(In collaboration with
@Kenaron &
@Rekaigan)
The wind was nipping in the chill of the night and all was silent along the game trail. It was a thin trail with soft prints splattered across the ground running to and fro, and speckles of blood dotted it's edges like the soft pattering of a paintbrush from a bushy haired man. It was a peaceful night however as the moon was still new to the sky, the light was dim but growing gently with each passing hour. It was through this time that a fair few things had transpired and were working beneath the scenes of the world.
Howling and growling were muttering and clattering against the night, below the tree line this nose arose and yet it was instantly silenced. The world had been made quiet again, the sounds were fierce in their own right and now they were cold and silent. The nose to any ear of familiar trade would recognize the howls of wolves without mistake, but the real mystery is what silenced them all instantly. It was eerie to hear the howling of wolves, but to hear one be cut off without any noise at all.. was far more eerie.
This was what Koldar had heard, and it put him on alert almost as quick as the howls were silenced. Few things could quiet a wolf without a fight and fewer things could silence a pack entirely. However this almost begged a notion from Koldar's mind, for those howls were wolves, but how many wolves were in the area..because Koldar was already carrying three of the larger wolves in the area. They were genuine alpha material, stout fast, and powerful hunters, the wolves hadn't gone down without a fight. Koldar had hoped to kill them like a true hunter with his Crossbow, but after the first one went down with a bolt in it's head, the others weren't keen on the same treatment so they quickly closed the distance. However they took less of his axe before going down than they would have if they went against the Crossbow. This is why Koldar was out though, he had arrived just the day before and he had went out on a hunt. It was for him, his mind, and his relations with the townsfolk. A man who can provide food and safety, even as a Witcher, can still be seen as less of a monster. That is why Koldar always hunted food for the town he stayed in, he hunted meat and hide and he always gave back to those who housed him.
The night continued on much like any other night, the animals of the night roamed and others bedded down, all things either scurried or romped as the moon dragged across the sky like a silver Medallion. The world seemed peaceful in this small corner of the world, as it should be, as all of creation should be, but alas soon came the rise of the morning sun and with it came a new day. Normal people would not think of much of the Morning Sun, however to a man like Koldar the Morning Sun and the Rising Moon are everything.
Koldar was present in the Tavern the next morning, it was here that he found himself most outside of his work and his personal interests, and it was here that he also enjoyed the nature of life. He was taller than all those around him and certainly bulkier too. Many made remarks both kind and not and yet Koldar never dropped his smile. His right hand held a mug fit for a giant and yet it seemed to empty out quicker than any glass. In his left hand was nothing but to the trained eye one could see that the supposedly empty hand was holding something, it was holding him back. His left hand was clenched in a fist, for the town was no Vizima, but it was still Temerian and the racism Koldar heard about the back corners of the tavern were beginning to grate on his patience. While he wasn't one for holding back he was certain going off on townsfolk before work would always be the worst choice. This made him swallow the worst flavor in the bar.. his pride and with his pride came the distasteful nature of having to find something else to occupy his time.
---
Cenkos kept her place atop the trees, munching on some piece of meat absentmindedly. She had already been briefed on how the situation would have to go down, but things were really out of proportion when she first got to the town. The original plan was to hope for some Witcher or Sorcerer to be out of the water regarding the town, as for him to belive that a Sylvan was around, and then try and convince them to join the effort, just to go look elswhere when they had one or two around.
Not counting the other Witcher who was in charge of the whole thing and his apprentice or something like that, they had other four interesting people that came around town for this thing.
Four. That was three more than they were expecting. She had no idea what was the plan regarding the situation now, and she had only arived yesterday, so she decided to play spy.
The town was almost like any other town that she had seen for the moment, with its usual people doing usual stuff and being unnaturally boring. But she also wasn't paying that much attention to anything in particular, she was just looking at the town in general to see if anything weird came around. Weird in deed came around, as she could see every day.
Yesterday alone she had seen that apprentice or something boy and the Witcher chief of operations strolling throught the outskirts of town and carrying some slain monster or another, a couple of other Witchers she had been able to spot, besides a Vampire that had come in the dead of night.
The day that was winding down was more of the same, the people were going about as usual, minding their own buissineses, the boy and the chief kept to their training, the vampire came strolling towards the notice of the Sylvan, there were only two things worth a mention: the arrival of a caravan, a caravan carrying a blind mercenary, who didn't look in the slightest suspicious and who had Cenkos' full attention for the moment; and the arrival of yet
another Witcher, carrying no less than three wolves behind him. Those two were surprises.
That was, at least, until she heard a piercing scream in the middle of the day, right to her right. She turned just in time to see a panicking girl, trembling under the gaze of a Barghest hound. That was something that she was not prepared for, as she leapt from her branch and unsheathed her silver, preparing to strike the foe in the middle of its neck.
She came right in time, as she saw the monster drawing itself back and the girl cowering behind her flimsy arms, trying to get some amount of cover. Cenkos landed right besides the monster, plunging her sword at the base of the fiend's neck. The corpse burst into flames as the victim opened her eyes and breathed irregularly.
Go back to town! Cenkos had her back turned to the forest, but heard a growl and immediately turned with her right arm up, and another Barghest charged right into it. It bit down on her arm, but luckily she had the right amount of armor as to just be injured and keeping her arm.
From her knelt position, she laid on her back and kicked at the beast, sending it reeling back a little ways. But even as she stood up, she heard another low growl from the forest, and knew things were taking a turn for the worst. She saw that it really wasn't one Barghest, the things always traveled in packs, and this ones were no different, being three right there, one already gone and the other two looking at their new prey.
