Group IC

Initially, Emmalia had tried to grab Liam when he went forward toward the wolf, but he was seemingly impossible to get him to hold still. With a sigh, she got to her feet and watched Liam begin his spell. "Liam, he's already dead."  Of course, her words didn't stop him at all. She took the time to adjust her bracers and buckler while Liam did his thing. The sound of stirring made her look up, and the sound of snarling made her pay attention. "Liam, it's too late, the lycanthropes are - " 


Suddenly, she paused. It struck her exactly what Liam was doing - he was messing with the soul of the man. If the soul could be purified of the beast's presence, it could be free.  Wouldn't she like that? To have her soul purified after dying? It was too much to simply ask, for someone to take that time and burn that mana, and here was Liam just doing it without being asked. Her voice lowered slightly as she shifted her eyes from Liam to the entrance of the cave where the beasts were and she said to the two other fighters, "Let's kill these before they can far enough in the cave to disturb Liam."
 
His metal fists audibly tightened while Waldron watched the ritual Liam was conducting, yet as time went on for the ritual, or whatever Liam would call it, he realized what he was doing, and the dark knight came to respect the child's goal eventually. Then came the growling, and Waldron went to raise his blood caked blade as one of the creatures tackled him into a small pool of water, and then started the long brawl, the creature swiping at his plate armor as he threw his metallic gauntlets at the creature's face. The combat would go on for quite some time, without either of the two getting a clear advantage over the other, especially since Waldron dropped his blade when the creature slammed into him in the first place.
 
Emmalia had again played the protector and waited for one of the lycanthropes to get close enough to Liam for her to consider them a threat. It didn't take long for her to realize that she couldn't protect Liam any longer.  Waldron was in trouble. She gave him time to try to save himself, but it soon became clear that without his sword, he could only do so much when on his back and pinned. She took a few second's running start and slammed into the wolf. One second she had been standing idle, the next there was a loud, dull sound as her body hit the lycanthrope's with considerable speed. Her head was about at its shoulder, and her left arm wrapped around to get under its chin while her right hand went up and ripped it's throat out to its spine with her lion's gauntlet, pouring blood on Waldron's armor. All of this only took about a second or less and was done while she moved, and then the force of her hit flipped the herself and the lycanthrope off of Waldron. And onto the floor near him. A few rolls later, Emmalia was trying to push the heavy corpse off of her left side. It took the use of her right foot and hand and a lot of wriggling to escape from under the lycanthrope. Once that was done, she stood slowly and acknowledged to herself that the was actually rather sore from the tumble under the heavy corpse. A kick and a glance ensured that the wolf was dead, and she also had to acknowledge that her animalistic attacks worked pretty well, evidently. Not that she liked them.
 
Pyxis watched briefly the exchange between the other two of the group, but knew his attention needed to be focused on the beast not far in the distance. Compared to the other wolves this one seemed more wild and feral. Most likely because of the slain wolves on the floor and the smell of blood in the air. These two-factor combined to create a wolf that seemed to have major blood-lust and adrenaline in his system. All these factors didn’t play very well into Pyxis’ favor. Especially since he was tasked with the protection Liam and being the final defense of the young boy. The werewolf bared his fang and let out a loud snarl. He had a crazy, feral look in his eyes and seemed to be ready to take someone out with him.


Pyxis made the first move. He closed his fist tight and made a semi turn in the direction of the wolf. Hitting the werewolf’s face with the back of his fist and sending it stumbling to the ground. The wolf recovered quickly and use its claws to slash at Pyxis face. Luckily, his reflexes allowed him to avoid being cut but it also caused him to lose his footing and stumble back. The wolf took this chance to tackle Pyxis to the ground and with a snarl readied his attack. The tackled cause the slightest pain and to hurt his head. His muscle memory kicked in and he blocked the wolf’s attack and countering with a solid punch to the solar plex. As the wolf gasped for breath, he knocked the wolf off him and began to stomp on the wolf's face until it was a bloody mess. He then took out his cleaver sword and severed the head from the rest of the body. Making sure the creature was down for good.
 
