She watched his face, sensing a mixture of confusion and relief in him at her words, said so hesitantly, hoping he not think her as insane as she felt. She sat crouched, wishing she had the crackle of a fish roasting over a fire to distract her from his penetrating gaze, and then his mouth opened, and words came out of it so slowly, each one piercing into her memory like her spear through the water.
Memories of work worn hands gripping her body, running over her scarred flesh, a mirror of his own, her hair falling messily around her features came back into her mind. She remembered spectres, the fight in the bar, the lust and companionship the two had shared in, and when her voice reached out towards his it was almost akin to a sigh of relief. "Nate..."
And then the relief was replaced with panic, fear, death, and rot, which she could feel from the plants she sat upon, could sense in a turn of the breeze, and could hear shuffling awkwardly through the woods in front of them.
She was on her feet, but her knees shook somewhat as a shiver rent down her spine. She had been so fearful that night, with little Tsuya, up against horrors of which she could never name, who worshipped a God so vile she could barely think of uttering his name. And unbidden, as if she had summoned Uldr's very presence in this dream turned nightmare, she felt a hate well up in the core of her being, pulsating all the stronger for every rotting leaf and burbling creature. It was as if reality had transformed, making the death happen so much faster, so instantaneously, feeding on her fear and memories, twisting them around into something all the more wicked.
Her daggers lay in each hand, not remembering the movements that had summoned them, and she surged forward, even as Nate spoke to her. Elsewise she would have been enraged by the term 'girl' being thrown her way, but too much hate filled her veins for such a slight to do anymore than bounce off of her hearing as she sprinted towards the hoard, twirling with her blades and sending both into a sickly white chest, black brackish blood spilling out and dripping down her arms, drenching her hands and clothes.
She kicked the corpse off of her blades and hacked off its head in careless strokes of her twin blades, tumbling forward to avoid a heavy handed swipe of a two handed axe head that smashed into the black and dying earth just to her left.
She was vaguely aware of Nate readying his weapons behind her, but when she saw a brute with a large mace, another flicker of memories came surging back and she ran with renewed vigor, lunging into the air and pushing off of a tree trunk at an angle with both feet, hurling herself high into the air and landing on back of the large and misshapen horror that held the weapon. Now her chest neck and face were sprayed with the remnants of bodily fluids in the creature as she sawed its head from its shoulders, falling in a heap to the ground only to leap off, sheath a dagger and swing the mace around in one hand, disliking the bulky weapon.
"Catch!" She screamed out as the weapon sailed through the air, a horrible idea if truth be told, but she wasn't telling the giant of a man to catch it, which he would realize when it landed with a heavy thud in the back of his nearest pursuer, sending them crashing to the ground with a seemingly uncaring grunt that smashed their face into a rather large rock.
Something had grabbed the half breed by the ankle and she roared in rage, claws forming upon her toes and stabbing the things eyes out as another came up on her side, swiping at her with a machete.
c
Memories of work worn hands gripping her body, running over her scarred flesh, a mirror of his own, her hair falling messily around her features came back into her mind. She remembered spectres, the fight in the bar, the lust and companionship the two had shared in, and when her voice reached out towards his it was almost akin to a sigh of relief. "Nate..."
And then the relief was replaced with panic, fear, death, and rot, which she could feel from the plants she sat upon, could sense in a turn of the breeze, and could hear shuffling awkwardly through the woods in front of them.
She was on her feet, but her knees shook somewhat as a shiver rent down her spine. She had been so fearful that night, with little Tsuya, up against horrors of which she could never name, who worshipped a God so vile she could barely think of uttering his name. And unbidden, as if she had summoned Uldr's very presence in this dream turned nightmare, she felt a hate well up in the core of her being, pulsating all the stronger for every rotting leaf and burbling creature. It was as if reality had transformed, making the death happen so much faster, so instantaneously, feeding on her fear and memories, twisting them around into something all the more wicked.
Her daggers lay in each hand, not remembering the movements that had summoned them, and she surged forward, even as Nate spoke to her. Elsewise she would have been enraged by the term 'girl' being thrown her way, but too much hate filled her veins for such a slight to do anymore than bounce off of her hearing as she sprinted towards the hoard, twirling with her blades and sending both into a sickly white chest, black brackish blood spilling out and dripping down her arms, drenching her hands and clothes.
She kicked the corpse off of her blades and hacked off its head in careless strokes of her twin blades, tumbling forward to avoid a heavy handed swipe of a two handed axe head that smashed into the black and dying earth just to her left.
She was vaguely aware of Nate readying his weapons behind her, but when she saw a brute with a large mace, another flicker of memories came surging back and she ran with renewed vigor, lunging into the air and pushing off of a tree trunk at an angle with both feet, hurling herself high into the air and landing on back of the large and misshapen horror that held the weapon. Now her chest neck and face were sprayed with the remnants of bodily fluids in the creature as she sawed its head from its shoulders, falling in a heap to the ground only to leap off, sheath a dagger and swing the mace around in one hand, disliking the bulky weapon.
"Catch!" She screamed out as the weapon sailed through the air, a horrible idea if truth be told, but she wasn't telling the giant of a man to catch it, which he would realize when it landed with a heavy thud in the back of his nearest pursuer, sending them crashing to the ground with a seemingly uncaring grunt that smashed their face into a rather large rock.
Something had grabbed the half breed by the ankle and she roared in rage, claws forming upon her toes and stabbing the things eyes out as another came up on her side, swiping at her with a machete.
c