Times of War: Chapter One- The Night Fire

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He debated on whether or not the giant knew all this through actual sight or some sort of ability gifted to the race. That shouldn't matter, right now. They have the info needed to complete their mission. Ox didn't move but his mind filled with glee that a treant decided to help them. Even if it was technically a trade, it's a win-win. Though, that other thing that was said...

"Then, she shall be slightly redeemed when we rid the poison from your wood." He said, giving Anthea a concerned look.

Ox was curious, but the time wasn't right. Quickly looking back, the warrior bowed his head politely. The burrough was about to receive a good dose of invasion.

"Thank you, helpful stranger. We will head there immediately."
 
Anthea bowed respectfully to the Treat. "Yes, thank you. We will do what we can to help." she said, then stood straight and turned her face slightly to look at Ox. He seemed to be the leader of this group, so she wondered what sort of plans he might have. His expression looked a bit concerned. Perhaps he was worried or scared of the enemies they would have to face. Her own expression was still fairly neutral, as per usual, inside though, she was feeling much more relieved, and perhaps a bit excited. They finally had clue as to where the target was. Finally, they could make progress.
 
"Come the time that you need help, whisper to my trees" The treant's body creaked as he leaned away, turning back to the forest which seemed to bend and part in his path. The giant moves as slow as he spoke, all birds and wildlife followling after it as if they were his personal guard.

Hibce grunted under his heavy beard as he finally felt brash enough to speak, spitting a wad of sour saliva to the ground with a deffinite squish. "Ain't no Dwarf ever seen a beast like that before! Praise the stone for the eyes in my head!" He let out a sturly belch of laughter, head cocked back and knotted, frizzled hair bouncing beneath his hard metal helmet.

"What say you then warrior? We goin' after the dead man's things then?!" He already had his axe in hand, eathen eyes sizing up the man who had given him such a talking to previously. "Bring some bastard heads back with us to Ostegar while we're at it?!"
 
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Ox politely bowed, as the large creature took its exit. He watched as the trees moved to accommodate the size of him. That kind of power was simply awe-inspiring. The wildlife just seemed to protect and hover the slowly gone treant. As the tiny-beared, spitting war machine come over, he looked down and blinked. Bringing back head just sounded like more of a hassle than it was worth. Not to mention, it would be the behavior of people that weren't him.

"I say...we go take care of this problem and be back in time for supper."

The warrior trotted over to his things and begin to suit up.
 
"Agreed." Anthea said nodding in reply to Ox "It is best that we get this finished as soon as possible." Anthea then went to her tent and grabbed a satchel with some health poultices placed inside and then walked back over to Ox who was gearing up. There wasn't really much for her to prepare as she basically just needed her spear/staff which she had already grabbed.

"Are we all ready then?" she asked as she glanced around the camp.
 
"Aye! Supper is something to look forward to! A feast of bravery when we return to Ostagar!!" Hibce roared, picking up his pack and strapping it to his stout back. "Off we are then, Lass" He nodded at Anthea, waddling past her as his feet pounded the dirt. The bulky dwarf took a quick look at the group, lingering on each one before turning to walk beside Ox. Scathach holding up the rear and the woman following behind himself and their self proclaimed leader. Nothing wrong with letting the human lead, Hibce had a better chance of fighting off attackers if he followed behind someone else.

Soon enough, the group had taken to the woods, keeping the creaking words of the Treant fresh in their minds.

"The thing said 'em Darkspawn were crawlin' up outta' the dirt, you think that's truth?" Hibce grunted as his thick stubby fingers pawed at the bark of a fallen tree. The dwarf climbed his way over the rotted thing and rumbled over the other side; wishing that he had just expelled the energy by hacking it to peices.

"Dirty Asschabs!" He grumbled, looking forward and huffing under his breath with embarrassment.
 
After about a minute or two, Ox had all of his "Darkspawn wrecking" gear. After making sure they each had all their things, the group began the track to finish this assignment. He gave a nod to Anthea and lead them across the land. Hibce walked like a large, hairy baby with a full diaper and a battleaxe. He wanted to point that out, but maybe that would be a good conversation for when they are on their way back. The dwarf's curiosity registered and he had an immediate answer.

"The tree creature didn't have any reason to lie to us, seeing as how he came to us for aid."

He smiled as the dwarf suddenly looked tired, after everyone was done hopping over the tree.

"Are you more of a natural sprinter, master dwarf? Dangerous over short distances?"

