The Heavens Shall Fall

Nearing their targets, getting into position, using the wind as a cover, blowing their scent in the opposite direction just at the right time, the hunting group led by Kae'Lin had stopped the moment she raised one hand, signaling them.

“Spread out.”

The Ember Circle members moved first, of course, keeping their eyes and senses on the herd they found, roughly about thirty stags, grazing on the fresh grass and leaves, almost like locusts. They were gnawing on everything that looked green, turning the forest into a muddy brown in color. Making sure that they weren't spooking them ahead of time, the much more experienced hunters slipped into their spots between trees, positioning themselves along the edges of the clearing.

As for the Wardens, they followed the plan much more carefully, acting as a secondary force, making sure that if something went wrong, the spooked animals would not scatter and still head towards their designated position. Most of them had never participated in a hunt of this scale before, only going on single, simple hunts or missions... but facing so many at once? It was something else.

"Stay calm." Kae'Lin signaled with her hands the moment they were in position, "Don’t rush, we don't want to spook the herd ahead of time!"

Watching her hand move, Varren helped her direct the Wardens, doing his best to look exactly as uncertain as he actually felt, because this part, at least, wasn’t acting. He knew the plan, yes... but knowing the plan and standing within twenty steps of a herd of Ironcrown Stags were two very different experiences. He heard how the Icecrown hunt went the first time... and... hopefully, this wouldn't be like that, but the thought kept nagging at the back of his consciousness.

While everyone was waiting, it was time to see which one Tian marked, so Kae’Lin slowly drew a small metallic disk from a pouch at her belt. It looked like a simple coin, except its surface was covered in delicate carvings, being a so-called marker. It was a simple technique, created by an inner disciple decades ago, designed in a way that even an outer disciple could use it. The hunter only had to drip a little blood from the creature they wanted to mark, and from then on, it could be tracked with much better precision than any other way. Of course, in time, it could fade, but that didn't matter for now. She closed her eyes briefly and pressed the disc between two fingers, inhaling deeply and making her blood rush, activating the marker as a faint warmth spread through the metal. Kae’Lin opened her eyes right again when the feeling was the strongest and began studying the herd carefully, her gaze settling on one of the stags that looked just like the others.

"Nice..." She thought to herself, "It's on the right side of the group, this should work out fine..."

Taking another scan across the animals, making sure she would be the first to move and that Tian's marked creature would be herded perfectly, she raised her arm, signaling to get ready. The moment she took a step forward, the herd noticed immediately, their heads lifting from the ground, their ears twitching. What surprised her was that Tian's marked one had let out a loud snort, and began walking, not running yet, but it was moving already, beginning to lead the others along... Interesting.

With sensing that something was off and already moving toward exactly where they wanted them to be, Kae'Lin decided to keep the gentle nudging and pushing going as long as possible, herding them toward the slope behind the group. As it happened, and the Wardens kept proceeding along their paths, Varren watched the operation with growing amazement, as it seemed almost effortless, achieved without any shouts or excess movement, just by hand signals.

Of course, Kae’Lin kept her eyes on the marked stag, getting curious herself, because the way it acted reminded her of the Icecrown variant... albeit, less majestic and for sure, not as smart. What was missing... She remembered that there was a spark in the big one's eye that even she could see, and comparing it to this one, Tian's looked and felt less... ready. Yet... Yet. Maybe it didn't have that type of consciousness at the moment or hadn't reached it as it was still young, but if this turned out to be another Icecrown variant, she would start laughing from the start of the winter to the end of it.

"Now... Where are you...?" She asked herself suddenly, because their hunting was going so well, that they would soon reach their mark and spring the trap for real. And if they do it before anyone interrupts them... Well, they will still have a completed hunt then, and Tian can say nothing about that.

Naturally, the moment she thought of the words, a branch snapped loudly behind the herd, coming straight from the opposing direction, along with multiple shouts.

“Oi!”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

Finally... The Stone Ward brainlets had decided to make a move, as expected. They did it almost perfectly, right when Kae'Lin was about to spring their trap, spooking them down the nearby slope. But that plan had now gone down the drain as a group of people burst out from the treeline in a loose formation, some of them even having weapons drawn and expressions full of exaggerated outrage, shouting and yelling.

"Overacting idiots..." She muttered, smirking.

While she watched it happen, Varren's body, a bit farther away, went very still... He noticed a face... One he didn't expect, because Chalvert stood among them. It was him, no doubt, especially after hearing his voice.

“You idiots scared our prey halfway across the forest!”

