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demigodforfend · 7 months

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Twilight of the Demigods: Forfend Edition - Session 27

Kagoshi snarled at the man standing straight across from him. He grabbed the bench Forfend had been sitting on and launched it as hard as he could.

Kento Nobutoshi immediately lashed out with his longsword, displaying how he'd earned the title Swiftblade. The bench was split in two before it could touch him. It careened past him, hitting what was left of the wall on the far side of the room and tumbling over the edge.

Unfortunately for Kento, Kagoshi was hardly a step behind the improvised projectile. Fire engulfed Kagoshi as he doubled in size.

An arcane ward lit up in front of Kento's face just as Kagoshi punched him square in the jaw.

The ward absorbed some of the impact, but not all of it. Kento slid back several feet and swiped the blood from his face.

Forfend saw Abjurist Sonya Caddel refocus on her opponent standing across from her and guessed she must've cast the ward. She was going to be trouble.

Melzaryn teleported in front of Sonya.

"There's only enough room in this tower for one wizard," he grinned.

He leveled his staff at her as though it was a crossbow. The strange mechanism whirred. Melzaryn fired it.

Swirling black magic wrapped around her and dragged her into its depths. She disappeared with a distinct vwoop.

Melzaryn immediately aimed his staff toward the open air far to his left. He fired a second shot.

The black magic burst into being over fifty feet from the ledge. Sonya dropped out of it and began falling. She screamed.

A second later, thunder crashed and she reappeared back where she started. She gripped her chest and panted, solid white eyes wide with shock.

Whatever she'd been expecting, it wasn't Melzaryn.

Melzaryn opened his spellbook and chanted in encrypted Elvish. The book took on the form of a silvery rattlesnake. It wiggled excitedly, saluted with its tail, and zipped overhead across the room. It stationed itself well away from the fight, but well within range to cast.

"Coward!" Kagoshi bellowed as one of Howell's arrows struck his side.

The arrow glowed green and burst.

Kagoshi scoffed. Whatever effect had been intended, he'd easily brushed it off.

Hawk Knight Kendrick Arvad tensed. Stormy winds rushed around his body. He leapt up into the air and crashed down right in front of Forfend.

Forfend brought the Orison Aegis up.

Kendrick slammed his halberd down with such violent force that it didn't matter. He smashed Forfend's shield aside and buried the blade deep into its shoulder.

Lightning coursed through the weapon.

Forfend felt its body stiffen and its core judder as electricity tore through it.

Kendrick took the opportunity to wrench his halberd sideways, dragging Forfend several feet to its left before the blade finally dislodged from its stone form.

He readied himself for his next attack.

Forfend braced for impact as it tried to take in what its allies and other opponents were doing at half a glance.

Sonya had placed a protection ward on herself. Melzaryn squared up to face her anyway.

Kagoshi was suffering under a flurry of blindingly fast blows from Kento. Blood sprayed from Kagoshi's myriad of wounds. Kento burned in the heat of Kagoshi's fire giant form, but that seemed to spur him on rather than deter him.

Howell had ducked out of Forfend's sight. That was certain to cause a great deal of trouble very soon.

Kairi and Wisteria were caught somewhere between Melzaryn's fight with Sonya and Forfend's fight with Kendrick.

Magic sparked at Kairi's fingertips. She drew back her bow as her roguish pastel cloak shimmered into existence.

Kendrick lashed out with his halberd, catching her leg as she leapt backwards.

Unfazed, she released her glowing pink arrow.

The magic struck Kendrick's armor, but didn't pierce it.

Kairi followed up with a bright purple Guiding Bolt. This attack sank straight through a gap in his armor and lit up the wound with fizzling stars.

Kendrick didn't so much as grunt.

Wisteria backed up and charged forward, horn lowered to skewer Kendrick.

Kendrick braced himself. He grabbed Wisteria's horn and slammed it down into the hardwood floor.

Wisteria nearly flipped over itself. Its wings opened and fluttered desperately to catch it. It chittered and thrashed, backing away from the frightening man that had stopped its charge cold.

Forfend focused its gaze on the mountain of metal armor Kendrick wore. Magic surged from it as it casted Heat Metal.

The air around the armor began to waver as the temperature of the metal rose. Kendrick had to be sweating and burning within. He didn't show it. He was stoic as a statue.

Behind him, Kagoshi snatched Kento by the face. Kento slashed ineffectually at Kagoshi's arm as he was unceremoniously dragged across the makeshift battlefield of Despot Falco's destroyed bedroom.

