Shifted

Teolan smiled, quite pleased as the landscape around them started to change, getting more rocky. They were entering the last thirty or so kilometers of the journey to Longreach, the Balin Crags. Talios Way bent slowly after Joakim's small sanctuary, until it starting going almost equally south and east into the Balin Crags. Named for the man who had founded Longreach, they were rocky snowcapped mountains, with many crags and cliffs and drops. Much plant and animal life did grow on the mountains however. The trees didn't even stop until close to two thirds of the way up, although they did slowly start to become fewer and farther between. The mountains themselves were mixed stone, although the blackish red color of the stone indicated a large amount of granite.

He looked to his beautiful daughter, seated beside him, and glanced back throught the wagon to see his beautiful wife, sitting and watching dilligently, arrows beside her, bow in hand. Her helmet and shield within easy reach. She seemed to sense his stare, and turned around and made eye contact quickly, smiling happily. Soon enough they would be home. He turned his gaze to Frendar, who was looking around, serious and seemingly wound up slightly, but obviously comfortable. He felt more at home then the rest of them in the mountains, due to his dwarven heritage. Nano looked quite comfortable as well, but that, Teolan knew, was from knowing what lay ahead. Sagerious kept flitting off into the sky and coming back a few minutes later, obviously scouting ahead. Erika was a bit ill at ease, but that was to be expected. She knew full well, as the ground she walked on changed from a dusty road, to a rocky, bumpy and uneven trail, that if she had to run it was going to be a more dangerous experience. For both her and those in and on the wagon.

Leliana rose quietly, and went into the wagon. To avoid temptation, she put her flute, which she'd been playing earlier in the day, away in the drawer. Frendar had taught her the importance of quiet in the mountains, explaining how even the slightest noise could bounce and echo in such a way that it could be heard for miles. So she put it away, and quietly came back out and sat beside her father.

It was mid morning, an hour or so before noon. It had been eight days since they'd left Joakim's hospitality and they'd covered just over a hundred and twenty kilometers, almost fifteen a day. They'd been taking there time, enjoying the warm summer weather, until today. They'd made probably close to five kilometers in an hour, since breaking camp, and had now upped their pace just a bit, Erika now doing about a half-trot. They didn't want to be in the crags longer then necessary, and were hoping to make good time and maybe even be in Longreach in in four or five days.

They travelled in a silence, an almost uncomfortable one. The sun created a beautiful mix of light and shadow amongst the trees and stones around them, and Leliana, still very much a child in many respects, took it in with awe, seeming beyond the wariness of her companions. She kept quiet, like she was supposed to, but her eyes were constantly moving, her hands constantly pointing, seeing interesting shapes and shadows, everywhere amongst the rocks and crags. Teolan was about to tell her off, but Frendar shook his head, for he didn't find her distracting, and here in the mountains, he took over the guidance of the group. Besides, every set of aware eyes helped.

As they travelled, however, they did feel rather safe. They saw the occassional deer or small groups of mountain goats, and a few birds as well. It was far from silent, the breeze carrying the calls of all sorts of mountain wildlife from on far. The group felt quite secure even in this environment, as they truly entered the Crags.

Passing 'Westward Giant' the westmost peak of the mountain range, into the rocky, broken and mountainous landscape of the Balin Crags. The road was rather smooth, but went over and around rises and boulders, snaking up and around and down sections of slopes. The mountains themselves were rather large, some easily twenty thousand feet tall from base to peak. Truly it was an impressive mountain range if you could see it from above, with many sheer drops and thick life filled valleys amongst the white capped peaks. The slopes were like the inbetween, rocky, but with a fair share of smaller shrubs and trees, and small cliffs and rises. The road was thirty kilometers as the bird could fly to follow its path, but in truth it was probably closer to double that to actually walk along.

In the summer the mountains were beautiful, the summer sunlight adding to the sheer contrast of the dark black-red stone and the beautiful leaves and flowers of the plant life. Further up, of course, the snowcaps would seem a literally tapestry of colors, like subtly gleaming gems under a coat of ice. They again proved why Teolan loved this land, because despite the dangers, which thankfully so far they'd avoided, it was a beautiful place to live, for Talia and her natural artistry truly thrived here in many places, untouched and beautiful.

Valerick, the whole of the continent, was like this in many ways. Even the larger, more southern territories had large areas like this, despite their big cities and larger populations. Raechin was the smallest holding on the continent, and it was still a massive territory. Valerick was divided into thirty such territories, although the continent wasn't only one landmass. The mainland held fourteen of these holdings, Raechin among those. Then the rest were spread out amongst the ten or so smaller island parts of the continent. Even those were massive pieces of land, its just that you had to sail to get to them.

Somehow, the holdings all managed to keep a decent amount of peace, and war was rare, despite their diversity. In fact, although there were officially borders, generally speaking you could come and go as you pleased. Your first indication that you'd crossed a border would probably not come until you saw guard in a town, and didn't recognize the uniform. Unless, obviously, you took a ship across one of the narrow ocean crossings, then you would hopefully realize you were crossing a border.

Each territory was also home to the 'Worship Hall' of one of the many deities of Valerick. These were the central meeting point, and biggest chapel, for each deity. Besides these thirty, there were also four dwarven citadels in the four largest underground dwarven cities, and two more, one for each of the drow deities, in the two biggest drow cities in the Depths. Raechin was home to The Armory, which was the place of Sir Kartheart. Teolan couldn't recall the story behind that particular deity, as he didn't particularly care. He respected the knowledge that the man himself had existed and had been a powerful knight and hero. But Teolan prayed to Talia, and didn't care to learn the ties of a different faith, for he didn't feel the need to. He was quite content paying his thanks to the Goddess of Nature.

