EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha put her arm around Fendros and held onto him tightly, resting her head on his shoulder as she continued to keep her eyes on Meesei. "I know she is strong, but...I'm afraid. Meesei has been more like family to me than my own flesh and blood had ever been. I know it is Hircine who I follow and revere, but...I feel like Meesei is the one who really gave me this life. She was the one who gave me the gift of beast blood, she trained me and remained patient with me through all of my many failures. She had been my mentor, and so much more. I know she is pretty young herself, but she had been more like a mother to me than my own ever tried to be. Meesei cares about us all dearly, and she would give up anything and everything for us. I just...I just hope she doesn't have to."

Ahnasha wished there was more she could do, but she was no healer. All she could do was wait. She closed her eyes as tears started to form in them, but the fear within her was obvious. For now, she simply tried to find some comfort in Fendros' embrace. She felt fatigued, as the fight had been exhausting on everyone, so perhaps getting some sleep would be the best option for her at the moment.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Unfortunately, I need to go to bed now. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei drank everything the others gave her, not particularly paying attention to their contents. The magicka potions reinvigorated her magical energy, while the health and regeneration potions at the very least picked up where her adrenaline was leaving off in terms of painkilling. Her lycan regeneration was ineffective against silver wounds, but the potion Sabine had given her was another matter. It would help her chances, if nothing else. As the others were preparing bandages, she poured as much restoration energy into herself as she could muster. Her focus was first on stopping the bleeding, but she could not truly do that until they had dealt with the spear wound.

"Okay, Sabine, I want you to get ready to pull the rest of the spear out of me. Just pull it quickly out of my back so the spearhead doesn't get in the way, and be careful not to touch it yourself." She said with an almost uneasy level of calm. Once Fendros had finished soaking one of the bandages in a healing potion, Sabine obeyed the command and slid the spear out of her Alpha's body. Meesei could not help but to cry out briefly in pain, despite the numbing sensation brought on by the potions. Blood quickly began to pour from the wound, which prompted Ahnasha to take the soaked bandages and wrap them quickly and tightly around Meesei's abdomen. There were other wounds across her body, but they were barely scratches by comparison, and most of them had already stopped bleeding.

At this point, physical exhaustion had caught up to Meesei. She had been pouring as much healing energy over herself as she could muster, but her wounds were not something that could be mended in only a few minutes or hours. With full alchemical aid, it would take days for her to recover from her grievous internal injuries, if she could even recover at all. Her chances were better than they had been five minutes ago, but there were still no guarantees. For now, getting some rest was likely her best option. Lorag was experienced enough with injuries to know this as well, so while the others had been bandaging her, he had limped over to the other side of the room and drug back a bedroll for her.

"There's no way she's going anywhere. We'll be staying here tonight. Get her on that bedroll, let her rest. She's healed herself as much as she can, and we've given her the potions. Resting would be the best thing for her now." Lorag said before going off on his own to deal with his own injuries. Ahnasha and Fendros slowly and carefully moved Meesei to the bedroll beside her, and it was not long before she drifted to sleep from exhaustion. While Janius and Lorag went to deal with their own wounds, and Sabine went to take stock of the available potions and ingredients, Ahnasha sat with her back up against one of the cave walls staring at Meesei's unconscious form. Her legs were drawn in close to her and her arms were wrapped around her legs. Looking closely, one could see the faint hint of tears forming in her eyes. Her entire body felt sore from the fight, but nothing the Orc did to her could compare to her emotional suffering. She was afraid; afraid for the safety of her friend and mentor, of her Alpha. She wished she could just know what was going to happen one way or the other. It was the uncertainty that was killing her.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei's surroundings seemed somewhat...faded. She had a hard time concentrating on anything, but she had to try. She focused on the haft of the spear jutting from her abdomen. Wrapping her hands around it, she focused what shrivel of magicka she had left into her hand, specifically into a spell of destruction. It was a pitiful display of magic fit for a child, but it was enough. The disintegration spell caused the wood to become brittle, enough that she was able to snap it with only a small amount of force. Now, only a short portion of the spear remained impaled through her, which she had no intention to remove. It was somewhat of a mercy that the silver spearhead had pierced all the way through her, as it was no longer harming her, and the haft itself was plugging the wound and preventing a lot of extra bleeding.

