Winged Revenge: L
"Hello non-believer!" The girly half elf screamed as he hurled his trident through the busted down door. Andraste swung her own greatsword down on the gnome as they burst into the room. Skeemo was sitting in his chair, a look of shock overcoming him as Andraste brought her blade down. 'Crap.' She thought the gnome swung his head out of the way, the blade just barely missing him.
"Ugh!" Skeemo groaned when Markos's trident slashed across his chest leaving a nasty wound. Did the half-elf sharpen its sides? She pushed that question away for another time right now they had this Zhentarim scum to deal with. "What th-" Andraste watched the door in front of her, behind Skeemo break inward splintering hard oak across the room like a hailstorm.
"Surprise little bitch!" Herod dove from the left while Adleth vaulted over him; two short swords impacted Skeemo's legs before he could even move. "Ventri Vuli" A force slammed into the small guy sending him back into his wall the hits just kept coming.
"Agh!" Skeemo sounded slightly pathetic at this point Andraste felt a tinge of sympathy for him, the type of sympathy you felt when you saw someone completely and hopelessly outclassed. "I swea-" Skeemo jumped to his feet yet a ray of black energy slammed into him Andraste turned her head; Riu's eyes blazed in anger her finger was outstretched like that of a pointing sign casting Selune knows what spell. The girl who had just looked happy, pleasant and kind. Had an expression more akin to a demon out for revenge.
"Markos, grab him!" Asher yelled, the commotion was loud, son of a bitch it was loud she noted, this was surely going to attract some guards, some people. Hell, where was Alekzander? Was he trying to watch out for the guards?
"Da Hur Ctugraha!"
Andraste felt as if her skin was crawling. The words spoken by Markos were.. Unnatural sickening.. Not to mention otherworldly she had never heard any beings besides mind flayers speak like that. She was unsure what to make of it yet she knew it creeped her out. What was more creepy however was what came next. Under Skeemo she saw the same type of portal she had witnessed outside tear open. It sounded like someone had ripped a tree in half unnatural and wrong. A yellow portal took the place of the ground while a fifteen foot tentacle shot out from it the purple writhing squid like mass grabbed Skeemo by the legs before snaking its way up him entwining the gnome in a seafood prison.
"What... the.." She felt a little of her soul leave her. Skeemo began trying to scream over and over yet as the tentacle wrapped around him faster and faster his voice became muffled and silent.
"Alright." Markos announced happily. "Stab him in the balls." The entire party rushed forward. To call it sad would be an understatement whatever Markos was using held the gnome in place while he screamed underneath. Andraste swung her greatsword into the mass of tentacles catching a bit of Skeemo's exposed chest. Three spells were fired while Riu screamed at the top of her lungs.
"You stupid ugly son of a bitch!" Riu was simultaneously firing spells from what looked like her chest so she could swing her mace into the gnome all the while she kept kicking him for good measure. "Magicae cornu telum!"
"I'm.. I'm not.." Asher muttered, she couldn't agree more. The hell were they supposed to do while a crazy man, a warlock, an elf, and a blood thirsty cleric wailed on a guy.
"Lanuae.. Mag.." Skeemo continued to mutter words under the tentacle's grasp. 'Wait..' Andraste tried to rush over and grab him crap crap crap. "Magicae gradus.." The tentacles tightened yet they held nothing. Skeemo's body collapsed until it was not even there. Andraste felt her hands catch empty air, floating away from the tentacles she could see a fine powdered mist surging just until it reached the door rematerializing. Andraste pivoted watching the bloodied and pissed face of Skeemo Weirdbottle staring back at her.
"So.. that's how you wanna play it huh?" Skeemo thrust a gnarled hand forward "Frigus conic her il!" Skeemo was bleeding out of both arms and had numerous nasty slashes on his chest yet little of that seemed to matter. From his hand a cone of magic was emitted slamming into Andraste and the party who had been bottle necked at the door.
"Holy-" She nearly fell over, a force of cold chilling magic hit her like a runaway unicorn piercing freezing damage settled in on her clothes like a winter tundra. The feeling was indescribable in its cold. Like ice had come and pushed in between every muscle fiber Andraste fell to one knee frosty snow coating her clothes making her whole body white.
"T-that's freezing-" Markos's teeth chattered behind her the gnome grinned and turned he broke out running to the shops entrance. 'Crap.. he was getting away. Move. Move! Andraste move!' She screamed at herself but found little action able to overcome her. She was frozen.
