THE WILD HUNT

THE CHASE

It seemed, at first, an ordered defense. A shimmering shield raised up, the shouting of commands. Then a single flash of rainbow light flares across the field: a distraction, or a signal-?

An instant later the monster that was Draconua slammed down onto the field, turning it from a hunt into a potential battle. The earth cracked, blackening, a mist pouring out over the grass, and somewhere, a child's voice was crying-

-Shouting, in the fog, and then the Quarry came crashing through: its fog-shape massive, its eyes enormous and wild with fear, stumbling as it crossed the tainted ground. The hunters gained on it, as it turned--lost, for a moment, as if surprised by all of these creatures clustered here. Someone's deafening cry cut through the mist, and then the crack of thunder erupted overhead as lightning itself forked down, spiking the ground, the Quarry itself.

The Hounds were nearly upon it, where it shuddered and stepped back, one harelike forelimb rising in hesitation as its now fox-like body recoiled from the lightning strike. Then it bounded into movement again, springing entirely over the Gembound and racing toward the tunnel mouth that led back into the caves.

The sudden lashing of glass-like shards gave the Hunters pause, in turn... and then they sprang into action behind their prey.

______________

The Quarry exits, pursued by the Huntsmen and their Hounds.

The main thread can be found here. Please check there to be certain that your character's attempts to aid either side or observe have been counted.

The new leg of the Hunt can be found here: The Wild Hunt - The Stalk.

@James @Talys @Warrior @Madhukar @Hargrave @Kitty @Cryogen @Mephisto @Abaddon @Draconua @Orthoclase-Alpha @Talys @Kitty @Hargrave @V-Zoisite-One @V-Labradorite-One

Fury drove his tiny hooves, his gangly form lurching in a crooked gallop after his targets. Little horns swept the air, dispersing only formless fog, nowhere near the shapes that the mist formed in other places.

Abaddon stumbled, here and there, still chasing with furious bleats. The crash of thunder sent him scurrying faster, eyes wider, ears pinning back and head dropping low: sudden fear sped his steps. The crack of earth behind him, the landing of Draconua, was further warning to run away, and he rushed even faster. He was chasing those shapes, but why or where, he didn't know--only that Bad Things were behind him, and things that had somehow Made Him Angry were in front.

exit Abaddon

Warrior gladly leaned into the contact, the warmth of family a welcome and unexpected flood. "No, I'm still the same. You got big," he added, praise in his voice. He'd always been happy that Cryo had turned out sentient--not mad and violent, like its parent had been--but he hadn't expected its sheer size. He supposed he should have, all things considered.

"And do--tell me all about it. I don't know what's-" Draconua's arrival, the crash of lightning, the blackening of the earth, all interrupted Warrior in quick succession. Fear drove him back, flinching, and instinct reacted for him. Magic flashed invisibly, a spike of earth driving up in a surge between the father-son pair and the corrupted, crumbling dirt. "Run!" he cried, and turned, galloping after the ghostly Hunt. He turned, to see who was following--to ensure that Cryogen, James and the rest would safely escape whatever the hell Draconua was, and whatever she was doing.

Warrior knew, however, that this new monster was not something he could fight.

exit Warrior, unless stopped

In the midst of the chaos, Madhukar thought that she at least saw that her lightning had an effect on the Quarry. She... didn't know how to feel about that. 'You want to WIN, don't you?' Madhukar was already beginning to regret her choice to join this side. 'How will you know what you're capable of otherwise?' Guess that's a fair point... it isn't GUESS THAT'S A FAIR POINT.

Madhukar stumbled after the Quarry, wanting to keep running so she could just get out of here. Hopefully Kitty was safe and doing the same. She didn't want to think about her regret. She didn't want to think about the fear in the air. She didn't want to think about ANYTHING right now. Just keep running, just keep your arrow trained on something outside of yourself.

Think "Speak"

- exit to The Stalk! -

Oh, how that dog wished to be more than an annoyance.

That hoofed beast, however—Draconua's teeth bared in their grimace as she turned away from the canine, tail lashing through the air. Her claws tore through the sod as she shifted away from the wall. Warrior's cry of "Run!" was music to her ears; a sweet siren song begging her to continue. If they were to run, then she would be crashing on their heels for as long as it took.

A horrendously shrieking-roar rippled through her throat as she broke down the spiked wall and clambered over it, after the Hunt. Unhallowed stones lay in her wake.Exit to the Stalk!

That wretched beast was turning away; and, for a moment, Hargrave dreaded the possibility of those jaws cracking open in another trumpeting roar, of bringing the roof of this cave down on them all. That it would doom all of these Gembound for the sake of one Hunt. That it would pick Chaos over virtue.

What kind of monste— simmered through her, shot through with a rippling undercurrent of... something. Something intoxicating. An irrepressible urge clawing its way up her throat in the form of a hoarse scream. Fiery eyes widened. She remembered this (snow, snow, snow, a worm with red-stained teeth, monster, death, lost, cold, snow) and she knew it well. The spectre of her nightmares. Trials. Blackness. Blindness—

Hargrave shook her head. Her magicka skimmed past her sword again, and she hobbled after the shifting Hunt.

exit to the stalk!

Cryogen

About to reply to his parent in kind, the white steed rears and kicks out at the chaos, thankfully not coming in contact with anything tainted by the encroaching beast and blackness, and a few bounds to the side get him away from the wall thrown up by Warrior, resting only a few seconds to check where other Gembound went.

Mostly away, and the malice from the being in front of the white horse gets an irritated snort, a foolish type of bravery surging up for a split second, before he turns haunch and follows Warrior.

; Exit to The Stalk.

Mephistopheles

Messi is spindling his legs as quickly as he can, lengthening his strides as best he can to follow the Quarry, and then the Hounds...

and the the Hunters... along with the other gembound who pursue them.

The lion is NOT one for stamina, but by golly is he going to try, and so he chases them almost blindly out and into the Tunnel.

Following mist is an odd thing, but life is already so weird. This might as well happen, right?

; Exit to The Stalk