Barking Mad (Samantha Augustine/John Black

[Augustine]

The Mersey Forest, one of the largest community forests in all the UK, maintained and created by a variety of groups and organizations across a wide area, covering four hundred and twenty square miles.  It ran from just north of Liverpool, all the way south to the county of Cheshire, wrapping around the Mersey River along the way.  Technically it was multiple 'smaller forests' all counted as one, with the Delamere forest to the south being the largest stretch of woodlands in the whole thing.  It was a pretty vast stretch of forest, with a few communities and towns dispersed across its breadth, and recently there had been a number of reports of strange and unnatural things moving at night.

Reports of more people going missing than usual, sightings of fierce and dangerous wolves.  Considering wolves hadn't been a part of the UK for centuries that was a concerning and strange thing, to put it lightly.  To those with the knowledge of it, it was obvious that demons were active somewhere in the dense forests of Mersey.  Samantha was the type to know, but she also wasn't the type to spend much time concerning herself with the British.

No, she had more important things to worry about, but when it came to devils she'd always make time. All it took was someone in one of her online groups tipping her off, and then a bit of looking through the cesspit of UK media and newspapers for her to decide, and head straight off to the isle. The modified heavy bus that she piloted along with her gunsmith went roaring down the streets, to the largest section, the Delamere Forest, where most of the reports were filed, and where most of the sightings were reported.  A bizarre sight to the townsfolk for sure, but there wasn't anything obviously illegal, and all the firearms were hidden in compartments beneath the bus floor, ready to be unveiled once night fell, for a little night time hunting.

Of course, others might be investigating too, those of a more nautical inclination might have heard of it, and it would be easy to reach the forest in question by sailing off to Liverpool, and taking the River Mersey down to places like Ellesmore Port before disembarking to begin their own search.  Hopefully all who came were prepared.  The woods could be treacherous, especially at night, and that was without the threat of demonic wolves prowling the moonlit forest.

[John Black]

It was John's first time visiting the UK. It was a shame the location he was going was rather out of the way when it came to the places he'd have most liked to see there. Like "Big Ben", the famous clock tower. And then he'd have liked to get some fish and chips. Which he knew to be fish and fries, to his American mind. It was funny how he could go so many places, and still know so little. After joining The Umbral Witches he'd gotten to see a lot more of the world than he ever thought he would. But his primary interests lay in other places. He didn't mind seeing new and potentially interesting locations, but he hadn't bothered to educate himself much when it came to places outside of where he was born. It was simply an area of knowledge he lacked much interest or foundation.

Up until he'd taken up this mission to hunt down this apparent demon wolf, he'd had no clue a place like Mersey Forest even existed. He did enjoy the outdoors though and had gone camping many times in the past. He felt a certain sort of connection to nature. Although in this case that nature had been slightly twisted with the appearance and abuse of the devil in question.

When he arrived at the edge of Mersey Forest, he stood on the back of a boat that was driving itself. This was good, because John had no idea how to pilot a boat, and he made full use of the enchantments offered by his organization to make traveling by boat easier. The equivalent of a magic AI, a self-piloting boat.

When the boat touched down at Ellesmere Port, John jumped from boat to land with one strong leap. Humming as he landed and looked around to take in the place. Then pulling out his phone to help him navigate the area to get to Mersey Forest. A good thing that he had plenty of help whether it was magic or technology to get him started on the trail. He was confident in his ability to track once he reached Mersey Forest, assuming he could find some sign of the devil in question.

He was probably quite the sight, dressed in dark clothing, an overcoat, with a large sword holstered across his back. It was too long on him for a proper sheath to be able to draw from his back. So he simply had it held something like a gun might be, with a leather strap he could flick off the guard to pull the long blade from his back holster. And under the coat, against his lower back was an enchanted Colt 1911, which he kept out of sight there.

Looking at his phone as he made his way from the port, he strode with a languid confidence while following the directions that would take him to the primary location of this devil hunting trip.

[Augustine]

The sightings were pretty broad across Mersey Forest, which was a large stretch of land to have to search.  Still Ellesmere Port was at least very close to the Southern Edge of the sprawling conglomeration of different woods and towns between them that made up Mersey Forest.  It was going to be quite a lot of hiking, with no guarantee that he was going to find anything on his first night, something he had hopefully prepared for as he set off, arriving that late evening, as the sun was beginning to set.  He was in for some lovely hiking, but there were roads between the tiny towns strung along the forest if he preferred, might make it easier to avoid getting lost if that were a concern. 

