The Hounds of Sacae (Vincent/pm for entry)

[Mila]

Mila was happy that so many people wanted to join the scouting expedition. With so many people helping they should at least find some trace of the doogs. Mila guided the group over out to the exit. Towards the last place she found any trace of the doogs. She sighed. Then pulled out her pair of trusty but half broken binoculars. She peeked through them looking out into the distance. The hour came and went. Those whom were going along with the job rejoined the scouting group. Mila made some small talk with the group. She could see that there was some dust being kicked up to the left of the main path.

"Hmm.. something is there." She pointed it out. So she got off her perch and headed over.

"Come on. Let's go." She waved them over. Quietly the group muddled through the grasslands. She felt good about this one. She crouched low to the ground. She peered into the grasslands and could see something. A tuft of blue poked through the tiny spaces between the thin grassy stalks. The size of it was huge. Oh.. we found the big one.

She pulled back from the lead. And began directing the group. She used sign language to explain. She wanted Yorick to hit the beast with one of her weapons. To wound the creature and have it call out to the rest of the pack.

*snap*

The creature stirred and turned around. Towards the group. Shoot! All three mouths was bloody and dripping with saliva. In an instant it pounced. Mila launched a ball of flame towards its big bushy mane. The creature shifted it's direction with all the grace and agility of a cat.

It leapt over the group and let loose a roar. Which signaled the others of its pack. Soon the group would bee surrounded by a pack of mad Mauthe Doogs.

"Everyone break into pairs watch each other's backs! Brace yourselves!"

[Donovan]

Donovan was glad that there was going to be a small scout party, it gave him more time to talk with the beautiful mage. They scoured over the last place Mila had seen any Doogs, and found little in the immediate area. He focused on keeping his eyes peeled for any movement in the grass, after realizing that the Yorick and Mila had a good deal of experience tracking monsters. The hour was soon gone, and the others joined the small scout party.

“These things, don’t leave too much of a trace, but at least they haven’t found us yet. If we get the drop on them, we’ll have an easier time.” Suddenly Mila was pointing out some dust on the horizon. Something was in the distance. The group silently snuck through the grassland until Mila signaled them to stop and looked ahead. When she came back, the green clad mercenary watched her hand signals attentively. She seemed to want to draw the other doogs in. He wasn’t sure he agreed with that totally, but this was her job and she seemed to be pretty good in command. It was a new experience for Donovan. Normally, he was the one coming up with the battle tactics, but this girl seemed to know what she was doing.

*snap*

The three headed monster rounded on them. Donovan wasn’t sure what had made that noise, but he was ready to crush whatever or whoever had alerted this beast. He drew his sword in an instant, and readied his fancy new targe. Mila launched a quick fireball that sent the creature over their heads, but didn’t seem to have hit it very directly.

“I’ll keep watch your back, Mila. You just focus on setting that thing on fire, okay?” The mercenary heard some howling in the distance. The pack would be on top of them shortly, but the immediate threat was no laughing matter. The lightning fast creature jumped at Mila, it’s manes dripping with blood. On instinct Donovan pulled her out of the way with his shield arm. The beast’s claw scraped against the new targe, ruining the beautiful pattern, but at least the pair hadn't been wounded.

“This was a brand new shield, you Yellow Fanged Mutt!”

[Jule]

Against all odds and expectations, her wallet came out of Ashe none the worse for wear. Well, at least not too much lighter. The whetstone was as high quality as Mila said, and her sword deserved nothing better than the best! Jule needed one, that was that. And the impulse buy definitely sat better with her than taking it while the storekeeper's back was turned; Jule shuddered to think of what the woman would do with all of those pointy instruments if she caught Jule shoplifting. And even worse, what the others would think of her. The trip would be over before it even began, in more ways than one. So, with a freshly sharpened tool of war the girl boldly headed to the gates of Ashe, and sortied out when the gang re-grouped.

