EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I tried to subtly hint at all the things that were wrong since we first met Ra'maranja's group. It was just difficult to balance it between making it too easy to guess, and too hard. Hopefully it all makes sense when Colors puts it all together.

Meanwhile, Peiter and Sabine are accidentally doing their best to hide themselves from Janius.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

You could always take the Lorag route and just punch them in the face. A metal suit is just as good.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ra'maranja bared his teeth at Gallus. He had managed to get to his feet, but he was hopelessly surrounded. For someone less dedicated to a cause, they would have surrendered long ago, but Ra'maranja was zealous to his master. He knew he was going to die, but he did not care. He cast his gaze on the closest of his enemies to the edge: Lorag.

With a defiant scream, Ra'maranja charged at Lorag with his shield in front of him, intent on tackling him off of the edge, to both of their deaths. Lorag, however, easily saw what he was doing and was prepared. He braced, and when he was hit, he did not budge. Ra'maranja fell to his knees in front of him as Lorag looked down and gave a satisfied laugh. He punched the Khajiit clean across the face with his heavy armored gauntlet, then kicked him unceremoniously off of the edge of the platform.

"Hmph, pretty weak for a lycan." Lorag commented. "Pathetic traitors."

---

The Cathay-raht growled in frustration. He could still smell the lycan in the area, but had no way of knowing exactly where it was. Trying to attack would just open his men up to another ambush, and the longer they waited, the further their prey would draw away from them. "Bah, this is pointless. Back to the road." He ordered. Upon his command, his men started to follow his lead, but maintained their positions around him. They continued watching all sides as they slowly and deliberately headed off in the direction of the road to Senchal. They would still be difficult to attack, but at the very least, they were no longer tracking Sabine and Peiter.

---

Peiter's heavy breathing became more apparent as he shifted back into his human form, as well as his wounds. He had a gash across his arm, a hole in his back from the arrow, and another gash running diagonally across his abdomen, to his upper leg. The water flowing across him turned red with his blood, though it did dilute quickly. Regardless, at the moment, he was more concerned with his bleeding than being tracked. Sabine's healing provided some relief from the pain, but it was not going quickly enough at stopping the bleeding. Peiter was no healer, but he knew what he had been taught about silver wounds. He knew that the metal stunted healing for lycans, but there was a technique that Meesei had used years ago on Oswall, when he was wounded. It was something that could be useful even without a healer.

"We have to get away from this stream. Fire. Fire can stop the bleeding. Just...burn the wounds closed. I can take it, just...just do it quick." Peiter said, his voice betraying his fear.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The one I have is very low miles for a car its age. The engine works fine, which is honestly most of what I want in a car right now. I feel like those pop up lights are just another thing that can break down, but that's just me being cynical. I can't complain. It has more leg room than the last sports car I had to drive around.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It's a '93 Mercury Capri. I think Mercury was owned by Ford of Australia.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

How are things with you? I finally got my car's lights fixed. And the leak, and the speakers. The lights were the biggest concern. Luckily, the switch just had some corroded contacts that could be cleaned. It is an old Australian car, so parts can be expensive to come by.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Khajiit will die before he..." Ra'maranja started to shout, but he was quickly cut off when Kaleeth's shield had impacted his own. He had braced for the hit, but that was quite irrelevant. From the force of her shield charge, he was knocked onto his back, and nearly off of the platform entirely, were it not for the rope siding he caught himself on. Kaleeth glared at him, raising her blade towards him. "Yes, you will." She threatened.

To Kaleeth's left, the healer in Ra'maranja's group tried to engage her. She launched a fireball, but Kaleeth was fast enough with her shield to block it. She could feel the heat from the small explosion of flames, but Kaleeth herself was safe from harm. She slashed at the Khajiit, who was unarmed apart from her magic, which caused her to jump back to dodge. Kaleeth did not relent and continued to press her attack. Unfortunately for the healer, she could only step back a few more steps before falling to the ground below.

Lorag ran up beside Gallus as well and gave him a quick nod. The platform ahead was wide enough for all of them to fight, so they could go in together to finish them off. He was not armed, but in his steel armor, he was still plenty deadly. Blades were almost useless against the steel plate, as long as he could protect his head, since he had left his helmet back in the main structure.

---

In the aftermath of Janius' attack, a few shots were fired, but they were quite literally shots in the dark against an opponent they could not see. The forest was thick, and an easy place in which to hide. The Cathay-raht knew this well, and tracking his prey was not so important that he would risk allowing for more attacks.

"Stop! Form up!" The Cathay-raht shouted. His men encircles him, with each of them picking a side to watch for movement. The Cathay-raht himself, who towered over his men, carried his blade in one hand, and drew a crossbow off of his back with the other, which he quickly readied to fire. Each of his men had their bows ready to draw and fire on a moment's notice, while he sniffed at the air. Khajitt themselves had a keen sense of smell, and this one had the scent of a werewolf.

