Duskwraiths

The howl echoed through the plains, sending shivers down my spine and making my fur stand on end. 

"We need to go!" Kaida shouted at us as she rushed to untie the horses. Zahyr grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards her, and we quickly mounted our horses. "What was that?" I asked as we broke into a gallop, "Duskwraiths!" He shouted over the horses, "And that howl is going to attract more than we can handle, so we need to get as far away as possible!"

We galloped as fast as we could, pushing our horses to the limit, in hopes of avoiding an encounter, but it was already too late. From the shadows themselves a lone Duskwraith emerged, its body covered in Corrupted marks, and its eyes blacker than shadows, with pupils that glowed white. Kaida wasted no time, immediately channeling lightning and firing it at the Duskwraith. The lightning struck right where it stood, making a loud boom and creating a dust cloud in its wake.

However, when the dust had cleared, there was only a charred spot on the ground where the lightning struck, with no Duskwraith in sight. Shocked, I drew my sword and hurriedly looked around to try and locate it. Seeing nothing, I remembered what Kaida did while we were training and turned my horse around just in time to see it lunge at me, claws extended and jaw wide open. It knocked me off my horse, and we hit the ground hard as it slumped over me, lifeless, with my sword luckily piercing its heart.

I immediately pushed it off me and tried to pull my sword out, but it was somehow stuck. "Leave it, we need to keep moving!" Kaida shouted at me. I quickly turned to mount my horse, only to find that it was gone, spooked by the encounter. "Get on!" Zahyr yelled, extending a hand, which I quickly took as he pulled me up. I barely had a chance to sit in the saddle before we were off.

But we had taken too long, because immediately five more Duskwraiths emerged from the shadows. We stopped our horses a short distance away, and I heard Kaida mutter something under her breath before shouting, "Dismount! We're too exposed like this, and we can't run the risk of the horses being Corrupted!" We all quickly dismounted our horses and drew our weapons, although I was empty-handed since I had to leave my sword behind. "Take mine." Zahyr said as he tossed me his sword and grabbed a bow off the saddle, and I quickly grabbed it and fixed my gaze on the four Duskwraiths.

"Wait... four? There were five a moment ago." I thought to myself. I immediately turned around, expecting another attack from behind, but this time it lunged at me from the side, and I barely had time to dodge out of the way as it missed me by inches. It quickly turned to face me to attack before it received an arrow to the skull. I turned and saw Zahyr with his bow raised before immediately turning and shooting lightning at the nearest Duskwraith.

I tightened my grip on my sword as another Duskwraith rushed at me. It swung its claws in a wide arc, but I easily ducked underneath and thrust my sword forward, piercing its side. It let out a roar of pain, and I couldn't help but feel proud of myself at that moment. That feeling was short-lived, however, because it swung its claws at me again, and I was too slow to react as its claws slashed my face, leaving deep wounds.

I let out a cry and fell backwards, a hand to the wound as blood started to flow freely. The Duskwraith gave a grin and tried to take the opportunity to strike, but it received another arrow through its side before it could. It collapsed, my sword still in its side, and I saw Zahyr standing behind it, bow still raised. I quickly stood up and pulled my sword out, preparing for another Duskwraith to attack.

"Whoa, calm down, they're all dead." Zahyr said to me, and I looked around to see all of them on the ground, some with stab wounds, others with arrows sticking out. I let out a sigh of relief and handed him back his sword.

"It's over, but we should keep moving; who knows if there are more nearby." Kaida said as she walked over. She seemed to notice that I was bleeding. "You were wounded? Let me see it." She asked me, and I lowered my bloodstained hand to show her the wound. "The wound's pretty deep; it'll need stitches, but for now just keep pressure on the wound. There's some Corruption too, but knowing you, that's not going to be a problem.

I gave her a nod and put my hand against the wound, trying to put as much pressure on it as possible. Kaida then proceeded to turn and walk away. "Try and keep up," she called back to us. "Without our horses, the journey just became a lot longer." Zahyr just wiped the blood off his sword, sheathed it, and followed. I paused to take one last look at the bodies before following after her.

We only walked a short distance when I heard the sound of a bow being shot, followed immediately by a sharp, intense pain in my side. I looked down as I saw blood seeping through my shirt, and I lifted it to see an arrowhead sticking out of my side. In a daze, I turned around to see a Duskwraith on its knees, bleeding intensely but still alive, holding a bow that was aimed right at me. It gave a twisted grin at me before it was struck by lightning from either Kaida or Zahyr.

My vision started blurring, and I felt myself falling and hitting the ground, but I didn't register it. I heard someone say something, but the words were muffled, indecipherable to me.

The last thing I remember before blacking out was faintly hearing someone say something before numbly feeling them pick me up off the ground.