Uriko waited until Abner's footsteps faded away into the distance, signalling that she was finally alone. She then revoked her druidic magic and reversed her beast shape spell as she emerged from the brush. Her bones and muscles contorted and stretched as she painlessly shapeshifted out of her tiny animal form and back into her humanoid body. She remembered the layout of the forest; despite the repeating nature of the terrain, there were always subtle hints etched into the earth that a person could use as landmarks, granted they had the training and a perceptive enough eye. Uriko quickly recovered her bearings and discerned north. Through this she inferred which direction she would need to travel southward to intercept the three-man scouting party.
Three against one. I'm going to need some help, she contemplated. After some time contemplating in silence, she had simmered down, and felt a pang of regret for running off on her own. She dispelled her doubts, reminding herself of her ultimate objective. Lance and Frelick will be easy to handle, she figured. If she could find a way to separate them from their superior, she would have a direct line towards the man named Adamance.
The meager brush of the Lamenting Woods' deciduous forest was nothing compared to the dense and hot jungle climate in which she had trained and honed her own survival instincts. She traveled much faster on her own; her speed was unfettered by the others, whom were more acclimated to crossing urban environments. They would only slow me down. She had trained her whole life in the ways of nature and magic, and fate had served a mortal enemy to her, mostly unprotected and within her prime element. I might not get another chance like this.She would not let this opportunity pass her.
It was not much longer until she spotted the trio at the distance. She had changed herself once more into a small auburn striped cat in order to improve her climbing ability, and took to the trees to secure a safe vantage point. From above the canopy of long fan-shaped leaves, she watched and stalked her potential prey.
"The trail's gone cold!" She heard Frelick announcing loudly.
"Quiet, you idiot!" Lance swiftly reprimanded him with a slap across the back of the head. "Do you want every Feral Heart to come running to us?"
"Let them come," a third voice came from a heavily armored man who emerged from the brush with a hand-and-a-half sword clutched in one hand. "If they wish to die, then I'll be happy to oblige," the faceless black knight grumbled from behind his ghastly helmet. Uriko could also see the red cape that draped over his shoulders, tracking foliage and earth. With every breath he took, steam poured from the slits in the helm like smoke from a blazing furnace. She peered at his peculiar blade, and confirmed her assumptions; there was a faint marking along the backbone of the blade, like a lightning bolt that streaked from crossguard to tapered tip, indicating that it was previously cracked. I found you. Uriko clenched her teeth and dug her feline claws into the bark of the tree as her rage boiled inside her.
She returned her attention back to the two uninvited fellows. I'd rather not hurt them. Karus seemed to have a soft spot for them, so she decided that she would spare them, if possib;e. In order to do so, she would need to separate them with a distraction. She climbed back down to the central trunk and onto the roots, taking great care not to make any noise or disturb nearby foliage. She then searched the earth and found a smooth rock about her palm's width in diameter. After taking careful aim, she threw it as far and as hard as she could. It sailed through the air and struck a distant tree, causing a flock of nesting birds to disperse. The dead silence was sundered by a wild commotion of flapping wings and rustling leaves.
"What was that?" Frelick blurted out.
Lance drew his sword in response.
Uriko acquired a second stone, reared her arm back, and launched it in another direction. It flew through some bushes before rolling along the dirt and gravel, creating more noise.
"Did anyone see anything?" Lance informed his group.
"Nothing! Did we walk into an ambush?" Frelick asked shakily.
"Calm yourself, boy," the third voice growled.
Uriko focused her willpower and began to manipulate the mist with her druidic magic. She controlled the cloud to engulf the area and grow denser, further obscuring her movements as she carefully circled around them.
"You two, over there," Uriko could hear the knight's orders behind the veil.
Perfect. She continued her silent spellcasting until it was almost impossible to see a few feet in front of her own face. When her eyes had failed her, she began to rely on her nose and ears to navigate through the dark and shrouded forest. Where did you go? She leaned against the large coarse and chipping bark of a nearby tree for cover and effortlessly resumed her humanoid form. She paused when her ears caught the sound of approaching footsteps. She moved closer and crouched behind a nearby shrubbery with prickly leaves and sweet-smelling berries. There, she waited.
There was a steady crunching of leaves, followed by the dull sliding and grinding of interlocked steel plates that grew louder as the entity approached. Uriko calmed her beating heart with slow and steady breaths, further reducing her presence. She had one hand placed firmly on the ground, touching the roots of the tree.
Just a little closer. A single bead of icy sweat rolled down her brow as she waited. Her prey was almost within her grasp, and the anticipation was almost unbearable.
The unseen figure took one last step and arrived within two paces of her exact location.
Now! Uriko expended her last reserves of druidic magic and commanded the roots to suddenly grow rapidly, instantly reaching out and ensnaring the armored individual. Without hesitation, she drew out a small iron dagger from a hide sheath hidden in her boot. She had rarely ever used it, but always kept it on her person as a precaution. She arose from her hiding spot, awkwardly clutching the unfamiliar weapon in a reverse grip.
Some of the fog had cleared from the sudden motions, allowing her to clearly see her opponent. The tendrils of hardened plant matter had wrapped around his legs and up to his chest in seconds, slowing his movements considerably. He had also dropped his sword in the chaos, which was now lying on the ground beside him, out of reach. Her enchanted plant eventually snaked its way up to his arms, further constricting him. His army was thick and bulky; the tiny dagger would be entirely ineffective if she attempted to penetrate the carapace, so she would have to plunge it through a gap.
"Are you Adamance?" She asked, waiting for vines to completely immobilize his arms.
The man did not struggle; the roots were thick and long, and which would've taken someone with immense strength to tear through. He simply turned his head to face her, and Uriko could see his shimmering blue eyes beneath the partially raised grate of his visor. "At your service," he said proudly. "To whom do I owe this pleasure?"
