Witchers of Nifelheim - Part 4

Kaylee Brown wrote:Moments later, everyone felt the effects of being Scanned all over again.
Trying to re-assess the situation, you note the following battle placement.

Rogue, Ana, Twilight, Ursula and Johan, each had a separate parasite coming after each one of them, individually. It seemed like it was going to turn into a 1 vs.1 battle, in each case and judging by how the parasites acted, they were after this from the start.

Circi was about to square off with the witch and another parasite, at the same time.

The last, 7th parasite, was still gathering his bearings after being struck by Silence and Paralysis, but it looks like he's planning to rejoin the battle soon.

Rogue summons his Witcher shield and prepares to counter-charge the parasite heading towards him.

(Twilight)


As you rapidly tapped into your Mana reserves, you felt the warm energy of the spell materialize in your palm. Unfortunately you only had enough for a Level 1 spell and as it washed over you, the effects of Blindness were shortened by 1 turn, but not removed fully.


(Twilight is still afflicted with Blindness, 3 turns remaining)

(5 Mana remaining)



You vaguely understood the parasites location, hearing his rapidly closing footsteps and took a blind swing at him. It never connected. The parasite dodged it so effortlessly, you began to suspect it wasn't only due to the blindness. His reaction time was considerable.

Closing the remaining meter between you, the dragon-like creature mercilessly unleashing a flurry of claws, cutting into your flesh with long, diagonal swings from both paws, leaving long claw marks all over your torso.

At point blank, the attack was so ruthless and devastating, you felt small chunks of your flesh leaving your body with each swing of its claws.


(Twilight suffered -6 HP damage, 11 HP remaining)




"Twilight! Put some distance between you and him now!!!" Alyx loudly yelled in your head:
"The difference in martial art skill is devastating! You shouldn't engage in a straight up fight!
You still have enough strength for one more Level 1 Spell. Utilize it well, use the abilities unique to you! You'll have to do something creative, the parasite took a bad hit earlier, so he may not have a lot of health left. We just need a smart way to end it!"







(Ana)


The parasite had almost ran into you and loudly bounces off your sword, the sound his claws made when they contacted with the blade, sent a reverberating ring over the battlefield.

A blue haze had materialized in the palm of your hand and shot towards Ursula, who was locked in a tight melee combat with her adversary. They both moved so fast, they were starting to turn into blurs, with Ursula's green rapier dancing over the snow like a torch.

The spell hit her, momentarily enveloping her body in dancing teals lights and her burn marks started to fade.


(Ursula was healed for 5 HP, 9 remaining)



"Thanks!" She yelled, still maintaining eye contact with her opponent.

Unfortunately, the second you used to cast the spell on her, your own opponent immediately exploited it, moving around your sword and taking a wild swing at you with his claws. Your reflexes kicked in and you dodged the burnt of it, without even realizing what happened, but the parasite still took a small chunk from your shoulder.


(Ana suffered -2 HP damage, 28 HP remaining)



"Eeeh, it seems you're a little faster than your opponent" Rose quietly said, smirking: "If you weren't, that swing would've been a lot more devastating..
You should exploit this. A straight up fight would be very favorable to us... he doesn't know who he messed with, heh" you could feel her releasing a wicked smirk in the depths of your soul.






(Rogue)


The parasite bared his jagged teeth, charging at you in a zig-zag, throwing his body left, then right, as he aimed to close distance. You note the yellow shimmer of transparent armor, that still hovered over his body. It was showing cracks in more than a few places but holding.

When the distance between you was a meter away, he ducked, then suddenly jumped and fired a projectile of red colored magic, aiming to go just over your shield and hit your head.


"Rogue! Be careful about using your shield against magic!" Rolo suddenly called out in rapid fire:
"The blacksmith said it might shatter from spells! Blocking physical attacks should be fine though!"








(Circi)


Still dazed from being struck in the chest, the girls sword missed, passing just a few inches away from your face, its green flame reflecting in the eyes of the Sinner. A second later, your knee smashed hard into her jaw, sending her head swinging off to the side.


(The girl sustained -2 HP damage)


It didn't take much effort to grab a hold of her sword wrist, preventing any weapon attacks from her direction. The parasite behind you was moving at full speed. Confident your full attention was diverted to the girl, he did not expect a flurry of attacks from your spider limbs and it had caught him woefully off guard.


Five of the six legs landed a direct piercing hit, striking the parasite all over his body, making him release a startled, pained shriek and collapse into the snow from the pain, his body landing less than a meter away from you.


