|
Post by Clair Feldsky on Feb 17, 2012 14:00:22 GMT -6
Richter's summary to Nayru's question both answered the question, and presented more to the silver haired woman, Clair was sure. Especially if she really was a researcher of some sort. She didn't add to it though. Exploring a burned out, war torn ruin wasn't the most fitting of times to recount the stories of what had happened here. She also made no reply to Aerious' sarcasm about dragons as he led them forward. She followed closely, behind him. Whether because she was feeling in mild competition with him, or just because she was unused to letting others take the lead, she wasn't sure. It probably was the fact that she was normally the lead scout, but still, something about the brown haired man rubbed her the wrong way.
The falcoknight turned quickly at Richter's movements and the younger rider's scream. What was he swinging at? Though her face had more concern on it than Aerious' did, the rest of the expression was similar enough. If Richter saw something, he was the only one. After giving him a brief questioning look, she settled down again, and dropped the butt of her lance to the ground.
"If you two go in there, be careful. We don't want the debris shifting, and leaving you trapped...." She paused for a moment, studying the building to remember it better. This was where Richter's troops had been boarded up in to be burned alive. Lovely. The roof exit she'd taken didn't look like a viable option any more, but there was an exit they'd made in the back of the building, during the escape. That information could be helpful.
"There might be an entrance near the back still, Aerious. I'm not sure ai'd count on it though, with the fort looking the way it does now."
Clair put a hand on Elly's arm, hoping to encourage the pink-haired girl, or at least remind her that there were others here. She wasn't alone.
"We should keep heading further back into the fort until we meet up again." Clair said to no one in particular. She already knew of one place she wanted to see, and that was further back in the fort, inside a portion of stone construction built onto the wall. They would come to it eventually, on their present course, so there was no need to rush it. Time would be better spent keeping watch for anything that would try to rip them to pieces.
"Richter? Is there anything in particular you're looking for in here?" He'd wanted to take a look pretty much right off the bat. It stood to reason that he had something in mind.
|
|
|
Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Feb 17, 2012 21:39:51 GMT -6
Well, that explained the fugitives bit, she suspected - a rebellion? Against whom? It didn't bother her in the least that the grizzled man was a revolutionary, but he had certainly worded his response in as intriguing a way as she could have hoped. Aerious was quick to belittle the mention of dragons, which was in retrospect for the best, Nayru realized; she might have been tempted to continue the dragons subject a bit further and see what the odd couple really knew. That they could talk so casually about manaketes as individuals was immensely curious, but at no point had they actually stated whether they had been killing dragons or just seeing them. That was... worrying.
No point in worrying about it now, though. Perhaps she would have time to grill the both of them on the matter later, but for now Aerious was planning something - splitting up, apparently. Nayru vaguely considered pointing out that she was taller than most of them and therefore probably wouldn't fit anywhere that the rest couldn't, but had the common sense to realize that her companion had something specific in mind and ruining it for the sake of something so petty would be somewhat unseemly of her. She settled for a noncomittal shrug, resolved to follow along with the plan until he got around to explaining. Assuming he did. There were other things to worry about anyways; when the time was right he'd probably explain, or she might have figured it out by then.
Nayru rose to her full height and pirouetted in place to face Elly, the oppressive aura of the abandoned fortress met by building enthusiasm for the idea of purging it. "Be careful. Try to learn what you can from them, but don't die, understood?" The poor girl was obviously doing poorly, but there was little the dragon could do to help her, wish as she might. Elly had to find it within herself to rise to the challenge. There was one thing she had to do, though, for her own peace of mind if nothing else. She turned to the humans - untrusting, guarded, but they had already saved Elly once. "Please, Richter, Clair, keep her safe."
(OOC: sorry for lateness and garbage post. Also, yes, Nayru was preoccupied and missed the Richter-reaction bit.)
|
|
|
Post by Richter Abend on Feb 18, 2012 15:24:29 GMT -6
Richter nodded silently to Naryu as she entrusted the pegasus rider, Elly, to both him and Clair. A small sigh escaped his lips. He couldn't say he really wanted to babysit right now, but seeing as Nayru and Aerious weren't giving him much of a choice, it looked like he'd just have to grin and bare it.
But as the Ilian turned to address Clair, his head gave him reason to grin, or at least grimace, as another sharp pain ruptured from the deep recesses of his skull. Dark figures flashed through his thoughts, and again Richter's head seemed to swirl. He clutched his forehead, pulling at the taut skin and doing his most to resist the urge to drop to his knees. He wasn't going to let himself get left behind because everyone thought he was an invalid. After his most recent stint at the hands of Etruria, he was sick of sitting around. He'd be stronger.