Kagoshi slammed Kento into the floor and immediately snatched him back up again, this time by his ankle.

Sonya noticed just in the nick of time what was about to happen. She ducked as Kagoshi slung Kento's flailing body right where her head had just been.

Kento twisted and dug his blade into the floor. He skidded to a stop, but he couldn't yank his leg away from Kagoshi's unnaturally strong grip.

"Don't struggle," Kagoshi snarled. "You'll only die tired."

Melzaryn jumped over a smashed table and ducked behind it to get out of Sonya's sight. His staff whirred and clicked.

Fire blasted from the tip of it and spiraled across the room, sailing right between Forfend's and Kendrick's clash. It struck Howell directly in the chest despite how he'd taken partial shelter behind his own tipped table.

Howell fell with a grunt. His voluminous cloak caught alight. He jumped up, frantically patting out flames.

With the fire, though not the burns, quelled, he nocked an arrow. Rather than aim it at one of his opponents, he pointed straight up and released.

The same runic circle that had appeared over the Brass Buffalo sketched itself into the air. This one wasn't quite so large, but Forfend understood well how formidable it would be. They had only moments before the first arrow multiplied and hailed down upon them in a deadly barrage.

Howell ducked behind the upturned table he was using for shelter and disappeared from sight.

Kendrick forcefully drew Forfend's full attention back to him by jabbing his halberd into Forfend's chest. Lightning coursed through the blade.

Forfend gripped the halberd, ripped it free, and shoved it away.

Kendrick whipped around to bash Wisteria instead.

Wisteria squealed. It backpedaled away as lightning arced into its body.

Kendrick turned straight back around to Forfend and lashed out at it again.

Lightning crackled through the air.

Forfend blocked the first strike, but lightning coursed into it anyway.

Stormy gales of electrically charged wind seemed to swirl all around Kendrick and buffet anyone near him. Forfend couldn't escape the static making its hands twitch.

Kendrick's second strike caught a gap in the stone of Forfend's leg. He twisted the halberd before he jerked it free.

Forfend staggered, but refused to fall.

Kendrick's armor wavered with heat that had to be searing into his flesh, but he just kept swinging.

Sonya called out an incantation.

A dome of what almost looked like glass slammed into existence over Kagoshi.

Kagoshi released Kento as they both scrambled away from the dropping dome walls.

Magic wavered in the air around the dome as Kagoshi roared his rage and slammed his fists into the trap.

"Our duel was cut short," Kento lamented. He pat the dome and turned his back on Kagoshi.

"Don't you fucking mock me!" Kagoshi screamed.

"What are you going to do about it?" Kento deadpanned.

Kagoshi slammed his fist into the floor, splintering the wood.

Kento locked onto Forfend's precarious situation battling the relentless Hawk Knight. He dashed across the field and slid into place behind Forfend.

It didn't dare take its eyes off Kendrick to watch Kento.

Kento's blade flashed in the edge of Forfend's peripheral vision. Three slashes carved across Forfend's stone back. None of them pierced its body.

Kento's eyes widened as he realized he was going to have to reassess his strategy. A thousand quick cuts couldn't bring Forfend down if they never even scratched its marble exterior.

Forfend was certain Kento would find its weak points though. He was skilled and clearly intelligent in battle. It was caught in a horrible predicament standing between him and Kendrick.

Kairi's glittering wings unfolded, taking on their full glory. "Keep fighting," she yelled to Forfend, her words laced with healing magic.

Immediately, the lightning-singed gaps dribbling ichor from its body closed themselves off.

Forfend slammed its mace into its shield.

The resounding clang rattled the room. Fire burst from beneath Forfend's feet and surged into the bodies of its opponents.

Kento yelped as he jolted away from the scorching flames just a bit too slowly.

Kendrick stood within the fire, watching Forfend coldly. He wasn't unaffected. Forfend could see the sweltering pain in the tenseness of his body. But he refused to acknowledge it as anything more than an inconvenience.

Forfend stood within the center of the burning ring and touched the medallion on its chest.

"Shit," it swore as it tried to figure any way out of their current predicament.

Magic surged through the word instinctively. Healing auras surrounded Forfend and all of its allies.

Kagoshi grinned murderously as the helpful magic surrounded him. Reinvigorated, he crashed his fist straight through the floor and let himself fall.

The floor rumbled ominously as Kagoshi stormed across the rafters beneath.

Kagoshi's massive hand punched through the wood beneath Sonya's feet and ripped her through the floor.

