No Salvation (Closed)

[Richter Abend]

Richter scowled at Clair, though more out of frustration at the situation than an actual annoyance at his assistant commander. She had a point. Whatever was smashing around in there, it was big, and it was dangerous, and it was entirely unknown save for the previous two points.

But the pink haired Ilian wasn't about to let that stop him. He wasn't exactly one to shy away from danger, and more importantly, if not necessarily to help Nayru and Aerious, the beast would need to be destroyed...or at least contained.

Richter's grip tightened around his weapon, and waved the cleaver in the direction of the front door.
"We're going in through the front," he said, jogging over to the collapsed entrance. Yes, the opening was too small for him to squeeze through, so he'd just have to make it bigger. The decayed wood should break easy enough. The only risk was collapsing the whole entrance, trapping Aerious and Nayru inside, but frankly if it came down to that, it was probably better than that thing getting out.

Thus, grasping the haft of his axe with both hands, Richter began wailing away at the portal frame, putting the full force of his arms in every strike. The decrepit lumber splintered as the wedged weapon continually bit into it, and Richter methodically aimed his blows at what looked to be the weakest parts of the door. Slowly, but surely, Richter was able to break down what debris obstructed the door, suffering only a few minor collapses before creating sufficient space for him to soldier through.

"Keep track of Elly!" he shouted behind him before, with a bit of struggle, disappearing into the depths of the old church.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

TIME FOR SUM SOUNDTRACKS.

Gods but her arms hurt. The left was still caked with the gargoyle's innards, but her own blood was trickling down, mixing with creature's foul remains. Her right was doing about as well; exploded spider innards diluted by crimson cruor, coagulated blood joined by fresher fluid. Even the second blow by the spider, damped by Nayru's ploy to allow herself to be knocked away to minimize the actual impact, had jarred her. Now, hanging from a strand with her shoulder nearly dislocated, she was rapidly beginning to wonder if maybe she shouldn't have just taken Elly up on that stew offer rather than investigating all this malarkey in the first place.

And Aerious had already managed to somehow send himself hurtling towards the depths of the ocean. Of spiders. How many could there possibly be? If they were all the brood of the giant one - they could not be allowed to mature. No amount of courage would avail mankind against an army of those things, thousands strong, unstoppable killing machines. Aerious was probably fine, but there was a moment of panic when he reached out for something, anything; she found herself jerking her hand towards his, ignoring the sudden twinge of pain as the strain intensified in order to hurl him upwards.

Perhaps if she had been thinking clearly Nayru might have seen the warning signs, thought of a better solution, but when her grip slipped as the reinforcement ruptured for an instant, there was nothing to do but accept that the realization had been too late. Already in poor condition, her focus frayed to the breaking point, it broke that invisible line. Trapped in the body of an entirely human woman for an instant, she dropped like a rock.

Blind and dying, the frenzied Bael's writhing still managed to snag another strand of the web for an instant, breaking its fall long enough for the dragon to catch up. So much for hoping for a spider-shaped cushion to break her fall at the bottom. She impacted one flailing foreleg, the impact from above marking her as not being just another strand. It shrieked again, a nigh-literal wall of sound that blasted all coherent thought from her mind, only amplifying the damage from concussion. Its blood and venom lanced out in every direction, gravity reasserting control again as the strand broke and the twain entered freefall once more.

While the creature was doubtless not particularly intelligent, it was certainly still aware enough to be vindictive - even falling to its own death it was determined to take its slayers with it. That she had done very little to kill it was an irrelevant irony; while it could not bring its normal strength to bear as it usually would, the creature settled for simply folding the leg in, crushing her against its colossal bulk before she could attempt to reorient herself.

The voice of reason screamed at her to escape, to wriggle free and leave the creature to its fate, but that voice was only a whisper now. A rumbling growl erupted from within her body, hatred and fury in perfect harmony for an instant as the dragon's more feral nature asserted itself. Her mind still clouded and dulled by pain, all Nayru knew was that the thing would die at her hands.

There was little free power remaining in the dragonstone that she could access, unable to even concentrate on transforming to access the majority, so she simply allowed the reinforcements to fall across her body, felt weakness spread throughout her as the draconic energy coalesced. Her poor ability to passively direct her power had forced her to master redirecting it, and as a tidal wave of raw strength flowed into her arms, for a moment Nayru was at peace with that fact.

