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“Is that you god?”

Phoogli was known for his horrible comedic timing but he amused himself anyway. He had been a part of this mind link before and knew the process. He just had to think and Crugeon would hear his words. “Master General, I fear this is a battle we don’t have much chance of winning. Although, if someone were able to come out victorious in this situation, I believe it to be you. I will follow your direction but if we cannot kill this beast quickly without us dieing, I wish to try and speak to the beast. From that little bellow he let out before, it appears that he too suffers the yearning to move. Although I do not like the idea, if the vile beast can’t be killed here, we may need to try and gain it’s assistance in discovering the cause of this magic. That said, who’s up for some wholesome family hydra slaying and flaying fun?”

Phoogli watched the hydra retreat into the deeper waters, waiting for its ancient healing abilities to bring it back to full strength. He could see the intelligence of the creature even through its most basic movements. It had assessed the situation and taken the best course of action. It was unclear if it new of Phoogli’s hidden position but that fact remained unimportant. There was very little he could do against such an adversary. After all, he was a traveller, not a hero of legend. He carried simple weapons for hunting, not slaying. He had a little confidence in escaping the beast, if need be, but killing it? He would have more luck trying to fit a pig in a pint. Fond memories floated at the edges of his consciousness at the mention of crazy drinking games but this was not the time to be reminiscing.

Re-holstering his musket, Phoogli drew his ice pick and dagger. He had no idea what effect the runes of fear would have on the great hydra but it was his only chance of doing any recognisable damage. On a simple minded animal, like a gazelle, the runes would freeze the animal in fear until the blade was drawn out of its flesh. On a human, a wound would cause temporary fear towards the daggers holder but would not disable them in any way. Against a multi brained, highly intelligent beast of unknown age? Maybe a simple fright. Maybe less. Maybe just a tingle up the spine. He had never had a case to use it against such a great beast. He only hoped if the creature got too close, it would distract it long enough for him to climb up on top of it, and out of reach of its claws.

“Crugeon, now's your time, make this next move count. And remember, if we don’t kill it, we speak to it!”

Crugeon thought out his next move carefully, to harsh and it would be his own life as the penalty or to weak and he would suffer the same fate. All he could hope for was to leave the battle in a stalemate, so the beast and the warriors could have a discussion about this deep magic.

Crugeons soldiers did not still the whole time he sat there with his eyes closed in his meditative state.Crugeon played out battle scenes in his head asif it were a game of chess and the pawns were his men at his disposal.When Crugeon finally open his eyes with the firery red glare in his pupils his men knew he was ready for battle and even phoogli senced it.

Crugeon barked orders at his men, Ordering them to try flank his huge opposition crugeons advantage his battle knowledge and his hidden powers, his disadvantage his lack of knowledge of the battle field.

The hydra knew this ground well he had obviously lived here for centuries crugeon hadnt, his knowledge was only that of a passer-by. To his men Crugeon seemed to grow larger in the next few minutes but really it was the power from the red gem on Crugeons fingeres his "battle gem", Crugeons muscles seemed to swell in his eyes time seemed to slow, he saw things more clearly although he did get a weird sence of power and he knew himself he took more riskier decisions he would go in for a more powerful blow although it left him open for a counter attack and also the longer he stayed in this state the more attached he got to it and the more he disliked leaving the feeling of power behind but such was the downside of this gem, he and he felt a strange tingle run through him asif his body was being took over by someone else. sometimes this scared Crugeon he didnt like the feel of a greater being taking over his body, he sometimes wondered if he stayed in this state for a prolonged time would the feelings he got through the power of the ring engulf him and stay permanently.

