章 73: Chasing Daybreak - Thunder
Gripping a mutilated head trickling with blood in her left hand, Aurelia stood solemnly under the chilling shade of night. Her long silver hair stirred in the wind, shimming with the glow of the moon. She was still, and motionless having learned patience under the tutelage of Zariel.
It was a silent night this day, with only the occasional flutter of the breeze against the leaves and the faint howls of Direwolfs off in the distance. The sounds of the other beasts and monsters were quiet. They could feel the chill that did not belong in the snow rise in the air and into their bones.
Aurelia stood fearlessly, tightening her grip around her iron sword the length of her with a thickness of her arm. Cautiously scanning her surrounding, a shadow came and went faster than she could react. It was quick, swifter than most beasts or serpents she had faced before.
From the shadows, a fair distance from their comrade, Sionn, Ella, and Zariel squatted motionlessly, hiding their presence. Their expression was grim this night.
'Keep calm, Aurelia. It's coming to your west." Zariel whispered from his hiding spot a ways away, yet his voice echoed with warning within Aurelia's ears with none the wiser.
The Fallen did not move or turn to her west but remained still facing the north, dropping the mutilated head that stained the snow scarlet. She released a breath of frigid heat from her lungs, sending a dense fog into the air.
The beast bore his fangs without sound, its ruby-red eyes glaring with a semblance of intelligence towards the small child covered in the scent of blood. It approached without a sound across the snow, under the blanket of night. Focused and sure, it pounced faster than a bolt of lightning.
Catching the shadow beast within her sight, Aurelia's legs bend without hesitation, twisting her body towards the left. A vicious claw crashed into the snow, sending shards into the air. Nicking the tip of her ear, a steady stream of blood fell upon her dark cloak.
Holding the beast that laid wide open in her calm chilling sight, the sword in Aurelia's right hand exploded with a radiant golden light mixed with dark, sinister darkness. Striking towards the eye, blood the color of wine littered the ice as the beast bellowed in anguish.
"Eldrich," Aurelia whispered calmly, summoning a devilish staff that resembled the branch of a withering tree into her palms. The Staff itself hummed with an evil power that held many in contempt. "Firebolt." she cast instantly, leaving only a faint flash of embers followed by an explosion of flames upon the monster's injured eye.
"Attack!" Sionn bellowed, rushing with a heavy step towards his comrade. But the monster would not wait for any.
Howling towards the moon and its prey, everyone saw what now laid under the glow of the moon. A towering creature with a wolf's head and claws the size of a tiny infant with teeth stained yellow as foul as the scent it held upon its body, but the beast had lost a single eye, and half of its face was burning with a flaming sear.
It was a werewolf, a creature that could change from human into a beast at the flicker of the moon.
'Seven seconds,' Aurelia counted, knowing that was the time needed for her comrades to arrive less if Ella used an arcane spell.
The lycanthrope pounced, ripping off the ground, with a powerful azure arcana cloaking its mighty body. It moved at speeds twice its normal pace, sending its razer sharp claws towards the calm Fallen, whose steps grew graceful as a dancer.
Dodging instead of parrying, Aurelia's blade flew through the breeze, but the lycanthrope was prepared, its second claw lashing out against Aurelia's sword stroke.
Grunting at the dreadful power of the lycanthrope passing through her shoulder, the right arm that held Aurelia's blade flew wildly into the air, but she did not let go of her blade. Zariel had warned that only death would follow should a swordsman lose his blade.
'Five Seconds.' Aurelia calmly gauged, monitoring the flash of a flame exploding onto the face of the beast an arm's length away.
"Aurelia. I have your back!" Ella shouted with her Arcanic Sword humming with emerald arcana.
Sending a glance towards Ella and then Zariel, who met her gaze. He nodded with a whisper that reached her ears, "Thunder will work best against a beast like this; Rain is for those that use finesse."
As if she had heard bells tolls ringing, a smile grew, as did The Fallens Golden Aura; she narrowed her golden eyes in a deep, profound focus, Licked her lips, and charged towards the beast to its surprise. Unable to believe its eyes, the lycanthrope growled, ignoring its flesh's burning torment.
"Chasing Daybreak - Thunder," Aurelia sharpy uttered, casting a flurrying of endless blows towards the beast that echoed like thunder through the wind. Her sword strikes were powerful, swift, yet it held an elegant grace of that of a rising morningstar.
Blood spewed, dowsing the ground and Auralia red, but she did not let up. Wild and untamed her blade continued slashing through flesh till bone could be felt, and a whimper could be heard echoing from the beast.
However, just as the lycanthrope took a step to retreat, a long greatsword the size of Sionn struck, slashing downwards from the beast's shoulder and down its chest, showering the Young man's red. At the same time, Elle appeared just at the rear, piercing her rapier through the spine without resistance.
Releasing a roar filled with despair, the Azure Acana around the werewolf began to fade. Flopping helplessly to the ground, blood began to pool around the snow.
Aurelia could not take her eyes off what lay below, watching with a bit of fascination as the snow devoured the blood. She smiled, lifting her blade, severing its head with a sure single stroke of her sword.
"That was easy," Sionn chuckled, having grown to enjoy the scent of the blood of his enemies. Wiping his face covered with a mist of red, he smiled, "I heard werewolves were powerful; seems the rumors were wrong."
"Shows what you know." Said Zariel contemptuously for all to hear, "This was but a stupid wolf who could not change back and forth. It held bits of intelligence when it came to hunting, but that was the limit of its mind. True lycanthrope are far more powerful and vicious. They are pretty capable of using the moon as weapons. In many cases, there are quite worthy adversaries.
'Just not in this case," Aurelia voiced in defeat, staring at the bloodstained snow. "Come on, let's make camp. We have a week's journey home."
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