Alfyn had ascertained that Therese was alive and breathing when they hightailed at Primrose's command. She had minimal injury, but he couldn't rule out anything internal. She mumbles Cyrus' name under her breath as though delirious.
"Hey, you sure... it was the brightest idea... leaving Prim alone back there?!" Tressa pants as she tries to keep up.
"Ah, I know better than to contest Prim when she has that look in her eye, my dear!" Simeon says with a breathy smile, "She is a strong one!"
Therion resists saying something snarky.
The tunnels through these old dungeons are surprisingly well-kept, likely used for something in recent time. One needn't have a crazy imagination as to what. They run past doors that were clearly meant to house people in squalid conditions. It stays true to the original intent... even if it is best that they be left to rot, perhaps.
"D... D'you guys think Cy's alright?" Alfyn asks now. He hadn't gotten the best look at Cyrus' condition before getting blasted back. However, he had seen the blood and heard that pained cry... Turning tail and leaving it to Primrose did not sit well with him in the slightest.
"Like I said, too chatty to die," Therion says dismissively.
"You think the guys we're chasing did that to him?" Tressa frowns.
"Well, I doubt the good professor would do that to himself! It looked unnatural... and rather painful!" Simeon exclaims.
"Nh..." Therese shifts softly on Alfyn's back, "P... professor..."
"Huh? Oh, hey, you're safe, you hear me?" Alfyn says worriedly to his delirious passenger.
"Look, up ahead!" Tressa points.
The hallway they follow seems to lead up a flight of stairs. Above, they can feel a draft cutting through the otherwise musty dungeon air. It must lead outside. At the top of the stairs, their way out is blocked by large wooden doors.
"Break this thing open, Therion!" Tressa says to the thief expectantly, "That's what you're good at!"
"Idiot, this isn't locked," Therion points to the lack of a knob or keyhole. He slams into it with a shoulder and feels decent resistance, "I think they propped something against it."
"Hey, Simeon, take her, will ya?" Alfyn leans Therese onto the playwright as he takes out his trusty axe, "Hiyah!"
The apothecary chops and hacks at the door, breaking away enough chunks that they can see it leads into some sort of small stone enclosure, beyond which is the night air outside. After a few more chops and finagling with the wooden obstructions propped against the door, they manage to get it open. The small enclosure is like a hideaway, perhaps in times of strife, or even an escape route that ran under the Hornburg fortress.
"JUST GIVE IT TO ME!" They hear someone shout like a madman in the night.
Therion draws his sword and presses a finger to his lips as he steps first towards the open threshold of the enclosure. He can't risk keeping his blade lit or he'd give himself away. In the moonlight, he can make out the surrounding wood... so they had exited Stonegard entirely? Where were they? The surrounding forest? And, in the nearby clearing, there are cobbled ruins... as well as two suspicious figures hunched over an eerie purplish red light.
After the initial shout, the voices have reduced again, hushed but the thief can hear urgency. It's too low to hear the exact words, even with his sensitive ears. Bits and pieces come through. He sees something glowing red emerge between them. The air begins to stink of blood as one of the figures runs away, leaving the other one holding the red light that begins to pulsate. A strange wind blows through the area.
"... Come out, you rats!"
Therion barely has time to shout a warning before the figure with red light turns and sends a huge gust of wind his way. It's not a whirling swirl like Tressa's. It's more like a freaking hurricane. The magic blasts the enclosure and rips it apart, stone by stone. Tressa shrilly screams and holds fast to her hat as she, Alfyn, and Simeon drop to the ground to avoid the debris that's blasted away. The wind is strong and would have lifted them who-knows-where.
Therion's poncho unfortunately made him more vulnerable to the wind's lift and sends him flying into some nearby trees.
"T-Therion!" Alfyn exclaims in horror.
"Hmf, what paltry rats dared to follow me... Well, no matter," Yvon grins in the light of the blood crystal in his hand, brimming with malicious energy, "You'll all be flattened soon."
"Gah...! W-who are you?" Tressa stands hurriedly and eyes the destruction around them warily. He did that with just one wind spell?
"He's kinda wearing what Cy wears..." Alfyn says with a slight quiver in his voice. His eyes dart towards the trees for any sign of the thief.
"Indeed, I do believe him to be from Atlasdam Academy!" Simeon exclaims, "What are you doing here... and why are you attacking us?"
"Hmf! Impertinent. You don't even know my name. You would do well to know that I am Yvon. I am no ordinary scholar, unlike that Cyrus fool you speak of. I am the Atlasdam academy headmaster, as well as the most powerful and well-learned scholar of our time!"
As if to prove his point, he begins to float a few inches off the floor as a swirling wind lifts him up, blowing about bits of dirt and leaves. With a dangerous spark in his eyes, he directs his hand and a large blast of fire just nearly hits Tressa, singing her bag. It strikes the doors they had come up from and sets it aflame.
"Yeow!" Tressa yelps, "What the heck?"
"Incredible augment... Even a simple firebolt becomes almost double, no, triple...!" Yvon grins maniacally at the cornered rats before him, "Yes, you strangers will be perfect fodder for my blood crystal magic... A shame I couldn't finish what I started with Cyrus. Oh well."
"You... You did that to Cy!" Alfyn grits his teeth and grips his axe in anger. It's a rare expression on the kind apothecary's face. He goes to run at Yvon, who is undaunted.
"Hm? Friends, are you? Well, no matter. He should be dead soon. And so will you be."
