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Once they neared the meadow, Aesir motioned for the group to stop as they scoped out the landscape.
"They're likely off the edge of the field," they murmured, "In the field would be too exposed, and I don't see the encampment from here."
Castor whipped around his head when he heard sounds of struggle in the distance- perhaps even a scream.
"That noise- we're going that way," he insisted.
"Yes," Aesir agreed, "but let's not get ahead of ourselves-"
Delta and Finn took off running towards the source of the noise. It was close to where they planned to go anyway, and they couldn't just stand here while someone was getting hurt anyhow. Delta was remarkably fast, and much more graceful than Finn, who was still trying his best to keep up.
Nich grunted with strain as he struggled to keep the gnolls off of himself. He'd already sustained some significant injuries, and he was bleeding quite a bit, but he was still alive and fighting. He kicked hard with the leg he still had and got himself some breathing room for a moment, but the gnolls were soon back on him.
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Castor also took off. Despite his larger stature, he was every bit as fast as the others. Aesir was given no choice but to follow suit. They kept up, but were still in the back of the group, trying to come up with a plan then and their- not that the others would follow it.
"Good gods- be careful," they hissed, fumbling for their dagger.
Soon, they were upon the scene unfolding ahead. Aesir paled a bit and came to a hard stop. They were not, in fact, going to get the jump on the gnolls.
Delta pulled out their bow and whispered something as they loosed an arrow, which swiftly struck a gnoll through the head and knocked it over. They pulled out another arrow and shot another of the gnolls while Finn was muttering protection spells to try and keep his team members safe. He couldn't get close enough to Nich without endangering himself.
Hearing that help had arrived, Nich fought that much harder to free himself from the horde and managed to break away. He kicked a gnoll in the face with his remaining leg and jumped up into the tree as well as he could with blood pouring from several wounds on his body.
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Aesir dropped their sword and pulled out their crossbow, placing in a bolt. They exhaled softly as the bolt flew free, lodging itself in another gnoll's armor. It only caused a minor wound.
Without much more thought, Castor rushed in, engaging the gnoll closest to him. He got the first hit, but the gnoll was quick to fight back, pushing Castor over. He hit the ground, which knocked the breath from his lungs. Yet, he rolled out of the way before he could come to harm. The gnoll changed direction and swung its axe. Castor threw up his arm, which had a small shield on it, in order to protect himself. The blow rattled him and likely bruised, but he was safe, at least. Castor thrust his sword up into the gnoll's leather armor, piercing a little into the other's flesh, but not giving a full deadly blow.
Aesir saw the struggle and turned their attention to Castor and the gnoll he fought. They prepared to fire again, carefully aiming to avoid Castor and actually help.
Finn quickly got a protection spell on Castor as well and then stepped back. He needed to focus to keep the spells up, and if he were to get injured, they would all fall and his group might get hurt. Delta remained calm and collected as they loosed a few more arrows.
Nich climbed up the tree a bit more, but he was struggling with only one leg. He couldn't quite reach his other prosthetic, which was still tied up in the tree.
Finn looked around and, with less gnolls there and the ones that were being occupied, he chanced to go around by the tree to try and help Nich, but he was still out of reach.
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The protective spell left a slight glimmer on Castor's skin, and he was able to more confidently push forwards and fight without fear of injury. Yet, as reckless as he became, each strike put another chip in his magical protection.
Meanwhile, Aesir snuck closer, doing their best to find a good place to come in and strike. They glanced towards Nich and also came around that side, near where Finn was.
"I can help," they murmured to Finn, "But maybe we should leave him until the fight fades."
They leaned around the trunk of the tree and prepared their crossbow to fire again, successfully lodging the bolt in a gnoll's neck.
Castor landed a finishing blow on the very same gnoll.
"C-Castor! Be more careful!" Finn insisted. Every blow Castor endured took a toll on Finn's body and energy as well, so the more damage Finn had to prevent, the more exhausted he became. He looked over to Aesir and nodded, taking a few steps back to ensure he wasn't in the way so that he could focus on the protection spells.
Delta wrenched an arrow from a gnoll's forehead and wheeled around to drive it into another. The horde's numbers were steadily dwindling, and no one but Nich was injured so far. However, a gnoll came up behind Finn and sliced his back with its spear, causing him to stagger and the protection spells to vanish. Delta noticed immediately and quickly shot an arrow into the gnoll's head before it could do any more damage.
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When Finn took the hit, Aesir whipped around, taking a knife from their belt and hitting the gnoll who'd attacked Finn square in the chest. They did all they could to protect the healer, switching from ranged to the sword.
