The Chosen [IC / Not Accepting / PG-16]

[Doggo 218]

Faster than he could have anticipated any man of the Lycan's frame, Reinaan felt a sturdy blow to his chest that knocked him to the ground. He could keep up with Lindow's swift movements in all but the most chaotic encounters but this he didn't register and it would have been concerning if he had the breath and time on hand to think about that. To add insult to injury he heard the boss wolf's mocking tone more clearly than his words as he struggled back to his feet. With a snort and a cough the young draken readied himself again, staring daggers at his opponent. He focused all his senses on the man as if he were caught up in the midst of a vital hunt. He couldn't afford to be taken by surprise like that again.

"You'll regret not killing me there." the boy snarled more than he spoke. Being understood was not relevant at the moment. Reinaan began his approach by running at the lycan though not at as fast as he could. From a single exchange he knew there was no way to keep up with the wolfman's speed. Instead he needed to be ready to stop and intercept another blow. Yet the lycan made no repeat performance, allowing the draken to approach as he crouched and prepared to grab his assailant. The fire chosen swung his right hand out, looking to discourage the maneuver and disfigure the wolf's pretty face. To Reinaan's alarm, rather than flaying flesh he found his wrist grabbed.

"Come here." the wolfman said with a smile as he pulled Reinaan in by the wrist and readied his other hand to punch the boy in the face. The draken barely managed to throw his fist up to intercept it only to immediately realize speed wasn't the only advantage his opponent had on him. The force of the punch jammed every joint in his arm as it began to push back under the pressure. The lycan reared his head back as if he intended to headbutt. There was no straightforward way out of the grapple so the young hunter leaned into the pull, relieving the pressure of the punch and allowing him a makeshift attempt at a flank. It was nothing sophisticated. Both arms were occuppied so the boy kicked into the man's kneecap as hard as he could muster. The lycan took it with a grunt before trying to throw Reinaan off to his side. The boy used this motion as well and pivoted his hip to slam the whole of his tail into the mans chest. Another grunt as the blow landed.

"That's right, keep trying. I actually felt something!" The boss laughed as the two had a brief repose; still in close range but out of the grapple. Reinaan lowered himself and charged in leading with his head to grab the wolfman by the waist. The lycan made no effort to stop the move but instead grabbed Reinaan in return and actually began lifting the Draken up and off the ground. Panic set in and Reinaan did what he could.

Chomp!

The boy's teeth dug in as deeply as he could manage as he bit into the lycan's side. This elicited a snarl of pain from the man but Reinaan had no time to register it. A strong elbow crashed down onto the top of the boy's head causing him to black out for a moment. The darkness held no dream, no nightmare, only silence as the boy's brain scrambled to settle itself.

When light returned to his eyes Reinaan found his bite grip lost and his whole body well above the ground in his opponents arms. Another instinct, Reinaan unleashed a stream of fire in the wolf's face. As the flames licked him he snarled and slammed Reinaan to the ground with a powerful thud. Between this and the blow to the head the Fire Chosen stayed in place, motionless for an uncomfortably long time. His tail shot up first breaking the tension of if he was even still alive but all he could manage yet a fist to the ground to look up back to his opponent.

[LordCowCow 840]

The lycan was baring his fangs. And fangs they were. His mouth curled back longer than what would be deemed normal on a human and there were multiple sharp teeth shown. He had taken a few steps back as the fire washed over him but he was now standing still. Though that wasn't fully accurate. The man was breathing heavier, chest heaving with every breath, and he looked at Reinaan with an animalistic intensity. "I guess that's how it's going to be huh? Alright. Then I'll show you my trick next." Before Reinaan's eyes he saw the man seem to start to grow. The whites of his eyes turned yellow and the look in them became more feral.

But then he paused. For a brief moment his eyes flicked over to the side and out of nowhere he jumped backwards.

And dodged a long blade slashing through the air from above and to his right.

Damien stood there, sword held in both hands as its blade separated the lycan and Reinaan. He, too, was breathing heavily as if he had just been running a great distance. Keres noticed that there was blood on his blade despite having missed his target and, looking where he came from, realized that it was from the direction she had heard one of the six other lycans.

"Lucas. Stop." Damien said. He didn't look at the lycan but it was clear he was speaking to him.

Said lycan laughed, louder than before, and it seemed his sudden transformation had been put on hold. "And look who it is, the mutt has returned. I thought you were long gone?" His eyes went to the sword and grew cold, despite the smile on his face. "I see, so you did take it. I'm sure you realize now what taking it means right? Have you seen that general of theirs? I suppose I should be thanking you for wounding the bastard but you really should have just finished him off when you had the chance."

Damien then spoke to the group. "We need to go, right now."

But Keres knew that it was already too late. "They've covered the hole." she said. Already the remaining five lycans in the woods had shifted so there was less space between them.

And then they came out of the woods. From behind Lucas, a bit to the right, from the opposite side, and from the area between those two and to the right, three creatures stepped into the clearing.

Each of them stood around seven feet tall. They walked on two legs but were covered in dark fur. Their arms were muscular and ended in clawed hands, as did their legs with clawed feet, and their heads were that of a wolf's. The lycans stood at the edge of the clearing. In full view but not yet moving. Though they all crouched over as they glanced at their leader, barely holding back the urge to charge in and attack.

There were two more lycans still in the forest. There had been some noises, in one case a short yelp of surprise, and it seemed that the traps had at least delayed a couple of them.

Still with the three lycans within striking distance and the leader growing less patient as well it was clear that an all out fight was soon to start.

"Come on, mutt, is that any way to treat me after all this time? Why don't you look at me, boy. Your uncle wants to see what kind of face you're making right now..."

[Skaia 578]

Ryia had stood silent, barely able to watch what had happened. She felt that there was something wrong with the whole situation. Monstrous as the lycans may have been in legend, speaking with them now she could tell that they weren't just mindless beasts. That they had some form of rational thinking capability and that maybe, somehow, there would be a way to reason with them. If at all possible she would have wanted to find out what that reason was, why things between the wolves and elves the way they were and why the wolves were as violent as they were. Perhaps it was just in their nature to be violent or to hunt whatever was in this forest. Perhaps they did just have some kind of thin veneer sensibility to cover up the monster that was truly inside. The old adage of a wolf in sheep's clothing, though they were hardly sheep when not dressed as wolves. If that were the case it was perhaps wrong for the girl to try and speak with them in the first place and naive to think a peaceful solution could've been found to start with. And, if they were just monsters what was the harm in actually killing them? It wasn't like she hadn't fought beast's with no regards to their feelings before. But she also didn't just kill the dragon because it was a monster, one that could very well cause a lot of harm in the future. Her mind was whirring with what ifs and trying to sort through her own feelings, as Reinaan stepped up to challenge the leader. 