Ox could not help but laugh as they started to come to a small clearing on top of a small hill. The grass was beautiful and what looked like a house was completely overgrown with weeds and other plants. He motioned for them to stop. His large feet stepped on the creaking porch, as he moved past a window. There wasn't much to be seen, so he opens the door...
 
"Don't be a curious fool" Hibce bellowed, gripping his heavy axe as Ox moved slowly to inspect the abandoned shack. The beared brute grumbled to himself, looking back at the rogue who had silently sought to be closer to the group. "Why don't you have the sneaky one check it out?"

Scathach nodded his angular face, swiftly catching up with Ox and parting ways to take the back of the structure. Without needing to be asked, he moved; nimble feet carried him softly over the broken branches and brittle leaves. The rogue was barely audible while Ox stomped around in the front.

"Nothing" His lips moved, but only a husk of a voice came out. The sound wisped in the air for a split second before the sudden snap of a wooden rig catapulted a barrage of arrows at his lithe form. Like an acrobat, he Scath managed to dodge them. He was not completely sucessfull; taking an arrow to the shoulder before catching shelter behind the thick trunk of a tree. The attack came from the forest; this was most deffinitely a trap.

"Did ye' hear that?!" Hibce growled, thumping his way closer as an identically short and stout darkspawn crossed in front of the window of the shack from the inside. "Watch yer'self Warrior! We've Nasties a'foot!"
 
Anthea followed silently after the others. She payed little attention to their simple conversation. Socializing was not something she cared to do. The only thing she cared about was completing this mission and not getting herself hurt in the process. Apparently they were going to have to fight against darkspawn; that was not something she was looking forward to doing. She wouldn't be able to use magic when they fought, and although she was quite big, strong, and fairly agile, melee combat was not really her expertise. However, if the situation became very dire then she would likely use her magic. She would rather live and them see her use magic than not use it and die. Her mind mulled over this dilemma of hers as they carried on to their destination.

Eventually, they arrived at a small clearing covered in lush grass and small foliage where an abandoned, overgrown shack stood. It seemed almost peaceful, but there was a faint, acrid scent within the air. The scent seemed familiar, but she was not sure where she had smelt it before. Whatever it was, it made her feel uneasy. Her amber eyes scanned the area carefully for clues, but saw nothing. She lingered in the trees a little while longer as she watched Ox and Hibce go ahead. Not long after, Scathach followed and was then told to investigate. Nothing happened at first so Anthea began to take a few tentative steps into the clearing towards the rest of the group.

Not long after Anthea had stepped into the clearing a barrage of arrows flew out from the forest. Scathach had triggered them it seemed. Luckily, Anthea had not been that close so none had managed to hit her. The arrows had startled her though. Adrenaline began to rush through her body as she held her spear up defensively, ready for attack.

Soon enough, darkspawn began to come out from hiding. A rather small one (especially compared to herself) passed by the window of the shack from inside. She dashed to the tree where Scathach was hiding to see if he needed any assistance.

"Ah, so you were hit." said Anthea as she eyed Scathach's shoulder. There was no emotion in her voice as she spoke, but there was a slight hint of anger or perhaps annoyance within her eyes. She suspected the arrow would not be easy to remove at the moment so she quickly broke the shaft off for him. They would have to remove the rest later as the battle was just beginning. Fighting in groups was not something she was particularity used to, but she suspected they would need to work together in order to succeed. "That should help." she stated simply, "Now let us join the others." Only just after finishing her words she dashed off to aid the others, though she glanced back once quickly to see if he was following. She had placed herself behind Ox to guard his back from any enemies. "It's me, Anne." she announced to him, just in case he had thought she was an enemy sneaking up on him. "I'll guard your back for you, unless you wish me to be elsewhere" she said, her voice sounding still quite monotone despite the situation they were in. Her eyes looked back to Scathach again. She hoped his injury would not hinder him too much. Hopefully the other warriors could handle themselves as well. The more fighting she had to do, the more at risk she would be.
 
Ox rolled his eyes at the dwarf whom didn't seem to understand that he went up there so no one else had to. Of course he could have sent the sneaky one, but he is less likely to be able to take, lets just say, and arrow in the face. Nevertheless, if they really wanted to investigate, he wouldn't stop them. His large feet tried to creep across the porch, but did nothing to muffle the sound the large, young warrior made. The whistle of the arrows and the thunking when they penetrated the house.

