Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Uncommon dangers (1x1 with Remembrance)

Caelius nodded. "We'll get you a bow and arrows at the first camp we find and get you started with those again. As a warrior, I don't like them, but your expertise will come in handy against the things following us." Yeah, things was probably a correct discription.
They made it to the small mountains and rode over a couple ridges, each time disappearing again from the demon's eyes. After the sixth ridge, his horse was getting tired from the sudden fast-speed run. He got off and led it to hide in a bush nearby. He helped Alesia off and then softly pushed down on its back. The beast recognized his command and crouched down, disappearing completely. He then reached into a saddlebag and retrieved a short sword. He handed it over to Alesia.

"I'm not sure if they'll find us, but if they make it past this ridge, they'll smell us out, so we better form up." he explained. He proceeded to crouching down at the high ground. The ridge of the previous hill was in front of them, and the small vale required the demons a small climb to get to the two survivors. Caelius wasn't sure if it'd be enough to tire them out even a little bit, but it was better than taking low ground. He crouched and pushed his large round shield against the ground, his spear pointing out forward past it.
"Get behind me." If Alesia would, they'd be covered almost completely.

Alesia played look out the rest of the ride, remaining silent unless it was to inform Caelius that they were closer or farther, or if anything strange happened among their number. In her mind she was dreading having to face off with these things, worrying that what he said was true. That he wouldn't be there at some point and she'd be left alone again with her little dagger and a big beast trying to devour her whole. It left her with her body pumping wildly and cold sweat breaking out on her skin.

Down from the horse and up in the stone ridge, the woman looked down at herself, looking at her clothing with sudden disdain. This time, it wasn't just about her appearance. She had nothing to keep her safe except her tiny blade- She took the small sword in hand and swallowed hard. At least she had two now. She weighed it in her hand, feeling it heavy in her grip, bringing her arm down even while she lifted it. She was not made to use a blade.

Alesia obeyed, slipping behind the man and getting down low, disappearing behind him and staring at his back. She could only hope they wouldn't make it up the ridge, but already she could hear their snarling and howling louder. It didn't seem they had lost the companions' scent yet and they sounded as determined as ever.

"Get ready." Caelius whispered.
Not much later, a small but twited creature appeared on the ridge before them. he saw them and looked at them for a long time. Then, it screamed loudly, and stormed down the hill. Several others appeared and stormed right after the first one. They kept coming, the hill and slight curve in the hills before them were black with the creatures. Caelius rose and looked back at Alesia. "No use holding this position, they'll swarm us. Get your back to the rocks and fight, make sure they can't get behind you, got it?" he couldn't have her dying on him. She knew something, and she wasn't telling him. He needed her.

He himself stepped forward, immediately attracting the attention of the attackers. A human that fought back? On his own? They charged wildly. Caelius threw his spear forward and into the small horde, the heavy shaft allowing it to pierce a good five little demons before it stopped. He drew his sword. The blade was unusually long and broad, not natural for a spear wielder. And more impressively, the dark-clothed mercenary was holding the weapin in one hand.
A demon jumped him, but Caelius smashed him with his shield in mid-air. His sword followed in one fluent move and cut down another two demons. he pivoted on his feet and turned to the other side, where he thrust his sword into another attacker.

Alesia's eyes were round. If she had been a beast, the whites of her eyes would show her fear at the sight of the coming swarm. She back up immediately, stumbling against the stone and holding the blade in front of her with both hands. She swallowed hard and stared as the man stood his ground and began to fight, taking down the demons with such ease she wasn't sure she would have to fight at all... But she was wrong.

Swarming around the man, they couldn't help but notice his little woman in the back, looking like easy pickings in comparison. Said woman gulped hard and waved the blade at the creatures that took notice of her, but it was not deterence. They shot forward, working to pass he crazy swings, but adrenaline was slamming through her, and flight wasn't an option. Only fight was.

The woman yelled out, piercing her sword forward and catching one of the beasts by surprise at her sudden, useful attack. She caught it in the eye and roughly pulled back on the blade, hitting another with the flat side of his as she swung to keep the creature at bay. The third dodge forward to get her, but with a back swing of her sword, she got him with the sharp edge, slicing in and leaving him bleeding.

Alesia didn't really notice what she did after that. she kept fighting, swinging and stabbing when ever she could, kicking if she had to. Cuts appeared on her body from their claws and teeth, as those three weren't the only beasts to get through. On the ground was a small pile, growing with a steady fall of bodies. When no more beasts rose over the ridge and blood seeped from her wounds, she cut anything that twitched near her feet and breathed far too quickly.

Caelius couldn't hold them all back. Several of the little demons ran straight past him to attack Alesia, but there was nothing he could do at the moment. One other jumped and clung to his shield. In reponse, The mercenary smashed his tool for defense against a rock two times and the creature fell off with a crashed skull. He turned around and cut through three others on the backhand swing of his blade.

At that point, a loud roar echoed between the rocks they were fighting in. Caelius beheaded two more demons before he noticed that all their adversaries had stopped fighting. Suddenly, another roar. All of the small demons retreted, running back across the hill with great haste. Caelius killed several more as they retreated. When they were gone, he quickly picked up his spear.
"Stay weary, it's not over. Whatever called them back is bigger and meaner than them." he said to her.