Even without their equipment, one would not assume that the Orc would be able to stand against three lycans at the same time, but there was a reason he was Clavicus Vile's champion. He threw Lorag off of him and scrambled quickly to his feet, drawing one of his shortswords. The Orc blocked Janius' spear with his shield, then twisted his arm around and grabbed a hold of the haft. At the same time, he predicted what Lorag would do next and swung his shortsword backwards, slicing him across his arm as he approached. The Orc yanked on the spear to pull Janius closter, then struck him with a bash from his shield and shoulder to throw him off balance and cause him to lose his grip on his weapon. He took another swing at Lorag , who ducked under the silver blade, but that provided the Orc with the opportunity to bring up his knee into Lorag's face.

In a display of near omniscience, the Orc recognized a faint glimmer in the air nearby and jumped back in time to evade a slash from Ahnasha's daggers. She appeared in front of him and tried to go for another slash, but he was able to sweep her legs and send her to the ground before she could. Janius had recovered by this point and responded with a destruction spell, this time an ice spike. With his lightning fast reflexes, the Orc was able to block it with his shield again, but this time, it shattered the battered shield into two pieces. Undeterred, the Orc grabbed a dagger from his bandolier between two fingers on his other hand while still holding his sword, then tossed it at Janius in a single, rapid motion. The dagger stuck into Janius' side; not a lethal hit, but the silver blade required his immediate attention. Almost on cue, Lorag managed to land a solid blow on the Orc's jaw, with his sheer strength stumbling him backwards. Lorag tried to grab for one of his knives while he was off-balance, but even while staggered, the Orc was able to attack. He delivered a kick to Lorag's shin that bent his leg back at an unnatural angle and broke his kneecap.

Ahnasha had brought herself back up to her feet, but just as before, the Orc saw her coming. He had an almost unnatural level of spacial awareness that allowed him to react quickly to his opponents' actions. This time, Ahnasha was actually able to slice into his arm with one of her daggers. The Orc lost his shortsword as a result, but that certainly did not mean he wasn't still deadly. The Orc delivered a kick to her chest, which pushed her back against the wall of the cave. While she was off balance, he grabbed both of her hands, then, using his superior strength, forced the two bound daggers from her hands. Once she was unarmed, he headbutted her, then grabbed her by the throat with both hands and pressed her against the wall. Ahnasha instinctively brought both of her hands to her neck to try and pull the Orc's hands apart as he was suffocating her, but she could not match his strength. She struggled and kicked at him, but she was getting nowhere. It seemed as if she was going to be strangled to death when she saw the strange, red-tinted glint of metal start to protrude from his chest, stopping just shy of her own fur.

The Orc released his grip on Ahnasha's throat, allowing her to take in a much-needed breath. The Orc had not expected Meesei to still be alive, let alone conscious. He had not thought to look at her during the fight, so he did not see when she slowly brought herself to her feet. He did not see when she nearly collapsed trying to pick up his silver longsword, only to press on through sheer force of will. He did not see her stumble towards him with his blade dragging across the floor behind her. He did not see when she impaled the blade through his spine, and due to his newly-acquire paralysis, he did not feel it either. The Orc collapsed to the ground, with Meesei dropping down to her hands and knees beside him. She rolled him onto his back to look into his eyes, then grabbed his hand and held it up in front of him. The last thing the Orc saw was Meesei slipping a ring, which bore an intricate carving of a wolf, off of his finger, then putting it onto her own.

