Many thanks to Centi for the collaboration ^.^“Women...all women here. No men. What do you think that means?" Enuren's voice came to Keyra from her left side. Slowly the Val turned to look at the woman and then down at the bodies that were on the floor. Her white wings twitched slightly as she eyed the corpses, feeling a stirring in her stomach that may have made her sick if she were anyone else. Even so, Keyra grit her teeth as she eyed the group of women on the floor. She turned to Enuren after a moment and answered her simply.
"It means that we are the creatures targets," she responded, her voice heavy as she glanced around the room. The urge to get out was even more apparent than before. Keyra shifted her hold on her weapon and worked her way forward even more, towards the back side of the center dais. Her gaze shifted back and forth as she moved. Her wings shifted, lifting upwards just a bit as she looked from one side to the other.
The Val didn't get very far though when the entire area shuddered and there was an inhuman sound from above them. Her body froze and her blood ran cold as she whirled around, her wings snapping just enough to help her motion to turn around swiftly and quickly. Her eyes grew wide as she watched the thing drop down from the darkness above and address them. It was horrible sight to lay eyes upon as it stood up slightly and spoke. The deep, guttural voice shocked her and she felt a slight tremor pass through her body.
The Ash Fiend said something in return and Keyra grit her teeth.
Oh yes. Let's insult the thing to top it all off she thought angrily. Her blade lifted upwards as she sized up the thing and tried to figure a way to kill it. It was large, its mere presence was suffocating enough. For a moment, the Val thought the worst. They were going to be utterly destroyed by this thing. She shook her head and sought out the swordsman.
"Sevral!" she cried out, her voice carrying easily enough, "Help me," she said, her intention was for him to throw her upwards towards what she presumed to be it's face. A weakness in most creatures if anything else, "Up there," she continued motioning her head up to its ugly, malformed face. Or what she presumed to be its head. Her wings pumped again lifting her weight as she prepared to run at Sevral and have him throw her up.
Sevral knelt by one of the bodies to examine it, prodding at the flesh curiously with one finger as if the woman might very well wake up and roll over. Glancing back over his shoulder, he offered a consoling glance to Enuren and Keyra as he overheard their little exchange. Standing and looking towards the two, Sevral shrugged as if there were nothing to worry about.
"Difference is," he said, trying to lighten the mood, "I doubt they were as competent with their weapons as you..." Sevral smiled to Keyra, then glanced to Enuren again, remembering she was next to him as well. "Er. You.... too.. you two.." He stumbled, rubbing his head now.
With that the man paused, not entirely sure if that was a complete thought but unsure of how to make it so. He was attempting to be reassuring, at least he thought he was, but he wasn't sure exactly how well that had worked. Clearing his throat, he looked between them and turned away again, content to prod another body with his boot. It wasn't a disrespect for the dead, more so an awkward conversation filler and a need to be distracted. Reaching up, the man adjusted his headband and moved some of his loose hair, staring off into one of the dark corners of the room and tapping one finger on the pommel of his sword. Even if he believed his own words, it was stil concerning to think that for whatever reason all these women had been hoarded to die. Sevral wasn't sure now if the concern he felt was simply his humanity or something else, but just as the man turned to say something to Keyra, something else caught his attention.
Looking up, Sevral was forced to take a step back just so he could properly look up and fully encompass the looming hell-spawn that was perched overhead. The voice resonated from somewhere deep within the creature's mass and dominated the space around it, and Sevral could feel it through his spine. A sudden paralysis overtook the man from the sheer presence that the creature exuded, breaking only as Sevral backpedaled in order to remain out of the way of the creature's path of descent as it came careening down to the floor, landing with enough force that Sevral thought it might just bring the ceiling down with it.
Shaking the initial shock, Sevral regained himself in order to observe the creature, his brows furrowing as he traced the rough contours and various malformations in his mind. It was no doubt the Champion over all other creatures the group had encountered thus far, and the man could only nod at it in slight admiration of its bulk. It was necessary to respect it simply because of its current position, and even so, it was no reverence earned that wasn't through its overpowering fear-factor. In its own way it was magnificent, and Sevral cursed Elruin's gal considering the circumstances. Sevral was only disheartened by the fact that he didn't have the time he wished he did to simply take in the creature fully in its demonic glory and might.
Sevral! Keyra shouted,
Help me!Looking to Keyra, the man blinked for a moment, as if just realizing the perilous situation once more and the danger that the monster presented. Following the woman's gaze as she gestured up with a nod, Sevral took a moment to process the request before he returned the nod in understanding. Holding his hands out in front of himself, Sevral locked his fingers and braced.
Once he acknowledged her, Keyra rushed the swordsman. Moving her blade so as not to hurt him in her advance, her wings pumped once to bring her up to his waiting hands and she placed her boot there as she lunged forward and straight up. With his help, she felt herself careen up into the air, her wings pulled back to decrease the drag on her body and gain as much height as she could after giving one good pump to help with the altitude and the toss. As she twisted slightly in the air, she pulled her blade around to face the creature, her wings snapping open so that she did not just plummet to the ground.
Gliding forward, she came in close to the things face. Once she deemed herself close enough, she pulled her wings in and allowed her blade to do the rest. The heavy weapon pulled her down, the tip of it reflecting the fire light briefly before it was buried into the things mass. When the weapon caught and was lodged in it's thick body, her wings snapped open and she used her blade to angle herself towards its body. The creature hissed at the attack and started to move, thrashing backwards. Keyra struggled with the blade for a moment before it finally came free and she shoved off the thing. As she shot out away from the thing, it's limbs sliced through the air, forcing her to pump her wings to get out of the way.
