Stories from RhyDin & The Rings

Description: A deadly flock of Abyssal Chickens has been terrorizing the region, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. These grotesque, demon-borne creatures have been responsible for the brutal deaths of adventurers, merchants, and livestock alike. Known Offenses:

• Slaughter of Livestock: Dozens of cattle, sheep, and horses found mangled beyond recognition.

• Attack on Merchants: Several caravans ambushed, supplies destroyed, and all victims viciously pecked and devoured.

• Adventurer Casualties: Seasoned warriors and hunters found dead with their bodies shredded by talons and beaks.

Appearance:

• Size: Approximately 2 to 3 feet tall.

• Physical Traits: Hideous, malformed birds with leathery wings, sharp talons, and elongated, blood-stained beaks. Their bodies reek of sulfur and brimstone, and they possess glowing red eyes.

• Behavior: Extremely aggressive and coordinated, they hunt in packs, using the cover of night or mist to ambush their prey.

Last Seen:

• The pack was last spotted near the Ravenwood Forest and along the Northland Trade Route within The Deep Wilds, moving westward. Travelers and residents are advised to avoid these areas until further notice.

Reward: A bounty of 500 gold pieces is offered for the elimination of the entire pack. Proof of eradication must be provided in the form of demon feathers or talons. Larger rewards may be given for any adventurers who successfully track down their nest. Warning: These creatures are highly dangerous. Approach with extreme caution, and do not engage without proper magical protection or backup. Contact the nearest Guild Hall or Town Guard for further details.

Takai's feet slapped across the cobbled streets of the city. A weary look on his features as dull golden eyes lazed about the sights and sounds of the streets. Hands buried into the pockets of a pair of baggy black cargo type pants. The fabric was softer and a bit stretchier than the normal material though.

With a soft sigh he slowly came to a stop, a hand rising to roughly rub at his face in frustration. It didn't help the dehydrated throb of a headache in his skull a single bit. His gaze shifted down the street, a familiar sign catching his attention. Did he talk to someone about something last night? His hand glided down his face to scratch at his chin in contemplation. He couldn't remember. Probably didn't matter. Probably.

From the opposite end of that very same street Faeryl rounded the corner, much less limp to her steps today. She had smartened up enough that morning to stop and see a healer about the knife wounds and some of the more deep rooted pains, only made worse the previous nights...extracurricular activities. Some things still ached but, not in any way that didn't bring a little smirk to her lips as she slowed in front of the signage she'd been looking for.

Tongue clicked thoughtfully against her teeth as she skimmed the information. The work sounded easy enough despite the look of the chickens that had been skillfully drawn at the bottom of the ad. Why were they so..fleshy? A pause, leaning in closer to get a better look. Where the fuck are their eyes? Nose wrinkled is disgust, finding that reason enough to hunt them down. Never mind the fact that they were tearing people apart, she just wanted to slice through some nightmare fuel.

Gods how Jake hated being sober. A pit stop with the young doc saw him scolded and patched up properly, and threatened if he touched another bottle before the treatment had finished running its course. The bright side was that at least he had a good view from the rooftop he was perched upon, since a bar wouldn't be as fun with a water. Watching the two familiar faces in the street below was amusing enough that he almost wanted to stay up there and see what happened.

So he does, for the moment at least, moving to kick his legs over the side in case he needs to drop down suddenly. Wouldn't do to have them start a fight before they'd clocked in properly, might as well be ready to intervene before the short jokes rolled in too heavily so early in the day. Early for this lot at least.

Before Takai even got close to the sign he caught the sight of a familiar drow walking down the road toward him. Or at least in his direction. A hazy memory found its purchase in his brain for a brief moment as his tongue clicked against the top of his mouth. "Tch..." Was she the one he'd talked with? He briefly remembered throwing a bottle of putrid booze at her. The thought forced a shit eating grin on his face, teeth clenched behind it. His hand found its way back to his pocket.

Finally closing the distance he stopped a few paces behind the drow, also admiring the art work on the sign. Definitely not the words though. Takai's nose twitched as he caught an interesting scent from the drow. His head slowly turning to stare at the back of her silver haired head. The comment he had stewed in his brain on the way over slipped from his mind, bringing a look of disappointment across him. Maybe he wouldn't talk shit. At least not yet.

The hairs on the back of Takai’s neck twitched, a slow turn of his head revealing a hint of a golden orb falling towards the general direction of Jake. He wasn't a fan of being watched. He also wasn't sure if Jake was truly there or if it was just Fae's mixture of smells filling the air. With a loud sigh he looked back to the sign. Focusing on the payout this time. He at least knew his numbers.

"Neither of you are remotely sneaky." Fae said with a mix of amusement and irritation, that half specifically for the wolf at her back. The slump in her shoulders was visible, jaw quick to clench without him even having to open his mouth. Her ears weren't the only thing that worked double time at any given moment, but both men had a distinctive energy about them that she could feel tickling at her senses. Seemed like they'd never have the joy of sneaking up on each other, would they?

Takai's sigh mirrored her own. The slump in her shoulders visible, jaw quick to clench without him even having to open his mouth. She did, however, side step so he could get a better look at the sign. "That's what I was talking about last night." Fae was confident he didn't remember a damn thing, which might have been the only reason she was trying to be pleasant. It pained her.

Chuckling is followed by the sound of Jake’s boots scraping against the bricks on the way down, punctuated by the thud of the pirate coming down to street level. "Can't let a man have his fun in peace, can ya chère?" Making his way towards the duo, his focus is more on them than the sign. The agonizing attempt at politeness nearly draws a laugh out of him, until he actually spots the image at the bottom of the bounty. "Ah, of course. Shoulda expected this when you said chickens, really."

A hand goes up to either side as he sticks himself between the two, coming down for their shoulders. What he lacked in comparative firepower, he fully intended to make up for in being a nuisance. "Think they'll make good drumsticks? Wait, can either of you even cook?" Bothering others would be a great way to bring his mood back up if he had to run dry, and these two usually made it so easy.

Takai’s eyes focused on the chickens. "....they're... kind of fucking ugly." His nose scrunched in disgust. The brain of an animal was quick to change. "You think... they taste like chicken?" He leaned in close, staring at it a bit harder. A large breath filling his lungs before he leaned back and stood. His hands slipping from their cozy homes to rest on his flexing hips, a subtle backwards lean to stretch only to have his shoulder slapped by Jake. Of course the men were on the same page. His eyes drifted to Jake and then Fae. "I mean... if I have to?"

"I let you have plenty of fun." Fae didn't miss a beat. Jake was given a glance, looking him over as if she expected him to be in anything other than that damn duster. "Wouldn't be sending us after actual chickens, even though they're mean little things." Pot calling the kettle black? Then it was back to the sign so she could rip it off the wall, fold it up and stuff it into her pocket. No reason to risk anyone else trying to poke around on their adventure for the day.

Fae chuckled, glancing between them with a shake of her head. "I could fry one up. Or roast it." That wasn't her admitting out loud that she could, in fact, cook. Something told her that was information that might be fully exploited if word got out.

"Think we'll let you have the first honor of finding that taste out for us." Patting Takai on the shoulder as he says it, Jake watches the missive disappear. Probably a good idea to avoid undue company, he already wasn't sure the three could manage to avoid hitting each other if things got hectic enough. Fighting as part of a group was a skill he'd been letting rust for a long time. "Where exactly we headin' anyways?" Even if he'd bothered to read it, it wasn't as if the eternally lost man would know.

The wolf watched the post ripped from its board and for once entirely agreed with the drow. Takai had killed people for less. He was more than ready to cut down someone that decided to encroach on his sport. "I didn't read it..." He looked at Jake and then back to Fae. "Where is it at runt?" He shot at the drow. His eyes dropping to her big girl boots for a moment, a grin creeping over his mouth again. His brain rolled back to Jake's comment. "Oi, the fuck I gotta be the one to try it?" Would he have regardless? Probably... with or without permission.

The drow had to take a deep breath, it was possible she even counted to ten before answering their question, annoyance once again tainting her words. "Ravenwood Forest and along the Northland Trade Route in the Wilds..heading east." It only took Fae reading it once to remember what she saw, sober as she was. "So I vote we head that way and see what we can find." She was still learning which way was up herself, but navigating the unfamiliar was something she had perfected over the years.

This was a terrible idea. " I'm going to complain about this the entire time." This being Takai, there was no need to clarify. She shot them both a pointed glare before heading off down the street in the direction of The Deep Wilds.

The names meant nothing, sliding from Jake’s memory almost as soon as they were spoken. East, however, was a word he could get behind, navigating by directions like that instead of place titles being right up his alley. One last smack for Takai's shoulder before he's moving to follow Fae, adding, "Because we did the heavy lifting of finding the job, and you want to anyway." The ‘we’ wasn't even a stretch, just an outright lie, but his grin betrays nothing as falls in line.

"It ain't so bad, chère, we needed an extra target to take all the hits for us anyways with our track record." Though the wounds had already mostly healed over, he could still see the new scars at his wrist when the sleeve lifted, and knew the others were still hidden under his shirt. "Helps that he shrugs them hits off like a motherfucker, usually."[/color]

"Hmph..." Takai took the slap on the shoulder for the final time before he turned to follow the duo. "I'm not a fuckin' meat shield. If it's not worth my time, I'm out." He grumbled, annoyed by the conversation. He had shrugged off Fae's angry glare from earlier but eyed her from behind with a disgruntled stare before his eyes shifted to Jake. Another sigh as his attitude slipped from his face finally and the group headed for The Wilds.