(The parasite suffered -5 HP damage)



As you pushed back the girl, she took a giant flap of her wings, immediately taking off into the air and diagonally away from you, putting a good 4 meters of distance between you. And as she retreated, her free hand already rose, charting a familiar sign with her hand.

Her fingers snapped and with another thunder clap, a line of lighting materialized and struck you in the chest, sending small waves of electricity to wash over you and making your hair stand up on its ends, briefly contorting your muscles.



(Circi suffered -5 HP damage, 20 HP remaining)



The girl in dark robes was releasing a wicked grin, even as a line of blood trickled down from her mouth. She looked physically exhausted, but her grin was only growing larger by the second. Its unclear how long exactly she'll be able to maintain combat, but, at least on the outside, she looked like she was reaching her limits.





(Ursula & Johan)


Off to the side, you could see Ursula locked in a bitter sword fight another parasite. The two were a blur in the snow, with Ursula's green rapier and the parasites claws drawing zig-zags all over the place.

Here and there, you heard brief shrieks of pain or anger. A spray of fresh blood, painting the snow. It didn't help that the parasite was encased in a layer of spectral armor. And it didn't help that a second parasite soon entered the fray, he as well, in a layer of armor.

Two against one, Ursula was beginning to struggle, focusing on keeping them both in her line of sight and at a distance with her long range weapon, but it all came crashing down, when one of the parasites released a red fiery spell right in her chest.


Ursula shrieked, momentarily pausing, leaving her open to attack, which the other parasite exploited immediately, going right for her torso with his jagged claws.



(Ursula suffered -5 Paralysis damage, 4 HP remaining)

(Ursula suffered -3 HP damage, 1 HP remaining)

(One of the parasites suffered -4 Armor damage in battle)



"Take this one prisoner, or kill her for meat?" one of the parasites casually asked.

"Mmmm" the other one smirked.

Ursula took an unsteady step back, slightly hunched over and raising her rapier into their faces, trying to keep them at a distance. Her entire body was covered in lines of blood, slowly falling down from her armor, into the teal snow.


"Don't... mess with me.." she quietly whispered, with one of her eyes closed and swoollen, her free hand dropped down and started subtly charting a sign in the air.


"NO! URSULA! DON'T CAST THAT!!!" You heard Johan's panicked scream from the side.


"Eeeehh?" One of the parasites lifted his brow: "You want to play chicken?" The both of them were carefully watching Ursula, their claws still raised in an offensive stance:
"I wander if you have the balls to see it through, little girl."

Ursula gritted her teeth. Angry tears were starting to form in her eyes as her stiff fingers continued to move, weaving a complex sign in the air.


"Are you gonna cry?" One of the parasites laughed: "Do you want your mommy?"

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Ursula barked at the top of her lungs, her fingers started moving much faster.




Johan, who was locked in his own battle with a parasite, tried to break off, but his opponent blocked his way forward, unleashing a relentless attack on the batpony.

"MOOVE!" Johan barked at him, in an enraged voice that wasn't quite his, recklessly rushing forward and entering into a messy exchange of blows at point blank range with his adversary. Blood started to spray across the snow, as the two started to mercilessly slash at each other.


(Johan suffered -6 HP, 14 HP remaining)

(His adversary suffered -5 Armor Damage, -1 HP damage)

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Rogue)

The parasite bared his jagged teeth, charging at you in a zig-zag, throwing his body left, then right, as he aimed to close distance. You note the yellow shimmer of transparent armor, that still hovered over his body. It was showing cracks in more than a few places but holding.

When the distance between you was a meter away, he ducked, then suddenly jumped and fired a projectile of red colored magic, aiming to go just over your shield and hit your head.

"Rogue! Be careful about using your shield against magic!" Rolo suddenly called out in rapid fire:
"The blacksmith said it might shatter from spells! Blocking physical attacks should be fine though!"

Rogue jumps in time with the Parasite, aiming to collide with them in mid-air with his Witcher shield while they're off-balance.

Circi stumbles backwards, her face completely blank. She quickly regains her composure, changing her footing, "Its coming Lightning. I know it is!" Circi gets a running start, she jumps, her lower spider legs smacking the ground and push her up further, trying to get as much Hight as possible. She reaches for lightning. Looking to grab any point she can.

The moment she has grips on the flying witch she grabs one of her spider legs with her other hand and guards her face, another leg shoots up, aiming for the soft spot around her stomach, looking to send the spike up and through her body, behind her ribs.