Sonya screamed. The magical dome she'd created disappeared with a pop.

There was a flash of black. Sonya's panicked screaming intensified.

Melzaryn swore somewhere off to Forfend's left.

It caught a glimpse of him through the flickering flames. He was staring up at Howell's enormous rune over their heads. The spell was seconds away from completing.

Melzaryn jumped on his flying broom and zipped as far out from beneath the circle as he could.

Forfend braced the Orison Aegis over its head.

Sonya's panicked screeching suddenly turned to pain.

A second later, hundreds of oversized arrows materialized in the air and launched downward.

They pelted into Forfend's shield with impossible force, knocking it aside and piercing Forfend's stone body. Pain spiked through it as more and more arrows burrowed themselves between the gaps in its stone form.

Its vision darkened. It fell to its knees.

It could hear arrows raining down all around it, though it was rapidly losing awareness of those striking its own body.

Hazy though he was, it could see Kendrick trying not to show pain as he, too, was littered full of the protruding projectiles.

Behind Forfend, Kento swore in a thin voice and thudded to the ground.

Forfend followed suit, the flames of its spell dying out as darkness overtook it.

"Wake up," Forfend heard Kairi call from somewhere distant.

The magic in her voice closed its wounds.

Its rune lit. It jolted upright.

"Ah, fuck!" Howell shouted as Forfend's head connected with his chin. "It's me, it's me, I'm here!"

Forfend took stock of the world around it as the blurs of color began to make sense of themselves again.

Howell was indeed here. He was himself again.

"Sorry," it apologized. "You are here. Is everyone else here?"

The details swarmed back to it. Forfend hauled itself to its feet despite the weight of dozens of enormous arrows trying to drag it back down. "Is anyone dead?"

"I don't fucking know! I just woke up!" Howell shouted.

"No one is dead," Kairi assured Forfend.

A very nervous Wisteria stamped its feet beside her. Howell's arrows littered the beetle's adamantine shell.

"I think he's unconscious," Howell said, pointing to Kento Nobutoshi who Forfend was only now realizing lay just behind it.

Kento was riddled with a couple arrows of his own. Blood oozed slowly from beneath him and dribbled from his mouth, but he was still breathing.

His straw hat was tilted over his face, obscuring his eyes.

Forfend nudged the hat backwards and carefully lifted one of his eyelids. The ghostly white was gone. His unfocused pupil stared forward.

It should be safe to awaken him then.

Forfend pulled the arrows from his body and passed its hand over the open wounds.

Magic, soft and warm, trailed from its palm into the injuries and closed the worst of them.

Kento inhaled. The sound was raspy at first but cleared easily with a cough. He sat up.

He pushed his hat up out of his eyes and took a look around. "Not the worst place I've woken up in." He tilted his head ever so slightly at Forfend. "Interesting-looking golem to greet me," he said more about Forfend than to it. "Where the hell am I and who are all of you?" That question was directed more toward Howell and Kairi.

Forfend started to speak, but was interrupted by the sound of a thud behind it.

"Victory for Kagoshi," came Kagoshi's normal voice, rather than his augmented giant voice. "Fucking wizards."

Kendrick flew into the room on a rush of salty wind. The gale dropped him roughly just over the edge of the rubble. He scrambled to his feet. "Fuck you!" he screamed at Melzaryn. "Fuck all of you!" He lifted his halberd, lightning crackling across it.

Wisteria slammed her enormous horn over the top of his head.

The clang rang out so strongly Kendrick's entire suit of armor vibrated. He collapsed in a heap.

Kagoshi, back in his standard form, dragged Sonya over to the rest of the group. He crouched over her and tapped her face.

Sonya opened her eyes slowly. Her head lolled. It took her several seconds to focus and sit up. Befuddlement knit her brows.

Kairi shook Kendrick awake.

Much like Forfend, he shot straight upright and immediately tried to get his bearings.

"Hey!" Howell called. "Pretty sure I know who you all are, but I'm not worried about that right now. The important thing is that we all just woke up. We were brainwashed. These people saved us. Be fucking grateful. They could've killed us instead because that's what we were trying to do to them."

He turned to Melzaryn. "Now, what the fuck happened?"

"King Falco's running Envema," Kagoshi responded first.

Forfend turned its gaze to the battle happening outside. At some point through the course of the fight, Despot Falco and Ry'Ha'Dach had careened down into the streets.

Despite all the chaos still happening, however, Forfend realized things were quieter than they had been. Quieter than they should be.