And the pain began to subside, disappearing almost as quickly as it arrived leaving naught but a dull, throbbing ache. Richter blinked once, twice in relief before focusing his attention back onto his assistant commander. These aftershocks from that dark essence were not pleasant. "No, nothing in particular," he replied, attempting to mask any weakness in his voice. "I just, well, if there's demons in here, I'd like to know why. This place..." The Ilian trailed off. Clair had to feel the same as he. In all the places he had felt this evil, there was one constant: Etruria. The Prophet was many things, but a dark sorcerer? That could have...unpleasant implications. "I would have started with the chapel, but seeing as its a bit unavailable to me at the moment, I'm going to check out the District Head's office. Or at least what's left of it." He nodded to a blackened, half crushed house a ways off. "You're welcome to come along if you like."
Richter then turned to Elly, examining the pink haired pegasus rider. The girl was obviously green, maybe even greener than Clair had been when he first met her, but she had been able to hold her own in a fight against fiends. That gave them a little freedom to move. "Think you can stay close to us? Or at least Clair if we decide to split up."
|
|
Elly
Pegasus Knight
Rookie Squirrel!
Posts: 101
|
Post by Elly on Feb 18, 2012 23:24:40 GMT -6
Elly raised her head as she felt a light touch on her forearm, the contact breaking her previous train of thought. She looked up at the knight gratefully, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. That was right; she wasn't really going to be alone. Even if Nayru left with Aerious, she'd still be with the knight and her companion, right? A wave of comfort washed down her body as she felt some of the apprehension she had felt at the plan earlier leave her.
It was shocking that, despite having walked into the ruins at their side, despite having seen them both fight earlier to save her, it was only until now that she could really and truly bring herself to trust both of them fully. Or, perhaps, it was that they seemed less like heroes out of a story now, and more like humans, too?
She shook her head, trying to clear away the confusion, slightly miffed as her usually-bound hair fell in front of her field of vision once more.
She had never doubted that they'd keep her safe, but somehow, it was only until the instant the older woman touched her arm that her heart truly understood what her thoughts had been trying to tell her. She nodded slowly, head bobbing up and down, lost in thought, her mood brightening slightly. Nayru's words made her smile; for the first time since the battle, she felt she could give a proper answer, at least. The thought of the fiends damped her disposition, yet not enough to drain away the weak edge of determination that seeped into her voice.
"Yeah," she started, uncharacteristically serious, nodding once more. "Uh..." She struggled for a moment, hesitant. "Aerious, Nayru, uh, y' two be careful too, y'know?" She breathed in deeply, trying to stifle the nervousness that attacked her before it turned into full-blown panic once more. She waved with her hand at both for a moment, a small smile on her face before turning around to walk next to the other two travelers.
She stifled a gasp as the pink-haired man reached for his forehead, his face twisted into a grimace. Had something happened to him? She hadn't noticed him being hurt before. "Uh, are y' okay, mister?" Worry filled her tone as she stared concernedly at the man. She nodded at his words, her eyes wide with amazement. If she hadn't noticed his expression earlier, she would never have guessed he was hurt; neither his expression or his tone betrayed any weakness.
"Yeah, uh...sorry for being trouble, y'know, I'll...I'll try to keep watch, y'know?" Her words were hesitant; she doubted she'd spot anything before the other two did, but if she could help, even a little..."Y'know, I think I have a vulnerary in my pack, so, uh, if you were hurt earlier or anythin' like that..." She trailed off, unsure of how to proceed. Maybe it'd be best to switch topics? "Uh, y'know, I sort of...wasn't paying attention when y' two introduced yourselves?" She cringed; that could have gone a lot better. "Sorry, what I meant was...what are your names?"
|
|
Aerious
Manakete
The Foul Destroyer
It takes pressure and time to make diamonds.
Posts: 496
|
Post by Aerious on Feb 19, 2012 9:44:35 GMT -6
Aerious had paused to make sure everything was going to be ok, leaving Elly with these two. When it seemed that Clair took to her, he felt confident enough to enter the building. Lowering himself down, he began to crawl through the tiny opening. It wasn't too tight for him, his human form was fairly thin, but if he were wearing armor or something it might have been difficult. He stayed back to help Nayru through, she'd likely get quite upset if part of her attire was damaged on the way through by some wayward rock.
He spared a look around the inside of the cathedral. It was pitch black, but that hardly mattered to him. His sharp eyes could see everything inside of here in perfect detail...and something looked odd. There was something blocking the way up ahead, but not solid. Almost like a web, that covered the chapel from floor to ceiling.
[red]"Nayru..."[/red] He called to the younger dragon. [red]"What do you make of all this?"[/red]
There were many sinkholes in the ground, and his sharp ears could pick up something inside of them...something skittering about.
|
|
|
Post by Clair Feldsky on Feb 19, 2012 14:14:51 GMT -6
Well that was that. Richter was in pain still, but there was nothing she could do. Nothing she knew of, at least. It must be from the aftershock of using that sword on the winged monsters, in which case Richter would have to beat it on his own. She didn't know the first thing against magic, except how to fight the ones who used it. It left her feeling useless.
