I'm in it for the money! {Perun}

[Perun]

"It is fine," Perun mumbled as he took the hare back, and covered it in the cloth once more. He'd salt the meat later, but for now there was a monster to slay, and the little thing would have to wait. Perun nodded as Donovan decided where he would hide his sword, he would prefer the young man keep his blade, but he would not question the man's tactics. An injured man dragging a sword could give the acolyte cause to be suspicious. "Where will you shoot from?" Perun considered this for a moment, eyeing their surroundings, looking for a vantage that provided him a good shot, as well as cover to hide from the monster in a man's skin. There was a tree that was a bit twisted, but Perun was unsure if it could cover his massive physique. There was a thicket, that may hav covered him, but it would have taken too long for Perun to get through it if Donovan needed help.

What he eventually settled on was a group of tall shrubs the Perun could narrowly see between. He pointed, and whispered, "There. When you are being ready for Perun to take the shot, yell something so Perun can kill crazy person." Then without aother word, he crouched, and snuck over to get in position for the ambush. He was behind a bush. Ambush. He should remember that one for later. He slid an arrow out of his quiver, and placed it against his bow string. He let out a gust of wind in a long sigh, that flipped his mustache up against his nose for a few seconds. Calming his nerves, he readied himself to take the shot.

[Donovan]

Donovan watched his large friend disappear into the forest. He thought he’d be more afraid, after all, he was taking a life ending risk, but he was never one to get stage fright, and after all, what was this if not a performance. The mercenary gripped his sword behind his back and snuck to the bush, deftly hiding it within. Then he lay on the ground, apparently in excruciating pain.

“Help! Someone please help me!” Donovan howled toward the temple. “Please! Is anyone there!”

The temple’s door opened a hair, not enough for Donovan to see who was looking out, but enough for whoever was inside to scan the tree line.

“St. Elimine’s grace, you’re there! Please, do you have a staff? I was attacked by a wolf. My leg, I… I can’t stand.”

Slowly the door was swung open, and an old monk stepped outside. It was strange looking at a man who wore the robes of Elimine, while knowing he was a monster. His clothes were long and white, though a little dirty, and in his hand he carried a small tome.
He’s armed.

The monk walked cautiously toward Donovan, watching for any movement in the forest, but Perun had hidden well.
He’s expecting an attack.

"Do not worry, my child. You shall not suffer for much longer." The old man looked down at Donovan, then at his apparently mangled leg and smiled. It was the smile that let Donovan see the monster hidden behind the mask of a holy man. It wasn’t the smile of someone trying to reassure an injured man. It was the smile of a predator who just caught their prey.

Donovan had wanted to wait a few seconds before signaling Perun, but that smile was enough to send him over the edge.

“NOW!” He grabbed his sword and rolled away from the monk.

[Perun]

Perun regulated his breathing, making sure to rock his shoulders as little as possible, which was difficult. He knew he had hidden well, but he had so much to keep hidden. It was difficult to shrink himself, and holding a position that kept him hidden was even more difficult. He heard the faint voices of a discussion between his young friend and the man they'd come to kill. He pushed down his anger at the man's words. He only used his anger when fighting with an axe. When aiming with his bow, his mind had to be a flame. A flame that consumed all the emotions that fluttered around his heart. In battle, anger only fueled two things, rage, and the fires of a man's calm. Both had a place in a fight, but Perun didn't know an angry way to fire a bow. Just as the last of his rage burned away, he heard a signal. "NOW!"

Perun let out a last sigh of breath as he rose like a kraken from the deep. Both ends of his mustache began to fly up before being pushed back down due to his exhaling from his nostrils. He pulled back the string on his massive bow, with all of his strength until both ends were bent back as far as they could go. He saw the alarm on his enemies face, and made eye contact with the demon as he let the arrow fly, his bow string going tight and vertical once more, both of his arms vibrating with the massive weapon. The arrow's back end swung back and forth as a piece of rubber, but the head in the front flew true, spiraling about in the air. The priest had begun throwing his hand up, and chanting a lightning spell. A yellow circle with a massive rune began to form on the priest's hand. He was fast. The arrow was faster.

