Cursed IC

When Argen gave the order to hide along the tree line Benton was more than a little confused by how sudden it was. Did the Lycan sniff out a patrol and wanted up to hide? At any rate the walking corpse did as he was told and his within the bushes waiting for what happened next.


And what happened next Benton certainly didn't explained expect. Instead of a regiment of soldiers or mercenaries what came up the road was a single wagon manned by a merchant girl. Benton sighed and pinched the bridge of his scarred nose. His mind flashed back to Argen's tone when he ordered that the group hid. That and when the Lycan began talking about how there was food and they needed to eat. Unfortunately Benton guessed what was about to happen and when the first horse was decapitated he knew he was right. 


Benton stepped out with the others as their Lycan friend struggled to keep control of himself while shouting that he had been sacrificing himself to accommodate his master. Benton even gave a short chuckle when Argen mentioned he was so hungry he would even eat Benton. The black mage had been ready to restrain Argen the moment he killed those horses and he was still keeping a close eye on him. 


It was when Elise offered the girl money for the horses that Benton stepped in between the two and spoke up. Pulling his hood off so that his face could be seen Benton began his little speech, " Now hold on Elise. Think about this for a moment. My lady I ask that you consider this as well. We've just killed this girl's only way of transporting her goods and now you want to help her and ask forgiveness? Paying her for the horses won't prevent her wares from spoiling long before she can reach her destination. And then how do we know that she won't run. To the nearest guard and tell her about us? There by destroying whatever advantage we had and marking us as criminals in this place as well. Unable to rest at an Inn, restock for supplies, or even enter a city without fear of being arrested. We can't let her leave... but we also can't take her with us. It would only serve to slow us down further and put a greater strain on our already abysmal resources. " Benton explained looking at each member of the group as he explained his thoughts. Finally his mismatched eyes and stitched together face rested on the girl herself.  " So what do we do with her considering all that? Do we kill her? I'm sure the boy or I could curse her in such a manner that she would never tell anyone about today." Benton offered as he starred at the girl for a moment before turning back to the group. Then he looked specifically at the princess. " What shall we do? Cause ourselves greater strife and risk capture for a single girl? Or make it to where she can't betray what happened today? No matter the choice she wouldn't suffer any pain or strife."
 
   Zola's eyes snapped from the road to the man who just killed her horses. Her eyes widened in fear as she stared at the blade pointed at her throat. She was about to say something when another unknown person jumped out from the tree line and looked angry at the man, asking why he just did that. After the man who she learned was Argen told him about his hunger and such, the women apologized for his actions after they settled their little disagreement. THEN, another person jumped out from the tree line and said that they should kill her or hex her. DAH HELL IS GOING ON! If the wolf- man thing was hungry, why didn't he hunt in the wood right fricken next to them! Zola's head was hanging, hair covering her face, hiding her features from the group of criminals. Her shoulders were shaking, and her hands were clasped in fists. To anyone who didn't know her would think she was sobbing or scared, but she was pissed, "This place is worse then Omashu!" she silently mutters under her breath


"First, you kill MY horses. Then you attempt to rob me. And now you are all talking around me like  I'm some helpless coward," she lifts her head up and stares at Argen, eyes filled with pure fury. She lets out a soft chuckle, "Then you all clearly must be brain dead," the ground begins to shake with her fury. Rocks lying around begin to scatter around with her surge of power," P R E P A R E   T O   H A V E   A   B A D   T I M E."  Zola grabs Argen's weapon, and knocks the blade away from her throat and jumps down onto the rocky road, about a couple meters away. This is her climate. The ground shaking begins to get dangerous, knocking any unsteady person over. Rocks begin to lift, and float around them going berserk. Trees begin to shake, and some loose plants get slightly up rooted. Then it all stops. The rocks stop floating around furiously, and stand still in the air. The ground stops shaking, and becomes still like it was before it was disturbed.


"I mean, if you really wanted food, and were that hungry you could have hunted in the woods. Right. Next. To. You. But I guess you wanted to fight," she gets in a ready stance, "So, lets fight." Rocks from the ground fly up and form gantlets around her fists. She then takes boulders from the side of the road and floats them in front of her. She then kicks them at Argen, they fly towards him, ready to hit him dead on. Battle starts! She then stands, fists ready, ground shaking lightly at her power.  L E T S    D O    T  H  I  S!!!!!!!!!!!


@SleepyBuddha   @shadowz1995   @Nogoodname  @NovaNovass
 
"Hmph. Earth mage. Fine then. I've been wanting a fight anyway." The lycan called out. "Elise, it's fine if I don't kill her right?" As the ground began to tremble, as if the very Gods had reawakened, Argen stood fast. Not even a hair was out of place by the time the earth beneath their feet stopped vibrating. This wasn't his first rodeo with an earth mage. It was also to the girl's disadvantage. Argen couldn't do much against magic like dark, fire, or other non-physical elements. But earth? It was about as tangible and physical as he was. Which meant it was something he could break. 


As the mage surrounded her fists with earth, Argen cocked an eyebrow, almost all of his previous hunger replaced by incredulity. Was this human girl actually planning on taking him on in hand to hand combat? Had she not seen the way he tore her horses apart in one fell swoop? She was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid and it was appearing to be the latter. 


