The Desperate Rescue. [In Game]

[OmegaUmbra]

Akalfa scrambled as the seconds ticked down. There was nowhere near enough ice for it to hold properly! Before full on alarm could take her, Daisy's command snapped the Dark Elf away from her dismal thoughts. This was not going to be pretty. Akalfa had exhausted herself physically using such time consuming spells within mere seconds of each other without heed, but there certainly was enough in her for another large blast, at least one more; and it needed to count.

"This has got to work..." Taking a deep breath she steadied her shaky hand, aiming straight for the cyclops left leg. "Steady...steady..." The sorceress spoke under her breath stilling her nerves.

She needed to give this everything she had.

Reeling her hand back Akalfa channeled her arcane magic, the intensity of the heat radiating off of the second fireball nearly being too much to bare. Without ceremony the Dark Elf sorceress threw the fireball straight for the cyclops leg. Holding her breath as she watched the the ball of heat flit through the air like a catapult.

 

[Ecnalab]

The explosion nocked Valira back, as the creatures leg went up in smoke, and it fell to its hands and knee. The cyclops was a mangled bleeding mess, but not yet dead. Then something happened that made their heats sink. The monster's guts began slithering over each other, and back up into its stomach, as its leg started to regrow. and the knowledgeable among them all came to the same horrific conclusion... regeneration; this thing was part troll.

 

[Kalnath]

Dirk couldn’t see most of what was happening, nor could he properly hear the others’ shouting over the cyclops’ bestial roars; but he felt the heat of the fireball as the monster suddenly lurched forwards. A moment later and its back was horizontal. It should have been a sign of triumph, but even at a distance his friends’ expressions indicated that things were not going as well as they seemed.

With some effort, Dirk wrenched his dagger out of the giant’s back and lunged toward its shoulders. In his haste, he failed to notice how quickly the wound healed - too focused as we was on taking out the monster's eye.

 

[Ecnalab]

Dirk plunged his long knife into the creatures single eye, and it bolted upright, throwing him off. The cyclops howled as it scratched at its eye, trying to dislodge the piece of metal from it, but it's bulky fingers were too unwieldy to get it out.

 

[Kalnath]

Dirk barely had time to brace himself before he hit the ground with a painful thud that sent white spots flickering across his vision. Still, he’d done it! He sat up to observe his handiwork, watching the blinded monster rub and pick at his knife like a stubborn fleck of sand.

Dirk got to his feet, wincing from the impact, and circled around to where the others were.

“Okay, I think that gave us an edge over him. Now what?” They were still missing one - he glanced about for wherever Sune had landed.

 

[MagicBanana]

Daisy couldn't help but smile as the beast fell over, even with Valira blasted away. It might not have been dead, but it was clearly too damaged to continue fighting. And with how mangled it had become in the skirmish, the likelihood of them killing it seemed like a certainty. And then it began the sickening process of regenerating, which wasn't a trait she would have associated with the cyclops. What's worse is how it could even regenerate a wound that had seemingly been cauterized, though the witch was too far away to really see if it had been. This effectively reset their progress back to zero, and with Akalfa looking as shaky as she did, the chance to blow up its entire body before it could regenerate was also zero.

And then Dirk happened. He took the opportunity to strike the cyclops's eye with his dagger, and left it inside. Daisy immediately saw the reasoning behind this attack. Even if the monster could heal its wounds, it wouldn't be able to heal its eye if the source of damage was still in it. "Dirk, you're a genius." She said as the human ran towards the group. "Now we grab Sune and run. It's blinded and should stay that way until it gets the dagger out." The witch said with confidence, even if it was just an estimation. Daisy kept her eyes on the cyclops, ready to cast some form of hex on it if it begins to get the knife out of its eye.

 

[Kalnath]

“Are you sure? I think we may have it on the ropes now...”

Dirk didn’t exactly like the idea of losing one of his weapons, but if that was what it took…

 

[MagicBanana]

"It was able to heal through Akalfa's magical barrage and the fireball that blasted its leg off. And its intestines are almost fully back in its stomach. It's on the ropes, but its regeneration is preventing it from being pushed over them." Daisy said, appraising the flailing creature from a safe distance. Unless permanent damage was done to something vital for it to survive, it would simply keep getting back up. An idea did come to the witch, but it was one she wasn't very fond of.

