Hi Everybody!

-waves-

All right, as should be obvious, this is a private fight. If you weren't invited, you are welcome to watch, gasp in awe and choose somebody to cheer on. However, please don't jump in and start swinging. Enjoy!

As for the rest of you.

I suppose you’re wondering why I called you here . . .

Sorry. Always wanted to say that.

Anyways, the purpose of all of this is to set up a super cool awesome fight scene between a bunch of people, without PMing it to death. So, We’re going to take turns with the posting here, with the Beast getting to respond a bit faster than you guys (cause it’s like super scary and stuff) but in the end, it’s some good clean fun slaughtering. So, some background.

The Beast : As per Doomed’s advice, some modifications have been made to this character. Don’t believe what you’ve seen in the past, this is how it is now. We can go with the original physical description, big, scary and covered in spikes. Claws and big teeth and all that fun stuff.

HOWEVER . . . it is not invincible. It has thickened skin, which would be hard to pierce. But you can get through it. It also does not regenerate limbs anymore.

The Plan : (Please take notes, there will be a test later. Those who do not study will get eaten. Or smashed to bits. More to follow)

You all happen to find yourselves hanging out at Mageria’s quaint little training camp, about 30-45 minutes north of Newhaven, about two weeks into the time jump. It’s awesome and if needed, I’ll explain it more fully later. It’s in a rocky hilly region, with several caves nearby. Mageria, having three years of knowing this thing is coming back to plan and being a bit obsessive, has trapped caves throughout Valcrest. So, when she gets the news that the Beast is hanging around her camp making a nuisance, she decides that it’s time to squash it like an overgrown insect. Which is when you all come in!

So . . . . Mageria will lure the Beast into the cave, where you all (plus a couple of the Guard who happen to be bored) will be waiting to descend upon it like a bunch of frat boys going after a pinata. There will be an extended fight scene, which will be awesome cause we’re all in on it. Then, after a sufficient smack down, we collapse the cave, all run out, and have an incredible party to celebrate.

So, if you all don’t mind, I’ll just through us all into the fight, we can work out how all of us got there later.

---------------------

Mageria was going over the supplies when Matthew knocked on the warehouse door, a grim look on his face.
“Captain, we’ve found some more animal carcasses, all torn to bits like you told us to watch for. Huge clawed prints all around.”
Mageria sighed, leaning against the wall. “Anything else?”
“Isn’t that enough?”
Mageria snorted a laugh. “Yeah, it is. You know the plan, right?”
Matthew nodded. “Aye. We’ll be ready.”
Mageria thought for a moment. “Ask around camp for volunteers, I only want willing people going up after this thing.”
Matthew nodded again. “No problem Captain. We’ll get rid of this thing in no time.”

-------

That night, Mageria had a chance to reconsider the insanity of her plan, given that she was waiting completely alone for something that could tear her apart in the time it took to blink.
“Then again,” she muttered as she tracked a rustling in the bushes. “I’ve never been accused of being smart.” The rustling got louder, branches snapping as something pushed them to the side. There was a loud coughing snarl as a figure from her nightmares walked into view, a stray beam of moonlight highlighting it and gleaming off it’s teeth. Mageria smiled, lips pulling back from her teeth in response as her heart beat suddenly thundered in her ears.

The two of them stared at each other, the Beast in all it’s savage glory against one overly stubborn woman armed with a couple blades and a crossbow and a set of mercenary’s armor. Long moments stretched by as they fought a silent battle of wills, the strain pulling tighter and tighter until she finally broke it with a snap; the quarrel flying from the bow to plunge deep into the shoulder of the Beast. Mageria spun in place, running away as fast as she could to where the next part of the plan would take place. Behind her she could hear the Beast charging after her, the wound barely slowing it down. But the poison she smeared over the quarrel slowed it down just enough that she was able to keep ahead, leading it over suddenly rocky ground and plunging into the mouth of a cave.

Mageria ran blindly into the darkness, memory guiding her feet to where the others waited. Breaking suddenly into a pool of light in the middle of a cavern, she snatched up another crossbow and kept going, whistling shrilly to alert everybody else. She could almost feel the Beast’s breath on her neck as she ran, trusting those that were waiting to make the next hit count.

Right, sorry! It was mentioned that I need to describe this cavern a bit better.

It's a big cavern, plenty of stuff to duck behind, jump off of, break and throw at someone else, ect. I'd say that there would be a pool of still water off to one side, formed by the dripping of ground water. The way in is pretty twisty, lots of branching choices, but it's clearly marked if you have light to see by. That's why no lights on the way in. There would be torches lighting up the place, plus some natural light that manages to work it's way in from a crack in the ceiling.

