Nope, still don't own anything. If I did, my friend would work on Adventure Time. She draws and thinks some great stuff.
Six- Dark
Finn hummed the small melody he had heard his sister sing a few days ago, she had sung a number of others over the past couple of days but that first one-the "Cheers song"-was becoming his favorite. The night was still in this part of the land, most of its inhabitants either had settled down for the night long ago or were out hunting for food, or floozies, or purpose to their lives or whatever. The song provided a bit of comfort.
He smiled as he finally reached the home of Flame Princess, stopping for a moment he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small rock pendant on a string, a blue haze coming from it told the item had been spelled with heat shield. It had been a piece of the nice haul Beth had picked up from her adventure with Huntress Wizard a few days back; apparently chests held items to survive a hot environment when they were in dungeons near the Flame Kingdom, who knew? Beth had brought home a number of the spelled items, which was really useful for Finn because not only did it make Finn that bit more invincible on an adventure but also allowed him to be a bit more comfortable with his sweet little lady.
A wish he had not really been able to achieve with the current inaccessibility of Flambo; the little flambit was hard to come by on a normal day but he hadn't shown up anywhere as of late. Finn was actually beginning to worry for the little guy.
Deciding to put such thoughts behind him for now the young hero donned the necklace and raised a now blue colored hand to knock on the door. A smile graced FP's pretty face when she opened the door and saw Finn standing there. It grew bigger upon seeing the telltale spell shield he had on. Wasting no time she leaned forward and grabbed his hand; both blushed and giggled when they made non-painful contact- and pulled her boyfriend inside. The girl lead Finn to sit in her small living room, "Thanks for coming by Finn I really didn't want to be alone right now."
Finn's elation drifted into concern, "Why? Something happen? Those golems come back?"
Not too long ago the group had discussed over the fact that those golems from a couple days back seemed very interested in FP, and Beth had speculated they may come back.
"No, no nothing like that. I just….my dad came by to whisper in my ear again …" She trailed off, her thumb absently stroked Finn's hand. A small, removed part of the young man's mind was doing cartwheels over the fact.
"And?" He prompted gently.
The princess of the Flame Kingdom looked at her boyfriend, unease etched across her young face. "I got rid of him easily enough but something he said made me, well…uncomfortable. You see, he had caught me napping and I woke up to him whispering about how if I'd just be like him my true nature would emerge and I could set fire to the world. Under his wing I could bring the "fire that still burns within the earth" up and let everyone feel my passion and evil. He also….he also talked about how you and everyone would burn and it would be a fitting end to everything."
Finn stared. A chill went down his spine. He had heard many similar speeches in his time about how someone wanted him to die one way or another; someone at his age should not really be used to that, but there's reality for you.
But this…
"I'm sorry but that is a little disturbing." His eyebrows were furrowed in concern, "Are you gonna be okay? All of that sounds kinda dark." FP squeezed his hand and frowned a little.
"It was, as soon as I really woke up I flipped out at him and told him my true nature was already coming out and the only thing that would burn would be him if he ever came near me or you. And then I banished him from my home with the threat that if he ever got close to me again I'd make good on my offer." She said darkly.
Finn was relieved and a little flustered at his girlfriend's protectiveness of him. It meant she was still her…but the whole swearing to harm her own father worried him a little.
"You wouldn't really…ah-"Burn" your dad would you?" He had to ask, with his parental issues- let alone his status as a caring, heroic to a fault individual- it was understandable that Finn had misgivings about even the mention of patricide.
So Flame Princess forgave him.
She nodded her head, "Yup, I'm tired of his whispers and I don't appreciate him threatening you in any way. If my father insists on continuing then I'll have no choice but to confront him. My powers have been growing during my time outside his awful lamp and I have learned to control them along the way. I'm pretty sure I could defeat him if need be, Princess Bubblegum wasn't kidding when she said I had immense power."
Finn smiled at the mention of his friend and once crush, the ruler of the Candy Kingdom had only been working in Ooo's best interest when she warned Flame King of his daughter's destructive potential, little did she know she hadn't been talking to the good King she had conversed with at that Royal Science Convention earlier that year.
It was for those reasons Flame Princess (and Finn) held no animosity for her fellow royalty, her only ill feelings went to her father and his methods of letting her unchecked nature ferment. Oh yes, she had figured out the real reason she had been locked away and didn't plan on returning to it any time soon.
"Yeah, so with all this gobbity-gook rumbling in my head you see why I didn't want to be alone?"
