Bones Should Stay Burried [Don/Mila/Drei LCO]

[Donovan]

Donovan No Name walked with his contingent of fighters away from the small town of Debron in Badon that had requested the aid of his growing mercenary company. The Nameless, as he liked to call them, were excelling at their job. Many of the mercenaries had picked up shinny new silver weapons to give them a boon in fighting back the monster scourge. Most of them didn’t even realize the actual purpose of the company; eliminating the threats within Lycia so the country was ready to take the fight to Etruria. With each successful monster hunt, more fighters signed up to join the ranks. And seeing how most were mercenaries, they liked Donovan’s less formal method of leadership.

Perun and Don had separated for their missions. The Giant was needed to bolster the ranks of some of the newer recruits and to give them a Thunder God to worship. Don knew that Perun was someone he could always trust, so it was good to have his best friend fighting with the squads the silver tongued mercenary couldn’t be with himself. But still, he hadn’t spent a lot of time separated from Perun since they’d started traveling together. The next hunt they went on would have to be together.

If it wasn’t for Mila’s company on this journey, he would have been surrounded by characters he barely knew. She’d brought Drei with her, which was good. At least two of his comrades were experienced fighters. The handful of others that had signed on were fresher recruits to the Nameless, whether or not they knew their way around their weapons was another matter entirely. The only one Don knew was experienced was the priest who’d joined them for the fight, though that didn’t exactly help in the killing things category.

As the gang of 10 reached the overturned caravan the Mercenary Commander drew the ancient sword and the wind about it stirred restlessly. There were 3 over turned wagons, fires engulfed one, and quite a bit of blood. But there were no bodies to be found. Donovan motioned to the slim soldier on horseback, gripping his lance with white knuckles, a myrmidon with a grim face, and the heavily armored knight who’s face was hidden beneath a helm.

“I'm going to take Brandon, Lindsey, and Ally and sweep the perimeter - keep an eye out for any undead that might have stayed around the area. If we don’t find any, we'll do another sweep and see if we can find a trail.” The mercenary pointed to the priest and a small thief. “Connor, you check the wagons with Malkary. If you find any survivors, Malk, do your best to keep them alive. Probably best if you go with them, Drei, in case anything’s left in the camp we don't know about.” He pointed to the remaining fighter and his a small but determined looking recruit. “You two, stick with Mila. Mila, I need you inspect the caravan to try and figure out what we’re facing here. Probably not Gargoyles, or we’d have heard of some sightings back in town. So it’s most likely something like an entombed or a wight - plus however many poor souls have fallen to it. You're the best in the business when it comes to this sort of thing, so everyone show her some respect and try to learn as much as you can from her. Everbody keep your weapons on you at all times and a sharp eye. Let’s get to work.”

[Mila]

The last few days? Weeks? Yes weeks, had been a bit of a blur for the young mage. Things were moving so quickly she barely had time to sit down and organize her thoughts. One moment she was helping Donny with the fort mission, Then she met up with Drei, then she was suddenly recruited to help fight many of Lycia's monsters. Which was a dream come true for the young monster hunter. With each victory against the monsters, the more people started to join them, which lead to her teaching, which lead to people showing her some respect in her profession. Granted it was still small time and most of the mercenary folk that joined were.. not exactly with the sharpest of minds. But that didn't stop her from trying to teach them the basics. And after the last little fight in the village many of the mercenaries remembered to destroy the heads of the zombies. She decided to count that as progress. The mage had also been sleeping a whole lot less since she had been spending some hours by the campfire compiling the first draft of her monster guide. And then making a copy of the draft in case if the original one got damaged. This all had to be done by hand since she did not have access to a printing press, book maker, or magic mirror that copies things.

Mila stared at Donny for a moment as he began to issue out orders. Pert of her was happy her friend had really started to come into his own with the whole leadership business. The other part of her wished to crawl back into her sleeping bag and sleep for the rest of the day. But alas she knew she could not, she was given her orders, and it was time to work.

"Alright.. Guess you guys are with me." She spoke up to both the fighter and the young recruit.

"First thing's first check yourselves. Make sure your weapon is with you and you've got supplies on hand. Don't know who or what could be lurking in the caravan." In the mean time Mila pulled out her pair of broken binoculars. Broken on one side but no the other.

"Don't see any movement." She muttered before putting away the glassware. She then motioned for them to follow her. The fighter tried to take the lead but Mila stopped him. Then pointed to the floor. Their was soft dirt with tracks. These tracks weren't human. Or rather they WERE human once, but the creature that made them was beyond humanity now.

