Veric struggled to breathe and only managed to get out a breathless "Why?" before collapsing. The purple gem that was inlaid in the collar that adorned his neck started pulsating and sending energy waves down his outstretched right arm. Suddenly his hand started bleeding as different things started materializing. Spare combat equipment, tents, cookware, and finally the valuables that the team had collected throughout their small journey. When the crystal finally stopped sending out energy there was a small mound of things that could fill a space of three cubic meters.
*Whistle* " Little Ric, your pocket dimension really is convenient to have around! To be able to carry all our stuff and grab all that was scattered around when that jackass alerted the pack, I thank you for being so diligent, even in danger." Anthony had a smile on his face that carried no warmth as he said this to Veric who, at this point, was gripping his bleeding arm that had pulsing red veins running up and down it. He grit his teeth and once again looked at Anthony and asked, " Why did you use the Rejection collar?! I wasn't going to keep anything from you!" He couldn't continue venting his pain and frustration because Anthony activated the collar once again before turning it off after a time.
"It doesn't matter if you were going to or not, as long as I feel I need to activate it, I will. You are in no position to ask about my actions anyways you filthy dark sorcerer, you should be lucky that you were fed on this trip at all. Now it is time for you to complete one last task." As Veric heard those last words, he felt ice run through his veins and a sense of foreboding that made his gut twist, because given the situation he knew exactly what the task was. He shakely started backing away from this man who was a little over twice his size and started looking at the pile of goods to see if he could quickly grab something to defend himself. 'If I can just get a knife, I can do some damage before he tries to feed me to the wolf beasts!'
Anthony saw this and chuckled, " It seems you are too smart for your own good, but that won't stop what needs to happen. Little Ric it is your honor to sacrifice yourself for light sorcerers like us. In fact, that is what you dark ones are meant for." As he finished speaking he suddenly flashed forward and punched Veric in the stomach. No matter how fast Veric tried to move, a twelve year old is no match for someone older and not starving. He crumpled to the ground and couldn't react even when Anthony picked him up like luggage and started carrying him back to the others.
"About time Anthony, we can't hold them off any longer!" Rachel was drenched in sweat and her casting had gotten noticeably slower. Eloi looked over and saw Anthony with Veric not understanding why he was bringing the porter kid. 'What is bringing the boy here going to do?' she wondered. Anthony tossed Veric down with a thud and looked at his partner with a slight smirk. "I will leave it to you Rachel, make sure he is far enough so that it will give me enough time to prepare. "As he finished saying that he grabbed more knives, closed his eyes and started reciting an incantation that caused the runes on them to glow increasingly brighter. Rachel looked at the pitiful crumpled boy at her feet and saw pleading in his eyes. She sneered and cast her spell again that shot stone spikes but this time a pillar burst from the ground that launched him towards the pack a few meters away.
Eloi who saw this pulled on Rachel's shoulder and screamed, "What the hell are you doing, he is going to be torn to pieces!!" Rachel slapped her hand away and said back in a murderous tone,"It is either all of us or just him! If you want to be a hero and save a dirty little dark sorcerer, by all means, be my guest. But as soon as Anthony is finished with his Detonator blade spell, we are bringing this tunnel down with you on our side or on his!" Eloi looked at the scraped and bruised boy trying to crawl back to them with a complicated look, but stood rooted to her spot and eventually turned her face away. Rachel saw that and smiled. "Good, you know what is worth the trouble and what isn't. Now you, Veric, be a good dog and die for us!" She then lifted her hand pointed towards him and let loose her stone spike spell.
Veric felt creaking in his chest when he breathed as he was trying to stand up and make it to the adventurers. He made it almost five steps when a blinding pain came from his left leg that made him fall down again. A spike pierced his thigh and the surrounding flesh seemed to bloom outwards like a flesh rose. Knowing who was the cause of the attack, Veric looked up only to see another malicious looking smile and hear faintly, "You need to stay little Ric, we will have a drink to you and that bastard Josh tonight." Anthony walked forward after saying that holding two blazing daggers in one hand and the collar controller in the other. "Don't need this anymore so you can have it. Though you won't enjoy your freedom for long, you're welcome!" Anthony laughed as he tossed the device to Veric, and threw the two daggers upwards embedding them in the ceiling. After which he closed his eyes and muttered a few more words making the already blazing rune filled blades glow even brighter.
The little boy grabbed the spike in his leg and slowly pulled it out, feeling slight relief. He was about to start moving in their direction when he heard the sound of claws scraping against the floor. Feeling a sense of danger he quickly rolled to the right making his leg bleed even more and causing the paw of the wolf beast pouncing at him to miss by a hair, but not the claw. It tore through his shirt and left a gash running down the length of his back. His left hand held onto the spike and he threw it at the wolf when it rushed at him again. It bounced harmlessly off of the wolf's head and the wolf slammed into Veric, causing him to fly a little closer to the adventurers. 'Damn it, I can't stop here. I need to get up! GET UP!!' Summoning whatever strength he had left, he quickly got up and started to stumble away from the wolf. Focusing forward, he saw his destination. 'If I make it past them, they will be too busy dealing with the beasts to worry about me and I'll use that chance to take a couple other things and run away as fast as I can!' He was feeling confident that his plan would work until he saw Anthony slowly opening his eyes, looking at him, and smiling while saying, "Explode!"
The last thing Veric saw before a large explosion was Anthony's smiling face, Rachel's cold sneer, and Eloi who was gritting her teeth and looking away. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!" Veric roared before he was blown back by the blast and became enveloped by dust and smaller rocks. As the ringing started dying down, weakness started invading all his limbs as the adrenaline from earlier wore off. He lifted his hand to his ear and when he brought it in front of his face, he saw blood. The shock waves from the blast caused not only his ears to bleed but he was also leaking from all the orifices on his head. Unfortunately he wasn't the only one in the now trashed section of the tunnel that noticed his blood. Veric was still trying to stabilize himself when seeing all the blood when he heard a faint and muffed, but unmistakable sound. *Growl*