Fur Trade

[Lorna Scathach]

Lorna turned around to check on the other two once again. Xeldine was, again, looking worse for wear still, but she had survived. Orcleous seemed fine enough, further demonstrating his might as a warrior. He far outclassed both herself and his so called apprentice, and without him here there was no doubt in her mind that such a venture would have gotten her killed. Lorna imagined if he had been a much weaker man but still put out the posters for this job, and still went on with only two others against these fiends.

It was clear to Lorna that she had gotten lucky. Had Orcleous been such a weaker man she likely would perish against these beasts along with him and his apprentice. First there had been the "training camp" job that wound up being a rather obvious trap, and then there was this hasty endeavor. Lorna would have to care to research the details of these jobs a bit better and make sure that she was choosing her partners well. The young lady may be hasty but she knew that her luck would eventually run out.

"All right, we're alive," Lorna stated bluntly, approaching the other two. "What's our next move? The sooner we get this over with the sooner we can get the hell out of here," The whole area was starting to reek, as if the flesh of the dead mongrels was rotting at an much higher rate than that of normal living things. Lorna had no desire to stick around that odor, but she did desire to head back to her barracks and clean her lance and armour.

[Orcleous]

Walking over to his apprentice orcleous grabbed the beast by its back leg and swung it into the air. The power of Xigshaw was great as the magical hammer gave him strength far beyond that he was usually capable of. Slamming the beast into the ground Orcleous stumped onto its neck killing it. "I had it", spoke Xeldine as she pulled herself out the dirt. Orcleous ignored her for a moment as he looked around for any sign of the other three beast. The creatures where no where to be found so Orcleous took a moment to catch a breather.

"Sure you did", he spoke as he saw the spear maiden move toward them. "I just finished it off before any more of them joined the fight", spoke Orcleous as the maiden walked over and asked about there next move. Xelidine was a bit ticked off by the current situation, mainly because of Orcleous' words of disbelief and her poor performance, though she blamed that on the green clad swordsmen. He was in fact her master. Any flaws she had, it could be laid at his feet.

"What else we hunt down the last three and eliminate them", spoke Xeldine as she looked at the maiden.

"No", spoke Orcleous breaking the maiden's expectation. "What we need to do is gather up the dead and tie a rope around there legs. We are not sure if the other three are even still around here, or have wised up. Not to mention that being ambushed in this spot seems to be pretty easy", spoke Orcleous. "I would rather move to a more open spot, but leaving behind the pelts would defeat our entire reason for being here."

"So we all need to grab a wolf", spoke Xeldine as she began to move away. Orcleous however grabbed her arm prevnting her from moving.

"We need to move as a unit. Remember they have been ambushing us all day. It would not surprise me if all three of them jumped out and attacked one of you two alone. We stick together and we will be fine. However if we separate then we will probably be picked off." With that being said Orclous pulled out some rope from his bag and handed it to Xeldine. "Lorna, you and Xeldine tie up the legs of those two beast", spoke Orcleous as he pointed toward the two they took down earlier.

"I will drag the others back to this location", spoke Orcleous as he walked away.

"Hey what about sticking together", shouted Xeldine with annoyance as Orcleous defied his own orders.

"It is something called bait", spoke the Hero causing the maiden to raise a eyebrow. She did not understand at the moment, but Orcleous was sure she would in a few minutes or so. If anybody had to draw out there fangs Orcleous would it rather be him than the others. It was safer that way.

[Lorna Scathach]

Lorna watched Xeldine and Orcleous bicker with amusement, until the man answered her question. He was quite determined to see this mission of his through. Fair enough...Lorna wasn't about to give up or be shown up. The older man had already dealt with the vast majority of the threats himself. Lorna had taken out two wolves, Xeldine none, and Orcleous the rest. It couldn't be helped...but Lorna wouldn't mind slaying one last fiend to add to her kill count. It would further prove her worth.

