Finally got some combat in this chapter! Normally, I don't think my combat writing is all that great, but I'm actually quite satisfied with how it turned out.
For a moment, all was silent. The entire rosters of students and staff could only stare at the column of smoke that arose from the academy's central tower, dumbfounded by the explosion that had caused it moments prior. Then reality set in, and hysteria soon followed behind it, with many of the students beginning to panic. Many of the teachers followed suit, even as they tried to calm the students.
Darrian's eyes were locked on the column of smoke, with an itch burning in the back of his mind. He took a step towards the edge of the stage, but stopped short upon feeling a tug at his sleeve. Looking back, he found Louise had adopted an expression that mirrored the worry in his heart. The two of them shared a look, and Darrian hoisted Louise into the air, carrying her bridal style and unfurling his wings.
"Where do you think you're going?" a voice spoke up behind them, and Darrian looked to see Agnès giving them a challenging glare. "This is now a state of emergency, whatever's going on needs to be dealt with by the academy's guard-"
"A rotation of guards that have never seen active duty," Headmaster Osmond interrupted, earning a glare from the blonde bodyguard. "Young Darrian here possesses an array of abilities hitherto undreamt of in our lands. Miss Vallière's… problem with magic, though unfortunate, may also be of use, should the need arise."
"But-!"
Whatever argument Agnès had was cut off by a sudden gust of wind, kicked up by Sylphiid taking to the sky, with Tabitha perched on her back.
"Ah, and I suppose Miss d'Orleans will be of help as well," Osmond commented dryly, earning a frustrated sigh from Agnès. The elderly Headmaster motioned to Darrian, who turned and unfurled his wings for the second time. Louise was ready for it this time, bracing herself as Darrian stepped off of the stage and ascended into the air.
It took mere moments for them to arrive at the central tower. Darrian made straight for the upper section, grappling himself to the wall, giving him and Louise a view of the courtyard below. It didn't take them long to discover the source of the disturbance; a large earthen golem, taking the appearance of a massive boulder that had sprouted legs and arms, had broken a hole in the side of the tower.
"It… broke into the vault…!" Louise exclaimed, only to mentally slap herself as the golem immediately noticed their presence. With an audible groan and the sound of stone grinding on stone, the massive earthen creature reared back and launched a great fist at them, which Darrian easily dodged away from. High above, the sound of a roar signaled them to Tabitha's arrival, just in time for a hail of ice spikes to rain down upon the golem.
"Do these things just move around on their own?" Darrian asked half sarcastically as he landed on a nearby roof, only to immediately take to the air again.
"If it's enchanted well enough, yes!" Louise answered, raising her voice to surpass the volume of the air rushing around them. "Whoever made it has to be inside the vault!"
"And the big guy out here won't just let us in that easily," Darrian snarked, landing far enough away to properly survey the terrain. The courtyard below was spacious enough to lead the golem around without worry of further collateral damage. Darrian wracked his brain to try and think of a strategy, as he wasn't in Terraria anymore, and couldn't just spam attacks to whittle a health bar down. Just as the golem reared back again, another ice spike collided with the hulking creature, and something clicked in his mind. "Tabitha's an ice user?"
"Yes, she is! Her runic name is 'The Snowstorm'!"
The gears in Darrian's head began turning as he launched into the air again, gliding down as he looked around the empty courtyard. If he could just distract it long enough…
"I have a plan!" Darrian announced, grappling to the nearest roof, only to unfurl his wings and ascend before they could even touch ground. They made straight for Sylphiid, ascending past just a bit before gliding slowly onto the dragon's back. Tabitha didn't bother sparing them a second glance, opting instead to ready another volley of ice spikes, though it didn't appear to do any lasting damage. "Tabitha, can you try and freeze it through? With some kind of mist?"
The blue haired girl looked back at Darrian curiously before realization dawned, and she nodded once.
"I'm gonna go down and distract it," Darrian said as Tabitha launched yet another ice spike, likely to keep the golem's attention on them instead of the buildings. "If it goes well, I'll be able to stop it from moving entirely. When I give the word, Tabitha, you freeze it through. Just the center should be enough. Then, Louise, you cast a spell at it - doesn't matter what, just make it explode."
Louise wrinkled her nose at the thought, but said nothing to object; it sounded like a perfectly viable plan, and so she nodded her acknowledgement. Darrian took a deep breath to center himself, before shooting the girls a quick grin.
