As Dusk disappears to mortal sight, the wererat that had attempted to hit him looks around frantically. Alas, the poor creature has no chance to even react as Dusk's blade expertly finds and pierces the rat's jugular from behind. (it's dead)

Normally, the sight of diminishing forces would sway one to retreat or fall back, but this was not the case for the werewolf. Its one bright eye surged with the flame of battle, and it would not be quenched until it was dead. With a howl, it brought its blade across and down upon Willow. Willow, in return, expertly blocked it, and lunged forward with two of her own strikes. The first, drawn diagonally across the wolf's torso, leaves not a mark to indicate its passage. However, the second slash leaves what would likely be a grievous would upon a lesser creature upon an interposed arm. Unfortunately, the werewolf's own nature ensures that most of the wound closes, but still leaves a visible scar upon it. (Critical hit, 2 damage to the werewolf) In retaliation, the werewolf stabs its sword forward, requiring either an awkward parry at the cost of future attacks, or hoping that the woven armour would be able to withhold it. Without a thought, Willow forgoes the first option, but her hope for her armour is in vain, as even the mithril links break apart upon the force of the assault, allowing the blade passage into soft flesh. The blade cuts deep, and Willow grits her teeth, forcing herself to focus in spite of the pain, even as the werewolf cruelly twists the blade as he pulls it out. (Critical hit, 24 damage to Willow) Not finished yet, Willow brings one of her blades across, attempting to slice the werewolf again, but it is blocked by the bloody blade he holds. Even as she does this, she slices back and downwards to indicate to the rat by her that she has not forgotten about him, even as she nudges her horse to the side. Unfortunately for Willow, the horse responded too quickly, which caused her blade to be brought up short of the rat.

On almost the other side of the battlefield, blood drips slowly down the jagged scythe of Xira, as she coldly considers the dagger hurling rodent that had struck Dusk before. Almost soundlessly amidst the noise of the battle, Xira sprinted forward. The rat saw her coming, or rather, saw an entity of death approaching it fast. Yet, it was nearly paralysed out of fear, and hardly moved a muscle as Xira swung the Death Scythe in a wide arc, cleaving the rat's head from its body. (... needless to say... it's dead) Yet, the scythe's power would not end there, for Xira was not far from being finished herself, as her heavy breathing indicated.

Mitsuru, in the meantime, took aim at the wererat that had attacked Akihiko. With her concentration, and murmuring aloud to herself to focus, the air began to chill at her fingertips, before visibly freezing into an ice sphere. It then sublimated, turning into a misty orb which she brought over her head, and hurled it at the rodent. The rat in question was so intent on trying to hit Akihiko that it did not even see the spell. As soon as the orb impacted it in the back, the rodent literally froze, with the kinetic energy of the impact shattering it to pieces. (... another one dead.) Mitsuru, feeling the situation coming under control, dismounted from her horse.

"Thanks!" Akihiko yelled over his shoulder, even as he raised his fist. The werewolf boldly didn't even bother to react. This puny human trying to hurt him with a bladed fist weapon? It was unthinkable. Or so the werewolf thought. Unfortunately for the werewolf, that faulty logic can only work so often. The first punch dug a deep cut into his side, but he didn't even have time to register it as the second punch came. Realizing that this human could indeed hurt him, the werewolf jerked back, causing Akihiko's third punch to just miss him, but quickly followed up with an uppercut that left a gouge on the werewolf's arm. (2, 2, and 1 damage respectively)

With greatsword in hand, Mo swung down upon the rat that had attacked him before. To his surprise, the rat proved to be more agile than he had guessed, and dodged the blade. Unfortunately for the rat, it only took a quick repositioning of the blade to swing it across and behead him.

Unanticipated, another burst of lightning strikes down, to fry the rat going to try to edge behind Willow or Akihiko. (it's dead)

The only wererat left has a change of heart, and quickly decides it has unfinished business elsewhere. Turning tail, it runs like the end of the world is chasing it.

