The party was getting close to Kaosbund, only a few days remaining in their journey. Fortunately, they hadn't had any major encounters on their journey. But for the past few hours, something had seemed off. Ru wasn't a forester - He was a denizen of cobbled streets and dark alleys, but he had this odd feeling as if something was watching him. Something malicious, gazing through the trees. Eventually the Jackals slowed and stopped, and sounds could be heard nearby, things moving through the trees. Multiple things. Big things. Ru brought forth another of himself to make three, standing spread out and hiding in the brush. He'd made a habit of keeping one illusion up at all times, mostly as an exercise in managing the thing. Eventually, the main party caught up with the scouts, and by then it was obvious that whatever was following them had surrounded them. Misala seemed to know something about it, but before she could speak, Eddy launched an arrow into the middle of nowhere.

And Ru discovered that nowhere was apparently rather solid, and prone to bleeding if shot. Three Ru's gaped in surprise as a beast materialized out of nowhere, quickly followed by a whole pack of them gleefully descending on the group of mages. One pounced on an illusion, a confused look lingered for a moment on its inhuman face before it noticed Ru, and then his other illusion. Both of them dropped their packs, and drew their short swords in unison, and the fight began. The beast was somewhat cautious at first, facing two of Ru, and the battle mostly consisted of Ru and his illusions frantically dodging the huge claws of the tyrant. Eventually, Ru saw an opening, the beasts side open from an overzealous strike. Unfortunately, it was an illusion who was there to make the strike, and not the real Ru. He felt as if he could see through the illusions eyes as it pushed the fake sword towards the soft tissue now exposed, as the sword, seemingly so fatal, simply puffed away, leaving less than a scratch on the beast. The tyrant noticed this failure as well, quickly dispatching the illusion, and now turned towards the real Ru, its true target now in its sights. 

Ru frantically summoned more illusions, but the beast ignored them, now knowing their blows to be little more than smoke in the wind. [i]Smart thing.[/i] He thought, noticing the change in behavior. [i]Unfortunately for me.[/i] The tyrant took a swipe at him, too close to dodge, but too far away to get within it's reach, Ru was forced to attempt to parry the blow. Even at a deflecting angle, the force of the blow sent a shock through his arms, sending him reeling backwards, off balance. He somehow knew that the creatures other arm was heading in his direction. It was as if he could see it from two other sets of eyes, standing behind the thing. He watched as the claw came whistling through the air, and though he'd regained his balance, Ru knew he wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time. And then the claw connected with flesh, and Ru watched his own torso get torn to shreds, his own corpse fly backwards, only to disappear in a puff of smoke. Before him was a confused, and exposed, tyrant. Taking the opportunity, Ru rammed his now very real sword through the creatures back, pushing it telekinetically for good measure to be sure it's spine was severed. The creatures lower body stopped moving, and it fell. A second stab finished its movements entirely. 

Ru wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but felt exhausted. It was as if he had [i]become[/i] one of his own illusions. Ru sat down heavily as the adrenaline left his system, and saw the carnage. It didn't look like many had died, and healers were tending to the wounded - He accepted a potion from Darthalia as well, pocketing it for later use. Ru counted himself lucky that he had survived relatively unscathed. He'd seen what the tyrants could do, and doubted he'd have survived a hit from those claws. Misala then announced what the things were, and Ru wondered what else she might be hiding, or what other beasts she might know of that could be laying in wait for them on their journey. She had been rather closed about her past on the way there, and that was something Ru was fine to let lie, however if she knew things that could prevent further deaths - like that they may run into killer mutant things far from any scar - he would rather know. Ru moved a bit closer to the assassin, pulling out his wineskin and taking a small swig before offering it to Misala. [b]"Care to share any hints on fighting those things so easily?"[/b] he asked cheerfully, tiredness still managing to seep into his voice. [b]"Also, can you think of any other nasties that we could run into on our way to Kaosbund?"[/b] Ru also wondered if more of the tyrants were hiding in the wilderness still, like dogs fleeing after a few of their pack is killed, waiting to attack later, when the prey is easier.