Runner
Burned Village of Beldeth
There was no need for torches tonight. No need for lanterns to illuminate their foes in the dark. Their enemy was easy to see in the gloom of sunset. Flames licked at bones long since dead. They flickered in the air like false stars.
Runner couldn't wait to make it dark.
Luck must have been on their side today. Everything was going well. Which, naturally, made Runner nervous. Nothing EVER went well for her. It was always one fuck up after another. She was just holding her breath, waiting for the moment it all goes to shit.
Beldeth was overrun by flames. Like she had told them before, the village was ruined. Most everything flammable had been burned to ash. Some of the bigger trees and sturdier homes were still burning. Runner had been in some bad places before, but this was new.
The village was made of a cluster of homes. They were just hovels and cottages by the look of their burnt-out shells. The farms had been near the outside of the village, spaced further apart to make as much use of the village's land. The treeline had been pushed back to make room for animals to graze and for crops to grow. Neither had survived the attack. The middle of the village was more dense, but that was only relative to the farms. Compared to any city or even town, the village was downright tiny. It was in that middle their quarry lay.
"This close enough?" Runner mumbled to Yule. They had managed to lure the few shambling bones away that they could, they were easy enough to take out, but any more would likely draw the attention of the beast.
"I estimate that I will need to get another dozen feet closer," He mumbled back. All of them were crouched behind a stone wall that once belonged to one of the nearby burnt farms. Ash clung to their clothes, their hair, and their faces, yet no one dared to complain. Not even the prissy dwarf. It was there to mask them from sight and smell. It would help keep them alive, end of story.
"See that flickering? That's where it is," She pointed to where she caught a glimpse of that thing. Duokyon. Demon-dog was a better name. Not a hellhound, she repeated mockingly in her head. Her Yule imitation was spot-on in her imagination.
"Are you sure we cannot ambush it?" Selm asked.
"I love a knife in the ribs as the next gal, but that thing will smell us before we get close. Demon or not, I bet it still has the nose of a dog," Runner said, looking to Yule for confirmation. He nodded in agreement. "Besides, you all aren't really that sneaky."
Selm looked like she wanted to argue for a moment, but sighed in resignation. She was quieter than Ina, maybe even Baz, but the dwarf was still much louder than what could be accepted here. An ambush can backfire dramatically in an instant if done wrong. The mugged becomes the mugger and all that shit.
"Just hold it off long enough for us to finish up on our end. If you see an opening, take it. Otherwise, you must stay on the defensive," Yule explained. Everyone nodded in agreement. It was not the first time they had gone over this plan, but it was appreciated nonetheless. Having a plan at all did wonders for nerves.
"Scream if ye hurt. I'll do my best," Baz added. He looked between each of them intensely, lingering on Ina. "Don't die."
Eshah. There goes my plans for the evening.
With that, they charged.
The sound of spells being cast in quick succession by Yule faded behind them as Runner paced Ina across the village center. Selm hurried behind them, letting them take the lead forward. Meanwhile, Eldrig and Baz began hurling stones at the skeletons and generally creating a ruckus, drawing them away from the three sprinting ahead.
At least, they were mostly being drawn away from them. Ina's long steps thudded heavily against the ground. For as timid as she may be, she was no small target, especially while carrying that monstrously proportioned shield.
"Fuck," Runner muttered, watching two skeletons swerve towards Ina. She altered her course, ducking through a half-collapsed house to swing around their side as they charged headlong toward Ina. While out of view, she heard Ina plant her shield and wait for Runner to get into position, Selm skidding to a stop behind the dragonborn.
Runner popped out of the house to see one of the skeletons start hacking at the shield with a deformed blade, long since lost its form from the bone's constant heat. The other was clamoring past the shield, Ina doing her best to keep it between her and the two skeletons. Runner knew her target then.
She kicked off the remains of the outer wall with her full strength, sprinting at full speed towards the skeleton trying to get past the shield. When she thought she got close enough, she jumped and twisted her body, putting her feet first. Runner was grateful for the new boots the military had given her. They were effective at drop-kicking a bitch.
