640 - Going For the Throat
Bolverk didn’t wait for Solvei to reach him, throwing the bead he’d been clutching as soon as she rushed forward.
Instantly, fire filled the cavern again. The flames caused the rest of his pack to cower, yelping in fright as they threw themselves backwards, barely avoiding the inferno that threatened to engulf them. Bolverk himself was similarly out of range of the flames, a round of hateful laughter erupting from his maw as he saw that Solvei – and that shadow-spirit with the glowing eyes – was caught in the center of the conflagration. “You see?! You can’t-, HUH?!”
For the second time in less than a minute, Bolverk’s triumph turned to shock. While the shadow-spirit seemed to be deterred by the blaze, veering off and circling around at a distance, Solvei hadn’t so much as broken her stride, the fire doing little besides singing her coat as she charged through them.
But that was impossible. Solvei didn’t have the Red Man’s power, which meant that the flames should have devoured her, the way they nearly had just a few seconds ago! So why weren’t they working now?!
There was no time to ponder the question, however, as Solvei cleared the last of the flames, crossing the last of the distance between them before she leapt, her jaws wide as she went straight for his throat.
His surprise had been enough to prevent Bolverk from taking a stance, and as such he was unprepared to receive the white wolf’s assault. Before he could react, he felt Solvei’s jaws clamp down on his neck, teeth digging into the leathery flesh there. It was only because the Red Man’s power had toughened his skin that she didn’t crush his windpipe immediately, and that realization was enough to snap Bolverk out of his stupor.
Roaring in pain and outrage, he immediately reared up, wings flapping as he tried to shake Solvei off. But Frode’s youngest daughter wasn’t so easily deterred, digging her legs in and growling louder as she twisted her head, and Bolverk knew that she was trying to throw him onto his back. If that happened, she’d not only have greater leverage, but his prone position would leave him hard-pressed to dislodge her. And with the power that spirit of hers had granted her, that almost certainly meant that if he went down, he wouldn’t be getting up again…
As if I’ll let some upstart little runt get the better of me!
Snarling, Bolverk brought his forelegs up. Before he’d gotten the Red Man’s power, his front paws had only been good for walking. But since he’d made the pact that had transformed his body, the pair of claws he’d gained at the ends of his front legs were able to grasp things, and he put that to good use now, wrapping one claw around Solvei’s lower jaw as the other grasped the top of her muzzle. Then he began to pull.
The two of them teetered dangerously as they both strained, and Bolverk felt Solvei fighting him with everything she had…but it wasn’t enough to stop him from pulling her jaws apart, yanking her teeth free from his neck.
He howled in victory as he pried the smaller wolf off of him. “What happened to all of the power that spirit granted you, Solvei?!” sneered Bolverk, his claws still pulling her jaws in opposite directions, fully intent on ripping her apart. “Did you think I was as weak as the rest of my pack?!” Putting his face right in front of hers, he kept pulling, feeling her jaw hit its limits. “Now you’re going to die, because you didn’t realize just how strong I-, ACK!”
His gloating was cut short as Solvei breathed frost right in his face.
Her doing so caused him no pain, of course. Although he had the Red Man’s power, Bolverk was still a winter wolf through and through; the cold had no power to harm him. He was sure Solvei knew that too, and for that very reason he’d never expected her to try using her breath weapon on him. As such, the move surprised him enough that he reflexively loosened his grasp on Solvei’s jaw, allowing her to tear her head free of his claws and fall back a few feet as he cleared the ice and snow from his face.
“Stronger? Maybe,” she conceded, panting as she worked her jaw. “But smarter? Not even a little.”
“You miserable little runt!” snarled Bolverk. “You are not smarter than me!”
A smirk crossed Solvei’s lips then. “I wasn’t talking about me.”
Bolverk frowned at that, but didn’t have a chance to ask what she meant before something suddenly landed on his back.
Bolverk’s second fireball was more intense than the first one had been.
Or at least, that was how it felt to Lex. Even with his incorporeal state reducing the damage from the attack, he had to force himself to hold in a grunt of pain, not wanting to do anything that could draw Bolverk’s attention. If this was going to work, the larger wolf had to focus completely on Solvei, leaving himself wide open for when Lex made his move.
It was with that thought in mind that Lex circled the edge of the cavern, surveying the battlefield. Solvei’s family was hanging back, apparently too scared of the flames to try and intervene. Solvei herself had managed to get the jump on Bolverk, and he could see the larger wolf struggling to retain his balance as Solvei locked her jaws around his throat, apparently taken off-guard by the white wolf’s shrugging off his fireball.
But even as Lex moved further around, trying to escape from Bolverk’s field of vision, he could see the alpha was already recovering, wrapping his claws around Solvei’s muzzle. That idiot, hissed Lex silently, knowing that Solvei had no recourse for that, lacking prehensile claws like Bolverk had. She went in too aggressively!