[Round 2 Status]
Scout - Yellow
Mitsuru - Yellow
Akihiko - Yellow (barely... still mostly green)
Xira - Red
All horses - Red
Mo - 46/78
Willow - 29/72
Dusk - 38/57
1 dagger-wielding wererat remains unharmed, but is fleeing
The werewolf still looks more angry than hurt

(I know most of you wrote down your intentions for two rounds, but I just want to make sure you intend to do what you do; the scenario has changed, so the only lycanthrope remaining is the werewolf. Also, I want to be sure everyone's still present before I continue )

Dusk's blade slipped cleanly through the neck of the wererat beside him. The thin resistance of parting flesh was just enough to cause a dull pain across the dagger-wound in his arm. He ignored it.

The bandit dropped to the ground, clutching its neck and gurgled as blood spurted three times from the wound before slowing to a steady pour. Dusk didn't need to check to see if the creature was dead or not. His eyes saw the dagger-wielding rat's eyes widen in terror and turn from the battle. The elf's hand twitched towards his daggers but he restrained himself. The humans had engaged the werewolf and it seemed nearly impervious to their attacks.

"To light the shadowed path of death for the evil," he whispered to the air. A soft white glow seemed to come from the razor-edged blade in his left hand. It's pearl white grip shone as if the sun beamed on it after a fresh polish and any who saw it then might have even felt a calm air about the blade despite the complete reverse effect upon those with evil in their hearts. To them, all it shone was death.

Dusk padded softly around the growing pools of sticky blood that began to mix with the hard packed dirt of the road. Dusk drew a steady breath through his mouth to avoid the smell of violent death and stared at the side of the Werewolf. As he let it out, he felt the bruises and cuts from the ice storm lessen and the pain from the cut on his arm deaden, though not disappear completely. He let his spirit close the wounds of his body so he could better deal with the creature in front of him.

At very least, this should be over soon, Dusk thought. He stepped closer as he let the cloth around his torso transfer his spirit into his wounds and slashed at the bandit leader.

((Move side of WW. Use 1 Ki power to heal 10 dmg (swift). Std Attack w/ +1 Sacred Ninjato to WW.))

When the sword went for her side, Willow knew the price for letting the beast through was going to be pain—a lot of it—and she braced herself for the worst. The sword penetrated the lightweight but steely links of her armour and drove them deep into her abdomen, slicing through tissues and sending white-hot signals to her brain. This pain, however, was bearable, and ultimately not nearly as unnerving as what came with the pain.

As the blade cleared the first inch of her flesh, a terrible force suddenly shook through her body. The only way she could think of describing it later was that it felt as though her spirit had suddenly and violently attempted to part from her body. The growing wound in her abdomen seemed to act like a vacuum, drawing her consciousness out with a nearly inexorable force, with her desperately trying to hold onto her own physical form.

Then, almost as soon as it started, it ended, as the werewolf’s sword left through her side. In reality the ordeal lasted only the instant of a second it took for the sword to tear through her. Willow’s first reaction was sudden fear at how close death had come, breathing down her neck. Almost immediately, the fear vanished, replaced by anger. Anger as a reaction to the pain, anger that she had been frightened for a moment, and most of all, anger at the creature before her.

Willow sucked in a breath and met the werewolf’s gaze. There was no hiding the pain of the blow, but she tried to conceal the lasting impact ebbing away down her side. “I won’t go that easily, bestia,” she growled at it between attacks. She considered the potions in her belt, but dismissed the idea. She prayed silently to ward off infection, knowing full well that a healer-mage fought only a short distance away.

As the wererat fell from Dusk's blade, his eyes surveyed his surroundings. As they had come, wererats fell, either by blade or by magic. It seemed they were all now dead. All but one, that is. However, his cowardice proved to be his salvation, for in running away, there was no immediate reason to pursue him, and there was a greater threat at hand. Dusk moved quickly, his blade now coming up as he slid around beside Akihiko, to slash at the werewolf. Unfortunately, the werewolf read his movements, and managed to step just out of the way of the blade.

