![Rabid Reindeer Roundup [Event] Empty](https://2img.net/i/empty.gif)
The young woman known as Kathrine had only recently joined the illustrious Rune Knights, taking after her mother and father. So far she had not been sent on any missions of import, relegated to simple tasks while her superiors evaluated her capabilities. It chafed not to be able to hunt down the Unjust like she so often dreamed of. Today was different, though! Reports of a disturbance in the nearby woods had been reported, and at least one civilian had been injured so far. As the only Rune Knight in the area (by pure coincidence), she had been ordered to investigate.
It was obvious to Kathrine that whoever was causing trouble must be a criminal of some sort. Why else would they have injured a civilian? Such evil deeds could not be allowed to pass unpunished, and Kathrine was the only Rune Knight available so she not only got to capture the criminal, but very likely put a sword to their neck herself. As she ran through the streets of the small town, a magic grin spread across her face as she imagined her sword drawing blood from her foe. If her superiors had been there to see her face, they would undoubtedly have been alarmed.
But no superiors were here, and so she reached the woods unimpeded. She had already dawned her Sword Maiden armor and dress, as well as her Sword of Radiant Light, in preparation for the fight to come. Because there was no doubt in her mind that there would be a fight, even if they were to immediately surrender once they saw a Rune Knight she would not accept it. That was the price for harming the innocent, a price she was more than happy to make them pay.
Imagine Kathrine’s surprise then when instead of some ruffian, she discovers a vicious looking old man sporting deer antlers and a mouth full of fangs. Not to mention the herd of rabid looking deer that all turned their attention to her in one horribly creepy moment of unity. A shiver ran down the fledgling knight’s spine at the frightful scene, but she did not take a step back. Instead she unsheathed her sword and held it in front of her, activating its holy aura.
“You will feel the bite of my cleansing blade, you unholy monstrosity!” the holy knight cried as she took a combat stance.
“You,” the red suited monster said with a pig-like snort, “you have been such a naughty girl this year. Oh, yes, truly very naughty. All that pain and suffering you have caused others just for your own pleasure. Kris has a very special gift for someone like you. Oh yes, a very special gift indeed.”
“You speak nonsense, foul creature!” Kathrine replied, continuing to shout. Whether this was out of an earnest desire to fight the man or false bravado to keep back her fear was hard to say. “I have only ever fought for Justice! To dare accuse me of otherwise is a crime most heinous. Die!”
The holy aura around her sword grew brighter, and then with a sweep of her sword was sent flying at a great golden arc through the air. It seemed this “Kris” creature had no intention of dodging at first, leaving Kathrine to expect a quick and decisive battle. It was then a shock when just before the magical strike hit then he seemed to almost teleport to the side moving just far enough to be missed. It seemed impossible for such a large man to move like that, yet her eyes had seen it. She could only imagine there had to be some kind of trick.
“And the list of your naughty deeds grows,” the monster said disapprovingly. “Naughty children like you do not get to see any more Christmases!”
His voice showing the first real emotion so far, Kris suddenly raged at Kathrine. As if this was the signal they had been waiting for, the foam-mouthed reindeer all charged forward simultaneously. The only mercy was that they had been various distances away to start, so the rune knight would not be immediately overwhelmed.
When the first reindeer reached her, she brought her glowing sword above her head and then slashed down with all her strength. Between the enhancing effects of her armor and the blade’s own magical power, she managed to cleave the deer’s head clean from its body. Before she had a chance to recover from her attack though, she felt a sudden impact on the side of her armor that sent her sprawling. As she fell, she saw another deer had gotten into her blind spot and kicked her with its back legs. The force of the attack had been great, and if not for the armor Kathrine suspected she would have at least one broken rib. Even with the armor the pain was significant.
Using the force of the impact, Kathrine turned the momentum into a roll like she had been taught in training. Successfully pulling off the maneuver she had been forced to repeat over and over, which she was now grateful for no matter how much she had complained at the time, the rune knight managed to get back up to her feet and once again ready her stance. Her eyes came up just in time to see another deer charging toward her, antlers readied to impale her. Not fond of the one being impaled rather than doing the impaling, she rolled again using her sword to swipe at the beast’s legs as she rolled. Her blade sliced through its left legs as she passed, and it fell to the ground in a blood heap.
