10-04-2017, 08:23 AM
In the aftermath of the lightning, bullets cut through the air towards Kuzuru and the Darkloid as Morene alternated her targets. Most glanced off the Dragonborn's scales, despite his weakened state, while Kuzuru was able to dodge some of his share with his new wings. He seemed to possess some innate proficiency with them - although not enough to prevent the addition of a few minor flesh wounds to his collection. The darklings growled and roared, wasting no time in marching towards the liberators, most of whom had their focus elsewhere.
Ebony reached to tug at Sonny’s arm, but he’d already begun moving forward, causing her hand to fall short. He muttered something to himself, but she hadn’t caught it over the sound of gunfire. “Sonny, behind us.” If he heard her, he showed no indication of it, still ploughing forwards with his whip in hand.
She turned, summoning her scythe defensively in front of her. One of the monsters lurched forwards, swinging the dull metal down onto the staff. Purple flames erupted from the point of contact while Ebony tried to shove the blade back. Her boots skidded along the floor and sweat dripped from her brow, but with one large heave, the darkling fell backwards, landing on the floor with a loud smack. She breathed out, relieved of the pressure temporarily and seizing every moment of respite she had available.
It didn't last.
Two more darklings replaced the first, both thrusting or swinging the sharp metal towards Ebony's chest. She yelped, trying to step away, only to find her foot was stuck. The first of the monsters had crawled forward, clawing into her thick boot and grasping it tightly. With the number of firm straps, Ebony had no hope at sliding her foot out - although, even if she did, the revelation came too late. Her body had already begun to tip backwards, leaning as far as it could from the metal prior to the realisation her leg wouldn't step with it. As expected, she fell, landing flat on her back painfully. Rocks on the ground dug in through her cloak. Even if she had the state of mind to scramble away, with one darkling still clasping her boot she wouldn't have gotten far - or anywhere at all.
Amusingly, for any neutral viewer, one of the standing darklings tripped over the one on the ground, being pushed forwards by their brethren behind them. Much less amusingly, it fell on Ebony. She coughed, gasping for air through the crushing sensation against her chest, and raised her arms to try and push the monster away. The ebony staff of her scythe wedged itself into the darkling's throat as she lifted it with all her might. Instead of recoiling or moving away, it instead pushed down, snapping its jaws and showcasing its array of sharp teeth. Spittle dripped from its maw while it choked itself.
Ebony shook her head in disgust, trying to remove the specs of saliva and redoubling her efforts to dislodge the foe. She flailed her legs, and although she couldn't see it, she felt her feet kick something - later hearing a muffled grunt of pain.
Metal glinted out the corner of her eye, reflecting the red-hot lava despite having rusty and murky patches along its length. It glided down, arcing through the air in the direction of her head. She yelped, reflexively twisting her scythe to block it. In the process, the darkling's still growling head rolled to the side as well. The forceful blow hammered into its upper neck. With the staff pushing from the other side, it cut three-quarters of the way through as one darkling inadvertently killed his ally.
Black blood spilt out of the wound, soaking into Ebony's clothing and forming dark clumps. She screamed, rolling, kicking, and pushing her way out from under the corpse, grabbing the carcass with her magic now that there was no lifeforce to stop her.
She flung it in front of her; it crashed into the swarm, causing a near domino effect as the eager, yet compact, mass tripped over their comrades - falling forwards, backwards, and sideways.
Panting, she tried to make her way onto her feet, only to spot two more moving in from her right, and the one that tried to attack her before closing in on her left. Swinging as hard as she could, she hooked the blade of her scythe behind the duo on her right, taking out their legs from behind with the sharp metal. It dug in, purple flames shrouding the impact areas. Both fell backwards, toppling to the rocky ground.
Bang!
She couldn't see where it originated, but a spray of bullets found their way towards her other immediate aggressor, giving her time to get to her feet. Sadly, the other darklings all had the same opportunity.
Ebony reached forwards, using her magically enhanced strength and longer range to her advantage. While frantic, the hit connected soundly, driving its way through the darkling's neck and spraying black blood towards its friend.
Yanking her scythe back, Ebony stepped away as more darklings came from her left - behind her group of allies. Over the growls, roars, and clanking of the darkling's movement, she heard more grunts, gunfire, and clashes of metal from the other fights, but was spared no time to look.
Adrenaline pumped through her blood, stimulating every inch of her body as she did all that she could to survive. She longed for home, but in situations like these, there was no time to consider her future plans or aims. Only the present. And right now, that meant staying alive.