And her thoughts came to a halt as she saw the sheer gulf in strength between the Draken boy and the Lycan man. She had enough sense to respect the duel to begin with, restraining herself with each hit that was delivered to to either side and only growing more uncomfortable with each time Reinaan was bested until he was finally laying as a heap on the ground. As the man began to undergo some kind of feral transformation, Ryia felt herself step forward no longer to hold back before that too was interrupted. 

Damien had appeared to save Reinaan though he had also seemed worse for wear himself. It was also clear that he had been in some kind of struggle before actually interrupting Lucas, as she learned the leader's name to be, and started conversing with him. The situation was slowly deteriorating though, as the lycans had begun to emerge from the forest and as Keres had mentioned there was no running from this fight. Ryia was getting ready to enter combat, reluctant as she had been, only to pause as Lucas had referred to himself as Damien's uncle.

The girl's head was already whirring with a bunch of questions that were likely not to be answered any time soon but all of those had come to a halt at this revelation. She looked at him, eyes wide with surprise. "Uncle?" The girl questioned, half muttering.

 She couldn't really piece together what her feelings were at this very moment. She wasn't sure what to make of Damien either. He had always been mysterious with little to be known about him. Ever since they had met, ever since he had pointed a sword to her throat, every time he seemed to get distant or simply vanish there was something off to her in all of his actions. And now it was revealed to her that he had some kind of monstrous blood flowing through him. As such it was only natural that her eyes had some kind of fear of him. But, beyond that, there was something else. A different kind of fear. A fear for him. She didn't really understand it herself, she didn't really understand anything about the whole situation they had found themselves in, but she had found herself at something of a breaking point. 

The bandits. The gnolls. The minotaurs. The sharks. The bird. The scorpions. The reptilian beast. The giant crab. The elves. The ghosts. The dragon. The lycans. The bloodstained blade he carried. All of it came rushing through her all at once, only for all of it to just as suddenly blank out and pause. She broke her gaze from Damien. Her fear and confusion faded from her face as she did. 

She locked eyes with the Lycan behind Lucas, her expression becoming one of frustration and anger. Her grip tightening on her weapons as she banged her mace against her shield shouting, "fine!" The werewolf took to this challenge immediately, bounding forward and on all fours towards Ryia. Though she had certainly lost her patience, the Earth Chosen hadn't lost her sense, instead stepping forward to meet with the wolf head on. "Ackrin." The spirit, at her call, merged with her body providing an increase to her durability. 

As the distance closed, the wolf brought its claw up and went for a quick swipe at Ryia. Stepping into the attack, the girl brought up her shield, blocking the attack and holding her ground if only barely against the weight of the beast's claw. She could tell already how powerful a foe each of them were, and could tell that she was already fairly ill suited to fight them but didn't back down regardless, swinging her mace into the creature's ribs. The Lycan, surprised by the girl's strength, took the hit though continued to go on the offensive, opening its mouth to take a bite of her. 

While Ryia herself was unable to act against the lycan's attack it didn't matter. A wall of light was erected between the two, keeping the werewolf's mouth forced open as it tried to simply chomp through the wall itself. Taking a step back, Ryia reeled her arm back and as the wall of light shattered the creature's efforts were soon met with a mace striking its face. The beast's head was forced downward, blood trickling from its nose, before it raised it back up and went to pounce at Ryia. Rather than trying to artfully dodge or defend against the attack, she instead met it head on, smashing the creature's face yet again as it grabbed her arms and threw its body weight against her. 

Pinned to the ground, though the situation looked bleak, Ryia continued to angrily and defiantly stare at the creature head on as it opened its maw to attempt yet another bite. However, this time it was thwarted as its head was suddenly encased in water. Trying to push through it quite like it had the wall. Ryia could hear the sounds of effort coming from Keres and knew this wouldn't last forever, so she attempted to force her arm out of the grip of the lycan and smash her mace against its mouth and teeth. 

[Hollow 21]

Lindow's expression hardened as Ryia met the first of the lycan head on. Silently drawing the Bandit Cleaver from the scabbard on his back, he watched the two's brief exchange devolve to a struggle on the ground, resulting in the lycan pinning Ryia to the the forest floor with it's equally monstrous strength. The Thunder Chosen sprang into action immediately, closing the distance and breaking the stalemate by swinging the Cleaver's rectangular blade into the arm that the beast was using to keep Ryia's weapon hand down. 

His attack cut deep into the creature's forearm, causing it to rear back and pull away from Ryia. Lindow eyes quickly darted around as the sounds of the rest of the wolves closing in on the group grew louder by the moment. Seizing the opening, the man sneered and took another wide horizontal swing over the Earth Chosen's head, forcing her attacker to dodge backwards before checking the wound left by the Bandit Cleaver. 

"I'll leave him to you." Lindow glanced down to nod at Ryia before turning on his heel to get visual on the lycan attacking the group's flank. Its target was clearly the two mages providing support, and at the speed it was moving, it would be on top of them in mere moments. Producing a throwing knife in his free hand, Lindow dashed past Keres and Madelyn to intercept their would be attacker. Tossing the small blade towards the lyncan's face, he watched with interest as the beast deflected the projectile whilst shifting its own trajectory towards him. 

[LordCowCow 840]

Damien was in fact not looking at Lucas despite the taunting. He was looking down, keeping him in sight but not showing his face. He took a step back and muttered towards Reinaan, barely loud enough for even Reinaan to pick up, "I can keep him busy, help the others. Don't think I can win but if I keep him from transforming..."

Then louder, to Lucas, he said "You don't need to see my face, and I don't need to see yours, we've both seen more than enough of it."

"What a shame, you survived all this time after abandoning us, and even abandoning the ones you left us for. Now you've gone and done it again joining up with another group you'll just betray in the end. You really were a failure."