"Alf!" Tressa runs up and conjures a wind barrier on instinct, just barely managing to deflect a bolt of lightning hurled the apothecary's way. The wind buffer is incredibly strong for a novel caster like Tressa to conjure, but just barely holds against the expert lightning bolt in the end, dividing it into multiple stray bolts that fly and strike some trees and sear the grass nearby. To counter such a strong spell, the drain on her is immense, even more so due to her impulsive use of such a surge of magic, and she falls to her knees shortly after it concludes. Sweat runs down her pale face in rivulets as she struggles to even breathe, "Ugh..."
"Tress!" Alfyn runs up to the merchant girl with a worried look on his face.
"Idiot..." Tressa rasps, her voice barely above a whisper. She has to keep her breath steady or risk passing out with how sick and weak she feels.
"Bahahahah! A youngling deflecting that level of spell is too careless," Yvon chuckles heartily, amused at his absolute superiority over these strangers, "But it is an offense I take that you even dared to do so... Maybe I can have some more fun before I kill you all..."
"Are you not a public figure of repute?" Simeon says loudly, "What do you have to gain from this destruction?!"
"Blabbermouths... You're all just bugs that no one will miss. Perfect target practice..." Magical air concentrates around Yvon dangerously.
From behind the cocky headmaster, Alfyn glimpses a blur of purple as Therion runs up behind the madman and slashes him with his sword in a leaping strike. Taken by surprise, Yvon howls in pain. His robes are ruined. As his concentration is fazed a little, his magic momentarily loses its control and sends out a burst of wind, along with crackles of lightning. While Yvon is whirled aside, Therion is also blasted backward, smashing into a tree and ending up in a heap on the ground.
"Argh... AARGH!" Yvon seems appalled at his new injury. The blowback from his magic prevented him from sustaining anything very grievous. His robe is unfashionably cut, however, with the expensive caplet laying in two.
"Urgh..." Therion rolls over to nurse his stinging side from the rough landing.
"Therion!" Alfyn moves to get to the thief as well. However, Tressa holds fast to his arm.
"Wait, Alf!"
"You... YOU IMPUDENT TROGLODYTES!" Yvon roars, "YOU DARE TO TOUCH ME?! You DARE... TO WOUND ME?"
In his rage, magical winds burst forth. The swirling funnel crackles with lightning. Some of the winds can be felt as frigid, others burning.
"He can use... all the elemental gates!" Simeon exclaims, bracing himself against some of the gales, "This does not bode well... we must retreat to shelter!"
"Therion!" Alfyn calls out to the thief.
Therion scrambles to his feet. He can tell when shit's about to go down. Even he won't be able to take a fireball to the face, and he wasn't about to chance it.
"Such impertinence... I will thoroughly enjoy separating your very skin from your flesh...!" Yvon grins demonically and brings out that eerie red gem again. It's the same light from before when he was talking with the other figure Therion saw, only brighter. The stench of blood grows. Veins begin to appear on the man's body as his magic burgeons before their very eyes.
Actually, his entire body seems to be growing with it. His eyes begin to glow and he lets out a loud cry, almost of pain. The magic energy flowing forth takes the physical shape of something like a gelatinous, fleshy mass of translucence. The onlookers watch in horror as Yvon is seemingly swallowed up in this blob of magical flesh as it grows opaque and brims with the color of sanguine essence.
"Get back! Get back inside!" Therion barks as he runs over.
From the flesh, there is a slurping and squelching sound as a large, thick, and muscled arm erupts from one side. The flesh mass slowly seems to twist and morph in shape, becoming a grotesque and muscled humanoid with glowing veins leading to its chest. This shape is enormous, towering as high as the nearby trees. The thief feels a deep, raw fear he rarely allowed to show as the head of the thing grows some hair and a mustache to become the face of the headmaster.
"Urr... RAAAAGH!" The monster that Yvon seemed to have become arches backward, making a grotesque series of snaps along his body as his bulging muscles ripple and the glowing heart under his skin now glows a softer red. His own eyes are also now red, and his skin has turned a purplish color. Drool flies from his mouth and he turns to look at the party like a rabid beast as they scramble to re-enter the underground hallway.
"Move, move!"
"My word!" Simeon yelps, nearly falling over his own feet. Luckily, the burned door had been put out a bit and destroyed enough that they can scramble through.
"RAH!"
The giant mutant's arm shoots out like a battering ram and just barely misses them all. However, the sheer force by which it moved is enough to send them tumbling forward nonetheless.
"Aah!" Tressa yelps as she hangs onto Alfyn on account of her jelly legs.
"Oof!" Simeon just barely avoids landing on Therese, who he is still carrying.
"Tsk...!" Therion growls and draws his sword and dagger. A very stupid idea formed in his head. With his faster speed, he runs to flank the creature, "Hey, dumbass, you missed!"
"T-Therion?" Alfyn looks at the thief playing distraction.
"Arrrgh... Aagh..." The large lug groans, strands of its stringy hair hanging down its face as its eyes now look to the thief buzzing at its side like a gnat. With a pulse of its glowing heart, it clenches a fist and swings for Therion. However, this strike was sluggish, and Therion evades much easier with his fleet footing.
Therion narrows his eyes as he keeps a controlled distance so it focuses on him. He signals for the others to keep getting away to safety. His eyes remain watching on the giant mutant. It looked to be behaving a little strange now...
"Rargh... Lu... cia … that traitorous...!" It bends over, vomiting something that looks like blood in a thick stream. The pulsating light on the veins encircling that purplish skin glows brighter, as does those eyes. Therion can feel something like bloodlust radiating out and sending his skin prickling with goosebumps.
"Rgh... RAAAH!" The former Yvon lashes out, more violent and quicker than before. Therion barely manages to dodge a swipe from a massive arm. When he moves to try and skirt around, the rampaging lug makes a wide sweep in reverse.