"We got Bonewalker prints. Shoot.. they are really light too. Meaning that these print's aren't fresh. At least I HOPE they aren't fresh. Bone walker's have naturally light foot falls to begin with since they don't have any flesh. So sometimes it's really difficult to tell how old prints are. But you can tell they are bone walker prints.. by the shape of the print." Mila then pointed out the how elongated the tarsal bones were and how there were little gaps in between the spaces where flesh or shoes would be. The three of them slowly continued their approach to the caravan.

[Drei]

In earnest, he had spent most of his time silently accompanying Mila. Ever since they'd agreed to travel together in Sacae, he'd been keen to find her. Once he finally had, it had been at a fortuitous timing even he was grateful for. Especially when he'd spent so much time traveling alone. That didn't lighten the burden however of his mental pain. At-least...not constantly. Mila certainly helped at times but..he highly doubted anyone, or even his own efforts, would end them entirely. There it was, that he found himself following her; but this time part of a larger group. Others he did not particularly care for, but could at-least tolerate. Mostly.

The Ashen haired shaman quietly followed a few steps apart from the group, uncomfortable with the presence of larger numbers; attempting to ignore the dull ache throbbing constantly near his temples. The easiest level of ache to handle at-least, as opposed to the crippling searing pain that he was sometimes prone to. The boy's hands shifted to the pockets at the sides of his purple robes, even though his sleeves already masked his fingers with ease. From within obscured folds of cloth, the boy began to focus inwards. Channel small vestiges of nether into dark whisp like trails of murky shadow that would never leave the dark sanctuary his pockets offered. It was through this, the act of communing with the void, that he could start to feel somewhat at ease. Drei's fingers individually began to resonate this small taint given form; while he emptied his mind and allowed himself to simply embrace what he could only describe as an eternal calm. A state of existence where he felt as if nothing could disrupt his state of mind or thought; he could go about without the plague of emotions threatening to overwhelm him and simply work with methodical approaches.

That was, until someone specifically spoke his name. Amber hued eyes shifted to linger on the young mercenary telling the different members of the unit what to do. His gaze moved beyond Donovan, to the site they'd arrived at. The Shaman lifted a hand from his robe, and slowly began to focus the already slight manifestation of darkness into a greater one. A sphere of inky black nether formed within his palm, whisp like edges billowing as if a void fueled flame. The other hand lingered in his pocket, and he slowly moved along with the other two men that made their way towards the site.

He quietly averted his gaze to different angles and sides, attempting to see what he could of the situation and monitor it as easily as possible. His palm rotated in feint revolving motions as he rolled his wrist to somewhat loosen up his wrist. A stretch of sorts. He didn't actually speak to confirm what he'd been told to do; simply following the others quietly.

[Donovan]

The green clad mercenary lead his gang of 4 towards the outside of the crime scene. Brandon, the cavalier was a true green horn, he’d never seen any action outside of basic training, from what he’d told Donovan. The only reason that he was in with the Nameless, rather than with the Marquess’s army was that he was caught stealing to pay off some debt from a bit of a gambling problem. Rather than have him put in shackles, the boy was placed in Donovan’s custody. Lindsey and Ally were a team that had come to join the Nameless a week or two prior. Don hadn’t yet seen Ally’s face (He was unsure if the knight was even a male or a female) but they seemed to be a competent pair.

“Brandon will come with me, we’ll head to the right, you two should head to the left. Call out if you see anything, don’t be taking all the fun for yourself.” Donovan flashed a wild grin and was met with a stoney eyed stare from Lindsey and a chuckle from under Ally’s huge metal helmet before the pair turned off and headed in the opposite direction.

“How many do you think there are, ser?” Brandon asked, his voice quivering mildly. Donovan turned around to face the young recruit, “Brandon, you do understand that I’m the bastard son of a Trouper, right? I’m not the honorable boy of some fat Marquess. Loosen up a little! I'm not gonna stick your head on a pike for being informal.”

He heard a rustling in the bushes and spun back around, Fragarach growing faintly as he prepared to attack whatever came out. Kitchi, the adolescent fox, bounded out with what looked like a human forearm in his teeth. He dropped it at Dons feet and looked up expectantly. The green eyed mercenary reached into a small leather pouch he had started strapping to his leg and pulled out a small piece of jerky, before picking up the bone and examining it. “Well, Brandon, looks like we might be dealing with some bone walkers. Mila’ll probably have a better idea of how many we have to worry about.” The fox started clawing at his pants, so Don bent over and scooped the fox up into his shield arm. The fox climbed up to his perch on his shoulder, draping himself over the mercenary’s shoulders as if he were a scarf. “Lazy beast.”

Brandon urged his horse forward, the great creature was clearly unnerved by its rider’s tense disposition. Donovan could hope only that the young cavalier would be able to hold his own against whatever they came across. This fight could either be a quick and easy clean up or a battle for their lives. It all depended on the numbers.

