The Mane Objective

-In Lycan Woods, nighttime-

Leona had a lot on her mind. She had to find the biography of Karl K. Blaskowitz. She had to check back with Margaret the herbalist in Beanstalk Village to see if her friend had made any sense of the items the deceased stalker had carried. She was still disturbed by how the stalker willingly killed himself to avoid interrogation. That was a sure sign that she had gotten involved in something sinister.

However, she would not back down now. She had committed to solving the mystery and she was going to finish it. As soon as Margaret sent for her, Leona would make another trip to Beanstalk Village.

In the meantime, Leona was walking in the middle of Lycan Woods, so named because of the packs of werewolves that used it as their hunting ground. Lycan Woods was mentioned in the research book in the Silver Wolf library, but it did not command as many pages as Silent Cemetery. What she did learn was that the werewolves hunted in packs of at least four and up to a dozen at once. Much like their normal wolf cousins, werewolves followed the lead of an "alpha male" and had the same pack structure.

So why was she out in this treacherous patch of woods? A client had approached her and requested her help in locating and recovering a trio of rare horses stolen from him by a barbarian king. What made these horses rare was their propensity to consume human flesh. Leona was grateful that they were rare. Herds of human-eating horses would make Desierto more dangerous than it already was, especially if the Crimson Sashes got their hands on enough human-eating horses to start breeding them.

Shaking that thought out of her head, Leona crouched down and listened to her surroundings. She heard howling on the wind. It was a good thing she was wearing long pants because it was cold tonight. It always seemed to be cold in the Cursed Lands. She was about to start moving again when she heard more howling and some female screaming that started to die away.

Leona's heart sank. The roving lycanthrope packs had claimed another victim. There was nothing she could do. She was alone and the screaming was far away. If she raced to the rescue now, she would only be met by a pack of hungry werewolves.

The blonde slowly got up and kept moving. She spotted a wooden palisade surrounding a camp with crude wooden watchtowers in each of the four corners. That had to be it. Remembering what Hakeem had taught her, Leona took some cloth and covered both Argent Gloves enough to make the metal plates less noticeable and less reflective. Now she had to sneak into the camp, but this time she did not have Hakeem and his men watching her back.

Leona waited until the watchtower sentries were preoccupied with looking in the direction of some howling, then slipped in through a crack in the main gate. After that she slowly slinked through the camp, ducking into the shadows of tents and crude wooden shacks. She spotted wooden stables at the end of the camp facing the forest. That was where the horses had to be kept.

Leona was halfway through the camp when she heard more tortured screaming carried on the wind. She ducked down behind a trio of crates stacked behind a wooden guard shack. She soon heard talking.

"The werewolves sure are active tonight. That's the third traveler they've killed tonight. Poor souls." A man commented.

"Yeah, bad for them but good for us. The boss says that we're not gonna raid tonight. We're gonna hole up in the camp and wait it out." Another man said. Leona frowned. That information meant that she would be dealing with the full camp of barbarians. Oh well. The job had to be completed no matter what.

Leona carefully left her cover and sneaked through the remainder of the camp. It was a good thing that half of them were drunk and the other half preoccupied with eating, dice games, or keeping watch for werewolves. She reached the stables and slipped in through a door that was left open. As soon as she entered, her nose was hit with a terrible stench. What smelled so awful?

Leona turned to her right and wished she had not. She saw a wooden bin full of severed body parts! Leona covered her mouth to keep herself from screaming and alerting the entire camp. She soon heard low neighing. The horses were in here!

Leona ducked into an empty stall to her left and heard three voices coming in. She heard metallic jangling as they talked. What were they carrying?

"Why does the boss like these horses so much?" A male voice asked.

"Because they're rare! It's not every day that you find a man-eating horse!" A second one responded.

"Why couldn't he just collect thoroughbred racing stallions that don't eat people?" A third male asked.

"Because he's the boss! What the boss wants, the boss gets!" The second man snapped. The three men set down whatever they were carrying and left the stable. Leona waited until they were truly gone before moving again. She stood up and peered over the top of the stable. No one around... and three new bridles were hanging on the walls next to coils of rope on a table.

How lucky. Leona approached the horses and found herself staring into cold, lifeless eyes and snapping jaws. How was she going to pull this off?