With her flesh rended, Twilight was momentarily stuuned. When she recovered, she threw the weapon she had at it and started an aerial dash away.

She began argueing with Alyx in her head. ~My skills are politics and unicorn magic, mostly the latter. And both are useless now! I have one idea left, and it relies on you.~

She flew up. ~Once my sight is back, it will be time to use Avatar. Then we can team up against it.I have a finisher in mind, but it will cost us the last spell. I dearly hope it pays off, otherwise we're screwed.~

Internally Anastasia grins with giddy excitement at Rose's comment as she stabs the blade of her weapon into the ground.

The parasite suddenly only experiences green and pain as Ana grabs it by the back of the head and starts repeatedly slamming its face into the flat of her blade. Each attack made like she's trying to force the parasite through the massive weapon.

(Rogue)


The parasite clearly didn't expect your maneuver. Unable to change his trajectory mid-flight, he collided hard with your shield, with his entire torso and was thrown back into the snow. His spell narrowly missed, flying a few inches above your head, making your hair stand still at its ends.


(The parasite suffered -2 Armor damage)


The Spectral Armor still shimmered over his body, as the parasite attempted to roll backwards over his head and stand back up, assuming a defensive stance. You noticed numerous cracks in his armor, when the parasite thrust his fist forward, unleashing another ball of red fire, aiming at your center of mass.







(Ana)


The parasite emitted a muffled yelp, momentarily dazed, as you began slamming his head over the sword. The Parasites shimmering armor was taking most of the damage, cushioning the blows and preventing most of the heat damage. With each hit, more and more cracks were beginning to show, but the armor still held.


(The parasite suffered -6 Armor Damage)


After the third hit, the parasite had somehow regained enough awareness of what was happening to him, unexpectedly grabbed a firm grasp of your right wrist, pulled it towards the blades edge and violently pulled your wrist down, slashing the entire length of your arm against your own blade.

The next second he wiggled his head out of your grasp completely and suddenly kicked you in the face, while jumping back and catching a good 2 meter distance away from you. His hands raised again in a defensive posture, claws directed at you.


(Ana suffered -3 HP damage, 25 HP remaining)








(Circi)


As you leaped into the air, the girl immediately increased speed, aiming to fly even further away from you. Her reaction time was equal to your own however and you managed grab a hold of her foot, as she flew away.

And as you thrust one of your spider legs at her stomach, the girl emitted a sharp battle cry and  swung her sword, chopping off the spider leg at its middle joint. The upper part of the leg lost momentum, bounced off the girls robes and fell to the ground. While a spray of dark blood splashed out of the stump and few all over her robes.

The girl emitted a pained scream, as the blood started to eat through her clothes and burn at her skin. Without wasting another moment, she kicked you hard in the face with her other foot, darting vertically into the air and shaking you off.

At the same time, she discharged a purple sphere of magic in your direction.


Down below, the parasite you struck earlier, had regained his footing and was now waiting for you on the ground, preparing to strike as soon as you fell back to the snow.




(The girl suffered -2 HP damage)

(Circi suffered -3 HP damage, 17 HP remaining)







(Twilight, Ursula, Johan)


The parasite seemingly didn't expect the weapon to be simply thrown at him, and took its blunt end in the stomach, before the hammer had dissipated.


(The parasite suffered -1 HP damage)


"If your old skills are useless, you better develop new ones to survive!" Alyx anxiously called:
"If you're serious about finding your children and living long enough to gain their trust, you better learn to fight like a Witcher or we're both dead!"


As you began gaining more and more altitude, the parasite was seemingly left alone on the ground. Unable to follow you, he started barking something in a completely alien language. You've never heard a dialect like that before, but perhaps he was simply shouting profanities.




You heard Ursula's shouting earlier, relatively loudly before. Its possible that she and the two parasites who confronted her, weren't too far away.

Ursula's fingers continued to chart a complex sign in the air. While one of the parasites had his eyes fixed on her, the other one looked up at Twilight, suddenly raised his hand and discharged a purple sphere in her direction.


It was a mistake. It felt as if Ursula was waiting for him to avert his gaze for even a fraction of a second, or to unleash his attack. A fraction of a second after he discharged the spell, Ursula suddenly dropped the sign she was charting and thrust herself and her rapier forward, shifting her head and body at a weird tilted angle.

Its as if she expected the parasite to fire a spell at her, directly, so she moved out of his predicted line of fire, and in the same motion, drove her rapier right through his neck.


