497 CHPT 497: Flames In The Tuck
Searing heat. A flash fire hot enough to make you think you were being burned alive. Like a million needles stabbed into your skin with white-hot intensity. Long enough to bring about true panic.
And then….
Isaac coughed up an imaginary mouthful of water, opening his eyes in a daze. Dust and dirt danced in the freshly superheated air, collecting and mixing with the wisps of steam that rose from the ruins surrounding them.
Castles and spires made of stone. Broken down… weathered and covered in glowing underwater plantlife and moss left to shrink and die. It almost blended with the corpses. Some burned down to the bone.
"RAAAAGHHH!!!"
A roar shook the area. The scorched bones crumbled to ash and fell like obsidian rainfall. A rooftop nearby caved in.
"Shit…." Ursula growled and moved aside the busted piece of stone slab that laid over her. From under it Maris got to her feet.
Isaac started searching for Warren. The grounds weren't very cluttered so when he found a foot hanging into the room from the shadows behind the doorway he yanked.
Warren slid across the stone floor like a ragdoll, getting up with a jump.
"AH— FIRE…. Fire…. fire." A small bit of flames but at the clothing on his arm that he swatted away.
Another roar shook the area.
"What was that?" Maris questioned. Her short dark hair was frayed and rough from the chaos
"Fire Troll. The stronger they are the more flames and heat they can generate. But also they're dumb and sometimes forget they can over-scorch." Isaac said.
"It blew up." Ursula concluded.
"Yea….. we sure the Heroes aren't actually trying to kill us?" Warren asked.
"Oh they are." Isaac said.
"Killing us guarantees other nations Heroes are more of a commodity. And if a nation has more protection it has more progress. They want us to die here."
"But we have a game plan." Isaac attempted to calm the group. Warren, actually.
It was then that something crashed through the window to their left, bringing with it a pile of stone and rubble.
They all readied their weapons as the dust settled and showed the dirtied tan skinned man from before. Bald head. Hard veins ran through his temples and neck. Green enough to make you cringe. He wasn't a monster in the plain sense. Just a barely passable man. Lean and hard as stone.
"SkinWalker."
"Don't forget the plan." Isaac said as the SkinWalker hissed and death rolled onto his stomach like an alligator. From there he pushed up into a standing position with so much force the floor cracked where his hands were.
"Damn…" Isaac raised his shield.
The SkinWalker hissed and it's eyes went slitted as a long forked tongue rolled out of his mouth. Whatever it smelled drew its attention off Isaac and to Ursula.
FWOOSH!
Isaac (Shoulder Charged) the enemy, canceling the ability prematurely as the SkinWalker dodged with blurring speeds and a ripple of its torn clothing.
Ursula blew past him and tackled the Monster, picking him up in a bear hug and slamming him into the floor.
Before he could grab her with his strong hands she jumped back next to Isaac and held out her hand. The ice on her palms already responding to the cold winds.
Isaac let out a stream of flame.
Steam pooled around the SkinWalker with Warren's help.
Maris got to work long before then, turning the small water droplets within into sharp needlepoints to cut deep into the Monster.
SHLKC!
PCK!
Small barely noticeable cuts. Just enough to draw a droplet of blood.
The SkinWalker moved as soon as the mist started to redden. Too fast.
Isaac felt the hands around his neck before he even heard the monster move. As he was held in the air the SkinWalker punched aside Maris and Ursula with shocking ease. Possibly high gold level ease.
Isaac activated (Knights Honor). The room brightened as everyone's defensive capabilities blossomed. Then he Shoulder Charged towards the window the SkinWalker came in from.
The Monster hung on as they flew across the room in a burst of red energy.
FWOOSH!
Isaac was back on his feet, slamming his shield into the SkinWalkers fanged mouth. His head hit the wall and bounced. The room shifted as a bolt of lightning smashed the grounds outside. The shockwave collapsed the part of the building Isaac and the SkinWalker occupied.
As they fell— again, the SkinWalker lunged, biting into Isaac's shield and splitting it. But ultimately it was that very thing that saved him as the shield crumbled and the creature fell deeper into the rubble rainfall.
Isaac hovered. Held up by a thick fingered hand.
"Prey Drive…. I love you." Ursula whispered.
"What?"
"Ergh!… nothing." Ursula said as she pulled him up.
Isaac got to his feet and dusted himself off.
"We need to perfect our strategy fast. It takes too long to draw blood." Maris said.
