To have read about such a beast in books and preparing mental battles was one thing. To encounter that heinous entity that seemingly had crawled out of the deepest bowels of hell was another.

The eyes were like limpid pools, its lips missing and the line of carnivorous teeth visibly grinding a piece of flesh it still gnawed at. It stared at him curiously, its grey robed figure hovering above the hunter's head. Dropping the half-chewed arm, it now focused all its attention towards its foe.

The hunter prepared himself, ready to deal with whatever volley of blows the creature was going to launch at him. The moment he saw those skulls moving, and forming into mindless apparitions, he realized he had misread one of the chapters. This was no draugr...for those beings could never raise the dead. It was something else…

Luckily, the necromantic magic that he recognized could still be fended off. He kept his focus on that entity, as it tried to go ethereal, turning into a ghostlike figure. The beast couldn't, much to his relief. At least he had gotten one thing right! Purifying the area with the sacred tincture was the right call!

He evaded, eviscerating the raised spirits, bearing tragic resemblance to some of the corpses he had seen on his way here.

“Release us!” they wailed, as he swung his sword, slicing their skulls, feeling pity for the unfortunate souls. His focus was sharp, his eyes never steering away from the target. That creature wafted around, raising the skulls around while concealing itself from the hunter.

He swung his blade a few more times, finally catching up to that demonic being after destroying the last of the skulls. It was now left without its defenses.

“Find...your....own...power...sources...” it growled, exposing its meat slicing claws while blocking the sword’s blade. It realized its fatal mistake, as the runes of the weapon glowed momentarily, sending surges through its figure. The beast recoiled, pushing itself away from the fierce swings.

The hunter sighed while flustered through the beast’s evasive movements. This should have been done a while ago had it not been floating around swiftly. That was when it struggled one final time, succeeding in dispersing into thin air.

“Damn! It went ethereal!” the hunter grumbled.

The next moment, he rolled forward as the air behind him came alive, materializing into a thousand claws that launched at him from multiple angles. The hunter realized the danger, barely escaping the fatal attacks while swinging his blade to fend them off. The creature could conjure powerful tricks once in the astral plane. He had to do something...and do it fast! The battle with the undead had already taken its toll on him.

Breathing deeply, he turned his mind into a fortress, keeping away the visions the fiend tried to induce in him while moving strategically. It occurred again, the air in front of him manifesting as a barrage of multiple paws, ready to tear his flesh apart. Only this time, his sword was sheathed, and instead what swung forward was the blue flamed torch that he quickly dismounted from the wall nearby.

A wailing scream echoed in the hall, as the blue flames forced the being out of the hiding, its form becoming corporeal once more. The hunter was ready! His blade unsheathed at the right moment, swinging and slicing at the right angle. The fiend’s eyes froze with fear, as its head rolled on the ground. The body caught fire, along with the head that soon turned into ashes. The blade was put into the veil once more.

He sighed, throwing his head around at the ominous site. So many lives lost...and for nothing! If only he could manage to arrive earlier... Regret weighed heavily on him, as he tried to keep away a vexing memory, gnawing at his mind. A very similar one that had once occurred a long time ago.

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Hauling his steps out of that tunnel, he now wanted nothing other than drinking himself to oblivion, wanting to head back to the sanctuary. The blade had now gone cold, sensing no longer any danger around. And with that, his mind relaxed too, pulling back into the foggiest memories of his past…the aftermath of battles was mostly mental, or so was told by his one-time master.

When he dragged himself to the tavern, noticing the corpses and carrion, he wondered when it would be noticed by the walled city nearby. Poverty couldn’t let the voracious mayors squeeze off more from the downtrodden. Soon they would notice the steady decline in the taxes...and would find one of the villages absent from the tax list...and then the soldiers would arrive here to discover the tragedy. He sighed, not letting his mind wander off anymore. He was going to report it back...and hopefully stop whatever was transpiring in these neighboring villages.

Heading out of the tunnel, he wearily headed towards the broken door, stepping out of that tavern.

The wind had started howling, the mild dribble desperately trying to keep out those flames eating the remnants of the shacks. The world was cloudier than before, many sensations masked, and many sights now concealed. He touched his pockets to make sure he had lost only the calculated amount of the contents. Just when he was about to leave, a sound made it to his ears…someone sobbing…like a young lass…

Sobbing?! Meaning there was something more at play here! He quickly reached out to his weapon, ready to put it into action with the arm that was aching badly. He definitely needed a rest now. However, no magical traces were detected nor did any anomaly appear in his area. If anything, it was the sobbing that was now clearer than before. He steadily moved towards the last unburnt shack, fearing there might still be a surprise waiting for him. He didn’t hold back even when he made it to the locked door, his fist landing a sharp hit and breaking the door apart.

A scream met his ears, a faint exhausted scream of a cowering child. A girl…her face all mucked and her cheeks tensed with all the crying. The hair was all messed up, coloured in all mud and dirt. What he expected was another trick of a foul being. What he discovered was a child, dressed in tatters while trying her best to not close her eyes. Like a cornered chicken, she shivered endlessly, her breath similar to a frantic deer caught in a snare.

He dropped his caution right away, sheathing his sword while holding his hands in front, whispering a few words. She screamed, wailing loudly, as he stepped softly towards her.

“Please…leave…me alone….” She struggled with the words, hiding her face in her palms, her fingers wide open to keep her eyes peeled at whoever approached her. He didn’t need to know what she was expecting.

“I am here for you, little girl!” he whispered softly, his onyx eyes connecting with her shivering grey ones, as he patted her shoulders. He once more whispered a few words, ones that she took notice of. Her fear dwindled a bit, as she raised her head.

“You are a real person?!” she touched his hands, making sure her senses were deceiving her. They weren’t. She almost expected the sight to fade away and to be replaced with something appalling. No such thing happened, much to her relief.

“Yes. My name is Neyru, and I am here to rescue you! You need not be afraid” he coaxed her, relaxing his tense facial muscles, trying to appear less intimidating. It did work, as her breathing became less disrupted. She threw a pleading stare at him the next moment.

“Please take me away! That thing…it was keeping me alive. The others…they heard my screams…and they came to my rescue. And they…were devoured. It was a horrible sight! I…can’t…” she burst into tears at the sight of a warm face after a long time. He gently caressed her.

She panted a bit, letting out all that she had been forced to endure. He had to hold her as she grew frantic, burying her face in his shoulders.

“You can rest easy now, child!” he whispered, as her crying ceased. She gasped for air, as some of the most horrendous sights faded from her memory. Her grief was subsiding, apparent from her sobbing that was now like before…controlled and restricted.

“Do you remember what happened originally? How…” he exercised caution, not wanting to push too much. Her face donned on the horrified look once more, as her temples tensed.

“There was someone…a person…cladded in robes. He…had come here the night before it happened. They said he was a necromancer…please I don’t remember! I hear screams still!” she screamed once more as he put his arms around her, stroking her back gently. He now let her release her burden on his shoulder once more. He knew she needed it badly. Lifting her up, he headed towards the exit, keeping her face concealed from all the horrors outside.

His jaw clenched hard as ire danced in his eyes. Someone was responsible for it all. And whoever had done so awaited a death most cruel in his books. He was going to find the guilty party!