Meanwhile, some fifteen miles East of Ellesmere Port, in the sleepy little town of Northwich, a bus parked at the edges of the town opened its doors as the sun set.  A strange woman stepped out, dirty blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, and dressed like something straight out of an action movie.  A combat vest with a tactical harness covered her top, her arms bare, showing winding tattoos.  She had a knife sticking up over her left shoulder, two handguns at her hips, one a revolver, and carried a shotgun with a wicked bayonet on it as she looked around, a lit cigarette held between her teeth as she made sure the coast was clear.  She also had a flashlight mounted to her tactical harness, and a big heavy duty flashlight strapped to the back of her belt, it paid to be careful.  Hopping off the bus she'd head off the road and into the wilderness to begin making her way North-west for her first sweep for the fuckers.

The two were fifteen miles apart, but with the right 'luck' that could just be a few hours of hiking before their paths coincided.  Neither knew about the other though and so it seemed unlikely as each headed into the idyllic countryside, the slowly creeping darkness of night ready to steal away the idyllic view and give it a more foreboding and ominous cast.  Off in the distant night, the howl of a wolf could be faintly heard, a distant vague direction for them to head towards.

[John Black]

John took his time as he entered the forest. Frankly, he half expected to get jumped at some point. Half-devil or not he doubted he'd seem like anything more than prey to these bloodthirsty demons, perhaps he'd even seem more appealing depending on the temperament of the demons in question. If they wanted easy prey, then perhaps he would not be as appealing as he hoped he might be. He could not be sure how intelligent the creatures were either. They were hardly hiding at this point, besides taking cover in the forest that they seem to have claimed as their territory. Too many had gone missing around the forest to not be noticed.

He was relaxed but ready, eyes flicked left and right, occasionally glancing up into the dark canopy of the trees above. He followed the forest path, deciding to stick to it for now and heading in the direction of the distant howling as he did.

Fighting at night would be a little harder than usual, his night eye was pretty good, but not reliable enough to give a consistent advantage. The same could be said for his hearing, and smell. All of them were keen, hinting to the powers that were awakening within him, but for now, they were untempered, untrained, unreliable. It was unfortunate since, for a hunt like this, keener senses would have been of considerable use.

But for now, he'd have to take solace in his strength, that at least was reliable. He could cleave through even the thickest tree with relative ease. And his gun at least should make hurting demons with potentially tough hides easier too, since it was enchanted with demonic AP rounds. He brushed his fingers along the grip of his gun holstered against his lower back occasionally. The same with the hilt of his sword, brushing the leather of the grip with the tips of his fingers while gazing around. His expression was firm and calm. Though his heart was beating a little faster than he would have liked, picking up or hitching anytime he picked up a small sound that made his spine tingle with nervous energy.

All the same he was on the path, heading in the direction that was likely to have him crossing paths with the woman who was also here to remove the threat living in this forest.

[Augustine]

Samantha stepped through the forest with a surprisingly casual attitude for someone hunting devils.  For her it was simple, she'd rarely met a devil, feral or not, that would run from someone, and people had already been going missing, so clearly they would hunt them.  So, why be cautious?  She wanted to find the fuckers, and getting them to come to her was just easy sense.  That big, industrial flashlight was in one hand, the big, boxy kind that had a handle, the frame too big to just hold it like a normal one.  She was sweeping it slowly across the forest as she traveled, heading in the direction of that distant howl.  Maybe it was someone's dog...sure hadn't sounded like it though. 

Carefully she kept sweeping the flashlight, the only actual care she was showing, Black Betty slung on the opposite shoulder, resting on her hip, free hand resting towards it and the glock holstered just below it.  The sun had set awhile ago, it was well into the night by now.  How long had she been hiking through these blasted woods?  Two hours?  Three even?  Nah, definitely not three.  It was probably getting real fucking close to three hours though.  "Where the fuck are they?  What, do the fuckers think my meat'd be too tough?"  She commented to herself idly, before suddenly she stopped, and swept the flashlight back across the way she'd just looked...and then back the other way again, slower.  Her eyes narrowed, as her fingers slowly wrapped around the grip of her gun...

