Sora felt the earth quiver under her hooves, and her ears strained forward before she was pulling herself out of the way. And then, following Tahi-shei's command, she was running -- the creature had exploded with fury before the worm had appeared, and Sora wasn't about to try and make justifications for someone who was blatantly aggressive. Besides, she trusted Tahi-shei's words. She sort of had to. So, there was Sora, fleeing with the others who had chosen to heed his command -- moving ahead in the snow, and suddenly, she got a brilliant idea.

Ever since the Trial, she'd had a strange bit of magic within her repertoire -- something that allowed her to fill a space with black mist, but mist that was plenty easy to see through. Perhaps if she spawned some around her, it would fill the group's fading tracks and make them easier to follow back to the entrance. Mercifully, her magic worked with her -- Ain't that just one in a million, she thought with a snort, hopefully now able to more easily find her way.

Draconua caused even more of a threat, and everyone here was lucky for the spell that lifted them off the ground. Madhukar was bristling with rage, angriest most of all at the fact that she couldn't just conjure a storm to blast the massive idiot's scales off. Madhukar herself had watched what too much lightning did to such a beast. Popping the carapace off, locking the muscles, warping the skin. Armored plating was not enough to withstand her enmity.

The concept of anyone else taking Draconua down after what it just did and threatened to do to those Madhukar held dear set something off in her, a ticking time bomb. When the ice worm gutted and gored Draconua, Madhukar felt a lot of things, but satisfaction was not one of them. A little relief, yes, and a whole lot of fear, then an overwhelming amount of amount of hatred and everything that came with that double-edged sword of an emotion. She wished to send her rippling arrows down upon the worm and its current catch, to increase and endorse the agony... but if anything stopped her in this instance, I would have to call it her conscience. 'You can use your magic for better things right now.' Yeah, okay.

Twisted's scathing words were finally more than welcome. Even if they probably wouldn't do much if anything, they were cathartic -- an attack Tahi-shei had not disallowed. Madhukar felt... kind of bad that the Cat had to look so pitiful, swimming through the air like that. So Madhukar would manifest the smallest bit of her smoking wrath as wings and horns (FINALLY it worked), allowing her to move around effectively in the air. She would fly... swim... whatever it was, she would make her way to Twisted, and offer a hand.

Tahi-shei was right. For all that talk of Draconua's about being a harbinger of chaos, it certainly was siding with Mother and Order right now. They had to get out of here, idiot or no idiot, Mother or no Mother. If they could escape without any other casualties, it would be a success in Madhukar's eyes. Maybe not for Tahi-shei... but Tahi-shei was blind in more ways than one.

@Twisted

Nemo


Trapped in the howling white, the raptor's only indication that his, admittedly impressive, burst of sheer sound had failed was...

Well. The lack of a worm.

The cold senses of failure, fear, and dread instantly sink their teeth further into his body than the biting cold ever could, and so does the growing knowledge that he could never find his way back to them in the blizzard without getting in the way. So, his next best bet is to see if anyone else had shown up at the opening, where they'd set up that fortress a while ago, and make sure they're ready for whoever... might make it back.

I hate all the maybes I'm dealing with right now- caves curse all of this!

With that, he yanks at his magic and casts out once again, hoping to weave together another highway of calm for himself, and hopefully anyone who hits the stream, to see in, to make his way back.

Twisted looked back at the valkhound with a sneer. They were falling back. They were abandoning her. Fine by Twisted! Plus, she was the perfect bait for the Iceworm, which she watched rear up and attack her. That bought more time for the rest of them.

Her emerald eyes widened a bit as Madhukar, flying on magic wings, offered a hand. She paused for a moment, and took it, paddling through the air until the spell weakened and she was back on solid ground again. Now she could really putting her running legs to work. She sprinted through the storm blindly, only briefly stopping to see if Madhukar was still there (How strange, how their opinion on each other changed in the course of a minute) before continuing on.