The black iron arrow ripped through the Monk's hand, and threw his arm back with its massive speed and force. The incantation being chanted changed into, "RAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!" Perun had been aiming at the man's face, and it seemed he'd have connected had the hand not obstructed his path. "Demn it." Perun muttered under his breath. Then, all at once, the rage spilled away from his flame, and his heart was cluttered with a passion and an anger that put far more force into his arms than the calm. Aim didn't matter when you were a crazed madman bursting from a bush screaming bloody murder at the top of your lungs.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Perun's massive chest was capable of producing a much larger yell than the puny mage. The man's eyes flashed with their own flame. He lifted the other hand and pointed it at Perun. He yelled, "Perno justos!" The same circle and rune appeared on his hand, this time, he was faster than the running giant. A lightning bolt erupted from his hand, and for a moment hung in thin air. It shot out at Perun, who barely managed to lift his forearm to cover his chest. It did not pierce the massive man, instead, the spot where it hit erupted the bolt into several smaller ones which shot apart and outward in six different directions. It singed off all of his hair. That wasn't all, it sent a shock through Perun to his very bones, vibrating his body to a point where he felt half as strong as he usually was. He lost his breath for a second, and nearly tripped. Then, powering through, he ran once more, and lifted his axe with both hands over his head, swinging down at the monk. The man dodged narrowly. Perun yelled in his face, "Vy zly , i ya brosil tebya!"

[Donovan]

Donovan was grateful that Perun was so quick for such a big guy; by the time the mercenary was on his feet, a few yards from the murderous acolyte, Perun had already fired an arrow, piercing the killer’s hand, and was charging at the small, old monk.
Glad he’s on my side.
Before Donovan could even get his sword raised, though, the acolyte had fired a bolt of lightning and hit the friendly Giant. All Don could see was a thick cloud of smoke where Perun had just been, until the Giant burst out of the smoke like a hero from one of the plays Don grew up on.

His courage doubled, the mercenary closed the gap just as the Giant was closing in on his target. Perun’s axe just missed the acolyte, but it drove the killer into Donovan’s swinging blade. He took the killer in the ribcage and felt a tug. The blade didn’t slide through his body as Don had expected and the Mercenary saw a leather jerkin under the piles of robes just as the acolyte threw a bolt of lightning at him. The merc leapt out of the way while the magic held suspended in midair, but the spell grazed his left arm.

“ARGH!” The magic sent a jolt through his whole body, and the spot where he’d been hit was was visibly wounded.

“Perun! He has armor under his robes! Be careful!”

The acolyte tried to fire another spell at Perun, prompting the Giant to leap back. The killer’s attacks were more wild and powerful, but far easier to predict and avoid. His wounds were making him desperate.

“I’d been hoping that the bounty on my head would have given me more Martyrs for our blessed Saint. Her gratitude will be stupendous at such powerful sacrifices!”

The Mercenary made eye contact with the Giant and tilted his head toward the left. Hoping that his comrade would understand his tell, Donovan charged toward the left, rolling under a blast of lightning, and swinging his blade at the Acolyte’s hamstring.

[Perun]

Perun barely managed to move out of the way of a sharp blast from his opponent. The man was pretty quick, but not as quick as Perun. The large man moved pretty well for his size. He kicked the acolyte in the shin roughly, then took a step back. Donovan yelled something about armor that Perun could not hear over the crackle of lightning as the monk shot off bolt after bolt. Donovan caught the orange giant's attention, and then tossed his head to the left, indicating that he would be attacking the acolyte from that side. Perun gave his friend a nod. When Donovan took off, Perun ran in the opposite way, but still closing on the monk.

The monk chose to focus on Donovan, and dodged his low attack. He chose wrong, as Perun ran up to his now exposed right arm. It was the one the man could use, the one without an arrow in it. The arm was outstretched as the man had just cast a spell towards Donovan. Perun lifted his axe, and in one solid motion, viciously ripped through the flesh and bone of the Acolyte, his arm falling with a grotesque noise to the ground.

Perun grabbed the man around the middle with his left hand, which now held his axe, and used the other arm to cover his mouth. Easily, he lifted him off the ground. The man fought, but was as weak as his body looked. Perun squeezed him, and the man stopped flailing for a moment. Then he butted the back of his head into Perun's face, and Perun yelped in pain, as a bit of blood dripped from his left nostril. Perun turned his axe so that the blade pressed against the man's stomach. The priest got the message. "Do you want to kill him Donovan, or should Perun do the kill?" Perun looked at the younger man over the frail priest's head.

