They immediately whirled into action, extinguishing the fire and skulking off into the trees, like with his exercise just earlier, fake trails were being left, some obvious, some not. Their own passing almost indeterminable. They moved in complete, ghostly silence.
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They had a long head start on whoever it was that pursued them, Lowan reckoned it wouldn’t be Hannodell himself, but one of his hunter squadrons, capable assassins and trackers. Versed in both physical and magical combat. However they could use magic and speed through the forest like the very wind itself and if their subterfuge didn’t work; they would catch up.
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Lowan used hand signals to relay this to Rava, unless things had changed over the years the squad would be between four and six strong with a mix of caster and melee focused members. “Casters first” he signed. Rava nodded in acknowledgement.
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A few hours and kilometers later they set out bait, Ulim meat mixed with a magical plant called Sorrowrot, which stunk to all the thirteen hells as it accelerated decomposition of dead flesh, it would attract monsters and carrion feeders alike. If luck blessed them this day it would draw the attention of a particularly dangerous monster, the forest wight. It would guard its prize ferociously, and hopefully soften up their pursuers.
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As luck would have it the wind was in their pursuers back, hopefully the wight or something equally as dangerous was downwind from them.
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They hurried away then, it wouldn’t be long until they caught up. Just a few hundred meters ahead Lowan signaled for them to stop. He then pointed to himself and a position in the distance, followed by pointing at Rava and another position in the distance. This would be where they lashed out at their pursuers.
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A deafening wail sounded out in the forest after half an hour, the wight guarding its bounty. It didn’t take long for the forest to come alive with the sound and sights of battle. Rava heard trees splintering and saw explosions and lightning lighting up the pre-dawn sky.
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For fifteen minutes the chaotic frenzy sounded out before silence returned to the forest, only the wind a low droning howl through the forest. Rava nocked an arrow to his bow with a silent and measured movement. Readying himself for the inevitable.
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The first to come into view was a man dressed in dark colors, his armor and weaponry hidden under a cloak. He was followed by a woman in much the same getup only her bow was visible slung over her shoulder. Behind her followed a trio, two men carrying a third, one arm slung over each their shoulders. One of them carried a bow and one a staff in his free hand. The wight had done its job.
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Rava slowly pulled back on his bow, so slow that any creaks the bow or string might produce were as silent as possible. Holding his breath he aimed at the staff wielder “Casters first” he thought as he loosed the arrow. Loading another arrow and shooting it towards the same target before the first even landed.
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Before the first arrow landed however the mage swung his staff in front of him and a glowing shimmer sent the first then the next arrow harmlessly to the side. “CONTACT!” He shouted and the trained hunters instantly drew weapons. Rava was already in action as soon as his second arrow loosed. On his way to a new spot.
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Lowan’s arrows came next, aimed at the same target as the squad started to form up in a circle with their backs towards each other. The trick to killing a mage was either getting close and personal where their shield couldn’t hold back heavy attacks, or make them poison themselves with mana usage.
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The second option was usually the one that worked best, especially when up against more opponents and able to accurately hit its defenses with every shot. Rava had now repositioned to a new vantage point and repeated his earlier process, this time using a special twang of his string to curve the arrows trajectory slightly to not give away his position.
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“Where the fuck are they!?” The woman shouted, sending arrows back to where she thought they came from. The leading man’s eyes started glowing as he scanned the trees. It didn’t take long before arrows started coming closer and closer to Rava as he now started shooting on the move, circling the squad. Lowan doing the same.
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The injured man was held up solely by the mage with the staff now, the other shooting arrows towards Lowan.
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What the squad was subconsciously doing was bunching up more and more to help out the mage that was getting pelted relentlessly. Then an arrow from Lowan whistled louder than it should and almost instantly afterwards Rava loosed an arrow himself.
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This was a signal to switch targets, after getting their enemy used to their plan the defenses of the others would slack just enough for them to realize their blunder too late.
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A low gurgle sounded out as the man with the glowing eyes took an arrow to his back first and quickly followed up with one to his heart. Slumping down to his knees and then falling over to his side. “Three to go” Rava thought as he stalked backwards to hide.
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However their plan had not worked to perfection. They had both targeted the same target, while unfortunate that they didn’t get a twofer the real downside was that they had underestimated how fast the spellcaster could send out spells. An explosion boomed out not far from Rava, the shockwave sending him flying into the air and into a tree, back first.
