The creature looked all around itself, it's 4 black eyes scanning the grey space around itself. It turned both of its heads in both directions, but it could not locate the threat. 4 arrows were lodged into the creatures left side, where a black tar like substance oozed from the wounds. The living one was around here somewhere, but where?
Suddenly, a noise heard by 3 of its 4 ears made them twitch, and it pushed itself to the side in time to barely avoid getting hit with another arrow, this one crackling with electricity. It hit the ground uselessly, and magic coating the projectile dissipated in mere moments, like it had never existed in the first place. The creature hissed, a gutteral and disgusting grating sound as it looked towards where the arrow had come from.
It sniffed, and caught scent of the one that had been hounding it. Whatever had injured it was able to mask its smell, but this time, the creature caught the scent clearly. It must have slipped up, or had forgotten to use whatever it used to hide the smell. It kicked off the ground, dust and dirt flying behind it as it cratered the ground from the force of its acceleration.
The creature reached the spot where it smelled the other creature, pushing through the strange, almost pulsing grey fauna to where the small creature was hiding. Its noses tracked the smell, and it bit down, and shock its heads back and forth rapidly in an attempt to tear whatever it was apart.
However, the creature soon learned of its mistake as it looked at the long piece of cloth, clothing of some sort in its mouth, the wearer nowhere to be found. It was about to looked around and sniff around it some more when the ground underneath it suddenly glowed with a bright white light.
It didn't even have a chance to move before the ground underneath it erupted in a column of fire, the beast roaring in pain as it began to roll around on the ground in an attempt to extinguish the fires. That's when more of the arrows came.
As it was rolling around, one arrow coated in more lightning, the tip and shaft sparking wildly, slammed into its underside. The beast seized and began convulsing as the lightning coursed through its body, unbelievable pain causing it to howl.
Another arrow was next, this one sending a chill through the air as it slammed into it's right leg. The beast roared, agony lacing it's frantic bellows as its leg rapidly froze. The sound was loud, echoing through the empty space of the Dead Lands as it tried to scramble forward. Then the next arrow hit, one that was enchanted with heavy force. It hit the frozen leg, and the limb shattered, black ooze spraying from the stump as it fell forward, growling in pain and frustration.
It's cries of pain and rage were cut off as a final arrow slammed into its right head, piercing directly into its brain. This arrow, one that was enchanted to cause paralysis, caused it to freeze in place, it's body struggling to move but unable to. The beast was breathing heavily as it looked up. A small, lithe figure made her way forward, her eyes calculating and cold as she emerged from the dead grey tree line. The beast snarled in defiance, but the gesture really didn't amount to much in the end. It couldn't move, it couldn't attack. All it could do was sit there, snarling as the woman stepped forward, and pulled an ornate dagger from its sheathe at her hip.
■ ■ ■
Kharie stepped forward, her quarry reduced to a bleeding and struggling mess. Well, bleeding wasn't exactly right, as the black ooze did not have the same exact properties as blood. The creatures inside of the Dead Lands were... not right. The lands themselves were uninhabitable by people as far as she was aware, and the creatures that lived here were grotesque creatures that tossed aside everything people thought they knew about Framework creatures. She only knew what her parents told her and her siblings about this place.
These lands were once as vibrant and full of life as anywhere else. They were told of vast grasslands, lush forests, and large settlements where humans, beastkin, and more lived just like anyone else. One day, they said it looked like the sky turned black, and there was a massive explosion of mana in the center of what was now the Dead Lands. Ever since that day, all you could around here was grey, the creatures that somehow survived and thrived in here, and the remnants of what once was.
The beast she had just fought was a one of the more common ones around here, although all of them seemed to mutate and and change in different ways. Her Inspect skilled still listed it as a Dread Wolf, although this was the first one she has seen with two damn heads. The thing was disgusting, with patchy fur, pus sacks on it's body that leaking a greenish black substance, and those dull and almost dead black eyes that held no intelligence whatsoever. These things simply attacked, and killed.
The approached the creature, which was growling and trying to escape to no avail. She had killed these things dozens of times by now, and despite them being strong and savage creatures, they were only A+ rank beasts. She may not have a combat oriented class, but she had been training and fighting things like this for most of her adult life. She was sure that she'd probably be in trouble if one managed to sink its fangs into her, but with her speed, not to mention her vastly superior intelligence to a stupid beast like this, she'd never let that happen.
She approached the beast, its strength fading and barely able to move as it glared at her. There was nothing in it's eyes, although she assumed that even a mindless beast like this can feel somewhat angry at being hunted down like a prey when it thought itself the predator. She gripped her dagger with one hand on the pommel, and turned it upside down. Without a word, she drove it into the Beast's living head, the other one appearing lifeless with the arrow protruding from it.
The wolf spasmed as it made strange growling choking noises, before it eventually stilled. She pulled her dagger free a moment later, and used a special cloth she had made to wipe the nasty black blood, or whatever it was, off of her weapon. The cloth absorbed all of the nasty substance, leaving her dagger looking prestine, and as she put the cloth away, she knew the self cleaning enchantment would have that too looking clean and spotless by the time she had need of it again.
Her heart was beating fast, the small surge of adrenaline doing some good for her mental state. Even so...
"It's not enough." She growled, the fight having seemed too easy, and unsatisfactory to sate her racing thoughts.
She kept replaying the events of earlier in her mind. Of Elias telling them about her brother's fate and what he had done, and of the kind Delphia, a woman that reminded her so much of her own mother it was almost painful. She had been through so much, had endured so much, and even despite what had happened to her, and what her brother had done, she didn't blame her. When Kharie's emotions overwhelmed her, Delphia had comforted her, held her, and told her everything would be okay.
The words she had spoken, and the things she said her brother did to her and the others played though her mind, and as Delphia's pained and tear stricken face appeared in her mind, she clenched her fist around the dagger so hard her knuckles turned white.
Kharie was usually hesitant to to travel fruther into the Dead Lands, as the creatures became more powerful the further in you went, but she didn't want to stop. She couldn't stop. Not until she had a fight that truly tested her. That wolf had stood no chance against her, and that was hardly enough to satisfy the itch that she so far had been unable to scratch. She wasn't even breathing hard, and every time she tired to sort through her emotions, it was just the anger of what she had heard, and the pain her brother had caused.
Kharie looked forward, deeper into the Dead Lands. She wouldn't be able to stay here long, as not only did the mana start to affect the body strangely if in this area if here for too long, but she did also have to return home before the night was over, otherwise her brothers would start to worry. She could tell that it was still night time, but the greyish tint to the air, and subsequently, the sky, made it harder to tell.
"Just a bit more." Kharie muttered to herself, the guilt suddenly slamming into her mind causing her to move forward with purpose.
She hoped that the next creature would give her a worthy fight, one that she could pour all of her concentration into. When she was thoroughly satisfied after a good battle, then she could worry about working through her emotions. Right now though? It was time for another hunt.