If she did have the time to think about her actions, Ebony would note how little remorse she displayed towards the monsters. In her first encounter, she'd just tried to push them away, keep herself safe. But over time she'd learned there was no reasoning with them, they'd just keep coming back, thirsty for blood. The others hadn't hesitated, and she'd adopted their attitude in part, but amidst all the blood and pain one key question lingered in the back of her mind. Am I doing the right thing? Summer, Sonny, and Morene clearly thought they were, but nothing that would have done little to reassure her.
Luckily for Ebony, however, she wasn't thinking about that right now. She wasn't really thinking about anything. Just desperate instincts assisting her attempts to survive.
Her magic boiled inside her blood, building up pressure and looking for all the outlets it could find. With its influence, they came readily as Ebony chanted frantically, using the slight respite that came from the bullets dispatching of (or at least distracting) those closer to her. She thought she might have heard someone call out, but she didn't have time to register it.
A purple orb of mana shot into the main horde, exploding outwards and coating the monsters in corrosive wisps of magic. Some fell but most continued closing in. Ebony heard a grunt and clash from behind her and the fire support assisted her quickly stopped, before continuing elsewhere.
With her limited ability to fire magic quickly, it didn't take long for the large remainder of the force to close in around her. A few moved to flank Ebony while others mobbed forwards, hoisting their weapons into the air as a show of force.
Ebony swayed side to side gently, as if being pushed by a faint breeze. Her muscles burned from fatigue, her lungs heaved, trying to help get more oxygen into her lungs. Little besides the sound of her own heartbeat reached her ears as she leant forwards on her scythe. She had the time to cast maybe one or two more spells, but regardless of the power she put into them, more darklings always filled the gaps. There didn't even look like that many at the start, no more than the courtyard before. The difference here, however, was that she had to take on the majority of them alone. And that was not something she was physically or mentally equipped to deal with.
She tried to call for help, but her voice locked in her throat through a mixture of fear and her need to breathe. Shuddering, her fingers strayed to the buckle on her neck. If there was ever a time to remove that, it was now. She fumbled with the metal, removing the choker from her neck just as the first darkling clumsily thrust his blade towards her, missing only due to one of his allies attempting the same. Such numbers did pose some disadvantages.
Almost a full second passed as the monsters completed their formation around her. Blood dripped out Ebony's mouth and nose; she coughed through it, creating little red bubbles. Rocks, dust, and lava rose into the air around her while her body locked up.
Ebony opened her mouth, letting out one last silent scream, as the magic rocketed out of her palms.
Ebony reached to tug at Sonny’s arm, but he’d already begun moving forward, causing her hand to fall short. He muttered something to himself, but she hadn’t caught it over the sound of gunfire. “Sonny, behind us.” If he heard her, he showed no indication of it, still ploughing forwards with his whip in hand.
She turned, summoning her scythe defensively in front of her. One of the monsters lurched forwards, swinging the dull metal down onto the staff. Purple flames erupted from the point of contact while Ebony tried to shove the blade back. Her boots skidded along the floor and sweat dripped from her brow, but with one large heave, the darkling fell backwards, landing on the floor with a loud smack. She breathed out, relieved of the pressure temporarily and seizing every moment of respite she had available.
It didn't last.
Two more darklings replaced the first, both thrusting or swinging the sharp metal towards Ebony's chest. She yelped, trying to step away, only to find her foot was stuck. The first of the monsters had crawled forward, clawing into her thick boot and grasping it tightly. With the number of firm straps, Ebony had no hope at sliding her foot out - although, even if she did, the revelation came too late. Her body had already begun to tip backwards, leaning as far as it could from the metal prior to the realisation her leg wouldn't step with it. As expected, she fell, landing flat on her back painfully. Rocks on the ground dug in through her cloak. Even if she had the state of mind to scramble away, with one darkling still clasping her boot she wouldn't have gotten far - or anywhere at all.
Amusingly, for any neutral viewer, one of the standing darklings tripped over the one on the ground, being pushed forwards by their brethren behind them. Much less amusingly, it fell on Ebony. She coughed, gasping for air through the crushing sensation against her chest, and raised her arms to try and push the monster away. The ebony staff of her scythe wedged itself into the darkling's throat as she lifted it with all her might. Instead of recoiling or moving away, it instead pushed down, snapping its jaws and showcasing its array of sharp teeth. Spittle dripped from its maw while it choked itself.
Ebony shook her head in disgust, trying to remove the specs of saliva and redoubling her efforts to dislodge the foe. She flailed her legs, and although she couldn't see it, she felt her feet kick something - later hearing a muffled grunt of pain.
Metal glinted out the corner of her eye, reflecting the red-hot lava despite having rusty and murky patches along its length. It glided down, arcing through the air in the direction of her head. She yelped, reflexively twisting her scythe to block it. In the process, the darkling's still growling head rolled to the side as well. The forceful blow hammered into its upper neck. With the staff pushing from the other side, it cut three-quarters of the way through as one darkling inadvertently killed his ally.
