[X]Obtained Earth Relic [X]Obtained Water Relic [X]Obtained Air Relic [X]Obtained Fire Relic
Nephi easily knew when he arrived.
Were they not supposed to be quiet? The amount of buzz he was hearing was almost disturbing and not exactly quiet in any sense of the word.
-- Wait, was Alethea declaring that she had flown? It was enough to pique Nephi's curiosity, and he walked up near them, for a moment, trying to figure out how she had flown on her lack-of-wing, as it were. She didn't seem to have a wing on her now. Was it some kind of magic? Perhaps, but he did not know she had known levitation. That would seem like quite an important power to mention.
That couldn't be it, then, and Nephi looked around to see if he could find some other answer to why she was flying now.
Aha.
He saw a bit of metal peeking up from the muck which looked to be like the tip of a wing. Did she have a replacement wing of metal? The scientific brain in Nephi's head immediately wanted to figure out how it worked, but there was no time for such silly nonsense. Every moment they wasted was another moment that Malek and the other were likely about to die or dead, and Nephi could not accept the idea that they would fail in a mission again.
To Alethea, he walked over, tapping on her shoulder and murmuring, "I think what you're looking for is over there." He pointed in the direction he saw the metal, which thankfully was not too far away.
Easily, he slipped forward after that, heading towards the entrance to the Dark Forest, tokens tucked safely into his coat. He stopped, for a moment, before looking over his shoulder at the fellow Squires who were behind him now.
"Are we coming? We cannot afford to delay."
Nephi did not wait a moment more, turning his eyes to his map and back up to what was ahead. These were traps ahead, but he was prepared. He had nothing to fear from these traps, and they would not impede him.
And so he walked, eyes glancing at the map every once in a while to make sure he still continued in the correct direction.
He walked by the inner wall, the first of the traps, and not a single flaming arrow fired at him due to the stick tucked at his side. The marshy ground was of no concern, and he easily walked over that as well, no water rushing towards him due to the cup he had collected. The winds were of no concern, mostly a calming breeze as it were, due to the extra sword he had hilted at his side. And the marsh did not open to collect him, no matter what, due to the token he had tucked into the side of his coat.
Was that all?
Nephi looked down at his map, making sure he had taken the correct route. The Guardians were with them when they gave them this warning, and Nephi had easily heeded. He had gathered all the necessary tokens, and so, no harm came to him here.
If the Guardians had Blessed him, no signficant harm would come to him through this journey to save the faithful. Every step he took was in the name of the Guardians, and he hoped the Guardians would see that and reward him for his holy deeds.
He reflected a moment in silence.
When he was certain it had been long enough, he looked up, watching for any of the other squires' arrivals.
Antidia
Alethea. Hope it's okay he spotted at least part of the wing. If it's not, lemme know and I'll make an adjustment <3
Dementia Requiem Asumi
Harveer
Wolfs Heart
Genesis
Teigra
Eligor -- and if you think Lailah would hear him prompting, I don't know how close they are exactly. XD
Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2014 10:15 am
To Kayta, Dante signed a warm greeting before she'd wrapped him up in a hug. Oh, and she was so warm and soft and delicate! A little color rose to his cheeks. He would protect her with his life in the coming trial, if needbe.
And there was also Lailah. Dante sighed inwardly and signed a belated, polite greeting to their comrade. What did Katya see in her anyway? He hadn't seen Katya in quite some time--everyone had been on their own separate quests to acquire the talismans, but he knew that Katya and Lailah had been training together. He was afraid that Lailah would rub off on his sweet Katya, but of course he'd never mention it.
He took off only seconds behind the two girls, letting Katya take the lead to scout, then Lailah who would undoubtedly revel in the chance to kill something. He would hang at the back of their little formation, scanning the horizon and down below for any sign of danger. This wasn't any ordinary place they were going. The dark forest radiated with evil. There would be no chance for diplomacy should they run into anything. Dante hadn't even brought his pad and pencil.
Their journey to the meeting place was without incident, which Dante found odd, but fortuitous. Perhaps they would need to fight nothing at all this day! They might slip in unnoticed, rescue their brethren, and make a clean getaway. The thought filled Dante with hope.