A scoff in response to Jake's reasoning. She didn't care if he had a point, she was one short joke away from lacing Takai's abyssal chicken dinner with drow poison. There was always some tucked in a pocket or hidden in a boot somewhere.

Her confidence that the three of them weren't just wandering off to their deaths was wavering with the chatter happening behind her. Another heavy sigh and she picked up the pace, leading the two goons behind her off towards either the promise of money or a very painful end.


City streets eventually shifted to dirt roads, scattered cabins and farms, an occasional passerby but otherwise there wasn't much in the way of people on their trek. Just the quiet of nature that she took the time to enjoy, mostly silent as she hurried along. The speckling of trees and brush grew more and more dense, widened roads becoming footpaths and even the rustle of wildlife quieted around them. They finally happened upon a worn wooden sign that simply read Ravenwood Forest. Ahead of them the sun did little to break through the thickly packed canopy of green. She glanced over her shoulder at them, prayed to Lolth they wouldn't do something stupid, and started down the overgrown trail before them.

"So... when did you all.. uh... start being so friendly?" The man had been quiet for the second half of their journey. A bicker back and forth with Jake along the way. Like Fae though, he enjoyed the silence away from the city. Choosing to walk mostly in silence at the back of the small pack. The thought of death never really crossing his mind, unlike the drow. It was just another day and another workout to look forward to. Maybe. The words of his had come as the trio seemed to grow quieter and quieter, it felt a little uncomfortable even for him as they neared their search area.

Takai's nose had been working over time, his ears twitching occasionally, golden orbs brightening as he peered through the dense foliage. Both of his hands were locked behind his head, giving almost an air of zero interest in the surroundings. Despite the posturing, he was ready for whatever was coming up.

Boot to ground, he busied himself with looking over his knife for most of the journey, aside from the minor trading of verbal pokes with Takai at the start. Death was something he danced with enough to not really care one way or another, so it left his mind time to wander as the surroundings shifted until that question came crashing through the relative silence. It was a good question, despite the fact that he had so many deflections ready for it usually, none of which bubble up as the man pulls his eyes away from the rear of the drow he'd been ogling.

"Shit me, couldn't figure out a way to make the silence any more awkward, could ya?" Not an answer, the words to make one struggling against the instinct to brush it off as his usual charm getting him places.

She wasn't going to answer that question simply because she had no idea how. Faeryl wanted her mind on the fight ahead of them instead of the raging battle inside her that she wasn't really winning. There was a white flag ready and waiting, whether she liked it or not.

Every faint sound played at her ears, from the scurry of an occasional rodent to the shift of branches in the wind. Something was off, the hairs on the back of her neck at attention the deeper they went. Off enough that her sword silently materialized in her hand as if it had a mind of its own.

In the deep shadows of the Wilds, a grisly scene unfolds. A clearing, dense with tangled brambles and towering ancient trees, holds the remains of a merchant and his horse, both recently slain. The bodies, still faintly warm, are sprawled across the ground, blood soaking into the dark earth.

A trio of abyssal chickens feasts on the fresh corpses, their grotesque, oily forms moving with twitchy, predatory precision. Their sharp, jagged beaks tear into the horse’s flesh, while one chicken perches on the merchant’s chest, viciously ripping at his throat. A low, wet squawk escapes one of them, muffled by the meat it consumes.

These creatures hunt by sound and heat, and though they feed, their senses remain sharply attuned to the forest around them. The warmth of their prey is starting to fade, and as it does, the larger chicken lifts its head, nostrils flaring. It sniffs the air and tilts its head, sensing the cooling temperature of the corpses beneath them.

Suddenly, a faint sound—barely more than a whisper of a twig snapping—catches the attention of the pack. Their glowing yellow eyes dart in unison toward the source, bodies lowering into the undergrowth. The hunt is never truly over in the Deep Wilds.

Takai's nose twitched as his hands dropped from behind his head. "Shut up." A blanket statement as his shoulders lowered, his body sped up as the balls of his feet softly padded across the rough brush as quietly as he could. It only took a moment before he was on all fours slipping into a bush with a gentle rustle of leaves. From the shadow of the foliage, two golden orbs stared at the creatures in a silent count. Unfortunate they hadn't arrived sooner. Only seeing three though, he lowered to his knees in the brush before sitting on his rump. It really didn't seem worth his time.

Fae had been silent this entire time, in all aspects. She shot Takai a look as he slinked off then continued to move through the brush, gaze shifting between her careful steps and the clearing ahead of them. It was easier for her to blend in, given her size and the trees offered more than enough places for her to sneak along without being out in the open.

She wanted to watch them, but as the three beasts lowered themselves into the undergrowth even her sharp sight couldn't quite pick them out. Irritated, she continued forward, sliding through tree cast shadows with ease. Sometimes she could be unnervingly stealthy.

The sudden change in the atmosphere isn't lost on the pirate, who becomes the caboose of their little train when Takai goes for a bush ahead. He stood out like a sore thumb in the group suddenly, his brand of stealth not translating as well to the natural surroundings as they did the usual civilized areas he employed it in.

Standing still, however, isn't an option since he had no intention of missing the fun. Before he can even get a glimpse of the creatures, thanks to an acorn under one of the blades of grass he's using to soften his footfalls, one crunch announces his presence. Now he can see them, but only because one lifted at the sound to stare right back at him. Bait, whether he liked it or not. "Well, fuck."

The trio of abyssal chickens goes rigid at the sound of Jake’s misstep, their heads snapping up in perfect, eerie unison. Their slick, leathery bodies bristle, the oily sheen on their pale flesh catching the dim light. Needle-like teeth, slick with blood and bits of torn flesh, are bared as their jaws open wide, each lined with several rows of razor-sharp fangs. Thin, forked tongues flick out to taste the air, picking up the heat and vibrations Jake gives off.

The largest of the pack, its form a bulbous, grotesque mass of muscle and sinew, leans forward. Its long, curved neck extends as it lets out a low, bubbling growl that reverberates through the clearing. The maw splits open unnaturally wide, revealing a grotesque inner mouth with writhing tendrils, each tipped with minute barbs. A viscous drool, thick and dark, oozes from its gullet, dripping onto the ground with a hiss, eating away at the forest floor.

The pack begins to move, their limbs contorting as they shift, balancing on their powerful hind legs and clawed forearms. Their movements are almost insect-like—jerky, sudden, and yet disturbingly coordinated. The smaller two abyssal chickens slink forward, lowering their elongated heads close to the ground, nostrils flaring as they hone in on the fresh heat radiating from Jake.

The clearing seems to tighten around him, the underbrush rustling as the beasts spread out, forming a semicircle. Their guttural growls intensify, the leader snapping its teeth with an audible clack. They’re poised, anticipating a reaction, the vibrant glow of their eyes narrowing as they track his every motion.

The leader, towering over the others with its massive bulk, slowly rises on its hind legs, revealing a sickening expanse of distended flesh beneath its maw, like a gullet too large for its body. It lets out a warbling cry—half growl, half gurgle—that echoes through the clearing. The smaller chickens crouch even lower, claws digging into the dirt, ready to lunge at the slightest provocation.

This grotesque pack hunt has only just begun.

The crunch of the acorn might as well have been a fog horn. Her attention snapped towards Jake. "Fucking twinkle toes.." The words were mumbled quietly under her breath. Fae stayed where she was, but every muscle in her body coiled tight as the creatures started their advance on Jake. She didn't spring into action just yet, content in letting them think there was only one tasty treat out there with them. The sounds they made sent goosebumps across her flesh, a shiver down her spine that made her visibly uncomfortable, barely able to sit still. These were nothing like the beasts on the flyer in her pocket, that much was already clear.

Being surrounded this quickly into the hunt wasn't part of the game plan, at least if his comments about using his friend as a meat shield held any weight. But the grin tugging at either corner of his mouth didn't seem concerned with game plans anyways, fingers twitching as the foreign sensation the chickens gave off slowly but surely got under his skin. Those fingers fly into action, pulling that short pistol from its place on his hip.

"Pick your poison, chicken shits!" It truly was the best he could come up with before firing right at the biggest, ugliest one in the middle. The muted shots aren't quite loud enough to beat out either of the men's shouts, but definitely a good source of heat.

Though he had no interest in fighting yet, the snap behind him might as well have been an aluminum bat to a metal pole as far as he was concerned. Maybe a dinner bell? His lids dropped as a colossal sigh slipped from his mouth in the bush. Del would be furious if he let the man be eaten. "Fucking bug man..."

The creatures were savage to be sure, something any normal creature would steer clear from for sure. Takai however was far from normal. Very unceremoniously, he stood from the thicket, glowing orbs trained at the approaching herd. "Oi, you ugly void cocks!" It turns out Takai would be the meat shield.

The shot cuts through the air, the brief flash of heat a blinding beacon in the cold, dark clearing. The lead abyssal chicken lets out a shrill, warbling scream as the bullet tears through its blubbery hide, a splatter of dark, viscous blood oozing from the wound. The beast stumbles, its limbs twitching erratically, jaws snapping as it struggles to maintain balance. The shriek reverberates through the clearing, triggering a frenzied reaction from the others.

The two smaller abyssal chickens whip their heads around, pinpointing Jake’s location instantly. The sudden heat and sound draw their glowing eyes like a moth to flame. With a guttural hiss, they begin to circle him, their gaits jerky and unnatural, as though they were marionettes controlled by some unseen force. The creatures skitter forward, claws digging into the earth as they tighten the noose, jaws opening wide to reveal rows of jagged, bloodstained teeth.