[Sonia Zobek]

It wasn’t like Sonia to take to travelling so far south, but when she’d seen a request on a noticeboard in Santaruz asking for able-bodies warriors to take up the charge against monsters that had found a way to stray so far north, the woman set off for Badon’s borders. For the past few weeks she’d seen little activity – two bonewalkers here, a lone wight there - but the further she travelled towards the coast, the more she found. Not to mention, the more she heard of travelers disappearing on the trails, only dried pools and splatters of blood hinting to their ultimate demise. Something was off, and Sonia intended to rid the area of whatever threat was plaguing Badonian Lycians.

Just a half-hour earlier, Sonia had crossed the gruesome sight Donovan and his Nameless fighters had examined, and she’d seen the bonewalker tracks. But a few bonewalkers couldn’t have caused so much carnage, and they especially wouldn’t have dragged off their victims. Could this actually be a larger group of bonewalkers and wights? Sonia hoped not, since she wasn’t sure how well she’d a group much larger than three or four, especially if even one of them was a wight. And that didn’t even take into account any other horrors that might have been waiting in those woods.

There wasn’t a terribly thick forest-cover around them, but it was good enough for Sonia to take to the trees and watch carefully from above to see if anyone – or thing – would come back to the scene of the crime. She cursed as she saw the group of what looked like mercenaries come through and investigate the bloody scene, knowing they would likely either stumble upon the bonewalkers themselves or simply disturb the area enough that the bonewalkers would just find another path to terrorize. The latter wasn’t likely, but it was a definite possibility.

As she watched them move around the caravan, the woman wondered if these were part of one of the “monster hunter” guilds that had begun to pop up throughout Lycia. If they were, it was another new one – they looked more organized than most she saw. Even from a distance she could see most of their ranks were carrying silver swords, so at least they were prepared. Sonia had heard of too many young men and women who had lost their lives to the hell-beasts on account of jumping too readily at a challenge they didn’t understand. Monsters didn’t fight with the same reservations and survival instinct that people did, and approaching them as if they did was a fool’s errand.

Sonia frowned as she saw the domesticated fox emerge with what looked like a bone in his mouth. She couldn’t tell from this distance if it was human or not, but it was large enough to presume it was. The woman quickly climbed down from her perch, stalking off in the direction the fox had come from with hand on her hilt while keeping her movements as quiet and discreet as possible. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to reveal her position or presence to the travelers, but it wasn’t out of the question yet, especially if the monsters were too great in number. For now, she shifted focus; she not only needed a better position to take on whatever threat was lurking around, but she also needed to find the damn shamblers. She stayed ready to draw her blade at a moment’s notice.

[Mila]

"Because of the shape of the print?" The young recruit spoke with a slightly confused tone. To which Mila stopped her walking and adopted a small thinking posture.

"I.. suppose I used a poor choice of wording on that. But I kind of don't got a better way to describe it. Other then it looking like a bunch of sticks lobbed together in some sort of elongated.. mishapen chicken's foot. That's.. even worse wording I know. And.. it doesn't help that some feet..er foot prints don't even have all of the bones to make a proper uh.. boney foot shape." She scratched the back of her head lightly and continued to make the way over to the caravan.

"Perhaps.. the best example is by looking. Here.. take off that sandal and make an impression of your foot into this soft patch of earth right here." The young recruit did as he was told while the fighter looked on with a bit of a sour look on his face. The recruit's foot print was pressed right next to the best bone walker print they could find. It was here that the trio of them could see the differences between the foot fall.

"Now.. I see what you mean by sticks and chicken feet." The fighter commented before urging the three of them over to the caravan.

"How bout with the other monsters?"

"That depends. Some of the other types of undead.. like reverants.. entombed... and hell other bone walkers might have shoes. If they were buried with them.. At that point then they look no different then regular human tracks. Gargoyles have four toes with claws.. bael prints look what happen when you stab a spear into the ground then pull it back out. But they have a pat.." Mila quickly fell silent and held up an orb of fire. She had spied movement in the caravan's shadow. She signaled for the other two to be prepared. All through out the caravan she could spy signs of a fight. Nicks within the wooden frame where weapons had gotten stuck and then pulled out. The noises that were coming from the shadows all but confirmed bone walker's for Mila. There was distinct knacking noise of the creature jaw gnawing on something fleshy. There were also several little low "donk" noises that bones made when scraped against wood. The mage spoke in a low tone to the three of them.

"You." She pointed to the fighter.

"Quietly slip to the other side. I will pull the sheet back. Then you axe it from behind. Both of you, don't scream or yell. As this might alert the others who are hiding nearby. You with the lance stay behind me." The both of them nodded. Once the three of them were in position, Mila pulled the sheet back, revealing the half of skeleton that was eating a dead man. The thing was missing most of it's body past the rib cage and maneuvered on two arms. The creature pulled itself up over the edge of the wagon with it's two arms before the fighter lobbed his axe into the back of it's head. Mila then followed up by shoving the ball of fire into the bone walker's skull until it cracked into many charred pieces.

