With a powerful swing the Axe split the ore golem apart. The greasy creature’s roar sounded like it was gargling pebbles, the two halves of its body slowly dissolving into crumbles of raw iron. Turning into a pile of ore it grew silent, lying in front of the orc’s feet. The Axe stared down at the foe she just fell, panting slightly. As she put her weapon back on her back she turned around. Her comrades were standing behind her, all panting and sweating, with three more piles of iron ore lying between them. Snakes was leaning against the wall of the cave with her hat knocked from her head, Nightheart leaned forward and clenched her knees, Thunderblade lay on the ground with her limbs stretched out and Honeytooth, the torch in one and her staff in the other hand, was tilting her neck back towards the ceiling as she caught her breath. A pair of fangs was shining in her mouth, slowly retreating back to their normal size.
Glancing around the exhausted members of her group the Axe adjusted her metal glasses. “The dragon is so gonna turn us to ashes” she stated flatly.
Leaning her head forward Honeytooth looked at the Axe, the last remnants of yellow in her eyes vanishing as she smiled at the orc. “Don’t be absurd!” she comforted her. “Just because a handful of weak golems were already more than we can handle doesn’t mean we can’t deal with a giant fire-breathing monstrosity that can wipe out entire armies in the blink of an eye.” Her whole body slumped, a depressed sigh making its way out of her mouth.
While she spoke Thunderblade got back on her feet. “Well, we’ve got this far” she declared, though without any vigor in her voice. “Might as well go all the way.”
With her tail Snakes flipped up her fedora hat lying on the ground. “As if I’m gonna turn around!” she yelled, snatching her hat and putting it back on top of her wild mane. “I didn’t join thiss party just to stop a few inches before I get to see one of the most radical beassts ever!”
Stretching her back Nightheart groaned slightly. “I guess there are worse ways to meet your doom” she mumbled. “Though honestly, I can’t think of that many.”
Honeytooth handed the torch back to the Axe. Grunting she took the flame, leading the way deeper into the mountain. The others followed her, their steps slower and more strained than at the beginning of their adventure. As the cave made a curve in front of them they stopped for a moment. There was a weak glimmer of light coming from around the corner, pulsating slightly.
“There seems to be some kind of fire” the Axe concluded.
Nightheart gulped. “And this is the lair of a fire-breathing dragon…”
Metal screeched as Thunderblade pulled her sword out of its sheath. “Looks like this is it” she murmured. “The final battle.”
The group exchanged some glances, before slowly walking around the corner. As the light intensified the Axe tossed the torch on the ground, taking out her two-handed axe. With her comrades behind her she marched around the curve, the others following her into the warm light.
The cave opened into a huge dome-like hall. A large platform was occupying roughly half of its space, going from the entrance to the middle of the room. The edge of the platform fell several meters downwards, before ending in a pool of lava. The flowing magma put the place in an orange-yellow sheen, the group feeling the heat all over their bodies. From the center of the lava pool a pillar of smoke was rising up straight towards the ceiling, vanishing in a giant hole.
As they looked around Nightheart spotted a small hole at the top of the entrance. “Well, there is our secret shortcut” she grumped, pointing above their heads.
Snakes looked up at the exit of the passage. “Too bad we didn’t have ssome kind of rope to get us all up” said, unconsciously wiggling the tip of her tail.
Thunderblade and the Axe prepared their weapons. “Is everybody ready?” the paladin asked.
Honeytooth looked a little annoyed at her. “Once you buffed us, yes.”
“Oh, right” Thunderblade blushed. She gave everyone the buff they needed (and Snakes the strength buff), then turned back to the column of black smoke. “Alright, let’s wake up that dragon and put it to sleep!” she exclaimed, raising her sword into the air.
The Axe frowned. “That makes no sense.”
“Just swing your axe, Axe.”
Slowly the five heroines moved over the platform, towards the smoke. They weren’t even halfway there however when the ground beneath them suddenly began to shake. Trembling the heroines tried to keep their balance, Snakes rolling up her tail to give her more support.
“W-what’s going on?” Nightheart screeched, falling on her knees. Thunderblade nearly followed, but managed to press her iron boot tightly against the ground.
