Back at it.. (1/2)

*** Jessoh Canyon - Great Elgolar Dessert ***

The wait was unbearable under the mid-day sun. The heat, almost palpable, rained down in waves of excruciating discomfort. The cawing of a hawk would now and then break the silence that reigned over the vast canyon. Its residents were quiet this time of day, sluggish and needed to avoid the harsh sunlight.

Rickety wooden structures were sparsely spread amongst the corners of a certain crossroads within the canyon. A good position to control with a nice solid dead end nearby to fortify. One of the occupants of wooden shack stepped out into the canyon's shade, gazing up and around with squinting eyes. Its skin was covered in short, matted brown fur. It had a short pig-like snout, with two sets of long ears, one almost within the other. With eyes beady and sensitive to light, the humanoid bat creature needed to rely mostly on its hearing to sense the world around it. It wasn't physically imposing, coming up to an average human's abdominal area, although it did possess sharp claws, fangs and a long set of thin yet muscular arms. Those limbs also extended into a pair of gliding membranes, which the used to glide or parachute down the canyon they called home.

The crearure or "Nihtu" as they called themselves, walked across a wooden rope bridge and along the fortifications of its home. This small outpost harboured many of its kind and a constant patrol was always in place in order for the skittish critters to be able to find peace in the danger-filled dessert of Elgolar. This particular watchman wore some patchwork leather armor and wielded a crude bone spear and a sorry excuse of a buckler fashioned out of brittle branches of wood. It let out a rough coughing sound followed by a spit of some disgusting fluids as it kept examining the surrounding area. It seemed quite familiar with its round, sinking comfortably into usual patterns and allowing habit and quietness to dull its awareness.

The Nihtu's ear twitched after a shift in the air's vibrations. The watchman didn't even get to raise its gaze, before a metal projectile collided with the side of its head, sending it sprawling on the wooden boards. The metallic thud was violent but not loud enough to be heard from far away. After a few seconds the creture raised its head slowly from the ground, temple covered in blood and its face morphed from shock and pain. It tried mumbling out a protest or maybe even a call for help. That's when the second projectile hit it straight on the forehead, shattering its skull and ending its life. As the creature lay in an ever growing pool of it own blood, Sumiré let her new Bolt-Slinger slide to her side and grabbed another projectile from a pouch next to her.

The girl nodded to a pale Cave Fisher that clinged to the brownish rock just below her perch. The creature scurried along without even a gesture of acknowledgement and after reaching a certain point along the canyon wall, released a small thread of silk that fell gently to the bottom. As the insectoid silk landed next to pair of reddish feet, the creature they belonged to took a deep breath and gestured a signal of its own. Adam, astride a Dire Coyote raised a fist and a small squadron of Elgolar Imps flew over his head following an Elgolar Wyvern. Atop the large flyer rode Eve who readied a javelin, her small hand grasping the shaft of the throwing weapon with determination. Her male counterpart rode along the canyon, three more Dire Coyotes flanking his own.

Sumiré, confirming that her dungeonmates had began their assault prepared for her final part. Grabbing a piece of ammunition that looked like a trio of leather spheres attached to a bronze marble she loaded her new weapon and aimed towards the largest of wooden structures along the base of the canyon. She raised her weapon to the sky, all the while her eyes not leaving the target. Sumiré adjusted for the wind and height difference before finally releasing! The bolt flew straight and true, gliding through emptiness before smashing through an already broken tile of wood.

The door of the decrepit base slammed open, its residents coughing and batting away at a orange dust that had filled the entirety of their home. Adam, seeing the commotion, steadied himself as he rode full speed at their village and rose a single finger towards the cloud of dust enveloping the Nihtu base. Drawing from his small but growing reserve of Mana, he cast Finger Gun! The spell, taught to him by his maker, unleashed a small burst of flame amongst the confused locals, triggering a sizeable explosion that followed every spec of the powdered substance like a chain reaction! The already unstable structure collapsed atop its residents which were crushed beneath its rubble, if they weren't already burnt by the explosion.

The explosion was an invitation to all remaining Nihtu to join the fray, attempting desperately to protect their territory. A small wave of them charged the pack of Dire Coyotes but even fewer of them actually made it to the melee! The small bat-like humanoids, stepping of some near invisible threads of silk, triggered traps that wrapped tightly around their bodies or ankles, effectively restraining them for just enough time for a canine to sink its teeth in a vital area. Adam blasted any Nihtu he could with compressed chunks of earth. He had stacked them before hand and would just retrieve them from a sachel on his waist for easier use. The small humanoid kept his distance of course, letting the coyotes take the brunt of the assault. He picked off any foe lucky enough to get in a more advantageous position in the melee and supported his allies' advance.

In the sky above, Eve soared amongst the wooden watchtowers and houses built near the top of the canyon, taking out marksmen with javelins and with divebombing Pale Imps. Shu-Bongo at one instance took a small bolt to the wing, promping the Wyvern to blast the archer with its Booming Voice skill! The focused blast of sonic energy, so dense, it not only threw the unfortunate Nihtu off its perch but also caused the entire structure to collapse and fall to the canyon's bottom, crushing more Nihtu in the process!

Eve patted Bongo on the head to calm the agitated monster, while trying to look further into the canyon. She detected an even larger structure ahead wich at that moment began revealing a huge opening in its top, like hatch that was being pulled open with ropes and pullies. "Dum Dum! Don't call Master Minoa yet! I can do this!" shouted the impatient Vorsani to her brother on the ground, sensing impeding danger. Adam looked towards his concerned sister and then towards the audible squeaking of wood as the large hatch opened completely. "I said she trusts you! She said she'd only come if.. if.." the male Vorsani tried to continue as a huge bat creature came out of the hatch. It was easily 1,5 times larger than Shu-Bongo and on its back was a Nihtu Chieftain! Larger and more imposing than his kin, the Chief pointed a glaive towards the advancing dungeonborn and snarled menacingly!

