Flames crackled off the rocky walls of the surrounding cave as Elise now stood before a gathered audience. Atop a ledge stood Azala as he had done many times before with Elise’s two brothers beside him, along with other elite. Azala stood with arms crossed, anger spread across his face.
“Impudent child, yet another failure? That’s the well beyond your third for the week!” he barked out.
She looked up to him, glancing to the right to see a smirking Rusty positioned as if ready to attack. To the left a blank faced Britt. Her eyes returned to Azala as her lips moved, “Where you see failure, I see success.”
“Bah! Your mission was a failure and nothing more. True you escaped with your life and confirmed what we already figured, you still let them escape with their lives!”
“What would you have had me do, chase after them into the unknown? That would have been risky for anyone here and you know it.”
“Excuses, excuses that I will not have! This is as big of a blunder as your first two missions where your comrades kept dropping dead due to your own weakness.”
Her eyes shook at the comment, her fists growing tighter and tighter.504Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhRd2CjB29
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“Baskel, go left. Baskel to the left. No left. No!”
“Help me!”
The sound of a metal piercing and ripping right through flesh, blood dripping to the ground. The sound of clashing metal all around and the crunching of feet on leaves.
Dauntless dropped to his knees before his brother who fell dead with a spear in his throat. Off to the right Elise swung her katana at little green men in red pants with red vests who giggled. Many stormed from the trees as Vulper moved ahead sending a flurry of kicks out. Many of the green men flew off and crashed into the brush of the trees, many with their necks broken.
“Dauntless, on your feet!”
“No no no, this- all of this, these Goblins-”
“Dauntless!” Elise yelled out as she looked up in fright. Giggling Green Men dropped from the branches above with spears pointed down, many piercing through Dauntless ramming him into the ground. Lightning crackled above with brilliant flares launching outwards. Elise’s attention returned to her front as Vulper jumped back.
“These guys weren’t supposed to be here, what the hell is going on?”
“Fight on Elise, we need to hold out until an opening out of here presents itself!”
All around with the next flash of lightning were many more Green Men running towards the two remaining individuals, both tensing up at the sight of what ran before them as another bolt of lightning crashed, a bolt shooting down right at the forest in fact.504Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡurxWghaPKl
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“You won’t have anything, you never allow anything!”
“Watch your damn tone brat. Now get out of my sight at once before I punish you again! Your next mission at Jakahoven Pass will need more spunk than what you’ve got child.”
“And will this turn out like the last several missions where I’ve gotten jumped?”
“Do you want to go back to being a simple Gatherer? I can easily make that happen brat. Now get to it.”
“As you wish, Father,” Elise said with a slight bow as she turned off in stride.
Phil gave a glance to Azala as she left, contempt in his stare, “You do realize she isn’t going to follow every order you give her without complaining right? She’s faced so much backlash and many threats lately. She’s going to catch on eventually.”
“I know that already Phil,” Azala muttered back, watching as Elise left entirely.
Elise walked down a hall with a glance to the left and a glance to the right. Onward she went, not halting even a bit, “{Jakahoven Pass, what joy. Wait a minute, if I remember right that place is- no, really? The Giant Spider Pack roams those lands. What the hell?}”504Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyahLOCgnJx
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“I was right, this sucks!”
Elise flipped backwards, her back curling ever so slightly with her right arm extended towards the ground as she curved. Down she came with a palm pressed against the ground. It bent a slight bit until she performed a heave-ho to launch herself back again onto her feet, sword drawn in her left hand. The katana moved forward, a high pitched screech heard that was far from human, almost like the shriek of a banshee .
Into the katana’s tip flew a hairy arachnid about the size of a greyhound, impaling itself on the weapon. Off it slid as more and more charged at Elise. Once more she flipped backwards, this time high bound through the air to the top of a tree branch, “This is my cue to leave now that I have an opening.”