The girl kept her eyes peeled for blue hide the whole journey into the countryside, but still the Gwyll...Gill...thing sprung up on them like some sort of shark on land. To be fair, even with the less armored ones like Jule and Mila, it would be hard not to hear the covered Donovan, or Isaac, or the walking armory clink-clanging with every step. Nothing save for total invisibility could have saved them from a sneak attack from the wild mutt.

Jule froze at the fearsome sight. It looked like the ones that ruled Ostia's nights. Confound it, this was no time to panic! Trying to maintain she fumbled for her sword while Mila called out orders and Donovan called out swears. In a gleam of light it pulled free from her scabbard and into her shaking fingers. "Okay, phew. Deep breaths, Balin." she mumbled. What should she do now? Jule looked to the others, and launched herself over to Yorick. Perfect! The halberdier was as good a safety net partner as Vincent, and double his equal in sheer amount of weapons. Wow. "If Donovan's with Mila, then I'm with you, Yorick!" Jule puffed with equal amounts of bravado and cowardice in her voice.

"And look, here come the others!" Blurs of blazing hair and dark flesh bounded towards the group from every which way Jule could see. "Cuh-Come get some, you mangy dastards!"

[Mila]

Mila felt someone grab her and pull her to safety as the Gwyllgi jumped over her. Donovan had lifted his shield and protected her from one of it's claws. She'd have to thank him for that later. She could hear the sound of at least four creatures around them. Donovan had seemed to want to stick by her for the time being. She could see the small tuft of Jule's hair stick close to Yorick's pink. She hoped the two of them would work well as it would be a bit before either of them could make movements towards tem. She had no idea where Vincent or the other guy Isaac was. It was easy to lose people in the tall grass, she just hoped that they would be ok.

"Keep your ears alert! Try to make your way out of the grasses. Stay together! Head up to the rocks! Go west!" The rocky terrain to the west of them was a bit clearer then the grasses. At least from there they could see where the doogs would attack from but the drawback was the terrain. The rocky ground made it difficult to get proper footing. Fire is going to be hard. The grass is dry and a tiny spark in the wrong area could ignite the plains.


"I can't cast too far. Might start a fire. Need them to be drawn.." She was interrupted when a flash of crimson appeared out the corner of her eyes. Then a snout, legs, claws, Mila fired at it. The doog yelped in pain of being burned and darted back into the grasses.

"We got to make our way up. Start moving!" She tapped Donovan and signaled him to go.

[Donovan]

Donovan readied himself for the soon to come attacks. He couldn’t tell how large the pack was but he’d wager they were outnumbered by a good amount. The terrain wasn't in their favor, either. The beasts were faster than the members of their hunting party and the tall grass made it all too easy for them to hide and attack from any direction. Mila proved to be a smart tactician once again, when she suggested they move to the rocks so they could get the high ground.

Donovan heard Mila fire off another ball of flame. One of the smaller beasts had attacked them already. They had to move now, or they wouldn’t even see the monsters coming. It darted back into the grass before the mercenary could finish it off, but within moments another had lunged out of the grass at the pair. He leapt back and dodged the strike, before pushing his back foot forward and swinging with all his force. He’d try to kill it with one blow so they’d have at least one less to deal with. But the beast was faster than he was, and his sword only managed to hit the creature’s front leg. The blow was strong enough to probably leave that claw unusable, but it had survived.

“We have got to get out of this grass, now!” The mercenary looked around for the others. Isaac and Vincent were completely lost in the sea of green. But Jule and Yorrick were together. Which could be a bad thing. The spear woman probably wanted to kill the Alpha. And Jule wasn’t ready to take on that monster any more than Donovan was.

“Jule! We’ve got to get up higher! Come on!” Mila tapped Donovan’s shoulder and the mercenary took the lead toward the high ground, cutting a path through the tall grass, so that they’d have a strip of visible terrain once they reached the top.