The girl lifted the impressively sized rocks beside the road and levitated them before her as if they were weightless. It was a sight to see. She had power, Argen would give her that. But as the girl proclaimed her attack, like a novice, the lycan's eyes narrowed slightly. She was going to send the boulders right at him in a straight line. She wasn't going to do any trick with them. She didn't look capable of thinking that far ahead. A very straight forward fighter. The wolf could respect that. It was much like he was when he was still a pup learning the arts of combat and war. 


The wolf planted his blood soaked sword into the gravel beneath their feet with a harsh thrust and awaited his opponents attack. Sure enough, the floating earthly weapons came hurtling forward at impressive speed but as he predicted, in a straight line. The lycan dips low and rushes forwards, slipping the rocks with the grace of a boxer slipping punches. The girl even got into a stance as if she thought that obvious attack was going to hit its mark. It was confident, proud, strong, and pathetically ignorant of what she was facing. 


When the ground began to shake lightly once again, Argen was already mere steps in front of her, using the full extent of his supernaturally strong muscles to dash past the girl's boulder attack and he was now standing before her, roughly a foot away. "You are as green as the earth you control little girl. Stop talking and fight if you're going to fight." The lycan spoke in a guttural growl. He did not attack though, choosing to merely stay alert and be having his enhanced senses trained on the ground within a 50 meter distance around the dueling pair. Argen doubted she could control earth from that far away but this way, she could not manipulate the earth without him knowing about it. She was, unbeknownst to her, being forced into a hand to hand battle with a lycan who was leagues her veteran in combat. By keeping his senses sharp, he negated any range advantage she had. The villager girl also didn't seem, judging by her harsh, rough kicks earlier, very fast. Someone prioritized  strength over speed. 


The lycan had her locked down and she was very mistaken if she thought that because she had the earth beneath her feet, that this was her territory. Anything that wasn't magical combat was Argen's terrain. And he was about to show her just that.


@Fluffykitty9000
 
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   When Argen dodged her attacks like they were pebbles, it filled Zola with rage. This guy seemed to be good at dodging and was faster than her, but like hell if he thought she was going to give up, she never gives up. She also observed that he was very skilled with the sword he carried, she was going to have to be cautious and think things through a little better. Hand to hand combat was also something that Zola realized Argen wanted, but Zola would be beaten quickly if she chose to go all out in that department. Zola was going to have to out smart him (good luck with that girl), she didn't know how yet, but she hoped she would soon. She then pulled up a wall of dirt in between them and pushed herself back about 10 meters, out of harms way(for now =P). She then used her powers to make a wave of dirt for her to mount so she would not tire as easily, this also granted her speed. She rode towards the man, making sure to keep enough distance so she was out of arms reach. Anger flowed through her veins, filling her with determination. She then dismounted  the wave, and landed in a  ready stance as the wave of dirt came at full force towards Argen. 


   Zola then grabbed the ground and pulled up a huge chunk of it and biffed it at him. She then punched the ground multiple times making a huge cloud of dust that worked like a smoke bomb, blinding the enemy. She then sent small rock like bullets towards flying him. Small beads of sweat began to form on her forehead, not from tiredness, simply from the exercise. Always be prepared to change you strategy to meet the enemies strengths and weaknesses. Zola heard the distant sound of her mom's voice in her head telling her what to do. Her stance grew to defense. Lets play.


@shadowz1995
 
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Benton's words made sense really, but Evilin couldn't just sit back and let this girl die. This wasn't what she was trying to stand up for. If anything she was on the now past thoughts as to Argen's actions. If he hadn't struck down the girl's horses, they wouldn't be having this conversation. They could have just traded with her if needed, or even payed her extra to keep quiet about seeing them. But all her thoughts had come to a close when the ground started to rumble. Evilin was not ready for this and fell over to the ground. The next thing she noticed was that their was pieces of the ground flying through the air. She had scrambled back to her feet and rushed back to the tree lines to hide. An all out battle had begun between Argen and the female merchant. 


She peeked her head around the side of the tree only to watch the two square off in the middle of the road. Her mind raced as did her heart. She was scared at this point. She hadn't seen such a battle like this in a while.... Last time she saw something like this, her friend had died trying to protect her. 


She pressed her back against the tree once more and looked over to the other side of her. She blinked finding Coda sitting behind a tree. He held a small black steel blade in his hand and his eyes were drifting over his shoulder towards the fight. She couldn't help but notice that something was off about Coda. Like something was different.
 
Now that the farm girl got a better taste of what she was up against, she altered her strategy. It was plainly obvious that she figured out exactly how the playing field was laid out. She would lose in a contest of speed and it was unclear whether or not Zola knew exactly how strong Argen was. But she did notice that she needed to keep her distance with him. The lycan nodded in approval internally. The girl learned quickly. She was not clueless when it came to combat. Merely an amateur. There was a slight pause as the girl thought of what to do and she decided to put some distance, launching herself back some distance away. 


The farm girl then created a small mound of dirt which she rode upon and it seemed to help her move a little bit faster than when on her own two feet. Trying to shorten the gap in speed no doubt. 