"Actually, there might be a way. It would just require me cursing something long and sharp and having it pierce the cyclops's heart. Or for it to go directly into its brain." Daisy said, looking Dirk over to see if he had anything suitable for such a task, before remembering Valira's fancy looking sword. It might do the trick. But if it was already magical, then cursing it could have unintended side effects, if it worked at all.

 

[Kalnath]

Dirk patted himself down. About the only objects of real use he had on him were his other dagger and some flimsy-looking rope. A crude spear wasn't out of the question, if they could quickly find a long enough stick.

He glanced over at Valira, whose blade was not only longer, but had also proven itself eminently capable of carving through the creature's flesh.

"Maybe if we can hold it still enough..." he muttered, before turning back to Daisy and Akalfa. "As long as we're exploring our options, do you think it could regrow its head?"

 

[TheIrishOtaku]

Valira was left dazed by the blast for a minute or two, shaking her head clear of the wooziness as she shakily stood back up. She had been dimly aware of everything that had happened and been said, so she was up to speed on the situation at hand. The creature's regeneration came as an irritating surprise, even as Valira took heart at Dirk's actions. All things considered they were handling themselves quite well, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Approaching the others, the High Elf joined the discussion at hand.

''If you think that cursing my sword would help to finish off this foul beast, then go ahead and do so. Keeping it restrained is risky, especially given the rather poor quality of the rope at hand, but may still mean the difference between victory and defeat. Destroying its head, piercing its heart, strangling it, whatever we do we better do it fast. It'll get the dagger out of its eye soon enough.''

Valira glared at the cyclops, the good sense of Daisy's initial suggestion of retreat paling in comparison to the appeal of seeing this monster dead. Wounded pride and anger filled Valira's being, and she was ready to pay back the cyclops ten fold for what it had done to her and her friends.

 

[OmegaUmbra]

Akalfa watched in horror and disgust seeing the massive creature slowly knit itself back together, the sound of its entrails retracting made her body cringe in revulsion. At the least Dirk's plan still proved ingenious and useful. Looking away she was glad to see Valira and the rogue had made it away safely, as well as Daisy. Though the Dark Elf turned to Valira for a moment seeing she was winded.

"Apologies Valira, I may have overdone it..."

Talk of their new plan did temporarily trouble her mind. Worries of failure were prevalent, but red-hot rage and the need to defend her comrades burned brighter than cowardice. Akalfa was exhausted but would stop at nothing to aid her companions in seeing that cyclops fall.

With a shaky breath, she spoke, turning to the three.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

 

[Kalnath]

An image began to form in Dirk's mind. It would be difficult, and it would take all of them working together, but...

"Can you freeze its limbs again? Enough so that it can't get up or flail around so much? Daisy, it would help if you can make it even weaker, or feel sleepy, or sick. Then I think the two of us could pull it down together. We'd only need to hold it still long enough for Valira to get at its neck!"

"I know it's a gamble, I know it's a reckless suggestion that could get us all killed, and I know I'm making a lot of assumptions... but I know we can do this. We don't have to run."

He hefted the coil of rope in his hand, and smiled. "Besides! If we can't even deal with a blind, crippled giant, how can we say that we'll take on a dragon?"

 

[TheIrishOtaku]

''Its quite alright Akalfa, your attack was formidable and would have been more than enough to defeat any normal enemy. Its not your fault that we are facing something with regenerative abilities as potent as this. Besides, I've experienced worse and probably will do so again.''

Valira smiled at her friend to show her there was no ill will on her part, if anything she was impressed by what Akalfa had done. She was no less proud of Dirk, his plan was reckless yet brave and she was just as confident as he was that they could pull it off. They had both come so far in such a short time and Valira was honoured to fight by their side, no matter what happened next. She gave Dirk a nod, determination firing in her eyes and an almost crazed grin gracing her face.

''I am with you my friend, as I am sure we all are. We can do this, hell we will do this! We didn't come all this way and endure so much to be stopped by a filthy cyclops! Let us make this foolish beast lament its decision to attack us with its last dying breath!''

Valira held her sword out in front of her, ready to move on Dirk's signal. It was his plan after all, it was only natural that he would be calling the shots.