"Oh yeah, I can totally understand." He laughed, enjoying that the mood was lightening somewhat.
"But don't worry, nothing bad is gonna happen okay? Jake, Beth and I won't let anything happen to you or anyone else!"
In his sudden excitement Finn had jumped up –dragging FP with him- and he had let go of her hand to wrap an arm around her waist. It all made a very heroic pose, especially with the demon blood sword Finn suddenly held in his other hand. The girl couldn't help but giggle at her boyfriend's antics that were part to cheer her and part his own excitement.
Finn always reminded her of a campfire; a usually well maintained bit of brightness that would aid and warm those around it and could rise up with considerable power when given enough fuel. Her cheeks warmed at their close contact and her arms rose up and wrapped around his neck of their own volition.
Finn put his sword away and then turned to the girl at his side when he felt arms around his neck; his cheeks turned a bright red upon seeing FP's face so close to his own. Their faces where just inches apart, "I won't let anything happen to you" said Finn softly as he brought his face a little closer.
FP smiled, her happiness and other emotions were making her body and home flare up a bit but nowhere near was it life threatening. As she closed the distance a bit more she whispered, "And I won't let anything happen to you, ever."
Their noses touched, Finn tried to say something but he was too tongue tied. The hamster on a wheel he called a brain wasn't running fast enough. Their breath mingled and-
CRASH!
Both looked over at the suddenly large gaping hole where FP's window used to be. This warlock or something in a hood that Finn had never seen before was now walking through it; a look of rage contorted his features. Two large and imposing golems composed of what looked like glass and rock were behind him. On instinct Finn pushed FP to the safety of his back and pulled out his sword.
"What the heck man?! You just can't break into people's houses!" And interrupt a good kiss.
"Ah shut up you overly praised hero boy."
'Boy!?'
Finn had already started to grow some nice hair on his face-didn't matter if Jake called it "just blonde fuzz"- it counted. Boy indeed.
Finn growled. From behind him FP looked over at the hazy blue wizard and realization gave her a nice slap to the face. Her eyes widened.
"You! You're that guy that would always come over and stare at me when I was trapped in the Flame Kingdom!"
Both males turned to her at that. Jarlath stared at his little firebird, a mix of emotions swirled within him but he would save them for later. If she was going to continue with faking it then he would as well, he would get answers for what almost happened later.
Finn frowned, "You know this guy?"
"Not really."
Fisting his hands Jarlath said, "Hello, I'm Jarlath the Alchemist and I'm here for her."
He pointed a finger at his fiery goddess with all the dramatics the scene required. The boy bought it like the sucker he was.
"No way you're getting anywhere near her!" with that Finn rushed forward and took a swing with his sword, a clang resonated around the room as the older male defended himself with a metal looking staff he had pulled out of nowhere.
Quickly tuning to his cohorts Jarlath yelled, "Get the girl!"
With unusual speed the two golems went forward, Flame Princess gave a small battle cry and immediately started blasting them. She wasn't just going to let them take her, no sir. But just like before these things didn't seem to be affected at all by her flames, no matter how hot they got. They began to close in on her.
Finn noticed her predicament and tried to disengage from the alchemist but the male wouldn't let him, instead he upped the ante by moving from defensive to offensive and started jabbing and whacking at Finn's defense. The hero had to use most of his attention and prowess to keep up, he idly noticed he was being forced back, away from FP and the hole in the wall. He growled.
After parrying another blow Finn stepped forward and made a strong thrust into an opening Jarlath left for him, he connected. But instead of his sword sinking into the man's flesh it simply bounced off, as if he had simply stabbed at a super hard rock. His demon blood sword was strong but even it had limits.
Jarlath laughed, "Realize what you're up against now boy? I am a being that is one with the very earth, my body is as tough and strong as any mountain and as fast as a landslide!"
With that he took a swing with his staff that would have crushed the young hero's head if he had not managed to block it. He opened his mouth to retort but a scream cut him off, Finn looked over and his eyes widened.
What?
There was this…giant glass and gold snake beast thing in FP's living room now and in its clear belly was an unconscious Flame princess.
"No! Flame Princess!" Finn managed to throw the wizard off of him and started forward but a heavy force hit him in the back of the head. His eyes shut of their own accord and he felt himself hit the floor hard.
Then everything went black.
