The Culling (Side Story)

[Enver Marshall II]

Enver noticed almost immediately how things played out. He should have been higher than the ground, but as soon as he got out of the tumbled mess he was in, the bug noticed the large blades of grass and dead leaves. Great. He complained internally, knowing full well that he was -not- the lion he anticipated being, and was his other form. Some beetle that was 'beautiful.' Words that came out of the lips of his 'wife,' when he first turned into it. Beautiful was not something Enver thought he would be associated with-ever. Handsome? Sure. Good-looking? Definitely. But, apparently, he, in his bug form was 'beautiful.'

Someone was shouting in his direction. At him? Maybe. Maybe Miss Knight was shouting at Reed. ****. Reed. He hadn't looked so hot before, but Enver 'felt' as if the guy would be alright. After all, he had some pretty good muscle tone, which meant he had worked out. And he was a vampire. Enver had seen worse and while he wasn't 'fine,' he had stayed alive. Suddenly there was pressure around his body and he was off the clothes and in space. In the air. Enver knew that much, until he landed on a hill. It wasn't quite a hill, but the bug had to move to not fall off the rounded edges of said hill.

The hill was nice. Sort of bouncy, and sistered with another hill. Really, Enver could stay here, hidden between both hills and no one would know. That was, -if- Crash wasn't counting on him. Or Reed. Or Miss Knight. The bug shook its head, deciding the heavenly hills had to be abandoned and focused everything he could on flying off the hills that apparently were -not- hills. So, what were they? The hole earth was moving, bouncing, really. Deciding the hills were no longer safe, for whatever reason, the multi-colored beetle jumped off from between the hills and started to fly. Nothing about it was graceful. The beetle smacked into some branches, bounced off those and hit another tree, bounced off that one and landed on the ground. Then, once again Enver transformed, this time into an eight and a half foot long lion, that weighed just over four hundred pounds. It 'roared,' Enver double checking that he was in fact a lion, before he took off after the running Reed and the two chasing after him.

The lion's heavy feet thudded against the soft and squishy earth, leaped over small succulents and trees starting to grow, before it pounced on the Wendigo closest to it. Its jaws snapped down on the upper back of the Wendigo, ripping into its shoulder blade, as the claws of the lion bore down into its prey, then started ripping the flesh apart.

Enver Marshall II
Other None Luck Turn into a lion! 2.0
Succeeded

[Indigo]

Hit or miss? No time to be missing it. Hit it, Indigo. Grab it and hold on tight!

The few times she felt unsure about something it always worked. A little encouragement never hurt and usually helped. Now if she was one of those who had stayed in gymnastics when Phineas tried his damndest to get her to. She would be confident of the outcome and have a better chance at executing this impromptu *** saving grab for the nearest wood. Her fingertips scraped over the first branch that slipped out of her reach. It was going to be okay. She was heading into a massive tree. There would be more chances, right? Wrong.

The lack of success was enough to send her over the edge despite the fact she was still clearly airborne. The fact the insect in her care was bailing was a sure sign of worse to come. Most of her hardly could fault the guy. The scent of blood beneath her combined with the prospects that she was going to feel more pain than she currently did balled up all the last of patience she had within and had it bouncing from her body. A crack of a branch in the forehead sent her tumbling backward. Golden ringlets covered her face as she clawed at the air in hopes of claiming anything to stop her. Nothing was there to be had. Nothing but the vision of Davion which became increasingly clear as she spun downward. She could smell the shimmering blood coating his body...she could taste him. So sweet.

“Noooo!”

A last protest that served no purpose was howled out as the explosion of white mane thundered off in the distance. No one was sticking around to see what would happen next. Just as the painful landing was imminent and she was counting on the worst scenario taking over a glorious sensation overcame her entire body. It was as if in that split second she was capable of the unthinkable and she went with it letting it consume her. The sounds of the laughter below were so familiar that she could once again feel the summer sun flooding her cheeks as they stretched with shock at Davion’s amusement with her crash from his bike. This time the pain of colliding with the unforgiving surface of city brick and fresh wilderness dirt didn’t factor in.

A rush of speed jolted her body from the backward spiral and shot her upward. The honey ribbons went back and her vision was clear as the dark sky above her. An overwhelming elation came through the first moments while the witness below screamed out.

“F-L-Y B-A-B-Y G-I-R-L!”