“Stay on your toes!” she exclaimed. The ground in the middle of the platform was starting to break, a red light shining through the cracks. With a loud explosion it burst open, a huge pillar of flames rising up to the ceiling. Holding her shield up the champion shielded herself them from the stones flying around, the others cowering behind her. As the hail subsided and the fire had burned down the paladin lowered her shield, the group facing a crater in the middle of the room.
From the hole a green hand emerged, its lanky fingers grabbing the edge with long sharp nails. Slowly a large humanoid creature pulled itself out of the hole. Like Snakes its body was covered in scales, but instead of resembling a snake it looked more like a lizard. In one hand it held a saber, in the other a black shield. Sticking out its split tongue the vertical eyes of the monster scanned the group. Another of those lizard men then dragged itself out of the hole, followed by a third. The three stared at the group with a slightly dumb look on their faces, hissing and gargling with their throats.
Putting her hand under her cloak Nightheart grabbed the hilt of her dagger. “Are those the dragon’s guardians?” she questioned.
“Probably” the Axe stated, taking a fighting stance. Suddenly Honeytooth stepped in front of the orc brute, holding out her arms.
“Wait, maybe we don’t have to fight!” she said, turning towards Snakes. “You speak dragon tongue. Maybe you can convince them to leave us alone because of your shared heritage?”
The bard frowned. “Hey, just because we both have scaless doesn’t mean-”
“JUST DO IT!” the priestess snarled, the hairs on her brows growing more numerous as she knitted them.
Slightly intimidated Snakes slithered forth. The three lizard men looked at her as she began to speak to them, hissing and gargling while occasionally making some deep, growling sounds. The three monsters responded in the same manner, Snakes seriously nodding as they spoke. Once they were done she returned to her comrades.
“What did they say?” Thunderblade asked.
“They’re gonna oat us and use our ear-cones as vices” Snakes told them.
Everybody looked at her in confusion.
“No wait…” Lemon held the red plastic disk closer over the story book, looking through it at the encrypted text passage. “’They’re gonna eat us and use our ear-bones as dices’” she red out loud. “My bad.”
“What would they have said if you hadn’t tried to use your connection as reptilian people, but one of your dialog skills?” Sunny asked. Sugarcoat looked at her in disapproval. “Hey, we messed up anyway!” Sunny snapped at her. “So it doesn’t really count as cheating if we look up the other possibilities.”
With the plastic disk Lemon inspected all the other red boxes on the page, displaying the replies of the lizards for various checks in diplomacy, intimidating and other skills. “Nope” she replied once she was done, putting the deciphering tool aside. “Only difference is the stuff they do with our bones.”
Sour smiled. ”Well it’s nice to know they won’t let them go to waste.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever” Indigo waved it off. “Let’s just beat up those geckos and go on to the dragon showdown. I mean how hard can fighting a bunch of lizard man be?”
Taking the book back from Lemon Sunny cleared her throat.
From the hole behind the lizard men two more pair of hands suddenly appeared. Unlike the slim fingers of the reptilian creatures however these were large and clunky, each palm bigger than the heads of the heroines. Slowly two giant golems dragged themselves out of the hole, made out of clean shining steel. Towering above the group they silently took position at the sides behind the lizard men. A scorching noise then could be heard from the bottom of the hole, growing steadily louder. In an instant a huge mass of fire shot out from it again. Instead of dispersing however the flames took on a worm-like shape, forming a monster even larger than the golems. Its body was entirely made up of fire, searing and flickering while still keeping a solid form. The fiery creature pointed its tip at the party, as if it was looking with invisible eyes at the group like the rest of the creatures.
Sour glared at Indigo. “You just had to say something.”
Lowering her head Indigo grumbled. “Shut up.”
“We need a plan!” Sugarcoat told the others.
Sunny rolled her eyes. “You don’t say…”
“Hey!” Indigo suddenly exclaimed, sitting up straight. “In video games fire monsters are usually weak to ice attacks! Maybe we can use this to take out the fire-worm-thing quickly?”
Sugarcoat looked incredulously at her. “That doesn’t make much sense considering the ice would melt-”
“Does it even matter?” Sunny cut her off, sounding rather gloomy. “We don’t have a mage in our group anyway!”
Putting a finger on her lip Sour stared thoughtfully at the lamp. “Wait, aren’t bards usually able to inflict elemental damage on weapons?” she asked. When she noticed everyone’s awkward glances she furiously blushed. “What? I play video games, too!”