It couldn't spot Ry'Ha'Dach. From such a distance, Despot Falco would be little more than a green dot. He would be easy to miss. But Ry'Ha'Dach should've been a glaring emerald beacon. Where was he?

"Gods-fucking-dammit!" Howell swore. "This is why we don't fucking have monarchies!" He tossed his arm at Melzaryn. "You know what I'm talking about."

Melzaryn nodded. He kicked through some of the rubble around his feet and found his way to Despot Falco's smashed dresser. He pulled out a drawer that immediately fell into three pieces in his hands. Nonplussed, he simply pulled out the two books Despot Falco had tucked away beneath the clothes and shoved them into his belt pockets.

"I want to apologize again for shooting at all of you," Howell said. "Again." He glanced up and around. "Also, do we need to leave?"

"You all probably should," Kagoshi informed the warriors.

"Yeah, Despot Fucko out there is a demigod," Kairi piped up.

"I'm getting out of here," Melzaryn decided. "I've got no magic left, I've been stabbed by a dragon sword, and this is all way further over my head than I meant for it to be."

Forfend shook its head. "We need to find Ry'Ha'Dach and we need to find Despot Falco."

"You're looking for me?" Despot Falco called. "I'm right here!"

He rose up into view, his cape billowing behind him. He wore a violent grin. Blood dripped from his cheek and his armor was scuffed, but it wasn't the kind of damage he should've sustained fighting a dragon. He should've been far more wounded.

Ry'Ha'Dach was nowhere to be seen.

Panic rose in Forfend's chest and tumbled a rockfall through its center.

"Fuck," Melzaryn swore.

Despot Falco surveyed the battlefield. He sighed, irritation dragging his lip into a snarl. "Oh, you broke out," he complained at the warriors. "It was such a pain in the ass to get your strong minds under control in the first place." He shrugged. "Well, whatever. I'll just do it again. Come here."

He started floating forward, making a show of the dramatic, ominous approach.

Melzaryn stepped in front of Howell, arms spread.

"We leaving?" Howell asked. He tugged on his cloak and placed a hand on Melzaryn's shoulder.

"Leaving is good," Melzaryn replied. "Rattle him," he yelled at his projected snake.

The little manifestation fired off a series of scorching orbs that all slammed into Despot Falco. Or, they should've. Instead, they struck a psychic shield.

Despot Falco laughed.

Howell tossed his cloak over Melzaryn. Both of them disappeared with a swirling rush of fabric and a pop. The snake promptly disappeared as well.

Kendrick backed up. He was severely wounded and exhausted. Oversized arrows protruded from his armor. He looked to Sonya.

Sonya nodded. She pulled a scroll from her bag and opened it.

In a flash of magic, she and Kendrick were both gone as well.

Not to be deterred, Kagoshi dashed forward.

Kairi jumped on Wisteria and flew right at his side as he doubled in size once again.

This time, Kagoshi transformed into the gray-blue of a cloud giant. He leapt at Despot Falco.

"Alright, let's fucking go," Kento shrugged. He flipped his grip on his blade and joined the charge.

Kento leapt up onto Kagoshi's back and used him as a springboard to launch himself that much faster.

Forfend cast Guiding Bolt. Orange magic arced toward the approaching demigod.

Kento flipped in the air and sliced at Despot Falco's back just as Kagoshi aimed a thunderous punch at his face.

Both strikes connected instead with Despot Falco's psychic barrier.

Just the same, Forfend's Guiding Bolt fizzled out in the wake of the draconic magic.

Despot Falco snatched Kento out of the air and dragged him through the barrier.

Kento struggled and kicked, but Despot Falco held him by his sword arm. There was nothing he could do.

"Petulant manchild," the despot spat at Kagoshi.

A single swing of his sword sent Kagoshi careening backwards. He slammed into the floor of Despot Falco's room and rolled until he slammed into the last remnants of the collapsed wall on the far side of it.

Kairi and Wisteria bore down on Despot Falco despite the effortless display of power.

The despot tossed Kento carelessly down into the room and turned to face the next incoming attack. His eyes widened in rage as he recognized his attacker.

"You!" he shouted.

His barrier dropped. He lunged forward and seized Kairi by the throat, ripping her off Wisteria.

Wisteria whirled around in the air, but it was too slow to reach Kairi before the barrier reformed.

It slammed its horn repeatedly into the unrelenting psychic force.

