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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Medriev" data-source="post: 4500530" data-attributes="member: 21864">Chapter 8 - Guardians of the Forest (Part 6)Dulvarna looked over her shoulder as the other wolf rushed in and, satisfied that her companions were coping well without her, she turned her attention back to the two wolves she now faced. One darted at her but she dodged back and it grasped only a low tree branch in its jaws which it shook free with its own form of annoyance. The other darted at her then but she swatted at it with her armoured right arm. It seized the limb for a moment but then fell away from her with a growl as its teeth failed to pierce the scaled metal that covered her. Dimly, she heard Micor cry out a warning as another wolf came at him from the right of the trail and then Kel was beside him, her morning star in her hands and a prayer in elvish on her lips.“Ciryn Dulvarna,” she cried as the last phrase and then struck at the nearest wolf but the beast danced back and the pale blue glowing light that had been building around the head of the morning star died there and then.Without asking the meaning of her name in the prayer, Dulvarna took advantage of the drow’s arrival and slashed at both wolves, driving them back further and stopping them for a moment from making any more attacks. Kel turned towards her and deep within her hood, Dulvarna saw her wink. This was the drow’s first battle with the companions and already she was enjoying herself. Dulvarna could not help but be impressed.Behind the two, Thira retreated from the two wolves who were now outnumbered by the blades before them and then waved her staff towards them. A column of flame descended on the backs of the wolves and with more yelps, both leapt forward towards their waiting enemies. One, realizing its nearness to Ilar, growled fiercely and darted at the elf but Ilar danced back out of the wolf’s reach and then plunged forward with both blades before him, seeking the throat or skull of the wolf. Instead, his blades seared along the shoulder blades of the wolf and lodged against the ribs beneath. The wolf staggered and yelped again, twisting away and tearing itself free of the blades. Micor plunged forward with his own blades, seeming to want to mimic his brother but the wolf he faced was fresh and unfazed. It darted to one side and the elf only managed to score its flank with his curved short blade.From the left, Lavren called to them in elvish for aid as he drew his own sword to keep the wolf before him at bay. He slashed at the beast but it dodged left and then darted in to seize his right ankle. He slashed at it again and it released its grip but not before it had torn at the flesh of his leg painfully and drawn more blood.Kel dodged and twisted as a wolf leapt at her but it tore her sleeve and her forearm beneath before landing awkwardly on the ground beside her. She uttered a prayer as the wolf came back at her and swung her morning star at it, keeping it at bay for a few heartbeats. Her enjoyment of the battle was fading with the pain of her first wound but Kel took a moment to thank her fierce upbringing which had kept her alive so far. She looked over at Dulvarna, and admired her skill with a blade which had presumably been gained in battles such as these. Even as Kel looked, the warrior woman charged at both wolves and slashed her blade across the shoulder of one and into the flank of the other. Both backed away for a moment, whimpering as they went. Kel heard Thira chanting behind her and turned for the briefest of moments as the tiefling loosed flame from her staff. The wolves were ready this time, though and not to be cowed. They darted forward, low to the ground and evaded the fire that seared above them. The two lines met then and, as a wolf leapt at Lavren, Kel turned away with her morning star before her.The drow slashed her morning star at the wolf before her and it thought better of darting forward but Dulvarna was not so lucky for the wolf she faced leapt and seized her arm for a moment before she shook it free. Dulvarna drove her blade into the shoulder of the wolf as it rolled to its feet and it retreated from her again to give her a few moments breathing space.Thira uttered another incantation, extended her staff and called forth a column of flame that engulfed the nearest wolf while the other leapt away. The burned wolf gave a sharp whimper and then, as the flames died around it, it fell to the soft ground as a blackened corpse. The tiefling smiled and felt a thrill of exultation and excitement course through her. She had never killed in battle before and she could not deny that, as many warriors had told her in Hillsfar, there was an excitement to be felt despite the violence and brutality. She wondered if the others felt it and decided almost at once that Enlishia did not as she fired another arrow over the top of the last wolf to the right of the trail.Thira brought to mind another spell and then cursed as Ilar danced into her way, slashing his blade at the last wolf. She turned instead to the left of the trail where three wolves still fought and where Lavren valiantly defended her. She heard him curse vehemently in elvish at the wolf before him and then slashed at it with his blade, tearing its muzzle and one of its nostrils. She liked Lavren and would aid him, Thira decided. He had a fierce spirit which mirrored her own. The wolf came back at Lavren and bit his hand but the elf paid it no mind and fought on. Thira rushed back onto the trail to find a place from which she could aid him.Dulvarna gasped as the wolf barreled into her but she did not fall. The wind knocked from her momentarily,she struggled for breath for a moment as Kel evaded the other beast. The drow began praying again and then she struck at the wolf with a high overhead swing that came down on the wolf’s back. There was a burst of black energy and a sound like thunder as the blow struck and the wolf reeled away, stunned for the moment.Dulvarna stepped between the wolves and slashed her blade across the flank of one as it tried to dart behind her. She spun on the spot, moving back to defend Thira and Lavren but as she did so, she ended her wide swing by thrusting the point of her sword into the side of the other, dazed, wolf. It whimpered and staggered as though about to fall but then it staggered back towards Kel and just remained on its feet.Erlmoor roared and drove his blade into the shoulders of the last wolf before him. He was angry that this wolf had evaded him for so long but wrathful also, that Malar had sent these beasts to their inevitable deaths in this quiet, woodland glade. Ilar plunged his blade into the side of the wolf and found its heart at last. It slumped forward without even a whimper to lie at the feet of its three slayers. Ilar and  Micor looked around quickly and then rushed to aid Lavren while Erlmoor looked down sadly at the fallen wolf.“It should not have died this way,” said Enlishia, coming up behind the dragonborn.“It should not,” rumbled Erlmoor in response.“Good to see you,” said Lavren breathlessly as Ilar and Micor came to his aid against the wolf he faced. Behind him, Thira frowned, annoyed that her aid, albeit a wild silver bolt that had missed the wolf, had gone apparently unappreciated. Lavren darted forward at the wolf and drove his sword into its shoulder, forcing it back and away from him. The wolf let out a long, mournful howl then before turning to flee into the forest to the east. The other two wolves, backed away from Kel and Dulvarna and then fled themselves, leaving the trail quiet and deserted once more.</blockquote>

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