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Kadri:

"If you want to come see your fa, you are going to need to do exactly what I say - let go of my legs, take my hand and go exactly where I go. Can you do that, Dydd? Please?"

Cesare

Well it had worked, maybe better than he wanted it too. Time he was somewhere else. He had seen the flash of light from around Mikal. He had seen it before and know what it was.

He uses Elsewhere to get back towards Mikal and then will taunt again, hopefully bringing them back to Mikal and to their deaths.

"Over here you stupid creatures! What are you doing over there!"

At his first opportunity he will fire the crossbow again.

Mikal

His opponents are getting less, which is typically a good thing. However in this case a couple of them have chosen to turn on Cesare instead of facing his flaming sword.

So with a single foe in front of him he tries to drop it as quickly as possible so he can turn to help Cesare.

The Heartwood
Talesan’s Village
Under the Docks
Hasday, the Twelfth Day of Scholar

Cesare, Kadri, Mikal, Bekkah and Rory

It was much different than falling off a horse. Not that falling off a horse didn’t hurt, nor was it somehow not dangerous or potentially fatal. This was, however, different. First, of course, was that Bekkah had never run up against any opponent who was so stupid they did not know the prohibition or consequences of hurting an Atteran.

It started with the massive lizard thing with the very long cleaver of metal falling forward, with a splash that sent water dashing this way and that, rising like a sheet and falling in uncountable droplets.

Mikal’s shortsword slashed downwards, his attempt to end that dangerous beast. At the same time, driven by pain, death and a single minded purpose it in turn struck out at its closest target. To be fair, it was the only target that was now in front of its desperate maybe-dead arc. So as Bekkah tried to nimbly step back its rusted blade slashed across the water to cut through cream and white skirts and leave a painful white hot gash in her leg, taking the priestess to her knees.

Bekkah, slipping and falling backwards was now beyond reach of the lizard-thing and the lizard-thing was no longer going anywhere. Mikal’s shortsword had removed it’s leg and it was left to twist and writhe in place. And it bled; it bled fountains, staining the water even blacker than night.

That left two.

Actually three; but the third hadn’t moved from in front of its door.

With a pop, a plash and a definite surprise, Cesare was then next to Mikal. It was exactly as if he hadn’t been there – and now, it was as if he had been there all the while. The two lizards that had been chasing him looked around, growled at each other, trying to find their vanished foe. Cesare’s taunt solved that problem for them. They weren’t smart enough to question how he had gotten away, just smart enough to understand their victim was now over there and they better go after him.

Cesare’s crossbow sang, the quarrel sailing swift and true. One of the lizard-things growled in pain as it went down on one leg. Still a distance from the two men, it could only slowly lurch forward.

The other was a bit swifter. It actually leaped – a low and flat trajectory, that had it immediately next to the Rhoni. That, however, put it right next to Mikal, allowing a flaming sword to separate the creature’s sword from its hand … and its hand from it’s arm in a single lucky stroke.

It blinked, once, twice and with blood pouring form the shorn stump and then tried to beat Mikal with it’s shield. It failed.

It seemed like the fight might end soon. The two lizard things simply needed to be convinced that they were dying and dead.

Except …

Dyddplentyn looked up to Kadri with wide eyes, nodded and took her hand.

“Fa is here?”

She peeked about, trying around to see if she could find her father. And then she simply raised her hand and pointed. She pointed to the west, down the corridor they had come.

“W'ats t'at?”

Entering at the very edge of the lamplight, coming up from behind, there was first the hump of a pressure wave.

And a bit further a single triangular fin cut through the top of the water.

This was a Shrine to a Shark God, after all.


The Shrine of the Shark God

Bekkah

She wanted to stay out of the way, not because she feared being struck, but because she didn't want to be in the way of her friends. So the strike surprised her like nothing else in her life. It also hurt, bad, very bad. She looked down in the water as her blood flowed into the water. Her hand moved to her wound, wincing at the intense pain. She'd never been injured like this before.

If others could read her next thoughts, they'd see why she was meant to be a Lady of Attera.

*My Lady, you've shown me how the pain others endure feels. All the more reason, that I love and honor you and your gifts.* she thought in a moment.

