Disclaimer: I don't own World of Warcraft.
Skydive's POV
I'd heard of things going from bad to worse. More than heard about it, I'd lived that situation before, about a million times in my bizarre life. Excluding the events in Uldum, this was easily a wonderful example of bad to worse.
A old pandaren woman was siting in her backyard, a small carved box in her lap. At first, this might not seem to bad-except for the far too lifelike jade statues all around her, most frozen in positions of fear. Two massive statues, both thirty feet high, were standing on either side of her. One looked like a giant hawk, the other a warrior with a one handed blade in each hand. I scowled freely. I'd already seen more than enough statues today.
To top the situation, Zalleen had stopped in his tracks. He and the old lady seemed to have locked eyes.
Furtively landing and looking about a second time, I took a very small comfort that none of the petrified people looked like out friends. I could smell their scents, faint from becoming stale, so I knew we had the right place. Now the question was were were they?
I shared a glance with Imyra, conveying a silent message between us. Zalleen seemed hypnotized, but the old lady seemed just as much in the same state. Neither of their eyes had so much as twitched in another direction.
Just when I was moving to start tracking the scents, there was a harsh cracking of jade being forced into motion. I jumped just as the jade hawk lurched at me. Two times bigger than me, it hurtled like a deadly bouler.
I spread my wings and turned the jump into a sharp glide upward, using the passing draft of the jade hawk's passing. The massive form disturbed more than enough air, and I was soon enough circling high above my enemy.
The hawk lumbered into a right turn, banking nintey degrees and then propelling inteself upward. While faster than it's first attack, the jade hawk was still slower than me I was able to dodge it's beak as the appendage snapped shut were my tail had been with a harsh clacking and grinding. Wincing, I didn't like to image what would have happened if the blow had hit. I'd probably lose my tail for good, and the hawk could more than likely shatter my spine or neck bones with that beak too.
Wonderful.
The sarcastic thought didn't miraculously help my situation, not that I had expected it to. The jade hawk rose, then dived, and I barrel rolled away. Snapping my wings back out and flapping, I glided higher in a arch, right above the jade hawk. I opened my maw and shot a stream of focused blue fire at the spot between it's wings.
A metallic flash was all the warning I had that my plan wouldn't work. Above the treeline, the sun was glinting on armor-conformed for the bird, fitted across it's back from head to the base of the tail. A similar getup was probably on the front part of him, too.
I cursed in Draconic, then had to flip backward and dive when the jade bird whirled and rocketed at me. It's taloned feet lashed out, moving far faster than I had bargained for. I growled when one talon nicked the translucent blue membrane of a wing, and another claw scratched my lower back. A thin red line appeared on my sea blue skin. I banked left and dove slightly, flapping, to put some distance between me and the bird. I heard the heavy sounds of it's pursuit, then changed direction again and dove for one of the taller trees.
This thing was big, angry, much stronger than me, and thoroughly devoted to the creepy pandaren lady-I could tell that from the vigor it was showing. But it's size and strength made it slow. I could use that, and use it well.
And the trees would be my aid.
Looping gracefully upwards once, I dove at a completely vertical angle. The jade hawk clumsily copied my movement, diving as well. Midway through my dive, I snapped my wings back out and arched sharply back upward. Flapping once and folding my wings close again, I shot between two massive stalks of bamboo.
Predictably the jade bird followed. There was a brief creaking, then a long ominous one, followed shortly by two loud splintering noises. A brief glance back confirmed what my senses had unfortunately been telling me-the bamboo hadn't been much of a holdup.
My spine prickled with a cold feeling of unease. Then a rolling front of air washed over my back, heralding the approach of something big. I could sense magical energy carried on the air front, and the big something wasn't hard to guess. It must have been the aftermath of some kind of magical speed buff.
My unease wasn't unfounded. The thud of giant jade wing sounded, and I rolled just in time to avoid getting clouted on the head by it. I veered right to dodge the bone shattering beak, then futilely tried to use fire again.
The fire had as little effect as before, besides momentarily blinding my pursuer. It was enough for a burst of speed to put distance between us, and for me to locate a thick broughed tree with two branches just wide enough for me. It looked way more sturdy than the bamboo, but there was every chance it wouldn't be any more effective as a trap. But since hampering and trapping was my only option, I'd need to go for it.
I glanced over my wing as I be-lined for the tree. The jade bird's magic had probably worn off, as it was moving slowly again. If what I had learned from watching Zalleen at work, it was that some spells often had a short period of time before they could be used again.