But before they can close in, Takai’s shout reverberates through the clearing, breaking through the din of combat. The sound cuts like a knife through the chaotic energy, drawing the attention of every abyssal chicken present. The leader, struggling to regain its footing, swings its grotesque head toward Takai, nostrils flaring. With a rumbling growl, it shifts its bulk and launches itself toward him in a sudden burst of speed, driven by an animalistic rage.

The two smaller chickens, spurred on by the leader’s movement, dart forward with terrifying swiftness. One leaps at Takai’s left leg, teeth gnashing at the air in anticipation of sinking into flesh, while the other scurries low to the ground, slashing at his midsection with a flurry of razor-sharp claws. They’re relentless, each attack precise and coordinated, their twisted forms moving in tandem as if guided by a single mind.

And then, from the shadows at the clearing’s edge, more emerge—drawn by the cries and scent of blood. Four more abyssal chickens slither and crawl from the underbrush, their bodies twisting and contorting as they enter the fray. They remain on the outskirts, watching with eerie stillness, their tongues flicking out as they pick up the vibrations of movement and the scent of their fallen kin.

Fae remains hidden, her small frame perfectly camouflaged in the shadow of a tree. Her sharp eyes track the creatures, but even she can feel the shifting energy in the air. The new arrivals fan out, encircling the perimeter of the fight. They wait, sensing the warmth and movement of their prey, their instincts screaming for them to rush in—but they hold, their patience unnerving.

The clearing is becoming a seething mass of claws and fangs, a frenzy of motion and violence. The abyssal chickens seem endless, their numbers swelling as they converge on Takai and Jake with ruthless, unwavering aggression. More guttural cries echo from the forest depths, promising that the true nightmare has only just begun. The moment the last of the first three falls, the full weight of the pack will be unleashed in a torrential wave of bloodthirsty, ravenous hunger.

Fae watched them both with a deep, heavy sigh. So much for stealth, which wasn't usually her style. But she also was in no mood to watch either of them end up bird food. “You both have the confidence of much taller men...” This time her words weren't hushed. In a plume of violet mist, Fae was gone from where she had been hiding. Another burst of mist and she reappeared in a different part of the clearing, behind the three abyssal chickens.

Not three, not anymore. The cover of trees would have been a better place to stay, however she was not going to sit around and hide. Vibrant reds tried to count the number of creatures twisting out from the edges of the clearing, but it's impossible with the way they moved. Her grip on the sword goes tighter, putting faith in the other two to keep themselves alive and maybe not do anything else quite so stupid.

Well, that had worked too good. Fae barely registered behind the chickens in his mind as his hands shot up to catch the lunging wounded leader. Like a vice grip, his hands clamped around the first chicken's head before his entire body slammed forward. A burst of brute force slammed his skull into the chicken's, a crack of bone and cartilage sounding around his plummeting skull. He could feel the creature's skull giving way under his own.

He had no answer for the two incoming just yet besides a flex of a thigh as the first wrapped its fangs along the thick meat of his. Before the third chicken could truly reach him though, the lead chicken's body was swung like a whip, crashing along the swiping third. "Fuuuck-" He grunted with a gnashing of teeth forcing himself to swing harder. "Off!"

The cries from the forest are impossible to count for the pirate, and the new arrivals don't fill him with confidence either as they stalk around. Just the opposite, feeling like a piece of meat still on display as the other one got picked for the first taste. Breaking into a sprint towards the ones on Takai, he asks, "Worth it yet, Duckie?"

The third one being knocked aside gives him what he's looking for, a target and a jumping off point. One shot is taken towards its side, mostly just to get its attention, before one more bounding step is taken. The added height of that last step helps get his other foot planted firmly onto the monster's head, where cybernetics whir to life in his leg to launch the man upwards while knocking the creature violently face first towards the dirt, sending Jake up and over the other man and his new toothy ankle bracelet.

The clearing erupts into a frenzy.

Fae’s sudden appearance in a swirl of violet mist catches the pack off guard. Their grotesque heads jerk around, jaws gaping wide in confusion as they spot her standing at their backs. Her crimson eyes dart around, tracking the shifting, twisting forms that emerge from the shadows, more of the grotesque chickens crawling out from the treeline. Their erratic movements make it impossible to get an accurate count, the creatures writhing and contorting as they slink into the clearing. Her grip tightens on her sword, every muscle coiled in anticipation, waiting for the right moment to strike. She just needs Takai and Jake to hold on a little longer.

Takai, however, has already chosen his path. With a guttural snarl, he lashes out. His hands clamp around the wounded leader’s head, and in one brutal motion, he slams his skull into the creature’s face. The impact is devastating—a sharp, sickening crack that sends shards of bone and splatters of dark ichor spraying through the air. The beast’s shriek warps into a choking gurgle, and before the two smaller chickens can react, Takai swings the leader’s limp body like a weapon, smashing it into the nearest one.

The smaller chicken is thrown off its feet, its limbs flailing wildly as it crashes into the dirt. It scrambles up, trembling and dazed, blood pooling beneath it. Takai doesn’t slow down. Ignoring the searing pain as the second chicken tightens its hold on his thigh, he roars and whips the broken leader’s body at the third creature lunging toward him.

The corpse collides with a wet crunch, sending the third chicken sprawling. It squawks in pain, wings flapping furiously as it tries to regain its footing.

Jake is already on the move. Sprinting forward in a blur of motion, he targets the staggering chicken. With a swift leap, he drives his boot into the top of its head. A metallic whir emanates from his leg, the cybernetics activating in a burst of power that propels him upwards. The chicken’s head snaps downwards with a wet crack, its body toppling over and slamming into the ground. It flounders, dirt and debris flying as it claws desperately at the earth, dazed and disoriented.

The violence sends a ripple through the pack. The four abyssal chickens lurking at the clearing’s edge pause, their twisted forms bristling with tension. They exchange a glance, and then, with a unified screech, they charge forward, bodies contorting as they surge toward Takai, Jake, and Fae.

More abyssal chickens pour out from the shadows—eight in total, their slick bodies gleaming under the faint light. Their claws scrape against the ground, some using their malformed wings to leap forward in short, erratic bursts. The two nearest the back peel off, circling around to seal off any chance of escape, while the remaining six charge in directly.

The air is filled with their shrill cries as they converge. Three break off toward Takai, eyes blazing with fury as they throw themselves at him with reckless abandon. They don’t care about their leader’s broken corpse—they only care about the threat in front of them. Claws flash and teeth snap as they lunge, their combined weight crashing down in an attempt to overwhelm him.

Two more pivot sharply, zeroing in on Jake. Their limbs scrape furiously at the ground as they rush forward. One leaps high, jaws snapping for his chest, while the other ducks low, aiming to clamp its teeth around his leg as he lands.

The final three direct their attention to Fae. They move in jerky, unsettling motions, tongues flicking out as they taste the heat radiating from her. With shrill cries, they spread out, forming a loose triangle around her before rushing in, claws outstretched, aiming to tear into flesh.

The clearing explodes into a chaotic blur of teeth and claws, the abyssal chickens throwing themselves at their prey with savage ferocity. Their shrieks and warbling cries fill the air, echoing through the dark woods, but the true horror lies in the shadows beyond—more figures shifting, waiting to pounce, ensuring that this nightmare is far from over.

He couldn't smell anything besides the beasts, their blood and his own. They were everywhere. "How many of these fuckin' things did that stupid sign say there was!?" He had assumed a handful. He was very wrong apparently. With one final swing, the leader's limp corpse was thrown across the busy clearing aimed at the incoming packs coming at him.

His focus shifted immediately towards the chicken buried into his thigh. His left hand came crashing down on the back of the creature’s skull as his right hand shot to the side. An envelope of white filled his opened palm before it shifted into a shaft. The shaft exploded in size, taking the form of a large broadsword. The light lifted from the blade like ashes peeling off in the wind before finally revealing a black and rusted blade.

With a labored grunt the blade was brought down with a savage power to burrow into the back of the chicken attacking his thigh. The beast savage taring had definitely left their mark as his form began to drift under the constant assault of teeth on flesh.

A white beam of light began to appear in his left hand now. This one slowly forming into a long pole before creating the arc of a crescent blade at its end. His golden orbs slammed to the possibly slowed but still approaching pack.

There was no time to worry about anyone but herself at the moment, gaze shifting to follow the three creatures as they slink their way towards her. Gods, they made her skin crawl, just the way they moved and the sounds they made doing more to irk her than most beasts she had battled.

The fact that they rushed her in unison worked to her benefit, for the moment. She crouched and leapt herself up and over, landing in a crouch out of the path of the three nearly colliding, fleshy bodies. The drow spun on her heels to face them again, the blade in her hand dropping loose into its whip-like state so she could flick it in their direction. The razor sharp blades looped around the closest neck, and with one quick yank, sunk deep enough to nearly sever it off. With a flicker of a grin, she jerked the whip free and brought it back to her side. The two remaining chickens let out bone chilling shrieks, clearly unimpressed.

His landing isn't followed by any reprieve as the next two chickens come rushing towards him. Leaning aside, the wide eyed expression as his mouth stretches into a surprised grimace pulls tightly against the thin scab along his bottom lip. The first of the two chickens soars past his chest, brushing against the duster but not finding purchase, while the second has a bit more luck.

Legs go out from under him as it's body crashes through them, wicked teeth latching on and ruining his second pair of pants in as many days with fresh holes and blood. Between the start of his fall and hitting the ground, he's already stabbing that dainty blade of his repeatedly into its head. When his body slams into the dirt, it's already dead from the brain carving, but still clung tightly to him.