88888
Princess Bubblegum snorted once again as Marceline and Peppermint Butler finished setting and lighting the last of the candles, they were the only light in the dark house. She sat on a pillow on the floor of Marceline's spacious living room with her legs crossed; she had changed into one of the band shirts that Marceline had given her, a pair of tight bright pink pants and some casual sneakers. Marceline had insisted she be dressed casually for this person they were about to "summon"-Bubblegum suspected Marceline just wanted to see her dressed like this. She couldn't believe that not only Marceline but Peppermint of all people actually thought they were going to magically summon someone with all that they were doing.
And she couldn't believe her own right hand candy actually knew about any of this stuff and volunteered to help so everything went "safely" as he put it. Honestly it was like everyone was taking crazy pills or something for believing in all this magic stuff. It was all just misunderstood advanced sciences.
Not that she didn't think anyone would appear, she had seen teleportation technology and "possession" before but all the candles and special chants? The offerings? Please, this was all just wizard shenanigans.
The little candy man and the Queen of the Vampires rolled their eyes at their companion's skepticism but carried on; some arguments were just not worth having. Finally everything was set; Peppermint took his place and sat down at the center of the ceremony on an intricately drawn pattern that had been drawn with chalk on the floor. Then Marceline came in and placed a top hat on his head. She then set herself down and actually sat on the cushion instead of just hovering over it. She turned to the princess, "Okay we're going to be calling on this old spirit I know by the name of Baron Cimitière who-"
"Oh no, not that old fool, he's just a lesser death aspect from the 14th shadow world."
Marceline glared at the interrupting candy man, "Oh? And who do you suppose we ask? Baron's helped me out before and he should be able to say whether Finn's dad is dead or not."
Peppermint scoffed. "Should is not the same as can my dear, now we should summon Master Kalfu of the Crossroads, not only should he be able to tell us if the man has ascended but also where his body is in either case. We have all the materials right here, not to mention I've talked with the guy before, he's pretty cool."
Marceline scoffed, "You want to call down such a large personality into your body? Can you handle that?"
The little candy-man simply grinned, "Young lady you have no idea of things I've seen and done or what I can handle."
Bubblegum stared as the two argued, as much as she had been amused now she was starting to feel a small bit of unease at Peppermint's words. He sounded so…old, as if he were even older than Marceline. But that was impossible, her grandfather had made Pep when he was a lad. That was just a few hundred years ago at best.
She shook her head, "Ugh just decide already."
Marceline and Peppermint Butler broke their staring match simultaneously to look at the pink hued woman next to them; she blushed a bit at the sudden attention. Marceline narrowed her eyes for a moment and then gave a sigh, "Fine, we'll call Kalfu. Don't say I didn't warn you though." Peppermint harrumphed.
"Just hand me a cane sister". Marceline rolled her eyes as she got up and retrieved said item, as she handed it over to the candy man –who set it in his lap- and sat back down she said," As I was saying, we're going to be summoning Kalfu, he's an entity who helps guard the crossroads of life and death and is very powerful, he's a trickster so we have to be careful. Peppermint here is going to be the "horse" his spirit is going to "ride" and talk through because he has a high magical aura to him-so he should be safe-and wears clothes that this particular spirit favors so he will feel more at home in the temporary body."
Bubblegum raised a brow, "You're serious, aren't you."
It wasn't a question, it was an incredulous statement. Peppermint turned a bit- mind full not to smear the chalk -and now was looking at Bubblegum and frowned, "Princess I know you believe this all to be just some mumbo jumbo but I would take the time now to plead with you to keep your prejudices and skepticisms to yourself during this venture. Just let Marceline and me do the talking unless you are directly addressed and even then be curt yet very polite. Your pride will land you in a much direr situation then just being sent to wizard jail with Finn and Jake to help get you out if you do not check it this time my lady."
He loved his princess but she could be a bit too self-righteous at times.
PB was taken aback by her right hand candy and said nothing for a few moments, but eventually she sighed and said "Very well Peppermint Butler, I will try my best to calm my "pride" as you say and let you and Marceline do what you must for the sake of Finn and Beth."
Even if it was a bunch of ignored science she would try her best not to make her point for the sake of her friends. With a nod Peppermint closed his eyes and stuck out his arms horizontally, his left he bend up at the elbow and his right he bend down at the elbow. He made each of his hands into a closed fist with his pointer finger out pointing at the two opposing ways his hands were facing.
He began to hum and then said," Oh great Papa Legba of the 7th death world, lord of the crossroads and communication we humble three ask that we be granted permission to speak with your brother Kalfu the trickster god of the crossroads and injustice. We have offerings to balance out any and all aid he shall wish to give, as above so below."
He continued to hum and then Marceline joined in and with a nod from her Bubblegum joined in as well, secretly feeling ridiculous.
