87

--TheirWorld--

Tea’s puppet stood no chance. Cut in two at the first swing, it lost the life Tea’s magic had given it, and its parts fell limply to the ground.

Faster and faster Othren went, more and more force and momentum building with every turn. A whirlwind picking up rocks and dust as the heavy sword cracked and broke the spikes that rose around them. Debris further eroded the broken ground, and splintered earth shot out towards them like bullets as a cloud of dust escaped BronzePaw’s crater, and obstructed their vision.

An arm in front of her to keep the sand from her eyes and mouth, Guin kept up her song. The sand storm that the captain had created wasn’t just blinding them, it was also doing small, random amounts of damage per second to each of them.

Paw was almost at full health, but from somewhere above, Guin heard Starshine scream and watched her health take a sharp dive. There was panic, for a moment, but a string of curses from the witch followed, settling Guin’s uneasy heart.

“What the hell! Stupid — whose idea were these damn rocks, anyway?” Star’s pained voice came in over the sound of the wind along with a great number of unsavory words and expressions. “I think my legs are broken…”

Tea’s tune changed again, and Guin saw the groups overall health start to go up. Assuming that, after losing his puppet, he added a healing song to his rotation, Guin switched her single target heal to get Star back on her feet.

“How long is this gonna go on for?” Drakov half shouted in order to compete with the whirlwind. “This is nuts!”

“It’s a forty-five second duration,” Ibraxis said. “This guy is considered a boss level.”

“You just had to pick a fight with him, didn't you?” BronzePaw shouted.

He grunted. “When this ends, Tea, keep up the mana and healing songs. Guin, switch back to offensive and try to tag team him with BronzePaw. Try to not take damage, either of you, so I can focus on getting a spell off.”

Satisfied with Star’s health bar, Guin stopped singing and asked dubiously, “It’s not gonna take five minutes, is it? I don’t know if I could take even a single hit from this guy?”

“If it does, it does,” he answered.

Hearing the shrug in his voice, Guin ground her teeth. “Reiterating Paw’s earlier sentiment: You just had to start a fight with this guy, didnt you?”

“Payback?” he offered.

“BronzePaw, I hate your brother,” Guin informed her, but regretted it a little when Paw didn’t answer.

“Paw, when the sand clears, rush him and keep agro,” Ibraxis said. “Work with —”

“Who died and made you boss?” BronzePaw snapped.

“Are you going to lead then?” Ibraxis asked his sister in annoyance.

“I—!” she stared, then backed down. “Nevermind. The ability is ending. Guin, take the back and lets try to keep him going back and forth between us so Ibraxis here can do whatever it is he plans on doing.”

“A-Alright,” Guin nodded, unsure of what to make of the fact that Paw had snapped at Ibraxis and not her.

The noise and wind were the first things to die down — but as the breeze started to carry the sand away, Othren broke through, his two hander high above his head as he practically flew towards them, streaking towards —

“Tea!” Guin shouted, throwing her hand out to him. As the little gaurle gaped, Guin saw Paw rush forward, ducking underneath the captain’s body and twisting in a single, fluid motion. Her hand jolting out grabbed him by his ankle and she him back mid-flight. The weight of the sword jerked it forward, the momentum pulling it out of his hand. It broke the ground as Othren, himself, fell on his face at BronzePaw’s side. It was beautifully executed.

Eyes alight, BronzePaw grappled him. “Guin!” she called. “The sword!”

Already sprinting across the broken roots of the muddied glade, she reached for the hilt of the enormous gold and silver sword. Sharpened nails dug into the ground, pulling up mud and tearing plant fibers as her fingers curled around its ornate hilt. Her feet skid in a wide arc as she tried to slow herself — then her shoulder wrenched, twisting in the combined effort of her arm and the weight of the blade bringing her to an halt. It had barely budged.

“Shit!’ Guin exclaimed, trying to move the blade. She just needed to get it out of reach!

Hearing BronzePaw screech in pain and anger, Guin looked up to see Othren sneering down over her. Guin froze, ears going flat against her head as her eyes met his. The blood drained from her face as his hand descended towards her. Arrows bounced off his glinting silver armor. Magic missles hit, bursting into light against his back, but his face barely registered it.

She couldn’t see BronzePaw. She could only hear whimpers and sounds of agitation. What had he done to her? Guin’s grip on the hilt tightened.

Then, she laughed. Fine, she went to herself, allowing the feelings of fear and hopeless wash over her. They passed through her, and left her with a new feeling of determination.

Letting go of the sword, she ducked from his hand, and kicked herself towards him. Summoning her spear, she gave the tip of it a quick lick — slicing her tongue in her reckless abandon and thrust it upward. It collided with with the chest plate with a loud clunking sound as the tip caught on an etching of two dancing unicorns. The metal began to hiss, causing Othren to look down with curiosity. Small streams of smoke rose from where the slime of [Pandora’s Box] began to eat at the hardened steel.

“Paw!” Guin shouted as the captain looked at her. His eyes flickered, but before he could act, BronzePaw appeared as a black shadow behind him, hissing loudly, and crying out:

“[Earthquake]!”

Othren cried out as BronzePaw’s blow him him square in the back. Time felt slowed again as Guin saw ripples of force flow out from behind him. She narrowed her eyes, and time sped up. His body jut forward, and Guin tightened her grip on her spear as it broke through, burning through his under armour and eating clean through his flesh and bone. The butt of her spear braced firmly against the ground, Guin grit her teeth and tried to hold her own as she felt the earth below them crack and crumble at the garuli mage’s will.

“[Ground Spikes]!” came BronzePaw’s voice again as the ground broke beneath Othren’s feet, threatening to swallow them both up. The spear started to snap under the weight.

Dropping her hold on it, Guin abandoned her spear and and quickly fox formed, using the bonus to agility and speed to get out of the new crater Paw was wreaking havoc in.

It was indeed an impressive sight. Switching back to her regular form, Guin clung to the edge of an outcropping far from the epicenter.

“Good job, you two,” Ibraxis went, hopping up next to her.

“Finally done?” Guin asked, still in awe of BronzePaw’s circle of destruction.

“Pretty impressive — but I wish she wouldn’t be quite so… what is the word… Grandiose? Obnoxious ? With her attacks,” he said.

“She is that,” Guin nodded and looked at him. She was shocked to see his white feathers and scales glimmering with tongues of red and gold. Every now and again ribbons of flame joined with a distortion of heat that emanated from his body.

“What the…?” she started.