The chicken that had missed the mark skids along the ground to whirl around, rushing back towards the pirate while raising its own shriek to join all the others. Takai's words finally register through the horrific sound as his uninhibited leg comes up to shut the approaching creature's mouth with a kick to the underside of its jaw. "Not enough apparently!?"

The clearing becomes a battlefield of blood and chaos.

Takai's shout reverberates through the clearing, his voice tinged with frustration and disbelief. “How many of these fuckin’ things did that stupid sign say there was!?” His muscles bulge as he hurls the leader’s limp, broken body across the clearing. The corpse arcs through the air before crashing into the wave of incoming chickens. The impact sends several of them skittering to the side, the fallen leader’s mass disrupting their frenzied advance.

Takai’s attention shifts instantly to the beast still latched onto his thigh, its teeth grinding deeper into his flesh. With a snarl, his left hand comes crashing down on the back of the chicken’s skull, stunning it momentarily. In his right hand, a searing light erupts, coalescing into the shaft of a weapon that rapidly expands. The light peels away like ash on the wind, revealing a massive, rusted broadsword with a blade blackened as if charred by some infernal fire.

With a grunt of effort, Takai brings the blade down in a powerful arc. The sword bites deep into the creature’s back, the force of the blow nearly splitting it in two. The beast lets out a choking screech, its body convulsing violently as it releases its grip, dark blood spraying across the ground. Pain and exhaustion claw at the edges of Takai’s vision, but he pushes it aside, teeth bared in a snarl as the sword shudders under the dying beast’s weight.

But there’s no time to catch his breath. As the creature’s form slumps lifelessly to the ground, another surge of white light blossoms in Takai’s left hand. Slowly, the energy shapes itself into a long pole, then curves into a crescent blade at its tip—a grim, brutal weapon. Takai’s golden eyes narrow as he sets his gaze on the approaching pack, still snarling and clicking as they draw closer despite the carnage around them.

Fae’s attention remains solely on the three chickens stalking her, their erratic, jerking movements making her skin crawl. Their gurgling, bone-chilling sounds grate on her nerves more than any roar or growl she’s ever faced. But the way they rush toward her, all three moving in unison, plays right into her hand.

She crouches low, then leaps high into the air, flipping gracefully over the lunging beasts. They nearly collide with each other, but their sharp claws dig into the dirt, keeping them from tumbling over. Fae lands behind them in a low crouch, a grin spreading across her lips as her blade shifts, falling slack and morphing into its whip form. The metallic coils gleam faintly as she flicks it out with a vicious snap.

The razor-edged whip wraps around the neck of the closest chicken, its serrated blades biting deep. Fae yanks hard, the motion nearly severing the beast’s head from its shoulders. The chicken’s limbs flail wildly, a strangled screech escaping its gaping maw before it collapses, twitching, into the dirt. Fae jerks her whip free, blood dripping from its length as she snaps it back to her side, her grin widening as the remaining two let out furious, ear-splitting shrieks.

Jake, meanwhile, lands hard, and any chance for reprieve is immediately cut short as the next pair of chickens rush him. His eyes widen as the first one barrels past, its jaws snapping mere inches from his chest. The second one crashes into his legs with a bone-jarring impact, sending him sprawling towards the dirt.

Pain lances through him as sharp teeth clamp onto his calf, the creature’s weight dragging him down. But Jake’s response is immediate. His short blade flashes in a blur of movement, stabbing repeatedly into the chicken’s skull. Its body twitches and spasms as he carves into its brain, the savage thrusts sending dark blood spraying across the dirt. By the time Jake finally hits the ground, the creature is dead, its jaws still locked around his shredded pant leg.

The other chicken, recovering from its missed lunge, skids to a stop and whirls around, its yellow eyes blazing with rage. It hurls itself at Jake, mouth open wide in a vicious shriek. But Jake’s unoccupied leg snaps up, boot connecting with the underside of the chicken’s jaw with a satisfying crunch.

Takai’s earlier shout finally registers in Jake’s ears, and he lets out a breathless laugh, blood splattered across his face. “Not enough, apparently!” he yells back as the stunned chicken stumbles back from the force of his kick.

But the brief exchange of banter is swallowed by the growing cacophony. The air buzzes with the sound of more bodies crashing through the underbrush. Eight more abyssal chickens—drawn by the scent of blood and the cries of their dying kin—surge into the clearing. Their grotesque bodies writhe and squirm as they rush forward, claws tearing at the ground, eyes fixed hungrily on their prey.

The clearing is alive with the sounds of battle: shrill screeches, the clash of weapons, and the desperate breaths of those caught in the onslaught. There’s no pause, no mercy, just the relentless wave of abyssal chickens bearing down on them, determined to overwhelm and devour everything in their path.

"Seriously.." The words probably aren't spoken loud enough for anyone to hear, detached from the trio in a separate part of the field. But, they're rich with prickling irritation as more of those damn things burst from the tree line. For now, she focuses on the last two. They seemed to have smartened up, not as quick to lunge together this time. Instead one of them launches for her upper body at full speed, talons curling into the flesh of her shoulders with enough force to send her tumbling back. The other waits just a moment longer, then dives towards her as well, beak at her shin.

Leather and skin rip under the violent grip, taken aback by just how strong the little bastards are. Without much choice, she blinks in and out of sight once more, away from the talons and beak. The distraction is enough to slice through another and kick the third towards the clearing with an angry grunt, once she's back in view. As it soared through the air, Fae quietly began murmuring something drowic in nature under her breath while she studied the tree line again.

By the time the new spear had formed in his hand, his entire body lunged forward sending it like a javelin at the newly arrived hoard at the trees edge. He had no intention of letting this battle get out of control. The spear collided with the body of one of the newly arrived chickens only to instantly pierce its body like a .50 caliber bullet shot at close range. The spear hit a second with a significant loss of force. The poor chicken was ripped from its feet and pinned to a tree by the weapon.

"Four." He mumbled to himself as he grimaced, pushing off of his wounded leg as a gush of blood spilled from the deep wounds down his leg. Another ruined pair of pants. His hulking form shot forward much faster than a man his side should but just like that he was gone.

He had vanished.

Takai reappeared above the chickens, his body still facing the same direction as he landed harshly on the ground. The soft soil of the wood giving way against his powerful toes as he turned around in a fierce spin, his blade slung like a dagger as it spun through the air with a violent whir, tearing the air asunder around it as it plunged through the back of a once pursuing chicken. Now he was perusing. His arms both rose as he lowered his body in a powerful stance. Light cascaded down his fists to his elbows as his arms were enveloped in the same pure white light as before. The light peeled away, revealing two very battered and scarred metal gauntlets that ran along his entire forearm and ended just above his elbow in a sharp gnarled point. His arms slammed to his sides as his entire body flexed with effort, muscles exploding as he roared. The entire forest heard his call.

Prying the dead chicken's jaw open in the brief moment bought by the kick to its still living companion, he heaves the thing over to free himself while scrambling to get upright. More of the creatures swarming in from his peripheral vision as he keeps an eye on the dazed one before him starts the manic grin growing again.

Pushing off with his good leg as he makes it to his feet, he practically throws himself at the chicken he'd kicked in the mouth. The two go tumbling as shadows of movement tell him that at least a couple of the newest wave was heading his way. One snapping its jaws for Jake ends up finding the leg of the one he's grappling with instead as they continue to roll, his knife sending even more dark blood with each repeated stab into its side.

The stabbing is halted when a third one finds purchase on his arm, pain blossoming anew in the same damn area those stupid dogs had bit him in the past. His shoulder is snatched by a fourth one, the two chickens tearing him forcefully out from under the one he'd been trying to gut while sinking their teeth even deeper. His implants start whirring to life with renewed vigor as muscle and sinew splits under the assault of being turned into a chew toy.

The clearing is a chaotic frenzy of movement and blood.

Takai’s spear hurtles through the air like a streak of white light, the weapon piercing the body of the first chicken with brutal force. The creature’s body convulses violently, a horrific shriek tearing from its throat as the spear drives it backwards. The spear doesn’t stop—it crashes through and impales a second chicken, ripping it off its feet and slamming it into a nearby tree. The sharp, wet thud of its body hitting the bark is drowned out by the cacophony of screeches from the pack.

The surrounding chickens falter, their slick heads twitching as they sense the carnage unfolding around them. They freeze for a moment, disoriented, but their confusion quickly turns into fury.

But before they can react, Takai vanishes in a blur. He reappears in the air above them, landing with the force of a small avalanche. The earth trembles under the impact, sending the nearest chickens stumbling back. He spins with a sudden ferocity, his blade slicing through the air in a deadly arc. The weapon finds its mark, cutting clean through the back of a chicken mid-lunge. The creature’s body spasms, blood gushing from the wound as it crumples to the ground.

Two nearby chickens, mouths open wide and drooling, immediately whirl around and charge at him. Their claws scrape against the dirt as they leap forward, trying to tackle his legs and pull him down. From the treeline, three more chickens burst from the underbrush, snapping and shrieking as they rush at Takai’s position. Their bodies contort as they charge, aiming to overwhelm him with their combined strength and relentless fury.

Across the clearing, Fae’s fight intensifies as the two remaining chickens circle her warily. Their slick, featureless heads bob and jerk as they close in, their sense of her presence guiding their movements. Then, without warning, one explodes into motion, claws raking down her shoulders with a brutal strength that knocks her back a step. Flesh tears under the onslaught, and the beast’s grip almost drags her down.