All noise seemed to disappear from the room; they couldn't even hear one another take a breath; although they were.
Suddenly a voice that was nowhere yet everywhere said quietly, "Granted."
Everyone stopped and opened their eyes, Bubblegum stared. Peppermint Butler was now eying them and sitting in a relaxed and very uncharacteristic manner. His eyes were large and blacked out and weeping, he chuckled and his voice was much smoother and deeper sounding than it should be and had a strange accent. Silence loomed around them.
So this "possession" had begun.
"Bonjour ladies, my, my, I haven't had such lovely faces call upon me in a great long while. Hello Marceline, who is your friend?"
He cast an eye on Bubblegum and she couldn't explain the chill she felt go down her spine. Whoever it was that was looking at her was not the candy she knew and loved. Marceline did a half bow and as she rose she said, "Hello Kalfu, thank you for meeting with us. This is Princess Bubblegum ruler of Candy Kingdom, I'm sure Peppermint has already told you of why we wish to speak to you?"
The spirit nodded Pep's head, "Ah yes, a Nonbeliever, very well. And oui he did, you wish to find the whereabouts of a friend's father? Why are none of the progéniture here to ask for themselves? Why is it only you concerned friends?"
As he said this, the entity reached for the pile of offerings that had been set nearby and plucked a cigar from the pile, he inspected it and deemed it respectable and proceeded to light it and smoke it. Bubblegum raised a brow but bit her tongue as the candy man flicked his thumb and a small flame popped up to allow him to light the cigar.
Marceline gave a small sigh, "The people we're doing this for don't really need to see this type of magic performed, sir."
Not to mention she didn't want anything following them back, Finn's bright aura alone would attract quite a number of dark things. Kalfu gave a puff as he contemplated this statement; he watched the smoke fly up to the ceiling. It was a good brand. He cast a long look at the two women watching him and gave a small chuckle.
"Very well, I will see what I can do. Do you have an article of this Abelard Mertens you wish me to seek or of either of his children?"
Bubblegum took this as her cue, quickly reaching into her bag she retrieved two small clear plastic bags filled with hair. One was filled with a bit of shiny blonde hair and the other was filled with bright blue and shiny blonde hair.
As she handed them over Bubblegum said, "The plain blonde hair belongs to our friend Finn the human and the other to his sister Bethilda."
The being hummed in acknowledgment and stared at the bags as he took another puff of cigar; after a last puff he contented himself with just placing it in his mouth and giving it a chew, he did need both hands free after all. He usually didn't work for so little but Peppermint had helped him out in the past and Marceline was a nice enough kid, meh. He could just take all the offerings with him when he left to enjoy later anyway.
Opening the two bags the entity took a bit from each and held a sample in each hand, he concentrated on them a moment and closed his eyes. Bubblegum resisted the urge to roll hers and Marceline bit her lip. After a few minutes of complete silence suddenly the candy man opened his eyes and the bits of hair burst into red and black flames and quickly disappeared.
He turned to look at them, "The héros you seek ascended long ago, his soul is already in the midst of its way to returning to this plane. His old bones are buried in a forgotten cemetery at the foot of a great Montagne."
He held out his hands and Marceline handed him some chalk and a pad of paper she had gotten…at some point. Bubblegum blinked, she didn't remember when Marc had gotten that. With a last look at the gray skinned woman PB turned back to Pep, who was now putting down a quick yet clear map. He turned to them and gave an eerie grin, "There you are ladies, and your friends should be able to pay their respects to their father now. Speaking of which, I suggest you go and start investigating their whereabouts before you have to pay your own respects to their funeral pyre. "
Both of the women blinked at that, "Wait, what do you mean before we pay-"Marceline was cut off.
"Good luck and good bye mes oreilles!"
And as the entity's laughter echoed around the room a sudden wind swept through the closed house and blew out all the candles, covering everything in murky darkness. The soft *thunk* of a top hat hitting the floor could be heard.
Peppermint Butler took a breath and gave a small cough, he hated cigars. He looked around the gloomy room and asked, "So? Did he help?"
88888
"…People are strange when you're a stranger,
Faces look ugly when you're alone.
Women seem wicked when you're unwanted
Streets are uneven when you're down…"
Huntress smirked, 'There she is'.
Sitting up from her perch on a low tree branch Huntress Wizard looked about her. She was at the edge of a small forest in an area frequently occupied by wizards and the like. She swung down and landed with barely any noise, she leaned against the tree and enjoyed the sound of Beth's singing. She wasn't the best she had ever heard but she had a nice, clear voice and her songs were interesting. This one in particular seemed to be her favorite; Huntress had caught her singing it many times before.