The recruit listened to the strategy Orcleous came up with. Evidently he wanted to use himself as bait while Lorna and Xeldine gathered the other wolves. If that didn't work then would they use the corpses of the beasts as bait? Most likely, it seemed. Either way Lorna was stuck working with Xeldine. The girl had less skill than she did but even more attitude. It was a bad combination, one that rubbed Lorna the wrong way, but if she had to suffer through a couple of minutes with the woman in order to survive then so be it.

"So you planning on using yourself as the bait, Orcleous?" Lorna asked. She wanted to verify the strategy before making any moves. Besides, she couldn't move until Xeldine did, "Or the wolves?"

Tch, rather than wait for an answer Lorna turned to Xeldine, "Either way let's get this done. Stay near me or he'll bark your head off again," Lorna told her with a small smirk. The lance-wielder, for once, didn't really mean to have an attitude. It just sort of happened this time. There was just something about Xeldine that brought it out of her easier than anyone else: and it wasn't that hard to bring out Lorna's attitude.

[Orcleous]

"Pretty much", spoke Orcleous as he began to walk out into the field. The Hero knew he would be the better target since it would be three on one. Monsters where not that smart, thought this was the first time Orcleous had really dealt with the wolves. They where smarter than the undead that was for sure, but he knew they where dumber than the bonewalkers. If he had to put them on a scale of intelligence then he would place them probably in the middle between the two of them. Following that logic he figured they would take a three on one much better than a two non three.

Xeldine bit her lip as the women began to speak. She wanted to say something, but she could just not find the words. "Listen here", she spoke as a chilling feeling shot through her spine. Bad omen, thought Xeldine to herself as she turned to her left side. From the bushes jumped a beast with its fangs at the ready and its crimson eyes focused on her. The maiden jumped backwards out of reaction and fell to the ground. The beast soon followed and a eerie howl filled the air.

"Xeldine", shouted Orcleous as he turned around and rushed back toward the two. How could this happen, he thought. It was clear to him now that he underestimated either the intelligence of the animals or the amount of threat level they placed on himself. However it was clear that the wovles had chose the two as a target instead of him.

The other two wolves rushed out the woods and began to attack the soldier. The first beast lunged at her like they did Xeldine and the second shot out the woods and moved to flank her on the right. As the wolves assaulted the third beast fell over off Xeldine's body. The maiden stared with both shock an horror as blood covered her shirt. As the beast jumped it impaled itself onto the silver blade. The blow went clean through its heart saving the young girl's life.

[Lorna Scathach]

Seemed Orcleous was rather confident of both his own skills and his plan if he was going to bait himself, but hey, Lorna didn't really care. She didn't like blindly going along with someone's plan but she wasn't about to question it either. Though she hated to admit it her experience in missions and combat was still lacking, regardless of how much promise she had or how much dominance over her fellow recruits she had. She didn't have any plans for how to handle this task so she couldn't complain.

Xeldine started to speak up but soon fell backwards out of shock. Lorna turned and saw the last three wolves rush them, their eyes set particularly on Xeldine. Well damn, it looked like Orcleous' so called plan backfired. Lorna readied her lance and stabbed it at one of the wolves, but she couldn't stop one from lunging at Xeldine. Thankfully the stupid creature wound up belly first on the tip of her sword. At least the girl had the sense to keep her blade at the ready even if she couldn't keep her feet on the ground.

Lorna, however, found herself in battle with yet another monster. The other wolf decided to focus on Xeldine as well and Lorna couldn't do much to help her. She was being more aggressive this time, shifting her footing to keep pressure on the wolf. Lorna figured she was better off using the range of her lance to keep the thing at bay and strike it before it charges her rather than wait for it to lunge like the previous two.

It was shockingly effective. Though Lorna's arms were starting to grow sore and her breathing grew heavier and heavier still she managed to push the wolf back about five feet before the tip of her lance found it's mark. Once it dug into the wolf's flesh Lorna stepped forward hard and drove the lance into the beast, running the wolf through it's shoulder into it's chest. The fiend yowled and snapped it's jaws but it was so thoroughly pierced that it could not move. Lorna grinned wickedly before pulling her weapon out and letting the wolf fall to the ground to bleed out.