His armor cracked and shattered. The parasite gargled up blood, his eyes wide in terror and he slowly collapsed backwards into the snow.


(The parasite suffered -6 Armor Damage and -12 HP damage)
(The parasite has been Stunned for 1 round)



What Ursula didn't anticipate, was for the parasite to target somebody else. Blind and not fully sure where the spell was coming from, the sphere splashed Twilight over the shoulder, momentarily making your muscles spasm. Your wings reflexively froze up for a moment and you began falling back to the ground.

You could almost feel the parasite you fought earlier, grinning and raising his claws in anticipation.



(Twilight has suffered -5 Paralysis damage, 6 HP remaining)

(Twilight is still afflicted with Blindness, 2 turns remaining, including this one)




The second parasite that stood next to Ursula, immediately launched himself at her, crashing into her and pinning her to the ground. Beginning to wildly lash at her with his claws, over and over, the parasite entered a wild frenzy.

Under such relentless assault, Ursula only managed to raise up her armored hands, trying to take the brunt of the attack in the armor plates over her forearms.


"HEEELP!!" She frantically screamed.






Off to the side, Johan once again tried to reach her, but the parasite he was dueling, continued to block off his path. Something truly horrific was happening in their direction.

Johan's sight has changed, the look in his eyes became deranged, frenzied. There was nothing but bloodlust left in them and the same was true for the parasite

The two were so viciously tearing into each other with each swing at point blank, you saw pieces of flesh flying out with each swing. Johan was screaming in anger, he forgot about all martial art technique and was just wailing at the parasite with his sword, his elbows, his legs. At some point he thrust his head forward, bit, and took a giant chunk out of the parasites neck.

The parasite shrieked and continued to slash Johan's stomach. It looked like vicious, blood chilling attacks, where neither of them no longer cared for their own safety.


(The parasite suffered -8 HP damage)

(Johan suffered -8 HP damage, 6 HP remaining)

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Rogue)

The Spectral Armor still shimmered over his body, as the parasite attempted to roll backwards over his head and stand back up, assuming a defensive stance. You noticed numerous cracks in his armor, when the parasite thrust his fist forward, unleashing another ball of red fire, aiming at your center of mass.

Rogue keeps his momentum going forward as the Parasite goes through his backwards roll, so when they come up and fire off their spell, he's almost on top of them, and rams them with the Witcher shield again.

(Rogue)


The parasite took the shield right into his face, hard. The impact and the burning heat of the shield, made him trip and begin stumbling backwards, grabbing his face. The Spectral Armor around him finally cracked and shattered, dissipating in the mornings sun.

The spell he fired however, flew right into your shield and the sound it emitted on impact, seemed extremely alarming. The shield itself vibrated hard for several second, emitting a piercing ringing sound and you're almost sure you heard something crack inside it, but it held, absorbing all of the damage.


The parasite appears to be momentarily dazed. With his armor gone, he was holding onto his face, where the shield has impacted earlier. He might recover from this pretty soon, by the looks of it.


(The parasite suffered -3 Armor Damage)


"Rogue, use your magic on him! It might do more damage!" Rolo called.

Circi flinches but gives the girl a wicked grin before shes kicked off.

The sinner twists through the air, she snatches her spiderleg from the air, "If not through you then..." she aims her landing for the first time her wings open, large vains stretching between her feathers full of deepest black one can imagine unfurling from her back, immediately a feather tears itself from her wings

Circi takes 1 damage
16 health remaining


Circi only adjusts her flight enough to land directly on the parasite below her. As soon as she lands she kicks off of him her wings closing just as quickly as they opened. she lunges directly at ursulas position, as soon as she hits the ground she flows into her next move. Her arm rears back, she throws the spider leg like a javalin at the parasite on top of ursula.

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Rogue)

The parasite appears to be momentarily dazed. With his armor gone, he was holding onto his face, where the shield has impacted earlier. He might recover from this pretty soon, by the looks of it.

"Rogue, use your magic on him! It might do more damage!" Rolo called.

Rogue presses his shield down on top of the Parasite's chest to hold him down, and casts Lightning point blank in his face.

Not missing a beat Ana charges the parasite. Striking with an upward swing to open up it's defensive stance. Followed with a slash to the legs to trip then smashing the parasite into the ground with a two handed power attack.

~Alyx, if you have learned anything from me, it should be how much pride I have in MY magic. And that I won't let it fall in favor of witcher abilities. So if survival is your argument, try another. In the meantime, focus on the fight.~

She got up, then dashed to the sound of Ursula. "Let's forget plans, we go by the seam of our pants here."

