CHPT 398: War of the Wild...

War. Claude had never thought much of it-- never considered how it would be bonded to his future based on the bloodied path of life he'd chosen. Months ago. It felt like an eternity. An entire different world from the Noble-littered lands of SkyHaven.

War. He was in it. Knee-deep. Plunged into the aspect of it for a dozen reasons. A dozen motives. A dozen responsibilities. All things that couldn't be considered, because in war, there was only really one objective.

Survive.

***

SLSH!

Claude's claws ripped through the throat of a HellBred Arachnoid, causing it's head to fall off and be swallowed up by the long squirming blades of grass covering the ground.

(+100 EXP)

He barely had any time to recover as a small pack of Hexenbiests cut through the warzone with their telekinetic abilities to reach him. Reflexively, he swung his hands in an uppercutting movement.

FWSHH!

Thick wooden spikes exploded from the earth, skewering the wild HellBred mid-air.

(+400 EXP)

In the distance, he found the PitGnoll and Cyrene punching and slashing at the HellBred in their path to reach him.

He did the same. Slashing and ripping through the endless heaps and foul-smelling corrosive lifeforms. Another Hexenbiest swiping at his chest, he dodged-- grabbing the traits of the massive snake slithering through the grass, to gain the extra strength needed to rip the Demons arms off. Before he could finish it off, Frosty smashed into the HellBred, tearing it apart with his massive tusked fangs.

A Cyclops blast sounded off beside him. In a panic he dropped to a low crouch, before spinning to face the sound and charge the giant. It was a short distance-- but littered with bodies. Animals, Monsters and HellBred alike. He leapt and dodged through it all to tackle the creature, as soon as they hit the ground, the long grass swallowed the giant and began binding it with a vengeance. With his boosted strength, he could hear the vines snapping it's bones with each tightening twist.

The sound of its pained wails was invigorating. Both to the Lupine beneath and the HellSlayer within.

PSHHHOM!

A blast flew from it's glowing eye, grazing Claude's cheek. He snarled and punched it. Again.... again... and again. Before his fury could envelope him, he looked up just in time to see three more approaching.

PSSHOOM!

Another eye beam. Claude raised his arm, summing his (Malevolence Tether). The silver and green accented gauntlet bloomed in a burst of flames that blocked the blast. Without a moments hesitation, he flung the chain at the closest Cyclops, catching its leg in a scalding hold. And with a heavy yank, he dislocated the leg and brought it down to it's knees. Immediately, a pack of Wild-Magic transformed Hounds overwhelmed it.

He borrowed their traits, pulling forth more of his transformation before engaging the final two with a wide sweeping swing of his chain. As it cut through the bloodmisted winds, the end of the chain morphed into a blade and ripped through their throat and chests.

By the time he reached them, they were dead.

For a moment-- for the first time in what felt like ever, he surveyed the field. Standing in his own space carved open by claw, bladed chain and upturned roots. The Demons continued to swarm, the Monsters fought them off well-- and with the assistance of the animals of the wild, they were winning. But that would change when--

SHZSHSHSHZZ!!

A chaotic red bolt of lightning flew over the battle towards him. As it grew closer, a wall of ice rose to existence in front of him, cutting through a number of HellBred in it's ascent.

CRSHHH!

The lightning busted through the wall but missed him, nonetheless. As the shards fell, a Hexenbiest hopped over the wall and landed on someone behind him with a feral scream.

"IM COMING CLAUDE!!! HAHAHAH!" Cyrene's voice carried over the sounds of war.

Claude ignored it as he turned to pursue the Hexenbiest. It cut and stabbed into whatever was beneath it. In the darkness and long grass all he could make out was fur and hooves. He moved regardless, lunging at the HellBred to grab it by the shoulders and throw it over to his side.

TWIP! TWIP! TWIP!

Before it could even hit the ground, the Centaur's filled it with arrows followed by an Electrical shot from Cassidy in the distance.

"Bullseye..." He could hear the man whisper in the distance in his thick southern accent.

Claude turned to help the hooved individual up afterward, finding himself clasping hands with a very familiar Satyr.

They both looked like trash since their first meeting, covered in cuts and bruises and dirt. Claude ignored it as the two nodded to eachother before taking off.

As Claude entered the battle once more, he found the Satyr's younger sibling riding on the back of Frosty as if he were a tusked warhorse flanked by a pack of Wolves and hounds.

What a bizarre night..... but so illuminating in so many ways.

What a horrifying night.

***

And the horror had only continued as the Canyon rumbled and the HellBred fell. There were less than two hundred remaining. Claude felt like he'd been fighting all night-- and the true fight was still awaiting him.

With his massive pack of wild-ones, they'd overturned the tide of battle. Beasts and Monsters on his side still fell, but not as much as the HellBred and Cyclops' fell with the presence of Lupine HellSlayers suddenly in the mix.

And with Claude's newfound strength-- and Merged Skill, he'd been placed on a higher echelon of power. Even at his current disadvantage. Cyrene and the PitGnoll still loomed in the distance, watching. Waiting....

He was done waiting.