It continued to thrash and bleat loudly as it struggled to attack her even as the pool of blood under it grew, but Kathrine ignored it. Unable to stand, the creature was no longer a threat and would bleed out on its own given enough time. There were still six more deer ready to do their best to kill her, and she could not spare any attention to one that could no longer bring her harm.
A sound to her right caused her to bring up her arm to guard herself, and a set of reindeer teeth latched themselves onto her steel gauntlet. Before the deer could release its bite and try again Kathrine brought her sword underneath the trapped arm and shoved the blade up through the deer’s neck. Immediately the grip on her gauntlet lessoned and she was able to use the impaled sword to push the corpse off of her. Tired of being on the defensive, Kathrine charged forward to cut down another of the reindeer. With that half of the deer were dead.
By now the red man seemed to realize wild attacks would not be enough to stop the rune knight. As such he ordered the remaining reindeer to line up in preparation for a united attack. This worked just fine for Kathrine though, as it gave her a single mass of enemies she could target. If this red suited cretin thought that he had seen all she was capable of, he was in for a nasty surprise.
Raising her gauntleted hand into the sky, she called for another of her requip items. The Vestments of the Sword King appeared over her Sword Maiden Armor, a blue fur trimmed cape and gilded crown. The Bestaments made her look quite majestic, but it was obvious the majesty was lost on the horned creatures. Well, that was fine. Their lese-majeste would only end in death, so she did not care if they failed to recognize what was before them.
She channeled her magic power, drawing upon the power of the crown. Behind her the spectral presence of six golden knights appeared, their swords held upright in front of them. It was said these were the loyal knights of the king to whom the crown had once belonged, but any trace of individuality besides their appearance was gone. Now they could only attack anyone indicated by their summoner. Intending just that, Kathrine struck out her hand at the reindeer causing the golden knights to charge forward and strike down the deer. THeir glimmering swords cut through hide and flesh effortlessly, leaving chunks of deer bodies to fall to the ground where they had stood.
Once their attack was complete, the six golden knights disappeared. Returned to the crown until they were summoned again. With them gone and the reindeer dead, only Kathrine and the now red faced red suited man stood in the field (though to be fair, even before they had disappeared the knights had more floated than stood).
“Your pets have been dispatched vermin,” Kathrine called out haughtily. “Surrender now and I shall make your death relatively painless.”
“Naughty naughty naughty naughty NAUGHTY!” the creature known as Kris said before suddenly disappearing and reappearing next to her. THe very air around her seemed like it was warping as he channeled mana toward her, but thankfully the Vestments of the Sword King had a second effect. As the time magic attempted to affect her, the cape activated and deflected the magic away. Doing so cost Kathrine precious magic power, not that she had much choice in the matter. She could only hope that seeing the magic deflected would make the creature less likely to use more.
In response to his failed magic attack the rune knight turned and swept her blade upward. Having been caught off guard he was unable to dodge the attack and was cut from hip to shoulder. The red thing stumbled back, yet even as he did she could see the wound healing as he used his time magic to reverse the damage. Unfortunately it seemed that a normal weapon was not going to cut it here. That just meant it was time to try a new one.
Her Sword of Radiant Light vanished from her hand, and then holding that hand out to the side a new blade appeared. Instead of a pure blade of silver and gold, then was was a pitch black with red engraved into it. Her Sword of Dark Justice was only for those that she determined were irredeemable, such as was the case now. It lacked the flexibility of her Radiant Sword, but had one distinct advantage over the other. Pure deadliness.
Kathrine jumped forward with her new sword even as the red man was sealing up the last of his wound. On guard this time he managed to jump backward, but not quite enough to entirely dodge the black blade. The smallest of nicks opened in his flesh, yet he suddenly began to scream in agony far beyond what the wound should have caused. That was the ability of the black sword. From the small wound a black line of magic could be seen connecting back to the sword draining the very life from Kris. Taking advantage of his shock, Katherine brought down the blade again, and again sucked the life from her opponent.
Not one to simply cave in, the Kris creature lashed out again with his magic only for it to again be deflected by her cape. Growing desperate, he lowered his head and charged her with her horns. Not expecting such an unusual attack from a humanoid, Kathrine was slow to dodge and found the horns embedded into her unarmored shoulder. Even as a grunt of pain escaped her, Kathrine grabbed the horn to keep in place. Kris, unable to escape, struggled in vain. Raising her sword with her free hand, she drove it straight down through his back, the blade and its effect sapping away the rest of his life.