As the dwarf stated the obvious, his crossbow was drawn. He had spotted the lingering darkspawn in the house. The bolt bust the window opened. It shattered the glass and deaded the sneaky bastard to boot. It's blood seeped from the wound as the grunt well into the hole. The hole that Ox spotted once the window was broken. This was a trap if he ever seen one...or the last people who lived here preferred to give the impression that they were not mole people. Either way, they needed an escape plan.

His head turned slightly, as Anne called out. Good plan. He didn't exactly want to not have his back protected. The cross bow was put away in favor of the large shield and sword. "Then we will protect each other!" He yelled back. "Hibce! Scath! Get over here, we need to leave!" As the words leave his mouth A Hurlock hopped over the railing and a give a toothy roar. "Cmon, you ugly nug humper!" The somewhat more cold, quiet demeanor no longer resided in him. The champion had come out and it was time to play. The enemy lounged with it's greatsword to be handily deflected and then took the shield edge to its eyes. With it's sight taken and brain punctured he kicked the darkspawn through the door. Two more quickly advanced, giving Ox only a second to think. So he lowered his shoulder, taking down the first. The other swings only to get a sword in the gut. The first was dazed long enough to have it's head stomped through the porch. He would try to hold long enough for the others to regroup and they would leave together.
 
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Hibce responded to Ox's order well, raising his ax and throwing it har over his shoulder by using all his weight. The hefty dwarf was lucky enough to strike a darkspawn grunt on the left side, turning him right into Ox's path of destruction. Hibce watched as Ox faught hard, coming up to his side with a booming alert to let him know he was there to help. Last thing he needed was to be scewered-mistakenly taken as Genlock foe.

"They're pouring in, ser!" He grunted, pulling his ax out of the corpse and turning it powerfully to knock another down. The bearded man was right, they were crawling out of the hole in the floor like spiders from a nest; Hatchlings blindly searching for food or death.

Scath leaned against the tree with Anthea as she tended to him, breaking off the length of the arrow and tossing it to the side. Without much time to thank her, he followed her through the trees, rounding the shack and finding the others in battle with more darkspawn.

"be cautious, these are poisoned arrows" He spoke, but it was quiet as his attacks, silently swishing a dagger through the air and slashing the throats of oncoming enemies. "They will burn from the inside out."

Of course, Scath was not just saying this as an observation. His shoulder was a flame with the rapid disinigration of his muscles from the poison Anthea had unknowingly trapped in his arm. Before long, the agony had become to much and the rogue was swimming in pain behind his eyes.

A cloud of dust drew Hibce's attention as he spotted Scathatch hit the ground on his knees.
 
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Anthea was happy that Ox did not object to her position, as it seemed to be the only place where she might be of any use. She listened behind her as she heard him call out for the others to fall back. She liked the sound of that, for the stream of darkspawn appeared to be unending.

She tried to fight as best she could despite not being a real warrior. She was always grateful that her spear gave her such a long reach. It allowed her to keep her enemies at a more comfortable distance from herself, at least for the most part. However, she was a bit slower at dispatching the enemies than her group members. She was evidently much better at blocking attacks than dealing them. Luckily, her spear did not break when she blocked. It must have been made from some strange sort of wood, or perhaps it was enchanted, for otherwise it would have broken against the blades of her enemies long ago. She stabbed through the skull of one darkspawn after having traded blows with them a few times, and not long after another appeared to challenge her. Even though she had the least darkspawn attacking her, she was having the least success in fighting them, only just defeating one before another would take its place. Normally, in this sort of situation she would simply run away.

Why didn't she run away? She wasn't exactly sure why. She was a fool though, that she was sure of. The more she fought the darkspawn, the more frustrated she became. Her eyes widened and her brow furrowed as she angrily stabbed her spear at the darkspawn before her. She missed once before managing to stab them in between the plates of their armor, and then kicked them away, forcing the blade out from its body, blood spurting out as she did. The next darkspawn was not that close so she turned her head for a moment to see how the others were faring.

Her head had turned just in time to see Scathach fall to the ground. She had not heard him say that the arrows were poisoned earlier as he had been too quiet, and she, too absorbed in combat. "...Scathach?" she uttered, looking a little stunned. She considered going to help him for a moment but then remembered the one darkspawn that had been coming towards her.

