Seekers and Keepers

[Vahn x Dimitri]

It took a lot longer for him to register the fact that Eiffe had sacrificed herself than he would have thought. Maybe it was the fact that she actually blew herself up, or just the fact that someone who had just been fighting alongside him was no longer there. There was no trace of her and the echoes that resounded through the hallways and rooms. Even the pews resounded the explosion and though he did register that the golem was still on the move, he didn't know what to do. Instinctively, the remaining weapons he had, which was still a good number at 10, surrounded him as his shield as the monster reached out and grabbed him.

The instinct of survival made sure to keep a buffer of wind between his weapons and his body so that he had a small bubble of space to work with. Finally he began to come to his senses and notice just what was going on. The other two had made their way in and they would probably be even more distraught than he was and they were just assessing the situation. He couldn't let things begin to go the way the golem intended, considering they had already lost one. It would not claim another life, and that was something he swore on.

Bit by bit, the bubble of air around him began to expand and slowly but surely break the grip of the golem's final hand. Vahn was completely focused on the wind around him and the weapons he was controlling and planned to use every bit of it to his full advantage. Finally being able to free his body, he kicked off the palm of the monster and jumped high into the air, his weapons no longer floating flat around him like a shield but blades and tips out around him like a mace. He used the wind to help the weapons rotate around him and as gravity began to do it's work, he used the wind and their rotation to continually assault the remaining part of it's chest and body. It was slowly chipping away and weakening the structure and if this was the pace at which he had to go, it was fine.

He had struck it so many times that the golem was on it's back now and looking up at Vahn as he made his way towards him. It reached up to stop Vahn's descent, but a quick adjustment to the air around him made the golem miss. Vahn landed on his chest and he brought his arms down, his palms crashing onto the chest of the monster and the weapons came down simultaneously and pierced the golem, even if just a couple of inches. Arching a high jump over the weapons around him, he landed on the opposite side of the courtyard from Deipthe and Shei'ki. He crashed his hands together and the weapons joined in the center of the chest, dragging their damage with it and creating a simple ten pointed star in its chest before Vahn tugged his arms back, calling his weapons back to him. As they began to circle him again, he saw what could be an expression of pain from the golem and noticing in the center of it's chest, a glimmering light. Immediately, he ran forward and jumped back onto the chest to see if he could at least figure out if there was a way to get the orb out of him and into their possession.

[Shei'ki\Agatha]

((Apologies for the delay))

Shei'ki and Deipthe exchanged looks, the moment they saw the warrior Vahn leap into action from the grip of the golem, and, across the bond in voices that time, space, and the open ears of others, they spoke.

<She's been disabled - her lantern is intact, but it will take a few moments to find it, mistress.> Deipthe's voice came as a soft, greyish glow into Shei'ki's spirit, speaking their words directly into her.

Shei'ki thought about this a moment, then relaxed, her head lighting up a moment in their little pocket of psychic conversation. <And there's not enough time for Vahn's safety for us to find it...>

<... without a distraction, you mean.> Deipthe's psychic eyebrows waggled.

Shei'ki emitted a soft groaning, and shook her head, looking a little sick, but nodded. <I suppose there's no other choice. You help Vahn, Deipthe. You can release some, but don't let this drag out... I dont think I could handle that.>

Deipthe nodded mentally at this, and readied herself for the strain of the coming combat. Not a moment had passed... but the two knew what to do, and set to it. It had looked entirely like a single glance at each other - no more than that, it had taken a part of a second to do.

Deipthe moved in close to the combat, her serpentine body trembling as she went, tail grasping and lifting a staff of petrified wood, handing it to her gracefully. As she drew closer, she set into a sidewinder's motion, whipping along the floor and sliding at dash speed. The Golem was reaching for Vahn as he perched on the mighty creature's chest, and she wasn't about to let that happen.

The petrified wood felt exceptional in her hands... it had been a dowel of some kind, to hold up draperies once, and had a slight warp, the drapes having long ago rotted to nothing.. but it was nearly pristine, and made of oak. Best of all, it was lightweight and just the right size, with a slight point from being broken off of something, and hard as stone.

She threw herself violently at the golem, staff a blur of motion, her eyes ablaze with determination. The muscles of her form tensed and rippled as she moved, and struck the first blow to the golem, a mighty swing that smacked the great being's hand right off course, sending it instead of ahead to crush Vahn, directly into a nearby pillar with a thunderous crash. It wasn't much, but it was enough to give the man time to get off, to regroup in a position that didn't leave him completely open.