"Cut the head of the dead man off as a precaution" She ordered. The fighter gave her a puzzled look. He shrugged and chopped the dead man's head off. She then threw the old sheet back up over the dead man and sighed.

"I've yet to figure out.. how the dead come back to life. But I do know destroying the heads or severing the heads from the body usually prevents it." Well.. 98% of the time.. it USUALLY. Prevents it. She turned to look back at the young recruit who seemed to look like one who had fallen ill.

"Welcome to the glamorous world of monster hunting." She replied with a semi-sarcastic tone. Then looked around with a bit of a frown on her face.

"The behavior of this one was questionable... It was comfortable enough to start eating. Meaning one of two things.. either this.. guy was a greedy straggler. Or his friends are lying around in wait for an ambush.. now the question.. is.. how many are there.. and where can they be?" Her green eyes started to fixate on the tree line and the roads around them. She continued to eye the tracks that led away from the caravan. There were several monster prints as well as drag marks. It was difficult to tell as this area in particular looked like where most of the main fighting had taken place. Mila stood there for a moment trying to count the pairs of prints she could make out. Nine? Maybe ten? She signaled over the young recruit.

"Hey run and tell Donny we confirmed Bone Walkers. They.. went this way. Towards this northern patch of forest. They've got.. well at this point they HAD hostages. And.. I am roughly estimating about ten skeletons.. roaming around. I don't.. see smoke up ahead.. which means they haven't gotten far enough to hit the next village over. Yet." The boy shook off his doubts and ran off to deliver the message.

[Drei]

Drei hung back while the other two began examining the wagons. The shaman focused on the dancing sphere of dark nether energy within his palm, and its dancing twisting form. As if he was constantly molding it into different or new shapes. Instead, he was actually slowly gathering power. This way, no matter the threat, he could respond with enough force to bring it down. The gathered dark tainted magic shifted and altered continually while the snowy haired boy gazed at the two he had been temporarily paired with. As one rifled through discarded and scattered sections of parchment and articles of clothing, as if searching for some semblance of identification towards those out here, the healer was looking more attentively for survivors. Drei strode among the abandon caravan quietly, imagining what it would have been like when not abandon.

Wagons and caravans had been part of his upbringing. His family had been largely nomadic after all. His free hand brushed along the chalky shaded wooden railing along the back of one of the wagons. The wood was rough, but not poorly cut. His fingers did not catch on notched edges nor see potential for splinters. The welded metal that the wood had been built into, the thin metal bars running upwards at the end and looping around the back of the wagon was an almost nostalgic sensation. Drei looked at it quietly, feeling small memories crop up of laughing voices and dancing shadows along green Sacaen hills while they traveled to Ilia. He cut that thought off fast, retaliating mentally towards such jovial memories with a cold logic; silencing his dredged up memories by firmly reminding himself where he was.

He shifted to look over as the healer exclaimed with a shout of surprise. He threw over the turned over tarp bundled near the corner of a wagon. A man, bloodied and wounded, but still alive had tumbled off the side of the wagons coach seat. Malk was quick to start attempting to stabilize the man, calling out as he tended the appalling wounds all along the mans face and chest. "I've got one! Alive, but barely! This may take a few minutes."

Drei slowly made his way closer to the healer, as had Connor. Drei slowly eased his focus and began to channel the flux magic into a stronger manifestation. The shaman looked towards Mila, as he heard a commotion. Though there was a slight streak of worry, she seemed to have things under control. Drei figured he'd wait. Either something would show up...or they'd be told to rejoin the group.

[Donovan]

A scream pierced the air as the young recruit burst out from behind the wagon, “Bone Walkers to the north!” Donovan pulled the now alert fox off from around his neck and put him inside one of Brandon’s saddle bags. He began to head off toward the north, whilst giving the two green horns their orders. “Brandon, you and Robin need to get back to Mila and the others and form a defensive phalanx. Don’t let anything sneak up on you and keep Malk safe.” The mercenary then turned and began to sprint toward the north where the scream had originated from — from the direction Ally and Lindsey had just headed.

Donovan was hoping that there would not be too many foes this hunt, but by the sound of it, that was not the case. He heard the sound of steel on steel and pushed himself harder, to run faster. Fragarach sang in his hand, glowing green and bustling the wind about. Thankfully the blade was preternaturally light, so it provided no excess fatigue on the sprinting scoundrel.

Don burst through a bush and saw Ally, armor battered trying to fight off a axe wielding skeleton. Donovan hadn’t ever fought one of the creatures before, but he’d talked to Mila about it on the trip over. He still didn’t understand a lick of how they stayed together, but he knew he had to try and take off its head.

