"Guys," Qrow said, "we are not alone." Qrow grabbed his dagger at his waist and held it at the ready. Rijin immediately summoned a trident from thin air. Two runes glowed in the darkness as Fuju readied them in his palms. After that it was simply…quiet. But a little more quiet than any of them would have liked. Rijin's eyes flashed white for a moment and a strange pulse of magical energy went out across the room before rescinding towards Rijin once again.
"There is something in this room indeed…and it does not appear to be humanoid…" Rijin said. Deep insight, a Paladin spell, Qrow figured it was what Rijin had just casted. Qrow felt uneasy. He wasn't used to being the one doing the stalking. His expertise lied more so in being able to get the jump on others, not the other way around. Qrow stood at the ready but knew he needed more information. He felt the deep welling of arcane energy inside him and let some of it through to course through his veins. It was a familiar feeling he had let come through so many times before, but this time for some reason it made his side ache a little, the side that had the black line. Qrow thought of a rune in his mind and his eyes flashed black for a moment. Suddenly he could hear more clearly, the hilt of his dagger felt rougher, the air tasted more like wood and the sea air, and he could see more things in the shadows than he could have before. With his new ears the silence of the room was now filled with noise. The trembling and vibration of the tables, the waves crashing against the side of the ship, and the slight creaking of floorboards under heavy tow. Even with his enhanced senses it was still hard to detect, the creature was skilled to be sure. Even its breath was so faint it was easy to miss in the midst of all the other noises. Qrow knew that the creature had to be somewhere in the twenty feet in front of him, but the exact position was a mystery. Suddenly, Rijin engulfed the head of his trident in yellow flames and hurled it into the darkness, in the same direction Qrow detected the beast. The trident sailed through the air, Illuminating the darkness for a moment, but then vanished into the thick fog. No sounds, no cries, only the thud of the trident sticking into the wall on the other side of the room. Rijin closed his hand and the trident reappeared, flaming in his hand once again. The silence prevailed. Could this all be a misdirection? Was anything truly there? It seemed as if nothing was actually in the darkness, the silence was daunting. But then, Qrow could hear it. The beast was angry. It let loose its stealth a little in order to prepare to pounce, Qrow could hear its bones stretching out in order to elongate itself. Qrow rushed towards Rijin, Rijin was much larger than him but with enough force he should be able to get him out of the way. Rijin looked confused and looked towards Qrow.
"What are you…" Rijin began to say but couldn't get it out before being tackled by Qrow. In anger and confusion Rijin elbowed Qrow in the back as the fall caused a warm flare of pain to resonate across his spine. But Qrow didn't care, he knew he had loved him just enough to dodge what was coming. From the darkness the sleek form of a large wild burst forth towards where Rijin stood. It was fast, faster than any many could have been, the speed it came forth it could have easily taken any of their heads off but instead it only caught air. He collapsed into a table on the other side of the room, completely demolishing it. The wolf laid just outside of the light causing it to be partly visible to them. It began to stir and stood itself up once more. It stretched out its bonet limbs and arched its spinny fur covered back. Its torso to be at least 8 feet long with arms almost 4 feet long. It turned its head towards the group revealing its face for the first time. A black wolf-like head with matted fur that seemed to peel off. Its eyes glowed a deep and foreboding red. It snarled, showing its long and sharp teeth.
"A night howler…" Qrow said, stunned. The memories began to flood into his head.
"Qrow come on, it's not that bad," Haldrin said. He laughed at his brother who was trying to ignore him. A young Qrow was hiding under the covers of his bed hoping to convince his brother he was asleep, evidently it wasn't working.
"Qrow there is no reason to be scared," Haldrin said.
Qrow quickly threw the covers off of his head, "easy for you to say!" Haldrin laughed even louder than he had before. Qrow hadn't realized it yet but his brother got what he wanted, confirmation.
"Ah so the sleeping little prince has suddenly awakened?" Haldrin said, pulling at Qrow's cheek.
Qrow slapped his hand away, "I just didn't want to go alright…" Qrow said, averting his brother's eyeline.
Haldrin ruffled Qrow's hair with his hand and turned his brother's head to face him. Haldrin had a deep sincerity in his eyes that had always perplexed Qrow. He never looked concerned or wrathful, and even in his jest he looked like someone worth trusting; even if he wasn't in that moment. He had a large smile on his face emanating joy.
"It's ok to be scared, but it's not ok to act out of fear," Haldrin said, reaching out his hand, "come on, I'll be with you the whole way."
