FateGuard

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The snake's venom had a sudden, drastic effect on Janus's health, filling every inch of Janus's body with a nigh-unbearable sense of pain. Fortunately, Janus, ever the (unnaturally) calm scholar, did not lose his wits, and instead proceeded to cure himself of the snake's poison. He snatched the snake from its recoiled position upon his near-swollen foot, took out his knife, then cut the little beast's head off; he then discarded the beast's body and, while reciting certain, mysterious incantations, he rubbed the posterior end of the head upon his wound. The venom leeched out, and the whole of Janus's body convalesced with relief.

But his mind remained tense, as he noticed the hundreds of snakes slithering towards his and his fellows' position. Remembering a certain experiment he participated in not long ago, wherein he and some of his then-colleagues had to enchant the pets of a certain snake charmer from "beyond the wall", he discarded the snake's head, and began a long ritual to bind the snakes to their then-current places. With his knife, he proceeded to etch upon the ground a circle of ancient and mysterious magical symbols; then, sheathing his blade, he knelt upon the center of the circle, and prayed a long prayer, whose words, which he took from his primary grimoire, were in a language completely unknown to him. After the prayer, he finished the ritual by once again drawing his knife and, while shouting a powerful, high-pitched screech, bleeding his right arm, letting drops of his blood fall upon the earth. Then, mentally exhausted, he refused to stand up, catching his breath while on his knees.

Another short cry of pain suddenly burst out of his mouth: another snake had bitten him. His spell didn't work.
 
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Eos heeded Corben's call. She and the rest of the FateGuard ran to the square, where they were surrounded, dogs coming from all four directions. It seems the FateGuard may have underestimated the hounds' numbers. The hounds seemed to never end, pouring out of the alleyways.

The FateGuard were left with no choice. They took a desperate stand in the center of the square. The formation seemed practiced, as if they might've prepared for this. Each of the fighters took up a position to defend those in the center. Eos took the position to the West, per Corben's command. She couldn't hold out as long as the other, more experienced members of the FateGuard, but she took a stance where she could hold out the longest.

As the Beasts began to approach she lunged, stabbed, and impaled any dog that came close. When each dog fell, the snakes on it's back seemed to disperse, but she didn't get a good look at where the went, she was too occupied with the assaulting dogs. She might've been slacking, since she would've been tackled had Alwynn not shot the beast down first. With a quick nod of thanks, she continued to defend against the onslaught of hounds.

The waves never ended, and when things looked bleak, she heard the call of Arias, with Tahan close by. Her spirits lifted slightly with their arrival.

"Glad you guys could make it. Some help would be appreciated right now."
 
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"Hurry, Janus!"

Marshal Corben wrenched his sword from the flank of a hound, a bloody arc that flecked his comrades in blood. The Dragonfire Blade was true, and the hide of the beast took up in flames. It reeled. He slammed his foot against it. The burning hound was flung amongst its pack and it won them but a moment's reprieve. He saw Arias and Tahan arriving from the west. The giant of a Legionnaire was bundling corpses to be burned.

As always, he knew something they did not.

No time to question, though. He heard Janus behind him, dispatching a beast before commencing incantation. A circle was carved in the ground between the FateGuard and the scholar knelt upon it. Corben swung to cleave a Hound that leapt for him, and even as it fell Janus remained in prayer.

"Watch the rooftops!" More arrows sailed past his cheeks and hounds and roof-slates rained in tandem. But for every hound that fell a dozen snakes would scatter to find fresh hosts.

"YEEEEAAAAAAARGH!" Janus's arcane cry split the air and Corben glanced to see the scholar plunging his knife into his own arm. He felt the ripple of magic, like a twist of nausea in his gut, and on cue the snakes around them shuddered and stalled.

"Yes!"

Then Janus screamed. The nausea struck again, this time harder, and Corben felt splitting pain in his head. Janus dropped to his knees and Corben recoiled at the consequence of the spell's failure. The snakes reared up, straining for the sky, as if charmed to dance. Then at once they crashed back upon themselves, rolling over, coiling and uncoiling, drawn by phantom force into a tangle with their brother serpents. Arias and Tahan backed off. The circle of FateGuard closed. All around them snakes writhed and united. One became indistinguishable from the other, moving faster and faster till the flesh was one. The hissing was chaotic, then choral, then singular.

