δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

Reeling, Kerberos shook, exhaustion hitting his body hard after volley after volley of harsh, powerful attacks. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up, but he pushed onwards anyway. His family needed him, and he couldn't let them down. Thousands of eyes stared at him and he glared back, fur bristling, as the shadow cat blinked into the shadows once more. He heard a screech that burned his ears, followed by another, weaker one, and he knew that Aza'zel was behind him. His leader was here, ready to fight with him.

With a snarling howl, the canine summoned his magic once more. His body split into two, and he lunged after the cat, thrashing wildly at the shadows with six sets of teeth and dozens of claws. "YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE!" He roared, foaming at all of his furious mouths. "I WILL DESTROY YOU!" He was done with the games, done with playing. "COME AND FACE ME!" And he did not let up, forcing himself to push at the blur of shadows and eyes. He would attack wherever he could, whenever he could, a force of nature more than a creature. He was a wildfire, raging, roaring, until the forest of green was soaked to black, smoldering ash.

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces

Though the creature immersed itself in the shadows, that didn't render it immune to the attacks of the surrounding Gembounds; as it skipped along in the darkness, it was met with a barrage of magical attacks, stumbling and gasping as the air quaked around it, a deafening roar resounding from the bird. The loud sound had caused the beast to falter, ducking its head down and screeching a loud, desperate protest, until they heard the air begin to crackle instead - the shock wave faded, and in its place a sudden blast of cold air. The shadow jerked and shifted away, but was too slow to avoid the attack entirely. It's hind leg appeared to have froze, ice glinting in the dull light as it screeched and limped a few noisy steps away in the darkness.

Then there was another scream and the creature's legs bowed, it shrieked, and retreated further into the darkness. Further away. It was not liking this game - it was losing. The eyes shot in every direction and suddenly their attention shifted, instinctively following the multiple forms of the dog that separated from its true body, until the shadow monster's connection to its illusions and flickered and died out.

The darkness began to recede in that telltale illuminated warning. The area surrounding them glowed dimly, lighting up the creature now - hairless, ugly, gnarled, seething with shadow and anger, gathering a mouthful of blackness. It exploded from the monster's jaws in Kerberos' direction, bathing him in radiation.

Aza'zel does 12 damage.
Fallah does 20 damage.
Ashtoreth does 15 damage.
Kerberos does 18 damage.

??̸? has 105/200 hit points.

There are 3 posts left in this battle.

Remember, more characters can join this quest at any time!

@Ambrus @Fallah @Gertrude @Sadie @Ashtoreth @Azazel @Vincenzo @Eve @Kerberos

The creature was hit. It shrieked and backed away. Fallah followed. It was hiding, which meant they were winning, right? She moved towards the creature and spoke up, "In a game like this, you can always give up. Sometimes, giving up is better than losing." The appearance of the monster did not deter her. From a young age, the lynx had grown used to such appearances. It blasted some sort of magic at the large dog. Eyes widening, Fallah turned to watch the attack before turning back to the shadowy being, "Give up, or you'll be forced to lose!" she called, aiming her magic right at the now visible creature, aiming to pin its legs by stabbing them with ice spikes from the ground.

azazel istfg if you crit. fail this for the sixth time

edit: oh my fucking god azazel you've attempted this spell 6 times and you crit. failed every attempt. AND HERE, YOU DECIDE TO GET A CRIT. SUCCESS. WOW.

His spell cast had been successful, and he watched with slight satisfaction as the creature reeled back. A small brown noodle with bright feathers was visible, and he instantly knew. His daughter. Azazel quickly flew over to the child and stood protectively in front of her. The lights glowed once again, illuminating the monster. It was hiding. They were winning. A voice echoed, but he cared not who it belonged to. The Bone King called upon his magicka, hoping to perhaps cause a little bit of claustrophobia and make this hellion regret their decision to come and terrorize the Bonebound.

And for them to give Giggle back.

The cerberos roared out a challenge and was struck hard with the light that hurt, that burned, and he fell. The tiny noodle shivered, her ears laying back, afraid of invoking that same wrath. What were they going to do? She had no idea that they were winning-- hell, the poor child didn't even know who was on her side.

Ashtoreth felt the air shift around her, her feathers twitching in the rush of wind that buffeted her face. Her bright eyes flashed from the injured, humongous dog that was slumping into a defeated pile-- to Aza'zel, her father, changing the air. Pulling it away from the beast. She wanted to help, but she didn't know how to manipulate air so carefully. The babe was too young, too small. A hatchling, a chick fallen from her nest.

So she just tried to scream again.

"Give up, or you'll be forced to lose!" ...No. An unearthly growl emanated from the shadows. Injured as it was, it wouldn't lose. Though its hind leg was already lifted lightly to avoid weight, more ice struck it, piercing both of its hind legs now. Thick shadows pulled in to submerse the creature in a veil as a sickening shriek rose from the darkness. The cry was slow to die down into a wince as sudden claustrophobia sank into the veil the creature had created to provide cover and comfort. The eyes that watched the Gembounds narrowed and darted, switching from target to target suspiciously while the body fought such a ridiculous fear.