"Let's rock," Darrian quipped, standing up and falling backwards off of Sylphiid, spreading his wings out and gliding to the nearest roof, then shooting off a fireball with Flamelash to grab the hulk's attention. "That's right, eyes on me, pal."
It occurred to him briefly that the golem didn't have eyes, or even a head, but he shook the minute detail off as unimportant. In that moment of distraction, the golem reared back and swiped, swinging its massive arm along the roof towards Darrian. The sound of rock crashing over shingles caught his attention, and he panic jumped at the last moment, using his wings for extra height before gliding down to the courtyard proper.
"So much for avoiding collateral damage. Damn…"
Darrian kicked himself mentally before returning his full focus to the golem that now towered over him, and he cycled through his list of abilities, trying to decide on a method to keep the hulking rock in place. He wasn't worried about whether Tabitha's mist would land, but rather Louise's explosion. It wasn't very likely that she'd practiced deliberately blowing things up long enough to have good aim, hence the need to keep the target locked down.
After dodging a series of ground slams, Darrian directed his focus inward for a moment and called upon the Stardust Guardian, smiling triumphantly as it materialized behind him. The golem launched its fist for another strike, only this time it was caught by the Guardian, who dug its fingers in and held it firmly in place.
"One down," Darrian commented to no one in particular, pleased with the progress he was making. The other stone fist came flying over in short order, prompting Darrian to materialize a serrated pickaxe with a red gem at the cross, his trusty Picksaw. With a quick hop as the golem's fist approached, Darrian embedded his Picksaw into its palm, then launched a few hooks to pull it back to the far side of its hulking body.
Now tied down to the ground, Darrian held out his empty hand and called on another pickaxe to embed into the back of the golem's hand, this time utilizing the Chlorophyte pickaxe.
"Now!" Darrian called as loud as he could, and was pleased when Sylphiid lowered into view, hovering a few dozen feet above the courtyard. Tabitha leapt from her back, casting a quick spell to slow her descent, before priming and casting a focused cone of frost that perfectly encapsulated the golem's core section. It had no effect for a moment, but it wasn't long before the telling sound of rock freezing over began creaking out from the earthen hulk's body.
"Fireball!"
Louise, not feeling confident enough to leap from Sylphiid as Tabitha had, simply cast her spell from the dragon's back. Regardless of being cast from on high, the explosion struck true, and the golem's core was obliterated into a few thousand frozen pebbles. Darrian let his pickaxes vanish, allowing the earthen arm out of his grip to pass over him, though he couldn't help a sense of falling backwards with it despite being tethered to the ground. He recovered quickly however, breaking his grapple points and jumping backwards to join Tabitha as he called his Guardian back to him. Sylphiid landed behind them with a snarl moments later, with Louise sliding off and joining them, and they all waited with bated breath, to see if the golem would try to reform and attack again.
Thankfully, it never came. The pieces of rubble left behind by the golem remained on the ground where they fell, and the trio took a moment to take a collective deep breath, before Tabitha tugged at Darrian's sleeve and pointed towards the hole in the side of the tower. With a few steps and a leap into the air, Darrian grappled to just beneath the hole, using his hook to pull him up to the opening in a timely manner. Peaking into the opening from below, he surveyed the inner area of the vault, before pulling himself up and staring into a room that was devoid of life.
"There's no one in here."
—
It wasn't very long after the golem had been taken down and the intruder's absence discovered, the courtyard was swarming with guards and faculty, much to Darrian's mild annoyance.
"Active duty or not, they could have at least tried to help," Darrian muttered, shaking his head somewhat as a few of the guards poked at the rubble that was the golem's arms. "But no, leave it to a pair of school girls and their familiars."
"It's not what I would have chosen," said Professor Colbert, causing Darrian to jump and turn sharply to face the balding man, earning a sheepish expression in return. "I apologize. We should not have left the matter in your hands alone."
Darrian said nothing, opting instead to look around at the courtyard with a huff. Many of the guards and staff members were milling about doing nothing. Louise was speaking with Headmaster Osmond and his green haired secretary, the latter of whom looked like she'd rather be anywhere else. Tabitha was crouched near Louise with a semi suspicious gaze, staring at the remnants of the golem, as if hoping the rubble would draw out a clue as to the intruder's whereabouts.
"I guess it's fine," Darrian said with a sigh, running his hand through his hair frustratedly. "The fight itself wasn't too bad, I'm just upset that the person was already gone by the time I got here."