A deep, heavy breath could be heard long before it appeared on the ridge. A creature that could for the greeks be best described as a cyclops appeared over the hill. He roared and looked at the - to him - two puny humans below him. He stood easily twice Caelius height and probably twice as broad as well. He didn't hold any weapons, but Caelius was sure those hands could do a lot of damage to the human body.

It took Alesia long moment to regain her mind as the little demons retreated and to notice the thunderous roar that was coming from what could only be their leader. She gulped hard, eyes still wide and gave Caelius a shaky nod in response to his words. Though of course, she could not have invisioned that she would be faced with such a creature. Only a cyclops could be as large as this beast and she wanted nothing to do with it. You could not give her enough gold coins to make her attack the thing up close with this sword of hers.

Hoping that the woman's companion would distract the monster, she looked around desperately for something to use at long range. Stones were all around them, small and large, bodies from the tiny demons that had been massacred. no bows, these beasts didn't use proper weapons. Not even a sling around their bodies... Sling.

Alesia bent down and ripped the bottom of her attire hastely, tearing a long strip free. If she wanted to stay distant, this was the only option available. Of course, she'd rather not draw its attention, but maybe... if she could hit in the eye with a rock... Blinded and they could get away without having to kill the thing and become dead in the process of trying.

A stone, about the size of her palm went into the make-shift sling and soon was whirling at the end of her arm. She was far better with a bow, and worried about hitting Caelius, but it was this or try and stab the thing in the foot. She let loose the stone and winced when it shot wide over the things shoulder. She grabbed another and tried again. Closer but not quite.

The cyclops roared and turned to face alesia, who was swinging rocks at his head. He definately didn't like that. He started stomping towards her slowly, but had miscalculated Caelius' position. The mercenary suddenly showed up with his lance in two hands. he had dropped his shield, the heavy tool of defence wouldn't be of help against this creature, and it'd only slow him down. With tremendous force, he pushed the lance into the creature's leg. He kept pushing until it went all the way through in one clear shove, then even a bit further so it would obstruct him even more. He quickly jumped away and drew his sword. Meanwhile, the creature was stomping around heavily, trying to shake off the lance that he couldn't reach with his short arms.

Alesia's heart pounded horribly in her chest the moment the great beast turned and headed in her direction. She felt her throat stopper up but she didn't stop in her slinging. Another stone soared forward, this one thumping the creature in the side of the head at the same time as her companion's lance pushed through the flesh and sinew of the creatures leg. Spurred on by the small success, she stumbled to another stone, more getting shaken down by the monster's stomping and bellowing. She had to be careful now not to get hit by some of them as they slipped from higher crevices in the stone face. The next stone caught him in the face, very near his eyes and she grinned despite the danger and looked for a larger stone. She swung her arm around, carefully trying to time it with Caelius' attacks so she could get it in the eye. She let free and quickly moved away from where she had been lest the beast decide to try and stomp her without being able to see.

The cyclops once again turned to face Caelius, en thanks to that aligned himself perfectly with the stone thrown by Alesia. The stone hit him perfectly in the center of his eye, and he roared loudly as he used both hands to reach for the pain now shooting through his head. Caelius strapped his sword to his back once more.
"Distract it further!" he yelled, then jumped up and started climbing the rough rough skin and armor worn by the creature in an attempt to reach his head.

Alesia swung her head to her companion and gave hima swift nod even while she was still swinging the next rock over her head. Adrenaline still pumped through her as she let loose and started on the next. She was glad she wasn't alone anymore. She wouldn't have survived her own mistake. This cyclops would have killed her in moments. She wouldn't have had time to fix her aim and certainly would have had to just run away if she'd been lucky enough to get him in the eye. She watched avidly as the male climbed the beast and kept up with her duties.

As he got to the beast's upper back, The cyclops suddenly noticed Caelius' presence and started shaking around violently. Caelius held on for dear life, and got close to losing grip several times over. He finally made it to the creature's neck, so he drew his sword. Suddenly, a hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed him off of his back. Sword in hand, the creature held him up in front of his face, looking at him intently and with an angry look in his eyes. Suddenly, Caelius threw his broadsword. It immediately planted itself firmly and deeply into the creature's eye, causing him to roar excrutiatingly loud. Grip around Caelius loosened, and he used the creature's hand as a stepping stone - launching himself towards his face and hanging onto the sword in the creature's eye - causing further damage.

The stones continued to hit the beast, though the damage they did was minimal, considering she now feared hitting her companion in the fray. In fact, she stopped trying to pelt the beast all together and squeaked, a sound she certainly wasn't proud of, when the man was grabbed. She swallowed hard and simply stopped, staring on and not sure what to do. She cringed at the sight of him hanging from his sword and knew there was no other damage she could possibly do. Not unless she wanted to get up close and personal. She looked around frantically, finding her sword and chewed her bottom lip. She really didn't want to get close to the beast... But if she could hurt his already injured leg further... Perhaps he would fall and this all would be over.

The woman took the sword in her hands and ran forward, watching out carefully for her own well being. The last thing she wanted was to be stepped on by the great brute or given a shower by his bleeding eye. With no grace or finesse, she just started to hack at the back of the creatures ankle. Her movements were sporadic at most and it took her a moment or two before she realized her sweaty and nervous hands had allowed the sword to fly out of her grip somewhere. She froze and stared at her palms before running off in search of the lost blade.