"I've got you," Aesir promised, holding up a protective stance behind Finn as they locked in combat with the offending gnoll.
Castor was about to take a heavy blow when the ward broke. He did his best to dodge out of the way, but the gnoll's axe dug deep into the exposed part of his sword arm. Castor bit back a cry of pain and kept fighting. He stood back, panting heavily, and he held up his little shield to repel any further damage. Castor swung back and thrust through a gap in the gnoll's armor, felling the monster.
Castor swept his surroundings to see what else he needed to do, clutching at his badly injured arm.
Aesir was fighting for moments, but he was never the best at close combat. They were quite literally fighting for their life and for Finn's as well. They yelped softly as they blocked each blow. Aesir never came to harm, but it was rattling. They needed help.
"Finn-" Aesir gasped, narrowly dodging a blow that would have sliced open their neck.
Finn was breathing heavily as he struggled to catch his breath, leaning against the tree for a moment to gather himself. "Sorry… s-sorry… nngh…" He did his best to get the protection spells back up, although they were a bit weaker than they were before. We've got to get rid of these things fast so I can actually heal everyone… It was hard to focus with the white hot pain throbbing from his back, but he had to in order to keep everyone safe.
Delta kept fighting, stepping in wherever needed to try and get the job done more quickly. They could tell that Finn was starting to struggle more with the strain of magic on top of his injuries.
Nich managed to pull out a few throwing stars from his bag and launched them into the necks of a few gnolls, desperate to try and help the people who had come to his aid.
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Once the ward was back up, Aesir drove their blade into the gnoll's soft stomach. Blood sprayed across their front, leaving dark splotches on their gray clothes. They did a quick scan of their surroundings to make sure Finn was in no further danger, then they ran ahead, fine aside from some small bruises and scrapes.
Castor was starting to bleed profusely underneath the ward. There were only two gnolls left, and he was fighting one of them. He slashed and hacked, successfully getting in a few blows, but he was growing tired. He had almost won when the gnoll lunged forwards and knocked him to the ground, unhinging its beastly jaws. After breaking down part of the ward, it went to dig teeth into Castor's side. Castor lost the grip on his sword.
Aesir saw this unfold and fumbled for their crossbow again, but they were so shaky, they were afraid that they would hit Castor instead of the monster.
"No, no, no…" Finn whispered, struggling to remedy the situation. Of course, he felt responsible for his team's injuries, but he couldn't do much about it until all of the gnolls were dealt with. He tried to increase the protection spells, but he was already feeling very lightheaded and dizzy.
Delta took out the last gnoll and started to assess the situation. They and Aesir seemed to be the only ones who didn't have any serious injuries; Castor was worst off other than the new guy, who they couldn't see well since he was still in the tree. Nich still couldn't reach his prosthetic, and he was feeling lightheaded and exhausted from blood loss. He wasn't confident he could safely get down from the tree right now.
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Before Aesir could loose another bolt, Castor managed to wrestle the gnoll to the ground. He pulled another knife and stabbed through its eye. As he got up shakily, he saw Delta deal the final blow to the last gnoll standing. He stumbled towards the group, clutching at his wounded side and taking deep, slow breaths. He probably couldn't have fought much longer.
Meanwhile, Aesir climbed up the tree after Nich. They reached out a hand to the other.
"I'll help you down," they promised, "And I can get that leg down for you as well if you'll give me a minute."
Their heart was absolutely pounding. If only they had come up with something of a plan first. But if they'd waited too long, this poor guy might be dead, too.
Finn, although he was visibly unsteady, headed over to Castor. I have enough energy left to heal one person fully, or two somewhat… He looked around, his breathing labored and erratic. Castor and that guy who got attacked are both in bad shape. I need to do my job as a healer, and… and stop being useless. He exhaled shakily and placed a hand on Castor's shoulder, using some magic to heal the worst of his wounds before he headed over to wait under the tree for Nich and Aesir.
Nich managed to get down the tree with Aesir's help and leaned against the trunk on one leg. It was hard to make it his features clearly through all the blood, and his hair was disheveled and plastered to his face where the blood slicked it down. He had several noticeable wounds from weapons and bites from the gnolls, and he was barely staying up. Finn used up the last of his energy to get Nich's wounds more stable, and then collapsed. Delta managed to catch him before he hit the ground and lifted him bridal style. This wasn't the first time he had done this, after all.
