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Darkseeker
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Although Gregory's plan was a big risk, Lyo was content with the fact that he didn't have to pack up and move. Things were back to normal, and he didn't have that threat of exposure hanging over his head. Of course, now this meant Gregory was putting more pressure on him and the others. They needed to prepare and perfect their weapons. Everyone was working overtime. Which was something Lyo was not enjoying. He expected riches and less work, not empty pockets and double the work. He already threathened Gregory that this whole deal with the King better not fall through. Some of the men even backed Lyo up. Everyone was expecting at least something with their new found alliance in a high place. Gregory went on to claim riches would come once they knocked down their first enemy dragon from the skies. Lyo's newest task was collecting large quanties of resources. Their instructions were to shove a piece of parchment paper in shopowners faces and demand they comply. Said parchment contained the Kings writing, that backed up the hunters demands. To put it simply. To put it even simplier, they were raiding. Towns and villages a like. Anything and everything they come across. Their ticket in was of course the parchment signed by the King himself. Now their usual illegal activities were now legal. At least in their eyes. It was the quickest way to attain what they needed. Although the Dragon Hunters had the numbers, they couldn't complete what needed to be done in the allotted time they had. Arriving at the same gates they'd visited a mere two weeks ago, Lyo pulled the reins on his horse. Making the abnormally large war horse come to a halt. Lyo was dressed in light weight leather armor. That was mix of black and dark brown. A long cloak was attached to the back. Striking amber eyes gazed up at the large castle, before dropping to the large front doors. Gregory dismounted and sauntered to the front. This time around the guards did not stop them from entering. A few of the guards watched them with wary eyes. They looked like a dangerous bunch, even without weapons. After a few silent moments, Gregory returned, a sly smile on his lips. Something in his hands. He stopped next to Alaric's horse, handing him the items he recieved from the King. Gregory swung his body onto his horse, and with a quick motion of his hand they were off. Gregory lead the small group of six out of the walls of the Kingdom. They continued until they were out of sight. Arriving at a fork in the road, Gregory peeled of to the right, while the rest of the men went left. "Don't disappoint!" Greg called from over his shoulder before disappearing down the path. Emil was leading the men. Lyo stayed in the back of the group. As if in sync the small group picked up speed. Hoof beats hit the ground hard, as the men pushed their horses into a hard gallop. They needed to arrive at the first meeting point within two hours to set the plan into action. There they would assemble with a larger group of men. Those men would have carriages with them, as well as riders. They needed large numbers and carriages to lug around the supplies they ransacked. Of course, the group went with the inconspicuous route as to not be noticed by bystanders. With one hand Lyo pulled his hood up over his head. The hood was large and covered his forehead. Pulling up the facial covering, he disguised his identity. Lyo packed light for the trip. Only having one bulky pack, he called it good. Of course, he had his weapons hidden from view on his horse. So did the other men. They didn't want to attract anymore unwanted attention from civilians while traveling within the Kingdom walls. Keeping a steady hand on the reins, he reached back. With a skillful hand, he unraveled the thick blanket that was tied to his pack. Carefully he grabbed his crossbow and pulled the strap of his head. He adjusted it to a comfortable position, before tightening the straps securing it in place. He did the same with his sword, now strapped to his left hip. He'd done this many times before. If the men kept up this pace they might arrive with a few minutes to spare.
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Darkseeker
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As Ethelia mounted her dark bay horse she couldn't help but think what a horrible idea this was. Her father would put her head on a spike when, or rather, if, she arrived home. But a small part of her was excited. Every day was exactly the same. She needed some adventure, then everything would go back to normal. Besides, she needed to see what the dragons hunters were up to. She followed about a half a mile behind. She couldn't see or hear anyone, but because of the spring rains the ground was slightly soft, and she could follow the horse's hoof prints. She kept her horse on the path, taking her time gazing around the forest. The chattering of squirrels and the chirping of birds filled the air. She should get out more often, this was lovely. Then everything went to shit when she came to a fork in the road. There were prints going in both directions. She couldn't observe closely from horseback, so she quickly dismounted. She crouched to look at the tracks closer. One path seemed to have more prints than the others. She decided to go to the left with more tracks, hoping that's the direction they went.