The jade bird's speed spell had a unknown timer. I could only guess it was about a minute and a half, maybe less or more. I'd need to be careful.
Flapping once, I leveled out and dipped into a steep dive. The bird roughly copied, wings creaking. Clapping my wings close, I shot between the branches. A half a minute later, the jade bird rammed itself between the branches. It thrashed crazily, discharging thousands of leaves. I spun and landed on another thick branch, thick enough for a drake as light and slim as me.
Still primed to fly, I observed my handiwork. The branches were creaking, and I could see telltale cracks, but it looked like I would actually have time to think of something.
Fire was out. I had no talent for any magic other than shapeshifting. I didn't have the bulk to smash the jade hawk. Compared to other male drakes, in fact, I'm pretty scrawny.
My eyes went to either side of the tree the hawk was stuck in. maybe I could trap it further. With no trees close enough there, I panned my gaze further out, locating a grove of strong looking trees not terribly far away. I didn't have much in physical strength, but I could muster up some really wicked fire.
I smirked and took off for the trees even as the jade hawk broke out from it's constraints behind me. Spinning and diving, I shot between the grove of trees. The statue followed several feet behind.
I flipped so my back faced the ground, and shot a volley of high speed fire bursts at the trees. They hit on target, and the trunks burned and splintered, creaking and falling in a tumult of noise of my pursuer. The jade hawk screeched and futilely flailed, then was crushed by the impact of several thousand pounds of wood.
The trees settled. A silence fell, a pall of uneasy silence. After it went of for a few minutes, I landed and cautiously inched closer. Peering though the fallen boughs and scattered wood, I saw that the jade hawk's eyes were indeed dark. All hints of artificial life had fled them.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I sat back on my haunches and let my wings completely relax, causing them to drop at my sides. I stared at my handiwork, deciding a needed a little bit of a breather.
Imyra's POV
I leaped left when the jade warrior tried to stomp on me. Taking advantage of my cat form, I dug my hind legs into the ground and dashed forward, right between the statue's legs and out behind him. With lightning speed I shifted, hurling the weight of bear paws at the statue's legs.
My blows hit, but only caused the enemy to stumble. With a scratchy growl it turned on me, angling a two handed sword and swinging it. From a few years of experience and watching Atlanta fight, I knew what to expect and was instantaneously back in cat form, jumping the arch of the sword.
The cold metal passed uncomfortably close, and I yelped when the blade grazed the ruft of fur on my tail tip. Landing lightly, I streaked for the only cover I could see-namely the old hut.
I slammed into the door, thinking it had looked slightly ajar to begin with. I was proven right when the door swung open easily from the shove of my shoulder. Digging my claws into the wooden planks, I stopped my headlong rush and crouched under what I felt was a table. Hoping my black fur hid me to a fair extent, I held my breath and peered at the doorway.
For a few tense moments there was silence. My haunch and shoulder muscles tensed, ready at any moment. I knew enough to realize I probably wasn't safe, but I did wonder if the stone warrior didn't want to wreck his master's house.
Predictably I was proven wrong. Heavy footsteps heralded the arrival of the jade warrior as it heedlessly charged at the wall. The frail hut but up practically no resistance, and pieces of splintered wood showered everywhere. Something hit the table I was under, maybe a beam, and the piece of furniture started to crack.
I cursed. My curse changed to a strangled cry when the table broke sooner than I had thought it would, dumping the beam onto my back.
The heavy length of wood hit my back hard-not enough to break it, but enough for the impact to leave excruciating bruises behind. I shifted to bear form and lunged to my feet, bucking the beam off and weaving a quick healing spell to dull the pain. I snapped back into cat form and dodged as more fallen wood tumbled down. Some came down spinning, impaling themselves into the wooden floor. One such beam grazed my shoulder, and I hastily changed course when a second fallen timber nearly knocked my brains out.
The statue stomped about in the midst of the wreckage, further dislodging the shack's contents. Vials of liquid tipped over and shattered, most of it smelling either sickeningly sweet, or nose killing awful. I skidded through the spilled concoctions a few times, sending droplets scattering every which way.
The statue roared and brought a fist down. I avoided the blow, thanking my current form's balance since I was able to keep my footing on the shifting floor. I continued to dodge rapid slices of the statue's sword, darting left, right, left, left, right again, sometimes jumping. During the entire duration, I was busily thinking.