He landed just in time to hear Lailah's question. Just like her to always assume the worst, paranoid girl that she was. Although now that they'd landed, this place gave him the creepy crawlies, so he wasn't above suspicion himself. Not that he'd actually agree with her. In lieu of responding, Dante pulled out his map and surveyed it. He noticed the message from the Guardians and looked up excitedly, showing it to Katya and Lailah. He was right! It was a trap!
Do you have all the talismans? he signed, mostly to Katya.
[X]Obtained Earth Relic [X]Obtained Water Relic [X]Obtained Air Relic [X]Obtained Fire Relic
With the arrival of the other squires, Genesis was ready to return to the mission. She had already had the reprieve she needed waiting for them all to arrive. Once she was certain that the squires were in good health, Genesis looked ahead to the marshes. She knew she had the guardian's protection, and they had promised her that these talismans she had collected would get her through these traps. "I agree with Nephi." Genesis announced, looking to the companion she had obtained some of the relics with. They had worked well together, and were like-minded in her views. "I think it is time we prepared to proceed." Genesis continued, getting ready to follow closely behind Nephi.
Her journey through the courtyard was much like the rest of her journey had been so far: quiet. It was supposed to be this way, because of the protection she had, but she still had her concerns. Every phase that she proceeded through gave her a sigh of relief knowing that she had acquired the right token.
When she quickly joined Nephi on the other side, she gave the male a quick nod before looking backwards on the path she had traveled to see to it that the others made it safely through as well. She hesitated to look ahead to see what lie before them. There journey so far had been safe, the tokens protected them for this part. Going into the fortress... she wasn't sure if the guardians were able to protect them in there. All they had was each other and their skills.
Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 2:26 pm
[X] Obtained Fire, Earth, and Air tokens Water token not retrieved
Eligor was shaken from his own shocked disbelief by the sudden, muddy hug from the pink angel. Well, her excitement was certainly understandable, given circumstances. For so long to be stuck on the ground, even if it had been as awkward a trip as she implied, any flight at all would have been a wondrous gift. When she broke away looking sheepish, Eligor chuckled and shook his head, while attempting to wipe away as much of the clinging muck as possible.
"Truly a blessing from the Guardians." He glanced towards the courtyard and their companions that had progressed safely already, an anxious churning in his gut. "You'll have to tell us all about it later...promise?" The simple statement wasn't meant to brush her triumph aside. But more as...hope that things weren't about to go badly, and the implication that if things went okay, he really would like to know more about this new wing of hers afterward.
Neither of them had gotten a cup from the Naiad. He knew that all too well, as did the butterflies in his stomach. The Guardians know we tried though...right? Please...protect us...
Taking a deep breath, Eligor neared the archway. No turning back now. He'd done as well as he could with the time given. A tiny voice in the back of his mind whispered that if he hadn't spent so much time trying to help Alethea, if he'd just flown off on his own, he probably could have retrieved the final item from the Naiad.
After she gave up the one sword you both found so that you could have it?
That's right...they weren't even sure if the shield would work. He wavered before stepping into the courtyard. It came from the same place...it even matched the sword. Would it do?
Only right if he went first, to provide some warning of what would happen if they were missing the Water token. At least she'd have a chance to prepare if he triggered some related trap.
The muddy courtyard stretched before him, and as he stepped forward, the mud pulled at his feet, trying to drag him down, slowing his movements. Best make this quick, perhaps. Tugging his feet free, he started taking swift steps once free of the muck, his wings aiding in keeping him somewhat aloft with a beat or two now and again. Sprinting, he picked up his feet and made lengthy strides, maybe he'd outdistance any trouble...
He didn't even need to step on the trap it seemed. As he passed over an area, beneath the mud there was a sudden flash of brilliant blue from a hidden glyph. In that instant, he was hit by a jet of water, as if the earth itself had opened to some magical underground source. The impact felt like he'd been hit by one of the surrounding stone walls, knocking the breath from him and sending him tumbling wing over heels back towards the archway he'd left. He was drenched and disoriented at first, slowly attempting to pull himself out of the mud as the geyser subsided. He waited until the dizziness stopped before climbing to his feet. Well, that answered that question of what would happen...
