Ash

"No, this isn't how it was supposed to go! You're ruining everything!"

The voice boomed down the hallway as the group and their escapees made their way through the guards, calling forth the shadows and burning them away. They were oddly coordinated - those adept in physical combat tore through the guards, leaving the shadows for the holy and magical combatants.

"Why, Heather?" the man cried out from the end of the hallway, standing just before the odd, glowing object that had been wrapped in thorns. "Why does it have to be this way?"

Zilgra had released her dog, Kore, and was mounted upon his back, whip and dagger in hands as she glared up at the man. "You of all people have no right to call me that, Ash!" she called out in response. "What the hell do you think you're doing? What gives you the right to decide?"

Ash watched as she and the monk ran up at him, weapons drawn and clearly coming to end him. In an instant, bark covered his body, encasing him in wooden armor, making it more difficult for them to harm him. If they were going to fight, he certainly wasn't going to let them get to him easily. He still had things to do. Plans to fulfill. He would unite man and beast under one flag, and anyone who dared stand in his way was going to perish first.

As the two ran towards him, the others finishing off the fights they had left behind, Ash sent vines to entangle their feet. But while they were easily able to entrap Kore, the monk was much faster than he anticipated, and the next thing he knew the elf was on top of him, spear and fists flying. He was fast and strong, Ash could tell, and it took nearly all of his concentration to dodge and deflect the blows. In the meantime, as Zilgra approached, he could do little to stop her strikes, though the damage they did was minimal. He heard blasts of magic going off around him, and the wall of rubble behind them slowly began to crack. If it weren't for the monk, he would be able to prevent that from happening, but his blows simply wouldn't stop.

But time was drawing slim for the group. He could feel the air beginning to change as the full moon was rising. They had chosen the wrong night to attack. The battlefield changed in an instant as bodies began to grow and transform. Even some among them had been affected by his curse, taken in to become one with the beasts.

But he had underestimated them. There was one in their group, the halfling, who became an enormous bear. That wasn't the strange part, however. The strange part was that she seemed to retain her sanity. And she seemed to know that, for she quickly turned to him.

The confusion distracted him long enough for the monk to land two quick blows to his gut, making him double over. And then, in an instant, the bear was on top of him, claws swinging wildly, tearing his armor to shreds. How had this happened? And then a claw was crossing his chest, opening a wound, and he lost consciousness.