Ch.4: "The Endless Hunt" / Sardis Forest

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn shuts her eyes at the blaze of light and clamps her hands over her ears to block out the thunder. She stares at the continuing lightning, one word echoing in her head: "Zeus."

Of course, if it's not Apollo trying to fry her, it's some other god trying to do similarly. "What should we do?" A better question may be, what CAN they do?

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

The other nymphs are at a loss.

Beatrice whimpers, "There must be a perfectly logical explanation."

Candice says, "Gods are trying to kill us?"

"I was thinking more like a hot front meets a cold front…"

She trails off, and Amber makes a signal which those not on Team Alpha can safely assume to be a command for silence.

There is a rustling coming from the waterfront. Sigrlinn is the first to notice—not that Kell takes significantly longer—

A dozen bear-asses shamble through the forest. Some have hatchets, some have spears, one has a log. All have eyes that glow like lightning—and not just the bear-asses. Even the fish that are impaled on spears have lightning eyes!

One of the fish struggles on the end of its spear. A blue spark shoots from its eye, striking Sapphire. She is not harmed or hindered, judging by her reaction.

Phœbe looks at the fish. "What the hell?"

The fish disappears—

—and reappears over Sapphire, its mouth open wide enough to swallow the tiny fairy whole.

"Yaaaaaaah!"

Sapphire raises her flameblade, instantly cooking the fish to a crisp!

Amber quickly points to the tips of the trident, from white-gold to yellow-gold to pink-gold. "Ice. Lightning. Healing. Once each." she says. "Stab the ground to cast."

The other nymphs nock arrows and start aiming…


((Battle begins! But thanks to sparing three bear-asses, you're better equipped and grouped together!))

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn looks at the bear-asses' weapons, and their eyes crackling with lightning, then down at her breel-hide armor. Dritt, dritt, dritt dritt dritt--

She nocks an arrow to her bow, praying none of the beasts will get close enough to zap her. She aims at whichever is nearest to her...

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell tells Amber, "I'm going to call forth a huge wave of water, which will hopefully cause damage to the 'lightningized' bear-asses. It can make me jump high up in the air, but can you do anything to get the other nymphs away from the water?"

She then begins the dance for Wave Dance, willing the water to come from under her feet.

As she dances, she calls, "Fairies, I think you're going to want to be in the sky for this one."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Amber isn't sure what spell to use to help Kell and protect her nymphs. "Protect...," she mumbles to herself. Without another word, she focuses on the water forming at Kell's feet.

Her nymphs see her words as an order, so the four of them surround Kell and keep their bows aimed high.

The bear-asses appear from above. Two are shot by Candy and Dawn. Bursts of electricity blast chunks of flesh away, leaving trails of smoke as they fly into treetops. The ass end of the bear-asses flop to the ground. One lands on its hooves, the remains of the torso a smoldering bowl. It teeters over, spilling charred guts.

The other two come crashing down onto Beach and Eve, knocking the nymphs over. Sapphire manages to cut one down, halving the creature with her flameblade. Sigrlinn shoots the other in the head, which bursts with a popping sound. The headless bear-ass runs straight at her, arms flailing.

Kell and Amber continue to concentrate on the spell. There is a bzzt sound from the group of twenty-or-so bear-asses. And another ​bzzt! And another, and another and…

((Kell's spell effect happens next round.
Sigrlinn can move and attack.
The four bear-asses that attacks are all dead—bursting violently when hit!
Two nymphs are wounded, but they look pretty tough.))

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn dodges out of the headless bear-ass's path, then looses another arrow into the approaching horde.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

The headless bear-ass runs into the cabin. There is a loud explosion! Flames roar from within the shack and burst through the windows!

Sigrlinn shoots at her next attacker. She misses. He doesn't! ((-15% health / See discussion thread.))

But neither does Sapphire, who Sigrlinn doesn't see until she flies through the bear's belly, sword first. She extinguishes the flame on her hand and harmlessly bounces off of Sigrlinn's armor. "Sorry," she says.

Behind her, the bear-ass doubles over, twitches, farts, and explodes.