"I'm alright!" he called to the others, quickly covering for the embarrassment of having his failure exposed. Frowning, he questioned how to try this again. He knew what area to avoid, otherwise, his previous tactic had seemed to be working well enough. Don't give up...keep trying...
Once he reached the other side, more or less in one piece, he allowed himself to relax. Trying to wring out his hair and wipe off, he grumbled to himself quietly, "Really, a soak in the City spa would have been much better..."
[x] Wooden Token Obtained [x] Water Token Obtained [x] Air and Fire Tokens Obtained
Harveer watched as several of his fellow squires crossed the marsh to the other side. Eligor tripped a trap, one that made the pale angel wince as he saw it go off. "That had to hurt..." He mumbled to himself, shaking his head.
Turning quiet, he started forward, confident in his own tokens. The Guardians were with all of them, and the others would be there to help him if needed it. Right? Harveer sent up a quiet prayer that he would pass through this muck safely.
It would seem as though he'd picked the correct items, nothing happened as he passed through the marshy lands. "When we get the Loyalists back Eligor, I think we all need a nice soak in the spa." He pulled his fook out of the muck and onto a dry-ish patch. The angel had just barely caught him the grumbling, and it was probably rude of him to reply, but he couldn't help it. A soak sounded nice right about now, but that was his mind getting off track again.
"Who else are we waiting for?" He looked around, curious to see if anyone had shown up while he was following in the footsteps of his peers.
Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 3:43 pm
[X] Obtained Fire and Earth tokens Water and Air tokens not retrieved
Smiling at Nephi, she took the wing apparatus and nodded her head. "Thank you."
Whiping the mud and swamp snot off the thing, she put it back on and tested it a bit. Her feathered wing was covered in the same muck so flying was likely out of the question. She couldn't really wash it off with this nasty water, so she had to deal with it.
--
Alethea watched Nephi, then Genesis head down the path to the check point. They had no problems, but she also knew they had all their relics - she assumed anyway. But then Eligor stepped up to go. She grew nervous and started biting her fingernails. She didn't know what to expect with the traps and she knew he was missing one. Everything seemed okay until the sudden jet blast. She cried out to him, suddenly regretting everything about their trip to get the relics. She should have insisted he go on his own so he could have gotten them all. He may have been alright, but he was still hurt. He may not actually be that worse for wear, but to Alethea, a papercut on her beloved was a big deal.
He made it safely to the other side. She took a deep breath. She could do this. The shield they retrieved will work just fine to protect her just like the swords. It wasn't the item, it was the intention behind it. Keep telling yourself that.
She stepped into the courtyard, one foot at a time, looking under the muddy water for signs of the runes. She couldn't see anything, so she didn't know what they looked like, so didn't know what to avoid. The rune Eligor had walked across to trigger the jet of water was to her left, and she knew to avoid it. Once she passed it - if she passed it, she'd just use the last bit of her Light energy to cast her spell to increase her speed to dodge the rest of the runes. That would ensure victory, and quell any doubts about that shield.
Okay, past the point of doom, so far so good. Creep a little further just to be safe-----
The rune under the swamp water flashed blue and the dirty water she was standing in swelled and rose to her waist. She tried to run forward to avoid it, but she was caught and it grew like a tidal wave, pushing her back down, even further past the gateway where the rest of the squires waited for their turn. She rolled and churned, swallowing water and choking. Just when she thought she was going to drown, the water set her down, face up in ankle-deep mud, several yards away from her comrades. She sat up, coughed and inhaled like she'd never breathed before. She coughed out the muddy water and panted, resting on her knees for a few minutes. This was going to be hard if she couldn't even get in to the fortress to save those poor souls. She couldn't even save herself.
Something wiggled in the muddy water. She froze for just a moment, her eyes darting back and forth trying to find it. There it was again! Dragnid fish, oh no! She darted up, opened her wings to help create lift, even if she couldn't fly. They'd help her skim the murky swamp water. She cast her spell to speed up, and ran past her peers again, dodging the two known water runes. Sprinting hard, her heart started pounding ad the check point was just within reach...