[Jule]

"Eh?"

Jule couldn't see the origin of Donovan's disembodied voice coming through the tall grass. Come to think of it, she couldn't see much of anything. But the thief knew where the sound came from, and decided that maybe it would be better if the two went their separate ways early on. The three mouth-choir of howling was the final nail in the coffin as the wisp barreled through the grass, far from Yorick and even farther from the "head" hound, so to speak. "Hold on, I'm coming!" Jule shouted through a mouthful of grass. "Gimme a second!" Every hack, every slash, just led to more grass. Jule furrowed her brow as she spat grass shavings out for the umpteenth time. Just as she was thinking of how much she'd give to be a foot taller, the girl stumbled into a cleared swathe through the grass. A human path. Donny's path? Yes, definitely. Off in the distance Jule spied a pair of light-blue and green trekking up the side of the hill. Perfect!

Her luck didn't hold long when a flash of flaming hair burst through the tall grass, fangs bared. Ugh, Jule did not have time for this! She could see Donovan and Mila climbing the plateau, not thirty yards away. And small dark and ugly just had to get in her way. No time to waste.

Jule gritted her teeth and charged, just like she had practiced. These guys were fast - there was no way to run past it but to meet it head-on. And yet running at it full-tilt still made the girl feel like her legs were jello when the beast covered a five-yard gap to her in seconds. She twisted the blade's angle, and as the mutt pounced pointed it directly at its snarling snout. If the thief was too slow on the draw, or imprecise, she couldn't figure it out as the mauthe doog shifted in midair and sailed over her sword. Jule whipped around just in time to see the beast land and swipe at her legs, claws extended. Though she retorted with an overhand slash, Jule still wasn't fast enough as dirty claws tore through cloth and skin and a squeal forced its way from her throat. With a grunt the thief brought the sword down over top of the mauthe doog's outstretched paw. She didn't look down to see the after effect; she knew her hit struck true when the dog whimpered and fled back into the bushes.

Jule harumphed proudly, but her bravado didn't last long after she began her trek up the slope. Blood dripped down from the wound on her leg. It hurt almost as bad as the fingerbeard's magic, but this time she had a wound. The swordswoman knew the aftereffects of leaving dirty cuts to fester, especially from animals, but it would have to wait. "Donny, Mila!" she called out, heaving for breath as she joined their party. "What... Hah, what now? Why are we, ah.. up here? These things are... tough, but they're, nng, no match for a group."

[Yorick]

All was dull and uneventful as the scouting hour wore to a close. The others rejoined the expedition, and soon they had stumbled upon the big cheese, the head honcho, the man of the hour. The Gwyllgi.

"Damn, that's fu... that's huge," the Halberdier whispered, instinctually censoring herself. There were younger ones present.

And then all hell broke loose as someone stepped on a twig. The beast awoke, whirling around, and as Mila's initial attack failed, it called to its pack, which soon emerged to finish the job.

Mila called out to pair up, but as Jule scampered off after wounding the beast, Yorick found herself in the grass alone. She saw where the wounded one had gone, and, without any sort of other deliberation, the Halberdier charged, going straight into the bushes after it. Hacking through the shrubbery, she soon cornered the beast near some brambles, if that could be considered cornering. It could leap, but... With a wounded paw, Yorick felt more confident. So with her lance in hand, Yorick stabbed at it, barely missing as the point hit air where the beast had been a fraction of a second ago. But the wound was slowing it down... With a quick feint, Yorick managed to hit it straight in the side. The thing howled in pain, an eerie yelp like a dog and a lion crossed. Not letting up, Yorick closed the distance and slammed a boot heel into the impaled puppy, ripping her lance out and then stabbing it in the head as the thing writhed.

"Hah! That'll teach you!"

But the sound of a growl caused her to whirl, and she saw the Gwyllgi staring her down, three mouths dripping saliva and exuding a foul odor.

"crap."