Keyra lifted up over the stump of an arm as it came back at her. Once free of that limb, she felt the crushing weight of the second one that was far more intact than the other. As she'd been gliding down she wasn't too far from the ground, but the impact sped up her fall and threw her of balance. A slight grunt escaped her as she took the hit and was flung forward, her blade falling first to the ground and sliding across the floor as she came tumbling down towards Sevral. Keyra desperately tried to straighten herself but it was too quick of an impact and too forceful to gain any semblance of control.
Sevral was actually surprised in how little effort it took to launch Keyra up into the air. Idly, the man wondered if perhaps a Val's bone structure, even if they couldn't fly, still mimicked that of a bird's. Stepping back again, Sevral was tempted to set his own attack on the creature's lower half while Keyra struck from above, but he doubted he could escape its crushing weight should it decide to collapse in her wake. Even if he could, Sevral was captivated by Keyra's battle prowess and did not want to interfere with the intricate dance. The man had often wondered of the graces of a bird, and he could only imagine how spectacular it was to maintain such a gift in conjunction with such skill as that which was displayed here. The woman's wings were a beautiful sight most of all, having been mended not a short while ago and still just as powerful as they flexed with each beat. There was a magic in that which not even the Ash Fiend, who held himself in such high esteem, could match.
Even so, the man felt he should be doing something, but he wasn't entirely sure what to do. Sevral forced himself to focus and consider the situation, thinking quickly and trying to assess what stood before the group. No doubt the creature's hide would be the same as those which the group had encountered earlier, if not thicker, and so Sevral had to wonder how effective his swords would be. As it was, Keyra's blade found areas where it would cease cutting and become wedged, and seeing as how one side of the creature's limbs terminated at puss-filled stubs, that meant that the other, the only other support, would have to have a substantial muscular composition in order to support and move such a heavy load. That being said, Sevral was also afraid that he might not be able to escape the crushing weight should he or Keyra succeed in toppling the monster and he find himself trying to hack away at its leg.
Additionally, there was the dilemma of a falling angel careening down to earth... Sevral took a moment to process and internalize this information before realization struck him.
"Keyra!" Sevral shouted suddenly. Moving quickly, probably quick enough to have moved out of the way of the creature should it have been the creature which was falling, Sevral relocated, extending out his arms as he placed himself in Keyra's path. The man could tell she was attempting to regain herself, but the hit had been fairly substantial. Her blade clattered to the floor somewhere off to the side, the man just registering the sound of steel scraping off wood as he braced to catch Keyra. Her bone density had to be lighter than normal, but at the same time Sevral would be more than proud to say he was truly that strong. After all, he did work in a forge, right?
Taking her momentum, Sevral came to one knee to try to better distribute it so that she simply didn't come to a dead halt or end up knocking the man entirely backwards. Looking over her wings, he gave an amused smile as he looked up at the creature. "Well that was fun!" he said. "What's your next plan?"
Standing again, the man let the Val out of his grip and offered his help to steady her, glancing off to locate her weapon. The creature didn't seem to want to follow, but instead stood firm as if daring someone else to try their luck. Sevral glanced between the other three now and the soldiers, curious as to just how their Captain would go about combating this new development. Certainly it was going to take a better choreographed effort than previously. But at least there was only one...
"Are you okay?" Sevral asked, putting a hand on Keyra's shoulder and leading her a step back. Purely out of instinct and a need to protect, he replaced her in the front, glancing at her wings to ensure that the healing processes hadn't been damaged.
She slammed into something warm, arms wrapped around her to stop the fall and she felt the ground beneath her legs as she was lowered down slightly. Once she was oriented from the insane fall, she noted that it was Sevral that had caught her. Keyra let out a breath as he released her gently and they stood up, his hand offering to steady her as she got to her feet. The Val took it gratefully as she situated herself on her feet. She registered his earlier words when he'd caught her. Releasing a heavy breath she turned to look over her shoulder at the creature.
"The skin is thick. I almost couldn't break through with my blade," she said, slightly winded from the impact and fall. His hand fell on her shoulder and she found herself moved to behind him. Her golden gaze widened slightly at this. It was a first. To have someone put themselves before her. It threw her off just a bit as she stood there. It took a moment before she could answer Sevral properly.
"I... am fine," she a replied, testing her wings as she said it. There was a slight bit of pain, but nothing she couldn't bear now. At least they weren't broken, that was enough for her. Her gaze shifted from Sevral's back to the ground where she spotted her weapon lying amongst the corpses. The creature lumbered before them, looming in the room as it swayed gently from side to side. Keyra narrowed her eyes at it. With a click of her tongue, she sighed heavily.
"I hope Dravon has a plan, otherwise our best bet will be to attack until it falls," her eyes shifted around the thing as she examined it, "Do you think you could launch me up high enough to get to it's shoulder?"
Sevral turned to Keyra, a look of surprise on his face. "You want to be... you want to try that. again?" She'd just broken her wings, gotten them healed, attempted a jump once and gotten swatted down like a fly, and she thought a second try was in their best interests? Sevral wasn't quite sure if he respected and admired this, or found it foolish. "I-I'm sure I could," Sevral said, glancing back towards the grotesque beast, "but .."
Shaking his head, the man dismissed it. This wasn't necessarily the time to be indecisive or to bicker over who was getting flung where or even who was being flung in the first place. Sevral made up his mind quickly.
"No," Sevral said simply, "You've already broken your wings once and that was too close a call just now. If we do, we need to be cohesive in our attacks." Pausing, Sevral looked over Keyra again, as if making up his mind about something. Blinking once, he nodded to Keyra's sword. "Go grab your sword. We'll let the Captain try his hand..."
Looking to Dravon now, Sevral drew his left sword, nodding to the man. "Alright, Captain!" the man called, "Lend us your wisdom and battle expertise!"