His swing luckily glances over Therion by mere centimeters. The proximity still kicks up clods of dirt and uproots the grass with sheer force. Therion sees that the others had gotten inside. He clicks his teeth and begins running out towards the woods, much to Alfyn's horror. The large meaty creature seems peeved and focused on the thief as it goes to push and slam aside trees in its way to pursue him.
"He seems to be leading the thing... away!" Simeon realizes.
"T-Therion!" Alfyn goes to try and run out after him. Tressa holds fast to him.
"Alf, we can't just run out like that...!"
"B-but...!"
His voice catches in his throat as the hairs on his neck stand on end. There is a chilling air from behind them, in the depths of the dungeon. A horrific groan emerges, sonorous and rumbling, reverberating through the darkness. Tress and Simeon turn tentatively as well. There is the smell of blood wafting now from where they had run out.
"... No..." Tressa whispers fearfully.
…
H'aanit, Ophilia, Olberic, and the beasts were weaving their way through their part of the wood, which appeared to becoming more ghastly and eerie by the second. It wasn't simply called the Spectrewood for nothing. At the same time, it is the signs of past battle that are most unsettling. Several trees are marked by what look like enormous claw-like appendages. But the wood was not merely smashed; it looked almost melted somehow. There are also remains of weapons, with arrows lodged in wood and swords and shields laying, dented and broken, on the forest floor. Scraps of cloth can be seen here and there. Strangely, there do not seem to be any bodies despite the fierce signs of fighting that cleared away partial swaths of the wood... though there are unsettling marks in the dirt that nature had yet to conceal.
Ophilia looks about with worry, but her greatest worry remains on H'aanit. The huntress had been adamant on continuing upon finding the fletching from her master's supposed arrow. The poison she inhaled did not slow her down significantly, but her breathing is a bit more audible, and she clears her throat now and then.
"Perhaps we should rest a little..." Olberic looks about and frowns, "We seem to have walked quite a distance from Stonegard. It would not do to get lost in this night."
Linde gives a low whining growl and then arches her head up towards the sky, where a dark shadow overtakes the moon, blanketing the area in darkness. Ophilia thought she was just imagining it, but Linde and Hägen's pelts both seemed to be standing on end...
"Is something wrong, Linde...?" Ophilia kneels a little and rubs the big cat between the ears.
"Rowwr..."
"...The battle weren fierce..." H'aanit coughs lightly, "The wood hath been wounded... Tis perhaps why the wildlife and nature hath fury turned of recent... It hath yet to heal..."
"...You've also yet to heal," Ophilia points out with a pout.
H'aanit looks to Ophilia and scoffs helplessly, "... Tis doen naught, to losen the trail in a hunt... when we aren so close."
She had been searching this long, and this is the first real breakthrough. She grasps the fletching tightly in her hand.
"...I know you're anxious. But your master wouldn't want to see you maimed upon reunion!" Ophilia puffs a cheek with a frown, "Just take a breather, will you?"
Olberic chuckles lightly, then turns with a slight snap of the head at something now pricking up the hairs on his neck. There is something foul about the air tonight...
"Rrr!" Hägen suddenly barks at something.
They all look at what the dire wolf is looking at. Rising above the trees nearby in this ruined clearing is a cliff face. The slope of rock rises high enough that its shadow reaches the bright moon overhead. Perched at the precipice, overlooking the clearing and trees, is a strange shape. It looks something like a deer, but its body glimmers in the moonlight like wrought silver. Two green eyes sparkle like gems and stare down. Squinting, one could make out that its body was not covered in shaggy fur at all, but rather something like intertwined branches from plants. From this distance, one can tell it is a large beast. It rears and gives something like a deep, sonorous growl, nothing like what a deer sounds like. It is a primal cry that is almost like the voice of the woods itself in how it reverberates through the trees.
"...The lord of this forest..." H'aanit steps forth bravely.
"W-what is that?" Ophilia asks with a hint of fear, eyes fixated on the creature.
"Some sort of beast?" Olberic clasps a hand on his sword. H'aanit gestures for him to stand down.
"It seemeth the Spectrewood's true guardian be'en that stag. Heard only of these I have... But lords of forests be'en master stewards of their domains... Tis likely the ancient tree we hath felled was one of this lord's creation," H'aanit says calmly, "And, like the wood's spirit... this lord hath anger over what hath transpired here..."
"Hmm... Do you think it can be reasoned with?" Olberic looks to the creature with scrutiny, "If it is, as you say, angered..."
"Nature doth not haven the same sense … we hath trespassed, in its eyes," H'aanit gestures now to move back a little, "Tsk... We needen finde another way about."
"Rr, growf, rowf!" Hägen barks more passionately. He seems eager to continue onward.
"Thou recognizeth where master is?" H'aanit narrows her eyes now at the area ahead.
"H-H'aanit, don't be reckless..." Ophilia swallows, looking up at the lord of the forest anxiously. She hoped they appeared non-threatening enough at this point.
"GRAAH..." The lord rears on its hind legs and thrusts its forelegs into the cliff with a resounding thud. A foul wind blows and it leaps down, landing before the party with an immense crash. Clods of dirt and dust rises in its presence. Ophilia pales as she sees this thing is perhaps even larger than the ghisarma... and that was no small prey either.
Up close, it certainly appears like a deer-shaped creature with white thorny appendages that make up its body. In the moonlight, it seems to gleam like silver. It lowers its head so its green eyes glow with some malice at them.
"Groowaowaow!" Hägen bravely barks at the lord and holds his ground.
Linde arches her back and snarls, seemingly ready for a fight.
"We cannen not leaveth... I refuseth, whilst we hath reached this close...!" H'aanit growls herself and whips out her axe.