"I don't think we should split up anymore. The District Head's office is as good a place as any to start looking." What she said was true, but she was also concerned Richter would be hit by one of those... headaches, or whatever they were, right when he needed to be fighting, so the safest bet was to stick together.
She hadn't heard their names? Well, she couldn't blame the girl. Everything here was screaming suspicion and danger at through every possible sense that Clair possessed. Even the air felt stained with the taint of something dark.
"My name is Clair Feldsky. That's Richter Abend." The Falcoknight repeated, her eyes moving to rest on the younger rider for a moment, before returning to their ever-vigilant scanning.
"I think that more proper introductions will have to wait for later though." She was serious about it, but there was a small laugh tucked under her words from somewhere.
She started moving towards where she remembered the building they were looking being built, picking her way around debris and unsteady ground. Keeping an eye on the mounts, her surroundings, and more importantly, the sky, made for slow progress, but progress it was.
"Your friends seem quite able to look after themselves, Elly. They took down at least as many of those flying things as the three of us managed." Even as she spoke, Clair searched the ruins around them, intent on keeping any of the shadows hiding at the edge of her vision from sneaking up and becoming more than that.
|
|
|
Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Feb 20, 2012 2:35:33 GMT -6
Tall she might be, but lithe and dextrous described her equally as well; one did not dance without at least some modicum of flexibility and awareness of their body. The hair was the damn problem; Nayru made it through without damage to her apparal, but even going through on her belly after trying to lump to whole mass of hair on her back she could still feel it get snagged a few times through on the jagged edges of the rock.
Not that any of that mattered as soon as she realized where she was; a colossal room, a church of some sort, almost a bona fide cathedral given its surprisingly immense size. It made sense, in retrospect - a massive fort, especially one used by an Etrurian army, would have a religious facility. They were near Etruria, weren't they? She had never been one for religion, but that wasn't what was throwing her off. The aura of the room was oppressive, a tenuous wriggling thing that grated at the edges of her consciousness; a sense of wrongness pervaded the area, a perversion of the holiness the room had once embodied.
The strands of - something that hung throughout the area, a labyrinth that stretched throughout the cathedral. What in heaven's name were they? Nayru took a cautious step forwards, half expecting the earth to erupt in fire or swallow her in shadow, but nothing happened as she cautiously skirted one of the massive sinkholes. Even despite the unnatural darkness of the room, she could make out numerous sizes of the wholes, from barely wrist-width to truly colossal, easily large enough to permit entrance to a boulder. The inconsistent size bothered her from some reason - it seemed oddly engineered, rather than natural. Even for the already-dark room their depths were impentrable murkiness, shadows so deep she could not plumb their depths short of hopping down into one.
That seemed like a really bad idea for some reason.
A cautious prod to the nearest strand of material hanging limply near her revealed said material to be incredibly tight; her lightest touch sent reverbrations through the entire length of the cord. It was tough, too. Not even dragonstone-aided strength could easily tear the inch-thick strand apart; it simply stretched out a bit before snapping back as soon as she loosened her grip. Something came unbidden to the dragon's mind, a comment from a human artisan decades ago, about the strength of spider silk; it was only that the strands were so thin that kept them from being used for much more.
Aerious's words flowed over her thoughts like oil on water, barely noticeable but gradually smoothing them out enough to allow her to focus on a half-conscious response. Absolute darkness, warm conditions, immunity to weather, already in a stronghold of unholy magic. Breeding grounds. Her voice was quiet, thoughtful when she finally spoke, th pause between Aerious's question and her response evident. "...I cannot help but wonder if the door was to keep us out, or to keep something inside."
The skittering grew louder, a frenzied tempo that she only now realized had slowly grown louder during her investigation. Breeding grounds. They were intruders in an area that had should never have been seen, much less entered. Yes, she was definitely starting to get worried. There was no shame in that, right? It was only natural to be somewhat wary of unseen, unnatural foes, after all. Something prickled her foot for a moment, and Nayru's gaze snapped down to see - nothing. Nerves. She took a step back anyways, then another. Just in case. Not fear, of course, merely prudence. Any power she was drawing from her dragonstone was purely a preventative measure, even if she was drawing enough to bathe her immediate surroundings in a dim but harsh glare. Even if the pits in the earth seemd to be actively sucking the light into them and turning nothing.
Then two tons of nightmares given flesh landed in a colossal eruption of dust that shattered the tranquility - or had it only been the calm before the storm all along - accompanied by a piercing shriek that shattered her concentration, the harsh dissonance of the sound tearing through her head with wanton disregard. Illuminated in the pale blue glare, for an instant aware of how alone she was, the mask of perfect self-control slipped; Nayru could not hold back a gasp at the horror before her, a behemoth that stood two or three times her height - and yet it was not the height that made it so colossal but its girth and depth, a hulking nightmare that seemed to go on forever.
