OoO( 16 )OoO
Knothole Glade was a place usually known for its peacefulness and buzzy atmosphere. Being right next to the Witchwood Arena, it was the main place that the contestants and audience stayed, making it a rather large and crowded town. It was also a natural town, using the forest around it as a shelter from the outside worlds and having wild plants grow in abundance out in the open. Though it was usually peaceful, today everybody was terrified.
When they arrived, they found something unexpected. A body lay in front of the city, torn to pieces and mangled from some sort of beast that attacked it. Van charged his lightning as the others drew their weapons. Looking around, they all ran forward headed for the gates of Knothole Glade only to be stopped in their tracks. The gate was closed, and outside there were people screaming and banging on the gate.
"Let us in! They are going kill us!"
"Please, I don't want to die!
"I'm sorry, but I can't risk letting the balverines in." said the guard on the other side.
Lyle looked to his left and noticed a balverine jump out of the forest and run strait for the stranded citizens. Pulling off his bow, he sighted down the arrow.
The woman turned around and saw the balverine running strait for her. She screamed as it jumped into the air, trying to attack her throat with its dagger like teeth. But, it was stopped in its tracks and thrown to the side as Lyle's arrow struck it in the side of the head. The balverine tumbled and rolled until it stopped, lifeless and limp. The woman saw it, then looked at Lyle and the others, who were running at them hastily.
Lyle ran forward and stopped at the wooden grating that served as a window for the guard and yelled into it. "Open the gate and let the people in, we will hold off the balverines!"
"We can risk letting them into the city!" shouted the guard, but was quickly shut up as Lyle reached through the wooden bars and grabbed the guard by his collar.
Slamming the guard against the door, he yelled, "You'll have a lot more to worry about if you don't open the gate! Now!" The guard waved to the gatekeeper and Lyle let go of him. The gate slowly creeked open and the frightened citizens ran into the city, crying for joy. Lyle turned around and saw five more balverines come out and charge for the open gate of the city. He stepped forward when Talon held out a hand and stopped him.
"Let me handle this."
"Are you sure?" he asked. She nodded and ran forward swiftly. The three heros eyes widened when they saw the spectacle she performed. She ran until she stood ten feet from them, then completely vanished. She appeared on the other side of them, skidding to a halt. The balverines started to slow down their mad charge for the gate and eventually stopped. All of the exploded in a shower of blood as their bodies fell to pieces. "W-What the hell was that?" asked Lyle stunned. He could slow down time for himself as well, but not even he was this fast!
"They've killed the balverines! Open the gate!" shouted the guard on the other side. The gate opened and all four of them ran inside. They were immediately confronted by the appointed leader of the city. He stood the same hieght as Lyle but has dark skin that was covered in hundreds of tattoos as trophies of his past battles. He only wore a pair of loose green pants and a vest that barely covered his chest, standing barefoot in front of everyone in the town.
"I thank you all for getting rid of the balverines outside." he said in a rather sophisticated for his build. Lyle just glared at him.
"How could you leave those people out there to die like that?" he yelled loudly, ignoring the natural beauty of Knothole Glade.
The man glared at Lyle. "I cannot take responsibility for those who are outside the gates when the warning goes off."
"Oh your not are you? Well let me ask you this. Did you give them a chance to get into the gate before you set the alarm off? Or did you close it and then sound the warning to the people inside?" he asked.
The man said nothing for a while. He knew Lyle was right, but didn't want to admit it. "We had to close the gates immediately because the balverines would have gotten in if we didn't. When there are balverines, then there is bound to be the white balverine as well." he said.
Lyle listened intently, but Whisper spoke for him. "White balverine? I've never heard of them."
"Its the biggest most rutheless balverine of all. Nobody knows where it came from, but it just showed up one day about a month ago and started to slaughter a trademission on the way here. So the guild sent us a hero to take care of it, but the hero died trying to kill the balverine. We still haven't found his body." he said.
"I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions like that. But you should have done everything in your power to help the people out there."
"We should have, but there was no point. If the white balverine was out there, then it wouldn't matter how many guards we sent out, it would have slaughtered them all! And we need the guards to fight off the regular balverines!" said the man roughly. Suddenly, they were both interrupted as a horn was blown somewhere up hill. They all looked around and the man went pale. "Oh no..."
"What does that mean?" asked Talon.
"That horn is only used for emergencies. And in this case, when the white balverine is near the city." said the man. He turned and began to jog up the hill. The four others followed him along with the guards of the city. When they arrived, the man yelled up at a large wooden tower. "Where is it?" he shouted. All he saw was an arm shoot out pointing to the south.