Crugeon stood up battle ready and he turned to face his huge opponent who had obviously finished healing as he was returning ever so closley to the shore , was he luring Crugeon into a trap? but before he could finish his thought he felt his feet go ahead of him dragging his mind behind his body, the ring had took hold it craved the battle and it couldnt hold back any longer Crugeon drew his claymoure again as he sprinted to the edge of the bog as he reached the bank he took a leap and as he hit the ground he catapulted himself forward maintaining his speed as he flew through the air rather than let the murky muddy water drag him back. He flew his sword ahead of him like a huge stinger just as he was about half way to the hydra who had noticed his manouver and had started his own attack, he dropped his left hand to a pouch on his belt quickly pulling out a small round ball which he launched ahead of him, the device only he and the elite of his army carried it was a flash bang of sorts it was full of powder than when th ball broke and it made contact with air made a huge light like a mini sun which blinded anything around it. Crugeon closed his eyes tight hoping that he had reacted so quickly the creature wouldnt have noticed the object he threw, he also knew the hydra had more than one head and most likely wouldnt be effected by this device but he hoped with all his might that it would atleast stun the beast for a second just enough for his to get in an attack one he hoped would count.

Myxius lifted the object out to get a better look. The outside casing was fashioned from a silvery metal which seemed to have flecks of gold inside. Myxius could immediately tell that this was for looks alone…it was clear the casing served no purpose other than to contain or protect what was inside. And inside…Myxius knew without a doubt that there was no way she could replicate this. Inside the casing was an hourglass, and inside the hourglass, defying gravity and not flowing downwards, was a pulsing floating shimmering purple mist. And this mist, Myxius knew, was magic. She shook her head and placed the object back in its sack.

‘I’s sorry sir. I can’t build this.’ She held the sack out to him. He didn’t take it.

‘I’d think very wisely about that,’ he said, raising one of his eyebrows. Myxius shook the sack at him.

‘Sir, it’s magicked. I have no control over magic, and I don’t have any understanding of it either. I’s not saying I won’t build it. I’s saying I can’t build it.’ The man stepped forward.

‘I’m afraid you have no choice Myxius. You will find a way to either replicate it, or take me to someone who can.’ The man suddenly stamped his foot, and the door burst open as two other men entered and stepped up to the leader’s side. The leader spoke again. ‘Although your brother Pax eluded us, we have your family. If we get results, they gain freedom. Until then however…’ he trailed off, not needing to finish.

Myxius was stunned and was trying to think. Did she know anyone who could do what they needed? No godamnit, she was the best for miles. And she couldn’t even do it. The only thing she had that they needed was her skill…and the machine! She was still holding the sack. If she continued to have possession of it, they needed her family as leverage. What she needed was time. Myxius tightened her grip on the sack, and kept her eyes focussed on the leader. She was nobody’s puppet.

With a cry, she launched the sack upwards and leaped onto the nearest bench, thrusting upwards to a roof beam. With one swing she was perched on top of the beam, and as the sack came down, she snatched it out of the air. The men below were scrambling to climb up somehow, and the leader was bellowing at them that she mustn’t get away. Myxius squat-ran across the beam until she was underneath the hatch. She hesitated, then reached underneath her beam. Her combo-stick was tucked there, and she snatched it up and strapped it on. She jumped upwards and burst through the hatch, landing on the roof’s left side. She quickly tied the sack around her waist to her tool belt, and raced across the roof’s surface, heading to the other side where outstretching tree branches would provide a lucky escape. As she got to the edge, she saw the leader standing below, his face livid with rage. Near him were three horses, and they had a symbol stamped into their saddle horns. As Myxius focused on the symbol and her eyes widened, she heard another man as he clambered up through the hatch on the other side. She turned back towards the branches and leapt, catching hold of a smooth thick arm that led her to another, and then another. For a brief moment Myxius almost felt peaceful, for the feeling of the wind rushing by and the sheer joy of soaring through trees brought back her happy childhood. Her muscles protested at first, for they had not been used this way for years. She gritted her teeth and pressed on, and soon they had fallen into a sore, yet familiar rhythm. She could hear the men on their horses as they crashed through the forest, but they were already falling behind. Myxius frowned to herself. The symbol on their saddle horns was of three triangles side by side. The left and right triangles were tilted outwards, away from the middle triangle. Myxius knew this symbol. Those men were the Crown’s men.

“AHH, my eyes!”

