picked up her things, which were scattered over the ground and brought them back to the caravan. She limped slightly as she walked, but it didn't stop her from cleaning up what she could and getting the horses ready for travel. </SPAN></SPAN>

Orion remained next to Eralion, who was now in his Sahrian form. He licked his face affectionately, his sandpaper tongue rubbing agianst his cheek roughly. The large cat purred against him, showing him the affection he knew Ellelunia wished to show, but couldn't. </SPAN></SPAN>
 
Eralion's cough sounded like he had been smoking tobacco his whole life, and he spit up a huge pile of gunk. He didn't even want to know what it was it looked so disgusting. Watching Ellelunia walk away with a limp made him cringe, but Orion's scratchy tounge on his cheek made him crack a small smile, and he patted the cats head. The bickering he had heard from the random old man and Raeos was in the backround and Eralion didn't have time to care about it. He slowly made his way up, his body aching with every movement. When he got to his full height he stretched his arms and swung them around to crack his back. Every bone sounded like it was breaking, but that was just what happened to him when he was changing forms so often. He glanced over at the old man and Raeos, giving the small human a quick salute.

"Nice job guy. Let's get a move on. I want to collect, not that it seems like enough for this beast." He tossed a thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the dead monster. "But, I also want to get these people out of here, and we are apparently bringing the old man back as well. I wonder if they payout will be to all of us, or if someone is going to argue." Eralion shook his head and groaned, a headache was beginning from the thought of anything other than a cold drink and a hot bath.

"Elle! Wait up." He yelled to her, not sure if she would listen, or care. She seemed so distant after such a serious fight, and she was limping.
 
Ellelunia was trying to hoist herself up onto the drivers bench, but wasn't having much luck. Her body was exhausted and she was in pain. She wanted desperately to get somewhere and take a bath to clean the disgusting black blood off her skin and hair. She noticed Eralion approaching and straightened herself out, despite the pain.</SPAN>

"What is it Druid, we need to get moving, before something equally as aweful shows up. Who knows- maybe the thing had family" She cringed as she gestured to him, pulling her arm in to coddle it to her collar bone with discomfort. there was only a couple things that bothered Ellelunia and showing weakness was one of them. Her cuts had all healed but the damage underneath was overwhelming.

"Let's go" She gave him little time to react, pulling herself up with a stifled groan, biting down on her lip and grabbing the reins. she looked over to the other men and motioned them to join her, to fill the back of the caravan so they could get out of there as fast as possible. she waved at the father and sons, who quickly piled into the back of the carriage, sitting next to one another along the right side.

"Raeos, quit romancing! Let's go!"
</SPAN>
 
Eralion could see the truth behind the statement, but that didn't mean he also couldn't see the pain on Ellelunia's face. He knew she was holding back her pain, trying to look the part of the tough girl who can take anything, but he saw past it all. Hopping up into the driver's bench next to her he whispered in her ear.

"I am not dumb Ellelunia. I can see the pain on your face. Hand the reigns to me, stay up here if you'd like but you need to rest your body. Orion can sit on the other side of you and you can lean on us. Do not try to deny me Ellelunia, I do not want to embarrass you, I only want you to be safe. Now hand over the reins." The tone he spoke in was firm, not allowing Ellelunia to tell him no. He hoped it would work. The woman was clearly in an intense amount of pain, if she couldn't hide the pain from her face there was no way to tell how terrible it was for her.

"Hope everyone who wants a ride is on because whoever isn't we are not coming back for you!" He yelled backwards, not bothering to turn around. He knew Raeos would make it no matter where he was as Eralion yelled.
 
Ellelunia scoffed at him, but handed him the reins anyway. She had a hard time denying Eralion when he insisted with her, using that deep intense voice that she had really come to admire. It seemed he had grown since they met, now being able to take charge instead of simply follow her lead.

"As you wish then" She leaned against his shoulder, tucking her legs into her chest as they sat on the bench together. Orion jumped up next to her, purring against his companion and leaning into her for comfort. He too was exhausted, but he cared more for Ellelunia than himself.
 
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