[Word Count: 935] [Total Word Count/4,000]

Leona Jarnefeldt rolls one Monster Die.

The member 'Leona Jarnefeldt' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

Leona was staring at one of the three prized horses when she heard the stable door open again. A trio of soldiers entered and spotted her. It was too late to run or hide. It was time to fight!

"You don't belong here, thief!" A lightly armored soldier declared.

"Looks like the horses are going to eat well tonight!" A second one commented. The third one simply brandished his sword. Leona drew her knife. The three soldiers laughed and began advancing on her.

Leona had to fight back, but she could not hurt the horses or her reward would be forfeit. She would just have to be careful. The first soldier charged at her with a lunging stab. Leona dodged and countered with a Mach Straight, hitting him in the face and sending him sprawling. The second one yelled and came at her with a horizontal swing.

Leona jumped back, then stepped to the side to avoid a stab. She narrowly dodged a stab from the second soldier. She retaliated with a Crescent Wave, knocking one soldier back. She took advantage to perform a Lion's Tail Sweep and knock the second off his feet. The first charged with his shield held high, but Leona punched it with a Mach Straight and rendered it useless.

Just as he dropped the dented shield she used Lion Claw, knocking him out. The third soldier paused for a moment. That was all the opening she needed to hammer him with another Crescent Wave. He was sent sprawling and Leona ran over and kicked him in the head as he raised his sword, scoring a knockout. That took care of them.

Leona then turned back to the issue of the horses. Chances were that the fight was overheard. She would have to move quickly.


[Word Length:300] [Total Word Length:1,235/4,000]

Leona Jarnefeldt rolls one Monster Die.

The member 'Leona Jarnefeldt' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

Leona heard the clanking of weaponry. Her hunch was right. The fight had been overheard and more barbarians were on their way. Another trio of armored men soon appeared.

"THIEF!" The first shouted indignantly.

"If she takes the horses, the boss will take our heads!" A second one said.

"We'll just have to take her head, won't we?" The third asked his companions as they drew their swords. Leona frowned. Not this again.

She was not going to waste any more time. She prepared and used a Crescent Cutter, striking down one guard before he could even blink. His colleagues momentarily paused and looked at one another. Leona sailed over and performed a Mach Straight, knocking out another. The third was spurred to action, making a downward cut that hit Leona's upper thigh, cutting her left pant's leg. He followed up with a shield bash to the face, staggering Leona.

He was out for blood. He danced around Leona's knife swings and countered with his own attacks, knocking the knife from Leona's hand with a well-timed punch to the face with the edge of his shield. He grinned and swung down with his sword, nearly cutting her arm. He grinned again as he swiped and cut the middle of her olive green shirt. An incensed Leona grabbed a wooden stool sitting on the ground and swung it, a blow he blocked with his shield.

She performed a Lion's Tail Sweep that knocked him down. She seized one of the stool legs lying on the floor and hit him in the head with it, knocking him out and reducing the leg to splinters. Leona sighed with relief as she dropped the wooden nub. Maybe she could get one of the horses bridled and its mouth tied closed before more enemies arrived.

[Word Count: 300] [Total Word Count: 1,535/4,000]

Leona Jarnefeldt rolls one Monster Die.

The member 'Leona Jarnefeldt' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

Slightly battered but still standing, Leona retrieved her knife and dragged the unconscious soldiers to the empty stall she had hid in earlier. She had just finished this task when three more people came in. They were not soldiers. They were men wielding pitchforks.

"SHE'S AFTER THE HORSES!" One shouted.

"STOP HER!" The second bellowed.

"If we kill her, we'll become soldiers and not have to care for horses anymore!" The third said encouragingly. The three men then ran at her all at once. Leona simply raised a hand and channeled magic into it, the emitted a Wind Blast from the palm of her hand. All three men screamed as they were thrown backwards and knocked out after hitting the ground.

Leona sighed with relief until she saw a pitchfork flying through the air towards the flank of one of the horses. She panicked. She aimed a Crescent Wave and released it, somehow hitting the pitchfork in midair and knocking it aside just in time. It clattered harmlessly to the floor behind the horse.