“Ally, get out of the way!” The armored soldier stepped back from the fight as quickly as she could muster, allowing room for the raven haired mercenary to jump into her place. With his shield raised high, he caught the falling blow of the axe. “Where’s Lindsey?” Fragarach flashed upward as the bone walker yanked it’s axe free of his shield and tried to block his strike, only to find the wind shifting it’s parry out of place as if by magic. “She was wounded, they dragged her off before I could stop them. She’s still alive!”

He swung to the left, then immediately back to the right, nailing the creature in the chest both time, but found no luck in causing the damage that he’d expected. “Gods, I should’ve just bought that silver sword!” Despite being a magical blade, it seemed that Fragarach was still not as effective as the silver swords that the best monster hunters used. Donovan leapt back and gave himself a little room to think. Ally was a little wounded, though her armor had saved her from being killed, probably kept her from being dragged off, too, since she’s so heavy. He needed to concentrate the skeleton’s attention on him for now, though actually killing it would prove a little difficult on his own even if he wasn’t too worried about being killed himself. “I really should have bought that blasted silver sword!” He cursed to himself as the axe wielding shambler threw itself at him.

[Sonia Zobek]

Still bounding through the woods while keeping quiet as possible, Sonia eyes were narrowed and focused on spotting out the bonewalkers that were no doubt lurking somewhere in these woods. The devilish skeletons needed to be disposed of as quickly as possible, especially if they were in a large group. A straggler or two were never an issue, but once they were together - especially with a wight - the unholy beasts acted differently, as if they clued into some sort of groupthink that somehow made them fight just a bit smarter.

But they were still just cursed bones in the end. The monster hunter heard the piercing scream and yell of the direction the skeletons had been spotted in, which instantly caused her direction to shift. Sonia veered to the north, rounding a particularly large tree and then slowing her pace as soon as the stench of death filled her nostrils, more so than anywhere else in the forest. The devils were near, then.

A high-toned ring piercing the air as she drew her silver blade, Sonia slowed, her steps becoming careful and more disciplined as she heard the clink of blades meeting ahead of her. Ducking behind a thick brush, she spotted two of the other hunters, who had found one of the bonewalkers and seemed to be struggling against it. They were equipped, but it seemed not as equipped as they could be against a monster - most mercenaries wouldn’t have been, Sonia thought bluntly. Thank goodness the bag of bones wasn’t a wight, or they’d be in for much more hurt. From what the woman gathered from the pair’s yelling, though, their friend might not be so lucky if she’d been dragged off into a plague of skeletons.

Sonia thought to jump in and help, but it seemed the two could handle the one skeleton. What they might not be able to handle, though, were more, and the rustling of another nearby thicket paired with the air becoming somehow more pungent than before nearly confirmed that for the hunter. Her gaze snapped to the direction of the muffled crackling of twigs and leaves, barely audible under the clash of steel just 10 or so meters away from her. She slinked that direction quickly, watching two more bonewalkers emerge just as she came upon them. No more hiding now, she supposed.

Almost immediately the Zobek daughter lunged from the brush towards the two new bonewalkers, shield brandished and crashing into one of them while she focused her gaze on the other that now flanked her left. As soon as the bashed skeleton stumbled back, Sonia spun to the left, her sword coming down through the ribs and spine of the still righted bonewalker, the silver blade hitting with a sickening crack as it sliced through the bone in one fell swoop. The unholy creature collapsed to the ground, though Sonia knew he would not be down for long.

Turning back to the previously stunned shambler, Sonia yelled as she adjusted her grip on the hilt of her blade, this time lunging and slicing through the skeleton’s neck, severing its head from its body. The skull clattered to the ground, causing the skeleton’s body to to collapse in on itself into a pile of bones, though they seemed to still barely quiver, though the movement could have appeared to anyone as just a simple trick of the light. The disciplined hunter began a thirty second countdown in her head as she again turned back to the first shambler, knowing she didn’t have much time to finish off the pile of bones.

Thankfully for her, with his spine and ribs split the bonewalker wasn’t shambling as well as he would have liked, which made it much easier to send the bag of bones straight to the ground with a bash of her shield, walking over his felled bones to keep him down as she stomped as hard as she could into the skeleton’s skull with her silver-heeled boot, crushing the curse bone. As she did, she breathily mumbled a short prayer, one that she said over all of the monsters she had lain to rest, hopefully releasing their souls into St. Elimine’s embrace. Her count now down to fifteen as she finished her hastily worded prayer, the monster hunter quickly walked over to the still-quivering set of bones, finding the skull and beginning her prayer again as she brought her heel down a second time.

“Eternal rest grant them, St. Elimine, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their cursed souls, through your mercy, rest in peace.”

