middaeg | [ CATCH-ALL ] we're nocturnal creatures

[Iskandar has only to shake his sword to extinguish the flame. He shields the blade and moves closer.]

Well, then they are out of luck. Nest or no nest we're going through if that's where the trail leads.

[He doesn't have to do much more than simply to come closer for the aggressive bird to decide it's seriously outnumbered. Iskandar claps his hands and the noise is the last thing that finally convinces the bird to bolt.

What it leaves behind is indeed a group of three nests hidden behind the stones. Two of them thoroughly plundered. The indentations between small twigs and grass show the places were the eggs have been taken from. There's a single egg left in the last nest. A predator would have eaten the eggs on the spot. To pick clean a place like this, it takes a human.

Iskandar turns to Waver and Saber, his back to the nests and dense bushes that surround them.]

Someone was eggs hunting here. Waver, come closer. I'd hazard a guess it could have been our missing kids.

[If not for the surprise chicken before, he wouldn't have ignored the rustling in the bushes behind him.]

[ Saber follows Iskandar as the bird flees, the tip of her sword turned down. Apparently it wasn't going to be too much of a threat and instead they just had to contend with trying to pick up the trail. She listens with a slight frown. ]

So, the bird didn't drive them away. They drove it away - however temporarily.

[ Or perhaps had come upon it while the mother was elsewhere. She's about to continue when she picks up on that rustle. ]

Iskandar-

Oh. That does make sense... all right.

[ Waver nods, stepping closer when beckoned, and crouching at Iskandar's feet to examine the nest more closely. The scents are all jumbled now, and he's also lowered his guard.

It's a mistake.

This time, the creature that slams apart the foliage is much larger, and far more aggressive. It reeks of infection, practically oozing darkness, skin black and sagging on its bones as though half-rotten, half-mummified, crawling with shadows. Obsidian tusks shine in the dappled light filtering through the forest, and the Shade-boar shrieks, rearing up with its front cloven hooves flailing in the air before it, ready to come down on anything in its path. ]

Rider!

Edited 2020-07-15 07:30 (UTC)

[Iskandar grabs Waver by the collar of his shirt, lifts him to his feet and drags him back behind himself. He draws the sword again. Not enough time for the flames. Barely enough for a barrier before the beast roars and charges.

The barrier springs from the ground cutting the boar's path like a wall of translucent scales. If he had to cast a full spell instead of merely activating a stored one, they would be in real trouble. But Iskandar has the runes painted on his armour that light up under his touch exactly for this kind of situations.]

If I knew we'd be hunting boar, I would have take a spear! Or three!

[The boar slams into shimmering wall with a force that makes the ground tremble. The barrier holds, for now. ]

[ Her sword is out again, her wings spread and she darts forward to join Rider, the point leveled as the infected boar rams itself into the magical barrier with a crash and a flare of light. She tends to agree with Iskandar - if she knew they'd be after boar, she would have a spear. A sword is useful, handy, but for boar you want a spear with a strong cross-bar to prevent it running down the blade or shaft and goring you. ]

Rider. On my signal, drop the barrier - I'll attack it from its flank and try to sever its spine.

[ She's already circling slightly, positioning herself for their next move. ]

Are you prepared?

[ Waver flinches, frozen in place for a horrifying moment-- but Iskandar reacts much faster. The next thing Waver knows, he's being yanked up and shoved away from the beast, staring up at Iskandar's back. And then Saber's.

He understands immediately the smartest and most useful thing he could do at the moment is stay out of their way.

Waver draws his short sword as well as an extra defense while he backs up, but it's a last resort. He has no intention of using it. Instead, he watches the scene and watches their backs, quickly scanning mentally over his small arsenal of stored-up spells in case it comes to that. ]

[Iskandar hates to admit it but of the two of them, it's Saber who has more chance to outmanoeuvre the beast. Her plan is risky but makes sense. Fire would make even more sense as a weapon against the shade but with all the dried grass, leaves and twigs around, he could easily ignite more than he planned to if tried to torch the boar and missed. If Saber managed to immobilise it first, that will be a different story.
He confirms his assent with a small incline of his head.]

On your mark.

[ Saber nods. The boar squeals - a horrible, deadened sound, mutilated and monstrous - and she edges a little more to the side. Then she leaps. ]

Now!

[ Excalibur comes around in a glinting blur as the board doesn't seem to know which way to go.

Maybe this will work. ]

[ The creature shrieks again, tossing its head -- armed with its sharp tusks -- from side to side, trying wildly to defend itself or knock her aside. It's big, all brute force, but not particularly agile.

Waver's more worried about the noise. If the scuffle were to attract other beasts... or scare any children hiding nearby...

