Trail of the Terror

After Zaiyah was exiled, she received orders from Aralynn - she was to leave the Forest and track down the terror that Andarien had driven out. Begrudgingly, she left since she had no other choice. She was appointed a small group of summoned creatures including Runeborne, as well as Kesrai, a low-ranking summoner, and a cultist tracker named Valrien to travel with her. They were mounted on large, summoned reptilian beasts known as Arraks, and they rode out from the Forest under cover of darkness towards the Wastelands, following the trail of the terror.

The terror and his ghouls brought the bodies back to where they needed too and were now sitting on a raised area in the wastelands gathering more beasts so this terror actually had some kind of force with him again. He now had 30 ghouls 5 desert demons and 2 armored demons at his side. They were beginning to settle for the night.

Zaiyah and her group watched quietly, hidden behind a dark, rocky ridge. They silently waited to watch the terror and its group for any more suspicious activity.

Most of the creatures sleep as the demons take the watch and patrol the area around their sleeping grounds, first opposite the side zaiyah is on. The terror walks to the edge of the raised area and glares back at the forest remembering andarien and looking over all of the new scars the raked across the body of the terror. He wanted andarien's blood spilled, he wanted the order burnt and slaughtered for what they did to him. He wanted the forest for himself.

Kesrai waited towards the back of the group, completely out of view of the group of demons. Valrien stealthily snuck up an embankment carrying a rifle, waiting silently behind a group of large boulders where he was hidden. Zaiyah walked towards the edge of the ridge, which was roughly the height of a two-story building. She stood in plain sight, and her voice carried out across the wind in a sharp, cruel, hissing tone.

"Dos orn yaith wun vlos whol dosst diselamshinaen qua'laen l' Alkyl!"

((Translation from Demonic: You will pay in blood for your disgraces against the Order!))

The demons would wheel around and come back to the group roaring and waking the ghouls. The terror would look at zaiyah and roar for his demons to stop "...Demonic language...you are no human. Why do you side with them? They look at at you like some sort of monster, they sent you out because they probably just want to be rid of you."

"Hold your tongue, beast! You know nothing of me, and you know why I am here...because of your foolish attack on the Forest. I have come to offer you two choices - disband your pathetic bunch of weaklings and never show yourself here again, or I will rend you and every single one of your followers for what you have done. What is your choice, you earthbound fool?"

The terrors sneered yet chuckled a bit at once "I did not ask why you are here, i know very well why you have come. I asked why a demon, would side with lowly humans? This earth is ours to inherit, the demons and beasts, humans had their chance and they failed. Why stand with those weak beings?" He would smirk "Udos ph' l' ulin d' nindol tresk'ri. Naut mina." ((We are the future of this world. Not them.))

"Nindyn 'yibin tluinen' dos telanth d' ph' l' Alkyl - l' mzilst yorn akh nindel l' tresk'ri uriu rin'ov keffal - lu' dos orn b'luthyrr ulu udossa!"

((Translation: Those 'weak beings' you speak of are the Order - the most powerful group that the world has ever seen - and you will bow to us!))

The terror would look at her intently taking note of the lizard beast "vel'bol belbaue mina ninta yorn? UDOS XUN! l' errdegahren xun! errdegahr faer 'udtila, xuileb ol nind orn'la tlu naubol drill tahta rivven velkresa wun natha olath taur. Dos zhal'la tlu ninta kult'ressin naut ninta wanre!" ((what gives them their power? WE DO! the demons do! demon magic does, without it they would be nothing but scared humans hiding in a dark forest. You should be their ruler not their servant!))

"Z'lonzic d' dosst empty wiles! Prove dosstan wun xonathull, ka dos z'reninth nindel dos shlu'ta fre'sla phor qua'laen l' Alkyl!"

((Translation: Enough of your empty words! Prove yourself in battle, if you believe that you can stand up against the Order!))

The arrhak that Zaiyah was mounted on snorted and hissed, scraping its massive claws against the ground. The other two arrhaks were behind the ridge along with the other summoned beasts, since Kesrai and Valrien had dismounted, and were still hidden from view. Zaiyah ripped on the chain leash controlling her arrhak, using it like a set of reigns, and the beast sprinted and leapt off of the ridge as Zaiyah drew both of her runeblades. They glinted in the darkness of the night.

