"I'm comin' too," Evie said. She tapped her chain. "You'll need some capable hands to watch your back, Felix."
Pit let out a wordless, stubborn chirrup as well.
He smiled at all of them. If they wanted to come he wasn't going to argue. Though they'd be stuck out on a bridge over a thousand foot drop, they were the three most likely to survive the fall, aside from himself. "Alright. Let's go."
"Careful, Felix," Harn said. "It looks familiar, but I can't place it."
Felix gave the warrior a grin and kept walking, his two friends flanking him. The wind was far stronger out in the open air, and those low hanging clouds swept across their path, each time obscuring the path ahead and slowing their progress. Felix half expected the blob creature to jump out at them through the clouds, claws or teeth or whatever first. But it remained stationary, only it's lumpy head pivoting to follow the four.
Voracious Eye!
Voracious Eye Failed
Felix tried his Eye again, now that they were closer, but still was unable to gain purchase. The creature was of medium size, not any larger than a Human, though it was wider at the shoulder than most linebackers Felix had seen. It was also covered completely in a thick, pungent mud. Said mud oozed over it's head, shoulders and down it's limbs, like someone was constantly pouring new muck over it's form. Hollows in its sodden skull made the barest suggestion of a gaze, but Felix had the sharp sensation of being observed by something dangerous.
Pit trilled. Caution. Sense danger.
Your Companion is correct. That is an amalgam of several magics, many of which I do not recognize, Karys added.
They stopped twenty feet away from where it stood at the center of the bridge. The wide, clasped hands were below them while the rain began condensing into actual droplets.
"Hi there," Felix said. "My name is Felix."
The sound of glopping mud and the whistling breeze was all that answered him.
"We want to cross this bridge. Will you allow us to do so?" Vess asked.
Again, nothing.
"Well, this is a waste of time," Evie muttered. "Hey! You! Get outta the way or we'll knock out off."
At this, the mud monster shifted, pushing one foot forward and raising it's hands. Like it was ready to fight.
"Whoa, hey Evie, we don't even know the strength of this thing," Felix said.
"It is unwise to fight it yet," Vess agreed. She stepped forward, her partisan ringing against the bone bridge like a chime. "We will deliver violence if that is what you wish, but I had hoped we could instead speak."
The mud man's blank face turned, slowly, until it was looking right at the heiress. "Stand aside."
A voice like a burbling cesspool boiled up from the creature. Vess gripped her partisan and Evie made a gagging noise.
"Eugh, gross."
"Stand aside? Do you wish to pass by?" Vess asked.
In response, the creature's leading arm blurred, turning to a whip that crossed the fifteen foot distance in the blink of an eye. Vess was faster, barely, but the spear she conjured to parry it was instead smashed into swirling motes of air Mana. The mud monster's hand, turned into a spiked flail, smashed into and penetrated the bone bridge.
"Whoa!" Felix shouted.
Unfettered Volition!
Sovereign of Flesh!
Felix surged ahead, his skin transforming just in time to intercept a second strike by the monster's other hand. The appendage had become a wavy blade, and it hit him harder than the last Arcid. Felix was lifted into the air and hurled from the bridge.
Shit!
Adamant Discord!
Lightning bloomed from him and Felix gripped the piece of the world that meant 'up.' He pulled, and ascended on a bolt of blue-white lightning.
Just in time to see the monster backhand Evie out of the air.
"Pit!" Felix shouted as he ascended. His Perception slowed. Pit was already moving, swooping off the bridge to catch the falling chain fighter. Vess advanced, her spears and partisan joined together to strike out at the monster's legs. Felix pulled harder on his Skill, feeling a burn in his Aspects and core but not caring.
He exploded upward, and drove his knee into the mud monster's chest.
Mud erupted everywhere. Vess leaped backward, evading the lot of it, but it got all over Felix. It smelled of rotting flowers and musty water, and it congealed over Felix only moments later, massive, goopy arms strong enough to make his bones creak. With a crushing pressure, the rest of the mud folded in on itself, trapping him.
It is a construct! Disrupt its artificial core!
"I'm trying!"
Pit swooped back up, crying out, but his paralysing Skill didn't take. Vess pummeled with her spears and air Mana, but the mud resisted or reformed right after. Evie's chain did even less, only managing to cut furrows in the mud's surface that closed almost immediately.
Felix was dragged down, deep down into it. Until all he saw was endless muck.
Adamant Discord!
The lightning burst from him, pushing in all directions, but the mud resisted. Lightning was grounded into the liquid all around him, and the force was somehow absorbed.
Extend your senses! The core is here!
Felix pushed his Perception outward, but it was confused by the swirling contents of the mud Golem. His Affinity, however, snagged on the placid expanse of an artificial Spirit. Only...it felt alive. Felix reached, his hands stretching out, until the tips of his fingers touched a hardened coil of jagged wood. It wobbled from his reach.
Gimme that! He thought, straining his muscles to push him just an inch further.
He grasped it, and he felt his abyss rumble in anticipation. In excitement.
Ravenous Tithe!
The muck around him turned to black, luminescent smoke and Felix fell. He landed atop gleaming bone, his heavy metal greaves ringing against the surface, and a coil of wood gripped in his hand. Green, gold, purple, and black light swirled around it before rocketing straight into his channels.
You Have Gained A Memory From Vvim!
Do You Wish To View Or Save?