In the space of seconds the FateGuard were encircled by the shifting mass, and with a singular thrust one end of it snapped up to release a deafening roar.

​

"SHIT!"

Corben hurled himself aside as all fifteen foot of the monster's torso came down and scattered the FateGuard in every direction.

 
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"R-Ridiculous!" was the only word Derek could say before being flung across the square and slammed into the stone wall surrounding a nearby home causing large amounts of rubble to topple on and bury him. Derek coughed loudly from the dust kicked up that made it's way into his visor. Though the Regalia had protected Derek for the most part he had felt Alondite torn from his hand by the impact, though he could hear it clatter down nearby. With the thrill of battle and his adrenaline pumping he could not tell the actual extent of his injuries The only part of his body he could move was his right arm. Still dazed Derek felt around for the hilt of his sword. He felt his fingertip brush against the sword's hilt but only when he stretched his arm as he possibly could bound as he was. With a frantic disbelieving exhale he called out.

"Corben!...? Althera...!? Janus, Eos, can anyone hear me!? Alondite! Someone give me Alondite! I can't get loose without it!"

Could anyone even hear him through his helmet? Under all that rubble?
 
Althera's attempt at staying sane and focused on the mission ahead of her was beginning to diminish. One moment she was about to stick an arrow into a hound that was looking a little too close toward Janus, the next she was flung up against the wall, ears ringing and her vision clouded red with pain. She crumpled to the ground, Nocturne (She finally decided on a name for it) screaming its protest as she slumped against it. She thought that the pain would never subside, and what felt like hours of torment was only a few minutes.

The picture ahead of her both horrified her, but gave her a shout of hope. In front of her was a writhing mass of a gigantic snake, the hounds seeming to have disappeared. And although the FateGuard seemed scattered, she thought she had accounted everyone still standing. Minus herself. And based on her time with the FateGuard, it always seemed that the last stance for a gigantic horde was always the 'Big Guy', and in this case of scenario, the snake.

The pain almost gone now, Althera tried to move but was pushed right back down by a blasting wave of red. 'Something has to be wrong.' She began to inspect her body, desperately searching as fear slowly began to worm into her. She had began to think it was poison, but unaware to her, her legs and lower back had been crushed under the weight of the snake, and somehow placed where she was.

"-orben!...? Althera!...? ... Alondite! ... ive me Alondite!..." Althera heard the muffled cried of Derek coming a short distance to her left, and, glancing over, saw that he was buried under the remains of a house, its residents were fleeing at a rate the could even best her speed. It would have been a hilarious sight if their lives weren't in such a tangle. "Derek..." She thought that as she rolled over onto her stomach, blinded by a wave of red then black, that if she was going to die, she would at least go down fighting, like her mother had. However it took quite a large amount of persuasion to keep Panic and cowardice at bay.

Slowly, somehow avoiding the eye of the serpent, Althera crawled to where Alondite lay, taking numerous stops for breath and twice more to calm her nerves. What seemed like another hour was only a minute, and she lay next to the Sword, beads of sweat tinged with blood running down her forehead. She extended her left arm and began to push it toward him, the bite of the steel sinking into her flesh was like a butterfly's wing beat compared to the rest of her body. She took one last shudder of breath, thrust it as far as she could, and collapsed entirely.

Unable to move, talk, or even think, Althera refused herself any engagement at all, allowing her mind to work its way from sanity and into the terrors that lay beyond, which only resided when her eyes flicked flicked to Nocturne. The demonic bow lay abandoned halfway down the length of the trail of blood which she undoubtedly pinged as her own. She could feel its pull, its hunger for blood not satisfied, but she couldn't move. Her eyes rolled back and eventually blacked out sometime during that night, she had no clue when.
 
No time.

Tahan's breathing ringed in his helmet. His heart pumped, strong, even beats, in his ear. No time to think. Only do. The Legionnaire stepped forward, striding rapidly until he stood in front of the gigantic snake. It wasted no time, lunging forward, fangs bared. He braced his shoulders and dug his legs into the ground, the snake slamming into the front of his shield. With a heave, he deflected it at an angle, using the turning momentum to swing his sword down. It landed, a true strike, but left only a scratch on the armoured scales. The snake's tail rained down, and he finished his turn to block it again with his shield. They exchanged blows in a whirlwind. The Legionnaire felt his body bruise and creak under the blows. Black blood from the serpent splashed the ground. Venom left smoking black spots on his armour, which screamed into his ears, the unfocused anger from the unholy carapace causing his vision to narrow into a cone solely focused on the snake.