As it whisked its tail back and forth, Yorick brought her shield up, letting the lance point show from the side. She wouldn't go down without a fight... But this was a dangerous situation, alone down here.

"Yorick requesting backup! Preferably SOON!!!"

No time to keep talking. The Gwyllgi charged, roaring at her, and Yorick was forced backwards as she tried to use her shield to bash it to the side. The thing was fast and strong, which it demonstrated as it leaped over her, trying to get to her back. The Halberdier sidled closer to the brambles, swiveling to face it. She had to get to cover, or hold out until they could arrive.

[Mila]

Mila followed close to Donovan. Her feet found the gravely ground of the higher altitude. The young mage turned around to see the grasslands. The sharp movements that caused it to rustle showed her were the doogs were. She could count 3 distinct "trails" which meant that there were 3 doogs roaming around. She could see a tiny blue blur that was heading towards them.

"Ah Jule you got hurt.. here let me.." She then heard Yorick cry out something. Ah sh*t From her vantage point she could see the big bushy mane of the Gwyllgi, on top of her pink hared companion. Mila handed Jule a bag with some healing salve.

"Put it on the wounds." She took a step forward.

"Hang on Yorick!" Mila shouted out to her companion.

"Cover me!" She spoke loudly then took a position to throw her fire ball. Time to see the results of that long range training. She thought to herself. She had been practicing her throwing arm over the course of a few weeks. She would practice in large open fields first by throwing rocks at a target. She would then later move on to throwing fire balls and adjusting her distance as she went. She relaxed her body, positioned her feet to be about a shoulder's length apart, and her knees were slightly bent. She raised her arms up to her chest. The mage started to focus, her eyes were trained on the large monster. She carefully conjured up a fire ball in her hand. The mage took a breath and prepared herself. She raised her leg up in order to gain momentum, took a step forward, pulled her arm back, and threw the fire ball. The ball of flame flew through the air at faster speeds then usual and hit it's mark. The fire exploded out onto the big mane of the creature, enough to set a few bits of it's hair on fire.

[Donovan]

Having finally reached the top of their rocky hill, Donovan surveyed their surroundings. Grass in pretty much every direction. But from this high up it was no longer such a difficult terrain. He could count 3 trails darting back and forth through the grass. 3 doogs, plus the big one, and As far as Don could make out, there was no sign of Jule, Yorick, Vincent, or Isaac. The 6 of them together would have made short work of the small pack of beasts, but with only Mila and he, it may end up being the other way around. Then he spotted a small blue girl running through the pathway he’d made a moment earlier, and Jule joined them on the top of their rocky hill.

Donovan noticed she was wounded, but before he could offer her any help, Mila gave her a vulnerary, “Jule, once, you’ve put that on your wound, help me keep track of where all these beasts are, alright? We’re gonna need to stay vigilant on that so they don't sneak up on us.”

Yorick began screaming for help off in the grass, which meant that their strongest ally was still alive. Even if she was single handedly taking on a three headed monster. “Cover me!” Mila demanded before readying herself to throw a ball of fire Yorick’s way. Luckily the halberdier wasn’t too far away, even if she was cornered by the beast.

Donovan returned to scanning the grass, when he saw that one of the monsters was headed straight toward Mila. He ran in front of the beast's path and held his small shield up in front of him. The creature leapt from the grass at the mercenary, but this time, he couldn’t dodge, it would just hit Mila. Besides, last time he wasn’t fast enough to kill one of these things after he’d dodged the beast’s strike. So instead, as the demon dog hurtled through the air towards him, the mercenary put his shield up to meet the thing’s claws and fangs, letting it crash into him. It wasn’t a very big one, and time with Perun had taught him how to not get knocked to the floor very easily, so when the beast hit, he was pushed back a few good steps but was not knocked to the floor. As it desperately tried to tear his shield from his arm, the beast clawed his shield arm, which hurt like a female doog. But the mercenary was pretty sure it didn’t hurt as much as his father’s sword piercing through the beast’s chest once, twice, three times. Throwing the corpse down, he looked over at Mila, who’d just managed a direct hit on the big one and smiled wildly, the beast’s blood in his hair and covering his clothes “What a gig, huh?”

