As they got closer to the area of souls, Darris noticed that many townspeople were frantically running from the area, now just a block away. Some of them were injured. One person had a large wound across their now limp arm that flailed behind them as they ran.
Instinctively, Darris moved a hand to the pendant around his neck and pulled it off. The same golden-bladed scimitar appearing in his off-hand.
Gregory ran to one of the injured citizens, holding them up as they nearly fell from a wound across their leg. "What's happening? Who else is injured?" He asked.
The injured man opened his mouth to speak, but nothing but choked gurgles came out as an arrow pierced the back of his neck. The crude arrowhead stuck from the man's throat, dripping with blood, as the man fell limp and his eyes rolled back in his head.
Gregory looked up to see a cackling gnoll with a bow glaring at what had been it's target. Gregory grit his teeth as he dropped the man to the floor. His hand flowed to the pendant of a warhammer around his neck as he pulled it. A fine steel warhammer apperated in his hands. The gnoll cackled again, dropping it's bow. From it's back it pulled out a large ax. With a shout both the warriors dashed toward the other.
The gnoll swung first. He swung the large ax down with such force that it carved into the stone road where Gregory had been standing. Just as the gnoll looked at Gregory he was met with a slab of metal ramming into his face, knocking him back onto his back. The gnoll attempted to right himself, however Gregory stepped on it's chest to keep it on the ground.
Gregory glared down at the creature as he raised his hammer. The gnoll began to struggle and grunt through its bloodied face. However it suddenly fell silent as the hammer came down on it's head.
Darris turned from the encounter as he heard quick footsteps behind him. He turned just in time to deflect a club swing from a gnoll. Quickly, Darris spun his other scimitar and swung up at the gnolls face. The gnoll stepped back, however the end of the blade still cut across the creature's jaw. Darris took a step forward before swinging again at the gnolls neck.
The gnoll lifted its club to block the blow, however it stumbled back from the impact.
Darris went for a third swing, slicing across the gnolls neck as it began to raise its club again.
The gnoll stumbled back again before falling onto its back, grasping at its neck.
Darris saw the familiar golden mist stream from beneath its fur as the life faded from its eyes and its body fell limp. Darris walked over the body of the gnoll, the soul of the creature sinking into his skin.
He glanced at Gregory, who had just absorbed the soul of a gnoll he had crushed with a hammer. They simply looked at each other then nodded before they both spread out to hunt down more gnolls. Gregory went to where the souls had been first seen, and Darris bolted down the street to catch any stragglers.
After letting Darris go about whatever business he felt like doing, Svalken had stopped, once again, at the Rusty Cup. The food wasn't great, but it was the only place to get food at that hour. He picked absentmindedly at his slab of bread and egg. Then he heard someone pull back the chair across the table from him. He glanced up to see a woman with long blonde hair and skin that seemed to glow in the lantern light. Her eyes were pure golden as she looked calmly at Svalken as she sat down. She wore the robes of a priest with plates of metal over it for protection. A golden symbol was carved into the chest piece of a fist holding a weight balance.
Svalken set down his fork and crossed his arms. "What are you doing here, Azariah?" He asked bluntly, leaning back in his chair.
"I was in the area." She said, Her voice was calm and soothing. The kind of voice that would put any person's mind at ease. Svalken, however, just found it annoying.
Azariah leaned forward and set her chin to rest on her hand. "The meeting is in 8 months. Will you be attending?" She asked.
"Why wouldn't I?" He replied back.
Azariha glanced toward the door to the exit. "You have a student now." She stated.
Svalken raised an eyebrow. "And?"
Azariha glanced back at Svalken and chuckled lightly, as if remembering an old joke. "Oh, well I just find it a bit surprising is all." She exclaimed. "I just didn't think you'd gotten another one so soon."
Svalken glared into Azariha's eyes, flickers of silver sparks seemingly emanating from behind his eyes.
Azariha smiled, although she leaned backwards slightly. "Do you know what I've noticed about you, Svalken?" She asked.