They stopped. An uneasy truce.

The snake could feel it; the next strike would likely bring this animal down. But it stung from the scratches on its body, and its snout was smarting from exchanging blows with the unusually hard insect in front of it. It coiled itself, a tightly wound steel spring whose next strike would crush anything in front of it. They waited.

No time ...

The rope in his shield fist had spooled all over the floor. It wound in between the cobblestones, following the grooves at right angles, rooting itself among the square. It was a gift from the Eldrith guild, handed to the Legionnaire as he was preparing for tonight. A rope more like a worm than a twisted bundle of hemp, it was not intelligent or enchanted, but simply an abnormally dry rope. As it spooled endlessly from his hand, it would seek out moisture. It merged itself with living flesh, drawing out their essence to relax the painful tension in its fibers, mummifying anything it touched. The bundles he had left behind in the city were so rich with moisture that they only smoldered in the purging fires the acolytes of the church had lit, a dirty oil fire that sent blue-black smoke into the night. But most importantly of all, the rope was so dry that it could even draw in magic. The snakes they touched turned into lifeless skins, merged with the rope. Thus the infection would be contained.

But elsewhere, the smoke collected into clouds, flowing into the Eldritch tower in many spirals . . .
 
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It was all in pieces.

One minute they had a stable defense, things had been looking up. Now there was a giant snake in the square, a massive one.

Huge. Enormous.

Terrifying.

His remaining arrows had been wasted. A few had missed outright, several had deflected harmlessly off of the scales, and one had lodged in the serpent's mouth to no effect. Alwyn's last arrow was now in hand, sheer terror pounding in his head. He could not waste this arrow like all the others. While another FateGuard member sunk their blade into the body of the beast Alwyn stumbled backwards over the cracked stonework and debris, desperately trying to position himself for a shot. Sneaking a glance to his side his heart sank. There next to a pile of rubble in which Derek was working to free himself was the prone and motionless body of Althera. Returning his gaze to the snake Alwyn froze.

He watched it coil back for a strike on Tahan in front of him. Someone was yelling but Alwyn didn't hear, deafened by the hissing which seemed to overwhelm all of his senses now, his feet rooted by the gaze to where he stood.

With a slow and deliberate motion he notched the arrow and aimed. He had one chance, and if he missed? He wouldn't have time to regret it. The snake's mouth was open, moonlight glistening off of the pale fangs. Alwyn's willpower cracked.

"F-Feck..."

He released the arrow at the same moment the snake shot forward its mouth wide open as if to take Tahan in one glup. Still mesmerized he watched it fly straight and true, lodging itself deep into one of the snake's eyes. Alwyn then shifted, trying to dodge the serpent as it spiraled out of control.

He didn't have time to react further, the next instant he was swept aside and tumbling backwards across the ground, the snake's writhing body effortlessly smashing his frail frame aside with its massive bulk.

Reluctantly he pushed himself upright into a sitting position, his legs splayed out in front of him. The snake of course had not been killed by the blow, only slowed down and hindered. The others were still locked in a pitch battle, Derek now in the fray with the rest of them. The blades of the FateGuard shone brightly in the night, which gave him some comfort. For a moment he mutely watched the battle, his entire body aching painfully. Remembering Althera again he ripped his eyes away from the battle and glanced at where she lay, still motionless.

Feck.

Still dazed he pulled himself upright and half walked, half stumbled over to her position, part of his attention still focused on the battle. With some relief he found she was still alive, but bleeding badly and he wasn't sure what other injures. Deliberately and with some hesitation he unwound a faded blue scarf he had been wearing around his neck, using it to bind the gash upon her head. Inwardly he cursed himself for forgetting to bring anything to treat injuries or even a basic knife. Acting quicker now, he removed his cloak and unsheathed his sword, cutting large strips off of the bottom of the cloak for bandages, half of his attention kept on the ongoing battle in case it wandered too close to their position or someone else got injured.
 