Phoogli, unprepared for the blast of light, cowered behind the fallen tree he had used for cover. Panic fought his self control, trying to persuade him to run and save himself from certain death. Just before his restrain broke, ghostly images began to show through the static of his vision. Slowly, the shapes of the trees and fallen wood became clearer. He glanced around for some sense of direction. A bowed tree to his left and a stripped trunk to his right told him he was facing south. Trying again to see the sun for reassurance, Phoogli searched the thick canopy for the sun’s rays, only achieving in spotting a giant rampaging monkey swinging through the trees.

“What the f..” A roar from behind sliced through his stammering and reminded Phoogli exactly why he was here. The Hydra had obviously not taken well to Crugeons trick. Phoogli glanced over the fallen trunk to see the Master General advancing on the beast. Why does he always have to face his enemy head on? Phoogli, almost at full sight again, sprinted towards the hydra at its rear right flank. In all his experience running across the country, his legs had never felt as week and shaky as they did now. This was surely suicide and he had already decided he had not drunk nearly enough whiskey for one life.

Spotting a tree that had fallen in the direction of the hydras current position, Phoogli adjusted his course and leapt onto the base of the trunk. The tree had fallen into the branches of another, creating an ascending path for him to climb. Phoogli calculated that at full speed, he would be able to reach the top and leap just far enough to land on the beasts back. With the help of his trusty climbing weapons, he hoped he could distract the beast for just long enough that Crugeon would deliver a killing blow. Counting his steps, Phoogli moved into the rhythm of the climb, each step gaining confidence. At seven steps from the top, his right foot hit some loose bark, sending him cascading off the side of the tree. Branches pummelled him as he fell, tearing the skin from his arms, legs and face. With a jolt, his left foot lodged in the wedge of a branch, halting his spirally descent instantly.

After hanging for several moments, time taken to regurgitate his last five meals, Phoogli looked up at what was left of his ankle. By the angle it was now facing, he thought it was probably dislocated with several bones broken. Thankfully, his head had been hit just enough times to make all his senses numb. Trying to clear is head of the fog that had set in, Phoogli looked around once again for bearing. Unfortunately, his vision was filled with the large head of a hydra.

“Wha a yoooo look’n at fatty?” Darkness descended across his eyes as unconsciousness let him rest.

Myxius was still swinging strongly, but she was not frantic anymore. The horsemen had fallen behind and she knew they would not be able to catch up. She changed direction anyway, just to be sure. Now she was travelling north. Although they had held up longer than she had thought they would, her arms were beginning to tire. They began to burn slightly with each swing, and Myxius knew if she didn’t find somewhere soon to rest up, she’d be unable to move tomorrow.

As she was swinging, she started to hear strange noises from up ahead. It was growling and roaring and shouting and it began to get louder, and just as Myxius started to think they perhaps she should change direction again, the trees began to thin. There was a clearing ahead, and Myxius almost missed a branch. A hydra! She had spotted a multi-headed hydra protruding from the swamp, and as Myxius swung closer, she saw a little dwarf man run up a steep fallen tree toward the hydra. Near the top, he slipped and fell, and began falling through branches. Myxius strained to swing faster, hoping she might get there in time to catch him, but his foot caught in a branch and his fall was halted.

As Myxius got closer she noticed another man, a giant man, advancing on one of the hydra’s heads and not taking notice of another head turning towards the little dwarf. Myxius reached him and perched on a branch nearby, where she could reach his foot. She grabbed it and he didn’t move, so he was definitely unconscious. The hydra’s head was closing in so Myxius unwedged his foot from the branch and held his weight as she looked for a swinging path. Luckily he’s a dwarfy person, or I wouldn’t be able to hold him!

Myxius launched for a branch heading away from the hydra and managed to grab hold before the dwarf’s weight pulled her down. She let their bodies swing to gain some momentum, and then she let go and flew to another branch. It was a slow and painful process for her arms, but they had began high up enough that they could half fall away from the hydra for at least five more branches, and even now the hydra couldn’t reach them unless it moved it’s whole body in their direction. Myxius kept going though, just to be safe. As they swung to what looked to be their last clear branch, the dwarf suddenly woke up, and began struggling as he tried to work out what was happening. Myxius’s balance was broken and she missed the branch, and as they fell Myxius realised that there was a woman crouching down on the ground next to the tree, and they were heading right for her. At the last moment she looked up and saw them, but it was too late. Myxius and the dwarf man tumbled into the woman, and they all fell in a heap.