John Black would have had a similarly uneventful hike up to this point.  Heading towards where he'd heard that same howl, hiking his way through the thick forest, the dark of the night and the canopy of the trees making it particularly difficult to find one's way without a light source.  Even with one it could be easy to get turned around if one wasn't careful, to not even recognize the very tree they'd passed if seen at a different angle than they'd approached it at.  Then in the distance he'd hear it, the distant but unmistakable sound of gunshots.  Someone was shooting something somewhere in the forest, and it was hard to tell but it seemed like it was coming from where he was already headed!

It would be when he reacted to this, either to move faster, or just stopping, that something would spring.  It had been stalking him for awhile, but he might not have noticed.  It stuck to the shadows, and while in the shadows, the thing was nearly impossible to see.  It had the rough shape of a wolf, with thick black fur, but the eyes were sockets of red flame, and its muzzle peeled too far back off of thick, polished teeth, like jagged spikes of jet.  It was going to come leaping from the shadows of the forest, from that inky blackness, leaping towards his back to try and pin him to the forest and clamp jaws around the back of his neck and then shake viciously, a simple and classic predator tactic to try and break the prey's neck swiftly and with minimal effort!

[John Black]

John could not help but pause when he heard the sound of distant gunshots. Of the sounds he had expected to hear, it was not high on the list. He expected howls, quiet breathing, the snap of a twig, a quiet growl, or perhaps even a roar as he was pounced upon.

Well, he was pounced in the end, and it was pretty undeniably flawlessly executed. While he had paused the demon had not.

However, while the teeth attempted to sink into his neck, those teeth would be impeded by the handle of the demonic sword on his back, Balmung.

And at first, the weight of the demonic wolf on his back seemed to make him sink toward the ground. His foot slid a foot forward, his knees bent, ready to fall... but he did not kneel. With some effort, and with inhuman strength his fall was stopped by the power his body contained, resisting the leverage of the large demonic wolf.

He grunted before reaching back with his left hand, taking hold of the demon in any way he could. His only goal was to keep the demon held in place, those teeth digging into his neck partially, bleeding, but unable to sink fully thanks to Balmung. His grip was like a steel vice, and perhaps greater to keep the demonic wolf in place, fingers twisting through demonic fur and flesh if he could sink his fingers deep enough into the fur.

His right hand slid the gun out from its holster on his lower back, pushing the muzzle of his gun around past the opposite hip, and toward the demon, before pulling the trigger. The gun barked loudly through the back of his coat and against the stomach and chest of the demon held to it, firing a quick barrage of bullets he intended to riddle the demon with.

In a contest of strength, John was a confidant. Grappling with the wolf suited him better than attempting to run it down. And while the wolf could still tear into him with claws, while the fangs were occupied, he was confident that his regenerative ability would keep him alive, while his gun let loose its barrage. And he didn't intend to let up on the trigger anytime soon. With demonic AP rounds, and enchanted to always keep a full clip, he would never truly need to let up so long as he didn't need to take precise aim.

But with him actively trying to keep the wolf within point-blank firing range, pulling the trigger quickly was the only true skill he required beyond the grip he used to try to keep the wolf held in place to eat the bullets roaring free from his gun, adding the sound of the earlier gunfire from another location.

[Augustine]

As carefully executed, as flawlessly as any predator could have hoped to perform, the wolf was not so crazed to keep up an attack that had clearly failed.  The prey kept his feet, a strange haft of metal stopped the jaws from closing in and crushing, and then came the gun.  Rounds tore through the wolf's body and just a few of those was enough to get the demonic wolf to release him, leaping back and yelping, even its yelps sounding strange, distorted in a sense as it fled to the trees.  Even if he kept a close eye on it, without direct light on it it would seem to literally vanish into the shadows.  Such was the power of this species, but it was injured, and one did not necessarily have to see a beast to track it as it began to flee.

Off in the distance he'd hear more gunshots, heavier this time, from a much more potent firearm than the shots he'd heard earlier, likely those of a pistol's.  The wounded wolf was heading in that direction, and thus the choice seemed obvious for which direction John should continue in, perhaps with more caution or a quickened pace!

