Scorched Campaign

12: The River Styx

.^^ Chalet before Invasion ^^

— Cassidy —

I flexed my arm, testing the muscles to make sure that Tommy was actually healed, not just trying to act tough to impress me, which she did pretty often. The muscles were a bit tense, and sore, but no longer shredded, so I left it alone, for now, and then leapt to my feet when the hissing started.

My staff settled comfortably in my left hand, my dagger in my right, and when I touched them together on accident, trying to draw my rifle, they reacted. I was momentarily awed when the crystal wand start melting, and then formed a crystal spike in the dragon's mouth, which followed my commands to form an axe or spearhead.

"Welp, Dad is going to call me a copycat, and I can't even blame him." I grumbled, and let the flames ignite, wincing when the light that came off of it was bright enough that my eyes stung. The tunnel for about 500 feet either way was lit up, and my eyes adjusted quickly, seeing the several snakes, each about the size of the first, about 20ft tall when they were poised to strike.

Sandy growled softly, stepping in front of me so the light was behind her. "Okay, that worked very well to blind them, but please don't blind me, my love?" She chuckled.

I grinned. "It's my radiant personality, my dear, I couldn't stop it if I tried!" The light focused slowly into a cone, as I pointed it at the snakes. They hissed as their eyes slowly went snow-blind, and I halted the light and doused the fire, knowing it was basically useless against lava-creatures.

One of them spat lava at us, to my surprise, and I stepped in front of it, knowing that I was the only one actually immune to fire, here, except Tommy. It still hit me like a truck, slamming me back about ten feet and knocking the wind out of me, plus I could feel a few ribs protest when I took a breath, but they weren't broken, I didn't think. Not entirely, anyway.

Seeing me slowly get up, Sandy nodded, and then turned to the group of snakes. "Okay, girls, what is your plan of attack?" She asked calmly, though I could see her fingers curled tightly around her staff.

Kiri hummed. "Well... They're fire creatures, so Water, right?"

"Correct. Demonstrate?" Sandy nodded.

She hummed, and focused on her staff, and her form rippled softly, turning into a water creature of some sort, a very small elemental, comparative to a large dog or malnourished wolf. Once finished, she slithered forward, and Bear-hugged one of the magma beasts, her form sizzling and evaporating quickly, until she was swatted away forcefully by one of their flaming tails, turning back into her own body.

She got up, dusting herself off, and growled. "Alright, ugly, you asked for it!" She snapped, and slammed her staff down, causing the tunnel to shake slightly. A small trickle of water flowed from the way we'd came, as if the lake had been let in, and the slightly downward slope allowed it to gain speed, suddenly becoming a roaring rapid in just seconds.

When it hit the snakes, they screeched and hissed, backing away, but it just followed them, and we all got out of the way as the water just kept coming, quickly carving the bottom of the 'road' into a continuation of the river.

Kiri sat down on the new bank, as the snakes were washed away, slowly hardening to stone and shattering just like the salamanders in the plane of fire. "Ha! Bitch-ass snakes." She chuckled, and then laid down heavily. "Why does my brain hurt?" She asked, clutching her skull.

Sandy sat next to her. "Simple answer? You created a river, and that sucks up power like a sponge. You're lucky you took a shortcut, allowing the water from the lake to continue its path. Who knows if it'll flow all the way to the city without meeting any Lava Flows, but if it does, it'll make our job a little easier."