Both sets of bones quivered no more as the woman shifted her gaze towards the pair; now that she was out in the open, Sonia was willing to aide if they still looked to be in trouble.

[Mila]

Mila rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger as the recruit ran off then shouted to Donny that there were bone-walkers to the north. She was annoyed that the recruit had yelled that particular tidbit of information quite loudly. Enough to potentially alert any bone walker scouts towards their location. Thus potentially jeopardizing the lives of everyone in this operation. Next time.. we tell the new guy to inform the captain.. calmly. She organized her thoughts and was joined by the recruit and two more people. With orders to create a defensive phalanx and not let anything slip past them. A smart move she thought. With that said Mila quickly organized her small troop and they went to work. Mila took up the rear of the phlanax along with the recruit. She would be providing support with her magic from behind the defensive line. They made their way into the woods and drew the attention of one skeleton that was hiding among the trees.

Mila began to shout orders not to underestimate the skeleton. She knew her group of three could handle one bone walker. The fighter struck it in the chest with his axe while Mila launched another ball of fire. The bone walker was hardier then it's half body counterpart. The fighter barely managed to pull his axe out of the bone walker's chest before the recruit stabbed it with his lance in an attempt to prevent it from attacking. Mila charged up another ball of fire again and launched it.

This time hitting the bone walker in the portion of chest where the axe hit it. It was enough to sever the spine and crumble the skeleton in half. But the bone walker wasn't done yet it used his arms to maneuver itself over to the fighter's legs and took a large chomp out of it's leg. He screamed and the recruit panicked a bit before ramming his lance into the skull. It was enough to stop the creature momentarily. Again Mila pumped the head full of fire until it crumbled. Then the mage went to work on treating the injured man's leg.

"Hey someone call Malk over!"

[Drei]

There was a distinct chaos that was familiar to Drei at this point, when the sudden cries and littered duels began to break out. Whether it was ringing steel, or the shouts and cries that followed, it was all growing more and more familiar to him. However, Drei knew that he wasn't looking out for himself here. The healer, Malk, had just finished healing the wounded man. At-least...healing him enough that he wasn't in immediate danger. The snowy haired shaman shifted his gaze as he heard Mila's voice burst over the din of the skirmishes, calling for the healer. The staff wielding male looked at the wounded man before looking back to Connor who had accompanied them. "Carry him behind the group, he can't walk yet. Nor should he." The shaman's gaze narrowed as the wagon's tarp like top began to rustle. He took a few cautious steps away as the healer and the other man toted their recovered victim towards the group. A series of wooden thumps preceded the ambush as a bone-walker abruptly lunged from the back of the wagon in an attempt to ambush and cut down either man with its Ax.

Briefly, and for the first time in weeks, Drei thought of his father. It was a small instinctual moment, and he instinctively mirrored the Druid's motion as Drei lashed out with his will towards the undead skeleton. The gathered dark essence extended, as if he had lashed a whip. However it suddenly lost its inky murky luster that seemed to reflect swirling depths, instead becoming a dull shadow; A solid shadow. The tendril of darkness coiled around the bonewalkers exposed spine as Drei furrowed his brow and tugged with his hand as if to guide the creature, pulling it away mid air. The effort was far greater than he would have expected. With a sudden lurch the creature whiplashed backwards before landing on its heels and sliding back a few feet. Drei positioned himself between the retreating men and the undead creature before weaving the dark magic into his other hand. It was a horrible strain of focus, but for the moment he maintained it while crouching a bit, ready flee at a moments notice.

There was no delusion within him that he could kill this monster easily, if at all. His eyes briefly flashed, as did his entire body with shadowy wisps as the shaman put his all into the spell. Every ounce of effort. A second shadowy tendril protruded from his hand as he swung both arms to send the black whips cracking towards the Bone-Walker. Manipulating the magic to his best extent, both clashed against the creature; only to send it sliding backwards a bit more. Frowning a bit, the Shaman back-stepped slowly while attempting to formulate a plan. He didn't want to retreat to the group right away; leading this guy there could likely be a danger to overwhelm them. However he didn't think he could keep it at bay forever, and even then would take a bit to kill it. So...holding at bay would have to be it. The shaman exhaled softly, and began to further channel the magic, hoping he'd be able to muster the effort needed to pull it off.

[Donovan]

Fragarach flew up to meet the dead man’s axe, the flat of the ancient blade holding firm against the inferior metal. Ally tried to step in with her iron lance, but Donovan threw his weight into shoving the skeleton away from her before she managed to strike. The knight was wounded and needed medical attention if she was going to be anything other than a liability in a fight. “I have this under control. Just keep an eye out for any more!”

