Alone in the Dark

A Knight, A Hero, A Lord

Wyn had led the group of Sellexun warriors on a fast pace through the night and into the day, stopping for rests only when it was absolutely necessary to do so. On their right, the ocean crashed, sometimes stretching out below them, and other times hidden by the thick forest they were riding through. On their left was always that dark forest that seemed to hold the night, even in the middle of the day. The weather was still cold, barely feeling the spring that had been apparent in the Sellexun capital when they had left.

They were not far from the crossroads where Nerini had told them to meet her, with no trace of monsters or fighters. There would be a direct route through side roads deep into the forest itself at that spot, and as the sun began to set, Shiar had glanced at her in askance. They still had not yet decided if they would foray inland that night, or await the arrival of the other ships and more soldiers that shouldn't be that far behind them.

She opened her mouth to ask the High Lord his opinion when a herd of frantic, yet saddled, horses galloped around the corner and straight at them. The animals did not stop as Wyn's party was forced to split to the sides of the roads, battling their own mounts, who pranced and tried to follow the other animals.

"Cocoa!" Wyn yelled as she got her charger under control, drawing the attention of the small desert horse of Nerini's.

The animal wheeled around and snorted, glaring at her. But Wyn couldn't wait. She turned and urged her horse into a run in the direction those riderless horses had come from. Not long afterwards she heard the clash of metal and screams that created a chorus with the inhuman growls that snarled through the air and chilled her blood.

Wyn kicked her horse into a full run and heard Shiar yell to his men to keep up behind her. They came through the bend in trees, seeing a group of street runners and rogues fighting a pitched battle at a crossroads, with the help of a handful of Lansend guardsmen, near the edge of a cliff. Blood splattered the muddy snow all around, and she saw more than a few unmoving forms scattered around the scene.

She shivered at the sight of the two enormous masses of darkness they were fighting, watching the creatures toss grown men and women about like dolls with arbitrary swipes of their arms. The monsters growled and snarled like animals, though their movements were decidedly humanoid, like children wading around through toys and throwing them around with wild abandon.

As she neared the fight, Wyn leaped from her horse and fell into a roll, allowing the moment to try to control the panic that had leapt into her mind and heard upon sight of those monstrous creatures. Her blades came out as she landed on her feet and sprinted against the slow calm that was her gift, slowing the battle around the creature she was approaching.

Unused to using her power as a weapon, Wyn battled to hold on to it and the still calm as she shifted into position, then let the feeling go and launched into an attack. She spun and slashed at the creature that struggled to understand where she had come from so quickly. Her blades cut deep into the dark mass, finding something solid amongst the shadow.

Shiar was beside her in a heartbeat, moving in tandem to her attacks. When she blocked, he struck and vice versa, their offensive managing to keep the creature pressed back as his dozen men joined them. The massive, hulking shadow fell into the defensive as it found itself overwhelmed by fighters and weapons on all sides. In a last effort to strike out, it lashed out a massive claw at the lone female warrior amongst the Sellexun.

Wyn ducked around a glancing blow, feeling a claw scrape up her back as she drove both her blades deep into the core of the creature. It jerked backwards, and she pushed harder, feeling the tremors through her blades as its body struggled to respond to a fatal blow. The creature collapsed as its claws wrapped around her, pulling her into its chest as it shuddered and shrunk into the grotesque humanoid creature that it truly was.