Crugeon’s gambit worked out about as well as the Master General had hoped. The flash caught Gray Scale by surprise. Normally his enemies didn’t think to try and disable his senses as there were so many to disable. Four of Gray’s heads were staring right at the ball as it exploded into blinding brilliance; the other two Gray managed to turn away in time to avoid being dazed.

Through four blindly snapping jaws the elf passed and delivered his blow. The sword skipped along some of Gray Scales hide before finding purchase in his side. The cut was painful of course, but ray kept his wits and attempted to slap at his opponent while Crugeon was still airborne with his split tail.

While he had sat in the bog healing, he’d caught the familiar smell of his crown close to the battle field. Gray didn’t dare call on her aid and undo centuries of work with a single rash act. Instead he decided that she would be the perfect “hostage.” Gray still wasn’t sure where she was hiding until he’d come face to face with Phoogli. As his vision came back he noticed that the dwarf had tried to flack him. It was a good tactic, but not that useful against a foe that could look seven ways at once.

Gray Scale’s form wavered for a second as his body streamlined. Phoogli was the easiest target until he could find Cynthia. He charged past the elf and his men and onto the shore only to see the goblin dwarf fall from his vantage point. If Gray hadn’t been in a life or death struggle he would have laughed. But instead he continued to bear down on his quarry. Just before he could clamp his teeth around the wounded messenger, a new person entered into the chaos that had interrupted his meal.

The woman grabbed Phoogli and swung away, but Gray still pursued the two. When they both fell from Phoogli’s struggling providence seemed to smile on Gray Scale. It was at this moment that his seventh head regained consciousness and it was also at this moment that the falling pair provided him with Cynthia. Without missing a beat Gray Scale clamped three of his jaws around the people at his feet, one jaw each. He kept his mouths tightly around them without sinking his teeth in while he roared at Crugeon and his men with his four free heads.

“Hold your position Master General! I have hostages that I will not hesitate to kill!” one of his free heads lowered down behind Cynthia as he continued, “It seems that a sick uncle has provided me with your Crown. You will stand down and tell me what you purpose was in attacking me! Then we will discuss my terms for their release.”

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I wouldn't touch it. That thing is made out of like 95% pure, unadulterated, badger-in-my-pants crazy...
-Geist Panik

My scroll

The battle proved fierce as Cynthia watched her allies and her evil master maneuver to defeat one another. She recognized the spherical device Crugeon removed from his belt and closed her eyes just barely in time to avoiding being blinded. She felt a vague sense of pride as the Master General’s sword came in contact with the hydra’s scales, no doubt causing the monster pain. In what she had pride, she did not know; perhaps Little Gleam, or Crugeon, or something else entirely. Either way, she did not see Phoogli running up the fallen tree trunk until he had already tripped. Gray Scale was more aware of events around him, despite being in the middle of a battle with more than half of his eyes blinded. The gaze of one of his heads rested on the half goblin, as if preparing to strike. Cynthia was ready to yell a warning despite the consequences, but of a sudden something swung by and removed the advisor from danger’s path. That something was a woman, Cynthia realized after a second, and the woman was approaching the tree under which Cynthia was hidden. No… she was falling right towards the Crown. Before she had time to react, the three collided loudly.

For a moment, Cynthia laid on her back, catching her breath, her eyes wide with shock. Surely the hydra had noticed the escaping pair, and he could not have missed their unfortunate landing. But if he had, it was done; it would do Cynthia no good to try to escape. Anyhow, the woman and Phoogli had seen her for certain. Even a blind man would have detected her presence after a crash like that. With an effort, Cynthia pulled herself up into a sitting position, and then crossed her legs and unconsciously brushed back her dark hair with her hand. What she could do now that she was discovered was heal the goblin. She spread out her hands to do so, calming her mind and concentrating on healing. Despite her lie about her supposed uncle, she had not healed in quite some time.

