'How did this happen?' Alice thought as she hacked at another goblin to keep the two injured elves behind her from getting hurt
The plains of Koroth were supposed to be the neutral ground of all the races so There shouldn't be this many monsters in the forest.
She'd expected a few goblins or a kobold but in front of her stood an entire horde of monsters from Desolan the land of monsters.
"FLARE!!!" she heard the voice of Lucius from behind her casting the distress flare spell all elves were taught as children
Behind her sat Lucius and Annie backed up against a large tree who's roots could serve as walls their weapons discarded and bow's snapped in half
two of the three trainee elves she was sent to look after.
Instead of worrying about her safety something else rang in her mind.
Where is Siris?
She hacked at another orc with her long dagger, black blood spurting all over her traveling clothes as the beast fell with a wet thud
This won't do.
The beasts were tiring her out. never launching a full-scale attack with their numbers and instead, sending goblins two at a time to tire her before retreating back into the horde enough so they could finish her off
Two more goblins stepped away from the horde and rushed at her.
While she wasn't exactly the best elf at combat she was proud of the fact that she could hold her own against an elder before they beat her using more advanced techniques and magic. but even so, her stamina was hitting rock bottom about now.
She raised her dagger up to defend. Her breath ragged and gasping for air as her heart tried to pump the needed oxygen for her body to continue
Her body wanted to collapse.
But she wouldn't allow it.
There were children behind her.
Elven children like her even if they treated her differently they are still of her blood.
She would not let them be killed.
"sister Alice!!!" she heard the familiar sound of Siris's voice filled with pride
She turned away from the enemy. To look to the right were Siris was rushing to her his sword drawn and recklessly charging towards her direction
"don't-" she was cut off as two arrows whizzed past her shoulder followed by a second arrow
"do not take your eyes away from the enemy. ever." a scolding voice sounded from above the tree she was protecting its tone masculine and disappointed
she traced the arrow's trajectory and looked up
Nothing.
Suddenly she heard another whistle of a flying arrow and the thud of beast falling on the grassy floor that was stained black by blood
"didn't I say not to take your eyes of the enemy"
"Ah!" she jumped as the voice sounded once more just beside her. She'd brought her dagger up to attack but was surprised when she found the weapon gone from her hands.
She looked at her assailant.
Her blood ran cold.
Steely grey eyes.
sharp features.
snow white hair that was braided.
an imposing dark brown figure
"Is this how you treat your reinforcements?" the dark elf asked his grey eyes bore into her green ones with her dagger sitting idly between his pointer finger and middle finger
"Master! I expected nothing less from the person tha-"
"Siris check if they're injured and try your best to protect them if need be" the elf cut him off, his tone demanding and strict as his eyes never leaving the horde of monsters who were now growling in response to a new target appearing
Three kobolds stepped from the crowd and growled at him threateningly
Alice didn't know if she was hearing things correctly but in response, the dark elf hissed back at them. The kobolds jumped back in fear as the horde took a step back in surprise
It was an inhuman sound like a basilisk's dying screech and it sent shivers down her spine and a shockwave of bloodlust that hit the monsters full on
Alice by being in proximity of the dark elf got hit by a fraction of it feeling her knees weaken and the urge to run far away from him,
she fell to the floor unable to move due to fear
She vaguely recalled a lesson from one of the elders about this ability the dark elves posses
"the blood howl," she whispered in equal amounts of awe and fear
It was an intimidation technique dark elves used when the odds were stacked against them. By using their thirst for blood as a catalyst they channel it as an unearthly roar that could project the amount of bloodlust they felt.
Usually, it only affects groups of four or five depending on the age of the dark elf performing the technique and mastery over it
But she'd never read of a dark elf that could affect an entire horde with a roar
She felt something hard press up against her palm.
A bow. A bit crude in make but still manageable
The dark elf was handing her his bow.
She stared dumbly at it
"take stop staring at it and take it" the elf snapped still holding the horde's gaze "I'm borrowing your dagger. Provide support and protect the youngins" his voice softened
Her hands shaky she took the bow uncertainly.
"I will"
And with that, the dark elf rushed to battle and everything was thrown into chaos
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Willem's heart pumped fast, adrenalin coursing his veins as he tore through the neck of some huge ugly monster and sent his machete flying into the skull of a wolf looking thing before plunging the long serrated dagger in his other hand into the nearest creatures chest.
His feet were agile, never staying in one spot for more than a second rushing the nearest enemy once the current one was dead.
Being cornered by two ugly monsters he rebounded of the large one performing a backflip and planting his feet into the gut of the same ugly monster behind it
He was having a PTSD attack at the moment.
His body just acted on its own.
While his mind was flashing with memories of explosion and hails of lead.
He needed an anchor.
Something to keep him grounded to this plane and this world.
His body was launched backward as a giant crude club hit his body with the force of an elephant charging at groundbreaking speeds
That snapped him out of it.
Turns out, pain can be a great anchor.
"damn!" he managed to kick off the ground and skidded on his bare feet and hands. the ground ripping at his feet coating some of the grass with red
"Are you okay?" he heard a female voice from behind him ask in alarm and worry
"broken rib and a punctured lung sound okay to you?" he retorted, clutching his chest with his left arm as the black-haired elf provided cover fire while he recovered
He reached behind his back into his small leather pouch.
He pulled out a vial of manticore's poison, bit of the cap, and chugged the contents down.
His body's pain numbed and he felt his breathing start to get better as he began to hack up the blood from his punctured lung feeling the wound close and bones re-knit
He sighed in bliss and let the poison do its thing.
He felt stronger.
Everything slowed.
Like he could rip through an entire army.
A horde of monsters was in front of him.
It was good enough.
Keeping up his fast pace from before, he began to dance among the monsters the cold steel in his hands managing to bite vitals after vitals, felling monster's left and right. somewhere in the middle of it managing to pull his machete free from the skull of the wolf creature thing and was now using said weapon to decapitate the huge green creature that sent him flying earlier
all the while a growing power in the pit of his stomach began to force its way into his throat begging for release
He gave in to the feeling.
His feet separated into the horse-riding stance with both arms at his hips at the ready feeling the power knock at his throat
taking a deep breath let loose a feral growl that shook the earth and caused nearby bodies to be thrown out of the way and cause the charging monsters to stop
The wolf-like creatures began whimpering as the huge creatures holding clubs began to fall back soon followed by the others breaking into a full-scale sprint just to get away from him
He stood there breathing deeply staring at the monsters retreating forms wondering slightly what he did to scare them off before shrugging it off
He had more important things to worry about.