Leona almost forgot to breathe. That was close. Too close for comfort. She dragged the three men into the stall that held their friends and shut it after thinking to disarm the soldiers and pile their weapons into the top left corner of the stables. Even if they woke up, they would be little threat without weapons.

With that immediate threat removed, the blonde turned her attention back to the horses. They eyed her and moved their mouths. They were eager to take a bite out of her. She was not eager to be eaten like a handful of oats. Her attention turned back to the wooden bin full of human body parts.

Maybe they could be distracted with food long enough to secure their mouths.

[Word Count: 300] [Total Word Count: 1,835/4,000]

Leona Jarnefeldt rolls one Monster Die.

The member 'Leona Jarnefeldt' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

Leona took a deep breath and waited for more soldiers or ambitious grooms looking for promotion. When none barged in, Leona prepared herself for the unpleasant task ahead. She grabbed one of the severed limbs and fed it to the first horse. It began chewing on the severed arm, not even paying her any attention. Leona took a bridle and waited until it was finished, then quickly slipped it on before it could kick her.

Leona finished securing the bridle. She then took a length of the rope, cut off a section, and tied it around the horse's mouth, keeping it closed. After that it gave up on fighting her. That was one horse. Now to repeat the process for the other two.

Leona grabbed a severed leg, then fed it to the second horse. She repeated the process, this time facing a little more resistance when it pulled its head away from her as she applied the bridle. After feeding it another leg, she put it on and tied its mouth closed. It too became docile.

The third horse put up the most resistance. It went for her face, but Leona ducked down and only lost a bit of hair to its snapping jaws. Leona had no choice but to grin and bear it because harming the horse would cause her to lose the reward. After four body parts were fed to it, Leona finally subdued it.

All three horses were secured without a scratch. Now to get out of here. But how? Sneaking horses through the camp would not be easy. She could not exactly hide them under a tarp or hitch them to a carriage and use them to ride to freedom.

Besides, she did not even know how to ride a horse. Now was not a good time to try and wing it. She heard loud howling nearby. That was not what she wanted to hear.

[Word Count: 320] [Total Word Count: 2,135/4,000]

Leona was pacing back and forth trying to think of a way to get the horses out. The howling was picking up in frequency. She was not liking what she was hearing. The blonde had a feeling that the camp was going to come under attack from werewolves any time now. She did not want to be here when that happened.

But how? How could she get out safely? More importantly, how could the horses be gotten out safely? She would have to think and think fast. Eventually she came up with an idea, but she did not like it.

Maybe if she battered the gates down with her spells, she could ride out during the confusion of a werewolf attack. But that meant feeding living people to those animals. Even if they were horse-stealing barbarians, no one deserved to become werewolf food. There was also the possibility that she would be attacked as she made a bid for freedom. A re-think of the plan was needed.

She watched the horses standing silently. She looked down at their closed stall gates. The gates! She could attack one gate with her magic, then slip out the other while the guards were preoccupied! That was it... that was the new escape plan.

Leona left the horses behind, then sneaked into a position behind a guard shack. She took careful aim with her hand and waited for the miniature tornado to form. She then fired a Gale Cannon shot. The basketball-sized ball of wind magic slammed against the closed gate, making it buckle outward just enough for to make a human head-sized hole.

"THE GATE!" A guard shouted.

"THEY'RE TRYING TO GET IN!" Another guard raised the alarm. More howling started. Leona had better enact her exit strategy quickly. She sneaked back to the stable, opened the stall gates, and was prepared to let the horses out when she heard footsteps nearby. Soldiers were rushing by to reinforce the main gate with timbers and nails.

Maybe she should have used a weaker spell for the diversion. It was too late for regrets. She would just have to hope that the soldiers could hold off an incursion. She looked at the horses. She recalled the man's instructions to take them to his fortified mansion just outside of Lycan Woods.

Leona sighed. Once she got out of the camp, she would have to travel through woods crawling with werewolves and who knew what else. Again, it was too late to change the plan. She had already set events into motion when she used too strong a spell for the diversion. She would have to see this mission through to the end.

[Word Count: 446] [Total Word Count: 2,581/4,000]

Leona heard panicked shouting outside. The werewolves might be gaining ground faster than expected. She opened the side door which was a human entrance. She was about to go back for the horses when a big, burly man smashed through the main entrance gate.