This thing was made of stone, and I didn't have Zalleen or Atlanta's helpful frost spells to fracture the jade. It was two times bigger than any other jade constructs we'd seen, and I'd already tried everything I could think of to cripple it. None of it had been to any avail, and my claws glanced right off when I tried to strike.
Another beaker shattered as it came close to me, and I hissed and drew back when the liquid stung. The skin and fur smoked a little, as if from a burn. I scrambled away from it, in time to see the liquid corroding a deep hole in the floor at a rapid rate.
More rattling drew my attention. The shelf the bottle had fallen from was full of more, all the same color as what was currently eating the floor.
It mist be some kind of acidic venom. Really potent, too...i might've just found how to end this.
The statue's thundering step heralded a attempt to stomp me. Instead of leaping sideways, I leaped up, shifting into my bird form. Screeching and flapping around the statue's head, I sought to attract it's attention.
It worked. The statue reached out to grab me, and I spun away, right at the vials. The statue hunched lower in a attempt to follow me, and the jade mogu warrior's head slammed into the vials.
They shattered all over it's skull. A furious hissing and a loud bellow, along with splatters of acid, showed me my plan had been pulled off. Just to be safe, I winged a further distance away and turned to look.
I couldn't help but wince. The jade being's head was a mess of holes, all of them getting deeper. It only took a little longer for the head to eventually crumble, and the animated statue feel to the ground. It didn't move again.
Just when I was starting to breathe easier, a blinding flash came from were I had originally started the fight at-the location of Zalleen and the old lady.
Oh shit.
Zalleen's POV
Even Skydive flew off with the jade hawk on his tail and Imyra started her brutal combat against the jade warrior, I was still standing exactly were I had been before. To others me and the old pandaren lady seemed to be having a staring contest, but the reality ran much deeper.
The person before me was dangerous. Not from physical strength, no, but in the spellcaster way. I could feel eddies of arcane energy coming from her, spreading out like ripples in a pond. The arcanum waves brushed my bare forearms and my face. Instinctively I would flex my hands and brace my feet, unconsciously trying to bend the energy to my own use. I had only done this a few times, in the icy cold wastes of Colderra, by Blue central-the Nexus.
(flashback)
the cold air bit even through my heavy cloak. Miserably I huddled inside it, while Emala peered into the distance with her hawkish vision. Pierceclaw didn't look any happier-he was scratching at the ground and occasionally let out a small sneeze. The raptor would cast a irate look at the snow and then growl at it.
"I hate it too, mon," I said with sympathy. I looked at Emala pleadingly. "Why are we here again?"
Emala huffed in annoyance. "The Nexus War provides us a chance to get hired plenty, and you complain? We're here to eliminate
The memory was a little less vivid than it had been some years ago, but I paid that no heed. I tried to remember what I had felt when repelling the blue drake's magic. I had felt it press against my palms, the arcane energy cold and hot at the same time.
If I could make a wave, in what other ways could I influence arcane?
I caught the gleam in the witch's eyes just in time to duck as she launched a arcane blast at me. It hissed a little and had a green tint, and when the bolt struck a bunch of tall grass, it went rigid.
That must be her weird ability to petrify people...
My eyes went to the box by the witch's feet. I had the most uncanny feeling I could hear voices from it.
A uneasy feeling pricked at my scalp. I had just enough time to throw up a shield of arcane magic in time to block yet another attempt to paralyze me. Despite that, I was knocked backward and had to use my staff to vault back to my feet. I flashed away in a brief white spark as I was attacked yet again, the spell thankfully missing. I reappeared again, a little out of breath.
The old pandaren lady cackled loudly. It was a nasty noise, sounding somewhere between gravel grinding together and glass cracking. Her eyes gleamed nastily, and now that I looked closer, she was remarkably bony, especially for a pandaren. Even a old one.
"Some potential in ya," she remarked, her eyes shining a almost insectlike black. Her tone of voice wasn't complimentary, though. Rather, it was dripping with false sincerity. "For some young fool."
Naturally this just prompted me to say something back. "I'd say a young being like me has a lot more potential than a old bag of skin and bones."
The witch growled and hurled a green orb of green fire at me. I whirled my staff and thrust it right at the ball, using a wedge of my own magic to stop and dissipate the orb before it even reached me. I smirked, and the old lady narrowed her eyes contemplatively.