When Beth rounded the bend and saw Huntress waiting for her she cut off her singing and waved, "Hey!"
Huntress rolled her eyes at her enthusiastic friend, "Finally you show up."
Instead of being insulted Beth just laughed, "Hey I walked here okay, not to mention we stayed at the Candy Kingdom very late today."
"Did the pretty princess have a lot of questions for you?" Huntress snickered.
Now it was Beth's time to roll her eyes. "Whatever Huntress."
A thought suddenly struck her, "Oh, right. Take a look."
Reaching into her pocket Beth extracted her new key and held it up for her friend to see.
"They gave me a house key." The simple joy that rose to her pretty face made Huntress Wizard take a silent gulp.
She clenched her hands, now she had a key! She was officially a part of their house…and Huntress had yet to work up the nerve to ask Beth if she wanted to live with her instead and be… Ugh! She had had so many chances in the last few days but she could never get the words to leave the tip of her tongue. And now…and now she didn't know why she still hesitated except….simply not wanting to be rejected, at all.
"I'm a coward", she thought miserably as she said "That's cool. Now we can go out whenever!"
Beth didn't seem to notice her slightly fake smile and tone for she nodded and agreed, Huntress didn't know whether to be happy about that or not.
"Now come on, we need to get to the old well that's down the path; from there we will be taken to see Saire the Seer." As they made their way down the forest path Beth raised a brow and thought 'now why does that name sound familiar?'
Oh!
"That's the guy we tried to see last time we were in Wizard City right?"
Huntress nodded her head, "Yup." Beth furrowed her brows, "But I thought there would be no way in the world that Saire would talk to us after the commotion we caused."
Huntress flicked her eyes over to Beth for a moment before looking back at the path, "That was true but I ended up running into one of his go between guys the other day, my friend Quentin. He had heard of what happened from the guy we used last time-Octavius-and he offered to put a good word in and see what he could do."
"And apparently he managed to snag us an interview? And now we have to go meet him in a secluded place, in the woods, crawling with magic users while we're wanted by Wizard City police?"
Her disbelief was obvious; it was too good to be true. Huntress nodded her head, "I know there is a possibility of it being a trap but Quentin and I go way back, regardless of what happened I don't want to believe he would just betray me. And the opportunity is too good to truly pass up, Saire is known to give a good session for a decent price and I don't have to use an excessive amount of magic to talk to him."
She paused a moment and then sighed, "None the less, we will keep our guard up just in case and not just go out into the open. Agreed?"
She looked at Beth who nodded, "Agreed."
After a while they made it to the end of the tree line, staying in the shadows they saw that the path they had been following was one of many that continued on into a clearing before disappearing into another patch of forest a while away. The clearing was of decent size and rather empty save for the well and a lone picnic table set not too far way, long forgotten.
Huntress used her Wizard Eyes to look about but she couldn't see anyone hiding amongst the trees, which didn't really help to do anything except confirm her friend was indeed not there since the WCPD had several wards placed on them to be able to go undetected by wizard sight and the like, if they so wished. With a coil of dread settling into her stomach Huntress turned to Beth, who after a moment of thought brought her hands up and mimicked the act of shooting an arrow.
She understood, if enemies were lying in wait for movement in the clearing, she would give them some. Grabbing an ordinary arrow from her quiver she pulled her already strung bow from under her cloak and greatly enjoyed her friend's look of surprise. No matter how many times she pulled her weapon out of nowhere Beth was always amazed by her little trick.
Regrouping her mind Huntress set up the shot. She set her position and breathed in. With her breath she let the arrow loose, it hit the ground in front of the well with a quiet *thunk* sound. The reaction was instantaneous, a group of nine WC fuzz shot up from behind trees-one even from the well- and blasted at the arrow with bright beams of power emitted from their faces. The two women covered their eyes so as to not be blinded by the light show; Huntress gritted her teeth as her heart sank. She was going to have to skin Quentin now; his pelt would fetch a high price at least.
When the lightshow finally faded they saw that the arrow had been disintegrated, so the punishment was death for trying to help a friend? Lovely. The group of enforcers quickly realized they had been ousted out of hiding and began to fan out, Huntress and Beth did not stick around to see if any came in their direction.
They ran.
But soon enough they could hear the sounds of pursuit behind them, the constant demands to stop, come quietly, and that they were under arrest only made them run all the harder.