The second chicken waits for a fraction of a second longer, then dives for her legs, its beak snapping shut on empty air as she vanishes in a plume of violet mist. The creature lets out a gurgling hiss, limbs slashing through the dissipating fog. Fae reappears in a flash, already swinging her blade. The sharp edge cleaves through the closest chicken, slicing it nearly in half. Blood sprays across the ground, and the creature’s body flails helplessly before going limp while she punts the other across the clearing.

A third chicken crashes through the brush at the sound of the dying shriek, homing in on her with a bloodthirsty scream. It rushes forward, limbs flailing as it tries to latch onto her leg with gnashing teeth, jaws snapping with wild ferocity. Fae grits her teeth and lashes out with a fierce kick, sending it stumbling back as it shrieks in frustrated rage. The remaining chicken recovers and lunges again, but it pauses, trembling as it senses something in the air. The whispered drowic incantations flowing from Fae’s lips cause the very air to hum and vibrate around her, disorienting it.

On the other side of the clearing, Jake grapples with his own attackers. He shoves the lifeless chicken’s jaws open, heaving its dead weight off of him and scrambling to his feet. More of the creatures rush in from his periphery, their shrill, echoing cries reverberating through the air as they home in on the sound of his breath and movement.

Jake throws himself at the nearest chicken, the two of them tumbling across the ground in a wild struggle. His blade flashes, stabbing into its side repeatedly as they roll. Dark blood sprays with every thrust, the creature’s body convulsing and twisting under the assault. Before he can finish it off, the sound of rapid movement draws his attention—two more chickens, mouths agape and claws outstretched, rush toward him from the underbrush. He barely has time to react before the first collides with him, its teeth digging into his arm as it drags him down.

The second chicken, jaws open wide, leaps and clamps down on his shoulder. Pain flares through his body, but the pressure only increases as the chickens tear into his flesh.

Jake’s body contorts as he struggles against the biting pressure. The chickens’ claws rake across his flesh, their beaks gnashing and tearing with brutal efficiency. The combined weight of the attacking creatures bears down on him, dragging him further into the dirt as they fight to rip him apart.

The clearing resonates with the harsh, shrill cries of the remaining abyssal chickens. Their numbers have been cut down, but the pack shows no signs of backing off. If anything, the blood-soaked battlefield has only driven them into a deeper frenzy. They thrash and lunge, jaws snapping at anything that moves, as the fight escalates into a brutal, desperate struggle for survival.

Well this had definitely turned into something far more interesting than he had ever expected. A few chickens turned into a swarm. Even he was struggling to keep up with the savage little creatures and their numbers.

Takai's body rose as his metal clad fists reared up before slamming down on the two encroaching chickens. His fists collided with their skulls as they lunged out to find his legs in their jaws. The chickens slammed chin first into the dirt beside him, their momentum completely lost as the two chickens dropped like gorey rocks under his powerful arms. Their skulls exploded in shrapnel of gore, bone and blood.

His eyes rose to look at Jake who seemed to have his hands a little too full. There wasn't enough time. The next wave of chickens was close by. "Tch. Don't fuckin' die Jake." He couldn't even see Fae, hopefully she was fine.

Takai was off again, his form feverishly sprinting towards the incoming birds as his arms crossed in front of him, ready to attack or defend.

"Myrvorn.." Softly under her breath, eyes slipping closed regardless of the risks tumbling into the clearing. The air around Faeryl seemed to sizzle with energy, the blade in her hand flashing a vibrant purple as she trailed off. In the distance chirps and chittering broke above the chorus of shrieking beasts, loud and melodic with a malice just beneath the surface. Branches and twigs snapped and crushed against the steps of something rustling quickly through the forest ahead of her. Dozens of rat sized spiders were first to break the tree line, skittering across the clearing. Whether they were heading straight for the chickens or tempting them with the warmth of their bodies didn't matter. A distraction was a distraction.

"Myrvorn!" The spider that followed was nearly seven feet tall, sleek and black with eyes as red as garnets. It reared back, hissing angrily a pace or two in front of Faeryl. She didn't flinch as she peered up at it, a smile slipping wide across her lips. "Elgg!" Another bone chilling hiss from the spider. It crouched to the ground then launched itself up and over Fae..heading for the fresh onslaught of beasts across the field.

His flesh and duster both shred further with each tug from the two chickens playing tug of war with the pirate, until he surrenders control entirely to the cybernetics in his body. One jerking motion of the arm holding his pistol bends it painfully around to fire a burst of shots into the skull of the one that has his knife arm. He hisses out in pain as he can feel one of the three bullets that go through its head piercing through his trapped arm.

A small price to pay for freedom, so the machines in his body seem to have determined, as once the jaw of the creature goes slack, his knife comes up for the head of the one at his shoulder. It pierces with so much force that half of the handle disappears into the thing's skull, just in time as the other two beasts before him finally disentangle themselves. The damage was adding up, and now it's his turn to move with strange and jerking motions as his body is used by the puppeteer that is his implants.

One of the two chickens stumbles in its approach, slipping in its own blood that was still pouring rapidly from it. The other was faster, more steady as it launched itself towards the marionette of a man. It would only receive a set of knuckles crunching against its skull however, as Jake was even faster with the punch his body is made to deliver. Something in his wrist cracks with the effort, bones not quite up to the level of force they're outputting, but his blood soaked body beats the creature away all the same.

The two abyssal chickens near Takai scramble to their feet, limbs twitching violently. Their jaws snap open and closed, releasing wet, gurgling hisses. Driven by the powerful vibrations and warmth radiating from his massive frame, they charge with wild abandon. Their claws scrape against the dirt as they hurl themselves forward, aiming to tear into the meat of his legs. But their advance is cut short as Takai’s fists come crashing down, crushing their skulls into bloody craters. Their bodies twitch once, then go still.

Three more chickens surge in from the treeline, their slick bodies twisting and contorting as they zero in on him. Their heads jerk in erratic, almost insect-like motions, tasting the heat and sound of his presence. They spread out, attempting to flank him, limbs scrabbling against the dirt as they close in. A collective warbling screech tears from their throats as they leap in unison, claws and teeth seeking flesh.

Across the field, the three chickens facing Fae flinch at the arrival of the giant spider. Their heads twist, sensing the massive influx of heat and movement. The sudden, unfamiliar predator drives them into a frenzy. They lash out blindly, jaws gnashing at the air as they detect the skittering vibrations of smaller spiders swarming across the ground. One chicken charges forward, snapping its teeth down on a spider, crunching through chitin and soft flesh. It whips its head back and forth, flinging the mangled remains to the ground before pivoting back toward Fae.

The second chicken lunges at her again, its mouth stretching impossibly wide as it aims for her midsection. The third circles around, limbs slashing through the air as it tries to outmaneuver her. It catches the heat signature of the massive spider above them and rears back, shrieking in confusion. The beast's cries turn more desperate as it struggles to track the vibrations of both Fae and the newly arrived arachnids.

Three more chickens burst from the underbrush near Fae, driven by the combined warmth of the arachnid swarm. They snap and hiss as they charge, splitting off in different directions, two homing in on the giant spider while the third changes course to join the attack on Fae.

By Jake’s position, the two advancing chickens barrel forward, their heads low as they pick up on the ragged breaths and rapid pulse of his heartbeat. The sounds of the frenzied melee draw another chicken from the treeline. It charges forward, head bobbing as it picks up on the violent vibrations of the struggle. The fresh blood in the air sends it into a near-manic state, jaws chattering as it bolts straight toward Jake’s position, joining the other two in the relentless assault.

Myrvorn scuttled along, moving impossibly fast across the battlefield. Those sharp points at the end of her long legs stabbing through the scattering creatures. Chelicerae grabbed what they could, tearing and eating bits of chicken on it's way towards the swarm of them. The smaller spiders overtook injured abyssal bodies, burrowing into any open wounds they could find to feast. While others continued to distract and lure them towards the massive spider in the middle of the clearing. A handful more rushed in Jake's direction, pooling across the abyssal beast rushing at him to join its friends and towards the others trying to make a meal out of him.

Maybe she wasn't keeping a direct eye on him, but she could still try and help.

Fae caught the lunging chicken as best she could, its beak and those drool soaked teeth raking across the flesh of her midsection, tearing across dark flesh with ease. Thankfully she managed to stop it from quite literally spilling her guts, not quite close enough to drop her right then and there. That didn't change the fact that it hurt like hell. The second bastard to take interest in her catches her off guard, charging her side hard enough to send her spiraling sideways and right to the ground, sword lost in the tumble. Talon sank deep into her side, curling into the flesh there to keep hold as it clamped its jaws into an already injured shoulder. The other recovered from the fall, moving back in again. She tried to step out of that spot, but there was nothing left in her magical tank now.

Brute force it was. She kicked the oncoming chicken, one angry foot smashing it roughly in the skull hard enough to knock it senseless and promptly over taken by the last of the smaller spiders. The other tore deeper into her side, through meat and muscle. "Fuck off!" She flailed, rolling over in some attempt to knock it loose.

Torn cloth and skin are both coated with a mixture of blood and stinging abyssal chicken spittle as his leg jerks upwards to come stomping back down on the head of the one that had slipped in its own life essence, shattering its skull with one heavy boot. The second, that he'd knocked out of the air, collides bodily into yet another approaching beast as more chickens. The stitches on the shoulder wound he'd gotten the night before dangle errantly from the shredded mess of his shoulder, getting caught on even more teeth as another of the chickens launch up to dig right back in where its friends had been, dragging the pirate back down onto the ground once again.