Normally, Argen would have cleared the wave of harmless dirt that came rushing his way but because he had had his senses on full alert to the ground, he felt the tremor in the earth as a chunk was removed from the surface. He would have jumped over the wall and then been unable to dodge the subsequent follow up attack while in mid-air, being forced to take the full force of a hurled boulder at him. 


But this was not the case and Argen was, in fact, looking for such an attack. The wolf side stepped the dirt wave, ducked under the high speed boulder throw, and was suddenly met with a cloud of dirt that obscured his vision.


Even while in the dust cloud, Argen's sight was still fairly good but see his target, he could not. The strategy was a sound one. Blind the enemy and use some sort of high speed attack to capitalize in the confusion of obscured vision. An artificial fog of war. A sound strategy indeed.....if the opponent was a mere mortal man. The lycan closed his eyes and focused on his remaining senses. She was still close, within 10 meter distance and that meant she couldn't hide from him. The way her lungs filled with air at an elevated pace. Her heart beat...strong, steady, and filling her muscles with the oxygen they required. Clearly, she was still calm by the way it beat within her breast. Which meant he needed to drive some fear into her. 


It was barely, but Argen did hear something. It was incredibly subtle but it sounds like shards being pulled from the dirt. Was this the follow up attack he was awaiting? No matter, they didn't sound large enough to be a real threat so the wolf put his large, muscular arms in front of his chest and face. He then dashed immediately towards her location. The wolf could smell exactly where she was. He didn't even really need his sense of sound to find her in such close proximity. Argen's sense of smell was the best sense he had.


It was fortuitous that the lycan warrior put his arms because small shards of earth came rocketing through the fog of dirt and quite a few found their target. The shards pierced his body but because his defenses were up beforehand, nothing vital was pierced and it was more of annoyance to deal with than a pain. Argen bit back his irritation and instead decided to channel that energy for the attack he had coming. 


He closed the distance just as rapidly as before but this time, he wasn't just going to stand before her. The male threw a swift, sweeping kick in a small arc at where the girl's feet were approximately. She had been on a mound of dirt, so Argen aimed a little higher than normal.  The objective was to break the girl's root. Her connection to the earth. Chances were that wasn't going to stop her from using the magic but just as a Fire mage fought better near fire, an earth mage fought better when they had their feet on the solid ground. It was a disruptive attack meant to distract then to injure. Regardless of whether the kick connected or not, Argen would assume she was going to attempt to flee once again and as such preemptively  dipped into a stance which would allow him to chase the woman down whichever way she would decide to dodge. 


If the girl decided to fight him head on, it would be a surprise but if it would do any damage remained to be seen. 


@Fluffykitty9000
 
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Before his argument was even considered the entire situation turned on its head. The little girl he didn't even think was a threat began to use magic. Not just any magic, but the magic of the earth itself. As the ground began to shake Benton was ill prepared and was all but thrown to the ground. It was about then that the Lycan and the girl began their fight. Rather than moving out of the way Benton took out his knife and began drawing on his dark powers.


He couldn't afford to use any especially powerful spells as he wouldn't be able to replace damaged tissue or organs any time soon. A Simple curse of paralysis would have to suffice for now. Of course if the target struggled against the spell the backlash wouldn't be pretty. 


Getting to his feet Benton watched the battle going on inside the cloud of dust. A dark energy arched between his fingers as he waited for his opportunity. One clear shot and he could seal the girl's movement and end this ridiculous fight. 


@Fluffykitty9000


@shadowz1995
 
    Zola was waiting, ready for Argen to attack her, being an earth mage Zola was able to see easier through the dust cloud, but not completely. The smell of dirt was fresh and it calmed Zola down slightly, telling her she would be alright. Today had been eventful, she was attacked, her horses Coco and Ciel were killed, and now she is fighting Argen. If they had asked her, she wold have probably given them some food for little money, but now she is fighting a Wolf-man thing that clearly has strengths beyond her, but she knew that she would never be able to bring herself to kill him, especially with all his friends, who would grieve his loss. 


    So here Zola stood, stance ready, heart going at a calm rate, warriors can not afford to be scared in battle, and ready for Argen's next attack. She saw an outline of him running at her, as he reached her he did a sweeping kick to her legs. She then decided to do a risky move she had made up during her training. She quickly pulled a rock out of the ground under her and  launched herself in the air, Argen probably ended up kicking the rock, but she barely escaped his attack. While in air Zola kept her eyes on her target, she then sent her gauntlets flying towards him, she did not think he would be able to see them coming, or know she was in the air, but she did not know the complete powers this "Argen" had.


While in the air, Zola's eyes switched to the man, who appeared to be using some type of dark magic, and seemed to be aiming to hit her. But this fight was between Argen and her, she had nothing against the others, just the man who had killed her horses and attempted to rob her, in this situation, she was not the bad guy. Zola deciding that she did not want to risk it with black magic, used her magic (which took more power, due to being off the ground), and formed a big wall between the Black Magic Man and her and Argen.