Without replying Damien ran towards Lucas, swinging his blade and causing the man to dodge backwards again. "Fine, I'll teach you one last lesson then, mutt." Lucas said.

---

The lycan had charged towards Cym and Pan the moment he saw that his leader was going to fight. The speed caught Cym off guard but Pan seemed to have been expecting it. He cast a spell and a wind blew from behind him and struck the lycan. The powerful gust seemed to slow him down and Cym was able to respond. She seemed to cast a spell of her own and a flame wrapped itself around her sword and she charged towards the lycan, moving faster with the wind at her back, and thrust the weapon into the beast's side. The lycan let out a howl and swung its claw at Cym who only barely ducked out of the way, pulling her blade out in the process. The lycan was already swinging with his other claw and Cym brought her sword back to try and block the blow. She was flung to the side by the lycan's force and the beast started towards Pan. The wind died down and the elf mage seemed ready to cast another spell.

---

Lindow got the lycan's attention for better or worse and the beast was barreling for him at top speed. Right as it reached him a sudden wall of light appeared in front and the beast slammed into it with a grunt. There was a brief moment of confusion before it settled itself and, with a flurry of claw strikes, broke the wall that separated the two of them.

---

The injured lycan snarled as it saw Lindow leave but it decided to stay focused on Ryia. The beast was filled with anger but the injury seemed to make it just more cautious as it shifted around to the side with Ryia's mace and went in for an attack.

Keres was trying to take in everything that was happening, to best decide what to do, but when she saw the lycan attack Ryia she forgot all thoughts of picking out her target and focused on those two. She raised her arms and began to cast, focusing strongly on gathering water up above where the two were fighting. She didn't do anything with the water yet however and continued to form what she could without an actual water source nearby.

---

Those perceptive enough would be able to tell that the other lycans that had been caught up in traps seemed to be moving around again somewhere off to the upper left and lower right of the clearing from where they were standing.

---

Spoiler

Map

That was both a lot and a little. Tried to get stuff from each of them but it's kinda hard to go all out on any with how many there are. It's a bit chaotic so I hope I didn't make any mistakes.

Doggo what Damien said was just a suggestion don't have to follow it.

Cym and Pan are now engaged so they can't help out much in your posts, however if you want to help THEM somehow I can tell you what's going on with them at any time.

Madelyn is at the moment helping Lindow, and Lindow has a bit of time to prepare before the lycan is on him. It's roughly same speed as Lindow atm so keep that in mind. Hollow if you want more assist from Madelyn let me know OOC when and I can provide things otherwise she won't be doing anything during your post.

Keres is intending to help Ryia so, similar for what I said to Hollow for Skaia.

Also putting this so that I don't forget and you can remind me. But everyone I want to make a D20 roll when they are ready for info, and Skaia I want two from you.

 

[Hollow 21]

Taking advantage of the opening provided by the wall of light, Lindow reached out a struck the lycan with a sudden stream of cyan lighting just as it had shattered the barrier with its claws. The lycan let out a low growl as it succumbed to the stunning effects of man's magic. The growl turned into a loud snarl as Lindow quickly drew his longsword and drove its point deep into the center of the creature's foot.

Stirred by the pain, the hulking figure reach down to make a grab for it's lanky looking attacker only to find that the man had already dodged to it's right flank, leaving the longsword pointed down as it protruded from the beast's appendage. 

Turning on his heel, he gripped the hilt of the Bandit Cleaver tightly with both hands to take a wide swing at the wolf's midsection. He watched with delight as the creature quickly turned and backed up a step, only to be cut off by another one of Madelyn's barriers. Unfortunately his smirk quickly faded when the beast let out another low growl before reaching down and grabbing the Bandit Cleaver's blade and halting its momentum mid attack. 

"Tsk," Lindow kissed his teeth at the audacity of such a move. Eyeing the lyncan's free hand his expression grew dark at the sight of a large fist coming straight for his face. The smell of dog filled the Thunder Chosen's lungs as he hastily released half his grip on the Bandit Cleaver, leaning backwards to narrowly dodge the attack. The stench was the least of his issues, however. The lycan's jaws were open wide as it loomed over him, clearly intent chomping down on him.

Letting instinct take the wheel, Lindow found himself dipping low to the ground, forcing him to release his prized cleaver completely. Though his hands were only empty for a but a moment. As his fingers curled around the hilt of the longsword that was lodged in the lycan's foot, the shadow beneath the two combatants darkened before surging upwards as a mass of tendrils that slammed into the beast's open maw. Having never expected such a thing, the lycan recoiled in shock, tossing the Bandit Cleaver to side whilst Lindow yanked the longsword from its foot and retreated backwards to gain some distance. 

"Hey!" Lindow was legitimately offended the lack of reverence for the Bandit Cleaver. "As if I needed another reason to kill you..."

He took a quick swing at the air of ahead him to get reacquainted with the longsword's distinct personality. Cleaning its blade and flicking lycan's blood back at it in the process. He could hear rustling in the trees behind him, meaning that even more enemies were about to join the fray. "More company has arrived." Readying himself for the next assault, Lindow called to out to the others so they weren't easily ambushed by what lurked just outside the clearing.  

Edited January 27 by Hollow

[Skaia 578]

Ryia sprung to her feet as swift as she could after Lindow had come to her aid. Though, given her armor and general dexterity this was more like a fast stand up then anything else. Still, with her footing regained and the lycan now on the defensive she had ample time to figure out her next course of action. Glancing to the side she Keres, and a globe of water slowly starting to gather in her hands. Making a mental note of that she focused her attention back on the Lycan who, after a few cautious steps, made its way over to her weapon side and went for another lunge. Though Ryia had been holding out for respect of the elves' way up to this point, her ability to care about such a thing had long since snapped and stepping back the girl stomped her foot on the ground.

As the werewolf was midflight it was taken off guard by the sudden block of packed dirt launching from the ground and hitting it square in the gut. With its body slouched against the wall, more on the opposite side of it, Ryia simply took the time to call out, "Ackrin," once more and the spirit had obliged to her request. Unmerging from her, the tall goat had summon a few stones and fired them one after another, pelting the head of lycan before it finally pushed itself off the wall. Now that it was out of sight, Ryia took a deep breath and wound her mace back, getting ready for the moment that it appeared. And as it soon as it had made its way around the wall this time Ryia was the one to lunge. 