Steam rose from her body - literally, at room temperature as the Lamia's spirit flared to life within her. "You will not touch him, or any of mine ever again, Golem. I will crush you to POWDER and use you for a potion, you doddering thing!" she hissed, her voice clear and distinct in the chaos of the room. Maybe it was sheer confidence, or her body's warmth, but her presence filled the air with a comforting warmth, feeding the flame of the spirit in Vahn's core.

-----------

Shei'ki did not let herself be distracted by the plight facing Deipthe and Vahn... no, she had to find her other friend, had to rescue her and get her on her feet again. There was no telling what kind of damage the lamp had sustained... She pondered that as she held her torch high, and set to it.

As she wandered, she watched the flame closely, muttering soft words of encouragement, things like

"Lead me..."

"Show me the way..."

"A path..."

until as she got close to a pile of rubble, the flames grew a little. She froze... then slowly extended her arm, until the torch was level with the ground. She swept it slowly, gently, in a broad arc, noting the flames... and followed where the fire grew the fastest. It was slow work... she'd take a misstep, and the flames would die down. She had to be watchful,careful to keep them growing.

She saw the lantern amid some debris, but from the looks of it, it hadn't taken too hard of a hit, itself - the wall, mostly. Shei'ki's feet carried her quickly, sped by purpose to the lantern's side.

The fasten on the iron lantern was a polished metal talon hooking into a metal ring, and warded. When her fingers touched it, a little spark of magic lept from the device, and despite expecting it, she jumped anyway, and the receptacle came open with a soft squeaking sound of a hinge. She stuck the flame of the torch, Eiffe's flame, into the lantern, and...!

Eiffe's voice gasped out loudly, and gave a hysterical sequence of cries of surprise, the kind one makes when splashed with cold water suddenly in their warm bed, making Shei'ki fall to her hind end in shock, eyes wide.

The flame pulsated with the sound of Eiffe's breath, growing as she took in air, caught her breath, and dimming as she exhaled smoke. It took the nymph a moment to recover, accepting droplets of lamp oil administered by a trembling finger she would not harm, her little fiery arms reaching up to clasp the fingertip each time the nourishing liquid was offered. She steadily grew, gasping between gulps of fuel.

"You did good, Eiffe... But the Golem isn't down yet. If I can get you enough fuel, think you got it in you to go for round two?" Shei'ki murmured, watching her beloved friend in this state with sympathetic eyes.

Eiffe grinned. Like that was even a question.

[Vahn x Dimitri]

He was fixated on the object in the chest now. So much so that he didn't even notice the hand that threatened to grab him or the fact that Diepthe had joined them in the battle. He did however feel the vibration as the golem hit the ground again after being denied it's reach by Diepthe. Vahn took his gaze away from the orb that he knew was embedded in its chest and looked around the courtyard for the first time in a while. He saw Diepthe and then far off in the corner of the room he saw Shei'ki and a lantern with a flickering flame. If he remembered anything from last night, that was Eiffe and it hit him what she had to do in order to help him do so much damage to this monster before. It wasn't right and he was going to correct that issue now.

The courtyard began to sway with a wind that he was generating around himself as the weapons around him started spinning faster and faster. It almost gave the appearance of a small tornado, but it wasn't meant to suck in anything around it. Vahn started to move his arms in a motion as if to control the wind with it and make it swirl around him faster and with more power. The plethora of weapons he used as a shield were a mere inch from his furthest reach so that he stayed well protected while beginning this whole thing. He made sure to place enough air pressure on the golem's remaining arm and leg to keep them from rising up.

The swirling winds became powerful enough to reach his desired goal of lifting him up. The winds gathered at his feet and were powerful enough that he was able to stand on them firmly as he was lifted into the air. His hands kept moving to circulate the wind at immense speeds around himself and at his feet as he rose higher and higher into the air. It was a site to behold as the dust gathering made the wind look like a podium centered in the golem's chest with legs secured at its own arm and leg.

He was floating high above it now as he started to make different movements with his hands and the weapons started to move in different directions. They were moving erratically and were moving as though there was no pattern to their movement. The truth was that Vahn had already chosen each weapon and the location each would go to. Once he reached the peak of height that he wanted to which was about twenty feet, his hands went down from the circle.

Two of the weapons went in to the ground in an X pattern across the wrist of the golem and another two did the same to the ankle, stopping their movement. Another pair of weapons pierced the ground on each side of the golem's chest to stop it's body from moving. Finally, three more went around the head of the stone beast, one at each side and one at the top to keep the head from moving at all. The last weapon, the axe he had used to hinder the golem's movements earlier, flew into his hand and he grabbed it tight with both hands.