   Zola's flight was quickly canceled as she began to be pulled down by gravity. Zola quickly created a pillar, and landed on top of it, a little away from Argen. She made the dirt of the pillar cut into little slabs and kicked it Argen's direction. The pillar began to become smaller and smaller as she kicked the slabs of it at Argen, if Argen dodged one and moved over some she would change what direction the slab was being kicked. As she finished off the pillar and was standing on sold ground again, she pulled more rocks off the ground and formed her gauntlets again. The dust cloud began to clear, giving more visibility but, there was still patches of dust in the air, that would surly get in someone's eyes. She then formed her defensive stance again, ready, ignoring the distant thoughts of warning of tiring out her magic, but she had used her magic for longer than this so, she did not have to worry about it.


@shadowz1995  @SleepyBuddha
 
Argen ended up kicking a chunk of stone away from the earth. The girl flew into the air and Argen was about to jump after her but he was met with two stone gauntlets flying at him from high above. The first caught him by surprise slamming into his right shoulder and shattering against his body. It drew an irritated grunt from lycan and a bit of soreness in the muscle. The following gauntlet was met with a powerful fist that broke it apart like dust upon impact. 


Still, the lycan was ready to pursue and as the earth formed a pillar, Argen wasted no time. He dashed forward at superhuman speed before the girl landed upon the pillar. He was already waiting for this opportunity. 


As soon as the girl landed, she began kicking stone slabs in his direction. The first two slabs were not met with evasion but with force. Argen was done showinf his speed and now would show his strength and tenacity. The first slab he charged through with his left shoulder and the second was met with a downward hammerfist that shattered it back into the earth before it connected with his body. 


By this time, the wolf was already at the pillar and he no longer needed to dodge as effeciently. The man simply circled around the pillar until the girl ran out of stones to kick out in his direction. 


She eventually did and as she readied herself once more, he was upon her and threw a full force strike at the girl. Argen in human form had enough strength to tear a man's head off (*cough* or tear a horse's ribcage open) and just as the blow was going to connect Argen stopped the blow short. 


The lycan had actually forgotten that this girl was human and if he hit her full force in such a way, the upper half of her body might go flying and her lower body would stay put in front of him. Elise would not want him to end her either. She was already angry enough that he killed the horses for food. 


"Enough human. Value your life above that of pitiful livestock!" 

Fluffykitty9000 said:
    Zola was waiting, ready for Argen to attack her, being an earth mage Zola was able to see easier through the dust cloud, but not completely. The smell of dirt was fresh and it calmed Zola down slightly, telling her she would be alright. Today had been eventful, she was attacked, her horses Coco and Ciel were killed, and now she is fighting Argen. If they had asked her, she wold have probably given them some food for little money, but now she is fighting a Wolf-man thing that clearly has strengths beyond her, but she knew that she would never be able to bring herself to kill him, especially with all his friends, who would grieve his loss. 


    So here Zola stood, stance ready, heart going at a calm rate, warriors can not afford to be scared in battle, and ready for Argen's next attack. She saw an outline of him running at her, as he reached her he did a sweeping kick to her legs. She then decided to do a risky move she had made up during her training. She quickly pulled a rock out of the ground under her and  launched herself in the air, Argen probably ended up kicking the rock, but she barely escaped his attack. While in air Zola kept her eyes on her target, she then sent her gauntlets flying towards him, she did not think he would be able to see them coming, or know she was in the air, but she did not know the complete powers this "Argen" had.


While in the air, Zola's eyes switched to the man, who appeared to be using some type of dark magic, and seemed to be aiming to hit her. But this fight was between Argen and her, she had nothing against the others, just the man who had killed her horses and attempted to rob her, in this situation, she was not the bad guy. Zola deciding that she did not want to risk it with black magic, used her magic (which took more power, due to being off the ground), and formed a big wall between the Black Magic Man and her and Argen.


   Zola's flight was quickly canceled as she began to be pulled down by gravity. Zola quickly created a pillar, and landed on top of it, a little away from Argen. She made the dirt of the pillar cut into little slabs and kicked it Argen's direction. The pillar began to become smaller and smaller as she kicked the slabs of it at Argen, if Argen dodged one and moved over some she would change what direction the slab was being kicked. As she finished off the pillar and was standing on sold ground again, she pulled more rocks off the ground and formed her gauntlets again. The dust cloud began to clear, giving more visibility but, there was still patches of dust in the air, that would surly get in someone's eyes. She then formed her defensive stance again, ready, ignoring the distant thoughts of warning of tiring out her magic, but she had used her magic for longer than this so, she did not have to worry about it.


@shadowz1995  @SleepyBuddha
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Everything had happened much too fast, first Benton had come out presented his thoughts, much to Elise's horror, and before she had time to lecture him Argen and this girl had gone into an all out brawl.  She was just barely able to get to the sidelines, avoiding a chunk of shrapnel as she got back to the treeline.  Although she knew Argen wouldn't kill her, he was worried for the girl "Just don't hurt her! ... To much..." Was all she could say in response to his question.  It would be unreasonable to expect him to avoid fighting and just take the hits, and from what she had seen so far Argen was already much too agitated to try anything.  


Taking cover behind the girls cart, she watched the two, amazed by the raw strength of the two, she had only discovered just how powerful Argen truly was recently, and although she held a mild distaste for fighting, it was a rather amazing spectacle to watch as the girl sent rocks flying and Argen would dodge and block her attacks with a vicious ferocity unmatched in any human she had ever seen.  