The werewolf seemed to grin, "You fools! Have a taste of my magic!"

Seemingly without any regard to his own safety, the werewolf brought the staff in his hand forward, before a bead of red light seemed to be emitted from the ruby at its head. As it fell like a raindrop, the muscles in Dusk's legs tightened, as he began the motion that would deaden the force that he intuitively felt coming. The bead of light hit the ground, and immediately the air heated to a boil, as an eruption of flame spread out from the source. Dusk, in his reflexes drew his body into action, managed to avoid the brunt of the blast in its entirety. (Made the reflex save. Natural 20, and I believe Dusk has Evasion, so no damage). The werewolf, knowing that the blast was coming to begin with, had leaped into the air clear of the blast. (The werewolf made his save, and he has Evasion.) Willow and Mitsuru likewise reacted in time, Mitsuru twisting around to lessen the blast, while Willow reared her horse back. (16 fire damage to Willow and Mitsuru) Unfortunately for her horse and Akihiko, they didn't react in time, so they took the full force of the blast. In the motion of rearing back her horse, Willow instead felt it give way under her, and proceeded to change the motion into a full back-flip, landing gracefully on her feet. (33 fire damage to Akihiko and Willow's horse, Natural 20 on the soft fall)

Willow, despite the pain within her body, pushed onward. Yet, her fatigue began to show, for her first slash was unable to leave more than a glancing mark upon the werewolf. Her second and third, drawn almost in unison, were able to leave the werewolf with yet more cuts to his resilient fur and skin. (1 damage for each of the two hits) The final slash, however, didn't leave a mark upon his body.

Xira saw the blast, but didn't react much, instead drawing on her innate power, channelling energy in order to heal herself. (Cure Critical Wounds, +31 HP for Xira, 9 damage from holding the scythe)

Mitsuru, who wasn't that badly hurt, given the situation, quickly used her analytical mind to come up with the best course of action. As it stood, in front of her, she could see that Willow was faltering in her step, and her breathing was definitely ragged, the marks of weariness, fatigue, and physical trauma taking its toll on her body. Thus she reached over and imparted her own spell of healing upon the warrior. (Cure Critical Wounds, +25 HP for Willow)

Akihiko, although burned, already swung a punch with his bladed gauntlet. Unfortunately for the werewolf, he wasn't anticipating any survivors of the fireball, so didn't react in time as Akihiko struck him hard in the side. (6 damage to the werewolf) Unfinished, and seeing his opening, Akihiko swung hard with his other hand, ramming it directly into the middle of the werewolf's chest, drawing blood. The werewolf howled in pain, for the blow was considerable, and left a considerable wound even after Akihiko withdrew his hand. (Critical hit, 26 damage) A bit too satisfied by his hit, Akihiko wasn't able to land his third punch, but the fourth was successful, leaving yet another cut on the werewolf's body. (1 damage)

Mo, undeterred by the fireball, and with the knowledge that another would cause the werewolf to be hit by his own psychic protection, ran up beside Willow, swinging his blade. Yet, unfortunately for Mo, the blade left only a superficial cut on the werewolf's body. (1 damage)

Unseen, the Scout hovered above the party beginning to surround the werewolf.

"You aren't the only one who commands magic." She said, although, from the werewolf's perspective, it seemed as though he assumed that it was Mitsuru who spoke.

There was a glitter in the air, of four aquamarines before they vanished into a rain of sparkles. They concentrated on all of the party members, seemingly drawn to where they were needed the most, yet ignoring the werewolf entirely. (+20 hp to the Scout, Akihiko, Mitsuru, Willow, Dusk and Mo)

Round 4

Dusk, seeing the werewolf beginning to falter, struck with a renewed vigour. The first slash went wide, but the two that followed both hit their mark. Yet, the blades were too light, too slender to leave true marks on the werewolf.