 

[MagicBanana]

Daisy signed, seeing that everyone wanted to slay the beast rather than do the safe thing and run from it in its diminished form. A small smile formed on her face, knowing that the same would hold true for when they got to the dragon. "Very well. The curse of weakening didn't do a whole lot against it, so I'll try and see if I can't make it uncoordinated instead. It probably would have been a better call to do that from the start instead." Daisy said, looking at the flailing giant swing around as it clawed at its single bloodied eye.

Daisy's hand reached out and touched Valira's blade with a vial of small bones in her other hand. She gently cut her finger on it, wetting the edge with her blood so that the curse would take better hold. "Bite like a beast and simmer like a pot. Let those wounded know your edge wither and rot." She sang calmly, yet with a firmness and authority that she didn't seem to have when hexing the cyclops. She moved her hand away and the edge of the elf's sword became covered in shadow. "Be careful with that now. The first thing cut by it will start withering. Hopefully it will counter out the regeneration long enough for death to stick." The witch stated looking Valira in her eyes.

Daisy turned her attention back to the cyclops, still flailing about with the dagger in its eye. She took a breath in, held it a moment, and let it out to relax herself. She took a few steps forward, making sure to not stand in the way of Dirk or Valira, and arcane light surrounded her once more. "Stagger and sway like a drunkard at dawn! Topple and trip as a newborn fawn!" She shouted out to the cyclops, inhibiting what little coordination the lumbering beast possessed and making it easier for her companions to strap down its body and get to its vitals.

 

[Kalnath]

Hearing Valira's words of affirmation greatly reinforced Dirk's confidence in the plan. While Daisy performed her incantations, he tied his rope into a wide loop - hopefully enough to fit around the cyclops' head or, failing that, one of its limbs.

"All right," he said, as the witch finished her spell, "Let's get 'em!"

 

[TheIrishOtaku]

Valira returned Daisy's warnings with a solemn nod and at Dirk's signal, she rushed forward with a loud and aggressive war cry, making sure that she did not get in the way of Akalfa's upcoming spell. She could see that Daisy's incantation had worked, both on her sword and their foe, and she had no doubt that the cyclops would be a sitting duck. She idly wondered whether the curse on the blade would be permanent, although even with her limited knowledge of such things she doubted that would be the case. Besides, its not as if it would be of much use when they faced their draconic enemies, given their magical resistance. Valira emptied her head of such thoughts as she jumped, aiming to time her attack on the monsters neck with the others efforts, both magical and mundane as they had discussed, to incapacitate the creature.

 

[OmegaUmbra]

Upon the signal being given Akalfa took a deep breath and focused all of her willpower. At this point her body felt heavy as stone trying to use more energy, but this was the final stretch, and she would not allow her friends to be harmed. Feeling the frost nip at her fingertips Akalfa gently lifted her hands, aiming her spell towards the cyclops's limbs. While it's feet may flail around somewhat. the thickening layer of ice forming at it's arms would at least prevent it from swatting at Valira, Daisy, and Dirk again. It was an exhausting, dizzying process, but the Dark Elf took great satisfaction seeing the creature's end at hand, with all of their hard work coming to fruition.

"I can't hold it too much longer, let us put this foul beast down once and for all!" Akalfa declared with a heavy exhale, trying her best to layer the ice atop itself to further solidify, in the event her body finally did reach utter collapse. Which didn't feel too far off, unfortunately.

 

[Kalnath]

Dirk sprang into action alongside Valira, fanning out toward the giant’s other side to give her room to maneuver and Akalfa a clear shot to cast. He threw his crude lasso over the head of the cyclops and tugged as hard as he could. Dirk was not a strong man, but between the enfeebling hex, the disorientation spell, the knife in its eye, and of course the ice, he hoped it would be enough to pull it close enough for Valira’s strike.

Please let it be enough…

 

[MagicBanana]

Daisy watched as everyone went about doing their part. Her job was technically done, seeing as the sword and the cyclops were both hexed. It was going about as well as they could have hoped, with the cyclops teetering and covered over with ice. Though it needed a final pull to fall to the ground and allow Valira the chance to sever its head. She was far to weak to help Dirk directly with pulling it down, even if she were uninjured. But who said she needs to help directly?