There's nothing they can do about that now. ]

[The barrier drops immediately at Saber's command. The beast attempts to defend itself, trying to gore the attacker with its tusks but the blade still reaches it, its hind legs give in and it collapses to the ground. The head is still dangerous though. Iskandar cannot fully appreciate the spectacle, nor worry about what all the ruckus might attract, he has to concentrate on the fire spell. Especially, that he wants to limit its range to one target only. His intention is to burn the boar and nothing else. He just needs a little more time to do it.]

[ Saber's teeth are gritted, her veins alight with the excitement of battle as Excalibur severs its spine. But it still has fight and it turns on her as best it can, tusks flashing in the light. She darts back - not quite quickly enough. There's a lance of pain up one arm and she hisses, lashing out with Excalibur again to try and drive it away; to keep it from coming forward on its front legs. ]

Now, Rider-!

[All infected are drawn to magic so when Iskandar casts his spell the boar's attention shifts to its source. Too late to react though as flames erupt from the very ground it's crawling on engulfing it completely. The beast ignites immediately giving out one last deafening shriek before the fires consume it, leaving behind only a desiccated, charred skeleton that crumbles into fine dust a moment later.

Iskandar sheathes his sword and directs his attention to Saber. It was barely a glimpse and he'd prefer to be wrong but it seemed to him that second strike was less precise than the first one.]

Saber! Did it touch you?

[As long as no blood has been drawn. It still could be fine.]

[ As the boar burns, Waver reels back, covering his face tightly with one arm. The stench is awful. His ears swivel on high alert, straining to hear sound beyond his companions and the crackling sounds of the boar's burning and collapsing now, worried about what the scent and the pillar of smoke might bring now.

It isn't until Iskandar moves toward Saber that he realizes she might be injured. The stink of the infected beast makes it difficult to even smell blood right now.

He darts closer, though he lets Iskandar approach first, lingering anxiously in the background. ]

Are you okay?

[ He really wants to move on from this spot. ]

[ Saber tries not to let the pain get to her. Instead she tries to be satisfied with a job well done. The threat is over. But the pain is there and she has to let her sword drop to grip at her other forearm. There's blood welling up and soaking into the cloth, a gash visible in her shirt. ]

It's a slight wound, I think. Painful, though.

[ She's trying to put on a brave face. It's what she does. ]

[Iskandar shakes his head violently. No wound is small when it comes in contact with the infected.]

You haven't been much outside the city walls, have you?

[He winces. This is bad. They are already too far into the woods to simply abandon the mission and go back. The infection spreads quickly once there's blood involved.]

It will get worse. [He looks around. Not here.] I might be able to do something about it but we need to leave this place. The stench can lure more of its kind here. [No to mention the residue of magic he used.]

Tell me immediately if your wound starts to feel like it was burning.

[He really hopes the kids haven't encountered this beast. But he will worry about them later.]

[ Waver's thinking the same thing. He shifts his weight anxiously, listening on high alert. ]

We need to find those children really soon.

[ Assuming they're still here and not too badly hurt. Hoping they're okay, despite everything. That hope is starting to sink a little for Waver, as he grows increasingly anxious about the possibility that they might not discover the kids in one piece. The thought makes his stomach turn, dredging up scenes from his memory he'll never be able to forget. He never wants to see something even remotely like that again. ]

I... I can't track them like this. [ He nods toward the corpse, its acrid stench still muddying the impression Waver can get from their surroundings. ]

But before, it was that way.

We should hurry.

I've been out here before, but never injured by these creatures.

[ She flexes her hand with a frown. There is a sensation just under the skin. Painful and burning. She refuses to flinch and instead offers them both a nod. ]

Let's keep moving. Once we're somewhere a little more secure, you can examine my wound.

[ For now, she wraps it as carefully as she can and then turns in the direction Waver's indicated and starts to move. There will be time for more of this later. ]

[The kids are lesser on the list of his worries but Iskandar doesn't advertise his opinion. He has no time for arguments and he suspects with the probability bordering on certainty that both Saber and Waver would protest should he express it. Could even label him heartless and cruel.
So he ploughs through the undergrowth in the direction Waver has shown them in silence until they reach a small clearing. No sign of the missing kids but far enough from the site of their encounter with the boar that he can barely discern the stench anymore. There he stops.]

Here. Now sit and show me.

[ Iskandar knows what he's doing; he's been studying healing, and Waver trusts he can take care of their companion in whatever way is needed, even if they need to wait until they get back to the city for further care. He's hoping it won't come to it, but if the wound is very bad and they need to turn around or endanger Saber's life, he's already making plans to remember where they've come thus far so he'll be able to help someone else come for the chimera children.

For now, while they stop, Waver continues-- not far, of course, staying in sight, but allowing Iskandar to handle Saber's injury while he examines their surroundings. To him, the smell of the boar and the Cwyld is still strong, irritating his nose, but he does his best to filter it out so he can concentrate.