Her boots slammed into the side of the skeleton's skull. It simply crumbled then and there with no defense attempted at all, showing that it had not been expecting her at all. Runner rolled away from the smoldering bones pile, careful not to get caught on something that would burn her. The other skeleton had stopped its assault against an immovable wall to attempt a retaliatory strike against her.
"Swiftly, to arms!," Selm sang. Runner felt a burst of adrenaline run through her as the dwarf's magic took effect. It was only a momentary aid, but it was effective at getting Runner back on her feet and circling around the skeleton. Its skull was still trained upon her, meaning a direct assault wouldn't work the same as the first one. They needed to get moving, they still weren't in position.
Luckily for her, Selm hadn't just enhanced Runner. Ina's shield slammed into the skeleton from behind, knocking it sprawling across the ground. It scrabbled at the charred earth, trying to stand up. Ina put the shield between it and her and… leaned forward and fell. Onto the skeleton. Damn. With a crunch, the skeleton disappeared beneath the slab of wood and the big dragonborn girl. Ina had her eyes squeezed tight the whole time.
"Nice, but we gotta keep moving!" Runner said, taking only a second to appreciate Ina doing more than just defending.
The other two girls nodded in agreement, although Runner did see Ina's eyes linger on the flattened remnants of the skeleton she crushed. Well, part of the remnants. Some of the bone shards were stuck in the shield.
Barely half a minute had passed by the time they reached their destination. The point that was chosen was a little over halfway between where the skeletons were being drawn and the beast. Not too far from the rest, but far enough that they won't get gutted from behind. Hopefully. With all the burned and still burning ruins and trees, it was a little hard to get a good read on what was around them. The air had a constant haze of smoke and ash, drawing the occasional cough from one or all of them.
Before anyone could catch their breath, a synchronized howl emanated from the direction they were facing. Runner froze. It sounded horrible. A dozen times worse than the wolves that had chased her in the forest weeks ago. The horrid noise sounded like cracking timbers in a roaring blaze, magnified a dozen times over, and then twice more. She felt her legs quiver, actually quiver, in fear.
Ina whimpered, fully hiding behind her shield. She muttered something in a language Runner did not understand, it in itself sounding like guttural hisses and growls. While Runner's legs felt like jelly, Ina was ready to collapse. She had faced multiple of these in the first ambush and had been brutally eviscerated. Whatever Runner was feeling, the dragonborn felt a hundredfold.
Selm looked shaken too, but had quickly put on a brave face. Maybe it was because she stood behind them. Some nice body shields for the demon dog to munch on before it got its dwarven dessert. But there was no hiding the terrified eyes. Her voice held only a slight waver, all things considered. "Calm yourselves. Steel your nerves. We must hold fast."
The magic washed over them. Runner was getting used to the feeling of Selm's magic and the way it curled around her emotions. She couldn't say she particularly liked the way it messed with her head, but she could see its uses. Unlike the first couple of times Selm had used her magic on Runner, she didn't resist. If there was ever a time she needed to be rational, it was now.
Ina wasn't suddenly brave, but at the very least she didn't collapse. Her eyes were wide and her breath hurried. Her gaze was focused ahead, intent on the source of the sound.
Another howl sounded, and it was closer. By some miracle of circumstance, they still couldn't see the creature. But they could feel it. The air was getting hotter. The stench of the abyss was growing stronger. Their hearts were beating faster.
Runner needed to get into position. She ran off to the side, crouching down behind what used to be a fireplace. The brick pillar was the only remains of the cottage around her. She shoved herself into the dark crevice, wincing as she felt future bruises happen as she did so. Her part would come soon. For now, she could only watch.
Selm sat behind a fallen tree, the old thing long since burnt away and toppled by the same force that had once set it aflame. Runner could have picked a better hiding spot blindfolded. Selm's blonde hair was sticking out from where she hid like a sign saying "There's a delicious snack right here!" At least she had gotten it dirty enough that it wasn't a blazing beacon of attention.