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Darkseeker
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The time flew by. Emil slowed as they were reaching the location where the others were hidden. As if on cue the men began emerging from the woods. Emil nodded his greetings to the men. The group growing in numbers. Now a little more than a dozen of them moved together in sync. They had about four more hours before sundown. A little before that time they'd make camp somewhere and continue bright and early. They didn't want to tire the horses too much. "So who's hunting dinner?" Emil spoke up over the many hoof-beats. His gaze looked over the large group of men. Some protested, making excuses as to why they couldn't do it this time around and such. Others avoided making eye contact with Emil. Lyo remained quiet for a moment, before reluctantly assigning the task to himself. They'd starve if he hadn't. "You bastards owe me." He growled, before veering off the dirt trail and into the woods. He could hear a few hearty laughs, as he disappeared into the woods. Lyo slowed his horse, Zamir, as he didn't want to run into any trees. Or potentially injure his horse. This horse was one of his prized horses. He owned it since it was a newborn foal and trained it himself. The horse didn't spook easily like others, that would toss their rider off after seeing a damned leaf fall from a tree branch. Reaching behind him, he grabbed his crossbow and placed it in his lap. One hand loosely laid on his muscular thigh, as he eyed the forest ground. Tracking game was one of his specialties, seeing as he'd been hunting since he was young. He learned very young that meals wouldn't appear in front of him at the dinner table. Normally, when traveling with the group one man was volunteered to hunt dinner for the rest to save travel time. They didn't have the time to stop and hunt for game. Time was of the essence. Usually the one hunting dinner caught up to the rest of the group, once he'd successfully caught a meal enough to feed over a dozen full grown men. The giant wound on Lyo's back was healing beautifully. The large claw mark in the middle was still stitched, but his brother removed the stitches on the other two, as it began healing itself. He could move around more freely and it was much more painless. One of the wounds on the end was already just a sliver now, half the size of what it started as. He remembered how miserable it had been, when his brother and him had gone back home. Lyo could barely handle the chores on the homestead. Alaric wasn't too pleased, but begrudgingly picked up the majority of the chores. After walking in quite a bit, Lyo halted, swiftly swinging a leg over, he was on the ground. Tying the reins to a tree, he patted Zamir's neck before continuing on foot. Lyo still had his hood over his head and mask up. Amber eyes trained on the ground, in search of tracks and every so often he’d check his surroundings. He’d be happy getting at least two big game and a few smaller game. After a few moments he managed to get a few squirrels and a rabbit. Stalking even deeper into the woods, he heard branches snapping. Dropping low to the ground, he gazed in the direction of the sound. Crossbow ready with a bolt already in. A large buck walked through the heavy brush. It grazed on a few overly green bushes. It hadn’t seen him, yet. Lyo steadied his breathing. With slow movements, he moved to get a better angle. Tilting his head slightly, he looked down the barrel of the crossbow. After a few quiet moments, he let the trigger go. The bolt whizzed through the air, before hitting true. The buck made a pained noise before falling limp to the ground. Satisfied, he straightened up and strapped the crossbow to his back. Stalking over to where the buck lay, he stood over it. Debating how he wanted to haul the large animal. Crouching down, he grabbed the legs. In one quick motion, he swung the dead buck onto his broad shoulders. He adjusted it so he could comfortably carry it back to Zamir.
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Darkseeker
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Ethelia followed the path, looking down every once in a while to ensure the group was still going the same direction she was. The sweet sounds of the forest drug Ethelia into a daze, a small smile playing on her lips. It could have been five minutes or five hours later when a multitude of voices broke the silence. Some of what sounded like arguing and laughter. The noises brought Ethelia back to her senses. She quickly flipped her hood up. The noises sounded very distant, still probably a fourth of a mile away. She was tempted to keep going, but she didn't want to know what would happen if she got caught. Even if she had her ability and decent weaponry skills, she was greatly outnumbered by the sounds of the voices. She decided to continue on for a little bit and back track to find a camp. The whole forest seemed to go silent. Ethelia winced as the sound of her horse's hoofbeats bounced off the trees. She quickly stopped her horse when branches snapped to her left. Her horse tensed, picking up on her fear. She blew out a breath when her eyes fell on a huge buck about fifty feet away. The buck grazed contently, not paying attention it it's surrounds whatsoever. The forest was still deathly quiet. Ethelia still couldn't help but feel apprehensive, and she felt her horse's muscles tense again, as if bracing for something. A whizzing sound broke the silence, and not a second later a bolt struck the buck. The buck made a pained bawling noise before collapsing. The sudden noise had spooked her horse, and he pranced on his toes, his hindquarters swinging back and forth. Ethelia struggled to get him under control, gritting her teeth as she soothed him quietly. Someone was here, and she needed to get out of here before they found here. She was starting to extremely regret this decision. She turned her horse on a dime and urged him into a fast trot, hoping to get out of sight fast but not make to much noise. Only when she believed she was out of earshot did she kick him into a gallop, praying whomever was there hadn't heard her.