Despot Falco squeezed Kairi's throat as she clawed at his hand. "If only you didn't exist, this wouldn't have happened," he snarled. "However your ridiculous emotion power works, you caused this! You did it! Now live with the consequences and die for my future!"

His blade plunged through her center.

"No!" Kagoshi screamed. He scrambled to his feet, but there was nothing he could do. There was nothing any of them could do.

Kairi's legs stopped kicking, but her hands still clawed at Despot Falco's crushing grip.

Blood poured from her. She slowed. Her arms fell limp. She slumped, limp and lifeless on the end of Despot Falco's ill-gotten blade.

The despot pointed the sword out over the city.

Forfend took a step forward. What was he doing? Was he going to drop Kairi far from where it could heal her? It needed to get to her quickly.

Psychic energy pulsed around the hilt of the rapier and built. When it reached its peak, an earsplitting ring ripped through the air. Kairi's limp form blasted violently off the tip of the blade and fell impossibly fast.

Wisteria zipped after her as quickly as its wings could carry it, but there was absolutely nothing it could do to catch up.

Despot Falco turned his self-satisfied grin back to Forfend, Kagoshi, and Kento. "What, you're still here? I figured you would've run by now."

Kento stood, his blade at the ready. He glanced at Forfend and Kagoshi.

Kagoshi stepped forward, his chest heaving as panic sent his eyes into a darting flurry. He had no idea what to do. His fists clenched.

Forfend felt just the same. It grasped for the magic in its chest, but it had no idea what it should use it to do.

Kento dashed forward. He slammed into Despot Falco's psychic barrier again, his blade cutting blindly at the energy protecting his target.

Despot Falco grabbed Kento by his face. "Give unto me everything you have," he growled low in his throat.

Kento immediately went slack. His sword fell from his grip. Strangely, his wounds healed, but he didn't stir.

Despot Falco dropped him.

Kagoshi swore. He sprinted forward, snatching a fallen chunk of stone off the floor and throwing it at Despot Falco.

The stone shattered against the psychic barrier and sprayed dust into the air.

Kagoshi took the momentary cover to launch himself past Despot Falco and over the city. He fell, guiding himself after Kairi.

Wisteria caught him, both of them flying after Kairi as fast as they possibly could. It wasn't going to be enough. Forfend already knew.

Despot Falco touched down at the edge of the rubble and stepped over Kento's limp form.

Forfend tensed. All its allies were gone. It had been abandoned alone. It couldn't fight. It was wounded, exhausted, and very nearly out of magic. Even if that weren't the case, it still couldn't touch the wretched despot while he wielded his sickening emerald weaponry.

"Well, he left," Despot Falco said idly of Kagoshi. "Now what to do with you?"

Prioritize.

Forfend fell back on old Sundering habits. It was in a bad spot. There was no good way out. What was the path of least resistance and least additional harm?

Prioritize.

It couldn't reach Kento. It would have to leave him to his fate and hope he survived for it to free him at a later date.

Ry'Ha'Dach was the most important. Moreso, even, than Kairi. He was a symbol to the genasi and the only one they could speak to with knowledge of Despot Falco.

But was he still alive? And if not, could Forfend bring him back?

Kairi was dead. Forfend was certain. It wouldn't possibly reach her before time ran out to revive her. It hadn't even seen where she'd landed.

The case may be the same for Ry'Ha'Dach, but the great emerald dragon would be far easier to spot and, if his wounds hadn't killed him instantly, Forfend may not yet be out of time.

It stepped off the edge of the gaping hole Kagoshi had made in the floor.

Despot Falco laughed maniacally and derisively as it fell. "Go ahead, run! I'll be seeing you again soon!"

Forfend crashed through support beams and several floors.

It braced itself for each and every impact, doing its best to slow itself down before it struck the bottom.

Forfend drew the Orison Aegis in close against its body and tucked itself as small as its bulk would allow. "Fornax, I pray this blessed shield holds."

It slammed into the jagged stone rubble at the bottom of the tower. Its shield absorbed the brunt of the impact and stopped it from landing directly on sharp, uneven debris, but the pain still rattled through its body.

At first, it couldn't move. Its body refused to respond. Too slowly, its mind reconnected with the rest of it.

Forfend dragged itself out of the rubble and hauled itself to its feet. It found the nearest exit in the form of a crumbling wall and dashed out into the chaotic streets of Cragwall.

Fires engulfed the city, burning the skies bloody red. Citizens panicked and screamed and ran for their lives everywhere it looked.