Qrow hesitated, he grabbed at his shirt coyly, but he knew he wasn't going to refuse his brother. He shakily reached out his hand and grabbed his brothers. While Qrow continued to shake, Haldrin held a firm grip. Qrow got out of bed and walked out of his room with Haldrin. They continued down the hall together, going through corridor after corridor. Haldrin continued to lead him forward with Qrow following closely behind but still hesitant. The pair eventually came to a large set of wooden doors guarded by two men and their beastial companions.
The two men looked at the princes, "a little late are we?" One of the guards said.
"Preparation takes time," Haldrin said, still smiling. The guard chuckled and nodded to the other. The two men began to push open the door. At first the room was pitch black, nothing could be seen, but then a flicker of lanterns began to pop up around the room revealing its form. Haldrin led Qrow into the hall. The walls of the hall were lined with rows of horizontal shelves that angles themselves so the contents of the shelf could be clearly seen. Each row held the same thing: talismans. Each shelf was covered with many different talismans of shapes and sizes but they all had one thing in common; a gemstone with the visage of a different beast on each of them. Qrow was familiar with these lockets, he had seen them regularly throughout Fearsh, but it was natural to fear obtaining his own. At the end of the hall lay a circular amphitheater that had a circular gravel pit at the bottom. Standing in the pit were two people, Rashom the Enguvil of Fearsh (as well as Qrow's father) and Terroc, his head advisor. They both turned to look at Haldrin and Qrow.
"Are we ready to begin now?" Terroc asked.
Haldrin looked to Qrow. Qrow felt the pangs of anxiety in his chest but he still nodded his head in agreement. Terroc motioned for Qrow to come down to the amphitheater. Qrow gave his brother another look and the two began to walk down together.
"You are not needed, Haldrin," Terroc said. Qrow was afraid of this response. His heart began to race.
"Actually it would seem that I am," Haldrin said, continuing to walk. His smile didn't waiver for a second. Terroc looked displeased but Rashom waved it off. The two brothers stood before the two tall and imposing men as they fixed their gaze on Qrow. Haldrin kept his hands, steadfast and strong, on his brother's shoulders.
"Based on the alignments we have tested, as well as the nature of your arcane talents, we have three talismans that have been chosen for you," Rashom said. Rashom nodded towards Turroc who took out a long wooden case. He raised the lid of the case to reveal three different talismans. One was pitch black with a red stone and the face of a wolf, one was a dark brown with the face of a bird, and the last was a deep red with a yellow gemstone with no face at all. Qrow looked at the three carefully. He found himself intently glaring at the black talisman. Something about its features stood out to Qrow, he reached his hand towards it and picked it up as he did so, the brown talisman next to it began to shake.
"Interesting choice," Rashom said.
"What is it?" Qrow asked.
"Let's find out," Rashom said as he took the talisman. He held it out in front of him and said, "Dinas." A black rune showed across the face of the gemstone, suddenly a dark mist began to curl and form from the talisman, spilling onto the ground. Qrow instinctively tried to back up but Haldrin wouldn't let him. He looked to his brother with fear in his eyes but Haldrin didn't meet his gaze. By all appearances Haldrin was calm and collected, but he had sweat running down his brow. The mist began to coalesce itself into a form. A long, spiny black creature with tufts of hair came together from the smoke. It looked like it was straight out of a nightmare. Its red eyes glared at Qrow with an intense hatred. It began to snarl and slowly walked towards Qrow, it was stalking him.
"Show no fear son," Rashom said. But that was almost impossible. Qrow could feel his heart beating ever quicker by the moment. Black mist continued to seep out of every part of the creature. The thing looked like it was made of shadow and bone. Qrow began to panic, he wanted to leave but Haldrin wouldn't let him move. Qrow started to squirm, he started to try and get away, fear ran rampant within his mind.
"Haldrin…" he said weakly and in fear. Haldrin looked down at him and they finally met eye to eye, there was fear in Haldrin's eyes as well.
"NO!" Rashom yelled. But it was already too late. The night howler smelled his fear and wanted a taste. It leaped forward trying to pounce on Qrow. Its red eyes came through the air in a flash towards the two. Qrow felt his worst nightmares become imagined as the beast continued forward. But then suddenly, Qrow felt himself get thrown out of the way. He was traveling through the air when he felt the hard stone steps of the amphitheater slam against his back.
"AGH!" Qrow cried out in pain. He felt a pulsing heat come over him, he might have broken something. As he regained focus he finally saw the scene in all its horror. The night howler had clamped itself down onto Haldrin's arm. Haldrin had luckily activated a defense spell just in time but it wasn't enough. The deep fangs of the best sunk into his skin. Haldrin winced in pain as the beast threatened to take off his arm.