---
In all her years of travelling, Elanil found that small villages had taverns that were almost as busy as the ones that appeared in some towns. At first it was a surprise, but it soon became something she took into stride without a second thought. There was no point in wondering about the reasons why, nor was there a point in disbelief. She had been in this town for a few days already and the locals loved her. Or at least, she liked to think that they did. The tavern patrons often greeted her with smiles and sometimes a perverse look from some of the older looking men. Such things didn't bother the young Sorceress, because she knew that she was in no danger. Townsfolk posed no threat to her at all.
Even in the morning, the tavern was lively. The travelling bard that showed up in town was a popular one, his music was melodic and well composed. Elanil was seated at one of the tables, enjoying the music, feeling the urge to dance to it. Much to her surprise, one of the tavern regulars called out to her, "C'mon Ela! Let's see a nice jig from ya!"
She promptly got up from her seat, a cheerful smile of her face as she approached the bard. A small crowd seemed to gather around the two performers, the patrons giving Elanil a small circle of space around the bard to dance. And dance she did. Her body leapt into action, a series of flowing movements and spins that captivated her small audience, her body moving in sync with the melodic tunes of the bard's voice and lute. At some points, she would flick her hand causing a string on the lute to be plucked gently adding more depth to the song, however such a movement would only be seen as part of the performance. To another sorceress or perhaps a Witcher, the use of magic would be quite apparent.
Speaking of Witchers, Elanil had noticed a large presence of them in this one small town. Something that was very out of the ordinary, but she mostly paid no real attention to it. Witchers did their thing, and she did hers.
---
Koldar was still pesent in the Tavern before the scream was made, and it was during this grace period that he had found the entertainment of a dancer and a Bard. He watched the pair but his primal eyes were more affixed to the female than the bard. Especially when his meddalion gave off the faintest vibration underneath his belt. He could feel it shimmy every little bit when the woman would flick her wrist to the music. He wasn't one for assumptions but once he noticed the faint blue glow that shone from his belt with every vibration he was cetain. She was a mage, it was a simple as that, red would detect a monster and any Higher Breed monster capable of blending into society can by-pass a Medallion undetected.
Despite the Magi and her use Koldar felt no real threat and he quite enjoyed her dancing so he left her to do as she pleased for now. All the while he would watch and drink and occasionally turn to view a new arrival in the tavern. Koldar was enjoying the merriment quite hardily but it did not distract him from his thoughts.
The Contract was for a spell-slinging Slyvan, a rarity, and it had already drawn in an unuausal number of witchers. He had noticed their signs when he entered and the various tracks to and from the village. This is where he began to note many things to himself in thought.
"There are at least three wolves.. likely a Cat or two.. and myself included being the only Bear.. I have also noticed some interesting prints that head towards Vizima that seem to disappear as if they floated away into the sky. Few things can just disappear, hell even a Bruxae would leave a few subtle prints. Something is going on in this town, and I am beginning to believe less and less that a Sylvan.. a being who adopted humanities most ridiculous vices of laziness and glutton, would go around slinging spells and creating trouble. That would be far too much work for one of them. Someone is certainly not telling the.." His thoughts were immediately disrupted by a loud scream, and it pierced through the noise of the tavern with ease. Koldar reacted instinctively to the sound as the mountain of a man barreled through the tavern crowd and kicked open the tavern door.
The door wasn't locked or even latched that tightly and it caused the door to fling open and swing out to the side, it then impacted the wall and flung off the hinges, the sound was a slight burst fo wood as the hinges were forced from the doorframe and it went shuttering to the ground with a loud thud. Koldar cared not for the door or for personal ownership as leaped up and mounted himself atop one of the horses outside the tavern. The horse wasn't his own, and he had no real clue of who it belonged to in the first place, all he knew is that it needed to stride faster as he started to the outskirts of town. Overall it only took him a moment or two before he finally rode up on the scene, a Barghest had initiated another strike on the recoiling female who had already disposed of one and fought the other away.
This time however the female Witcher would not have to engage, as Koldar took his flail from his belt with his right hand and he lashed it back as the horse galloped quicker. Once he was in range his flail was slammed into the side of the Barghest and it immediately met the flail with an unholy howl into the day. The sound echoed through village and Koldar dropped from the horse with a shake to the dirt beneath him. His flail shook and fell to his side with Barghest blood dripping from the craftsmenship. The flail wasn't lit however, it was a weapon of silver destruction and he was ready for anything.
That was.. until the pair of Barghests untied a howl and the crippled Barghest retreated into the tree-line. Their howl combined formed a call.. a call to their master. It was then that Koldar and Cenkos laid eyes on one of the beings of the second Conjunction..
"Foolish Witchers!" An harrowing voice of cold came from the treeline and was followed by a mighty leap into the air. The shadowed figure they saw rise into the skyline was unholy and monstrous. It came barreling to the ground and landed on it's feet with a ground-shaking force, but it's form was covered with a pair of massive wings. They had small tattered holes in them but they covered the ten foot tall creature with ease, and it wasn't until those large wings were thrust open that Koldar and Cenkos laid eyes on their foe.
A FLEDER!
The enemy was in fact a fleder.. but it was larger, and it could speak. It showed clear signs of higher intelligence, and it featured wings large enough for flight. These wings sprouted from the spine up near the shoulders and they came out nearly six feet to each side, large, bony, finger-like digits stretched through the wings like a bats, and the wings came down to a tail-like extenstion off the end of the spine. It's grizzly maw ran with blood and it's fangs clicked together as it spoke. It's form lowered and it proved to be a monstrous and as terrifying as it's lesser form, but now it was even more so. It's words struck the Witcher's like blinding arrows, they were not expected and they roused a confused sensation of unknowing. This Fleder.. it was clearly a Higher Vampire. It was something never before seen, and now it hunted in the middle of the day!