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Although he was surrounded by fighting and loud snarling, Liam had not once moved or apparently even acknowledged what kind of danger he was in. Although Mouse did watch carefully from his shoulder, despite his alleged shyness and ugliness. The blue beads that where his eyes scanning the fights as if overseeing that nothing went wrong, despite the tiny creature probably being swatted away instantly by anything over a foot, yet alone a werewolf. The only change in Liam however was an increasing frown, biting his lower lip and his fingers quivering slightly as the symbols in front of him kept glowing but the darkness was clearly as determined as him. By the time the last breath had left the werewolves blood was slowly dripping down his nose.


But the darkness was far worse off than him, hanging on with only a few sharp wisps. Clawing at the soul for dear life as the magical assault continued. Liam however had passed a threshold of patience, the glare in his two-coloured eyes not having any of his normal kindness and innocence. Instead it was intelligent and quite frustrated, making him look significantly older and several magnitudes more powerful. Until an exasperated snarl left him.


"Just go away already!" With the words a short burst in power followed: a burning blue glow in his eyes and the magical circle created by his hands leaving a near tangible imprint in the air that partly dissolved by his breath and then completely when darkness shed from the soul. Cast away in the recesses of the cavern like fleeting smoke. And the light had been released from it's weight and the mortal coil alike. Floating up and then vanishing with a flash toward the heavens, without the material above ever being able to stop it.


Meanwhile Liam had made a motion in the opposite direction. Leaning on his hands and knees breathing heavily as dark drops fell from his nose onto the wet cavern floor, but it wasn't the blood nor the inability to breathe that worried him.


Too much. Damn it... I...


Oh, have you remembered? Delightful. Welcome back Didi.


"No..." He whimpered from behind clenched teeth, his fingers grasping the cavern floor while he fought back memories.  Hooded men. A cell. Getting dragged through grey halls. Pain. Lines in the floor. Harsh chants. That place. Cold. Fear. Darkness. Him...


The cavern floor had gone from his sights, replaced by this abyss of his past. And as he retained himself, so did the evil seep in with it. Like rotting from the inside out: skin turning grey, lips and extremities purple, and the darkness slowly growing like roots in his eyes. Why'd he risked it? Why would he always risk it? But what choice did he have like that? It was his duty to help the dead, and if he didn't then he had failed his highest good. And if one day he couldn't stop himself he'd failed the good in the world. Either way evil would come. He just wished it didn't hurt so much.


Laying on his back, troubled breathing with the occasional pained gasp his sight alternated between those around him. What a stupid way to doom them... just because he couldn't... Would they kill him? Now they knew? If only it were to be that way... but still, as much of a nightmare it was, he'd woken up from it before.


All he had to do was wake up... and forget such nasty dreams.


Just forget it all and be nice again.


"Mouse? There you are..." The tip of a mechanic nose tapped his fingers. And although he was too tired to see he knew that it couldn't be anything else. "Where are we?" 
 
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The armored hulk of a man stood up slowly, growling a curse to the long dead lycanthrope that Emmalia had so kindly slain. He rested his left hand onto his opposite shoulder, several claw and scratch marks being indented majorly in that region, along with many others scattered across the front of his armor. Yet, Waldron realized to himself that he couldn't seem weak or injured to his party now, there were possibly more werewolves out in these caverns, and everyone's help was needed. So, he did what naturally came first, he stooped down, picking up his massive blade before surveying the area. Pyxis was obviously angry at his mistake as well. Both of them were proven warriors, or so it seemed to Waldron, so why did it only take two werewolves to complicate them both? Waldron regained stable footing shortly after, resting the greatsword on his back and looking at his savior from a few moments ago "Those were some impressive tricks, Emmalia. Without your help I don't know if I would've made it out without any injuries." Speaking of injuries, he looked over at Liam, who seemed like he could be doing better. The dark knight walked over, kneeling beside him with the greatsword laying on the ground "Liam, we're still in the caverns. You need to get up-we can't stay here forever."
 