She mentally spoke to her parasite again. ~Warn me who I will hit if I shoot a spell. If it's Ursala, it will be heal. If not, lightning.~

(Rogue)


The parasite contorted and emitted a muffled screech. The snow he way laying in, melted in a few places, heated up by the shield and increased the effects of the spell. Coupled with the burning heat of the shield itself, the damage he sustained was heavy.


(The parasite has been Stunned for 1 round and suffered -8 HP damage)






(Ana)


The first upward swing broke through the parasites defense almost instantly and nicked his torso. Coming up empty handed against a massive sword, the parasite didn't have a good way of defense, or the reaction time to fully dodge the next attacks.

Cut by the legs, he screamed and fell face first in the snow, before the full force of the sword was brought down on his back. His Spectral Armor collapsed and shattered into a thousand pieces. The strike was so devastating that it kicked all wind out of him, leaving him laying motionless in the snow.


(The parasite has been Stunned for 1 round and suffered -4 Armor Damage, -6 HP damage)






(Circi)


The purple sphere the girl launched, found its target and splashed you over the back. Your body momentarily seized up, but it was already too late for the parasite below. You landed on top of his head, running him into the snow. You heard a hard smack as his face struck the ground under the snow layer, before you took off again, pushing off of his head and lunging toward Ursula.


(Circi suffered -5 Paralysis damage, 11 HP remaining)

(The parasite suffered -2 HP damage)




The parasite that was slashing Ursula was too focused on her, too drawn into combat, to notice the spider leg flying towards him. A second ticked by and the leg flew into his torso, just below the ribs and almost impaled him completely.

Stunned by the pain, the parasite froze, gasping for air and unnaturally bending his back. That small pause was enough and Ursula exploited it in a heartbeat. Summoning her rapier again, she aimed and ran it right through the parasites eye socket.


The parasite stopped flailing and went silent, before his entire body burst into flames, burning out fast and turning into a pile of ash, that fell all over Ursula, coloring her armor gray.

Breaking into a coughing fit, Ursula waved her hand, trying to disperse the ash cloud and somehow began stumbling back onto her feet.

The other parasite who laid unconscious beside her, began waking up and immediately assessing the situation. Rolling backwards over his head, he started immediately charting a spell.





(Johan)


Off to the side, the massacre around Johan continued. The parasite he was fighting had sneaked a moment to free one of his hands and blasted a Fear spell into Johan's face at point blank. He practically planted his palm over half of Johan's face and discharged it.

Whatever the effects of it were, Johan unleashed such a blood curling shriek, it gave you momentary pause. It wasn't a shriek of pain or fear however. He was livid.

You haven't seen that look in his eye, ever since the Slavegear disaster. There was nothing but unfiltered rage there, a deep burning hatred and desire to destroy whatever fell in his path.


Johan violently swung his sword downward, chopping off the parasites hand that was used to cast the spell and as the parasite screamed, Johan just rained one blow after another on him, swinging his sword like an axe, bringing it down on the parasite, over and over, on his head, his shoulders. The parasites screams had died down and he froze, before Johan took his head off. The remains of the parasite turning to ash.



(Johan suffered -5 Sanity damage, 19 Sanity remaining)









(Twilight)


"I think Ursula's the only one in your current direction, but are we sure we should fire a Healing spell blind?" Alyx wearily called:
"Hopefully she'll notice and put herself in our line of fire, but if we use the spell now, we'll be out of Mana.

We only have one spell left Tw- AAAGH!!!"



Alyx screamed in pain, as something slashed at your feet. Your tendons suddenly stopped working and you fell face first into the snow.


(Twilight suffered -2 HP damage, 4 HP remaining)



As you tried to get up, you heard a pair of faint footsteps behind you. The sound of extending claws, the gritting of somebodies teeth. You couldn't see the parasite behind you, not even his silhouette or an outline. But you felt his presence, approaching you.

Time seemed to slow down, you could almost hear the small gust of air, as he swung his hand back, spreading his claws, preparing for the fatal strike. A cold sweat appeared all over your body. Your heart curled at the sudden realization of your life coming to an end, and you could no longer tell, if it was Alyx's fear bleeding over, or if those feelings were your own.

Holding your eyes closed or open, didn't made any difference, you only saw black.






You thought you heard Ursula frantically calling your name. Your heart skipped.
The parasite heavily brought his hand in your direction and as he did, as if in slow motion, Twilight's shadow had suddenly detached from her body.