With an inarticulate scream of rage, she simply pulled, ignoring the crushing strain on the rest of her temporarily entirely human body, a brilliant flash of pale blue illuminating the ruined cathedral. The Bael's shriek abruptly doubled in pitch as its leg simply detached, its unbelievable strength made meaningless by the awkward angle. Her own shout amplified as the power erupted throughout her once more, the strength in her arms fading as she reinforced the rest of her body once more to survive the fall, detaching from the creature once more as its grip on her disappeared. There was only one thing left in order to finish her work; Nayru strained once more, ignoring the rapidly-approaching floor as she hefted the massive severed leg downwards, plunging it towards her traveling companion's body.

The combined mass struck the earth like a meteor, the Bael's screech ending instantly as it effectively disintegrated on impact, the leg shearing through its head as the abdomen imploded on impact. The acidic ichor inside erupted like a solid wall of force in every direction, bathing much of the skittering horde in liquid hatred as the sheer force of the impact cratered the earth, sending flying the creatures lucky enough to be spared the initial burst of poison.

[Clair Feldsky]

Clair couldn't help her feelings as the others stormed off. She was aggravated. The others weren't the cause. Merely the only people around which would have the chance to witness her annoyance, as she doubted the gargoyles would be interested. Such is the result of giving a Falcoknight limited intelligence on the field of battle.... At least when surrounded by vicious unholy fiends.

At the same time, she'd learned the need for action, and the danger of inaction. Battles rarely went off without a hitch. War was far from perfect. If she waited until there were no risks, she would wait forever. So she followed Elly and Richter back to the front of the church.

The sounds of snarling and roaring coming from the inside of the building were out of control. Whatever was going on inside sounded worse than the sound of armies clashing. It made her rethink the wisdom of entering, and yet the sound of the clash called to her in a strange way. The old familiar call of duty had found her again. As horrific as the monsters of the ruins were, someone had to kill them.

The falcoknight couldn't help but making a choking noise as Richter forced his way inside, leaving her to look after the rookie. He'd just finished EATING winged fiend essence, courtesy of the Runesword. She couldn't help but think that he should be far more concerned and creeped out about that.

"Richter! Wait-..." He was gone, disappearing into the shadows of the broken down church.

"Elly, we have to follow him. Just stay close, and stab anything not friendly." She wasn't willing to wait outside while all the danger inside was challenged by so few.... She hated fighting in cave like spaces. Leading off with the point of her lance, she followed path of the pink-haired commander into dark.

[Elly]

Elly stepped aside hurriedly as Richter began to smash open the front entrance, her eyes wide with wonder as she retreated to avoid the debris that flew away with each strike. He was so strong. She shook her head as the opening widened, her urgency damped by shock at what she had just witnessed, the adrenaline that had pushed her to run ahead draining away.

The young knight tightened her grip on the lance as the ground shook slightly, a muffled sound echoing around her, thoughts of Richter abandoned as her anxiety surfaced once more. She had to help Nayru! She peered into the opening as Richter advanced, hesitating for a moment. It was so dark. What could be in there that could make a sound like the one they had heard earlier?

Still...it wasn't as though she really had a choice. Her two traveling companions were stuck inside, along with whatever horror had made its nest in the old building. She pushed away the visions that her imagination traitorously provided, of jaws filled with rows of sharp teeth, of claws that would strike out at them as soon as they stepped into the darkness, tearing her apart...she shivered in place. No, she had to be strong, just for a little bit longer.

She nodded at Clair's words as the older knight walked past, bringing her lance up to the front; she wouldn't panic this time. She rushed into the opening, her expression worried, desperately hoping they weren't too late.

[Aerious]

Aerious felt, for a brief moment, his hand grasp Nayru's...and then she was gone. There was a lot of motion going on now, and he felt like he was spinning. Oh hell, he was spinning! He felt his body slam through something rather solid, skidding to a stop along one of the remaining balconies. Once his vision cleared, he heard a resounding crash as the beast hit the ground. Wait, but where was Nayru? He peered around the floor he was on, but saw no sign of her. Then he looked down at the creature, and saw Nayru standing there atop it. Worry covered his features for a moment as he jumped down to the earth.

