The Batrachia’s adversaries continued to do battle. Gideon summoned all of his known familiars to attempt to slow the beast down, yet the Batrachia continues to run amok, rolling continuously and destroying many structures in its way. Gideon’s bear attempts to claw away at the beast, but can barely catch it in its rolling form, and is taken out on impact of its momentum. His raven tossed talons but to no effect, and the debris the Batrachia kicked up collided with his aerial familiar, destroying that as well. The wolf could not get any offense whatsoever, instead being forced to dodge the frightening speed of the dysmorph until it was ultimately run over and dissipated. From atop a safer surface, Gideon observes the situation with a wince.
“This monster is quite resilient…!” Gideon grunts.
Cyrene and Zafir attempted to combat it on the ground together. With impressive athleticism, Cyrene was able to evade many of the Batrachia’s movement patterns, as she leaped above tilted light posts, piles of concrete, and broken structures. She hardly thought to get in an attack, as the look of fear on her face and her racing heart prompted her to resort to only evasion. Whenever the beast was close, she managed to swipe away at it, but prioritized dodging to preserve her safety.
Right behind Cyrene was Zafir attempting to do any sort of damage. When the Batrachia would crash into an object and halt its momentum, he would dish out a few slashes before backing off, disappearing into the darkness of an abandoned building. The Batrachia stumbles out of its ball form and groans.
UUUURP… GRAAAUG
Pained, the Batrachia only grows more aggravated. It swiftly turns back into its ball form and rolls off into the distance. Cyrene, Gideon, and Zafir notice its odd behavior and each exchange a confused look with one another.
“Is it running away?” Cyrene asked.
“It’s hard to tell…” Gideon pondered aloud. “The manner in which dysmorphs carry themselves are unlike any normal animal. And judging the size and appearance of these abominations, it's hard to believe the crux of their origin was a natural organism…”
“This whole time we hardly did any damage to the beast. I would not count on it to suddenly flee…” Zafir adds cautiously.
The Batrachia comes back around, reverting from its ball form. The trio stand at attention, holding close to their weaponry, and paying close attention to the monster.
The Beast starts to clumsily run forward. It takes a massive leap to the left, kicking up a gust of red dirt. The trio shield their eyes from the dust. Then it makes a massive leap to the right, kicking up even more red particles. Finally, it takes a giant leap skyward. The trio look up and see its massive body crashing down like a meteor. Zafir turns to his allies through shielded eyes.
“RUN!”
Cyrene, Gideon, and Zafir scatter like ants as the beast comes barreling downward.
BOOM
Its massive feet crash on the red dirt. Everyone is sent flying by the power of the impact and the gust of the wind; with red dirt and debris flying everywhere, clouding the area; nearby frail structures also crumble apart. Gideon is knocked off of one of the structures entirely. The three lift their bodies from the ground, still shielding their eyes from the torrent of dirt lingering in the air. Cyrene squints her eyes, trying to see through the thick fog, but can barely make out where she stands, let alone where anyone else was.
It grows quiet. The huntress continues to look around, yet is still unable to locate anything.
THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP!
The sound of heavy feet approaching catches her ear. She turns her head and sees the beast barreling in her direction, its swift, lopsided movement clearing the air around the vicinity. Cyrene jumps out of the way, and the monster does not stop. When the air was becoming visible, she saw Zafir, frantically searching his surroundings, and the beast several strides away from him.
“LOOK OUT!”
Zafir whips his body around, and comes face to face with the Batrachia, mid-lunge, mouth agape. His heart drops and his eyes widen, as he gets a clear picture of the inside of its mouth.
CHOMP
Mid-leap, the Batrachia catches Zafir in its mouth, and crashes onto the ground, thrashing and rolling wildly with its prey in its mouth. Zafir’s legs flail inside its mouth, bits of pyro escaping from its lips. The Batrachia turns to face the thunderstuck huntress, with Zafir’s legs no longer moving. The Batrachia looks as though it is about to sneeze.
GRRRAUGH-THOOP
The creature chucks out Zafir from its mouth, his body charred, burnt to a crisp, and shattered to pieces. The smell of burnt flesh lingers in the air, as the last of his remnants roll in front of the huntress. Cyrene’s spirit took a heavy blow. Her body began to tremble.
“What…?!” She gasps, breathlessly. “Z-Zafir…!”
The Batrachia runs toward the paralyzed huntress, rolling into a ball to increase its speed.
“Cyrene!”
Gideon calls out her name to snap her out of her trance. He spawns his bear familiar to decrease the speed. The bear could barely hold its own against the Batrachia before completely dissipating. It continues to barrel toward the young woman trapped behind the massive wall of a building with nowhere to go.
Tap Tap Tap Tap
An array of fast footsteps comes from within earshot from her left. Just as Cyrene turns to see what it might be.
WHAM
Kay arrives in the nick of time, hammering the Batrachia with a powerful punch, sending the beast tumbling across the red dirt.
Kay whips her head back, her hair flowing to the side. Her pleasant demeanor transformed into a hardened glance. She looks around the area, and sees the lower half of a burnt body scattered across the grounds. She winces slightly at the sight.
“Grrrr…” She grumbles.
She turns around to see Cyrene wide-eyed, staring off in the direction of Zafir’s body. Kay looks back toward the Batrachia.
“Hey, tomboy.”
Cyrene perks up, redirecting her attention to Kay.
“You need to get outta here,” Kay said, calmly.
“N-no!” Cyrene refuses. “I’m alright! I can still-”
“No,” Kay shakes her head. “I don’t think you can. I saw the look in your eyes. You’re downright scared straight; pale as that Kai kid. I don’t need that on my conscience when I’m fighting.”
Cyrene grinds her teeth and furrows her brow.
“B-but… I can’t leave you or Gideon behind…! I don’t want either of you to end up like Zafir just did…!”
“I could say the same to you. What am I gonna tell your brother if you end up as a pretty stain on the floor?” She asks. “I’m not gonna tell you again. You need to leave. Me n’ Gideon can handle this," Kay turns her attention to a perched Gideon and calls out to him. "You ready to take this thing out?"
"Yes!" Gideon nods.
“A-are you sure?” Cyrene stammers.
Kay puts her hand atop the huntress’ head and rubs it. She smiles.
“Trust me, doll.”
Kay refocuses her attention on the Batrachia, the life force around her spiking.
“By the way hun, if you really wanna help out. The Kai kid woke up and is somewhere in Hesperos.”
“What?” Cyrene gasped.
“I was on my way there but duty was callin’ to me here. One of our pals was already on our way to try and stop him from getting himself hurt, but they could probably use your help too.”
“O-okay then… I’ll head over there.”
Cyrene turns her back to Kay. She looks over her shoulder one last time.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything…”
“Don’t beat yourself up over this. While you're down here you’ll have plenty of chances to make up for it. Now get to steppin’!”
Reluctantly, Cyrene departs, picking up where Kay left off, on her search for the young boy, Kai. Gideon watches on, concerned as the young woman withdraws.
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