The group made rather good time, and by late afternoon they'd rounded the base of Westward Giant, and were back on the straighter section of road. The toughest part of the trip through the Crags, because that part of the road was cracked, and covered in rocks. Also, that part of the road was a narrow lip for most of the way about a hundred feet above ground, and that was a sheer drop in some places. It was only about nine kilometers worth of the trip, but it was a tough nine kilometers on both Erika and the others. It was late afternoon as they came down the last part of the Giant's slope, and into the jagged pass that Talios Way ran through. The cliffs weren't very high, but only led to more jagged cliffs and rises, on various angles, some with plant life, some not, along with some slopes with thicker brush and trees on them. There were little sheltered overhangs upon the cliffs as well, small little indents, with a shelf of stone over top of them, along with what looked like a few small natural caves and crevices.

Leliana was hungry, as were the rest of the group, and she was scanning around them, taking in everything. Teolan was as well, and noticed a small box corridor area that branched off from the main pass to the left. He thought hard, trying to recall where it went. If he remembered correctly, it led up a small hill and curvature, and came to end on a small overhang, over looking a small waterfall that led down to a creek. It was surrounded by rocks, and jutted out from a slope. It had a couple small trees, and some brush as well. A good place to stop for a proper cooked meal. He knew a small place they could camp for the night only about five kilometers into the pass. But he could sense his daughter was hungry, and Erika as well. The mosses and brushes would give her a nice change of taste from the tough dried grasses of the road and woods.

He thought about it for a moment, and decided to rein Erika into the little turn off. They'd been lucky so far, no sign or sight of danger, but plenty of signs and sounds of life. So Teolan made the decision. It would do them good to stop moving and get a decent meal into them. It might take them an hour, maybe even an hour and a half, but it would be worth it. It would do them some good to rest a little bit as well, especially Erika. Teolan motioned to Frendar and Nano to turn into the little path. They nodded, and as Sagerious swooped down to Nano again, he quietly chirped and hooted at the small owl. The little bird flitted off, turning to fly over the little pass, to see what he could see.

Leliana watched as the little owl flew off, taking in everything around her. She always was impressed with the mountains, the dark majesty of it all. She looked at all the small cliffs and overhangs, and at the slope beside them. Suddenly, she did a small double take. She pointed up, keeping quiet, but her eyes went wide. Above them, she had seen movement. A strange cat shaped creature looking at them. It hadn't been there long, but the sight had been frightening enough. It had been rather large, about the size and shape of a cougar, but it had looked....wrong. Seriously wrong, different, almost mis-shapen, and just not right. But before she could get anyone's attention, it was gone. Leliana blinked and shook her head, as Teolan looked at her questioningly. "What is it?" he asked her quietly.

Leliana just stared, a little frightened and confused about what she had seen. It had been on a boulder, about fifty feet up the slope to their left, watching them. But now it was gone. Leliana glanced around the slope, but saw no sign of...whatever it had been. She shook her head and stopped looking. "Nothing father, thought I saw something, but looking back, I think it was just a rock and I was seeing things." She didn't honestly believe that, but all the evidence pointed towards that conclusion, so she didn't know what else to think.

Teolan whistled softly, his signal to Nano that he had a request for Sagerious. Nano looked at Teolan with an inquisitive look. Teolan motioned to the slope beside them, towards the small outcrop of boulders Leliana had been pointing at. Nano nodded, and next time Sagerious came back, he told his owl friend to go take a look. They kept moving, and rounded the bend into the little moss covered overhang. Sagerious caught up to them, and landed on Nano's shoulder. Frendar looked at Nano, as did Teolan. Nano shook his head, and spoke. "We're in the mountains now, the wagon and our footsteps will give us away fast enough, never mind our voices. So enough of this silence thing, lets just keep at a reasonable volume. Sagerious said he didn't see anything that looked dangerous."

Frendar and Teolan nodded, and Teolan spoke "Alright, let's get a small fire going, and get some water in Erika's water tub for her." He looked at Liandry as he said that. Liandry nodded, and grabbed the water tub. She moved around the wagon, and moved towards the edge of the waterfall. Teolan got off the wagon, and moved to Erika, rubbing her nose. He kept her harnessed to the wagon, but he removed the bit from her mouth, giving her head more freedom to move.

Liandry carefully held the water tub out over the edge of the overhang, in the waterfall. It was a balancing act, but one the female elf was very good at. She walked over and put the water tub in front of Erika, who reacted right away, taking a deep drink. She then proceeding to start eating moss and brush alike. Leliana came out of the wagon, with the small cauldron and the set up stand for it. Teolan gathered up the twigs and dried moss he could find, and also brought out two pieces of deadwood from the wagon. He kept a small barrel of dead wood, old dried out sticks and tree limbs, just in case. He soon had a small cooking fire going, and himself and Leliana were soon preparing a rabbit stew, with the last of the rabbit meat from the pair of them that Liandry had caught three days ago.

Whilst her father diced up the meat, after getting water in the cauldron, Leliana used a small chopping knife, and diced up the vegetables. A turnip, some carrots, a leek, and two small radishes. It took them many minutes to prepare the ingredients. They added them to the water as it started to boil. Teolan looked at his daughter. "Leliana, could you go get the wooden bowls and spoons please? Also, while your at it, could you get one of the travel loaves Joakim gave us for me as well?"