There would be some signs of animal life, skittering, piles of dung, ect; but the only stuff you'll be able to see will be a flock of bats that takes off out the crack when the fun gets going.

-edit-

Um, also, in order to collapse the cavern and have it be awesome . . . Shall we say that there is a series of explosives that can be set off by lighting a fuze and running like hell? They shall be located on the wall opposite the pool of water; in a place where they will bring down the roof.

Two weeks of training were just the tip of the iceberg, and never did Essence think this would be on her To Do List. This creature that crawled out of the depths of nightmares, or perhaps a montage of the evils of men, just wasn’t going to quit. She was listening and staring at the entrance to the center of the cavern from above, a crossbow already aimed, waiting for the signal. Her knowledge of hand to hand combat was minimal, and she only just began learning dual daggers as Mageria thought those weapons would suit Ess more than her sword and dagger. Besides her relics, several throwing knives were habitually hidden along her body, in addition to a basic steel pair of daggers tucked along the small her back. By no means would she be packing light for this escapade.

Ess had managed to climb upon a boulder pillar, the rock stairs steep extending about twenty feet into the air, the shelf about two feet wide by five feet long from where she sprawled flat upon her belly. Time seemed to drag as she waited with the others, her form hidden in the shadows in between some scattered torchlight, her violet gaze staring off to her left listening to the sound of water drip steadily off the cliffs of the cavern.

The sound of hastened footfall echoed into the cavern causing Ess to intake a cleansing breath, a sharp whistle soon followed. Catching a glimpse of the Captain below, Ess aimed her bolt just behind Mageria, leading the creature on her heals she pulled the trigger, the bolt flying in between some spikes along it’s back. Not even sure it hit, she didn’t expect it to dally in its stride much, but it was just enough to give the Captain another few paces ahead. Ess continued to release bolts as quickly as she could load them, some appearing to hit, others bouncing off the creatures thick hide aimlessly, the whipcord snapping violently in it’s repetition. Soon enough she ran out of quarrels, moving swiftly she pushed herself to her feet, leaping across to a brother boulder. Teetering briefly as she caught her balance, and watched waiting for an opening.

Vane simply waited for the right moment, the bow was held by his left hand; his quiver with 36 new arrows, and his whole conscience calmly searching any sound that would declare that the Beast was near. His eyes lied close for now, it didn't matter for him, he memorized where everything was and kept track of his allies movements by sound. He could listen their breathing, the torches slowly burning, he lied three meters away from the entrance that Mageria showed to the group, his back met the cave's wall many minutes ago, his right hand rested, if anything would happen he would need all his strength. Vane cleared his mind, returning to listen any motion in the cave, and then he heard it.

Mageria should have entered the cave less than a minute ago, and close to her something moved, it was big, but the steps were almost silent. It ran fast, but probably was wounded. Vane removed one of his arrows from the quiver, smiling as he opened his eyes; the light blinded him for a few moments, but he eventually got used to it. "Get ready," he whispered, not even carrying to check that the others heard it. He knew that Mageria would soon be there, because now he could hear the Beast's claws meeting the ground as it ran. The woman ran through the entrance, the creature following her too close. The girl with purple eyes shot a few bolts, too many in Vane's opinion. A few of them hit the Beast, but the wounds were not deep enough to create a flow of blood. Vane analyzed the creature before releasing the bow's string. Horns, thick skin, no arrow would get through that. His eyes moved to the creature's leg.

"The tendons! Aim for the legs!" he screamed, releasing the string. The Beast's eyes were fixed at Mageria, not expecting any hit from behind. The arrow penetrated the skin, where the joint should be. Vane made another arrow ready as the first one flew, he released it, hoping, in his mind, than that would slow down the Beast.

Mageria ran as fast as could, feeling arrows actually whizzing past her. The beast screamed, the echo bouncing around until it seemed to be coming from all directions. She was perhaps four paces ahead of it when she got to the area that she was aiming for. In between two boulders, a sturdy stick had been wedged crossways. As she ran, Mageria reached up with one hand; grabbing the branch. Lithely, she swung up and over, as if she was an acrobat. The Beast ran under her, going too fast to actually stop when she got out of the way.

Finishing her flip, Mageria landed hard behind the Beast, knowing she had about a second or two to act; she raised her crossbow and fired full into the back of it, using Vane's advice and aiming for the vulnerable tendons. She didn't have anytime to reload, instead she threw the crossbow to the side and pulled the warhammer from her side, waiting for the next move.

The Guard around them acted as soon as they saw that she was momentarily out of danger, raining small boulders and heavy chains down upon it, doing everything that they could to simply slow it down long enough for a truly damaging blow to be struck.

