The Southern Mountains.
Late at night…
A man dressed in a heavy cloak, holding a lantern in his right hand rushed down a rocky path, panting heavily. Occasionally, he'd throw his gaze behind him, looking for anyone that may be pursuing him. Jumping over a boulder, he stopped for a moment to catch his breath, leaning down. "Did… Did I make it away?" He thought, looking around. It seemed as though he was alone, but that could have been a lie. In the cover of night, it was difficult to make out anything in these mountains.
Then, a few pebbles were kicked off the path behind him.
Flipping around, he saw a dark figure standing not too far from him – eyes shining. Despite the darkness, he could make out a grin stretched out across the figure's face, which sent shivers down his spine.
"Shit…!" He quickly flicked around, stumbling a bit before resuming his run, fleeing from the figure. "I should have left the moment I saw them! Why? Why did I stay to continue tailing them?!" He scolded himself in his mind, before taking a sharp turn.
However, before he got any further, another figure hidden by the darkness of the night landed onto the ground in front of him, catching him off guard and causing him to fall to the ground, dropping the lantern he had been carrying with him.
The lantern smashed instantly, the flame inside it going out.
Then, shortly afterwards, the one who had been behind him the entire time appeared as well, cutting off the man's potential escape. "For the love of the dragons… No way out now…" He thought, before taking in a deep breath and quickly rising back up to his feet, clenching his hands into fists, before taking a stance. "No other choice but to fight these two I suppose…"
After he took his stance, the two figures quickly drew out their weapons – each one holding a longsword. Then, without warning, they dashed at the cloaked man, swinging their weapons at him.
Swiftly, the man dodged the attack from the figure at the front, before catching and redirecting the attack towards the ground from the figure at the back. Then, he quickly struck the figure on the back of its neck, causing it to loosen the grip it had on the sword. The man followed up the strike with a kick against the sword, kicking it out of the figure's hand completely. Then, before the figure could recover, he quickly struck it against its chest multiple times, aiming for the weak points on it, finishing it off with a kick, which sent the figure flying against a boulder.
Then, he quickly turned his attention to the other figure, who launched at him once more, swinging its sword around – the man evading each strike, even if just barely. After a few moments of dodging the figures attacks, he noticed an opening, before immediately taking his chance to get in close to the figures waist, striking rapidly three times against it, before using two fingers from his other hand to strike the waist, before twisting them, sending a slight ripple across the figures body.
For a moment, nothing.
No movement, no actions. Then, the figure dropped its sword, before falling against the ground itself as well. The man breathed heavily, staring down at the figure. "Okay, thank the dragons he wasn't wearing any sort of protection under that cloak…"
Then, before he could make his escape, more figures appeared from the darkness surrounding him in an instant as they drew their own weapons. The man spun around, shedding a cold sweat as he saw the enemies. "Twelve… No, at least sixteen more of them… Damnit.." He exhaled, before taking in a deep breath and taking his battle stance once more. After he got ready, the figures rushed him down.
The man managed to fight back against them for a bit, deflecting, blocking, dodging and countering the attacks thrown at him. However, the high number of the enemies rushing him down at once began to feel overwhelming, tiring the man quickly. His movements became even sloppier and incomplete, with most just barely managing to land on his enemies.
Then, as his attention was on a different enemy, one of the figures managed to sneak up from behind, before drilling its blade into the back of his right leg.
"Arghh..!" The man let out a pained scream, before quickly flipping around and countering the figure, striking it multiple times, before grabbing it and tossing it at five others. However, the sword through his leg caused him to stumble down immediately afterwards, the blood spilling out from his leg, staining the ground and thin layer of snow beneath him.
"Not good…!" He thought, before another successful strike met his body, with a sword going through his arm, then another one going into his other leg, causing him to fall onto his knees as blood spilled out from the wounds more and more.
The man grit his teeth, trying to hold back his screams.
He had hit his limit – exhaustion was hitting in hard and now he had suffered three very, very deep wounds. There was no way for him to keep up the fight. The figures began to punch the man around, occasionally slashing at his body with their swords, while the man was powerless to fight back.