It's then that Jake finally notices the giant spider tearing across the battlefield, along with the swarm of smaller ones that were approaching. The sight of it shredding a chicken is the only thing that stops him from unleashing a hail of bullets onto the arachnid. 'That thing better be one of ours.' The thought is all he can spare, having to shift his focus back onto the chicken tearing into his already mangled arm. The grip of his gun is smashed into its head until he can tear free, one more swing being taken for good measure with a wet crack against it. Turning the barrel around, it points towards the other chickens that he had seen approaching.

But they're already covered in a crawling mass of spiders, writhing and thrashing around with pained shrieks that make his head hurt. Attention free enough for the moment, the barrel moves again to fire at the one digging into his dark elf. 'Where the fuck did that thought come from?' No time to figure that out, as after only two shots in that direction the gun clicks weakly. Out of bullets.

The problem with an attack meant to surround someone was if the thing you were surrounding was faster and stronger and possibly more ready to tear your throat out... it wouldn't work well. Takai was damn near feral at this point. His body lunged forward to meet the frontward attacker, crossed arms slamming themselves forward into the gaping maw of the chicken.

The chicken's teeth would find nothing but bulky impenetrable metal to try and sink its maw around. Takai's body bullied the chicken backwards, as he dove through it. The grip immediately left him as the creature was stunned by the violent blow. He dove past it, hitting the ground with a curling shoulder. He rolled to his feet before lunging back at the sprawled out chicken. Plated fingers finding purchase in the monster's jaw as his chest rippled with effort. Slowly, the creature’s jaw widened, vicious howls of pain screeching from its gullet as Takai forced the jaws further and further apart. Crackling bone and torn ligaments snapping under his force. A grunt of exertion left Takai's mouth as a final show of force tore its jaws wide apart. "Shut the fuck up!" The bottom jaw was torn from its place and slammed to the ground.

Using the bloodied body as a shield he held it in front of himself as he slammed forward into the pursuing two chickens. The force is enough to push one off course and the other backwards in a violent contortion of effort to try and stand again. Takai lifted the body in his hand before spiking it into the fallen creature. His attention shifted to the quickly returning one. He dove forward, wrangling the beast by its throat and wrestling it to the ground as his muscular arm wrapped itself around its throat. His hand gripping the underside of his arm. He began choking the creature, struggling to hold it still enough to snap its neck while it thrashed around on the ground with him.

Takai's brutal assault continued unabated, his ferocity unmatched by the remaining abyssal chickens. The crumpled corpse of the last creature he’d slain was used as a makeshift shield, bludgeoning one of the remaining three, sending it sprawling to the side. The other scrambled back, its claws scraping the earth as it barely avoided being crushed beneath the lifeless body. Takai shifted his grip, his eyes wild, muscles straining as he hurled the torn carcass into the closest chicken. The impact sent the creature reeling, its shrieks drowned out by the ringing in its ears.

He lunged forward, arms wrapping around the throat of the second chicken. Its legs kicked out, claws gouging the ground and flailing at him with desperate strength. Takai held firm, teeth bared in a snarl. With a vicious twist, he snapped its neck, the creature going limp in his grasp. He let the body fall, already turning his attention to the last two chickens, each keeping their distance now, wary of approaching him directly.

Across the battlefield, Myrvorn’s massive form moved like a force of nature, sweeping aside any remaining abyssal chickens that dared come close. Her chelicerae flashed, catching one of the creatures mid-leap. She shook it free, its body flailing before being caught by the swarm of smaller spiders at her feet. They descended on it in a writhing mass, mandibles tearing through flesh and bone with horrifying efficiency. The abyssal chickens, sensing the impending threat of the arachnid horde, retreated in disarray, their movements erratic and uncoordinated.

One of them, however, still lunged at Myrvorn’s side, claws raking across her hardened carapace. Myrvorn turned, batting it away with a powerful swipe that sent it skidding across the dirt. She was unharmed, her eyes locked on the creature as it tried to rise. Before it could, the swarm of spiders surged over it, smothering its feeble resistance under a tide of chitin and legs.

Jake, battered and bloody, stomped the head of another chicken, ichor splattering across his boot. The creature beneath him twitched once, twice, then lay still. He glanced around, the battlefield strewn with broken and twisted bodies, the shrieks of dying abyssal chickens fading into silence. Only two remained now—desperation clear in their frantic movements as they kept their distance.

But then, a new sound pierced the chaos. A deep, guttural roar that seemed to vibrate through the very air around them. The last two chickens stilled, their heads snapping in unison towards the dark line of trees at the edge of the clearing. The ground trembled, a low rumble that sent loose dirt and pebbles skittering across the ground.
Emerging from the shadows was a creature far larger and more menacing than any of its kin. The alpha abyssal chicken loomed over the clearing, its grotesque form towering above the others. It looked like a twisted nightmare given flesh—its maw a gaping cavern of needle-like teeth, and a thick, muscular body covered in leathery skin stretched tight over rippling muscles. A pair of bat-like wings extended from its back, and its long, sinuous tongue lashed through the air, tasting the scent of blood and death.

Its roar bellowed again, a challenge, a command. The two remaining abyssal chickens, emboldened by the presence of their leader, turned back towards Takai and Myrvorn, their movements more coordinated now, eyes blazing with renewed ferocity. The alpha stepped forward, its massive claws sinking into the earth as it surveyed the battlefield. It focused first on Takai, nostrils flaring as it scented the blood and rage emanating from him. Then its gaze shifted to Myrvorn, tongue flicking out as if savoring the thought of tearing into the massive spider.

Without warning, the alpha charged. Its wings beat once, a powerful gust of wind that scattered dust and debris, propelling its bulk forward with terrifying speed. It crashed into the clearing, the impact sending a shockwave through the ground. The two remaining chickens flanked it, shrieking and hissing as they advanced on Takai and Myrvorn.

Takai barely had time to react before the alpha’s massive form bore down on him. He threw himself to the side, rolling to his feet just as one of the smaller chickens lunged, jaws snapping inches from his face. Takai snarled, a low, guttural sound that met the creature’s hiss head-on. He didn’t have time to consider tactics or strategy—all he knew was that he had to survive. That this thing, this monster, would not walk away from this battlefield unscathed.

The alpha’s gaze shifted then, locking onto Myrvorn. With a powerful beat of its wings, it leapt into the air, shadowing the giant spider for a brief moment before coming down in a devastating arc. Its claws slashed through the air, aiming for her legs. But Myrvorn was faster, shifting to the side, legs skittering out of reach. The alpha’s claws gouged deep furrows in the earth where she’d stood moments before, the impact shaking the ground beneath them.

The alpha abyssal chicken reared back, wings flaring as it let out another ear-splitting roar. It wasn’t just a beast—it was a commander, directing its last two kin with cold, calculated purpose. The two chickens responded instantly, one diving at Takai’s side, the other feinting towards Myrvorn’s legs before pulling back, trying to draw her attention.

Takai had been on the back foot and didn't have the ability to respond to the attacking chicken, his focus drawn to the gigantic beast that had suddenly taken command of the battlefield. The chicken's teeth found a meaty bite along Takai's ribs, sinking themselves deeply into his side and tearing at his flesh. Blood instantly poured from around the creature's bite, streaming down his side. He was tackled to the ground, a loud grunt ripped from his mouth as he landed.

It didn't take him long to regain his senses, his arm rising above his head before slamming down elbow first at the top of the chicken's head with the elbow spike of the gauntlet. He did it again and again, the head turning into a puddle of moist flesh on top of him. The teeth still in his side only being hammered a little deeper each time from his brutal bludgeoning. His other hand eventually rose, shoving what was left of the creature's face off of him, slowly rolling to the side and to his feet to look at the alpha cock. "What in. The fuck. Is that?"

Maimed as he was, Jake's aim held true and those last two bullets were killing blows. The beast gave a guttural shriek of pain as its talons slipped free of her side with a wet squelch. Faeryl slammed an elbow into the side of its head to knock it off her, praying her insides didn't go with it. She was too afraid to look at the damage done, choosing to ignore the shredded flesh and gushing blood for the time being. Adrenaline was thankfully on her side, aiding her to her knees. The chicken she had kicked was already back on its feet, catching it out of the corner of her. Fae dipped a hand into her boot to fish out a sleek black dagger which she sunk into the creature's head once it was close enough. The rumbling beneath her was regarded with a glance over her shoulder, just in time to see the fleshy, winged alpha charge from the woods. Fantastic. The poor drow wasn't sure whether to laugh or let herself pass out.

Myrvorn felt no fear as she rushed towards the giant, meeting it head on with razor sharp legs and pincers. The smaller spiders not feasting on the dead swarmed as well, moving quickly to join her. They moved up the beast's legs, biting and digging into its flesh along the way. Myrvorn barely paid attention to the small chickens at her legs, letting her children take care of them in a swirling mass of black bodies to try and overtake them, forcing themselves into their gaping maws and down their throats.

With one fluid motion Jake pulls the empty magazine from his pistol, reaching into his coat at the same time to trade it for one of the ones snugly tucked into a pocket. His arms go through the motion of slamming it into place and racking the slide while his eyes track the massive new arrival into the fight from where he sat on the ground still. As much as he wanted to look back over at Faeryl to make sure he hadn't missed and tagged her with a round, he knew that even a blink might get him killed if the alpha turned his way. That, and the bots had better aim than him anyways.

Aim which he turns onto the giant chicken while his body is forced up onto its feet, jerking in pain as each shot agitates the ragged wounds along his gun arm's shoulder. "That, is fuckin' pay day." Or judgment day, considering all the pirate can do now is fire repeatedly and hope it doesn't come his way despite the flashes of heat each shot provides. He really didn't feel like crawling up that thing if it came down to it.