Suddenly, the winds stopped completely and for a moment it seemed as if Vahn was flying on his own. A second later, he shifted his weight and posture down and was diving straight down towards the golem, holding the axe tightly in both hands. When he was about five feet from it, he started to swing and he timed it perfectly. He surrounded the axe with wind so that it would cut through better and he connected with the neck of the giant and the axe cut clean through. He padded his landing with some additional air which seemed like a sudden burst which looked like a small explosion.

Once the dust settled, he rose to his feet and let the axe go and used the air again, but only to release the weapons and shift them out of the ground. The severed golem head rolled away and a little further back. The weapons rejoined him like a shield and he took a couple of steps towards Shei'ki to see if Eiffe was alright.

[Shei'ki\Agatha]

By the time Vahn looked back to Shei'ki and Eiffe, the pair stood tall - Eiffe again in her original, 'normal' form... but her hair licked blue near the tips, and her skin was pale and bluish like porcelain. She exuded heat like a furnace, but Shei'ki stood at her side, her own eyes glowing just faintly with the mana within bubbling to the surface - unharnessed, unused. Many summoners were like that - few outlets through which to push their mana. The difference that made this a safe state of being was the training.

Eiffe flashed a disconcerting grin at Vahn, her brilliantly scarlet eyes flashing with what had to be joy. The power... it surged through her. A lot of lamp oil, the torches they'd made, the leftover sap, nearby bits of petrified wood, she'd been given it all, and she was savoring the sheer energy she had roaring inside her, scarcely able to keep it all bottled up.

"Ooooh yes... I do hope it's not done yet..." she opened and closed her hand a few times.

Deipthe groaned softly, and shook her head as she fell in line with Vahn, keeping her eyes back on the golem. "I *do* hope you don't mean that, Eiffe dear... I'd rather prefer it to not shamble at us without a head."

Eiffe sneered at the lamia, and stuck out her tongue, a living flame in the shape of a lizard's (long and pointed) writhing from her lips... then making a childish poot noise. Deipthe just rolled her eyes - only Vahn could possibly see that. "she meant it..." she muttered, somewhat sullenly.

"Without a head? Did I miss something?" Shei'ki chirped, looking between her servants and Vahn, her face a little... sick looking, a bit of (metaphorically) cold sweat on her brow, her tone more curious than afraid, however.

"Yes. You did." Eiffe said, and strode forward, toward the golem's last known position in the smoke and rising cloud of dust. Moving out of her way was... instinctual. Like shying away from a knife waved in front of your eyes or a torch in your face. The heat was just too much to be comfortable, and she did not at all seem to register that this was so. Deipthe moved aside with an annoyed look on her face, unable to help herself, and doing so likely meant keeping a layer of skin and clothing where it needed to be.

"Good..." she said, to nobody in particular, in a dreamy kind of way, far-off... and then the room started shaking. A piercing, unearthly howl of rage shook the room, blue light pouring from somewhere in the mist as something... something big, and increasingly humanoid, reformed from the rubble, taking shape, cracks of piercing light between splashes of darkness casting the terrifying silhouette of a giant man.

Deipthe moved to Eiffe's side, in ten feet around a semicircle, facing the monster.

"The orb" the Lamia said plainly. "I think it is inside that monster, and it will keep reforming until we take it out of that thing's chest." She said in a firm voice, steam rising from her body as she exuded her warmth again, bathing Vahn, Shei'ki and Eiffe in the comforting, almost pleasurable warmth experienced the night before. Fatigue flickered like a candle in a draft, and bruises stopped hurting in the soothing heat. Blood was just flowing easier, and even Eiffe, who had none of these things and could never obtain them, felt reassured, piling confidence into the blaze of her heart.

[Vahn x Dimitri]

Vahn had made it back over to Shei'ki and the reformed Eiffe and was glad to see that she was okay. He had expended so much energy pulling that stunt to behead the golem that it felt as though he was hit by one of its fists at full force. His body felt sore and he could hardly maintain his composure, let alone his shield of weapons floating around him. It was quiet for a while and it was just what he needed, a breather. He dropped the shield around him but made each weapon stab slightly into the ground so that they would stay upright. He knelt in the middle of the circle a couple of feet from them as he looked up and asked, "How are you feeling?"

Then the silence faded. There was the rumbling of stone on the ground and Vahn, for a moment, was too afraid to look back. Peering over his shoulder, he saw the damn thing reforming. By this point, Deipthe had made it over to the group and that sudden feeling of calm and relaxation came over him much like it had the night before in the forest. To make matters worse, he knew that she was probably right and that meant that they would have to fight that thing head on again to try and make a hole in the chest and take the orb out. He was just in no position to do anything to stop it from reforming, so he'd have to wait for a chance to work with them and see if they could take it down one more time.