Snippet #2683309

During the fight, most people experienced of burst of energy and focus. Different people called it different things: most knights called battle rush. Unfortunately, after the fight, this focus usually drained away. Experienced fighters, though, knew how to make that rush last a little longer... or not rely on it at all.

Judah was doing the second, each sense strained with hyper-awareness. Alright, the forest made him a little twitchy, but the shadows to the left of him were acting a little weird, and they'd just been attacked by weird shadow demons. It was justified.

Of course, he was made even twitchier by the fact that their resident mage and crusader cleric didn't seem to get along. Thankfully, Rupert and Caera seemed to be more willing to get along with the others. Rupert in particular was an interesting combination of naive and oddly experienced. But maybe Judah was being too cynical. Perhaps Rupert was actually a nice. Judah was just used to being cynical... and right. Caera, on the other hand, seemed... er, withdrawn and a little jumpy, but she also looked like she knew what she was doing.

It seemed like everyone was in agreement; scouting seemed like a smart idea to do. Then, Judah watched as an enormous rainbow bird erupted from a flash of bright light. Well. He didn't see that everyday. (But he had a feeling that it'd happen more and more often.) Once all the scouting was finished, Judah followed the lead of the others deeper into the forest.

"So," he said in a low voice, "Star Lake. But on the way there, we should probably get to know each other." Judah shrugged. "At the very least, if we know each other's specialties, then we'd be able to work together more effectively." Bodyguard work and the mercenary business in general meant working with a team. He'd seen more than one job, on his side and on the other, go bad because people didn't know what the others could do.

He tapped his sword. "I'm mostly short-range, whether it be with Nightpiercer or hand-to-hand. My sword's enchanted with some pretty potent magic that should be good against demons. Or anything flammable." Judah paused. "I also have some minor Artificer talent. Which is also useful against flammable things." He ducked under a branch. "What about you all? Likes, dislikes, pet peeves." Judah's smile was rather grim. "We might be stuck with each other for a while."