Warren nodded, "I'll get in there."
Nobody questioned him. That would damage morale. Isaac was grateful Ursula caught it.
"Alright bet." Isaac adjusted his knights helm.
Another chaotic blast of mixed elements hit the grounds and something roared.
"We need to get out there. Now."
***
And so they did.
Once they reached outside they began sweeping the ruined city with all the stunted training they could muster. They didn't let the distant sounds allow them to relax because the smell of Undead was close.
Not only that, but the SkinWalker wasn't dead. It would be foolish to assume so.
So they followed Skinners directive.
Don't leave any kills behind.
SLSH!!
[+85 EXP]
Isaac ran his cutlass through the head of a Ghoul. A dozen more filled the alleyway. Their pale white skin steamed under the distant sunlight.
Another came at him. He headbutted the blue eyed creature, knocking out its rotted fangs before driving his sword through its face.
"Behind—"
Before he could hear the rest of Warren's words he placed his flaming left hand on the inside of his AlchemSol Cloak. The flames hit the dark Runed fabric and gave it a passive radiant glow.
CRK!
The Ghoul bit down on shoulder portion of the cloak and its teeth shattered like glass.
Warren landed on the creature and ran his daggers through its neck.
Before it could hit the ground they were moving in response to the sounds of wings flapping overhead. No time to clean up.
"HSSSKSKSKSKKS!!!!" The Yokai Hybrid landed in the alley of Ghoul corpses in an explosion of severed limbs and dust.
They outran the shockwave, turning at the first chance they could and spilling out onto a dirt main street. The road was lined with old world ruins.
SkyScrapers broken down and blackened by water damage. Multipurpose housing made hollow and haunted. Even a place of worship topped with a Gargoyl—
The Yokai jumped off the building it perched on and headed straight for them. It's black wings were like focused shadows over an ocean of blue skin and starry yellow eyes.
Isaac's left hand hadn't left the inside of his cloak in sometime. His cloak was even beginning to catch fire from the overcharge of heat it couldn't transmute fast enough.
The Yokai dropped down to ground level. It's wingbeats gave it a continuous cover of dirt from the heavy winds, leaving only its four yellow eyes. Horror.
They weren't nearly fast enough. Claude wasn't there to swallow the creature in Nature and ferocity.
"Maris watch for the blood."
Isaac spun on his heels, sheathing his blade and balling up his cloak in his fists as he shoulder charged the slithering monster, leaving only a trail of scorched earth.
The two collided like boulders. The Yokai's slippery skin and heavy feathers. Isaac's steaming armor and overcharged cloak. Isaac could feel it's weight ripple through his body like a blast from a cannon. And as if he was made of reinforced steel, he could feel the blast shatter over him. He could feel the skin give over the sharp grooves of his armor. He could feel the feathers around him. The monsters pain as it was stunned.
When the dust settled the two pressed against eachother. Unfortunately Isaac was also being constructed in its snake-like lower half as it hissed and whined at him.
He wasn't nearly strong enough to be in the position he was i—
Crack!
Three of his fingers broke. He gritted his teeth and bolstered his Aura.
Smiling as he watched the blood dripping from its nose holes slither across his armor and over to whoever stood behind him.
A flash of yellow flew behind the Yokai as it too noticed the blood.
"ShiiiiIIIIT!" The blur spoke in Warrens voice.
SLSH!
Black feathers and blood sprayed as it's wing was cut deep at the base.
"KSSSSSKSKSKSK!!!!"
Isaac pulled the creature as it already pressed into him, reaching over its back to rip off the dangling wing. It's skin smelled like sea-moss and blood.
It ripped off with a grisly and meaty tear that he could feel the pain of as it screamed and let him go, taking to the skies in uneven leaps and bounds.
The wing still flapped on the floor after he dropped it and almost fell himself.
[45% HP Remaining. (675/1500)]
Isaac spit blood from the singular slit in his Knights helm.
"Hey, can we not collide with Monsters way above our pay grade?" Ursula asked sarcastically.
Isaac shrugged as he caught his breath, "You know me, I had to get big on him….. improvise and stuff like that."
Warren still looked at the blood in disgust on his daggers. Like snot.
Maris manipulated a ball of it in her hands. Making it spin and shift shapes on impulse as her eyes glimmered.
"I can follow it." She muttered.
They all stared at her.
"I….. let's go."
She took off.
They followed.
"ARE YOU NOT GOING TO EXPLAIN?"