"Bucking bulls and bear fights! Yank its chain will all your might!" Daisy shouted out, enhancing Dirk's strength to heroic proportions and allowing him to easily pull the cyclops to the ground. Though, he probably wouldn't feel very great once it wore off, since his body was now straining beyond what it was normally capable of.

 

[Ecnalab]

Valira's sword cut deeply across the giant's neck, and she was clear just as the frost formed on its upper body, covering its arms, and head in ice. Just as Dirk pulled with all his might, plus ten times more, yanking down and bashing the cyclop's head against the hard ground. The air filled with a sickening shattering sound, as the great beast's head, literally, broke into a hundred pieces. It's body stopped healing, and lay still. The companions stood on the field of victory.
Valira looked at her sword, and found that the blade had turned from its usual light green tint, to a deep black, Akalfa could barely stand, so drained as she was, and Dirk couldn't feel his arms, but they had done it; the foe had been felled.

 

[TheIrishOtaku]

Valira was a bit perturbed by the change in the hue of her blade, but that did nothing to diminish the feeling of triumph that suffused every fibre of her being. It had been touch and go there for a while but in the end they had pulled it off, and Valira had to resist the urge to let out a whoop of joy. She didn't want to bring anymore enemies down on their heads, after all she could tell that Akalfa and Dirk had been quite drained by the experience and group wasn't exactly ready for another fight in general. Instead, she settled for a wide and brilliant smile at her comrades.

''You see my friends, together there is nothing we cannot accomplish! We should take some time to rest before we move on, I think it is very much necessary. Besides, we have more than earned the privilege. Are you and Sunelarra alright Daisy? You both took quite a hit from that monster.''

A look of genuine concern passed over Valira's face, marring the joyous one that had previously graced it. She was also tempted to ask about her sword, but decided that that could wait for a while in favour of more pressing concerns.

 

[Kalnath]

Dirk gathered up the ropes and kicked aside a few frozen chunks until he found his dagger. His arms ached more than he would have expected, and he wasn't sure why, but what mattered was that ir had worked! Every one of them had played their part to perfection.

He staggered over to wherever they were regrouping and all but collapsed face-up on the ground. "Woo! Well done, everyone!" he said brightly, struggling to lift his arms. A quick breather sounded like an excellent idea, but... "Maybe we should move just a bit further away? Enough so anything that heard the commotion won't see us immediately."

 

[Ecnalab]

As he lay there, Dirk noticed something out the corner of his eye. Sune still lay in a heap a little ways down the gully they were in... she wasn't moving.

 

[Kalnath]

The enthusiastic glee drained from Dirk's face as he quickly assumed the worst. After some effort, he managed to get back to his feet and stumble over to the where the demon had fallen.

"...Sune? Are you still with us?" He knelt down beside her and gently turned her body to get a better look at her face, just to be certain.

 

[Ecnalab]

When he got there, he found she was broke in many ways; limbs twisted, face a mess of cuts, and wings mangled. Just as he thought she was gone, a sputtering cough erupted from her mouth, and she wheezed, "Gah! Last time... I take... Point," she managed to gasp, before grabbing Dirk by the collar and pulling him into a deep kiss. In his weakened state, Dirk was unable to resist her, even if she was using only one arm, and as they kissed, he felt his strength drain even further, until he was barely able to keep his eyes open. As their embrace dragged on, Sune seemed to be pulling herself back together; arm and legs twisted back into form, cuts and bruises faded, and before even a minute had passed, she was leaning over him, and smiling. "Thanks little man, I'll take it from here," she said, and picked him up in her arms, before heading back towards the rest of the group.

 

[Kalnath]

Dirk wasn't sure what happened, or if he should have tried to stop it - but any doubts were overshadowed by the relief he felt at Sune's inexplicable recovery.

He relaxed into her arms as the strange exhaustion overtook him, and was already asleep by the time she reached the others.

 

[Ecnalab]

"Aw, someone's all tuckered out," Sune cooed, as she walked up. "How about the rest of you? Anyone out of commission?"