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Darkseeker
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Lyo was trekking back to where he'd left Zamir, when he heard it. Twigs snapped under the weight of a heavy animal. He paused, scanning the area he heard the noise. He wasn't alone that was for sure, but he couldn't tell if it was just an animal or a human. Picking up the pace, he kept glancing in the direction of the noise. As he got closer to Zamir he began hearing heavy hoof beats, like one of a horse. That was strange, none of the men should have stayed behind. He should be utterly alone in the woods. Paranoia gripped him. People normally didn't use this trail as it was known to be dangerous. Everyone knew not to travel alone on bare paths for fear of being attacked by bandits. Finally, Zamir came into view. The horse looked relaxed, as he waited for his owner. Quickly tying down the buck on the back of Zamir, he climbed back up onto the war horse. He turned towards where he had last heard hoof beats. Picking up the pace, he searched the empty woods. He could have sworn he heard something. The sky was beginning to darken, soon the woods would be casted into darkness. Lyo slowed when he saw fresh hoof prints in the forest ground. His amber eyes narrowed, as he analyzed them. His jaw clenched, someone was here. A part of him wanted to investigate, but the other part was telling him to head back to the group. The way the prints lead was in the opposite direction. Clearly, if someone was out here, they were up to no good. The thing was Lyo was just as dangerous, with ill intentions as well. Deciding against his better judgment, he followed the prints.
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Darkseeker
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Ethelia kept her horse at a steady pace until the lingering paranoia dissipated. The sense of being watched finally disappeared. She was slightly annoyed to find that she had backtracked a great distance more than she would have liked to. It would take her ages to catch up with them now. The sun was slowly setting, casting the forest in rays of orange. To anyone else it would have been beautiful. But Ahren had never failed to tell her spooky stories about this forest when she was a child. Missing children, possessed dragons and wizards. She knew none of it was true, but there was a great deal of crimes committed here, and traveling alone probably wasn't the best idea. Her horse's neck was lathered in sweat and his sides heaved as he tried to get air. Her guilt for pushing the animal so hard was enough to make her dismount and untack the poor creature. She led him off of the path and tied him to a tree, deciding this was probably the best camp she was going to get. She hadn't had much time to pack, but she had been able to pack a bedroll and some blankets. She wasn't terribly hungry, so she decided so save her food for when she really needed it. She unrolled the bedroll and laid the blankets on top of it, hoping to warm it slightly before she went to bed. By the time she was finished setting up camp, the sun was just hovering above the horizon. No one had found here yet. Yet being the key word. She still deemed it to early to go to bed, and, even if she wouldn't admit it, a twinge of fear still sparked at every noise.
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The sun was setting fast, but Lyo was still determined to figure out who or what was in these woods. He continued following slowly, as to not lose the tracks. Eyes flickering up to check his surroundings. There was a part of him that thought this could be a trap, but something else told him to keep going. At this point he was all in for figuring this out, the others were too far now. They could find their own food tonight. Plus he'd meet up with them at some point, once he solved this little mystery. Having been so trained on the tracks, he barely noticed the clouds darkening the sky. He narrowed his eyes, paying close attention. Lyo had gone too far to end up losing the tracks now. Reaching a sudden turn of the tracks, he paused. Glancing up he squinted his eyes, as he scanned the dark forest. Feeling a few raindrops fall onto his cloak, he glanced up at the dark sky. He cursed under his breath. From the looks of the clouds it was going to pour. From the looks of it he could see a large creature swaying slightly. That could have been the horse he was tracking all this way. It was quite far in there. Climbing off of Zamir, he lead the horse into the woods. Leaving the horse a few feet into the woods, he made his way closer on foot. He didn't bother tying the reins, in case this went haywire. His steps, surprisingly silent for someone his sheer size. Of course, he kept his face covered, as he moved closer. Lyo scanned the surroundings, it didn't look like a set up. No one was hiding in the woods ready to jump out at him. Just like he had expected the rain picked up, now completely showering him and whoever was just a few feet away. Now that he was sure they were alone, he approached. His strides confident, a dangerous aura surrounded him. Thunder began rumbling loudly along the rain. Pulling out a dagger, he walked the last few steps. Halting, he had a clear view of the person. They laid on a blanket. Lyo was in clear view of the person, but they didn't seem to be facing him. Hell, he probably looked like the reaper. His enormous frame cloaked in black, a hood shielded his eyes. Lighting struck the trees nearby, lighting up the dark woods. The dagger in his gloved hand glinted with the sudden light, before casting them in the dark. Seeing as the person seemed harmless, his goal was to scare them off and away from here.