As the beast watched over the brutal remnants and on goings of the battle field, its massive body lurked forward. Claws burrowing into the ground as its maw split wide, tendrils of skin stretching along the jagged fleshy jaw of the alpha chicken. A bellowing roar exploded across the forest. Massive fleshy wings gushed forward creating a hurricane across the forest. Branches, debris, carcasses and spiders filled the air as the gust took over control of the battle field.

The bullets collided with the creature, each one piercing the thick hide and sending a ripple along the jiggling mess that was its neck and belly, over bloated with the results of a recently eaten horse or two. Blood and ichor oozed from the creature in small streams. It did little to the beast at this point besides send it into an infinite rage. A claw drug up through the earth, ripping along with it boulders of caked earth and rock. A sudden meteor of ground was arcing through the air towards Jake.

A snake-like tongue twisted from the beast's open mouth, curling and twisting as its head slowly turned to blindly face towards Takai. It was sniffing. Its attention towards the wolf, the beast turned and began to lumber forward in a loud thunderous rage. And then it fell, melting through the floor as if it suddenly melted into a puddle of nothingness.

Massive claws came slamming down like a spiked haymaker from the heavy shade of the thick leaves above. A claw aimed for the back of the massive spider. It's lumbering form falling above the deathly claw.

Takai's body tightened as he shoved the battered beast off of himself. A pained groan slipping from his mouth as he slowly stood from the bloodied forest floor. "Fuckin'... stupid beasts..." He growled as both of his metal clad hands erupted in white light before the gauntlets disintegrated into nothingness once more, drifting into small white wisps of light before fading. His hand rose to his ribs, fingers dipping into the deep holes left in his side. He had narrowly missed a punctured lung but most of his ribs were either cracked, chipped or broken on that side. Even for him it was a lot. His shoulders lowered as he gasped for a breath, his fingers slid down his side hanging loosely to his side as he looked at the massive obstacle in front of him.

As the monster began to hype itself up, the roar caused him to sneer in pain. His ears felt like they were about to burst. He could feel the roar deep in his soul reverberating in his chest. It was almost hard to breathe under its tremendous noise. That wasn't it though. The gust of wings had him forced to a knee. The hand of the unbitten side digging into the rich soil to try and hold himself stead against the torrents of wind. He could feel himself slipping back, ripping at the forest's soft earth. His toes doing most of the work kept him mostly in place though. Blood spewed from his side and leg wounds, his essence soaking the ground beneath him in his struggle to remain in place. A stupid spider hit him in the face, annoyance flashing along his face as he growled in an infuriated tone. Drowned out from the wind noise.

The beast finished, his body turned to face the wolf. "Alright you ugly piece of shit..." A cocky tooth filled grin sprawled along his face as he forced himself to stand. An obvious pain fluctuating across his face. His arms rose, palms open and ready to call on a weapon at a given- The beast was gone. Erratic eyes shot around the field desperate to locate the massive creature before it was too late. A wild claw fell towards Fae's spider. He couldn't react quick enough to intercept this time.

Fae dug as deep as she possibly could, sifting through the slow creeping exhaustion that wanted nothing more than to swallow her whole. She wasn't going to sit there and watch her pirate possibly get crushed. Either her plan would work or it would go horribly wrong, there was no way to know and no time to worry. With everything she had she pushed to her feet and broken into a sprint across the field. As she ran she blinked out of existence with that familiar burst of purple mist. Both avoiding those wing gusts, and maybe beating the chunk of earth it had hauled into the air. A fraction of a second later she was bursting through that same mist, the momentum of the jump through nowhere offering her a bit more force to hopefully tackle Jake out of the way, however as her feet hit grass one of those massive spider legs managed to collide with her, sending her off her feet and through the air. She hadn't quite pinpointed her destination in her panic and she was paying for it now.

Myrvorn shrieked as the claw plunged through her back end, turning wildly on the giant beast. Those legs and their long stiletto points offered the Alpha the same treatment, plunging her front legs into whatever parts of it she could reach. Belly, chest, face...she didn't care. The motions were erratic, determined not to fall until her job was done.

Jake knew it wasn't a good idea to piss the thing off, but it wasn't like he was just going to watch. At least, that was the idea until a small truckload of earth and rock was flung at him. The machines in his body, thankfully still maintaining a majority of the control, barely manage to kick his muscles into action fast enough, only clearing the distance needed thanks to the added push Fae gives him. But the resulting shockwave and burst of air in the immediate vicinity of those crushing boulders throws the pirate even further, slamming him across the trunk of a tree to slump down onto the ground.

The edges of his vision take on a dark shadow, his head weakly turning towards the Alpha to try and discern what kind of magic it must be using on him. The slick warmth along his body makes him realize that it's not a spell, just bloodloss. 'Shit.' Control returns to him as the swarm focuses its efforts on stemming the flow of the red tide his body was releasing. With that control, his head falls aside into the dirt, far too pained to be held up by its own volition. His arm, however, comes up despite every wounded fiber screaming in pain not to. More shots, more stupid decision making.

The earth clod hit the ground hard enough for everyone to feel the mass collide through the soft ground. A tree caused it to explode into a small explosion of debris. The tree snapped, cracking at its base and slowly falling to the ground with a loud snapping bang. That would have been a day ender.

As claws found purchase in the spiders thorax, the Alpha slammed into the ground with a somehow even louder solid thud. Before it could react, Myrvorn retaliated. Sharp claws burrowing repeatedly like small daggers riddling the beast's shoulders, upper chests and throat. Though not deep enough or close enough to end the beast, a nick or two had landed in the right place. Blood began to pour from the open wounds of the beast. A furious roar erupted as the beast's head reared back. Something vile bubbling up from its deep intestines. The beast's maw slammed shut as the folds of skin suddenly tightened in a massive bulge. A moment later the beast's head lunged forward, a waterfall of acid spewing through its jagged, spiky jaw line, pouring over the ground and anything underneath it.

The bullet wounds riddled the back of the beast, a few ripping through the creature's wings here and there before the wings shot back out, ready to begin another gust of air, the acid ready to be sent flying across the opposite end of the battle field.

The drow hit the ground hard, tumbling across the ground and eventually skidding to a stop. She heard the spider's shrieks of rage and pain, blurry gaze trying to seek out Jake before it had a chance to go black. A hazy outline of him aiming his gun and the muted sounds of gunfire work its way through her disorientation. Ragged breaths push past her lips and even as the world slides sideways out from under her, she still tries to push herself up. Arms and legs refuse to work despite her efforts, and yet she still tries again. And again...and again. Stubborn as always. She wasn't even sure what she would have been able to do. "Myrvorn, Elgg!"

The giant spider was fading quickly, perking up only when it heard Faeryl's voice from behind her. Much like Fae, Myrvorn had just enough fight left in her to rear back one more long leg and plunge it deeply as her waning strength would allow her, into the Alpha's middle. Then, with a shudder of her massive body, she crumbled to the ground the moment Fae did the same.

Takai wasn't sure what to do for once. A clod of earth flew, the drow dove, Jake dove, a tree fell, the arachnid howled, claws gnashed, blood and ichor spilled. The gurgle of something fowl immediately caught his nose. "What the hell...." He groaned, blood slicked hand rising to cover his nose as he saw what was coming. "Move you stupid fuckin' bug!" He snapped back to his senses finally. The blood loss was getting to him too.

The white light appeared in his hand again, the same form taking place as the spear from earlier. A furious look completely overtaking his face. The spear burst into existence and Takai took his time. A slow deep breath as his leg shifted back before him, his arm slowly retreating as well, his shoulder pointed at the beast as it began to ready its next attack of wind. The attack would most likely catch him in it if his attempt didn't work. Like a transformation, the muscles of the man erupted under him, splitting and tearing from the massive strain he placed on them as he tightened himself. A perfect javelin stance.

Like a blur his body doubled over in a wild snap, air exploding around the sudden friction created by the spears tip. He broke the sound barrier, an ear shattering sonic boom deafened him and probably destroyed the beast's sensitive ears. It was almost impossible to track the spear. The poor spider gave what it could, keeping the beast at bay. The ooze of acid spilling over the hard carcass of the arachnid, steam instantly billowing from the now toxic earth. Out of nowhere though, the waterfall parted. Not parted but exploded in every direction as an unseen kinetic attack forced the air around it asunder in a pure show of brute force.

A wet explosion was the next thing heard in the forest, if any of them could even hear it at this point. As the spear neared the beast, the force alone it held began to push the beast's fat gullet inward like a crater just from the displaced air alone. Fractions of a second later what should have been a small pierce was a hole the size of a telephone pole. The trajectory of it had gone upward from the ground, exiting from the bottom of the beast's skull. Shrapnel of the spinal column and skull bone exploded outwards, at least the bits that hadn't been turned to instant bloody dust. A thick mist of bloody spray painted the forest ground behind it the beast for dozens of feet wherever the wind carried it.

Takai collapsed, his shoulder torn to bits from the force he'd had to use. Thud, he was down.

Firing till the next pull of the trigger produces another impotent click, Jake can see the smoke from the acid burning the foliage under the behemoth. He's not even sure what he can do about that, his body refuses to respond once the arm holding the pistol drops. He can feel the whirring of the nanomachine swarm within, rerouting blood flow to keep what's left inside as best it can, unable to divert any more focus into moving his limbs for him. A glance at Takai shows the man is at least still fighting, not a total loss. Finding Faeryl's already dark form is harder though, sending a brief rush of concern through him.

Concern that is tinged with relief when the beast is turned into a red mist, eyes unable to follow exactly what happened before finally closing. 'Just a few minutes, I can afford that much now. Right?'