Emmalia had observed the last moments of Pyxis's fight, and mere moments after, she saw Liam fall. The scent of blood was overwhelming - the corpses were rather torn apart and bleeding everywhere, but Liam was bleeding too, which had a different scent to it. The echo of sounds made the cave seem smaller than it was - more suffocating, more restrictive. As she took off her gauntlet, Waldron spoke to her. She looked up, shrugged a bit, and nodded her thanks, then refocused on securing her gauntlet to her belt. It would have to be cleaned, with all the blood caked on it. When she looked up again, Waldron was kneeling beside Liam. So, he's allowing compassion to show. I can't blame him. Funny, though, for a guy who seems to act so big and tough to do that. Maybe he's just becoming comfortable around this group - which is ridiculous, since after this, we'll be departing. To add to Waldron's concern, she said, "Though this place may be safe, we don't know if any of the beasts were out hunting at the time. We need to go, before it becomes dark." 
 
Although Waldron's intentions clearly were good, it didn't matter much when Liam didn't quite understand what was said. He barely seemed to notice anything was said at all; trying to turn his head toward the source of the sound but not really finding it. Instead his stare just passed straight through, moving but not latching on to anything. As for getting up, he appeared to try but he wasn't getting anywhere, at most moving a hand up meekly.


"Why are they so far away..." When he spoke it was soft and inbetween deep breaths. The mana burn combined with the shock of darkness seemed to have taken a heavy toll on his mind, and despite trying his best it didn't seem to be getting much better. Mouse too seemed to pick up on his best friend's distress, laying down defiantly on his chest, looking at Waldron with a surprisingly hopeful gaze coming from the blue beads. 
 
Waldron reached to his side to sheathe his blade on his back before reaching back down to throw Liam over his shoulder. "We won't be able to help him much in a place like this and we're already wasting time. One of you two get infront of me, the other watches from behind, we won't need to watch the sides...we're in a cave." The man quickly and quietly tossed the child over his shoulder before looking at the others. Waldron had gone silent for a moment 'Watch the trees' he remembered. He served as a caravan guard multiple times over before he was inducted as a dark knight, and all those times he feared whatever was smart enough to flank and hit from the sides, hit from wherever was most vulnerable. And that was him right now, battered and wounded, even though he refused to admit it, and carrying a half conscious magical child that may very well end up harming him and his team instead- yet he just continued to move forward, if death was awaiting them, so be it. But he knew that no one in this group would give up easy, only after a few hours or so of being with them, he saw they were all passionate and driven, things that he praised in people. And so he kept walking, they would get out of this eventually. Eventually, Waldron thought to himself on why he was being so emotionally driven about something that had seemed such a trivial task, the only answer he could fathom is that he was once the one being dragged out and saved, the small one who listened to the inspiring speeches.
 
Pyxis watched the scene unfold in front on him without so much as a sound escaping his mouth. From experience, he knows the damage magic can do to those who are innocent. He also knows the temptation that circle magic users, to push the boundaries of the natural world. Seeing this young boy faint and almost seem like he minds was lost in another world, did little to ease his mind about magic, but right Waldron was right they were wasting time and need to move. “I’ll cover the rear, while the huntress leads us out of here. You need to be ready Waldron, this time if you're caught out of position your life will not be the one on the line.” Pyxis didn’t want to bring the knight down to much but he need to show some tough love to the guy. Also, he needed to make sure that He knew the responsibility he had taken on by being the one who carries Liam out.  


They need to move, especially if they wanted to avoid any more predators. The scent of blood in heavy in the air and the fact they were in a cave where they didn’t have the optimal vision did settle his worries. “Look, this isn’t an ideal situation, but I truly believe that if we stick together and watch each other’s back we can get out of this situation with all are lives intake.” He looked at Liam with sympathy and knew he made a promise to protect the kid. Plus, he couldn’t stand to see that little mouse creature look heartbroken is they couldn’t get the kid out of the cave safely. “Alright Emmalia, if you're still with us. Lead the way out of here.” As he spoke this he picked up on noises from further back in the cave. He wasn't sure if I was just the echo of water or a creature. Either way he didn't like just sitting there . 
 