"You should've considered yourselves lucky! When I drove your Elder master out of our lands, I could've given chase! I could have found her Core and snuffed out its light from this dessert! Well.. Your luck has officially run out!! This is the final insult. If you think you can attack my people and.."

A puff of green powder interrupts the Chieftain as his speech devolved into a coughing fit. A small projectile hit his huge mount on the back, releasing a cloud of poison. The enormous dark-furred bat winced more in annoyance rather than pain and, with a beat of its large wings dispersed the harmful cloud. With eyes darting in all directions the chief tried locating his attacker but with no luck. Sumiré, who had climbed to the top of the canyon, lay on back exausted. Her shot was well placed but did almost no damage to the chief's monstrous mount and it in turn had protected its rider before the toxin had any lasting effects. She took out a sheet of paper, on it a simple message written and ready to be delivered kilometers away. "No, I have to wait.. I have to see the signal first.." she reminded herself, trusting that her allies would be safe until then.

Eve guided Shu-Bongo into a dive after reaching a certain hight over their target. With Adam chasing the last of the Nihtu stragglers, it was up to her to defeat the Chieftain of the Jessoh tribe. Her opponent took to the sky just as eagerly and charged upwards to meet her assault head-on. Shu-Bongo unleashed his sonic screech once more, directing the cone of concussive energy directly towards his kindred monster. The beast of a bat barely winced at the acoustic onslaught and the Chieftain powered through as well, despite seeming in pain. The two monster bats collide mid air using their clawed feet to disembowel one another as they started falling in a mess of fang and fur. Eve launched herself forward after the crash, drawing her scimitar just before bringing it down on the chieftain's weapon shaft, raised defensively in expectation of this approach. Eve felt as their strength was on equal footing but the Nihtu had her beat in both size and experience. He easily maneuvered her around and kicked the Vorsani in the stomach before her feet even landed on something again! The girl flew off the giant bat, the air kicked out of her lungs. Shu-Bongo sensing her fall, disengaged immediately and flew towards his rider, prompting the larger bat to give chase.

The Pale Wyver caught his rider mid air and Eve quickly scurried back to her seat before whistling as loud as she could! Three remaining Pale Imp circled the huge black bat, unleashing their sonic screeches in an attempt to damage or at least disorient the their much larger cousin. The bat shook its head as dove after Shu-Bongo and Eve, crashing ungraciously against an almost demolished wooden shack, obliterating it. The Chieftain steadied his mount and together shook off the lesser beasts without noticing however the marksman standing against the sun's light, taking aim at him! A bronze bullet hit his torso with considerable force, knocking him back slightly and causing pain to the season warrior. Grabbing the reins with his off hand, he spurred his mount towards the top of the canyon in order to spot the insolent outsider who would attack him so cowardly, only to crash into a most unexpected obstacle!

His mount had just bumped into what appeared to be a huge spider web! The huge monster of course tore it out place with its weight and momentum but the now loose silk clinged to it face and wings, hindering its sight and impeding its movement! The dark bat began to quickly lose altitude with the chieftain trying and failing to control their descent. As he pulled the reins upward with all his might, Eve, launched towards him from Shu-Bongo's tail, managed to slice him across the arm with her scimitar before being grabbed and punched away once more. The female Vorsani however twisted her body mid fall, landing on the creature's large wing. Stabbing her scimitar through the soft membrane, Eve maimed the monster before continuing to fall, the bat's wing rendered torn and useless.

The chieftain and his mount crashed into the canyon's bottom, the monstrous bat using its long limbs and clawed stubby feet to break their fall even by a small margin. Eve was caught by Shu-Bongo but before almost hitting the ground. The Pale Wyvern hit the hard rock with a roll, embracing his rider with his wings to protect her.

Adam ran to his sister, having to actually pry her out of an unconscious Wyvern's wings. Shu-Bongo was still there which ment he was still alive but the fall must have knocked the monster out. On the other side of the collapsed canyon section, after the rubble amd dust had settled, rose a furious dark bat and his rider still atop it. "You.. you outsider scum.. I am going to flay the meat off your BONES!!" he yelled while swinging his glaive angrily towards the siblings! Eve raised her head towards the dangerous foe, her one eye bruised and shut. She then looked to her brother, holding back tears of frustration.

"It's not your fault Evy.. You're so strong... She'll understand.. I'll make the call now. Can you stand?" Said Adam, his voice full of pride while trying to console his sister. Eve stood up grasping her blade with both hands. "Call her.. I'll keep him busy!"

"No! Let the Bats and the Coyotes distract h.."

"I SAID I'LL DO IT! I.. I have to.. I am going to be strong like Master one day.. let me prove to myself I can do it.." pleaded Eve with conviction. "Fine.. But I'm helping and there's nothing you can do about that!" yelled back Adam full of concern. "Heh.. fine Dum Dum..".

*** Within the Elgolar Dungeon ***

The Master of the Dungeon sat on a smooth rock stool in front of her own core, browsing amongst a magical list of options. With a bored expression on her face she was eager to finalize her decision, unhappy that her choices were still so limited. "I wonder how the assault on the Canyon is going.. I'm sure they're having much more fun than I am.." she mumbled as she pet Fiona's head.