 

[OmegaUmbra]

Akalfa was both revolted by the cyclops' gory demise but relieved beyond belief at everyone's safety. Well...almost everyone. She was just as curious as to Sune's status as Dirk was, shuffling behind him a bit to get a better look. Her face went pale, slate grey nearing a marble color seeing the demoness in such a state. For a second the sorceress felt ill, guilt-ridden, thinking by forcing the demon along she had sent her to her doom. Akalfa was very used to dead creatures, never a slain person. Before horror could settle in with all its weight Sunelarra's cough eased the Dark Elf's coming panic attack, settling her nerves if only slightly. Still, she was in bad shape. Akalfa looked back and thought towards Daisy, pondering if there was another red vial in her bag that could help mend the demon. Before looking back and seeing Sunelarra and Dirk's surprising embrace.

Confusion would be an understatement. While she was glad to see her healing it seemed far more...intimate? Than a random act of passion. Suddenly thinking back Akalfa realized why he may have gotten along with Sune so well. It felt presumptuous to assume such a thing but she couldn't help it. With a sheepish blush, she awkwardly chuckled, deciding it best not to ask any questions. At least not now, even if it was strange and she had many she wanted to ask.

That's when the heaviness in her limbs finally reached its peak. Shuffling to the ground with a dull thud, Akalfa yawned, eyes struggling to stay open for more than a second. Boy, did she feel woozy.

"Victory is ours! I knew we wouldn't be beaten by that one-eyed monster, together we are invincible! And...I'm glad to see you safe, Sunelarra." Heroic as those words would seem the way she said it felt less than enthusiastic, more like someone on the verge of collapse. Suddenly the ground looked very comfortable...

"Rest sounds...nice."

 

[MagicBanana]

Daisy watched as the monster fell and its head shattered into millions of tiny pieces. Pride swelled within her, as the pain from getting her entire body slammed with a tree trunk slowly came back to her. She needed a rest too. She wasn't mangled beyond comprehension, and nothing felt broken, but she exerted herself more than she would have like with all of those curses. A necessary cost, to be sure, but one that she could have done without.

"I'm not especially well off. But I'll live. I can heal fast." Daisy answered Valira, returning her smile. She looked about for Sunelarra, and found her kissing Dirk. Her mangled body was obscured by the man and Akalfa, and they were a bit too far away for her to properly see, so she didn't think much of it. Dirk collapsing didn't alarm her that much either, seeing as she gave him the strength of ten men to pull down the cyclops, though the demon's healthy state did surprise her. "Sune seems to be doing fine enough as well. What about yourself Valira?" She asked, looking at the elf to see if there were any immediately visible injuries.

Then Daisy noticed the sword, now stained a deep black instead of its usual green. "Huh. I didn't expect that." The witch stated, her gaze now fixated on the sword. "Sorry about your sword there Valira. I'd only intended for the hex of rotting to last for a single blow. Maybe something in the cyclops's blood caused this?" She apologized, already quietly theorizing possible reasons for the sword to still be cursed. It was probably fine though, since only things cut by it should be affected. Hopefully. Well, worst comes to worst, they have a cursed sword to slay the dragon with.

Daisy watched as Akalfa practically collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion. She dug through her bag once more and drew out a vial of deep purple liquid. "I'll look into that later, if you don't mind of course." The witch stated as she walked over to the dark elf. "For now Akalfa, drink half of this. It should recover some of your magical energy. Unless you're unwell enough to not be able to. In which case, I'll just feed it to you." She said, raising the vial up for the dark elf to grab. "I don't think I have much for Dirk. His exhaustion is a bit too physical for alchemical remedies to solve. He needs to rest."

 

[OmegaUmbra]

Akalfa smiled warmly at Daisy, reaching her hand up to take the twinkling vial of purple elixir.

"Thank you, I appreciate the assistance! For a moment I thought the dirt was starting to look rather inviting for a nap."
Her words were unhurried, tiredness rampantly apparent.

Valira was right, they really would need a good rest after this. And a bath, after trudging through all that dirt and gore. Try as the Dark Elf might her hand couldn't make it all the way up. It felt as though it were slicked shoulder-deep in mud, with a slight tremble. Letting out a sigh she looked towards the witch timidly.

"Actually...I think I'll have to take up that offer, if you don't mind of course." Akalfa's hands slumped limply at her side. Gods did she really overdo it. When the time to finally fight that grand old dragon did come there would need to be more tact on the sorceress's part if she wanted to feel like anything other than a statue.