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Ethelia groaned as it started sprinkling. She was so busy setting up her ramshackle camp that she didn't even notice the clouds roll in. It was pitch black when it started pouring. Ethelia swore under her breath as she pulled the hood of her cloak up, hoping to shield herself from the worst of it. Tonight was going to suck. She sat cross legged on her bedroll, starting to regret this decision for the fifth time today. It was just her luck that she would get caught in a thunderstorm with no shelter in sight. She gasped as the forest lit up with a flash of lightning. It cast the trees in an eerie glow, but it was gone quicker than it came. She flinched at the following crack of thunder. She heard an anxious snort from her horse. The sound of stomping hooves and fearful whinnies prompted her to stand, turning toward her animal to calm him. She barely contained her scream when lightning struck again, illuminating a dark figure cloaked in black. It looked like death itself had come to claim her. She didn't miss the way the lightning flashed off of the blade of a dagger. She quickly unsheathed one of her own blades, unable to distinguish the figure. The shadows kept their covered face hidden, as she was sure it did hers. She made a quick, split second decision. She fired a ice blast at the figure, hoping to injure them but not kill. In her haste, the blast hit a nearby tree. Okay, a warning then. It was hard to contain her fear as she summoned her power again, waiting under her skin for when she wielded it. Edited at June 11, 2024 08:22 PM by _Moonshadow_
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Lyo couldn't have been more wrong. This person was not as harmless as he had previously assumed. His eyes widen slightly, at what looked to be a shard of ice that manifested from the person's hand. Looking at the tree trunk that took the hit, he decided in that moment he was grateful that wasn't his body. Gods know what that would have done to him. So he was up against a damned sorcerer. Gods help him. As the sky darkened again, he took that opportunity to disappear. Sneaking from tree to tree, he grabbed the horses reins that were tied to the tree. Cutting the leather, the horse reared back before taking off. Now he took away the Sorcerer's chance of escape. If they wanted to get away from him, they'd have to run. He could hear a light hum from the dangerous individual. As if their magic was regenerating and they were getting ready for another attack. Grabbing his dagger by the tip of the blade, he tossed it effortlessly across where the person stood. The hope of that move was to distract them from where he was hidden, but it did not happen that way. Instead, the cloaked figure ran in the opposite direction. He cursed, as the forest lit up again by another lightning strike. He gave chase, his foot steps heavy, as he sprinted behind them. Dagger still in hand. The rain attacked his back, completely soaking his cloak. Edited at June 12, 2024 05:39 PM by Ylva
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The figure seemed to be distracted by the blast. Her power surged in her again, ready she be released. But when she looked back, the person was gone. She looked around frantically, trying to find the person. They seemed to be made of darkness itself with the way they moved. She thought she saw something behind a tree, but the next moment it disappeared. The next thing she knew, her horse was gone. Running in the opposite direction. She swore, knowing if she wanted to catch him she would have to get through this mysterious person first. She sucked in a breath as a dagger whizzed past her ear, landing in a tree trunk behind her. Ethelia couldn't stop herself from turning to look where exactly it hit. The rain still soaked into her clothes and her cloak was heavy from the rain. It would limit her mobility, but she wasn't about to reveal her identity. She was still about ten feet away from the figure, but she could tell they were at least six feet in height and outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds. She didn't need to be a math scholar to know that those weren't good odds, power or no. So, like a coward, she ran. She turned on her heel and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. The rain made it nearly impossible to see along with the darkness, and mud splashed as her feet hit the ground. She nearly lost her footing multiple times and narrowly avoided running into a tree. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked. She looked back to see the cloaked figure following her, and gaining quickly. She flung another blast of ice behind her, but once again she missed her mark. If she made it put of this alive, she really needed to work on target practice. She ran and ran, her lungs screaming for more air as her chest heaved. The rain had completely soaked her, but it poured down relentlessly. Another strike of lightning illuminated the forest, just in time for her to see the giant ravine spanning ahead of her. Or rather, to late. By the time she seen it and recognized what it was, it was too late to stop herself. Her booted feet skidded through the slippery grass and mud, but it wasn't enough. She fell over the edge. A scream tore through her throat as she she fell, her hands scrambling for something to grab on to. Mud slipped through her fingers as she rolled down the side of the ravine. Her fingers grabbed onto some rocks briefly, but they were slick and she couldn't keep her grip. She hit the bottom with a thud, mud flying as she laid still on her side, not sure if she was able to move. She just laid there, the breath rushing to her lungs as the adrenaline left her body. (I'll leave it there so Lyo has so time to interact) Edited at June 12, 2024 06:08 PM by _Moonshadow_
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