Bringing her mace swiftly down onto her opponents head the Lycan, both likely surprised by her sudden aggression and stunned from the impact of her attack, staggered back only to find another strike from Ryia's mace once again. With an upward swung Ryia swiftly followed up by bashing the lycan's jaw. This time, though, the Lycan had endured through the strike and went to strike her once again. However, Ryia looked to the side, giving a knowing look to her fellow chosen as the claw was approaching her. 

The werewolf had never managed to land its attack as a torrent of water suddenly blasted it from the side, pushing the lycan back and nearly forcing it to its knees as it did its best to fight against Keres's attack. However, with a clear opening now presenting itself Ryia took full advantage, letting loose one swing after the other onto the werewolf until finally the water had ceased. With the combined efforts the werewolf was brought fully to its knees, yet in spite of its pitiful state still looked as if it would lunge at Ryia the second it could get its bearings again. With a frustrated look on her face, the girl gave one last swing to it, bringing the Lycan down and knocking it unconscious before turning her attention elsewhere. 

She had heard something during her barrage of attacks, something that had been coming from the southern end of this clearing. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it but still called out, "Keres, watch out. From the south." Then she accessed what her other options were. Briefly glancing to one side she saw that Lindow and Madelyn were engaged with one Lycan. And to the other it was Cym and Pan. She knew Lindow didn't have any trouble when it came to fighting and had been saved by Madelyn's barriers several times in the past. On the other hand she knew next to nothing about Cym and Pan's combat capability, though the fact that neither were dead at this point probably meant they were capable in some way or another. All the same, she had decided that they could probably use her help more. To make matters worse, as she focused on them, she saw another Lycan coming to join the fray, looking to make it an even numbers fight. As such, the girl hurried as fast as she could to join them. 

[LordCowCow 840]

Lucas came at Damien, ignoring the sword in his hand, to try and close the distance. He moved quickly but Damien was able to still get a swift slash at the lycan. However Lucas seemed unimpressed as he moved to the side and tilted his head, letting the sword swing right past his face. The blade was inches from him yet he didn't flinch as he hit Damien with a quick uppercut. The man was lifted off his feet and several feet back before landing on his back.

As he scrambled up he saw that Lucas was starting to change again and wasted no time charging forward recklessly to try and swing again. Lucas noticed this and stopped himself to knock the blade downward. "You can't touch me if you move that clumsy." Lucas growled.

---

The lycan that Lindow was facing didn't react to the blood being thrown at him. It simply crouched down and snarled at Lindow. Lindow would notice the beast's eyes dart off to the side for a moment and it almost seemed to grin. It waited a moment more and then ran for Lindow. The Chosen would be able to clearly hear that something was behind him, running at full speed, threatening to sandwich him between the two wolves.

"These filthy beasts don't slow down." Madelyn muttered. Which got Keres's attention.

The girl tore her gaze from Ryia's struggle and looked over the other way. She noticed that Lindow was about to be fighting two of them all on his own and, with some reluctance, she moved closer to stand next to Madelyn. She glanced at the girl. "Together." she said softly.

Madelyn seemed surprised then nodded. "Very well...let us save that reckless fool."

Madelyn created a barrier in front of the lycan. The beast seemed to react by instinct and this time instead of crashing into it jumped to the side. However as he did he found himself struck over the shoulders with whips of water. These whips tried to wrap themselves around the lycan's arms but with a howl the beast swung its arms forward and seemed to break the liquid bindings before they could fully ensnare it.

---

Ryia would find that the two elves were struggling. Pan was breathing heavy, having had to rapidly cast spells one after the other. And Cym had a wound on her side from where she caught a claw from the lycan.

Still they were fighting. Cym had struck the lycan several times across the shoulders and chest and the beast was bleeding. However it barely seemed to notice as it rushed at the much smaller elf and he would have caught her had a gust of wind not suddenly picked up and Cym managed to move back faster than should be possible.

Fire surrounded her sword as she lunched in and thrust into the lycan's chest. However the blade didn't pierce far before the lycan pulled back and swung a claw down to bat the blade downward.

Ryia would see another lycan coming from the woods and charging towards Pan.

---

Spoiler

So Keres and Madelyn most likely will be focused on what's going on by Lindow atm, and obviously Cym and Pan are focused on their stuff. So Hollow can ask for help from the former and Skaia the latter.

Map

 

[Skaia 578]

With her warning having been issued to Keres and the elves, Ryia saw that the one approaching the elves was not stopping any time soon. The two of them were barely able to handle the one they were dealing with as was, and she felt getting into a coordinated two versus three with two vastly stronger enemies would be much worse then simply splitting them off. As a result, seeing that the wolf was charging towards Pan, Ryia decided to meet the challenge head on once again. As she started she called out, "Ackrin, help those two," to which the earth spirt merely nodded and turned to face them. 

Ryia kept moving towards the wolf, knowing that if she just stood still like normal it was likely to pounce or grapple her which would put her in an unfavorable position. She would lose in a straight up clash, still, and so decided to test the waters instead. Bringing up her shield, the girl moved to bash away whatever attack it was going to send however the wolf had the faster reactions moving away and getting struck only in the shoulder by her failed parry. Ryia twisted away from the lycan, now close enough to reach for her face, and swung her mace only for it to end up in the outstretched creature's hand. 

Ryia knew that this werewolf was stronger than her and felt that getting into a contest of pure strength would result in her defeat. As such, the girl quickly stepped back and drew her long sword, only for the Lycan to toss her mace into the woods behind it. The girl frowned, having some attachment to the weapon and feeling annoyed at it just being casually tossed by the werewolf, but would worry about it later. Stepping quickly in the girl swung her sword at the lycan's shoulder, the blade digging into its flesh only for the opponent to quickly swipe and pierce through her armor with its claw into her shoulder in retaliation. The girl attempted to step away to not be in grapple range, grimacing as she felt the pain radiating through her arm, but the lycan had another idea as it continued to put the pressure on her and advance. Thinking quickly to her fight against the previous Lycan the girl slid her foot back again, conjuring once more and earth wall to propel the Lycan into the air. 