However, it was sick in the sense that something is ill and should be treated; but this creature was the kind that got put down. There was no recovery - it had simply broken. And as such, a growing cackle rattled from the creature's hanging jaws as it stood with its shoulders hunched. Shadows slipped from its body like smoke rolling over an obstacle. The naked, poisoned skin burned from radiation looked as if it may have been bleeding. "Heeeere you go," it drawled, curling shadows around itself to reveal the female hyena it had taken from them. The one it had watched and wanted from the beginning. The bait. The treasure. Unconscious still, the limp body hung just above the creature's own, suspended in the shadows.

It couldn't help but cackle more. Coughing cackles. Its back legs gave out briefly and it hissed, tightening the grip it had on Giggle but keeping her close; if they attacked it now, they risked harming the hyena. The eyes darted and pierced, furious that its game had come to an end. The initial scare at the Pools had been quite the thrill, though, hadn't it?

"You can have it." it spoke ominously, flashing a daring and wide grin before drawing a fast and almost liquid-like veil of shadows to itself, dispersing to the cave wall and slipping quickly, wickedly through the crevices of Canis with a crazed echoing of laughter before disappearing completely.

The illusion of Giggle flickers and vanishes as soon as anyone touches it.

Fallah does 17 damage.
Aza'zel does 20 damage.
Ashtoreth does 7 damage.

??̸? has 61/200 hit points.

The battle has ended. Quest: O Eyes, What Do You See? Part 2 is Complete.

@Ambrus @Fallah @Gertrude @Sadie @Ashtoreth @Azazel @Vincenzo @Eve @Kerberos

VINNIE THE VOICE
He woke up in time to see a massive three-headed white dog looming over him. His first thought was
Oh, I remember that thing, followed closely by
OH NO, I REMEMBER THAT THING!

He turned and flopped, fluttering in a frantic attempt to get away, only to find himself facing a great black mass of blinking eyes and smoking flesh.

He screamed.

He screamed, and then he scrambled away, into the--what was this...? It was a world, a world around him, of rock and bone and dim ominous light. Of course, Vincenzo had no idea what bones were, or even rock, but he knew it wasn't the darkness he'd been born into, and so he simply froze, sitting with a shocked mind and a blank stare for a long moment. Stubby wings trailed down to either side.

"...What's this?" he whispered, awed and afraid.

Then the sounds of others moving around behind him startled him out of his focus, into clarity, and he turned--flapping to hide behind a rock. But he listened, huddled where he was. He hoped they wouldn't find him, yet at the same time, he desperately didn't want to be alone.

________________

Suddenly, the monster was gone and the lights were back. The noodle watched a gull duck into hiding and she bounced over to him, tail swishing, and nodded towards the exit-- towards freedom-- before scampering away before anyone could dare catch her. She wanted to go explore the world, and her father was likely catching his breath and distracted by everything else.

The little hybrid was going to get a taste of what the rest of the world was like outside of this stuffy hellhole before she got tied down.

;; ash exit!

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

Pain surged across Kerberos and the massive beast roared, recoiling as radiation danced across his skin, hooking dangerous barbs deep beneath his fur, into the muscle. He stumbled, gasping, as the rest of the gembounds retaliated for him. Victory was at hand, he just had to push a bit father. The guardian of canis rose, opening his mouths ready to attack with all that he had-- but then the shadow monster spoke, hissing words snaking through the air as it revealed a limp corpse in its grasp.

Upon seeing his mother, Kerberos' jaws snapped, teeth glistening off of his own magic. Rage rippled through the beast as he took a step forward, fear prickling across his back but fueling the blood rushing through his heart. He could hear his heartbeat in each ear, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump. He was so close to saving his mother, but if he hurt her-- if he accidentally lashed his teeth too close to the hyena who looked so frail and small compared to everything-- how could he ever forgive himself? Hesitation raced across his legs and froze him steps away, wishing for a miracle.

You can have it,

The creature spoke, grinning with malace, before it practically evaporated into the shadows. Kerberos did not even wait for the darkness to vanish-- as soon as the thing was away from his mother, he lunged-- desperate, frightened. His body flew through the air as the blackness retreating around him. His huge paws hit the ground, standing over his mother, as the lights all came back on around him. It was blinding, but he did not need to see-- the canine lowered a muzzle out of his three to touch to Giggle, to reassure she was alive, breathing, safe...

Kerberos was already racing through what he could do to help her. He went to summon warmth through his body as his nose touched the image, and as he did a chill spread through him. Almost too exhausted to panic anymore, the canine blinked his bleary vision to find that Giggle was not under him-- that the mother had been only an illusion.

The dog collapsed to the floor, practically on top of where his mother had appeared to be, and found no strength to even wail. It was a trick. He had been played for a fool. He couldn't register it-- shock taking course through his damaged, battered body. Slowly, six pale pink eyes met Aza'zel's eyes, and then even his heads slumped to the floor.

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces

;; kerberos exit

So it lost. It retreated and gave back the dog that Fallah wasn't even sure had gone missing in the first place. The three headed bark friend surged forward, just for the other small spotted bark friend to disappear. He looked so sad. Fallah didn't know how to react. She thought of what her friends would do briefely before stepping towards the massive dog, "We will find her." Fallah stared at the dog a moment longer before placing her nose gently on its shoulder, "You will find her." she said, her promise slowly formed in her head. She too would find the other dog somehow. Withdrawing, Fallah turned to enter the rest of the caves and devise a plan to find the bark friend's bark friend. Maybe Fisher and Black would help...

-exit fallah-

@kerberos