The Howl of the Wolf, the Howl of the Wind (open)

[JackieCat]

When Healin awoke the next morning, Kaven was still on guard, leaning against the tree.

They got up and rolled up their bedroll and looked over to Kavin.  "Good morning," they said. "I assume nothing came upon us while you were on watch?"

[Arclightning]

Kaven turned and looked at Healin.
"Nothing but his snoring." Kaven jerked his head at Leon. "Well, lets pack up then." He hoisted his travel-pack on to his shoulder.

"You coming?"

[KingTyrant]

Leon had awoken not long after Healin, getting his rook sack together quickly to prepare for the journey that day. He scoffed at Kaven's words, rolling his eyes before standing up straight and taking the lead. He walked until he found the trail leading to Ketra, sniffing the air to make sure no predators were on their way for some breakfast.

"I suppose Healin and I have to be thankful that we weren't attacked this morning. There's no way your fragile old bones would be able to protect anyone." He spat at Kaven, an attack for the last smart remark the drunk had made. Leon couldn't stand this guy... As a matter of fact, it was more annoying than ever, having him around.

After a few hours of travel, the group had come to a rather large clearing, where a goblin encampment was stationed. He gritted his teeth, seeing the wooden stakes rising up from the ground to form tall walls, which were all lined with torches decorated with human skulls. "Damned barbarians... Get down. We'll sneak around... I don't feel like dealing with the ankle-biters..." He hissed.

[Arclightning]

Sneak? The only place you sneak is into a better place to ambush the enemy from. Kaven thought. He stopped and crouched in the foliage. The camp was small, wth maybe a dozen goblins in it. But it was well fortified, with actual walls. Probably experienced fighters, judging by the skulls

In other words, a piece of cake. He grabbed Leon's shoulder.
"Are we just gonna let these things terrorize the country? Look at all those skulls. How many more will end up there if we don't do something?" Kaven pulled out his cooking knife and placed it in his boot. He then took a hook and a length of rope from his traveling pack. He tied a knot securely around the hook and wound it up so that he could move into range without it getting in his way.

Kaven snuck lithely through the trees, right up to the edge of the clearing. He only saw one guard on top of the walls. Kaven smiled and pulled out his knife.

Now comes the fun part.

[JackieCat]

Healin packed up their bedroll and followed the two other men to the trail, and then down it.  When they came across the goblin camp, Healin was about to agree with Leon when Kaven rushed off.

Healin narrowed their eyes, and in a flash they were after Kaven, moving silently through the trees after the older man.

They reached Kaven a moment after he reached the wall, and immediately put a hand on their shoulder.

"Wait," they whispered calmly. "Not yet."

[KingTyrant]

Leon grabbed Kaven by the arm, yanking him back behind a tree. "Are you an idiot?! How many more are out here besides the ones behind those walls?!" He snapped silently, eyes narrowed. "You think you have the upper hand, but you don't. They have strength in numbers. And until we know what thise numbers are, we are overpowered. Understand? This is not our problem."

He let him go, mumbling curses under his breath at Kaven as he crouched in the thick shrubbery, going around the edge of the clearing as silently as he could. Leon sniffed a few times, his eyes widening as he caught the scent of more Goblins heading through the woods, just ahead. 4... 5... 6 of them.

"Dammit..." Leon hissed quietly, diving to his stomach, silently drawing his sword. The tiny, green-skinned, pointy-eared little gremlins walked just in front of them, decorated in fur clothing, which sported jewlery and ornaments made out of bones. A Goblin walked a little too close to where the three were hidden, catching a glimpse of the light reflecting off Leon's shield. He looked down, his mouth gaping in a cry of surprise, ending early as Leon shot up, jabbing his blade through the Goblin's skull.

It didn't take long at that point... The rest of the patrolling barbarians turned, teeth bared as they drew crude weapons to defend themselves against the intruders. Leon sighed, hearing the horn inside the camp go off. Looks like they had to do this the hard way... Which meant they'd all need to work together to fight off the odds. "I hope you're decent with that knife, gramps." He growled.

