[i]"You should have brought more of your atrocious militia to fight orcs."[/i] -Dirge, Page 1. --- [b][center]West Watch Tower[/center][/b] --- Draza's attempt to reveal Gustavo was an immediate and blatant success as sugary powder flooded the air, covering Gustavo's waist and chest as the stuffed Gahrul smacked into him and then fell lifelessly to the ground. Gustavo stood stunned for a moment in shock that his potent ability had just been countered by everyday cooking materials and a stuffed doll, then glared at Esyllt. [b]"Clever..."[/b] He stated before spitting on the ground, pulling out both daggers he twirls them as he looks past Esyllt to Draza. The tension in his shoulders eased somewhat. [b]"I'm not sure if I should be amused or impressed."[/b] He mutters, seemingly to himself, as the girl yells across the field to him. [b]"IMPRESSED!"[/b] Gustavo backs up from the duet and looks around the field. He didn't like what was going on, but couldn't retreat. He looks at the girl warily and shakes his head. Her response is to slip away from behind the megalith and dash across the field for Gustavo. A look of shock comes across his face as he bolts for her, meeting her halfway. Fafnir was only a few feet away on his left, and in front of him was where Esyllt had previously been standing (facing north), again only a few feet away. [b]"Fine! We'll get the snacks together!"[/b] Gustavo could be seen visible trembling with rage, but there was nothing else he could do. Maeven Lucre's attack against the succubus succeeded. At point blank range with a pistol, there was no such thing as dodging, nor could the succubi predict it, and so, the succubi took the bullet right between the eyes and fell backwards, dead. Just as it almost seemed like time for celebration, Fafnir's eyes would dim, and the machine's gears would cease to crank. The damage was too extensive, Fafnir would require repairs before he would be functioning again, though being a machine, death was only temporary so long as the core remained intact, and it did. The rightmost skeleton fell immediately afterwards as Aëyr's rock finds its mark and hits it dead on. There was no chance of it being particularly useful anyway, seeing as how it seemed to be waiting for orders that were never given. The one on the left, meanwhile, attempts to block Abida's attack. Her mighty swing and elven heritage however is more than enough to cleave straight through the bones of the skeleton, chopping it cleanly in two, its bones scattering across the ground. Naream's two handed minion reaches the succubi and finishes it off, decapitating it and letting the head roll across the ground. This left only the giant hooved demon. Which naturally responded with a loud roar and a charge: Towards Esyllt, Naream, and Draza. It was still slow enough however that even with the charge on its side, they could evade the attack in time. This time... --- [b][center]East Watch Tower[/center][/b] --- Zayn's attempt to fall back from danger was naturally successful as Dirge simply let him go without a fight, then inspected the bomb. Dirge whispered something unintelligible in Orcish, though the tone suggested a mixture of warning and gratitude. At this point as Zayn headed for town he had multiple options. He could move towards the lake where the Queens were last located, and from the looks of things, there was smoke coming from that direction. He could also head to the western side, central, or towards the Inn. Wherever he thought himself most useful. Alicia Le’roux's attacks turn out fruitless as the half-orc steps back, and suddenly, without warning, flees back to Dirge's side. Dirge, in turn, was swinging a killing blow at Dread Fang, who had not moved since sustaining his significant injury. In one fell swoop, Alicia could see the thick, green-black blood intermix with the red blood on the end of the warhammer before he glared in her direction, and whispered telepathically to her. [i]"Flee with your friend, the bomb is ruined, else I should kill you as well."[/i] --- [b][center]Town Square[/center][/b] --- Rayvon's quip with Jeremy lasted almost half a minute as Laenaia used her magic, Andrea healed herself and fed Wayne, and Ceann found and knocked her fire arrow. As Rayvon stepped aside to allow Ceann's shot clean access, Jeremy steps aside and lets it fly past his head. He had learned quickly from the first arrow to anticipate the second, but as he took a step towards Ceann, he caught the sight of his dead lover moving out of the corner of his eye. He hesitates, in time for Rayvon to easily attack and put him on the defensive as he summoned a shadowy mace, attempting to hold back Rayvon's counter-attack which was preventing him access to Ceann. Ceann would notice from repeated attacks that Jeremy's entire method of approaching threats was to deal with them one by one. If he could be pinned down and attacked on multiple fronts, he wouldn't likely know how to deal with that... Andrea's attempt to feed Wayne succeeded as he drank the blood from her hand greedily, a few seconds passed before his vocal chords had managed to regenerate enough to allow him hoarse speech. [b]"Thank... You..."