Enemies In The Night
Seasonal Bonus Prompt/Pack Event
Knight
Fleet-footed
03-21-2021, 10:28 AM
Despite their combined efforts against their enemies, it appeared to Artorias as if the onslaught of feral beasts was never-ending! More of the tremendous smilodons just kept emerging from the dark woods as if a portal to hell had opened directly within those trees and more of the nightmare creatures just kept spilling out right at their doorstep. Yet even in the face of these wretched horrors and their overwhelming numbers, Art would not permit himself to tire or weaken or surrender. Surrender meant death—for him, for his family, for the entire pack. He rallied to Resin when he saw the majority of the sabertoothed cats converging on her, leaping through the air to pounce on one's back. Landing on the predator felt like standing on a rock, so solid were its rippling cords of muscle and sinew. That didn't deter the young wolf though as he brought his sword down on the back of its head as hard as he could once, twice, three times before the cat finally bucked him off.
Artorias landed on his feet and spun to face his opponent—just in time to see thick claws ripping through the air at his face. He recoiled, just barely avoiding the attack, feeling the fuzz on the sabertooth's paw brush past his chin. It was a surreal moment, and as soon as he had control of his faculties again, Art intercepted the next swipe with his sword, the wooden blade cracking audibly against the tiger's leg. The smilodon yowled as bone broke in its joints, shaking its now limp paw. Artorias didn't relent though, using his momentum to spin the opposite direction and bring his sword around into the cat's temple with another crack—only this time, he felt his sword suddenly go lighter as the old wood snapped under the hardness of the sabertooth's skull. Once again, he was left holding just a broken and jagged edge of his weapon, and was now facing down an angry apex predator.
The sabertooth growled, but Artorias reacted first before it could pounce, bringing the broken end of his sword back into the cat's face and sinking the splintered wood deep into its eye socket. The smilodon screamed and howled as it was partially blinded, but the blue-furred boy was far from done. He grabbed the cat's big head with a paw and held it steady while he slammed the heel of his other paw into the hilt of his sword with a grunt, spearing the broken sword deeper into his foe's skull until the hilt was pressed to its face. All at once, the cat's sounds ceased and its body went limp, jaws hanging open in a silent cry while it flopped lifeless to the snow. Artorias grabbed the hilt of his sword and pushed against the dead animal's head to dislodge his weapon, bringing about globs of blood and gray matter along with it. Even when broken, a sword was a dangerous weapon.
Resin's yelp of pain snapped Artorias out of the fog of war in an instant. Wide, panicked eyes watched his mother take the brunt of a saber bite to her shoulder, and he responded without hesitation. Paws kicked off against the ground, rushing to his mother's aid while more of the beasts came, alerted by her cry and the prospect of an easy kill. Artorias would not allow that. A sabertooth leaped across the battlefield at him, but Art dove beneath the creature, kicking up snow and ice as he slid across the ground beneath it and rushing past it. He arrived at his mother's side just as the scarred fae lost herself in her battle frenzy. Artorias ran up alongside a circling cat, jabbing his sword as hard into the side of its neck as it could and piercing its jugular, the cat yowling in pain and shock as its lifeblood spurted in thick streams down the sides of its neck. The cat swung at Art, but the boy just danced around its attacks while it bled out, its strength ebbing away with each beat of its heart until it collapsed, weak and dying to the snow. The coup de grace was delivered in the form of a swift bite and twist to the cat's neck, ending its life in a last act of mercy.
Artorias hurried to Resin as soon as the smilodon lay dead, turning to protect her flank as she unleashed hell on the beasts. In her blood rage though, Resin took a bite towards Artorias, snapping at everything that moved. Fortunately he reacted faster than his older mother, dipping away before serrated teeth came too close. "Mom!" he shouted in shock, watching her with narrowed and guarded eyes as recognition slowly crept into her single eye, and then she set off on her rampage against their foes. Artorias had never seen Resin like this before, the woman having lost almost all semblance of herself in her fury. It was concerning and terrifying, yet violently effective as she carved a bloody swathe through the remaining cats. With Art watching her back, none of the remaining tigers dared to try to sneak up on the two wolves. Resin's bloodthirsty howl made the surviving felines flinch, and a ferocious snarl from Artorias dared them to try anything.
As the cats began their retreat, only the dying and stupidest remained, a few solitary stragglers for them to finish off. Artorias roamed the battlefield with Resin, finding any wounded cats and finishing them off by tearing their throats from their bodies. By the end of the fighting, Artorias' coat was stained and sticky with blood, but he had somehow escaped unscathed. His sword, however, had broken once again. He sighed to himself; he would need to get another from the armory, and he was running low on supply. But more worrying to him was Resin. He had never seen her lose control like that before, and it concerned the boy for his mother's wellbeing. He made a mental note to talk to Tamsyn about that later. For now, there was still work to do...
"Speech" | Thoughts | ”Corbin"
One big happy family
Artorias has two ravens named Corbin and Eira and a fox named Argent. Assume they are within calling distance at all times.
As his mate, Briar may enter Artorias' threads unless marked Private.
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