Esther spent what felt like ages wandering around alone in the storm. Blind, for the most part. Of course they knew their way around the cave, but that did not help anything when the storm was somehow getting worse of all things, and they couldn't see a single thing around them. Esther refused to go back to the mess that was the group trying to fight Mother, so they continued on despite themselves. Esther'd wanted to help them, but if they were going to stand around and kill each other rather than what they were looking for, well, they didn't need Esther's help for that. They could do that all on their own and create an enemy out of the creature that they needed to help or they would lose. At least, with how things went, they saw it that way.

Wings pulled close to their body, and ears pulled back so the winds stayed out of it, Esther continued to move in the random direction they chose to hopefully find an exit. I'd better hurry. Was the only thing they thought as they kept going, never breaking out into a run. They'd need their energy if they were going to move through all of the snow and wind. At least when it came down to it, Esther could make a pocket without the winds beating against them, it wouldn't last long if they did it again.

It took more time for the maned wolf to get to an exit, but they did eventually make it to one. It was the familiar entrance where the group had gone into the cave, and Vargas was there too. Good.

"Tahi-shei's group is failing." They brought up. "They decided attacking Draconua was a good idea despite her chasing away the worm that attacked everyone. A few of the members are stuck in the hole the worm made, and chrysalized." Esther was delivering a fucking report at this point. "I don't think they're going to get anywhere."

Perhaps the group should have thought about what they were doing before they did it - but it didn't sound like they were going to get anywhere now. They wondered what Vargas would do about it, would he call off the mission and try to hold off until a better time? It was clear Mother had ways of getting to the gembound first, which, well, was a problem if they were going to not keep going.

"And a good amount of them got touched by His magic." that was another important one to bring up - because of Esther and Draconua both. It wasn't like either of them had other elements to work with, anyway.

"I'm not going back out there to help them fight amongst themselves" Esther quickly blurted out. Even if Mother didn't do anything to them, they didn't want anything to do with any of that out there.

@Vargas (bc Esther is talking to him directly)

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

gore

Violence and blood reigned, splatters of ichor gracing the chaos-laced fissures in the earth. Thrashing. Bellowing. The worm thrashed, a pop and a swirl of black consuming part of its flank and side into bleeding, gory nothing, hanging and dripping blue. It shrieked and flailed, but its scything mandibles cut, and cut...

But for those departing, it was lost to the storm. For those departing, Mother could be left behind. All memory of Ursa, ignored.

___________

Deep in the darkness, she waited. She could see through its eyes, yes--she commanded it--but was this the extent of Chaos..? Had this nest fallen so far? This was no army, carefully-scouted and clearing her tunnels with magic and fury. These were but children, children lost in the storm, bar the one beast that they'd turned upon.

She felt no mockery, but there was... potential in this. If the nest was this weak, if this was the best it had to offer, then perhaps it was time to begin in earnest.

___________

All characters may now exit this thread, if they so choose, bar Draconua, who may continue to fight the ice worm or attempt to escape its cutting jaws, and Tahi-shei, who will be expected to report back. Characters may also choose to remain to fight.

If any characters choose to leave via Pegasus, they should GM tag and wait for the next GM post. Exiting via the Staging Ground does not need a tag, and characters may be assumed to have left safely.

@Tahi-shei (Sora) @Madhukar @Twisted @Marshmallow @Nemo @Reign @Pride (Nidhogg) @Draconua @Zhusha @Esther

It took time, of course, to make his way back with the rest of his army -- those who had chosen to follow, anyway. He was ashamed of himself, in some ways -- ashamed that he had failed, ashamed that Mother still ran rampant in this cave, ashamed that the Master would have to deal with this alone. But mostly, he was angry. Vargas had sent them into a whiteout blizzard, in a cave too cold for fungus, with a ticking time bomb of fury who'd attacked her own troops twice. He was buzzing with the stress, the cold, the anguish.

What was going to happen to Giggle and Wyvern? What was going to happen to Draconua? What was going to happen to him? Despite it all, he didn't want her hurt, not really. He just wanted her to grow the hell up.

So here he was, cold to the point of numbness and exhaustion, having lost feeling in his ears and nose, standing before the Master in the staging ground he'd helped prepare. There was fungus here, mercifully, placed by himself -- to monitor this place, to keep track of it. Esther had arrived first, he knew, from the tell of it -- the fungus couldn't hear per se, but it could tell him that there was sound.