Ess stood upon the pillar above of the current chaos, a rope stretched from her feet across the pool of water in the middle, to the other side of the cavern. She had tested her weight a dozen times earlier, but it didn’t change the fact she shook at the thought of it giving way as she began to balance the tight rope, pushing herself not to pause in the screams of the beast. Watching in silent awe, Ess smiled at how easy Mageria made her efforts look, hoping one day she would learn something similar.

Stretching her arms out, vertically above her head, Ess bent her knees and hopped to the side, her fingers clutching painfully around the rope as she caught herself in her momentary fall. Slowly she strained underhanded movements forward, swinging her legs to assist as she continued over where the Beast was being pummeled by large rocks and chains, the attempt causing it to roll in a loss of balance exactly beneath her feet.

Without hesitation, Ess let go, falling no more than about fifteen feet or so, her arms reached out to grab onto the beast as she landed rough along it’s back, some of the spikes tearing small gashes along her arms and legs. Gritting her teeth, she held on as the Beast gathered itself in it’s confusion, bucking hard to throw Ess off of it. Holding on for dear life, the Beast paused to turn direction away from Mageria towards a boulder; Ess taking the second to retrieve both daggers along her back, attempting to stab one through the thick hide of the beast’s head in repetitive thrusts. Another scream escaped the ugly bastard as it began running straight for the boulder.

Just before they collided, Ess raised the free dagger high and as they came to a violent halt, her body lurched forward in the force of the momentum in time as her blade struck sickly into the Beasts distorted eye. In that moment, Ess’ body flew forward into the boulder, her entire back colliding with the rock with a curious pop, temporarily losing consciousness.

Vane held the bow's string as he saw the scene, the arrow ready to fly to the Beast's body, although he was far more amused by the purple eyed girl that just landed on the creature's back. Ess was her name? Vane wasn't sure, but that was impressive, and yet foolish. She was thrown against a boulder, but apparently she managed to stab the animal on the face. "Insane, but not that bad," he whispered before focusing on aiming the arrow against the creature's legs. The thing moved fast, avoiding the arrow. He ran closer to the creature, only stopping when he was close to Mageria, two meters away from her, but in a manner that Vane could aim at the Beast. The man got another arrow ready and allowed it to flew, the creature was doing her best to reach the soldiers that threw the boulders.

"Cap'n, if that thing doesn't stay still for at least," he released the string again, the arrow flying close to the Beast's left ear, "a few gods-damned seconds, my arrows will hit the stone." He made another arrow ready, aiming for the left leg's tendon since the creature's mouth was close to entertain a soldier's leg. It pierced through the skin, making it scream again. It turned around, looking to the direction where Vane and Mageria were. The Beast ran as fast as it could, but in a rather clumsy way due to the two arrows hanging on the rear legs. The man raised an eyebrow as he made another arrow ready. "That wasn't... truly expected."

Mageria grunted. "Holding still . . . might be a bit of a challenge." She darted forward with a few quick steps to get in front of the archer and waited for just the right moment to swing her warhammer, smashing it into the Beast's jaw, smashing it up and to the side. Vane choose that moment to take a shot, sending an arrow deep into it's throat. Behind the Beast, two men took that moment to grab Ess and drag her to safety.

It wasn't a kill shot, but it did weaken the thing, sending the Beast stumbling backwards. Mageria shouted an order, waving one hand in a signal. Her Enlightened soldiers leapt into action, obeying her previous orders to use their skills carefully and wisely. Twin gouts of flame flared up in it's face, while fist sized rocks pummeled it. With a shout of effort from one woman, a heavy skein of rope snaked through the air and wrapped itself around the Beast's limbs, momentarily binding it. Mageria screamed an order to everybody who could hear her . . .

"TAKE YOUR SHOTS!!!"

A glint of light and a steel headed bolt crashed into the dirt where the enemy should have been. The unnatural thing had seen it coming in easily, leaping off to avoid collision. The metal dug into the earth, the shaft had broken easily with its own weight, one half deep into the dirt, the other mere splinters over the clammy floor. The rope that bound it wouldn’t last, and it was just enough time for another member to take action.

A heavy hand grasped Mageria’s shoulder, a soft squeeze to reassure her against this monstrous foe. Even if she would never show it, the enemy was an unnerving sight to look upon. To know it existed shook the very foundations of reality. It was maddening to see such a thing straight from the fiery dreamscapes of the most wretched of night terrors. The Beast was an example of everything that man always feared corporal. The Blade pushed ahead, placing Vane and Mageria to his back as he stepped forth. The creature was still coming but the crossbow had managed to detract its path.

