They Find Moseph, wounded and surrounded!

Inari led Venus deeper into the forest, away from the bridge. Even now that it was morning, the dense forest was still fairly dark. Venus couldn't help but wonder how much of the darkness was natural. Necromancers were like a form of cancer to the world around them. The more they practiced their dark arts, the more corrupted the land and people around them became. There were many forms of magic out there that could destroy, but nothing that was so evil that it could actually warp life and nature the way necromancy did. The forbidden art, a taboo against everything good and pure in the world. Venus didn't think she could ever understand why someone could turn to such **** magic.

As they traveled deeper into the forest, Inari shifted from human form back to her normal kitsune form. Venus was grateful for this in part because the woman, while beautiful, was still completely nude. Venus knew that she shouldn't be embarrassed by another woman's body, but for some reason the kitsune's human form was making her feel heat flow through parts of her body that she didn't think should be responding in that manner. Inari, easily made her way through the forest in this form, while Venus had to climb over logs and worry about thorns in her bare feet.

She was starting to worry again that this was a wild goose chase when she started to hear the noise and a foul stench hit her nose. She slowed her pace a bit, trying not to alert the creatures she assumed were more ghouls. Raspy breathing and the occasional growl were enough for Venus to estimate at least five ghouls, but there were other sounds as well. Clacking and rattling sounds that she hadn't heard with the previous pack. It was a guess, but Venus was almost certain the Necromancer had raised some skeletons as well. While not as strong as ghouls, skeletal warriors could use real weapons and a clever necromancer could use them in a variety of ways.

Inari had come to a stop near what appeared to be the edge of a clearing in the forest and Venus came to rest beside her. What she saw wasn't good. Moseph was on one knee in the middle of some ruins. His side was gushing blood from what looked like a spear's thrust, judging by the nearby skeletal remains and burnt spear. The mage had put up one hell of a fight. Venus counted the bodies of at least ten dead ghouls, another wounded one thrashing about with thorny vines wrapped around most of its body, and an unknown number of broken skeletons. Venus saw that her estimation of the remaining ghouls was off by one, with six counting the one still trapped in Moseph's binding spell. The skeletons numbered at least ten, carrying mostly swords, but one larger one carried a wicked war hammer. Leaning against one wall was a thin man in black robes.

From what Venus could see, one of Moseph's staves had been destroyed by his using it so much while another was cut in half. The final staff rested under one foot of the black haired Necromancer. Moseph was eyeing the man, obviously trying to come up with some kind of plan, but he had lost a lot of blood and his bandanna was drenched with sweat. From what Venus knew about the mage, his magic was too powerful to use without a conduit like his staves. Using it too often or using too much power at once could kill him. And in the sorry state he was in now, using it without a staff could be fatal anyway.

"Inari, if we can get Moseph his staff back, he might be able to keep fighting and help us. Do you know what kind of magic he put in it?"

The fox nodded and scrapped the word "Ice" with her foot. Venus remembered the lance of ice that had impaled the ghoul that had tried to **** her. That meant his two destroyed staves had been the fire and binding staves. Fire was better against undead, but the ice would work if Venus and Inari could cover him. Inari had some fire magic anyway, so that would have to do. Venus quickly outlined a plan and they prepared to strike.

In the clearing, Moseph tried unsucessfully to rise to from his kneeling position. He coughed and dark red blood began to stain the green bandanna over his face. The Necromancer laughed and kicked the staff away.

"You were good Hunter. You caused me a lot of problems and even made me loose the toy my ghouls had caught. I had wanted to use her for my experiments, but you ruined that. At least I can have the pleasure of killing you and raising your corpse as one of my new ghouls. How does it feel, knowing you are about to die at the hands of Malgan, ruler of the dead?"

The Necromancer pulled a dagger from his belt and began to walk towards Moseph. At that moment, Venus shouted "NOW!" and charged forward. Her plan was simple, distract Malgan and the ghouls long enough for Inari to make it to the staff. The only question was, could Venus hold out long enough for her back up to be ready?