He landed with a tremendous impact, cracking the stonework as he did. Unknown to him, he'd landed maybe five feet in front of Richter. Without pausing, he moved over to Nayru, admiring her grotesque handiwork as she had skewered the dark thing.

[red]"That...was one amazing hit. You ok?"[/red] He asked, extending her his right hand, before realizing it was still covered in the things acidic venom. He shuddered at that thought, and pulled back. He'd have to make sure to not touch the others until he could wipe that off. Maybe there was a well or something that wasn't completely corrupted in this fort? [red]"We should get out of here, I don't want to really fight another of those things."[/red]

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

Inventory time: blood - primarily her own - and probably-poisonous but definitely acidic innards splayed across a significant portion of her body. Both arms in extremely poor condition, battered and bleeding. Excruciating pain throughout most of body, most severe in arms. Possible fractures in forearms; she didn't think they were actually broken yet. Probable concussion - she would definitely need to take some time off from adventuring after this episode of spelunking to rest.

"I am fine."

Maybe Elly was rubbing off on her in a bad way, the girl's total inability to accept that she was incapable of something a contagious disease. Maybe, Nayru cautiously considered before immediately discarding the thought as completely worthless and silly, she just didn't want to look too weak in front of Aerious. Maybe she was just a stubborn old goat. "...Functional, at any rate." Hm. One of her belts had been eaten through by the acid. At least she had thought to protect the higher-quality fabric of her makeshift shawl of sorts; one merchant she had traveled with for a time had joked that it was nailed to her shoulder, as much a part of her as her flesh and bone. She wasn't entirely sure that the latter bit was false, given the fabric's origins.

Aerious looked like a mess too, though he had been far more sensible in the fight, not to mention stronger she couldn't help but feel a bit bitter about whilst thinking, but his hand was in worse condition than hers looked. At least her blood wasn't acidic, and the small spiders seemed to be dramatically less potent. "Will you be all right?" It was hard to imagine him not emerging from this unscathed, but she had been shaken up enough by the fight to start worrying regardless. And swaying. that was new. The swaying, not the worrying. A vague half-smile pasted on her face to hide the continuing pain, Nayru steadied herself as best she could, ignoring the dust and grime on her hand to wipe off her forehead. Her hand came away bloodier.

Well wasn't that just gloriously fantastic.

Also fantastic: there were still spiders left. Half a dozen large ones were moving in from the side, spared the detonation of the giant spider; each a good three feet tall, joined by a tide of smaller creatures. Somewhat like a pack of hungry wolves, just with several thousand more legs and the ability to skewer people. "...We may need area of effect weaponry to entirely purge this infestation. I would rather not allow any of the swarm to survive - humanity is ill-equipped to handle their matured forms, and I would rather not be responsible for deaths I could have prevented." Not that she had any bright ideas on the matter; the dragon had never learned her breath weapon, and with humans in the fort, Elly especially, they could not very well transform. Maybe Aerious would see it differently."Perhaps we could pour the brood mother's venom down any unscathed holes? It seemed effective at killing the majority of the creatures, but I am not sure how long it will retain its potency when exposed to air."

[Richter Abend]

The pink haired Ilian hurriedly navigated his way through the ruined entryway of the not-so-abandoned church, ducking under low beams and dodging around the ruined remains of walls as he did. Albeit half destroyed, there was still far too little light in the husk's narthex to see much more than the obstacles before him, but while his vision was impeded by the darkness, Richter's ears were fine. Hustling through the debris, the warrior could hear the ungodly roars and screams of the beast, and the smashing and crunching of the battle taking place. Whatever this beast was, it sounded truly huge, truly monstrous. Richter could indeed feel the very vibrations of the monster's every rapid step and strike through the shudders of the building around him.

But the din of the battle didn't match up with the image in his head. Those two were lightly, if not completely unarmed, and had seemed completely unfit for battle save for the fact that they had survived the gargoyle encounter entirely unscathed. Meanwhile, this creature had to be at least fifteen feet tall. Sheer bulk. Was it a dragon? Richter scowled, shaking his head as he bounded one last fallen beam. His common sense was throwing up warning signs left and right. Who were these two?