The werewolf hadn't noticed what was happening until it was already in the air, perched on top of her magical construct with unsteady footing, but looked down and poised to dive off towards her. Taking advantage of the situation, Ryia quickly backed away from the wall so as to not be pounced on however was not fully retreating. Once the Lycan had descended, Ryia quickly charged the lycan to take it unaware. The lycan for its part was surprised as suddenly, regaining its footing after landing, it found a blade in its neck. The Earth Chosen continued to press her strength against the sword to keep it lodged in their and, after a howl of pain, the Lycan lunged forward to bite down on her. 

Bringing up her shield, Ryia stopped the Lycan from chomping down on her, struggling as she pushed back against the creature's mouth. As she continued to press the blade deeper, the Lycan had no sense to retreat and realized in this contest time was not on its side. Grabbing the girl's side trying to push down on her, the girl could feel its strength and weight trying to overwhelm her as she continued to push back. Though her loss seemed inevitable at this point, she suddenly felt a gust of wind push against her pushing her blade deeper into the creature's neck. As the blood continued to flow and the wound grew, Ryia could feel the Lycan was losing strength and decided to keep up the pressure. 

Mustering up all the strength she could, the girl parried away the head she was forcing back with her shield. While the lycan was tossed off balance, it sent a wild claw out, striking into her armor once more and piercing her side. Wincing in pain once more, feeling the strong claw tear part of her flesh the girl let out a shout before pulling her blade back and swinging once more, digging deep enough into the lycan's neck that the creature toppled over, dead and bleeding. Panting from the wounds she was accumulating as well as how much effort it took to defeat just one of these, Ryia caught her breath before looking to where to go next. 

Ackrin, meanwhile, continued to stay his vigil. Waiting for a moment that a distraction would aid the two elves, to shoot rocks at the lycan to provide such a distraction. 

[LordCowCow 840]

Damien was looking quite beaten up. He had taken several heavy blows in his reckless barrage of attacks. And yet he didn't have much to show for it. Lucas had a few injuries but none that seemed to be slowing him down much.

Still the swordsman continued to press the attack without concern for how well it was working. Though he was surprised when Lucas managed to knock aside his blade instead of having to dodge it. He was seconds away from being grabbed by the head and had to roll and tumble away to avoid it.

"Don't think I don't see what you're doing. All I need is a moment opening and this will be finished, boy, and then I can tear apart your new pack with ease."

Damien knew he couldn't waste time replying and simply went in again.

---

Pan was breathing heavily. His interference had just barely made it in time to help Ryia but he was certainly overdoing it. Having cast so many spells in such quick succession it was almost as though he was running out of air to breath. His vision went black for a moment and when everything came back into view he saw that Cym had been pinned down.

The lycan was battered. More so from the rocks out of nowhere that had struck him every time he nearly struck the girl but there were several scorched patches on his body where the girl had landed hits. Still he had kept the offense on enough that they hadn't been able to land a decisive killing blow and, despite being pelted by rocks, he now had the girl's throat in hand and was prepared to dig his claws into her soft flesh.

Suddenly something flew in towards him and he caught a gout of fire into his face. Snarling he blindly swung one arm and struck whatever it was, sending it flipping off to the side and saved from landing hard on the ground by a gust of wind from Pan. The instinctive spell taking the mage's attention off the lycan and Cym for a moment.

---

Madelyn and Keres had managed to slow the lycan down enough to stop his attack. However as it was only delayed it still pressed on. And this time the other lycan that had been approaching had caught up. Now Lindow was faced with a lycan coming from the front and back at the exact same time without any time to react.

They would have been upon him in moments, and even he wouldn't have been able to dodge all of their attacks unscathed.

However before they reached him Lindow saw himself covered in a dome of light which the lycans crashed into. The beasts howled in pain as they hit the solid light but it seemed to only enrage them as they brought their claws down against the barrier.

It shattered soon after and the shock of having her spell, which had been hastily constructed and forcibly created, destroyed in such a manner seemed to cause the girl to pass out.

Keres reacted immediately, sending a small wave of water to knock the lycan behind Lindow off its feet. However she wouldn't be fast enough to stop the wounded lycan from attacking again with claw and fang.

---

Spoiler

Map

Damien is still barely keeping Lucas from transforming but is getting pretty beat up.

Pan is overworking himself and Cym is being grabbed by the throat. Sparky managed to stop the lycan from landing a killing blow but was knocked to the side and is dazed. The lycan is injured but since none are fatal wounds it is fighting back in the most bestial sense. It likely won't have much tactic or perception next round.

Instead of just killing Lindow I took Madelyn out of commission, she won't be able to help the rest of the fight.

 

[Skaia 578]

The Earth Chosen hardly had any time at all to rest as the battle was still going on. She wasn't able to pay much attention to what was happening with the others that weren't around her, the pain making it hard for her to focus as well as her attention only being able to be split so far, but the chaos of battle happening all over was still incredibly evident. And her attention was immediately turned towards the closest Lycan near her, the one who was fighting the elves. Pan seemed to be exhausted from all the magic he had been casting and Cym was already in dire straights. As a result, the girl didn't take any time to rest and simply moved to attack the Lycan. 

Thrusting her sword into the arm of her foe, the wolf man snarled and looked towards Ryia but still seemed determined to kill Cym. Continuing to push against her blade, the girl looked swung her shield against the beast's face, causing it to finally let go of the elven girl and back off. However, Ryia was not going to give it the space to think about what to do next nor the ability to take the initiative and leap towards her or either of the elves. Stepping forward the girl went for yet another thrust towards the lycan's neck this time, her blade being batted away as the retaliated with its claws going for her throat. Bringing up her shield, wincing at the impact of claw against her shielded arm, the girl went for yet another thrust with her sword only for the werewolf to hop backwards away from her. 

Ryia was still not going to let up on the pressure, instead stepping forward and swinging her blade into the already injured arm of the lycan. The werewolf snarled as it was only covered in more wounds, but rather than slow down it instead continued with bestial ferocity as it lunged, mouth wide open to bite down on the girl. The Earth Chosen raised her shield again, interposing the metal between herself and the creature's teeth, and while successful she could feel this to be only a temporary counter measure.

The lycan then let go of her shield, snarling in pain as a fiery mass rammed into its side. Looking past it the girl saw Cym having stabbed the lycan with her flaming blade, though her situation was dire as the werewolf's attention was once more on her. However, now with a clear shot at her foe, Ryia thrust her sword into the throat of the werewolf. Snarling, or however much it could with a sword now blocking the airway, the werewolf stumbled backwards as it was slowly starting to lose strength. Still keeping the pressure on Ryia stepped forward, attempting to end it even faster as she smashed her shield into the pommel of the sword, causing it to be driven deeper into the neck of the werewolf. 