“Okay” Indigo yelled, turning towards the bard of their group. “So Lemon, you’re gonna give me and Sugar an ice buff” she told her. “Then we go in and-”
“Yeah I can’t do that” Lemon interrupted her.
The others winced, staring at her with wide eyes. “What?” Sunny yelled.
Rubbing her green mane Lemon grinned a little sheepishly. “Sorry. I thought about picking that ice stuff at the last level-up, but then I thought nah!”
”Mind to tell us why didn’t you pick it?” Sour asked her gently. “Considering you knew we were up against a FRIGGIN FIRE DRAGON!!”
Looking at her character sheet Lemon pointed at the list of her abilities. “Well, I could either chose between the ability to enchant weapons with the powers of winter and frost – or to PLAY THE FLUGELHORN!” she cheered, happily raising both fists into the air.
“Does your character have a flugelhorn?” Sugarcoat asked.
Lemon looked at her character sheet again. “Um, nope. Just found the word funny.” She giggled. “Flugelhorn!”
Leaning her arms over her chair Indigo moaned in frustration. “Seriously, you only threw stuff together you found cool or funny, didn’t you?” she scolded the carefree girl. “Did you put a SINGLE thought into how we can win this thing?!”
“Or throw a single look into the rulebook” Sugarcoat added as she took a more thorough glance at Lemon’s character sheet. “I can see a dozen errors on the spot. You could never have this set of abilities with those stats!”
Indigo shook her head. “Jeez, is taking this at least a little serious already asked too much of you?”
The cheerful attitude of Lemon vanished in a frown. “Hey, just because I don’t know every tiny rule of this game or put all of my thoughts into victory doesn’t mean I’m not taking it serious!” she shouted at them. “I just want to play something cool and have fun!”
“She does have a point” Sunny admitted, dramatically raising her hand towards the ceiling. “This is not a silly video game, but a table-top RPG! It’s supposed to celebrate and agitate the creativity of the ones contributing to it, to enrich our minds and share the passion of setting up a world not following the rules of our own!”
“Funny the one talking about creativity ripped the idea for her character from a poor fantasy novel” Sugarcoat scoffed dryly.
A razor-shape glare was thrown on the white-haired girl. “Night of the daggers isn’t a poor novel, it’s a CLASSIC!!”
Lemon crossed her arms. “You guys are no fun…”
Sugarcoat pushed up her glasses. “You are all cheaters.”
Sunny put up her head. “You have no fantasy!”
Indigo grabbed the edge of the table. “And you all have no ambition!!”
Suddenly Sour’s chair fell down to the floor, the yellow-skinned girl jumping on her feet. “ENOUGH!!!” The dices jumped into the air as she slammed her fist against the table. Startled everybody turned their eyes to Sour, angrily staring back at them. “Look, it’s getting late, and we’re all pretty ticked by this stupid game” she griped, a furious ring in her voice. “But even though this Friday Night was basically wasted, I’m not gonna give up when we’re so close before the end - we’re Crystal Prep, damnit!” She took in a deep breath, calming herself slightly. “So, while I agree Indigo is being way too competitive, I think I have an idea how we can still win.”
Indigo raised an eyebrow. “Do you have a secret super ability that will instantly destroy those monsters?”
“Did you find a note in the rules that can help us turn this around?” Sugarcoat asked.
“Did you come up with an original solution that will require our non-combat abilities in a clever way?” Sunny wondered.
“Do you have a flugelhorn?!” Lemon called out in excitement.
Sour shook her head. “No.” The corners of her mouth rose to a big smile, while she put on the most darling look she could muster. ”How about instead of just buffing and healing each other while fighting by ourselves, we actually combine our skills and work…” She made a small pause. .“…tooo-geee-theeer?”
Four pair of eyes blinked at her, as if the others were unable to compute the information they had just received.
“Yeah, that’ll never work” Sugarcoat eventually told her.
The rest nodded in agreement.
Sour Sweet huffed. “Fine. Then let’s at least get our butts kicked quickly so we can go to bed.”