[Jule]

Jule graciously took the overpoweringly minty salve, and started to unravel the threaded opening to get at the portions inside. The swordswoman swore if she ever dropped swords and locks for apothecary, she'd create a remedy that smelled a thousand times better. Kneeling down and fumbling her pants leg up was almost as hard as it was to stand back up after putting the vulnerary on her bloodied ankle. Whoever made this (Mila?) must've made it with something stronger than what Wolf had in Santaruz, though the sting of the wound was the same. Though a brief sensation, it was like Jule was trying to lift a rock that also happened to be in a black hole. "Oh thanks," she sighed, stumbling to her feet. "That'll help a lot." The thief would've tossed the healing herbs back, but the both of them seemed to be caught up in exactly what Donny had asked her to take care of. Dang it, what a rookie mistake! Jule pouted and wrapped the bag of remedies up tightly before tossing it to land at Mila's feet. Thankfully none of the glass shattered on impact, as far as she could hear.

The girl didn't need to look as she heard the gutteral death cry and the thump of dog colliding with grass to know that was another monster gone. From what Jule could count running through the grass were two blurs of reddish hair, along with the Gwyllgi thing flailing about on fire atop Yorick. Uh, wait. Wouldn't the fire spread to the woman, too? ...Eh, never mind. She couldn't make heads or tails of how magic worked anyway. For all Jule knew the fire could turn to ice and make one big sculpture out of Yorick and her playmate. "Uh - hey! We've still got a couple left down there, and they're all makin' a beeline for Yorick! I dunno if she can handle them by herself or not, but We can't just stand here like layabouts you two." she gritted her teeth, bending to pick her sword from the ground. On that note she started to hovel her way down the slope. "C'mon, let's go!"

[Yorick]

"This is not pleasant. Not in the least."

The beast, with its paralyzingly rancid breath and the ridiculous cacophony of moans it was emitting, kept moving closer, snapping and lunging. Yorick fought on, jabbing with her spear - even scoring a hit once - but it was all defensive, and the beast quickly learned. It became more bold, and soon Yorick found herself cornered as it crouched back on its haunches to pounce.

That was about when the fireball burst onto the beast, setting it ablaze and causing it to spin wildly as it snapped and jerked and writhed. That was the opening! Yorick capitalized, sending one true thrust home straight into the skull of the right-most head.

"Gotcha!"

Unfortunately, that did not kill the beast - two heads still stared menacingly at her, and then it jumped. As it sailed, the Halberdier fought her first impulse - to duck and run backwards from the mean puppy - and instead tucked and charged forward.

"Ow, damn!"

One claw scraped her in the face, more by accident than by conscious thought on the Gwyllgi's part. But it still hurt like mad. She'd have to get some of that salve Mila bought. Aside from Mila's fireball, where was everyone? It seemed like they'd all cleared out, leaving her high and dry - or rather, low and grass-covered. Either way, she felt a little bit marooned. This was not a minor concern! There was a two-headed angry monster lunging directly at her, and from the troubling howl she heard nearby, it sounded like help was on the way... For it!

[Mila]

What a gig? She heard the green clad mercenary ask. The mage didn't respond immediately, instead she was too busy launching another ball of flame towards the big blue maned beast. She mimicked the same pose and throw as before. She hit the creature again. She missed it's mane but it it's oddly scaled tail. Come on you giant sack of fur. Ignite! Catch fire! Get distracted by it! Drop dead! SOMETHING! Just move away from her! Her inner voice shouted in her head.

"Yorick! Head North! To higher ground!" She shouted back at her companion. The mage took a deep breath and exhaled it quickly. She then looked over at the corpse of the dead doog and threw a ball of fire at it.