Where had Ry'Ha'Dach last been fighting before it had lost track of him? Near the town square, it guessed.

Envema members swarmed across its path, scrabbling at it and everyone else in reach.

Desperate guards battled the wild insurgents, but there were far more Envema than they could possibly hope to contain.

Forfend shouldered off the Envema trying to attack it. It knocked them away with its shield or clocked them over the head with its mace. It tried to pull its swings. Violent and terrifying though they were, they were also only victims of a mad demigod. This battle was not their choice.

Eventually, it reached the town square.

Kagoshi lay in a crater near the shattered statue, back in his original form and heaving with a horrid combination of rage, pain, and fearful desperation. "Kairi," he wheezed.

Clearly, he wanted to be on his feet and chasing her again, but he was struggling to force himself to move.

Melzaryn, Kendrick, Sonya, and Howell were disappearing into the tunnel that had been hidden beneath the statue.

"We need to get to safety. Maybe we can secure the underground. Come on," Howell called to them.

"No." Melzaryn popped his head back out of the tunnel. "I'm grabbing something and then I'm out of here. We can't save this city anymore. Teleportation Hub in twenty minutes. I'm leaving behind anyone not there on time. We can't afford to wait."

Forfend nodded, though it didn't know yet if it intended to go with him.

It turned to Kagoshi.

"Where is Kairi?" It asked him.

She was dead, but they could at least recover a body. If she had family, they would need to know.

Kagoshi lifted himself upright with great effort. "I don't know," he ground out. He pointed with a shaky hand as he forced himself to his feet. "Somewhere that way?"

"Where is Ry'Ha'Dach?" it asked anyone near enough to answer.

It received no response.

Kagoshi stumbled forward, picking up steam as he moved. He had to be running purely on adrenaline.

Forfend didn't follow him. It turned and rushed off in the direction it thought Ry'Ha'Dach and Despot Falco's fight might've been listing towards before it lost track of them.

It moved just as quickly as its feet could carry it.

A murderous roar shook Cragwall. Every soaring flame suddenly turned demonic red. Stone and burning debris were launched into the air from the direction Kagoshi had run in.

He'd found Kairi. And she'd been as far past saving as Forfend feared.

It could only hope that Kagoshi would regain control of himself before Melzaryn's deadline and before he leveled the city. It wasn't certain he could do it with the heavy weight of grief turned revenge scorching through his chest, but it hoped nonetheless.

Innocent Envema members brought here by mind control were dying beneath Kagoshi's brutal fists.

They were dying all around Forfend in a thousand isolated fights with Cragwall's guards and citizens that made up one mass conglomerate of a battlefield.

Of course, Envema weren't just dying. They were also killing. Indiscriminately and with prejudice.

Despot Falco's prejudice.

Forfend couldn't save them or their victims. It didn't have the resources. It didn't have the power.

Prioritize.

Ry'Ha'Dach first.

One thing at a time.

It cast Locate Creature, envisioning Ry'Ha'Dach in its mind.

Luckily, it was close enough for the magic to catch his whereabouts. A guiding arc of golden light zipped through the scrambling streets.

Forfend chased it.

It grew steadily closer. It could feel the magic closing in. Ry'Ha'Dach was near.

A horrible monster met Forfend as it rounded a corner.

The beast was deathly pale. Sickly purple veins pulsed beneath its grotesque flesh. Metal jutted from it seemingly at random, as though someone had been trying to modify it to be stronger but had given up in favor of mutilating it in a fit of rage.

The wretched thing was caught painfully between being organic and inorganic. It was a mockery of a creature like Forfend, wounded and wailing and suffering as yet another in an endless line of Despot Falco's victims.

The monster reared back its fist and aimed a devastating blow at Forfend's rune.

There was a blur of motion and a flash of steel.

The beast's misshapen head fell from its body. The rest of it collapsed a heartbeat later.

Kiyori slid her blade back into the sheathe but kept her hand on the hilt. Her eyes darted everywhere, assessing every threat. "What the fuck happened?!"

There was no time to answer that question. "Where is Ry'Ha'Dach?" it said instead. "Have you seen him?"

"That way." She pointed. "Handle it."

Forfend nodded once. "Thank you."

Kiyori whipped her blade from its sheath again and began cutting down Envema members to cover Forfend's retreat.

Forfend ran as quickly as its marble limbs could carry it.

Finally, it spotted Ry'Ha'Dach.

