Keorvic nodded. "This is as good a place as any, I guess. It's kind of an obvious spot, but bandits and thieves shouldn't be a problem this close to a city as big as Syliras, right? The Knights probably patrol at least this far." He said to Akiva. He nodded again when she asked if they had shelters, but when he heard Azerix's reply paused. "It may get rough for you if the weather worsens my friend " he warned. He shrugged as the man simply pulled out a cooking pot and began working on the meal. He shrugged again as he started to look around for a nearby stream or pond. He could smell water nearby, but it was faint. He set down his pack and took of his breastplate, tired of lugging it's weight around. after watching the mage wander about, muttering to himself and eating random plants, he decided to set up his personal shelter. After some indelicate digging in his pack, he finally managed to wrestle his small tent out of his pack, and into it's shape.
After staking it down, Keorvic announced that he would head off to find water. snatching Azerix's discarded waterskin and making sure to bring his own depleted one, he shuffled off in the direction he vaguely smelled water from, trying to make a bit of noise without sounding too loud. he only wanted to scare off any threatening animals, not alert the entire presence of his presence. leaves and twigs grasped at him pulling at his clothes and hair, and as he walked forward, he could hear water trickling. finally breaking clear of the brush, he could see a small stream gurgling away, happily flowing towards the ocean. He glanced up and down the small creek, looking to see if there was a place for fish larger than the minnows and such, but there was no such place. clear, fresh water was abundant, however.
As he knelt down and began filling the waterskins, a terrible stench hit him. it smelled of rank decay and death, and yet also carried a degree of animal musk to it. as the smell intensified, he could clearly smell blood. Keorvic was worried. he had left his spiked gauntlets back with his pack, not expecting to run into trouble. While he had learned how to throw a formidable punch, it would not be much use against any type of undead. he slung the now full waterskins over his shoulder and grasped a stone, thinking he may be able to sneak back to camp and warn his companions, or distract whatever it was long enough to get away.
there came a sudden rustling directly behind him, and he just barely dodged out of the way as a wolf bounded past him. had he not already been moving, the creature would have surely had him. backing away quickly, he noticed the wolf slavering tremendously, foaming blobs of saliva falling from its continuously opening and closing jowls. It's eyes rolled madly as it turned and fixed searched for it's intended prey. Keorvic's eyes were drawn to a great wound in the wolf's flank; it looked like it had narrowly avoided death from being mauled by some other animal, or maybe it had simply been the victim of a Knight's sword but had not yet fallen. Either way, thick red blood coated it's side, and flies swarmed around the wound, putrescent already. It's ribs clearly showed through its unwounded flank as well. The wolf must have been starving to death.
"You poor thing. Your doomed, you just don't know it yet. you cling to life, too desperate to realize that your time has come, and that only pain and death awaits you." Keorvic said sadly. Many times he had witnessed a pack of wolves take down much larger prey than even a team of skilled Vantha hunters could manage. He respected the noble creatures, and it saddened him to see one in such pain. The wolf gave him no more time to think though, leaping towards him again, with its great foaming jaws snapping open and closed, as if trying to consume him already. Keorvic swung the rock as if it were just another improvised weapon he had picked up in a bar brawl, connecting solidly with the side of the wolf's head and knocking it away. a single fang broke and sailed out into the stream. Keorvic's rock followed, having slipped from his hand as it was wet from the stream and slimy from brief contact with the sickening goo oozing from the wolf's mouth.
The wolf did not even acknowledge the pain, however, so beyond the realm of reasoning animals. it merely turned and lept again, this time reaching up with it's claws in addition to snapping wildly. Instinct took over, and Keorvic's fist came up to meet the wolf squarely in the nose with a fast jab. He was not fast enough to avoid the animal's claws though, and they gouge a thick wound in his arm, tearing through his skin with jagged pain. This time the wolf noticed, and with a yelp it fell back, staggering. seizing his chance, Keoric grasped the wolf by the back of it's neck and one of it's legs and heaved it out into the stream. he was rewarded for his efforts with another wound in the same arm, and a huge splash as the wolf hit the water.
Trailing blood, He ran back to camp. he hoped the wolf had not caught the distracted Kelvic and the rather absentminded mage unawares. he hoped he would not find a scene of death and tragedy. but before he even got ten meters away from the stream, he heard the wolf crashing through the brush after him. this would be a fight yet. it chased him for nearly a minute, gaining despite it's wounds, and Keorvic barely reached the clearing before the wolf caught him. "Look out, my friends!" he cried, "There is a rabid wolf not far behind, and I do not think there is much more I can do about it!" |