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The air in Rava’s lungs was forced out, it took everything he had to get up on his knees and crawl behind the tree. Disoriented he tried catching his breath for a precious few moments. “Definitely a broken rib or two” he thought to himself
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Lowan was able to give Rava those moments as he forced the mage back on to the defensive with a steady stream of arrows. Lowan’s arrow wouldn’t last forever and Rava knew he had to get back into the fight. He shook his head and peeked back around the tree, readying his bow.
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The drawing of both breath and bow was painful, but nothing he couldn’t manage, Lowan had forged him sharp and sturdy. He started sending arrows back at the mage while weaving away from the haphazard shots of the two bow wielding adversaries.
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It didn’t take long before the Mage unceremoniously dropped his charge to the ground to better focus on the battle ahead. The injured man in an unconscious pile.
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An explosion sounded out again, this time towards Lowan’s position. “Did he just cast two spells at once!?” Rava thought. That’s a level of casting only a focused mage could accomplish according to Lowan. They didn’t suffer mana poisoning for hours. Un conductive to both their plan and arrow supply. This would have to go into a melee.
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Rava sent a final arrow down range at the mage before he dropped his bow and drew his sword and dagger. He charged forward, his footsteps just light pats on the ground. A three on two would be manageable, distract the archers and keep too close for the mage to send out explosive spells.
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Lowan and Rava were in sync and both chose a different opponent this time. A lifetime of monster slaying had made the duo almost a perfect symphony of death in a melee.
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Rava got close to the woman before she realized, her reflexes allowed her to dodge the dagger that went in a stab towards her neck but the slash from the sword sliced a deep wound in her side.
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“Fuck!” She shouted as she dropped her bow and drawing her own short sword with a back step, Rava was on her again, keeping her busy with deadly accurate blows. “You’re dead you fucking cunt” she said as she began her counter attack.
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She seemed slow, unlike Lowan who he had sparred with countless times this was only a matter of time before she would be defeated. The wound to her side affecting her temper more than it should. Rava thought as he almost lazily weaved in and out of her attacks, dismantling her stance bit by bit.
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Lowan’s opponent was able to use body enhancement magic, and they were an even match, until Lowan activated his own, trained to perfection through his lifetime. His bout would end before Rava’s.
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The mage noticed this, keen to spells and mana he turned towards them and raised a hand, sucking in a deep breath. Rava’s eyes widened, he would sacrifice his own comrade to take down Lowan.
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Rava made quick moves then, deflecting her strikes and sending a lightning quick stab to her neck, a risky move but he would have to move fast. Her eyes widened before a gargling breath escaped her falling form. His sudden desperation move had surprised her as she was on the back foot.
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Rava darted towards the mage then, “NO!” He shouted and thrust his hand forward on instinct, black energy coalesced around his hand before a wispy black and smokey raven shot out to the mage, the mage instantly turned and raised his shield of mana.
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The Raven just simply went through it, seeming to cradle a likewise wispy black form of a humanoid after passing through the mage. Fading out as the mage fell straight down, his legs and arms a jumble.
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Rava froze in his tracks. A pain unlike he had never felt before ran through him. He lurched forward, vomiting everything he had eaten and fainted. Falling over the mage.
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Lowan feinted his opponent then, who was in a full on panic being the only one left. It didn’t take Lowan more than a breath to separate his head from his shoulders.
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He ran over to Rava and flipped him onto his back. “No no no no” he repeated as he saw the color fade from his grandson's cheeks. He hugged the boy to his chest, tears forming in his eyes. “Save him, please” he said to a Raven that had appeared without him first noticing.
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It cocked its head to the side, staring into Lowan’s eyes. “Whatever price, I will pay”.
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“Your soul will enter the Eternal Rookery in service to Shora on your death” The raven spoke with a croaking, haunting voice, slow and droning. “Do you agree?” It said and cocked its head to the other side, blinking once.
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Lowan nodded through the tears. “I agree.'' Lowan said and the raven disappeared. Rava’s head shot up with a gasp and Lowan hugged him tighter.
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Rava didn’t know exactly what had happened, but this was the first time Lowan had shown actual emotion and the first hug he had ever received and he sunk into it.
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