Ari ♫ ♪ ♬ (gracenotes) wrote in emillion, |
Hopefully, with her song lending him additional strength, the samurai would be able to take down the crystal alone, because Ari’s daggers seemed as though they would be inconsequential in this battle (it was unfortunate that magicite was so sturdy; shattering it seemed attractive right about now). The bats kept coming, as though they had wakened an entire colony of the things, and she was a little occupied with Guardian’s Ballad, trying to give them all some sort of buffer from the ceaseless attacks. Another of the bats dove at her; its body was ice cold as it slammed into her shoulder. ...Cold? Was there such a thing in this world as undead bats? Nothing for it but to give it a try; with Shell and Protect in place, she changed the mood of her play to the dramatic and somber tones of Requiem. The pale, pearly glow rose, pushing against the crystal’s green light, and those flying nuisances that hadn’t gone down with Wolfe’s spells shrieked their fury, their wingbeats faltering. The buffs sank into both samurai and geomancer alike, a protective magical shield anchoring in their skin. The healing magic brought the last of the abysteel down, leaving the fighter’s sword and now Wolfe’s axe to ring against the crystalbug again and again, hacking away at it before it could heal itself. Under the combined onslaught the crystalbug finally rattled, and rattled, and rattled, and toppled, its light dimming. Then silence. There was only the sound of heaving breaths, the darkness sinking in around them. Ari fumbled for their lantern – it had fallen somewhere during the course of the melee – but then a spark of flame bloomed in Wolfe’s gloved palm, a handful of Fire illuminating the buried hallway and their drawn faces. “Everyone alright?” Wolfe asked through a weary smile, one booted foot nudging a fallen, twitching bat. “Alive.” Rivalen didn’t sheath his sword, nor relaxed his stance just yet. There could be something else lurking in the darkness, beyond the places where Wolfe’s fire could not reach. He watched the twitching bat with a grimace, “Foul things.” When he was sure nothing else was about to come their way, he sheathed his sword again, metal clicking in place softly. “Lesson to you, Wolfe, do not touch shiny shit.” Nevermind that he had done the same. The geomancer protested. “Hey, I was hardly the only—” As if on cue, there was a humming sound from where the ruins of the crystal lay, followed by a growing blue light. Ari watched as the chamber was once again fully illuminated -- as though the battle had never been, if not for the bodies of the bats littering the stone floor -- and the crystal stood whole. “I give magicite credit for its impeccable use of dramatic timing,” she said, giving it a suspicious glance. Pretty as it was, the desire to touch was far more resistible now, at least in her mind. “Maybe we ought to move along before it decides to become murderous again,” she suggested, staying back, just in case. “Unless either of you require healing, shall we?” “No, thank you. On my end, they were insignificant injuries; I’m more bruised than anything else.” Wolfe readjusted his axe, settling it against his shoulder and snuffing out his fire with a clench of his fist. They started walking once more, their steps sending small rocks skittering forward ahead of them on the path, as they kept onwards and downwards in the hallway, sinking lower and lower into the once-temple. He kept a wide berth of the crystal as they passed it, keeping a wary eye on the inanimate stone. “After you, good sir,” Wolfe said dryly behind Rivalen’s shoulder, once again letting the samurai take the lead — business as usual, then. Noting the wide berth given to the crystal, Rivalen let out a sharp laugh and shook his head, content to take the lead as they made their way deeper into the temple. The darkness was not favourable, but ahead of them, clear enough even in the darkness was the waystone. “Finally.” He only stopped briefly to readjust his gauntlets, then the sword at his side. “Ready?” But he didn’t really wait to hear their reply as he stepped forward, activating the warp. |