Twigs snapping and the heaving of Shafir's chest were the only thing he could hear as they ran. They staked out the area once again and walked in on a trap. The orc and his companion had set up an intriguing snare that had sliced up the side of Eliqinor's leg. When Shafir went to pull the hitch off, an explosion came, and then the orc made himself known. It had come through the brush after them and attacked. Shafir hadn't known how to react right away and grabbed Eliqinor. Yanking him through the woods to find somewhere else to regain their composure.
They eventually came to a field, and Eliqinor pulled himself away from Shafir. His leg was still bleeding, but it didn't seem too bad. The pain was probably more unbearable than anything else, but Eliqinor looked rather unfazed. Shafir looked toward the opening of the woods and it seemed they would have time to recover before the hulking figure came at them again.
"Eli-"
"Get over here," Eliqinor said as he limped to a log. Shafir followed his captain and watched as the other sat down. Shafir's stomach hurt a bit, but it was bearable. When the explosion went off. He felt pain, but soon adrenaline took over and he was sure he was fine. Eliqinor took a knife and cut his pant leg open wide enough to see the wound on his thigh. It didn't look too bad, but green goo seeped from where the snare had sliced him. "Had a feeling it was poison. Burns like a bitch."
"Do you have-"
"No, do you?" Eliqinor asked as he raised his brow. Shafir sighed and pulled a pouch off his belt and threw it at the other. Eliqinor had a bad habit of not carrying antidotes for common poisons on him. Shafir did thankfully carry a herbal pouch that had many plants that counteracted many poisons. Eliqinor opened the pouch and began pressing the herbs into the wound. There was the sound of fabric ripping, and Shafir watched as the white cloth from Eliqinor's cloak became a makeshift bandage. All his hard work sewing the damn thing was now ruined! That was the least of their worries, though.
"Something is strange… Don't orcs have a great sense of smell? With all the blood on you, he should have found us by now," Shafir said as he looked around. Something felt off, and he knew Eliqinor should have noticed it as well.
"It can't smell," Eliqinor said as he stood up, testing out the bandage by moving his leg back and forth.
"Of course, it can smell! It has a nose!" Shafir said and watched as Eliqinor sighed. If Eliqinor noticed something wrong with the orc, then Shafir was sure he would have seen.
"It may have a nose, but it can't smell. Dead bodies have no senses. They only follow the orders of their masters. If their masters can't tell them where the target is, they can't do anything." Eliqinor was making sense, but Shafir was sure that the orc that they were fighting had been very much alive. He had smelt no signs of decay and other than the empty, lifeless eyes, he would've assumed nothing was wrong.
"So you're telling me that the fucker was there the whole time? He was watching us the whole time we were trying to fight off the orc." Shafir felt anger rise in the pit of his stomach. What a cocky fucker they thought they were! If this mastermind thought he could handle two knights, why did he use an orc to do his heavy work?
"More than likely, if he wasn't there with us, he was using the orc's eyes as a medium. I think the stasis and necromancy catalysts are probably his eyes. Once we got out of the line of sight of the catalyst, he probably couldn't command it to come after us. He's probably searching the woods as we speak. If he's anything like you when tracking, it won't be long before he finds us." Eliqinor's trailed the edges of the forest looking into the dark, Shafir couldn't sense anything but soon enough a hulking figure came out of the brush.
When Shafir looked him over, he could see the small signs of decay. The armor he wore mostly covered it, but as he moved, decaying flesh and black goo oozed from the sores. The skin was blackened at the edges and the lifeless eyes trained down onto Shafir. Glassy orbs were mismatched in color and had a faint glow to them. Whoever this fucker was, he was going to be in a lot of pain. If only he wasn't hiding behind this dead body and faced him.
"Can he hear us?" Shafir asked without looking at Eliqinor. His hand reached for the hilt of his sword. The orc's eyes never trailed away, slowly watching as the dark elf drew his sword. Its shoulders slumped as if sighing over the fact that Shafir drew his sword.
"I'm assuming not unless the caster has added catalysts in his ears as well." Shafir nodded and surveyed the orc's movements. There was a slight delay in the way he looked around, so there might have been some kind of disconnect between the body and its host. If given enough time between attacks, they may catch him off guard and, during his delay, put a swift end to him.
"So, since you are such a wonder when it comes to studies. How do you kill a necromancer's toy?" Shafir asked as the orc brought down its hammer beside him, thankful he was fast enough to dodge it. The enemy was slow, but not so slow that the fight would be over quickly. If Shafir had to rate the orc's speed, it would be slightly less than Eliqinor, who, while slower than Shafir, gave him a run for his money when it counted.