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Being the only one to really be able to see in the darkness, she was the only one to notice the little form that had moved off of Liam's chest when Waldron picked him up. When nobody was looking, Emmalia knelt down and picked up Mouse very gently in her hand; while she had the chance, she glanced over the little metal creature. It was small, so the gears must have been even smaller. Intricate work indeed. Since Mouse could evidently hide in Liam's robes, surely he could hide on the shoulder of her shirt, or in her hood.of course, it would be safer for it to stay on her shoulder, where it wouldn't be crushed should she fall. She smiled a bit, since she knew she couldn't be seen, and gave Mouse's head a gently pet with the tip of her finger, then raised him up to her shoulder. Liam would be sad to lose Mouse, and that would have been a sad situation for everyone. 


"I am still with you; where else would I be?" Emmalia replied to Pyxis's question. Once her glowing crystal was back on the left side of her belt, she moved to the front of the group. And began leading them out. Of course, she heard, as well as Pyxis did, the sound from the back of the caverns. It was merely water, and she knew it, but it was no reason to delay. They needed to get Liam out; not to mention, she doubted Waldron was in the best condition either. There was a smell of blood coming from Liam, but she was fairly certain that, under his armor, Waldron had been injured as well - likely only some bruising or a cut that got into the joints of his armor somehow, but considering how even she was somewhat sore after tackling the thing? He was actually fully under it for a time. 
 
Waldron had walked with the group through the workings of the cave, all over again. He stood a few cautious feet behind Emmalia, and a bit infront of Pyxis, not wanting to get himself or Liam engaged in whatever melee the two would deal with. When they reached the mouth of the cave, walking back into the woodland territory, a breath of calm washed over him, and he was able to regain a clear thoughts when there wasn't a cavern ceiling above him now. He looked around at the others and back at the cave, to ascertain that everyone was safe and that nothing was following them. After he cleared them, Waldron kept walking, the forest was still no safer than the cave, so they would have to keep moving to civilization to get Liam proper help.
 
The walk back was mostly silent, and the first time the silence was broken was when Emmalia opened the door to the hall where they were to claim their pay. They didn't have the heads with them, but Emmalia had taken the ears from the werewolves before they left, so it was proof enough, if anybody wanted to argue - which, the men in front of them being mostly political types who faced the blood-covered group - they didn't try. Emmalia counted the money in front of everyone and split it evenly four ways - 150 each. That done, they had enough money to give Liam a room at the inn to recover in. 


Once they were on the as to the inn, Emmalia said, "I'll stay at the inn for a bit, until Liam is ready to travel again. Waldron, I think you ought to rest too - and don't bother trying to lie to me." He tone made it clear that she wasn't being playful. Actually, she really had no tone to her words, she was just serious and neutral. After all, it wouldn't pay to seem like she actually cared about anyone or anything. "Pyxis, do what you will."
 
Looking at the huntress as she spoke, Pyxis smirked “You know they say those who don’t smile, die sooner than others. I’m going to stay in the city until the little one can travel again. Especially since he was able to lead us to our prize.” He stretched out his body and felt himself slump in the wooden seat he was in. Them working together really was something he enjoyed. That’s why he was a bit saddened about having to leave the group. “Before you get the rest you need Waldron, let me buy you some food and a drink. Same to you Emmalia, but we are going to want someone watching over Liam until he come to. Also in case he gets any worse. So, what do you say?” the fact is Pyxis was drained from their adventure and need to get a good meal in himself. Plus, having someone to share a victory meal with would be a good change of pace.
 