Her feet turned as her sword was sheathed, a single leap off sending her through the air and onto the next branch. Many had begun to climb the first tree to go after her, many others simply chasing across the ground as she flew off leap by leap. Her head turned for a split second as she continued to go ahead, her pace failing to slow, “Good thing those things can’t keep up with me.”
“GRYAAAAHRR-” came a yell.
“HELP!”
Her head perked up. Left and right she glanced, having heard both. Again it came, this time louder from the right or rather South. It was at the next branch she came to a stop, slightly turning her body to face the direction. The scream of a male shouting for help came again, joined by a female’s voice, growls and howls in that direction as well, “What’s going on over there?”
Her head turned right again to where she had been coming from to the sight of charging spiders on the ground, “Well then, no point in me hanging around here,” she murmured taking a leap off to the direction of the howling and cries for help.
Behind the spiders continued to charge after. Her focus shifted behind to the sound of bark being scratched, torso turning ever so slightly to allow her to gaze back and see the spiders leaping across the branches. A flash of light came from ahead, her focus changing immediately to the sight of the glow of fire. The fire was not stationary, something she quickly noted, rather coming straight at her, “The devil?”
Down she flew, leaving the branches for the ground as the fireball flew back. A shriek was heard, a shriek of the spiders. Elise glanced back quickly and then forward to the sound of chuckling, very familiar chuckling.
“Heh heh heh heh heh. Not bad for a runt.”
Fire danced around this man momentarily before dying out, remaining just long enough to have revealed a red star across the left side of this individual’s face. Elise rested a hand upon her weapon as she gazed at the approaching individual, “Medontei Onoragi.”
“Ah so you remember me after all little scrub,” came the reply in a dark, deep soothing voice.
The hood flew back to reveal Medontei who stopped approaching with a continuous grin. Fire rose around him again and contracted into small spheres of flame that in turn began to circle around him.
“Come to interfere again?”
“Again? So those yells for help I heard, your doing,”
“Ah yes, in a way it is my doing yet in another it is not.”
Her eyes perked up to the sight of four wolves leaping up beside Medontei, two to each side snarling ahead at Elise. Behind them a fair distance back came another cry for help followed by the sound of clashing metal. Figures danced in the distance, wolves fighting wolves, humanoids swinging weapons at beasts.
“Having a party without me? Stark Pack is certainly up to no good, that much I can tell,” she spat quickly holding her sword tight, unsheathing it in her left hand now holding it out front.
With her words Medontei cocked his head to the side and let off a slight snicker as his grin turned more fiendish. Her eyes narrowed, at which point she spoke again, “Just what are you up to you tricky screwball?”
“Well you’re about to die anyway so I suppose it doesn’t matter much now does it? We’re after some very valuable intel that a few people have. Just beyond this point they’re fighting for their lives against the forces of Stark Pack, including David and Milly. Now about your funeral, I think I’ll be certain to put the fun in that. How do you feel about cremation darling?”
“How do ya feel about having a boot planted up your ass with a sword in the esophagus?”
Elise stood ready now taking on a defensive posture with the weapon held out as the four wolves stepped forward slowly with their snarls filling the air. Medontei raised an eye, “Ha! Spunky, I love it. So? Not going to run away? Not at all what I was expecting.”
“No, I’m done running away. I’m not about to turn my back on people in need when evil scumbags like you are after them. I’m done being powerless, I’m done watching people be forced to submit themselves to a higher power that stands against them.”
“And here I thought from what I had heard you just wanted to prove yourself to your mud ball of a clan,” came the voice of David who stepped out of the darkness with Milly beside him.
Both stopped near Medontei, looking forward upon Elise with equal grins. Behind them flew four individuals who crashed upon the ground with wolves and beasts approaching just beyond. Elise looked at the sight of them and then to the others in anger, “Ya know, that’s what I thought I wanted but I think knowing about things like this pisses me off more than being useless to my people. I’m stopping it here and now!”
“Then by all means wee lass, bring it on,” Medontei laughed.504Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7M3cvkgRKy