Grim lobbed the heavy bolt thrower aside, its clatter the only sound besides the clicking of claws on hard flooring. The Raging Demon was downed in full armor for this conflict, the black just glinting in the miniscule luminescence. A cape of brilliant red wafting at his back, signaling where he was so that the troops would not foolishly fire upon him. Like a statue of metal wrought in obsidian, every joint accounted for save his arms, where he would need the most speed. A walking fortress, a man of insurmountable protection, and the iron will of a warrior.
The Giant’s Knife screeched as it was drawn, in his hurry the edges mashed against the scabbard , Grim was ready now. Dramatically he dragged the tip into the dirt, making a line in the dingy cave floor. The Black Knight poised behind it, his weapon upraised and his feet spread.

“Daniels if you can hear me, may the gods have mercy upon our souls….”

The Beast cared not, it crashed over the metal like a tide. Though it stood almost as tall as the Blade, it appeared to rival his determination, and outmatch his strength. Back the grieves slid, the ground building up around Grim’s feet as he was forced back. Barely the soldier held his footing, nearly falling back from the power that collided against him. This thing was unnatural in all ways, spikes and protrusions that dug into alloys and leather. It’s lust for death seeping through horrid fangs and soulless eyes, it hounded for this fight.
They were nearly back to Mageria and Vane when Grim managed to will his predicament into a standoff. Forcing the Beast back momentarily. Within War stirred, perhaps the magic in Daniels had alerted it, but it was hungry. Grim clutched at his heart, his free arm barring back the demon while he fought for control. In its presence War was riled and anxious, magic pulling upon magic. Little red lights dancing inside the black helm, threatening to break the entire operation.

“N-n-no.. I am not a monster, I am not a monster… I am not a monster…”

The words slipped hurriedly and almost desperately, he couldn’t risk losing control here and now. Yet he couldn’t deny that he and Daniels shared a kinship, and perhaps it was their similarities that called out to each other. It had been occupied with Mageria and no doubt would still once Grim was out of the way. Maybe in a way theirs was a magic against each other. Rivals in a test for the ultimate power, which was the superior, War or the Beast?

Something snapped, in Grim’s frustration he lashed out taking the thing by its skull and driving it into the dirt. No Enlightenment, but the raw power of man pushed too far. Impossibly he managed to keep it pinned long enough to regain composure and ready the Giant’s Knife.
With a sweeping motion he batted the Beast back rolling its wretched body with a grand gesture. Rushing in to bring the edge down, spiking the thorny body against the ground. The flesh never broke but it surely felt pain as it squealed with sounds too horrid to recall.

“I’ll send you back to hell Daniels! BACK TO HELL!”

Up he flipped it, tossing it like a child would a ball. Down he slammed the thing, using his massive weapon like an arm to catch and force the fell angel where he willed. Crashing down again and again, his sword bruising and bashing but by some evil will never breaking the thing’s thick hide. Dancing over the damned with an uncanny wrath dashing it all along the cave and splattering it against walls like a man driven mad.
When at last the Black Knight had exhausted himself he stood his ground, allowing the Beast to rise. Sadly it seemed hardly perturbed by the punishment it had received. Grim readied again, his shoulders sagging now, he was weary and it showed. Making a critical mistake in letting his emotion get hold, of allowing his anger to control his arms. It was an impressive spectacle, but he wasn’t prepared now for the forthcoming counterattack.

The Beast smashed against his armor again bringing its long black claws over the metal, scratching up its surface, leaving exposed grooves on its black exterior. Grim panicked, and pulled out his ace in the hole. His skull crashing down against the Beast’s face. It was a mistake he’d soon regret, the Beast shook off the blow in seconds and flipped the unbalanced Black Knight upon his back.

It straddled over his stomach, leering over Grim’s helm as it went to work. Claws that were digging against the chest plate trying to shovel through the outer layer. Sparks flying into the air where the talon met the armor. In its glee it wheezed and sputtered saliva black and acrid, its eyes aglow with its evil intent. The Blade raised up his arms and intercepted as best he could, but eventually it would strike him and that would complicate things infinitely.