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White light suddenly blazed near Alwyn as Alondite slid into Derek's hand. In a surge of strength the Lieutenant burst from underneath the rubble that covered him. Quickly surveying his surroundings he spotted Alwyn and Althera, both injured an Althera particularly bloody. His first urge was to help Alwyn tend to her but his instincts took control and and hearing something move behind them before he spun around, swinging his sword savagely in a wide arc. By some stroke of luck the attack found it's mark. It took a moment for him to realize he had managed to strike the snake across the jaws that had snapped open to try to consume the three. With the creature reeling back and retreating Derek looked around the battlefield only to find the three of them seemed to be the only ones who had recovered. The creature was missing an eye and with Althera's bow in a trail of blood off in the distance it became clear to him that she must have been the one to slide Alondite to him before passing out. Had it not been for her Derek wouldn't have been able to defend himself against the last attack. He owed to her now to make sure they made it out alive and at the absolute least a thank you after the fact.

"Tend to her, Alwyn," he growled the creature recovered. It went without saying what his intentions were. Stepping forward into the square Derek pulled behind him a large piece of stone the size of a man's torso from the wreckage. With all his might he threw the debris at the snake hitting it in the head. The damage was superficial at best but it had certainly gotten the creature's attention. Pure muscle this opponent was and with it's size Derek couldn't simply use his strength to block and stand his ground. Defensive offense was the only option here. The serpent hissed and swung it's tail at Derek. Hurriedly changing his footing Derek slashed at the tail as it closed in, digging into scales and flesh. The tail retreating next came the beast's head. Another swing came down overhead and though he missed the blow struck the ground beneath them with a sound akin to thunder.

This pattern repeated almost as if it was a dance. The snake attempted to strike and Derek would attempt to parry only for the attack to just barely miss. Neither made ground and neither could advance. This was becoming a frequent occurrence with Derek and one he did not enjoy. The dragons, the centaur, Tamoldes, and now this serpent. All opponents that Derek could only match, not outright defeat. When he first joined the FateGuard he remembered when he could fight werewolves, lesser daemons, and others with relative ease with the power of his blessings, but now their opponents were only getting stronger by the night. The Wounded Hand's doing? The return of Tamoldes? The reason mattered not. With a brief reprive Derek looked around to see of any of the other FateGuard has recovered only to barely notice another attempted bite in time to parry, this time striking the creature between the eyes, but the sloppy attack failed to pierce the creature's skull as he had hoped. Breathing heavily the two opponents eyed each other warily.

If only he could exploit the creature's blinded side somehow...
 
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The mass of flesh and bone that was the giant snake nigh crushed Janus to his death; by luck, and only luck, did Janus find an immediate avenue of escape. As he realized that his spell had worked, only in a way that was most unintended, and possibly somewhat manipulated (but by what?), he quickly crawled out of the scene into one of the nearby buildings; and as he crawled he finally lost some of his calm, shaking fearfully and muttering strange yet inconsequential words in his escape. It was a tavern, his hiding place, "The Loathsome Bottle": a tavern for the town drunks.

Or, at least by that time, a tavern for the corpses of the town drunks and their murderers: the Chimera-hounds. For upon Janus's entry he found that about ten of the beasts lay rested on the tavern's floor, either sleeping or enjoying a bit of play with their dinner's bones. Janus found this twice startling, with the first surprise having been very much related to his security, and the second one having been related to his insight into the beasts' behavior. The Chimera-hounds, though somewhat made corrupt and ferocious, retained a part of their docile, unenchanted selves; when not in the presence of a proper quarry, they seemed to return to their proper canine roots.

Of course, a few moments after Janus's entry, then did the beasts become once again mad with hunger; Janus was game for them, after all. He, however witless then, did find swiftness in his escape; in a sudden, singular motion, did he stand up, open the door, and jumped out of the scene. Then, in great panic, did he run; run where, he knew not. The beasts lunged out of the building, and went on the chase.

Meanwhile, the giant snake, the beast which brought Janus to his panic, and, in a sense, the hounds to their chase of him, was distracted by their deathly play; it bent its head, then bleeding and half-blind, down to Janus, tilting it to allow the still-seeing eye to watch more clearly the play. It was a vulnerable position, being hard to recoil from, and exposing the beast's tender neck and lower jaw...
 
