She was already cursing under her breath at seeing Nero again. A bile in her throat, a snarl on her lips as she shot forward. Her time away hadn't seemed to dull her combat senses any; she moved with the familiar practice of a person to whom heavy armor was a second skin, sprinting towards the ent, but trying to keep an eye on Nero.
The long purple cape fluttered behind her as she slowed, stopped, used her momentum to carry her hammer swing into the wooden leg of the thing, letting it move past her only because she was sure she'd slow it down, turning to watch her work on the thing as it lumbered past.
Tallia "There are some things... that we all can't escape from..."
Not one to stay idle, Tallia wasted no time imbuing her sword with the spirit of the wind, chanting as she approached the other leg. From the last time Margrett had seen her in combat, she had only just started the art of the sword. Now was the time to show what she was capable of.
With a final word, the sword glowed a dazzling green, soft vibrations surrounding the edge. It hadn't been perfect, and she was no master of the elements herself yet, but her small knowledge had led her far, often finding ways to use it along with her combat techniques. This technique was only one of many, and not one she had fully completed, but, given the circumstances and the want to show off a little, she decided to chance it.
Her cloak exemplified the speed at which she moved, almost blowing off as she crouched into a sliding roll, coming up with her sword through the ent's leg. Sliding through the other side, she hoped to do at least a bit of damage with her enhanced blade, seeing as the wind dissipated from it as soon as the blow was complete.
Serenity was taken by surprise when she saw the Cathian blur past her to join Margrett in the attack. She hadn't remembered if Tallia was so capable in combat before or if this was something she picked up in her own travels.
With with attacks combined, and the creature so focused on Serenity, it couldn't possible stay standing nor stop the ladies from hacking at its legs; Margrett's hammer splintered the wood; Tallia's wind blade sliced through. As their attacks made contact, the Ent stumbled and came tumbling down near the mage. With a desperate attempt to skewer her, the creature tried to bring its hand down on Serenity as it fell, but the caster had finished gathering magic for a finishing blow.
A large earthen spike erupted from the ground and impaled the head of the Ent from below the jaw, going all the way through to the other end. With a simple side step she managed to avoid the ebony swipe.
But she knew they were not out of danger just yet. Not wasting another second, Serenity walked toward the werewolf who still lay face flat on the snow. If she hadn't packed away her sword, it'd have been drawn now.
As the mage approached, she could hear a very audible groan as the stranger picked up his head looking only disgruntled by his mortal wound.
"I don't suppose you have a towel or robe handy?" he said with a rasp as he picked his head up, "I'm not a prude, but I don't fancy showing my pecker off to ladies and my attire is down the tra-"
He cut himself off when his eyes laid on the blue warrior with hammer drawn, "Oh, no...."
Confused by Margrett's sudden confrontation with the shape-shifter, Tallia stepped close to her side, a bewildered look darting between the two of them.
"You... know this... er...wolf...? Man...?"
Thinking more about it, she wasn't exactly sure if either was the case, but, if all she knew about the creature was its previous and current appearance, there wasn't much she can do. She spoke again, this time with a bit of worry in her voice.
"Was he not... trying to help... us? Is... he truly... evil...?"
Her eyes fell a bit at her last statement. After all, she knew how people could be deceiving; Tallia had experienced it more than once in her travels.
Nero sported a grin as he lay still in the frozen ground, perhaps enjoying the cold on his wound.
"And out of town I am, ball crusher. I do believe Wistvale is far and away from here."
Nero looked over to Tallia with an expression of thanks, "See?" he said looking back at Margrett. "The cat doesn't think ill of me, though I don't like the way she smells." he looked back at the Cathian apologetically, "Sorry, it's a dog thing."
"Enough," said Serenity, "What are you doing on my land? And why shouldn't I kill you for being an abomination?"
It was not often, if ever, that the noble gave out death threats. At least, not with the intention of actually going through with it. She was a lady of peace who abhorred killing an intelligent being even in self defense. Her sudden cold demeanor made the winter seem like Spring in comparison.
Nero looked up at her blankly as if to size her up. If he were in his beast form his ears would probably be dropping down, sensing that she wasn't kidding about ending his life.
"Are you 'the' Veronica Howle? The people in that logging village spoke of your kindness. Apparently they never seen you around a puppy." Nero shifted in his position slightly to get more comfortable, "Ow, I think I have a splinter on my puppy. Anyhow..." he continued.
"No, my dear Margrett, those creatures weren't with me. I wouldn't know how to conjure such things anyway, but I was aiming to find out. I thought I'd take on a little work this season and found something just up my alley. These creature have been haunting the village I just spoke of and halted their logging work. They have been encroaching upon the village slowly and so they sought out mercenaries. I took care of four myself today before this one got the best of me."
She'd heard enough, really. Before he finished explaining about the elementals, she'd grabbed his collar, or the scruff of his neck if he didn't have one, and pulled him up, the warrior nearly lifting him up with that one hand.