He would roar and shoot at the beast as it charged and would side step quickly to swipe at the beasts legs as it ran at him. "Dos zhal'la valm uns'aa lu' l' byr errdegahren, udos orn ilstar nindol thac'zil uss tangi!" ((You should join me and the other demons, we will rule this land one day!))

The arrhak charged straight forward, but missed the terror as it side-stepped. Its scales deflected most of the spikes, but one pierced it in the side as the terror swiped and hit its left hind leg. The arrhak swiftly spun around beside the terror and thrashed at him with the large, tusk-like spike on its head. Zaiyah held on tightly, controlling the beast's every move to try and get a decent strike in on the terror.

An eerie, gut-wrenching chorus of howls streaked through the air - it was the unmistakable sound of hellhounds as a pack of nearly fifty of them began to charge from the side of the ridge. Even more of them appeared at the top of the ridge, growling viciously and waiting for the command to charge forward.

From his hidden place high above the ridge, Valrien lay in a prone position with the scope of his rifle barely protruding from a crack in the stones. He aimed down the scope directly at the terror, ready to take a shot. He was doing as Zaiyah told him and providing cover fire, but he hoped that they could take the real threat down quickly so he could actually get into the action up close. The second that he got a clear shot at the terror, he fired, aiming for its torso.

The terror was fast and moved quickly to avoid the spike but was hit by the bullet that didn't do much damage and alerted him to the presence of another combatant as did the sudden appearances of the hell hound hordes. The ghouls and demons formed up quickly and prepared to defend themselves and The terror swiped at the arrahk and zaiyah as much as possible and shot spikes int he direction the bullet came in.

Zaiyah realized that the terror was faster than her arrhak, so she released its chain, sending it away for the moment, so she could face the terror herself. She quickly rolled off the side of the arrhak, landing on the ground by the terror. Her runeblades glowed slightly in the darkness, and she charged at the terror at full speed. Although she was only a half-demon, she had superhuman speed and she was much smaller and more agile.

The hellhounds were still rushing down the ridge, being commanded by the unseen summoner. Valrien was completely protected behind the boulders, and none of the spikes hit him as they struck the stone barrier he was using as cover. He loaded another round and fired again.

The ghouls and demons would rush their enemies and attack with angry fervor, and the terror now being ready to fight heard the gun shot and moved quickly spinning out of the way and hopefully spiking his tail at the insane charging healf demon female. He smiled a sick and twisted smile at her and yelled "dos shlu'ta naut g'jahall uns'aa, ji fridj valm uns'aa!" ((you can not defeat me, so just join me!))

The hellhounds charged and swarmed the demons and the ghouls. They would leap up towards them, aiming for the throat or any limbs that they could clamp and hold onto or rip apart. Valrien continued firing, missing a few shots but trying to hit the terror's torso and head. Zaiyah rushed forward, leaping into the air and spinning her blades to try and slash the terror and disorient him or catch him off guard.

"Usstan orn valm dos nau ulniner taga Usstan orn admit ussta ehmtu g'jahall!"

((Translation: I will join you no sooner than I would admit my own defeat!))

He would sneer at her and then say in english "Well then, ADMIT YOUR DEFEAT!" he would swipe his tail and one massive clawed hand down at her. He would attack her fast and hard.

Zaiyah ducked and rolled to the side, avoiding the terror's tail and being slashed across her arm by his claw. She swiftly spun around behind his back, thrusting one blade towards his upper back while keeping the other one free to block his next attack. Her blade was charged with the power of the runes carved and engraved into it. The battle began to crash around them as the hellhounds and the terror's force collided violently, tearing each other apart viciously and ruthlessly.

A group of four Runeborne - two heavy, and two light - appeared from behind the ridge. The light soldiers stayed at a distance up on the ridge casting ranged spells, while the heavy Runeborne charged straight ahead towards the demons.

He would move so the sword didn't go to deep but it went into his back and he let out a load screech of pain and wheeled around quickly, this MIGHT cause the sword to fall from her hand. He roared an order to his armored demons to charge the heavy rune born and for the normal demons to find the summoner. They broke off from the man fight and ran around searching as the armored ones roared and began to charge the heavy rune born. He would roar again loud sending the ghouls into a frenzy.The terror would turn to Zaiyah eyes blazing and roar and charged forward getting ready to slash at her with his right claws.