[Orcleous]

Xeldine had actually killed one. A rush of adrenaline shot through her as she pulled herself off the ground. However the maiden had let her guard down and one of the wolves was circling around to finish the job. Orcleous however was not going to let that happen. He was far enough away that he was unable to do anything about the first attack. However now he was close enough to give the duo aid.

"Xeldine watch your back", shouted Orcleous. The maiden turned toward the voice and as a result looked at the wolf moving to assault her. The beast lunged forward with its fangs at the ready. Its goal was to bite into the maiden's arm and rip it off from the joint. However Xeldine was of swift foot and as the creature jumped she dashed toward her left hand side. The movement was taught to her by Orcleous a few months back. At one point he thought the maiden had forgotten it, but seeing her use it so masterfully to dodge the wolf sparked a bit of pride in his chest.

As the beast missed it moved to circle back around for another attack. However Orlcoeus would not give it that opportunity. Touching Xigsahw with his right hand Orcleous felt the power of the mighty war hammer shoot through his legs. With a powerful leap he jumped through the air covering the space between him and the wolf. As he came down from the air Orcleous pulled the mighty war hammer off his back and brought it down with the full force of his body. The blow sent a dust cloud into the air as the screams of the beast filled the forest. Xigshaw had crushed the backside of the mad dog and left its head barking in pain for a few moments.

"Hey are you two alright", spoke Orcleous as he looked at the soldier and his apprentice. Xeldine, no longer in danger, took the opportunity to look around at the battlefield and come up with a complaint.

"Smart plan there Orcleous", she spoke. The Hero figured this would be coming. "Yes I will use myself as bait. The wolves are sure to come charging toward me. Looks like that plan went bottom up pretty quick", spoke the maiden as she placed Orcleous silver sword into her sword sheath.

"Not my fault that they where smarter than your average dog", spoke Orcleous as he walked over to the wolf he slew and pulled its body off the ground. It was going to be a pain to get the fur off it, if the fur could be salvaged at that. "Still we got a good number of pelts", spoke the Hero as he began to calculate the profits they could receive from the score.

[Lorna Scathach]

Lorna stared at the wolf she bested with a sense of adrenaline and triumph. It felt damn good to beat not one but three of these creatures when she had no training or prior experience with them. Hell she could imagine herself making a living off hunting these things. It seemed like Orcleous did, at least a little bit. Why else would he be going on hunts like this? With such high quotas at that? Ten of these wolves could easily tear apart a ten good men or women. Even without Orcleous' might Lorna got the feeling that it had been luck that won them the day.

She turned around to face the hero and his pupil and saw that she was, once again, complaining. The plan HAD backfired, but seriously? They had survived and met their quota, so Lorna didn't see anything to really get upset about. So she ignored the irate redhead and dragged her wolf over to Orcleous with a satisfied smirk.

"There, we met your quota, for better or worse," Lorna was curious about when she would get paid. The experience was nice and the thrill was greater than anything she had experienced before, but she HAD just risked her life on this mission. Some actual compensation would be good, so she'd have something to show the recruits back at Laus. No doubt they'd call her a liar of she came back empty handed but told tales of beast slaying, "I'm assuming I get paid soon, right?"

She hoped she wouldn't have to wait for Orcleous to skin the pelts off the bloody creatures for her pay. That could take ages, and she wouldn't even be much help, as she hadn't skinned anything before.

[Orcleous]

"Oh right payment", spoke Orcleous as he looked at the collection of Wolves. "Well normally with hunters we skin them, drain there blood, and sell off anything that remains to a mage first. After that we see how much was made and split it among the entire group. Now as we know in the market things fluctuate and change depending on values, what is in season, and what somebody is willing to pay for monster parts. Considering that you are a soldier girl and probably have to return to base and duties I doubt you can wait for the entire process to play out. So I am willing to go ahead and pay you in advance right now." As Orcleous finished talking he pulled out a quite sizable coin bag. "I could give you six hundred gold right now for your work. However if I do that and we sell the corpse for much higher you won't get a cut."

"Wait what about my cut", spoke Xeldine.