Svalken just glared at her before rolling his hand, motioning for her to continue.
"You don't like talking to people." She stated.
Svalken uncrossed his arms and picked up his fork, beginning to pick at his food. "Wonderful observation." He mumbled sarcastically.
Azariha stood up. "You're always so enthusiastic." She replied with the same tone of sarcasm. She turned away and began walking towards the exit. Then she stopped and turned back to Svalken. "Oh, and by the way, you may want to look through the forests a bit. I've heard some gnolls gathering on my way over here." She stated.
"Then kill them." Svalken stated.
Azariha chucked, making Svalken resist the urge to throw his fork into her eye. "I've told you before, I'm not one for fighting. Then again, you don't pay attention to anyone but yourself." She said before exiting the tavern.
Azariha had been right, about the gnoll problem apparently. Several hours of killing time later, Svalken had been in the market district when he came upon the first sign of death. At first Svalken hadn't known why civilians were running away screaming. Then he saw what he first thought was a large dog maul someone to death. Then he saw silver flames rise from the mauled corpse.
The gnoll had tried to lunge at him, however it didn't get very far until Svalken waved his hand and its head splattered into paste. As Svalken put his arm down he retracted the chain that melded into his skin. At the end of the chain hung a large cylindrical weight made out of some strange black metal that Svalken had never cared to investigate. The weight now dripped with chips of bone and bright red blood.
Svalken stepped forward and reached out toward the flaming soul of the gnoll as flames began to rise from under its fur. The silver flames licked at his palm before being sucked into his skin. For a brief moment, his palm felt warm, as if he was holding it over a small candle. But the warmth faded just as quick as it had arrived; they never lasted long.
Then, Svalken heard hurried footsteps from behind him. He turned and flung his arm. The metal weight of the chain collided with the skull of a gnoll as it lunged forward to bite him. The gnoll's corpse then fell to the ground as the top half of its head had been blown apart.
Svalken walked forward, toward the screams and fleeing citizens. He swung his chain lightly at his side like a pendulum. It'd been a while since he'd killed something. Maybe sticking around for a moment longer wouldn't hurt.
Darris cut down one gnoll, then another, and another. He'd killed nearly five since they had begun their massacre of Vanderin. Gregory, who had been close by, aiding him in killing the intruders had left him. The last Darris saw he had shouted something illegible to him before bolting off into the center of the town. Darris cursed under his breath at Gregory as he ducked beneath the ax swing of a gnoll before cutting it across the chest twice and absorbing its soul that arose a moment later. Nonetheless, it meant he didn't need to hide himself anymore. The illusion around his body had faded. Now looking indistinguishable to the many corpses of the civilians that now littered the streets.
With every gnoll he slew, Darris felt a surge of adrenaline course through his body. Slowly, he was getting faster. He was growing with each creature he killed.
Darris knocked the club of another gnoll aside as he quickly cut it across the neck. Then a spear flew at him from another gnoll to his side. He knocked the spear away before dashing forward and making many slashes across the gnoll's chest.
Despite the rush of energy with every kill, it only managed to delay the fatigue that was slowly setting in from the extended battle.
After absorbing the last soul he turned to face the other gnoll's around him. However, there weren't any. Only the bodies of the gnolls he'd killed. Darris stopped for a moment, letting his blades fall to his side as he took the air into his lungs; it didn't help much, seeing as his lungs no longer functioned. Regardless, he slowly felt the fatigue lessen.
Then he raised his blades again as he heard footfalls coming down the street. He turned to see a gnoll walking toward him, a toothy smile across his face. The gnoll paid no mind to the corpses of his brethren as he stepped over them. In his hand was a proper steel broadsword, unlike the crude make-shift ones that Darris had seen all the other gnoll's use.
The side of the gnolls face was horribly scarred, little patches of fur lined the sacred side of the face. His eye also had a large scar across his right side, the eye having been turned a milky white. One of the gnoll's ears had been torn in half and it seemed to be missing many of its teeth.