"[You're going?]" Arne realized as Claude began to disconnect from the battle.

"They're the real problem. The biggest at least-- behind the Elf."

"[Very well. I take it you realize you'll be outnumbered?]"

Claude stayed silent and took off, leaping over the rows of topling, firebreathing and clawing Demonic monsters to reach the two horrors at the back.

Cyrene's eyes lit up like fireworks as he sailed through the night air towards them. Her hand sparked and twitched as red lightning coated it.

Reflexively, Claude sent his tether into the ground nearby and yanked himself out of the way of the oncoming blast.

He hit the ground softly and rolled. Once on his feet, he found Cyrene looking around him with disgust. Claude followed her eyes and found the Satyr, Banshee and two Centaurs at his back.

"[Maybe not so outnumbered....]" Arne commented.

Cyrene screamed and sent a blast of lightning, causing them all to disperse.

"NO! This is not how it's supposed to be, Claude! FUCK! Why can't you just be the way your designed, WHY WHY WHYWYHYWHY!!"

More lightning came, crashing into HellBred in the distance and animals alike. The hate he always had for her rose to the surface after the final blast, ending in a roar that escaped his lips.

"YES!" Cyrene screamed in excitement before charging him with her blade, the PitGnoll snarled behind her before engaging the others.

The Centaurs were ready and seemed to have no problem siding with the Banshee. And Claude had no issue fighting beside the Satyr. He didn't seem to have much of a choice either.

Survival. It was the point. But revenge would always be a focus.....

"Why! Aren't! You! Fully! Transformed!" Cyrene yelled, emphasizing each word with a heavy swing of her blade.

Claude dodged each swing barely as he replied, "Shut up!" ending it with a punch to the face. He could hear the sizzle from his gauntlet as it connected with demonic skin.

She stumbled backward only to be kicked in the back by the Satyr. As she rushed toward him again, he slashed at her throat with his claws.

SWIP!

Air was all he met. She ducked slid, spinning to cut open the back of his knee with her sword.

SLSH!

"Ack!" Claude yelped at the oddly feeling pain and bounded away, having to do so once more following a blast of lightning.

KRKABOOM!

He flinched in pain at the noise. Not of the lightning, but of a canyon wall being blown apart. Rollan sailed through the air, emerging from the blast in a shower of debris and giant boulders.

"YOUR A DISAPPOINTMENT! YOU'VE DONE NOTHING AFTER WHAT THEY DID TO US!" Liam, The Elven Murderer screamed as he leapt from the disaster in pursuit of Rollan. All Claude could see was the glow of their weapons and Aura's as they flew about the desert in their blurred forms.

But he couldn't watch for long.

The boulders.

"Oh shit!" He yelled before sidestepping a smaller stone that crumbled on impact loudly beside him. In the distance he could hear Demons being smashed by the shower of stones coming at their backs.

Another was coming, large enough to blot out the Moon.

He turned and bounded further away, trying his best to zig zag in between the clutter.

BOOM!....BOOM!...BOOM!

It was like the pound of a war drum. And when it finally ended, he found himself crouched on the desert floor, suddenly so far from the conflict.

Cyrene was fighting off the Satyr. The PitGnoll was being overrun by the Centaurs and Bashee that kept it in a stunned state.

The war continued in the distance. Ursula raged through the madness, slowly turning the grassed battleground into an icy tundra.

He couldn't afford to watch and think over the vastness of everything. The mysteries just waiting to be revealed. The horrors-.

He needed to get it all over with. Survive.

He moved to return to battle only to be interrupted by a rumbling hiss sound. The increased nerves and lack of awareness in that moment caused him to spin around to face the sound.

Disbelief filled him. Followed by abject terror. It seemed he really had called everything.

Everything from roaming Wolf packs..... to Monsters that he'd saved..... and even to Primals.

The rumbling hiss came again. Wary, interested.

Such a small noise to come from a large creature. Despite being the size of a Horse, it was a baby. He could tell by it's oversized taloned paws that stemmed from it's thin long legs. Legs that carried such a foreign shaped body. Big chest, giant thick tail, smaller arms that seemed quite useless until you realized how lined with muscle they were.

Two bird-like slitted eyes looked up at him from a massive body covered in scales. The eyes were strange. Such an expressive and magically ancient shade of blue. He could've marveled at it if not for the awful scent wafting from it's serrated teeth.

Rotting flesh and everything worse sat between them-- left to fester on the black boney gums they jutted from.

In the darkness, he couldn't make out much of it's features. It's scales too dark, but if the twenty foot tall shadow in the distance meant anything, it was that the game was about to change. He knew it..... and he knew the others in the distance had begun to feel it in response to the growing thud of massive footsteps.

The creature that bit the PitGnoll and sent it's pack running in a frenzy through human Villages without a care in the world. The one that still pursued them and the taste of their blood. The Primal that went unseen until now.

The Protartyrannus had arrived.

As soon as they met eyes, the most bone-chilling rumbling roar washed over the desert and froze everything except Rollan and Liam.

The scariest part was, the Monsters mouth never opened as it continued to stare at them all with it's newborn sniffing at Claude.