Then the white rune flashed in her eyes and a burst of air sent her straight up into the sky. Well, not quite straight. The speed at which she was approaching created quite an impressive trajectory. As she was sent soaring up and over the courtyard, over the outer wall, and over several trees she screamed and flailed. The wing prosthetic did nothing to help with control and when she landed, it shattered on a rock at the base of the tree in which she became entangled.
A loud, but low groan could be heard coming from deep withing the fortress sounding like the very gates of hell had just been opened. Dragnid birds scattered, taking to the sky and fleeing the trees.
"... Trap." Katya's reply was flat and lacked emotion. She'd been expecting this to be the case, since the briefing. The utterly uneventful flight over simply reinforced her suspicions. While the demon did not have the martial mind that Lailah did, she was practical and astute enough in a more general sense, especially when it came to situational awareness. And the situation was, while not dire, not good either.
In answer to Dante's question, Katya patted her flight bag, into which she'd stuffed all four of her protection tokens. The sword 's hilt in particular protruded awkwardly out, although it did not interfere with her movement. "I have everything I we were asked to gather." She turned to face into the courtyard, watching as other squires tentatively began moving forward, likely putting their trust in whatever tokens they had managed to gather for this. Strange, that the tokens they were to collect for what would have been their final test, should become so critical for this mission that had fallen upon them instead.
Or perhaps it was providence. The Guardians' foresight was just as important to the world as their power, and Katya silently chided herself for not seeing the answers through her faith. Still, she wished it didn't have to be heretic artefacts that she would have to trust on.
It's not the heretic's trinkets that you trust in, it's the Guardians' wisdom. This was a mission, but it was also a test, and Katya knew she would have to remember that if she was going to make it through.
As fate would have it, her faith would not be the first tested in that courtyard. Nephi, Genesis and Harveer all crossed without incident before her, but Eligor and Alathea had both sprung dangerous-looking traps that sent them sprawling. She wasn't sure who had collected what, so she wasn't convinced yet that she would get through unscathed, even with all the tokens. She took a deep breath, gathered her faith and spread her wings. It certainly couldn't hurt to have her flight help her faith out a little.
It was over so quickly. A swift climb, followed by a dive to max out her speed, and she'd shot across the courtyard in a blur. With all of her tokens present, however, no misfortune befell her. Katya spun around in a snap and planted her feet hard on the old, cracked flagstones opposite the entrance. With a quick, nervous glance in each direction, she determined she wasn't in any danger and then folded her wings. "Okay then." She made a mental note that if she could find a safer way out, she would take that.
Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 5:40 pm
[X] Obtained Earth token [X] Obtained Air token [X] Obtained Water token [X] Obtained Fire token
Lailah didn't need anyone to agree with her to know this smelt of 'trap' as clear as blue sky. However, the little demon's response actually made her smirk a bit. Even she noticed it.
Frowning to herself, she peered at the golden text Dante showed them at the corner of his map. Yep, trap. Though, it seemed they'd been prepared for this one. Would this be all? Once they cleared this heathen trap, would they be free to find the faithful and escape?
Probably not. Best not assume so. Best to assume the worst, that this was only the start.
"Looks like our next steps are clear. Let's move."
Lailah moved silently through the foliage, emerging in the clearing before the archway in time to see the blast of water that sent the unfortunate Eligor tumbling backwards out of control. Seems not everyone had followed the directions they'd been given, if she interpreted this correctly. Was this the trap they'd been warned of? Seemed it could be...
Eligor eventually made it across, then Harveer seemed to cross without incident. That left only Alethea on this side, apart from the trio who had just showed up. As she began her own crossing, there was little the others could do but watch the troubles unfold as the angel triggered not one, but two of the traps in her attempt. She looked like a half-drowned rat, scrambling out of the mud to try again...and then a new trap caught her, sending her spiraling out of control up in the air. Only when her screams rent the air did Lailah cringe visibly. She hissed, biting back curses under her breath. Stupid fool! Not only could she not follow orders, but she couldn't even keep quiet! So much for subtlety! This whole mission was going to be a failure before it even began!