But after making his way through the front room, Richter couldn't help but freeze in place as he witnessed the beast before him, illuminated by a spattering of light beams pouring in from the torn roof. It was a giant...massive...spider! Barigan's beard, Richter had never seen such a thing! It was at least as big as a dragon, though its eight, rattling legs gave it the impression of being a whole lot larger.

And it was falling from the sky, shreiking right into a seething horde of what upon second glance was made up of markedly smaller but just as foul looking clones of the giant spider that was about to crush them. Granted, the small spiders would have been considered huge by any normal standards, but the multi-tonne spider meteor dwarfed them completely. Utterly.

However, before Richter could truly process what was going on, the giant beast collided with the ground and erupted into a deluge of foul smelling liquid. The rebel commander could only describe the phenomenon as like a wine skin dashed upon a rock, however, instead of wine, the church was succinctly covered in what Richter assumed was the creature's blood. Whatever it was, it caused all of the smaller spiders it touched to howl and screech in pain as they squirmed and died.

The pink haired Ilian stood dumbfounded, attempting to comprehend the events that had just unfurled before his eyes as he instinctively moved behind fallen piece of balcony to observe from safety. That spider, it had fallen. But how had it gotten up there? How could Nayru or Aerious have mustered the force to down such a massive beast? And, at that very moment, as if answering his questions, came Aerious, slamming down into the floor no more than five feat away from Richter, shattering the stone at his feet. The Ilian held his breath, partly to conceal his position, but partly because he was merely surprised. These two. They weren't human.

Richter gazed from behind his hiding spot to locate Nayru, who he shortly identified as standing up from the corpse of the dead, giant spider. She was covered in both spider gore and what looked to be her own blood, but the lightly clothed woman was still clearly alive. And that bothered Richter. He'd done some incredible things but an impact like that? He probably couldn't have survived, much less an unarmed, unarmored woman whose body reflected far more that of a dancer than a soldier. But there she was, clearly talking to Aerious as if all of this was completely normal. No. These two were not human.

The commander immediately became distrustful of the two, as if he hadn't already been wary of them already. And how could he not? These two had shown up out of nowhere amid a swarm of demonic beasts in a place where nothing good had ever happened, and now they were smashing things thirty times their size with relative ease.

Silently, Richter strapped his axe back to his waist before slowly drawing his runesword. Pulling his head back into his hiding place of rubble, he remained hidden in the shadowy darkness as Aerious and Nayru discussed how to purge the rest of the spiders. The two had given him no reason to attack, but he'd be damned if he let them caught off guard. Richter's mind began to churn. Did Elly know of this? Did she know of her companions'...unnatural powers? If she did, or even if she was one of them, Clair might not be safe.

[Clair Feldsky]

OoC: Assuming Elly is following. As always, will modify if requested.

BiC:

While Richter was ducking under beams, Clair had taken a slightly different course, and was weaving around and climbing over rubble. Ultimately, it was a mess whichever direction you went. Some paths were blocked altogether. The rest were rough. As the Falcoknight moved forward, she inevitably started getting closer to the main room.

It was on the alternate route, that she made out something interesting. A faint, golden-yellow glow originating from somewhere in the shadows. Someplace away from one of the relatively few shafts of sunlight breaking their way down into the darkness. She found herself drawn towards it, almost like a dream. The light was faint, but she was able to make out a number of whitish rods nearby, though the source was still obscured. She checked behind her, spotting Elly still following, before moving the final steps to the shimmering gold.

The white things littering the ground were clear enough. Bones. Torn apart and supped on by whatever monsters called this place their den. There were other things on the ground though. Remnants of armor, and weapons littered the ground here and there. A few rags joined the tattered remains. It should have bothered the Falcoknight to see such things, but death was commonplace around these monsters. The last thing she saw was the source of the glow: an long golden lance, with a wedge shaped tip. It was ornate, but not in an impractical way, such as some of the ceremonial weapons she'd seen on occasion. How it got here, and who had carried it before was unknown, but she wasn't about to pass it up. This was something special, she was sure.

