[PLOT] - ORP - Tainted Water (Queen Tariel + all welcome)

[Teigra]

The instant the roots began to loose their hold, Lailah surged forward with a rush of adrenaline. She grabbed onto Dante's offered staff and tugged, pulling herself free from the muck and the disinterested roots' grasp. Some seemed less willing to let go, and she figured she'd have some raw abrasions from wrenching herself free, but at the moment, she was too high on adrenaline to care.

Without thinking of the implications of retreat or giving up being cowardly behavior, she shouted, "GO! MOVE!" at her fellow Squires. Pointing in the direction the Naiads had fled, she snapped, "After the heretics!" No, she wasn't still fixated on their capture, surprisingly. Only on that fact that apparently they'd escaped unharmed. The Squires could only hope to follow their example now.

Grabbing her second blade and shoving it into its sheath, she started to pull her feet free, aiming to flee back towards the lake, but something was wrong. The others weren't moving. Golden eyes quickly surveying the scene, she realized that she'd only managed to get free because her attackers had turned on the others.

The others, who had likely saved her life.

Stomach turning, she whirled and went after Katya first, deeming her the worst in need, since Genesis was still on her feet at least. Her blade may not have been able to cut the possessed roots, but it worked well enough to parry any incoming strikes aimed at her head as she slogged her way over to the dazed demon. "Time to GO," she snapped, wrapping her hand around Katya's forearm and pulling with all her strength, even as more roots fixated on her for trying to pull their prize away.  

[Doof]

Katya's vision was swimming, and the only reason she could stand on her two wobbly legs was because Lailah had her by the arm, and she was heavily leaning on the stronger angel for support. Something warm was dripping down the bridge of her nose, between her eyes. She was too dazed to realize it was her own blood. The fire-coloured demon shakily wiped her face, smearing the red fluid and some of the swamp's muck across her face, but at least she could see a bit better. She tried to speak, but instead coughed up some filthy water, momentarily going down on one knee as she cleared her windpipes, before the urgency of the situation forced her to get back to her feet. She pulled the slightly-taller Lailah close so that her weak voice could be heard over the struggle.

"Light blades... You need to use light blades. Or whatever Genesis is doing." Katya sputtered. She had been too incapacitated to hear Genesis' shouts earlier. "Watch out... There's something vile in these things, they'll make you lose your blade if you're not on guard." Katya tried to shaker her head to clear it. It didn't work.

"We need to get out of here. By air..." She suddenly gave in to a fit of coughing before recovering herself. "By air if possible. We need to make sure everyone gets out."

With as clear a head as she could muster, the little demon spread her broad wings, shaking water loose in all directions, grabbed her heavier angel compatriot and flapped hard, lifting out of the water and towards Genesis.  

[Wolfs Heart]

Genesis could see the light, her only protection, fading fast. When she glanced over to see what was happening with Katya, it broke her focus and the light shield vanished completely. The roots lunged forward instantly, and Genesis was forced to pull up her sword to try and block the grasps. It was the only thing she could do to protect herself now, but she was one sword verses many roots. Genesis had been able to see Katya open up her wings from the corner of her eyes, and she tried to follow suit as fast as she could. The green angel was able to take off from the ground, but there was a root already wrapped around her ankle and climbing up her leg. Her brown wings beat as wildly as possible against the air, trying her best to keep the root from pulling her back down into the murk.  

[Teigra]

The little demon wasn't making this easy, but at least her small frame meant she wasn't too hard to drag along when necessary. Lailah was riding purely on adrenaline at the moment, and she knew it. When the high wore off, she wanted to be back somewhere safe and dry...though safe would do if she could only have one. Katya's suggestion had made sense, but her wits were likely addled. Getting out of here by air, while a nice thought, wasn't going to work well for most of them. It might for the demon, but the rest of them? Well, wet feathers didn't work real well, and Lailah at least was soaked and coated in muck.

And hurting the enemy was a nice thought, especially now that they had an idea of how they could do it...but no matter how the bloody angel tried, she could not summon either her lance or her shield. It wasn't as if she was having trouble making the Light form the instruments...she just...couldn't feel it at all. It was unnerving and she didn't want to dwell on it at the moment, else panic come flooding in again.

A glance back at the demon revealed a head wound, though with the amount of blood mixing with water and mud, it was hard to tell how bad. Cursing under her breath, Lailah turned again to the others. "We've got to go, now!" She was nearly cut of in surprise as she felt herself being pulled upwards out of the muck. Katya...was flying? AND lifting the angel with her? Begrudgingly, Lailah had to admit, even if she'd been clean and dry, she wasn't sure she could have lifted the other had the roles been reversed. Her flying skills weren't nearly that strong. Were any of the others?

Making a note and shoving it to the back of her mind, she shook her head and barely managed to deflect an incoming strike. The pair wasn't very high, but it was enough of an elevated position to see the entire 'battlefield' in a glance. "Katya! Help Dante or Harveer if they need it, then get out of here! I'll get Genesis!" She was in better shape than the demon, and honestly, she wasn't entirely sure Katya was focused at the moment, especially with that head injury. She was going to become a liability if things deteriorated further. With that, she let go of Katya's forearm, shaking free of her grip and dropping only a few feet back to what passed as 'solid' ground here. Immediately, she was off, blade in one hand and trying in vain to summon either blade or shield in the other. No luck, she cursed silently, and instead went after the root wrapped around Genesis' ankle. "Soon as it lets go, move!" She prepared to do the same; trying to draw its attention as the other Squires had for her, but then get away before it could grab her instead.  

[Doof]

Katya shook off the surprise at having been let go of by Lailah after thinking about what she had said. It made perfect sense, of course. The blood angel had been the first to be attacked, but she was in otherwise good shape, and didn't need any help now. If Katya was going to be any help now, it would be with one of the others, and for the sole purpose of escape. Her leathery wings were still aerodynamic despite being totally soaked in whatever that muck was- something that couldn't be said for the angels in their group.

Perhaps it was a subconscious decision partly because of her fondness for him, but Katya went straight to Dante's side, circling above as Lailah started to attempt to clear the threat to Genesis. She had considered just swooping down and plucking the green angel out of the marsh, but he was heavier than Lailah had been, and honestly, she was starting to feel a little woozy. The bash on her head must have been worse than she thought. She tried to summon her light lance again, to no avail, so she gritted her teeth and landed back on the wet ground next to Dante, and back amongst those unholy roots.

"Dante, are you ensnared?" She asked loudly, amidst the din of their struggle. "I can help fly you away, but you're going to have to flap too." Katya could see that his wings weren't as badly saturated or muddy as Lailah's, so he could still fly some.