Quest Death in Thagretis

[Alexandra Alcantos]

"Well count me a bloody fucking believer then!" she cried out as the priest went on torching the twisted world around him.

It all went pear-shaped.

The walls glowed a deathly color, the floor pulsed too. Nere seemed to have lost her mind, hacking away at her own flesh, but Alex could do little about that now, her blade too busy keeping shape shifting death goo from running her through.

A creature screeched, and Alex bat it away with a lit torch, bashed down at it as cinders sparked and flew the creature shrieked. All around her there was fire. All around her the walls burned and the guardsmen died. The priest called forth flames that washed all the strangeness around him.

Nere cast something out, Alex kicked up off the ground as it turned to fleshy spikes, her broad wings beat the air and fanned the flames all the more as she took off, one last beat and she shot out of the tunnel with fires eating away at the strange growth, the monsters, and any fool unlucky enough to get bogged down or spiked.

Taayi Nere Ashorn Azlat Ushus

 

[Taayi]

The pillar of flesh missed Azlat. Her hacking at the wall would reveal glimpses of Nytam – wrapped in obsidian tendrils that kept him secure. The boy appeared to still breath, even though consciousness eluded him.

The wall attempted to close in around Nytam. Though, it was not at a rate that would be impossible to slice through. The reason for this was due to Taayi.

Nere’s fire repelled the spikes. Alexandra fanned the divine flames.

And Taayi became completely enveloped by her own black ooze.

Then as if being reborn, Taayi plopped down onto the ground. Or at least, a being that could be assumed to be Taayi.

​

Taayi lifted her arms as if grasping a wheel. The fleshy walls that surrounding the large sewer chamber vibrated. She then twisted her arms as if to turn that wheel – causing the walls the spin. Or at least, the flesh and resin to twist and move. It did not move at all where Nytam was kept.

The fire spread with the walls. So did its heat and its need to consume the breathable air within the sewers.

And the Mother “glared” at her Thagretis foes – from Priest Sotsk to Nere to Alexandra.

 

[Azlat Ushus]

Azlat hacked and chopped at the imprisoning ichor as fast as she could, chopping away at the mass until she caught sight of her son’s face. His eyes were closed, and though he didn’t stir, he hadn’t suffocated. The motion of his chest was a clear sign that he was still breathing, and still alive.

“Ny̷tam! I’m h͡er̢e! I’m he̸re!!” Azlat cried out in a tone tinged with terror. Desperate to retrieve her son, she continued to frantically slash at the reforming tendrils that moved to obscure him again. It was easy to be brave when she was the one at risk, but the sight of her son in peril could not be shaken off.

Azlat noticed the commotion as the others entered. She heard the sounds of battle, and saw the shine of the burning fires off the black walls of ichor that remained her sole focus. The scene had rapidly descended into chaos, with screams and shouts and roaring fire. The sights and sounds rekindled the worst of memories.

The discovery of her deceased husband, Kinan, were refreshed. Visions of her daughter Tiral’s lifeless gaze ran through her mind. She could not save them then, and had experienced the loss in tormented dreams since.

It was the worst of nightmares was made real once more.

All because of her.

Azlat could avert her eyes for only a moment, fearful for the fate of her son. She gave a brief survey of the battle, taking only an instant to assess the threat. If Nere saw, she’d see a hint of fear beneath her determined gaze.

She knew not what to do, but did not dare abandon Nytam. Azlat gave continued panicked slashes of her dagger in renewed attempts to free him. Black tendrils fell to the floor when she cut them through, and the progress made only encouraged her further efforts.

She could not let him die here.

She could not lose another.

“Ǹ̵Y̷͟T̴́Ą͏M̕͏!!” She screamed out in desperation, hacking and slashing to free him from his threatened fate.

Alexandra Alcantos Nere Ashorn Taayi

 

[Alexandra Alcantos]

The surviving guards formed rank, their Thagreti armor resistant to flame and heat. One man saw the priestess Ushus struggle, heard her scream her son's name.

"The priestess is in need of aid!" A guardsman called out.

What rabble of guardsman remained steeled themselves, knew the divine flame would be their salvation.

Sargeant Melkor assumed command. "Two with me! The rest, protect Priest Sotsk!" a quick pound of steel against steel to confirm the orders. Three set forth to help the Priestess,

Alex watched on, saw the changes being. "Well, if that isn't the ugliest thing I ever did see," the winged woman muttered to herself, her feet planted, her wings spread as the large chamber crackled and hissed. Her primary feathers fanned, and felt the hot air rise up, as her lungs felt the air thin, fill with smoke.

There was an upward draft. She could feel it in her wings. But her eyes wouldn't leave the changed woman, her hand gripped tight around her sword.

"Oy, Nere!" she called out over the din of hungry flames. "Gotta find us a way out of this fuckery!"

 

[Nere Ashorn]

The spell was working! Nere felt her blood turn to flame as the ooze in a radius around her turned to smoke and ash. That smoke hung in the air, even after Nere's fire ran out and the goo at her feet stopped smouldering. She panted for breath, but each lungful was just making her more lightheaded.

Sewers had vents, to keep the hot air of the fermenting filth from building up and heating stone. Nere didn't know this, because she had never lived in a place with sewers before. But one of the guards did.

"The fire can't breath, the grates are being blocked by this black mass," he called out, even as he slashed a tendril away from the Priest that he guarded. "We've got to find a way to clear them out!"

Nevermind the fire, Nere could barely breath. She stumbled forward in the haze and grabbed on to the guard's shoulder. "Show me where!" she shouted above the din.

The guard pointed up at the crux of the domed ceiling, the curve of its shape still imaginable even through the thick layer of black, undulating artificial flesh. "There's one in the center there, between these two archways."

The spear was already building itself in Nere's grip, hot with magic. The fresh runes carved into her hands - cauterized now - still glowed, pulsing yellow-orange.

"Oy, Nere, gotta find us a way out of this fuckery!" Came Alex's voice from ahead of her.

"Working on it!" Nere hollered, voice getting hoarse from the smoke.

It was hard to aim, with the walls moving. She wrenched her arm back, and thrust the spear straight up, praying that it would fly true even with all the 'fuckery'.

The spear hit its mark, sticking in the muck for a moment before being swallowed whole by the mass. Seconds went by. Nere found her way back to Alex's side, stumbling, as if some invisible burden was weighing her down. She saw the monster in front of them, saw Priestess Ushus beyond that, trapped in a strange stasis.

The same fire rune as before flashed over the spot where Nere's spear had disappeared. A wavering glyph, wreathed in flame. Then, it exploded.

Not just the burning black goo rained down from the vent, but chunks of metal and stone, too. A large hole had opened up in the street above.

The smoke and heated air fled suddenly, creating an updraft. Raising an arm, Nere shielded her face from the falling rubble and the hot wind.