Ruthless Hunter
Three Aarogs are huddled up inside a cove of trees. Their armor is scratched and dented in assorted places. Some pieces of their armor are missing. The body of one of the Aarogs has a gash above his eyebrow and his cyan blood is leaking into his eye.
Another Aarog is grasping his side, a broken arrow protrudes from his rib cage as he breathes heavily and winces in pain from time to time. "That guy is indomitable and relentless. We've been running away for over an hour now. Did we lose him?
An Aarog with the least number of injuries scolds him, "quiet! Every time we think we're clear of danger, one of you idiots speaks and we fall under attack again. It is like he waits for us to feel some type of security before he ambushes us." He grits his teeth and spits on the ground while thinking of the retreat the group has had so far.
Originally, the group was hunting a band of merchants bringing supplies to the closest town. Celebrating their victory, they were sitting around a campfire drinking and eating roasted meat when they were attacked and forced to flee. The original group of ten Aarogs is now down to a pitiful three.
Cold laughter breaks out amongst the trees and the group of Aarogs freeze as they frantically look around. They attempt to get into a defensive formation with their weapons out.
"Hahaha, that is exactly what I've been doing. The look of despair on your faces as you die one by one is hilarious you trash mobs." A male voice yells through the cove of trees.
"Damn it! Your words brought this ghost down upon us." The one with barely any injuries yells at his companion in a shaky voice as he frantically looks around in all locations while aiming a kick at the one that spoke last.
An arrow with a blue aura around it flies into the group and pierces the talking Aarog through his eye killing him instantly. The wound cauterizes with a crackling sound as the arrow flies out through the other side of his head. The force of the arrow causes the body to fly backward and skid on the ground a few feet as the arrow exits.
"Xanith is dead! Run, split up, one of us must get away and report this to the commander." The one with the cut over his eye yells and sprints away. As he sprints away, he smirks to himself thinking Brozgik is as good as dead with that arrow in his side slowing him down.
Brozgik gnashes his teeth and runs as fast as he can. Knowing he is being used as a distraction by the other Aarog he curses him as he runs. However, knowing the importance of reporting this anomaly to the commander, he sprints away in the opposite direction, hoping to give the other Aarog enough time to escape.
"I have to give Ilgrol enough time to get away." Brozgik breathes heavily as he runs as hard as he can, disregarding the searing pain in his ribs he feels with every pound of his feet hitting the ground from the arrow in his side.
A shadow flits by Brozgik and he stumbles to the ground rolling and sliding until he comes to a stop. He immediately releases a bloodcurdling scream in pain. His right foot has been completely separated at the ankle and blood pours from the remaining stump.
A man appears with a black coat on that has a deep-seated hood over his head that blocks out the view of his face. Over his back is a black recurve bow and a quiver of arrows with the same fletching as the arrow that is in Brozgik's ribs. In his hands are a straight dagger and a short sword. The dagger is equipped in his left hand, and the short sword is equipped in his right. Blood drips from the short sword.
He casually walks over to the fallen Aarog and with mirth in his voice says, "did you think you could get away from this great one?" Then in a cold flat voice, he threatens, "If you have the communication orb, I will let you go. Hand it to me now or else."
The Aarog can barely breathe through the pain he is feeling. Grasping his stump on his leg he rolls around moaning.
The man casually walks over and places his foot on the Aarog's chest forcing him still and points his sword between his eyes. "Answer my question, do you have the orb?"
Peering up into the hooded visage the Aarog feels true fear for the first time in his life and knows he is going to die. He stammers, whines, and begs as he replies, "I do not have the orb, Ilgrol has it, let me go and I will get you one of the communication orbs. Please don't kill me"
The man shakes his head in disappointment. With a sigh, he stabs his sword into the Aarog's throat and watches as he chokes on its blood and the life fades away.
<Collect loot> appears in the man's vision. He collects everything and curses under his breath. "Looks like he wasn't lying. I hate playing cat and mouse."
A glow appears on his right eye as he surveys his surroundings. With a nod, he takes off in a certain direction and disappears as quickly as he appeared running through the woods like he was born in them.
