Sandor heard the shout, first dimly, then closer as they converged on each other. "Coming!" he shouted, loosening the knot on his makeshift sling as he rounded the bend and saw the other man facing down the advancing monsters. He barely registered the third person in their party, hidden as they were behind the other man's bulk.
"Back here," he said, backtracking a short way to one of the observation areas, beckoning them after him, his eyes never leaving the three beasts as they came after. They were moving slow, almost taking their time, like they enjoyed making their prey suffer in anticipation. It was a chilling thought, one he banished as soon as it occurred to him. It wouldn't be smart to get scared now, especially not when his own hallucination had proved that real or not, these things could hurt you if they got close enough.
"Take this," Sandor said, tossing one of the practice swords to the man, then going to a knee and undoing the bundle entirely. "We're not going to be able to keep them at bay, so best to try and knock them out with these." He hefted a weight with a 20 on it. "If we can't get close enough to hit, we'll have to throw. How's your aim?"
He directed this at the third person, who had moved out from behind the big man enough to be seen. But when Sandor's eyes swiveled up to her face, shock poured over him like a bucket of ice water and for a moment he froze. Time seemed to roll away from him and for a moment he was back in the Red Keep while the city burned and her voice anchored him to sanity. Then he remembered where he was, what was happening to him, the vision he'd had the day before; a bitter expression stole over his face and he turned away from the apparition to find the other man staring at him oddly. Must not be able to see her, he thought, like I couldn't see Mystique's.
"Nevermind," he said. "I'm seeing things everywhere I look today." He got to his feet and launched himself at the nearest of the three with a roar of anger that had almost nothing to do with the monsters.
no subject
"Back here," he said, backtracking a short way to one of the observation areas, beckoning them after him, his eyes never leaving the three beasts as they came after. They were moving slow, almost taking their time, like they enjoyed making their prey suffer in anticipation. It was a chilling thought, one he banished as soon as it occurred to him. It wouldn't be smart to get scared now, especially not when his own hallucination had proved that real or not, these things could hurt you if they got close enough.
"Take this," Sandor said, tossing one of the practice swords to the man, then going to a knee and undoing the bundle entirely. "We're not going to be able to keep them at bay, so best to try and knock them out with these." He hefted a weight with a 20 on it. "If we can't get close enough to hit, we'll have to throw. How's your aim?"
He directed this at the third person, who had moved out from behind the big man enough to be seen. But when Sandor's eyes swiveled up to her face, shock poured over him like a bucket of ice water and for a moment he froze. Time seemed to roll away from him and for a moment he was back in the Red Keep while the city burned and her voice anchored him to sanity. Then he remembered where he was, what was happening to him, the vision he'd had the day before; a bitter expression stole over his face and he turned away from the apparition to find the other man staring at him oddly. Must not be able to see her, he thought, like I couldn't see Mystique's.
"Nevermind," he said. "I'm seeing things everywhere I look today." He got to his feet and launched himself at the nearest of the three with a roar of anger that had almost nothing to do with the monsters.