She knelt down next to the lance, and, switching her iron lance into her left hand, grasped the handle of the golden lance. A muffled yelp of surprise tried to force its way pat her lips, turning into more of a growl, as she felt a jolt running up her arm to her elbow. Her first reaction was to drop the damned thing, and take a closer look at it, but she found she couldn't. Her hand still felt like it was being shocked by something, and her fingers were refusing to open. She would have panicked, had she not felt whatever was going on diminishing as she continued to hold it. Its glow brightened a bit as she held it as well, illuminating the room enough to make out an exit.

"This is... convenient." She was beginning to recognize what exactly it was that she was holding in her hands. Some form of magic lance, and from the tingling still running up her arm, it seemed to resemble lightning bolts. "Let's head through the door way."

Things weren't all nice through the door though. It was dark, but the light from the Thunder Lance illuminated part of it. Enough to see plenty of splatter, and the pieces of a giant beast. She wasn't sure what it had been exactly, but Nayru and Aerious ciuld be seen in the center of the room, facing off against... giant spiders? What perversion of nature would come next. Clair liked to think that she wasn't particularly squeamish with bugs and such, but those things were vile enough to elicit a quick shudder from her before she took several quick strides across the floor, and sunk the point of her new weapon into one of abdomen of one of the eight legged horrors.

There was a small crackling sound, and a flash. She felt a quick jolt in her arm which caused her face to flinch in pain, but the sight of smoke rising from the monster brought a pleased grin to her face. The smell of burnt insect, along with the shrieks of the monster told her of the effectiveness of her new weapon, as she pulled it free and stepped back. She just needed to learn to master it.

"Careful now! We don't want you two overdoing it." Some of the creatures turned, eyes glistening in the yellow light. There were enough to cause problems for the Falcoknight. Problems, if she let enough of them attack at once.

[Aerious]

Aerious nodded at Nayru, unaware that Richter was in the room. [red]"I'll come back tonight and take care of it. I can be quite effective at extermination. For now, let's deal with the matter at hand."[/red] He said, hopping up to try and dodge some of the smaller ones. He really didn't feel like stomping through five hundred corrosive insects.

He jumped onto a piece of debris and looked down at Nayru. [red]"And I'll be all right. I've been through a lot worse then this."[/red] Which was true, oddly enough. This was one hell of a fight, but nothing compared to fighting the heroes again. He'd been nearly dead after every encounter, a miracle he survived at all.

He turned when he heard the sounds of combat behind him, or rather the shrieking sound he had connected with spiders dying. And there was that knight, Clair was it? And what was that lance...? He'd never seen something like that before, but he couldn't miss the scent of Ozone it generated. How curious...

[red]"Good to see you are ok Clair!"[/red] He remarked, looking at her drawing the attention of the spider. Hell, now they had to fight these things...and neither he or Nayru could use their strength with her hear, it would defeat the point. [red]"Watch the venom!"[/red] He called. [red]"I have to get Nayru out of here, can you cover us?"[/red] He asked.

In truth, he thought that Richter should have been right behind her. The two of them should be able to handle the wave of smaller spiders. Of course, 'small' was only compared to the behemoth they had fought. As it was, Nayru was in no shape to continue this fight. Aerious probably could, but not unarmed and with witnesses.

[Richter Abend]

Half-way through drawing his sword, Richter paused, his eyes narrowing. Clair had shown up, and with quite an interesting lance at that. From the looks of it, it had fried that giant spider from the inside. Useful. Where had she found something like that?

With Clair here now, however, it didn't seem like either Aerious or Nayru would plan on pulling anymore...stunts. At least for the time being, that is. Knowing that, Richter let down his guard. For now.

Re-sheathing his half-drawn runesword, Richter again unstrapped his axe from his belt, and brandishing it, leaped from cover, ready to face down the oncoming spiders.
"Take Nayru and go!" shouted the commander as a couple of the arachnids, now alerted to his presence, began to scuttle towards him. "It's not like you two will do much good against beasts like this!"

Turning his attention to his new monstrous acquaintances, Richter twirled his axe in his hand. The spiders were quickly rushing towards him, clicking their mandibles as their feet clattered along the stone ground. It would be stupid to meet the beasts head on. Not only did they outnumber him, but one wrong step and he could end up with an arm full of acidic venom. As well, he had no idea how durable their hides were to conventional weaponry. No, it would be best to spit the monsters up and take them out one at a time.

