Hour’s passed as they laced their tracks across the forest in haphazard directions, utilizing their wings to lift off, and reunite at the crossroads they created. It gave them time to plan - if they were being actively tracked, albeit not much… given that the Thasclea were quite the adept hunters. Lord only knew the tricks they hid up their sleeves in order to find the woman he now protected! That said, if they were going to use their own tactics to find her? He planned on using those very methods against them as a means of escape.
First things first, was accessing a different level of the woods, a thicker area, where the Nephilim, this woman included - had far less room to spread their wings. While he? Was still more than capable of using his, albeit with due diligence, as even he’d be having to shimmy through where they were headed. In the meantime, while they entered denser, and darker terrain, Hexlith kept vigilant within the encroaching shade, looking for a specific mark of his that he put around this area.
“Hey, Nephilim-” He peered over “Best we know one another's names. If we hope to live, that is… Mine’s Hexlith.”
At the revelation of the Magkins name, the Nephilim stopped in her tracks. Her feet sinking deeper into the snow they traveled upon in idle thought. Her gaze drifted from the ground, to him, all the way to the tree’s above. Focused on what lay beyond the tightly-knit trunks for a moment, she’d let out a sigh. “Draconic for Doom… or worse yet- Doomed.”
Shifting in place as she spoke, she gave Hexlith a pained look. Not one of fear for herself, and the trials to come, but for the one before her. She had thought her own name to be bad, considering it merely meant ‘red’ in Celestial. Now though? She only hoped his name turned out to be less literal than her own.
“Pounnem Al-” She couldn’t even finish the entirety of her name, before she felt a shiver strike down her spine, a biting chill of fear encapsulating her as the canopy above quaked violently! Leaves descended atop the two in what felt like slow motion, as three shadows passed overhead! Her eyelids widened in shock, while she braced herself for what was to come; Hexlith held a similar reaction, as he stared up into the sky - to spot three silver armored Nephilim.
“You even hunt your own…” he muttered softly, sidestepping as he began to walk in another direction, waving for Pounnem to follow. He reached down to adjust his falx, making sure that it was accessible in the case he’d have to use it. Hexlith’s pace only increased, once they dipped into more covered woods.
With tension rising, silence soon fell, filling their ears with only the sounds of wings batting above, and the crunching of leaves below! That is… until it was finally broken, as the air whistled behind them, indicating to not only Pounnem, the seasoned warrior, but also Hexlith the inexperienced - that they were under attack. With her blade at the ready, she stomped down, and pivoted off of her right, in order to get herself into a batter-esque position as she swung on the incoming Nephilim!
What she slashed into? Did not crunch like the suits of armor she bisected so many times before, housing meaty flesh within - no, but instead? It was the thick grain of a tree’s trunk trailed by a javelin, gliding mere inches over the descending log, which forced her to make a choice, and fast! Stay put and try to evade the spear minimally, or discard the sword entirely. Hexlith on the other hand? Was quick to notice the trap set for Pounnem, and didn’t hesitate for a second to peel one of the vials from his bag and toss it at her right leg, the one she was clearly posting from. The collision caused the vial to shatter, and in turn - her entire body to flip over, with the spear flying narrowly past her face, through her long white and red locks of hair.
The platinum javelin embedded itself about a foot into the earth next to where Hexlith stood; Yet not for long, as he unraveled his wings, and burst towards Pounnem in a blitz. She’d only be downed for a moment, yet he moved to cover her regardless. For good reason too as he spotted their first foe, a fully armored hunter with sharpened wings. Tell tale signs that it was more than likely a Thasclean elite, and that the battle to come? Would probably be a losing one. In spite of this, Hexlith hesitated not in locking blades with the silver warrior! His left arm pulled the falx down upon a rising longsword slash, the bigger person, and sword alike clearly had the strength advantage in the matter. However, as the longsword shoved the falx upward, and the curved blade found a palm slammed into the topmost curve of its spine, Hexlith slid the hook-blade into place. Applying his body weight best he could on their guard, before he found the tiniest of windows within the clash.
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When he pushed, and the Nephilim reeled, enough for him to release his blade from their entanglement, he promptly stood upright, and jabbed his falx to the throat of the Thasclean. Considering the extreme curve in his sword, it wasn’t enough to mortally wound the guy, more stun him - as the man grabbed his neck in shock, allowing Hexlith a brief moment to kick off of the hunter and return to Pounnem; Who was just getting to her feet!
“Get good at running!” Hexlith shouted in a shaky tone, not because he was tired, but because he went toe to toe with a Nephilim, a Thasclean - and survived.
What he did could only really be considered luck, something he rarely if ever got a taste of! However, that’s not what Pounnem witnessed, what she saw was the weakness he had seen… in her - weaponized to take down a much more powerful foe than himself. Not to mention saving her in the process, reading her weaknesses as not only a means of fighting her family, but also saving her from them. To Hexlith, it was only second nature; So regardless of that small dose of victory, neither were particularly confident in their chances to come! Shadows loomed high over their heads, as flying between the trees became completely impossible in these woods. A good sign, it meant the terrain forced them to retreat and regroup, they couldn’t strike as a whole without risking collision.
The duo drew close to a cave he aimed to utilize, and possibly even to stage a counterattack in. Thing is, Hexlith sought to fix her problem for good, and he didn’t really see how fighting her family head-on could achieve such an outcome. That said, they didn’t seem the type to ‘listen, and let live’ if it came down to it, so one way or another? They’d have to cut off their tail… indefinitely. How exactly they’d do that though, he wasn’t completely sure; Now wasn’t necessarily the optimal time to think on it either.
As they made their way down the hill, the Magkin slipped into what at first looked like an enlarged wolf's den, his hand reaching out to help Pounnem in soon after. What they saw once they entered? Was not a simple den, no, but a large underground system. There were a lot of open spaces right at the entry, but the deeper one went, the narrower it got, and that? Was what Hexlith planned to use as their first of many weapons; Which he instantly voiced, as they moved through the caves.
“I’ve got a plan… but it’ll only work if you truly want to escape this family of yours.”
With a narrowed gaze, Pounnem traced her eyes through the darkness over to the Magkin, glowing like embers in the night as they pinned him down. “If it’s killing them- spare me, I care not for being a kinslayer, they’ve made me one tenfold already.”
“Right. Then you’ll die, and all this’ll be over.” He quipped, before speeding off into the cave, moving from a brisk walk, to that of a jog, as he cut a corner to the left, and disappeared from sight.
“Hey! What?! What’re you? talking… about……” Pounnem’s step stuttered ever so slightly as she followed, her instinctive need to defend herself melting away as she realized what he meant. Curling her wings into her back tightly as possible, she’d let out a measured sigh, before catching up.
Now or never.