The Exetrius Saga (6): Attack of the Hunters

[Exetrius]

Exetrius Saga

1: Fallen leaf

2: Message in Kyrrath

3: Equipment upgrade

4: Subjection of a legend

5: Family Dinner

Episode 6: Attack of the Hunters

Exetrius was about to head home after a day of intensive magic skill training and physical activities in the hills near Carakath. Suddenly, they appeared out of nowhere, three of them, all dressed in camouflaged robes, their arms and faces wrapped in strips of grey cloth. Ice blue eyes and blinkering teeth, sharp claws and roars like those of big cats; unmistakably sabre-tooth tigre half-bloods. Fear struck him as he realized that his mana crystal was no more than a grain after his training! He fiercely hoped they were not up to something bad... Without a call of warning, one of them charged.

He dodged and ran, it was his only option. Sure thing that he would loose in close combat against three wildcats! He regretted not having studied the principles of energy flow magic thoroughly. There were enough powerful spells engraved in his staff, if only he could find a source of energy... He kept running, but his muscles were starting to feel sore, they were trying to outrun his stamina. But then, a shard of energy magic theory popped up into his mind! He used the last bit of mana to activate the writer spell on his staff. (The writer spell enables the user to create another spell via hand gestures or speech, as opposed to physical writing) He uttered a very long sentence, after which the sharp edge of his staff started glowing faintly. Now he had to hold on a little longer...

He could hear they were catching up to him, but it wasn't ready yet. To make matters worse, there was a dead end up ahead! They had driven him into a corner!

He stopped and quickly turned around. The swing of this staff sent one of the rapiers, wielded by the front attacker, flying, into the bushes. Exetrius used the moment of confusion to prepare for the next attack. He spotted the archer just in time...

He dodged the arrows and did a few steps backwards, onto the pile of rock debris that lay in front of a rock face. The front one got up and the archer switched to close combat. But were did the the third one go, and the fourth? Wait.. which fourth, his mind was fooling him! Yet, for an instant it felt like there was a fourth...

He was finally ready to strike! One blow would be sufficient to activate his spell. He also localized the third enemy to his left, who had tried to sneak up on him from a vantage point. Just in time, a seat at the front row.. for the light show! Three.. two... one!

The moment he charged, a female voice, coming from above, roared: "Brace yourself, it's coming!" The fourth was none other than Deliora Asagrim! However, the impact that followed was inescapable.

Deliora

"It's enough, Exetrius, don't harm 'em any further!"

Exetrius

"M'lady! What's the meaning of this!?"

Deliora

"Calm down, I'll explain."

"I was just a little curious about the son of the incredibly powerful leader of Zotharith, the great Onicius. I've heard quite a lot of talk about you in the pubs, about your strenght.. your looks.. Purrrr. Anyway, I thought I should check you out myself. Therefore, I brought a few of my newest assassins in training to keep you entertained."

Exetrius

"Entertained?! Uhm, I mean, I knocked them out in the end, but.. By the way, how did you know the exact moment at which I cast my spell?"

Deliora

"I'm an expert in arcane magic flows, I can sense the energy levels and concentrations in my surroundings, naturally! Just as you can feel soul presences in your surroundings, isn't that right?"

Exetrius

"Uh, yes.. how..?"

Deliora

"Ha! Good luck with your training, just ask if you need my help! Let's head back, men. See you around, purrr.. Exetrius!"

Exetrius

"Uh.. bye, Miss Asagrim!"

Was she being nice, or just mocking him? Ah heck, what was he thinking? She's probably older, certainly out of his league and, most of all, from a different species! He could use some help, though...

To be continued.... in the next episode: Taking the Runestone

Edit: Additional pictures:

Hi everyone, I'm back! This was a challenging build due to all the odd angles. I had to revise it a couple of times, but I'm happy with the result. I put greater emphasis on action shots, story writing and character development this time. I hope you enjoyed, C&C always appreciated!

Edited July 8, 2016 by Exetrius

[Isundir]

Sweet vig, I like some of the vegitation and the posing of the minifigs the best

[TitusV]

Great MOC! I love all the minifigs, and the vegetation is very nice as well

[Tezclatipoca]

Nice build !

Your work on odd angles paid out. The design of the vegetation seems natural with those angles.

And the story is great too.

Good job.

[Gabe]

Nice little landscape! The splashes of high colour really make it pop. The choice of black for the foreground is certainly bold too - is it meant to be a river, or perhaps volcanic earth? If i have a small criticism, perhaps the flame tree at the top could use a little more development so it didn't look so clumpy. The action shots are well done, i quite like the lightening strike. Nice work!

[Exetrius]

Sweet vig, I like some of the vegitation and the posing of the minifigs the best

Great MOC! I love all the minifigs, and the vegetation is very nice as well

Nice build !

Your work on odd angles paid out. The design of the vegetation seems natural with those angles.

And the story is great too.

Good job.

Thanks guys! Glad you like the story, Faladrin!

Nice little landscape! The splashes of high colour really make it pop. The choice of black for the foreground is certainly bold too - is it meant to be a river, or perhaps volcanic earth? If i have a small criticism, perhaps the flame tree at the top could use a little more development so it didn't look so clumpy. The action shots are well done, i quite like the lightening strike. Nice work!

Thanks for your compliments and feedback, Gabe! Too be fair, the foreground is just a black base, for presentation only. It helps to obscure the rough edge of the actual build, mostly. It's fun to see how others can interpret it differently! The orange tree was an experiment. I wasn't really satisfied with it (not from this angle), yet I decided to stick with it because of the time I had invested in it already and the lack of bricks to do it better. But next time, it will be better!

[-Sunder-]

I love the combos on the minifigs, and the posing is really dynamic. Lovely scene!

[soccerkid6]

Very pretty landscape, elevation change makes scenes much more dynamic, and you made good use of that here Excellent storytelling and illustration as well

[Exetrius]

I love the combos on the minifigs, and the posing is really dynamic. Lovely scene!

Very pretty landscape, elevation change makes scenes much more dynamic, and you made good use of that here Excellent storytelling and illustration as well

Thank you, guys!

[LittleJohn]

Great landscaping Exetrius, all the wedge plates look really nice! The crumbling stone is very well done too, and I like the bushes

[Blufiji]

The irregular base, landscape and foliage are nice, and the minifig posing simulating the attack are solidly done.

[BrickCurve]

Nice one, I really like the mini figure posing. I am not sure about the partially brick built tree though.

Edited July 1, 2016 by BrickCurve