There is... nothing? Aethereal paused in confusion. Now that she thought about it, there was... nothing, more or less. At least, nothing more than the three Gembound around her. She was no longer on fire. The discordant screeching of the alien beasts faded. It had been nothing but another hallucination. The edges of her mouth contracted in what was probably a lamprey valkhound's equivalent of a frown. They were getting worse...

Suddenly, there was more flapping, more screeching, and Aethereal flinched, wondering if this was another hallucination. But no - Tahi-shei was also sensing these things. They were real this time. At least, from the sound of it, they were smaller than the alien beasts of her nightmares. They seemed to be fewer in number, too, than an all-out war would require. Flapping wings and screeching cries drew closer, and she hurried away as best she could on five legs. The stench of carrion drifted from behind her on a gentle breeze, and Aethereal winced, glad she'd put some distance between her and the stinky stuff.

Then her brain caught up with the rest of what the deer had said. Who was Vargas, and why did Tahi-shei want him? She was not to reveal anything about Mother, so clearly, Vargas was another untrustworthy stranger. For that matter, why was the deer helping her suddenly, when he'd attacked her before for her connection with Mother?

SPEAKING of that connection, why hadn't Mother said anything to her? Hello? Aethereal thought, a hint of accusation in her mental tone. Where had Mother been this entire fight...? But still, there was no response. Was the distance too far, perhaps, for a good connection? But they had spoken before, in much the same location...

Little by little, realization dawned on her. Mother had said, before, that there were those who would not understand their family. These ones had claimed they were trying to "free" her. I didn't need to be freed, especially so violently, she thought, flicking her tail with no little annoyance. Had they done something to sabotage the link, somehow?

She still had no idea who Vargas was, or what the approaching dragonbats' intentions were, but she didn't think it was a good idea to approach him if he was equally hostile toward Mother. Still, was she going to just leave them there without help? Isra, she thought. James was going for Isra, who was also, judging by the deer's shout for help at the beginning of their battle, hostile toward Mother. They'd be fine on their own. And if they got a little beaten up... well, they were kind of asking for it anyway.

--exit to tunnel F
also tagging GM and not tahi since i don't want to ping him when it's not his turn

Character: Aethereal Age: +1 (1 Cycle) Magic Level: +1 (Fledgling) ROUND 1 Attempt: +15 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +2 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +5 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +7 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +9 Penalties: - Total: 40

Character: Tahi-shei Age: +8 (8 Cycles) Magic Level: +5 (Master) ROUND 1 Attempt: +13 Penalties: ROUND 2 Attempt: +15 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +6 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +15 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +19 Penalties: - Total: 81

Character: James Age: +9 (9 Cycles) Magic Level: +5 (Transcendent Pupil) ROUND 1 Attempt: +7 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +7 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +5 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +18 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +7 Penalties: - Total: 58

Character: Isolde Age: +1 (1 Cycle) Magic Level: +1 (Fledgling) ROUND 1 Attempt: +6 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +19 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +16 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +6 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +10 Penalties: - Total: 59

WINNERS: James, Tahi-Shei, and Isolde (group)

They ignored the ones who fled--ignored Isolde, and ignored James. They were driven by what Mother had heard through them: the voices; and they were driven by her command: to hold off pursuit. Tahi-shei was the only one to stand his ground, and they swarmed him.

The spores struck, and the effect was immediately visible; sneezing, hesitation, curling back. One outright hit the ground, staggering and rolling in the grass, before emitting a single loud snore, eyes slipping shut. The other four descended on Tahi-shei with rending claws and fangs a moment later, slowed but not yet stopped.

The stinkhorn spores had done their work well enough that, at most, they might inflict minor damage--lacerations, punctures, but nothing deadly or even particularly dangerous. There was no telling how long this might last. To cleanse them might be possible--but it would take magic for each bat, and they were aggressive creatures... it was a situation that would require resourcefulness to survive.

@Tahi-shei @James

It was good, then, that Tahi-shei was not aiming to cleanse them. He was glad that James had gone; even moreso that Isolde and Aethereal had. He was not privy to her thoughts, naturally, but the whirling bats were doing minimal damage to him, thankfully. Tahi-shei didn't have anything to really defend himself, except the last remainders of his Inky Cap, which the dragon bats took care of -- honestly, he didn't need it. He was planning on making this next one hurt.

His magic flushed out -- it wasn't quite as powerful as he would've liked it to be, but Tahi-shei chalked that up to the sheer multitude of targets. "Cower," he hissed, eyes blank -- just... blank. White and gone. "I will hunt you down and destroy everything you stand for." He knew she could hear him. He didn't care if this made her go on red alert -- he almost wished it would. Make her feel fear, if this barely-living virus of a thing could feel anything at all. "You'll never win these caves, Dontacael. Not if I have anything to say about it."

@james (remember to gm tag!)


***For all the bats! Especially their eyes and mouths

James managed to land semi-gracefully in front of where Isra was, bowing his head before looking up, sides heaving, "Isra, please, we have need of you. A mothered gembound entered the cave and Tahi-shei and I intercepted it and removed her from their body, but now we're being attacked by mother-infested dragonbats. I promise I'll personally see to it that you or any of your creatures are purged if they come into contact with the creatures, but please, we need help."

He turned back towards the fight, wobbling a bit, exhausted and injured, but thankfully Darling landed next to him, not a feather out of place. She honked at Isra once before sitting herself down as if she had not a care in the world.

"We're driving her into Pegasus," he explained after a moment, "We're going to try and get the aid of Vargas."

Luckily he had a backup plan. Azigh.