After a short bit of enduring it, one of the figures grabbed his head, before smashing it into the ground with immense force, creating a tiny crater where it had been smashed into.
For a few moments, the figure kept the man like that, his body completely unmoving, apart from the heavy breathing his body was pushing out. Lifting his head back up, blood spilled down, with the man coughing it up as well. His head was lifted up just enough to look up. When he did, he saw a different looking figure approaching him.
Different clothes, taller figure and an aura that was unlike anyone else.
This one was clearly far, far more powerful than the others.
"Sir Woo of the Overshadow Alliance, also known as the 'Master of the Fists' apprentice." The man stated, before a single eye shone from his head, slightly revealing a mask that covered his face – the mask having only one eye hole, with a whirling pattern on it, that converged into the eye hole.
"Did I get that correct?"
Woo breathed heavily, gritting his teeth gently, before spitting at the masked man's feet. The masked man remained silent for a moment, before taking a step back. Quickly, the cloaked figures close to Woo made distance from him, before a swift kick crashed into his face, sending Woo flying back and into a rocky wall, cracking it. The man coughed up more blood, as his body slid down onto the ground.
Blood was spilled everywhere, his wounds were too great and deep – if they, by some miracle, won't end up killing him, he would die of blood loss anyway. "How incredibly rude… Here I was under the impression that the Master of the Fist was a well mannered man. I suppose those manners weren't passed onto his apprentices."
"D-Don't you dare…" Woo coughed up more blood, before glaring at the masked man with a fierce gaze. "S-Speak his… Name..!"
In an instant, the masked man appeared in Woo's face, before grabbing it and smashing the back of his head into the wall behind him. "Aww… Am I not worthy to speak his name or something?" The masked man mocked Woo, before letting him go, standing up and over him, placing his arms behind his back. "I never thought that the Overshadow Alliance would grow so arrogant as to try and mess with our cause. I suppose you haven't been put in your place in a while." The masked man commented, before taking a step back. "Do tell me, what you were trying to do around one of our sites?"
Woo remained silent.
Partly because the simple act of speaking was difficult now – due to the blood constantly filling his throat and his heavy breathing, but also partly because he didn't know how to answer.
"I… I did not… k-know that it…w-was…. One of your sites."
"Is that so?..." The masked man tilted his head to the side a little bit, before exhaling. "For a member of the Alliance, you sure are bad at lying." He stated, before swinging his right hand back. Then, in an instant, he jammed his hand through Woo's throat.
Woo's eyes widened, as blood poured out from his throat.
After rummaging in it for a bit, the masked man smiled under his mask before pulling his hand back out. Stained with Woo's blood, he looked down at his hand, in it, rested a small, shiny black orb. "Ah… There it is. The Alliance's famed network stone." He stated, lifting it up and holding it against the moon, letting the orb bask in its shine.
Woo was on the last strings of his life – barely even able to pull in or push out a breath of air. The masked man observed the orb for a few moments longer, before crushing it in his fingers, brushing them off afterwards. Then, he looked down at Woo. "Did you already alert the rest of the Alliance about what you saw?"
Woo didn't answer.
Not like he could, even if he wished to.
After a bit of silence, the masked man backed up a bit, turning around – seemingly about to walk away. Then, within a moment's notice, he spun back around and jabbed his hand through Woo's chest, grabbing hold of his heart. Then, a red aura of magical energy enveloped the masked man, as he began to use his hand to replicate a heartbeat.
For a bit, he held this position, with Woo unable to scream in pain or even do anything to stop it. All he could do was sit there, blood pouring out from his body while the masked man prevented his death by keeping him alive with his heart. Eventually, after an excruciating while, the masked man let go of Woo's heart. "I see… Well, this certainly is not ideal."
He commented, before looking at Woo, the red aura around him disappearing. "Thank you for the information. May your soul be swallowed by the spirits of the underworld." He stated, before using his hand to crush Woo's heart, instantly putting the man out of his misery.
Afterwards, the masked man pulled his hand out from Woo's chest, before standing up. "You." He said, looking over his shoulder at one of the cloaked figures behind him. The figure he looked at quickly moved forward before kneeling. "I'm at your service, Lord Finnegan."
