He saw nothing until they reached the shoreline, waves glittering in the moonlight, forcing all figures in front of him to be little more than silhouettes. Talfryn couldn't make out any features, but he saw the outline of a tall woman that seemed unmistakable for anyone else but Vienne. It took a moment for him to register that she wasn't completely alone out there, though, and as soon as his confidence was bolstered, it was shattered completely: a hurlock stood before her. Her weapons were drawn, but she hadn't moved to strike; instead, she seemed to be...talking with it, as it did not move, either. From where he stood, Talfryn couldn't hear what they were saying, but the idea that they were communicating at all with anything but the clash of swords was puzzling in and of itself.
The contents of their exchange would stay unknown, however. Something had changed, as the Orlesian woman shifted in her stance and raised her daggers up. Taking her cue, Talfryn had begun to charge forward in her defense, but was far too late -- the Warden turned her head to look at him, just in time to miss the fact that a shriek had appeared behind her. The putrid beast let out a shrill cry before digging its blades into her exposed backside, lifting her off the ground from those points. Her boots flailed, kicking pointlessly at the aggressors. She cried out in agony as the knives tore gashes up through her flesh until they hit bone and stopped, leaving her to hang by her ribs, but was silenced as the hurlock in front of her reached out and grabbed her head. There was a loud, disgusting crunch as he jerked his hands and twisted her head further than it should have gone. The woman went limp.
Someone had cried out, "NO!" It wasn't until Talfryn was halfway across the rocky stretch of coast that he realized the shout was his own. He raised his greatsword up to swing at the shriek, who had unceremoniously dumped the dead Warden's body on the ground in order to brace itself for impact. His sword was caught between the two shorter weapons instead of coming down upon the creature's hissing head, but Talfryn managed to kick a leg out to knock the shriek back and pull away. His foot landed and he managed to free himself, but the shriek was faster and it managed to melt itself into the shadows once more. He turned around, wary of leaving his backside exposed, hoping that his partner was keeping a closer eye on the hurlock, who was strangely making to flee rather than engaging him.