"If that's true, they likely had a specific item in mind for this theft," Colbert commented with a wistful sigh, staring up at the hole in the tower forlornly as he leaned into his staff. "Which leaves the question of the golem's presence. Why leave it behind if they've already made good their escape?"
"As a distraction, I'd bet," Darrian surmised, shoving his hands in his pockets. "It wasn't exactly a difficult fight, but it was time consuming. By the time the thing went down, our thief was already long gone."
The balding professor only smiled slyly in response, likely having already come to that conclusion before even voicing the question. Before Darrian could comment on it, Louise returned his side, and the Headmaster raised his voice to address the courtyard.
"Attention, please," Osmond called, using a minor cantrip to raise his voice and silence the chattering of those in the courtyard. "Thanks to the bravery of our two young ladies here, our investigation into today's incident was kept quite brief. Their testimony, in combination with my own inspection of our academy's vault, leads our conclusion towards an unfortunate truth: the infamous Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth was able to invade the vault and make off with a dangerous artifact; the Staff of Destruction."
That little nugget of information sent a round of panicked chattering amongst the faculty, and the guards began looking more nervous than before.
"I'm guessing this Fouquet has been a problem before?" Darrian asked Louise in a whisper, earning a grave nod in return.
"He's a well known thief that steals valuables from higher nobles," Louise answered, sounding every bit as grave as she looked. "Though he's been active for the better part of two years now, no one has ever managed so much as a glimpse of him; the wake of his theft is the only proof of his earth alignment, as we saw today."
Darrian hummed in response, crossing his arms and watching with mild exasperation as the faculty began panicking even harder than they were before.
"Calm yourselves, my fellows," Headmaster Osmond said gently, not managing to soothe the panic in any way, but managing to instill quiet once more. "It is incredibly unfortunate that this has happened. However, the Staff of Destruction was our responsibility to safeguard, and so it falls to us to reclaim it before it falls into the wrong hands."
The Headmaster didn't outright say it, but it was exceedingly clear that he was expecting someone amongst the staff to volunteer for the recovery mission. Darrian leaned back against the wall he was standing by and began rhythmically tapping his finger against his arm, frustratedly resigning himself to the fact that the day's history would likely be repeating itself.
"Surely there's one amongst our fair staff that would be brave enough to make the attempt?" Osmond prompted, casting his gaze around at the small sea of faces, though there didn't seem to be a single one that could gaze back.
"Perhaps…" Longueville began apprehensively, seeming unhappy with what she was about to suggest. "If there are no volunteers… perhaps it would be best to call on those who have already assisted?"
And there it is…
Darrian could only sigh in frustration, knowing that if Louise was asked, she'd give in without a second thought. Casting a quick glance at the pink haired girl told him that she was probably about to volunteer regardless.
"I object," Agnès spoke up, looking quite cross with the idea. "This would be the second time you'd rely on students for a job that should be given to trained soldiers. I've already deployed a large number of scouts to the countryside, there's no chance that Fouquet escapes without being seen or leaving a trail."
"Be that as it may, I highly doubt that scouts could prevent Fouquet from leaving the area entirely," Longueville argued. "I've already received a report of a suspicious figure at a cabin to the east of here. If that is Fouquet, then they are dangerously close to slipping away entirely. Sending the group that already dealt with the thief's golem- with relative ease, may I add- may allow recovery of the artifact before it disappears entirely! We cannot afford to wait for reinforcements to arrive!"
"You both are correct, of course," Colbert cut in, offering a placating smile to the two women in an attempt to defuse the argument. "I will join this mission. I may not look it, but I once led a unit of battlemages, so I can likely match whatever skill Fouquet possesses. That aside, regardless of ability or valor, we should not entrust a burden such as this to children alone."
Colbert cast a sharp glare around the courtyard, prompting many of the staff and guards to avert their gazes in shame once again. Agnès looked like she still wanted to object, but fell silent when Princess Henrietta laid a hand on her shoulder with a mildly stern look.
"Well then, I suppose the matter is settled," Osmond said, running a hand down his lengthy beard with a contemplative expression. "That is, of course, if Miss Vallière and Miss d'Orleans are willing to lend themselves and their familiars to the cause?"
"Of course, Headmaster," Louise said with a bow and determined expression. "I would be happy to serve, however I can."
Tabitha said nothing, but nodded her own confirmation. This seemed to appease whatever apprehension the Headmaster had, though he was still visibly regretful of having to rely on students for a second time. Darrian laid a hand on Louise's shoulder, and the two shared a determined look.