"Go and meet with the Captain. I need him to ensure that the Alliance remains silent about what this man here saw."
"As you will it, Lord Finnegan." In an instant afterwards, the figure disappeared in the darkness, turning into nothing but a puff of smoke. "Clean up the body. Make sure no blood remains."
The rest of the cloaked figures quickly bowed, before moving to do exactly as the masked man had ordered. Finnegan moved away from the body, pushing his bloodstained hand into his own body – like it was some liquid – before pulling it out, the bloodstains completely gone now.
"Lord Finnegan, I come bearing a message from the Apostate."
A sudden voice stated, causing Finnegan to stop in his tracks before looking to the side. Another cloaked man appeared from the shadows, quickly kneeling before him. "Speak." The masked man stated rather coldly.
"The base near Ordial has been compromised. The Sinner was defeated, however it is unknown whether he was killed. The ritual was intercepted." The hooded figure quickly listed off the contents of the message, before raising its head to look Finnegan in the eyes. "The Apostate has given the signal to initiate the emergency plan."
Upon this statement leaving the figure's mouth, Finnegan's expression under his mask changed. At first, it was bemusement. Then, it turned into amusement. And finally, it warped into a grin, as he let out a small, smokey laugh. "...Very well. You're excused."
The figure bowed his head to Finnegan one more time, before disappearing into the darkness again. After a moment, the masked man turned to face the other cloaked figures who were currently in the process of cleaning up the deceased body of Woo. "Change of plans, take the body with us to the base." The cloaked figures all looked at Finnegan with slightly confused gazes.
"It'll do just fine and dandy as part of our resources for the emergency plan." Upon him saying this, the figures immediately understood his intentions. Carefully, the figures lifted Woo's body up, before laying it onto a piece of black cloth, rolling it into it. Then, four figures picked it up once more, disappearing into the darkness while the rest finished cleaning up the blood.
Then…
Sudden clouds covered the sky, blocking the view of the moon. Following the clouds, a sudden snow storm appeared out of nowhere – strong and thick, making it nearly impossible to see anything around. The hooded figures all looked around in confusion, while Finnegan remained calm — if anything, he was actually intrigued.
A loud shriek came from behind them.
The hooded figures quickly drew their swords, only for Finnegan to gesture them to stop. Then, he looked behind him to the source of the shriek, his single visible eye shining gently.
Higher than them, on top of a cliff edge was a tall, beastly figure, with antlers sprawling up into the air from its head, forming a rough 'crown' shape – perched. A pair of shining blue eyes stared down at Finnegan and the other cloaked people. Finnegan chuckled. "So, you've come out to play? Guess we were too loud with our little ruckus…"
He thought, before turning to face the beast glaring them down.
"Everyone, head back to the base immediately. I shall take care of this." The hooded figures behind him hesitated for a moment, before sheathing their blades and bowing towards Finnegan. Then, all of them disappeared. Finnegan kneeled down, reaching his hand down into a shadow, before pulling out a sword from it – spinning it around a bit.
The beast let out another shriek as it leapt from the cliffedge it was perched upon, landing in front of Finnegan, kicking up a small dust cloud. The blizzarding snow raged on, making it near impossible to make out the full features of the beast before Finnegan at this time, however even with that – the aura it carried, the silhouette and those shining blue eyes…
There was no doubt in Finnegans mind on who or rather, what this creature was.
"Want to play? Sure. I have been itching for a good fight anyway." Finnegan stated, lifting his sword up before grasping it with his other hand. Then, in an instant he leapt towards the beast, slashing his sword down at the beast in a swift motion.
Clang.
The beast easily blocked the strike with its left hand.
Up close, Finnegan could see the skeletal appearance of the thing's body. "It indeed is what I think it is."
Then, the beast used its other hand to quickly pummel Finnegan, sending the man sliding back with a powerful punch. Finnegan stumbled a little, laughing. "Incredible power… But it'll take more than that to make me waver!" The masked man shouted, laughing loudly as he leapt back towards the monster.
The beast launched at Finnegan as well, the two meeting in the center before beginning to exchange blows with one another – all the while their battle was hidden by the blizzard raging around them.