"See?" I mocked. It probably wasn't a good idea to do so, but I had gotten caught up in my own excitement.
"This bag of skin and bones,' as you say, has more than enough skill to whither you into less," the witch responded after a moment with a almost reptilian hiss. She spread er hands and green runes glowed.
Looking around for a moment, I couldn't see anything new. Just when I was about to inform the old lady her spell hadn't worked, green glows caught my eye. Ringing me were seven glowing arcane trails on the ground. As I watched, they began to rise from the ground, gaining a translucent form, like tree roots being revealed by receding dirt in fast forward.
The green things left the ground abruptly and rose into the air in synchronized, swift serpentine motions. They gained the features of fangs and diamond heads almost instantly, flicking rail thin tongues.
"The hell!"
To say I had yelled that would be a understatement. I had practically bellowed it, and used all my available breath to do so.
The arcane manifestations writhed around me, and began to take turns snapping at me. The actions were completely random, removing the possibility of predicting the next strike. I ended up jumping and dodging like some kind of cricket, jump managing to avoid getting eaten by arcane snakes. If they had stomachs to send me to, anyway.
I can't believe I admitted she could do something so impressive. Or wondered if energy beings had stomachs.
Any feeling of 'impressive,' or wondering if the snakes had internal organs-was lost when I had to duck to avoid getting my head snapped off. Now I was just annoyed, and steadily going from annoyed to angry.
"ENOUGH!" I shouted, my voice deepened by rage. I raised my staff high, trailing one hand in the air. Latching onto the arcane currents that had woven the witch's snakes, I gave them a yank in my direction. The snakes jerked with it, and the old panderan stumbled back a little. Uncertainty, maybe even a little fear, was starting to break though her facade.
A snarl heralded the launch of her next spell. Swiftly I brought my staff down to touch the treads I had grasped, sending out a pulse of my own magic along them. He pulse ran through the treads and into the snakes, causing them to shatter and dissipate into whips of green. Then I held out both hand and staff, sending out my own spell to meet the witch's own-a arcane bolt.
The green and white clashed. It was a standstill, and if I was to break it anytime soon, I needed to take advantage of bending the magic in the air to my will. Bracing my feet against the ground, I braced continued to channel the arcane bolt with one hand, while using my staff and waving it. I imagined the magic in the air going from loose threads to a collected mass, just above the top of my staff.
After those few seconds, the staff grew warm in my hand. Short electric pulses seemed to run down the wood, resonating into my palm and down my arm.
Now.
Lowering the staff, I stopped channeling the previous spell and loosed the collected magic. A tidal wave of crackling blue energy left the staff as a beam, becoming wider and faster, and more and more powerful.
The wave slammed into the old lady. She screamed, a sound that grated my ears worse than her laughter. It was of the pain of losing, anger and desperation. I had to close my eyes as the arcane energies vanished in a flash of light.
When I opened them again, I beheld quite the sight. The pandaren lady was laying flat on her back, several yards from her original location. A circular, scorched swath of ground was between her and me, the strange box gaping open in the middle. And the forms currently coughing and standing around the box were very familiar-and exactly who I had wanted to find.
I heard a acidic hissing and something massive collapsing from behind me, then the flutter of wings as Imyra shot past me. I ran and followed her, even as the beating of bigger wings came from behind me. A blue forelimb caught me in the back, rocketing me forward with my netherwing friend even as the blow knocked the breath from my chest.
This was forgotten when we skidded to a halt before a disoriented Atlanta and Stormwing, who looked like he was just waking up from a nap. Skydive let out a pitched keen that sounded far more happy than sad. He licked Atlanta enthusiastically on the face, knocking her helm askew. While she blinked in confusion, Skydive threw his wings and forelegs around Stormwing in a drake sized hug. Stormwing grunted and winced, but Skydive, still glowing happily, didn't seem to notice.
I left them to their embrace and charged at my own target. I caught the said hunter up in my arms, ignoring the fact she was a few inches taller than me. I found myself hugging two tauren-Imyra had gotten there first and had wasted no time entrapping her sister in a very tight but loving embrace.
"You're not dead, mon!" I shouted it in my relief, my eyes burning a little for some reason. "You all aren't dead-"
"You aren't dead," Imyra seemed to have been reiterating the same words over and over again. Her eyes looked moist. "You aren't dead," she continued in a very quiet voice.
Emala looked at her younger sister with a tenderness that I had practically never seen before. She ran her hand through Imyra's hair in a comforting way. Imyra sniffled slightly, then looked down in embarrassment.