As if trying to prove his lie on the spot, the herd exploded the next moment as dozens of pairs of hooves struck the ground at once, and the Ironcrown Stags bolted downhill and away in pure panic, scattering to all directions, with no rhyme or reason.

"BASTARDS!" Kae'Lin shouted at once as she shot out, followed by the other Ember Circle members and the Wardens, as if trying to salvage what was clearly unsalvageable.

In reality, she just cut in, making sure that Tian's marked stag had run in the direction she wanted, and seeing it disappear, following the right path out of harm's way, she almost began laughing. Instead, she turned that into a sneer, facing the Stone Ward people, watching as they matched their numbers, even bringing in some extra heads, just to be sure.

“Damn it!” others echoed, just as incensed, believing that a perfectly going hunt, with such a big reward at the end, was foiled just like that... “You’re the ones who—”

“Don’t blame us!” one of the Stone Ward men shouted back. “We’ve been tracking them since dawn!”

“That’s a lie, and you know it!” another, this time, Warden, yelled back.

“Back off, brutes!” Chalvert snorted, but his answer was immediate, coming from Kae'Lin

“Make me!" She snorted, looking over the others, and she was glad to see that the Wardens looked just as angry, standing with them without any of their members hunching their backs, including Varren. “Funny how every time we hunt lately, you people happen to be nearby, screwing us over.”

“Funny how you always complain,” Chalvert snapped back at her, "Rename yourself to Crying Circle."

"You do know how this will end now, don't you?" Kae'Lin asked, taking a step forward, making Chalvert furrow his brows, one eye twitching, quickly throwing a glance at the others, but...

"You think, just because we are outside of the Sect's barriers, you can now throw your weight around, girl?" He snorted, not wanting to be outdone by Kae'Lin, but he wasn't as sure of this as he had been previously.

Whatever Bren's suggestions were, or orders if he had to be honest with himself, he didn't feel convinced about them. The forest was still the territory and property of the Hollow Song Sect. Whatever happened in it, they would know and... But he didn't have much more to think about, because Kae'Lin had made her move and attacked him outright.

"You mad?!" He shouted, blocking an overhead kick, landing on his forearms, making him shudder in pain.

"I'm pretty mad right now, yeah!" She grinned, pushing at him... while everyone else joined in on a fray, causing a massive mess as the two groups began brawling like their lives depended on it.

...

....

......

Siu stood halfway up a rough outcrop overlooking the choke point, his arms folded as he watched the forest ahead, already knowing that the plan was working as intended, Arya and Marly running along the stag, making sure it was heading the right way. The two of them were releasing their presence here and there, just enough to keep it going, acting like a pair of perfectly trained herding dogs.

“You hear that?” Tian asked quietly, suddenly flinching, "They are coming."

“Get ready! Something’s indeed heading our way!” Rinmei also nodded as the group got up and became serious.

“Please tell me it’s not twenty of them,” Neya murmured as she adjusted her robes, preparing a long rope, wrapping it around her arm.

“It isn’t,” Siu said calmly, then he smiled faintly at them, “Three. Arya is complaining that the two are too scared to be split off and are following the marked one.”

"That was expected," Milli muttered, rubbing her neck, her sentence being finished by Nilli's words, "Come on, Neya, we will let the boys deal with the hard part. They love to show off."

Before Neya could say anything, the treeline exploded, quite literally, as three Ironcrown Stags burst from the trees, their antlers knocking bark and pieces off them as they passed by at full speed.

“Which one?” Siu asked.

“Wait,” Tian said, squinting, watching the one in the front begin sliding as they entered their trap, realizing there was no more space to run towards, trying to stop before crashing against the rocks. “That’s it.” He pointed at the stag in the center with a patch of darker fur along the shoulders, running down its spine to its stubby tail. “That’s my target.”

"Let's move in then!" Siu nodded, and the moment he jumped into the fray, using the Wild Cat's footwork, everyone else moved with him too.

Neya and the twins sprinted alongside him, their job simple: to make sure they separated the leading one from the other two. Three stags inside the choke point were already risky; they couldn't let them try to defend Tian's mark, or they wouldn't be able to capture it.

“Left!” Neya shouted, realizing that she felt much calmer the moment they began taking action.

It was so nerve-wracking to wait, to imagine scenarios of how it might play out, how it might not... But now? She felt calm and able to react to unexpected changes on a moment's notice. The twins split instantly, seeing the same thing she was as Milli darted toward the left wall while Nilli swung wide to the right, ready to cut them off from the main target. Of course, the stags noticed them immediately as they skidded sideways, hooves scraping against wet stone and earth, seeing humans flying down at them from above. One of the animals even kicked violently at the air, but missed by a lot.