"Get back here you slimy short fuck!" Andraste felt a hand on her shoulder, a warm hand vault over her then two. Sailing overhead, Andraste tried her best not to look up Riu's traditional fighting hoop skirt.. Selune, who wears those? The next set of hands were bigger while she fell to her side, the cold locking her in place.
"Excuse me, I promise I'll come back after he's dead!" Asher announced while shooting over her, Asher rolled on the ground letting her get a good look at frost which was beaten off of him crackling against the wood floor. Asher pointed a blade in one direction and his other to his left. Instantaneously Andraste was greeted by two.. Asher's. Krono magic. He let out two echos, copies of himself who held all his equipment yet could shatter if hit right. She had only seen this type of magic once before, mostly as a parlor trick never in combat. Skeemo stopped in his tracks not even reaching the door fully in its way; a copy of Asher stood blocking him, holding two frost coated scimitars against the gnome's chest. "Ah ah ah, we aren't done." Asher bit. His arrogance was something to admire yet his intelligence in the group's strategy proved him an invaluable ally.
"Markos? Are you.. Ok?" Herod strained to talk behind her begging what she assumed was his friend for an answer. The half-elf was silent.
"Man I'm gonna burn you-" Skeemo was cut off. Green flames erupted from his right arm, his skin caught fire he howled in pain and doubled over before leaping backwards away from Asher's clone gripping his arm angrily.
"Hurts don't it.." Herod struggled. Andraste fell to her side only then able to see Herod in the doorway next to her. He was on his knees and chest half of his face was covered in frost yet the forest green eyes flashed in a fury of anger; hellish rebuke. She ignored the fact she hadn't even heard him mutter an incantation. She tried in vain to get up but could only hope that Asher and Riu, their last line of defense, prevailed.
"Remember me?" Riu's voice was soft yet steely calm like that of a brewing storm. Andraste tried to crane her neck the best she could wiggling on the ground, the frost slipping off her. Skeemo's shit brown eyes met Riu's and a flash of recognition danced across them. A slow closed demeanor took hold of Skeemo while he tried to think.
"I... you're the girl.. Aer's.. Brat-" Riu lunged, her mace arced across Skeemo's face while he barely dodged, the gnome tried to side step when Asher thrust a blade at his back.
*Evcsseeshnk* Slash after slash sounded like a whistle in the air. A symphony of blades. Asher didn't stop however he slashed down with his right hand missing. He pulled his left back up and slammed his fist into Skeemo's nose, blood spraying everywhere. An echo jumped on Skeemos' leg but he managed to evade.
"You killed them! You son of a bitch everyone in that damned cell, you killed them! HOW COULD YOU!" Riu screamed in anger. She swung her mace once hitting Skeemo in the chest, yet she was so much slower than Asher. Asher grabbed Skeemo by the collar, hurling him into one echo and then backflipping into a slash. *Evcsseeshnk* The gnome let off spell after spell, a cone of cold hit Riu point blank. Yet while frost covered her body her once icy blue eyes blazed like that of hell fire.
"Vectigal ex mortuis!" Riu skipped cleric incantations instead slipping into the language of magic a toll of the dead hit Skeemo in the leg while the gnome landed a punch against her chest fire erupting from the touch. Riu's clothes caught fire but she didn't seem to care, only continuing to fight. Battering her mace against Skeemos leg he howled in pain. He was fast, but she was filled with rage. Andraste knew that emotion.
"Igni vuln." Skeemo let off another spell hitting Asher's first echo, incinerating it. Now Riu was fighting in an inferno, her shirt on fire while she simply let off more cantrips and more attacks. Shattering the room.
"Magicae cornu telum!" Riu raged, two blue wing-like entities shot forth hitting the injured Skeemo though it felt like nothing would slow him down. Blood dripped from Skeemo's head and arms, his right hand was scorched and enwrapped with strangely deer antler shaped burns. Blood dripped from his sides while he tried to evade Asher's unrelenting attacks. Riu could take a hit but Selun could Asher keep going without stopping. Asher slashed eight times in less than a second, his echoes constantly spawning.
*Evcsseeshnk* over and over.
"Igni vuln."
One Echo was burned up before another leapt off Asher's back like they could only just keep coming. "That tickled a bit!" Asher cackled another blade slicing at Skeemo's calf.