He heard some commotion beside them, as someone had appeared to join the fight — though he wasn’t sure which of his unit had broken rank. The mercenary eye’d the skeleton, it was the first of its kind he had fought, but besides the psychological terror of the creature, and its general difficulty to kill, it fought in not too different a ways from his usual opponents. He just needed to focus. Aim of the head.

Spinning out of the way of a vertical strike, Donovan lashed down quickly with Fragarach, snapping the forearm of the axe wielding monstrosity. The sword shifted with unnatural speed back up to remove the creature’s other arm. The Skeleton tried to lash out with it’s shattered forearm, as it had lost it’s axe, breaking through a little of the mercenary’s leather armor and cutting his chest slightly. But it was not enough. Before the Bonewalker could move away, Donovan had thrust Fragarach into where the soft spot of it’s chin should have been. Feeding some of his energy into the sword, he focused on making the air around it spin and twist. It was not a large area, just the inch or two of air around the blade, but it seemed to do the trick, as the Bonewalker fell to pieces, once again lifeless.

The green clad mercenary turned back around to find that the fighter who had joined them in the fight was an unexpected arrival. Some piles of Bones lay at her feet. He shrugged and smiled wryly, “You’re a useful one to have around, aren’t you? Come on, we should regroup with the others.” He took the lead, preparing himself for another ambush, Ally followed in behind him. He hoped the hero would join them, already they were a woman short and she seemed to be quite skilled when it came to killing these undead monsters.

[Mila]

Well this isn’t good. Mila thought to herself as another skeleton jumped out from the woods. Malik had made his way over towards them. The priest crouched low to the fighter, carefully assessing the fighter’s leg before deciding the best course of action. While skeleton bites weren’t as toxic as say a doog or a spider’s bite they were painful and prone to infection. The fighter and quite possibly their hardest hitter among the tiny trio was out of commision for the time being. This left her and the young recruit to deal with the shambling mass of bones that was approaching them. This one’s leg was injured so they had some time to brace themselves.

A bit of a distance behind her she could hear the familiar sounds of Drei’s dark magic. She had grown used to the sound of the blackened tendrils of shadow moving through the air like a heavy tarp caught in a breeze. To her it signified that her ally was busy dealing with another skeleton. She wasn't worried. Drei was a good shaman he'd be fine. That’s three so far.. at least.. that we’ve encountered.. Ahead of them she could barely make out the familiar hair and armor of her other companion. Donny’s custom sword Faragach was proving to be ineffective at slaying bonewalkers. Ineffective for right now.. Wait.. So..four.. five.. possibly six..

Mila slowly put her fire tome back in her pouch and drew out another tome. A tome that had a brown leather like cover with some green leaf like design painted on. Unlike her fire tome which harnessed the basic powers of flame, this tome harnessed the power of earth and stone. I’d be easier to crush the bones of these monsters using the weight of stone over flame. She had been practicing how to use this new magic as she traveled. And while Mila was adept at hitting her mark with fireballs… her accuracy with stone balls as she called them.. needed some work. A slow moving skeleton would be the perfect practical practice target for her.

The young spell caster slowly began to chant the words off her tome and an a bowling ball sized ball of rock formed a few paces in front of her. The ball of rock kept itself in the air through Mila’s will and communion with the earth spirits. Unlike the fire she was accustomed to earth magic actually had weight to it. It literally felt heavy to her and was a bit more draining to her stamina then she liked. She waited. She waited and waited until the skeleton was just close enough to strike at her with her with it’s lance and then… BAM! Mila moved appeared to have shoved the floating ball of earth into the skeleton’s chest. The monster’s rib cage shattered into several pieces. The skeleton was severed into two parts. A set of standing legs attached to its hip acted as one part. And a skull, neck, shoulders, and a set of arms acted as the second part. The set of legs crumpled to the floor motionless while the side with the head.. arms.. and spear continued to motion towards them.

Mila gritted her teeth ands conjured another floating mini boulder and rolled it along the ground towards the skull and arms. This was oddly reminiscent of a game some of the old men would play by rolling a ball towards a small set of wooden pins. But lo and behold the skeleton managed to use its arms to move out of the way of the rolling ball. But not without the loss of its spear holding arm. The recruit followed the skulls movement and thrusted his lance into the skull. Causing it to stop moving permanently. Mila let out an exhausted breath. She felt like she had spent those few minutes doing hard labor rather than simply casting two spells.

"Good job...er.. I never caught your name.." She spoke to the young dark haired recruit.

"It's Samuel. Er Sam for short. You alright though?" He spoke with some shortness of breath.

"Yeah.. I'll be fine. I.. did not.. expect.. earth magic to be so heavy.. caught me off guard is all. Phew.." Mila put a hand to her chest and waited a bit for her heart rate to settle down. Geeze... It feels like I've been running.