Challenged, the lord seems to bristle. The woody skin on its body elongates rapidly, like growing branches. They twist downward and dig into the ground with a single thrust. A slight wind rushes through the trees. Erupting forth from the earth are tree roots and various fungal growths that move to attack the party, all seemingly at the lord's command.
"Tsk...! To me!" H'aanit crouches and promptly swings upward, cleaving a charging treant in twain.
"Ahh...!" Ophilia narrowly dodges a root that goes to slam on her.
"Ophilia!" Olberic growls and pulls out Sadiq's spear. The collapsible piece assembles with a simple flick. With a single thrust, he pierces and deflates a fungoid. Taking care not to breathe in its residual spores, he swings his broadsword in his other hand and cleaves the tendril headed for the cleric. Luckily for him, dual-wielding something like a spear and sword comes easier for his strength, despite the fact they both are normally two-handed weapons.
"Fly!" H'aanit growls and jumps above the fray, swapping to her bow and arrow and firing right at the lord of the forest. The arrow gets caught in the beast's neck, burying its head into the mane of branches. It is a single arrow, however expertly fired, and so the lord does not seem horribly damaged by that. But it is offended.
"Rooogh!" The lord thrusts its head down and its horns suddenly shoot out like spears in the party's direction. They pierce some of the creatures the lord summoned itself. Ophilia sees that the horns seem to wither the creatures upon spearing them, as though sucking out their essence.
"Be careful!" Ophilia shouts.
"Gh-!" H'aanit narrowly dodges midair as one of the horns graze her. Immediately, she felt weakness, stronger than the poison from the ancient tree. She could see her blood being absorbed into the wooden fibers.
"Graah..." The lord's green eyes sparkle and it rapidly swings upward. Its front legs, which were buried in the earth, tear upward with the surrounding earth, sending stones and dirt flying.
"Ah...!" Ophilia struggles to retain her footing, driving her staff into the ground to try and steady herself.
Olberic uses his spear similarly and then brandishes his sword, bisecting one horn root tendril that flies at them. Hägen and Linde weave and dodge, going to converge on some of the surviving mooks.
"... Comen!" H'aanit's form changes again as she calls upon the beast lore of the Cliftland birdians they fought back when they crossed back into the mountains from the Coastlands. Her shape becomes that of one of the swift, white-feathered beasts. Dodging flying pieces of dirt and rampaging roots, she shoots two razor sharp feathers directly into the spot where her previous shot is lodged. There is a cracking sound and the lord reels back as sap-like liquid seeps from the deep wound.
"Grr- RAAUGH!" The lord visibly seems enraged now at being effectively wounded. Tendrils disperse from its fibrous body quickly and aim to pierce anything that moves, both summoned minions and enemy alike. It absorbs voraciously from its victims, shriveling them into husks.
"Olberic, be careful!" Ophilia grunts as she tries to deflect a tendril with barrier magic. The tendril smashes through the weak shield, but luckily zips right past her, "Kyah!"
"Rorrw!" Hägen gives a yowl as a vine pierces his hind quarter. He is quick to snap it off with his teeth, but his movement is now impaired.
"Hägen!" H'aanit swings with her axe to try and cover for the wolf. She winces as some of the vines graze her, sapping her strength, "Letten us through... I musten see mine master!"
The lord's eyes flash and a single thorny vine manages to pierce through H'aanit's defenses, stabbing into her right shoulder.
"G-AH-"
"H'aanit!" Ophilia calls out in fear.
"Rr!" Linde leaps immediately to sever the thing before the lord can consume the huntress.
"Ungh..." H'aanit staggers and drops to her knees. It felt like something was crawling in her skin where she was stabbed. Weakly, she tries to yank the white wooden projectile out.
"IRREVERENT HUMANS..."
H'aanit's eyes widen a little at that deep voice in her head suddenly. Where was it coming from? Her eyes look up to the majestic silhouette of the lord of the forest before them, all his powers of nature poised and ready to strike. Linde and Hägen run to her aid, but they seem so small in comparison despite their battle faces.
"SOMETHING OF YOUR ILK DEFILES THIS FOREST..."
Is that... the Lord speaking to her?
"Nh..." H'aanit feels the sapping sensation linger. Maybe that was it. She was momentarily connected to the Lord's own life force...
"H'aanit!" Ophilia runs over to the huntress despite Olberic's warnings. The warrior tries to rush over as well, but is soundly deflected by some bramble growths.
"PREPARE TO ROT. RETURN TO THE SOIL. BE CONSUMED."
"We aren not thine enemy..." H'aanit strains and manages to stand with Ophilia's help, "I knowest not what defilement thou spaketh of..."
There is a grumble and the Lord seems to suddenly lose its shape for a second as the entire forest is brushed with a forceful air. From below, the white roots thrash up violently, sending them all flying as the ground breaks.
"Aah!"
"Ophilia! H'aanit!" Olberic looks up in horror as he sees the women thrown like ragdolls. He runs and manages to catch the cleric before she slams into a rock. H'aanit is not so lucky, as she crashes into a tree and lies there, motionless. Linde manages to land on her feet, though Hägen is thrown straight out of the clearing. The snow leopard lets out a loud growl, almost like a plea.
"LIES. YOU GREEDY HUMANS..."
The white tendrils reach for H'aanit.
"Stop!" Ophilia screams.
A searing white light, God's Eye, shoots out now from her outstretched hand for the huntress and slices the roots midair, leaving the stumps. The Lord is surprised for a second, allowing Linde to jump before H'aanit and growl, standing protectively before her partner. The tangled mass that is the Lord seems to take pause as its glimmering green eyes look in surprise. Its weapons are still aimed at H'aanit, but they stay immobile for now.