For the werewolf, fear began to dance in his one good eye. Perhaps it was this fear that caused his first slash to go wide, for the blade in his one hand missed Akihiko by a long shot. The second one, however, was successful, leaving a good slash on Akihiko's arm. (5 damage to Akihiko)

Willow once again struck at the werewolf, yet only her first and last slashes left marks upon its body. The last having more force behind it than she perhaps intended, for it left her stance slightly askew. (1 and 2 damage respectively)

Xira now ran at a full tilt, rushing past Mitsuru to be beside Willow, before ramming the Death Scythe into the flesh of the werewolf. It was a pain like nothing the beast had ever felt before, like the scythe were trying to cut through his very soul rather than his body. He howled in pain, and reeled.

Mitsuru, seeing this chance, drew her focus into a cold fury, manifesting as an icy sphere that flew forward at the werewolf.

It seemed that it would finish it, yet that wasn't the case.

The werewolf instinctively raised his staff, and the orb of ice was drawn towards the white end holding the sapphire. There was a chime as it hit, before it simply vanished. The sapphire glowed brighter with power, but that was the only indication of the spell having taken effect.

The werewolf laughed, "Ice cannot touch me!"

"Maybe not, but I sure can." Akihiko retorted, landing a hard uppercut on the werewolf's jaw. (5 damage to the werewolf)

Akihiko pounded the werewolf with a second punch, but the third and fourth failed to land, instead letting the werewolf recoil, twist and duck aside.

Unfortunately, in its recoil, it moved to the perfect position for Mo to follow through and finish what had been started. He swung his greatsword, perhaps much harder than he had intended, for in his swing, he actually beheaded the werewolf. (Critical hit)

The werewolf's now headless body slumped to the ground, and didn't move. The battle was now over.

[Round 4 Status]
Scout - Greed
Mitsuru - Yellow
Akihiko - Yellow
Xira - Green
Willow's Horse - Dead
Other horses - Red
Mo - 66/78
Willow - 82/82
Dusk - 57/57

Dusk straightened then looked down in disgust at the headless body of the wolfman. Dark red blood pooled from the neck beneath it and began to fill cracks in the road where it lay. The head was a few feet away, the single eye staring dully into the ground. Chill white bone was stained with the various fluids that seeped from the severed neck below the head.

The elf cleaned his blades on the cloth of a nearby wererat corpse before sheathing them. He still wondered at the power of the werewolf and how his own cuts hadn't even scratched the thick hide. Perhaps it had to do with the gem that had replaced the creature's lost eye.

Dusk began with the wererat corpse he used to clean the shortswords on; searching pockets of the slain wasn't ever enjoyable but these would lay here until scavengers found them. The useful items and coin could serve them well in the future.

"Where shall we pile the corpses?" he asked without looking up from his grisly task. "They should be set aside from the road, if not burned."

((Dusk will systematically search the corpses for coins and items, piling them separately away from the gore and mess. Besides his thrown dagger, he doesn't really show any interest yet in any of the spoils but coin. He will continue stripping the bodies even if others protest.))

Willow’s body was still charged, tingling after the combined effects of multiple doses of healing energy. For a second she didn’t move, gripping her blades and watching the blood wet the earth. A life of constant struggle laid to rest, a life that had caused such pain, ended. She turned away from the headless body to wipe her blades off on the grass, then moved on to see to the remains of her horse while Dusk manoeuvred the gear off the now human corpses scattered were they were slain.

She checked the animal for any signs that it might have been still alive, and confirmed that the poor beast was charred beyond any mage’s knitting. Only the spell that could call a creature’s spirit back from then dead could help it.

Willow picked up the sack that carried all her gear and threw it over her shoulder. She glanced at the remaining horses—hers was the only that had fallen, hers was the only that had gone into battle with her. That left her the only one without a mount. “Uh,” she began to say, but what came out felt more like a dying gasp. No one noticed.

"Where shall we pile the corpses?" Dusk asked without looking up from his grisly task. "They should be set aside from the road, if not burned."
“We can start the pyre where my horse lays. There’s nothing that’ll catch alight just there and she’s the heaviest.” Willow responded. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Could I get a ride with someone?”