"Why did you switch magic? You were doing fine with the fire....er.. right?" He asked as the fighter slowly got back on his feet. Fortunately his leg suffered a minor injury which the healer. managed to patch up. Henry as the fighter was called had a big red angry looking mark where the flesh was just mended.

"I.. don't want to cause a fire. We're going deeper into the woods and trees now. If a stray spark or ember lights up some dry leaves or twigs. It can easily get out of hand.. Then we're screwed.. if that happens." Mila quietly walked over to the boulders that rolled over the skeleton arm. Huh.. So they stay as boulders.. they don't dissolve... Unless.. Mila channeled the power of the tome again and asked for the boulders to return to the earth as dirt. Ah.. I see.. well this is a nice discovery.

Malik went to the rear to lend his support to the others. It wasn't long before they reunited with the others.

[Drei]

Drei trusted the others. At-least. If nothing else he trusted Mila. So, for now..he'd focus on the task at hand. Drei exhaled quietly, as he lifted his hands upwards. The shadowy tendril that he manipulated with free will plunged forwards like a spear; punching into the bonewalker and sending a large series of cracks through the spine and ribs. The creature stumbled, backpedaled, and then walked forwards with bobbing bleached white skull as if to laugh at his efforts. There was a certain luxury in using magic. While it could tax the body in ways physical labors did not, the enemy could be engaged without the magic caster entering retaliation range. Of-course this range was lost against archers, but their attacks were not constant. This creature though...it inched closer. Drei backpedaled cautiously, and lifted both his hands as he tried to focus.

The ashen haired nether mage lifted both his hands while he attempted to ease his breathing. Perhaps...he could kill this creature another way. Since he was effectively fighting a single combat, this plan could work. Drei's robes began to billow slightly as he let the surge of void based magic congregate to his palms. Dark whisps and lingering tendrils protruded from his hands as he tried to focus his body into a conduit of the Nether. The creature was methodical. Ruthless. Unfeeling. Had he battled a mortal foe, and human at that; it was likely he could have intimidated them on the sight alone. Against monstrosities beyond the veil of life and death, it meant little. Drei's palms flicked as if he cracked twin whips. Out of each hand a single dark thick tendril sprang, lashing outwards and sailing towards the bonewalker. The skeletal minion attempted in that instant to rush towards him, and found itself restrained as both wrists were bound by the voidsent extensions. Drei's temple throbbed as he focused with every ounce of concentration, tuning out the world around him and narrowing his focus as if delving into a cave, or a tunnel.

The contrast of white bone to the shadowy mass that restrained it was noticeable. Unlike the other forms of magic, where the darkness was pure energy that struck at the soul of the target or corrupted their shell; Ruin turned immaterial into material. It solidified the very essence of the Nether and turned it into a physical mass. Because of this, he was able to restrain it. However..he had to destroy it. Drei willed the tendrils upwards, dark magic trailing from his fingers and palm as a flame that created smoke; the bonewalker being lifted as the Shaman began to separate the tendrils. He moved one to the left, and the other to the right as he began to pull at the creature. It was far harder than he imagined though, and he found himself struggling in his attempt to rip it in half. The tendrils extended up the Bonewalkers arms at either side and he began to double his efforts, the satisfying snap and cracking of bones indicating his progress. It would take a bit more...but he would soon have torn the creature apart.

[Donovan]

The silver tongued mercenary made it back to the others with no event. “Malk! We need your help over here!” Ally was bleeding from a deep gash on her leg and required some immediate attention. The healer rushed over, staff in hand and began to heal her quickly. Donovan’s eyes scanned his team. They were a little battered, but with the exception of Lindsey going missing, they were all going to be able to fight again. He had a nasty feeling that the bone walkers took her to set some sort of trap, but he couldn’t just leave her behind.

Henry, the axe wielder seemed to be in decent condition despite having suffered some sort of injury. The thief Don had sent with Drei was in perfect condition. Brandon was scanning their surroundings from horseback, though it seemed the undead had had enough for a moment.

“Brandon, Henry, Sam, Connor. You four fan out provide a perimeter, but don’t get too close to the forest. We don’t have long until we have to move out again. Mila, can you come here a second? I need to talk to you about something.” Donovan looked over at Ally, the armored soldier had taken off her helmet and tears stained her face. He needed to think, he needed to get control of the situation. These weren’t any monsters that they couldn’t handle. Though he was certain that the bone walkers must be being led by a wight, since they were showing some decent level of strategy. Ultimately not the kind of place you wanted to train as many green units as they were traveling with.

He walked a little away from where Malk and Ally were sitting and whispered to Mila when she approached, “Apparently Lindsey was taken alive and I’m not sure if all of these guys are up to the task of rescuing her. If we pursue this any further, we might end up losing even more of our people.” Looking up Don realized who was missing, “Uh. Mila? Where’s you’re little quiet friend?”