The giant turkey needs to be dealt with. Your friends have been holding their own so far, you hope they can keep it up as you square yourself with the giant turkey. Knowing the other turkeys have been making use of elemental magic, you assume the giant can too. So far, none of the turkeys has given you an indication that they know anything other than the elemental school. You decide that the extra juice afforded by the nexus, and your lack of other options, makes your snare rune the best option against the giant turkey. Your wind trick for delivery is a no-go, though. The turkey is looking squarely at you. It seems the great bird recognizes you as the biggest threat here.

You move to get away from Lyrrica, she doesn’t need more to worry about. The turkey is sizing you up. It unfurls its fan and puffs itself up. The increase to its bulk is more than a little intimidating, even though you know it’s a bluff. There’s only about two of the turkey’s strides between the two of you. Your mind is racing for a way to engage the snare without getting into the massive beast’s range. The method you pick is crazy, nothing you would try unless you were standing in a magical nexus allowing you to use more power than you usually could. The turkey begins to take a step, and you suck in breath.

Here goes nothing.

You tuck the snare rune into your mage glove and focus your power into your palm. The pattern of the rune burns against your skin, allowing you to envision the pattern as part of your arm. As the turkey finishes its step towards you, you grit your teeth and push your magic out in a stream of incandescent power. The glowing, pure magical stream brands the turkey’s leg with the snare rune. It feels as if your legs come out from under you as the expenditure of power drains you. If you hadn’t been in the nexus, you probably would have passed out using pure magic to draw a rune.

The Giant turkey is unable to avoid the rune, and gobbles in indignation as it trips. Seamus and Patty both give out tiny war cries as they launch off the stump. Patty gets a clean swing with his shillelagh and a blast of force magic impacts the bird’s wing. The turkey reacts quickly, though. It’s head snaps faster than you would have thought possible towards Seamus. The beak clamps shut around the leprechaun as it uses its uninjured wing to blow the other leprechaun away into the branches of the tree. The giant Turkey then flips its feathers into the sign for earth magic. You can sense the power surge through the ground towards you. This simply won’t do, a creature of the air is trying to kill an elf with the ground.

Indignant fury burns away your fatigue, your hands both form the sign for earth magic against the soil you are kneeling on. Magical stamina you didn’t know you had wells up as you form a barrier of your magic in the earth. The turkey’s assault breaks upon your defenses, but you don’t relent. Pushing your power forward. The earth obeys you easily as you thrust spikes of hastily formed stone through the prone turkey. The turkey thrashes in pain, but doesn’t stop fighting. Tearing up the ground where its leg is anchored by your snare rune, the bird advances and makes to take a bite out of you. Your power is truly spent now, and you close your eyes as the beak approaches.

A loud clang rings out just feet from you. You open your eyes to see Mal pushing the beak away with his shield and slashing at one of the turkey’s eyes with his sword. Lyrrica uses the last of her speed rune to charge in from the other side, burying her knife in the turkey’s other eye. From above Horton and Patty descend with force magic rippling the air around them.

“Faugh A Ballagh!” Patty yells as the two make contact with the turkey’s center mass.

Bones crunch, blood spurts from its wounds, and most disturbingly, the beast retches as the assault utterly destroys the bird. The vomit misses you by inches, then a chunky piece stands up and staggers out of the puddle. Patty runs over to his comrade.

“Seamus! Are ye all ri…”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” Seamus grabs his friend by the shoulders and vocalizes exactly how he feels about current events. His scream continues unabated as he pantomimes a closing mouth, swallowing, and spins around in a panicked circle before grabbing his friend by the shoulders and continuing to scream.

“Say it don’ spray it ye big pansy.” The other leprechaun calmly comments.

Looking around, you see there are dead and twitching turkeys all over the grove. There’s enough meat to feed a kingdom in the grove. At the leprechauns insistence, your group methodically destroys the wishbones of each bird. You’re all tired, and the sun is well and truly down by now. The magical energies of the nexus make the area under the tree glow with magical luminescence. You could stay the night here. Or you could suck it up and go back to the leprechaun village for your reward through the night. You might be able to go back to Jihmanee and get a half nights rest there too.