Not halfway to the edge of Nadska, and Dannisus was torn from his path once again by a series of thumps that shook the earth at his feet. It was subtle. He paused and glared at the ground quietly. [i]'Earthquake?'[/i] Another thump, and then another. His heart began to race. There was a small period of silence, but it did little to curb his worry. His good ear twisted 'round and he buckled backward, putting all his weight on his left foot. 

	[i]Crash![/i]

		[i]Crack![/i]

	It was faint. The sound of stone crumbling and wooden supports snapping in two. Screams from the townsfolk rung out, ranging from blood-curdling shrieks to desperate shouting, just loud enough for his ears to pick up. Dannisus spun around, glancing back towards the western gate only for a moment before making a clear decision without a second thought. His Tail whipped the ground violently and he took off into a sprint. [i]'What the hell? What the [b]hell[/b]!?'[/i] His feet dug into the path as the intrepid little Myti tore across Nadska's street without delay. He leaned into his run carefully while his blade jostled back and forth without much restraint, occasionally smacking against the base of his tail. 

	[i]'ץﻉٱค'[/i]

	Suddenly he dropped forward, slamming his hands against the ground. But rather than sliding clumsily into a tumble, Dannisus pushed backward, propelling himself even faster still and breaking into a four-limbed dash. Part of him didn't get it. *safety was in the opposite direction*, after all. As the clattering of bone and iron grew louder, it dawned on him. He was moving towards something far more imposing than he'd initially thought. What help could he be? [i]Why should he even help these people?[/i] With every step, his doubt grew. Turning around now didn't seem like much of an option though. If the town was under attack from one side, who's to say there weren't more attackers lying in wait elsewhere? Dannisus skirted to a halt and flattened his ears as the church bells began to chime. He covered his bad ear with his left hand and took a gander at the horizon. He could see the bell tower from where he stood; the church couldn't have been more than a minute away. Something else held his concern much tighter than the alarm bells, though. 

	[i]'what is that [b]thumping!?[/b]'[/i]

	Dannisus scanned his surroundings quickly, looking for beasts and civilians alike. He poised himself for combat, keeping his sword hand perched in front of his right shoulder to draw at a moment's notice. The air carried tones of [i]rotted flesh[/i] and [i]fresh wounds,[/i] blended together into a single maleficent odor. That's when he spotted a whitish blur passing through the marketplace stalls. His pupils widened and the darkness of the night crept away, but he didn't see where it went, or where it came from. His ear twitched. Bones rattled. Something was coming, but he was [i]ready[/i].

	One of his feet pivoted in place, and he drew his blade into a circling slash. With a surprising amount of force, his entire body circled round, and the heft of his weapon tore through his assailant's wristbone. The skeleton that darted out at him reeled back as his hand, and his [i]weapon,[/i] hit the ground at Dannisus' feet. The Myti stood up straight and hopped backward slightly, grasping his blade with both hands. "Undead!?" He gagged, reaffirming his grip. Without regard for its own safety, the hollow creature rushed him without any weapons, aiming to use its jagged forearm to impale Dannisus. He didn't stand still, shifting his weight to the right, while parrying, the skeleton's harpoon-like arm to the left. He pulled his blade downwards, while pushing the skeleton's arm further away from his body along the entire length of his sword, and sweeping his left foot across its footing. The skeleton's weight was successfully manipulated in the opposite direction of Dannisus' escape, sending it towards the ground. Dannisus let his body's natural momentum pull him back slightly, but quickly stamped his left foot into the ground, and pulled himself into a full clockwise 360 spin. As he turned to face the skeleton again, Dannisus brought his sword into an overhead swing and cleaved the skeleton in two a split second before it hit the ground. As its bones went limp, he let out a sigh of relief and pulling his weapon from the dirt with a hefty tug. A quick look at his surroundings revealed many more skeletons making their way across the town. They didn't seem too numerous at first, certainly nowhere near what his ears were telling him, but it wouldn't be long before the town was overrun.

	[center][h2][color=007236]"COOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRCCCCCC!!!" [/color][/h2][/center]

	...

	"What is [i]that?![/i]" Dannisus hissed, turning towards the battle cry behind him. Further down the path, he spotted an armored creature, [i]standing nearly twice his height[/i]. It smashed through some of the skeletons that flanked him like it was no big deal and continued towards the center of town. His tail went limp and he took a deep breath before running [i]away[/i] from Corc's brutish approach. He'd never seen an Orc before and wasn't too thrilled about coming face to face with [i]Corc the Orc.[/i]