---

Peiter did not have a good concept of how long they had been running, only that it was quite a long time. They could not hear or otherwise sense any trace of their pursuers behind them, but that did not mean they were not there. They could still be tracking them patiently, waiting to catch them while they were vulnerable. He had heard the stories of the lengths lycan hunters would sometimes go to in order to kill their quarry.

Eventually, Peiter began to slow down and occasionally stumble. Between his blood loss and his fatigue, he could not go on much longer. "Wait." He said, collapsing down to his hands and knees in the stream. "I can't...keep running. How far...have we gone? It feels...far."

Peiter took a few moments to catch his breath as he looked around at their surroundings. "Maybe...we can stop? Not here, but close. Perhaps stop my bleeding, then we can move away from the stream to throw them off if they're still following?" He suggested. If they did stop, they would need to be sure it was what they wanted to do. They would not be able to transform back once they returned to their human forms.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth and Lorag were right behind Gallus in their pursuit of Ra'maranja and the other two surviving traitors. Ahnasha trailed behind slightly in the hopes of getting a clear shot with her bow. Unfortunately, the narrow and swaying walkways upon which they were running did not make ranged attacks easy to land.

The three traitors were able to make their way all the way down to the ropes they had originally used to climb up, but it was at that point that Ra'maranja realized his doom. Looking down at the forest floor below, he could see that the allies he thought he had were nowhere to be seen. "Ah, where are our reinforcements?" He shouted in anger as he turned his head back towards his rapidly approaching pursuers. If they tried to climb down the ropes, they would be cut down easily, so at this point, they had nowhere to go. There were no other paths with which to escape; this was going to be their final stand. One of Ra'maranja's allies, the Ohmes-raht to his left, handed him his shield. By the time their pursuers had closed in, the traitors stood ready to fight, with Ra'maranja at their front.

Ahnasha loosed an arrow straight at their leader, but with the shield, he was able to block it. Kaleeth had managed to catch up with him around one of the corners and shouted to him as they drew closer. "Get behind me!"

With her own shield raised, Kaleeth did not stop as they reached their enemy, instead rushing straight into them. She did not care how many stood in front of her, they would not stop a shield charge from a werecrocodile.

---

Peiter followed Sabine's lead without question, as he could not concentrate enough to form his own plans. He had never experienced silver wounds before, and was not prepared for the pain they would cause him. It had been long enough since the fighting stopped that the pain was hitting him at full force now, and it was only desperation that kept him moving.

The Cathay-raht had regrouped with all of his men and were nine strong now, which was enough to handle two werewolves in a straight fight, particularly when one was wounded. Sabine and Peiter passed close by them, but far enough not to be heard as long as they were careful. Their pursuers would find the blood soon, and would be on their trail once again. But, they would have their chance to get to the stream, which would hopefully cover their tracks.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Posted as quick as I could, but I need to get to bed now, goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lorag, Kaleeth, and Ahnasha were all quick to react, just as with the rest of the pack. Ahnasha conjured a bow, which, while not useful in this building, could help once outside. Kaleeth had already been walking towards her weapons when Meesei was attacked, so she ran to her sword and shield, then ran to the door to give chase. Lorag, meanwhile, did not even bother to run for his hammer. He was already wearing his steel armor, which was all that he figured he needed. He was among the first out the door after Ra'maranja's group fled, and was able to catch up with one of them. The Suthay that Uthri had delayed was in the back of the group, and as Lorag rounded the corner to get outside, she tried to surprise him with her blade. Unfortunately for her, Lorag was simply able to hold up his arm, causing the blade to bounce uselessly off of the steel plate. With his free hand, he grabbed the Khajiit by the throat, then forced her off of the edge of the platform, down to her death below.

Despite Meesei's command, Irenya took it upon herself to use her own independent judgment. With everyone else running after Ra'maranja, she would be more useful staying to help contain the fire with frost magic, and to heal the Champion once it was safe.

---

Peiter yelped and howled with the pain of having the arrow ripped from his body, but he knew it was necessary. It gave him more time before he would need to be treated, but he still could not run forever. The silver would slow his healing, so he was bleeding from multiple wounds. Unfortunately, there was no time to deal with that now. It sounded like the enemy was closing in, and much more quickly than he would have expected. It was possible that, after he and Sabine had started to turn directions, the enemy had guessed that they were trying to stay close to their pack, and had taken a shorter path in an attempt to head them off. This Cathay-raht seemed to be strong, capable, and evidently intelligent.

Despite his pain, Peiter ran as fast as he could alongside Sabine. They had to not only put distance between themselves and the enemy, but also figure out how to lose them entirely. They could outrun them easily, but it would not matter if they could not throw off their tracking. "I can't...run forever. We have to...lose them." He said.