"Very well then," Osmond rumbled, clapping his hands to catch the attention of the courtyard once again. "Miss Vallière, Miss d'Orleans, your valor is greatly appreciated. Professor Colbert, Miss Longueville, please guide them with a steadfast hand, and may all of you return here alive and unharmed."
With that, the majority of the crowd began dispersing out of the courtyard. Henrietta lingered long enough to give Louise an encouraging smile, before vanishing into the halls, with her bodyguard sulking along behind her.
"As I mentioned before," Longueville began, drawing the attention of the group as she held up a small sheet of parchment with a map drawn on it. "Fouquet was sighted at a cabin east of here. I'm actually familiar with it, so I'll be able to lead us there in a timely manner. We can take a carriage from the stable."
"Ah, how fortunate," Colbert said, offering an appreciative smile to the green haired secretary, who responded by turning away with a sigh and a flat expression, causing the balding man to droop somewhat. Darrian offered him a placating pat on the shoulder before turning to head towards the stable, only to be met with the mildly annoyed glare of a certain redhead.
"I hope you aren't forgetting about me," said Kirche, crossing her arms over her stomach with an agitated expression. At her feet, Flame warbled in a similarly agitated tone.
"I was rather hoping I could," Louise snarked, earning a glare from her red headed rival.
"Oh no, you don't get to go off on an adventure without me," Kirche bit out, planting her hands on her hips and glaring right back at Louise. Darrian could only hide his face in his hands with a groan as the two girls immediately began their routine bickering.
He'd almost felt bad for a moment, getting ready to set off on a moderately important mission without even considering asking Kirche for help, only for her to use it as a vector to start arguing with Louise again. Colbert looked confused, Longueville looked incredibly disinterested, and Tabitha just cracked open a book with a weary sigh.
"How do I make it stop?"
—
"So, what else do we know about this Fouquet guy?" Darrian asked, shifting in his seat on the open carriage, trying to maintain his balance as he crossed over a bump in the trail.
"Not much, I'm afraid," Longueville admitted from her place at the head of the carriage. "They're well known for stealth, often doing heists without ever being seen. As far as I'm aware, this is the only time they've ever been physically been spotted, and that's if this was even them. Indeed, it's only an assumption that they're even male."
"So we have no idea what else he might be capable of," Darrian surmised, crossing his arms and looking up into the trees with a sigh. "If that golem really was just a distraction, then at least he won't know what we can do, either."
"And even if he could, Miss Zerbst and I were not present for that fight," Colbert added from his place at Longueville's side. "Though that does not give us cause to be reckless. We should approach the situation with care."
Darrian couldn't help but begin a rhythmic tapping of his finger as he contemplated the coming fight. Something about the way he was fidgeting caught Louise's attention, and she tugged at his sleeve, shooting him a mildly worried look.
"Darrian, what's wrong?" Louise asked gently, prompting him to uncross his arms and lean down on his elbows, staring down at the carriage floor.
"It's nothin'..." Darrian muttered, knowing full well that no one was convinced. "I'm just… thinkin' about the last time I was preparing for a fight like this."
In her seat across from Darrian, Tabitha quietly shut her book, setting it aside so she could lean forward to take his hands.
"It won't end the same way."
"But what if-"
"It won't," Tabitha interrupted, looking up at Darrian imploringly. "I won't let it, and I know you won't either."
The two gazed at each other for a moment longer before Darrian sighed, hanging his head with a mildly defeated expression.
"Right," Darrian said, withdrawing his hands from Tabitha's to slap himself over both cheeks in an attempt to visibly steel himself, before giving the girl across from him an appreciative smile. As she smiled back, Kirche looked from her to Louise with a moderately smug look, waggling her eyebrows mischievously, prompting the pink haired girl to roll her eyes exasperatedly. "Just gotta stay focused."
"Keep your eyes up, then," Longueville said, drawing everyone's attention as she pulled the carriage to a stop. "The cabin is just ahead."
The six of them dismounted from the carriage, with Tabitha and Darrian advancing to the edge of the tree line to get a good look at the cabin, with the others crowding around them somewhat comically.
"I don't see any movement," Darrian commented, stepping out from behind the tree he'd been leaning out from. "We're sure this is the right place?"
"There's nowhere else in the area they could be hiding," Longueville confirmed, seeming rather apprehensive. "I uh.. I'm going to hang back. I don't have any fighting ability, so…"
Darrian said nothing as the green haired woman returned to the carriage, opting instead to materialize a scoped Sniper Rifle to get a closer look.