"Sure thing father," she said, getting up. She carried the knife, her eyes still scanning around them, taking in everything around them. The lower evening sun peaked through cracks, and between mountain peaks, creating a beautiful yellow-orange glow on everything. She smiled as she saw a small bunny bound out from the bushes on a ledge above them, and start hopping up a small path. As she looked around, however, she again had to stop. Across the small path they had come up, on top of the small cliff staring directly at her, was the creature again. This time it didn't disappear as fast, and it bared its teeth. It looked like some kind of nightmare cat. It had pure white eyes, its fangs were easily three inches long on the top jaw. Patchy brown fur only covered some of its shrunken black skin, and its body was covered in disgusting open sores. She was about to say something, but it quickly bounded off into the trees behind it.

She didn't know what to say, so she simply did as her father had asked her, and retrieved the bowls, spoons and bread. She quickly brought it to him. Across the fire from him sat Nano and Frendar, and when she got back, they were discussing the trip. Teolan was telling them he wanted to make a couple more kilometers after the meal, but Frendar and Nano were debating with him against it. "I know a fine little spot to camp about three kilometers from here." Teolan was saying, as she brought him what he'd asked for.

He nodded his thanks, as Frendar replied. "But Teolan, I don't see why. We've made good time, and been lucky. I'd say we don't want to push our luck. This is as good a place as any to camp, we'll only need to keep two on watch throughout the night to keep eyes where we need them. The last thing we want to do is push Erika to hard to start, because you and me both know we're going to appreciate having her well rested later in the Crags."

Nano added in. "Sagerious has been flitting in and out all about us, and he's seen plenty of life, but no signs of danger to us. No raiders, no worgs, nothing. Why risk it?"

Teolan thought about it and suddenly turned to Leliana. "What do you think?" he asked her. She looked at him, shocked, but he continued. "You out of all of us thought you saw something. Do you think we should keep moving, or could we make camp here?"

Leliana thought about it. What she'd seen had been scary yes, but there'd only been one of them. That one creature wouldn't have a chance if it attacked her family, the four skilled warriors would easily dispatch it. But if it wasn't alone, then that could be trouble. But either way it was following them, and it didn't see likely that they'd shake the beast. It moved rather quickly. She looked again at Erika. It was obvious that while the mare wasn't all in yet, she could do with a rest. She turned to her father, and answered. "Well Erika could use the break, and honestly I don't think I saw anything. Even if I did, with how fast it moved, we wouldn't shake it anyway. So I would guess here is as good a place as any to make camp for the night."

Teolan nodded and thought for a few moments. After weighing the opinions and thinking about the rest of the journey, he looked at Frendar and nodded. "Alright, we'll make camp here. You and Nano need to sleep, where as me and Liandry don't." Elves didn't sleep, and didn't even need eight hours of rest. They normally went into a kind of meditative state for four or so hours every night, and that was all they needed. They were still fully aware of everything around them, its just that they relaxed their muscles and let their body and mind rest. He looked at Frendar, and Nano. "So you two take first watch and me and Liandry will take second."

Frendar and Nano nodded, and Teolan looked at the stew, tasting after giving it a quick stir. "Almost there, only a couple of minutes and it'll be ready." He took the bread, and smiled, for it still felt warm. Joakim's travel loaves were made like most ordinary breads, but with certain plant and herb extracts that kept it fresh and warm. He didn't like to share the specifics, but Teolan also knew that some kind of spell was also involved, for the man was a cleric after all. But it wasn't his business, and besides, they were damn good and rather filling as well. Teolan tore the bread into five chunks, as close to equal size as he could, and handed one to each of them, as Liandry came to sit down with the group.

Teolan looked at his wife, and spoke. "So then my love, its been decided that we're going to make camp here for the night. Any objections to this?" he asked, as he ladled out the stew, handing out the bowls.

Liandry looked thoughtfully around them. The little overhang was rather well placed. It only had one easy entrance. To the left of that little pathway was nothing but a fifty foot tall sheer cliff face. To the right was a rather steep slope, with many lips, ledges, and gaps. Behind them was the small creek and waterfall. So it wasn't a vulnerable spot in comparison to many places they'd camped before in the crags. She took her helmet off, and slipped her left arm out of her shield, sitting down beside her daughter. She took the bowl of stew and the chunk of bread offered to her. She dipped the bread into the stew and tore off a bite, chewing thoughtfully. She swallowed and looked at Teolan. "Well it seems as secure a place as any. I assume we're taking second watch?"

Teolan nodded. "Of course, we'll take the longer one, because we don't sleep." It was still high summer, so whilst nights were only ten hours, days were sixteen. Next month was the summer solstice, where the night would only be eight hours and the day would be eighteen. The way the group did watches generally was to split the night where the first watch was four hours, and the second was the rest of the night, simply because both Nano and Frendar were much the same as humans, orcs and other humaniods. They needed proper sleep, at least six to eight hours a night. So generally the first shift was four to seven hours and the second shift would be six to nine hours, and would sometimes include an hour or two of the wee morning hours, depending on the time of year.

The group ate in relative silence, and afterwards, they started going about their duties. Leliana, however, followed her mom, and got her relatively alone. Liandry could tell her daughter needed to talk to her about something, so once they were out of hearing distance of the others, she looked at Leliana. "What's wrong?" she asked softly.

Leliana looked at her mom, and with a deep breath, explained what she had seen. "It started earlier today when we were coming down the slope of Westward Giant. I caught a glimpse of some large cat shaped creature, but not enough to really see what it was. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, so I thought nothing of it. But just now, I saw it over there," she pointed to the little mess of trees and rocks on the cliff down where the small path that they'd come up started to turn.