[John Black]

Well, at least he had managed to injure the beast. And seeing as it had decided to fade in the direction of the other battle it did make it easy to choose where to go. And clearly, whoever the other person was shooting, they were putting up a struggle. The shots continued making him think that whoever they were, they had come expecting a fight, just like he had.

He rubbed his neck where teeth marks were already more or less gone. He switched the pistol to his left hand before drawing the sword with his right from his back, flipping the strap that would stop it from falling from the sheath at an inappropriate moment before taking it into his hand. The sword was long, and heavy, though hardly in his hand empowered by demonic bloodlines. He was less accurate with his left hand, but he did practice with it the same as his right. And he could swing his sword with near as much ease with one as he could two, though he still generally preferred the stability of two hands.

He rushed forward, heading in the direction of the other's gunfire. Hopefully, they had more luck on their end killing these things than he did. He'd dealt some damage, but nothing he thought would put the wolf down permanently.

[Augustine]

Rushing through the forest he'd go, towards the sound of those gunshots.  Nothing else attacked him at least, perhaps they didn't think it was wise, or perhaps there were just no others nearby.  A strong lad like him could likely get through the forest quickly, although the dark, tangled floor was liable to snag or trip anyone who moved too recklessly. 

Off in the woods that he was heading towards, the gunfire had ceased, and Samantha stood over the corpse of one of the beasts, a cigarette now lit in one hand as she inhaled slowly, prodding the thing with her bayonet.  "Fat chance you're the only one eh?  Wolves always do love to travel in packs."  The big heavy flashlight was set on a rock nearby, turned so its beam was entirely on the beast, riddled with holes, black, tarry blood oozing slowly onto the soil.  With the flashlight mounted on her harness, right on the left side of her chest, she'd step forward to inspect the thing's body.  Get an idea of its weight, the shape and size of its teeth and claws, the consistency of the fur. 

Her shotgun was set down on the ground, but she'd draw her kukri knife to hold as she investigated, testing how tough the thing was.  John would see the light through the trees, something to guide him towards, where he'd find the strange woman, squatting near the wolf she'd slain shotgun now slung across her thighs and cigarette nearly spent between her teeth, and heavy flashlight positioned to shine in the direction the obvious sounds of his traipsing had come across.  He hadn't been subtle in his approach after all, but that was also why she didn't have a gun pointed and was merely watching to see if what was coming needed a bullet put in it or not. 

It sure was a surreal sight, and honestly he'd barely be able to make out any features but her silhouette.  If the only light was coming from behind her, then that would cast her front in shadow, a person squatting down and waiting was about all he'd be able to truly tell, and maybe the suggestion of the gun set across her knees.

[John Black]

As he approached the large very bright light, it occurred to him that he'd been walking in deep darkness this whole time. He hadn't considered it too much, not until he spotted this person who had brought the biggest light they could manage short of a spotlight.

Light would have been nice when it came to navigating the terrain, he hadn't been aware of just how damned blind he was up until he came near to the source of light now in front of him. Having been tripping and tearing through various obstacles in his footpath. He'd managed not to fall over, but the scene would have been much like a bull tearing through the woods.

Not that he had no light, but his phone had a light he could have used. But that would have taken up a hand. However, someone with a bit more sense than him made good use of their lights and guns. Perhaps it was because he was half demon and so less concerned about being killed by a single unfortunate accident. He'd intended to act as bait to some degree, wanting the wolf to attack him. Which was part of the reason why he had not had his gun or sword in hand before being attacked. He'd been ready, but only half aware, and half prepared.

It was only by the will of Balmung that he had not had his neck snapped by clasping jaws. In all honestly, he wasn't sure how well he could have done if the beast had managed to snap his neck. He could heal quickly, even from broken bones and bullet wounds. But having his neck snapped would likely have left him paralyzed for a while. Hard to say for how long since he'd never tested or seen such a case, but he didn't particularly want to either.

As he came closer to the figure in the light he glanced around. Debating how to get their attention.

If this was the person shooting he had heard they were heavily armed. And he didn't want them shooting at him. He was pretty sure having his head blown off his shoulders was beyond his ability to regenerate.