When she turned back to face them again she was nearly too late. The darkspawn before her was just beginning to bring its sword on top of her and she only just raised her spear in time to block it. They hit her hard, making her stagger backwards a bit, causing her to bump into Ox. She cringed, and hoped that the action hadn't affected him. There was no time for her to apologize though as the darkspawn was really going into a frenzy now, trying to take advantage of her stunned state. She blocked many times before their weapons finally locked together. Her eyes narrowed as she drew closer to them. She then gave a swift, hard push against them, then a strong kick, knocking them to the ground. Like a cat, she leaped high into the air, then drove her spear deep into their skull, finishing them.

It was a nice finish. She stared down proudly at her kill, rather happy that she had managed to not get herself killed despite acting so foolishly. How were the others though? There were no darkspawn attacking her at the moment, and none that appeared to be coming towards her. She should help Scathach, if the others hadn't already. With some effort she managed to pull her spear out from the dead darkspawn. It had actually gone a bit into the ground so it was a little difficult to pull out. Spear in hand, she turned back to face the others, noticing unhappily that she had displaced herself a little ways away from Ox during her duel.
 
A lost head was the gift for Hibce's wounded enemy. Then a couple of large large gave him some separation, so that a quick mental inventory could be taken. He was unscratched. Hibce and Anne were within the area next to him. They looked fine. Where was....sod. Strained jaw clinch was shot in the direction of the quick warrior. Then Anne was at back, still fighting darkspawn. His body tensed up to make sure neither of them would fall. As she jumped he took a step forward, knocking down a genlock. His sword slash his belly open and blood squirted into the air. He then turned his attention back to the party. They were only a few yards away from Scathach...and possibly death.

The self-proclaimed leader had a choice to make. Risk their lives for the sake of already kneed warrior, or escape. Mind you, all of these thoughts were firing off very quickly and Ox had a sturdy enough to think this rapidly. What was the right thing to do? Darkspawn would overtake them if things didn't work out.. Then...they would need to be careful. "Hibce, if you want your fill of darkspawn, get in front. We are going to clear the way. Anne, grab Scathach. " This was incredibly stupid, but he refused to let the potentially dying warrior to be lost to the enemy. It was time for a more devastating weapon. Sheathing both his shield and sword. The clink of the large warhammer sounded, as he began to charge past Hibce up to Anne. With it's first great swing, a hurlock was flung onto a couple of his friends. "I mean now! Get him!" He bellowed.

Dead or not, Scathach would not get be left here.
 
The dust around him clogged his airway with a horrible wheeze, leaving Scathach coughing and gagging for something which at the moment, seemed unatainable. Hibce grunted in agreeance with Ox as he lifted and swung his ax in a circular motion over his head, clearing the way so he could slip in front of Anthea and their leader. His muscles ached from weilding the heavy weapon, but like always, that only seemed to excite his need for battle.

" Aye, Grab the rogue, me and Liandre will hold off the uglies" Of course, he was refering to his weapon, running his stubby fingers over the blade as he waited for the next round of genlock to charge at their position. "where we takin' ourselves, ser?" This time, he questioned Ox with a hint of loyalty, trusting in his ability.
 
Anthea wiped some blood off with her arm and gave a quick nod to Ox before dashing off to help Scathach. The elf did not appear to be in good condition. He was horribly pale and his breathing was very irregular. She bent over and picked him up and then threw him over her shoulder. The rest of the arrow was still lodged into him. Her expression held a tinge of anger in it as she glanced at it.

Should she have pulled the whole arrow out?

No, she reasoned. He could have bled to death, or the poison would have seeped into his body before she had even pulled the arrow out. There was nothing that she could have done.

She ran up to Ox with Scathach hanging over her shoulder. It was a little difficult for her to carry him while also carrying her large spear. Luckily though, he was rather light for his size. Not far ahead Hibce was slaying darkspawn. He called back to Ox to ask where they were going.

"Yes. Where will we go? To camp or to Ostagar?" Anthea said to Ox roughly with a hint of urgency in her voice. They already had one man down, and with the number of darkspawn in the area another one of them could easily be brought down if they did not leave soon. She walked forward slowly with her face turned towards him while she listened for his order.
 
He kicked over an over-zealous darkspawn and smashed the cranium like a juicy watermelon. The slight vibrations shook his arm for a few seconds. Ox swung again and again keeping the evil demons away. As they began firing questions, he already knew what to do. "Stay together, and lets get anywhere that they weren't. I am not letting another one of you go down today." He meant it.

Ox took a good long look, and spotted a good part to slip through. "There! Between two ferns!" He made a beeline for Anthea. His strong, leather gloved hand pressed against the small of her back. "Cmon, we must hurry!" Hibce was motioned to move faster as Ox tried to look over their forth. He didn't look well. At all. It was disheartening, but they had to escape. He gave Anthea's back a little push to stay with him. The darkspawn were converging, and it would be prudent to get the hell out of there.
 