Liandry glanced, but saw nothing, and kept listening. "It was the ugliest and scariest thing I've ever seen. It had two huge canines, like this big!" She showed Liandry with her hands, and the gap she made was three inches. Not unbelievable, but big, and definitely dangerous. Leliana kept talking. "It was cat shaped, but its head was wrong. It's nose was all bone, with two large holes, its eyes were white and its black skin didn't have much fur, just a few patchy spots of brown, and it was covered in gross sores and scabs. It had a tail too, but that didn't even look right, you could see the vertabrae!" Leliana looked at her mother, obviously more then a little concerned. "It looked mean, and its white eyes seemed to not just be looking at me, but at Erika. I'm scared mom, if Erika is connected to the wagon and something tries to attack her, she can't move around to defend herself."

Leliana knew enough about horses to know that other then their size and speed, their only defense was to basically kick out with their back legs. Whilst this could do a lot of damage, it first required the horse to be able to turn in such a way where that was an option. Connected to a wagon like she was, Erika wouldn't be able to move around that way. Liandry nodded thoughtfully, and had to ask. "Why didn't you tell your father, to convince him we should keep going?"

Leliana's answer was simple, and Liandry couldn't really find a good way to argue it. "It moved rather fast, and has been following us this whole time. I don't think we could outrun it, and this seems like a rather safe spot. We can see plenty, and the only easy way in is the path." Liandry smiled, she'd taught her daughter well. She hugged her daughter, and looked at her.

"I promise you we won't let any harm come to Erika, nor you, no matter what happens." she promised solemnly. Leliana looked up into her mom's eyes, and found comfort there. She hugged her mom tight, and then nodded. Liandry smiled, and pointed to the wagon. "Now go and see if your dad has anything for you to do."

Leliana nodded, and moved off. Liandry moved around, looking for signs of any hidden caves or anything they hadn't seen. While she did, she racked her mind, trying to figure out exactly what her daughter could have seen.

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The creature bounded over the rocks, loping at a decent pace back to its pride, who were resting about a half mile north of the small group of prey. The creature loved to hunt and kill. It looked like some twisted nightmare version of a panther or mountain lion. In truth, it was no natural creature, and in fact was the very opposite. It was a feral yowler, a twisted mistake of necromatic magic and experimentation. It was a magical blight, and its kind was very rare. When they did come into existence, they were a menace to humanoids and animals alike. They killed to eat, yes, but also enjoyed killing. They would butcher whole families or groups of man or beast, simply because they could. It was about seven feet long from its twisted face to the tip of its tail, and probably four hundred pounds of muscle. Its face looked like a twisted skeleton, from the two coin sized nasal cavities, to the three inch fangs, to the narrow pointed bony chin. Its eyes were pure white, and its teeth were sharp as knives. It had vicious inch long claws as well, which it would use to hook and tear into its prey.

The creature also had a strangely shaped body, its front wide and powerful, but is back half narrowed out. Whilst this cut down its speed a fair amount, it gave the yowler's front legs unmatched power for pouncing and striking. Its back was bony and the vertebrae could be seen all the way down its tail, protruding just under the skin. It had little brown patches of fur, but its black skin was shrunken and covered in sores and gashes, remainders of the necromatic experimentation that had created it. This particular male, along with the rest of its pride, three other males and five females, were the results of an experiment gone terribly wrong by a trio of necromancers and their apprentice. The apprentice had managed to escape, but the three necromancers had been brutally butchered, the pride's first kills, their first insatiable taste of blood in their new form.

The creature was magical in nature, and since it was born of negative energy and necromatic magic, neither of those kinds of magic could harm it. It also had a pair of strange magical traits, like all of its kind. The first was a strange displacement effect that was always upon it. You couldn't tell exactly where it was by looking at it. It that it was an illusion, its just that light refracted strangely off its body, and gave the impression it was a few inches from where it actually was. Not strong, but strong enough to give it an advantage, and to cause seasoned warriors to miss on occasion.

The second strange magical ability was where these creature's name came from. Every couple of minutes, they could let out a powerful magical wailing yowl. The sound was magical in nature, a powerful fear effect. It took a strong mind and force of will to keep control and not be shaken up and distracted by a swelling and uncontrollable rising sense of fear. Besides these magical traits the creatures were also strong, tough, and rather smart. For their size and awkward body shape, they were also surprisingly quick, able to run at speeds in excess of thirty five kilometers an hour if necessary. Their real tactic however, was stealth. They were excellent ambush predators, quiet, light on their feet, and quick.

The male came back to find its pride fighting over the scraps of the large male yak they'd downed not an hour ago. He started growling and grunting, communicating with them. The pride rose quickly in response, forgetting the scraps with the promise of a fresh slaughter. They lopped off, moving quickly, silently. They got back to the small groups camp, and spread out. Two of them moved to the ledge on the left of the small overhang, about forty feet above it, using the brush and small trees as visual barriers. Four more of them took to the slope on the right, hiding amongst the boulders, a pair of them creeping well within striking distance of the horse, using the larger rocks as cover and wind blocks to hide their scent. The last three waited on the ledges of the cliff down the path, ready to close that escape route. They waited for the two lead strikers to attack, anxious for more blood.

But despite their enjoyment of killing, the yowlers were patient creatures, and waited. They weren't stupid and knew enough about the scents and shapes to know that the two things that were walking on two legs would soon be rather tired and unaware. Their wait wasn't long at all, only an hour or so. The moon was up, and darkness had taken over. The strikers perked up as they heard the taller and hairer one say something, and yawn. They both stopped searching the landscape with their eyes, turning towards the wagon. This was the perfect moment, and the pair of yowlers walked out from around the boulders, and as they bounded towards their prey, let out their bloodcurdling yowls.