"...ONE OF THE LIGHT... AND YOU AS WELL, CHILD OF THE SNOWS?"
"...!" Ophilia heard that this time as well.
"Rawr!" Linde growls, as if in affirmation. The snow leopard has bloody scratches on its body from the fungoids and root rampaging, but she stands staunchly in defense of H'aanit.
"Please, we don't want to fight you..." Ophilia calls out, "We aren't here to do anything to the forest...!"
Olberic is left out of the conversation, since he can't hear the Lord's voice. He looks in confusion to Ophilia trying to talk to the bristling mass of white thorns.
Before the Lord responds, there is another sudden rumbling, one that erupts from just outside this ruined clearing. Suddenly, from the tree line, a familiar thief bursts into the scene, followed by what looks like a monstrously deformed giant humanoid.
"RAAAH!"
"Get down!" The thief barks.
"Th-Therion?!" Ophilia gawks.
The giant thing crashes into the Lord as Therion deftly darts to the side, leading it to collapse into the mass of thorns. The thief has sweat running down his face, having run and evaded all the way from the ruin. His gamble paid off, it seems, as he just found something else for the monstrous Yvon to tussle with. To his surprise, he finds the cleric, warrior, and the beasts. It takes him a moment to see the motionless huntress among the boughs of some tree.
"ROOOAAGH!" Yvon slams the Lord savagely with his enlarged arms. He is barely beaten back even by the Lord's thorns stabbing into his skin and seemingly draining his blood. It just made him angrier, and the gem in his chest pulsates brightly.
"Ngh..." H'aanit coughs and opens one eye, feeling her body creak at the seams. She can hear the sounds of battle in the background and hurriedly grips her bow, moving to sit up despite the pain. She has blood streaming down half her face, nearly blinding one eye. Her other eye widens at the spectacle before her of this giant monster attacking the Lord. The two of them are locked in fierce battle. At the moment, it looks like the strange monster might have an upper hand, as the Lord's attacks only seem to make it more berserk. Despite its appearance, it is painfully obvious that this thing is human... sort of.
"T-Therion, who is that?" Ophilia calls out to the thief as he darts over to them, dodging the battle.
"Who cares, it's occupied. Let's leave them to kill each other," The thief pants.
"We cannot let the Lord be killed..." H'aanit calls over as she stands, a bit wobbly, "It is a guardian of the nature here. Whatever that thing is... is unnatural."
"That would certainly appear to be the case..." Olberic lets Ophilia down on her feet and puts away his spear, grasping his sword in both hands, "Out with it, Therion. This giant creature looks as formidable as the Lord of the Forest itself!"
Therion clicks his tongue at his nosy companions.
"What happened... What are you doing out here?" Ophilia casts a quick refreshing spell over Therion.
"... Long story short, we went looking for the idiot professor," Therion keeps his details curt as he points with his knife at Yvon, "Ran into that thing underground and it ended up chasing us out here."
"W-where are the others?"
"Safe."
"You lured it here alone?" Olberic looks at the thief in surprise as he readies his sword. He hadn't thought of such a... respectable move from a thief.
"Its chest seemeth strange," H'aanit spits some blood to the side as she prepares herself alongside Olberic, "Mayhaps it be'en the weak spot."
"Right, I will provide support!" Olberic steps forward, swinging with gusto, "Come at thee!"
Yvon slams another fist into the thorny maw of the Lord. Olberic jumps and makes a rising slash aimed at the wrist to try and sever the hand. His blade hits the thick coil of muscle, which feels as strong as fine iron, to the warrior's surprise. Darkish blood pools near the strike, but it had not gone as deep as hoped. With a growl, Yvon flings Olberic away. The warrior manages to land on his feet with a grunt.
"It has some sort of reinforced skin... Is it even human?"
"Does it look human to you?" Therion retorts as he readies his own blades.
"H-here it comes...!" Ophilia exclaims.
"Haraaaagh!" Yvon sprays spittle as he rips free from a binding tendril of the Lord and flings a chunk of earth wantonly. The adventurers scatter to avoid impact. Therion and Olberic dart towards the fray, now aiming prudently at Yvon's legs. Ophilia hangs behind H'aanit and casts her healing hurriedly on the huntress and Linde.
"Roaagh!" The Lord bashes Yvon back and continues to try and sap his energy. Coupled with some better-aimed slashes from Therion and Olberic at the ankles, Yvon staggers a little. However, the thief and warrior quickly notice that each cut seemed to almost harden as it spurted that darkish blood. Yvon's glowing chest sparks, looking unstable almost.
"Now...!" H'aanit lets loose an arrow towards that glowing chest.
"Flame, let it fly true...!" Ophilia whispers a small prayer. The arrow glows white for a second just before it stabs into that muscled chest. At once, there seems to be a reaction with that pulsating heart. A burgeoning bubble of magic swells.
"Aarg-AAAARGGHHH!"
"Shit-"
Before anyone can do anything, the bubble explodes with frighteningly destructive force. A shockwave blows out as Yvon screams at the top of his enlarged lungs. It flattens smaller trees nearby and sends rustling through much of the surrounding wood for meters away.
The sheer force decimates the clearing and shreds the Lord of the Forest into clumps of thorny vines. It sends the smaller adventurers flying.
"UGH!" Therion slams hard on the trunk of a tree after breaking a few dozen branches. Luckily, Olberic landed below him when he slides down, so he lands on the warrior.
Ophilia is thrown into the stone face of the cliff base. A trickle of blood runs down her scalp as she slumps down, knocked out. H'aanit had tried using her axe to hold on to the ground as Linde is blown away into the bushes. The huntress managed to hang on somewhat and avoid being blown back, but it was still an incredible amount of force she had to withstand to be anchored. Her body feels like it had just been through a wringer, almost torn apart.