The deep rumbling groan sent a chill creeping up the angel's spine. The sounds of the scattering Dragnid avians instilled in her a sudden urge to be elsewhere, as far from the noise as possible. Something heard that. Something responded to it as well. "We're gonna' be made cause of that screeching! Move!" It seemed Katya didn't need encouragement. The little one had already taken to the air, diving and skimming safely over the courtyard to land on the other side.
Lailah moved towards the archway, reaching to touch each of the tokens before she proceeded. One. Two. Three. Four. She visibly relaxed, eyes closing as she crossed the threshold. I go with the Light, which will protect me from darkness and doubt.
Aside from the clinging mud, Lailah encountered no serious hazards in her crossing. Only after she'd reached the other side safely did she look back, not to where Dante stood, but beyond where Alethea had gone sailing. Where had she landed? Some part of her mind questioned falling from such a height without the use of one's wings to break the fall...
After crossing the courtyard, the Squires find themselves united once more in front of a singular opening in the inner wall. It seems to be the only access to the fortress within, an ancient guardhouse or a checkpoint of some sort. The opening leads to a long hallway, its length saying much about the thickness and strength of the wall above it. At the very end, the hallway opens up into a larger space, though little more can be seen from this distance.
Some Squires ended up looking a bit worse for wear from the elemental traps outside. During the short period allowed for any necessary healing spells, they would find that this opening is the only way to proceed. Though the walls appear ancient and must have been built centuries before, there are signs of recent use: mud smeared along the floor into the hallway; scratches in the floor, some on the walls.
Gathering together, the Squires would eventually venture into the opening. Some may explore the hallway, others looking at the opening...but as the last of their number entered the arched opening, an ominous rumble sounded deep below. Sharp iron poles shot like spears from a number of innocuous holes near the ceiling of the opening. The metal rods buried themselves in the floor with a splintering crack of stone, blocking the exit and removing the possibility of turning back. Those who had already moved into the hallway may have noticed similar holes in the walls, the floor, the ceiling...in varying intervals, never more than six inches between them. The stones seemed quite old, but the holes seemed...newer. As did the metal spears...not a spot of rust...not that there was time to inspect them too closely. A rumble...then another wave of spears, these from the wall, launched and buried themselves in the opposite wall just inside the corridor from the first set. Another rumble started to shake the floor...
*****
((At this point it is assumed that all Squires are present, whether they have been posted for in this RP or not. The spikes will continue to pierce the full length of the corridor, so the Squires best not dally. They should be safe, relatively speaking, if they can just get out of the hallway to the open space beyond.
As per the rules of the Squires contest, any Squires who are deemed inactive will not survive the final challenge. This is our activity check. Any Squire who does not respond to the prompt, will be assumed to have done nothing, and therefore will die. However, even if a player did not complete all of the earlier RP challenges, but does respond to this prompt, they will still be able to play along, just without the advantages the others earned previously.
Players have until the next prompt (approx. 9PM EST on Dec. 21st) to respond with their Squire escaping the trap. Any who fail to do so...well...we will mourn their Squire's passing. Following that prompt, we will be taking a break for the holidays, so that everyone can travel and celebrate with family. We will pick up with Part 2 likely mid-January.))
Dante had hung back as his friends began to cross the courtyard. It wasn't like him to charge in headfirst. And especially as he saw some of the others spring traps. Lailah had been right. He's not sure which part of that frustrated him more.
Some of the others arrived safely on the other side, without incident. Others had invoked hails of flaming arrows, or sudden crashing waves. How could he avoid the traps? He peered down at the relics he carried. Surely everyone had collected all four! He wanted to rush in to help Alethea and Eligor, caught up in swirling waters, but he would do no good to anyone if he also injured himself. The whole business had him shaky and nervous. Would he make it across the square as Katya and Lailah had?