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Liandry couldn't rest at all, for she just sensed something was wrong. She didn't know what, but something felt off. She rose from her meditative state, and calmly put on her helmet. She had rested in her armor, with her mace on her hip. Her husband had done the same, and the couple would continue to do so until they were safely in Longreach. She slid on her shield, and moved to walk out of the wagon. "Fresh air will do me some good." she whispered. But as she went to walk out, she heard the bloodcurdling wailing yowls, and realized then what her daughter had seen.

She fought the magical fear rising in her throat, eyes wide, as she saw the pair of feral yowlers bounding down the slope, right at Erika. "Teolan, we've a fight on our hands!" she yelled, as she managed to fight off the magical fear, pulling out her mace. "Yowlers, so fortify your courage and your minds!" she called out. She hopped out of the wagon, and glanced around as she moved to engage the beasts. She saw at least two more bounding down the cliffs on the other side of the little overhang, and she knew enough to guess there would be more.

"At least four!" she yelled, and she called out to Leliana, keeping as calm as possible. "Leliana, stay in the wagon, and don't come out unless me or dad comes to get you!"

Leliana snapped out of her rest in a fright, shaking and scared. She calmed considerably, however as her mother's level headed voice came through the growling and other yowling calls, to her. She steeled herself as best she could, and bunkered up tight, watching through the gap in the fabric hood, particularly watching Erika. The horse was frightened, it was true, but was by no means in a panic yet, and by no means completely defenseless.

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Frendar and Nano were instantly alert as they heard the calls, and Frendar's axe came off his back, blades gleaming. He pounded his fist off his chainmail covered chest, using an old dwarven trick to stop what he could feel to be a magical fear effect. It was a simple trick, really. He just got mad. "Come here, you lot, disturbing me right before I can go ta sleep! Let's see how yer insides look when they're outside ye!"

Nano worked quickly as well, first casting a pair of defensive spells on himself, nullifying the magical fear. Then, he quickly started preparing his offensive illusionary magic. First though, he quickly cast a burst spell, and soon they could all see nine glowing green forms, including three that had been trying to sneak up from the path that the group of friends had come up to get here. Nano called out, as he prepared his spells of choice. "I'll hold off the three at the back, you three get rid of the other six, and protect the wagon!"

He waggled his fingers, and suddenly, a pair of iron beings rose form the ground. They were about the size of a human man. The two summoned living armors were both armed with spears, and they flanked Nano, as he moved off to engage the trio coming up behind the wagon.

Teolan came outside, and quickly assessed the situation. The two leading attackers were already on his wife and Frendar. He knew that they would be fine one on one, he trusted their abilities. He saw where a problem could arise though, as the two from the cliffs bounded down onto the little overhang, and started making a beeline towards them from behind. He called out a warning, and drew his rapier, moving towards the creatures.

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The first two came at Frendar, who smiled as Liandry appeared beside him, Mercy in hand, shield in front of her. She turned and winked at Frendar, and he saw the fire in her eyes. She truly despised such creatures, and was anxious to correct the balance. Such creatures were a blight on nature, and her mace sang out, wishing to release them, and restore the natural order. Frendar knew that look, and knew better then to question her when she told him "I'll take the bigger one on the left, you deal with his smaller friend."

The dwarf just nodded, and moved forward to meet his opposition. Liandry stepped in, and called to the creature, banging Mercy on her shield, putting her own magical effect into play, calling on the mace's enchantment. "Come, cowardly creature, blight upon the natural order. Come and face the mercy of balance!" The taunting call was more then just a taunt, for the mace pulsed, and sang out, sending out a magical compulsion. The yowler, which had been moving toward Erika, turned and growled at Liandry. It bounded at her, and she set herself, shield at the ready. "Good kitty, come and find release." she whispered, smiling.

The creature pounced at Liandry, claws out, mouth open, trying to use its four hundred pound frame to overwhelm its smaller advesary. But Liandry was no unexpecting animal, she was a trained warrior, and experienced in facing, and beating, such tactics. She bent low, and angled her shield up, pushing forward, until she felt the creatures impact. She rose quickly, using her shield arm and literally powering the creature over her, using its own momentum against it. The yowler hit the ground on its back. Liandry pivoted quickly, and hammered the edge of her shield down on its back as the beast tried to roll over and get to its feet. It screamed angrily, as the shield cracked against one of its blistered sores, drawing a steady flow of blood and pus.

She brought Mercy to bear up and across from right to left, and it sang off the yowler's right rear flank. There was a thundering crack of bone snapping. She smiled, now clearly at an advantage with this opponent, and methodically stepped back as it pivoted, getting out of range of its vicious claws, and waited for her next opportunity.

Frendar was far less calculated in his response then his shield sister, for he didn't need to be. The yowler he faced was a little under double his weight, but that didn't matter. It leapt at him, and he just let it hit him, staying on his feet. As the snarling head came towards him, he let go of his axe with his right hand, and hammered a punch right into its throat. The creature stopped trying to bite him, gasping for air from the vicious impact of the iron studs on Frendar's knuckles. Frendar quickly used his right hand, grabbing the yowler by the throat, and he headbutted the creature right between the eyes. "Take this, ye confused cat-zombie thing!" he roared.

The yowler was completely caught off guard, and dazed. As Frendar let go of its neck, it fell to all fours, and stumbled back a pace or so, trying to reorient itself.

