Eight Intertwined

33 - Ghisarma

Ophilia sent out an attack of light magic, closely followed up by a hit of ice from Primrose's direction. Olberic managed to get in one other slash of his sword as Linde pounced at the ghisarma. The overwhelming number of attacks managed to send the ghisarma back into its stunned state once again. H'aanit concentrated her energy and raised one hand above her head, bringing down a bird figure made of thunder. The lightning magic slammed into the ghisarma, and the beast let out an unholy shriek of pain. 

Cyrus was the next to release a strike, this time a two-hitting attack of thunder magic. Alfyn used his ice magic as Tressa nocked an arrow and sent it flying. She struck the ghisarma in the face, and blood began to rush hot and red from the creature's wound. Primrose lashed out with a dagger attack, and H'aanit prepared another arrow. She could tell that the ghisarma was reaching the end of its strength at long last. 

Behind the rest of the group, Therion was still slumped against the ground from his hit against one of the trees. The ghisarma's first attack had sent him flying, and he couldn't bring himself to rise to his feet again no matter how hard he tried to get to his feet. When he attempted to push up, he felt a white hot flash of pain cross over his torso, and he let out a hiss of pain. It felt as if his body was on the verge of falling apart, and something in the back of his head pounded. Despite his best attempts to get up and keep fighting, he simply couldn't do it. Therion snarled and slammed his fist against the ground in vain, knowing that it would do nothing but releasing his agitated energy by that method anyways. 

Olberic was able to get out one final strike of notable strength with his sword before H'aanit jumped into the air, her arrow ready to be sent flying. The ghisarma, still dazed as could be, looked at her with something like panic in its eyes. H'aanit didn't give it the chance to fight back, releasing her arrow instead and watching as it found a snug home against the ghisarma's chest. 

The beast remained standing for another handful of moments before its legs crumpled from beneath it. The ghisarma let out one final shriek of agony before falling silent, the quiet of the forest coming in to practically suffocate the travelers at the heart of the Whisperwood. All seven of the fighters who were still standing looked up at the ghisarma in surprise, just to make sure that it wasn't still moving. The forest was quiet for another handful of long moments before the breeze returned, and H'aanit could have sworn that she heard nature starting to sing once again. This time though, the song was one of grief and loss, a requiem for those who had fallen at the hands of the mighty beast. 

H'aanit allowed her bow to drop to her side, and she closed her eyes in the direction of the ghisarma. "Thy life is given not in vain, for it will feeden others," she said softly, though she knew that it would be little reassurance to the dead. "Thou art of the forest now, and in the forest, naught is lost."

With H'aanit's words of serene peace, the area fell silent. The sound of gentle footsteps eventually came to permeate the air, and the pair of wolves from before appeared in view once again. They looked down at the ghisarma's body as they grew nearer to their foe, silent as could be. H'aanit turned and began to walk away, her bow finding a home once again on her back. Linde trailed after her hunting partner, the tip of her tail flicking back and forth the same way that it always did. The rest of the travelers remained focused on the ghisarma's corpse, almost as if they halfway expected the beast to get up once again and start attacking with the immense brutality it had displayed in life. Despite these expectations though, nothing happened, and the silence yet remained evermore. 

H'aanit glanced over her shoulder to the wolves and the rest of her companions. "Comen, my friends. This life belongeth to all," she declared. "The animals that eateth the grass becometh food for the animals that eateth meat. The eaters of meat in their turn feedeth those yet stronger. And when the strongest of all dieth, his life is returned to the forest. His flesh feedeth the soil, the grass... His blood becometh sap, his bones wood... He becometh the food of the plant eaters, and the circle beginneth once more..." H'aanit paused as she turned to Linde, reaching one hand out for her leopard companion to draw nearer. She stroked at the top of Linde's head, and the feline nuzzled her body closer to H'aanit once more. "Lives entwined, a tapestry woven anew each dawn, every thread a part of the whole."