Meesei collapsed beside the Orc. Despite their own injuries, the others gathered around her. She was still alive, but was barely hanging on by a thread. Even with the haft of the spear plugging her wound, she had lost a lot of blood. Without magical or alchemical assistance, her death was guaranteed, and even with it, survival would not be certain. Miraculously, through all the suffering and pain, Meesei was retaining consciousness. She started to speak up with a voice that was obviously weak, but despite her condition, despite how seemingly improbable her survival was, it carried the same firm confidence with which she always spoke. "Those...Dunmer mages should have...magicka potions. Bring them to me. Ahnasha...tear some cloth from these hunters' clothes to make...bandages. We will need them."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Still writing, it's just taking a while.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lorag ran straight at the mage as Janius was going for the warrior beside her. Unfortunately, she had recovered from his strike before he reached her, so she was able to have a spell waiting for him. A stream of fire engulfed Lorag's upper body for a brief moment before he was upon her. Fueled by rage, he landed a punch square in the middle of her face, pressing the strength advantage he had over her. This of course interrupted her spell and landed her on her back, but she wasn't out of the fight yet, which was something Lorag needed to rectify. Picking up the very same rock he threw before, Lorag jumped on top of the Dunmer and smashed her repeatedly in the head with it until she stopped moving. Her skull was crushed and she was very clearly dead, but the effects of her attack were still lingering. Even a brief exposure to the flames had burned Lorag severely. Luckily, he wasn't actually on fire, but he sure felt like it. The burns covered most of his upper chest and right shoulder, and were excruciatingly painful.

Ahnasha dispelled her bow and replaced it with dual daggers before slipping behind a column of stone, then cloaking herself in invisibility. The closest enemy to her was the warrior Fendros was fighting, so he was now her target. Fendros was dodging his attacks as best as he could, but the warrior was more well-armed and had the advantage. His focus, however, would end up being his downfall. After Ahnasha moved behind him, it was a simple enough matter to plunge both of her daggers into his back, then kick him forward so Fendros could finish him off.

Meesei let the Orc attack first, which he was very willing to do. He thrust his spear forward with surprising speed, to the point that Meesei was barely able to sidestep in time. She grabbed on to the weapon's haft, but it seemed as if the Orc predicted that move, as, much to her surprise, he simply let go of the spear to move into his next attack. Dashing forward, he bashed Meesei in the upper body with his shield. In addition to the dizzyingly strong blunt force, the small spiked on the shield stabbed into her flesh at multiple points, from her upper chest to the side of her face. They were not silver tipped, but the wounds were still harmful. After she was thrown off balance, the Orc punched her in the stomach, causing her to lean forward on reflex. He then smashed her once again with the shield, this time in the back, knocking her to the ground and stabbing her in multiple places with the spikes. Once on the ground, he kicked her in the ribs at full force, which forced her to curl into a ball.

A confident grin came over the Orc's face as he reached for his sword, but somehow, Meesei found the strength to lash out once more. She rolled onto her back and unleashed a storm of lighting onto her foe. The bolts shot across his body, particularly to his sword due to its conductive nature. He was forced to drop the weapon and was recoiled back long enough for Meesei to shakily bring herself to her feet. The Orc still had his shield, along with plenty of knives and two shortswords, not to mention brute strength and immense skill, but the one thing he lacked was magical ability. Even when it seemed like she had nothing left, Meesei found the energy to press on. She hit him with another lightning bolt, then a fireball that impacted his shoulder. When he tried to rush her, she let loose a wave of frost that slowed him to nothing, along with freezing some of the water in his very skin, causing intense bleeding. Meesei's spells were weak, however, and the Orc did not fall. Rather, he just grew more angry. Meesei tried to force one more spell, but she had gone far past her limit, she had no more magicka to use. She was both mentally and physically exhausted, and her disorientation provided the Orc ample opportunity to strike. He picked up his spear as he moved past it, then thrust it towards her, seemingly unhindered by his injuries. Meesei attempted to move, but her reaction speed was dulled enough that it was unsuccessful. The Orc's spear pierced straight through her abdomen and out her back, impaling her on its haft. Lorag managed to tackle the Orc to the ground not moments later and caused him to lose his grip on the weapon, but the damage was already done. Meesei slumped over the ground, her heart pounding and her breathing becoming erratic. She was still able to breathe, and she could move all of her limbs, so her spine was intact, but it was impossible for the spear to not have pierced vital organs.