An abdomen that easily could fit a dozen humans within, covered in course, barbed fur; a wild, jagged stripe of white ran down the length of its otherwise brownish-black body. Countless eyes blinked in the light, alien and vicious, but she suspected that vague discomfort did not quite qualify as total blindness. Truly colossal fangs jutted out from its mouth, each easily the length of her forearm, each dripping with a liquid that fizzed as it hit the ground, eating through the ruined wood and earth beneath. She had a hunch that it was poisonous.
It was the legs that truly caught her attention, though, as horrific as the rest of the beast was. This was no ordinary spider, skittering about on its web, relying solely on poison and sticky strands to snare its prey. Not with forelegs so thick they were literally wider than her entire body at their thickest, not to mention dwarfing her in height, even bent over as they were. If removed from the creature, a single leg held entirely straight, she had no doubt they would be longer as the creature itself - not a pleasant thought given its size. The bloody thing was larger than some dragons! Smaller ones, granted, but - was this the sort of creature dragons had once protected the world from?
The thing was already stampeding towards her, each viciously pointed leg impaling the floor before jerking upwards again, the horrifically rancid stench on its breath a subtle reminder of its diet: flesh. Maybe reinforcement was a good idea. Maybe more reinforcement was a really good idea.
She didn't actually have time to think about it before one leg came at her with deceptive speed, much faster than she had thought. She opted to block, sinking immediately into a low stance while crossing both arms before her as it swung like a very, very large greatsword. Maybe the impact wouldn't hurt, the optimistic side of her brain chirped in its tiny voice. No, said the pragmatic side, it probably would.
Sometimes, Nayru hated it when she was right.
The impact wasn't so much an application of cutting force as an avalanche given coherent form, impossible power lifting her off her feet as though she were a doll in a hurricane, forcing her ever downwards with the inexorable might of absolute power. The surprised dragon was vaguely aware of going through something before very rapidly coming to a halt against something significantly harder, but her conscious understanding of the world around her was momentarily put on hold in favor of an explosion of light and sound that consumed all.
(tl;dr version of the last bit: she gets hit with a downward blow, slammed through the ledge of one of the pits before hitting a rock on the other side a few feet further down, nearly loses consciousnss. I'll go through that stuff next post to give Aer time to react.)
|
|
Aerious
Manakete
The Foul Destroyer
It takes pressure and time to make diamonds.
Posts: 496
|
Post by Aerious on Feb 20, 2012 11:29:58 GMT -6
Aerious was aware of Nayru's unease. He wouldn't say the place scared him, as he doubted anything in here could hurt a dragon so long as they were prepared. But still, something in here just felt off. Like a weight placed upon his chest, and more added with every breath. He could swear he heard the beating of a drum from somewhere around him. Pounding and reverberating through the room, keeping some wicked and unholy tempo. Louder and louder the sound became, until Aerious felt certain that even those outside would be able to hear it, reverberating and shaking the walls apart...
It was the beating of his own heart.
And then, an explosion of activity. It all happened so fast that he hadn't been sure what he was seeing, but time mercifully slowed down as he viewed the catastrophe before him. This...thing erupted from the ground. The best way to describe it would have been a giant spider, but that hardly seemed to do the monstrosity justice. Eight legs like lances, fangs like thousands of tiny blades, it's eyes glowing with pure malice...this was a creature of death. While he knew the dark power could effect living creatures...he had no idea that it could change them this much. Humanity wouldn't be able to stand up to armies of these things.
And then it struck out at Nayru. Aerious would have shouted a warning to her, but in the next moment she was gone, flung across the room into a pile of debris. As the creature moved in on Nayru to finish the job, Aerious considered transforming here and now.
No...that was not the wisest decision. That card should be saved, and they were not beaten here, merely surprised. So fighting them head on wasn't going to work, so how would one fight a spider? Aerious was afforded little time to respond as the creature lunged at Nayru. Without thinking, he did something rather foolish. He couldn't attempt to push the thing away, eight legs and much more massive then he meant that it was far more stable. He couldn't stand against it, he'd get flattened like Nayru. So with a quick grab, he snatched up Nayru, and unceremoniously threw her. The chapel was torn apart, but ideally she would land on what used to be the second floor, hopefully without going through anything solid. Higher ground was going to be useful in this fight, since trying to fight the thing head on would be foolish.