@Tahi-shei (gonna gm tag)

She watched the horse fly in and waited patiently for it to land and approach—graceful, but she had seen better. Seven out of ten. She smirked to herself at her own joke, letting it quietly die inside of her head. He bowed, so she appreciated that, and returned the gesture in a curt nod. His request sounded urgent enough but she was not interested in getting herself involved in their tussle. The hellswan he had forged a bond with came in next with a honk, but she largely ignored it.

There was a moment where she was processing the information, her eyes following to Tunnel F, before she let out a quiet, "...aaah..."

Her teeth clicked and her attention turned back to James.

"A what gembound?" Her head tilted slightly. How did they even know about mothers? Now they were killing their kin who had mothers? Mother-infested? What did they have against mothers?

@James

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

gore

One was still snoring.

The other four closed in. Jaws came for throat, for face, for slender cervine limbs. Claws rended for the deer's soft belly. They were going for a kill, but if they could not get that-...

One of them was coming forward, inhaling, eyes full of madness as though it intended to blow something at Tahi-shei. And it might have--the deer might've found a face full of Mother's spores, had he not struck first. Instead the bat reeled back, a hiss breaking into a choking sound as fungus sprouted from jaws and nostrils, blooming up far too quickly in spraying rivulets of blood. Caps and stalks burst forth from skin, clusters of spores trailing from gums, the gills of the fungus gleaming with gore. The others were hit, too, though not as badly as the one coming for him head-on; he'd undoubtedly saved himself from Mother, if inadvertently.

The other three, however choked they were, were controlled completely: with no regard to their own safety or their lives, they were trying to tear Tahi-shei apart.

@Tahi-shei

The pain was blinding, now. He could feel blood dripping down, his throat and his shoulders. Without the remainder of his fungus to pad it, it was... unseemly, even as he watched the Dragonbat fall. These things were easily big enough to harm him.

There were three left standing -- each of his previous attempts had been mediocre to say the least, although they'd each eliminated one. I'll need lightning for the war, he thought with stunning clarity, and he dug his hooves in. He would hold his ground if it killed him -- he knew that these things would not be deterred, no matter what it took, and neither would he. Mother was trying to kill him; he didn't particularly care.

He didn't have words, this time. The pain was too overwhelming, but with each strike, they shed more spores from his fur -- more fuel for his fire. The hallucinations were powerful. He knew that. Even with someone trying to talk you out of it, he didn't know how smart these Lessers were. In fact, he was hoping that, if he were very lucky, they'd start attacking each other.

All the more reason to shut the hell up.

@james

"Mother! The Hive? Dontacael?", he said desperately, "It's a fungus that infects the mind and forces you to join a hivemind of other gembounds, taking away your control. It takes the lessers and us greaters with no mercy, turning people into slaves."

James looked towards Tahi and ground his teeth, torn, "I-I'm sorry, I have to go. I know you hate leaving your cave but just help us kill these bats please!"

He ran away as fast as possible, definitely terrified. He was going against every prey instinct to run away from danger, and here he was running towards it. He was already injured and weakened and hadn't truly had a fight before in the cycles he'd been alive, so there was yet another disadvantage.

Taking to the air never felt so hard, crumpled feathers straining to keep him aloft. He inhaled and drew upon his magic in a desperate attempt to help, to try and do something useful. He felt the pull and he felt the magic lash out, but as it felt nothing to lash out on, it drew back in on himself.

'Not again,' he thought numbly, before blinding pain erupted from the center of his forehead, as if his own spell was truly trying to split apart his skull. He fell to the earth as his wings went limp, suddenly unable to move.

James crashed to the ground and lay there, mostly numb, the pain having not registered quite yet. He was definitely crying but he was so overwhelmed he couldn't react to it.

'I'm certain I've done something wrong,' he thought, slowly getting to his feet, body hurting, 'There has to be, because why else would my magic hate me so? Every time I rely on it, it fails me. It hurts me.'

Slowly, he staggered forward, limping as his front left leg ached, having taken the brunt of the fall. Damn it all.

@Tahi-shei

Dontacael...? A mother? Oh, how she wanted to laugh. It sounded like a joke, but his desperation was real, so she was inclined to believe him. Still, it sounded too good to be true. He described it as if it were evil, somehow worse than the Fate they were born under. What stood out to her was the note that it took away their control—did the gembounds think they had that?

Had Lord Dhracia not demonstrated to these new lives what Control was? Well, there was always time, she supposed.

James was polite enough, though, and Isra could appreciate that. As he struggled to fly off, she slowly hauled herself up and forward, descending the steps with little to no haste, much like the hellswan. It was true, she wouldn't want Dontacael's delicate little fingers weaving their way into her space. Gross. At least he'd be a tidy guest, but the thought of sharing her things with him made her skin crawl. It was enough that she had to share already...

When James dropped like a weight from the air, her step quickened, reaching him nearly the moment he managed to stand. She could admire his will to move forward and fight. Across the river, she could just barely make out the small swarm of shadow swathing the other.

Well... that one seemed too far gone. She didn't want to risk herself or her lessers if there was risk of Hive infection spreading into Cepheus. James had stated he'd personally purge it if it did, but he wasn't in great shape himself. She glanced to him, noting his mangled leg among various other injuries, and let out a small growl. What a bother this had become. If he entered his chrysalis this side of the river, she'd feel obliged to watch it. Maybe he'd make it back before then.

Either way, the request hadn't been to help him, it had been to kill the dragonbats. She broke into a gentle run, far outpacing the broken James at this point; she'd reach whatever mangled mess was across the river soon enough. She was mostly curious to see what it was, and to make sure the Hive left Cepheus.

Isra reaches Tahi-shei and dragonbats next round.