With that thought, the pink haired Ilian jumped up onto the rubble he had previously been hiding behind, pulling himself up with a swing of his leg as one of the giant arachnids leaped at where he had been standing just moments before. The monster clattered against the wooden canopy, almost knocking Richter off of his precarious perch as it gnashed and flailed at whatever piece of the Ilian seemed closest. The commander realized there was little time to act, the other spiders closing in fast, so with a hop, he grabbed up onto a solid looking portion of the low hanging balcony in an attempt to pull himself to safety.

As he did, Richter's previous foothold collapsed under the weight of the attacking spiders, but the Ilian had managed to get a strong enough grip on the balustrade to yank himself up. Now at a safer vantage point, Richter surveyed his assailants. The monstrous arachnids shrieked in frustration, but quickly redoubled their efforts as they began climbing up the walls in the direction of their prey. Richter cursed under his breath. He'd have to take them out as they climbed up, since he had even less maneuverable space up here.

[Elly]

Elly followed closely behind Clair as they rushed into the building; she squinted, trying to find a path, yet the dim lighting was just enough for her to make out the older knight's silhouette and her immediate surroundings. She turned sideways to avoid a pile of rubble, keeping the lance close to her body as she did so, wincing as the tall weapon struck a wooden beam well above her head, the dull sound echoing in the darkness around her. The thing was so incredibly unwieldy.

She swallowed, both nervous and frustrated. The taller knight made wielding one look so easy, too. It was way too heavy, way too long, and far less pointy than it should be. For the first time, she regretted the commander's focus on flying and riding during training. Sure, she loved Heather to bits, and flying was only about the best thing she'd ever done in her life, but..she really could have used a little weapon training today. The odd metal felt strange to her touch, unfamiliar, foreign.

She paused, suddenly realizing she couldn't see Clair ahead any longer. Panic bubbled up for an instant once more before she could help it, and the young girl looked around frantically, desperately hoping her distraction hadn't caused her to lose her way. Her shoulders slumped with relief as she caught a glimpse of the knight down a side tunnel, her shadow framed by an eerie, ghostly golden glow.

She raced up to Clair, hoping she hadn't noticed her momentary disappearance; she bit back a gasp of surprise as the older woman turned to look at her just an instant later with uncanny timing. Had she noticed after all? No, probably not, she reasoned with herself, tucking back her hair behind her ear with one hand as she let the tip of the lance dip towards the ground. Heavens, but traveling with her hair unbound was annoying! She smiled nervously, bobbing her head once sharply before giving a half wave, her fingers bent.

The passageway opened up into a small chamber; the glow grew more pronounced, her eyes slowly adjusting to the increase in light. She felt as though she were witnessing one of Papa's stories come to life before her eyes. The room's atmosphere just felt magical, quiet and dimly lit by the slow pulsing of something she couldn't quite see, yet set her heart to race with both wonder and worry.

She moved to the side, barely making out the shape of a spear in the middle before Clair obscured it from sight once more, moving towards it. She felt uneasy; it felt as though the scene should be calming, and yet it was anything but. Her mouth felt dry. A yelp escaped her as she toppled something over, her left hand going up to her mouth in horror as she realized it was a skull. It stared lifelessly back at her, its empty eyes accusing, somehow.

She squeaked, backpedaling as she tried to get away from it, narrowly missing bumping into Clair. She felt a shiver run down her back, the air feeling heavy all of a sudden for some reason, an odd, tingling sensation running over her skin for an instant before vanishing, the room growing dimmer all of a sudden. What had just happened? She turned towards the older woman curiously, but all she could see was a lance in her hand that hadn't been there before.

Glowing.

An instant later, her eyes widened with realization, and she turned around. The spear she had glimpsed earlier was gone. She stared at Clair, dumbfounded, half-expecting her to turn into a frog at any moment. That had happened in one of Papa's stories. Totally. She thought about warning her, but her protests seemed to wither away as she realized the older knight wasn't turning green. Or growing froggier at all. "Uh...yeah!" She stammered, nodding enthusiastically at Clair's words. She wanted to get out of the room as soon as possible; it was far too ominous.