[red]"Nayru!"[/red] Aerious called, diving to the side of the creatures pistoning strikes. [red]"Attack from above! We can't fight it head to head!"[/red]
Another dive to the side and he struggled to his feet, determined to keep the thing occupied.
|
|
|
Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Feb 20, 2012 18:35:18 GMT -6
For a few moments, Nayru wasn't sure whether or not she was dead. She couldn't feel her body; there was no pain, no sensation, not even a phantom response from her legs, only jittering patterns of light and shadow dancing across her vision. Whether or not it was strange to be so calm about potentially being dead, she wasn't sure - it was just so difficult to put her mind to analyzing the situation, no feelings to let her know that she was supposed to be desperate or angry or excited.
The building pressure on her legs combined with the reverbrations of the world around her reaching a higher tempo competed to bring her back to consciousness, but even when the tidal waves of soreness washed over her everything still seemed fuzzy, indistinct, as though she were at the bottom of a dim ocean. The pain in her forearms wasn't dull, though - it took only a glance, her vision still dancing with spots, to realize that there was a thin line of blood running down from where she had blocked. Even fully reinforced, completely ready for the blow, and pitting both arms against a single leg from the creature, she had nearly been cut in half on the spot.
Moving her head away from the solid surface had been a mistake. A sudden rush of pain throughout her body, accompanied by the dull, wet sensation in the back of her head, made sure of that. She couldn't actually move her arms to check, but in a detached sort of way Nayru was vaguely aware that she was still having trouble thinking, that it was hopefully just blood, not the entirety of the contents of her skull, painting a lovely mural on the fractured rock she rested against.
The whole world was still shaking - the creature was still coming for her, she knew with surprising clarity for how much everything else was blurry and indistinct - but the sensation on her legs was still building, and there was no reason for that.
She regretted that her vision had cleared enough to see as soon as she looked down.
A literal tide of bloated bodies and skittering legs was ascending her body, dozens or hundreds of tiny spiders following the contours of her legs ever upwards. Tiny compared to the colossal leviathan before them, at least; some were the better part of a foot across, others only a few inches or less, but even in her crippled vision she could make out the bloated abdomens and barbed fur that marked them as being the same species as the thing that had launched her into the pit. Each was small, but there were so many, their rough fur scratching at her bare legs, that the overall weight was tremendous.
The world inverted again in a dazzling display of color and motion, the battered dragon torn from the hole in a single arcing motion, accompanied by a truly colossal plume of waving legs and inchoate shrieking, a fountain of arachnids that seemed somewhat less pleased with the aerial vantage point than she. From her vantage point of being upside down and flying through the air, she could see that it had been Aerious who jerked her out - which was really nice, all things considered: being devoured by a carpet of waving mandibles and coarse fur had not been near the top of her list of ways to go.
Oh, and there were still more of them on her, hanging on for dear life. Nayru felt a moment of vindictive smugness - all in the same boat now, you little mongrels! - before realizing that she was heading for something solid. Again. Her gratitude wavered for a moment, the weight of Aerious saving her vying for superiority over a tinge of bitterness that he couldn't have aimed for a blanket sweatshop or something, but impact was mercifully painful and noisy. Well, maybe "mercifully" was the wrong word, but lying in a cloud of dust, the vile ichor within the spiders that had been clinging to her splahshed around the area as crushed and rent arachnids expired or struggled for life around her, she was finding ti hard to care. The room had stopped moving, and that was enough for the time being.
And now there was one straddling her nose, forelegs just short of her eyes. Nayru swatted it off with enough force to cave in a man's skull and was rewarded with a dull splatter across the already-ruined bench a few feet away, the sound invorigating her to rise to her full height. She settled for a shaky ascent to a hunchbacked state, trying in vain to brush off acidic insides from the fabric they had already ruined, swatting the still-living beasts off her body as they made themselves known. Even after following her through the second floor there were still a surprising number of them alive.
Another burst of activity from below jogged her flagging attention, ruining the concentration neded to stand upright and sending another tinge of pain into the headache that threatened to consume her, but it was a rminder that she could not exactly loligag about while Aerious fought. He was certainly doing better than she had, having either learned from her mistake to not attempt to block its strikes or having the common sense to know better from the start. Ducking under a low-hanging strand of webbing, an idea struck her; the spider brood was continuing to pour out from where she had been temporarily entombed and the skittering from other holes was rapidly reaching a crescendo, so perhaps hopping back down was a less than optimal decision. Why not remove as much of the beast's home-field advantage as possible?
A heave, and the already falling apart rotten wooden bench was airborne, shattering completely harmlessly against the fiend's tough body - but the act had been more to gain its attention than a serious attempt at damage. Praying to whatever gods of luck and benevolence who might listen, Nayru lept onto the nearest strand of webbing, trusting the impossibly tough structure to hold her wait, in hopes that it might follow her up there. They could do nothing to match the thing's strength, but perhaps they could make it less easy to bring to bear.
|
|
|
Post by Richter Abend on Feb 20, 2012 19:06:13 GMT -6
"You know, Clair," growled Richter, slightly annoyed, "I can introduce myself. And it's alright Elly, I'm fine." He shook his head bitterly. "It's not like a vulnerary would do much anyway." The Ilian glowered lightly. Apparently he hadn't hid his pain well enough, for while it was no extreme offense, it had scratched his pride to be offered help from a girl so green she couldn't help but teeter upon the precipice of a panic attack as she watched her older and obviously more worldly companions venture into the chapel.
