I really wish I had my gun

Reaver stiffened. Had he heard...? No... He was just being paranoid. The road to Brightwood from Westcliff always had that sort of effect on him--on anyone, for that matter. Still, he kept his guard up. It would do him no good to wind up being a Balvarine's meal.

Speaking of Balvarines...

He felt something barrel into him, claws ripping into his arm before he was slammed into the rock face along the road. He cursed, ignoring the protests of his arm as he rolled out of the way, his trusty Dragonstomper withdrawn and ready to fire.

A quick count told him that there were four of them. Simple--four bullets later, he could continue on his way.

Of course, things are never that easy.

He did manage to kill three of the four creatures, but they were fast. It had taken quite a few more bullets than he had expected; the bloody things kept leaping out of his line of fire right at the last second.

"Bloody devils are fast!" he snarled, taking a moment to reload. The fourth Balvarine had disappeared; probably sensing the futility of this hunt and not wanting to end up like its pack members, it had beat a hasty retreat. Or it was hiding, waiting for the right moment to strike. Regardless, the Pirate Lord could not help but think that he had already won--he had this in the bag, so to speak. Balvarines were smart and calculating creatures, and Reaver knew that the final beast now saw him as a formidable opponent, not one to be trifled with. He grinned. "But it looks like I'm faster, and you know it!"

Perhaps it would have been better not to challenge the beast, or at least not at the moment when his guard was down, for the pirate soon found himself pinned under the crushing weight of the Balvarine. It had happened so quickly, he didn't know what hit him; but now he could feel that his ribs were broken, and he realised that his gun had been thrown from his gloved hand. It was now far out of reach, and the creature's jaws were nearly upon him. He could feel the heat and smell the stench of the beast's rank breath.

Thinking fast, his free hand went for his sword, and with a quick and skillful motion, the blade bit into the creature's fleshy stomach. It roared and reared off of him, and he quickly scrambled to his feet and leapt a few yards back. That had been far too close for comfort.

But this was not a good situation. He was badly injured, and the beast was now not only hungry, but angry as well. The wound he had dealt it was not immediately fatal. He had to do something fast...

Then he noticed the Dragonstomper lying on the ground, barred from him by the very creature he needed to kill.

He wished he had his gun.

Wow, this was a longer battle scene than I intended to write for this pic.. Whoops. I'll be sure to keep this note short and sweet then.

Another little plot bunny that I had to draw a picture for. I just may use this in a short fan fiction I'm planning on writing.

I'm very proud of this. The Balvarine came out looking awesome, though a bit more beafy than I had anticipated. And I had decided to try something new with the background and used no line art before coloring with colored pencils.

I wrote and drew this.
Reaver, Balvarines, and Westcliff are (c) Lionhead.

PS~ Balvarines are the scariest monsters I've ever had to battle in any game. I hate going to Westcliff or into the Howling Halls simply for fear of running into one. Anyone else feel that way?