"My name is Uriko," she declared proudly as she stared fiercely back into his eyes. "And this is for my family. The family you stole from me." She dashed towards him, rearing the knife back. Her eyes centered upon her target, which was now held perfectly still; there was a slight breach between the gorget and the top of his breastplate, which would allow her to slip the blade deep past his collarbone and down into the heart. Die, you bastard!
In a feat of unprecedented strength, Adamence stepped forward, shattering his restraints as if they were made out of rotten wood. He raised a single gauntleted hand.
Uriko was already committed to her charge, and could not adjust her trajectory in time.
Adamance reached out and slammed the web of his hand into her throat. Uriko gagged as the strike sent a painful jolt across her entire body. The momentum of her downward swing continued to carry the knife towards her adversary, but her sudden discombobulation caused her to miss the mark entirely. The dagger tip glanced harmlessly against Adamance's pauldron before it slipped from her grip entirely and flew from her hand.
Adamance tightened his grasp around her throat, cutting off her breathing. The snaking vines around his entire body did little to hold him in place, and they pathetically shriveled up and fell off of his body with each subsequent motion. He lifted Uriko off of her feet with a single hand and constricted further, not saying a word.
Uriko clawed at his arm, in an attempt to force him to free her, but her claws glanced ineffectively off the nearly frictionless steel plates that surrounded his limbs. As the vicegrip of steel and leather continued to asphyxiate her, she started to thrash violently to free herself, but Adamance held fast. Her vision began to blur and dim, making it impossible to focus long enough to cast a spell. And even if she could, her magical reserves had been spent. No, not like this! She feebly attempted to pry his hand off her throat as tears of anguish rolled down the sides of her face.
Adamance twisted his hips and slammed her into the dirt with his brute strength. Time seemed to slow as Uriko descended; she could feel and hear the snapping of the chain that secured Trisha's pendant around her neck. The sudden concussive impact as she landed caused her vision to go black temporarily. As the world spun around her, Uriko could taste blood at the back of her mouth. She struggled to catch her breath through her strained windpipe, and could now barely move her bruised and battered body. Her vision began to clear as she weakly rolled to one side.
Adamance stood before her, brushing off the last remnants of her ensnaring roots, completely unfazed. "Now that you've finally come out of hiding, we can greet each other properly," he mused. He started walking past her, towards his sword.
No. Uriko, fueled by her hatred, shut out the pain that wracked her battered body and reached for his leg, weakly grasping at the greaves. She clenched her jaw tightly as she dragged her limp and beaten body closer to him.
Adamance easily shook her grasp off with a shake of his leg, and knelt over to retrieve his sword. The silvered blade glowed dimly in the moonlight as he approached her with murderous intent.
Not like this, Uriko thought. She clawed at the dirt, desperately attempting to call upon whatever strength she had left. But her injuries had taken too great a toll, and all of her senses have been knocked out of her. Her vision faded in and out as the seconds crawled past. Her mouth tasted sour, as if whatever was in her stomach was churning back up to mix with the blood flowing pass her gritted teeth. She could not hear anything but a shrill ringing.
The black knight stood before her, sword clutched in both hands and resting the flat against his shoulder. Adamance then mouthed something to her, but Uriko was unable to discern anything he was saying. She could only watch, helpless, as he raised the silver-cored fang skyward, aimed it at her exposed and outstretched neck. Paralyzed by fear, she could not look away.
Suddenly, Lance and Frelick burst into the scene, interrupting the knight. The three exchanged some indiscernible words amongst each other before Adamance resumed carrying out the execution. Frelick peered over Adamance's shoulder and his gaze fell upon Uriko. A sudden look of horror washed over his face, and he rushed quickly to her side. Adamance stopped his killing stroke mid-swing, just barely missing the kindhearted fool. Frelick did not even notice that he almost got himself cut in half as he knelt down beside her. She could see his lips moving as he gently placed a reassuring hand on her mangled body. Without warning, he was abruptly knocked aside by Adamance armored boot, which caught him at the shoulder. Lance rushed over to his brother's side, angrily shouting some unintelligible words as Adamance ignored him and shifted his attention back to finishing her off.
Uriko looked up to Adamance, prepared to be reunited with her tribe once more. As he raised the blade and prepared to bring it down, an unknown mass of black fur streaked into the scene from the edge of her periphery, slamming into Adamance and forcing him backwards. He immediately regained his bearings and entered a lowered stance with his sword in a two-handed grip, poised for a stab, and the flat of the blade parallel to the ground.. A massive creature covered with inky black fur had cut him off, and was now holding the three of them back. Uriko could see the faintest outline of blue spots in the creature's fur, and she instantly recognized that it was the mysterious feral direwolf from before. The wolf continued to snap it jowls at the men before it reared its head back and howled towards the sky. Within seconds, several other grey wolves had emerged from the forest, aiding the wolf's already terrifying intimidation.
Adamance, Lance, and Frelick began slowly backing away, their weapons still brandished at the dire wolf mother and her pack. They eventually turned around and fled out of sight as a few of the wolves gave chase into the forest. The pack had successfully driven off the knight and his compatriots, effectively saving her life for the moment.
The direwolf finally turned its attention over to Uriko, and approached her slowly, finally stopping when its snout was hovering directly above her, obscuring all other vision. The dripping, bloodstained mouth drew closer to Uriko's face, and she could smell the revolting scent of carrion with each suffocatingly hot exhale. The wolf then opened her massive teeth-lined mouth and began closing it around Uriko's face and chest, like a blanket of moist and warm flesh.
I'm sorry, Uriko wanted to say as she closed her eyes and submitted to her fate. She relaxed her whole body and gave into the warm, dark embrace of the wolf's maw.