The chapel. Richter glanced at the ruinous chantry with subtle malcontent. Something about his exclusion from exploring the place gnawed at back of commander's mind, despite the fact Aerious had been exactly right in saying that the pink haired Ilian probably wouldn't have fit through. Richter had wanted to go in, because after all, it was the last place had peacefully in this fort before he was so graciously "excommunicated". That, and such a place of interest would undoubtedly hold secrets about both Etruria and, apparently, the Fire Emblem, if what Ardus had said was true. But that would have to wait.
"Anyways, I'm done standing around, let's g-" A loud shriek emanated from the depths of the chapel, forcing Richter to recoil in discomfort, only exacerbating his already splitting headache. The sound was...otherworldly. Monsters. Undoubtedly Aerious and Nayru had stirred something that wasn't supposed to be stirred. They'd need help.
Drawing his axe, Richter turned to Clair and Elly, a mixture of both apprehension and excitement in his eyes. It couldn't be denied that even with all that had happened, somewhere in there, Richter still enjoyed fighting, especially when it meant he didn't have to kill people. "Change of plans. We have to find a way in!"
|
|
Aerious
Manakete
The Foul Destroyer
It takes pressure and time to make diamonds.
Posts: 496
|
Post by Aerious on Feb 20, 2012 19:12:07 GMT -6
Aerious heard the crash that he was sure was the sound of Nayru slamming into something, and felt a tinge of regret. Now she was out of harms way...temporarily, but that had been a rather brutal throw. Then, all of a sudden, Aerious spotted something unfortunate. A large amount of smaller spider creatures were crawling from the sinkhole, attempting to eat what the big one had disabled.
Except the big one hadn't disabled anything yet. Aerious had been sure to deny them that snack, though he wished he could have been a bit gentler. Well, he knew Nayru could take it, and hopefully they'd both survive this. Aerious hadn't thought that not surviving this would have been an alternative, but here they were. The large creature seemed particularly focused on him for the time being, but thankfully it did not have a large amount of agility with it's monstrous bulk. He kept light on his feet, jumping about to keep the creature from landing one of it's powerful strikes.
It is the nature of combat that things do not go quite according to plan. As he jumped about, he felt his feet touch down on one of the larger spiders. It killed it, certainly, but it caused him to lose his balance for a moment, and end up on his back. In an instant the monster was on top of him, it's fanged maw coming down for the final strike.
And then it's head shook for a moment. Had it been hit with something? This pause was all he needed, and Aerious wrapped a hand around two of it's bigger fangs, holding it's gaping maw back. Pressing down, he pushed himself out from underneath the creature, which thankfully had not pinned him yet. As he pulled himself out he heard a crack and a shrieking howl. He looked down to see one of the creatures fore-fangs in his right hand. Well, he couldn't compare with their legs, but it seemed dragon strength was enough for their teeth. The large monstrosity leaked corrosive ichor from it's mouth as Aerious jumped to get himself off of the ground floor. They'd have a better chance the higher they went, that much was for sure. As Aerious stood on the higher ground, armed with a single fang, he glanced over to where Nayru was and saw the creature climbing the web behind her.
[red]"Nayru!"[/red] He called. [red]"Behind you, watch it!"[/red]
Who knew if this thing could spit it's acid or something insane like that?
|
|
|
Post by Clair Feldsky on Feb 20, 2012 20:24:15 GMT -6
OoC: 500th post!
BiC:
The falcoknight kept a straight face at Richter's insistence that he could introduce himself. Maybe he could, but it was done now, and like before, she'd beaten him to the punch. Ultimately, it wouldn't make any difference who Elly got his name from, but she still filed away a mental note to let Richter give his own name at least, in the future.
Clair felt every muscle in her body jolt in reaction to the shriek forcing its way around the fort, the sound echoing through every hole and gap in the ruined mess of stone and wood fragments. The sound was coming from the direction of the chapel, where Aerious and Nayru had separated. She whipped her eyes in that direction, only to suddenly see dozens of the winged fiends they'd fought before flocking into the sky from around them, apparently startled into flight by the sound. It was a worriesome sight to realize they were so outnumbered, and yet these gargoyles merely circled in the air, keeping away from where they'd heard the sound coming from.
I've never heard anything like that before Funny. It seemed like she'd been able to remember something comparable to everything she'd encountered for a long while.
