Another day another chapter

Naughtbeast

Chapter 10:

Sometimes… Running is the best option… and just about every option after that…

Gregare – the assassin master of the Black Huntsmen

Frath only had one thing going through his mind… RUN! He knew he could outrun the manticore here because it couldn't fly but he had to lose it quickly. He backtracked as fast as he could, hearing the ever-present roaring of the manticore and the heavy steps of his companions. As he was able to finally gather his thoughts he remembered a big problem… the portcullis. He swore under his breath and continued sprinting. When he eventually came to something he had not noticed before. A small section of the cave to his right had a river running through it. He veered off and quickly began following it, hearing the splashing of the manticore's paws behind him.

As he continued running, the initial adrenalin from the encounter had faded and he felt his lungs nearly collapse from pain. He stumbled for a second and heard a snapping of jaws just behind his head… accompanied by a loud scream from Gen. He quickly pulled her in front of him and checked. She was pretty shaken by the bite, but was unharmed. He quickened his pace, much to the disapproval of his muscles. As he was about to turn a corner, an arrow just barely missed his head. He turned to see Zwelious, bow in hand, just about to notch another arrow.

True betrayal stabbed at his heart as he lost view of the dragon-born. He continued sprinting and was not sure he could make it another minute. Luck was on his side as he rounded another corner and saw Holg, torch in hand, walking towards the cross-road he was about to run through. He waved frantically until he got his attention then, without warning, threw Genevive towards him…

Holg had just barely seen Frath sprinting from around the corner when a flurry of green cloth was thrown at him. He hastily dropped his torch and caught Gen, making sure she was ok. She didn't look worse for wear so he changed his attention back to the thief. He was panting heavily and didn't even stop to explain, he just kept running. Before he could call after him, a colossal roar echoed throughout the cave and a manticore burst out from where the thief had gone. Completely ignoring the half-orc, he continued chasing after the human. Now, however, it had the room to fly and it jumped up into the air and began gliding after the thief. He heard a shout from Adrik and turned to see the two other adventurers chasing after him. He picked up his torch and began sprinting after them. When he caught up he finally got the explanation he needed.

"Ye took yer time Pig… look weve got to stop this here overgrown cat from snatchin up our thief."

"How exactly did this happen?"

This time, Zwelious answered… "Well... we pretended that we were human hunting and now we have to pretend to be chasing after your friend or become extra chow for that… thing"

Adrik now showing a guilty look conceded defeat and continued running. Due to his short stature, he wasn't quite keeping pace but his dwarven nature allowed him to keep pace… even when he was just about to collapse from exhaustion. They continued running until the came to a completely straight cavern… That's bad

As soon as the manticore was into the open air it flapped its wings and glided towards the fleeing figure of Frath. They knew this would be the end… until Zwelious spotted their only hope. High above them were sleeping Piercers. As he was running he calmly unsheathed his bow and notched an arrow, stopping… and waited.

The manticore was now about 20 feet behind Frath, its fanged maw opened, ready to have its next meal. The thief was ready to give up when he tripped on a stone as he was distracted. He turned just in time to see the fast-approaching jaws of the manticore and closed his eyes, waiting for death… but it never came.

As Zwelious saw Frath trip he knew he had to act fast. With pinpoint accuracy, he fired his arrow… watching it sail up in the air… until it hit just above the Piercer, dislodging it. It was startled for the first couple of feet it fell but regained its composure as it saw its target beneath…

Holg watched as, at a moment's notice, he heard an arrow being loosed and Piercer delving straight for the manticore, knocking it a hairs-breadth away from Frath and causing it to crash into the floor. He sprinted full bore, using up his last reserves of energy to make it to his fallen comrade. He helped him up and they continued sprinting out of the cavern.

The manticore had felt a sharp pain on its head and its vision went black. It felt its wings falter and it crashed to the floor, feeling its tail snap. It wrestled with the unknown beast on top of its head but it would not let go. He continued batting at it with its claws but to no avail. The manticore let out a guttural roar as it angled its broken tail to fire at this creature. It fired tree tail spikes and he felt the thing above him shudder… and fall off. The manticores left eye was too swollen to see but he only needed one to know that his prey was gone. He knelt down and sniffed for their scent… picking up the pungent odour of a human… no wait… there was two... the hunt was truly on.

It took the adventurers some time to get back to the entrance where the manticore had attacked. It was significantly more difficult given the fact that Frath's ankle had been discovered to be sprained from the fall. They climbed out with the help of makeshift grapples and were shook to the core with what they saw. The village was burning, bodies were strewn around, people were screaming as their houses were smashed to pieces by the attack. Even when they were killed, the manticore's did not stop, absolutely ripping them to shreds so that they didn't even resemble anything that used to be living. They made their way to the mayor's house to try and find their mounts, sticking to the shadows as the dark shapes of the manticores were flying overhead.

When they managed to make it to the stables they found that the cart was slightly on fire and Mark, Butch and Holg's horse were no-where to be seen. They walked over to see what they could salvage from the wreck but were interrupted by a strange, strangled sound. They overturned the cart and found Butch, lying limp and near dead, on the ground with a tail spike in his chest. Holg set to work, utilising his Lay on Hands to try and heal him but he was bleeding too badly to be able to bring him back. After a minute of Holg desperately trying to cauterize the wound, his pained breathing stopped and he went limp. The group stood there, not quite processing the gore until they heard another cry.

"GENIVIVE"

They turned to see the mayor running towards them, fireballs in both hands and desperately trying to get towards them. Gen broke out of Holg's grip and sprinted towards him. As Holg watched he saw something that turned him cold. He sprinted towards Gen before she could get to the mayor and she cried out. Holg roared to the mayor to dive but it was too late. The manticore from the tunnels swooped down and snatched him from the ground. Gen screamed after him and could do nothing but watch. Frath and Zwelious fired off a few shots with their bows, but none were hits. Genivive collapsed into a crying heap and was cradled in Holgs arm.

"There there… everything is going to be alright"