"It's fine to cry a little," Emala chuckled. Tender moment gone, she said briskly, "Now can you please let go?" We obliged without question. "We're still missing-"
"Lastraza!" The bellowing cry of anguish came from right behind us. Stormwing was rearing with his wings spread wide, desperately shouting the name into the sky. A slightly scared looking Skydive was backing away from him. "Where are you? Lastraza!"
Emala's POV
I winced when Stormwing's distraught cries rang through the forest around us. If he didn't stop, it could attract unwanted attention-from either remnants of the witch's forces or the stirred up wildlife.
Instantly Imyra set about trying to calm Stormwing down, while Skydive helpfully pinned him to the grassy ground. Or at least, he tried to help that way. When a pained yelp was the result, Skydive hastily withdrew.
Regardless of the inflicted pain, Imyra had gotten her opening. Stormwing lay on the ground with his wings splayed out, staring into space with a melancholy look. But a core of determination was certainly growing, too, if the fiery look in Stormwing's eyes was anything to go by. Imyra was kneeling beside him now, speaking softly in comfort and inspecting his side.
Zalleen had been watching the whole scene, but now turned his attention to me even as I scratched Pierceclaw behind his spiky crest. The raptor crooned, while Skydive awkwardly sidled up, looking a little guilty.
"I didn't mean to hurt him..."
"He'll be fine," I responded sharply. "We need to get to business. We need to find Lastraza-can you pick up her scent?"
Skydive shook his head worriedly. "I didn't come across it anywhere close to here. And the fighting could have scattered any manner of scents around to cover it up-they're all one big blur now."
I sighed regretfully. "Would've made things easier..." I grumbled.
"So, now what?" Zalleen asked, a dejected look on his face. He looked somewhat haggard, and was leaning on his staff as a support. That wasn't something I had seen him do often.
Putting it out of mind for now, I responded as my eyes went to the old pandaren lady who was still flat on her back in the grass. She was only now stirring, and before she could gather her wits I stated a short answer.
"We interrogate the only source we may have. I'll be damned if I didn't believe this witch had something to do with all this."
With a few swift strides, reveling in being out of the darkness and confines of the box, I was standing over the witch. I whistled, and Pierceclaw ran up. He pinned the captive's arms down with both his hind legs, snarling in her face.
The pandaren lady blinked, then snarled back. She attempted to kick, only for me to step on one leg. I exerted pressure, not enough to break anything with my heavy hoof. Of course, things could still break-but I'd need to see if it was worth the effort first.
"Let me ask you a question," I said in a very calm voice that did not match the simmering anger I was feeling. Stormwing probably cared for Lastraza in a much deeper way than the rest of us, but as a fundamental friend and part of our group we all needed her back.
The witch snorted. "And what would that be, eh?"
I cocked my head, studying her thin frame. Taking up one of my glaives in one hand, I leaned closer. "Which do you fear more," I asked in my, 'better talk or else,' voice that made even my allies shudder. "Dying, or seeing your own guts and dying slowly? I won't hesitate to do either if you don't talk, lady, and tell us were our red drake friend is."
For a few moments the panderen just gaped at me. Then she found her voice. "You-You'd-i don't know were this red version of that green thing over there is."
The stuttering sentence told me two things. One, she was lying and afraid. Two, the 'green thing' referred to was clearly Stormwing, from whom a growl was heard.
That was all I needed to know. Kneeling down even more, I braced the edge of the glaive against the neck of our captive. I could see her throat move in a nervous swallow.
"Now. Care to speak?"
More defiant looks mixed with fear. I made to slice down the old lady's chest and stomach with the glaive, only for her to howl in fear.
"Fine! Fine. I'll tell you.
"That's what I thought..."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Faster than I would have thought, we found the place the witch had spoken of-a old looking archway, styled in the same archaic way most of the ruins we had seen in Pandaria had been. There were ruts in the dirt, and on closer inspection we confirmed that it was Lastraza who had been dragged down here.
Stormwing looked ready to charge down instantly. He took a aggressive stance and started to, only for me to issue a sharp protest.
"Hold it! Look at the situation first." I cast him a thoughtful glance, noting that his anger seemed far more focused-and much more intense-than I had seen in some time. "Imyra, care to scope it out for us?"
Imyra nodded. She had been gazing at Stormwing too, but now removed her gaze and shifted into her cat form. Slipping into stealth, she crept up to the archway and vanished inside.