For a moment, Lex considered abandoning his plan in favor of helping her. The healing ability he’d given Solvei was strong, but there were limits to how much damage it could repair…
Fortunately, it didn’t come to that, as a blast of Solvei’s breath weapon made Bolverk sputter, giving the white wolf the chance she needed to tear herself free of his grasp. The sight sent a thrill of relief through Lex, glad that she’d managed to extricate herself from the bad position she’d been in. Even better, Bolverk was blinking and rubbing at his face, completely focused on Solvei now.
Knowing that he wouldn’t get a better chance, Lex moved upward, approaching Bolverk from behind.
For his part, the alpha wolf was still spewing epithets at Solvei. “You miserable little runt! You are not smarter than me!”
“I wasn’t talking about me,” smirked Solvei.
That was when Lex – who’d positioned himself directly over Bolverk – changed back into his corporeal form, dropping onto the alpha wolf’s back.
And immediately reached his hooves for the necklace Bolverk was wearing.
With the power he’d granted her previously, Lex had felt confident that Solvei could take Bolverk in a fight. While the alpha was larger and almost certainly stronger than the rest of Solvei’s kin, there was nothing to suggest that he was more powerful than all of them put together. With how the enhancements he’d given Solvei had let her toss her family around without any serious effort on her part, it was highly likely that she’d be able to do the same to the usurper who’d taken over her pack.
But that calculation hadn’t taken Bolverk’s ability to throw fireballs into account. That power – granted to him by the necklace he was wearing – changed things for the worse. With Solvei’s inherent cold making her vulnerable to fire, giving her the power to resist the heat, and recover from any damage that got through said resistance, were absolute requirements; otherwise, she’d be burned to death long before she’d be able to finish Bolverk off. Even if the alpha could only use as many fireballs as there were beads on his necklace, that was still true.
Which meant that the only solution was to take Bolverk’s necklace out of the equation.
Snatching it off of him telekinetically would have been the easiest solution, but Lex had discarded that idea as soon as it had crossed his mind. The necklace was pulled taut around Bolverk’s neck, with no slack to it. Working it around his jaw and past his stunted ears wouldn’t have been possible before Bolverk felt what was happening and grabbed it. Nor did Lex have any faith that simply ripping it off of his neck would have been any more successful; the fact that Bolverk had been able to tear one of the beads off – which should have ripped the necklace apart – only for the surrounding beads to seamlessly pull themselves together, suggested that it wouldn’t be so easily broken.
Which meant that the only alternative course of action was to somehow sabotage Bolverk’s fireball necklace while he was still wearing it.
Fortunately, Lex had some experience with manipulating magic items.
The downside to that course of action, however, was that – in order to maximize his chances of success – he’d need to make contact with the necklace in order to tamper with it. Physically make contact with it, using his corporeal body.
That wasn’t an absolute requirement. He might have been able to do so in shadow-form, but that was iffy; the same principle that minimized how most forms of magic could affect him while incorporeal would work against him if he tried to override the magical instructions in Bolverk’s necklace while in that state. Pouring magic through his body and into the necklace was a difficult proposition when he had no body. It could theoretically work, but there was a very real chance that not all of the magic he’d be forcing into the magic item would successfully transfer. If some of it didn’t make it through, then at best nothing would happen, save that Bolverk would likely be alerted to what he was trying to do; at worst, the alternate instructions he planned on feeding the magic item would be incomplete, causing it to behave in some manner other than how he’d intended.
Given the necklace’s explosive nature, that wasn’t something Lex wanted to chance.
Which was why he was currently clinging to the alpha’s back, teeth gritted as he reached his hooves around Bolverk’s thick neck to touch them to the necklace-
“What the-?! Get off me!”
-or at least, he tried to. But Bolverk was already thrashing, shaking heavily as he tried to throw Lex off. He very nearly succeeded, and it was only because Lex managed to dig his back legs between Bolverk’s wings and his flanks – the alpha having folded the former tightly against the latter as he flailed wildly – that he was able to maintain his grip on the wolf. Even then, he could already feel his grip slipping…
“Lex! Hang on!” There was no time to ponder if Solvei had meant that literally or figuratively as the white wolf rushed back in, snapping at Bolverk’s face and forcing him to stop his attempts to dislodge his unwanted passenger in order to avoid Solvei’s teeth catching his eyes. Instead – as Bolverk cursed and swiped a claw at Solvei – Lex focused on finishing what he’d started. Gritting his teeth, he reached out and pressed his hooves to the necklace, concentrating as he forced power through the magical channels in his body and into the item…
So intent was his focus that he didn’t react to Bolverk’s sudden lunge– one claw raking across Solvei’s side as she tried to feint to the left, only for Bolverk to see through it and leave a deep gash on her side as she went right instead – in time, and Lex went tumbling to the ground a moment later.
Bolverk didn’t hesitate, jaws widening as his head darted downward fast enough that Lex knew he wouldn’t be able to call on his dark magic before the mutated wolf mauled him.
Solvei, however, wasn’t about to let that happen.