Waver wanders to the edge of the clearing and even slightly into the sparse trees, crouching to look for tracks. He's not much of a tracker normally, but the increased sharpness of his senses, especially his sense of smell, naturally helps. ]

[ Arturia keeps an eye on Waver, despite herself being treated by Iskandar. She rolls her sleeve up to show off the gash on her arm where the sharpened tusk caught her. It's not incredibly deep, fortunately, and doesn't seem to have severed anything vital, but it's bleeding badly. There's also that burning sensation he mentioned. Despite that, she's stoic. ]

I believe you are correct about infection, Rider. There's - a burning sensation.

[ Ow. ]

You should know and take my words to heart that is no trivial matter. No matter how small a wound. Sometimes all it takes is a mere touch of the infected.

[Iskandar surveys the wound noticing that already the edges started to blacken but they are lucky, it's still early enough that he should be able to heal this.]

I have seen people fall to most hideous diseases, Saber. Plagues that would make strong, young men wither to ghostlike skeletons, like leaves in the desert wind. That would make people bleed from their eyes and ears and nothing that my physicians tried could stop it, that turned their bowels to liquid, or made their fingers, noses and eyelids fall off. Neither was as horrifying as Cwyld is.

[None of the illnesses tormenting his world turned people into walking monsters with one drive of their miserable existence. To spread the disease further. None infected plants, animals and humans alike. None cursed the very ground they walked on.]

Hold on to something. This won't be pleasant.

[Iskandar holds his hand over the wound. The burning sensation worsens as he recites the words of the spell pouring magic into the wound. Whenever there was even a touch of black, it goes angry red, flickering as if a tiny flame sprouted from even the smallest of dark spots. The pain is excruciating. If he held hot iron to her skin it would have seemed mild in comparison.]

[ Waver's ears twitch, swiveling back automatically to catch their words as Iskandar examines Saber's wound. A quick assessment of the clearing makes him pretty sure that nothing else is nearby ready to pounce, and he even has a positive read on where the chimeras' scent has gone-- though he can't be entirely sure with the interference of the Cwyld scent, and he's still nervous. Especially since it sounds like the wound has the potential to be serious.

Waver returns to watch the healing. He keeps his ears open, on alert for any new sounds from the forest, and silently offers Saber his hand. ]

[ She's seen illness as well, although perhaps not quite as much as Iskandar has. She doesn't comment though. Her brow is furrowed, her focus on the way he examines her. She flexes her fingers again, a grimace spreading over her features. If they're going to end up doing this - well, now is as god a time as any.

She takes a deep breath and, after a beat of surprise, takes the offered hand and grips. ]

I'm ready.

[ Good thing, too. The pain is beyond almost anything she's felt before and her face slowly goes pale, sweat starting to stand out on her forehead, her frame trembling. Poor Waver probably feels like his hand is being crushed from how tightly she's gripping. She doesn't scream, though. All she does is make a low noise. Almost a grunt.

She'll endure. ]

[Iskandar might never say he's fond of magic. He doesn't share Waver's fascination with the art... and he has his own reason for not liking the very concept of himself being a force to become a practitioner of this craft. There are times, though, more frequent lately when he is grateful for it. They make him hate the cursed thing a little less.

Times like now.

It's not his first time he's using this particular healing spell. He had a lot of practice. He would never have proposed if he wasn't absolutely sure of his mastery in it. This is too serious.

Of course, she doesn't scream. She is King of Knights after all. She'd break before showing even the smallest hint of weakness. Iskandar thinks it's a bit sad but he also recognizes it is not the right time to express that particular opinion. They still have missing kids to find.
The purging spell used in conjunction with regular healing spell leaves only a thin red line, by the end of the day even this faint mark would disappear.]

There. The arm will seem weaker for two, maybe three days and you might feel waves of sharp pain where the wound was. Especially, if you strain the arm. If they don't go away by the end of the week, come see me.

[He just incinerated a substantial chunk of her flesh. He also restored it almost instantly but her body might need time to realize there are no third-degree burns where it feels there should be. It's like that with all healing magic. Only the degree of weirdness varies.]

[ The brief scent of scorched flesh makes Waver's nose wrinkle, and the crackle of magic in the air makes the fur on the back of his neck and shoulders stand up. His hand tightens on Saber's in return, the harsh grip making his fingers ache, but he feels far too guilty standing around doing nothing at all why Iskandar work and Saber bears it. It's the only thing he can do to help, even a little bit. Especially when he knows he was the one best-equipped for scouting, and he hadn't noticed the beast until it was right on top of them.

Despite the discomfort, Waver doesn't pull away until she does. ]

I can make you a potion for pain relief when we get back. And sleep, if you need it.

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