Tearing the horns from her shoulder, she let the body collapse as she unequiped most of her gear. Turning away, she began making her way to town while holding her shoulder. It was bleeding heavily, but not enough that she was worried. Instead her thoughts were only about giving her report on the fight and how she was going to fix the hole in her dress.
2022/2000 words
It was obvious to Kathrine that whoever was causing trouble must be a criminal of some sort. Why else would they have injured a civilian? Such evil deeds could not be allowed to pass unpunished, and Kathrine was the only Rune Knight available so she not only got to capture the criminal, but very likely put a sword to their neck herself. As she ran through the streets of the small town, a magic grin spread across her face as she imagined her sword drawing blood from her foe. If her superiors had been there to see her face, they would undoubtedly have been alarmed.
But no superiors were here, and so she reached the woods unimpeded. She had already dawned her Sword Maiden armor and dress, as well as her Sword of Radiant Light, in preparation for the fight to come. Because there was no doubt in her mind that there would be a fight, even if they were to immediately surrender once they saw a Rune Knight she would not accept it. That was the price for harming the innocent, a price she was more than happy to make them pay.
Imagine Kathrine’s surprise then when instead of some ruffian, she discovers a vicious looking old man sporting deer antlers and a mouth full of fangs. Not to mention the herd of rabid looking deer that all turned their attention to her in one horribly creepy moment of unity. A shiver ran down the fledgling knight’s spine at the frightful scene, but she did not take a step back. Instead she unsheathed her sword and held it in front of her, activating its holy aura.
“You will feel the bite of my cleansing blade, you unholy monstrosity!” the holy knight cried as she took a combat stance.
“You,” the red suited monster said with a pig-like snort, “you have been such a naughty girl this year. Oh, yes, truly very naughty. All that pain and suffering you have caused others just for your own pleasure. Kris has a very special gift for someone like you. Oh yes, a very special gift indeed.”
“You speak nonsense, foul creature!” Kathrine replied, continuing to shout. Whether this was out of an earnest desire to fight the man or false bravado to keep back her fear was hard to say. “I have only ever fought for Justice! To dare accuse me of otherwise is a crime most heinous. Die!”
The holy aura around her sword grew brighter, and then with a sweep of her sword was sent flying at a great golden arc through the air. It seemed this “Kris” creature had no intention of dodging at first, leaving Kathrine to expect a quick and decisive battle. It was then a shock when just before the magical strike hit then he seemed to almost teleport to the side moving just far enough to be missed. It seemed impossible for such a large man to move like that, yet her eyes had seen it. She could only imagine there had to be some kind of trick.
“And the list of your naughty deeds grows,” the monster said disapprovingly. “Naughty children like you do not get to see any more Christmases!”
His voice showing the first real emotion so far, Kris suddenly raged at Kathrine. As if this was the signal they had been waiting for, the foam-mouthed reindeer all charged forward simultaneously. The only mercy was that they had been various distances away to start, so the rune knight would not be immediately overwhelmed.
When the first reindeer reached her, she brought her glowing sword above her head and then slashed down with all her strength. Between the enhancing effects of her armor and the blade’s own magical power, she managed to cleave the deer’s head clean from its body. Before she had a chance to recover from her attack though, she felt a sudden impact on the side of her armor that sent her sprawling. As she fell, she saw another deer had gotten into her blind spot and kicked her with its back legs. The force of the attack had been great, and if not for the armor Kathrine suspected she would have at least one broken rib. Even with the armor the pain was significant.
Using the force of the impact, Kathrine turned the momentum into a roll like she had been taught in training. Successfully pulling off the maneuver she had been forced to repeat over and over, which she was now grateful for no matter how much she had complained at the time, the rune knight managed to get back up to her feet and once again ready her stance. Her eyes came up just in time to see another deer charging toward her, antlers readied to impale her. Not fond of the one being impaled rather than doing the impaling, she rolled again using her sword to swipe at the beast’s legs as she rolled. Her blade sliced through its left legs as she passed, and it fell to the ground in a blood heap.
It continued to thrash and bleat loudly as it struggled to attack her even as the pool of blood under it grew, but Kathrine ignored it. Unable to stand, the creature was no longer a threat and would bleed out on its own given enough time. There were still six more deer ready to do their best to kill her, and she could not spare any attention to one that could no longer bring her harm.
