Tree and Testing

They are coming. The boy had deceived them; he was Ruk Shol. He would pay. No time to think of that now. They are coming. Nobo'ru peered into the darkness, his eyes not narrowed with effort as the others' were. In the dark, the hulking shapes of the Ruk Shol and the loping figures of wild dogs of some kind came bounding up the hill. Waiting for the creatures to pass into the curtain to be ambushed from behind an ambush was a good plan, but with the dogs there was no way to hide; Andreas, knowing that you don't stick to a plan that has already gone wrong, leapt from his tree signalling the attack early. Nobo'ru nimbly dismounted and flung a dagger into the dark, piecing the canine's flesh. Azariah hesitated to leave the dead tree he was concealed in as he raised his bow, and one of the dogs fell with a wail from the bite of arrows. Around six heavy muscled Ruk Shol, each with their two-handed axes, slammed into the line as they awaited the Ruk Shol outside the curtain's edge.

Bacouth, resplendant in his battle gear, stepped to the fore, and with magical energies seared the Ruk Shol, with Braxis at his side. Barrages of magical lightning from the Ruk Shol shamans blasted around, burning holes in the tarp curtain around the tree and striking Nobo'ru. The priests of the stars responded in kind from the tree, sending showers of exploding stars in to the Ruk Shol. Andreas used all of his expertise to control the massive melee in the middle, as Azariah lithely leapt from the dead tree he was in and fell back behind the curtain to draw off some of the Ruk Shol. Drawing his blades, he awaited them in the light.

Suddenly outside, creatures never before seen swept into the fight with keen blades and more slender figures than the Ruk Shol. Andreas and Nobo'ru began to grow weakened from the many enemies around, and Andreas, frustrated that they were scattered, bellowed for his friends to come closer but there was no answer.

Behind the curtain, Abel stood at the tree, summoned a huge fireball with a mystical word and sent the roiling flame into the Ruk Shol shamans, who began to press into the melee in the middle as well. Against the Ruk Shol on the left, Azariah stood alone, trading vicious blows. One mighty Ruk Shol fell beneath slashing blades, and then Azariah was knocked off of his feet with a heavy blow. Rising again on power he could not comprehend, Azariah recovered and attacked the other Ruk Shol, his roars of effort challenging the Ruk Shol's and defeaning him to Andrea's cries. As the second Ruk Shol fell broken at his feet, a third swept in with his axe, and Azariah knew no more.

...

Azariah's eyes opened weakly, and he saw standing over him a priest of the stars. Looking at himself, he saw his fatal wound closed. Without a word, the priest moved on to the tree, where the rest were gathered. Abel was leaning heavily on his staff, barely standing from his wounds. It looked as though he had been the only one not incapacitated during the whole fight, and perhaps only by a thread of his life. At the foot of the tree were the dead forms of two Ruk Shol and two of the strange half-breeds, which Azariah had never seen before. Azariah noticed that the tree's roots were covered in a kind of balck slime, and he realized that what he thought was a side effect of a brush with death was not a result of his condition; the tree was dimming. As Nobo'ru looted the dead Ruk Shol bodies in a business-like manner, Andreas wiped some of the fluid off with his glove. He hastily wiped it on the grass as it began to burn through his glove. Azariah took his waterskin and poured it on the tree, and noticed that it helped to wash off some of the fluid. The priests of the stars busily began wiping off the substance.

And this was going on, a familiar figure walked into the clearing. It was Sorden. Bearing his signature longsword which he carries with him at all times, and armor similar to Andreas', he strode in and asked, "I heard the sounds of battle and my ears were not off. What happened here?" Andreas stepped forward and, clasping Sorden in a military greeting declared, "Your presence is most welcome, Sordan." He quickly began to relate the situation as everyone else took to cleaning the tree. Meanwhile, Nobo'ru slipped away into the darkness outside and recovered the shaman's staves. Looking intently upon them, it was clear that they were covered in Zamunsol script, perhaps an ancient variant; it was more jagged looking than Zamunsol script typically was.