"Ugh..." She pants, barely feeling her extremities as she tries to stand.
"Argh... Aggh..."
Yvon retches, a large portion of his chest now smoking. Actually, his entire body looks a little steamy. He seems to take survey of the ruined grounds around him and turns with a lumbering sway to see the huntress. H'aanit can see that there is actually a notable hole in his chest. Amid the clearing smoke, she sees sinewy strings tethered to something like a crystalline heart within the hole. It moves with a beating rhythm, like a real heart, and pulsates with light. The surrounding flesh around the hole wound is flabby and gelatinous, with a grotesque color palette of innards and viscera. It seemed to actually be slowly... closing...
"Ungh..." H'aanit tries to stand, wobbling like a newborn deer before the fearsome giant. She still grips her axe. Cold sweat drips down her weary body. But, even in the face of sure death, she does not yield. Her green eyes look defiantly at the giant. She would protect the forest and her allies with every fiber of her being.
Yvon's drooling face curls into a perturbing semblance of a grin. Veins ripple and pulse across his discolored skin and he lunges forward to pulverize the huntress with a loud snarl.
H'aanit braced herself for impact as she swings anyway. Even if she would be flattened...
But impact never happened.
Suddenly, from behind, a huge shadow leaps overhead and crashes into the giant monstrous form. H'aanit's eyes widen as another seeming monster giant seems to have entered the fray and slugs at Yvon relentlessly before roaring in his face.
"Cyrus!" The huntress hears a voice call out behind her, followed by footsteps in the underbrush. She turns to see Primrose, Alfyn, Tressa, and Simeon carrying some girl. The dancer looks a little frazzled, with her hair knocked out of its usual ponytail and a tear or two on her red dress.
"H'aanit?!" The dancer and the entering group seem rather shocked at the scene they come upon.
"Primrose..." H'aanit nearly stumbles as she turns. Luckily, Alfyn runs forward and catches her, "W... What aren thou all..."
"Long story!" Tressa says, still pale and sweating a bit, "But it looks like that'll hafta wait!"
"... What is..." H'aanit looks a bit blearily towards the two monstrous giant humanoids that are engaged in a mad slugfest. She notices the one that just came in has shreds of something like a familiar dark robe, as well as dark hair and a slight ponytail at the back like a certain, familiar...
"... That's Cy... apparently..." Alfyn says quietly, "H'aanit, ya should hold it for a bit... Ya got a lotta hurt on ya!"
"What...? That's..." H'aanit looks in confusion at Alfyn and then to the two giants battling it out, "Cyrus...?"
"Another long story," Primrose brandishes a dagger H'aanit had never seen before. It looks it is wreathed in darkness, yet still material. The dancer has some blood from her split lip and running down one of her arms from a scrape, but she seems to ignore that for now, "We need to subdue the other one."
H'aanit hears the next loud roar of battle as Alfyn pulls her away from the fray.
"RAAARGH!" Cyrus(?) smashes and bashes the monstrous Yvon with his now-monstrous and muscular body. Like Yvon, he has a crystalline glow coming from his chest; his isn't a gaping hole, of course. His form is slightly smaller than Yvon's, though his attacks seem just as vicious. However, despite his wound, Yvon is far from out.
"UOOOAARGH!" Yvon smashes his blows on Cyrus' head. The two of them are bleeding from their eyes, nose, and mouth, staining their monstrous faces.
"Lion dance...!"
The dancer sends an invigorating burst of darkness, as thick and like the flurry of a lion's mane. It wreathes Cyrus' next fist, and it crashes into Yvon's body, sending some teeth fragments flying.
"Ngh..." Olberic groans and sits up, shifting Therion off himself. He sees Alfyn run up to him, "A-Alfyn?"
"Ol'Berg! Therion!" Alfyn looks a bit relieved, "Gosh, thank the gods... Let's get you guys patched up!"
"W-wait, what... what happened..." Olberic stares at the battle raging just beyond the fringe of trees they were in, "What in the name of Steorra's stars are they?"
"One of em's Cy, I'll tell ya that. The other one... Well, we just gotta help Cy!" Alfyn manages a weak smile as he quickly applies an icy touch to some of the bruises on the warrior, "Can ya stand, Ol'Berg?"
"Aye..." Olberic shakes it off, having not broken a bone, and stands, "Cyrus, you say?"
Alfyn goes to tend to the groaning thief now, "Y-yeah... long story... But we gotta help 'im!"
Training his eyes, Olberic notices the same minute details that H'aanit saw as well. The small bits that reminded him of that loquacious scholar... He picks up his sword, "... Very well. At arms...!"
He charges into the fray as well, swinging for Yvon. He is the only one of the party that even looks sizable standing by these humongous freaks. With a cross strike, he manages to cut deeply into the giant Yvon's calf. However, to his shock, the flesh mends as pulsating veins throb over the wound and remake the skin as one. He barely avoids a sweeping thrash kick from the giant, like a person flailing for an ant.
"Ugh..." He growls and pulls out his spear instead, but without much better luck.
"W-what do we do?" Tressa pants, still barely recovered from her drain earlier, "Cyrus' trivia quips would be helpful right about now..."
"I... might have an idea... but we need the cleric... where is she?" Simeon looks about as he lays Therese down a safe distance away. The playwright espies the girl's head of blonde hair at the bottom of the cliffside and makes a run for it.
"Simeon!" Primrose yells.