With a loud battle cry Thunderblade stormed forward, straight towards the middle of the lizard men. Raising her sword she let it go down towards the beast’s head. It raised its shield, easily blocking the blow, while at the same time pulling back its saber. Thunderblade managed to block the strike with her own shield, the two warriors engaging in a one-on-one battle. At the same time the two other lizard men dashed forward, one of both rushing towards Honeytooth and Nightheart. Hectically pulling her cloak around her the rogue tried to hide herself, but the lizard man coming at her didn’t let her out of its sight. Jumping backwards she was barely able to evade its blade, unable to prepare a counterattack as the next strike followed quickly. While Nightheart danced around the attacks of the lizard man Honeytooth prepared herself for the strike of the other one running at her. Suddenly the Axe stepped in front of her, stopping the assault of the enemy.
“What are you doing?” Honeytooth yelled at her as the orc crossed weapons with the lizard. ”I can handle this guy, go help Hearts!”
The Axe pushed her opponent back. “You’re the healer, you’re more important” she told the priestess, moving in to the lizard man. “Just stay there and heal us when we need it.” Honeytooth grumped, but did as she was told.
Standing behind the others Snakes’ eyes gazed at her comrades, a slightly helpless look in her slit-pupils. She clutched her dagger in one and the neck of her guitar in the other hand, unsure what to do with any of them. “I guess these guys won’t be up for a flash mob” she mumbled.
With a shout the champion kicked the lizard man into its stomach, making it stumble towards the hole. She was about to push it over the rim with her shield, when she noticed a shadow above her. Looking upwards she could just raise her shield in time to block the punch of the giant steel fist going down on her. The paladin sunk to her knees, the impact so powerful the stone shattered beneath her feet. Its fist on her shield the golem pushed downwards, trying to squash Thunderblade into the ground. Groaning she used all her strength to withstand the fist. In her struggle she casually threw a glance at the others. While Honeytooth and Snakes were standing behind the line of battle the Axe and Nightheart were fighting the other lizard men – though in the case of the rogue, it was more a game of cat and mouse, with her comrade in the unfavourable role. A long rift was cut into her cloak as the lizard swung its blade, the tip of the saber grazing the noble attire underneath. It was only a matter of time until the monster would get her.
After watching her for a while Thunderblade looked with grit teeth back up at the steel fist trying to crush her. If she infused her shield with holy force she might be able to push it back. However, it would drain her stamina, making her unable to use another holy power for a while. Her gaze returned to the rogue. Driven back against the wall she held up her dagger in front of her, the shimmering blade shaking slightly as the lizard man approached her. After looking forth and back between the golem above her and her comrade in danger she let out a sigh.
Her shield arm still raised to block the golem’s fist Thunderblade pointed with her sword in Nightheart’s direction. A beam of light shot from its edge, flying directly towards the reptilian. Its saber raised it was about to strike Nightheart. Suddenly the beam of light hit its hand, causing a small explosion. Screeching in a high-pitched voice the lizard man dropped its weapon, hastily shaking its smoking hand. For a second Nightheart looked in surprise at her opponent. Realising her opportunity she pulled back her dagger, staring sternly at the monster as she thrust it forward. Just before her attack could connect however Nightheart froze. On the hip of the creature she noticed a small linen bag. It was tightly sealed, but hints of a black powder were spilling over it.
She looked at the bag, then shifted her gaze towards Thunderblade. The paladin was still struggling with the golem, steadily giving in to its power. Unnoticed by Thunderblade the huge fire-worm behind the golem was turning its head towards her. Some sort of burning salvia was dripping from its tip onto the platform, its body moving backwards as it prepared to lunge forward.
After hesitating a moment Nightheart pulled back her dagger. Instead of striking the monster she quickly snatched the bag from its belt. Leaving the still dazzled monster behind she dashed past it towards her comrade. With as much power as she had she threw the bag towards the burning beast lurking over Thunderblade. The moment it hit the flaming head the bag suddenly exploded. A screech like the sound of a raging inferno echoed through the hall, the worm wiggling around. Its body burned irregularly, a large part of its head missing. Winding from side to side the worm swiftly retreated into its hole. The shockwave of the blast also affected the golem, forcing it a few feet to the side. It was just enough for Thunderblade to slip out beneath its fist, finally lowering her shield as she straightened herself. She panted, but was physically unharmed.
