Doomed from the Get-Go

Artorias tore through the cedar woods like a bat out of hell, Briar following close by at his side. What had been a peaceful evening of relaxing in the summer gardens for the Aegis and Queen had abruptly changed into something far darker when Corbin arrived in a hurry to alert them of Talyssa's predicament. The raven barely had time to croak out "Talyssa", "the falls", "coyotes", and "purple boy" before Artorias was on his feet, Embershard snatched up in his jaws and sprinting out of Hearthstone bound for the Cedar Falls. Coyotes had very nearly killed Dusk and Caladia already, and it seemed the scavengers had not learned their lesson yet. But what worried him even more was the presence of that violent stranger from the beach. Thankfully, Taly was one to follow the rules and had brought one of their companions with her, so Corbin was able to direct them straight to the sight of the ambush. The sight they found was a bloodbath. Decimated coyote corpses littered the clearing, the ground soaked in blood, but neither Talyssa nor the stranger were amongst the dead. Artorias' panic increased tenfold. Had his daughter been taken by the degenerate? Amber eyes burning with a fearful determination, the dire wolf sniffed about the ground with fervent urgency, looking for his child's scent. It wasn't easy to find amongst the coppery smell of blood—especially when that smell was intermixed with her own.

Talyssa was hurt. Artorias' heart pounded in his chest as he took off after the scent trail, following it along with the stranger's smell until they reached the river. The sight that greeted the two parents was one that made Artorias' skin crawl and his hackles raise. Even from a distance, his enhanced vision picked up on the way the larger male was looking at his young daughter, the way his gaze roved over her form in perverse ways, the way his tongue rolled over his fangs and the way he kept pressing his body closer to hers. Fear transformed into fury in his smoldering fiery eyes, and Artorias sprinted straight for the two. His masterful navigation skills kept his paws light as they tore across the ground, the wolf bursting from the trees just as the stranger began to lick over Talyssa's wound and provoked a pained reaction from the pup.

No words were said as Artorias charged the brute, fangs bared and a vicious snarl growling deep in his throat. The dire brute aimed to throw his shoulder into the younger male, putting all of his weight and momentum forward to throw the offender as far away from his daughter as physically possible. Briar would tend to Talyssa; he would take care of the pervert staring at his child with lust in his revolting gaze. "Get the hell away from my daughter!" Artorias growled at the offender, fangs bared and hackles bristled while he placed himself firmly between the stranger and his injured pup. The enraged father had murder in his burning eyes, prepared to respond as violently as he needed to in order to keep this unknown deviant away from his young and innocent daughter. So extreme had the Aegis' worry and anger been that he hadn't even drawn his sword before charging in. He didn't care. He would have fought the world with claw and fang alone to protect Talyssa.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Eira" | "Argent"