There wasn't a sound besides the crackling of a tree exploding into splinters behind the beast and then the eventual removal of the spear from the forest canopy into the distance. Bubbles of acid and blood poured out of the massive gaping wound of the creature, instantly paralyzed and falling in a grotesque pile of torn skin, scattered teeth and missing bone. Acid puddled under the beast, burning its blood and creating the foulest of scents. A gaseous cloud of nauseating vapor began to fill the area as it twitched, nerve endings firing their final commands. The tongue was somewhere in the back of its skull maybe.

She slumped face first back to the ground, the fight leaving her body like the copious amounts of blood oozing from her wounds. Those ruby reds weren't quite as vibrant as they usually were, barely red and leaning more towards a faded shade of orange as her lashes fluttered shut.

The giant spider was no more, for the time being anyway. It's body smoking amidst the acid around her. Maybe she didn't best the beast, but Faeryl was proud of her, quietly thanking her before the world around the drow went quiet and dark.

Takai apparently was the last standing. Laying? A wet cough triggering in his chest, copper and mucus filled his mouth before he spit into the grass below him. The smell hit him. His face shifted to bury his nose in the messy dirt trying to block the smell. Gods it was terrible. He didn't want to move. A loud ringing in his ear burned into his brain. All he could feel was the burn of torn muscle and fiber along his right arm and torn abdomen, cracked ribs now shattered. A pained breath shakily filled his lungs before being cut short. The sigh wasn't worth it. "...you all alive...?" His voice was weak, he couldn't hear it just feel the vibrations. A trickle of blood slowly dripped from his right ear lobe.

'No, I can't.' It takes more effort than he thinks he can muster to go searching for the flask, but he manages. Thankfully with the way it's digging into his side, it's easy enough to find even with the wounded protests of his arms. It just barely makes it up to his lips, half the contents pouring out and down the side of his face in a shining metallic stream while the rest mixes with the blood in his mouth for a truly awful taste before going down, gulp after gulp.

The bot reconstruction process is slow, but starts almost immediately as the concoction reaches his gut. With the first bit of strength given by the new machines being built inside him, he answers Takai the only way he can think of without having to irritate his freshly broken ribs by speaking. The now empty flask is tossed weakly towards the other man, not quite making the distance but at least sliding along the dirt enough to come into view. It would have to suffice, until the process was further along.

There was absolutely no response from Faeryl. It's impossible to answer a question you didn't hear in the first place. At least she was breathing, albeit faintly, a nasty sounding wheeze following each shallow breath. She might have looked peaceful had it not been for the gaping wounds, grime and blood. Not quite a sleeping angel as she was a passed out nightmare.

A golden orb peeked over the grass towards the two on the ground, he didn't know why he asked. He was deaf for the time being. He could see movement from the bug man though. A sudden thud felt on the ground meant only one thing. A beefy left arm slowly rose, shoving his hand into the ground as he slowly forced his upper body from the ground. Teeth ground together as every tendon and vein in his thick neck pushed against its surface. Like a pup after a ball though, his hand and knees worked their way over to the flask. His right arm down for the count for now, drug along his side. Bruising and torn blood vessels clearly visible across the darkly tanned skin where blood hadn't covered it. Finally he arrived, pushing himself to his ass he sat, his legs crossing under him. The top of the flask was removed and brought to his lips. That was a burn of pain he wanted to feel. Takai contemplated for a long moment. A look of exhaustion and annoyance shifting across his face. "I don't want to..." Was all he muttered to himself.

A sudden crack was heard from under his skin, bones and muscle pulsing and writhing under his skin. He could feel his body ripping itself apart and added to the pain he already felt he wasn't pleased. Falling to the side in the grass the flask was shut by thumb and tossed aside. At least he was nice enough not to waste Jake's drink. The man slid into a fetal position as his flesh began to tear, tendrils of skin snaking their way through his open wounds. His body transforming on the bloodied forest floor. Takai growled in pain, burying his face into the dirt shut as his cheeks shattered. His jaw breaking in multiple spots as it slowly pushed out into a more snout-like form. Before long his entire body had shifted. His sounds of pain eventually dying out to the sounds of feral growls and grunts of anguish. In the grass lay a wolf.

Silence passed for a long moment before the wolf slowly stood, the flask looking like a tiny snack for the creature now. On all fours it slowly padded over to it, taking it in its maw before silently trotting over to Jake in a prowling stance. The wolf towered over Jake's slowly healing form as he gazed down at him, golden orbs locked on the bloodied man. The flask dropped from his mouth on the man's chest, albeit much slicker and more slobbered than before. The gaze shifted over to Fae before Takai slowly stood and made his way over to the wounded drow. The wolf's cold nose found the woman's face, large huffs of hot air gushing over it before he decided she was alive enough.

She could be carried by the wolf. Now all that was left was figuring out how to carry the beast’s mangled head back to town.

The cold nose and bursts of hot hair on her face stirred her momentarily, flinching at the sudden disruption to her dying. In reality, Faeryl was too fucking stubborn, and full of ire and spite to die.

Seeing the massive wolf when his eyes come back open from a brief stint shut again shouldn't surprise him as much as it does, a running theme for the pirate at this point. The surprise doesn't last long, replaced by a quick burst of pain when the flask drops onto his chest. There's a lot out of place in there it seems, but enough was being shifted back into place that he's able to slowly and agonizingly rise with mechanical assistance. His phone, somehow not destroyed, comes out of a pocket with fumbling fingers to start taking photos of the work they'd done, making a mental note to thank Fae once again for that idea.

'Fae.' Finding her is easy, what with Takai's nose poking at the drow. Seeing the rise and fall of her chest eases the tension in him so much that even with his body being piloted by the machines, his shoulders still manage to slump with the relief. Making his way over to the pair, he stops to lean bodily against the wolf first for a moment to steel himself for even more coming pain. Pain that arrives when he moves to lift the angry little spitfire up onto the wolf, knowing damn well he couldn't carry her more than a foot by himself without collapsing. Hell, collapsing was still on the table even without carrying someone.

She flopped against Jake as he hoisted her up onto the wolf's back, almost sliding right off the other side. At the moment she was like a handful of extra soggy spaghetti and a sack of potatoes all at the very same time. Even unconscious she was a pain in the ass.

Takai's gaze had shifted to the pirate and his pocket machine. He had no clue what the man was doing. Takai's plan at this point was to drop the two off in town and come rip the fucking things head off and bring it back to town later. They were still in the wilds, now that he was fine he'd be able to keep things under control but he didn't want to. Pretty plain and simple. A grunt burst from his nose as he emptied his scent glands. The creature's stench was too much for his powerful nose. And then there was the stupid alpha chicken.

When Jake found his shoulder for support, Takai braced against the relatively light man and was the fuzzy wall he needed to muster his own gusto. Takai lowered himself as best he could for the man to alleviate his strain. He was glad the pirate had the same idea he was thinking. He hated it but it was the fastest option. As he stood he felt the drow shift like a pile of wet noodles on him. A constant game of keep 'em up played with his bulky shoulder blades to keep her balanced. There was no way he'd be able to do more than trot. The wolf's head slowly turned to look at the pirate, a knowing look on its face. Maybe even a look of disdain for what the wolf was about to ask. Takai's rump lowered slowly as he laid flat on the ground in a regal pose. His chin rising in the air to motion at the pirate.

Looking at the path they'd come down, he feels the weight of the long trek back to town in his bones before it's even started. When Takai's furry rear comes down, he's briefly confused. Then, of all the pain he was in, the worst one yet strikes him right in the pride as he comprehends the offer. First comes a hoarse, "Fuck that."

But seeing the dark elf still limp has those words followed by a sigh, which hurts enough that he wishes he hadn't, moving to climb up anyways despite his answer. The motions are jerky and uncertain, still not entirely his own, but they suffice in getting him atop the giant wolf. One shredded arm, lined with shifting silvery veins, comes down to hold her in place despite how much that action hurts. An attempt to pull her up for a proper hold makes little white spots appear in his vision, prompting him to leave things as they were so as not to topple from his seat.

Slumped across the wolf, Faeryl continues to do nothing more than breathe, which was a very good thing at the moment and not as painful as it would have been had she been awake.

Takai's face matched the pirate's tone. The wolf obviously wasn't about it as he looked away from Jake as he mounted his back. His ears had even shifted backwards at a slight angle atop his fat skull. Once the two were settled as they were going to be, the massive beast slowly stood, a slow and deliberate step taken as he began to move forward, giving Jake the time he needed to figure out how he was going to hold on. As the steps continued, they eventually sped. A slow healthy trot as he slid between the tree and brush. Takai halted to a jerking stop for a moment, his head turning as his nose started to twitch. He slowly turned in a circle, his face to the dirt as he followed the scent of something. Into the bush he went, a slant to his form probably not to the two rider's liking. Massive jaws wrapped around the bloodied flesh of the huge Abyssal Chicken. The leader of the first pack. Future protein for the group's torn muscles.

Hanging like a dead rabbit in the jaws of a normal wolf, Takai reared around and trotted down the path they had come from. As time went on and the path opened up the trot slowly rose to a run and the run eventually turned to bounds and leaps. The black flash of fur burned down the path towards the city in a flash of silver veins, ebony skin and glistening black fur. And blood, lots of it. Takai's teeth held the chicken, teeth buried deeply into its carcass, his tongue flapping to the side as heavy breaths of effort huffed from beyond his jagged teeth. How long had it been since he'd just run through a forest? Gods knew he'd never done it with anyone riding him.

Rhy’Din really had changed the wolf's life.