She moved back as best she could, her white robes scandalously wet. Once the threat of another strike passed. She laid her hand on her wound.

"Thank you for the lesson my Lady. I humbly ask for your blessing for myself." she said as the power flowed through her, easing her pain with a warm comforting feeling.

She got back to her feet, the blood on her robes a reminder of the lesson.

As the last two seemed to be down, or soon to be down, she looked around and listened for more trouble.

Cesare

Appearing next to Mikal, he is ready to fire at the creatures coming towards them. He hits one but the other moves forward more quickly than hew had thought possible. He starts to breath again when Mikal disarms it in more ways that one.

So he takes a step back and to the side out of its immediate reach and fires again at the one he hit last time.

"Look out behind! Something incoming , see the wake in the water!"

The Heartwood
Talesan’s Village
Under the Docks
Hasday, the Twelfth Day of Scholar

Cesare, Kadri, Mikal, Bekkah and Rory

The lizard-thing with the shorn am, it simply thrashed in he water, rolling this way and that, its heavy tail splashing in the water. That not only made waves but set water flying – if the group was not yet soaked … now they were. But with each convulsion the lizard-thing was getting weaker and weaker and weaker.

For Cesare, his foe was moving slowly, his foe was large and thus an easy target, almost like fishing in a barrel. All it took was that last solid crossbow bolt to pierce lizard-thing scales and send him slowly tumbling forward. He splashed face first, into the shallow water and twitched.

And twitched and twitched and twitched.

It was a second spray of white light that vanquished the harsh gash across Bekkah’s leg, cleansing the wound, mending short flesh and muscle, allowing her to stand comfortably again.

The true problem, as Kadri pointed out, was the black wave of water and triangular in coming from the west, slicing around the columns with both a predatory ease and a deadly grace. It was indeed a shark and in the time that had passed it was no longer approaching.

It was there.

And the farthest back of the small troupe of rescuers and thus the closest to the hungry fish?

Bekkah.


The Shrine of the Shark God

Cesare

He looks up at Kardi's shout, his eyes searching for the threat at then he sees it.. or at least the bow wave that heralds its approach. He aims the crossbow and let's fly, the only thing we can do immediately to help.

Bekkah

She felt immediately better as she'd expected. Standing, she looked at the lizard that had attacked her as it finally died. Then before she could relax, she heard Kadri's warning.

She turned and looked, her eyes going wide. She had no doubts that this was the shark that Romana had warned them about. She also had no doubts that it would happily eat her or anyone else.

While she didn't want anyone else to get hurt, she also knew that if she was going to be of any use to any of them, it wasn't going to be by standing in the path of a monster.

She turned and dove into the water, behind her thinking that was the quickest way to get behind her friends. It was a quick dive, coming up almost immediately, her blond hair hanging limp over her completely soaked white robe.

The Heartwood
Talesan’s Village
Under the Docks
Hasday, the Twelfth Day of Scholar

Cesare, Kadri, Mikal, Bekkah and Rory

Finally, finally, that last lizard-thing, the one standing in the northwest corner moved. Very very very slowly it slipped back towards the north, until he was now directly in front of his door. He was not a happy looking lizard-thing; looking concerned and worried and probably thinking something along the lines of if he stays here right in front of his door, like he’s supposed to, and no one will come this way and bother him.

No.

They were not very smart at all.

The shark, however, was not so cooperative.

Bekkah’s retreat came in the nick of time, the Priestess jumping out of the way as the shark sliced forward. It had gotten close enough for her to discern its night black predatory form, just beneath the water’s surface; it definitely was the same manner of demon fish that her apprentice had spoken of. Her dive was more of a forward, desperate leap but there was just enough water to break her fall and – like a rock skipped across a pond - sail forward far enough to end with both Cesare and Mikal between her and the shark.

Which gave Cesare a clean and open shot. The bolt sailed true, it was actually hard to miss, it wasn’t as if the shark was trying to dodge. The quarrel buried itself into the shark’s topside, just in front of the black triangular fin.

It did nothing, however, to slow the fish demon’s approach.

Meaning that it was sheer luck that Cesare was able to dodge being bitten.