“Thanks” she brought out between breathes as Nightheart ran to her side. The rogue gave her a smile.
“I think we’re even” she stated, winking through her mask at the champion. Smiling back the two of them turned towards the several feet taller golem, looking into its unmoving metal face.
Watching her two comrades a slight smile hushed on Honeytooth’s lips. A glimmer in the corner of her eyes suddenly alarmed her. The hand of the second golem, still standing at the same spot as before, had begun to gleam bright red. Honeytooth saw a large fireball forming inside its palm, the eyes of the creature focused on the orc brute still fighting the lizard man.
Panicked Honeytooth looked at the Axe, who was too busy fighting to notice the danger. She was about to shout for Thunderblade, but the golem was already about to hurl the pyroclastic projectile towards the orc brute. After glancing around between the Axe and the golem she rapidly dashed towards the steel monster. Just as the fireball left its hand Honeytooth jumped in front of it, holding her staff up. Looking to the ground she heard a loud explosion, the impact shaking her whole body. Splinters were raining down on her hair. Nervously the priestess opened an eye. Her beloved staff was split in two, Honeytooth holding a half in each hand. Whimpering she held the two pieces in front of her, tears forming in her eyes.
Suddenly the sad sheen in her eyes turned into a look of pure hatred. Groaning towards the metal golem she grit her teeth, furrowed her brows and tightly clenched the halves of the staff in her fists. The colour of her iris turned into a shining yellow, while her pupils diminished into thin blades sharp enough to slice anyone apart. Her angry groan became an animalistic snarl. Her teeth crunched as they extended into dagger-like fangs. Grabbing her staff ever tighter her fingernails turned into razors. A thick layer of fur sprouted out of her skin, her hands growing larger and more muscular alongside the rest of her body. The golem slowly raised its gaze as a steadily larger shadow was cast down on it, the shade taking on more and more of a canine appearance.
The Axe raised her weapon, about to strike at the monster in front of her. Beastly roars and the screeching sound of metal getting sliced apart behind her however made her stop in her tracks. The evil lizard was about to take advantage of the situation, raising its own weapon. Suddenly a large chunk of steel flew past the orc right into its face, knocking her opponent over. As abruptly as it had begun the commotion ended. Surprised the Axe turned her head around. In the middle of several pieces of scrapped metal Honeytooth was standing, arms crossed over her chest with a rather indignant look on her face. Casually she spit out a chewed piece of steel.
Eyes wide open the Axe stared at the frail human priestess. A painful hiss from behind her caused her to turn her gaze. Standing in front of Snakes the disarmed lizard man had grabbed her throat, the bard wiggling her tail as the slim fingers were pressing against it. Gargling and hissing she dropped her dagger and guitar, helplessly trying to tear the claw off her neck. Immediately the Axe rushed over, raising her weapon. Just as she swung it down on the monster it raised its shield, blocking the blow while still holding Snakes with the other hand.
“You have to do something!” the Axe yelled at the snake-woman.
Her snake eyes glanced over at the orc warrior. “Grah- argh- ungh!” was all she was able to stammer.
“I don’t care what!” the Axe grunted, grinding her weapon against the shield. “And I’m terrible at improvising, so don’t ask me!” In Snakes’ painful grimace signs of surprise appeared. “Just think up something, anything, no matter how dumb or silly it is, and-”
Suddenly the lizard man pushed its shield forward. Caught off-guard the Axe fell on her butt, her weapon slipping out of her hand. Shocked she watched it fly in a wide arc away from her, smashing a good dozen meters away into the ground. She stared at her weapon for a moment, before turning her head towards the monster above her. The lizard was looking back down on her, sticking out its split tongue. It raised one of its clawed feet, about to stomp her. Closing her eyes the Axe cast her eyes away, awaiting the monster’s cruel punishment. However, nothing happened. Carefully she peeked up with one eye, before opening both in surprise at the scene she witnessed.
The lizard man was still standing there with its foot raised. But it couldn’t put it down, for it was fighting with a pink snake tail wrapped around its neck. Wheezing for air it tossed its shield away, desperately trying to pull itself free. With its other hand it still held Snakes, who was gritting her teeth both in pain and effort as she fought against its grip, while at the same time wrapping her tail tighter and tighter around the monster’s throat. Sweat ran down her scales, both reptilians trying to squeeze the air out of each other.