I say we kill him anyway.
With her other hand she flipped her hammer around, until the haft rested against his neck, the tip on the ground....all she had to do was put pressure against it. She glared at him, and shot the others a look.
He's bad news. His little puppetmaster's a vamp. A real vamp.
Nero feigned hurt, "Aw, but I thought we had something. Surely this is a little extreme."
He didn't think to move as Margrett prepared to deliver a killing blow. "Why should I believe you?" asked Serenity.
"Why not? You could go down there and ask them yourself if you don't believe me. Nothing to lose and all that, well, except me apparently. I rather like my neck."
Serenity shot a look at Margrett at the mention of a vampire and almost showed her teeth in disgust.
"Wait now, I haven't seen master Renquist in quite some time. Not since our little reunion in Wistvale, anyhow. Honestly, Margrett, I haven't committed any crime other than being an abomination, or so priests tell me."
"You are an abomination," growled Serenity, ready to let Margrett drop the hammer.
Nero only chuckled, "With prejudice like that, it's no wonder they hate you so much."
"What?"
But Nero didn't answer her question, instead his black cloak materialized over his body and the wolf pushed the hammer and Margrett out of the way before hopping on the rafters. The werewolf grinned down at the ladies with sinister canines and gleaming red eyes.
"I only needed a moment to recover from my wounds," a grizzly voice sounded from Nero's mouth. The stab wound from earlier was completely healed and the only thing left of it was a mess of blood on the ground he just left.
"You fought me before, Margrett, you should have remembered my regeneration if you wanted to kill me. You'd have never gotten a better chance, and perhaps never will. My time here is done it seems, but I will give Master Renquist your regards if I happen to see him."
With that, Nero leaped to the other side of the building and presumably broke into a run. Serenity hissed in frustration.
"Damn him, I won't give his kind a second chance the next time I see one." she promised. With a sigh of defeat and seeing that the business was done, she made to return inside.
She stopped herself short to examine the ent, as if remembering it was there as she began to circle it.
"I've never seen the like whenever I've come up here. Did you see the way it looked at me?"
Tallia "There are some things... that we all can't escape from..."
The very curious and confused Cathian watched as the events unfolded in front of her. Whoever this "Nero" person was suddenly didn't seem too good to her. And, the looks of her friends were something she wouldn't forget so easily; the history between them must not be good from the deadly glares they gave. She had never seen either of them look so angry before... But, it was nothing to really worry about now, seeing that he had gone. Besides, asking about him didn't seem like a good idea; the hatred of the being seemed to be strong amongst the two, and she didn't want to attract such ire.
Tallia joined in the examination of the ent, wondering if someone had intentionally sent it after them, or the "wolf"... Tilting her head quizzically at it, she remained silent, not sure of what input she could truly give at this stage.
Taking after him for a moment, then realizing he was much faster than she was...she kicked the snow, growling at Nero as he left. She let the hammer head drop into the snow and adjusted her gloves, trying to hide her embarrassment as she turned back to the other two.
Should have crushed him when I had the chance. Sorry. I don't buy that bullshit for a second. Even if the vamp isn't with him, he's got something worse on his tail. She let out a breath, ruffling Tallia's hair and giving Serenity kind of an amused look.
Serenity glanced over at Margrett, before looking down at the Ent, "I've never met the tree folk, though we have thousands of trees on this land it's a rarity that one will show itself to mortals. I'd have considered it an honor if...it weren't trying to kill me."
The mage remembered the anger the Ent seemed to display when it saw her. Going on the belief that that's what it was, Serenity ventured through her memory to find the cause.
"We should get this cleaned up," she said, "I'll find a seed and plant it later. Then we can burn the body. I doubt any good comes from burying it in the earth."
Though it wasn't much to admire before, the chaos that wrought the training yard of the once Howle outpost seemed to bring it back to life in a way. Years without seeing conflict at its door and for the first time in its history a breach had occurred. If the clan wars were still thriving the next step would be to burn the building down and set up a new ranger base.
"I don't know what history you have with the wolf, not that I like him much either, but I believe we should see the town's people anyway. Whether he caused this or not, they must be troubled by the Ents. We can confirm his story while we're there as well." she said to Margrett.
"We can make the trip now, but I imagine all this excitement after a long journey has taxed you both."
Tallia "There are some things... that we all can't escape from..."
Lifting her head back up, she thought about Serenity's suggestion for a moment. Tallia hadn't come far to meet them out here, and she had a much deserved rest the day before... to say she wasn't tired would be too far of an understatement, but... She looked over at Margrett, not sure of what to say on her behalf. They had been separated for a long time now, and definitely was not sure of her own current events. Only in concern for her did she speak.
"I... suppose I am a bit... tired..." She replied, stretching for boosted effect. "M-maybe a little... hungry... as well..."
Even if her words were a tad bit falsified, it would do all of the well to be fully prepared to investigate the matter. After all, this certainly seemed like a trap, and it would do them no good to be without their full strength.