Meesei coughed up blood as she watched the struggle between Lorag and the Orc. She grasped the haft of the spear weakly in her hands. The pain going through her body was immense, but it was not over yet. While she still drew breath, it was not over. She had given her pack enough time to finish off the Orc's allies, and she herself did not intend to just roll over and die.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

At Meesei's lead, the group pressed on deeper into the caves. So far, no one had been seriously wounded, and they were moving like lighting towards their prey. The caves were expansive, but they were not limitless, as they had finally reached the final chamber, where the Orc was waiting. Meesei took in as much of her environment as possible as they ran in. Much like the last chamber, it was large, with columns of stone reaching from the floor to the ceiling. This chamber had quite a few more pieces of furniture, as well as crates of supplies on the right. On the left, the stream which ran through the cave led into a pool of water. There did not seem to be any obvious exits, though that did not mean there were no hidden ones.

The Orc was on the opposite side of the chamber, but there were only four other hunters, two on either side of him. They seemed to be waiting for them, which made Meesei immediately fear a trap. There was no turning back now, however; they had to strike. The pack charged towards the Orc, putting enough space between them to limit any collateral damage from enemy attacks. Unfortunately, it did not matter in what formation they traveled, as the Orc's ambush was something they never could have expected. Giving a simple nod, the Orc commanded two of his allies, both Dunmer mages, to enact his plan. They unleashed waves of telekinesis not at the werewolves charging them, but on a collection of barrels on either side of them. The barrels broke, shattering the flasks contained within them. A strange violet gas started to fill the entire chamber. To the Orc and his allies, it did nothing, but to the lycans, its effects were immediate. They each stopped in their tracks as pain overwhelmed them. Their bodies shifted and shrunk, their bones broke and reformed. Somehow, this gas was forcing them out of their lycan forms. It was something that was not meant to be possible. Over the course of thousands of years, no one had figured out a way to force transformations one way or another, apart from simply angering a lycan until they lost control. This did nothing to their emotions, however, it simply forced them back into their normal forms, regardless of anything they did to try and resist.

Meesei brought herself back up to her feet after being forced back into her Argonian form. She could hear the Orc laughing, taunting them in a display of his arrogant pride. He grinned as he looked over the group before him. "Did you honestly expect it to be that easy? Did you not think I would have plan if you got this far? Such arrogance."

"You should have killed us when you had the chance, Orc. We are not done yet." Meesei responded, intentionally trying to draw out the dialogue to allow her pack to recover and prepare themselves. Even in their current state, they were not defenseless. Meesei and Ahnasha were just as deadly now as they always were, and Meesei had taught each of the others how to summon at least one bound weapon.

"Ha! You think I'm afraid of a naked Argonian and her unarmed friends? No, you're going to pay for the disruption you've caused here. You killed most of my men, not that it really matters. Lord Vile will send me plenty more once I give him your souls. Don't worry though, I won't kill you immediately. No, I'm going to have fun with you. Immobilize them." The Orc ordered. The mages beside him charged, then released two glowing green orbs of alteration magic: paralysis spells. Meesei was quick with her response, however, and brought up a ward large enough to intercept both. A magical green mist filled the air in front of her ward, but none of her allies were affected. The Orc practically growled in anger. "Forget it, just kill them!" He shouted.

The Dunmer mages switched from alteration to destruction, releasing two powerful streams of fire towards Meesei's allies. She expanded her barrier to an impressive size to defend her pack, but it was not an easy spell to maintain alone. Meesei fell to her knees, holding her arms out and focusing entirely on her ward.

Ahnasha returned to her senses in the middle of the Orc's last little speech. He was indeed arrogant to think he could capture them all, but killing them was still definitely possible. Meesei was protecting them all from the destruction spells, but they would need to act quickly if they were going to prevent her barrier from falling. Luckily, Ahnasha was more than ready to assist. Conjuring a bound bow, she quickly nocked, then loosed an arrow at the mage on the left, demonstrating that the ward was in fact a one-way ward. The well-aimed arrow pierced straight through his heart, leaving little to guess as to what his fate would be.

