CHPT 102: Cavalry
The freshly turned Skeleton Soldier that stood further up the path snapped its rotten gum lined teeth at a slow and steady tempo. The noise sent a chill through Claude's legs that rose up through his spine and silenced the forest.
Suddenly, the two Skeleton Soldiers off to the right of him shifted in the grass to face the noise, he caught the sound just in time to make eye contact with them.
"Shit! Frosty we have to move fast." Claude said before communicating to him through their link to get the Skeleton that was alone.
Frosty wasted no time and took off towards the Skeleton Soldier as it made an effort to chase after Claude while he ran off for the two other Skeletons.
As he jumped off the path and onto the wild uneven terrain of the forest floor, he used his Element and caused thick vines and roots to rise from the ground. They stopped the Skeleton Soldiers and climbed up their legs, completely stopping them. The Skeletons began hacking away at them as Claude closed the distance.
Shing!
Mid run, Claude unsheathed Bane of the Undead. The blades brightness highlighted the cracks and blemishes on the Skeleton Soldiers skulls as it closed the distance and cleaved through their skulls like butter.
Shwip!
[+20 EXP]
[+20 EXP]
Their bodies hit the ground as white and grey dust that moved and picked up in unison with the wind currents blowing through the forest.
Claude turned around just in time to see Frosty jump up and bite the top of the Skeleton Soldiers spine in two, causing its head to fall off and hit the ground as white and grey dust.
[+10 EXP]
After rejoining Frosty, Claude focused his senses and tried listening and smelling for any indicators of more Skeleton Soldiers.
After a few seconds of complete silence— aside from Frosty and his own accelerated breathing, he was able to hear something.
Snap!...Snap!....Snap!
...
Snap!....Snap!....
He heard the leaves and grass rustling beneath a number of feet and the bone chilling snaps of human jaws echoing through the silent forest. It was incredibly creepy to hear the sound emanating through the forest and sent a fresh dose of adrenaline pumping through his veins.
Claude and Frosty snarled as the rotting smell of fresh death hit them. Soon after, the thin white bodies of the Skeleton Soldiers came into view. They stood at the edge of the forest ahead of them where the path made a left turn, there had to be at least 25 of them. They weren't as intelligent or fortunate as the Goblins he faced since some of them lacked even the simplest of weapons. Some were so freshly turned that they still had the broken and brittle remnants of clothing hanging from their bones.
They stayed in the forest, snapping their jaws at him and Frosty.
Suddenly, one of the taller Skeleton Somdiers in the back raised its sword and they all silenced.
"Arne....what's happening?"
"[I think that taller one is some sort of a leader or higher rank.]" Arne replied.
Before he could ask anything else, the taller one aimed its sword at Claude and roared somehow.
"RRRRAHHHHA!"
Claude and Frosty roared back and the two charged each other.
Claude used his Nature Element and brought up a poorly made wall of plant life and vines that split the Skeleton Soldiers charge into two halves. As they made their way around the obstacle, Claude used his link to Frosty to give him a command.
"Up."
Frosty understood immediately and once they approached the wall, he vaulted it and used his hulking body to crash into the 5 Skeletons still behind the wall.
Claude went left and fought the Skeleton Soldiers, while the ones to the right slowly approached him.
The first one he met delivered a stiff slash to his midsection that he blocked, feeling the force of the strike in his shoulders. After he stopped the blade, he quickly swung his sword at its neck and watched its skull fall backward, bouncing off the Skeleton Soldiers behind it before turning to dust.
[+20 EXP]
[+10 EXP]
[+10 EXP]
The next Skeleton Soldier stomped over the dusted remains of its fallen comrade and swung at him weakly. Before he could block, he heard a sword slicing through the air above his head.
Woo!
Woo!
Claude sidestepped at impressive speeds and dodged the attacks from in front and behind him. He now faced 16 Skeleton Soldiers and a few legless stragglers that tried to crawl away from Frosty's invisible onslaught taking place behind the plant wall.
[+10 EXP]
The Soldiers approached him in sync, making it hard for him to deliver deadly blows without taking any. He decided to use his speed to his advantage and ran at the mob of Skeletons.
As soon as he reached the first row of three, he stopped hard and fast before turning left. They all swung and met nothing but air.
He ran down the long line of Skeleton Soldiers and went straight after the ones at the back with no weapons. By the time the armed Skeleton Soldiers at the front of the line turned to chase after him, he already killed three.
Swoo!
[+60 EXP]
[+10 EXP]
With one hard swing, he cut off three of the Skeleton Soldiers heads and turned them to piles of dust immediately.
By that time the Skeleton Soldiers were facing him and attacking, sending strike after strike.
Claude was so overwhelmed by the barrage of sword swings delivered by three Skeleton Soldiers that he found himself being backed into the plant wall he made. During this time, he began to realize that the others weren't trying to attack him. They were circling him— which was much worse.