"Gotta make sure it's really dead." Double checking to make sure the monsters were truly dead was something she learned from her encounter with the bone walkers and the wight. She spoke with a bit of tiredness in her voice. She then turned her attention back to Donny's question.

"Believe it or not I.. have been through worse." She smiled softly. Maybe i'll tell you the story sometime. The mage turned her head to try and find the blue haired girl. Jule. She has a name. Jule was already heading back down towards the tall grass. She spoke that the doogs were starting to circle in towards Yorick. Mila let out a bit of a sigh. We just got up here.

"Don. Go with Jule and cover her. Grab Yorick and start making your way back up here. I'll cover you guys from a distance." The mage hoped her companion heard her and started to move over up towards higher ground. At least that way they could meet up in the middle and watch each other's backs in a 3 man position.

Mila prepped another fire ball. She kept the ball of flame hovered over her hand and prepared her throwing stance. She watched through the tall grasses at the movements that started to make their way towards Yorick. She timed her throw and the ball of flame collided with a doog just as it was in mid air ready to take a bite out of Yorick. The monster was hit the ground as a dead doog. YES! The mage felt her hand go over her chest. Now as the spiritual drainage was staring to settle in. She shook her head. Nope.. Fight.. through it. Your friends need you! The mage gritted her teeth and prepared the next flame.

[Donovan]

Donovan scanned the grassland, keeping an eye out for more doogs as he applied some of his vulnerary to his arm. It stung, to be sure, but the mercenary had grown used to the pain. His arm, though slightly better after applying the medicine, wouldn’t be able to pull another stunt like that until he’d given it a real chance to heal. Mila called for Yorick to join them on higher ground, before suddenly discharging a ball of fire at the doog Donovan had just slain.

“Oh, I believe it. This isn’t the worst I’ve seen either, unfortunately. Maybe one day I’ll show you the scars that prove it.” While he made chit chat with the mage, Donovan’s primary focus was on making sure that no Doogs were sneaking up on her. She couldn’t be supporting Yorick and protecting herself from the demon dogs at the same time. But when Mila seemed to have killed the second to last small beast, noticed that Jule was making her way down to Yorrick.

“I’m on it, Boss.” Donovan started to make his way down behind Jule and Yorick. The mercenary wasn’t slow, but Jule was a fast enough that, with her head start, she had gotten too far for the him to do anything other than shout out a warning when he saw the last doog making it’s way in her direction. “Jule! On your left! Watch out!”

Jule and Yorick were both in need of his help, and the mercenary was too far away to do anything but scream out suggestions. He just hoped Mila’s bombardment and Yorick’s endurance would hold on.

[Jule]

Though Donovan and Mila seemed to have second thoughts about following her into the breach once more, she could hear the muscular one shout encouragement from behind her. Oh, good. She'd distracted one.

Wait, "good"?

Jule met the beast head-on, trying her best to match its snarl in kind. Smaller than the last one she faced, for sure, yet every bit as fierce. The bleeding had stopped but her leg still throbbed, and the girl was certain that any attack the mauthe doog tried, she wouldn't be able to dodge in time. The swordswoman slid to a halt, plucking a stone from the ground lightning fast. It was small, and she wasn't the greatest pitcher but even a babe could've belted the young hound with a stone from that distance. She could practically taste the bloody stench wafting from its chops. The thought of it almost made her surrender her breakfast right then and there. Jule wrinkled her face and tossed the stone, scoring a glancing blow. For a moment the monster sat there, looking at her as if to say "What was that for? I just want to eat you for lunch," but whatever doubts it had were shortly reconciled in the lunge it made for the tiny girl. Jule hobbled to the side, swiping for the dog and decapitating nothing but the tall blades of grass.