[/b] He manages to state, his voice sounding incomplete and unstable. Her self healing was also fairly effective, it closed the wounds but it didn't completely heal away the damage to her movement and breathing. Those would take more time and effort in a safer location than a battlefield. Thailen would notice the crystals start to glow, the comical timer fade the numbers away, almost as if to tease her with not knowing how much time she had left. The crystals glowed further, and almost started to pulse. It seemed the explosive would go off very shortly if she did nothing, and so, she acted. Pulling the red crystal out first, the other two dimmed somewhat. The explosion would at least be contained if she was wrong, at least, according to James' message. With a sigh of relief, she pulls the purple crystal out. The bomb explodes, sending chunks of stone and several metallic and crystalline shards hurtling in every direction. Smoke and dirt was immediately flung up into the air, and without any ability to scream in pain, several shards rip right through the valiant woman. One could almost swear they spotted a small smile on her lips before a metallic piece from the bomb's counter pierced and destroyed her lips, shunted itself through the top of her mouth, through her brain, and out the back end of her skull. She died near-instantly as her barely recognizable corpse falls back onto the stone behind her. Andrea would feel herself pulled down onto the stone by Wayne, followed up with him covering her the moment Thailen had pulled the second crystal from the bomb. Two shards embed themselves into him, one large shard through his chest, punching through his left lung and a little ways out of his chest, the other embedding itself in his left leg. He saved her life. Ceann would feel a large slab of stone slam into her side, knocking her off her feet and fracturing one of her hip bones. She would find herself unable to stand, but the wound could be mended. Rayvon would have an unusual moment of deftness as she glanced back at the bomb, seeing a chunk of stone hurtling for her head she ducks just in time to see Jeremy's shocked face get hit with it. As it was hurtling at several dozen miles per hour and was a thick enough slab to be about the size of the chest of a grizzly bear, it simply took Jeremy's head clean off and kept going until it slammed into a house just behind him. Lanaia, Mars, and Zin, by statistical miracle, would find themselves fairly untouched by anything significant. Instead, they were showered in the blood of their previous comrade, who had shielded them from the bomb the moment she noticed she had chosen incorrectly. Altogether, a bitter end, though the only remaining foe--the spider under Andrea's control--had been hit with several pieces of debris. What shambles remained of its once noble skull were strewn across the dirt for several feet in the opposite direction of where the bomb used to be. The fountain as well, had been completely destroyed, leaving a small crater where it used to be. Dirt and dust choked the air, leaving nothing but the scent of fire and death around them. Still, as civilians peeked out of the Inn to see what happened, they cheered for their brave heroes and heroines. None of them were harmed, and the damage to the surrounding buildings was minimal in comparison to what it could have been. --- [b][center]Raven's Inn[/center][/b] --- Maher and Nadira's ball of water comes hurtling from the sky towards the sabre tooth cat. As it was focused on Muderok and Gryff, who were both quite threatening, it was immediately surprised and doused. Falling onto its belly, Murderok and Gryff both successfully reach it, along with Mikan who had caught up with them at an eerily fast pace. The three of them pin it down successfully, allowing Aslo to come from the side and slice open its leg in as minimalistic a way as possible. Poison seeped into the open wound, and the cat became sluggish, but still awake. Still, with one person holding him, he shouldn't go anywhere at this point. Mikan sighs in relief and then looks closer at the fur of the sabre tooth cat. Brushing her hand through the fur of its back she grabbed something glinting deep within its thick fur and pulled it out. A key! So it seemed that if they had tried to just avoid it, they would not have succeeded after all. [b]"Ha!"[/b] Mikan says with a smug grin. [b]"I knew all of you big, handsome men wouldn't disappoint me."[/b] She says with a flirtatious giggle and a wink to Aslo, Murderok, and Gryff. She then looks back at the Adonai twins. [b]"You two should get up to the top of the tower, quick, and get what's inside the chest. We need to move as fast as we can."[/b] She says softly as she tosses them the key. [b]"I knew your mentor. If you're anything like her, you can easily deal with it... Just hope there's no spiders."[/b] She adds with a playful tone in her voice. Even with a giant saber tooth cat right there, she felt little in the way of fear. She then looks at Gryff and Murderok. [b]"You two might want to go with them... Just to be sure. I can hold the cat down with Aslo here."[/b]