He decided to take half cover behind a tree and call in her direction. The forest was quiet after all, he didn't need to shout to make himself heard, and didn't want to cover any noise the injured wolf might make by shouting if it tried to attack one of them. And thanks to the person nearby, there was light. He could see, and would not be fighting nearly blind if it did.

"Olly Olly oxen free." He called simply from his half-cover while looking around, keeping his gun and sword at the ready in case the demon attacked once more.

If she called for him to come out he would, though he would continue to keep his gaze glancing around. He wasn't going to risk his neck a second time, aware just how immensely lucky he had been. Great strength, luck, and demonic regeneration only gets you so far after all.

[Augustine]

Samantha rolled the cigarette from one side of her mouth to another as she watched the figure take cover behind a tree. She couldn't see much, not with the shadows of the trees casting crazily across the background. She only saw enough to make out something of a human figure, and a gleam of metal reflecting the light. Tramping about like that he definitely wasn't trying to ambush her, and he apparently wasn't trying to pick a fight either. It could be some convoluted ambush, but that seemed unlikely.

Her hand came up and gripped the butt of the cigarette as it burned all the way down to the filter. Then she ground it against her vest, snuffing it before flicking it to the side. "If I have to come over there to see who the fuck I'm talking to, you're not gonna like what happens next." Well that was...a greeting. Still she wasn't a demon and was telling him to come out.

[John Black]

He nodded before stepping out to move closer to her, stepping until he was a polite distance from where she stood, making it easier to see him. And easier to see her with the area around them, glancing at the demon she already killed with a little grunt.

He gestured to the dead demon lightly, indicating it. "I injured the other one. It ran this way." He explained simply, figuring they would have time to chat later if she wanted to. "My name is John." For now, unless this lady wanted otherwise, it was best to stay on task and see if they could not put whatever violent demons were left down, so he intended to keep whatever he said as concise as possible. There were at least two demons, one dead now, but there could be more, and the injured one could have gone to grab the rest of its pack assuming there were more.

Otherwise, she was free to take in the sight of him. He was very lightly geared, his clothes were dark, the pistol and sword his only apparent weapons, and no obvious lights on him the way she was between her big flashlight, and the body light she had on her.

[Augustine]

"Fellow devil hunter huh? Where the fuck's your flashlight." The last one wasn't quite said as a question, despite clearly being one. The woman would stand up and turn to pick up the heavy flashlight she'd set on the rock. Then she'd turn around and toss it back towards him. It sounded like she said something under her breath, if he listened closely he might catch it. "Fuckin' rookies."

Then her voice would lift up as she rested her shotgun on one shoulder, hand on the grip, finger showing good discipline, running along the casing just above the trigger rather than resting on it. "C'mon then. I doubt there's only two of them. I've also never known a devil to run, intelligent or not. Bet if we just keep heading this direction, they'll make themselves known again sooner or later."

She'd step off in that direction, where she'd initially been heading after hearing that howl. As if on cue, howling would come through the forest ahead. Not necessarily directly ahead but many directions in that general area. Samantha grinned as she started moving, whether the rookie followed or not. It was going to be a long night.

It was going to be a fun night.

[John Black]

He nodded in reply to the first question before giving a light grunt to the… statement. At least that’s what he decided it was since it was equivalent to one, and the message being that he’d done something very idiotic. And he didn’t disagree. He was frankly lucky he’d live long enough to learn from the mistake, at least for now. Next time he intended to keep a proper light on hand whether he used it or not.

Hindsight was amusing like that. Sure he knew it was better to have something and not need it, than to need it and not have it. But up till now it hadn’t been a life preserving lesson. He’d intended to act as bait, sure, but it was clear that he’d over prepared to be underprepared as a result. He’d been nearly perfect bait. So much so that it had nearly gotten him into deep shit.

But upon reflection, particularly from the woman’s words, it was obvious that he’d worked too hard to be good bait on that front. Whether he had a light or not they would have attacked him. He could have at least had some light to better defend himself. Lesson learned.

When the light was tossed his way, he’d luckily sheathed his sword again by then. Holding the light in his left hand and his gun in the right. He followed along behind the woman, keeping the light up and shining around, his gun kept low but ready, his finger held off the trigger until he was ready to actually shoot something.

He’d occasionally glance over his shoulder too. He didn’t intend to get pounced from behind a second time.

