20 Cylus 720 | Mathias Blackwood | Storm's Edge: Outside the Gate
The volunteer group that Mathias was a part of was going to remain near the wall where archers could still support them if they were overwhelmed. The only reason Mathias had gone to the ground level was because he wanted to prove to both himself and Kasoria that he didn't need a sword. He really hoped he was not wrong. "Keep your eyes peeled for any discoloration in the grass. Some of the beasts come from bellow ground so watch out for that." Mathias instructed as the group moved forward slightly. Some volunteers had swords and shields. Others had large hammers. One had daggers but Mathias thought that had been a poor choice of weaponry. All the same they advanced into the Stormlands slowly, watching the ground as they ventured across it. They'd circle the walls five times and should they encounter no beasts they'd return inside to put their skills to better use. But that would be after five rotations, and they were only beginning the first.
The first rotation passed without any trouble. Mathias and the volunteers circled the wall with their weapons at the ready. They found a few areas where the discoloration in the ground made it seem like one of the beasts might be preparing to spring out on them but whenever they'd investigated, they found the discoloration due to dying grass or an unexpected stone. Mathias would have argued that it was harder to see in the dark but after so long his eyes had begun to get used to it. Now he wore the ring granting him compound eyes and even still he struggled to find what he was meant to be looking for. The other volunteers struggled as well and ultimately the first cycle passed as the most boring of the cycles.
The second cycle was where the fun began because one of the volunteers, a human woman named Edith who'd brought a warhammer, decided that the silence was not worth the benefits and struck up a conversation with the patrolling group. "Has anyone been to Yaralon before?" Edith asked the group as they turned a corner and continued walking. Mathias had not so he didn't say anything, instead he kept his eyes on the ground watching for any sign of attack.
"I had a cousin who lived in Yaralon, visited him once or twice." Another volunteer, an ithecal named Drax, said from the back of the group.
"He ever take you to the Temple of Raskalarn? It's quite the experience." Edith asked.
"I heard they have all kinds of brawling going on in that place." Another volunteer chirped out from the middle of the group. It was an Avriel who had decided to simply go by Wing-ding. Wing-ding was the one who had chosen a dagger as her weapon and by extension become the first person Mathias expected to die. Mathias tried to search his memory for anything he knew about Yaralon or the temple, but when he realized he had nothing, Mathias said nothing.
"Nah we never got the chance. Some Defier challenged my cousin to a duel and put a stone spike through his chest." Mathias turned his head towards Drax at that revelation but Drax didn't seem bothered by it in the least. That was... odd... but who was Mathias to judge?
"What? Well did you avenge him? Did you challenge the-"
"Yeah, because the logical reaction to someone impaling someone on a stone spike is to go and fight that person." Mathias said sarcastically, finally inserting himself into the conversation as they walked. They'd finished two cycles now and had three more to go before they'd call it a day.
"It's the Yari way-"
"It's the Yari way to get yourself killed maybe."
"Pretty funny coming from the guy who talked a lot of us into coming here, to a crumbling keep being attacked by flameborn." Wing-ding said sharply but Mathias took it in stride.
"This is different. There are many of us to fight instead of just one. Challenge a Defier to single combat are more than likely to get burned." Mathias hadn't met many Defiers in his time- or at least not many he knew of. He wasn't entirely sure of if Vega was one or not but he'd noticed how the flame acted around her. He'd fought even fewer than he'd met and those he'd seen fight, he was lucky to have killed.
"And you think we wont get burned fighting things called flameborn?" Edith snipped.
"Fair point, but-" Mathias fell silent as he felt the ground beneath them beginning to shift. Everyone else seemed to feel it as well. The archer's eyes widened and he reached for an arrow but it was too late- the attack had begun.
The ground splintered and a black mass leapt forth from the earth with glowing blue teeth. The teeth buried themselves in Drax's shoulder and the Ithecal cried out in pain, flailing as he tried to get the frog-like beast off of him. Wing-ding moved in with her dagger and began stabbing at the beast but her aim was not perfect and for every blow into the beast, she sliced Drax with her blade. Not a moment later did another of the beasts leap forth from the ground towards Mathias who was already holding an arrow in his hand. Rather than try to nock the arrow in the short time the beast was flying through the air towards him, Mathias drove the arrowhead forward, shoving his arm into the beasts mouth and the arrow through the beasts head.
It's teeth clamped down just enough to break skin and Mathias groaned in surprised pain before shaking the dead beast off of his arm. He drew another arrow and began firing at the few other frog-like monsters emerging from the ground. Mathias was glad to have brought so many volunteers because it became very clear to him that without the other bodies, he'd have been consumed by this horde. He fired arrow after arrow, some with more accuracy than others, before another beast leapt at him. This time Mathias had the arrow nocked on his bow and he loosed it right into the beast's mouth again. He'd determined their mouth to be both the largest target while they were leaping at you, and the softest.
That arrow pierced the roof of it's mouth and came out the other end of it's head and the beast slumped over- but the chaos with Drax had not ended. Edith moved in with her hammer and in one solid swing knocked both the beast off of Drax and Drax's shoulder out of it's socket... though based on what the beast had done to Drax's arm it was a miracle the whole thing didn't go flying off with the bastard.
Mathias quickly rained arrows down on the recovering beast before another unearthed itself from behind them. Mathias turned his volley of arrows to the newest beast but found himself having to choose his shots while the other volunteers rushed in to stab it with their steely knives... but they just couldn't kill the beast. Mathias's arrow did the job that the rest of them had started and he moved over to the wheezing and bleeding Drax. "Someone help get him inside!" Mathias shouted- but he was no leader. His voice could not command obedience that would override the panic and bloodlust emerging in those stabbing the dead beast. So Mathias pulled Drax's good arm over his shoulder and helped the man onto his feet. "Stay with me Drax, we'll get you inside." Mathias whispered to the Ithecal as he practically dragged him into the walls of Storm's Edge.
The attack had passed but the fear would always remain. Once they were inside the walls, medical experts came to help carry Drax off to the infirmary. As he was carted off, Mathias waved goodbye "I'm sorry I talked you into that!"