Feeling the need to do something useful she pushed her hair out of her face again and grabbed one of the half-naked men that lay about the battlefield, trying hard not to think about the limp wrist in her hand, and dragged it over to the horse’s corpse. After she dumped the one, she decided very definitively to pick a new task, and sought bits of wood or other things that would burn easily.

(Augh! A month late Not my best work, either.)

As they left the pyre behind, Willow sighed and suppressed a shudder that she hoped Mitsuru wouldn’t feel. Now that she no longer had anything to distract herself with, the memory of her dream last night returned, unbidden.

The dream was largely born out of a memory from the time of troubles, from her time spent defending a ruined building in Girhn which several people had taken for shelter. It was there she first met Joseph.

Willow had arrived three days before as the last survivor of her small group of warriors. They had been hoping to find shelter and perhaps to offer their services in exchange for food in the ruined Girhn, but were waylaid by a small werewolf hunting party. They put up a fight, but were overcome. She escaped only because the monsters decided that she’d be too much trouble to chase down after they already had a pair each of horses and men for meat.

When she arrived at the shelter she found that the people had been planning to escape. Their shelter had been badly damaged by a rockslide and the attacks from the band of werewolves—the same one that had ambushed her—were becoming more insistent.

As it happened, her arrival was a godsend to the people of the shelter, as one of their draw horses for the cart had been killed in the slide and they were lacking in able-bodied skilled warriors. With her addition they would be able to make a break for it once the rain let up, but before that happened, the werewolf pack launched their most violent assault yet.

Men and woman fought with whatever weapons were available, and this being Gihrn, there was no shortage of weapons to choose from—only a lack of skilled use in those weapons. Joseph, a journeyman blacksmith, had managed to instil some sense of weaponry into the people, but they were far from seasoned warriors.

The battle was fierce, and both sides dealt lasting damage to each other—the lycans thanks to their physical superiority and the survivors due to a combination of grit, newfound hope, and weapons coated in silver, thanks to their resourceful blacksmith.

Throughout her dream the battle was mostly an incoherent blur of blood and fur, save for one particular moment when she caught sight of the leader of the pack—a natural born and thoroughly hateful werewolf—standing over Joseph’s dazed body. It was then that Willow saw the kind, funny, and charming young man that she had met only three days ago and realized how much she would hate for him to come to harm.

Willow ran to his defence. On the way a new surge of adrenaline pumped through her body and and her heart thundered as she sank into a deadly focused fury the likes of which had seen a lone plainsgirl through the first months of the Time of Troubles. Before the werewolf could tear out the blacksmith’s throat, he was diverted by a combination of a screech and a bellowing roar.

As she careened into the monster, the impact caused her to loose one of her swords. He reacted quickly and tried to clamp onto her with his deadly teeth, having lost his own weapon but he could not reach her on his back as she hacked madly into the scruff of his neck with her remaining sword. The werewolf bucked and rolled violently to try to dislodge her, but her anger lent her strength to hold on until finally the monster died from her attacks.

Unlike the other werewolves she had killed—both in wolf form and in hybrid—he did not shift back into a human when his life gave way, so she had continued to hack into his body with her sword for another second until she realized that he had stopped struggling.

Her energy spent, Willow exhaustedly registered that the werewolves had called a retreat while she looked for where she left her other sword. She was interrupted when her sword entered her peripheral vision, offered by some one. When she looked up to see who it was, she saw a tall werewolf wearing Joseph’s clothing and carrying the hammer he had been working with before the attack.
That was when she woke up that morning in a cold sweat. In reality, Joseph had not been bitten by the werewolf, and had actually given her sword back and helped her back to where the healers were helping the worst wounded, but the dream had been vivid and left a disturbing image with her for most of the afternoon.

Now what she really wanted, rather than to be holding onto Mitsuru, sharing her horse, was to be galloping back to Wanqir. She forced herself to remember that times were different and that he was the one who was safe, while she faced impending danger. It didn’t help much.