"YOU! YOU'RE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR STEALING MY HORSES AND WEAKENING MY GATE!" A seven-foot tall bearded man wearing a horned helmet and leather armor with brown pants and leather boots shouted. He looked pissed. Leona would have to fight, but this time she was not fighting grooms or soldiers. She was fighting the leader himself.

He formed a fist with his right hand and punched towards her. She was slammed with a burst of magic that threw her backwards. The boss picked her up by the left leg and looked her in the eye... or he would have if her shirt did not fall down and cover her face. She should have tucked her shirttail in.

"Hmmm. You're kinda small, if ya know what I mean. You need a few more years to fully mature." The man remarked. Leona's face turned red, partially from embarrassment and partially from anger. Now she was mad. She performed the motion for a Smashing Crescent and hit him directly in the face. He laughed it off.

"Oh, you're a feisty one! You'll make great werewolf food!" He said as he started walking with her. Leona draw her knife and slammed it into his hand. He screamed and let go of her. Leona dropped onto the hay and got to her feet, this time tucking her shirttail in as he wailed and pulled the knife out. She would make him regret his remark.

Leona ducked her thrown knife as it whistled by her head and embedded itself in the stable wall behind her. He strode in and punched her in the face, then grabbed for her arm. She stepped to the side and hit him in the left side with a Mach Straight, making him stagger right. He retaliated with a backfist that she ducked under. He reached down, seized her by the hair, and threw her outside the stable and into a tent that was roughly 20m away.

The man was strong for his size to send her so far away with one throw. She slammed into the ground and got up to face him, staggering backwards to put some space between him and her. He walked forward, cracking his knuckles as he looked at her. He then raised both fists into the sky and slammed them onto the ground, sending a magical shockwave that flattened the tents and damaged wooden crates within a 25m radius. Leona too was flattened.

She got to one knee and fired a Smashing Crescent, hitting him in the face. Again he shrugged it off. How was he doing that? He flinched from it, but he did not show pain. There was no time to quiz him on his powers of endurance... he grabbed a tent pole from the ground and swung down at her.

Leona raised her Argent Gloves and let the metal plates take the impact. The tent pole shattered and the man was puzzled for a moment. Leona took that time to slash his stomach with a Lion Claw spell. He dropped the other half of the pole and kicked towards her with a thick leg. She blocked again and was knocked back, but kept her footing.

"YOU! YOU JUST WON'T DIE!" He shouted in frustration. A dozen soldiers raced to his side. Leona clenched her teeth. She was badly outnumbered.

"GET HER!" He bellowed, jabbing a finger at her as he gave the order.

[word Count: 614] [Total Word Count: 3,195]

The soldiers charged at her with swords drawn, intent on reducing her to chunks of flesh for the horses. The boss stood by with crossed arms as his men closed in on her. Leona slammed her fist into the ground, using a Storm Impact to knock the dozen back. While they were staggered she leaped into the air and sprayed eight of them with an Air Burst, then took the fight to them. She punched one in the face, ducked as two more stabbed at her, ducked under another shield punch, then hit one with a Mach Straight to the chest.

He flew past his friends and hit the ground. The remaining soldiers looked at her in amazement. She carefully stepped to the side and made sure they were facing away from the stable before launching a Wind Blast, knocking them all against the wooden wall and knocking them out.
Leona was getting exhausted from fighting both the soldiers in the stable and their boss. The boss was aware of that and stepped forward with a fist raised.

"I've had enough of you!" He declared as he punched towards her. Leona ducked under it and tried a Lion's Tail Sweep, but he did not fall... he did not even budge. He just laughed and kneed her in the face as she got up. She launched a Crescent Wave, but he did not even flinch this time. She tried a Smashing Crescent, but it too failed to faze him.

Leona launched a Crescent Cutter at his face. That stopped him. He felt his face and stared at the blood smeared onto his palm. He then clenched his teeth and raised both hands into the air. Leona activated Ruby Dome just as the shockwave formed. It raised a small cloud of dust but otherwise did not harm her thanks to the protective magic of the Argent Gloves.

"What? HOW? HOW DID YOU STOP IT?" He asked as Leona slashed his knee with a Lion Claw, then launched a Mach Straight to his face. She nailed him in the mouth, sending him sprawling onto his back. He sat up and looked at her. Could he really go another round? He raised a fist at her, shook it, and wobbled.