"No 'I told you so's!" Panted Huntress; Beth managed to find the breath to give a quick laugh, "Don't worry, I'm not at all happy about being right!"
Bursting out of the trees, the duo veered to the left toward another part of the forest. If they could just manage to lose them in the foliage they might have a chance. But suddenly their way was cut off when three of the WCPD gave a mighty leap and landed in front of them. The women stood back to back as the group of males closed in around them.
One spoke, "Huntress Wizard you are charged with the crime of aiding a non-wizard to enter Wizard City in disguise, causing a public disturbance, and resisting arrest."
Beth was outraged, "public disturbance" her ass, they just wanted to tack on the reasons to get them. "Oh come on, that was that stupid old guy, it was Ice King's fault you even found me out!"
Another of the officers spoke, "Silence non-wizard. Huntress Wizard due to the nature of your crimes you are sentenced to a hundred years in Wizard Jail and your accomplice will be given a swift death. If you continue to resist we are authorized to do to you as we had done to your decoy."
Beth couldn't stop her mouth from dropping open; there was the Justice system for you. She missed Lupe and it's not so lethal police force.
"No chance you donks! Come and get me if you can!"
With that Huntress rushed forward and punched the guy in front of her square in his bandana covered face. This signaled the start of the brawl; Beth charged forward and bodily slammed into the first male in her sights. She narrowly escaped crashing to the ground with him and quickly leaped out of the way as two beams of light suddenly converged on where she had been just moments before.
These guys weren't kidding, they wanted to kill her! She looked up as another came up to her, "Stop human, give in quietly and your justice will be swift and painless!"
She dodged the blast he directed at her, "Yeah right, you'll have to make me!"
The guy took the bait and leapt toward her, she in turn did a quick cartwheel out of the way and when she righted herself she enjoyed the sight of the guy who had been trying to sneak up behind her unconscious with the one that had been talking. Two down.
She took a look around and saw that Huntress had managed to blast another with her magic-the guy was out cold-and was currently taking another two on. Beth was pulled out of her observations by a sudden hand on her shoulder; she looked over to see a bright shining eye about to blast her into the next world.
Bringing up her fist she sent it directly into the beam and face of WC Officer. The force of the blow made the man's head face skyward with a grunt and the beam ended up shooting into the clouds like a distress beacon. Seeing him distracted Beth took the opportunity to grab the man by the shirt and lift him over her head. It was not an easy feat by any means and she struggled to keep him aloft, she looked over at a copper who was quickly coming over while demanding she release the one she had and she happily obliged by throwing the man in her hands with all her might at the one going toward her.
The two crashed to the ground but did not stay down; they got back to their feet and made their way toward her. Between them Beth glimpsed Huntress blast down another member of the fuzz and quickly drew her sword and deflected a blast that would have hit her right in the face had she not been more alert, she managed to direct the beam of light off her sword and onto one of her opponents. This managed to zap the guy well and he collapsed to the ground, smoke slowly rose from his unmoving body.
Three down for her, she tried the same trick again with the other guy but he wasn't as stupid, he quickly dodged out of the way. "Cease and desist human! This is your last chance for a quick end!"
"Stick it up your ass!" Yelled Beth in retort and she made her way forward, but she was slammed into from the side and hit the ground hard.
Was that a crack she heard?
Her vision doubled for a moment and in her dazed state she idly noticed a large figure looming over her and her hands being restrained above her head. She saw a bright beam of light begin to fill up the face of the figure atop her and she was able to connect the dots. Beth managed to stop her immediate death yet again with a swift kick of her leg to a rather vital area of her opponent. With a grunt and a groan Nigel rolled off the human fugitive below him and really wished he hadn't come into work today.
"Four down." Counted Beth woozily.
Unsteadily getting to her feet Beth took a look around, Huntress blasted the last of the heat and made her way over to a glassy eyed Beth. She picked up her companion's fallen weapon and handed it to her, "You alright?"
"Not really." Came the slightly wheezy reply.
Beth grimaced and placed a hand gently on her now throbbing side.
"Hit my head…think I…cracked a rib. You?"
Huntress frowned, "You did more than hit your head if you're speaking like that. I'm fine other than a few burns."
To emphasize her point Huntress lifted an arm to reveal quite the burn through her gear and her skin. "Come on, we need to get out of here. These guys won't stay down for long and more are bound to be on their way."
With that Huntress helped her friend sheath her sword and the two managed to disappear into the gloom of the shadowy forest.