She followed behind Clair hurriedly, the spear acting as an improvised lantern, illuminating the path just enough for her to spot and avoid the debris that lay haphazardly around the entrance. An odd sound came from up ahead. Almost as if...something were sliding over the floor? No, that wasn't quite right. She screamed in panic as a spider scuttled up to the two of them, larger than any she had ever seen before, more than half as tall as herself.

The terror subsided, however, when Clair's weapon pierced the bug, burning it, replaced by shock. Just what was that spear? She swallowed heavily as more of the arachnids approached, taking a step back. Maybe she should run; Clair would take care of them. She wouldn't survive fighting them. She had to survive. She took a second step, and then a third.

And stopped.

Her eyes fell on Nayru, her friend, her traveling companion, the woman she was starting to see as a mentor. Her appearance sent chills of fear running down her back. Her breath caught in her throat as she bit back a sob. She shook her head silently, refusing to acknowledge the image before her. She was bleeding so much, bruised, her brow and hands covered in some odd, gooey...thing. She saw the corpse of the gigantic spider lying next to her friend, and for an instant, she didn't feel fear. She felt...satisfied. It seemed proper for it to be dead after hurting Nayru. In fact, they all ought to be dead. That made sense. Why couldn't she have seen it any sooner?

With a loud cry, she raised her spear, her hoarse voice echoing loudly as she launched herself towards the closest spider, lance at the ready, eyes fixed firmly on it as all rational thought left her mind.

She had to kill them all.

[Clair Feldsky]

That big spider would need some explaining later, but for now, the small ones required most of her attention. There were enough suddenly swarming towards her to force her to fight quickly and carefully. Thank the sky that these things didn't match her lance's reach. Aerious seemed to think the venom was dangerous. That was good to know ahead of time.

Richter jumping out took some of the heat off of her, but he was over there, and she was over here. There wasn't a way for her to get over to him and team up because of all the spiders. Elly's assault was even more surprising, but there were still plenty of spiders around. The very floor seemed alive under the big ones, and that was going to be a problem.

"Just go!" She yelled back to the pair, reaffirming what Richter said. These monster spiders were not going down easily. Multitudes of ones that were inches across. Others a few feet high. They all had to be killed.... She was just glad she'd stumbled onto the weapon she still gripped.

Heaving the weapon back, she threw its weight forward again, aiming for the many glisgening eyes of one of the larger creatures. She felt one of the things sapling sized legs come up and knock her thrust off course, and growled as she started to leap back. The things were strong. No doubts there. She needed to figure out how to handle the Shocks that this weapon delivered.

On thinking of the power of the lance, she felt a bolt of electricity sizzle up her arm, causing her arm to jolt in pain all the way up to her shoulder. She yelped as the lance flashed, brighter in the dark room. That had not been what she intended! She wanted to zap the spiders!

Another lance strike thrown at the spiders, but this time, an awesome flash of blue-yellow bolts, almost faster than the eye could track, arced out from the tip of her lance. A loud "crack" sounded but a moment later, and dozens of little hissing screeches raised their voices in protest. The carpet of small arachnids in front of her was left smoking as the light glowing on the lance dimmed to normal levels. The larger spiders were still pressing in towards them though. Clair gave ground, letting her path curve back towards where Elly was fighting her own fights.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

"I am not entirely an invalid." She said it with a wry smile, but even if there were no witnesses Nayru didn't think she could have gone on much longer. Not with how much damage her body had sustained. It was more than slightly unnerving to realize that she had come very close to having her reinforcement completely broken, a fate worse than death - she would have died as nothing more than a broken human without even a spot of dignity or choice in how she went. That bothered her more almost as much as the lethality of the situation in general; life would be so much easier if turning into a dragon was a viable solution more often, but she was stuck with this body for the most part.

Its fragility grated on her more as she came to need the abilities she had left behind for so long: Nayru knew that she needed to take this seriously, to begin to actually actively train herself if she was to take this path. Elly was not the only weak one in the party. Reinforcement was something she could practice on her own, but she would definitely also have to ask Aerious for tips - his reinforcement was on an entirely different level than hers, though from what she could tell based on a somewhat difference principle.