It moved on its own, completely out of sync and darted towards the parasite. A moment and it started to rise from the ground, becoming corporeal, three dimension, acquiring mass and clear shape. Turning into a cloud of darkness and catching sharp corners with each fraction of a second.


The parasites hand slashed across it and a sudden, sharp metallic sound, rang painfully loud across the battlefield and the parasite flew backwards, as if he struck a piece of metal wall.



Ursula slowly rose to full height, looking at what was transpiring with wide open eyes, her mouth slowly opening, as the shadowy cloud began taking the shape of a human:

"...... that's impossible" she quietly whispered.



And almost in unison, you heard the loud, ringing laugh of the Witch. She was hovering somewhere above, shrieking and giggling so loud, she was likely heard on the other side of the continent:

"I SMOKED YOU OUT! I SMOKED YOU OUT YOU BASTARD!!! AAAAAAHAHA! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!!! THE WHITE FLAME!!!





Ryuuken Alstreim stood with his sword raised, standing between the parasite and Twilight. His eyes locked on the enemy, one of his hands slowly went back and fell onto Twilight's shoulder.

A strange gust of blue sparks started dancing around her and her sight suddenly fully returned.

"...Twilight" Ryuuken quietly called. His sword was still raised and eyes locked on the parasite, not daring to look away from his enemy.

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Rogue)

The parasite contorted and emitted a muffled screech. The snow he way laying in, melted in a few places, heated up by the shield and increased the effects of the spell. Coupled with the burning heat of the shield itself, the damage he sustained was heavy.

Rogue continues to press down on the Parasite's chest with his Witcher shield, and casts another Lightning spell on them.

Kaylee Brown wrote:Ryuuken Alstreim stood with his sword raised, standing between the parasite and Twilight. His eyes locked on the enemy, one of his hands slowly went back and fell onto Twilight's shoulder.

A strange gust of blue sparks started dancing around her and her sight suddenly fully returned.

"...Twilight" Ryuuken quietly called. His sword was still raised and eyes locked on the parasite, not daring to look away from his enemy.

"Didn't see that coming" Rogue comments.

Circi walks past Ursula, "You're welcome." picking up her spider leg. She stops in front of the spell charging parasite and brings her heel down on his hand, "Your persistance is admirable." She says with a somewhat bored tone. She glares down at the parasite, "...For a heartless bug." she spits before stabbing the spider leg into his skull.

Her attention then turns to the parasite that was brave enough to fight her earlier. She adresses Ryu, "Blowing your cover to save your mother even with the circimstances in place... impressive and heartwarming."

Planting her sword in the parasite's back Ana pulls her body up and leaps in to the air with her feet toward the sky. Tucking into a flip she quickly banishes then summons her blade into her hand. Planting her feet on the weapons hilt she kicks off it directly into her opponent. With the further altitude gained she once again banishes and casts her weapon. This time falling with her weapon and giving it one last swing to further maximize it's impact as she strikes the glysteria direct in the neck.

When she opened her eyes after they were restored, she looked dumbfounded. Soon, however, she gained a small smile and her eyes watered up a little.

"Ryuuken..." She softly said.

However, she snapped herself out of that daze, getting to her feet. "Sorry, I was not expecting this. Forgive my poor performance. I hope we can talk later."

She then aimed at Ursula and casts heal, waiting long enough for the maximum effect.

(Rogue)


The burning shield really began pressing hard on the parasite, doing visible, catastrophic damage. Unable to wiggle his way out, pressed hard into the ground by your weight, the parasite emitted a long, muffled hiss, before the lightning splashed over his face.

His body contorted several times, then slowly went limp and burst into flames. A few seconds later, you suddenly realized you were laying atop a pile of ash.






(Ana)


Completely stunned and disoriented by a continuous flurry of attacks, the parasite emitted several muffled yelps, before your last strike severed its head. In a bright fire, the parasites body has suddenly burned out and burst into a thick cloud of ash.






(Circi)


Your spider leg pierced the parasites palm, firmly pinning him to the ground. Unable to properly maneuver, he only managed to lift his gaze and watch in horror, as you stabbed him through the head. A few seconds later, he erupted into flames and crumbled to the ground in a pile of ash.






(Twilight, Ursula, Johan)


Johan released a long, blood chilling shriek across the snow field, there was nothing but pure rage behind it. Lowering his head and fixing his eyes on the parasite that stood in front of Twilight and Ryu, he immediately discharged a spell in its direction.

