Yet such men come not always in shining armor, bearing flashing blades before them upon their noble quest. Some are malevolent shades themselves, ghosting through the shadowed woods that, for any other, spell doom and desolation upon they and all they hope to achieve. Men like these are products of the darkness itself, slipping unbidden and unhindered through it with the familiarity of overlong experience and intimate knowledge of the environment, disturbing no terror of the wood, nor showing terror themselves at those monstrous occurrences which, to them, are as the closest of comrades or the most familiar of adversaries.

One such man would not be found in the wood that night...leastwise, not by anything less than his own intent. For there can be seen naught but a shadowy disturbance in the air as he passed, made no sound, left no print to mark his passage. Nothing but the intangible feeling of fierce intent, that something bad was going to happen to someone or something, somewhere, tonight.

For such was in the thoughts of Crual-lassa'Ras Le'Valeron, Elf, Ranger, creature of the shadows, and wraith in the night. His booted feet fairly flew across the ground, carrying him invisibly across the forest. He knew not for what he searched, only that he would know when he found it. There was no doubt in his mind that the girl would never be found again, no matter how much gold the elders of the foolish town dumped at the feet of whoever made the attempt. Forests such as these were fickle, menacing the borders of the people who made their homes at their edges, yet not striking, luring in victims with the truths of beautiful glades and magnificent nights, only to spirit them away when they thought they could have befriended the villainous wood. Yes, the founders of this town had been fools indeed...and the populace as well. For this wood was not, nor likely would ever be the friendly green forests of their old homes. And it would not return it's price for such foolishness, not though it be turned to ash in search of her.

But the elf's quest was not so noble. He had no hope of returning the girl to her mourning parents. His dreadful task was far simpler, far closer to the lines of his chosen life and skillset.

Vengeance.

James sighed as he begrudgingly wandered through the dark, foreboding forest. He could sense the ever-lurking dangers around him but paid them no attention. He had one goal and one goal only in this forbidden forest, and that was to find a little girl and return her home.
Despite so many telling him it was hopeless, pointless and in vain he ventured into the woods to find the girl, who many believed were dead, he did so anyway.
He still clung onto some hope the girl was still alive. But as the shadows begun playing tricks on his young mind doubt started creeping in. He heard the sounds of bushes rustling, twigs snapping....and was that a wolf howling in the distance?
His eyes darted around as his hand stayed resting on the hilt of his blade. Anyone who wasn't blind or stupid could tell he was tense, perhaps even unsettled by the woods.
He even begun questioning why he was risking his life for a stranger he had never met or known.
He sighed again. No use questioning himself now. As long as he believed in his cause he would not fail.

In this deadly hour where nothing stirred and only the truly foolish or confident dared tread the wooded paths a rather peculiar sight greeted the night air. For in the canopy high above the forests floor, among the branches and slumbering birds was perched a girl. A slight figure almost dainty in appearance, though she emanated an aura of danger that quelled the aggressive instincts in even the fiercest woodland creature, none dared approach her lest they meet their end at her minuscule hands.

She seemed only partially there, a flickering shadow save for her bright eyes that shone like will'o'wisps in the frigid night sky, tantalizingly brilliant. She made no sound nor movement but simply sat and waited, for she knew that there had been an intrusion into her forest and she knew that an even greater evil would soon awaken to punish this transgression. She grinned, large canines flashing a brilliant white in the darkness, and could hardly contain her glee at the prospect of death and mayhem being unleashed upon some poor fools that had strayed from the path and wandered too far from their cozy beds, straight into the jaws of death.

As he sped over the land like a wraith in the night, the Ranger paused, alighting in a crouch near a tree. His form changed from invisible to merely obscured by shadows, both natural and unnatural. A gloved hand lightly touched the ground, and his eyes closed for a moment...and opened a moment later, softly lit with a dull red glow. To an observer keen enough to see, it might be like seeing the disembodied eyes of some dread beast glaring from the shadows...but to Cruallassar himself, it was as if half the forest was lain open to his sight. The dully colored shadows of natural things permeated the blackness, with the more vibrant auras of various creatures or unnatural denizens of the forest sparkling here and there. But a few things relatively close by caught the elf's attention...first, the shining outline of a human...far too large to be the missing girl...wandering in the vague direction of away from the town far behind, a hand resting on the outline of a sword of a hue that must belong to something enchanted. Some lost traveler fortunate and prepared enough to have not befallen an evil strong enough to dare challenging him, then. But the second sight was of far more interest...the dark purples and reds of a monster racing at unnatural speeds through the wood, and precisely where both the monster and the traveler's path met...another person. Small, slight, high in a tree, easily the shape and stature of a girl. And her aura a shadowy purple-red, the aura of another unnatural creature.
The Ranger slipped from rest to action in an instant, his ground-eating pace now set to converge with that single point, his form once more invisible to any observer.