As he saw Alethea soar through the air (not of her own volition), Dante screwed his courage and charged across the square. He was the only one left on this side, and he would not hold his friends behind! The Guardians would protect him! He had collected all the talismans and proved himself as one of their faithful. He imagined himself as a holy flame, burning its way through this unholy place. Nothing could touch him. Nothing else crossed his mind; his vision began to blur as he ran, taking more-or-less the same path Lailah had taken (because he'd seen it was safe, not because she had taken it, obviously), and he only strove to arrive at the other side safely.
Dante skidded to a halt on the other side of the courtyard. He'd made it!
In longer terms, Clarux was furious. Any assistance given to her after needing help getting out of trap after trap was met with a curt 'thanks'. Any questioning on why she brought none of the asked relics were answered by a snarl and her stomping off away from those who asked. She had been battered and bruised and stuck with an arrow in her thigh by all these damned traps this blasted heathens had set.
Clarux however, was not angry at those who questioned her and aided her. She wasn't angry at the traps either. (She however will always be angry at heathens, but that is a default setting for Clarux). She was angry at herself.
Why didn't she have these things, these relics others had picked up at the Guardians request? She tried to look back upon the days leading up to this moment, but it was met with a headache and out of focus memories that made no sense. But now was not the time to brood, though she wished she could oh so very much.
For now was a new challenge, one that didn't seem to need these relics that others had gathered, and she wasn't going to allow herself any more failure then she was already proven. Even though her whole body ached from her failures before, she thrust herself forward and with great speed and grace. The spears didn't even come close to piercing her.
The moment she stopped though, all the pain came back. She did her best to hide it, biting down on her lip to ward off wanting to cry out with how it hurt.
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 5:32 am
When she arrived back near his side, Nephi nodded to Genesis. Of course she made it through without an issue. They had gotten half of their relics together, and she was the one to tell him about what to do about the strange relic that was hard to place -- and why a stick in the trees of the Fae Clearing appeared to be the right move.
Others were not so lucky, and Nephi got to watch as some Squires went flying, others went sinking, and some went rolling through the muddy waters of the marsh. While Nephi did not say anything, he did wince.
That was why the Guardians had said to get these tokens. That was why the Guardians had warned them.
One particular Squire seemed to be quite done with all of this, and once Clarux freed herself from all the traps she found herself a victim to, Nephi watched her practically march by and go right through the storm of spears in the trap ahead. He supposed she had the right idea, though. The ground was shaking, the walls were groaning. He knew that the spears he saw fly from one wall to another were only the beginning, and if they waited too long, the results would be much worse.
So he took the same route.
"Quickly, before the spears fly forward again!" Nephi prompted to the others that had not crossed yet, before shifting towards the walls and darting through as quickly as his legs would take him. Once again, once he found himself on the other side, he stopped and turned around to look at the others, while quietly offering a prayer of thanks to the Guardians for granting him the swiftness that he needed.
Seiana_ZI
Codebreaking Conversationalist
Offline
Guardian_Iris Captain
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 10:58 pm
As the last of the Squires to alight safely on the other side on solid ground, if only for a moment, Dante remained behind the others. As silent as the voiceless angel, the mud in his wake shifted and roiled from his passing.
Or did it?
An extension rose from the muck, reaching out, creeping...grasping...finding the Squire's ankle and swiftly looping around to pull tight, as if on instinct. The tough and gnarled root, if that's what it was, sharply pulled backwards, which would have sent him falling forwards if not aware. It seemed determined to pull him back into the muck, which continued roiling as if something larger shifted beneath the surface...
...steadily moving back further towards an area that seemed much deeper...
Menelie
((To clarify, though he collected all the items, Dante's post to cross with his tokens did not meet the deadline. In order to make the RP make sense, as he clearly HAD the items, but still will take damage...he passed through the elemental traps safely...then something else triggered to cause him the same harm health-wise that the traps would have.
Mene - You may respond as you wish to have Dante escape this new trap, with or without help from his companions, then continue on to respond to the group trap prompt.))