"I don't think that was friendly." Where had this knack for understatement come from, and when had it appeared? She put the ill timed question out of her mind though. "I don't know how to get to Aerious and Nayru from here, and I don't think going up is a good idea right now! We're moving blind." She hated that she had to give that admission.
"If we're going in there, we need to pick up the pace! The other two may need our help, and time is against us." Remembering it was more than just the two of them now, the Falcoknight turned her gaze to check on Elly, maintaining not so much calm as focus as she did so.
|
|
Elly
Pegasus Knight
Rookie Squirrel!
Posts: 101
|
Post by Elly on Feb 21, 2012 23:21:12 GMT -6
Elly jumped as a freezing shriek pierced the silent fortress, her heart going into overdrive as it beat furiously. What had that sound been? She tightened her grip on the lance, fighting the urge to run away; Heather's short, panicked whinny told her the pegasus agreed with her instinct. Where had the sound come from? It seemed to envelop her, leaving an ominous, almost palpable pressure in its wake. She closed her eyes, her breath shaky, trying both to stop her body from shaking and to concentrate on the sound itself.
It wasn't the same. Whatever had caused it, she thought, wasn't one of the flying devils. But...nothing that could produce a sound like that should...she shivered, gasping. No, it definitely wasn't human. She felt tense, the blanket of safety and comfort she had barely managed to gather around herself over the last few minutes torn asunder in just an instant. She felt terror crash over her consciousness once more, cold and uncaring, telling, no, screaming at her to get away. Her ears barely registered Richter's words, her mind barely discerning that the shriek had come from the chapel. Her eyes darted around furiously, looking for a way to escape, an opening she might crawl into, away from it. Her hands trembled, her breaths short and rapid.
Nayru's words floated up slowly, breaking past the hopelessness and despair. Be strong, she had said. Face your fears, she had said. By Barigan, Nayru. Nayru was in there! She cursed loudly, using one of the many nasty words she had heard from Papa's clients, the thought of the older woman snapping her out of her stupor. The wanderer had entrusted her with her vision of a new world, become her friend, taken care of her. The thought of her dying made her feel ill. She was the only person that had really, truly taken her dream of becoming a heroine seriously.
"Nayru!" She shouted out hoarsely, as loudly as she could; her eyes picked out the shape of the flying demons as they rose in the air, yet she paid them no heed. As long as they weren't attacking, they weren't important at the moment. She had to find a way inside the chapel, so that Clair and Richter could help Nayru. That was all that mattered. Her feet seemed to move on their own; she raced ahead, ignoring Clair's eyes as she broke into a run, brushing past the others, her eyes firmly on the structure's wall, desperately searching for a window, door or opening to smash through.
|
|
|
Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Feb 22, 2012 6:28:23 GMT -6
The world still vibrated around her, flickers of light dancing at the edges of her vision as the illusory lines vied with the webbing to throw off her depth perception. Maybe she had hit her head harder than she had originally thought. Everything still seemed a bit fuzzy, which was certainly not doing wonders for her balance. In what was rapidly becoming a rare stroke of luck, her tentative assessment that the web was not particularly sticky had been correct. The creature was a beast of war, tailor-made to rend its opponents limb from limb on its own rather than merely utilizing poison and restraint; the web was likely as much a home and vantage point as anything else.
Something drilled into her skull like a dozen discordant drums at once, a burst of distorted sound that sent her swaying again for a moment while trying to make sense of it all. Words. Whatever the speaker had said was more or less lost on her, but after a moment of slackjawed lack of comprehension it dawned on her that Aerious was there and he had said something and he was looking behind her, his expression... not excited. That would probably be either more company or more problems.
Had it been a situation with more levity, the concussed dragon might have made an attempt to evince a little more joy at being proven right when she noticed the colossal arachnid purposefully ascending from earth to air, one gargantuan foreleg slamming down onto one strand while two others served to help haul its massive bulk aloft. It dawned on her that that was why the webbing crossed the room; not to hold prey, but to provide the creature a method of easy traversal that did not involve potentially stepping on its young. Given that it seemed unable to stand on the rotted wood and earth without driving its feet into it, the sentiment seemed oddly fitting - a moment of raw pragmatism in an otherwise entirely unrealistic package of legs and eyes.
Any hope of outmaneuvering the fiend through slippery footing was dashed when she realized that it was moving about with perfect assurance, clambering up the seemingly-random labyrinth of alabaster lines in a manner that spoke of vast experience with the matter, something that made her heart sink on the spot. There was a glimmer of hope, though; while it was certainly capable of ascending them quite well, it took all of the creature's legs to traverse it effectively or most to simply hold its bulk aloft; it would not be able to bring nearly as much strength to bear without dislodging itself. Not that she could do much with her own lesser strike, unable to even steady herself on the swaying strands without at least one hand to steady herself on another nearby one.