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The force of the snake crashing into the ground threw Refia into a nearby wall, nearly crushing her from the force of the impact. Her armor managed to keep her in one piece, but she could feel her ribs crack. As she pulled herself up, she saw Derek burst from beneath the rubble, and advance to fight the snake. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she moved to the side of the snake, hoping to find a weak point in its scales.
 
A struggle with the dogs one moment, and the next the earth seemed to shatter with the fury of Gods. Arias was tossed from his position instantly and only with the luck of him being quite a bit further from the mess than the rest was he able to catch his aerial and land in decent shape. His legs hurt from the stress but he hunkered down and bit through that pain as he stood up and searched for his giant Armored friend. Tahan was not far and was recovering as well, but one thing he hadn't expected to see, rather he was almost dissapointed in himself for having missed its origin to begin with. A massive Serpent now sat in the center fold of this part of the city, and hissed furiously at all of the Fateguard around it.

Never, had he expected a development of this calibur, and so he was lost at the moment. All of his thousands upon thousands of predictions and plans shattered in that second and he was left with an empty board. It might not have been so terrifying had their been pieces of either side, but he was truly terrified now, broken from all concentration and lost as he looked the serpent up and down. His blade felt dull to the touch, like the weapon was nothing even if it was symbolic in this case for the sake of his true weapon, he still had a sword; and it was still quite sharp, but he felt helpless.

It didn't do him or them any good being like this however, he knew that; and if he didn't it was becoming more and more clear with each person tossed aside to the stone of a house as the mighty serpent stampeded around the villa. Arias knew he had to do something here but how was he supposed to face this thing?

Shaken from his mind Arias looked over to see the Serpent rearing back to strike at another of his allies, and only as he might of expected, the Powerful second to Corben stook toe to toe with the creature. It was magnificent to behold, the way he danced without fear, a true veteran in the light of a blood moon, it was .... inspiring. A smile fell upon Arias face as the board finally took place, His pieces put into position as the Serpents was layed out in a wall of Pawns and a bishop at the point where it curves, the enemy Queen faced off against Arias 'Queen" at that point and the other pieces in his mind some were trapped but others still remained. This was his time to do something here.

Arias tightened his grip on his sword and hence forth rushed to the battle. Instantly he noted the new recruit Rufia at the side of the Serpent and somehow for even a quick second Janus had drawn its attention, which told him right their; it was now or never. Arias rushed in and glanced over to Rufia before issuing the only command he could think of in that moment. "Rufia Strike where its weight lies." It was so simple of a command, but he wasn't even sure it would be enough, he could only hope Derek, or even better off, Tahan might catch on, they needed to drag it down at the right time and he and Rufia had to use their weapons to cut it right at the fold, hopefully throwing off the creatures center of Balance. The tail would probably thrash around, but the head would fall, and if he was correct and this figure was alive then, its source of life probably did not come from a heart, as it probably contained multiple, rather the brain of the creature would hopefully be enough to end this.

"When it falls Strikes its Skull, shut down its mind, and hopefully we end this nightmare."

His voice was clear as he rushed in with Rufia and with her coming up from the lower edge, and him coming with a roaring powerful strike over head at the snakes center the opposing blades would hopefully be enough to cleave it right in two. He could only hope this was enough.
 
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Derek's eyes darted around the area seeing more and more of the FateGuard rise to the challenge of the attack. The distraction of he, Tahan, and Janus had given Refia and Arias an opening to strike and Derek knew just how to follow it up. Seeing the two strike Derek began rushing towards them and as he suspected the serpent twisted it's body and went to respond by trying to consume the two whole. Seeing his only chance Derek put himself between the snake and the two recruits and grabbed the snake by it's snout. The force of the two clashing pushed Derek back several feet, but gave him the opportunity to grab into of it's nostrils with his left hand. Shining in his right hand and drawing on every ounce of its power he could, Derek flipped Alondite downward and aimed his strike at the beast as it struggled to get free. Just as his grip slipped Derek slammed Alondite into the ground. Though he missed his original target of the brain he did strike through the creature's snout and jaw both skewering it and pinning the beast's head at ground level.

Having been shaken loose Derek went flying and tumbled to the ground right where he had originally started: by Alwyn and Althera's side. Urgency filling in his voice Derek only screamed two words as loud as he could from his lungs as the beast tried to pull free from the awkward angle from the sloppy, last moment strike.

