The Hunt
----
Alanna resisted the urge to look down as her feet shuffled slowly along the cliffside, following closely behind Talos. They were only about forty feet above the ground, fortunately, but the height might as well have been limitless. She breathed a small sigh of relief as they reached a widened part of the cliff.
Talos had the bright idea to fight the monster in its lair; convincing her that his only chance to defeat it was to fight it where it couldn't fly. It made sense at the time. The problem was, up until now, a simple lack of access.
She looked over at him. He showed his naturally calm demeanor, loaded crossbow slung over his shoulder, longsword strapped to his hip. He had given her the simple instructions of staying close, but out of the way. She hoped she still had a brave face on.
Wails emanated from the mountain directly above them.
"
Must be the lair,"
Alanna thought. Talos grabbed the rock six feet above them, lifting himself up. He paused for a moment, silently scanning the cavern ahead before reaching down and offering a hand to Alanna. She braced herself against the rock as he lifted her up, her worn travel boots pressing against the mountain.
In front of her was a large cavern, no visible light shining through on the other side. Talos was in a low crouch, prompting her to do the same as he silently drew his sword from its sheath. Realistically, Alanna was completely useless here. She would more than likely be unable to enchant the beast whatsoever, as she had no luck with doing the same to other animals. She was mostly present for moral support, she told herself. Alanna almost tripped on her skirt as she followed him into the darkness.
The piercing shrieks grew louder as they delved further into the monster's den. Alanna was barely able to hear herself think as Talos put up the palm of his hand, signaling her to stop. She crouched lower as Talos dove deeper into the wailing darkness.
Three loud cries, one after the other, signaled the end of the shrieking as silence dominated the cave again. She heard Talos' sword being extracted from rough flesh, then Talos came running back out to her.
"Well that was fast," she admitted to him, surprised.
"Just babies. Alanna, get back there and try not to move. The wyvern'll have heard that and will be here soon."
As if to confirm Talos' statement, a loud screech was heard off in the distance, outside of the lair.
"If I fall, you stay put and wait for it to leave or sleep before making your move. Go!" Talos seemed a bit nervous for the first time as he shouted his instructions, worrying her.
--
They only had to wait a ten minutes before the winged beast landed on the stone right outside the cavern. Talos crouched in the far corner of the room with his sword laying on the ground next to him, crossbow pointed at the cavern entrance. The wyvern shrieked piercingly into the cave, announcing its return as it entered.
Talos acted swiftly in the darkness. He fired the crossbow at the wyverns head, the creature responding by swiftly rotating its head on its long neck to look towards the offending noise as the bolt grazed off its scales. Talos picked up his sword and charged the beast, yelling as the creature wailed back at him.
The wyvern kept its wings closed inside the cavern, but displayed incredibly nimble motion as it used its winged appendages as makeshift forelegs. Talos struck first, feinting an overhead swing at the beasts neck then slashed swiftly to the right, cutting into the wyvern's left wing as it pivoted right, attempting to avoid the non-existant threat to its neck. The creature pulled its neck back and shrieked loudly as metal pierced its scaled flesh, then pushed its face forward in an attempt to bite its attacker.
Talos rolled left, under the wyverns maw and only inches from its fangs. He attempted to perform an upward sweep against the beast's side as he exited the roll, the sword banging against its scales but not piercing them. The wyvern swiped at the man with its right foreleg, Talos dodging it by rolling backwards and exiting in a crouch, sword at the ready.
Talos was motionless for half a second, allowing the wyvern to make the next move. It responded by lunging its neck out, attempting once more to bite him. Talos sidestepped deftly to the right, pulling his longsword into an overhead slash as the blade bit into the beasts neck. It took him one moment too long to pull the longsword from its flesh as the creature knocked the swordsman back with his left foreleg.
Talos was flung ten feet along the uneven cavern floors, then pulled himself back up into a crouch with only the forward momentum of his legs, sword still in hand. The creature was shrieking wildly now as it came to terms with the damage to its neck, and charged.
Talos rolled to the left at the last moment, the creatures fangs again missing his flesh by mere inches. He performed a forward slash against the wyvern's right leg, successfully tearing into it and hopped back before it could counter.
The swordsman didn't see the wyverns tail until it was too late, however, his wind being knocked out as it slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. The creature then opened its wide jaws and collapsed its maw on the immobilized man, biting into his torso.
Talos screamed loudly as he was lifted into the air, and used his last strength to bring his sword down on the beast's neck, driving deep into it as the it released him from its grip. The wyvern's death was instantaneous, collapsing to the ground as the life rolled from its slitted eyes.
He heard someone cry his name before the world went black.
--
Talos lay motionless on the ground as Alanna rushed over to him. "Talos!" she screamed, not getting a response. She collapsed on top of him, her heart pounding as she shook him.
Getting no response, she ripped off his chest armor and unlaced his leather jerkin to access the bite wound which had pierced both. The fight had lasted no longer than thirty seconds and she had struggled to track his movements, but she had seen the wyvern tear into him at the end.
"No!" she audibly exclaimed in disbelief as she examined it. The veins surrounding the bite were coursing a sickly purple, the poison clearly working its way through his system. Too close to the heart.
She lifted one hand to his chest and gave her energy to him, casting the strongest restoration spell she knew. She wasn't an experienced restorer, and the spell wasn't of the antivenom sort. She stupidly missed that lesson at the college.
The spell had done something, as Talos' eyes opened and he started to choke on air. She saw him reaching for his sword lying next to him and put her hand on his arm.
"It's dead, Talos! You killed it! Please, lie still," she implored as she knelt over the wound. She had heard an old wive's tale of fighting bite toxins, and lifted her skirt as she pissed directly where fangs pierced flesh. Talos groaned in pain, Alanna not knowing if that was a good or bad sign.
"Al...", he coughed, "Alanna. You need to cut off its head and bring it to Rinoc. There-", another cough. He was strugging to get the words out. "There the Grey Sun Company should pay eighty crowns for it."
Alanna raised her eyebrows as she watched his mouth move. "Shut up and lie still!" she exclaimed again. She couldn't believe he was thinking of her at a time like this.
Talos coughed on air for another two moments and uttered, "Leonard Thorn..." before drifting back into unconsciousness.
Alanna removed her shirt in a flash then unwrapped the cloth covering her breasts, tying it tightly around his torso. She had seen a nurse do it with bandages at the hospital in Catriona. She put a hand on Talos' chest once more and cast the same restoration spell, feeling quite light-headed once it was cast. She looked down at him, eyes closed but chest still rising and falling. Still alive.
She cast the spell a third time on his heart, her eyes fluttering shut. She drifted to sleep on the cold, hard floor next to him.
--
Talos awoke in the dimly-lit cave, groaning then choking on blood in his lungs. He felt his guts churning as he rolled over, puking onto the stone.