Finally the lizard man let go of Snakes, pulling with both hands on her tail. Immediately the bard gasped for air, putting back her head so far her hat nearly flipped off. Unfortunately the short breather was already enough for her opponent to tear her tail off its neck, and toss her to the ground. The snake-woman grunted as she landed hardly on her back, staring up at her distant relative. It moved its foot, holding it over her head. Raising the claws it was just about to stomp her, when it felt a finger tapping its shoulder. Startled the lizard man turned its head to the side.
The next thing it saw was the iron-clad fist of an orc flying towards its face.
Knocked backwards the monster hit the wall, forcing a small crater into it. Its slit-eyes rolled around as it let its spit tongue hang from its mouth. Having already lost consciousness it fell face-down on the ground. Staring at it the Axe grunted, before helping her comrade back up. “Thankss” Snakes smiled, her voice a little hoarse as she rubbed her throat.
Being slightly misplaced the Axe adjusted her glasses. “That wasn’t a very creative solution” she told the bard. A bit softer she added: “But… it worked.”
The scales on the snake-woman’s cheeks turned a little red.
At the same time Nightheart and Thunderblade were still fighting the golem. Again and again the large creature slammed its fists towards them. Thunderblade blocked all the strikes at her with her shield while the rogue jumped away from each blow, causing the golem to smack a crater into the ground every time. As she was about to avoid another attack however she was one step too slow: Brushing her chest the golem’s fist send her flying backwards. Screaming she rolled over the ground, her head getting wrapped up in her cloak until she came to a halt. As she stood up it looked like a turban was lying too low on her head, completely blinding her. Groaning she tucked on the cloak, unravelling it until only her mask veiled her face again. She then held her chest, feeling a sharp pain where she had been hit. It was just a bruise, but it still hurt whenever she breathed, making her grimace in agony.
Suddenly the pain disappeared. Surprised she looked to the side, seeing Honeytooth pointing the tip of her broken staff at her. “Better?” she asked with a smile.
Smiling back the rogue nodded. “Thanks” she said. She looked over at Thunderblade, who was holding off the golem by herself, then at her cloak that had been lying around her head a few moments ago. “…you stupid pup” she mocked the priestess, smirking mischievously at her.
Wincing Honeytooth stared irritated at her. As Nightheart winked at her however it hit her, and she also cracked a smile.
Punch after punch went down on the paladin. With the golem’s full attention on her she constantly had to hold up her shield, with no chance to counterattack. Bit by bit she could feel how her defense was giving in, pieces off the crest. Showing no signs of exhaustion the golem raised its fist once more, about to slam it on her strained shield.
“Hey, big guy!” Surprised Thunderblade and the golem turned towards Nightheart. They just saw how the young noble was tossed by a large furry arm, heading directly for the golem. Landing on its shoulders Nighheart took off her cloak. Swiftly she wrapped the fabric around its head, tying a knot into it. As the world turned black around it the golem’s arm froze in position. Jumping off its shoulders Nightheart left the metal man stumbling around the platform, trying to rip the blindfold off with its large clunky hands-
“Excuse me, Sunny…”
The table trembled as Sunny slammed her hands against it. “What?!” she yelled, furiously jumping on her feet. “Does my character slip because her boots are too polished? Can’t she make a knot because the cloak is too thick? Or does a giant spider leap at her from the ceiling because one of her friends is a nitpicker who takes the rules of a stupid game WAY TOO SERIOUS?!”
Unfazed Sugarcoat blinked at the huffing and puffing Sunny. “Actually, I wanted to congratulate you on the smart move.”
In an instant Sunny’s angry frown turned into a pleased smile. “Oh why thank you dearie” she politely stated, proudly holding up her nose.
From afar Honeytooth watched the golem walking around without orientation, grinning. Focused on it she didn’t notice the silhouette that was sneaking up behind her, a large saber in its hand. Quietly the lizard man approached her, holding up its weapon. When it was directly behind her back Honeytooth finally turned around. Her eyes widened fearfully at the monster, a look of horror on her as she faced the creature ready to strike.
