Ssarak Dyreackthanose

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[color=f7941d]"I can hear them. Their thoughts are almost insane, ravenous. They may very well be...wait. Ready yourselves, they're coming!"[/color] Ssarak warned, quickly bringing his weapon to bear. Their attackers were far from subtle as they charged from the cave screaming at the top of their lungs. As soon as he saw the first of them start to come within range, Ssarak acted quickly and efficiently. The feral being was nowhere close to approaching tactically, so it could not evade the heavy, diagonal strike from the axe head on Ssarak's weapon, which had more reach than its meager club. The sheer force of the blow was enough to split the beast's skull open like a melon, which was unquestionably fatal. However, the second of the attackers was close enough behind the first and was able to leap up on Ssarak before he could recover from the swing.

Fortunately for Ssarak, the very shape of his head was a boon in this situation, as it only took moving his head a slight amount to make the club hit his helmet at an angle, significantly reducing the impact. It was still painful, but not deadly. Ssarak grabbed a hold of his attacker's side with one hand as he turned to use its own momentum against it by throwing it straight to the ground behind him. Knowing that there were yet more of these frenzied beasts, Ssarak ran a few steps away from the cave entrance to give Alaira some space to enter the fight, trampling over the one he had tossed to the ground in the process. Even with Ssarak's size, it was not likely to be lethal, but at the very least, it would be injured. 

By this point, it was obvious from their attackers' appearance, and their reaction to the light, that they were feral vampires. They were essentially mindless beasts that cared only for their next meal, which meant there was one more that was unaccounted for. A feral vampire would not have wards, especially wards as strong as those he felt. In all likelihood, it was another psychomancer who was probably the greatest threat remaining in the camp. However, he was also nowhere to be seen. He likely was the one who commanded the ferals to attack, as Ssarak heard the order when he was reading their minds, but he was not following up on the attack with his own abilities. To Ssarak, this was immediately suspicious. To send vampires out in the daylight to fight was a bad idea on its own, but to do nothing to aid them was just a waste of forces if he actually wanted to kill them. Either the psychomancer was preparing another defense below the surface, or he was trying to escape. Ssarak knew well all of the tricks a psychomancer could use to slip away unseen. 

Ssarak could not let the psychomancer escape, but the feral vampires were not going to let up the pressure. Even now, the one he had trampled was starting to stand, while another was rushing past it. Extending out a hand, Ssarak used an illusion that would perhaps be even more effective than usual in this situation. It was a bright flash of light from his hand which would hopefully serve to blind and confuse the ferals. They were obviously sensitive to light, and their simple, rage-filled minds might react with the same momentary aversion to the perceived light as to the actual sunlight. 

[color=f7941d]"There is another in the area, a psychomancer. We cannot let him escape!"[/color] Ssarak shouted to the others. It was loud enough that the psychomancer would be able to hear him if he was indeed above the surface, but in this case, that was exactly what Ssarak wanted. Using the brief opportunity afforded to him by the blinding light, Ssarak worked up a short sprint, then lifted off into the air safely above the feral vampires. He just had to trust in his allies' abilities to handle the feral beasts while he located their final foe. Unfortunately, Ssarak could not simply look around and spot the psychomancer if he was using invisibility. Even if his invisibility was not perfect, it would take too much concentration to scan the area in the time he had. There was the option of Ssarak using his own psychomancy, but he had another, potentially easier solution in mind. All he had to do was trick the psychomancer into making a mistake. 

[color=f7941d]"There! I found him!"[/color] Ssarak shouted, followed quickly by him loudly flapping his wings to gain more height, and therefore potential for speed. Of course, he had not actually located the psychomancer, but the sudden announcement that he had could cause him to rush, or even use other abilities to aid in his escape. Either way, Ssarak scanned the area, looking for any sign of movement, especially in the grass or bushes.