After a moment of watching the two, she crouched down behind the cart and took a quick peek into her bag, rummaging around for a moment before she found exactly what she had been looking for, her trusty first aid kit, she opened it up to make sure she was good on supplies, call it a hunch, but she felt like she would be needing it very soon.  
 
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As the dark mage aimed with careful precision his opportunity had finally come. The girl was up in the air, unable to move, completely helpless. That was what Benton thought until a large wall of earth popped up between his target and himself. 


With a sigh Benton dropped his hand and looked back at the others of the group. "Well if you want to day for something pay for the food. " Benton said as he went around the wall and to the wagon.


Not even paying attention to the fight anymore the dark mage began picking through the the wagon for food, stuffing all he could within his robes and pockets. As Benton did so he looked up the others, " Well? Are you just going stand there or help me? We need to get going."


@Nogoodname


@NovaNovass
 
From what Eira could gather, there had been a few things that had occurred the previous night. It took much longer than she anticipated to sort out through the liars and to find the few whom had actually witness the events. First of all was the inn situation, where a lone woman had burst in, begging for anyone to help her. This part of the news was the most valuable; this had to have been the one she had foreseen, but that also meant she had to find her all over again. According to all sources she had fled the tavern when the fight broke out, but the reports varied, all about black mages, guards, wolfmen and shadows though most seemed to agree that the woman had been fleeing from guards before a dark spell caught the people of the tavern while the woman escaped. Then there was the strange lights in the sky and finally the bloodthirsy howling of some unseen demon, presumably the wolfman.


Eira was in the midst of asking after the whereabouts of the guards when she felt it; a slight tremor in the earth. None of the other humans seemed to feel it or otherwise were not concerned by it. However they did notice the flutter of birds in the distance, disturbed from their roosts by whatever had happened. By following the line of which the commoners shifted their attention, Eira was able to pinpoint the direction where it had come from. They didn’t seem overly afraid, except for a few who muttered something about Roland guards.


If the woman from her visions was truly around, Eira prayed to the gods that she was still safe. She considered getting the mule from the stables when she suddenly got another idea. It took some time and a lot of concentration but the blind priestess was able to extend her consciousness enough to contact one of the retreating birds once it flew overhead. As always it was alarmed at first, but the promise of food in return for its aid was not something to be ignored. It fluttered down to perch on a signpost as it regarded her curiously before taking off to rest in a nearby tree that marked the beginning of the road leading further into the forest.



Eira then retrieved her mule from the stables and started down the path, guided by the bird. She could’ve rode on the mule’s back but out of pity decided to spare him her added weight for now. It wouldn’t do to tire out her friend needlessly while he recovered and besides, walking let her mind wander away from the slain men in the inn
 
Zola was waiting for the impact of the punch, but he stopped. Argen stopped the punch and told her some stuff about valuing her life over her horses.... ya she wasn't going to listen to him. Anyway, seeing this as the end of the fight, Zola dropped her wall of stone and her gantlets as they became plain old dirt again. Her angry glare at Argen turned into a happy and light one.


"Nice fighting Argen, you are pretty good!'' she said happily as she stretched her arms over her head, relaxing her muscles as the adrenaline wore of, leaving her with sore and acing muscles. She still had some anger in her gaze directed towards the man, but it was not as harsh as it was before. She then cracked her knuckles and neck as she relaxed. I totally would have won that fight.(right girl, lmao).


"glad You didn't fight dirty!" ;) she then snickered at her pun before she snapped her fingers and made a wave of dirt form under her wagon, knocking off anyone near it.(No one steals my cabbages!) She saw the Black Magic Guy fall over since he was stealing her stuff and the Elf Chick who was hiding behind her wagon.


"Welp, I must be off, see ya all on the flip side." She then jumps onto her wagon and was about to ride off into the sunset when she stopped. She grabbed a bag of apples and a couple water skins (full of H2o) and though it the feet of the Elf Chick.


"Don't eat it all in one night!" She yelled as the dirt wave under her wagon began to carry her in the opposite direction she was originally going. Not caring if they said anything or not she speed off and was quickly out of their sight before anyone cursed her guts. 


@shadowz1995   @Nogoodname  @NovaNovass   @SleepyBuddha


 
Elise tilted her head towards Benton giving him a look of disgust, but once again before she could lecture him on the subject of morality the conversation was cut short by the apparent end of the fight between Zola and Argen, and the older man was thrown back from the cart.  She turned quickly to see that the girl was already preparing to leave with her wagon, traveling through the sheer power of the earth magic, it was enough to make one wonder why she needed horses in the first place.  Casting a glance downwards towards the apples and water on the ground, picking it up in her arms, it wasn't much, but considering the hospitality they had shown the girl it was much more than they deserved.  


Her mind shot back to Benton, and she quickly rushed to his side "Are you okay? That was quite the fall" It was hard to tell if the man was injured from just a glance, his body was unlike anything she had ever seen before, an amalgamation of clearly different limbs stitched together.  Now that she had finally been able to get a closer look, she found it quite horrifying, looking away almost instantly, she tried to hide her disgust by grabbing her first aid kit and rummaging through it.  
 