[Arclightning]

Ah hell. You couldn't even get to the wall without making noise? Well time to deal with it. Kaven turned, and in one smooth motion took out his ax and knife, tossing the small weapon to Healin as it seemed it had none
"Guard yourself!" Kaven shouted as he dodged a goblins swing.

Kaven returned the favor by punching his ax through its face. He tried to pull it out, but his ax was stuck.
Damn.
Instead he swung the corpse attached to the blade into another goblin, crashing it to the ground. Kaven scooped up the goblins crude, one edged sword and stabbed it through the prone beasts chest. He and the others made short work of the patrol, but Kaven turned to see the other dozen racing across the field to meet them. One of the figures was large and clad in plate armor. It was an Orc.
Kaven sighed. This was all going to hell and back.
He stepped forward and yelled across the plain
" I challenge the orc to single combat!"
It was their best chance, now that suprise had been taken from them.

[KingTyrant]

Leon cut down Goblin after Goblin with little strategy or thought. He seperated from Kaven and Healin at one point, blocking blows from the tiny warriors with his sword and shield before skillfully slicing through their skin and bones like tissue paper. A Goblin ended up jumping on his back, punching at his head like a wild animal. Leon grunted in irritation, swinging his sword back and impaling the barbarian in the shoulder. He tumbled to the ground, Leon mercilessly slashing away at him until he fell limp.

After they had done away with the patrol, Leon was more than ready for the other dozen that had stormed from the camp. He paused when he saw the heavily-clad Orc, rolling his eyes at Kaven's challenge. As if these guys were going to agree to a fair fight... What a joke.

"I'll make sure to attend your funeral." Leon murmured to Kaven, looking around at the Goblins, who had all begun to snicker in amusement. Even the Orc was laughing. He must've been the chief of the camp... Most Goblins never mingled with Orcs, but every once in a while, the barbarians would team up with their cousins to wreak havoc on unsuspecting travellers and villages. This camp was a clear indication that a village wasn't far off...

[JackieCat]

Healin sighed.

A fight, great.  These two 'mighty warriors' were going to kill all the goblins.  It wasn't as though Healin doubted they would be able to take down all of the creatures, but this fight had been unnecessary, and if the goblins had needed to be all killed, there would have been a much more efficient way of going about it.

They deftly caught the knife, not even looking at it.  The goblins and Orc were even closer now, but Healin did not use the dagger as the goblins surrounded them.

Instead, they stuck the daggers into their belt and whispered a small string of words.  Immediately, the small group of goblins around them collapsed to the ground.  The other goblins fighting squealed.

"A mage!" one shrieked. "They've got a mage!"

The goblins looked like they were going to flee, but the Orc roared, not ready to give up this fight, and the goblins, though begrudgingly, stayed.

Healin still did not draw the dagger, but whispered a word and sparks appeared on their fingertips.  They swirled through the goblins, dodging the attacks and just gently touching the goblins, who fell to the ground, motionless.

[Arclightning]

Well that's convienient. Thought Kaven as he glanced over and saw Healin killing goblins left and right. He still wanted his fight though. He wanted to send a message to the goblins not to pillage around here anymore, and to Leon that he's not just a useless sack of bones and could turn him from a vagrant into a warrior.

Most greenskins won't fight fair, unless you tell them in their own language to go hump their mothers. Then they take honor in a one on one duel. And that's what Kaven did. The orc bellowed at the goblins to stay back, then charged at Kaven, his giant two-handed ax swinging.
Kaven pulled out his ax and the sword he had taken from the goblin and charged.

The axes met with a screech, and came apart. Kaven parried one blow and dodged the other, then slashed with the sword. It bit deep into the shaft, then stuck.
"Shit." Was all Kaven could say before it was wrenched from his grasp. As the Orc started to smile it remembered Kaven also had an ax. Then that same ax came down across the orcs face. Not a lethal blow, but a painful one. The fighters circled and clashed, large ax against the small, the young against the old, strength against experience. It was not a fair fight, for the Orc only had one eye, and Kaven knew how to exploit such an injury. He circled and slashed on his blind side, but couldn't get a lethal blow. The warriors were circling and suddenly the Orc struck with the butt of his ax. Kaven only managed to catch it because he dropped his ax. They stood there struggling, waiting for the others strength to fail.