Frendar, however, had learned the technique behind a proper headbutt, from lots of practise. So he was fine. As he let go, and the creature stumbled back, he grasped his axe, and it went up over his head. It came down hard and fast. There was a sickening crack, and that yowler crumbled onto the ground, its skull split wide open. Frendar wrenched his axe out of the creature's skull and brain matter, and turned just in time to catch sight of the one that had slipped by Teolan. It was running at the wagon. He laughed, and ran at it, roaring out loudly. "Now, now, I don't think I wants ta be letting ya be doing that, ye ugly scum sucking son of a kobold! So come 'ere and taste me axe!"

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Teolan knew he couldn't stop both of the yowlers, so he focused instantly on the bigger one to his left, hoping that the second one would keep running by him, and that either Liandry or Frendar would dispatch their first opponents fast enough to be able to deal with it. As he ran past the left side of the one he'd picked, his rapier hissed out, puncturing deep into the yowler's side. It grunted and turned as Teolan withdrew the blade and took up a fencer's stance, his body sidelong.

His blade tip smoothly wavered side to side, as he kept his wrist and arm loose, and ready. He nodded as the second yowler kept running, and called out a warning to his companions. The one that faced him leapt at him, and he sidestepped quickly, having no intention of letting the thing touch his light frame. As he stepped aside, his blade hissed out again, and again punctured deep into the yowler, this time at its shoulder. However Teolan had been aiming for the softer lower part of its front right leg. He realized then that the creature wasn't quite where it seemed. If you looked at it from different angles, it seemed to shift, and move even when still.

He looked at the green aura from Nano's detect life spell as it leapt at him again, quickly processing and testing a theory. He again aimed for the right leg, around the knee of the creature, but focused on the green outline, not the physical body of the yowler itself. The blade hissed out, and this time had the desired result, passing clean through knee joints, and resulting in a screech of pain from the beast. He withdrew his blade and quickly called out to the others. "They have some kind of displacement magic about them, focus on the aura, not them!"

He didn't have time to make sure the others had heard him, for he almost was caught off guard as the yowler bounded at him again. He barely got out of the way, but this time he managed to land a solid strike through the creature's back, and felt his rapier hit something soft inside it. It stumbled, and rose, but now had blood forming around its teeth, and slowly dripping from its mouth. Unbeknownst to the beast, Teolan had punctured one of its lungs and had managed to knick a major artery on the way in. It was bleeding out into its lung. The yowler only had moments to live before it drowned in its own blood.

Teolan nodded, and waited, watching the beast's fatigue level with every attempted attack. After three more passes, it stumbled down, and was unable to rise. He walked up carefully, and rammed his rapier through its chest, pricking its heart, putting the yowler out of its misery. He yanked his rapier out, and turned as he heard a frightening sound. The sound of his daughter's scream.

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Behind the wagon, Nano sent his two iron soldiers into the fray, commanding them to use their spears to block the yowlers off. They were just illusions, so although they could hit and hurt opponents, and physically impede them, they couldn't draw blood or kill. But holding the angry beasts back was all Nano wanted from them, as he prepared four spells. He smiled as he finished preparing the last one, and looked around to see where he should send his illusionary bodyguards next. He did a double take as he saw the green outlines of the last pair from the slope trying to sneak around to the wagon and Erika. Both Erika and Leliana wouldn't have a chance. He quickly waved his hand, and sent mental instructions to his illusions. They disengaged their current opponents, and seemed to disappear for a few moments, reappearing out of the yowlers line of sight, and moved off to follow their master's instructions.

Seeing no other target, the three yowlers rushed Nano. Suddenly, however, their whole preception went compeletly topsy turvy, and suddenly, they were running away from the wagon. A simple spell, Nano had simply temporarily inverted both sight and smells to the creatures, and they'd turned a hundred and eighty degrees because of it. To keep them interested, as they turned, Nano cast a mirror image, and according to the yowlers eyes, Nano was now down the path that they'd come up, and even had his back to them. They bounded after the illusion. Nano quickly cast his third spell, doing his best not to blow his cover by laughing. It was proving difficult, because this was proving far to easy.

The yowlers all bounded at the illusion, only to hit a giant floating sphere of oil. A simple reworked grease spell, and as they hit the ground, covered in the slippery substance, they slipped and slid, unable to get a grip. They hit the wall of the cliff that they'd come down in a twisted heap. Before they could even try to untangle themselves, Nano cast his last spell, tittering loudly now, unable to control himself. A simple spark spell, and a small flame appeared on his thumbnail. He flicked it as if flicking a coin, still giggling to himself. "Too easy," he muttered, grinning. The magically guided little flame arched up and then down...landing right on the oil covered creatures. There was a soft whoosh as the highly combustable oil on the creatures lit up quickly and violently. He turned his back on the scene smiling and rubbing his hands together, scanning around to see where he could help next.

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Leliana watched in fear and awe alike, as her mother began combat with the beast. She quickly threw it over her shoulder with her shield, as if it weighed nothing at all! She spun and hammered her shield and mace into the beast once each, and stepped out of range of its claws, looking every bit of the confident warrior. Leliana heard her father's call, and heard Frendar's loud voice. She knew that she would be safe. She also heard the soft sound of oil igniting, and the crackling of flames. She guessed those noises had something to do with Nano's high pitched laughing.

Leliana sat there, clutching her wooden practise shield. Although she knew it would probably not do near as much good as her mom's, it made her feel better to have something, just in case. She listened to the sounds of combat a bit more, and thought everything was going to be just fine.

Then she heard it. The growling and breathing, just beyond the canvas of the wagon, on the far side, where no one could see. She peeked out to see two of the creatures using the wagon as cover. They ignored the wagon completely, and were obviously getting ready to attack Erika. The mare could smell them, and was starting to panic, her eyes going wide. She frantically was trying to turn, to get her back legs lined up with the beasts, but she couldn't.