Too long had gone by since Evin had a chance to see Mageria. It was the only reason he let Ella convince him to bring supplies to the camp that she had set up in the north. Ella couldn’t do it herself as the relations between Newhaven and Mageria’s group of mercenaries was no longer existent. If anyone saw Ella associating with the Black Knights, there would be a price for her to pay.
He rode into camp of a carriage with several horses that were towing him and a load of supplies. There was everything from food to weapons and even a couple of blankets to keep warm during the long nights. He drove along to rough path made out to where the center of the camp was. The path was only a line of flattened grass on a concaving ground. Guards all around him completely ignored his presence, passing by without a glace up at the big carriage as they passed by. Something was going on and although it was somewhat against Evin’s nature to actively try to find out what was going on, he couldn’t resist the temptation to at least ask. He rode up beside a younger guard who was gathering some of the little supplies that were left.
“Excuse me!” He called to the man. “Could I ask why people are acting all frantic?”
They man looked up at Evin, but then turned away. Echoes of the most dreadful sounds came from out of the lip of a cave to his left, instinctively forcing his head to look over at it. The sounds were those that only a beast from the deepest pits of hell could make. He had never heard an animal of any kind make a noise like that horrendous.
He looked back down at the man. All the supplies her was carrying were now on the ground, scattered around his feet. Some people just couldn’t handle the frightening. He knelt down on one knee, picking up the things he dropped while answering Evin’s question. In a shaky voice, he said, “That’s what has everyone on edge. Mageria’s down there with a couple of brave souls fighting something that even the Twins themselves might even cower before. Some of us have our doubts that Mageria will be able to take out the Beast so we are preparing what we have to get ready for it.”
Evin sighed. He knew exactly what this meant. He could walk away without Mageria knowing anything about his presence and he would have to deal with a fight. Then again, the two of them were companions of sorts. “That’s because she doesn’t have me there to save her ass. Do you have any explosive powders?”
“It’s all being used.” The man nudged his head towards the cave.
Evin wasn’t going in there with what he had on him. He only had a couple of daggers and his rope dart that he barely ever used. “Do you think I could use the supplies I’ve carried in for you here?”
“Well it isn’t really my decision.”
“Mageria won’t mind.” Evin said, jumping out of his seat, right back into the supplies he had brought. He found a few throwing knives, loads of thin rope, some fuses along with exploding powder. There were other things, but Evin instantly grabbed those things.

~~~~~~~~~~

When Evin finally got everything he needed prepared, he ran into the lip of the cave. Not too far in, things began getting too dark to see. He could tell that as soon as he got far enough in, that he would only be able to see a couple of feet in front of him. He closed his eyes and listened to the echoes of the yells and shrieks coming from the depths of the cave as the battle raged on. That wasn’t enough for him to be guided through however so Evin used his ability and things slowed down for him. He could catch every single individual echo coming from the cave. With that, he had a rough idea of where he would have to go.
Evin ran as fast as he could and soon he couldn’t see anything except the very tip of his nose. This is when he would rely solely on the sounds he heard again as to not hit a wall or fall into a hole. He listened to his footsteps and judged, based on the echoes of it around him where all the cave walls were. It was enough to get him where he wanted to be. Soon there was a dim light flickering ahead and the sounds of the battle raging before him were loud enough to hear without the aid of an echo carrying it along. He finally reached an area that was a little more open, with a few torches lighting it. There were a couple of people who were completely unrecognisable and then there were a few that caught his eyes immediately. One was Mageria of course, but then there was the other, who went by many names, but Evin knew more formally as Grim. He seemed to have been trapped by a terrible beast of some sort clawing his way through the man’s armour. Evin dug his foot into the ground to test it a moment. Surprisingly, there was some give to the ground as if some of it was made of a softer rock; maybe clay. It was enough give to drive a blade through and that was exactly his plan. From a pouch on his left, he grabbed a throwing knife attached to a long fuse and threw it directly beside his left right leg, where a second throwing knife was conveniently placed. He slid his hand down the second throwing knife, which was also attached to the same fuse, and flung his hand upward, which made the knife fly directly towards the distracted Beast’s face. With his hand naturally moving upwards, he grabbed a dagger that was sheathed on his back and swung it back down to hit the knife stuck to the ground. The two metals collided, causing a big spark which began running down the fuse towards the now completely blinded Beast.
Evin ran at top speeds in order to keep only a couple of paces between him and the fuse. Finally, the fuse reached the knife that had been plunged into the Beast’s face. The knife had been dipped into a flammable tar and coated with explosive powder before Evin entered the cave. The dagger exploded directly in the Beasts face, causing it to get off Grim and walk back a few steps, to try and put out the fire which had been over various parts of its body. The tar had done its job. Evin took this moment of it putting out the fires to sin across on its back and take a few stabs at it with his dagger. Before overcommitting himself, he backed off.