He was partially buried in the rubble of the Brass Buffalo. He'd fallen onto the inn from a significant height, by the looks of things. Or, more frighteningly, he may have been thrown.

In front of the collapsed building, Ali swung two hammers with brutal deftness. She wore heavy armor, but it didn't seem to slow her in the slightest as Envema members collapsed at her feet.

She caught sight of Forfend and nodded at the dragon. "Can you fix this?"

Without awaiting an answer, she immediately moved to protect Forfend's path.

"What are you waiting for?! Big dragon! You can fix that, right?!"

"I can try," it responded.

Forfend scaled the debris to reach Ry'Ha'Dach. It pressed a hand to his broad side.

Awful, deep wounds marred his scales everywhere it looked, but he was still breathing.

"Ry'Ha'Dach," it called.

There was no response.

Forfend staggered through the unsteady rubble and grabbed Ry'Ha'Dach's face. His eyes were open. And dull. Empty.

He wasn't dead. But he wasn't aware. He was...

He was like Kento, Forfend realized.

It drew up the magic in its core and pressed its hand firmly between Ry'Ha'Dach's blank eyes. It hissed steam and focused. It needed to seize the demigod magic and remove it. All of it. In one fell swoop.

It allowed warm healing magic to surge into Ry'Ha'Dach. Immediately, Despot Falco's magic tangled into Forfend's and fought.

With great effort, Forfend crushed out the awful arcana.

Ry'Ha'Dach jolted. His eyes focused. He wheezed for breath and coughed up dust.

"Cursebreaker, you need to run," he gasped.

"We all do," it agreed.

Ry'Ha'Dach shook his head. "Leave me."

"No." Forfend looked the great dragon over. It couldn't move him. Could he move himself?

"The priority is the people," Ry'Ha'Dach argued. "It always was."

"They need you." Forfend was certain of that. He was their last dragon. He was a symbol of their community. He kept them together. He gave them hope.

"Not as much as they will need you." The look in Ry'Ha'Dach's eyes did not leave room for argument, but Forfend struggled to believe him.

It had no control over this situation. There was precious little it could do. It had lost. It had failed.

Again.

No, Ry'Ha'Dach was far more needed than it.

"Can you change form? I will carry you," it offered.

Ry'Ha'Dach closed his eyes. His body shivered. Magic wavered vaguely over his body and petered out.

He dropped his head to the ground and heaved for breath. "I cannot." His eyes locked onto Forfend's runic face. "He left me alive for a reason. He will come back. You've healed me for a time, but these people are in danger. They do not have a chance unless you save them."

Forfend felt a weight far too great for its shoulders settle onto it. What was it meant to do? And how?

"I will try," it promised.

"Go. Be the guardian I failed to be." Ry'Ha'Dach clenched his claws, his teeth bared in anguish.

Forfend nodded, though the crushing weight of this responsibility only grew. "I will try," it promised again.

Prioritize.

It slid down the pile of rubble and motioned for Ali to follow it. "Melzaryn is trying to get the Teleportation Hub functioning. We must meet him there quickly."

"Let's move then," Ali immediately agreed.

"To the Teleportation Hub," Forfend shouted to the throngs of screaming, panicking, battling citizens amid the swarm of murderous Envema members.

People followed behind it or latched onto it if they couldn't run. It scooped as many as it could up onto its shoulders and left the others clinging to it to their own devices. Their weight was no trouble, but it couldn't spare its hands to secure them. It still needed to be able to swing at encroaching Envema members.

"Get to the Teleportation Hub," Forfend yelled again and again, gathering as many citizens into its entourage as possible. "If you are able to fight, stay to the outside of the group. Protect the weakest. Do not fall behind."

Forfend and its survivors fought their way through the hoards of Envema.

Eventually, they reached the Teleportation Hub. Forfend thanked the gods they'd made it in time. Melzaryn hadn't yet activated the spell.

Earth genasi protected the entrance, keeping Envema back while calling Cragwall's citizens inside.

"File in!" River yelled to it.

Forfend did exactly that, setting down the people clinging to it and quickly moving back to the doorway to cover the others rushing in.

Outside, the Atroxian red of the fires suddenly flickered back to a more natural but no less devastating array of yellows and oranges.

A few moments later, Kagoshi stumbled in with Wisteria trudging along on his heels. He was covered head to toe in the blood of slaughtered Envema.

His eyes were distant. He loosely held a single purple feather in his hand. It shimmered with the last remaining shred of Kairi's magic.

He'd escaped his rage in time to reach the Hub, but he was devastated.

