Steeple sends the Will'o the wisp motes into the forest, searching for the two monsters who he cannot quite see yet. He has them flare brightly, revealing the attackers to the others, and then moves them towards the two creatures that he recognized from Anton's description as the two "leaders" in an effort to distract them.
He easily makes his way around the side without being molested. Not a single arrow flies his way - Steeple might be surprised at this - or perhaps concerned that they are so unafraid of him getting closer.
One of the monsters then rapidly begins drawing and losing arrows - he does so with such incredible, inhuman speed as to almost make the others gasp. Odi, still mounted, had been about to charge into the forray - when a miniature volley of three arrows, each aimed directly for his head, strike him - bypassing the majority of his armor, save for a single chain-mail wrapped head.
He falls from his horse, killed almost instantly - but the monster is not done. He takes four other arrows, lighting them very quickly from a source no one else quite sees - and then pauses, looking over the others.
Kiril, seeing the danger to himself, summons dark tendrils from the shadows around himself - two he summons directly form his clothing, wrapping it around his body for protection. The other three he summons around three of the archers that the will'o the wisps have illuminated - though none are caught in the grasp of the tendrils, dodging aside before they could be grabbed by the terrifyingly strong shadows.
It's then that one of the bowmen darts ahead of his group, throwing something at the caravan carrying the Librum and other supplies for the castle - then the distinct smell of pitch fills the air, and the cotterie can only watch as the monster fires one of his fiery arrows into the wagon, sending the entire thing up in flames.
The bowman who had thrown the pitch on the wagon throws a second bottle over the mercenary guarding it (one of the less injured ones) - and he soon joins the wagon he was charged with protecting in terrible flaming destruction. He screams, running forward and dropping his weapon - moving horribly close to Heldric's wagon, almost sending the Nosferatu into the clutches of the Red Fear.
Moving into his wagon, an unsettled Heldric immediately hides himself - ordering Andreas to go out and fight the bowmen, while Mr. Whitey assumes that Heldric wants the awesome protection of the albino crocodile ghoul.
He then moves outside unseen - as far as he can tell, none know where he is, and no arrows are fired at him. He moves by Lucien's wagon, waiting for the Tzimisce and his knight to make a move so as to take advantage of the hunters when their backs would be turned.
Daniel quickly barks an order to Vincent before beginning his transformation into a sparrow. His bones begin cracking and reforming as he starts to change shape.
Carinus takes a quick look out of his wagon and then dives out, moving lithely and using the large, lumbering things as cover before sliding unnoticed into the forest area.
Two of the archers take up their bows and fire again, driving a follow into the remaining mercenaries, all of whom go down - this time permanently. Only the flaming one is still alive, and he's rather doomed.
three others also move forward, ahead of everyone else and closer to the coterie - throwing more and more bottles of pitch at the wagons - everything is struck, the bottles shattering on the enclosed vehicles and casting pitch everywhere. Worse, Lucien notes that Ennius is struck by a bottle.
Of course, even as he notes Ennius' vulnerability, one of the flaming arrows strikes him. The vampire knight bursts into flame, his armor soaked with the heavy substance.
The knight holds his ground, but Lucien can only imagine the terror overwhelming him as the flames ate at his skin.
Vincent, seeing that each of the wagons had been covered in pitch, immediately grabs his brother and his transforming domitor and jumps out - just in time too, as Daniel's wagon also bursts into flame right around then. Daniel's driver moves too slowly to get out, and he can hear the ghoul's screams from within the thing.
An arrow passes by Lucien's head, lightly cutting a cheek, and another strikes his wagon - though the Tzimisce gratefully notes that the arrow is not on fire.
Sylvian then acts, moving with surprising alacrity away from his dead horse. Death is in his eyes and one of the bowmen who has yet to attack knows it, startled, he trips backwards as he sees the Toreador's fury. Sylvian greatly enhances his strength and, in the violent throws of his Frenzy, dashes through into the forest and attacks with reckless abandon, hacking apart the terrified bowman with two blows from his scimitar.
Lucien, steeling his courage against the flames devouring his bound slave, leaps off of his pitch covered wagon and onto the dirt, his bones cracking and his beautiful visage changing into a form so terrible that it shames the two creatures that lead the bowmen against the coterie. He stands up, massive, powerful, an inhuman beast, and roars out his challenge as his blood burns in his long dead veins, his muscles turning to iron. He charges into the forest to take the bowmen - and the second monster, until now inactive, meets his challenge. Dropping the bow he was to use the creature's body shifts and breaks and cracks as he rapidly forms into a dark, sleek wolf. The beast darts out from the trees and towards Lucien, intercepting him - and the two combatants clash.
Lucien brings his now comically undersized kopis down on the wolf's head as it attacks him, the blade opening a small and bloodless streak in the wolf's shoulder.
It's then that Lucien realizes what they are fighting - these "creatures" are vampires.
The wolf darts closer to Lucien and sinks his fangs into Lucien's calf, shaking his head vigorously to make greater tears in the vampire's flesh.
Barrabas gets out of his wagon, spotting the assembled enemies and grimacing terribly. He gets off the wagon and moves off - possibly following Carinus?
Wilhelm, having been pulled into a position of safety by Vincent, looks out from around his wagon at the fighting - he stares grimly at the vampire
that fights Lucien, placing a curse on the Cainite.
Ennius, having resisted Rotshreck, is still on Farking fire. He rips his flaming armor off, stripping himself of all natural protection as he does so. There are slight burn marks on his person, but not nearly anything as terrible as there should have been given what just happened.
From inside Heldric's wagon, Andreas "sneaks" out, leaping from the wagon with such force that he actually rocks the thing back, landing right in the center of the enemy forces. He immediately grabs bowman two's surprised head and mashes his skull into a nearby tree.
Last to act, the schlacta gets off the wagon and charges ahead to assist its master. It strikes at a nearby bowman, deformed hands raking across a tree, as the archer dodges, leaving long claw marks.
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Topic: Chapter 1: Dark Tides Rising (Read 302774 times)