Those that appear above Kell explode violently almost as soon as they appear, as Team Alpha is more than ready for them this time. Phœbe is hit by a smoldering bear snout. ((-1% health)) She falls off Helix's mane and yelps as she shoves the burnt remains away from her tiny body, but she looks okay.

As a bear-ass is about to dive on Kell, Helix leaps to the rescue...

...and misses.

But so does the bear-ass.He falls on his face. ​((Because snake-eyes.)) Blue sparks sizzle from his furry back, and he doesn't seem able to get up. Amber takes a step back from the bear, and her nymphs do the same.

As for Kell, she goes straight up, rising in a bubble which is apparently created by Amber's magic. There is a ring of water swirling around Kell. ((Picture the bubbles and rings like the planet Saturn.))

If Kell moves her right hand, she is able to direct the water. Subtle moves make the ring flow up and down, but it's likely she can make a whipping motion with her hand to send the water outward.

Her left hand can move the bubble itself. Opening her hand wide makes the bubble expand and rise. A fist makes the bubble smaller, and it descends. Pointing her hand moves the bubble.

The buzzing sound from the trees suggests Kell has no time to experiment further. More enemies are on the way. A lot more…!

((Kell and Sigrlinn are both free to act. All enemies nearby are dead, but one didn't explode and nymphs are backing away from him.

Tiny Phœbe is near the bear that fell on his face, and she's a bit disoriented.))

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn focuses on the buzzing up ahead, and nocks another arrow to her bow. She thinks back to the fight with the giant spiders and how her Heaven's Arrow spell made her shaft split and strike multiple enemies at once. She holds the shot and casts the spell, waiting to loose until she can see a target.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell pulls her hand back, scanning the trees. As soon as the next group of lightningized bear-asses comes into sight, she quickly whips her hand forward, sending the water around the bubble rushing toward the creatures. (She hopes!)

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

There is a blinding flash as lightning-bear-asses strike the dome of water protecting our heroines. Countless arrows strike the enemies with arrows that explode on impact, thanks to whatever magic Sapphire cast on them.

Blood rains down on our heroines along with a few chunks of bear innards. All is quiet for now, but for a flashing cloud looming miles above…

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn shudders in disgust as blood and bits of bear-ass rain down on her and Kell. She does her best not to get her bowstring wet or slimy until it passes. At the flickers of light that tease the corners of her sight (she doesn't dare raise her head just now), fear crackles through her like the lightning in the air.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

"Ewww, gross!" Kell mutters as bear-ass blood and body parts rain down from the sky. Once all of the pieces seem to have fallen, she looks around to check on her companions, asking, "Is everyone alright?"


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

When Kell speaks, no one answers right away. Everyone's gaze is affixed to the charcoal-gray thunderhead billowing and flashing above. The cloud must be at least a mile tall, but what's especially freakish is the way it's hunched, looming over the clearing.

Watching.

The flashes of the cloud start to reveal details our heroines didn't notice right away. There are two sources of lightning the gleam constantly, unmistakable as eyes of a bearded head.

Zeus' shape is that of the man our heroines saw facing Demeter, but so colossal he is a giant among Titans. His facial features are the same Kell saw in her dream, except for one detail neither of our heroines notices before: his forehead is split open, with lightning clouds seemingly oozing over the side like an exposed and broken portion of his brain.

This detail may raise some questions, but none in Sardis have the luxury of asking them.

An impossibly long bolt of lighting appears in his "hand." He hurls the bolt like a javelin. Sapphire takes Phœbe's hand in preparation of their last moment together—

—but the trees come alive to our heroines' defense. A dome of self-sacrificing oaks takes the hit, and suddenly the night ceases to be dark and cold. The world around you is nearly as red and gold as the images seen in the Hearthvision—only this is no vision! The sudden rise in temperature attests to that!

Within seconds, the forest is ablaze. The nymphs and the fairies are safely huddles close to our heroines, though the first casualty of Zeus' wrath soon leaps into view: a buck making pained sounds that even Sigrlinn did not realize a deer could make! It is engulfed in flames and beyond help…


((@Ireth, go ahead and roll 3X3 if you want to put the poor beast out of its misery. Don't worry about combos if you're not sure how that comes out on Rolz.

You can probably guess I don't expect you to defeat Zeus right now. I will keep that final confrontation.))