"FINISH IT!!!"
 
As soon as the snake was down, Refia climbed onto the snake's body, carefully making her way to the head. Aiming in the middle of its head, she drove her sword down, straight through to the monster's brain. She pulled her blade out and drove it back into the beast, careful not to be thrown by its death throes. As blood poured from the wound, the snake's movements gradually weakened, until finally they stopped entirely. After the last shudder, she pulled her sword free and jumped back down to the ground.

"Is that the last monster, sir?"
 
As the din of battle died down Derek rose to his feet and wearily walked over to the snake's corpse, "Yes...yes, I think so," giving Refia a pat on the shoulder with his left hand he grabbed Alondite with his right, pulled it from the ground, and in one last strike decapitated the creature's head from it's body just to be certain it was dead. Satisfied Derek swung the blood off the blade he returned his weapon to its sheath.

As he looked down at the body of their enemy Derek's stomach was already churning in protest of the idea that this would likely be what was served on the FateGuard's table come the morrow and elicited a single, violent shudder of discomfort from the Lieutenant. As Derek scanned his surroundings he spotted the rest of the FateGuard getting themselves on their feet from where ever the snake had scattered them until his eyes stopped on Tahan who was rather appropriately framed by church looming off in the far distance. With the memory of the boy almost stabbing him with implements made of dragon teeth still fresh in his mind Derek looked into the snake's now slack-jawed mouth, grabbed a hold of the snake's fangs, and ripped them from the beast's mouth with a particularly sickening noise of snapping bone and ripping flesh. Behind him were the collapsed and flaming remains of some pour souls' home. Without a moment's hesitation Derek threw the fangs into the fire and watched them until the were ablaze themselves before turning to Refia and Arias again.

"Well done, you two. Gather the others and find Corben. I think we're done here. It won't be long until the three arrive to assess the damage...and then the bishop will find some way to criticize how we handled the situation, no doubt," his final words were muttered under his breath with a particular bitterness and sounded vaguely like "conniving, manipulative son of a bitch, anyway."

His short debriefing done Derek returned to Althera and Alwyn's side. Taking off his helmet Derek started checking over Althera's bandaged wounds. They appeared to be flesh wounds at best as he could tell. A few moments with the healers and apothecaries would have her back on her feet, "It would seem you did a decent job patching her up, Alwyn. I suggest carrying some rolls of simple linen bandages in the future. I have half a mind to reprimand you for not doing so tonight. Basic first aid is important in battle," finding his words sufficient Derek thumped the man on the back, "All of that aside you did well tonight, Alwyn. You destroyed the creature's eye and in doing so gave us a vital edge over it. Now, shall we regroup? Here. Take my helmet and retrieve Althera's bow," finished with Alwyn, Derek carefully scooped up Althera in his arms and began to gather with the others.
 
Althera drifted in, and out of reality. Hearing things there and catching blurred, blackish images there. Unaware of her protests, she grunted in silent agony whenever Alwyn's care passed over one of her more sensitive wounds and her pulverized lower half. She would live in the least, but her ego would likely have been crushed as fine as sand by the end of the night. Though slowly, however painful, she began to regain a grip on the world.

At first she felt a dull numbing, which quickly turned into confusion. And as if a cannon had fired directly into her chest, everything exploded back into reality at once, the shock of it causing her to jump in shock, then pain from her legs quickly ceased all movement. She slurred out something, which sounded fairly similar to "Tentacle looking bastard."

To her utter horror, she realized with a start that someone, or something had embraced her, and her mind began to revel with the vision of being in the snakes mouth, its jaws fitting snug around her as it attempted to swallow her whole. But then, to her utter relief finally realized it was Derek, the imaginings that held her withdrew into the back of her conscious, but were still ever present.
She was surprised at how tender he was, considering how she had caught a glimpse of him slamming Alondite right through the snake's skull, and how he could probably crush her into nothingness without effort. And how small she must be! She probably looked like a frail child compared to his bulking mass. But if anything, she was glad she was being carried, and not left to drag herself back.
She allowed herself to hang there, recollecting her strength before finally opening her weary her eyes, she was surprised at how difficult it seemed compared to when she had got out of bed that morning.