Hibce hollered over his shoulder at the group as they fled, burying his axe in a darkspawn skull with a 'crack and smoosh'. The dwarves voice boomed over the battle, making sure to use his words wisely, so their leader wouldn't give up.

"Meet ye' back at Ostagar! Move swift-" His words were cut off by the slice of a sword towards his face. If the warrior wasn't lucky enough to pull back on his axe and parry the swing, he would be singing tavern songs with the stone. "Ye' bastards are worse than roaches!" A sucked breath would charge his body to push them back, spine straight and muscles strong with determination.

As the blood and flesh flew, all Hibce could focus on was getting himself out alive, if that was possible.
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Scath groaned as he was slung over the wild womans shoulder, drooling a bit of blood as his head dangled down at the middle of her back. His conciousness only caught a few things here or there; fighting with the poison for control over his limbs or his senses. They were retreating, that was about as much as he could fathom at that point; tipping in and out of darkness while his body was jossled with Anthea's movements.
 
The horses hooves planted heavily into what seemed to be upcoming sludge. The moon causing pellets of earth to burst out onto the horses fur, and the sabatons of her armour. Disregarding one of the many close encounters with this area and it's nature, her red eyes were stuck solidly on the upcoming tower on the horizon. The men at her front called back to the ground of them and they all replied with their obviously exhausted groans and vocalisations. Valoria stayed quiet, and alert. Temporarily did her ears pick up on the wildlife around making their presense known. The barn owl would squawk everytime her eyes momentarily glanced to the left in the areas of tree and bush. The abrasion of the grass would sometimes over-run the others' voices in the thicker trudges of the place. This Ostagar was finally coming in to view, and they were still a little confused on why they had been called to the 'General's' request. What was it that they had in store for them?

Valoria took a couple of moments before she finally lowered herself from the abnormally 19 hands high horse. Her armour echoing with a clang on landing, and an offering of water and a small crust of bread was given to her when she arrived. Not exactly what I expected on arrival, but better make do.. She thought to herself when glancing down at the gesture, and took the water and bread at hand with a smile in reply. The place, at this point, was pretty empty. They weren't exactly directly next to the tower, infact quite a walking distance. However, they were informed the horses would be kept safe here, and as their only source of travel, they wouldn't risk going against their personal trusted informer. So they set off with what was surprisingly a quick paced jog in the end, 'warms up the bones' their leader had said. What would they need 'warm bones' for, exactly?

Nobody questioned it, once again there was silence in the group and gathering noises of chewing and swallowing. It wasn't much but it was certainly appreciated from the group. Valoria's mind dwindled on the architecture of the place they were brought to. She recognised it as something spoken of to her as a child, but could not picture what purpose it had in any explanation, or story, etc. Not much was remembered from her childhood, typically understandable from a woman her age. Her thoughts were cut off when a relatively average size man approached them all with a nod, and spoke under his voice to the leader of the group, who then turned and stood to the mans side explaining that this was Ostagar, and they were going to be stopping here for a while.
 
Anthea struggled to run with the others. The weight of Scathach was making it difficult for her to move quickly. For Scath, it seemed he would soon be meeting his end. She could feel his blood running down her back and his uneven breathing across her shoulder. She did not want to meet the same fate, but her energy was draining.

Suddenly though, she felt Ox's gloved hand press against her back, pushing her forward. The encouragement helped, and her speed increased slightly. Behind them she could hear the darkspawn's pounding footsteps behind them as they pursued them.
 
They ran for what seemed like hours. With the gear that Ox carried, it was more along the lines of running for days. Even for his very large size the young man had enough armor and weapons to lightly supply the rest of the team. The darkspawn stopped chasing them once they came down over a small ridge and tried to pick them off with arrows. Amazingly enough, their traps had a better hit rate than the archers themselves. As the group finally cleared the range of their arrows and the sound of their disgusting growls, Ostegar was in sight. They made it...well most of them did.

His hand lingered on Anthea's lower back a bit longer before pulling away. He looked at the rouge again, finding that the poison had began to pull him into the black nearly entirely. They pulled ahead of him, a little bit, as he slowed. "We are almost there. Hopefully, there will be enough bread and ale to wash down the day." A moment later, they reached the doors, unknowing of what kind of welcome they would receive.
 
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