"Everything you've done! Will be avenged now!" Riu exploded her mace striking his right arm down while she got in close. Asher flicked his blade like an artist, perfectly slashing off Riu's burning shirt almost to a surgical level of expertise. Her charred shirt fell exposing the tough beaten scale mail underneath. Andraste struggled to her feet, desperate to aid her two new allies; the people who had actually tried to heal her were now fighting this man alone. Yet her vision blurred the cold and had taken so much out of her.. 'Crap.' how had Riu survived not one but two of these blasts? How was she still up? What fueled her?
"You're going to die like your parents!" Skemo yelped. "Squirming like pathetic rats!" A witch bolt was let off in the shop, yellow lighting emitted from Skeemo's hand hitting Riu square in the chest, sending her flying back in the shop.
"Lightning aint as good as two fucking blades of death!" Asher growled Skeemo turned on his foot the fight suddenly even let off another attack. "Flammean telo-" Skeemo narrowly let off the firebolt before Asher pushed a sword into his left arm, the only one able to even cast spells at this point. The fire knocked Asher backwards, halting him in place. The man's mask made him look like the grim reaper, his golden jawbone like a human skull while the top looked like a battle wolf leading the pack. "Good riddance-" Skeemo yelped. The gnome bolted for the door now seemingly desperate to escape. Asher was still on his feet yet too far away. Both his scimitars had been knocked out of his grasp, the soldier glanced to the door and back again before reluctantly pulling two long swords from behind him he hurled his sword at the door. Best that Andraste could see the blade flew through the air landing at Skeemo's feet in the doorway. "Lousy throw" Skeemo sneered. Asher began to chuckle much to her own surprise.
"Wasn't intending for that to hit you." Asher rolled his body, his right hand extended gripping.. Another hand, a clone was pulled from his form and he pitched the clone like that of a sports star. The echo was lept over to the front entrance, the level of strength Asher had at his disposal clear for all to see.
"Just intended to get me across." The echo answered by picking up the long sword logged in the doorway. The entire process took less than a second faster than if he had run. Andraste was impressed. Finally she struggled to her feet and held her glowing moon and touched greatsword with her left hand. Her right arm was still too covered in frost. Andraste ran at the gnome from the back who was still dealing with the echo.
"Get away!" Skeemo screamed as he slammed his hand at Andraste; she narrowly avoided the full force of another cone of cold yet this time she braced her greater sword and body, knocking the spells aside a bit only gathering frost on her right side. Andraste let off a feeble strike against Skeemos leg drawing a small ounce of blood from his achilles tendon.
"Fucking Bastard!" a small chill ran up Andraste's spine with wind and frost beating from her left.
She got a narrow look at the horror which had become of Riu Astrial. The beautiful girl stood.. No.. she hovered a foot off the floor, her blue eyes blazed in white energy. Behind her Andraste witnessed two beating blue wings spectral energy flying her in place. "I'm gonna gut you now.. For everything you've done." Riu bolted forward grabbing Skeemo and slamming him into Asher's echo.
"Riu no! Not outside!" Asher was too late. Andraste watched on in terror as Riu galloped into the sky lifting Skeemo higher and higher and then threw the gnome from the air, the little slimy body hitting the earth. Skeemo twitched on the ground yet could make no attempts to flee. Riu descended from the sky, throwing her mace into Skeemos chest. Andraste cringed hearing the sound of splitting bone and cracking ribs, Skeemo's pathetic brown eyes showed in fear, a fear Andraste understood all too well. He was desperate for life.
"W-wait pl-" Skeemo begged for his life.
"Vectigal ex mortuis!" Riu cursed, a bolt of pure black energy slammed into Skeemo like a shot of death. A toll of bells could be heard chiming as Skeemo's body froze up and fell limp. He was dead. Riu huffed and puffed her white blonde hair was a mess hanging off her head like a mop while she bent over the dead gnome she was panting in anger until Andraste could see tears begin to fall from her eyes. A quiet cry became a sob which turned into a loud wailing of tears. Riu collapsed to her knees giving Andraste the strength to stand and rush over to her. She grabbed Riu by the side and her tattered cloak and pulled over them both for privacy. She was crying.. That was all that mattered, Andraste told herself. The body of Skeemo was slightly obscured by the cart he had packed yet regardless Asher grabbed it hauling it back into the shop before shutting the door. Numerous people had to have seen it.. Seen what happened. But it didn't matter.. Riu sobbed into Andraste's chest.
"It's ok.. It's ok.. I've got you.." She whispered to the weeping Aasimar. "I've.. got you.."