A sound to her right caused her to bring up her arm to guard herself, and a set of reindeer teeth latched themselves onto her steel gauntlet. Before the deer could release its bite and try again Kathrine brought her sword underneath the trapped arm and shoved the blade up through the deer’s neck. Immediately the grip on her gauntlet lessoned and she was able to use the impaled sword to push the corpse off of her. Tired of being on the defensive, Kathrine charged forward to cut down another of the reindeer. With that half of the deer were dead.
By now the red man seemed to realize wild attacks would not be enough to stop the rune knight. As such he ordered the remaining reindeer to line up in preparation for a united attack. This worked just fine for Kathrine though, as it gave her a single mass of enemies she could target. If this red suited cretin thought that he had seen all she was capable of, he was in for a nasty surprise.
Raising her gauntleted hand into the sky, she called for another of her requip items. The Vestments of the Sword King appeared over her Sword Maiden Armor, a blue fur trimmed cape and gilded crown. The Bestaments made her look quite majestic, but it was obvious the majesty was lost on the horned creatures. Well, that was fine. Their lese-majeste would only end in death, so she did not care if they failed to recognize what was before them.
She channeled her magic power, drawing upon the power of the crown. Behind her the spectral presence of six golden knights appeared, their swords held upright in front of them. It was said these were the loyal knights of the king to whom the crown had once belonged, but any trace of individuality besides their appearance was gone. Now they could only attack anyone indicated by their summoner. Intending just that, Kathrine struck out her hand at the reindeer causing the golden knights to charge forward and strike down the deer. THeir glimmering swords cut through hide and flesh effortlessly, leaving chunks of deer bodies to fall to the ground where they had stood.
Once their attack was complete, the six golden knights disappeared. Returned to the crown until they were summoned again. With them gone and the reindeer dead, only Kathrine and the now red faced red suited man stood in the field (though to be fair, even before they had disappeared the knights had more floated than stood).
“Your pets have been dispatched vermin,” Kathrine called out haughtily. “Surrender now and I shall make your death relatively painless.”
“Naughty naughty naughty naughty NAUGHTY!” the creature known as Kris said before suddenly disappearing and reappearing next to her. THe very air around her seemed like it was warping as he channeled mana toward her, but thankfully the Vestments of the Sword King had a second effect. As the time magic attempted to affect her, the cape activated and deflected the magic away. Doing so cost Kathrine precious magic power, not that she had much choice in the matter. She could only hope that seeing the magic deflected would make the creature less likely to use more.
In response to his failed magic attack the rune knight turned and swept her blade upward. Having been caught off guard he was unable to dodge the attack and was cut from hip to shoulder. The red thing stumbled back, yet even as he did she could see the wound healing as he used his time magic to reverse the damage. Unfortunately it seemed that a normal weapon was not going to cut it here. That just meant it was time to try a new one.
Her Sword of Radiant Light vanished from her hand, and then holding that hand out to the side a new blade appeared. Instead of a pure blade of silver and gold, then was was a pitch black with red engraved into it. Her Sword of Dark Justice was only for those that she determined were irredeemable, such as was the case now. It lacked the flexibility of her Radiant Sword, but had one distinct advantage over the other. Pure deadliness.
Kathrine jumped forward with her new sword even as the red man was sealing up the last of his wound. On guard this time he managed to jump backward, but not quite enough to entirely dodge the black blade. The smallest of nicks opened in his flesh, yet he suddenly began to scream in agony far beyond what the wound should have caused. That was the ability of the black sword. From the small wound a black line of magic could be seen connecting back to the sword draining the very life from Kris. Taking advantage of his shock, Katherine brought down the blade again, and again sucked the life from her opponent.
Not one to simply cave in, the Kris creature lashed out again with his magic only for it to again be deflected by her cape. Growing desperate, he lowered his head and charged her with her horns. Not expecting such an unusual attack from a humanoid, Kathrine was slow to dodge and found the horns embedded into her unarmored shoulder. Even as a grunt of pain escaped her, Kathrine grabbed the horn to keep in place. Kris, unable to escape, struggled in vain. Raising her sword with her free hand, she drove it straight down through his back, the blade and its effect sapping away the rest of his life.
Tearing the horns from her shoulder, she let the body collapse as she unequiped most of her gear. Turning away, she began making her way to town while holding her shoulder. It was bleeding heavily, but not enough that she was worried. Instead her thoughts were only about giving her report on the fight and how she was going to fix the hole in her dress.
2022/2000 words