[KingTyrant]

Their fight was interrupted as Leon darted by, his sword outstretched beside him as he cleaved through the Orc's lower back, blood spilling from the wound and spraying against Leon's armor. The man spun around, the blade coming back for a second blow as it sliced the Orc's head clean off. He watched as the dead body fell, looking at Kaven with a small grunt. "There. Problem solved." He growled. Fighting was one thing, but showboating was another. It was especially painful to watch, as Kaven seemed to be struggling in finishing the Orc off. Amateur... He had hundreds of contracts where he had to deal with Orcs. They were slow, dumb, and sloppy in combat. Why couldn't a veteran like Kaven do away with it sooner?

With Healin's little abilities becoming known, the tide of the battle was shifting in their favor. Leon was surprised to see their skill, but he didn't show it. Healin had mystery behind them, but they sure didn't seem like the magical type. He bared his teeth, turning and blocking with his shield as a Goblin threw a dagger at him. The little warrior charged along with three others, Leon slashing the first two away before stabbing the last one through the stomach in mid-air as he jumped. He looked around, seeing all of their opponents either down for the count or retreating into the woods.

"Little cretins..." Leon hissed, walking towards the camp cautiously. Hell... If he and his companions were going to butcher the residents, they might as well take a look around. Who knew? Perhaps something of use would come up. As he entered, tents were visible on both sides, with one empty space down the middle to make room for a bonfire and a small fort. Something caught Leon's eye especially, though... Three wooden poles, humans bound to them with rope. He walked over to get a closer look, seeing the people more clearly. Two women and a man. He undid one of the women's ties, huffing as he did so. "W-We already told you! We don't know anything!" She exclaimed. Leon removed her blindfold. "Relax... I might be ugly, but I'm not Goblin ugly. One of you, explain what's going on here."

[Arclightning]

As Leon cut through the orcs back Kaven noticed something. The blood was blue, not the usual tar black of greenskins. He frowned, and almost absentmindedly threw his second knife into an approaching goblins face.

He had only seen blue-bloods once before, and it did not end well. This was the work of a litch. Kavens eyes widened and he turned to Leon, who was busy freeing captives. He ran up to him and grabbed his shoulder.
"This is bad. There's a litch nearby. We need to get out and make a plan. This is really bad." Kaven then turned to the hostages. "Have you seen a cloaked figure walking around here? Or felt like everything around you was rotting?" It was rare to sense the aura of a litch, but it happens, so he asked. He turned and surveyed the camp. "The reason those greenskins seemed so experienced was because they had been changed by the litch. They might not have even been alive." He looked around for anything that might give a hint of the litches presence. A dead plant, a blackened footprint, anything dead. Litches sucked the life out of anything and everything, so Kaven tried to sniff the air for any scent of decay.

Gah! If only he was a mage, he could sense it's power.

[KingTyrant]

Litches? Interesting... Leon hadn't seen too many litches in his time, but he knew they were bad knews, with how they were talked about in taverns and inns. Fear usually accompanied the tales of the undead mages, people always hesitant to retell the tales of an encounter with them. Maybe it was their ghostly appearance. Perhaps it was their ability to raise the dead and rot the living with just one touch. Either way... They didn't spook Leon. Rather, they made him want to see them up close and personal.

The man shook his head. "All I remember is delivering a message to the baron of that village just west of here... That's when the ankle-biters grabbed me up and took me here. I don't remember seeing anything undead... Or smelling anything rotten." He said. The other woman shook her head. "Me either."