Before he had time to do anything about it, the three attacking Soldiers split and the tall one came in swinging with the speed and fluid motion of a trained living being.
"RAAAGHH!!"
Woo!
CLANG!
Claude blocked the swing, but the force behind it was so strong that it broke Claude's guard, leaving him wide open.
The tall Skeleton Soldiers screech was so loud that he was left stunned and unable to notice the boney foot headed straight for his chest.
Thud!
CRASH!
[+10 EXP]
Claude felt the crushing impact in the center of his chest and went flying backward through the plant wall. As he fell through it, he noticed a flash of distortion in the air above him. "Frosty." He thought as the PitWolf leaped over him and crashed into the four Skeleton Soldiers, knocking them over like bowling pins. The ones that circled them both sprung into action and charged at Frosty's unseen figure.
As soon as they made their move, Claude was up and running back into battle, roaring and swinging like a wild animal.
***
After twenty minutes of intense fighting, all the Skeleton Soldiers were defeated. Claude and Frosty stood surrounded by dust and pieces of bone wrapped up in vines and plants. Claude's cloak was torn everywhere and his armor was riddled with slash marks from the Skeleton Soldiers swords. Despite all the damage it looked like he sustained, him and Frosty were the only remaining survivors with little damage other than a few cuts and a headache.
While he stood motionless in the forest, he closed his eyes and looked up at the sky taking in the fleeting smell of death and the rich growing scent of clean night air.
"We did it Frosty." He said in between breaths.
Frosty laid in the grass panting and huffed in agreement.
"[Im nothing short of impressed. But, I think I'm more impressed with that sword.]" Arne said.
Claude silently agreed. If he didn't have Bane of the Undead, he probably would've had to work a lot harder to defeat the Skeleton Soldiers and earn the 350 EXP he gained.
Despite leaving the small neighborhood across the clearing much safer now that there wasn't any Skeleton Soldiers, he felt that he still had to do more. He still had more wrongs to right.
"We have to do another one." He said.
"[What?]" Arne asked in confusion.
Before he could answer, his body went rigid in reaction to the smell he was just getting out of his nose.
He spun around with his sword out, searching for the source of the rotting smell that was right on him.
Frosty got up as well and started sniffing around furiously.
He was confused, the smell was right next to him but there was nothing near him. Not a sound or sight, just the horrid smell of rot.
Out of nowhere, he heard a something hit the floor next to him. He spun around face the sound and saw a twig on the forest floor.
"Must be from the tree.." he thought.
As soon as the thought came into his head, he looked up just in time to see a Skeleton Soldier falling right onto him. Behind it, a group of other Skeletons climbed from branch to branch to reach him and pile on to him.
Thud!
He hit the ground hard from the surprisingly heavy weight of the Soldier. The impact knocked the wind out of his lungs and sent Bane of the Undead tumbling to the floor. He immediately brought his arms up to block his face as the Skeltons piled onto him and delivered powerful punches to his entire body.
"Shit! I got distracted.....SHIT!" He thought as the boney punches connected with his arms, legs and midsection.
He could hear Frosty outside the pile, snarling and biting the Skeletons to try and pull them off Claude. The effort was futile since they only crawled back after having their legs and arms removed.
Frosty's anger poured into Claude and he began swinging and kicking wildly from under the Skeletons. He felt his claws puncture bone and rotten flesh, every slash and stab was returned in kind with a stunning punch to his gut or legs.
"RRRRROAAAAR!!!"
He roared in frustration and anger as the Skeletons beat him relentlessly. Without meaning to,. The Nature around him began to grow and wrap around the Skeleton Soldiers limbs like coiling green snakes. It did nothing since the ones that were rooted began head-butting him which felt even worse.
Right when the punches were beginning to make him dizzy and blood poured from his mouth from the barrage of stomach blows, he heard a sound he wasn't accustomed to.
"AWOOOUUUUURR!!"
He could tell the noise didn't come from Frosty. He also knew whatever was howling was numerous in number. The booming symphony of howls sent an energizing buzz through his whole body and gave him the strength to tighten up his guard.
Footsteps began to hit his ears, light and fast moving footsteps that approached him quickly and crashed into the Skeleton Soldiers with ease in a jumbled mixture of barks and snarls.
CRASH!
He opened his eyes after the crash and could see the semi full moon directly above him, lighting the forest, for a moment he thought the last thing he would ever see was bones and rotten flesh.
He quickly sat up and looked around to see who saved him. With his vision being blurred all he could see was the outline of dark and light colored muscles bodies. Once his vision centered, he could see them. He could see them standing around him in the grass like wild guardians of the forest.
[Canine Affinity Activated!]
"No way..."