When Elise gave him that dirty look Benton simply scoffed and went back to getting what he could. As the sounds of fighting died down Benton was still bent over foraging for whatever he could manage to get.


What the dark mage didn't expect from the situation was the wagon to suddenly throw him off thanks to that earth mage. Upon impact with the ground Benton felt some stitching tear loose in his right leg, forearm and abdomen and because of it he lost the majority of the motor functions and feeling in the effected areas. Not to mention his black blood began to ooze out of the areas. 


With a sigh Benton looked up at Elise and said, " I'm fine thank you for the concern. If you could get me a needle and some thread I can make some emergency repairs." Benton said calmly as he began taking out the water and food he had taken as well before his blood got on the resources. As he waited for the supplies Benton began taking out the torn stitches.
 
Elise frowned a little and looked around in her kit for a moment before shaking her head, unfortunately she just didn't have what Benton needed.  Instead she grabbed a small red vial from her backpack, something she had prepared the other day just in case "I'm afraid I don't have a thread or needle, but maybe this can help?" Holding out the small vial to Benton.  She wasn't aware of just how he held himself together with those strange stitches, but a good old fashioned potion of health never failed.  


"Do you have anything in your bag? I could get it for you" She offered, it didn't seem like the best idea for him to be moving right now with his injury.  It was funny, before she had looked upon Benton with disgust, but now that she was aware of his injury she was just too focused to be put off by his body.  Some old ingrained instinct took over, reflecting in her focused expression.  Her hands went back to her bag again "I also have something to help with pain, mother's special recipe" from her pack she produced a much smaller blue vial, something she had brought with her from home, she held it out to him carefully "Just take a small sip, you only need a little dose"
 
"Wait human I...."  Everything happened so quickly but it wasn't that Argen couldn't keep up with what his eyes were seeing. It was that he simply couldn't process what was happening. One minute he was victorious without landing a single strike. Then the zombie is in shambles, Elise is trying to fix him up somehow and the girl takes off on the carriage without the use of livestock to pull the damn thing. She just took off on a moving mound of dirt that pulled her along faster and smoother than any horse could. 


"I....she...what....."


"This is why I don't understand humans..." 


Everyone was busy their own respective thing and that means that Argen could back to why he originally did this. Food.


Argen strode up to the fallen horses. The fight was short but eventful. Now to reap the rewards. The lycan fell to his knees before the still warm food pile and it was there that Argen any semblance of reason that he had left. The bones in his hand arms began to crack and shift as they shifted to become more bestial like. The black sclera bringing out the now glowing golden hues of his gaze far more. 


The wolf drove two hands directly through the horse's sternum, shattering it with a sickening crack. From there, he pulled with all of his might and ripped the herbivore's torso in two, exposing the organs and flesh beneath. There was no further waiting and nothing holding him back. The others could keep the supplies from the wagon. This would keep him fed for a long time. 


(To avoid very gorey description, know that he began tearing into the horse's organs and flesh like a damn beast. Just ripped it out with his hands and tore into it with his teeth. He ate most the insides of the first horse and did the same for the second one. I dont wanna get banned lmao)
 
Benton continued taking out the torn stitches with his good hand as he addressed Elise, " I have suturing equipment in my pack. If you would get that for me and set it up I would be immensely grateful."  Then the master of the Lycan mentioned she had a potion that would help with the pain, "Thank you,but that won't be necessary. One of the few perks of this body is that I have a great pain tolerance. Things like this don't even faze me anymore." 


With that cleared up Benton waited for Elise to get done rifling through his pack for his suturing equipment. " Oh and just to be sure, don't go looking into anything else in there. Just trust me when I say you don't want to know."


When Elise did go through Benton's pack she would find his suturing equipment, his research book, which held not only his notes on his pseudo immorality but all of the dark magic spells he had created or found, and several jars of organs such as an eye, a left hand, a gall bladder, and even a liver.
 
Elise nodded, taking her potions and carefully tucking them back into her healers kit, pushing her bag away and making for Bentons, while she heeded his warning, she couldn't help but notice the contents of his bag as she searched through it... was that an eye? Visibly flinching, she pulled the kit from his bag and handed it to Benton "Do you need help? I've stitched a wound before" The Arroway family often lent their services to the town as healers, so Elise had learned quite a lot about medicine in her childhood.  


She tried to ignore the sounds from Argen who was hardly trying to hide his actions,  she knew he had to eat, but that didn't mean she had to watch the gruesome act.  Now that the chaos was over, they would have to get moving once again, at least they were on a road now.  It would be beneficial if they could find somewhere to stay for a longer period of time, if she was given enough time to study the horns it would be much easier to plot their next course of action, as of now they knew nearly nothing about what the horns could do, only that they were dangerous in the wrong hands.  
 
Benton shook his head, " If you think you can perfectly trace where the old stitches were by all means. As random as the stitching may seem it all serves to keep my soul tethered to this amalgamation of flesh and allow me to control body parts that aren't my own." Benton Saud giving a brief and quiet explanation to Elise. He made sure his voice didn't carry past her as he didn't want anyone else realizing how fragile his control over his own body actually was. 