He could feel Vargas's presence more than anything, and he felt... incredibly small. Finally, he said, "... Master."

It was time to make his report.

He raised his chin, fought the strain in his voice as he threatened to cry, and took a deep breath. Then, he began to speak. "The Hive's Lesser spies kept watch over us in the beginning, but were thwarted in part by the storm." He sighed. "We... were also thwarted by the storm. Others attempted to join us, along the way -- some of whom made things more difficult, but ultimately were attempting to be helpful. Then, as we were traveling to the mountains -- as we had reason to believe that was where Mother was hiding -- a massive Fungal presence attacked us. It was described to me as... ah, as a worm. Easily at least ten feet long, per my best estimate, and undoubtedly serving the Hive. It attacked one of the newcomers first, and..." He cringed.

"She was badly wounded. Draconua then decided that the best course of action was to split apart the earth, widening the hole made by the creature in its attempt at a grab and afflicting most of us with the violent urges associated with her magic. From there, it fell into chaos. Some of us fell into the hole, including the Boneseer Giggle and Sora, the Champion. Sora was recovered, but the newcomer who had been attacked by the worm and Giggle were chrysalized -- lost within the hole created by the worm, apparently in a tunnel of some sort."

Well, never accuse him of being brief. "I attempted to recall Draconua as we paused to get our bearings in the chaos, and take stock of the situation. Members of the party began attempting to attack Draconua due to the collateral damage of her attack; I attempted to recall her once more as the dust settled, aware of the fact that she was making the problem worse. Morale was shot and my people were scared -- Draconua threw a temper tantrum; I am convinced that the only reason she did not kill me is because I soothed her somewhat with a magic of mine. I opted to ignore her rather than continue to escalate the situation, and then she chose to attack us. The worm returned, and I decided that the situation had become too dangerous with Draconua, uninfected, deciding that we were her enemy as much as the Hive was."

Very notably, Tahi-shei did not mention the vote that had been taken. He would not drag the others down with him. "The storm had worsened considerably, and I could not risk moving my troops past Draconua and further into the storm after all that had happened, especially with her targeting us. I made the decision to turn back, aware of the risks. It had simply become too dangerous to continue. As far as I know, she is still fighting the beast." He dipped his head, his muscles shaking -- perhaps due to cold, fear, or exhaustion, but it was impossible for even him to tell. "I am sorry, Master. I failed."

@vargas

Addressing Tahi-Shei, Esther

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Esther arrived first, and their report was both succinct and distinctly helpful. They decided to attack Draconua-? he thought, puzzled--and then concerned. Had they been infected? Had Esther, by virtue of their wings, perhaps avoided this infection?

"Good, thank you. This is useful-" he began, voice raised against the wind, but it was as far as he got before the white-shrouded form of Tahi-shei came trudging out of the snow. Vargas paid close attention to the deer's words, and the more Tahi-shei spoke, the more his estimation of him dropped. It was disappointing, rather than annoying--he had thought more of him. But perhaps it was down to a lack of training; it wasn't like Tahi-shei had had a regimented military instructor.

Vargas pondered this, but words like "morale" and "scared" did began to irritate him. Such paltry things were beneath consideration. Fear? Inspiration? They needed those? They really are weak, he realized grimly. Why was he even bothering to defend this cave..? Perhaps he should've just asked for a transfer, and left this one to its fate.

Tahi-shei was also very... wordy, and essentially delivered the same report Esther did. Except where Esther laid aggression blame on the troops, Tahi-shei laid it on Draconua. Interesting. Were they infected..? And if Giggle--the other fungal user--were chrysalized... Perhaps they'd taken her down before she could call them out. He regretted not at least keeping one of the mushroom idiots here with him, now, in retrospect. He cast out what Master's magic senses he could. It wouldn't reliably detect fungus, but he hoped it might at least give him an inkling of any strange activity on their bodies. The magic came strong enough--and without any result--that he felt relatively confident, at least, in declaring them "clean." He would not have to return them all to their chrysalises to be safe, at least.

