lash v bandercoerul/archeosaur (special guest: hashmal!)
Loch glanced in the direction of the familiar voice, and let out a darkly amused snort. "I like 'em feisty," she said in reply. But this one was a little too feisty — the wound in her side seemed to be getting worse the more she moved (pain shot through her ribcage in spikes every time she swung into an attack) and, of course, standing still wasn't an option.
She called Ash's name to get her attention, then Blinked and reappeared beside the Archeosaur, digging her knives into its side and cutting down. The beast let out a growl of mingled pain and fury, and Loch pulled her blades out of its hide just in time to be struck by another Thunder spell. The shock left her numb, frozen in place for the briefest of seconds — long enough for the dinosaur to slam her into the trunk of a nearby tree with a swing of its tail.
Ash nodded and mimicked the movement, reappearing behind the Bandercoeurl, shooting point blank into the body before somersaulting out of the way of its tail and diving back towards Loch.
Her vision swam in front of her; pain flared across her back and chest and her grip on Fat Lord and Serendipity slackened. She reacted just in time to keep them from falling to the grass, and cursed. If the two bastards were going to work together —
"Why'd you bring a friend?" Loch wheezed. Every breath was claws raking down the inside of her chest. "This is a private party."
Ash chuckled grimly. “Figured the more the merrier, right?” She switched her attention from the Bandercoeurl and fired the last of her rounds into the Archeosaur, which batted at the bullets like they were annoying gnats. That doesn’t fucking bode well, she thought just as the fucking dinosaur charged her, its tail lashing out and catching her in the chest. Fortunately, she didn’t fly far; the tree behind her made sure of that.
Coughing, she got to her feet and wiped the blood off of her face. “Got anything explosive handy?” she wheezed. “Because we sure as fuck need it.”
It took a moment for the words to reach Loch, as the echoes of another spell receded and Ash's voice pierced the haze of pain. Her blood pounded in her ears like a steady drum, a pulse that started inside her and spread to the ground under her feet. The illusion gained momentum steadily as she felt her energy bleed out of her; she was still leaning against the tree for balance. The Bandercoeurl moved in to attack and she rolled out of its way just fast enough to avoid being crushed against the trunk. Her ankle twisted and she stumbled onto the grass, hands thrown in front of her to break her fall.
She hit the ground and her left arm seared with pain. It burned like a question. She saw the Bandercoeurl turn to her, rearing for another attack, and knew the answer.
"Give 'em hell," she muttered, and a gigantic beast emerged out of thin air and let out a roar that shook the clearing. With a one-handed sweep, Hashmal grabbed the Bandercoeurl and threw it across the clearing like a rag doll. It hit a tree and did not move again.
Shaking worse than before, Loch sat up and scooted back, out of the way as Hashmal reached for the dinosaur this time. Her head felt as though it might split into two, and she broke into a cold sweat as she looked up at the thing she had spent months trying to ignore and suppress. A blood-chilling, horrified awe had broken through the adrenaline, and she could not look away.