It fell fast and hard, hitting the ground with a deep thud. At first Izzy thought it was dead, that the jump was a suicide attempt. But to her horror the lump on the ground began to move. It slowly began to take the form of a disfigured human. Even in the shadows, the princess could make out it's eyes. Dark and sinister and looking right at her.
Whatever it was, it was nearly human, but not enough. It lacked the stance of a human and it's proportions were warped and disfigured. Izzy could make out the outline of what looked like a bow in it's lanky hand. The creature slowly creeped towards them before letting out a shriek loud enough to wake the whole forest.
The girls jumped, startled, before the other bodies began to drop.
One by one the creatures took their places around them. Each holding bows in their hands. August and the princess were deeply outnumbered, nearly three to one based on the number of thuds they heard. Dark ones were known for fighting dirty. They didn't care about rules or courtesy, and in fact it wasn't uncommon for them to attack in packs.
Once they all assembled the creatures began advancing towards the girls. A few even let out a shrill laugh into the cold night air, sending a shiver down Izzy's spine. Despite her attack in the woods a few days before, she felt much more vulnerable now.
"Stick with me, alright?" August whispered under her breath to the princess.
"I'm not going anywhere," Izzy replied raising her bow to aline an arrow with the first Rhyle she could see.
The enemies had raised their weapons, their sharpened arrows poisoned and ready to strike. Each twisted at an awkward angle and no doubt wrapped in the darkest kinds of magic they could conjure.
The first nearly caught August by surprise. Almost a moment too late, she heard the whizzing of an arrow and let her arm out to stop it, closing her eyes. She felt her lungs lurch for air as she quickly ripped into the energy around her. Her eyes opened to find the tip of an arrow frozen in the air in front of her face. It was nearly too close, she had to think on her feet if they were going to make it out alive. The immediate shock wore off quickly as she soon realized more were on their way.
"You okay?" She heard the princess whisper.
August quickly released the energy, letting the arrow fall to the ground at her feet. She brought the dagger up in a sparing position. The energy was rising within her once more. "Yeah, never better."
Izzy ducked beneath a second arrow before she found her mark and let her first one fly. It wove through the sky and landed deep in the side of one of the Rhyles, tearing open it's flesh. It let out a nasty cry before falling to the ground and appearing to crumble to nothing. There wasn't much time to examine the scene though as the rest of the group approached, this time angry at their fallen brother.
August charged the closest enemy she could find. The Rhyles were known for their combat over a distance, they weren't prepared for a close up fight so that was exactly what she intended to give them. They were nasty creatures, those who turned dark. Their eyes were deep pools of slick oil reflecting off the moonlight which only complimented their taught grey skin. If you looked close enough one could see their veins pumping the jet black energy through them, which is the first thing August saw as she buried her dagger into the throat of the first one she could get ahold of.
Unlike Aldham steel, August's blade had some secrets of it's own. When her father had gifted her protection she had little knowledge on just how deadly her weapon was until one day when she was out hunting. A small rabbit unfortunately got to meet the sharp end of her dagger that day, her first kill with it. Only it wasn't supposed to be a kill. August had mearly meant to shear a tuft of hair from it's back, it was rumored to give good luck in the village. But she was much too young and inexperienced so when she meant to take hair, her knife accidently nicked the back of the creature. A wound no big enough to draw blood, let alone assassinate. But what she didn't know was that her father had placed a curse on the blade. It was lethal to anyone that met it's end. Even the smallest cut could bring down the biggest of foes. Making it more deadly than most weaponry found in the kingdom.
So when it sliced through the vocal cords of the Rhyle, August knew there wouldn't be much time left before whatever was left of its heart stopped. She quickly drew out her dagger and began to examine how many were left.
Izzy had managed to down another by the time August finished her first, but they still were facing more. Arrow were continuing to fly at them, August quickly pulling them all from the air and away from entering the princess. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye she noticed two Rhyles were approaching at once, much faster than the others. Panicked, she channeled the energy and let it rip through her body. August lifted the enemies above the ground, their feet dangling in mid air.
They snarled and let their jaws snap in anger. She let them hang for just a moment, examining their obscure appearance before forcefully ripping their throats out and throwing them to the ground.
August was on a high. She turned around to find the princess cleaning up her bow after finishing off the last one. They had done it, survived a swarm of some of the most dangerous creatures in the forest. The adrenaline pumping through her veins felt addicting. In the silence of the night she couldn't help but start laughing until finally she turned to the princess.
"Ha ha Iz, check it ou-!"
The blow came hard and fast.
Knocking her off her feet. August felt the hard ground connect with her back fast, causing her to cry out in pain. She reached out to move only to find that something large and heavy was pinning her down. Another Rhyle. It must have been waiting in the trees until the perfect time arose.
It's dark black eyes lowered inches from August's, she could see deep into them. Never had she ever seen anything emptier. Paralyzed from the fear she took too long to realize that her dagger had been thrown from her hand during the fall. She tired to call upon the energy but the hot breath of the monster on top of her distracted her far too much to concentrate.
To her surprise, the creature brought it's lanky fingers around August's throat and began to squeeze. She tried to fight but it was useless. The monster was stronger and without her powers August was merely human. But still she wasn't going to make it easy. She tossed and turned until she paused for just a moment, which is when the arrow arrived just inches from her eyes.