Leliana suddenly forgot how scared she was, seeing her friend, a member of her family so scared and helpless. She grabbed the sharp dicing knife she'd used to make the stew many hours ago, and without thinking ran outside. One of the beasts lept at Erika's flank, and without thinking Leliana ran in front of it, holding the wooden shield as steady as she could. She screamed as the beast slammed into the shield, trying to over run her smaller form. Leliana wouldn't budge though, for she could feel Erika's fear. "Leave her alone!" she screamed and without thinking, she just stabbed the knife out.

She actually managed to puncture the beast, and it growled angrily. Yowlers weren't stupid and it recognized the threat of the knife. It stepped back, and Leliana scrambled around Erika as fast as she could. She frantically sawed at the leather holding the mare to the wagon's horse poles', putting the big mare between her and the creatures. The yowlers realized that despite Leliana being much smaller then Erika, the knife was a huge threat. They ran around Erika, one scampering around the front of her. The second, younger and more inexperienced, made a brutal mistake. It thought to take the shorter route as Leliana had. Around the back of the mare.

The yowler bounded once, and as it came down, directly behind her back legs, Erika bucked, hard. The yowler never even had a chance to bend its knees to prepare for its next stride, as the mare's sturdy back hooves hammered a fierce kick right into its side. The howler hammered heavily into the wagon, and started squirming, trying to find the strength to rise. As Leliana sawed the last of the bindings, she heard the snarling of the other creature, and turned to see as it leapt at her. She froze, frightened, sure she was doomed.

Time seemed to slow down, however and what happened next amazed Leliana. Erika reared up, pivoting on her back hooves, and her front feet thundered down, putting herself as a physical barrier between the creature and Leliana. The yowler hammered heavily into the mare, but didn't manage to sink teeth nor claw in her, for it hadn't been ready for her. Leliana just stared at the mare, amazed. Erika kept her eye on Leliana the whole time, and the horse kept moving, keeping its body between the yowler and Leliana.

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Liandry cursed as the claws of the beast caught the elbow of her right arm, managing to tear a fair sized set of gashes. She'd been a split second to slow on her pull back and had payed for it. It hurt like a demon, and was obviously deep, but she had no time to worry about that. A sound that changed her attitude completely tore through the battle. Her daughter's screaming voice. "Leave her alone!" she heard Leliana's voice call out, full of fear and anger.

Liandry shook herself out of her complacent mindset, and went on the attack. As the yowler tried to lunge at her again, she leaned hard into a shield bash, putting everything she had into it. The shield hammered into the yowler's face with a satisfying thud, and the beast staggered back. Liandry didn't even hesitate, and Mercy sang out loudly, as it smashed into the yowler's skull, crushing it like a grape.

Liandry turned and saw that Erika was loose, and was amazed to see what the mare was doing. She was braving the yowler's presence, keeping her back legs between it and Leliana. Another of the creatures' was in front of the wagon, trying, struggling to rise. From the look of the beast, Erika had landed a good one on it. Liandry started moving quickly towards her daughter and mare. Frendar called out to her, as his axe thundered home, nearly cleaving another yowler's spine in two. It fell, and he wrenched his axe out, and his eyes locked on the one near the wagon, regaining its footing. "I'll take the one behind 'em, Liandry. Ye go teach that other un a lesson in manners. Show him what happens ta stupid kittens that play at being lions."

She nodded, and quickly took action, as the yowler suddenly seemed like it had tricked Erika. The mare had lost sight of it, as it went left but quickly bounded back to the right. It had a clear path to Leliana, who obviously couldn't outrun it. Nano's two illusionary warriors were coming up on the scene, but Liandry wasn't willing to place her daughter's life in the hands of the speed of two fake soldiers. She hammered her mace into her shield, again calling on its compelling magic. "Come, cowardly creature, and see how you fare when your opponent bites back!" Again the magic of the mace went to work, and the compelling taunt showed instant effect. The yowler turned almost a hundred and eighty degrees, and bounded at Liandry with vicious power and intent.

She met it with equal ferocity and more, much like the ferocity of a mother bear protecting her cubs. This creature had been about to try to kill and eat her daughter. It had threatened her child. Her shield met its pounce, and the bosk hammered into its jaws with a fair amount of force. The creature was thrown sideways from the impact, but it landed on its feet, and growled, bounding at her again. This time it didn't jump at her, and instead tried to close the distance to get to her legs, to trip her.

But Liandry was having none of that, this time using her shield at a downward angle, bashing the creature on the top of the head, and forcing its head down. She brought Mercy into the fray quickly, and the mace sang out again as it hammered into the creature's right side, crushing and breaking ribs. The yowler screamed and squirmed, trying to get free, but Liandry used all her body weight, pinning the beast's head between her shield and the ground. Her mace hammered home again, but this time a fatal blow, the over head smash onto the base of the yowler's neck, where it joined the skull. The bone snapped with a loud crunching sound, and suddenly the creature just stopped squirming entirely.

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Whilst Liandry went all mother bear like on her advesary, Frendar did as he'd done twice now. He rushed headlong in, leading with the intent to make this little encounter quick, brutal and painless. But then something happened that completely turned that plan of action around on him. As his axe came down for the overhand chop to end it, the blades found only air. Frendar cursed loudly, knowing his error even as the fangs and teeth of the yowler clamped down viciously, the fangs puncturing his chainmail, and sinking deep into his lower leg. He'd been focusing on the creature, not the aura from Nano's spell.