Lyle and the others ran in that direction, not waiting for the man to lead. What they saw when they arrived horrified them. It stood roughly six feet tall and had white fur down its entire body. But the most noticable thing about it was its seven inch claws and dozens of razor sharp teeth lining its blood soaked mouth. It held one arm in the air, and upon its claws was an impaled woman with blood gushing from her stomach where the claws stabbed right through her.
Whisper made the first move by hurling her spear at the beast. It flew through the air like an arrow and went point first into the beast; only to be deflected by its inpenitrable hide. It turned its head and glared at the heros before it, then threw the woman from his claws. Roaring loudly, it charged them at an amazing pace for a balverine. Lyle stepped forward and drew his sword, ready for anything the beast was about to do. Lyle swung his sword vertically to try and cleave the monster in half; but the hide stayed and the beast tackled the warrior like a shot fired from a cannon.
The others prepared to attack, but couldn't because Lyle was entangled with the beast. Van jumped onto the back of the balverine with his hands a light with fire and grabbed the balverine around the throat. It roared loudly and stood up, then hurled Van from its back; leaving a black ring around its neck where the fire had burnt the fur. "Now!" yelled Van and the others acted.
Talon dove in and tried to stab the creature with both blades. But, as usual, they just bounced off, leaving her defensless to its deadly claws. It raised its claws to slash her in two; but Lyle shoved her aside. The warrior roared loudly as the claws slashed across his left cheek, leaving three giant cuts across his face. Van began to summon aid to himself and the others with his summoning magic. He called forth a giant bird made from dark magic. It flapped its wings violently and rose into the air.
The balverine jumped into the air to pounce Lyle and finish him off, when it was suddenly grabbed and lifted into the air by the dark crow. Though it struggled, it couldn't break the birds hold on its shoulders and was raised higher and higher.
"Here! Use this!" shouted a woman behind them. Lyle turned and saw a woman standing about ten feet away. She tossed what looked like a black handled dagger to him and he caught it by the grip.
"Lyle! Watch out!" shouted Whisper. He turned and saw her staring into the sky. Looking up; his eyes widened as he saw the white balverine falling towards him at high speed. But, instead of moving, he took his chance with the dagger. He dropped his sword and held the dagger with both hands towards the sky. The balverine free fell a hundred feet and crash landed on Lyle. Then, all was quiet. Niether of the two moved for what seemed an eternity.
"L-Lyle?" said Van as he approached the heap. The balverine had landed directly on top of Lyle with its claws extended to his throat. But, both were out and not moving an inch; until now. Whisper, Van, and Talon readied their weapons as they saw the balverine move. It rose slightly onto its haunches, then fell over. Lyle shoved the body off of him and sat up slowly. He wiped blood from his face and breathed heavily as he stared at his friends.
They all stared in wonder at the white balverine with the dagger in its chest. It had actually pierced the skin! "Where did you get that?" asked Whisper confusedly. "I don't remember you ever carrying a dagger."
"I don't...she gave it to me." he said; then pointed to the woman who had tossed him the dagger. She stood timidly before them all. Lyle stood up and walked to her.
"Thank you, you have saved us all." he said smiling; his blood still dripping down his cheek.
She smiled with flattery, then looked up. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she yelled, "Look out behind you!" They all spun around and saw the white balverine standing again. It had pulled the dagger out of its wound and glared at them. It charged at Lyle so fast that they didn't have time to react. Jumping into the air; it slammed into him and knocked him on his back, then sank its razor-like teeth through his armor and into his shoulder. He yelled loudly in pain as the balverine let go and flew over the city wall and back to the forest.
OoOoO
Lyle had been brought to the dagger womans house for the treatment of his wound. Being the doctor of the town, she had seen many balverine bites and knew the cure for them by heart. After the initial shock, Lyle didn't make much noise as he limped to her house; just clenched his jaw and toughed it out. When he arrived he was set on a spare bed and his armor stripped from him, leaving only his loose clothing covering him up.
The woman went to her cabinet and swung the doors open, then began searching about frantically for something. Once she found it, she ran over to him and tore his shirt open where the bite had pierced the skin. Taking the vile, she pulled the cork out and tilted it over his shoulder. "I need you three to hold him down. You too Graden, we need him to stay absolutely still." she said.
"I'm fine, just get on with it." said Lyle.
"I can't risk it. This is going to be very painful and I can't have you waisting this." she said. Van, Whisper, Talon, and the leader of the city all held his arms and legs down.