The younger dragon followed Aerious docilely, not having the energy nor foolhardiness to argue his decision. Admitting - even passively - that she was weak was not something that came easily to a manakete, but pragmatism won out over pride as it tended to with her... eventually. "Quite effective, indeed." Strafing runs with the fury of the storm did sound like a right and proper way of dealing with the damnable creatures, given the damage Clair's lance was doing. "Where are we headed next?" She spoke to Aerious, but her gaze was still directed at the fight, at Clair's performance in particular. Nayru's estimation of the woman rose a few notches, much of it admittedly due solely to the woman's excellent choice in elements, but she could appreciate a competent warrior when she saw one as well. Even Elly was there, ready to do her part.

...Hopefully not the part of "innocent girl eaten by giant spiders."

[Aerious]

Aerious used his left, and somewhat cleaner, hand to grab Nayru and lead her to where they had entered from. [red]"Out of here. They can handle themselves now that the real problem is down."[/red] He added, quite sure that his voice would not be heard past Nayru due to the sounds of battle.

Squeezing out was somewhat easier since Richter had made the opening a bit wider, but it was still rather cramped. He'd check behind himself occasionally, to verify that Nayru was still there. After a few moments, the sunlight from outside could be seen cascading into the rubble pile, and Aerious climbed out with relief. The fort seemed empty now...how odd.

[red]"They tunnel...so there are likely many of them underground. They won't be able to exterminate them alone, I'll have to return tonight to finish the job. Scorcher earth and all that."[/red] He spoke, looking over her. [red]"You, however, are staying out of combat for a little bit. You could have gotten yourself killed in there, you have to be more careful."[/red] His tone was slightly admonishing her, but the signs of concern were present.

He looked to the sky, where he saw a few faded dots on the horizon. Probably the last of those flying creatures, but they seemed to be moving away. It was difficult to tell from this distance, but that would be his guess. Perhaps the death cry of the mother had sent them running as well?

Aerious shook his right hand off, wiping the excess ichor onto a wooden wall, which began to fizz and smoke at the touch. [red]"Vile and disgusting creatures."[/red] He remarked, grimacing as he looked over his own injured hand.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

His grip stung her battered hand, but Nayru clung to the sensation far more strongly than she did the hand itself, allowing herself to be led by her profferred hand without grasping at his own - the pain reminded her that she was still alive, that despite her own failures and the horrors they had just faced, even trapped in human guise they had survived and triumphed. There was little triumphant joy parading through her thoughts, though, merely relief tinged by a marked understanding of just how little power she actually had, of how fragile this shell was.

So many years she had spent in it, effectively immune to bandits so long as she paid attention; it had seemed an impenetrable sanctuary, the last serious wound she received from a bandit handwaved as - she didn't really know what, in retrospect, and Nayru wasn't sure she liked the realization that it was entirely her fault that she had been so poorly prepared for today. Not Aerious for not having trained her yet, not Elly for requiring her own training, not any of the people and things that had garnered her attention in the past years, but her own stubborn foolishness that made her blind to that weakness.

Nayru raged at herself in silence, brutal criticism hacking away at the fat that had slowed her. Outwardly she was almost unnaturally poised, not trusting herself to actually show the turmoil within. It didn't help that Aerious was acting so damn caring. It wasn't something she was used to, much less having someone know what she was and still being able to say that she was being stupid. It was oddly comforting. She chuckled, quietly, with a sort of self-derisive amusement and genuine humor all mixed together in curious harmony. "It has been - centuries since last one who knew my nature had chided me for foolishness. It brings back memories." Thoughts of an age long past, of a friend driven away by her own hand through that exact stubborn idiocy. "I could do with that more often."

It was about as close to an explicit admission of wrongdoing as she was likely to give anyone in her current state, oblique and mirthless but honest in her own way. Aerious was right and she knew it. Still she held it in, bottling up and emotion as was her wont, gradually feeding it into the reservoir of backed up emotions to sort out... later. Closing in on five hundred years of backlog, but she was very good at distracting herself from that. "Where might they be headed? For all their eagerness to assault us less than half a candle-mark ago, even in their reinforced numbers they did not attack?" Perhaps the spiders and gargoyles had a mutual dislike of each other, or at least no love lost between them for the broodmother's death, but then why would both species live in the same ruins? Had they truly hated each other there would have been dead gargoyles to mark the fight, would there not?

"...I cannot help but wonder what other species may lurk within these crumbling walls waiting for their chance at the intruders."