[center][h2]A harsh welcome[/h2][/center]

[i]It all had started two days ago. I was relaxing, sunk deeply into both my armchair and the novel I was reading. It wasn't a particularly good one, but sufficient enough to keep me distracted from what was going on. At first I didn't realize the small shadows moving across the grass fields in front of my house which could be seen through the small window ahead of me. I didn't hear the scratching sound starting to emanate  from the other side of the wall.

Then one of these pesky creatures made the mistake to fiddle with the pile of firewood next to it. I always knew it was a precariously stacked up thing, but I'd never have imagined that its collapse would save my life by alerting me - while likely burying the perpetrator beneath itself.[/i]

A smirk whizzed across Jared's face. Moisture had condensed on the black hood protecting his head and face from the wind chill, running down in large droplets as it wasn't able to penetrate the material.

[i]I've never seen these things before. Ugly... critters... not even reaching up to my knees, but still eager to bite. I don't know what triggered their rage. Are they new here ? Or are they distrubed by the new presences in the area ? Who knows...

By now, I don't wanna know what happened to my home. I hope it's been completely destroyed and not turned into an infested toehold for these things.[/i]


Jared shook his head. Why was he thinking about himself, why painfully repeating in mind what he had experienced in real life ? Maybe the cold had started to drive him dizzy or even mad. Maybe it was the fact that he has been fleeing for two days with hardly eating or drinking anything.

He could see lights in the distance, smell the smoke of burning firewood. Seren's Folley was near and this was a good thing - the horse beneath him seemed to be rather close to collapsing. Who could blame it for this when there had been so little rest while the man riding it was almost scratching the ground with his feet ?

He had been looking forward to just slump onto the very first seat encountered behind the tavern's door. Rumors had it that the [i]Witches' Paradise[/i] was a warm place worth the money, but more importantly it also provided rooms which could be rented. Effectively being homeless he'd need such a thing.

Yet Jared's expectations were to meet bitter disappointment. The dark crowd covering the ground, seen from the distance, appeared like a wicked carpet with it's individual knots moving relative to each other while the piece as a whole was traversing on the mud. The sound of fierce fighting could be heard, blood could be smelled - and given what happened Jared was all to eager to join the mess.

The man dismounted in a safe distance and started to run. There was no grinding sound of a sharp blade being pulled out of its sheath. The two black staffs detached from the leather straps holding them onto Jared's back without noise. He had never been subjected to anything close to a special hunter's combat guide, but he had seen his father fighting with these things. If something looked as if it could have a neck, it was worth trying to break it!

The first gnome noticed his steps and deviated from his original course to intercept. Seconds later he was immobilized, the nerves connecting his imbecile thoughts to his muscles crushed beyong repair. And so was the gnome's ribcage once Jared had stepped onto it. There was no time however to enjoy this first kill. He wasn't the one sadistic enough to enjoy killing anyway. It was an ordinary man's anger, even if the man himself made things look like ants when they were looking like mice otherwise.

Jared knew nothing about any of the participants in this fight and he expected this to be mutual, but there wasn't even enough time for him left to be astonished about how effective some of those participants were slaying these pesky creatures. He had come too late to hear the order, so he stayed close to the border of the crowd where the risk of being encircled and gnomes starting to climb onto his back was the lowest. Thank god these staffs were so long: It made targeting their heads much easier if one hadn't to bend down in order to do it.

He focused on another gnome that seemed to be blinded by irrational instinct even more than the first one. [i]Moon[/i] hit his head first and while it was hurtling towards the other side, [i]Sun[/i] came in second. The momentum made the already cracked skull literally explode - thank god that even Jared's face was almost completely covered in parts of his armor. The reddish, dripping debris ejected from the gnome's head was nothing but disgusting. It followed the flow of gravity down Jared's shoulders, arms, breast and hood not leaving behind much of a noticeable stain. Well at least not in the physical sense. Jared himself was quite close to puking...

[@Ellion] [@Deos Morran] [@13org] [@shagranoz] [@Rune_Alchemist] [@WeepingLiberty]
[@Every hunter near Seren's Folly]