"People who have to borrow weapons don't get cuts", spoke Orcleous as he looked at the maiden with a sly smile. "You get a salary", spoke Orcleous as he flipped her a gold coin. A angered expression crossed her face, but Orcleous cut her off before she could say a work. "Stop winning you live with me. Everything we make is pretty much used right down the middle. Besides not dying does not qualify as work."

"Anyway the choice is yours", spoke Orcleous as he held out the coin bag. Orcleous was sure he could get at least five times as much on the market. However it was as he said. It would take a good bit. The skins would get you about a hundred gold a piece and the teeth where popular as well. The blood was used for a few new poisons and Orcleous had a guy who always bought it from him. The organs themselves are worth a bundle to any mage interested in experimenting and understanding monsters. They where hard to find, but Orcleous knew a guy.

[Lorna Scathach]

Lorna grit her teeth as she considered the proposal. While it would be nice to wait around for more money, Lorna DID have to worry about getting back to her base. The only reason she had been able to wander so far from Laus was because she was supposed to be on a recovery leave. Her superiors expected her to go home and rest, but Lorna had wanted nothing to do with her mother, let alone revisit that backwater town. Still she did need to ride back as soon as possible.

Besides, six hundred gold was...quite a bit. That meant she had made about two hundred gold per kill, which she thought was an excellent pay. Six hundred could really buy her just about anything! Her gear and weapons were taken care of by the military and six hundred wasn't really enough to upgrade them anyway. Since she had a set salary she wasn't in desperate need of this gold either. That meant she could save a fraction of it and blow the rest on anything she desired. Good food and good booze, most likely.

Lorna smirked at the thought. Her entire childhood she had tended to and served drunken workers, guardsman, and mercenaries and she had hated every second of it. She could only imagine that BEING the drunken one and being served would feel immensely satisfying for a change. Lorna relished the thought.

"I'll take the six hundred," The soldier decided, dropping the wolf carcass at Orcleous' feet. She grabbed the sack of coin from his hand and bounced it in hers to feel it's weight. Lorna had never received such a large sum of gold in one bag, so she had no idea how much it should weigh, but it was damn heavy and she was more than satisfied, "Well then, if there's nothing else then I'll be on my way. Best of luck with those wolves, Orcleous...and this apprentice of yours,"

Lorna shot Xeldine one last cocky smirk before she turned on her heel and walked away. They had taken a straight path through the forest so Lorna knew she needed only to take a straight path back. From there she could hit up the nearest tavern and get loaded.

[Orcleous]

"What is that suppose to mean", spoke Xeldine as the maiden began to leave. Orcleous however was ignoring her and tied up the corpses with rope. He thought it was funny that the maiden had chosen the six hundread. A year or so ago he would have done the same. However now he was trying to be his own boss and knew the value of min maxing every killing, opportunity, and chance to earn coin as possible. By the end of the weak he was sure he could double the amount he paid out. Still he was going to need to do something about this troublesome apprentice of his. She was a handful and had a big mouth. Not to mention her sword skills where pretty low. All things considered her life expectancy was pretty low. Orcleous was going to have to improve her blade work. That or make her talk less. The later one seemed impossible so the blade work it was.

"Xeldine your performance today was garbage", spoke Orcleous as he touched the hilt of Xigsahw with his hand. The axe hated when Orcleous used it this way and gave less power, but it did not matter to him. The strength boost was more than what he needed to get this stuff back to town.

"Excuse me", she spoke as she began to run off at the mouth. "I killed two of those things", she spoke trying to keep count. "No normal man could do that with such ease."

"Except me", spoke Orcleous.

"You don't count you have a magic weapon."

"And you have a silver sword, which you did not buy", spoke Orcleous pointing toward his blade. "Lorna killed at least three of them and she is pretty normal. You however with a weapon that has a advantage over monsters only killed one."

"I said I killed two of them", she spoke.

"Two, one, it does not matter. After we liquidize these wolves I am going to have to throw you back into the flames and bring back out the hammer."

"What", spoke Xelidine as she looked at Orlcoeus with confusion. The Hero let off a long sigh as he began to drag there catch across the ground.

"We are starting you back over from the basics", he shouted!

"What not another thousand swings", she commented as the duo vanished into the woods.

[Thread End]