[ The third and final part of a roleplay between @emma-tidesinger and myself. ]
[ Into Whisper Gulch | Assessing the Threat | Blood in the Dark ]
A soft shuffling drew Renwyck's attention to the mouth of the mine, shadows flitting across the dirt floor. The fallen watcher muttered a curse beneath his breath as his gaze followed the shifting silhouette.
Please be a donkey. Please be a donkey.
His grip tightened around the hilt of his greatsword as he readied the blade.
The shuffling wasn't something Emma had taken notice of.
She was still working away at the saronite. The problem she was finding was that it was such a resilient form of metal.
‘Drain him. Then no one in here can bother you. No one in here can hurt you. No one can hurt you again.’
"Lalalalala not listening," she whispered to herself. There was no way she was going to drain Renwyck's life, presuming that was who the voices were talking about.
Plodding footfalls approached, a swipe of flame further illuminating the shadows. "Intruders!" a voice cried out in a thick dwarven accent.
"Definitely not a donkey," Renwyck replied before clenching his jaw.
Three Explorers' League dwarves appeared in front of the mine, each brandishing a rusted pickaxe. Two carried torches while the third wore a miner hat with a brilliant light beaming from it.
Emma did hear that. Quickly getting up, she held her pickaxe up by her head, erect in the air. She clearly didn't know what she was doing with it, but she was arm!
"Maybe we should, uh, talk about this and consider going our own ways?" Emma suggested to the three dwarves, while staying a few paces behind Renwyck. "He has a very big sword, after all."
"As much as I appreciate the compliment, I don't think these guys looks like the talking type," Renwyck replied.
"You were sent to destroy us!" One of the dwarves called out with a deranged glint in his eye. He pointed the tip of his axe in Renwyck's direction. "Should we take'em, boss?"
The largest dwarf nodded, the beacon from his helmet bobbing in the darkness causing the fallen watcher to avert his gaze from the bright flash of light. His eyes regained focus to see the two cronies charging directly at him.
"Well shit," Renwyck muttered as he caught the first dwarf's pickaxe on the edge of his blade.
For a moment as the combat broke out, Emma stood uselessly behind Renwyck, frozen in position.
‘Drain them. Drain them all!’
"No, I really don't think so," she muttered.
But she had to help. How could she help? Emma looked to the little pickaxe in her hand and thought better of that idea. That required her being close enough to hit them, which meant they were close enough to hit her, which meant a distraction to Renwyck. Looking around for anything to help, she saw her flashlight on the ground. "Oh!" She quickly squatted down, and then bounced back up, and aimed the flashlight into the eyes of those charging at Renwyck.
The dwarves staggered back at the beam of blinding light, both glancing away and leaving an opening for Renwyck. With a quick swing of his sword, the pickaxe flew from his attacker's hand to fall to the mine floor with a loud clatter. A second strike landed across the dwarf's torso, the mad miner joining his axe in a heap on the ground.
A second axe came crashing down toward the fallen watcher's head. Metal scraped metal as Renwyck lifted his blade to deflect the blow.
"Look out!" Emma shouted as the axe went towards Renwyck's head. Oh Tides. Oh Tides. I brought him here to die, she thought to herself, before another thought invaded.
‘Give in, and only your enemies will die.’
"No," Emma said. "Shut up. Just shut up." She closed her eyes tight and shook her head, hands clutched around her flashlight. It took her a moment to even remember she was holding the thing. When she did remember, she remembered how effective it had been the first time and shone it directly towards the second miner's face.
After his blow was parried, the dwarf shifted to the side, placing Renwyck between Emma and himself to block the beam of light. He had speed and agility on his side, a flurry of axe swings keeping the fallen watcher on the defensive.
Emma's hushed words caused Renwyck to tense, though he didn't have the opportunity to spare a glance in her direction. His attention drifted between the two remaining foes, watching as the leader decided to join the fray. Gritting his teeth, the human anticipated a second attacker, yet as the enemy approached, the dwarf quickly veered to charge directly toward Emma.
Fortunately for Emma, she had enough of her wits remaining to see the dwarf charge, but towards her. With a startled shout, Emma did the first thing she could think of and biffed the flashlight with all of her might at the dwarf's face with surprising aim for her. She'd later consider it a fluke that it even made contact. As soon as her hand was relieved of the clunky source of light, she tried to throw herself out of the line of attack, but wasn't fast enough. The pickax caught in her arm, ripping through the layers of clothing that bundled over her, and catching in a good chunk of her skin, tearing the flesh. With a hiss of pain, she landed against the cavern wall beside the vein of saronite.