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn nearly drops her bow at the sight of Zeus' towering form in the clouds. She stands still as he raises a thunderbolt in his hand, ready to die standing and not cowering--

--until the trees converge above them to take the blow. Amid a blaze of reds and golds Sigrlinn spies a stag with its pelt ablaze, screaming in pain even as it gallops past. Sigrlinn turns to it and looses a shaft to grant the poor beast a quicker death.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell doesn't really notice Zeus until she sees Sigrlinn nearly drop her bow. Then when she spots the towering figure in the sky, she literally jumps - albeit gracefully - in startlement. Terror chokes her for a few long seconds, but then she remembers the training she got from the Graces at Aphrodite's villa and says to herself, You have water magic - use it already!

Trembling, she begins her cast, not really even sure what she's conjuring, but thinking, We need the water to lead us out of the fire.

And then she completes her cast, choking a bit as the air starts to turn acrid.



I sure hope this works!

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sigrlinn drops the unfortunate creature in a single blow. If the arrow didn't kill it instantly, the converging flames soon consume the fallen creature to finish the job.

Well doesn't have enough magic to quench the flames, but by casting her Wavedance in a single direction, she is able to create a smoky path that leads to the lake. It's not the best place to be in a thunderstorm, but when lighting is being deliberately aimed at you, lightning's attraction to water and lightning's attraction to trees make no difference. At least the lake won't catch fire…

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn grabs Kell's hand and sprints for the relative safety of the lake, ducking low to avoid the worst of the smoke if she can.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sapphire follows Sigrlinn with Phœbe in her arms. Her glow is ghost-white, and her little eyes are wide with panic. Phœbe is looking straight up. Sigrlinn hears the wingless fairy say to her friend, "I don't see him."

Helix gallops behind until his horned head is bobbing alongside Kell. ​You ladies keep running, I'll stay at the rear to scoop up any straggler. I can move twice this speed, but it wouldn't be right for me to run ahead of y'all!

Kell could swear she hears the sound of an oboe coming from Helix's rear, but a quick glance confirms there is no one behind the unicorn. Just a dissipating rainbow mist. Suddenly Kell smells the sweet aroma of cotton candy.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Glancing back at Helix, Kell thinks, I'm not sure if Helix peed or pooped, but rainbow or not, the sight of Zeus in the sky is enough to provoke that reaction out of any intelligent being. I'll not embarrass my sidekick by mentioning it.

She does think to Helix, Sounds good. Thank you. Then, grasping Sigrlinn's hand more firmly, she continues her pell-mell dash toward the lake.

I hope Artemis shows up soon. Or that we find some kind of lightning-proof shelter on or near the lake.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Our heroines leap into the water, flaming trees crashing behind them. Amber makes a quick assessment, relieved to see her entire team made it to the water. Sapphire flutters above the water for a moment until she finds a lily pad she and Phoebe can rest on.

Helix is nowhere to be seen... until bubbles rise from yet another nervous fart. He emerges from the water in his dolphin form.

As for Zeus... it seems he followed our heroines as well, and in fact anticipated their move. But then, there wasn't really any other way.

"And speaking of way," his voice thunders, "the two of you are in mine."

Lightning crackles around the exposed brain of the Zeus cloud. What happens next is utter chaos. Jagged bolts zip and zigzag everywhere. Fish and frog shoot from the water, puffing and bursting like popping corn! One of the nymphs floats alongside Kell. Dead? Or maybe in the same state as Kell, who is also floating on her back. Sigrlinn's position is no different, save for the two fairies sprawled on top of her chest.

The only ones who can be sure of any sign of life are Helix and Kell, through their telepathic bond.

I really thought death by Zeus' wrath would hurt like the dickens. Not that I'm complaining mind you. If I'm gonna go, going painlessly's the way...

None of our heroines feel pain. They just see the blurry image of Zeus getting ready to finish his stunned foes. As he brandishes lighting like a claymore, the world starts to fade. But before they lose consciousness, Sig, Kell, and perhaps the others see a tiny silver streak slowly homing in toward the opening in Zeus' forehead.

All is black.

There is a deafening thunder, but our heroines see no light...

TO BE CONTINUED...​