"Haldrin!!" Qrow yelled. He began to try and get up but the flare of pain came once again, he couldn't move. The night howler turned its attention to Qrow.
"NO!" Haldrin screamed, "Father do something!" But Rashom didn't move. He just stood there with Turroc as they watched the display. Qrow knew why, the ritual wasn't complete yet. It didn't matter if he was a prince or not, these were the conditions to begin with, and Qrow knew it. Haldrin's tried to keep the night howlers attention but it had already shifted, he began to loosen his grip upon Haldrin's arm, blood came pouring out of the gashes.
Suddenly, Qrow heard a voice say, "Tenatus!" And he suddenly swooped away. A large creature with the face of the lion had grabbed him by his shirt and began to quickly and forcefully drag him down the hallway. The creature burst through the doors of the hall and spread its wings. The last thing Qrow remembered before passing out was the sound of shattered glass, and the feeling of the rushing wind.
But Qrow wasn't a child anymore. He smiled at the beast as it snarled in the corner. "You're smaller than you remember," Qrow said. He got lower to the ground and readied his dagger as the creature fixed its eyes on him. In a flash, they both jumped. Qrow immediately thought of the rune he was looking for and his arm was covered in shadows. He swiped it forward just before colliding with the beast and vanished into the realm of shadows around him. The beast smashed into another table confused and disoriented while Qrow watched from his shadowy plane. He could see Robin Readying his trident to attack so he knew it was time to strike. He ran swiftly across the room taking out two throwing knives as he ran. He jumped off of Rijin's back and swiped the air once again bringing himself out of the shadows. Rijin's trident missed but Qrow was ready with the next attack, he pounced down on the creature throwing his two knives forward as he fell. They pierced the beast's shoulders causing streams of blood to begin to fall, it fell back a little wounded. Qrow readied himself to plunge the dagger into the beast but at the last second, it dissipated. Qrow hid nothing but the hard wooden floor beneath him.
"Dammit," he said, pulling his dagger from the ground.
"What is that thing," Rijin asked.
"It's a night howler. Prize Ranking on the beast is almost 300 gold. Needless to say it's dangerous, but luckily it's alone…a pack is much worse," Qrow said.
"How did it get away?" Rijin asked.
"It can become intangible at times. Makes it hard to hit. It's blending in with the darkness around us…stay alert," Qrow said.
"Ah well if that's the case," Fuju pulled out his wand and held it into the air, "dissipate," he said loudly. An orb of white magic formed at the end of his wand, similar to his light spell. He took his wand and swung the ball forward into the darkness.
"What is that going to…" Qrow began to ask but his question was quickly answered. The fog of darkness began to be absorbed into the ball, like a vortex as it was sent across the room. Everything became easier to see as the spell continued to consume. Qrow was impressed for a moment, until he realized the night howler must have anticipated this, they were incredibly intelligence creatures. As some of the mist began to be absorbed, it coalesced into the air quickly, revealing the night howlers form. It used the force of the spell to launch itself across the room toward the group of men. The launch very reminiscent of the night howler Qrow had encountered before, its heavy red eyes seared into his Brian.
"RIJIN SMITE!" Qrow yelled, and he took off across the room. Rijin quickly stamped his trident against the ground, engulfing it in even more intense golden flames and hurled it towards the beast. Qrow thought of a rune in his mind and his entire body was covered in darkness, because of the abundance of shadows he moved faster than he ever could have before. He made it just under the beast as it fully formed itself and slid across the ground, driving the blade into the beast gut as he slid. He cut down its length and then flourished his dagger to wipe away the blood. The charging beast became disoriented and began to spill blood across the ground, but before it could adjust or react, Rijin's trident pierced the beast head and sent it flying backwards piercing the head and the body into the wall on the other side of the room. It howled in pain for a moment but then was engulfed in golden flames, until it completely burned to a crisp and laid as ashes on the ground. Rijin opened his hand and the Trident disappeared and then reappeared in his hand once again.
Qrow took a deep breath, it was over. He smiled as if he had overcome a long lost fear. But the anxiety was still there. What was it? Why was he still cautious? Was it because it was real? Was it because it felt too easy?…or was it because he had never seen a night howler by itself…why hadn't the fog dissipated fully yet. Qrow looked around frantically and noticed that the fog of darkness was still thick within the room, even after Fuju's spell. Killing the beast should have gotten rid of the darkness completely and yet it continued to fill the room, why? Unless…
As Qrow thought he heard the pounce but it was too late. He couldn't see the form of the beast but he could see its red eyes coming down on him. He felt like a little boy once again. He knew he was helpless, he didn't have time to activate another spell, he was powerless.
"HOLY VOW!" A new voice yelled.