Yvon gives a loud scream of rage as he grabs giant Cyrus by the throat and slams him on the ground. The beating crystal within the hole in his chest seems to be repairing its membranes and more pulsating veins cover his body. His already-enlarged fist bulges from the increased flow and he smashes it down in a pulverizing strike on Cyrus' chest, sending shockwaves through the ground and shattering nearby earth. Olberic is pushed back by slabs of rock knocked loose.
"GRAAAUGGGH!"
Simeon yelps as his footing shakes and fissures form underfoot. Nimbly, albeit clumsily, he manages to jump over some of the gaping cracks as he evades the battle to reach Ophilia. To better draw the battle's attention away, Primrose throws a dagger aimed at Yvon's eye and manages to nail the giant, making him howl.
"OU-OUAAGH!" His cries could deafen a person as he picks at his eye for the small blade. Tressa almost loses her dinner when he ends up just ripping out the entire bloody eyeball.
"Miss Ophilia... Miss Ophilia!" Simeon manages to reach the cleric and worriedly shakes her shoulders a little, "Please, say something!"
"N... nh..." Ophilia winces and her eyes open a crack. A trail of blood runs down her scalp and her vision remains blurry even after a few blinks, "Wh..."
"Oh, good, you're conscious. There isn't time to explain, you are the only one who can use radiant magic, yes? Only you can seriously wound these monstrosities...!" Simeon says quickly and urgently, "Do you understand me?"
"I-I... can't really see..." Ophilia mumbles through dry lips.
"... I can point your staff and help you aim then... But you need to be able to muster the strength to fire light magic as strong as you can, alright?" The playwright can be felt tugging the staff, "Can you do this?"
"I... I think I can..." Ophilia can't seem to keep her head from swimming. She focuses and feels some warming light gather in her hands and the staff she had managed to cling to.
"Alright, on my signal. Ready?"
Yvon gives a loud roar, which echoes in Ophilia's head and makes her flinch. His bloody eye socket grotesquely writhes with live tissue that seems to fill it and stop the bleeding. Primrose pulls her dagger back with a thread of darkness and dodges a swing from the giant as he lobs a stone her way. Cyrus seems to recover and smashes his head into Yvon's chin, resuming their bloody slugfest.
"Prim!" Alfyn looks up as the dancer lands a few feet from them after gracefully jumping and dodging. He had just managed to rouse Therion from unconsciousness. The thief groans, clutching his ribs.
"...Are you able to fight, dear thief?" Primrose says, a thin trail of sweat running down her face. Her eyes are slightly reddish, "It seems... a small knife to its weak points... will do better than Olberic's large sword..."
"Ugh..." Therion looks to her flatly and sighs, staggering to stand, "Can't handle it yourself?"
"Th-Therion..." Alfyn looks to him worriedly.
"I was merely offering you a chance to contribute," Primrose smiles smugly as she readies two daggers, "Simeon is planning something... I will take the left flank. Just try not to get yourself killed and keep them distracted..."
"Easier said than done," Therion grumbles. He steps forward and feels a slight pain in his leg. Looking down, he sees something like a white thorn vine lashed onto his shin. However, aside from the pinprick of pain, he feels something strengthening flow into him. It is brief, but it steadies his gait and eliminates some of the pain from his injuries and fatigue. The vine withers away shortly.
What was that? … Ugh, never mind... He decides to think better than to ponder that now and shakes his head as he goes to join the dancer. Whatever that was seemed to have helped.
Primrose runs ahead with a few dainty steps, twirling and whipping about her daggers in a graceful dance. The image of two panthers conjured up by her dark arts appear to flank her and make her go even faster. As Therion runs parallel to her route, one of the panthers zooms for him and he feels light on his feet as the magic envelopes him in a flurry of darkness.
"... Let's go then..." He breathes as he zooms for Yvon's right side. Alfyn had filled him in on one of the giants being Cyrus, supposedly. The thief didn't ask for details.
Yvon's glowing eyes do not miss the two gnats now buzzing about him and Cyrus. Adding greater bulk to his attacks, he makes more forceful swings with wider reach to try and swat them away. Therion ducks just to avoid a rock to his head and Primrose leaps just in time as Yvon smashes where she was standing a second ago. The dancer uses her thrown daggers from a slight distance, using her dark magic as a chain to yank them back after if they get stuck. Therion doesn't have that luxury and so has to rely on his fleet feet to weave in and out for opportune strikes.
The thief's eyes are drawn easily to that pulsating light in Yvon's chest, from that weird stone he had been holding. Maybe if he...
"Aim for the heart...!" Therion shouts as he runs forward. With the help of the panther dance, he's able to leap up effortlessly, climbing Yvon like a mountain.
"Don't be too reckless...!" Primrose shouts as she tries to distract Yvon from Therion's presence with her attacks. She manages a scratch on the giant's face, which seems to piss it off. Yvon lunges downward, roaring with his maddened eyes. The force of air from his enlarged lungs blows Primrose back. She is luckily caught by Olberic.
"Guh..." Therion stabs down on the skin underfoot to hang on as Yvon swings at Cyrus. From his vantage point, he sees Simeon and Ophilia by the cliff base, with a powerful white glow gathering. It looks aimed at...
"Mr. Thief, get away!" Simeon yells.
Therion curses inward as he yanks his dagger out and leaps off from Yvon just as the giant claps a meaty hand on where the thief left a small prick in his skin. At that moment, the white bolt is loosed from Ophilia's staff. Yvon instinctively moves to turn away from it, but Cyrus manages to grapple him just as the ray of light nears. In a brilliant display of light and blood, it pierces them both through the chest. The ray's berth is not very wide, but it seems to still have had a significant effect so close to the blood crystals. Both giants give a bloodcurdling howl as they collapse. Therion lands
"Unh..." Primrose pulls off Olberic and holds her head a little as she looks at the two fallen giant bodies on top of each other. She looks to see Simeon run over to her as Alfyn ran off to treat Ophilia now, "Simeon, what..."