Suddenly the lizard man froze. Its dull eyes gazed past Honeytooth, making her frown in confusion. Taking a closer she then noticed Snakes was hanging with her mouth on its neck, the bard tightly pressing her lips against its scales. After a few seconds she let go, slithering backwards as the tall creature fell to the side. It didn’t even move a muscle as it hit the ground, only gargling slightly while twitching its eye. Startled Honeytooth stared at the bard, who was grinning down on the defeated foe. Drops of a green liquid were dripping from her fangs to the ground. They vaporized the moment they landed – Honeytooth wasn’t sure if it was due to the heat in the cave, or because the venom actually melted the stone.
With a chuckle Snakes wiped the poison from her lips. “You’re not the only who can bite” she told the priestess.
Meanwhile the Axe pulled her weapon out of the ground, before turning towards the golem. Still tucking on Nightheart’s cloak it wildly kicked around. Thunderblade tried to attack it, but whenever she raised her sword she had to jump back to avoid a large metal foot. As the paladin grew more frustrated she charged up her holy power, her blade shining bright like the sun. The Axe noticed the golem was only a few meters away from the edge of the platform, and the pool of lava.
“Push it back with a divine shockwave!” the orc brute called over to the champion. Thunderblade, who wanted to simply slice the golem with her holy force looked with a lifted eyebrow at the Axe, before realizing the golem’s position. With a big grin she raised her sword, hollering as she struck it down in a straight line. The light around her blade exploded, sending off a shockwave directly at the golem. The blinded monster was pushed back, grinding its feet into the ground while approaching the pool of lava. Just on the verge of the platform it came to a halt, waving its arms through the air as it caught its balance.
Angrily Thunderblade stomped on the ground. “Darn, we almost had it!” she moaned.
“It was enough” the Axe told her, calmly walking to her side with her weapon on her back. “The stone can’t hold its weight.”
Under the golem the ground began to crack. Loudly the edge gave in beneath its feet, the creature tumbling backwards and falling off the platform. There was a splash of lava, the golem’s arm reaching up for a moment before it slowly sunk into the searing liquid.
The party assembled at the broken edge, staring down into the bubbling lava. Glancing at the face of Nightheart Honeytooth noticed she seemed slightly discontent. “You’re not upset about the cloak, are you?” she asked her sternly.
The noblesse puffed her cheeks. “It was a designer model” she mumbled.
As the heroines looked after the fallen foe into the lava they didn’t notice something moving behind them. The lizard man who had been knocked out by the piece of the golem got back on its feet. Narrowing its eyes it stared over at the group, growling. It dropped its shield, grabbing the small bag at its belt. Spiting a sparkle from its mouth it ignited the small threat that kept it closed, causing it to slowly burn towards the bag. The bag above its head and its saber in front it the lizard man stormed at the group, ready to take them all out at once. Hearing the burning fuse Honeytooth turned her head, panicked as she saw the lizard man about to throw the bomb.
“Behind us!” she screamed, everyone turning around. Being the first to react Snakes pulled out her guitar and threw it at the creature’s feet. Stumbling over the instrument it let go off the bomb, the bag landing a few feet in front of the group. Quickly they jumped to the side, Nightheart and Honeytooth to the right while the others escaped to the left. There was a loud explosion, the heroines bracing themselves against it. As the fire subsided into a cloud of smoke the lizard man suddenly jumped out of it, its blade held high, lunging at the isolated rogue and priestess.
Immediately Nightheart pushed Honeytooth aside, staring up at the enemy. As the lizard man came down on her she stepped aside, letting it land close to the edge of the platform. Her dagger flashed in the light of the lava as she pulled it from her belt, thrusting it towards her opponent. It wasn’t slow to react either, immediately striking with its saber at her again. Everything happened within the blink of an eye, but time seemed to stand still as the two weapons approached the vital spots of their opponents. Passing the saber of the lizard man Nightheart’s dagger aimed for its neck, the rogue putting everything she had into a this single attack...
“NO!” Sunny’s shrill scream nearly deafened the others in the basement. Pulling on her violet hair she stared at the dice, the number one clearly pointing upwards. “Please, no!” she begged, folding her hands. “Not now!”
Lemon clenched her fists. “Dang – we were SO close to winning this!”
Frantically Sugarcoat was searching through the pages of the rulebook, at the same time scanning the various guides on the table. “Sorry, but this is a clear fail” she eventually stated, sounding somewhat frustrated as she closed the book. “And I’m afraid there is no rule to turn this around.”