A few miles away, Ilgrol hears the roaring of water in the distance as he continues to flee into the forest. As he gets closer to the source of noise a smile creeps onto his beleaguered face.
"If I can get to the falls, I can lose this ghost once and for all. Not even a dog can track through the water."
After a few moments more of running Ilrog comes through a clearing and spots a river that ends with a waterfall in the distance. The mist rises over the top of the falls and a rainbow can be seen as the sun sparkles through the mist.
Ilrog laughs in joy as he starts to make his way to the top of the falls. As he looks around to prepare for his descent, an arrow flies through his knee exploding his kneecap causing his leg to fly away.
Ilrog flies across the ground like a ragdoll and lays face up sprawled across the sand and rocks of the riverside.
'I was so close' he thinks to himself in self-loathing.
The hooded man walks out into the clearing and laughs in triumph. "You Aarogs sure know how to run away. It took a lot of my free time today chasing after you all."
Ilrog closes his eyes and ignores the hooded man. He knows his death is inevitable.
"Aw, that's no fun, you have nothing to say. All your other companions either begged, cursed, or cried before I ended their miserable existence." The hooded man mocks the Aarog laying on the ground.
Ilrog keeps his eyes closed ignoring the man's taunts. He hears the crunch of gravel as the hooded man walks closer and closer to him.
Ilrog's eyes open wide as he feels a piercing pain in his left shoulder followed by another not even a second later in his right. His arms lie there completely useless as he finally lets out a scream of misery and pain.
The hooded man peers down at Ilrog in disdain, "did you honestly believe I'd give you a chance to try to use that hidden blade you have on you? I've watched too many movies and read too many novels to fall for that old cliché trap." The man sneers.
"Now give me the communication orb and I'll let you go."
Ilrog looks into the cold ruthless eyes of the hooded man. "I can't move my arms anymore, it's in my space ring." He answers while choking back the pain.
"I'll count to three and then release this arrow through the middle of your eyes if you don't give me the orb. I'm not an idiot, you can summon the items out of your space ring without needing to use your hands and it'll appear next to you." The hooded man starts to count back from three.
Ilrog grits his teeth and summons the communication orb out of his space ring. He fears death just as much as any creature and hopes the man will hold true to his word about letting him go.
Laughing at the Aarog's plight the man reaches over and grabs the communication orb while holding it up to the light. He looks at it intently and nods to himself as the orb disappears from Ilrog's view.
"You'll let me go?" Ilrog asks in a tentative voice.
The man looks down at Ilrog with a crooked smile on his face. He glances up at the waterfall and then back to him. "You planned to climb down the waterfall to throw off the scent and trail am I right?"
Ilrog grimaces and answers reluctantly, "yes, I was going to climb down and cross the river."
The hooded man laughs at the response and shakes his head. "You thought I was tracking you all down by conventional means? If this is what the Legion has to offer up as its subordinates, I may have to reconsider my plan. You all are pretty stupid."
Ilrog bites back his retort knowing the man holds his life in his hands. The hooded man continues to speak to him.
"I used [Hunter's Mark] on all ten of you before I attacked."
Ilrog closes his eyes in understanding. "For a human to be able to use [Hunter's Mark], you must be a Planeswalker." He accepts his defeat and knows he was outclassed from the very beginning.
The man's eyes narrow at Ilrog's words. "I'm not a Planeswalker." He walks over and kicks Ilrog like a ball and launches him out over the waterfall.
Ilrog screams can be heard as he sails over the falls. "I am the Champion." The man finishes his statement.
A moment later, "ding!" <Level up> appears in the man's vision.
He pulls up his status and smiles. "Level 10, sure does feel good."
He pulls his hood down and an orange-colored sprite appears on his shoulder. If Nathan or James were around, they would be dumbstruck by what they saw. Zach no longer has his chubby appearance. He now has sharp features and a muscle-toned body.
He pulls the orb out of his inventory and holds it up to the sprite. "Dinn, with this we can carry out the plan?" He raises his eyebrow as he questions his sprite companion.
"Of course, with this, we can move forward," Dinn says with a confident smirk on his face.
Zach turns to look out in the distance and a solemn look appears on his face. He returns the orb to his inventory and says to Dinn, "Let's go and make it happen."