He did, however, get a glimpse of its flat black eyes and double row of very sharp teeth.

The Shrine of the Shark God

Miklal

As Bekkah dives past and Cesare shoots Mikal grabs the nearest dying Lizard thing and tosses it between them and the Shark. He doesn't know anything about sharks, but it gives all the appearances of a predator and predators will always go for the lame and injured in preference to one who can put up a fight. The joke among the trackers in the Troop was that you did not need to run faster than the Softpad. Only faster then the other guy. Not to mention the blood pouring from the mortally wounded lizard.

Immediately after shoving the lizard forward, he takes his flaming sword and dagger and readies them, like twin spears, pointed directly at the shark's head. If ignores the lizard and charges forward it will impale itself on them.

Kadri tries to judge distance and shadows - and if possible to, provide a distraction(summon shade). If not, she cannot quickly reach the others and needs protect and watch dydd.

The Heartwood
Talesan’s Village
Under the Docks
Hasday, the Twelfth Day of Scholar

Cesare, Kadri, Mikal, Bekkah and Rory

This was definitely not a lizard-thing; this was definitely a predator, and a nasty one at that. It was also fighting with a vengeance because, no matter the right or wrong of things, the good or the evil, the chaotic or the law, this was its shrine it was defending …

… and they were the interlopers.

The best thing about swords and daggers was that heir attacks struck first; they had the reach on the fish, or at least until it actually managed to bite someone. And that it did, taking Mikal to his knees with a single powerful lunge an closing of its powerful jaws. And it did so because Mikal was definitely the most dangerous one there and it knew it because it was the Jvrillian’s’s sword that had first slashed through its thick hide, just in front of its dorsal fin.

In some ways Mikal was glad that it was that fate made it a solid hit and not an impaling one; his strike was deep enough to cause great hurt, which in turn sent the shark writhing, his entire body twisting this way and that in both pain and fury. If he had impaled, surely he would have ha his sword yanked from his grip.

But that was also the reason that Cesare’s hit had little effect, the shark’s tail caching the Rhoni and tossing him against the nearby column. While he had his wind knocked out of him he seemed otherwise unharmed.

And that was when Dyddplentyn screamed. The little girl pointed again, at the shadows that surrounded the bloody melee. For one of them had taken shape and form, all spikey and toothy and with rd triangular eyes that burned like hellfire. How was a little girl to know this newest monster was a shade summoned by Kadri?

The shadow wrapped over the shark and it bit. It was hard to see what was happening as the black fish was wrapped in black and blood was suddenly – so much like a ruff shaking himself after being doused in water – spraying everywhere.

Set a baby demon to fight a baby demon.

Even taken down, the salty water making matters worse, Mikal still had enough left to lift his sword and strike, until …

… until between sword and shadow there was silence.

Like feather pillow exploding, but with feathers black, the shadow vanished.

The shark lay still, not moving, his carcass having been ripped and shorn and literally torn to pieces by darksteel and aether.

Mikal collapsed, his adrenaline rush over.

And or a moment, just a moment, save for the splashing of water against stone, all was silent in the Shrine of the Shark God.

Mikal

The Shark thing ignores his bait and charges him directly. His flaming sword slices deep into it's flesh right behind it's head, just a split second before it's teeth grab him around the midsection and clamp down like a vise. He grunts at the pressure, thankful for the protection of his leather armour, although he knows he has still taken a very bad blow, and that his armour is going to be worthless after this is over.

Presuming he survives of course.

That thought drives him to continue stabbing at the beast that has grabbed him. He has the ironic advantage now that it really can't avoid his blows while it continues to keep him trapped in it's maw.

A moment later a toothy shadow closes on the beast and it spits him out as the two entities thrash and fight each other until finally the fish thing lies still.

It is only then that the extent of his wounds catch up with him. The Morale spell and his own adrenaline finally running out.

He collapses, first to his knees, and then prone, face down in the bloody water.

(OOC - Wolf - Isn't that Lizard guarding the door still around?)

[[yup ... see the OOC notes ...]]

Cesare

Winded, confused by the shark and the strange shadow who finish the battle, his first concern is for Mikal who falls face down in the water. Pushing himself off he pillar, he moves to the fighter's side and kneels in the water, turning him and propping him up against his own knees so that he can at least breathe.