Intensely Sunny stared at the dice, as if she was hoping she could change the number with her gaze. “Damn it! It can’t end like this!” Desperately she looked at the others around the table. “Isn’t there any way I can take this guy out?”
“Well, I have an idea” Indigo said, smirking a little deviously. “But you’re not gonna like it…”
Sunny looked in confusion at the blue-haired girl. Realizing what she meant she first widened her eyes, then glanced annoyed at her. “Seriously?” she mourned, then sighed. “Oh alright, if it has to be…”
As she thrust her dagger towards the monster Nightheart suddenly felt herself losing balance. She stumbled forward, past its saber right into the lizard. Perplexed the creature was pushed off the cliff, screeching in a hissing voice as it fell into the pool of lava.
A finger on her lip Sugarcoat pondered. “That’s a valid interpretation of a counter fail I guess” she remarked, a slight smile crossing her face for a second. It only lasted for a moment though before she stated more dryly: “But your character is gonna fall into the lava too.”
Sour grabbed a dice from the table. “Not if I can do something about it!” she declared, taking a look into a guide and on her character sheet. “Six or higher and she should be fine!” Raising her arm she rolled the dice in her hand, before throwing it on the map. Tensed everybody leaned over the table and watched it come to a halt, clearly displaying a number.
Five.
Five fingers clutched Nightheart’s wrist, stopping her fall.
“Got’cha!” Honeytooth exclaimed. Her arm bulged slightly, becoming a little more muscular and hairy as she pulled up the rogue with a groan. After she had dragged her back on the safe ground of the platform the others dashed to their sides. Nightheart panted slightly, but even with her mask the happy look on her face was apparent.
“Thanks again” she told the priestess. The two of them smiled at each other, before turning towards the rest of the party. Thunderblade smirked confidently with her hands on her hips, Snakes waggled her tail and tongue in excitement, and even the face of the Axe looked a little less hostile, despite all the warts on her cheeks and the sharp teeth pointing out from her lower lip.
The cheerful moment abruptly ended when the whole platform began to quake. Near the hole in the center another one suddenly popped up. The fire worm raised its body out of it, having completely regenerated. It threw its head around, growling like the crackling flames of a campfire towards the group.
The five heroines looked at the fiery creature, before confidently smirking towards each other. In unison they let out a loud battle cry, storming at the worm together. An assault of light blades, steel axes, wolf claws, poison fangs and shining daggers was unleashed against it. After a brief encounter the body of the monster sunk to the ground, with almost as many wounds on its body as stars in the sky. It roared for a moment, sounding like a dying fire while the flames on is body dispersed. The worm shrunk down before vanishing completely, leaving nothing but a flickering silhouette of flames on the ground.
After watching it disappear the group turned towards each other again, a proud look on everybody’s faces. “We make a good team, somehow” the Axe commented.
Everybody giggled. Bust as she stared towards the center of the lava pool Nightheart winced. “Hey, where did the smoke go?” she asked. Startled everybody turned towards where the rogue was looking. There was no trace of the pillar of smoke that had been towering above the room the whole fight, leaving clear sight on the hall up to the ceiling.
Suddenly the whole cave rumbled again. The heroines were shaken, holding on to each other to keep balance. Where the smoke had originally risen up a dent formed in the pool. Magma splashed all over as something huge broke out of the lava. Looking upwards the group watched an ominous shadow rising up. Raising its huge head with the large horns on top a deep growl emerged from its throat. The neck of the creature was longer than the worm’s entire body had been, continuing in an even bigger torso. Wings larger than the platform were sprouting from its back, reaching from wall to wall as it spread them out to their full size. The lower body still in the lava it raised its gigantic claws, each easily dwarfing every one of the heroines. Despite the light from the lava they could only see the black silhouette of the creature, its demonic eyes shining down on the party.
Clinging to each other the five stared up at the dragon, shivering. As they looked into each other’s eyes however their confidence quickly returned. With their backs straight they solemnly moved up to the edge of the platform. Stern and determined eyes with no signs of fear looked up to the menacing monster. Standing in the middle Thunderblade pointed her sword at the dragon, the others also getting ready for the final battle.
“TOGETHER!”