Leon looked at Kaven. "You familiar with the Litches? They must be pretty bad, if they make you so jumpy..." He murmured, crossing his arms. He looked down at the dead Orc. The blood was most definately blue. And come to think of it, they did smell unusually decayed for living beings. He scoffed. "What's so scary about an old bag of bones raising up more bags of bones? We can take it. Especially if we've got ourselves a mage." He gestured to Healin. He didn't want to admit that maybe sticking around was a bad idea... Besides, he had probably fought worse... Right?

[Arclightning]

They don't get it.
"You don't just kill a litch. They don't die like men do." Kaven said quietly. He was busy thinking about the battle his squad had had with the litch. It had been long and deadly, with the endless horde of bluebloods, Kaven only just managed to reach the litch. And even then he only killed it with the help of a bottle of liquid dragon flame.

Kaven turned to the hostages. "Get out of here. Go to your lord and tell him to evacuate everyone. Get as far away as possible." As the hostages scrambled away Kaven looked around the encampment. There was little evidence of any comings or goings. Dead things don't need to go hunt for food. But there were some things. A dead leaf, a crushed flower, a black blade of grass. The litch had been here.

Kaven started to follow the road of rot to the den of the litch.

[KingTyrant]

Leon grabbed his shoulder. "Look, all tough-guy talk aside, if you're right about the litch being so dangerous, then maybe we should leave it alone for now." He suggested, for once using his brain. "Let's follow these people back to their village. Get some more information, before we go litch hunting. Deal?" He asked Kaven, raising a brow at him. If Kaven truly wanted to fight the thing at their current strength, then Leon would ablige. However, he'd do whatever he could to change the man's mind, as well.

[JackieCat]

Throughout this whole exchange, Healin had been feeling around for the litch with their powers, reaching out and testing the waters, seeing how powerful thislitch really was, and where it was exactly.

"The litch is not within it's den," Healing said, walking over to the two men.  "But it is near.  The orc and goblins were being controlled by the litch, and they were alive.  The goblins I took down are not dead, however.   My spell was not one of death."

Healing offered no suggestion on what they thought they should do, waiting to see what Kaven and Leon would decide.

[KingTyrant]

Leon turned to Healin. The litch could control living things, as well as dead things? What did that mean for him and his group? If what Healin said was true, then they'd just as easily become zombies when faced with it. The Goblins they had just cut down were some of the toughest of their kind, and not even they could withstand the litch's influence!

Leon shook his head, crossing his arms. "I vote that we prepare ourselves first. I'm not much for plans... In fact, they bore me. But I don't plan on becoming some litch's henchman." He looked towards the villagers, who were standing idly by. "There... Is a man in our village... He claimed that he saw an undead being in the forest... Nobody believed him, but you three just might be proof. He also might be able to give more information about the prey you seek." One of the women spoke. He also might be able to offer up some coin. Leon thought.

[Arclightning]

Kaven turned.
"I thought I told you to leave." He said to the villager. But then his tone softened as he said "But thanks anyway." Kaven turned to Healin and Leon.
"First we should execute these goblins so they don't kill anymore people. Then we should go talk to this man, he might know where the litch is, and other things, like how we might kill it." Kaven started to walk away but then realized he was unarmed. He turned around and looked at healin.

"Knife"

[JackieCat]

Healin looked after the former prisoner as he walked away, but their head snapped back to Kaven as he asked for his knife.

"We cannot kill them," Healin said, taking out the knife, but making no move to hand it to Kaven, at least not yet. "They are unconscious, to kill them now would be to kill in cold blood.  And, we have no proof that they are killers, they may have only been killing because they were being controlled by the litch."

[KingTyrant]

As the villagers walked, so did Leon. He let Kaven and Healin solve the dispute over the knife and goblins by themselves, for he had no time for such petty discussions. He had one thing on his mind: Find the man who could help him kill his prey. He had no intention to tangle with the litch before, but now that coin was in the equation, it made things much more different.

He rolled his eyes, stopping and looking back at the two after going down the path a ways. "Are you two going to follow, or not?" He growled. "Give the old timer his knife so we can go. C'mon, Healin. We're burning daylight." He told them. He sniffed the air ahead. Humans. Lots of them, too. Yep... They were approaching a village.