Forfend understood. The reality hadn't fully sunk in for it yet, but that was only a matter of time. The grief would surely come.

It guided Kagoshi inside.

Wisteria paused to nudge its head into Forfend. Upon its back was what little it had been able to recover from Kairi's body.

Whatever state she'd ended up in, it must've been gruesome if there was so little left.

All Wisteria carried was Kairi's sword, her bag, and shreds of bloodied fabric.

Forfend comforted the beetle by gently stroking its head and slowly walked it to the edge of the enormous runic circle Melzaryn and Sonya were frantically channeling magic into.

"We'll only have about six seconds," Melzaryn called.

"That's not enough time for everyone," River yelled, his voice echoing over the din of the panicked room. "Children and the most vulnerable first. Go, get ready! Quickly!"

People responded immediately, trying to arrange themselves the best that they could.

"I have to go," Melzaryn said. "I'll need to be an emissary for these people."

"I'm coming with," Howell decided. "I may be able to drum up some mercenary allies."

"Kendrick and I will stay behind to help," Sonya piped up.

Kendrick hummed affirmatively.

"We won't leave our home." River pressed his fist to his chest. "Not after the Thought Thief appears again. We have one chance to fight back now. We're going to take it. We trust you'll be able to come back with allies, yes?"

"That's the goal," Melzaryn answered.

River looked Forfend directly in its runic face. "I trust you." He scanned his gaze over the rest of the haphazard group. "I trust you all."

"I do not want to take a slot that could be used by another," Forfend shook its broad head. "I would rather remain behind."

"Forfend, respectfully, I think you should go with them." River touched one of the massive arrows protruding from Forfend. Ichor poured from wounds all over its body. "We don't know how far the Thought Thief's influence reaches. Those Envema monsters, the large ones? They are nothing of Tyrwedian origin."

Steam rushed through Forfend's chest. It lowered its head. "Alright." It forced itself to look River in the eyes again. "I freed Ry'Ha'Dach, but I could not move him."

"We will handle it," River swore. "We'll handle ourselves. We've done so before. We can do it now."

"Fuck this sappy debate," Ali interjected. "I'm going."

Kiyori turned away from her post by the door and grabbed Forfend by the metal brace in its chest. She pulled it down and herself up until she was staring sternly into its face. "Handle. It."

"Understood." Forfend nodded once.

"I'm going to buy you some time." Kiyori released it and headed outside.

"Here we go," Melzaryn hollered.

The magic circle lit up.

People charged into it as quickly as they could, passing children forward to the elderly and wounded. With the most vulnerable rescued, everyone else began to desperately flood in.

They disappeared by the dozens in bright white flashes.

Melzaryn stepped into the circle with Howell at his side.

Kagoshi sullenly led Wisteria into it.

Forfend waited, helping people scramble into the active arcana.

When the circle started to dim, it finally stepped through itself.

White light flooded its vision. The sensation of falling upwards disoriented it.

And suddenly it was back on solid ground.

The change in the air here was stark. A dryness permeated everything, outweighed only by the overbearing heat.

The smell of scorching sand and incense wafted about the room.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, halt!" shouted a baffled and frightened company of guards. They pulled scimitars from their sheathes and readied their shields.

A construct of brass and copper resembling a leopard sidled forward. It was towering, easily rivaling the size of Kagoshi's giant forms.

It opened its mouth, revealing a barrel that began charging with energy.

Melzaryn stepped forward out of the crowd. "Melzaryn Crona Collymore. I'm delivering refugees from Tyrwedia."

The construct cat immediately closed its jaw and assumed a playful stance, its body wiggling in excitement. It plucked Melzaryn off the ground with one huge paw and dropped him on its back.

Melzaryn pat it affectionately as it carried him away.

The guards watched in stunned silence. They seemed wholly uncertain what to do.

Forfend felt very similar. It hadn't expected Melzaryn to immediately depart, leaving it alone to handle this situation.

Prioritize, it reminded itself.

It was far too far away to help its family in Foumedo now, but they would still need a warning.

It envisioned Jessie and cast Sending.

"King Falco is violent despot," it projected. "Cragwall destroyed. Am gathering allies. Unsure if you are in danger. Protect Foumedo. Be prepared to flee. I love you."

It turned to the guards without awaiting Jessie's response.

It took only two steps toward them before kneeling to make itself less imposing.

There was so very much explaining to do.

#forfend #twilight of the demigods #session notes #session 27 #cragwall #harmonia #dnd

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