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Castor noticed the bleeding visibly slow. His wounds weren't better, but he was at least buffered from further blood loss. At first, Castor seemed a little uncomfortable at the healing magic, but he eventually accepted it. He finished making his way over to the group, still panting heavily and clearly hurting.
Aesir finally pulled the leg free from the trap and climbed down the tree with it tucked underneath their arm. They set it down next to Nich and started digging through their bag. Aesir grabbed a few small bottles of shimmery red liquid and some bandages.
"I have some healing potions if anyone needs. Thank the gods my roommate had a few extras," they sighed.
Aesir turned their gaze to Castor and frowned.
"Gods… go sit down before you pass out or something. I'll give you one of the potions."
Nich thanked Aesir when they came down with his leg, and he busied himself with getting it re-engaged. Soon, it was connected to him again and he seemed to be a bit more at ease, although still in quite a bit of pain. He accepted a healing potion gratefully and swallowed it, noticing his pain beginning to dissipate. His wounds weren't completely healed, but his condition was significantly improved.
Delta was still holding Finn, who was out cold. They hadn't sustained any serious injuries, so they just tried to make sure everyone else was still alive and okay. "Finn's wounds aren't awful. He should be able to heal himself relatively easily once he wakes up, but he needs some time to rest. He's used up his energy to keep up those protection spells and to heal us."
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"We should patch up that wound on his back," Aesir suggested, tossing another health potion at Castor. "Help me, Delta?" They held up their bandages and gestured at Finn.
Castor inspected the potion and took a few sips. The potion took the edge off, but his head was still fuzzy, and he thought he might pass out too. He sank down to sit in the tangle of roots at the base of the tree, then started to look over Nich.
"You lucked out, huh? Any later, and who knows what would've happened?" he rasped.
Castor still had a hand pressed over his side, as if holding the wound would keep it from hurting so intensely.
(Nich is open for shipping btw 👀👌)
"Yeah, sure." Delta carried Finn over to Aesir and laid him down on his side. They took off his shirt to get to his wounds and noticed his top scars, but didn't think too much of them. They helped Aesir bandage Finn up and then put his top back on. "There. He should be alright for the time being."
Nich looked over to Castor and tilted his head to the side a bit. "Yeah, I guess so. Normally I'm a decent enough fighter, but I'm a little less useful when I'm missing one of my legs." He laughed softly, holding up one leg to show the prosthetic. "You should probably take the rest of that. You're in pretty bad shape, man."
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(So is Aesir, if I didn't mention it before! Actually just about any character I put in here will be unless they're a kid/I say they're not)
Aesir also noticed the slight scars. They stared for a few moments, letting out a knowing sigh, but worked to help Delta cover him back up. At least this would slow the bleeding. Finn wouldn't get worse.
Castor downed the rest of the potion at Nich's suggestion, tilting back his head to empty the bottle. He scowled slightly, hugging his side tighter. The clean cut on his arm didn't feel so bad now. It was just that damn gnoll bite. Well, it was really more than just a simple bite.
"Yeah, I understand. You were horribly outnumbered too," Castor agreed.
He cracked a halfhearted smile and held up the empty bottle.
"I've been worse, that's for sure."
(Ooo)
Delta picked Finn back up once he was dealt with and held him gently, looking around to make sure everyone else was doing alright. Finn stirred a bit, but he was still very much unconscious, and likely wouldn't wake up for a while.
Nich yawned and brushed some blood out of his eyes. He definitely needed a bath after this whole ordeal. "Yeah… lots of those things. I've been traveling for a while too, so I was already pretty tired." He puffed out his cheeks a bit and huffed. There was a decent amount of blood on the prosthetic that hadn't been hanging from the tree as well. "Seems like your healer friend might be a bit worse for wear as well. Those two seem like they're alright, though."
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"Yeah, that's good at least," Castor sighed.
He tried to get to his feet, but a surge of pain pierced through his side.
Breathe in… out…
He slowly finished standing up. The healing potion would hold him over long enough to make it wherever they were going, but his injuries still hurt a lot more than expected. A faint buzzing settled into his ears. He was pretty sure something was wrong- something beyond his injuries- but he couldn't put a finger on it.
Castor let out a relieved sigh as he was able to hold his body upright, despite everything.
Aesir nodded over at Delta. "Should we try to get back to town? Can we make it like this?"
"Yeah, we should probably head back. We'll all be better off if we're resting at the tavern instead of some random place in the woods." Delta replied. "I can carry Finn back. He might wake up on the way back, but even if he doesn't, it should be fine. He can rest back at the inn." They nodded decisively and looked to Aesir to guide the group back.