Waldron sighed, sitting down on a nearby bench, he had thrown his deep red cloak over his armored head again, he drooped his arms. "Don't concern about me Pyxis, though I would like a drink i'm afraid to say that I can't pull my helmet off in public. It goes against my personal code." He could already feel the eye-rolling and sighing from Pyxis or Emmalia, a knightly code- the slightest idea of it probably drove them up a wall. Though Waldron kept the helmet on for a reason, all the drunken thugs and mercenaries in the rooms would fear him, to better keep them out of their way. And if anyone was brave enough to confront Waldron and fight alongside him as Emmalia, Pyxis, and Liam had; they were strong individuals who Waldron would proudly fight with, even so to the point he felt fine taking off his helmet in front of them, although, again, not here. Too many faces looked over at the fearful image under the red hood. "I suppose I could take Liam to an apothecary if you two want to stay for drinks or rest, I have nothing else to do currently..."
 
"You could get some rest yourself," Emmalia said dourly. "I'm not hungry; I may as well stay with Liam up in his room. And if you can't take off your helmet, go into the room and I'll leave and go to my room." She wasn't lying; she didn't need to eat or drink for a while yet. Her whole body was made for hunting, and so was her metabolism. The thought of eating food at the moment was nearly repulsive to her. It would be rude to leave Pyxis alone, but she really didn't need to ea, so it only made sense that she'd watch Liam. Now, though, Waldron wouldn't eat in public, so maybe he ought to stay with Liam. Wire whiskers brushed against her neck, and she looked over at Mouse. "If you're going to stay with Liam, I'll give you this little one. I think he'd like to stay near Liam if possible."
 
Waldron raised a hand, waving off her comment "I'll go to my room, I'll just eat food in seclusion. Give me the mouse if you think he should stay with me." He shrugged "Maybe he doesn't want to go with me, I don't blame either of them." He looked down at his armor "Doesn't hurt my feelings anyways, no matter how hard I don't want to admit it, i've got to go rest, having a werewolf tackle me was rather exhausting." He stood up, waiting for her decision
 
The decision was simple: since Waldron was going to his room, and Pyxis wanted to get food, Emmalia would stay with Liam. Which meant she kept Mouse. Oddly enough, Emmalia kind of liked that idea. Mouse was surprisingly pleasant company. Poor Pyxis would have to be alone. Emmalia looked at Pyxis and said, "I will go to Liam's room, then, to watch him. Someone must. Unless Pyxis wants to take the job. You're welcome to come later as well, of course, but I would understand if you're tired. I don't need to sleep much, so I should be okay, I believe."
 
Observing the two people he just went on a life-threatening quest with and at the little mechanical creature in Emmalia’s hand. Pyxis couldn’t help but feels that the four of them felt more comfortable in their own company than with the company of others. Pyxis smiled warmly at Emmalia “I believe I will accompany you to watch over Liam. After all, I gave my word that I would look after the boy. Plus, the people in this town give me strange looks, so I don’t want to deal with those looks just yet.” He didn’t make any attempt to take the mouse from Emmalia though. Although she was very talented in combat and hiding any trace of emotions, Pyxis could still tell her and the little creature felt comfortable with one another.


Although, Pyxis had slight hunger, he wasn’t too bothered by it. After all he remembers back to the days where he had experienced true hunger and is content with the fact that he had the money needed to buy food. “Well, come on huntress and little mechanical rodent… let get up to Liam’s room before he wakes up.” beginning his walk to the boy’s room, he couldn’t help but still feel uneasy about the boy’s deep tie with magic. Yet, Pyxis let that uneasiness falls to the back of his mind and reminded himself, his trouble with magic was in the past.
 
Liam had been steadfast asleep since they had left the cavern, and up till now he had not done much more than grab his bedsheets and turn on his side. Leaving only the sight of his black hair out from under the sheets and the tips of his fingers, but not much more. Although the bed wasn't anything ridiculously big, he still looked rather small all tucked in a corner. When Emmalia and Pyxis had come in, he hadn't reacted much, just pulled his knees up higher to his chest and the blanket a bit tighter. It was actually Mouse who had become restless; taking the first chance possible to make a big leap from Em's shoulder to the edge of Liam's bed. Quickly the tiny creature had wriggled itself between the blanket and Liam, settling contently in the warmth and to the sounds of his best friend's heartbeat and breathing. Liam in turn seemed to had somehow picked up on the return of Mouse, perhaps through their magical bond, and had held it just that bit tighter. 
 