Her eye twitched with frustration. Just what fiend created these things to be so strong and yet so fast? Or better yet, so annoying? If the hound couldn't swallow you whole, it opted for tiny nibbles. Back and forth the human and beast swiped at each other in a deadly dance. Jule brought her sword down each time finding nothing on its edge but matted hair, while the hound dog bit away at her clothes every time, ripping off tiny bits of Jule-grade meat with every cut. It hurt like hell. The struggle paid off, however. The girl could see a weakness in the dog's seemingly impenetrable (for her) defense: it was too quick to bare its fangs, unlike the possibly older one she wounded. "Hah..hah..you've got somethin' to... prove too, eh?" Jule wheezed, fatigue starting to get the best of her. "You're even kinda small... like me. Good thing you're just a mutt.. hah."

One good stroke, that was all she needed. There was definitely a pattern to the beast's attacks: bite, feint, bite, feint, lather, rinse, repeat. Though Jule was about ready to stab herself for being so stupid, the mauthe doog was a suitable alternative. Through the grass the beast came 'round, fangs bared and jaws opened wide. Jule wrapped her hands tightly around the hilt and pommel, angling the blade parallel with her head. "Unlike you, filthy... thing, I've got a name. My name's Jule Balin, and I have a dream!"And as the beast flung itself upwards at her, she thrusted the sword as though it was a spear - directly down the poor thing's gullet. The hound sank into her hands with its canines as it flailed about in vain, unable to stop Jule from slicing through flesh and rendering it all but deceased.

She placed a foot on the slowly sinking dog's snout and ripped the blade from its mouth. Biting back tears (and her lunch), Jule wildly swung at the hound's neck until it breathed its last and searing blood mixed with sweat and tears stained her cheek. "Ugh." The swordswoman sank to the ground, partly from her lack of strength, partly from the rising bile in her throat. She stabbed her sword into the soft ground as leverage for her body, and retched beside the fallen beast. Was this what the path to glory was paved with? Bodies of gross, dead dogs? Jule had imagined chivalrous, bloodless duels, not this... street display.

Death was disgusting; something she had figured out, but never of her own accord.

[Yorick]

"Why can't you just die and leave me alone?"

The beast's claw scraped across her armor, and she barely raised her shield in time to block the next lunge, stumbling backwards as two heads slammed into her shield. The thing just kept going and going. Eventually, it would wear her out - she thought that it had some knowledge of it, and was purposefully trying to stretch her thinner and thinner, until she finally snapped.

Well, not this time.

"Back, you hellfiend! Back! BACK!"

Yorick threw lance and shield aside, grabbing her axes and charging the beast with a strange, frenzied look in her eyes. The Gwyllgi stopped, stared at her, and then charged too, and the two met midair. Yorick was thrown backwards, and she landed on her back as the giant Doog came down upon her, its maws descending like some sort of spiked guillotine until -

The thing jerked backwards, yelping and roaring and then hacking as one of its two remaining heads jerked and spasmed, two axes embedded in it. The middle head, still intact, looked with pure and unwavering hatred at the Halberdier. It seemed to feel no pain from the death of its other two heads - and then it leaped.

A piercing scream came from Yorick, not of her own accord, as fangs sank into her flesh. Her arms flailed, and she managed to stab it feebly with a knife, causing it to leap backwards, its head snarling and snapping and sniffing the air as if it were trying to decide between two pieces of meat.

Yorick looked at her leg, and immediately wished she hadn't. The Gwyllgi's jaws had crunched through armor and flesh, stopping just short of the bone. From the deep punctures and the more shallow lacerations from its other teeth, blood was oozing, creating a small reddish puddle that slowly began to grow near her. The pain was immense; she could feel it pounding, see the white tinges on the edges of her vision. She had to stay calm. They'd come down, and everything would be okay. She wouldn't bleed to death for a while, so she just had to stay awake and alert until they came to help her apply pressure. The blood wasn't spurting, so she was okay. She was okay.

"Damn it, it hurts!"