Christ, but the accursed thing moved quickly on the web! Compared to its land speed it was likely lower, but the eerie grace with which it had reached her had already put an unpleasant feeling in her gut, one only amplified as she realized that most of the other sinkholes were spewing out their inhabits, more of the brood. Most were smaller than a few inches, but here and there Nayru could make out adolescents, foul things a few feet high. The floor was already a seething mass of hatred, a shifting sea of obsidian, crimson, and amber that was occasionally interrupted by the hulking bodies of the larger ones. Most seemed unable to grasp the concept of height, of where she and Aerious and their hunter were, but some of the larger ones were already glancing up with eerie clarity in their multifaceted eyes. Or maybe she was still balmy in the head and was imagining it. She didn't really want to find out either way.
"I have a plan!" She didn't, really, and the sound of her own wavering voice seemed overwhelmingly loud, but there were the seeds of an idea forming. A very, very bad idea. There was no way in hell that she was going to be able to take care of the thing on her own, but she didn't want to just leave the task to Aerious entirely, capable of it though he might be. That said - even fully reinforced she hadn't been able to block one of the creature's legs, and from its assault on Aerious she had seen that it was quite capable of quad-legged strikes, something that she was beginning to suspect was its preferred method of attack. "If I can distract it," oh god this was a horrible idea there was no possible way it would end well, "can you do some damage? I do not believe that time is on our side, nor strength - it might be best to use gravity against the creature, trading off its attention between assaults!"
Yes. That was incredibly clear. Because, obviously, the big ugly bug would just obligingly hop off the web and handily forget to land on its legs. It had already jumped down unscathed from an unknown height one time today; doubtless it could do so again. And it would just be effortless to rip off all of its legs - they only seemed capable of punching through boulders.
But she had taken damage before from trying to stop an unstoppable force, not allowing herself to be swept aside by it.
So when the Bael brought its two free legs down at her in a scything blow that dwarfed the last time she ahd been struck, she simply allowed herself to be cast from the line, ricocheting into one a dozen meters further, feeling the ridiculously tough material bend under the kinetic energy that propelled her - and then launched herself into the air again on the rebound, soaring overhead, very nearly facefirst into another strand.
Nayru counted herself lucky for being able to catch it, though the strain nearly dislocated her arm on the spot. At least the creature seemed about as bewildered by the display as she was disoriented and nauseus. Maybe Aerious would have a great idea on exactly how to capitalize on the opening; Nayru suspected that their best bet was going to be to get in close enough that the creature couldn't draw its legs back for a proper strike, then go from there. Maybe it was weak to being tickled, while she was on the subject of ridiculously unlikely occurrences!
|
|
Aerious
Manakete
The Foul Destroyer
It takes pressure and time to make diamonds.
Posts: 496
|
Post by Aerious on Feb 22, 2012 15:27:42 GMT -6
Aerious would have laughed at Nayru's acrobatics, but saw that the creature was distracted by that rebounding. He'd watched it move, the legs could only pull back and stab down...then had very little pivoting ability...which would mean that the best place to attack it from was on top of it. But it's hide was tough, so where could he hope to strike it to actually do any damage? He saw it shrieking out and glanced at it's fanged maw...that was it!
Gripping the fang tightly in his right hand, he tapped into his dragon strength once again. With a mighty roar, he took a running leap from his ledge, soaring through the air towards his target. He felt himself crash into the creatures back, wrapping his left arm around one of it's middle legs to help him hold on. As soon as he made contact the creature began thrashing about wildly, trying to throw him or reach him. Aerious gripped tightly, being waved about like a rag doll by the monstrosity.
[red]"You need to calm down!"[/red] He shouted, bringing his right arm back and driving the fang down. With the sickly sound of rupturing flesh it pierced one of the foul creatures many eyes. Another piercing shriek filled the air as the creature paused for a moment, before flailing about wildly. Aerious summoned his strength to pull the fang free, and stabbed again, blinding another of the creatures eyes as blood and ichor spilled from the wounds. It's cries of anguish were obvious now, causing many of the lesser creatures to retreat, as Aerious let loose a third strike into the creatures eyes. He was preparing to pull it out and strike again when he felt himself falling back. No, his grip was still fine, it was the creature that was falling back.
And while the fact that it was dying was something to be happy about, being crushed by two tons of skin, muscle and corrosive ooze did not sound pleasant. As it was his right hand was covered in the strange substance, and he could see it slowly burning through the skin. He'd worry about that is he survived, thankfully the power of his stone slowed it.
Jumping from the creatures back he realized he hadn't move as far as he intended. The thing was starting to fall, and if he didn't grab something, it would likely catch his legs as it fell. Aerious reached out for something, anything, with his left hand. Getting crushed by a giant dead spider was not one of his best ways to go.
|
|