James swiftly, and unknowingly, approached the two supernatural creatures.
As he closed the distance the woods seemed to be growing....darker. Eviler. A foul stench filled the air as his body tensed up and his hair stood on end.
He could feel something evil nearby...but couldn't quite see it. Just in cause he drew his sword and prepared his buckler.
He glanced around nervously as the he scanned the area in front of him. It wasn't dark enough that he couldn't see, mainly due to the bright moonlight, but it still made seeing a lot more difficult.
One of the runes on his blade now begun to glow a bright orange as fire now enveloped the blade. Waving around his new-found torch, James kept a close eye in front of him as he could sense the evil now to far from where he was.
He gripped his sword tightly as he prepared for combat. Regardless of whatever it was before him he would slay it and continue his quest.
He slowly crept forward, wincing every time one of the multiple sticks under his feet snapped or glanced around whenever he heard a nearby rustling noise. Whatever it was which was giving off this sensation was close...

Jasmine sank further back into the concealing leaves, wrapping the nearby shadows around to shield her from prying eyes. She grasped the silver walking cane, beside her, sliding the sheath down so that a small part of the hidden blade was visible. She ran her thumb along it and a line of dark, almost black, blood immediately appeared 'Excellent, the edge is still keen' she thought to herself as she shook off the few droplets of blood. She could hear the intruders getting closer now, the almost imperceptible steps of some fleet-footed race, likely an elf, dashing through the forest and the louder, clumsier steps of some lesser race, perhaps a human. She could also hear the crackle of a fire and see its dull glow through the treetops coming from the same direction as the louder footsteps, but, there was something else, a slithering sound, as if an enormous serpent crept through the underbrush, it stopped abruptly not far from her position and was replaced by the creaking of a tree under a large amount of stress. She sensed an aura of evil wafting through the wood like a foul stench and smiled, He had awakened and now these trespassers would know true terror.

The Ranger closes rapidly, seeing through his ethereal sight the monstrosity move to lie in wait for the lost traveler he had noted. Who had seemed to light his sword up as a torch...an obvious target. An easy prey. An excellent distraction. But Cruallassar has no intention of allowing him to get killed if he can help it...he would likely not be able to reach them before the trap was sprung, but the elf is a Ranger. No Ranger has any need of getting to close quarters to kill. As Cruallassar swerves onto a course that gives him a line of sight to the target, he slows slightly, slipping his bow off his back and flipping an arrow from his quiver. Under many circumstances he would not bother with an arrow, and merely summon a magical projectile from the bow itself...but it was more difficult to conceal his location when the shot looks like a streak of light straight to his previous position, and anyway, another arrow would serve his purpose better. That which he nocks is one of his high-velocity arrows, perfect for an initial stealth strike when only his position needed concealing...the loud sonic boom from the shot would do nicely in adding to the confusion. As he sights in on the glowing spot that is the monster lying in ambush...not able to target any vulnerable points due to difficulty distinguishing them in the mass that is it's aura...he draws the arrow back to one ear, slowing to a stop just before releasing it, sending it speeding on it's way towards the impending boom that would signal it's sudden acceleration to three times the speed of sound, an instant before impact with the creature who had the serious misfortune of being the target.

James flinched when he heard the sonic boom, jumping backwards on instinct as the sound had hurt his ears. But it had 'woken' him up from his careless attitude and now he saw a large mass heading his way.
Pointing his blade at the advancing creature he let loose a fireball the size of his head towards the creature. As soon as the fireball was launched the blade's redhot glow diminished and he now begun retreating backwards without turning his back on the creature.
"What the hell is that thing?!" He thought in a panicky tone as another rune, a dark blue one, now begun to glow dimly. He kept his guard up as he kept a close eye on the creature, ready to try and block or deflect any attacks which came his way during his retreat.