"Definitely no movement in there," Darrian said flatly, passing the Rifle off to Tabitha, who raised it to get her own look down the scope. A moment later, she returned it to Darrian, giving her own agreement. "No time like the present, then. Cover me?"
The four mages spread out to different trees, each having their own vantage point on the cabin in the clearing. Once he was sure to be covered, Darrian threw a hook into the clearing, covering a considerable distance near instantly before using the momentum to simply fly the remainder of the way. Sliding to a finish as he reached the house, Darrian quickly peeked in through the window, confirming that no one was even in the building.
Darrian quickly checked around the corners before signaling the others to push up, continuing to cast his gaze around to ensure that no one was watching from other areas of the tree line. One by one, they each pushed up to the house, with Colbert covering each of them until he was the last to arrive. After the front door was confirmed to be locked, Louise primed a small explosion to knock in the window, with Darrian barreling through after to unlock the door and let the others in. Less than a minute after their entry, the box containing the Staff of Destruction was located. Darrian couldn't help but be suspicious at the shape of the box, noting that the length was roughly a third of Tabitha's or Colbert's staves.
"Well, that was easy," Louise remarked dryly, hefting the box out of its hiding place and passing it to Colbert, who took it gingerly from her. As they stepped out of the building cautiously, they were greeted by Longueville, who was nervously casting her gaze around the tree line. Colbert laid the box out on a convenient barrel and flipped the lid open to inspect, and Darrian couldn't help but snort when he saw what was inside.
"I thought the box looked like the wrong shape for a staff," Darrian commented, running a hand along the supposed Staff of Destruction. "This isn't a staff at all. It's actually a weapon from my homeland."
"Really now?" Colbert mumbled, inspecting the weapon with a thinking man's pose, before carefully hefting the thing out of its box. Tabitha appeared uninterested in the weapons, stepping away from the group to keep careful surveillance on the surrounding area. Darrian followed suit, meandering into a more open section of the clearing, his eyes sharply following along the tree line. Inside the cabin, Louise and Kirche were poking around the contents of the single room, bantering and bickering as they usually did.
"From your homeland… meaning it isn't magical?" Longueville asked with a cautious, yet curious expression. "How would one fire such a weapon, then?"
"Ah, there appear to be instructions here on the side…" Colbert pointed out, his academic interest leading him to try and follow those instructions, extending the barrel and seeming quite excited when the sights popped out and clicked into place.
"Be careful with it," Darrian called, seeming rather amused by the older man's enthusiasm. "It might not be magic, but it's still a powerful weapon. It's a LAW, or Light Anti-armor Weapon, meant to pack a serious punch against even heavily armored tanks."
"Oh, of course," Colbert responded sheepishly, deciding that now probably wasn't a good time for such examination, and moved to put the weapon away. Seeing her chance, Longueville quickly drew her wand and launched a small earthen pillar from the ground into the older man's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and forcing the weapon from his hands. Darrian and Tabitha both turned sharply at the sound of Colbert hitting the ground, only to see Longueville deftly catch and arm the weapon, pointing the barrel at the one she believed would be the biggest threat, and firing.
A small concussive blast of smoke and fire was let out the back end of the LAW's barrel as the rocket was launched, nearly immediately causing a blast comparable to one of Louise's that detonated directly at Darrian's feet. For a weapon that had been hyped up for so long, Longueville was almost disappointed that the blast had been so small, but she supposed that the deed was done. Kirche and Louise both shot out of the cabin at the sound of the blast, but stopped short upon seeing the crater where Darrian had been standing. Tabitha was simply staring at the crater in horror, all color having drained from her face.
"You… killed him…" Tabitha said hoarsely. Louise's heart stopped, hearing that. She'd assumed that Fouquet had been sighted and the weapon had been used to defeat him, but this…
"I suppose I have only myself to blame," Longueville remarked with a sigh, glowering at the tower of smoke that had begun to dissipate. "None of this would have been necessary had I taken the time to actually inspect the weapon. Foolish…"
"You killed Darrian?" Louise squeaked, her eyes watering as she tore her gaze from the plume of smoke. Longueville just sighed again, turning to point the LAW at the pair of girls in the doorway of the cabin. Louise and Kirche both panicked as Longueville pressed the launch button, causing an audible clicking sound within the weapon, but otherwise doing nothing.
"What!?" Longueville inspected the weapon for a moment, shaking it roughly before trying again, once again failing to do anything.
"Stupid bitch… what part of 'not magic' did you not understand…?"