"Well, usually destroying the catalysts is the most surefire way. Skilled necromancers can make pieces of bodies move, even if there is no catalyst in it." Eliqinor dodged the next swing from the orc, though slower than usual because of his injury. If Shafir could, he would dig a hole and put Eliqinor there for safekeeping. The man could barely walk on it, but here he was trying to fight off an orc who was about the same speed as his captain in this state.
"Move back, idiot. How much do you think you can do? Your leg is fucked up!" Shafir yelled and looked back at Eliqinor, who limped off to the side. The orc turned back toward Shafir when Eliqinor was no longer within reach. Something was off… It didn't seem like it was going for either of them in particular, but keeping them apart.
"If I keep back, how far do you want me to go?" Eliqinor shouted back and held onto the bandages on his leg.
"All the way back to the fucking city!" Shafir yelled and Eliqinor huffed. To say he had to monitor Eliqinor so he wouldn't get hurt anymore was distracting. He was having enough issues trying to avoid the orc's attacks. How the hell was he supposed to fuck with the catalysts when in the corner of his vision he could see Eliqinor inching closer and almost getting struck?
"Fine! I'll keep back! But you have to keep him distracted!" Eliqinor limped back toward the edge of the forest and the orc turned his attention to Shafir. So the intended target was to keep them separated. Shafir understood as this hulking body, with a delay in command, couldn't take two skilled knights at the same time.
"I don't know what you will do, but make it quick. He can't get tired, but I can!" Shafir yelled. He could feel his body weakening every time he dodged a swing. Stamina was often on Shafir's side, but today was not the day. The little food they had and the terrible sleep that they both got from constantly being on edge did not help.
"I'm trying!" Shafir heard from the underbrush. One thing Shafir knew was that Eliqinor was easily one of the most skilled archers he knew. Shafir knew what this idiot had planned, and he decided. Shafir stood still in front of the orc. He brought his hand back and smacked the elf into the tree. It hurt. It hurt so fucking much, but it opened the orc up to attack.
The sound of two arrows whistling through the air was music to Shafir's ears. When he looked up, the orc was falling to the ground with two arrows embedded in the mismatched orbs. The body lost all strength and lay lifeless as if it hadn't been a necromancer's puppet. Shafir stood up from where he had been thrown to the side, an aching pain more excruciating than it had been before. Eliqinor made eye contact with Shafir before the dark elf nodded, letting him know he was fine. The other made his way to the corpse and pulled out his sword from its hilt and shoved the metal into the orc's skull, making sure he had destroyed every piece of the catalyst.
Shafir looked down at where his stomach had been wounded and a crimson liquid leaked from where his leather tunic had been cut into. It didn't seem too bad, and he knew he could deal with the pain until they got back to camp, where Eliqinor could fuss about his wound later. Pulling up his leather belt, Shafir hid the tear in his clothes and watched as Eliqinor stood up from where he was hacking at the corpse.
"There don't seem to be any other catalysts. So it's safe to assume that whoever was controlling him has probably given up…" It didn't take long for Eliqinor to close the gap from where he was, Shafir had hobbled over slightly, still sore from the brute force that came from the orc. If he hadn't been so weak from a lack of food and proper rest, then he might not have gotten as hurt. However, that was the least of his concerns when he saw the blood seeping through Eliqinor's makeshift bandage. "Are you okay? He threw you pretty hard. You didn't have to-"
"Who are you asking me if I'm okay while you are bleeding!?" Shafir scolded his captain and put his shoulder under Eliqinor's arm. "We should return to camp as soon as possible. We can send a light falcon to let others know we need a rescue party and to patch up your leg." Shafir bonked Eliqinor on the head, almost knocking the high elf's circlet off. Eliqinor's shoulders shook as he laughed and nodded in agreement.
"You almost sound like a wife, one that is concerned for her husband's wellbeing, who has been working too much." Eliqinor chuckled some more and Shafir felt a wave of anger rush over him. If this buffoon wasn't already injured… Shafir thought of all the ways he could have probably punished the captain, but they both had a long day and, honestly, Shafir could go for some rest. He could give Eliqinor a piece of his mind some other time. Right now, a cold drink and a warm meal sounded the best. However, neither of them was in any condition to travel, especially Eliqinor, as they didn't even know if the herbs neutralized the poison and none were the kinds to prevent bleeding. The sooner someone came to their rescue, the better.
Shafir didn't enjoy relying on others, but at this moment, with Eliqinor's arm slumped over his shoulder, he couldn't care less. After all, he was happy they came out in one piece, somehow… Whoever had wanted them to leave put up a good fight, but they probably hadn't expected Eliqinor to be such an excellent shot with a bow. They limped through the woods once more, but this time, they didn’t have to worry about an imposing orc on their trail.
