∞ When The Dead Come Knocking ∞

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She did not miss the awe on his face upon meeting his gaze again, fully expecting it given the feat she just accomplished. But as much as she wanted to explain exactly how she was able to conjure a flame without traditional means of doing so, the explanation would have to wait. Preferably when they were not beset by an angry Wraith horde. 

Thankfully he caught the gist of the plan, and he wasted little time in pushing the remaining Wraiths into the fire by both physical means and his weapon of choice. Assured that her charge would be okay, she followed suit on the assault against the monsters. The unholy wails of the Wraiths pierced the smoky air as their skeletal forms met the growing conflagration. Bones crumbled to ashen dust upon meeting the flames, their armor clattering to the ground and slowly burning in the fire. As shots and clanks echoed around her, the archer continued firing at the ones inching closer, arrows aflame as they slammed into their heads and chests. And for those who were able to near her, she pushed them back with the frame of her bow, shoving them into the fire with all of her strength. 

The horde dwindled significantly with the combined efforts, the screeches of the Wraiths echoing in the wind as they fell one by one into the fire. It was not long before the archer stood close to Rick, dirt and soot covering her frame and sweat beading her brow. She stood with bow drawn, a flaming arrow on the string and aimed at the last few wraiths advancing toward the two. “Don’t drop your guard just yet,” she warned over her shoulder, her gaze locked on the wraiths brandishing their weapons. “When cornered like this, the Wraiths become much more bloodthirsty.” 

     "Oh great that's all w'need, monsters that can use weapons!"

     *BANG!*

     Despite the contextual reference, the sound of a revolver going off was more than a simple "bang."  It was a deafening noise to the untrained ear, capable of frightening the more nervous of wildlife.  However, it was unlikely it would cause terror to creatures that knew nothing of death or pain.  What it would do was cause extensive damage should the bullet penetrate any of the weak spots in their constitution.  Making an assumption that it was the head/skull, Rick intended to do just that.

"We won’t need any sticks or matches. Watch," she assured, reaching into her quiver and pulling out an arrow. Once the arrow was in hand, she proceeded to tie the rag around it and draw the arrow on her bow. Now came the next part; she focused on her mana, the magical energy within her slowly coursing through her veins until they met with her hands. She felt the familiar heat tingle at her finger tips as she held the arrow in place. With a bit of willpower and a lot of focus, the coursing energy moved from her fingers, down the length of the arrow until it hit the arrow’s tip and the cloth. 

Almost immediately, the cloth ignited, a slow burning flame now making up the tip of the arrow. She turned her body to face the incoming horde, her steps slowing just enough so she could properly aim at her shot. Instead of firing the now flaming arrow at the approaching Wraiths, she instead aimed her shot at their feet. She fired; the arrow sailing toward the ground and striking the grass. The ground caught aflame, flames rising almost serving as a barrier between them and the monsters. Soon enough the flames were high enough to engulf any Wraith that attempted to cross through, their disembodied shrieks echoing across the air as the fire consumed their ghastly forms. 

     Clearly Maria knew something that Rick did not, and it soon became apparent when she was able to speak with confidence that additional fuel to start a flame would not be necessary.  Tilting his head and sniffing, Rick would watch what she was about to do.  When it was clear that it had nothing to do with conventional means, there was a look of shock and awe written all over his face.

     To his utter surprise, Maria produced fire out of thin air, literally.  Then, she fired the arrow that would begin the blaze that surrounded the Wraiths, and for a moment, Rick had to shield his eyes from the glare it produced.  When he was able to focus again, the Wraiths had been routed.  "Push them to the flames huh?" he nodded in acknowledgement.  "Sounds easy 'nough!"

Maria scanned the surrounding area, spotting a small clearing within the approach of the Wraiths. It would lead them deeper into the woods and further away from civilization, but it could help slow the wraiths down and keep more innocent lives safe. Taking note of  the man’s assurance, she sprinted forward. As she ran she heard Rick’s footsteps trailing behind her, small branches snapping and dried leaves cracking beneath their feet. Surrounding the area were the eldritch shrieks of the wraiths, the sounds of armor clattering against hard bone and metal cutting the air and slicing through the brush and trees. Russet hued eyes scanned the depths of the woods, noticing a few more Wraiths moving through the trees and taking notice of the commotion. Their numbers were increasing, which means it was now time to act fast.

This would not the first time she dealt with these monsters, and from her experiences she knew of their one weakness: fire. From this knowledge, a plan began to form, mind racing with the next course of action. Taking them out one by one would not help them, but if there was a way to gather a good portion of the Wraiths together, she could create a fire and dwindle their numbers. She glanced over her shoulder to Rick, taking notice of his actions as he caught up. It was a hunch, but something within her assumed that he would not know much about magic and its properties. But he knew plenty about survival, and from that he could make sense of what needed to be done.

     A savage kick separated Rick and his target, and the death toll had risen to two.  It was then that he put the rest of his energies in escape, to build time to formulate another plan.  They needed crowd control, and Rick did not have that option with just a knife and a revolver.  Then, an idea came to them---or rather Maria.

     Seeing as how she had knowledge of these creatures, the suggestion for fire seemed like a sound one.  However, Rick had no means of lighting it that he was aware of, but he had plenty of combustible material.  His clothes, for one, would make a suitable fuel for a fire, yet he wanted to keep some mode of decency about him.  That left the rag in his back pocket, something he could part with that he would not miss.

Once they were out of sight, Maria let out a quiet exhale of breath, relief beginning to flourish in her heart upon not being spotted by the larger horde. However, that relief was short lived when she glanced to Rick, only to see one of the ghoulish specters emerging from the trees behind him, a groan escaping open maw and sword raised to strike at both of them.

[Ambience: Ganado II]

     Like many times before, Rick's head canted in a strange manner as he sniffed with his nose, waited to hear the arrow whistle overhead, and then he would make his move.  Charging the Wraith and using the bulk of his weight to knock it over, he started to thrust into the most likely extremity which would cause the most damage; the skull.  Each thrust down would produce a grunt, and Rick would not stop until the Wraith stopped moving.  Unfortunately, between Rick and Maria's shouts, the rest of the Wraiths were soon aware of them, and would begin to stalk their way.  This was a clear indication they had to go.  

>)

For a while I’ve made an observation.  It seems that the Tumblr roleplayer memberbase is split into three categories.

The young (and the restless, lol), which I think make up a good portion of the roleplayers.

The students, where they desperately try to balance Tumblr and their scholastic achievements.

The veterans like myself, Su, Mama G, Jen(Locke), and a few others that I cannot recall, who’ve been at this for who-knows-how long, and can’t quite give it up because it’s so fucking good.

What does all this have to do with New Year’s Day?  Not a damn thing. lol. Be that as it may, I hope everyone has a good time, and if you plan on celebrating, be safe, be smart about it, and most importantly, try to set some attainable goals.  Mine happens to be staying on here more often with you folks.  I also want to give a shout out to some special people in my life who I know both in the digital realm and in real life, that have kept me going when my chips were down.

-For in that moment, the unthinkable happened.-

     This was going to cost him---that much he understood.  However, Rick was not one to shirk from a choice.  He had owned up to all of his choices, even this one, and he refused to yield, even though at the moment, everything within his head was light.