With Bolverk between herself and Lex, she threw herself into the winged wolf full-force, slamming her body against his own with as much power as she could. It wasn’t enough to so much as bruise Bolverk, but it did unbalance him enough that his bite struck the ground next to Lex rather than the prone pony himself, buying him just enough time to turn into a shadow again, drifting away from Bolverk and back around to Solvei.
“Are you alright?” she panted as she fell back.
“You should be more concerned with yourself,” snapped Lex. “I told you to fight defensively!”
Solvei cocked her head. “I thought I was doing okay so far,” she murmured glancing back at her side, where the wound Bolverk had given her was already starting to close. “What about that plan you said you had? Did it work?”
Lex didn’t answer that, instead looking at where Bolverk had turned to face them.
“You two…” panted the alpha wolf, hackles raised as he bared his teeth at them. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but I’VE HAD ENOUGH!” Putting a claw to his neck, he gave Solvei a look of pure venom. “Whatever powers that spirit gave you” – his eyes slid over to Lex then – “and whatever seidr you have, I’m betting that if I throw all the fire I have at you at once, it’ll be enough to kill you both!”
Solvei’s eyes widened at that, unable to help but shoot a frightened look at Lex. But his eyes only narrowed, focusing on the necklace…
Thinking he had them dead to rights, Bolverk sneered, panting harder as he gripped the beads. “It’s a shame – nngh! – to use them all at once. But I bet – hrck! – that the Red Man will give me another, once I – rrnh! – bring him the ponies he – ack! – wants-, what’s happening?!”
By now, Bolverk’s breathing had become visibly labored, with the mutated wolf openly struggling for breath.
Why he was having trouble breathing was no mystery, however. In fact, it was obvious to everyone watching.
The necklace he was wearing – and was now scratching wildly at, the beads suddenly refusing to come off – was rapidly tightening around his neck, threatening to cut off his air supply.
Although it didn’t show in his incorporeal state, Lex smirked at the sight.
“Yes,” he replied at last, making no effort to hide the satisfaction in his voice. “It did.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.088 seconds
Total duration
664 users online
950,859 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
evil dog vs garrote
garrote tends to win
10995177
Especially if his clawing at it happens to set off one or more of the beads...
Lex now has winter wolf waifu. Also his value on not-pony life has expanded.
10995177
10995322 With how Bolverk is desperately trying to get the necklace off before it strangles him, it looks like things are going to go badly for him one way or another. Of course, if he ends up setting all of the remaining beads off, you have to wonder just how big the explosion would be.
10995564
This is just the beginning...
Lex himself would likely deny the point, citing what was noted last chapter regarding affirmed agreements and duties of care, but that's kind of how he processes this sort of thing. While he doesn't need a framework in which his relationships can be quantified, having one helps him tremendously, since otherwise he tends to become mired in ambiguity with regard to how he should relate to someone he's close to. As such, his relationship with Solvei is still in the "contractual obligation to safeguard her," even if it'd be more accurate to say that he's made a new friend.
And of course, this is with them having only known each other for a little over a day.
10995631
Tell the truth and shame the devil as my grandad used to say. I've read enough to know Lex done been twitterpated,
I wonder just how far that necklace will constrict, if Lex managed to think it was empty or otherwise corrupt the coding?
If it's an actual necklace of strangulation now it's not coming off. It's not a fast kill though.
Oof, that's going to be an unpleasant way to go. Though Spiritus Arcane's comment about them going off is going to make his end even more unpleasant. Then again, he's immune to the fire so it might not do much except for burning off what's left of his fur and the immediate area around him. Granted, the so-called immunity came from Bolverk's muzzle so he might be confusing fire immunity with fire resistance.
Though Booster Spice's comment made me realize that a worse way to go is if the necklace hadn't been modified to stop shrinking...wonder if I might be able to quote a certain Queen of Hearts next chapter...provided it doesn't switch perspectives to Prevarius and Thermal Draft of course.
10996079 I suspect the question of "how tightly will it constrict" is very much on Bolverk's mind at the moment as well!
10996206 With how much it emphasizes balance, it's rather surprising that Pathfinder allows the necklace of strangulation to be as deadly as it is. No saving throw to remove it? Untyped damage (making it hard to adjudicate what sort of damage reduction applies)? Unable to be removed except by limited wish, wish, or miracle? It's quite the killer cursed item!
As for whether or not Lex was able to make the necklace act like that particular item, well...as always, I let the game stats figure that sort of thing out, and go from there.
10996340 Given that we saw the rest of Solvei's family suffer burns from the necklace - though not as bad as Solvei's - it's safe to say that Bolverk would be burned if all of the beads went off at once. Hopefully, if that happens, it won't fill the entire cavern with fire, since Lex has no protection against that sort of damage. In fact, if that were to happen, it's quite possible that even the resistance that Solvei has now, along with her family, might not be enough to save them.
Alternatively, the necklace might just keep shrinking until it finishes Bolverk off. That seems like Lex's plan, and it seems to be working at the moment, but it's not over until Bolverk is finally dead, so there's still time enough for something to go wrong.
so is some one about to lose his head in the middle of a fight?
10999097 Or simply choke at a critical moment.