To say that the ride to the hive was unpleasant for Kaathe would be lying. For how could one feel unpleasant on a ride, when there was no ride to be on? The day had not been kind to the dark elf. First he awakes from a rather annoying dream, then he starts wandering about and trying to suppress thoughts of idiocy, then he's suddenly called to action, with no time to retrieve his armor, meaning that he was in clothes not meant to protect his body from any sort of physical blow. Lastly, by the time he had even joined the others, there was not a mount left available, forcing him to turn to a rather annoying and taxing option: running.
It wasn't a tough option, to be honest. Years of experience in the Dawn Covenant and the training from his younger years in his homelands had made mundane actions such as running trivial. That's not to say that the action didn't take away from him, of course. One could not be expected to keep up with a horse and still be completely fine at the end. If they somehow did, then that person would have to be a complete idiot, too stupid to realize how tired their body was. Kaathe was not that person.
Although the lighter attire was less of a burden to his body, Kaathe still had to expend much energy to keep up his stamina and follow the group. It had gotten to the point that he had to release control of his arms and lean forward to focus on running. When they reached their destination, he had to take a knee. He pondered on whether or not fate wanted him to die today, but then shut off the thought in favor of focusing on catching his breath. It helped a little that the scent of the place reminded him of that small island he was thrown onto as a child.
Captain Evelynn went over her plan back at Thanermere, and the formation that they were to take up when facing the hive. He was fortunate enough to be in the middle to support and fight mainly with magic. It meant his body would bear less of a burden, and recover more quickly for when the stronger waves of Kest arrived.
Then Karl went up to him.
The Wood Elf had challenged him. Which of them would be able to kill more Kest during the mission. Obviously, Kaathe could have cared less about it, even more so to the blatant insult to his race. However, a bit of a challenge wasn't a bad thing. Yes, it definitely lowered the chances of survival, as the focus would be shifted to completing the challenge, but Kaathe's odds couldn't get much worse at that point.
"Very well, wood elf. Just be sure that you make a decision that you'd regret."
Kaathe chuckled softly as he took up position near Evelyn. They entered the cave, and prepared to fight the overgrown insects. Kaathe thought on the challenge. It wouldn't be too difficult. Though he may or may not be limited to how many bolts he had on him at the moment. As long as the formation held, though, he figured he'd still have plenty of chances to kill more than Karl.
Then the Kest showed up.
Kaathe found himself placing his hand on his face. Not two seconds after they find the monsters the formation had been broken. Only slightly, of course, but still immediately broken. Ruinil, who was specifically told to be at the rear to shoot arrows at the Kest, had charged at them with her sword. Yes, she was killing a lot of them, but now it might be that others would deviate, and everything would just become a chaotic mess.
Still, Kaathe decided to let it go. If the girl wanted to increase the likelihood that she'd be overwhelmed by the sheer number and variability of strength of the Kest, let her. It was no concern of his. Besides, they came from behind. It wasn't really her fault anyway.
He simply took a bolt, and a moment to focus a bit more of an unstable Cryomancy enchantment onto it, and then loaded it into his crossbow. He jumped high into the air, and shot it into the bunch of Kest that were further away from those who were fighting up close. The instability of the enchantment broke upon the impact between bolt and its target, and the creature erupted with large, sharp spikes of ice made up of its frozen blood and innards.
Kaathe counted before he landed on his feet again.
"Seven, huh..."
It wasn't a tough option, to be honest. Years of experience in the Dawn Covenant and the training from his younger years in his homelands had made mundane actions such as running trivial. That's not to say that the action didn't take away from him, of course. One could not be expected to keep up with a horse and still be completely fine at the end. If they somehow did, then that person would have to be a complete idiot, too stupid to realize how tired their body was. Kaathe was not that person.
Although the lighter attire was less of a burden to his body, Kaathe still had to expend much energy to keep up his stamina and follow the group. It had gotten to the point that he had to release control of his arms and lean forward to focus on running. When they reached their destination, he had to take a knee. He pondered on whether or not fate wanted him to die today, but then shut off the thought in favor of focusing on catching his breath. It helped a little that the scent of the place reminded him of that small island he was thrown onto as a child.
Captain Evelynn went over her plan back at Thanermere, and the formation that they were to take up when facing the hive. He was fortunate enough to be in the middle to support and fight mainly with magic. It meant his body would bear less of a burden, and recover more quickly for when the stronger waves of Kest arrived.
Then Karl went up to him.
The Wood Elf had challenged him. Which of them would be able to kill more Kest during the mission. Obviously, Kaathe could have cared less about it, even more so to the blatant insult to his race. However, a bit of a challenge wasn't a bad thing. Yes, it definitely lowered the chances of survival, as the focus would be shifted to completing the challenge, but Kaathe's odds couldn't get much worse at that point.
"Very well, wood elf. Just be sure that you make a decision that you'd regret."
Kaathe chuckled softly as he took up position near Evelyn. They entered the cave, and prepared to fight the overgrown insects. Kaathe thought on the challenge. It wouldn't be too difficult. Though he may or may not be limited to how many bolts he had on him at the moment. As long as the formation held, though, he figured he'd still have plenty of chances to kill more than Karl.
Then the Kest showed up.
Kaathe found himself placing his hand on his face. Not two seconds after they find the monsters the formation had been broken. Only slightly, of course, but still immediately broken. Ruinil, who was specifically told to be at the rear to shoot arrows at the Kest, had charged at them with her sword. Yes, she was killing a lot of them, but now it might be that others would deviate, and everything would just become a chaotic mess.
Still, Kaathe decided to let it go. If the girl wanted to increase the likelihood that she'd be overwhelmed by the sheer number and variability of strength of the Kest, let her. It was no concern of his. Besides, they came from behind. It wasn't really her fault anyway.
He simply took a bolt, and a moment to focus a bit more of an unstable Cryomancy enchantment onto it, and then loaded it into his crossbow. He jumped high into the air, and shot it into the bunch of Kest that were further away from those who were fighting up close. The instability of the enchantment broke upon the impact between bolt and its target, and the creature erupted with large, sharp spikes of ice made up of its frozen blood and innards.
Kaathe counted before he landed on his feet again.
"Seven, huh..."