She couldn't help but smile at the sight before her, and, temporarily forgetting her place, lightly cuffed the side of his head. It probably felt like a crumpled piece of parchment, and by the time her arm dropped back down it felt like it was a crumpled piece of parchment. "What's this? Never knew you had a soft spot for women in distress, Derek." She would have laughed, but a sharp pang in her chest caused her to make a meek whistle of an attempt, and she finally submitted to whatever minimized her current agony.

Althera caught sight of Nocturne out of the corner of her eye, and was about to speak up when Alwyn scooped it up, which only slightly eased her worrying. She knew that he would likely feel the bow's un-quenched hunger. Though she kept her feelings to herself, and trusted that he wouldn't be seduced in its abilities, and thankfully, the chances of such a thing were very unlikely.
 
"All of that aside you did well tonight, Alwyn. You destroyed the creature's eye and in doing so gave us a vital edge over it. Now, shall we regroup? Here. Take my helmet and retrieve Althera's bow,"

Alwyn stumbled slightly under the blow from the larger man's hand on his back but beamed at the compliment, offering a quick but small bow and salute.

"Yissir, will do sir."

Pivoting on one foot he spun around on the cobblestone, his eyes scanning for the bow which was thankfully not far away. Tucking the helmet securely under his left arm he darted over to the bow and knelt to pick it up.

He was caught off guard by the presence in it, an electric like shock that coursed painfully through his sore right arm and spread across his body. By reflex he went to drop the bow before regaining his senses and tightened his grip, the faintest of yelps coming to his mouth.

"Of course it'd be enchanted." Alwyn murmured, although the feeling that now enveloped him was not one of a blessing. It felt almost malevolent, a hunger for violence and conflict.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, deciding not to dwell on it right now. Setting Derek's helmet down Alwyn took the remains of his cloak and gently wrapped Althera's bow in it. Once that was done he grabbed the helmet and collected his own bow from a short distance away before rushing to catch up with Derek, trotting along after him.
 
While the snake shook the ground in its deathly fall, the hounds, then of the regular sort, continued chasing Janus, with the beasts' chase being motivated no longer by the supernatural, but by the normal: rabies. Noticing this, Janus's heart was filled with even more fear (he remembered the time one of his high-society friends got bit by a rabid dog in church), and his speed increased, to the point of blurriness: his clumsiness returned, and he slipped, falling flat on his face. A brief interjection of pain, then darkness...

But when Janus awoke, nothing was there, and his body remained clean and intact. He stood himself up, and walked - ah, no, not walked, limped - to his colleagues. He limped because of the snakebite-the snakebite! A sudden rush of pain and fear filled him. Quickly did he examine the leg, and saw... rot. Too much rot.

His mind dizzied, his heart pounded, his breathing quickened, his strength collapsed: he thought of his leg, how the rot was too great, how he... how he would have to lose it. "No, no, no! It's too damn early!" he thought, he thought, he thought, filling his mind with only that thought as he limped - ah, no, not limped, hopped, hopped on one leg - to his colleagues, filling his mind so that he may forget the pain, may continue on. And then he found them, reached them, and then in his weakness he slipped, falling flat on his ass.

"Ach! Ach... Can... can someone... can someone help me out over here?" He took out his holy blessing, a little icon of St. George Dragonslayer, and rubbed it upon his leg, hoping that its protective magics would work on the leg, would save it from total catastrophe...
 
The stalemate with the snake was interrupted in the best possible way, by interference from a third person. While Tahan waged a war of wits with the snake, it was slain at its most distracted. Automatically, he began to move towards the snake before Derek's actions stopped him short. A rash of thoughts flooded his mind, flooding over the irritation he felt from Derek's actions - the death of his mentor, father and friend. With most of the people he knew dead, was there any point in continuing with what he was originally tasked with? Externally he stopped moving, but his figure shivered, the white spots in the eye sockets dimming, and the hide which he wore seemed to thrash and distort in the dark of the night.