As his arrow passes through empty space...something that rarely happened to this Ranger's arrows...Cruallassar loses only a moment in processing the event. There is no doubt that his arrows would not be useful at this point...another HV arrow would likely be no more useful than the first surprise attack, and a multi-arrow would run the risk of hitting the swordsman. A normal arrow could very well be dodged as well, leaving his magic projectiles, net arrows, and explosive arrows out of the equation for the moment, at least until he can close the distance. With this in mind, the ranger fluidly slips his bow back into place on his back, and places a hand on a sword. Shadows swirl about him for a long moment, growing thicker and obscuring the Ranger more every instant, before he steps back into their embrace and is gone from the world, initiating a shadowmeld transportation technique to close the distance.

Jasmine stood in her tree and watched the events unfold, she smiled as the arrow cleaved through nothing but empty space, her keen eyes easily tracing it back to its source and she watched the Ranger cloak himself in shadow. 'Foolish elf, I alone am the master of shadows and you've walked right into the heart of my territory' She chuckled and wrapped herself in layer upon layer of shadow, creating a darkness so black it seemed to absorb all light around it, no sight, magical or otherwise, would be able to determine her exact position within the writhing dark mass. The shadows began to carry her at high speed towards the elf, and she dropped to ground behind him, her mastery of shadows allowing her to see through his spell.

James watched as the fireball hit and do some damage, but only minor damage unfortunately.
"Damnit." He muttered as he back into a tree. He looked downwards as he heard a slithering noise and noticed the tail rapidly heading his way. From his point of view it looked like some form of snake so he swiped at it with his sword, the blade now glowing blue as ice begun to form along it.
He swung as if to cleave it in half and now if the blade hit the tail it would freeze it on contact, and the ice would continue to spread.

As a dark mass rushes towards the Ranger, the shadows envelop him and he slips into non-existence, invisible to all...for no amount of sight can see one who is not there. Suddenly, darkness floods like a blanket from a single point behind the primal vampire, along with a rushing noise like a driving wind, and the elf drops from it's midst, both blades out of their sheaths now, one of them pointing down at the vampire's back as Cruallassar drops towards it, intending to stab the creature while it's back is turned. After all, it's back is to him...the creature that had begun to seemingly attack him before his transportation had not gone unnoticed, but it wasn't the time to worry about it now.

A spear of darkness arcs from Jasmines mass of shadows at lightning speed, followed by several more, quickly crossing the distance before the Ranger could strike and targeting both him and the swordsman

As the Ranger began his attack, suddenly seeing the monster react to his presence again immediately and without any detectable means of seeing him, and also suddenly seeing several shadowy lances appear from his previous location, he decided that he could give himself some good news, and some bad news.
The good news was that, having originally been approaching from his current right, the entity that now attacked with the shadows was also from his right, and the monster he now attempted to engage was swinging his arm around from the right, thus one enemy was protecting him from the attack of another...always something he tried to set up whenever possible. The way things were situated, the black spear would hit the monster's arm...wing? Clawed limb? instead of himself.
The bad news was that he still had an arm swinging at him.
Now, normally when a person/being is in midair, they are at their most vulnerable, unable to dodge or change their direction.
Cruallassar is not bound by this particular generality. The moment he saw the arm begin its swing, shadows began to swirl about his form in preparation. As the arm swings around to shield him from the spear...and of equal importance, the vision...of the other opponent, the Ranger turns ethereal, his form transitioning into swirling darkness, unable to interact with the physical world. In conjunction with this, a sound like the hushed shriek of a hundred people from the depths of a deep abyss is projected outward, almost directly into the minds of those nearby, in a manner such that they would be unable to pinpoint it's origination by it alone. The sudden cloud of darkness surges towards the ground, then shifts back into reality, revealing the Ranger landed in a crouch, blades at the ready, and a devilish smirk on his face as the sound is suddenly muffled. This is the Ranger's preferred method of combat...shifting in and out of reality, striking at weak points, and outmaneuvering his opponent to their demise. As he prepares for his next move, he activates his enchantment of speed, his perception of time slowing tenfold, and his actions preparing to speed past their normal limits. Even if this was a challenge...it was a challenge with only one possible...no, never assume victory...one acceptable outcome.