Then the gnoll spoke. Its voice was scratchy and mingled with bits of grunts and growls. "Oh? I didn't think I'd see a corpse up and walking here of all places." He cackled. "You must be skilled to have killed so many of my pack. Or is it that you've been running around fleeing and ended up here?" It asked before letting out another cackle. Suddenly, the gnoll dashed forward at an immense speed. "I'll test that theory."
The gnoll swung up with its sword as it approached. Darris hardly had time to deflect the blow with one of his blades before the gnoll swung again at Darris's neck.
Darris ducked the blade before slashing upward at the gnoll. However the gnoll acted quickly and deflected the blow before taking a step back. "So you do have skill." It chuckled, its smile on its face growing to inhuman proportions. "You're going to be a fun toy to tear apart." It smiled before dashing forward again.
Susain had left the mansion not soon after Gregory and Darris had. Of course she was going to help find her father. She never listened to her brother anyways. However, she didn't anticipate the massacre ahead of her. She was confused when she saw citizens running, then she was horrified when one of them was mauled to death in front of her.
She quickly fired a ray of frost at the gnolls head. The gnoll had dashed at her in a haze, however she had quickly fired another ray, freezing the creature's head completely and causing it to fall to the floor. Another gnoll had burned to ash when she released a torrent of fire from her fingers that quickly engulfed the beast.
She ran through the town, shouting the names of anyone she could think of. Calling out for her dad, Gregory, Yanavik, and even Darris. However, that only seemed to attract more gnolls.
She fled and hid from most of them. However she was still forced to kill three more as she ran. She flung a shard of ice into the shoulder of one gnoll. A moment later the shard burst into frost, freezing the entire upper body of the gnoll. A second later an arrow came flying at her, however she brought up her hand and formed a thin shield of ice in front of her. The shield shattered, but it at least stopped the arrow.
As Susain fired another ice shard at the gnoll with the bow, she turned just in time to see a gnoll lunging forward, baring its maw at her neck. Her eyes widened. Her body froze as time slowed.
However, the gnoll was flung through the window of a nearby building by the head of a hammer. An explosion of red came from the hammer's head, propelling the gnoll away as it slammed into it's chest.
Susain looked up to see her brother, hammer in hand, glaring at her.
"I told you to stay in the house." He shouted, rearing his hammer back for a swing.
Susain ducked as the hammer went over her head to slam into the face of a gnoll that had attempted to hit her with its club. The gnoll's head was crushed by the force of the blow as it splatted into the street.
Gregory grabbed Susain's arm before pulling her to her feet. "I toppled you to stay put." He repeated.
"Did you see dad? Or Yana?" She asked quickly. Her eyes stung from the tears beginning to flow down her face from the stress of the situation.
Gregory turned away. "We need to find somewhere to hide." He said.
"Gregory." Susain shouted. "Where is dad?"
"Home would be the best-"
Susain hit Gregory's muscular back. "Where is dad!?" She shouted, barely stifling a cry.
"I don't know." Gregory shouted back, turning to face his sister. His eyes were bloodshot. Tears welled up in his eyes. "I don't know, Susain." He said. He closed his eyes tight as tears began to stream from his face. "For all I know, dad and Yana and everyone else is dead." He shouted back through tears. "I just need to make sure you aren't the next to die." He said, setting a hand on Susain's shoulder. "We need to get out of here. We need to get you out of danger.
Susain gritted her teeth before slapping Gregory's arm away. "Stop treating me like a child, Gregory." She shouted. She gestured to the frozen and charred bodies of the gnolls behind her. "You aren't the only one who can fight. I may not be as strong as you. I may not have a big hammer. But I can help. Let's kill the gnolls so they don't kill anyone else."
Gregory looked to the gnolls, then to his sister and back again. "I can't-"
"Let me fight, Gregory." She insisted.
Gregory sighed before turning away. "Stay close to me. Tell me if you see any gnolls, even if they haven't noticed us yet. And do not run off." He said before bolting down the street.