[Augustine]

Well if nothing else she was willing to give him the good flashlight. The one on her vest wasn't bad, but compared to that bulky monster it might as well have been a pen light. She still took the lead though, shotgun resting on her shoulder, ready to pull it down and fire at any moment now. Now he could actually get a real good look at her, and she looked like a hardened mercenary, handgun, revolver, knife over her left shoulder, and that shotgun, not to mention the tactical gear.

After a minute or two of walking she'd call out. "If you're going to look behind you, you should point the flashlight that way. These things are invisible as long as they're in darkness, and it's dark as shit back there." Bit of an understatement it was dark everywhere, the dead of night enclosing them, the trees making moon and starlight fickle and unreliable, only casting darker shadows.

Time would seem to pass slowly as they moved, how much progress were they making? How close were they? Were the wolves moving around them even now? The answer would come when the huntress ahead of him stopped suddenly, the shotgun coming off of her shoulder, and into both hands properly as she stared ahead. A small clearing in the trees, a large rock overhead, its angle creating an overhang, black as could be, and from up under that rock? Growling.

She spoke in a quiet cool voice, "I'd suggest sweeping that light around, real careful like. Pretty basic trick to pull our attention while others move around to the flanks." Doing so wouldn't reveal anything obvious but...some of the shadows moved in strange ways. There were odd swells, unusual shapes that soon melted away to try and follow the shadows as they moved. They were surrounded.

[John Black]

Invisible in the dark? Did she mean that literally, like they had some power to blend in with the darkness, or did she just mean they blended so perfectly that they were near impossible to see? He supposed it didn't matter much either way after a brief thought. At least not while he was carrying her light to see them by.

He'd shine the light around, including behind him while they walked once she expressed that he could, and probably should rather than simply glancing back. Well, he'd been a little concerned about watching her back, but he supposed that between them she was the professional here, and unlike him, she hadn't been jumped from behind and caught off guard as he had. And besides with him at her back, they would pretty well have to get through him to hit her in the back anyway. If anyone needed to watch their ass it was definitely him.

"Got it." He replied in response to being told to sweep the light around. And so did, turning to shine the light around them like a light house, keeping his gun ready to fire, raised and finger on the trigger if he caught any movement coming their way while he was scanning around and didn't have his gun pointed in the woman's direction.

[Augustine]

Augustine stared at the boulder ahead of them, keenly aware from the corner of her eye that something wasn't right in the trees. How many of these things were there? Far too many for her liking, she much preferred her forests with zero demons in them. Carefully she took her left hand off of the slide of her shotgun, and instead towards the small revolver holstered at her hip. She moved slow, careful never taking her eyes off the black space ahead of them.

Her hand touched the grip, fingers sliding comfortably around the weapon, and then in a flash she had it drawn, firing quickly from the hip towards that overhang the boulder created. Snarls were drowned out by the deafening sound of a gun firing, and arcing blue leapt from the muzzle of the revolver into the darkness, striking a wolf, whose body was lit up, blue electricity coruscating across its body and illuminating the other three hiding beneath!

Immediately those other three took off, one going straight towards the two of them, the other going to the sides, and from the forest? More snarling as more of the wolves came rushing in from both sides, left, right, a pair slightly behind the duo. That was...what, eight total? They were hard to see even with the flashlight, anytime they passed through shadow seeming to vanish, but they were fast!

Right after firing that shot from her revolver, Augustine leveled her shotgun, hand going under it to steady it, not a firm grip but she was still holding the revolver. Without hesitation she pulled the trigger and the boom of Black Betty filled the clearing, knocking the lead wolf out of the air as they pounced and throwing them backwards, several of the wolves rushing towards John, one from just behind to his left, one from just ahead, and one from the side!

[John Black]

Hearing those growls left John with a nervous pang, though it would have been difficult to notice beyond the occasional twitch he made, his expression remained calm if not bland to the situation. He might be a rookie when it came to devil hunting, but he'd always had very good control over his emotions. Very little bothered him enough to break his calm, and it had more or less always been that way for him.