Before Cynthia could begin channeling magic, she was roughly seized in one of the hydra’s jaws. Teeth surrounded her and jerked her away from the wounded goblin, not pressing into her skin but poking her all over in a light, uncomfortable way that drew no blood. In contrast with the gentleness of Gray Scale’s teeth, his mouth closed tightly around her, restraining her arms at her sides and her legs ankle to ankle. Her regal staff lay on the ground a foot away, close, but out of her reach. A jolt of fury surged through Cynthia; now she would serve as a hostage while her people suffered because of her vulnerability, because of their unwillingness to see her suffer. She wanted nothing more than to reveal all the hydra’s secrets and accept the consequences, whether they were immediate death, with those sharp teeth closing in on her and tearing her apart like a stuffed puppet, or imprisonment for serving such an evil master. However, as had been the case with every previous problem she had endured because of the hydra, she could do little to retaliate. But as she was clenched in Gray Scale’s mouth, her feet dangling in the air, as she tried to maintain an expression of anger rather than sulkiness, the hydra made a slip. It least, it seemed to Cynthia that he did. He admitted to knowing about her uncle, but how could he know unless she had told him? The hydra did not seem to realize his mistake, but Cynthia relished in it. She would make sure to emphasize it in the discussion that would follow. She could not tell her captor’s secrets, but maybe she could help her allies to see that there was something to be suspected.

As Crugeon's device exploded into a blast of unnatural light only equaled by the sun he closed his eyes tight. Crugeon's attack landed just like he had hoped, for a second he had doubted his decision but the power of the ring blew that from his mind. Crugeon felt him collide with the beast at first his huge swored skipped across the beasts steel like scales but then he found the gap and it drove straight in. Crugeon didnt know whether the yell was because the hydra was in pain from the trunk like blade of his sword or whether his device had worked and it had lost most of its sences. When Crugeon finally dared to open his eyes he saw the beast he smiled his trick had worked he noticed four of the hydras seven head's had been blinded by the light and saw them snapping wildly in the air. Crugeon had been caught in his glee and hadnt realised he was still in a battle he came back to a this sudden realisation when after the beast had been frantically trying to smash him off his body it decided to change tactic and slide away Crugeon couldnt help sliding down the slippery body of the hydra he landed in the water next to his men who had chosen to try run through the bog and had been fighing of heads and feet flying everywhere. Crugeon was puzzled surely the beast hadnt given up this easy then he saw....
he didnt like what he saw his face dropped from the evil smile it bore to a face of mixed shock and horror he hadnt seen what had happened to phoogli but whatever did he was now being carried away by some ape like creature the beast was headed straight for them he had took a different choice in opponent either cutting down the number of enemys he had to face or using them to his advantage a tactic Crugeon had used himself

Suddenly the ape fell it had seemed phoogli had woken up and realised he was airborne they slipped and feel hurtling to the ground hidden behind a bush
that didnt stop the Hydra in plunged in finding its victims and lifting them meters in the air Crugeon ran forward to attack again when he did the main head turned around and stared intot he eyes of Crugeon full of rage
“Hold your position Master General! I have hostages that I will not hesitate to kill!”
“It seems that a sick uncle has provided me with your Crown. You will stand down and tell me what you purpose was in attacking me! Then we will discuss my terms for their release.”

Crugeon gasped he found this hard to understand how had the position of power changed so quickly with the death of noone.

Crugeon thought wildely then pulled himself together putting together the words the hydra spoke

Crugeon ran it through his mind trying to think of a responce and as he did he realised something how had the hydra known of the crowns sick uncle?

he smiled he didnt know what advantage this gave him but he knew it was a start

crugeon relaxed his arms and held the power of the ring at bay which was craving to run at the beast again he spoke his voice sounding deeper and more forceful and powerful
"then lets discuss oh mighty warrior as you seem to be the one with the power here".