Still holding on, the werewolf attempted to reach out and grab Ryia only for the girl to duck and shove into the gut of the creature. Though it held firm he had managed to avoid being grabbed immediately, and to attempt to end this as fast as she could she reached up and pulled the blade from the creature's neck, blood sputtering every which way. Stepping back, the girl slashed at the already injured arm to keep it at bay, while the lycan did not reach out yet with the other arm. The girl wasn't sure what it was planning, profusely bleeding as it was, but the last thing she wanted was for it to lunge onto one of them and die on top of them. So, calling out, "Ackrin," once more the girl stepped forward preparing to strike. The stone blast had landed against the wolf man and the girl's blade struck true against the werewolf, though not before it had given her the parting shot of its claw going into her arm. 

Ryia's breathing was starting to become ragged and though she was certainly had more stamina and durability than most she could start to feel the fatigue from both battle and her own injuries start to set in, her arms having been pushed to their limit and clawed as they were already. Yet still, there were three werewolves left and she couldn't stop while  everyone was still in danger. Looking back to the two elves before she moved on she asked, "are both of you alright?"

[Hollow 21]

Lindow’s gaze darted frantically between the two beasts as they shattered the barrier and came rushing towards him once more. 

His shadow began to twist quiver at his feet the thunder chosen’s mind raced for solutions. Thankfully, Keres was quick to act, blasting the wolf at his flank with a torrent of water that sent it tumbling off its footing.

Seizing the slight ease in the pressure, Lindow hastily dropped down into his shadow moments before the second lycan tore through the space he had just occupied. His reappearance was almost instantaneous. The sound of crackling lighting could be heard from the darkness behind the lycan as the tip of the Third Blade erupted from the beast’s  shadow, followed by Lindow brandishing his longsword in his free hand. 

Though the wound wasn’t fatal, magic blade had found its mark in the creature’s back. With no intention of letting the creature recover from his surprise counter, Lindow drove the third blade deep and followed up with a series of stabs with his longsword in hopes of taking the creature out of the fight. 

[LordCowCow 840]

Lucas grinned as he backhanded the side of Damien's head. He had backed off to force the swordsman to come to him faster than before and managed to catch him mid-swing. Damien went tumbling to the side, knocked unconscious by the powerful blow. Which gave Lucas plenty of the time he needed. Any watching would see that his body began to grow but it was nearly immediately later that the man transformed into a hulking wolf beast. He was larger than the rest and stood at eight feet tall. The lycan leader looked around at his fallen pack and let out a chilling howl that reverberated through each of their bodies before he stepped forward to re-enter the battle.

---

"are both of you alright?"

"Yeah. Totally. Super." Cym said, holding her side and wincing in pain.

"Not at all." Came Pan's reply. The elf mage was breathing heavily and had his hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath.

"We'll...be fine, just need a moment." Cym chose to combine their two answers into a mid-ground. "But that doesn't matter. The others. They need help." Lucas's howl ripped through the air and both the elves shuddered. "Fast."

---

The lycan that Keres had knocked off its feet scrambled back up, crouched over and nearly on all fours, and snarled at the mage. Keres took a step back by instinct as the wolf ran for her. Quickly she formed more water to try and slam down on its head. However the amount and force wasn't enough to do more than cause the lycan to stumble and it continued towards her. She backed up more and swung water up under its chin and bashed it once again yet still it moved forward.

She took a deep breath, counting the time she had before the lycan would reach her, and began to focus on forming more water. Waiting this time for when the lycan got closer. Close enough that she could nearly smell its breath. And then she brought the water down like a hammer on the back of the lycan's neck.

The creature buckled and dropped again to the ground and Keres stumbled back again and fell onto her rear. However the beast still breathed and she knew it would be back up again soon.

---

The lycan yelped in pain as the electrical blade coursed through its body. It twitched and snarled as it glanced back to where Lindow had appeared. The Chosen man was able to stab it with not just a magical blade but also a physical one. But as Lindow had moved last second he hadn't been able to fully take aim and the blades, while they both buried deep on first thrust, didn't deliver a fatal wound.

The moment the man pulled the blade back to stab once more the lycan twisted around and swung a swift claw strike for Lindow's head. Despite the electrical blade inside of it the creature, eyes now wild with pain and rage, managed to turn to face Lindow again.

---

Spoiler

No map cause its pretty clear atm I think especially as its down to three enemies.

Cym and Pan will be out of commission until my next post so no help from them this round.

Lucas is transformed and will be moving on my post. Reinaan is in theory still there so if he doesn't move I will make assumption that he was more injured than realized and Lucas will be finishing him off or at least injuring him badly and tossing him aside (likely the former cause I feel like being a bit more lenient for some reason). So at most there's one more round until Lucas will engage with the rest of the active characters unless Doggo swoops back in.

Keres and Lindow both are fighting lycans both of which are injured now.

 

[Skaia 578]

Ryia had also been catching her breath as the elves replied, understanding the sentiment they both shared. She grimaced, seeing Madelyn having been knocked unconscious and that there were still two lycans left aside from the leader of the pack himself. Having taken on three by this point, and not without aid from others, she knew that having anything other than Lucas when having to fight Lucas himself would be close to suicide. She winced as she heard the howl, daring not to look in the direction where it came from knowing that there was only one that such a piercing sound could belong to. 

He was strong enough to take on Reinaan without breaking a sweat without transforming, and she was sure that there was more than just cosmetics as a purpose to these transformations. As such, the girl nodded to Cym's response and got ready to move out. Calling, "Ackrin," once more, the spirit went to her side before merging with her. 

Looking at the field Lindow had dealt quite a large amount of damage to his Lycan and was currently dead locked with it, her attention then turned to Keres. The Water Chosen was on the ground, the Lycan as well knocked down before getting back up. Knowing how strong and fast they were, she knew that Keres didn't have much of a chance if it had managed to actually get upon her. And so she rushed to the mage's aid. 

