Bones And Marrow V

Kies thought of an idea. "I think we should split up," he told the group. There were a lot of people here and they didn't all need to stay and fight. A few of them could go on ahead and fight the Bone Whistler while the rest of them stayed here and held the endless horde of undead back. Since Lisler and Bloodmane were essential to finding and defeating the Bone Whistler, they were the obvious picks for the group that was going to go on ahead. The only matter they needed to deal with was deciding who else was going and who was staying.

"That's a good idea," Bloodmane agreed. "Swordsman, you're with me. I'm going to need you to lead me to that giant walking pile of bones." Lisler nodded his head. "As for you lot," Bloodmane turned to his pack. "Stay here and fend them off. Everyone else follows." There was no time to question Bloodmane's decision. Everyone except for the five werewolves follows Lisler as he runs into a wall of undead. With one quick clean strike, the swordsman beheads all of them and pushes them aside with his body.

"Swiftly now," he told everyone. As they ran, Lisler continued to cut down undead left and right without having to slow down or stop in order to do so. One couldn't help but be impressed by his skill. He may not be able to use magic but no one can deny his proficiency with the sword. The group continued following Lisler for around five minutes before he stopped and said, "The old bone is but a breath away," and pointed his sword directly in front of them. "I'll stay and cull any that dare come." His blade was stained reddish-black with rotted blood with all the enemies he slew along the way. One look at it and anyone would know that he is going to keep his word and not let a single undead pass.

"Come on," Bloodmane told the rest of the group to hurry, leaving Lisler behind to cut down any undead that tried to follow them. It didn't take long for them to find the Bone Whistler as he was less than a minute away. If not for how dark the forest was, they would've seen him much earlier. Ammine felt his overwhelming magic power leaking out of his body as they got closer. It had only been one day but his aura was at least a quarter stronger than it had been yesterday. The speed at which it was getting stronger was beyond frightening. Ammine wasn't sure how Bloodmane was supposed to win against that but they were about to find out.

Next to the giant monster's side was a ghostly lady. Kies instantly recognized her as the one that had trapped them in the illusion before. "So you've split up your forces. Not a bad plan if I say so myself," the lady remarked. "But are you sure that you can win now that you only have half your group left? And that's not taking into consideration the non-combatants as well," the lady said while pointing at Issie. The Bone Whistler just stared at them with his hollow sockets while the lady spoke to them. He didn't look particularly interested in talking.

Bloodmane stretched his arms and taunted the lady, "Hmph, there's only one way to find out now, isn't there? Whether or not we're a match for you, the fight starts now!" Bloodmane rushed at the giant bone monster but was intercepted by the lady. She created what looked like a wall in front of the werewolf to stop him. Bloodmane attacked the transparent wall and broke it like it was made of paper.

"What- Ahh!" Bloodmane scratched the lady's arms as she brought them up to protect herself. She jumped up and glided back to the Bone Whistler's side with a confused expression on her face. "How did you-"

"Enough with the talking, I'm itching for a fight!" Bloodmane interrupted the lady and charged in again. This time, the Bone Whistler made a move and brought down his enormous out-of-proportion fists on top of Bloodmane. The werewolf ducked and rolled to the side to avoid getting flattened like a pancake and scratched at his fists with his claws. It wasn't much but the attack tore off a small bit of the bony hand.

The Bone Whistler made what sounded like an extremely low-pitched growl and then turned his head up into the skies and let out an ear-deafening sound. Other than Issie, everyone falls to the floor, covering their ears in pain. Kies felt the air around him vibrate and the ground underneath him shake. His eyesight was all wobbly and he felt as if he was going to fall over.

The high-pitched sound lasted for a few seconds and when it stopped, undead creatures began to crawl out of the ground all around them. "We're going with the witch's original plan!" Bloodmane shouted. While he was fighting the Bone Whistler, the rest were to keep the horde of undead off him. The only problem is who was going to deal with the lady. It was doubtful that Bloodmane could take on both her and the Bone Whistler at the same time. "Hey owl, can you deal with that one?"

"Hoot, I got it."

"And the rest of you, you know what to do." After saying what he needed to, the werewolf charged at the Bone Whistler.

The lady tried to cast a spell on Bloodmane but Haro flew in and stopped her. "Gahh!" A strong current of wind hit her in the face, messing up her ghostly hair.

"What are you getting distracted for!?" Ammine shook Kies and pointed at the undead in front of them. "Stop watching them, we have our own fight to worry about."

Kies looked at the seemingly endless number of undead coming out of the dirt. He wasn't sure if the two of them could hold them all back but as Bloodmane said, there was only one way to find out.

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