The Invasion Alt View

(Joint post with LSP. 90% LSP. Enjoy!)

Lafayette charged through the battle field, juked and moved, attacking with gorilla tactics. Throwing poisoned darts when he could, and slashing anyone who got in his way. The darts doing little more then slowing them down as the darts either bounced off the hide of the werebeasts or were pushed out as they healed. The foreigner in a strange land had never encountered beasts like these. Not even his master could have trained him for this. Taking cover behind a tree for a moment, he slapped himself in the face. Getting his head in the fight.

The reprieve from the fight was short lived and he heard a snort in front of him. Giving his sword a moulinet. "Viens à moi la bête." he said giving another spin to his sword as the beast charged with supernatural speed. A narrow dodge and the beast claws sinking into the tree was all that saved him. Lafayette in turn sank his sword into the beast's neck, using all his might to twist the blade in place making the cut a hole in its neck. It was either dead or out for now, but he had no intention to stick around to find out. Lafayette needed to find Kalena or Kline.

Lafayette backtracked, heading back to where he last saw a glimpse of her. A man blocked his path. Wielding a hand axe, the mountain of a man charged at Lafayette. Not giving him enough time to guard properly, not to mention the strength he was up against. Hitting his sword causing it to chip. The warrior drew that axe back for a second attack but Lafayette slashed him across the chest. Almost drenching him in blood. The man began to laugh like a madman, his form starting to change. He was shifting into his werebeast form. Before he could, Lafayette sank his blade into the man's chest. Killing him but breaking the sword in the process.

Lafayette re-sheathed what remained of his sword, picking up the axe the man dropped. "La nécessité est la mère de la survie," he said, giving it a few practice swings to gauge it's weight.

Looking out the corner of his eye he saw the jet black mare with Kalena atop it. At least he knew she was safe, though that feeling was short lived as yet another of the endless horde barreled out of the trees and at him, giving him just enough time to pull one of his home made fire bombs from his bandolier. It exploded on contact, Lafayette felt the heat roar off the beast as it fell just feet from him. Without pause, he quickly sank the axe into the head of the beast a handful of times before moving on. Now he had lost sight of Kalena again.

Lafayette huffed. "Tired..." he said rolling his shoulders.

But the fight wasn't over, far, far from it. And he and no intention of dying tonight, or anytime soon. Not when he had to find Kalena, at least to make sure she was not dead. If the worst was the outcome at least get her body off the battlefield and not in the stomach of one of those things.

"I need a sword. Je suis désolé," he said taking a sword from a nearby body. "It's more use to me." He slid the axe into his belt, holstering the sword. The sword wasn't a warriors sword. It was cheaply made, easy to produce many like it. "But something is better then nothing," he commented to himself as he continued on taking what ever weapons he could use that wouldn't weigh him down to much and could simply be dropped once their use was gone. Like a dagger and a crossbow with 3 bolts left plus the knocked one.

It was getting dark, in a battle of men this would be par for the course. Against beasts, beast had the advantage. The fight would be even more short lived. The screams and pleading around him was a testament to that. He had to block it all out. Focus on foot steps. Focus on snorting and roars. He wasn't ready for what happened next.

A cart being used in a vein attempt to get some injured to safety was it but a massive beast, even by the standards of that they had seen yet far. The cart exploded like it was make of match sticks and balsa wood. A wheel bounce off the ground and before he could react it made contact with his arm. Causing him to fall to the hard earth below him. Leaving him to struggle to get back up. His arm was easily fractured.

"Je suis désolé Kalena," he said pulling himself up, making a run for the clearing. The pseudo border of the Two kingdoms, crossing the river. Close to where a path could be seen on the bank.

Seeing the tracks left by her horse's hooves, Lafayette followed them deep into the oceans of forest that rose into the Dalen Alps. It would be hard, since the dark around him was making it impossible to see much more then what little he could stop between the over-growth where rays of moon light cut through. Leaning against a cliff next to him, he was in quite a bit of pain, having dislocated his shoulder recently, and not breaking it. He wanted to rest, but it wasn't in the cards, not yet.

"Have to find her..." he whispered. The moment he spoke, he heard snorting. The sound of the bear. "Vous plaisantez j'espère," he thought. Though it was moving away from him, a head of him.

The direction of the horse's tracks.

Enyo caught the scent of the werebear and gave an alarmed whinny. Kalena turned to see the great beast appear and rise menacingly on its hind-legs, standing more than eight feet tall in height. In the pale light of the moon it looked terribly large and ferocious. Savage yellow eyes glared vindictively from the creature's monstrous face, as if it knew she had slain several of its comrades, perhaps even knew she was responsible for assassinating its beloved warrior king.

Her blood turning to ice, she grabbed the recurve bow slung on her back and fumbled for a silver arrow in her quiver, but before she could fit the last one she had to the string, an axe suddenly came spinning out of the darkness to bury itself in the werebear's massive head.

Kalena jerked her amazed gaze around in the direction it had come, and to her delight a familiar red-haired figure stepped slowly from the dark, shadow-haunted trees.

"Merde," the man said, his teeth clenched in pain.

Skull split open, the axe embedded deep in its brain, the werebeast stumbled backwards, and then toppled off the nearby cliff and into the yawning abyss below.

"Well met, Lafayette," Kalena said, greeting him with a warm smile. "You're certainly one for making an entrance, aren't you?"

"Hello, beautiful," Lafayette replied, cradling his arm.

Kalena noted, with a touch of sympathy, that it was the arm of the shoulder he had previously dislocated in a skirmish with some Drow elves only a couple of days ago. "What did the royal healer tell you about overexerting yourself?" she chided affectionately. "I could have handled the beast myself—though perhaps not quite so efficiently. I must say, that was rather impressive! But then again you never fail to surprise me—a trait I like in a man! Did you see what happened to Kline? I lost sight of him and you both in all the chaos, and then had more pressing matters to attend to..."

Lafayette did not respond right away; he staggered forward on trembling legs, and it was plain that he was greatly exhausted from the intense battle and the supreme effort of catching up with her in the dense, rugged forest. He eased his pack and scavenged weapons off his back and collapsed on a log, weak and dizzy.

Kalena let go of Enyo's bridle and rushed over to him. Kneeling down, she pulled an old shirt from his bag and deftly used it to fashion a makeshift sling for his arm to rest in. "There we are," she said softly. "That should be a bit more comfortable for you. Now, did you see what happened to Kline? He's... he's not dead... is he?"