"I figured that if it's blood magic that radiant would be able to counter it..." He gives her a breathless smile, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine..." She sighs and nearly falls when she leans forward in his arms.
"Ah..." Simeon holds her shoulders and looks to Olberic, "And you, sir?"
"... I am fine..." Olberic sighs wearily and slowly walks towards the collapsed giants.
"A-Alfyn..." Ophilia grasps the apothecary's shoulder as he dabs at her bloody forehead, "Wh-What happened..."
"It's alright, Lia... I-I think it's over..." The apothecary masks his worry well, "You alright? Can you stand?"
"Is H'aanit..."
"She's alright... I'm gonna go check on Cy now, okay? Stay put a bit. I think you hit yer head pretty bad..."
Alfyn turns around to see a strange sight. The two gigantic bodies of Yvon and Cyrus seem to be … almost melting? The flesh that formed the humongous bodies looks to be growing slightly translucent and coalescing, losing boundaries. From within the congealing mass of flesh, the two pulsating crystals faintly emanate their glow.
"C-Cy?"
"What in the world...?" Olberic stares in shock. He is almost tempted to try and cut through the flesh, but he couldn't tell where Cyrus was anymore as the two bodies simply became one large mass with pulsating veins.
"...Ugh..." Therese wobbly peers out from where Alfyn had set her down by some trees. She sees the horrific aftermath of the destroyed clearing and everyone seemingly staring at the giant mass of purplish flesh. The student looks about anxiously and her heart drops when she realizes Cyrus is not among those she sees gathered here...
"Professor?" She calls out, worried.
…
Cyrus had lost consciousness shortly after the piercing pain in his chest bludgeoned his brain into submission. He glimpsed the dancer through a maddening shade of red and then heard her call out his name. One of the last things he remembered was the rage he felt at Yvon for his trickery...
The scholar floats about in a reddish, warm place. There is a feeling of damp air here. He is weightless, though not totally unburdened. He can feel the vague sensation of pain on his body. It throbs, particularly where the crystal was embedded...
With the pulsation, a faint voice sounds in his mind to let it take the pain, along with his body. It is telling him to surrender...
Suddenly, he hears the voice of people calling from beyond this place. They sound familiar. Is that... Therese? Alfyn?
"Cy..."
"Prof... sor..."
Cyrus wills himself to push the voice aside, or at least try to. Strangely, he opens his eyes to see a double vision. One half of his vision sees the dim night and a ruined clearing in the forest. His companions seem to be looking at him worriedly... but why were they so small? And they looked injured... His other vision perceives a dark, reddish void... and Yvon seems to be here.
"What..." Cyrus glares at Yvon, "You scoundrel!"
"Hmf, so you're here, too," Yvon scoffs, seeming uncaring with him, "It figures that I would somehow share this body with you..."
"What are you talking about... Where are we?" Cyrus asks defensively. He has to try to stop his head from spinning as he hears his companions calling to him worriedly. While he could see them, it was a strange, out-of-body feeling... he couldn't turn his head or anything.
"This is the place where consciousness seems to mix within the blood crystal's power. We both seem to have been... used..." Yvon growls, "That damn Lucia..."
"What are you talking about? You... Oh, don't tell me," Cyrus says with the slightest of cheek as he realizes, "You were duped by her as well? Even when you were so high and mighty with your blood crystal?"
"Shut up! None of that matters now. We'll both soon be consumed by the crystal's thirst for violence," Yvon closes his eyes and scowls, "It was a miracle you didn't flatten any of your allies in your mad chase for me."
"...Thirst for violence..." Cyrus murmurs quietly. That's right, he had come after Yvon...
He hears the voices from the crystal, clashing with the shouts from outside, from Alfyn calling to him. From...
"... Therese..." Cyrus sighs at the voice of his student crying to him. He wondered exactly what this body of his was doing as it was combining with Yvon's under the crystal's influence.
"Cy! Cy! C'mon, you... you gotta snap out of it!"
Alfyn's voice is almost hoarse as he yells. The large mass of flesh has now shaped into some larger giant humanoid. It has a mix of Cyrus and Yvon's features, though only barely, as it is so monstrous and almost inhuman. The two glowing crystals are now one, embedded in the conjoined chest. The humanoid seems motionless, slumped forward on its knees. Its eyes are glowing faintly, and drool drips from its mouth. Heaving breaths build from it, like a rabid beast that could loosen its restraints at any moment. The veins pulsating across its skin spread and throb.
"He's in there, right?" Ophilia asks fearfully, leaning on Olberic who is helping her stand.
"Cyrus...!" The dancer calls out to him, "Don't let it take over your mind!"
Their voices and pleas mix with the rising cacophony of the crystal's temptations to go berserk.
"Let it... take control..."
"... Give up, Cyrus."
Cyrus looks to see Yvon's immaterial body seemingly fade into the reddish darkness, becoming one with it.
"... If I can't do it, you definitely can't..."
Cyrus looks down to see his lower body vanishing, sinking into the darkness. It is like a thick sludge, pulling him in. Struggle as he may, the voice of the crystal booms, seemingly like his heart.
"Alfyn!" He calls out, against the torrent trying to flood his will, "All of you... Please..."
The giant mass seems to be struggling to speak, much to the party's shock. It sounds like a garbled man's voice, with no trace of Cyrus.
"I can't... hold this body for long..." The giant growls, bracing and looking like it's on the verge of tearing loose, "Before I... lose … kill … me..."
Happy new year