Illrose sat perched on one of the broken walls on the Ruins, at a place she considered 'her' spot, with the sun shining down on her back and cast shadows on the ground, making her bloodred antlers almost looking like spread out dragon wings. She closed her eyes for a moment, and just listened to the sounds around her; fawns bleating, deer roaring and laughing in the distance, hooves beating on the ground as strangers and namelesses thundered by, Familiar sounds, even though Illrose didn't really spend much time in the forest anymore. Though sometimes she did drop by - like today - to check on familiar faces, or perhaps just to relax. It was quite nice, to be able to relax without having to worry about demon attacks if she accidentally let her guard down too much. It was a while now, since she and her demon hunter friend had wiped out an entire army of demons, killed them all expect for the two leaders, who were too strong to be killed. The two had vanished, and apparently no one had seen or heard any signs of them since. Which was weird, because they hadn't seemed like the kind who gave up, and allowed someone to kill their whole army without wanting revenge. Not that Illrose feared them, but she would still keep her eyes out for someone who couldn't be killed. The dragon doe gave a hollow snort through her mask, and shook the thoughts from her mind. She then rose to her feet and climbed with surprisingly ease - considering her size - down the wall, then made her way between the gave stones as she headed towards the pond.

The water was glimmering in the distance when a very familiar and very unpleasant smell hit her nose, which made Illrose come to an abrupt halt as the long scar on the right side of her body tingled. And then she caught a glimpse of something pale in the corner of her eye, and turned her head to glare daggers at the walking wolf skeleton that came slinking her way, with black infection dripping from it's bone jaws and a red glow from the empty sockets of it's skull. "So, you guys are back." Illrose murmured, mostly to herself, not at all amused. Her last encounter with the rock hounds had resulted in a large gash on her side, a gash that had taken forever to heal and had left a big scar. The scar had become more faint over the years, and now it was almost completely hidden under her black fur; but it was still there. Though, this time Illrose had an advantage she had lacked the last time she had fought the skeleton creatures - her full grown antlers. And she knew how to defeat the creatures. The skeleton wolf slowed down, and for a moment the dragon doe and the rock hound seemed to stare at each other, before the creature seemingly lost interest and continued on it's way. Illrose had half in mind to let it go; this forest didn't really seem like home any more, and it wasn't really her problem if these skeleton creatures wreaked havoc among the forest inhabitants.

But the thought had barely formed in her head before a image flashed before her eyes, the image of a small fawn, completely ripped apart by the skeleton wolves. Illrose clenched her jaws, she had been too late to save that fawn the last time the creatures had arrived in the forest, but she could at least prevent this one to hurt any fawn. Besides, she would never turn down a good fight. A dark grin crossed her lips behind her mask, as her pale eyes locked on the skeleton wolf once more. Illrose then lowered her head and charged towards the wolf at full speed, her white hair flying like a horse's mane and her big hooves thundering towards the forest floor. When she was right behind the wolf, she swung her head and slammed one of her antlers straight into the creature, sent it flying through the air with a yelp in surprise. Illrose came to a halt again and snorted, as the wolf hit the ground with a thud nearby. The creature slowly rose to it's feet, and this time the dragon doe had it's attention. Sockets were glowing red as the wolf snarled at her, and Illrose snarled back while she lowered her antlers once more, dug a hoof in the ground like a bull about to charge. But she waited, and allowed the skeleton wolf to charge first. And it did. Black goo was flying as the wolf charged, digging claws into the ground and growling as it ran towards her. A dark laughter of amusment slipped from her lips, seconds before Illrose slammed one of her antlers straight into the skeleton wolf again and sent it into the ground once more.

The impact shattered some of the skeleton's ribs, but it still managed to drag itself to it's feet once more, still growling and dripping infection. Illrose didn't notice the second rock hound immediately, not until it suddenly digged it's teeth and claws into her hip. She gave a roar in anger and kicked out with her hind leg, but the wolf had already released it's grip and jumped out of reach. Then it came into view, with a blue glow from it's empty skull. The two rock hounds began to circle her slowly, both growling and giving flicks with their bony tails. Illrose stood completely still and watched them with pale eyes and ears flattened towards her neck. The red wolf then lunged again, aimed for her vulnerable belly but her antlers worked like shields and she only had to turn her head to block the wolf. Then the blue wolf attacked from the other side, and Illrose spun around to strike. She managed to hook the skeleton on one of her tines and threw it away, just as the red wolf lunged and dug it's claws into one of her shoulders as it's jaws locked around her throat. Illrose roared again, the creature had a surprisingly strong bite force and she could feel how it became harder to breathe as the wolf pressed it's jaws together around her throat. The blue wolf had also recovered from being tossed away, and came charging back towards her, snapping at her feet while she tossed around in an attempt to lose the red wolf.

Illrose snorted in annoyance and kicked out towards the blue wolf once more, this time she managed to hit but the red wolf was still pressing down on her throat, making her breath rattled and hoarse. But finally she tossed around and managed to make the wolf lose it's grip as it fell back to the ground. And she didn't hesitate to slam one of her hooves down on the skeleton, to keep the wriggling and growling creature in place as she bent down forced it's jaws apart, ignoring the infection the wolf tried to spit at her and also ignoring the blue wolf as it locked it's jaws around one of her hind legs. The red wolf gagged and spat as she bent it's jaws open and could finally spot the stone that was glowing red among all the black goo. Illrose grabbed the rock with the tip of her skull and ripped it lose from the infection, and the wolf immediately stopped fighting her, the bones dropped to the ground as the black goo dissolved and the red stone turned black between the jaws of her skull.

She then dropped the stone to the ground, janked her leg out of the blue wolf's jaws and spun around to slam her antler into the skeleton creature's body. The wolf growled as it leaped out of they way but Illrose followed with a new attack and this time her antler striked the wolf and sent it flying yet again. The dragon doe's pale eyes were almost glowing with annoyace, while blood trickled down from the bite - and clawmarks on her body. The wolf was back on it's feet, circling her again while snarling and leaving traces of black goo that dripped from it's jaws. Once again the creature attempted to go for her belly, but Illrose was about to lose patience with these creatures. Once again her antlers struck the wolf, but it seemed to be annoyingly sturdy; the skeleton's bones refused to break under her attack. In the end the dragon doe relied on her weight as she charged towards the blue wolf and simply ran it over. The skeleton yelped as it rolled around on the ground, and before it could get back up Illrose had turned around and ran over it once again. She reared up and struck the creature with her hooves, slammed them down on the skeleton again and again as bones snapped and the creature pretty much fell apart underneath her. The wolf's lower jaw had also been completely crushed under the attack, leaving the upper part of the skull vulnerable, and the glowing stone was easy to spot among the black infection that filled the wolf's skull. Illrose leaned down and pulled the blue stone free, and the same thing happened; the wolf went limp, the black goo vanished and the stone turned black.

Illrose raised her head again, and looked down on the pieces of bones that was scattered around her feet. The dragon doe then gave a snort, picked up the black stones and silently began to make her way towards the Twin Gods' hill, to drop the stones off by the statues. And all the while she listened intently for more skeleton wolves, ready to fight again if more of these creatures should appear.