He eventually seemed to come to his senses and turned his attention back to the snake. The rope continued to spool from his hand, the shield now set on the ground. It slowly crept up the side, but as more of the rope found purchase it moved quicker and quicker until it was wrapping around the monster, a rope-snake constricting and consuming one of its own. The rope in his fist finally ran out after wrapping about a quarter of the carcass, and Tahan stood there, watching the brown threads wrap around the snake, drying, devouring it. He seemed entranced by the sight, and only later did he come back to his senses and fumble - a most uncharacteristic action - with his sword, moving towards an unblemished part of the snake to harvest its scales for later. He tried to ignore what the others were doing, the camaraderie, the joking, joviality, and flirting, letting his thoughts be drowned in the sound of metal on scaly flesh as he carved the carcass. Since when did things like that bother him? Maybe it was because he couldn't go back to anyone ... anymore.
 
Eos gave out a loud groan as her vision faded in and out. She lay sprawled across the cold, hard ground, shaken from the impact of the snake. When the snake first appeared, scattering the FateGuard across the square, Eos was knocked into a pile of crates and barrels. She took a large amount of the force and still breathed by sheer luck. But on the small moments she could remember, she saw her fellow FateGuard combating and eventually killing the large beast. In a rather flashy and coordinated strike, Refia climbed the downed snake and struck it down.

Meanwhile, Eos lay useless to the side. As the heat of combat faded, she could feel her energy coming back to her. Limply, she uses her rapier to steady herself as she stood up. She felt weak and angry at herself, not being able to help herself or her fellow members. With a shattered body and mind, she hobbled back to the group.

"Sorry I couldn't have been of more use," she apologized. "I promise that I won't be so careless next time." There wasn't going to be a next time. She'd try even harder to prove herself, not allowing this setback to ruin her.

Just then Janus came hobbling back in. His leg seemed to be infected and rotten. Well the least she could do was help. She came over to him and offered a shoulder for Janus. She would try to lift him and help him walk over to a crate.

"You alright there, Janus?"
 
With a groan and a shove, the unconscious weight of Bruce Lynerin subsided, and from beneath him Corben rolled onto his side. Ash-choked coughing ensued. The Marshall took a moment to check the bruise and graze of cobblestone. Then rose.

"Be still, Janus," rasped his first words. "Wait for the Clerics."

He checked on Bruce, only to find him out cold. The Berserker's old injuries had left him weak for this fight. Like many others. Night after night had fatigued them all. Making sure the man could rest, Corben limped on to join those gathering by the snake. Tahan's ropes had eaten part of it's carcass away. It was a cruder version of what the Mages would bring, when they arrived in due time. Those of the Church would heal, and those of the Guild would dispose. It was the ritual of each night.

"A good kill, Refia." He squeezed the woman's shoulder as he passed. Then to the wider group: "Make clean your weapons. Check your armour. No scale, no fleck of blood - no trace of this thing must touch us. It arrived here by infection. Be vigilant."

As if to belay his own advice, the Marshall slumped down next to Janus and the two of them sat against the monster's hide. A waterskin was produced, and they each drank deeply. "I hope your next spells do not fail so grievously."


* * * * *​


In time they came. Clerics bearing water and swinging censors of blood-red smoke. The square was soothed with prayers, and thence by the chant of mages. The Alchymia Chapter, marked by their tattoos, came thirdly on their nightly errand, joining with Tahan to strip the corpse. And in the midst of these crowds advisors to the king, militia sergeants and minstrels who would relay the deeds of the night to the royal ear. All peasantry was held at bay, the townsfolk straining to see past blocking halberds. Some called out, praising the FateGuard. Others yelled more accusing questions. It was no time for speeches. The people were kept at bay and the sages did their work.

In time the FateGuard stood aside. By the rubble house where Derek had crashed, they formed up to sit on wood beams or lean on stones. A band of watchmen in the ruins. From there they watched the corpse being pulled apart and the wreckage cleared. Waterskin passed from hand to hand, and healers worked in silence to bind their wounds.

Speaking over the shoulder of a kneeling acolyte, who even now was salving his ankle, Marshal Corben addressed his comrades. "This will only get worse. The foraging parties travel further each day. There is less food. More and more they run the risk of bringing something back with them." He placed his sword and scabbard on a nearby rock, drunk more water, and wiped his brow. A thin film of grime had darkened his features "The city will starve..."

The night wind tugged at the tears in his tunic, flapping linen from the flesh of his left arm. The Witch-Wound scars could be seen there, a lattice of injury as intricate as any tattoo. He covered it over and exhaled.

"Perhaps that is how the Night will truly kill us."
 
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