The creature yanked his feet out from under him, and scrambled to get on top of the dwarf. Frendar could smell and even taste its foul breath, as the beast tried to clamp it's jaws around his neck. Frendar managed to keep its jaws back, but slowly it was getting closer, its superior size and weight making the dwarf's battle a losing one.

Frendar knew he was in trouble, and called out for the one he knew could aid him. "Nano, by the Flames of the Miner's Forge, get this fucking thing off me!!!!" he yelled out, sounding strained and somewhat desperate.

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Nano smiled as he saw and heard the conundrum that his dwarven friend had gotten himself into. This was a scenario they'd played out often enough. Frendar had a nasty habit of getting a little bit of accidental 'tunnel vision' and this had a way of getting the dwarf into his fair share of sticky situations in combat. Nano quickly went to work, casting two spells he'd prepared for just such a problem as this. He giggled, as the yowler suddenly looked at what it was trying to bite, blinking and obviously confused. A simple illusion spell, but from the yowler's point of view, for some odd reason, it had been trying to bite and eat a stone!

The creature started looking around, and Nano quickly cast his second spell, another mirror image. This time he created a mirror image of the vulnerable looking Leliana.....standing on the edge of the overhang. The yowler failed to realize, in its confusion, what it was about to do. It bounded off Frendar, who knew better then to move, and ran full tilt at the image of Leliana. As the beast left it's feet, pouncing, Nano quickly manipulated the mirror image for his own amusment, giggling absurdly. The image turned, and smiled and waved at the yowler...as it flew right through it, and continued over the two hundred foot drop onto the rocks and water at the bottom of the little waterfall. Nano smiled even wider, as he heard the creature hit, making a dull satisfying wet smack sound against the rocks.

Nano heard Frendar laughing loudly, and looked to see that the dwarf had gotten up in time to see the finale of Nano's efforts. The dwarf ran up to the cliff and looked down to see the satisfying mess of the beast. Frendar spit over the cliff, and called out, "Take that, ye ugly confused catfish!"

Nano smiled and strolled over to stand beside Frendar and look upon his handiwork. The yowler's death had obviously been pretty much instant, its insides now almost all splattered outside of it. The gnome turned away, both disturbed by the sight, yet amused that such a intelligent magical creature could be fooled so easily.

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Teolan and Liandry moved quickly to their daughter, who was rubbing Erika's side, as the mare rested her head on Leliana's shoulder. Liandry was first to her, yanking off her helmet and dropping Mercy and her shield as she ran to her daughter. She hugged Leliana tightly, and kissed her forehead, looking her up and down. "Are you okay?" She asked seriously. Leliana nodded, and Liandry quickly slipped into mother mode. "What were you thinking!?" She asked. "You could have been killed, and probably weren't that far off from being killed! I told you to stay in the wagon!".

Leliana nodded, looking slightly guilty, but she didn't back down, nor did she seem at all doubtful she'd done the right thing. "I know you told me to stay in the wagon mom, but you, dad and uncle Frendar were all busy, and I couldn't see uncle Nano. So no one noticed the two sneaking up on Erika! I couldn't just let them attack her!" Leliana looked into her mom's eyes, and finished speaking. "Erika is family just as much as me, and family help each other and watch out for each other. That's what you and dad always keep telling me. Well she's family to, and she needed help."

Liandry looked at Erika, who snorted and whinnied softly, nuzzling Leliana. It was only then that Liandry saw the two vicious bite marks on the Erika's left side, and realized that the mare hadn't just been trying to kick the yowler, she'd been shielding Leliana with her body. Liandry nodded, and looked into Erika's eyes. "You're right Leliana, Erika is family. And family watches out for each other, and help each other." With that Liandry laid her hands on the horse's left side, on her wounds, and called upon her clerical magic. The bites magically knit themselves shut, and soon were nothing but a slightly white miscoloration on the horse's hide. She nodded pleased and turned to Leliana, hugging her again, and as she let go, Liandry smiled at her daughter "You did well," she said, "You probably saved Erika's life. I'm proud of you."

Leliana blushed a bit, and smiled shyly. She hugged her dad, whom also kissed her on the top of the head. "You scared me witless," he said, but his smile gave him away. "But you did well, and Erika has you to thank for still being here. Well done."

Frendar nodded, and gave Leliana a big hug, and mussed her hair roughly. "Good job kiddo, you showed those ugly bastards what the true meaning of family is!" Leliana giggled, giving Frendar a kiss on the cheek. He limped over to Liandry, who smiled and cast a small healing spell on him, and also used a small spell to repair the links of his armor that the yowler's teeth had managed to punch through.

Finally Nano walked up to Leliana. "You did a good job out there, I honestly thought my illusionary soldiers would get over to intercept those two fast enough, but I was wrong. Erika is lucky someone was paying attention to her."

Leliana nodded and went into the wagon, as the others went about getting to bed, or in Teolan's and Liandry's case, taking over watch duty. No one even bothered searching the yowler's, for they obviously had nothing of value, and although they were created by magic gone awry, no part of their anatomy was useful for any type of magic. Frendar simply hooked his axe into the ones that Nano hadn't caught in his little fire trick, and hauled them to the edge of the overhang, throwing them off of the two hundred foot drop.
Leliana grabbed her blanket inside the wagon, then went outside, and curled up with the mare, who was lying down now. Erika whinnied softly, lightly resting her head protectively over Leliana's chest and stomach.. Leliana lay down, leaning against the mare's neck and chest, where Erika's front legs met her body. Leliana drifted off into a meditative state, and just lay there, resting with the sleeping mare under the summer night sky.