“Why does it always seem that I get dragged into fights when I’m around you Mageria?” He said with a wink and braced for the Beast to make its next move.

Ess wasn’t out for long, awakening just as two men dragged her away from the Beast’s reach, a sharp pain stretched out along her left shoulder causing her to release a small scream. When the men let her go, her arm was limp, dislocated from her collision with the wall. Cradling her left forearm with her right she looked at one of the Guard’s expectingly, the man braced one hand upon her shoulder the other hand grabbing her forearm and with a sudden yank and a sick pop her shoulder went back in place. Another grimace of pain crossed her face as she held back another yelp, trying to collect some sort of sense in the confusion and battle cries around her.

So much was happening at once. Ess’ violet eyes went wide as she watched the giant of a man, who could only be Pondus, take the Beast head on. The commotion exploded into chaos, the beast literally was on fire for a moment, a black eyed stranger who seemed to come out of nowhere was assisting in pushing the Beast backwards. Ess felt she needed to join the line, perhaps they could together push this creature back. Running forward she dove at the rock floor, barrel rolling beneath a random swipe of the creatures claw as she made her way around and back towards the group. Happily finding one of the daggers she had lost amidst the battle as she paused beside the group, she gripped the hilt, staring at the Captain, waiting rightly for a command instead of her impulsive behavior. Ess had realized what she was doing could of gotten her killed, but as she reached the back of the Beast, she knew changing her mind could also get her killed and so she had carried out the idea. Now, between them all, the beast was blind and furious, bleeding here and there in it’s screams of pain.

Vane was aiming at the Beast’s head when something exploded, it was a bit faster than he would have enjoyed, He lost his aim, but a new ally is always a good thing, the arrow met the creature’s stomach, making little to no damage. By the time he made another arrow ready Ess crossed his view, she didn’t spoke a thing as if she wait for an order. The arrow flew, hitting the Beast’s leg when the idea crossed is mind. It was perfect since the Beast was still distracted by the flames, the only thing they would need would be perfect timing.

“Ess!” Vane screamed, hoping that it was the girl’s right name as he tried to aim for the creature’s head, “need your help, be ready, the tendon!” His words made little sense now, but if everything worked. “Mageria! Be ready you too!” Vane walked and released the string. It flew to the Beast’s left ear, cutting the external part, it’s gaze met Vane. The pain on the legs crudely remembered who done them. Less than five meters laid between Vane and the fell creature. “Remembered me, eh? Come on! On me!” The man slowly walked back, the Beast following him in the same pace. His bow rested on his back, he was holding both of his daggers, just in case something went wrong. The Beast growled, as if it was taunting the man to make a mistake. ‘Teasing bastard, just hope that Ess and Mageria got the right message.’

Ess quirked a brow at the man screaming her name, not sure of his name as they were never properly introduced, yet he seemed to be making progress in slowing the Beast down with his arrows. For a second she wondered if she could ever be as skilled as this guy with a bow, looking from the Beast to Mageria. Twirling the dagger along her fingers she nodded towards the man, understanding what he was hinting at. Ess leaped forward in a sudden dash, diving along the ground in a pass of the Beast’s back leg, slashing and stabbing along the tendon, losing the blade in the weaker flesh. “Bloody Hell...” She spat, her body slid across the ground on her side, causing her flesh to burn from the action. Rolling to her feet, her head was swimming slightly at her quick movements. The creature bellowed out in pain as Ess backed away, Vane to her right, the group to her left. The entire scene seemed to slow down in the commotion, almost frozen in her eyes except for the displeased screams of the Beast. Retrieving her throwing knives she continued to aim at the back tendons, her accuracy much more impressive than with a crossbow. Several finger sized daggers scattered along the Beasts leg in unison yet only a couple penetrated the tendons in their spread.

"Evin? What the hell are you doing here? And now?" Mageria didn't even have time for an answer before the Beast started attacking again. Watching carefully as Vane and Ess worked together to take out one of the Beast's legs, she grinned in fierce satisfaction at the damage done.

"Hold fire!" She yelled as she stepped forwards, drawing up her war hammer to her shoulder. With clenched teeth and a grunt of effort, she swung as hard as she could, taking a bit too much pleasure in the sound of the cracking bone as she connected just above the joint. But she must not have done enough damage, because it spun around and slammed into her, pushing her to the ground and opening its jaws wide. With a yell, Mageria brought the warhammer around and shoved it into the Beast's teeth, jamming it back into the hinge so that it couldn't close it's mouth.

You have really bad breath.

Mageria was always a bit surprised at the thoughts that crossed her mind in situations like this. Drawing on all her strength, she kept the Beast's teeth away from her body. "A little help . . . here."

It leered, it ravished, it drew infinitely nearer though gaining no ground. From the deepest parts to this moment in time, when all the sins of past would finally meet its modern counterpart. Evil in the flesh, in its purest form, no mind or soul to chide or goad its thoughts. A thing of menacing thoughts and instinct, deeds forged from bloodbaths and destruction. Wants that belonged only to the wicked.