As they examined these trophies, again the footsteps of attackers could be heard, and before they could react, arrows whipped through the curtain, striking Nobo'ru and narrowly missing Sorden. Without hesitation, Andreas picked up the table Azariah had taken cover behind and advanced, using the table like a pavise. Azariah swiftly followed. They could not afford to stand off and be killed by arrows, and they had no idea about their attackers; the light of the Urash tree was in this case a curse, not a blessing. Nobo'ru pushed through the ragged tarps in time to see a huge Ruk Shol charging in, its reek almost overpowering in and of itself. Nobo'ru reacted without thinking, feinting and falling over backwards, and a massive axe blade swept an inch from his nose over his face. Bacouth sent burning light at the creature, but it seemed that Bacouth's power was not as effective as it once was, and the massive Ruk Shol barely noticed the burns as they began to heal with startling swiftness. Azariah and Sorden rushed out and engaged the creature, their blades ripping into its flesh, while Andreas stepped around behind the creature, hoping to position himself better. The monster was vicious, and it swung its axe around violently, striking back and forth between Nobo'ru and Andreas.

As they struggled to contain the monster, powerful bolts of magical energy streaked from behind the tarps and two of the archers exploded in a mist of gore. Unable to discern between friend and foe in the frenzying melee, Abel moved foreward but could not hit the Ruk Shol without hurting his friends. The giant Ruk Shol roared in its foul tongue and the archers continued to rain down arrows; everyone except Abel and Bacouth felt their bite. Tiring of the archer's arrows, Sorden and Nobo'ru charged away from the Ruk Shol and pursued the smaller Ruk Shol. Nobo'ru's knife was a whisper on the wind speaking a word of death, and an archer fell with a gurgle as its response, a dagger buried in its throat. Bloodied from the arrows and wild swings of the Ruk Shol, Sorden lost his concentration and swung wide of his target, but the Ruk Shol was badly distracted and found his aim to be faulty as he slipped away to try and pick off Andreas.

Bacouth was again unable to effectively damage the creature, and though a priest of the stars joined the battle with his morningstar, he too could not bring the Ruk Shol low. Abel, overcome by the rush of adrenaline, swung his staff to unleash magical power on the creature, but his stoke failed to find its mark. As the creature shifted around and struck Azariah, Andreas stepped back battered and exhausted. Then straightening, his voice took on a different quality than it usually did when he bellowed commands, and a faint supernatural light emanated from his sword as he challenged the Ruk Shol to fight him. The Ruk Shol turned to engage Andreas, and Azariah, releived from the frenzied swings of the creature for a moment, slashed a deep gash in the creature's side. Wildly it struck out and hit Azariah, but expecting this Azariah rode the blow out and slipped near Andreas, ready to fight the creature again.

In the outer darkness, Sorden felt satisfaction as he buried his longsword deep into the archer he pursued and began to move back towards the Ruk Shol with renewed purpose. Nobo'ru continued his hunt. In an unbroken, fluid motion, Nobo'ru slashed the eyes of the archer and dropped low, crouching stealthfully before the Ruk Shol's body even hit the ground.

As the monster closed in on the valiant but wounded Andreas, Sorden interrupted the challenge with a battlecry and stuck at the creature. It swung wildly and knocked Azariah unconscious to the ground with its backswing. A priest of the stars bent and revived Azariah, but Andreas did not realize this and steeling himself disengaged from the Ruk Shol to try and heal Azariah. When he saw him about to stand up, he composed himself and prepared to strike. He didn't need to. As Azariah rose, the creature's back was turned, and Azariah swung his blade overhanded into the Ruk Shol's back, snapping its spine in two and piercing its heart. With a deep groan its lages gave way and it fell on its face. Nobo'ru, swept up and cut its head off to ensure it was dead. Retrieving his sword from the corpse and wiping it down, Azariah began to go back to the light of the tree, where Abel and Andreas were already talking privately.