All eyes snapped to the fading plume of smoke, Tabitha and Louise both nearly having heart attacks from relief at the sound of Darrian's voice, only to stop in horror at his current appearance. His clothes were ragged, and many parts of his skin were either burnt black or flaking off, revealing a sickening red underneath. A few feet after limping out of the smoke, he fell to his knees and nearly collapsed entirely, managing to use one hand to steady himself. Tabitha was at his side in an instant, though she refrained from actually putting hands on him, for fear of causing further damage to his already destroyed skin.
Cursing to herself, Longueville tossed the Staff of Destruction aside and dashed away from the cabin, making a beeline for the trees, only to stop short as the tree nearest to her burst into flames. Throwing a glance backwards, she noted that Colbert had recovered, and was glaring at her quite intensely.
"I'd hoped that the Headmaster was wrong, but I suppose I was only being naive…" Colbert wheezed as he pushed himself to his feet, and Longueville couldn't help but shudder at the intensity of his gaze. All eyes in the courtyard were on her, and it was clear she wasn't going to get away without a fight. Kirche and Louise both finally drew their wands and stepped up beside their professor. Longueville looked around at them all, wondering who would be the one to open the engagement, wondering who she would have to target first. Deciding that waiting around for the fight to actually start wasn't worth it, she summoned a pillar of earth in front of her and sent it moving forward along the ground, buying the time she needed to form her greatest weapon.
Longueville's opening move would only buy her a precious few seconds, seconds that she spent calling on her giant golem to rise from the ground. Instead of directly under her, she called for it to form in the clearing between Darrian and the others. Even weakened as he was, he was still the biggest threat to her. As the mighty earthen creature rose from the ground, its arm broke free from the earth, with many large rocks falling away and kicking up clouds of dirt and dust underneath. The moment the arm had motor function, Longueville immediately had it descending on the pair closest to it.
Tabitha raised her staff, ready to cast something in an attempt to deflect. Darrian knew right away that, with the time they had, she couldn't cast anything good enough, and pushed her out of the way of the impact. Tabitha let out a yell of surprise and horror as she fell, only able to watch as the stone descended on Darrian, crushing him underneath with a sickening crunch.
Tabitha's mind went blank as she scrambled forward, somehow forgoing her staff as she tried to push and heave at the stone in front of her, barely registering the golem in her vicinity that had detached from that stone and grew a new arm to replace it. With the pace of her breath quickening and panic setting in, Tabitha heaved at the stone with all her might, only to fail entirely. Falling to her knees, she let out a wail, though the sound of it came out subdued and scratchy.
Louise stopped fighting entirely at the sight of it, running to join Tabitha and making her own failed attempt to move the stone. Kirche and Colbert both continued their fight against the newly revealed Fouquet, though their fire magic did little to stop the hulking golem.
Tabitha sat back and stared at the stone in front of her, barely able to hear anything around her, unable to focus on what those sounds could even be. As her insides grew numb, she reached a shaky hand over to grab her staff and pushed herself to her feet. Tapping her staff against the ground rhythmically, Tabitha sent out a magic call to summon her familiar, pouring all of her emotion into the summons. And then she waited.
The battle raged nearby, with neither side making any progress over the other. Louise gave up on trying to move the stone and collapsed, sobbing into the side. In the distance, there was a roar. It was quiet at first, but the intensity grew quickly, and Sylphiid came into view. Tapping her staff a few more times, Tabitha turned to face Fouquet, who happened to glance back at the moment Sylphiid arrived. All movement stopped for just a moment as Fouquet's focus faltered. Sylphiid swooped in, landing roughly on the golem and using her iron hard teeth to tear a massive chunk out of its core, before leaping into the air. The remainder of the golem fell over with a great crash, kicking up a massive cloud of dust, prompting Fouqet, Colbert and Kirche to have sudden coughing fits as they stumbled to try and make their way out of it.
Just as Fouquet made her way out of the smoke and regained her breath, Sylphiid landed behind Tabitha, shaking the earth as she let out a fearsome roar. The green haired thief could only freeze upon seeing the angry dragon and her even angrier master. The words that Tabitha had to say just then were few, but the way she said them made Foquet's blood freeze in fear.
"You are going to die."
Hoo boy.
There's been five chapters of just people talking to each other so far, so not much has actually happened yet, but now things are starting to kick off. I was actually excited to get to this point haha
It's not by much, but this is the longest chapter yet, at just under 5500 words. That title was held last by chapter three, which was just under 5100.