"My... my horses..." He groaned before he fell backwards and laid still on the ground. Leona kept quiet as she limped to the stable, gathered the horses, pulled her knife from the wall, and limped out a side gate, quietly closing it behind her. No one had a clue that she had left. Suddenly she heard howling. She had better move it!

[Word Count: 438] [Total Word Count: 3,633/4,000]

Leona had just slipped out a side gate with the horses when suddenly it opened and four soldiers sprinted after her with a dozen more following behind. Leona cursed. She had been spotted after all!

"DON'T LET HER GET AWAY!" One shouted. They dutifully ran towards her as she limped away with the horses. Suddenly four blurs pounced on the men, knocked them to the ground, and began ripping into them with claws and fangs. It was the werewolves! The men on the ground screamed as their colleagues raced to help them before it was too late. Leona took advantage of the messy distraction to get to safety, or at least get a head start before the wolves came after her.

The last she saw of them, the soldiers were holding their own against the wolves, bringing one down with a shield bash and applying their own pack tactics as they all focused on killing it before moving onto the next. The men on the ground were dead, but the werewolves were getting cut apart themselves by the disciplined soldiers who kept a shield wall and kept in formation. The sole survivor of the quartet howled and sprinted off into the brush, presumably in search of easier prey. By that time Leona was long gone.

-Client's Fortified Mansion, just outside Lycan Woods-

Standing outside a pair of reinforced iron doors, Leona showed the horses to the gate guard, who was standing guard on a thick fifteen-foot tall stone wall and clutching a magical firearm with a scope. He called down to the captain of the watch, who opened the gate. Then a second set of gates opened. Inside was a bearded man clad in thick gray armor of some kind and flanked by four armed guards. She hoped that they would let her in before the werewolves got here.

"You're the one Mr. Wainwright hired to retrieve the horses, right?" He asked.

"Yes." Leona replied. The captain's face changed. He was both pleased and shocked.

"You actually did it! I'll go get him right away! Come on in!" He said to her. Two more armored men with magical firearms escorted her and the horses to the front steps of a two-story mansion. The gates shut behind her and her escort. She breathed a sigh of relief. She was finally safe.

"Welcome, my dear! Welcome! I see you have my prized horses!" Mr. Wainwright exclaimed. He was flanked by two guards. Leona was glad to see him. He walked past her and to the horses. The guards held flashlights to the horses so their client could examine them.

"Hmmm... ah. Hmmm. Hmmmm!" He said while examining each horse. Leona froze. Did the horses get hurt in all the fighting? She stopped breathing. Mr. Wainwright turned towards her with a stern face... Leona was about to hear that her hard work was for nothing.

"Well done, my dear! They're all as healthy as can be! They're perfectly intact too!" He said with a beaming smile. Leona finally took a breath. Somehow she had pulled it off. All that work was going to pay off.

Mr. Wainwright looked her over next. He showed signs of dismay. Suddenly the report of a weapon followed by a brief howl cut the silence.

"You're badly hurt. You wouldn't last a minute on the road right now! I can't let you leave, not until daybreak!" He said to her with concern. Leona was worried. Was she about to become horse food?

"I've got an idea! You can stay the night as my guest! I'll even call for my personal physician to tend to your wounds! I owe you that much after taking so much risk to retrieve my prized horses!" He said. Leona thought it over. She was tired. And her legs were hurting from all the fighting and running. She decided to take a chance.

"I'd appreciate it." Leona gratefully accepted the offer. Another weapon report sounded. The captain spoke up as three men led the horses away.

"The werewolves must have smelled her blood and followed her here, sir. We're gonna be in for a long night. But it's nothing we can't handle. They can't climb the walls, the doors are made of solid iron and there's a second set of solid steel doors behind those, and we've got plenty of silver bullets and other ammo." He gave a brief summary of their situation. Leona's face showed alarm. Did she just doom them all? Mr. Wainwright put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, dear. I've hired a lot of good men to protect me, all of them ex-military. They know what they're doing. Those wolves won't get in." He said as he helped Leona get up the stairs and into the mansion.

[Word Count: 798] [Total Word Count: 4,431/4,000]