Time to get his own breath back too.

And bringing dydd, kadri rushes over to Mikal to offer what healing she can in her small way.

Bekkah

She barely had enough time to roll over and attempt to pick herself up with as much dignity as possible and the fight was over. She witnessed the end of the fight and she glanced over at Kadri, eyebrows rising.

*Clearly far more to her than I'd thought.* she thinks.

She hadn't seen Mikal, getting bit, but she did see the large amount of blood in the water, and Mikal being helped up.

Some might think she hesitated going to his side out of cowardice, but she'd seen enough fighting to know that she was more of a liability if she got in the way of the fighters.

When it was clear the current threat was over, she moved next to Mikal, kneeling by his side. She was already thoroughly soaked so she didn't worry any further about her dignity.

"Thank you for keeping me from being it's breakfast." she said smiling as she examined the wound. She wanted to make sure that it was a normal wound and not something poisonous.

"It appears to be a regular wound. Quite painful I'm sure, but with my Lady's help, we should have you up and about again." she said giving him that dazzling smile of hers.

Quickly, the power flowed through her hands, momentarily creating light in the darkened room as it flowed from her hands into his body. The would knit quickly and in short order his leg was healed.

"You'll need to get someone else to fix your armor. Your britches, I could mend with time, but the leather is more than I am able to manage." she said standing and offering him a hand.

Mikal

The coolness of the healing from Bekkah is, as always, a combination of soothing and jolting. He smiles in return and stands up.

"I think it might be time for me to see about getting something a little thicker." He indicates the torn leather. "Maybe something with a bit of metal in it. Besides, if I am going to lead a troop I need to look the part I suppose."

He pauses, then adds to Bekkah. "Now I had thought good Ladies of Attera did not stare at the holes in men's britches?" He chuckles.

He tests his leg, finding it good enough in a pinch to fight, but he knows he needs some time for natural healing to catch up.

Looking about and seeing no threat, other than the single lizard guarding the door he quirks an eyebrow at the others.

First he asks Dydd's father, "Now that your daughter is safe, perhaps it is time for you to tell us what is going on here? Why would fishermen want to kidnap the daughter of an innkeeper? It looked like she was to be sacrificed to that Shark thing, or that's my best guess, but why? What was that Shark thing and why would there be a shrine to it under your town?

He then glances at the others. "Well. We got what we came for", he nods towards Dydd. "We could go see what is so all fired important that our lizard friend refuses to budge from his door. Or we could count our blessings and leave."

He glances from face to face. He can go with either decision.

Bekkah

Her friendly smile changed to an icy stare, her blue eyes seeming to freeze him in place.

"Mikal, I assume you are not suggesting what I think you're suggesting." she said with hands on hips, looking as scary as Dazi ever did.

Then, before he could do anything, the radiant smile was back as if it had never been gone. Clearly she wasn't really upset by the comment.

"Better armor would be an excellent idea."

When Dydd was brought nearer, she looked at her appraisingly.

"Are you hurt child?"

Kadri:

"I would be loathe to leave something potentially dangerous sitting right beneath the town. "

Cesare

"And what was that spiky dark thing that attacked the shark?"

He is still unsure of what it was or where it came from.

"And do we think we could take the last one in our current situation?"

He is sore but willing to join the others if that is what they want to do. He glances at Rory, also wanting to know more about why Dydd had been taken. Right now he is glad the girl is safe and he isn't sure that risking the group further is worth it.

"Maybe he should have a say? He has to carry on living here afterwards."

But he glances at the door, curious to know what lies beyond it.

Kadri:

"Whatever one might say it was - it does seem it's only interest was that beast and then it was gone, to bother us no more, yes? Had it interest in harming us it would have taken on Mikal while he was down, ne?"

Mikal

As he waits for the innkeeper to answer his question he looks at his companions. "It is possible we might take him down with our crossbows from here, especially if he will not leave the door, though I suspect he will charge us once he takes a few bolts."

"And after our battles, I think we can take on 1 lizard between us. However I do not know if any of us have any healing left, in case it gets lucky." He looks around at each of them.