[The Road] Gemma's Choice [Talen]

[Tabarnac]

The anguish bled into rage as she finally found a focus for all the pain she had endured since Mihai disappeared. All the careful work Justus and the others in the Temple of Nikali had done on her behalf snapped and slithered out of reach like broken moorings. She was, in a word, unhinged. With a scream of blind anger, she rushed Talen. This was no fainting maiden, but a Denvali woman, and there was some skill yet to her attack. The shadow skittered up her body to cling to her back, and a parody of the dead boy's face leered at him over her shoulder. "He killed me!" it crooned gleefully. "He wrote poetry in my blood!" Just before Gemma slammed into the bleeding guardsman, there was the twang of a bow, all but forgotten in the nightmarish scene in which Talen found himself. A heavy arrow sprouted at the base of her neck, spearing down into her heart and putting an end to her sad life in an instant. The black thing took up her silenced scream, however, and launched itself at Talen, a body made of wood and metal and hate clawing at him and seeking to cause him ruin.

[Talen Stirling]

She hurled herself at him, howling in rage, yet Talen didn't move. Terror and hesitation gripped him. The hand that held his sword moved an inch but then froze; how could he attack Gemma!? He had seen her play with Mihai in the streets, bartering at the market, cooking food and being just another one of his kin. His muscles tensed for impact, instinctively he crouched yet at the same time made no conscious effort to move caught in hesitation and fear as he were. The monster had crawled onto her back, screaming lies and curses from it's seat. He raised his shield to meet the tackle as he was trained to do, when all of a sudden the twang of a bow sent a stir through his muscles and mind. She fell dead, but the child aberration jumped off from her back with the momentum of her run and it's own leap. It crashed into Talen's quickly raised parry before he could draw his sword out to stab it as it fell from the dark sky. The force of impact sent him flying onto his back with the creature on top, his longsword almost impossible to use in close quarters against such a small opponent. Whatever child had once been there was gone, the creature was heavy with it's new body and the air had been pushed out of his lungs when he landed. Talen desperately held the shield in front of his throat and face, shoving it upwards in an attempt to get it off of him. His leatherclad shoulders and body would take the brunt of the vicious attacks being unleashed upon him, but for how long? He wanted to cry out for Perras, but had no breath and remained silent, trying to keep it from his vital parts.

[Tabarnac]

The thing was viciousness incarnate, and its sharp parts cut into Talen's skin again and again. The hemophiliac was fortunate that his armor and training prevented worse, and when he managed to throw the thing off, another arrow slammed into it, knocking it down again with a clatter and clang. He hissed and shot a venomous glare up toward Perras and then scuttled away more like a spider or some other photophobic insect. There followed a methodical and regular twang of bowstring and report of iron arrowheads connecting with rock. "Tal, I'm coming down," he called, and began to climb down as quickly as he could with the least risk of falling himself. The last thing they needed was for him to twist an ankle or break a leg in a precipitous landing when the fallen warrior might need carrying back to town. "Talk to me. Are you conscious? Report, soldier!"

[Talen Stirling]

Adrenaline, fear and anger rose in Talen as he shoved the shield upwards with both arms, letting go of his sword and lifting his upper body in order to get more force behind the push. Despite the gruesome alterations to his body, the child still wasn't too heavy to throw off and with a grunt the clawing, twisting mass flew through the air away from him. Everything went very quickly at this point, he reached out and grabbed the handle of his longsword even as Perras' arrow struck the creature, and sprang up in a forward motion slashing widely at where the creature was standing. Well, rather had been standing as it darted out of the way with unnatural speed followed by the hail of Perras' arrows. Talen fell to a knee and supported himself on his sword as pain and fatigue returned to his body with the disappearance of their opponent. He looked at his hand, the formerly white scarf Alice had woven for him red with his own blood. Was it the blood of Gemma? Perras' outcry tore him back to the painful reality of his predicament. If he didn't get healing, he would die from blood loss. No rest for the good just yet. Or the wicked. He got up slowly, testing whether he'd fall over or pass out. He didn't think he'd bled enough for it to be incapacitating yet... But he could be wrong. "Uh... I'm conscious yet.. We gotta move or it won't last long." Turning around to face Perras he inspected the bloodied tears in his armour on his shoulders and arms. "Doesn't.. Look too good." He looked towards the descended Perras for guidance, ready to run home for his life. Or attempt some on the spot firstaid.

[Tabarnac]

In the moonlight, Talen's wounds were gleaming shadows, but Perras could feel the hot, sticky wetness with his hands, and quickly tore off one sleeve and then another by main force to bind up what he could, then slung Talen's arm around his shoulders and prepared to hoof it back to the settlement. He knew that Talen was the sort of fellow who was brave as any man, but more likely to bleed out. His condition eliminated procreating with certain partners, the Denvali unwilling to allow such weaknesses to breed true if they could help it. "Stay awake," he snarled, and, "let's go." It was imperative they get him to Cian Noc to bind up his wounds before the Denvali curse made him dead. END

[Tabarnac]

XP Award! Talen XP Award: Longsword +1; Shield +3; Stealth +1; Climbing +1; Negotiation +3; Intimidation +1 Additional Notes: Sorry for the delay! Perras would have gotten Talen to safety and his wounds would have been dealt with. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns. Keep writing!