Closing the distance between herself and the Lycan, the girl managed to reach as it got back on its feet and raised her sword for a swing. The wolfman unable to react in time snarled as the blade of the girl found purchase in its shoulder, before turning its snarl into something more visceral. With its mouth opening to try and bite down on her, the girl brought her shield up to defend against the attack, only to grimace as the mouth impacted against her defense. Pushing back against the jaw, the girl swung her sword this time against the now exposed neck. However, while her attack was similarly successful, the girl realized that she was in grave danger as she was stuck in her current position as the Lycan brought up both of its claws to attack her. 

Water struck the shoulder of the Lycan, giving her the opening to shove the creature back and step back before it could tear her to shreds. Catching her breath, the girl sized up her opponent, waiting to see what would happen next only for it to go for yet another double swipe against her. Stepping to the side, the girl managed to avoid one of the claws and raised her shield against the second. 

Crack.

Ryia grit her teeth, suppressing a scream trying to escape from her mouth as the claw of the Lycan impacted against her shield. Though she managed to absorb the blow she could feel her arm bending in a way it wasn't supposed to as she was shoved back by the attack. Stumbling back from the attack, Ryia was starting to realize just how heavy her breathing was becoming as the fatigue of battle was starting to pierce its way through her adrenaline. Though she could still move her shield arm there was no way it could take a direct attack like before, or at the very least it would be useless to try. So instead, she had to go on the offensive and end this fight as quickly as she could. 

Stepping forward, the girl swung her sword against the shoulder she had injured before, causing the Lycan to have a similar reaction to what she just had though still going in for a stab with its claw against her. Stepping to the side, the attempted to parry the attack as best as she could, feeling the pain course through her arm as she did so and continued her offensive. The two stepped forward, trading yet another slash and claw strike against each other, Ryia clearly on the back foot. And so, trying to go for a decisive blow, she slashed at the beast's neck. As it went to swing its claw at her, it found it stopped by a whip of water curled around it. Pressing the advantage as her blade found purchase in the beast's neck, Ryia went for one final swing, only for the lycan to break free of its entanglement and struck her in the side, piercing her armor with its claw as the Earth Chosen's blade ended the creature's life. 

Bleeding from several places now, a barely functioning arm and having pushed herself to a point of exhaustion she never had before, Ryia's footing began to grow unsteady. Though she was panting, practically gasping for air, no matter how much she took in didn't feel like enough to sustain her. Still, she refused to give up just yet. Even though she could barely see straight, her eyes trying to shut themselves as stars formed in her vision, she had to keep everyone safe still. Even Lucas now in wolf form moving towards them, even with her knowing that there was no way she could win and even if she could hardly take a step forward, she stood firm on her ground still. 

Edited March 18 by Skaia

[Hollow 21]

"You're kidding," Lindow spat in exhaustion when he realized the lycan was still alive after his assault. Sensing the danger, his shadow bubbled before shooting up like a geyser to intercept the massive claw as it took a swipe at its owner's head. With the lycan's vision obscured for a crucial second, Lindow seized the opportunity with a roar, cleaving through the wall of darkness to drive the longsword deep into the lycan's neck.

Though this still wasn't enough to stop the creature despite its accumulated injuries. The wolf let out its own gargled roar, charging as if it meant to tear Lindow apart with two crossing strokes from its claws. With nowhere to run, Lindow stepped closer into the beast's range while twisting his hand into a chopping motion. The wild crackling of magic hissed and sizzled with the smell of burnt fur as the Third Blade began cutting through the lycan's torso to sear its vital organs. The creature shuddered in agony for only a brief moment before finally falling forward, nearly knocking Lindow over in the process.

Panting, Lindow watched the last sparks of thunder magic dissipate before turning to see Ryia staring determinedly forward towards Lucas despite appearing to be more than halfway dead. The man opened his mouth to speak but instantly realized how dry his mouth was. Silently, he reached down into his pack to confirm that he still had three potions tucked away for such a circumstance.

"Keres, do you think you can get Madelyn up?" Lindow addressed the water mage as he made his way towards Ryia. "As for you, drink this and hold still... You won't be able to save anyone in that state." Tossing the top of a health potion to the side, he thrust the bottle towards the Earth chosen before reaching out with his free hand to begin healing her arm with the Light Spirit's magic.

 

 

[LordCowCow 840]

After transforming Lucas had went for Reinaan. The young Draken had been injured more from the previous fight than he had realized and was caught by surprise as the lycan's claws tore into his side. With a snarl Lucas flung Reinaan to the side and sent him crashing into a tree.

---

"Keres, do you think you can get Madelyn up?"

"I....can try." She said. What she didn't say was she wasn't sure if the mage would be able to help much even if she did. It wasn't something she had thought much about given how the water spirit was providing her energy but most mages needed more time between spells. They usually worked best when given time to prepare larger spells rather than firing off multiple short ones. But now that she thought about it Madelyn reacting so quickly so often was something unusual.

Still she tried to rouse the girl at least. If she was conscious then she could stay out of harms way and she had the feeling the this coming fight might be held across the entire clearing.

---

Pan and Cym made their way closer to the others. Pan looked hesitant to get much closer to the large lycan and Cym told him to keep back.

"Yet you intend to go face to face with that thing?"

"Well yeah, the mage stays back and the warrior fights duh. I protect you and you protect me that's how we promised we'd do things right?"

---

Lucas looked around and let out a bark-like laugh. He spoke then, in a distorted sort of voice, "This is all that's left? So few of you. So battered after just one fight with my pack. And here I stand, unharmed, at my full strength! I hoped to take some of you back with me but I'll have to settle for taking your heads to throw at the feet of the elf scum."

Spoiler

Short post but this is it, Lucas is transformed and ready to fight. Keres will be trying to wake Madelyn up this round but I will say Madelyn won't be able to do much even so. (If anything she'd go off to 'keep reinaan alive')

Pan is in the back and will be able to occasionally cast wind magic to support if you want some help during your post ask.

Cym will be engaging directly but it'll be best if you also include help from her in your posts.

It might be a good idea to work together to some extent as well at least so you're not just attacking one at a time or getting in each other's way.

 

[Skaia 578]

Though she on her last legs, unsure of how she was going to deal with the now transformed Lucas, she was glad to see that Lindow had at least managed to defeat his werewolf. As he regrouped with the Chosen, he began to heal her and handed her a healing potion to which she immediately used on herself. Her arm was feeling better now, though she still didn't think it could take too many direct attacks before giving out again, and her breath was steadying as her vision started to normalize as well. Though she was in much better shape then she was a moment ago, with Keres attending to both Madelyn and Reinaan at present it was down to her, Lindow, Cym and Pan. 