Nich stood up, still a bit unsteady and not in great shape, but doing well enough to walk on his own. He fetched his throwing stars from the gnolls and stuck them back in his bag before going to follow the group.
Delta looked over to Castor and raised an eyebrow. "You alright?" They asked. That healing potion should have done more… he's still in a lot of pain. Something must be up.
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"Good, okay, I can help the others if they need it," Aesir replied, falling back to where Nich and Castor started to follow.
They held up a roll of bandages as a loose offer to both of them.
"Feel free to patch up a little bit. I can help if you need."
Castor reached out with his uninjured arm and bandaged up the cut on his arm, tearing the piece of bandage off with his teeth when he was done. The deep gash in his side would have to wait, however. He murmured his thanks, then looked over to Delta, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"Yeah, I'm fine. They tried to rip me to shreds, so all things considered, not so bad."
Maybe it's just because you didn't sleep? Or something? It's fine, it's fine, it's fine…
"Ah, thank you…" Nich mumbled, taking the bandages once Castor was finished with them. He had quite a few wounds, and he had to adjust his clothes quite a few times to be able to bandage himself up. "So, who exactly are you guys? I don't think I've seen you around before." He asked. "I'm Nich. Nich Brooks. I live in this town…"
"I'm Delta." Delta replied, still skeptical about Castor's condition. "The guy I'm holding is Finn. We're here to deal with the gnolls."
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"I'm Castor Gallea," Cas replied when there was a break in the conversation, "Like they said, we're here on a commission. These gnolls were causing problems in town."
Aesir nodded. "Yeah, I briefly lived in this town some time ago. The gnolls have now killed two people, injured others. They've been ambushing at night."
They kept a few paces behind Castor and Nich, noticing both were at least a little unsteady.
"We're from the academy," Castor added, "Part of training for the next two weeks was picking up a commission. We didn't know they were going to be gnolls."
"Ah…" Nich drew in a few deep breaths to try and ease his lightheadedness. He wasn't feeling great at this point, but was sure he'd still be able to walk well enough. His three tails swayed behind him as he walked, matted with blood and dirt. All the more reason to take a bath as soon as he got back. "I was just visiting my family back in my hometown. I typically live here by myself." He brushed at a tear in his clothing. "Thank god the war is over now… my hometown used to be an active war zone. There were landmines and stuff everywhere. That's how I lost my legs as a kid." He looked down at his prosthetics with an odd expression. He was well used to them by now, and didn't resent them as he used to when he was younger.
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"I remember all that…" Aesir sighed, "I wasn't in the area, but I heard the stories. I'm glad you're able to visit, though."
They gave a slight smile.
"How long have you lived here? It's strange that we never crossed paths."
Castor's limbs all felt heavy as he walked, but he zoned out of the pain for the most part and managed to keep up with the others. He was breathing a bit heavier than normal.
He imagined a surgical knife being dragged across where his wound was, making an incision in order to "see what was inside." Castor did his best to shake away the thoughts, but the anxiety only grew in the pit of his stomach.
He swore he could hear his brothers screams for a moment, but he was paralyzed and helpless.
Castor pulled at his hair a little bit. He was much quieter than before, trapped in his own head. He didn't know if he could really talk at all.
"Hm… I'm nineteen now, and I moved here to live on my own when I was… sixteen? So about three years, I guess." Nich shrugged. "I've moved around quite a bit within the village, so I'm not surprised we haven't crossed paths. I only recently got my own place; I was more or less couch hopping when I was sixteen and seventeen. For a while when I was eighteen, too, since I was working to get money for my own place…"
Delta watched Castor suspiciously, still holding their unconscious friend. They clearly weren't convinced that he was okay. He was trying to keep how he was feeling to himself, as well, and hiding that kind of pain could never be good.
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"Ah, I think we just missed each other, then," Aesir replied, "My time there was before that, but not by much."
Castor kept walking, trying to count his breathing in his head so he had something to distract him. He looked across the others of the group and bit his lip in frustration. Was this somehow his fault for running in like that?
Nich nodded a bit. "It's a nice enough place to live. Much safer than my hometown, anyway… I couldn't convince my parents to move here with me, though." He laughed softly and rolled his shoulders, wincing at the feeling of half-dried blood. "I definitely need a bath when I get back… I feel disgusting."
Delta kept close to Castor in case he took a turn for the worse. They kept a close eye on him, just hoping there wasn't anything seriously wrong.
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