Meanwhile, Lorag did his best to conjure up a weapon, as Meesei had taught him, but he was angry. He could hardly concentrate on anything other than how much he wanted that other Orc dead. After a few tries, he gave up and picked up a sizable rock from the ground beside him. He approached the edge of the ward and tossed it with all of his might at the mage on the right. He was going for the head, but ended up hitting her in the chest. Still, it was enough to knock the wind out of her and stop her from casting her spell.

Meesei lowered her ward once the spellfire ceased, prompting her pack to attack. Ahnasha had killed one mage, but there was still the other one, two warriors, an the Orc himself. If they were going to have any hope of winning this, they would need to take out his allies, then focus on the Orc. Meesei was magically exhausted, but she would still need to find some way to hold the Orc at bay while her pack took out his allies.

"For your honor, Lord Hircine." Meesei muttered as she stood to her feet, staring down the Orc before her.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With all six pack members working together, it was not long before they managed to pull away enough rock to form a hole in the wall large enough for them to get through, albeit one at time. Meesei crawled through first and immedaitely saw two spear wielding hunters directly in front of her. One tried to thrust his weapon towards her, but with surprising agility, Meesei leaped not at him, but to the right. She pushed off of the wall mid-air, redirecting herself towards him. She swatted his spear aside and pounced on top of him, ripping him to shreds with her claws.

The other hunter, a Breton woman, immediately tried to help her friend, but by this time, Lorag had made his way through the gap as well and jumped straight at her. She held her spear between them to try and keep him back, but after being tackled to the ground, Lorag bit the spear in half, then continued on to tear into her throat. They waited up for a moment for the others to get through, but then took off at full speed down the corridor. The caves were rather wide from that point on, with several more spacious chambers scattered throughout. After turning a corner, they began travelling alongside an underground stream, which had likely helped to form the cave system.

It was not long before they ran into a chamber that was not empty, and evidently, they had ran into it much sooner than the hunters had expected. Six of them were standing in a line similar to the shield wall they had faced before, but this time four had spears, and two only had longswords. The seventh individual, a scrawnly, young-looking Dunmer male was in front and appeared to be in the middle of setting up some type of trap. He did not complete his trap, however, as he glanced up and saw the pack of werewolves charging towards him before he could. He dropped everything he had and scrambled for the shield wall, but was far too slow to make it in time. Meesei, who was at the head of the pack, rushed up behind him and slammed him at full force into a stalagmite, shattering the rock formation, and half of his skeleton, all in one blow.

Meesei did not so much as slow down after killing the Dunmer and continued on towards the shield wall. The hunters prepared to gore her on their spears, but of course, she did not give them the opportunity. Just before she entered the range of their weapons, she ran partially up the side of a stone column that connected the ceiling and floor, then pushed off of it to leap straight over the heads of the hunters and landed safely behind them. The hunters were confused and split on which direction to face now that they were surrounded. The two on the far right tried to turn and face her, but were almost immediately pounced uponby Lorag, who had been just behind Meesei.

While Lorag was tearing into one of the hunters, Meesei crushed the head of the other he had tackled under her foot. The hunter directly beside them managed to slice Meecei while she was focused on finishing off the other, but she had managed to recoil far enough back beforehand that it only produced a minor wound across her chest. Meesei's attacker was focusing on trying to keep her back, but it would not likely matter. With four other werewolves attacking from the other side and the hunters surrounded, this engagement was going to be more of a slaughter than an actual fight. Even though they were in their home base, the hunters were out of their element. Without a well-laid trap in which to snare their prey, they were subject to the full strength and capabilities of Meesei's pack.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

I know what I am doing with Ssarak, as long as Leon isn't too busy.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

You were just waiting to make that joke in the operation with Lucilia, weren't you?