Chapter 14: Knight in Icy armor
"Malene, are you alright?"
"What?"
"Well, I don't know you well enough to tell, but you seem a bit distant."
"Lapis, don't waste your time. She's always like that."
The group trudged through the snow, quickly making their way to the toy factory at the northern end of town. Aside from Galena, none of them were terribly fond of the cold. More than one of them breathed a sigh of relief upon entering the building.
"So...which team is going to the second floor?"
"We are! Hey Emery, I'll race ya!"
"You're on!"
Malene sighed and adjusted the phantom mask that Garnet had lent her, then set off to follow the sound of the footsteps which belong to the two boys, who were quite possibly more immature than her brother. Cryptos however, merely scoffed and muttered something about the "childish brats" before following.
"They're long range...and aggressive."
"So? They should be easy pickings for you, just cast pneuma!"
"Um...hello? I can only cast it on one of us."
"Bah...I can take it down easily."
Cruisers. The little nutcracker soldier dolls come to life. They were annoying as hell, and loud and noisy too. Since Malene couldn't kill them in one hit, she would often knock their little rifles out of their little wooden hands and then kill them. Other times she would just plug up their rifles altogether, causing them to backfire.
Myst cases were a different story. They gave her a good chance to practice her trap setting techniques. That was if Jasper didn't go all spear happy on them. If he had the energy of an acolyte then he would probably pierce anything and everything that got within range.
And the cookies, they were the worst. I swear, they seem to be forever picking their noses. And those sniffing sounds they make are enough to drive someone insane. The sweet little hunter known as Malene would shoot them through the heart on sight...er...upon hearing them.
But in their aimless wandering in search of Odin knows what, it just so happened that they got separated. The priest and the knight who acted as if they were no older than five years old were constantly playing hide and seek or some other game, the ambiance of the place bringing out their inner children even more. It wasn't long before Malene was all alone.
The place was so quiet...too quiet. She turned around, trying her best to pick up any sounds with her sensitive hearing. After finding nothing but silence in her surroundings, she knelt down and placed her hand flat on the ground, then lowered her ear to the ground as well. She could hear the vibrations of footsteps approaching. Standing up, she readied her hunter's bow, a crystal arrow in her hand. She knew what it was, and she was all alone to face him.
The room suddenly grew chilly as she felt the presence of the King of the toy factory, the beast known as Stormy Knight.
Snatching the last trap from her bag, she quickly went to work, jumping back at the last second. As soon as the monster's foot got tangled, she attacked.
"Double strafe!"
The giant deformed reindeer became more enraged with the arrows embedded in his arm. He broke free from the snare and charged at her, his sword poised above his head. His aura changed as his speed seemed to double, stirring up the wind around him.
Malene took a huge step back, slipping on a piece of cake that was left lying around. She knew that she didn't have much of a chance, so she closed her eyes and waited while listening to the faint whistling sound of his sword coming down at her.