Without thinking, she gripped her hammer and lunged at the monster. The fiend let out a high-pitched scream before charging Jeanne. As she raised here hammer over her head, she let out a cry before swing it down towards the enemy. A rush of energy filled her arm as the hammer fell and struck the vampire, a sizzle sound filled the air before a loud thunderous crack snapped between her and the Kolville.
Jeanne was thrown back by the incredible force, landing hard on her back. As she collected her senses, she noticed the vile Kolville getting back onto his feet, swaying before he steadied his stance. Jeanne roll herself onto her feet, trying to clear her mind to summon her rock scales as he began bolting towards her.
As she could hear his ravenous growls of the Kolville as it was overtaken by the woosh of a long pole striking him in the chest, sending him back and striking the ground hard. Jeanne saw Gabriel race past her grabbing the handle of her spear, withdrawing it swiftly and engaging the monster as Kveldulf reached her.
“You learn a new trick?” he asked her while helping her up.
“Wha you terking about?” Jeanne replied with a slur.
“You … didn’t mean to do the light show?”
“Light show?”
Kveldulf looked back to Gabriel before turning back to Jeanne. “We’ll … deal with that later.”
As Jeanne’s mind cleared, she saw Gabriel engaged in a fierce battle with the Kolville. “Where are the rest?” she asked Kveldulf, looking around the area.
“They’re engaged with the other Kolville and their … friend.”
“Friend?”
Jeanne turned to see a large creature, slightly larger than a draft horse, on all fours, teeth flaring out towards the others, its skin was gone, leaving only the flesh underneath, blood black as the night above dripping from the cuts and deep lacerations made from the battle between it and the other Wolves.
Standing besides the creature was another Kolville. His clothes were in less tatters, but there was little regal bearing in his dress or demeanor. In one of his hands was a blood drenched short sword, and the other a club coated in dried blood and bits of teeth and hair now stuck on the wood.
“The other one?” Jeanne asked aloud.
“Ollen I can use some help here!” shouted the Kolville fighting Gabriel.
“This is your mess, Guthrem. I’d say you should clean it up!” Ollen replied.
Gabriel lunged at Gutherm with her spear, the strike barely missing the man’s head. The other landing deep into his shoulder. Guthrum cried in pain as he tried to remove the spearhead. The beast, shrieking as Guthrum did, thrashed about. Hypatia, her two song-blades in hand, swirled them into a booming symphony, causing the creature to move away from the town, while Maeryn and Silvius loosed projectiles into its side.
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Leonidas, staffed raised above his head, summoned a large storm of emerald fire and aimed it towards the creature. Its flesh burning and searing from its bones. Benkin plunged his blade deep into one of its joints, crippling the creature while Cid sunk the blade into the temple of the monstrosity as it tried to recover from the last blow.
Ollen raced to Gabriel, Kveldulf and Jeanne moving with their weapons bared and ready for bloody combat. Kveldulf entered in a berserker frenzy, his roar and figure taking on bear-like form as he rushed to Ollen, Jeanne lifting her hammer to strike Guthrum.
The vampire dodged the attack, making a swipe at Jeanne, his claws dislodging some of her rock scale from her torso. “I remember you,” Guthrum said, wine dark blood dripping from his mouth. “Back at Teegs-Upon-Avon, right. I remember your sister well. Little sprite was she? We had a good time with her, we did.”
Before he could make another attack, Jeanne plunged the head of her hammer into the torso. Whatever force Kveldulf mentioned before tore through Gutherm’s stomach and erupted out the other side. A bright, thunderous light coming out and striking the building behind them, creating a blast sending shattered crates and wagon pieces flying.
Guthrem fell to his knees as Jeanne removed the hammer from his body. “Having fun now!” she barked, grabbing a handful of hair and pulling his gave up to her.
Before she could make the final blow, she heard the sounds of the monstrosity barreling towards her. She dove out of the way, barely missing the creature entirely. Spotting the creature again, Jeanne saw it moving swiftly towards a group of towns people fleeing the fight. “Hy!” she yelled at the sword singer as she and the others race to the monster.
“On it!” Hypatia said, making her swords give off a terrifying shriek.
The creature stopped in its tracked, turned to the Wolves and let out a guttural roar towards them. Maeryn and Silvius returned the creature’s cries with several bolts and arrows landing in its fore legs and head. Kveldulf, still in his fury, landing the blade of his halberd deep into the skull of the creature, the force rippling through the beast’s flesh. Benkin with his blade in hand, severed the monster’s leg, and forcing it to the ground.
Jeanne, with her hammer gripped tightly in hand, struck the creature in the middle of its skull, the energy from before was such it sundered the entire back half of the creature into oblivion.
As the fight wound down, Jeanne could feel her muscles tingle as her skin felt an electric energy come over her. She looked around, the others were catching their breathes, but not wounded terribly. Several townspeople left their hiding places to survey the carnage as Jeanne noticed something missing.
“Where are the brothers?” she asked.
The others looked around, trying to find the two vampiric villains. “Must’ve run off while we were dealing with the—” Cid said before Jeanne interrupted.
“No!” Jeanne said, trying to walk forward, but her legs began buckling underneath her weight. “Face me!” she roared into the darkness of night. “Get back here, and face me!”
“Jeanne,” Cid said, his hand on her shoulder. “You need to rest.”
“I need their heads on pikes,” she said, her voice beginning to wheeze, moving to walk further into the darkness. “I’ll find you Kolvilles! I’ll chase you to the end of the world and rip your hearts out and feed them to your kin, if it’s the last thing I’ll do,” she said, her knees finally giving in and she knelt down to the ground. “Now come out, and face me!” she said, her strength beginning to leave her and her voice now becoming fainter.
Leonidas came over, and putting his hand on her forehead. “Jeanne you’re burning up, right now. We need to get you inside.”
Jeanne tried to push forward, but before she could crawl another inch into the dark refuge of the two Kolville brother, her vision grew dark and she felt nothing.