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 7:21 am
As Genesis watched some of the other squires struggle to get through the traps, her heart saddened. Perhaps she should have offered more assistance to the others so that they would have the same protection she did. Genesis was determined to make up for it now though and offer healing to the companions who didn't make it through as easily as she had. Although, as the birds scattered above their heads, Genesis became even more nervous. She was now 99.9% (Genesis would never be 100% certain about anything) that their presence was known.
Genesis was surprised how quickly her teammate Clarux proceeded onward after struggling through the traps. Clarux was probably right, there was certainly a rush on things, but it looked like she needed more healing than anyone else. When Nephi followed quickly after Clarux, Genesis hoped that he had rushed after her to heal her, but there was little she could see past the opening. She could hear Nephi's voice, and while she could hear his urgent tone, she didn't know what he had shouted.
"Quickly," Genesis urged as well, but her urging was for something else. "Harveer, assist me with the healing. You take Eligor?" Genesis moved over towards Alethea, "With hope, this will be sufficient." Genesis murmured as she held her hands up and drew from her own energy in order to cast the light healing spell on her fellow squire.
When Genesis had done all she could do, she moved forward towards the opening. She stood for a moment, watching the hallway, Nephi and Clarux already on the other side. After figuring out what was going on, Genesis rushed through the hallway. She was almost to the other side, when she heard something coming from where the majority of the squires still were. Genesis hesitated for just a moment to turn around, but she could hear the wall beginning to rumble. She couldn't do it all, she had to make it safely to the other side.
Genesis arrived safely with Nephi and Clarux as another round of spears went off just behind her, she could feel the spears breaking the wind near her feather tips. "Come on". Genesis urged in a low whisper as she waited for the others to join them.
Dante had paused behind the main group, resting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. This wasn't at all like their training exercises! Even after he was breathing normally, the continued adrenaline kept his heart pounding.
He felt something brush his ankle and twitched his foot out of the way, only to find that whatever it was was on the other side of his foot too. He looked down just in time to see his foot get pulled out from under him, which flipped him around and made his planted foot slip in the slick mud, his talismans flying from his hands. His shoulder caught the most of his weight, and Dante immediately began to grab for his staff. Or the sword, that'd work too. Too bad he was already sliding through the mud and they were out of his reach. He dug his heels in, but they found no purchase. He fanned out his arms and beat his wings as well as he could to try and get some traction, but it seemed there was little to be had.
What a time to be mute!
Unable to cry out intentionally, Dante tried whistling for help, but all that could come out of his panicking mouth was a thin, quiet note. That was no good, nobody would hear that over their own breathing, let alone their chatting as they walked away. With no weapon and no way to summon help, Dante was as good as dead. Lunch for some Guardians-forsaken mud monster.
Wait.
Not without a weapon.
He wasn't as good without an instrument, but he had been practicing for a reason! Dante tried to calm his mind, even through the panic, and he hummed the four notes of the best offensive spell he knew. Somehow he had perfect pitch! Light flashed in front of him, spiralling toward his ankle. It hit the root-vine around his ankle, which startled it and caused it to let go, if only for a moment.
Which was a moment Dante was not going to let pass him by! He stood up and started running, except the thing must have dislocated his knee when he fell, because he immediately fell down again upon putting weight on it. He was startled by the sudden pain, and cried out. He would have swore if he could talk, but as it was many choice words ran through his mind. He had to keep moving. Dante stood up again, not chancing to look behind him, and launched himself into the air. His wings were wet and muddy, and weighed him down. He could only keep himself aloft a few feet off the ground, and only for a few moments, but hopefully it would be enough.
He swung low and snatched his staff out of the muck as he passed over it. He could still feel the weight of his harp and flute in his knapsack on his back, which comforted him. He'd lost his sword, but that was more of a talisman than a weapon anyway. Still, he would have liked to have had it. After this encounter, he wasn't in the mood to simply disarm any Dragnid horrors that came their way. He wanted them dead.
He landed a good distance away from where the muck ended, glad to be on solid ground again. His knee wasn't walkable, but if he could just catch up to the group someone could heal him. Using his staff as a makeshift crutch, Dante hobbled as quickly as he could toward the group. He whistled a signal for ((let me know if you want it to be your squire)), the best healer of the group, as he approached.