So intent so focused, it had to have her, to taste her flesh. So close, it was so close to its goal. Against impossible odds, it had found an opening, it had finally gotten to Mageria. It would not be stopped! It would have its--

Iron fingers clamped about its skull, heaving it back with a grunt of effort. It flailed wildly, claws lashing out in frustrated anger. Robbed of its victory, ejected from its seat of success. The knuckles eventually met at the creature’s throat, thick hands that pulled it into the air with such stark fury. Grim’s face couldn’t be seen beneath the helm, but none doubted his anger. How dare it!
Gurgling squeals slipped by a closing esophagus, somewhere beneath his hold something was cracking. The sickly sounds of tissue and bone breaking, the pop of fluids escaping the joints. It fought helplessly as it was upraised high, the Blade’s arms outstretched at full length, tightening the vice it had around the demon’s neck.

Eventually it stopped squirming, its alien body becoming silent. Its limbs hung loosely at its sides, and the glow of its eyes waned to lifeless grays. The Black Knight hesitated at first, after all the thing's very existence defied any sort of logic. It already showed plenty of qualities that nothing in Valcrest could compare with. In a way, even expired, the Beast was a frightening mystery.
Carefully he set the body down, watching it with a wary gaze. Waiting several minutes in the silence and murky gloom before turning toward his captain. Mageria looked alive as ever, and Grim was ever the thankful. He retreated to her side, wanting to return the Giant’s Knife to his hands. He had left the weapon buried in the dirt so he could work with his hands, but now it was time to sheath it and call their operation a success.

He fit the tool firmly into his hands and uprooted it just in time to hear cries of alarm. Spinning on palms of his feet he managed about with momentum enough to swing his mighty sword. The arc caught the Beast just under the ribcage tossing it back away from where he stood beside Mageria. Perhaps his first inclination on its intelligence was unfounded, it was smart enough to play possum after all.
He rested the edge of the Giant’s Knife against his pauldrons glancing side long to his leader and her warhammer. This thing was made of something quite stern, but it was on the wrong side of the battle. It was time to finish whatever pact was made so long ago.
Grim spread his feet slightly, reaffirming his stance on the ground. Lowering the Giant’s Knife into a ready position he nodded to Mageria. He would follow her lead.

Mageria gasped for breath as she got back up, war hammer in one hand.
"Back! Push it back!!"
Behind the Beast was the point of the entire fight, a net of chains welded together and weighted down with a couple of hundred pounds of rocks. It would hold the Beast in place long enough for the explosives piled around the column in the side of the room to do it's work. Wait for everyone to get the chance to run, lit the fuse and run like hell. It was a plan, of sorts.

From all around her came a hail of projectiles, arrows and rocks and anything that could be thrown; pushing the Beast backwards as it snarled and hissed. Mageria stood back and watched carefully, directing a certain attack when it was needed to aim the Beast a certain direction.

Finally . . . . "Now! Drop it!"

Evin was so confused. As if he was out of the loop to something really important. "What are we dropping?"
Mageria glanced at Evin sideways and couldn't keep an insane grin off her face.
"We are 'dropping' a net on that thing and then running like hell while somebody lights the fuse and then runs even more like hell." She gestured at the pile of casks mounded up around the main support column of the cavern.
"DROP IT!" The weighted net crashed down on the Beast, pinning it in place while it screamed in rage and fury; the tiny core of it that was still coherent realizing what was about to happen.
"Everybody out!" Mageria watched as people started to stream past them on the way out, counting them under her breath to make sure they were all getting out.
"Um, Evin . . . would you mind doing me a favour?"
He knew he didn't have much time to decide whether he would be the one to light the fuse or not. He looked back at the thing, struggling its way out of a net. It was an ugly thing. It would be a favour to the world if he was to light the fuse and stop it from killing anything ever again, but then again... "I believe there is a debt that we need to settle Mageria. I could do you this favour, but I'll only do it for a price." He smirked and sent a little wink her way. "And don't play the fool. You know that I've the best chance of getting out of this given my enlightenment.”
Mageria rolled her eyes, she couldn't help it. "And I suppose you have something in mind? What, a rematch of our last game?" Evin was right, he did have the best chance of lighting the fuse and getting out safely, but it was possible for her to do the same as well. Just a lot less likely. "Talk fast, old friend. That thing only has two targets left." The last of her people had steamed out of the cavern, leaving the two of them alone with it. It snarled deeply in its throat; straining at its bounds.
“Leave me to my work Mageria. You don’t want to be here to witness what I’m going to do.”
Evin had a thing for flair. He wasn’t going to light that fuse in a regular way. He watched Mageria run out of the cave until she was out of sight. There was no determining how long it would take him to get out of the cave given his enlightenment, but he had the best odds. It still didn’t mean he wasn’t afraid of what may happen. If it was to clear a debt without having to pay a single bit of currency, he would feel good about it.