“Easy there!” Neya shouted as she flung a coil of rope towards her left and right, caught by the twins, as they used to literally cut them off and herd them towards the exit.

While they were doing that, Siu and Tian had landed before and behind the marked stag, and it was very, very angry; that much was visible at a glance. It lowered its head and snorted violently, aiming its antlers at Tian, who stood before the beast, watching its hooves scrape against the ground.

“Easy…” He tried, but this one didn't have that kind of mind to understand or comprehend him, and maybe that's why it suddenly lunged at him, swinging its head, swinging its antlers around in a wide arc, “Fast!” Tian muttered, rolling out of the way, hearing the iron-like weapons on its head clash against the rocky walls, throwing sparks everywhere.

“Very!” Siu agreed, getting in the way of the mad beast, having to dodge like he was forced to fight an angry bull in an arena, as the stag charged again, going after him.

Using the fact that the stag could only focus on one of them, Tian slid sideways across the ground and swung his palm's edge against the stag’s shoulder, aiming to knock it down, using his reinforced bones as a blunt tool. The impact alone pushed the animal slightly off balance, and its stagger made Siu follow up with his own attack. He stepped forward and slammed both hands, with open palms, mixing a cat's swipe and an ox's kick perfectly, landing it against the stag’s neck, using his body weight to force the animal sideways.

Getting pummeled, the stag roared in a wild fury, as it wasn't keen on going down, reminding Siu how the Icecrown had fought. Pushing away the sudden memory, he barely avoided being thrown off his feet as the animal’s hind legs kicked backward, hitting his guard, making his arms feel a numbing pain, but... he could tell his bones held out without issues.

“Careful!” Rinmei called from above, as she kept looking around, making sure nobody else would interrupt them, seeing Arya run around, still scouting, with Marly flying from branch to branch, doing just the same.

“I’m trying!” Siu snapped, not wanting to get distracted when the stag lunged at them again, this time switching back to Tian.

"I chose well!" Tian chuckled as he ducked beneath the antlers and slammed his shoulder into the animal’s side, but not strongly enough to let his follow-up elbow strike to penetrate, as both of them knew, they could hurt it for real... but this was not about that.

And that was the hard part. They had to capture it, but the hit only staggered it briefly, as the animal recovered instantly and tried to bolt past them toward the choke-point entrance, seeing the other two of its brethren already being let run away.

“Not that way!” Siu yelled, appearing before the creature while he grabbed a handful of loose gravel and threw it directly toward the stag’s eyes.

"Try not to blind it!" Tian grunted as the sudden distraction made the animal jerk to the side again, where he was, causing him to fall under the beast. He aimed his attacks at its legs, forcing the animal to stumble.

As if the two were old comrades, Siu was already there, and he lunged forward and up on the stag as he wrapped both arms around the base of the animal's antlers. Feeling someone sitting on its back, holding its head... the stag wanted to yank itself out of his grip, and the force nearly tore his shoulders apart, but with the ox's strength, he held on.

“Now would be good to do something!” he grunted, but Tian was already making his move.

He grabbed the rope Neya had used earlier and swung it around the stag’s neck, just so that the animal could explode with its full powers, feeling the danger it was in.

“Hold him!”

“I’m trying!” Siu yelled back, handling the iron-like antlers as best he could, feeling them scratch his palm open, making it bleed, as the stag twisted again, one man on its back, the other holding the ropes before it, trying to bring it down as the loop tightened around its neck.

Doing its best, the stag roared in fury, and its hooves hammered the ground, over and over again. Still, with Siu exerting his might without breaking the antlers off, and with Tian pulling its head sideways, it finally came off balance as it sank to its knees, finally falling over. Moving around it, Tian immediately looped the rope around its body, making sure it stayed down as it tried to kick and wriggle free... but with both of them now pinning it down, it was finally getting exhausted.

It only took ten more minutes before, finally, out of breath, all of them really, their prey just lay on the ground, blowing hot air out of its nostrils, sometimes twitching... but it was finally captured.

"Now..." Siu gasped, releasing the antlers, watching his bleeding palms, "How are we going to bring it back, huh?"

"Well..." Tian grunted, spitting once and wiping his mouth, "I guess, we will calm it down and try to lead it like a horse?"

"Really...?" Siu asked, throwing a slanted look at him.

"Or have your beasts talk to it... do your magic or something."

"Well," He shrugged, glancing over at the beast, "Haaaah... Let's give it a try then..."