Ryia did not have any idea on how to approach this man, however. From the brief showing of strength she saw against Reinaan she had already expected him to be in a league of his own compared to the other werewolves and now he was transformed. Simply walking forward and getting into a straightforward altercation with the werewolves hadn't worked all too well for her up to this point and she didn't think she'd last a moment if she just stepped up and went for a frontal attack. However, Lindow had a different idea in mind. 

Taking the last of the greharms he had purchased, the man tossed it forward towards the Lycan. Before the Lycan could react to the projectile, the Thunder Chosen let out a discharge of lightning into the object, detonating it in the man's face. Lucas was certainly made surprised by the attack and though it most certainly didn't stop him, it still managed to damage him. Taking the moment to step up, Ryia still didn't exactly know how to proceed but got herself ready for his attack. 

The werewolf had moved forward, swinging one of his arms down in an overhead towards her. The girl raised her shield to parry the attack away as she side stepped, though grit her teeth immediately as the force of the arm, not budging from her shield parry, came down on it. Getting ready for an attack of her own, Ryia started a swing only to see that he had already begun swinging his other claw. Doing what she could to evade the next attack, the girl attempted to duck, using her already awkward balance to move under the swipe. Before she could think of what to do next the lycan's knee struck her in the face, forcing her backwards. The girl didn't get to recoil very far back though, as he grabbed onto her. 

Cym took the opportunity to stab Lucas in the back, though her offense was not without retaliation as he picked up Ryia and swung her at Cym. Hitting the elf with her steel coated body, Ryia could barely make sense of what was going on, having never been tossed around like so, before she finally hit the ground. Letting out a pained groan, the girl tried to get her bearings as she brought herself up. She had certainly fought opponents that she wouldn't have been able to properly block before, they were all far larger and with far more mass than herself that she would've expected it. And while his strength was surprising in of itself, the fact that he had a speed that she hadn't encountered before to back it up made it all the more dangerous. She didn't think that she would be able to land a good hit in against this man, but she didn't think she had to. As long as she could endure his attacks and create an opening for the others that would be enough for her. 

Looking to Cym she huffed out a, "s-sorry," feeling bad that she had just been used as a weapon against her teammate. Then, she stood up and got ready for the next go. 

[Hollow 21]

Lindow was already moving full sprint when the explosion rocked the battlefield. Quickly scooping up the Bandit Cleaver, he watched Ryia engage the hulking monster of a wolf as he made a B-line to join the closer quarters fighters.

The sight of the Earth Chosen being swung about like a sack of potatoes gave Lindow all the confirmation he needed that hit and run tactics were only approach that had even a slight chance of success. The difference in strength between himself and Ryia was large, meaning that he may as well be an old woman compared to Lucas.

The moment their foe released Ryia, Lindow appeared at his blindspot with a hasty swing of the Bandit Cleaver. Lucas responded quickly though, despite the large blade digging into his forearm. With a growl he flexed his massive muscles with enough force to send the Thunder Chosen tumbling backwards.

Rolling to his feet, Lindow scoffed at the insane display of power. Weary of charging in again outright, he begun circling around, tossing throwing knives with all his strength to lure his opponent into attempting to close the distance himself. Lucas and no problem taking the bait. Completely ignoring the Lindow’s projectiles as they lodged themselves in various spots like metal splinters. Though his approach was quickly halted by a powerful wind tunnel conjured by Pan.

At first the lycan tried to push through, but even with his monstrous strength the it seemed to be an uphill battle. Lindow watched closely as the other man halted his advance in favor of allowing himself to be moved backwards with the wind. Eager to capitalize on any small opening, the Thunder Chosen dove right into the window tunnel himself, using it to augment his speed and close the distance faster than Lucas could anticipate. There was a flash of red and the smell of iron as the Bandit Cleaver tore into Lucas's flesh on the pass, a solid hit that seemed to force the lycan out of the wind tunnel entirely. Lindow rode Pan's wind a little longer, letting himself be carried a few feet forward before bring himself to a sliding halt. 

His opponent was already making his next move. Seeing Lucas adopt a low stance Lindow gulped loudly right before the hulking wall of muscle came barreling towards him in an all out charge. With little time to react Lindow glanced towards Keres who seemed to already have a fair amount of water gathered. Frantically, he raised his free hand up as if to signal the Water Chosen. Then, in the instant Lucas was on him Lindow leaped high into the air and was relieved to see two tendrils of water wrap themselves around his extended hand and violently yank him towards Keres. Struggling to right himself in the air, Lindow tumbled to the ground with all the elegance one would expect from such a half hazard maneuver. 

Edited April 15 by Hollow

[LordCowCow 840]

"s-sorry,"

"I'm...I'm okay." Cym said. "You humans really are heavy aren't you?" She managed to get herself up and then had to duck down to pick her sword back up as well. "I'm just glad he didn't grab me I don't think I could take being swung like that. What ARE you guys made of?"

While the two of them got back to their feet and regained their bearings Lindow was had made his move.

Keres wasn't entirely sure what Lindow's look had meant but she hoped that he was expecting her to yank him up like that. His landing wasn't the most graceful but at the very least Lucas wasn't able to get to him. Had the lycan struck she couldn't be sure he would have gotten out of there without injury.

Unfortunately Lucas was able to double back around with ease and was already heading back for them. Which put him on course for the two mages in the back. Pan had released his spell once he realized Lucas wasn't fighting it but he wasn't quite fast enough to cast another right away so as Lucas jumped over Lindow with ease and went towards Keres it was all up to her to respond.

She focused as best she could the water that she had gathered up in front of her and launched it in a geyser coming from her hands right a the center of the lycan's considerable mass.

The geyster struck him and pushed him back but Keres gasped out as she struggled against his weight and strength. Instead of blasting him away she mostly succeeded at stopping him midair and the lupine man managed to break free from the geyser and dove off to the side. Which ended up putting him closer to where Pan stood instead.

---

Over at the edge of the forest Madelyn struggled to pool enough magic energy together to fix up Reinaan's wounds enough to keep him from bleeding out right then and there.