The molecules of snow and water, collected inside the palm of his hand, rapidly solidifying and taking shape, before a long spike of ice came into being and discharged towards the parasites head.

The parasite only managed to blink, before the spike pierced his skull through, turning him into ash before he hit the ground.



Ursula used the moment to place her palm to her chest. With a flash of blue light, some of her wounds slightly regenerated.


(Ursula was healed for +5 HP, 6 HP remaining)







As you survey the battlefield, only 1 parasite remained, plus the witcher girl who still hovered above.
She firmly said something, in a completely alien language and the last parasite broke into a mad sprint, heading towards the forest in the distance.

It looks like he's attempting to retreat from the battle entirely.
To your surprise, the girl landed in the snow and brandished her sword at you, placing herself between the parasite and your general direction. It almost seemed as if she was covering his retreat.



Ryu slowly turned to face her, fixing her with a squinting gaze:

"...you know, when I heard stories of a Rogue Witcher, leading a band of parasites, I originally dismissed it as an old granny's tale. But what you did here, was unprecedented.
A Witcher, living among parasites, without any threat to her life.
Them taking orders from you, some even taking hits for you, for a human.
And you, covering a parasites retreat...

It is nonsense-" Ryu frowned: "-and yet, I can't deny what I've seen." His grip on the sword tightened:

"I would very much like to know, how you've domesticated those parasites"




The girl smugly grinned: "Yeah, I bet you do, asshole"

A wave of electricity suddenly washed over her body and she pointed her free hand, at the sledge were Rain laid, unconscious.


"NO! WAIT!" Ursula frantically shrieked.




The girl opened her mouth in a fake gasp, mimicing a realization, then looked at you very smugly:
"...and therein lies your problem.

You've lost. You know that don't you?
Everything you've done, since the start of this engagement, signaled your extreme attachment to every single one of your team mates. Your unwillingness to give up to even a single one, to see even one of them die or captured.

Which means-" she smiled: "I don't have to kill every one of you, I only need to threaten one, to render you all, paralyzed."

A sphere of lighting started to play in the palm of her hand, directed at Rain:


"Move one more step, do ANYTHING, and I will kill her.
And if you think you can pull something off, consider that there's more than one of you, on this field, who's Health is so low, I can effectively kill them with one spell.

You can try attacking me all at once, maybe you'll win" the girl nodded: "Maybe...
But I guarantee I'll kill at least 2 of you before that."




Johan angrily screamed at her, heavily breathing and brandishing his sword like a club.


"Control him" the girl tilted her head in Johan's direction.


"...y-you don't kill" Ursula slowly said, anxiously swallowing: "..the.. fox, the- the merchants you-.. don-t'-"


"Yeah well that was before you murdered my friends" the girl released you a fake smile: "You killed first, so, everything goes now. Not to mention-" her fake smiled grew a little venomous:
"You ran me into a corner... you shouldn't have done that.
Now we're gonna talk and you're gonna do exactly what I say, or I'll start cutting you down one by one like wheat, savvy?"

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Yeah well that was before you murdered my friends" the girl released you a fake smile: "You killed first, so, everything goes now. Not to mention-" her fake smiled grew a little venomous:
"You ran me into a corner... you shouldn't have done that.
Now we're gonna talk and you're gonna do exactly what I say, or I'll start cutting you down one by one like wheat, savvy?"

"Depends on what you're gonna say, so you might as well stop stalling, and lay it out straight for us" Rogue replies to Lightning, standing up. As he gets up, he discretely draws one of his revolvers, and hides it behind his shield.

"Who knows, maybe being dead'd be the better option?"

Circi watches the parasite retreat, "The fact that this is even possible is disgusting." She scoffs, "Parasites are a menace." She steps up pointing a finger at lightning, judging the distance "Betray your humanity to become one with the common enemy we all share." She shakes her head, "I dont think theres a worse role to play on this planet. You really got the, 'Fecal end of the stick' if you will." Circi raises her brow, "Even if this ability is granted to solely you..." she squints at her, "Where are you going to go?" The sinners head tilts slightly, "You have a spell aimed at our friend, obviously we aren't going to attack. She takes another small step forward, "Surely you must realize that if you kill her, we're not going to let up until your dead as well." She looks around, motioning with her hands in all directions of the plains, "Theres nowhere for either of us to run. I would assume that your wings would be your best bet... unfortunate for you we have pegasi too. Quite a few as a matter of fact."

She takes one more step forward, "You're hurt, you're almost out of mana, and your parasites are dead, your camp has been burned, you stand guard as one of your own retreats." She stares into laughing lightning, looking into her soul, "You have nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. This is your last desperate attempt to get out."

