As Well as One Could Reasonably Hope For...

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 41666

Artizza

We've got a fight on our hands....and it's going to be a REALLY bad one, my husband sends nervously to me, well aware of th danger we face. Might even lose if we win because if the worhsippers see their god fall, how do you think they'll greet us?! Badly, most likely!!

Be that as it may, we still have to fight . . .

Honestly, do you see any terms for our surrender being honored by these monsters?

Later...

Battle, either physical or magical, between two opponents usually last a short time, thirty seconds, usually. Now, in certain forms of that beast it can last a LOT longer. The types of battles that Inquirer probably has engaged in, ship to ship, might have lasted hours (dodge, weave, fire). Then there is the type of battle that one can have between dragon and dragonslayer. Have it on good word from my husband and lifemate, Fertal, that his battles with "mere" youngster dragons (the type of dragons who are younger than wyrm status) last a LOT longer. Minutes can seem like hours, with the dragonslayer swinging a comparatively small weapon against the fierce dragon's fiery breath and claws. More a matter of dodging and striking than just trading blows, in that case (for obvious messy reasons if one tries that foolish course of standing ground).

What happens next is a combination of the two extremes. That is, the dragons go at it with magic (a short duration kind of battle) while us non- dragons are going the longer, dragon slayer style of battle. That is, we're dodging and weaving. Taking potshots with arrows and the occasional sword (when a dragon's near enough for such tactics).

....

As Fertal had feared, as soon as the killing blow had landed upon Minestus (hurtling him down in a mess to the earth below), the fox Manimals had gone berserk! Had been keen enough to follow bellowed orders to stand aside and let their "god" and his "servant" (Moreau) handle the interlopers.

Turned out that some of the "interlopers" were dragons, and this wasn't going to be as easy as they'd thought (Minestus and Moreau).

Still, I must admit that fighting wyrm status dragons is quiet a bit more challenging than I'd thought! Fertal had told me, but only now did this battle drive it home for me. As it stands, later one of the magic user types found Minestus more of a challenge than he should have! Kept being able to counter spells that shouldn't have been countered, AT least not as easily as he'd done it! In the end, it was Fertal's brother "cheating" which finally did in Minestus. Basically, he'd used the Crystallic (dug out of a pouch after a LOT of fumbling) to amplify a lighting bold spell that PUNCHED it's way through Minestus' shield spells. Brute force approach, but it worked.

Believe that if the old dragon hadn't gotten distracted by Inquirer's ship coming back down (slower than last time, but still quick enough), he'd be alive still all the same.

Wonder exactly why she came back down, being that she'd just left. Her ship, I mean. She had been here all along, by means of her Avatar and...

Nevermind....

Moreau had been easier to kill, but still.... In the end, it's the least mobile of us who suffer the most.

Yeah, in a straight out run the female centaurs would trounce me and Fertal (any of the two leggers) in a race. However, they're not exactly....built for quick dodging. Not like us two legged folks.

Nothing left of her but a smoking crater....

....

It was Azu who got caught by a stray bolt of magic. Poor dear didn't even stand a chance. I'd been challenged to dodge it, really.

Poor Ravenmane is devastated. She and her brother (that IS what Fertal is, in that strange doppleganger/analog business) are quietly talking, sharing pain.

We'd managed to get away from the maddened crowds by the expediency of either the dragons just swooping down and scooping up the larger members (read remaining centaur at least) or making a quick exit via magic carpet.

Amazing how quick Jarlath can snatch his out of his backpack and lay it out for use....

Then there had been Inquirer's method. Being she didn't trust her teleporter to work after the beating she'd taken, she'd just grabbed up herself (her Avatar unit) via a tractor beam and dragged herself along through the air.

But while that sight had been odd enough for me to see, the probably most nerve racking thing I'd witness was the dragon (Sigin from the scale coloration) was starting to have convulsions. He was still in the air, but shudders kept rippling through his huge body. Didn't exactly know what to make of it until I saw red FUR sprout all over his body! Had managed just scramble onto the dragon's broad back when THAT one happened. Most startling! And it smelled....like the fur of a fox.... Had the most comedic look on my face when I shared a startled look with my husband, Fertal!

Then I noted that Sigin was starting to shrink!

....

Had also happened to the dragon that had Astra 9, but that was only in a small part of my mind. Was more concerned about my mount, alas. It was a LONG way down.

ONLY thing that kept us from hitting the earth below was AGAIN Jarlath using his Crystallic. This time to cure the non-Champion dragons of the AIRBORN neo-lycanthropy they'd caught while in the vicinity of that fox Manimal village! Took a lot out of him and he'd barely been able to land his carpet, miles away.

The effort was draining. Would have been impossible if the curse had been allowed to take complete hold. That is, if the curse had been allowed to run it's course (so swift) and completely transform the dragons, then the task would have been impossible. Whatever Minestus did, he'd made that curse, the neo-lycanthropy, something even a contemporary trained maged (with a Crystallic) couldn't reverse!

Something made me shiver. Had a taste of . . . something familiar. Something from . . . Atlantis. Had handled a few artifacts from that lost land before my wedding night, you know. Can "feel" the ancient magical residues. Got that same feeling (but much stronger) while Sigin was shrinkign and changing under me.

Hm, we lost people. Then again, given everything we'd just faced I'm surprised we'd not lost more....

  1. After we'd pulled ourselves together from the after effects of battle, Inquirer had some things to share with us. Things that her sensors (damaged though they were) had detected from space...

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5/2/2004 6:21:14 PM

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