"So...your the mighty fist fighter champion Balric Graden? Somehow I pictured you bigger." said Lyle through clenched teeth. The man smiled and said nothing. Finally, when they all had a tight hold on him, the woman began to poor the liquid slowly onto his shoulder. As soon as it touched the wound, he felt an instant surge of pain. His body jolted and his back arched as the pain cut through him like white hot knives. He yelled loudly as the pain began to blind him. It took a while, but the pain finally subsided. His back hit the bed softly and sweat ran from his drenched face onto the bed. Turning his head, he glared at the woman. "What the hell did you just do to me?" he asked.
"Its extract of silver mixed with healing herbs. It is the only thing that can prevent you from turning into a balverine." she said as her heart beat a hundred times a minute. "The wound will heal with rest, so you should stay out of action for a while." she said.
Lyle sat up and wiped his face with his bare hand. "Yeah right." he said, and stood. "I'm going after that balverine and I'm going to finish what I started."
"That's not wise..." said the woman. "Another bite from the same balverine could kill you. Nobody has ever been lucky enough to survive twice."
He turned to her and smiled. "Luckily for me, I won't let that happen twice. But, there is something I need to know." he said. She nodded and he looked at the others. "Can we talk alone?" he asked. The others looked at him in surprise. "Please?" he asked. They sighed and walked out the door without a word. After they had left, Lyle walked over and closed the door.
"What are you doing?" asked the woman worriedly.
Lyle turned and glared at her. "How did you know that that dagger would effect the white balverine?" he asked.
She looked at him in surprise. "W-What?"
He walked over and slammed his fist against the wall. "This balverine has been around for a month now and nobody has ever found a way to pierce its skin. But you just happen to come along and bring with you the only weapon capable. Explain!" he shouted.
She recoiled away from him and looked away. It was a while before she actually spoke. "My husband...my husband was a professional balverine hunter when he was alive. He had killed so many in his time, and not just normal ones. He had killed white balverines before, using silver weapons."
It dawned on Lyle. "Weapons are normally made of steel, because it's stronger than silver." he said. She nodded.
"One day, a white balverine appeared outside the lake in Witchwood Forest, so the guild sent my husband to go and kill it."
"Your husband was the hero they sent to kill the white balverine?" he asked.
She nodded and began to sniff tears away. "Yes. He did kill the balverine and came back to the village..."
"But, what's it still doing out there then?" he asked.
"That balverine isn't the same one my husband killed. When he came home, I found out that he was bitten by the white balverine; but it was too late to treat the wound for it had already soaked into his blood before I could eliminate it. He eventually began to turn, but he was able to control himself. One day, I came home and he had torn the place apart. I tried to soothe him, but he attacked me just the same."
Lyle walked over to her and pulled her shirt slightly down, revealing a claw shaped scar below her collar. "Is he the one that gave you that?" he asked.
Though bewildered at his rudeness, she nodded. "I thought that he could be tamed and that I could keep him alive. But, only did I realize when I saw him murder that woman that anything left of my husband is now long gone."
"And that's why you didn't tell anybody about the silver dagger, because you wanted to save your husband."
"Yes. Though I advise against going to find the balverine again, I know you are going to go anyway." she said, and he nodded. "Take the dagger with you. Free my husbands soul from that foul creature and let him finally rest." she said.
Lyle nodded and said, "I'll do whatever it takes to kill that creature. I will set your husband free."
"Not in that torn armor you won't." she said and slightly chuckled as he looked at the armor that the balverine had torn with its claws. The leather armor literally lay in shreds.
"Yeah, I guess I need to get some more before I go." he said smiling slightly.
"No need. Take my husbands armor; he stayed inside most of the time after becoming a balverine, so he didn't wear his armor much. He left it inside this trunk, and I have no use for it; so I want you to have it as a gift for freeing my husband. I know he would want you to have it if he were alive." she said.
Lyle said nothing. He mearly nodded, and strapped the bright plate mail onto his body. When he was fully armored and had all his weapons, he thanked the woman and walked out the door. As soon as sunlight hit the plated armor, it sent a glow off of it that could light Hobbe Cave. Whisper looked at him and whistled in admiration. "Where did you get the armor farmboy?" she asked.
"It was a gift from her, as well as that dagger." he said stepping onto the grassy hill. It was heavier than his normal armor, so it would take some getting used to.
"A gift huh?" asked Van smiling mischieviously. "You must have made an impression."
"Yeah, so?" said Lyle, who walked past Van.
"I didn't think you were in there that long." he said sarcastically.