As she relentlessly continued her assault, Zaiyah nearly lost one of her blades. She gripped it tightly, spinning around with the beast as he turned, and latched onto his back. She slashed at him again as she leapt off, spinning in the air in front of him to dodge his attack and moving quickly to the side as he charged towards her.

The armored demons were much larger than the Runeborne, and when they charged the soldiers were nearly overrun. They only managed to hold the beasts back with the enhancement spells and healing from the light soldiers at the back. As the ghouls went into a frenzy, the hellhounds focused on keeping them away from the light Runeborne by chasing the ghouls down and guarding the more vulnerable soldiers. The normal demons would have to go around the side of the main fight and around the ridge, where Kesrai the Summoner was hidden from view. As they neared the sloped edge of the ridge, they would be met with a hulking, dark silhouette of a large figure and glowing eyes in the distance, guarding Kesrai.

He would roar in pain as she slashed him again and jumped off his back and dodged his attack and charge. He would stop and move back slightly bringing one arm up to shoot spikes in her direction. As he shot he would move in what ever direction she went in to dodge and he would bring a hand down to slash at her.

The armored demons would press the attack on the heavy rune borne keeping them away from the frenzied ghouls that were more than likely giving the hell hounds a good fight to say the least.The 5 demons that went around the fight saw the shadowy figure and began to roar and growl trying to coax it out to fight. The demons were fearless, they were the top of the desert food chain and they were scared of nothing, they would take anything on even it was a lot larger than they were. They were in a pack and therefore very dangerous

Just as the terror expected, Zaiyah dodged his attack to the right. She wasn't expecting the terror to be intelligent enough to anticipate her movement, so when he he slashed at her she was hit directly across the chest and slashed from her shoulder down towards her waist. She stumbled backwards, bleeding heavily but still able to fight effectively. She stepped back with her glowing blades at the ready, prepared to take on the terror's next attack.

The hellhounds kept the ghouls back as long as they could. The others standing on the ridge, about twenty of them, began to rush towards the fight to keep the pressure off of the light Runeborne. One of the heavy Runeborne soldiers fighting the armored demons was bashed to the ground by one of the creature's attacks, and left vulnerable as he was unable to stand or defend himself for a few moments.

The beast hidden by the darkness let out a low, rumbling growl. It was much larger than any of the demons, and it was defending Kesrai. It stood still at the commands of its Summoner, waiting eagerly for a chance to attack its challengers. Valrien saw that the desert demons were headed towards Kesrai, and he quickly made his way towards the other end of the ridge to help protect her. He realized that his rifle was mostly useless against them, so he drew the greatsword from his side and snuck away from his position by the boulders to get into position, hidden on the ridge near Kesrai.

The terror looked at her and just shook his head getting read to charge again "Why dont you just join me? One day i will be superior in power to any of your masters, you would be my ally, my equal.Instead of a servant, and lap dog to their will."

The ghouls would begin to stop trying to get to the light rune borne and would fight the hell hounds with all they had, as the armored demon that knocked a heavy over began to ram the incredibly hard claws and head spikes it had into the knocked over rune borne's chest and the other armored demon tried to bowl the other heavy down also.

The normal demon looked at the large creature with eyes ready for blood. 2 of the demons would prepare to break off from the group and circle the creature, guessing that it might be in the way of what they were ordered to find and kill. The other three were going to charge the large creature and try to use their speed to their advantage.

"I am no servant," Zaiyah growled as she prepared for the beast's charge. She held her glowing blades up and stared directly into the terror's eyes, unafraid and unintimidated.

The Runeborne soldier that had fallen was killed by the demons piercing through its thick armor. The other soldier stood his ground, blocking their initial charge and fighting the beasts off ferociously. It thrust its huge blade up towards the chest of one of the demons, trying to find a weakness or gap in its armor.

The creature stepped out of the shadows slowly. It stood upright on two feet, easily reaching twenty feet tall. It was an orreghar, a large, horned, muscle-bound beast that was covered in spiked armor and runic designs. Its thunderous growl shook the ground, as if it was daring the desert demons to come any further.