We waited a few minutes. During the course of them all, Stormwing got more and more antsy. By now he was pacing back and forth, every now and then partly flaring his wings. Imyra had partly healed his injuries so he could fight, albeit hindered, but I was starting to wonder if he'd manage to undo that work soon. His frustration seemed beyond the worry of a dear friend that the rest of us were feeling. I smiled inwardly. All of us, besides Lastraza and Stormwing, knew exactly why our storm drake was getting so worked up.
"Calm down," I attempted to sooth him. I awkwardly walked up to Stormwing and laid a hand on his shoulder, knowing that comforting people has never been my strong point. Stormwing did stop, but he kept his burning gaze on the archway, tail still twitching.
True to her word, Imyra showed up again not a second later. She left stealth and padded up to us.
"Anything?" I asked her.
Imyra angled her cat head toward the archway. "Not in the immediate area. But futher down, there are guards..." she trailed off.
"Yeah? Of what kind?"
"Cloud serpents. Not the winged snake kind, but the serpentine dragon kind. There's something off about them, but I'm not sure what. There was a presence down there, too. I didn't like it..."
She fell silent again, staring thoughtfully at the archway with both unease and a growing concern.
"Creepy sounding guys, mon," Zalleen chirped. He rotated his staff in one hand once, grinning. The weariness was still there, but it looked like he'd rested enough to recover his cheerful demeanor.
I nodded in response. Turning grimly to the archway, I hefted my longbow, preparing to take it from my shoulder. "Skydive, be prepared to fight on the ground. There might not be room to fly for some time."
Skydive nodded, looking determined. "I'll manage."
"Then let's-"
the moment of the charge was decided for me when Stormwing's thunderous roar sounded, and our normally level headed friend went charging through the archway, tearing up the ground with his claws. Imyra yelped and jumped aside, still in cat form. The fur of her mane and on her spine was standing up from shock.
For a moment I absorbed this suddenly rash action, looking as the ravaged dirt. Then I set off at a run, Pierceclaw on my heels, following Stormwing. Atlanta never missed a beat, her plate clad form clanking along next to me.
"That was...different," my oldest friend muttered in her hoarse, rarely used voice.
"Yes," I agreed, perturbed despite myself. "Very different indeed."
We entered a tunnel, the sides lined with smooth rock. A crashing sound from below, along with the blue flash of lightning, only urged us to run faster.
We arrived on the scene of complete and utter chaos. Stormwing was comparable to a demon, charging back and forth between foes. Already several black cloud serpents lay scattered everywhere, either dead or incapacitated. With a closer look, I felt what Imyra had felt-that there was something wrong with all of them, besides the obvious injuries that our friend had inflicted.
Stormwing's roar drew my attention back to him. I winced when I saw him ram a shoulder in a cloud serpent, crushing it against the wall. It's high screech didn't cover the crack of bones splintering, even as Stormwing whirled on another. His heavy paw flashed, his wings flared, and the other black cloud serpent was slammed into the hard floor. The stone cracked, and Stormwing's claws pierced his enemy's neck even as the neck bone was shattered. The dark brown talons were already stained with the dark red of blood.
Stormwing had obviously gotten a lot of progress in very little time, but I wasn't sure I liked this downright murderous side of him. After this, I would be happy never to see it again. He whirled once more, claws an arch that tore another foe's throat out. The cloud serpent fell in a mangled mess.
A roar and a bright white flame drew my eye. Darting away from the offending fire, I whirled and fired. My explosive arrows hit the charging black cloud serpent in the neck and chest. Shrieking, it careened away from me and ran into the wall with a crushing impact. Even as the body went slithering back down onto the floor, I was ducking to avoid the charge of a second serpent. I whipped out a glaive and sliced the weapon down it's neck. A spray of blood pattered on me, and I had to dance out of the way of the convulsing body. It twitched once, then lay still. The corpse provided a good shelter, and I jumped behind it to snipe at another foe, that had jut breathed more white fire at me. This one agilely twisted it's serpentine body, and the shots missed. It opened a blinding white maw and tried to bore down on me again.
That was a fatal mistake. In less than a half a second, I had fired a explosive arrow right into the corrupt cloud serpent's gullet. Eyes wide, the thing jerked and exhaled black smoke as the arrow imploded. I barely spared it a glance as the creature fell limp close to my current shelter.
