Erasmus - First Blow

Erasmus watched silently as the group seemed to agree with his thoughts to rush over to Wren and he stood as a silent sentry and Thalien took the lead; red locks flowing out from the back of her head and the somewhat noticeable overkill of having both a whip and a sword attached to her hips. One must be for killing while the other seemed more at home in a Freehold Whorehouse then in a fight against the undead albeit the blades attached to the end of the whip seemed more than capable of ripping flesh from bone. Overall she seemed a somewhat unorthodox mix, she carried herself with all the graces of a noblewoman but moved with a deadly purpose; her hands seemed more than comfortable resting on the pommel of her weapons. A grey flicker of movement caught the corner of his eye as another gecko ran across once again; no, wait, it was the same gecko from before, Erasmus was sure of it. This gecko was either attracted to the lifeforms in the land or it was a scout of sorts; the lich could well be watching through its eyes albeit it may find it’s vision somewhat limited around his aura. 

His gaze then settled on Alexander, he seemed to be some sort of ranged fighting; gun holsters and throwing knife sheaths dotted across his person. A sword was also strapped to his hip but he didn’t look like he was quite comfortable with how it sat there; the telltale sign of someone who wasn’t quite used to it. He felt the slight tingle of a magic user from him; a remnant of his days as an anti-mage but the magic threads were so frail; their noise little more than whispers to his senses. These feelings were more than overwhelmed by the presence of Maher; apparently he was one of two brothers serving in the Queen’s Blade yet this man held a greater command of magic and the power flowed from him in a far greater capacity. He soon demonstrated his ability with what seemed to be water magic as he dispelled the fog; a wry smile danced across Erasmus’ mouth as he saw just how far the man had decided to stand from him to test the effect of his magic. The effect was rather large; the majority of the fog around them vanished revealing yet more broken and blasted land only now there was the obvious form of five undead beings standing between them and their destination.

Another piercing whistle crashed through the air as a red flare shot through the air; as far as Erasmus knew that wasn’t a good signal and it more than likely meant Wren was facing trouble. Erasmus swore under his breath as his brain processed that fact; he refrained from the natural urge to draw his sword. As yet the meandering undead hadn’t noticed their presence yet and any noise could draw their unwanted attention. His mind processed the facts; they needed to get to Wren as fast as they could so if they wanted to shed the blood of these monsters they’d have to do it a quick. An experience of the ebb and flow of battle coursed through his veins; a courtesy from a career as a soldier fighting the paranormal as his mind analysed the options in front of him. Whilst they were outnumbered they all seemed to be experienced fighters so such a small group should pose little threat to them but the problem was time.

Even at this distance Erasmus could see the grey uniforms adorning the beings; this was a worrying sight because this meant these acts weren’t random or even the acts of a being drove mad as he’d silently hoped for. This was a development most unwelcome as it revealed this was a meticulously planned raising; there was a purpose and an ambition behind this reign of arcane terror. This ambition begged to be found, it could well prove to be the key to defeating the lich. Killing a lich is no easy task and any potential advantage or weakness to be exploited would prove very useful.

He noticed the drawn weapons and grim demeanour of his companions; they stood with bloodthirsty intent and made their thoughts rather plain to see. “Well it seems we’re best off cutting our way through them” he said to the group who seemed to be in agreement. Erasmus fought with the strap of his shield trying to unclip it from his back; sometimes it was rather unwilling to leave his back and face being smashed by a variety of objects. He eventually freed it from his back and slung it over his forearm, tightening the straps so it’d eventually sit snug on his arm; the whole procedure seemed to be a fight within himself. The shield was rather old and worn, perhaps demanding a renewal especially of the leather but it would still be able to stand up to most blows. 

He looked up as the water mage mentioned casting some water spouts at the undead so he nodded his head in agreement, hefted his sword and shield and charged towards one of the two standing undead, being careful to not get too far ahead of his companions. His blood rushed to his ears as the lust of battle roared through his mind; to him it felt like the Crusades all over despite the rather meagre force that stood in front of them. His mind ran through the plan; kill the creatures and get to the girl. Whilst is was a simple plan, Erasmus had generally found the simpler the plan, the more likely it was to come off as a success. As he neared to his targeted creature, he readied his shield to bash the creature with and rolled his wrist so he could be ready to follow the shield contact with a full-blooded stroke at his foe. It was a rudimentary technique but rather effective strategy; the shield blow should knock them off balance and reduce their ability to avoid or counteract the following sword stroke.