"Emma!" Renwyck called out as he thrust his own attacker back, giving him the opportunity to intercept the dwarf closing upon Emma. He was seconds late. A look of horror gave way to rage as he swung a crushing blow upon the leader's body, cleaving his axe-wielding arm from his shoulder. The dwarf spun to face the warrior, only to see a second swing wailing down upon him, Renwyck striking him down with a bestial cry.
The final attacker took the opportunity to rush toward Renwyck's back.
Emma clutched the wound on her arm, blood staining the material around the tear in her clothing. Her left arm was useless by her side.
"Behind you!" she shouted, and dropped to her knees to grab a rock with her good hand. She took to throwing anything she could get ahold of at the back of the dwarf. Rocks. Pebbles. More rocks. Was that a piece of saronite? Maybe. More rocks.
The warning came in time, Renwyck turning to face the final deranged dwarf as his axe tore down toward the fallen watcher. Drawing up his blade, Renwyck deflected the strike.
'Kill them all,' a whisper cut through the sound of steel against steel.
"Gladly," he growled beneath his breath as he thrust his greatsword through the final dwarf's chest. A deathly still fell upon them, Renwyck's panted breath echoing through the hushed mine. The huffs were punctuated by the dwarf slipping from the blade to join his bloodied comrades upon the ground.
Emma slouched against the cave wall, letting out a ragged breath that gave way to a visible puff with the frigid temperatures of Northrend. Her eyes closed and she focused on the adrenaline she felt coursing through her. She could hear her blood pounding in her ears, but even that wasn't enough to drown out the voices.
"Emma," Renwyck exhaled her name on a heavy breath. Turning to her, he rushed to her side. His sword falling to the ground, he knelt by her to assess her injuries. Hands clamping down upon her wounded arm to stop the blood loss, Renwyck whispered to her in a soft tone. "Stay with me, love. Stay with me."
Emma looked about, before focusing on Renwyck. There was a panic in her gaze, and it was unclear if it was shock, or if it was just the pure fright that was on display. "What if there's more?" she whispered. "What if I brought us here to die down here? What if they're all waiting for us and they won't let us leave?"
"Emma," Renwyck spoke firmly in an attempt to ease her panicked thoughts. Catching her gaze, he stared into her wide, blue eyes. His free hand reached up to brush her hair from her face. "You're going to drain enough of me to stop the bleeding. Then we're going to get that saronite and then we're going back to Westguard."
His words were not a suggestion, a resolute, matter-of-fact tone spilled forth as he devised the plan.
‘Do it! Take it. You'll be stronger. You won't need him. You won't need anyone.’
"No!" Emma abruptly shouted out, before clasping her hand to her mouth. She shook her head, staring at him with wide eyed horror. "I-I-I might take too much."
"You won't," Renwyck replied. "I won't let you."
Trembling, she put her hand on his shoulder, and there was a moment she seemed to debate it. Her head shook. "N-not here. It can wait. It'll wait. It's not fatal. It's-- I-I'll survive. Just, let's get this and go. I don't trust it. Not here." The voices told her to take. She could only imagine what the voices were telling him. If they both listened, it'd result in one of them being dead.
He studied her face for a moment, eyes silently pleading with her in the light of the discarded flashlight. Yet he conceded with a nod. "Alright. Keep pressure on it. If you pass out, we're both as good as dead." Standing from her, he glanced to the vein of saronite she had been carefully trying to free from the stone wall. "How perfect does the sample need to be?"
"I'll let you know if I feel like I might. I know you'll catch me, worst case scenario." Despite his words about being as good as dead, she had faith that he'd get them back safely. It may be without the sample, but it'd be safe.
Her head shook. "Not perfect. I just need a pure chunk. Small enough to fit into the jar there, but, not too small that it's just a few tiny pebbles."
With a sharp nod, Renwyck hooked a foot under one of the dwarves pickaxes. Kicking it up, he caught it mid air and swung it down upon the ore. With the single strike, a chunk of saronite splintered from the stones, falling at Emma's feet. Quirking an eyebrow, he glanced to Emma with a half shrug. "You loosened it for me," he said with a smirk.
"Tell me again why I didn't have you dig for the sample to begin with?" Emma asked, getting up to her feet as she kept her hand clasped over the wound, pressure applied.
"No clue. You're supposed to be the smart one."
Emma let her jaw hang open for a moment, before she gave him a partial grin. "I blame the cold."
Squatting down, she reached with the hand of the arm that was injured, and picked up the saronite. ‘Kill him! Drain him! Take it all!’ the voices all but screamed in her mind the moment she picked the ore up, causing her to wince. Quickly, she dropped it into the jar with a plink! and screwed the top shut.
"Let's get out of here. One sample should do. This is potent. Not that we didn't know that but.. Tides. It's bad."
Licking his lips, he nodded once more. Snatching his greatsword from the mine floor, he took his place at Emma's side. "Pressure. You feel like you're going to black out, you tell me, yeah?"