No, Ina was the beacon of attention. She stood in the middle of the blackened road, her shield beside her. Her head held high and her chest puffed up, she didn't look like a raging coward for once. All of it an act; a lie to get the thing's attention carefully grown via Selm's magic. If one looked closely, one could see the erratic movements of Ina's yellow eyes and the nervous flinching that pervaded her figure.
And then it appeared.
Gods… there was no fucking way…
It stood tall. Taller than any horse Runner had ever seen. It was as wide as a cart and could peer into a second-story window should it stand on its hind legs. Ina stood several feet beneath its shoulders, a fact not lost to the girl by the way her shaking increased.
And the heat. The air around it distorted, adding to its fiendish aura. Each step it took dusted the ground with soot ash and embers. Each head, which looked less like wolf heads and more like fat-faced bulldogs, slobbered boiling liquid that smoldered in the night. Their jaws were horrid things, segmented into three parts, each covered in rows(yes, rows!) of jagged teeth. Its very body glowed. Monster of living flames indeed. Fire was practically pouring from its veins.
This… this thing was a demon. Undoubtedly a demon. Nothing that ugly could have come from this world. Ugly and sinister looking.
Ina stood transfixed, her eyes somehow wider than they had been moments ago. Runner couldn't tell if she was even breathing. Oh fuck, please tell me she didn't faint while standing?
The thing advanced down the street, slowly approaching its prey. Being stock still didn't exclude Ina from its attention. In fact, it looked just as transfixed on her as she was on it. A blackened tongue licked between one set of teeth hungrily. The other head sniffed the air, great huffs of breath drawn into its flat nose. It started salivating in greater amounts. By the way it was looking at her, Runner would say it remembered Ina. And it wanted a second taste. Shit.
Was that a good thing or a bad thing?
Something burbled in the throat of the left head. Its eyes, small pinpricks of crimson light, bulged in its head as the amount of molten saliva increased dramatically. What in the hells was it doing?
A massive gout of flame erupted from the head quickly crossing the twenty feet between it and Ina in less than a second. It bathed over the dragonborn, quickly hiding her from view. The orange torrent scorched the ground, and blew ash and dust up in a cloud away from the road. Runner was forced to cover her face, lest she inhale the dust or be blinded by it.
"Inathia!?" She head Selm cry out. Shit, shit, shit! Runner forced her eyes open and blinked away the stinging sensation that filled them. The demon's flames had lasted only a few seconds, but from the sheer heat that it had given off, Runner knew being in it for that long was death.
So when she saw Ina still standing there, only slightly injured, she was reasonably confused. Ina's clothes crumbled off of her scales, joining the ruins of Beldeth. The flames had obviously damaged Ina, by the way she was wincing in pain, but she was rather unaffected otherwise. What the-
The dyokyon's heads were both tilted, confused in a very dog-like manner. It too was stunned by the Ina's resistance. It had even stopped advancing on its next meal, one front paw raised to take a step.
The fire had served them better than the dyokyon, as it had snapped Ina out of whatever fear-induced trance she had been in. The dragonborn, still wincing in pain, lugged her shield in front of herself. Even if the flames would not kill her, the beast's jaws have proven to be effective once before.
The demon snarled from both heads. It took the defense as a challenge. Its claws dug into the road and with a burst of soot and flame as it lept at Ina. Such a massive beast moving at the speed that it did was unsettling.
With a heavy slam, the beast rammed into the shield, both heads snapping at the its bearer. Ina, for all her natural strength, was blown backwards by its charge. Somehow her grip did not let the shield fly from her, but her balance was decimated. She was sent stumbling down the road from the assault, the beast right on her heels.
Now it was Runner's turn.
"HEY! Fuckass! Over here!" Runner shouted, emerging from her hiding place. She chucked a rock at the demon, trying to get its attention away from Ina. "Scales are a bit tough, yeah!? Don't you want something nice and fleshy!?"
Runner will be the first to admit that it wasn't the most creative of taunts. Runner will also be the first to admit she didn't really care. She just needed to stick to the plan and give Ina a moment to recover.
One head snapped towards her while the other continued snarling at Ina. In less than half a second, a decision was made between the two. Both heads looked at Ina, the closest prey. The flesh they had tasted once before.
Well fuck.