Rhace Tarrin
Monsters In The Bushes
So the story went, the forests of Sakuramori - while exceedingly beautiful - were also incredibly dangerous. Within the darkest depths of the cherry blossom forests lurked all manner of monsters, great and small, some of which were strong enough to make even a battle-hardened mage stop and consider their position before they acted. This made them dangerous and, frankly, a difficult thing to handle at this level. Needless to say, whenever there were jobs that required exploring the depths of the forest, hired muscle had to be called upon. A small business purporting to the purpose of cartography had requested that some roaming monsters in the forest be put down to allow them to finish creating a map in order to track the locations of rare flora. Considering the nature of Meliora Vitae, this was a request that could not go ignored; monster-slaying was part of the duties of the neutral guild, and besides, anything to do with nature was right up their alley. In fact, this job came highly recommended, and Rhace Tarrin, swordsman of the Granven school, had accepted the task. He would without hesitation cut down that which stood in his way.
Or in the way of the mapping team. Whatever it was. That sounded right.
Having travelled to Sakuramori some days prior to get a grip of the lay of the land, Rhace had found himself the basics of the forest. What main paths led where into the depths, what kinds of beasts travelled which areas - things he would need if he wished to take on a strong creature. These steps were mission critical and, frankly, Rhace would not be caught in a monster hunt unprepared.
Two days had passed, and the sun was setting. In his limited experience here, this was when the strongest beasts came out to play. They came to take unsuspecting travellers, smaller creatures, whatever there was; there was no way that there was going to be an easy solution to this problem other than to wait for them to come out and tackle them when they did not suspect that they were in danger.
The sun reached its nadir, disappearing against the earth, where the trees already threatened to swallow it whole. As if on cue, the growl of beasts began to rise into the air.
Every step under his boots was a powerful foot-fall that was designed to attract attention. At this point, the path that Rhace had chosen would lead to what he suspected was the den of some powerful dire wolves that had taken residence in the bowels of the forest, blocking a small area off where they patrolled and prevented the cartographers from progressing deeper. By his estimate and tracking, there were at least three sets of paw prints of similar size. Three wolves would be sufficient challenge for the swordsman.
Pushing through the brush, Rhace entered a clearing and found a stone dolmen. Underneath it was a series of leaves and twigs, a hastily made 'bed' of sorts almost - or a rain cover. These were things that animals would not normally fashion - it had to be something a little more intelligent that had crafted these. Perhaps something with hands.
And there it was. "Our culprit," the blade spoke aloud to the creature that had approached from behind the stone, three wolves nipping at its heels. A lizardman, easily eight feet tall and wielding a rusted chopper, had come forth.
No sooner than the lizard had stepped out, the three wolves began to charge. Rhace was ready. In an instant he had a hand on Granveil, its blade already shimmering its bright aqua glow. Bending his knees and lowering his stance, that one-handed draw from the scabbard becoming a slash in itself - the closest wolf found its face sliced completely open as the sword reached the climax of its cut. Then, second hand joining the first on the blade, he kicked out at the body of the wolf that he had already slain. It was enough to tangle the second wolf's feet for just a moment, affording him the opportunity to thrust the tip of his sword at the third wolf and impale its heart through its ribcage.
Granveil would drink deep today in the blood of its enemies.
Unfortunately, that had bought the lizardman enough time to charge across the dirt field and bring its weapon to bear, preparing to attack Rhace with all of its unbridled fury. The second wolf, having recovered from being tripped, was now coming to join its master.
An incredibly brutish two-hand overhead cut came the master swordsman's way, and Rhace found himself raising his sword to parry mid-blade upon the flat, using the momentum of the cut to twist both body and sword into a reversal that aimed down from right shoulder to left hip. The lizard, however, had other ideas, pushing away with his hand. However, Rhace was ready for this. A moment - a silent step - and he found himself on the far side of the final wolf that was only moments from striking the other side of the warrior. A two-handed thrust, down through the spine of the beast, and it found itself impaled to the floor. Lifeless, it writhed, its final moments upon it.
That just left Rhace and the lizardman. Rhace took plow guard, the tip of the blade pointed directly at the lizard's throat. "One chance to surrender. Take it, or die."
The beastman hissed. That was a sufficient answer. Without hesitation, Rhace stepped forth over the body of the last fallen wolf to engage the lizard in what he knew would be its final moments. The blade glowed blue, prepared to slice through the air at insane speeds--
And, with it, followed a cut that struck the lizard's body with such insane force that the side of the ribs that it had impacted rang like a bell. A short twist and the false edge of the sword met the lizard's neck, before he even had a chance to react. The beast fell, not a single scratch upon the swordsman - those who lived by the blade's edge were destined to fall upon it, but it was not Rhace's turn to die just yet. The aqua glow died away, leaving only black steel and blood. Satisfied with his victory, Rhace decapitated the lizard - perhaps a brutal way to approach the situation, but evidence of the kill would need to be provided to the company so that they knew the threat had been terminated.
That blood was shaken off and the sword sheathed. Satisfied, Rhace could return home now. Job done.
Were there any lingering thoughts for the dead? No. There could not be. There was no place for such weakness.
MEL @ WW