In regards to the storm, he stared a little blankly. "The storm is a problem for you?" he asked, still loudly. He'd assumed they had ways to navigate; why hadn't they put this off, otherwise? Ahh, well. As for failure he grunted. The deer was taking responsibility at least. "It seems you need training. Interestingly, your report varies from the other I have received. But if you desire military training, come to me and I will provide it. I had thought you capable of arranging an incursion and that is my own failing." He looked, then, to Esther. "You, if you wish it, may seek a reward of your choosing for your actions. You are proving capable and, more importantly, intelligent. I have need of those with keen minds."

He was more than a little worried about the Merchant. Where had Hag-rteho gone? With his creepy black stone..? Would he deem the situation dire enough to warrant Its release..? Vargas certainly hoped not, but he had no way of knowing, for certain.

Pride saw the damage he'd done, and knew--or at least hoped--that it would greatly weaken the worm and eventually prove fatal. Or perhaps it would return to its gemstone--he didn't know if they could do that. Is it even Lesser?

He turned, and struggled off through the snow, each half-leap taking him a few plowing steps forward. His mouth hung open, tongue lolling, flanks heaving, and every now and then he turned his head slightly to see how far he'd come from Draconua. Once he was a decent distance off--she was still quite visible through the snow, but he wasn't under them anymore--he sent out one last blast of magic. He held nothing back, now.

Pride wasn't about to leave more of them behind, if he could help it; she'd been the only one able to see the worm coming, to strike preemptively (he had no idea she'd been aiming at the group, and not the worm that had erupted an instant later). "I HAVE YOU," he shouted, "BUT THIS IS THE LAST OF MY MAGIC." It curled up in him, coiled, and shot for her: an unpleasant reeling sense struck him and then he felt as though his life were bleeding away.

This was why he'd gotten distance.

Pride staggered in the snow, turning back away, gasping as he tried for the entrance. He made it nearly all the way there before collapsing in the snow, consciousness swimming; white-on-white he fell still, taken by deep sleep.

He wasn't sure how much he'd healed Draconua. He hoped enough, but it felt like there was so little, now, left for him...

There was no more thought, however, for sleep claimed him. Whether he would be retrieved, or left to rest in the drifting snow, or caught by more unpleasant things remained to be seen: but for now he was helpless out there, if at least fairly well-camouflaged.

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

gore

Reality stretched between nonexistence and lethal feeling—the fibers of paper dancing along a knife's edge as it sliced through. Sinuous muscle split further and further apart, nervous impulses slowed by the loss of junctions. Void-black eyes fell darker, still, but still the Sleepless Chaos twisted and writhed. Disemboweled, exposed to the blizzard, mired in her own deep-seated corruption, she sank her teeth into cognizance and refused to let go.

Chaotic essence pouring from her in a dangerous crescendo, Draconua gasped and wheezed where she stood, unwilling to crumble. She hardly noticed the swell of blackening flesh being gnarling and twisting and pulling into a violent nothing; hardly noticed the oxygenless blue muddling itself with her own unholy ichor; hardly noticed one of those more reasonable creatures calling to her, offering the vestiges of his ability.

Pathetic, she would've thought, had she not been so focused on reducing this beast to shreds.

But, flesh barely sutured together by magic? A fresh wave of exhaustion and blackness shooting across her already fleeting vision?

Impossible to ignore.

It was a new brand of agony weighed upon her body, skin and hide peeling back together and fitting jaggedly around the mandibles gnawing ever-deeper. Intestines were willed back into their chambers and loosely scabbed over, but they were bound to be released again once those slicing limbs were removed.

And speaking of: the valkhound grappled for a grip on the worm's spines, hooked claws careless of how deep they sank in. Sanguine face-plate twisting, she craned her neck. Battered and abused lungs swelled, flanks pressing outward and painfully against their confines. She split her jaws wide, the rotten smoldering of hide intensifying once again.

Draconua set her teeth against the worm's jagged hide—wherever she could—and in the same motion, let loose the fire building in her throat with a muffled roar.