[Donovan]

The Acolyte managed to dodge Donovan’s slash, but didn’t notice the swinging of Perun’s axe until his arm had already hit the floor. Then the great orange bear had the old monk held firmly in his grasp. The blade of Perun’s axe pressed firmly into the murderer’s stomach, while one enormous hand covered his mouth.

"Do you want to kill him Donovan, or should Perun do the kill?”

The mercenary looked at Perun and how he was holding this man down. The acolyte was manic and bleeding from the stump where his arm had been. This feels wrong, he thought, looking at the severed limb on the floor.
He was hesitating. Donovan had expected to kill the in the heat of battle, or that they would get lucky and Perun’s first shot would do the trick. A small breeze drifted through the forest, and Donovan could smell the awful, retching stench of corpses leaking through the temple’s open door. The young mercenary raised his blade and nodded to Perun.
“Gerald Robins. You have been found guilty of murder, torture, and ritual sacrifice. In the name of the Marquess of —“ He paused and looked up at Perun, “Who’s territory are we in right now?” The Giant shrugged at the question.
“Whatever. In the name of the Marquess, you have been sentenced to death and - you know— I’ve never executed someone before, so I don’t really know all the things I’m supposed to say…”

Perun pushed the murderer to his knees, and Donovan finished their bounty.

[Perun]

The body of the vicious priest fell in the dirt, and for a particularly dark moment in his mind, he thought about spitting on the carcass. No, he thought to himself, he would be just the same animal as the man he had killed were he to do something like that. "Perun is sorry he did not kill man in first attack Duno-ven. Are you hurt?" He gave his friend a look of genuine concern. It should have been him as the bait, not the younger man. Perun did not have nearly as much life ahead of him, and if he was going to die now, he would have seen enough of life to consider it a good one. Perun should not let the man risk his life so readily. Perun bent down, and threw the frail priest over his shoulders. He looked past Donovan at the church. "Perun does not mean to offend anyone, especially Duno-ven, but he wishes he could burn building down now without hurt trees. This is a vile plece. It should not be." Shaking his head, the two walked away from the church, and the scene of the battle.

--------------------

Perun threw open the door of the constable's office, with the bounty thrown over his shoulder. Perun grinned at the surprise on Donna' face. "Your peoples may fear the temple in woods a little less now. Perun and Duno-ven kill these evil men quicker than any others." The woman showed clear shock at seeing the two men she'd written off as dead, but she got up, ad said, "I'll go get your reward then."

[Donovan]

Perun was looking at Donovan with a look of worry the merc hadn't seen since his trouping days. “Don’t worry about it, he was faster than I thought he’d be. I’ll be fine. Once we get the reward, I’ll buy a vulnerary.”
Perun hefted the body onto his shoulders. “I’d burn this place down too. But I imagine that the townsfolk would want to search for any remains. Come on, Perun, let’s get out of here.”

---

The pair walked into the constable’s office and Perun dropped the corpse on an unused desk, and Donna scurried back to a small vault at the back of the room. She opened it and pulled out more coin than Donovan had ever seen in one place.

“I’m surprised the two of you managed to kill this…” She looked at the body as it lay, missing an arm and with a gaping hole in his chest where Donovan had pierced his heart. She looked at the two men with a newfound terror. “You must be quite… efficient.” She pushed over the gold in a large sack.

Donovan smiled. He’d seen this before, people always wanted his troupe gone the moment they stopped performing. But this was another level of distrust, he genuinely thought that if they stayed much longer, they might be arrested purely out of fear.

“Thank you, Donna. Come on, Perun, let’s hit the road before we wear out our welcome.” Donovan spoke happily, but his intentions were clear, and the pair left swiftly.

---

Perun and Donovan walked down the road, heading in the direction of the next closest town with the few provisions they’d had time to grab before they started to be followed by a group of 5 or 6 men. The vulnerary had helped Donovan’s arm feel significantly better.

“You know…” Donovan broached the subject gently, “We were pretty efficient back there. And it might be nice to have a companion on the road…" Perun laughed loudly and clapped Donovan heartily on the back, nearly knocking the wind out of the slender mercenary. Donovan started laughing along, the Giant had a way of putting a smile on people's faces once you give him a chance. "I'll take that as a yes."

[Thread End]