With that out of the way Benton finished removing the torn stitching from his injured leg and arm, birth of which hung there limply as dark magic arched between the bits of flesh trying to establish control again.


Once his arm was stitched back he could easily finish his leg by the time Argen was done with his snack. The torn stitches on his abdomen could wait till they were on the move.
 
"I'll... leave that to you" She said apprehensively, she was untrained in the use of black magic, and would rather not ruin things with a simple mistake. Instead she simply waited for Benton to stitch himself up. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Although she didn't want to cause problems with the stitching, she felt so useless sitting around, she knew that having something to do to help the group would improve her mood.  Seeing as how Benton was already mostly finished by the time of her asking, she instead decided it would be best to get moving, they were losing time out here, and time was not a resource they had much of.  


"If anyone else needs something to eat, I have food, otherwise we should move, we still have people behind us to worry about" She said, standing with the apples and waterskins in her arms, looking mostly to the two younger ones with them, Evilin and Coda were the ones who would need it most, Coda was already showing that he had a hard time walking over longer distances, he would need the energy.  


It was hard to decide exactly where they should go now, although they were on a road, it was one she was rather unfamiliar with, the girl and her wagon shouldn't be far from a town. Elise doubted the girl could carry the whole carriage by magic very far, but who could tell? She had shown herself to be quite strong, it was easily possible she had more magical power than Elise thought.  
 
From within the gloom wrought by leaf and bough perched a shadow with bloody orange eyes. Yet what set this shade apart from its shroud was not what was to be seen, but what was not. Hidden away beneath layered armor and mortal flesh burned a dark flame, a vow that could not be forgotten. Lithariel was her name, and she had a score to settle.


She didn’t need to draw close to hear the words or see the details of their faces, her ‘mutations’ took care of that. What made her creep closer was not of need but desire; there was a certain look of confusion dancing along with the anger in this one’s eyes. Something was wrong. Lithariel had seen it all, from the distressed elf’s words down to the very last blow that would have ended the earth mage’s life… that is until the lycan held back his killing blow. It was pathetic. The she-elf commanded the wolf like she had earned it and in turn the wolf had heeded her call like a trained pup. There was the anger again, how it flared in her spite and welled up inside. It was hate. She tightened her grip on the tree beneath her. Something else was there too, one she couldn’t quite grasp. Disappointment? She recalled the way the lupine warrior had fought in the battle; a careless indifference spawned mostly of hunger than anything else. Somehow that angered her far more than anything else she had seen.


The earth mage had retreated, unscathed, and took off down the road with her produce. It would seem she had been spared this hunt… for now. As for the others, the same could not be said. Lithariel could see their magic auras flickering with the life that would soon be ripped from their forms, save the sickly one being cared for by the she-elf. His aura was holding on by the mere threads that bound the putrid abomination together. How good it would be to slit the bindings and let him shatter upon the ground like the sack of organs he was. It had to be dark magic, and that fact alone marked him to be the first to die.


Strange enough, the aura of one seemed to outshine the others. It was surprising to see that it belonged to a runtish boy. It was also… different than the others, quivering slightly when her eyes were not directly upon him. The huntress took note of this. Other than that there was another woman and the elf, the first proving to be a magic user and the latter having the typical energy of an innately magical creature. Lithariel’s eyes narrowed dangerously. How sad, the elf was a weakling and couldn’t even make use of the magics her people were renowned for.



Lithariel watched as the lycan tore savagely into the dead horses. He was starving. Good, that would prove to be useful later. For now the blood of his meal and the winds in her favor allowed her to move about freely. The element of surprise was still hers, and she would not care to pounce on her opportunity just yet. She had something else in mind.
 
Blood soaked and gasping, Argen pulled away from the carcasses with wide eyes. As if he had been under some spell that compelled him to tear into the horses they way he had, which wasn't far from the truth. He had been so distracted that the familiar presence nearby had completely eluded him, his senses dulled by the carnage upon his body and at his feet. 


It wasn't enough. It wasn't even close to enough. The lycan had merely eaten a small snack in comparison to the ravenous hunger he had been neglecting for so long. His hands shook from the effort to restrain himself from turning on his contractor's group. He turned his golden ire to the zombie and elf pair and for a moment, only hunger existed within. The lycan could not stop himself from thinking how sweet Elise's flesh would taste going down his throat, the intoxicating taste of fresh blood still taunting his tongue. The horses's only served to make Argen truly realize exactly how starved he really was. 


Several moments passed before the lycan blinked a few times and shook himself from his starvation driven revery. He stood from his small snack and repressed a gutteral growl of irritation. "That will hold me for a few hours. Let's keep moving." He barked out to the others. His irritation was growing with every second that passed and Argen was in no mood to deal with the others. He wanted to get away from their pursuers and get to hunting as quickly as possible. The warrior was quickly becoming more of a danger to Elise and her companions than the royal knights that pursued them. 


Argen quickly retrieved his weapon from its spot in the earth and sheathed it across his back. How on earth did he get to this point? What brought him to this situation so far from home? This indifference that dominated his every action. 


His back was turned to the group so no one could see the saddened look replace the irritated hunger that dominated his expression. 