Black blood spilt out of the wound, soaking into Ebony's clothing and forming dark clumps. She screamed, rolling, kicking, and pushing her way out from under the corpse, grabbing the carcass with her magic now that there was no lifeforce to stop her.
She flung it in front of her; it crashed into the swarm, causing a near domino effect as the eager, yet compact, mass tripped over their comrades - falling forwards, backwards, and sideways.
Panting, she tried to make her way onto her feet, only to spot two more moving in from her right, and the one that tried to attack her before closing in on her left. Swinging as hard as she could, she hooked the blade of her scythe behind the duo on her right, taking out their legs from behind with the sharp metal. It dug in, purple flames shrouding the impact areas. Both fell backwards, toppling to the rocky ground.
Bang!
She couldn't see where it originated, but a spray of bullets found their way towards her other immediate aggressor, giving her time to get to her feet. Sadly, the other darklings all had the same opportunity.
Ebony reached forwards, using her magically enhanced strength and longer range to her advantage. While frantic, the hit connected soundly, driving its way through the darkling's neck and spraying black blood towards its friend.
Yanking her scythe back, Ebony stepped away as more darklings came from her left - behind her group of allies. Over the growls, roars, and clanking of the darkling's movement, she heard more grunts, gunfire, and clashes of metal from the other fights, but was spared no time to look.
Adrenaline pumped through her blood, stimulating every inch of her body as she did all that she could to survive. She longed for home, but in situations like these, there was no time to consider her future plans or aims. Only the present. And right now, that meant staying alive.
If she did have the time to think about her actions, Ebony would note how little remorse she displayed towards the monsters. In her first encounter, she'd just tried to push them away, keep herself safe. But over time she'd learned there was no reasoning with them, they'd just keep coming back, thirsty for blood. The others hadn't hesitated, and she'd adopted their attitude in part, but amidst all the blood and pain one key question lingered in the back of her mind. Am I doing the right thing? Summer, Sonny, and Morene clearly thought they were, but nothing that would have done little to reassure her.
Luckily for Ebony, however, she wasn't thinking about that right now. She wasn't really thinking about anything. Just desperate instincts assisting her attempts to survive.
Her magic boiled inside her blood, building up pressure and looking for all the outlets it could find. With its influence, they came readily as Ebony chanted frantically, using the slight respite that came from the bullets dispatching of (or at least distracting) those closer to her. She thought she might have heard someone call out, but she didn't have time to register it.
A purple orb of mana shot into the main horde, exploding outwards and coating the monsters in corrosive wisps of magic. Some fell but most continued closing in. Ebony heard a grunt and clash from behind her and the fire support assisted her quickly stopped, before continuing elsewhere.
With her limited ability to fire magic quickly, it didn't take long for the large remainder of the force to close in around her. A few moved to flank Ebony while others mobbed forwards, hoisting their weapons into the air as a show of force.
Ebony swayed side to side gently, as if being pushed by a faint breeze. Her muscles burned from fatigue, her lungs heaved, trying to help get more oxygen into her lungs. Little besides the sound of her own heartbeat reached her ears as she leant forwards on her scythe. She had the time to cast maybe one or two more spells, but regardless of the power she put into them, more darklings always filled the gaps. There didn't even look like that many at the start, no more than the courtyard before. The difference here, however, was that she had to take on the majority of them alone. And that was not something she was physically or mentally equipped to deal with.
She tried to call for help, but her voice locked in her throat through a mixture of fear and her need to breathe. Shuddering, her fingers strayed to the buckle on her neck. If there was ever a time to remove that, it was now. She fumbled with the metal, removing the choker from her neck just as the first darkling clumsily thrust his blade towards her, missing only due to one of his allies attempting the same. Such numbers did pose some disadvantages.
Almost a full second passed as the monsters completed their formation around her. Blood dripped out Ebony's mouth and nose; she coughed through it, creating little red bubbles. Rocks, dust, and lava rose into the air around her while her body locked up.
Ebony opened her mouth, letting out one last silent scream, as the magic rocketed out of her palms.
Quote:1500 words (MS Word)
Morene shoots at Kuzu/the Darkloid. Sonny heads off towards them. Most of the party probably head off to deal with the Darkloid/Kuzu.
Eb gets mobbed.
Claptrap or Morene or someone with guns helps her out a bit from a distance.
Eb still gets mobbed.
Whoever was helping her out has to do other stuff (they got attacked/have to help someone else?)
Ebony uses T1 Super Attack, Wild Magic Surge, while being mobbed.