Emmalia looked down at Liam for a few seconds. His heart was beating at a proper rate, and he was breathing properly. Overall, he was clearly healthy and there wasn't much reason for her to be there if Pyxis was going to be there. And with Mouse gone, she had nothing to do. "I'm going to go downstairs, see if Waldron actually went to his room." Might as well be useful and perhaps provide company for someone.


She walked down the stairs and into the commons. Waldron had evidently left already for his room. She had hardly been down there a few minutes when someone approached her with a quiet job offer. The entire time, Emmalia remained silent, and only looked at the man when he asked her to bring one of the other hunters who had gone earlier. The job sounded relatively simple: a corrupted river spirit needed to be killed. In honesty, she felt she could do it on her own, but the man asked explicitly for someone to join her - he feared a failure would make the problem worse. After Emmalia wrote up a contract and had it signed, she went upstairs and paused in front of the doors to the two rooms - Waldron's and Liam's. A mage would be helpful, but he was still ill, and Pyxis was short-range as much as she was. Waldron, however, was mid-range, since he used that giant sword. And he was tired, but not hurt. Decided, Emmalia knocked on Waldron's door. 
 
Waldron had been laying on his bed, oddly enough resting in his armor. Which he got used to after years of sleeping on the field and during war zones, where someone needed to always be ready, and even though he happened to be in a tavern where he didn't necessarily need to wear his armor, he still wore it out of comfort's sake. He eventually pushed himself off his bed with an audible thud from the door, he then walked over to his desk to put his helmet on "I'll be right there!" He responded as he walked over to the door. He pulled it open, his vision being blurry slightly from just waking up, but he was able to ascertain it was still Emmalia "Ah, hello Emmalia, what can I assist you with, I doubt this is just a 'friend' visit."
 
The fact that he was still in his armor was only slightly surprising to Emmalia, considering what he had said earlier about not taking his helmet off near people. "You would be correct. I was just approached with the offer for a hunt, but they explicitly asked that I bring another hunter - they feared that failure would spell doom for many. If would would like to join me, you would receive twenty-five gold. Not an amount to disregard since it is merely a corrupted water spirit. Of course, I'll give you time to rest after the last fight; no need to leave now." In honesty, the job almost seemed too easy. All one had to do was get the heart out of the spirit - a little sphere of crystal that bound the spirit to the water. Get that away from the water and the spirit would die. The pay was awful good for that.
 
Waldron thought for a moment "Depending on how powerful the water spirit is, and what water it actually inhabits, it may be dangerous. Although i'm sure the two of us could handle it perfectly fine. As of my injury, I'll be fine, I can still swing my sword, so that's a good measure of how well off I am. Although you most likely know more about the actual job itself, so we'll go on your call. Personally, I'd recommend fighting it in broad daylight so it can't surprise us with water that we couldn't see."  Waldron walked back to his bed, reaching under it to pull out his sword, sheathing it on his back. "Well, i'll be downstairs getting supplies ready." The armored man stepped past Emmalia, walking downstairs to start preparing for their mission


Waldron never thought a water spirit could be dangerous enough to require two highly skilled warriors, although he reckoned that if there could be clumsy warriors and strong warriors, there could be weak spirits and strong spirits. Maybe this was one of those situations
 
Waldron was right that they ought to go in broad daylight, which meant they didn't have much time, considering that it was a decent way upriver. Emmalia gathered whatever remained in her room, then went to Liam's room, where Pyxis was, and opened the door just enough so that she could be seen. "Waldron and I were given a commission - I doubt it will take very long, though. We may just leave from there, we may come back, I don't know. If I don't see you again, good luck and stay safe." She left no room for reply as she had immediately closed the door and walked downstairs. As she walked toward the door, she tapped Waldron's pauldron with one of the claws on the lion gauntlet she'd slipped on, which made a quick, quiet metal ring. Her pace didn't falter as she tapped him or as she said, "Come on, then, we haven't too much time before sunset if you consider travel time."
 
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