The demons they were hunting were an annoying blend for him to deal with though. He was very much a charge-in head-first sort of man, which was evident from the way he came to this forest, ready to fight, coming in less than fully prepared. These things were strong, but still made use of ambush and pact tactics. They seemed content to hunt alone up until a true threat like them appeared, then those pact tactics truly came into play.

He watched and listened as the woman fired off her guns, landing impressive well-aimed shots that John was not so confident he could match. But he decided on something simple, letting the woman handle the shooting while he pulled his sword after sheathing his gun back into the lower holster.

These wolves had to get in close eventually, so he intended to take the role of vanguard here and hold a line between the wolves, and the woman.

And sure enough, a few of them did. He kept the sword in one hand, the flashlight still in his left. Not as comfortable as using two hands, but he'd manage.

He focused on the one charging him head-on and met the charge. Perhaps it intended to feint him, but he didn't wait for it to reach him. His boots dug into the ground as he leaped forward with a sweeping strike, that long sword putting its length to work with great strength behind it, intending to cleave the charging wolf into two halves, top, and bottom.

He'd heard the other wolves around him, charging him, he intended to spin and catch them with his great cleaving blade in a second wide swing if he could. He just hoped that his own motion to charge the wolf ahead of him had been enough to make it harder for them to hamstring him, giving him some fraction of a second more to react to the first group of wolves to try attacking him.

[Augustine]

Wanting to serve as vanguard was a noble goal, but with the two of them surrounded he couldn't really keep all the wolves off of her, only some. Then again perhaps that was enough. His sword went swinging through the air to meet the wolf and contact would be made. Devils were tough, you could unload a full clip of an automated rifle at close range and they might still swing at you. So perhaps John wasn't surprised when his sword didn't cleave through the wolf, but the blade did bite in, sinking into the devil wolf's flesh. It was also with more than enough force to knock the wolf out of the air, throwing the beast to the side with a yelp and forcing one of the ones running at him to rapidly jink to the side, rolling slightly.

Any breathing room was important in a fight like this. It meant he could focus on the third wolf, still running up towards him, snarling as it leaped as well, his blade swinging around, and the wolf sailing over it towards him! He'd better think fast!

Samantha wasn't going to be springing to his defense either, at least not immediately, she had her hands full! Black Betty had been dropped, the strap around her shoulder keeping it from hitting the ground. Instead her hand had gone up to the handle of the knife sticking up over her left shoulder and drawn it, a sturdy looking kukri as that revolver let off another shot. Once again electric blue shot from the barrel of her revolver and struck a wolf, halting its advance and leaving it convulsing. None of these were killshots though, both the wolves she'd already shot were getting back up, but she wasn't hesitating. She whipped around and let off another shot, and this time was an icy white, the wolf's head partially freezing over as it yelped, her hand whipping around to smash the butt of her pistol into it.

Then the last wolf was upon her and she reacted by bringing one arm up, jaws clamping down on the arm holding her revolver, while the other moved the knife in, thrusting it hard up into the wolf's ribs as the other wolves closed in from behind her!

[John Black]

Fast, strong, and unexpectedly durable. It wasn't a great combination for John feeling his blade bite and cast the first wolf aside, it seemed that one of his two primary advantages was somewhat less effective than he had hoped. But at least he had done some damage, maybe slowed the thing down to be dealt with later.

And with the second wolf that was able to continue its charge leaping at him over his blade, he did what he felt was probably the best move he could make. There was no time to set up for a second slash, or stab, so he let Balmung drop from his hand to reach for his gun, all the while leaping backward. Leaving his sword behind, drawing his gun, he let loose a barrage of three bullets aimed to take the beast in the chest before the wolf reached him and before he fell into his back from the jump.

If nothing else he was glad he had prepared a bit more with his gun, seeing as it had two enchantments. One that always kept his guns magazine full, and the other to give his bullets some extra punch in the form of Devil AP rounds. Since he could not cleave through these wolves with his sword the way he had wanted, it likely meant that his gun was the most effective weapon after all since it could probably reduce the effectiveness of the durability these beasts possessed and cause vital damage assuming it hit something important on the way inside.

Or at least that was his hope. Otherwise the second wolf leaping on him was probably about to deal him some very serious damage, because while he was strong, he wasn't considerably more durable. He could use the arm holding the light to try and keep it's teeth from his face and throat, but that said nothing for the four paws and those sharp claws.