There once was a time when Argen was full of passion and drive with everything he did. He fought and killed with desire and determination. Challenge and valor fueled his every strike. A time when the warrior truly felt as such....a warrior. Now, everything was replaced with apathy and indifference. Argen thought back to a huntress that gave his challenge driven existence life and fire. A fire as powerful as her flame-like eyes. 


Weakness. That was why Argen had left. He left because he was too weak and needed greater strength. Strength so he could never fall victim to the whims of his inner beast again. The old Argen would have fallen to the whims of his hunger and attacked Elise and her companions without so much as a second thought. The old Argen would have been too weak to resist. The lycan warrior had grown exponentially stronger since he left his tribe and it truly showed, despite how it may seem. But at what cost?


Now he was aimless. Jumping from master to master in hopes of finding something to rekindle that flame within himself. That love for battle. The thrill of a worthy challenge. The inferno that once was Argen was now merely embers. Fleeting embers desperately searching for kindling and sanctuary. If she saw him as he was now.....how angry would she be? 'Probably furious'  The crimson warrior thought with melancholy. His stride paused for a moment as he gingerly raised his hand to his heart. Not out of pain but out of nostalgia. An insignia that was once a sign of promise now served as a solemn reminder of his own frailty. The mark had remained silent for many years and solidified the mercenary's fears. If she had been alive, she would have hunted him down and the mark would have glowed, marking her return. 


But the mark never did reignite.


Neither did Argen's passion for battle. It seemed to have died with her that day. 


The lycan's shoulders rose and fell with a sigh before he forged onward once more. She would never forgive him if he just gave up. He needed to keep searching for strength. A power far greater than his own. He owed her that much.
 
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    The dirt that pulled Zola's wagon made small rumbling sounds as she rode along the dirt road. Small pebbles that scattered along the dirt bounced up and down like kangaroos as she passed. Her dirty blonde hair shined in the morning light as she began to hum again.  She then snickered at the thought of that group of fugitives reaction to her driving the wagon without horses, well the real reason she used horses was just to look cool. 8)  And because she was technically not supposed to know magic since she aint very high up in the King's group so, that was a slight reason also. The smell of mud was strong in the air making the girl sit back and relax, she closed her eyes, completely calm now since she was away from that little poop knobler who probably chowed down on her horses like they were some type of Éclair.  What is that you may ask..... I don't know, probably some type of French soup. 


     Her eyes then flew open as she heard the sound of hoofs against the road, her eyes then locked onto a women riding a skinny donkey. She quickly attempted to stop the wagon from completely turning this girl into some type of human-donkey pancake, but the momentum was too strong and she would end up with some breakfast to go.  Zola quickly brought up some dirt, barely stopping the wago only 2 inches away from this girl.


"Don't you know how to steer that thing! What are you, some type of wild animal?!" Zola scolded the girl as she let out the breath she was holding from all the excitement that just happened. While scolding the girl, Zola had stood up and pointed a finger at her in a 'you better do better next time' sort of way, she now sat back down and crossed her arms at the girl and observed her. She appears to be blind...... WHY THE FRIG IS SHE RIDING A DONKEY THEN!!!!!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!!??!?!??!  


         Zola held an unamused face at this girl, not very happy that a blind girl was riding a donkey, and had almost lost her life due to that carelessness.


"Um.... I don't mean to be rude or anything, but.... WHY ARE YOU RIDING A DONKEY IF YOU ARE BLIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?" she exclaimed as glared at the girl who looked to be a priest or monk, something like that. Welp, I'm going to Hell for that, but YOLO right. D=


@Juju
 
By this time Evilin's mind was all over the place. She slowly stepped out from behind the tree to find Argen chowing down on the live stalk he had recently killed. Her face twisted into disgust before turning away from the scene. She wasn't sure how to register all of this into her mission. Taking a quick look around the group, she wasn't even sure if they were truly on her side still. It seemed the group got easily distracted and ran off course too. She looked to the sky while thinking about the hunting party. How long did they really have until the party caught up to them? Not to mention the fact that there might be more out there just waiting and watching them.... holding off for the right moment to strike. 


Argen's words pulled her from her thoughts and she slowly nodded. The wolf was starting to become a great concern in her book. Yes he was a good protector and a great fighter, but he protected Elise and seemed to fight on his own accord. Evilin let a soft frown cross her face as she joined the rest of the group. This mission had been going downhill ever since her friend died protecting her. 


Evilin almost jumped when she noticed someone standing next to her. At first she had forgotten about the other dark magic user, but his presents came back quickly. She stepped a bit to the side away from Coda. He was still a mystery just like the black horns. 


Coda had already placed away his small black steel blade before he too rejoined the group. His eyes casually looking over Argen and the dead horses, but mostly to Argen. His thoughts were blank like his face, except for his tiered thoughts of sleep. He hated the sunlight and would keep to the shadows as much as possible. Traveling by day would dwell on him physically and mentally. 


"I agree... We should keep moving. Hopefully no more distractions." Evilin stated in a soft voice before looking the group over once more. 


They needed to get as far away from the hunting group as possible and hopefully find a place where they can look over the horns and find out what they can really do. She knew why her father had them and if they are that dangerous... They would need to destroy them. 
 
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