Scanning the tunnel for my other companions, I quickly located them. Skydive was fighting by half flying, half jumping, using pure momentum to tear the cloud serpents from the air. Slim as he was, the netherwing drake was still bigger than the serpents. Currently he was in a tangled, squirming claw to claw fight with one, while a few other cloud serpents nipped at him. Then one opened it's mouth to breathe fire.
The action didn't go unnoticed by the target. Skydive opened his mouth and shot a narrow blue stream of fire at the would-be fire breather. It squealed as it's scales and soft belly was blackened and started to peel. The serpent engaged with Skydive hesitated and looked at it's ally. The mistake became clear when Skydive's head shot forward, and his jaws closed around it's thin neck. He applied pressure and jerked the serpent's head sharply to the side, snapping the neck and instantly killing the creature.
Three more converged on Skydive just when he was on his feet again. He yelped and leaped aside when they attempted to dive bomb him. The attack as a whole was a bad idea-one serpent had it's head lopped clean off by Atlanta's frost strike. My arrows peppered the second's underbelly, exploding in bursts of smoke and flame. Both serpents fell with shrieks. The third was blasted by Skydive's fire, the last sprung upon by Imyra. She savagely mauled it, using her cat form's capabilities to their greatest.
Just further down the passage than us, the eerie chants of magic could be heard. Spinning his staff, Zalleen grinned impishly as a hail of ice shards, big as daggers, rained down from above. The shards pierced several enemies, feeling them like a flock of fowl taken down by well aimed bullets.
When nothing new came at us, we took the chance to take a breather that only really lasted a few seconds. Then, hearing Stormwing's roar moving away, we ran after our rampaging friend.
We found chamber already in much the same state as the tunnel, with the exception of two things-a giant black outline steadily growing bigger, and a panting storm drake that suddenly looked very worse for wear. He was still moving forward, but at a slower and more labored pace. It looked as if each step hurt him. Just beyond him I could see Lastraza's familiar from, struggling in some kind of magical chain binding.
Running closer, I stopped and glanced at Stormwing. From his hunched posture and pained expression, my earlier assumptions seemed proven right. He'd been fighting madly, and the earlier injuries could-had-opened up again. Stormwing might've made them even worse, too.
"Zalleen!" I shouted, pointing at the chains. "Break them!"
He nodded and ran up to them. Lastraza looked at all of us with a relieved smile, but it faded fast. Even as Zalleen cast a counterspell to the chains, she had already bounded over to Stormwing. A green glow enveloped his ribs, and Stormwing blinked and stood property.
"We need to get out of here!" she demanded, casting a wary glance at the black shade. It was starting to fade, but was wearing a oddly content expression in newly formed white eyes.
We'd just barely made it out of the archway before a loud boom heralded the residual smoke of what looked and felt like shadow magic.
Lastraza's POV
I'd felt dizzy with relief, but worry too.
Relief that I wasn't being used as a power source anymore. Worry about just what that black shade had been, and what it would do now.
The dark thoughts fled momentarily when I was bowled into by a bulkier body and wrapped in green wings flickering with blue stripes. Stormwing nuzzled me warmly. A unintentional purr left my throat as I let him. A warm feeling in my chest suddenly making me uncomfortable, I tried to find a escape avenue. "Thank the gods. I can't ever be more grateful for you all coming for me." Gratitude expressed, I slid carefully out of Stormwing's embrace. He sat back on his haunches, looking both disappointed but relieved. "No problem," he said softly, looking at the ground.
"Oh yeah, we awesome," Zalleen whooped. He clapped once and grinned. "That old lady and her creaky lawn gnomes couldn't stop us."
"Neither could the overgrown snakes," Skydive added. The two cracked up, while Imyra pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. Atlanta was looking contemplatively at Emala, who was staring at the archway with narrowed eyes.
"Let's get our money and leave," she said abruptly. Everyone feel silent at her tone. "What I saw in there didn't bode well."
"Whatever it was," I said quietly, "It was-is-evil, and corruptive. I don't know if it's still it there..." I shuddered, the forest air suddenly cold. "But I get the feeling we'll see it again, one way or another..."
Preview of next up: the Karsarang hunt arch. A hunting competition turns deadly with the incursion of murderous saurok.
The little preview thing (and a longer chapter) is basically my way of apologising for the long wait. I'll still be updating once a month, but I'm going to try and be a bit faster. The shade will be back, but not for a little while.
Pls leave a review :)