And as ludicrous as it would seem that is exactly what she did. The sound of the air rushing over her and around her filled her ears as she cut through the night descending like a flesh projectile. Aware only that for some inexplicable reason she suddenly had the power to fly and cover the distance between her and the sprinting figure ahead was all the inspiration the allurist needed. She stayed with it while it was in effect and used it for all it was worth. Over the tangling of Enver’s white lion and unruly creature in his capture she traveled further yet soaring over the recent path of the one she would go to any extreme to save. The trip was made in less time than she had to comprehend what she was truly capable of. A sudden weight on her back became a reality as she reached out and delivered a death grip on the beast chasing Adley. Sharp aches hit and ricocheted down her back. The cushion of massive feathers went with the sudden force of massive fur and frame landing on top of her.

“OOOOF!” Was the sound that shot through her lips as she was crushed beneath.

[Adley Reed]

The hurdles kept coming – and with every hurdle there was the freedom of a few unhindered steps when hurtling toward the next one. When Adley looked over his shoulder for the half-dozenth time, it was to witness a huge lion take down one of the gangling Wendigos. He couldn’t see whether the lion had any success killing the creature – he had to pay attention to where he was going in order not to stumble and tumble to the ground to become inevitable roadkill for the one still on his heels. That there was only one left, now, buoyed the Necromancer’s steps – freedom, before the next hurdle.

Adley’s stamina, though he had a lot of it, was running low. How long had it been since he’d felt the burn in his legs, the struggle in his lungs when running? Not since he was human, at least. He’d lost so much blood, his body riddled with broken bones and broken flesh and yet he still pushed it. He could fall to pieces as he ran and he wouldn’t care, so long as the vulture picked over his bones and didn’t go back for Indigo.

Behind him, twigs snapped and there was a whoosh of … well, it sounded like wings. What now?! He growled under his breath, wondering if there were more creatures, other fae coming to join the fight. One with wings. How was he supposed to outrun that?! He had to see. Again, he swung around. And what he saw stopped him in his tracks. The wings did not belong to any fae creature. They belonged to… Indigo?! Those golden curls were unmistakable.

And then she was down. The very thing that Adley was trying to avoid, his running away – all for naught. As shocked and in awe as he was of the wings that he had never seen before, right now all that mattered was that she was down, and she was trapped beneath the beast that could surely kill her, given half the chance. It had very nearly killed Adley. The constant push of his lungs had slowed and now his body just wanted to crumble. Every bone, every muscle ached. He knew he couldn’t go on but he did it anyway. He backtracked and, with sword in hand, he threw his all at the creature.

”YOU!” he shouted through gritted teeth.

”WILL NOT…!” he hacked at the creature with his sword, slashing and stabbing until he was too worried he’d hit Indigo instead. He dropped the sword and leapt onto the creature’s back, slamming his fists into its flesh, fingers curling into gashes as he maimed and pulled.

”TOUCH HER!” The force of his voice ripped razor blades up Adley’s throat. Whatever it took, he would free Indigo from the creature’s weight, from its clutches. Even if it meant he had to ride the creature like it was a bull in the middle of a bull pit.

[Enver Marshall II]

The giant monster that seemed to be a combination of a couple different things reached around and tried to get ahold of the lion that was on its back with every fiber of its being. A couple of times, some razor like claws grazed the fur of the lion, and knicked its skin when luck was due. This didn't deter the lion, not a single pause was given as the brown hued large cat shredded the skin apart, until bone was seen by all.

Once bone was exposed, a large paw wasted no time in pressing down on the spine with a sickening crack, before the target of the lion's muzzle was one specific organ. With the Wendigo creature unable to move due to a severed spine, the organ was free game in a sense. It moved downwards, and forward, snout deep inside the muscle and flesh of the wendigo, as its jaws came around the heart of the beast and crushed it with a solid snap of its teeth. For good measure, a few more unnecessary chomps were made, making sure the thing was dead, before the lion pounced off the creature and glanced around. Its eyes made contact with 'Reed,' as Enver called him, then Crash, some other guy it had never seen..and searched for the most valuable person there for a lot of reasons. The lion didn't see it until it smelled her regular scent of soap, or perfume, directly above it. Once contact was made with the woman that had taken to the sky, the lion bounded off towards Crash and took a protective and dominating stance close to the thrall. Crash wouldn't be dying today, unless it was due to his own stupidity. Which, was still on the table, knowing the guy.