A growl from the Beast got his attention back on what was important. Mageria had to be far enough away for him to begin the process of stopping this Beast from doing any more damage to anyone. Reaching down to his belt, he grabbed a large pouch filled with the tar he used for the dagger he had thrown. He slowly walked closer to the beast who was struggling to get out of the trap that had been set for it. If Evin gave it enough time, it would eventually get out, but he wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Well,” he said, “wouldn’t it be fun to make you light the fuse that will inevitably stop you?”
When he got closer to the Beast, it began to attempt to claw and snap at him, but it just didn’t have the reach within its binds. The next moment that it opened its mouth, Evin threw the pouch of tar into its mouth. He took out his dagger and grabbed a rock from the floor, and as it hissed, he hit the two items together and created a spark. The Beast’s entire mouth was filled with fire. Evin did a backflip, kicking the Beast in the jaw. This forced the Beast’s head back and the tar spread deeper into its body.
The Beast was burning from the inside out, but the flair didn’t come until it actually began to scream in pain. The screams came with a wall of fire blasting from its mouth. It realised that its last chance to survive the fight was to hit Evin with this fire breath.
Evin backed away quickly from the beast until he was standing right on the fuse. He stared down the Beast, waiting for the moment that it would do what he knew it would inevitably do. The Beast however seemed smart enough to know what it would be doing too. For a minute, they seemed to stare each other dead in the eyes. Eventually it would see that the risk would be greater than the reward and it would attack. The minute felt like hours, but Evin kept his patience. A flicker in the Beast’s eyes gave a moment for Evin to react. He didn’t even realise he did it, but next thing he knew he was one the ground and fuse was beside him; lit. Not knowing the bulk of Mageria’s plan going into the fight, he wasn’t sure how long exactly he had to get out of the cave. He assumed, based on length that he had a minute at the most.
He jumped to his feet and ran to one of the tunnels, narrowly avoiding the second breath of the fire from the Beast. He wound down the tunnels which had been lit while the evacuation was going on. He sped faster than he had coming in, because he knew that he only had one shot to get out and that his chances of making it out of the cave in a minute were slim to begin with. Seeing a faint light in the distance, he heard the roar of the Beast, not far away, but nearly right behind him. He didn’t look behind, and just kept running.
Then, he heard the blast from far in the cave. There wasn’t much time to get out of the cave now. The only problem was that he would have to slow down the Beast that would have to slow down if he wanted to trap it under the rubble like he assumed Mageria wanted. Fire flew past him, and rocks around him began to fall. All the while, he was coming up with something that would slow the Beast down for just a few second. There was nothing he could do, so he just kept running and hoped that enough soldiers were waiting at the lip of the cave to do something.
If the yelling, fire-breathing Beast wasn’t enough, now, it was getting more and more difficult to navigate through the rocks falling around him. His reaction time was soon not going to be enough, so he had to use it. His eyes lit up and a quick jolt of pain went up his spine. He blocked out the pain and looked at the world around him. All slowed down to a point where he would be able to react just a little quicker and further the gap between him and the Beast.
He soon got close enough to the entrance to be able to where he was able to yell out to anyone at the entrance. “Arrows, arrows, arrows, arrows!” He yelled in quick succession. He knew that it would sound weird to everyone else who was listening to it at a regular pace, but it didn’t matter. A wall of arrows to the Beast would be just enough to slow it down and lock it under the tons of rubble coming down.
He continued to yell until he reached the entrance of the cave. A line of Black Guards were aiming down the entrance of the cave, not flinching at the fire spewing out towards them. When Evin made it out of the line of fire, they all shot. One more scream was heard from the Beast and the entrance of the cave collapsed in on itself.
"Yeah! Right in the knee," one of the guards yelled.
Evin collapse, resting his hands on the ground, heaving and coughing. He hadn’t run that fast in a long time and he hoped he would have to again in a while.

A collective cheer went up as the cave collapsed, burying the Beast under tons of rock. There was no way that anything could survive such a thing, especially given how injured it was to begin with. That's what everyone else knew. Mageria knew one last thing though. In that instant before the cave collapsed, she heard a whisper deep in her mind, in a place where nightmares came from.
" . . . thank you. . . ."
She knew it was that last remnant of Daniels, at peace at last now that he could no longer harm those that he sought to protect.
"Goodbye old friend." Mageria whispered as she watched the dust settle. "Rest in peace."

She turned around to see that her Guard were celebrating loudly, as well they should given that they managed to survive with no major injuries. With very little time passing everybody picked themselves and their gear up and were headed back to camp; with loud plans for a "celebration".
"No blowing things up!" Mageria shouted after the main group. Not that she really expected it, but things did happen. With a wide grin she wandered over and helped Ev pick himself up out of the snow, brushing him off and patting him on the back.
"Well, I don't know how or when you got here, but you can come hide in my cabin if you were planning on staying the evening. Maybe we could play some cards . . . ?"