Wolvery

Saeko heads to the left exit to chase one of the Hags, Kodlak in his human form accompanying her as she does. They stumble across an underground river with a small waterfall leaking in from the roof. A flock of ravens flies together on the opposite side, morphing into an enraged-looking Hagraven.

"YOU! YOU DARE ATTACK US!? AFTER WHAT WE GIFTED YOU!?" she loudly shrieks.

"You gift nothing, witch! You and your sisters will rid us of this curse, whether you want to or not!" he states while tightly gripping his two-handed sword.

While the two banter, Saeko takes action and utilises the Sukue movement technique to run across the lake separating the two platforms they were standing on. Her steps leave small ripples as if someone had skipped a light stone.

The Hag's feathers bristle as Saeko approaches, eager to kill the girl who'd murdered her sister. "TANGLE!" she shrieks, shooting her hand forward and commanding roots to shoot up from under the water to try and ensnare Saeko.

The Ansei dodges it despite the difficulty of moving atop fluids, she slices off a stray branch that gets slightly too close and makes one final leap to land on the platform. "Tilt your head, I'll make this cut clean." she states, approaching the witch.

She attacks, slashing her blade at the witches neck, only for her to turn into ravens yet again. She appears next to Kodlak on the platform and he took attempts to behead her, but she blocks with her claws and slashes at his chest, digging four lines into his armour.

"STRANGLE!" the witch shouts, and Kodlak is unable to dodge as vines leap from the roof and wrap around the Harbinger's neck, lifting him off of the floor.

Saeko finally catches up and cuts Kodlak down, just as the witch casts a spell at her this time.

"PERISH! MANGLE!" the Hag shouts again, and Saeko quickly notices her breathing becoming constricted...

She coughs and releases a visible cloud of... Something... Her eyes widen as the sensation begins getting worse, spreading from her chest to her limbs.

"S-Saeko!" Kodlak breathlessly calls out, standing as he rubs his neck.

Saeko grits her teeth and attacks the witch regardless of her condition, but loses her sword as blisters appear on her hands, making her unable to keep ahold of her weapon.

"DAMN WITCH! NEVER AGAIN!" Kodlak roars, slamming his heavy blade at her... And promptly gets sent flying as a treat disconnects itself from the wall and punches him. He lands in the river and struggles to keep himself afloat with all his armour.

"WRANGLE!" the witch shouts, causing yet more plant matter to tie up Kodlak and leave him hanging helplessly from the ceiling... "I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER, FOR HARMING MY SISTER!"

"S-Shehai!" Saeko rasps out while reaching her mangled handout, light flashing and blinding everyone as her spirit sword manifests in her hand. While she couldn't hold anything, she was still somehow able to wield the weapon...

She slashes at the witch sending an airborne sword strike flying at her and the witch is taken completely off guard. The treant steps in the way but gets cut in half and doesn't impede the attack at all.

*SLLIIIIICK!*

The Hag gives a guttural groan as the attack passes her, separating her upper body from her lower body. The light leaves the creature's eyes and the treant beside her collapses, allowing Saeko to look at Kodlak, she sends another slice to free him from his bonds and falls to the ground coughing.

Climbing out of the river and running over to her, Kodlak checks her condition and growls under his breath at the severity of it... He'd seen it before in the past against dark mages and other Hagravens... Spores from the air had been magically enhanced and forced to grow in her lungs, which quickly spread throughout body.

The affliction was deadly, unavoidable without magical defences or alchemically enhanced air-filters, and unless you had especially prepared potions of magic for it, usually fatal.

"Saeko! Look at me! Keep your eyes open! We'll get you home! I swear it!" he says, but the girl passes out from lack of oxygen.

"GRRRR, DAMN! WILL THESE WITCHES EVER LET US BE!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The other Companions were doing work, quickly dismantling the Hag's minions before converging on the witches themselves. While the Hags were powerful magic users, and fierce in melee combat with their dangerous sharp claws, there wasn't much they could do when charged by multiple Werewolves at once.

Not long after the assault started, they all gathered in the centre cavern with the heads of the witches in a pile, the witches enraged expressions seemingly locked on their faces.

"Where's Kodlak and Saeko?" Vilkas asks as he transforms back into his human form.

"They chased a witch that way-" Shakeesh starts, but pauses when he spots Kodlak carrying Saeko towards them with a grim look on his face.

"What happened!?" Farkas asks, shocked at the fact that Saeko had seemingly been defeated by something... This was the same girl that almost bisected a dragon!

Kodlak solemnly shakes his head, "Dark magic."

"Will she be okay?" Vilkas inquires, looking over Saeko and noting the small wounds littering her body that was now... Healing... "Oh... Harbinger..." he utters while sending an accusing look at Kodlak.

"I did what I had to. The witches trickery knows no bounds." he growls.

"What do you mean?" Shakeesh questions, unsure about what was going on.

"He blooded her! A regular person's wounds don't heal this quickly!" Vilkas exclaims.

"But, Kodlak, I thought that you-"

"I know! Gods damn it! It was this or leave her to die!..." he shakes his head and looks at the gathered pile, "It can be reversed. Death cannot."

...

"Hmph. Some curse." Aela quietly mutters as the group begin leaving the cave, feeling vindicated that even Kodlak was forced to blood someone.