"Take one more step Sinner and I promise you, you're not gonna like what I do next" the girl replied with an icy tone. She took several small steps backwards, in tact with Circi, maintaining distance between them, her hand still aimed at Rain.
It doesn't look like she noticed Rogue draw the revolver.

"Do you think I'm scared of death?" the girl cocked her head: "Do you think I have something to loose? You people saw to it, that I didn't" the last sentence was spat at you, her eyes were slowly filling with a deep seeded hatred:


"People like you, are the reason why I never joined the Witcher order. Living behind your precious Castle walls, protected by Obelisks and fanatical soldiers... some of us weren't so fortunate" she bared her teeth:

"You brand whatever you don't understand, as a menace. You brand whoever doesn't follow your doctrine, as a criminal.
You think you're some hot shit, living behind your precious walls, while keeping the rest of us out? Deciding who gets to Migrate and who doesn't? Deciding who gets to live and who dies?"


The girl openly scowled at you: "Guess what... there's a lot of living things on this planet.. and they all, want, to live"




Ryu's eyes slightly widened: "...you promised them a way into Castle Towns?"


The girl released a dangerous smirk: "Mmmmm... I wonder..." the smile slowly disappeared from her face:
"...you know, its funny. When I stole the Shadow Limit Break from Zlobec, before they could get their greasy paws on it, all I had to do was kick back and wait. See who shows up and pull info out of them. Zlobec would never let this theft go unanswered. Their men would come.


And surprise, surprise, you showed up to pick up their slack. I mean, I could imagine them hiring Machine Folk, to do their dirty work, that's not what concerns me.

What concerns me is you.. my precious king" the girl mockingly said the last words to Ryu:

"I heard rumors that Zlobec was based in Rakshata.. but I had no idea the King himself was on their pay roll. It would certainly explain how they managed to operate under your nose for two years, without getting caught"




Ryu's expression turned into an emotionless mask. The grip on his sword tightened considerably:
"...you know not what you speak of" he quietly muttered through gritted teeth.



"Aaawww... hit a sore spot did I?" the girl emitted a small laugh.

"Have you put our fight to a stalemate, just to spew venom at us!? Ask your questions and be done with it!" Ryu quietly roared.


"I'm sorry, my mistake. Self righteous Witchers like you, tick me off is all." The girl smiled and desummoned her sword, placing her palm over her chest plate. Her other hand remained trained at Rain:
"Alright Zlobec, lets start with something simple..."

Using her free hand, she slowly pulled something out of her belt and presented it to you:


"...why do you have this?" the girl asked, her smile slowly fading.

She was holding some sort of dagger, a strangely familiar one. From this distance, it took you several moments before you recognized it. It had a wooden handle with a carving on it, depicting a dragon breathing lightning.

It was Alders dagger.



"...your friend here was carrying it, in her possession" The girl tilted her head towards Rain. Her eyes became sharp:

"...this is my dagger. Why do you have it?"

Kaylee Brown wrote:Using her free hand, she slowly pulled something out of her belt and presented it to you:

"...why do you have this?" the girl asked, her smile slowly fading.

She was holding some sort of dagger, a strangely familiar one. From this distance, it took you several moments before you recognized it. It had a wooden handle with a carving on it, depicting a dragon breathing lightning.

It was Alders dagger.

"...your friend here was carrying it, in her possession" The girl tilted her head towards Rain. Her eyes became sharp:

"...this is my dagger. Why do you have it?"

"Your dagger? Are you sure?" Rogue asks Lightning, "We found that far from here in Beuclair?"

"Just found it laying in the street did you!?" the girl's demeanor suddenly changed from zero to a hundred, morphing into complete, unfiltered hatred:

"...I know this dagger intimately, because I hand crafted it myself.." the girl was heavily breathing, looking at you in barely contained anger:
"..he would never part with it willingly... Why do you have this!?!" she screamed.

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Just found it laying in the street did you!?" the girl's demeanor suddenly changed from zero to a hundred, morphing into complete, unfiltered hatred:

"...I know this dagger intimately, because I hand crafted it myself.." the girl was heavily breathing, looking at you in barely contained anger:
"..he would never part with it willingly... Why do you have this!?!" she screamed.

"It belonged to a fellow Witcher of ours, a man called Alder" Rogue explained, "He was slain in the last days before the evacuation from the island. We kept it to remember him by.

He never said where he got it from, but it seemed important to him."