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Chapter 24: Frabjous Day

Right about then an arrow whipped through the air and bounced off the beast's steely hide. Suvdaa had up until now let Mau have her fun, playing around with the Demon Lord General, but the man's transformation into a monster was about the moment where she had enough and figured Mau probably had bitten off more than she could chew.

Suvdaa was, apparently, right when Mau wheeled around on her heels and broke out into a full tilt sprint away from the beast as it burbled and charged after her, smashing aside abandoned tents in its wake.

"What IS that?" Andy whispered in shocked awe.

"I don't know." Suvdaa hissed down at him as she nocked another arrow to her bow and took aim.

Almost as though on cue, Mau's cry of "MOTHER-GALUMPHING JABBERWOCK!" answered the both of them.

Mau ran as though her very life depended on it, whipping around every now and then to slash at the air with her sword, a wave of fire, shards of jagged ice, or a slashing barrage of cutting winds from her sword buffeted the beast, but it simply shrugged them off as though all the magic in the world couldn't harm it.

"Should we... Help her?" Andy murmured watching the almost comical display of Mau flailing as she ran at top speed while the jabberwocky tore up the camp behind her.

"I am trying Suvdaa replied as she let loose her arrow. This shot struck true, streaking through the air on a course for the beast's eye, it... Bounced off harmlessly as the monster blinked.

Snuffling at the air, the manxome creature turned its attention from Mau and looked straight at the tree that Suvdaa was in.

"Shit." The raider said and dropped from her high perch as the creature snapped its whip-like neck towards Suvdaa's tree and spat a green glob of something viscous and foul-smelling through the air. The deadly loogie splattered the tree with a wet plop and was quickly followed by a nasty hiss as the acidic spit started to eat through the bark where Suvdaa had been, seconds before.

The soft hiss and sizzle of flesh made Andy yelp as Suvdaa hit the ground hard with a pained grunt, clutching her shoulder, where a splatter of the noxious spit splattered off the tree branch and hit her.

"Fuck." She hissed, clenching her teeth and doing her best to not touch the hot slime that was eating through her skin. Andy bounded free from hiding, heedless of the possible danger and rushed to Suvdaa's side.

"Don't touch it," He warned. "Let me."

Hovering his palm inches over the searing spit and Suvdaa's angry reddened skin, he started a hasty prayer, imploring Galatea to heal his companion.

"Neutralize!" Andy whispered, a faint glow of light from his fingers suffused into the slime and Suvdaa's arm, ending the acidic corrosion of her flesh and soothing the wound at the same time.

Beyond spitting up the nasty acid blast, the creature paid Suvdaa no further attention and seemed to be completely clueless to Andy's presence, as it resumed chasing Mau through the shattered remnants of the camp.

Mau zig-zagged, dodging acid spit and the whip-crack of the Jabberwocky's neck as it tried to snap her in half with buck teeth the size of swords. Mau knew she was in for some trouble; Jabberwocky were creatures that were notoriously resistant to both magic and physical attacks from mundane weapons.

Mau tumbled under a tall-standing tree root, rolling expertly under the thick trunk and power-slid her way out the other side, forcing the beast to slow down as it had to go around the tree to get at her, buying her some measure of distance.

"Flame lash!" Mau snapped as she swung her blade behind her, a whip-stream of fire lashing out from the tip of her sword to splatter aside another gob of acid spit. Enma was fast. His neck cracked like a whip as he snapped those buck teeth at her again, but Mau was faster as she held her free hand out.

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The flare of dazzlingly bright light that erupted from her fingers flashed right in the Jabberwock's face. Enma screeched, shrill and inhuman as Mau slid under his head and bashed her sword into his neck. Unfortunately his hide was too thick to even be nicked without an enchanted blade, but Mau was working to buy herself time more than anything.

Another arrow darted through the air, and this time it struck true, hitting the beast in its blinded eye, Enma howled in pain and rage as he worked to claw the shaft free of his eye, bellowing indignantly the whole while.

"Do you really think you can kill me, little cat?" Enma growled as he plucked the arrow free with a splatter of blood as his wounded eye regenerated while Mau watched. However she wasn't simply going to stand still while that eye fixed itself.

"Well." Mau replied as she took a vaulting leap, "That is kind of the plan."

In the instant that Enma's eyes had recovered he had not expected his prey to come lunging at him. Caught off guard, the beast reeled back as Mau jammed her short sword into his other eye as he tried to snap at her on reflex.

Blinded, wounded, and in agony, the beast snarled, lashing and flailing his neck and limbs in a vain attempt to try and catch the catgirl as she rolled away from him and sprinted for the last remaining tent standing; the tent where Enma had been holding his prisoner.

Mau flung the tent flap open and stepped inside, eyes rapidly adjusting to the darkness of the unlit tent.

"Well... I was wondering what all the commotion was, going on outside, dearie."

There was an old woman standing there, within a cage made of iron bars.

Mau balked, because even with a glamour enchantment, she could see right through it and recognized who she was staring down.

"... Hag Spetti?" Mau said, head tilting to an angle, bewildered.

The old woman in the cage blinked owlishly at the catgirl before frowning.

"I don't think we've had the pleasure, dearie." The old woman chuckled. "Buuuuut we're both in a bit of a pickle now aren't we?" She pointed out.

Enma howled outside. He wasn't going to remain blinded for much longer and Mau knew it as she glanced over her shoulder.

That was when the old woman reached through the bars of her cage, very careful not to come in contact with the iron, and gently touched Mau's longsword.

The sword hummed to life in Mau's hand and she instantly knew what the woman had done, as she glanced down at her now enchanted blade.

"Oh, hey, thanks. I kind of needed that." Mau said. "Look, so I was originally just gonna spring you out and run back to the Baba Yaga ripoff hut, but now I'm gonna go kill this guy, then I'll get you out of that cage, sound good?"

The old woman smiled sweetly.

"By all means, dearie."

Before the conversation could continue any further the tent flaps ripped way violently.

"What do you think you're doing in there, little kitten?" Enma snarled.

Only for his look of triumph to turn into a screech of dismay as Mau's blade went 'snicker-snack'!

In that instant the entire flow of battle shifted in Mau's favor. No longer was she on the defensive, forced to dodge and flee. Enma cried out in pain and terror as he recognized the weapon that was now his bane, the vorpal enchanted sword glimmering in Mau's hand, dripping blood from the open wound that now decorated his face.

The Jabberwock backed way hurriedly and Mau advanced, storming towards her prey as it flapped its wings to try and get away, rearing back to keep his neck as far out of reach of that glimmering blade.

"Stay back!" Enma howled. Mau ignored his cry as she darted in under his neck and hacked into his torso, the sword in her hand once more snicker-snack-ing through the air as it struck true and opened a new wound in that formerly impenetrable hide, blood gushing freely from the neat cut as though Mau's sword was a three foot long razor.

Enma feebly swiped at the catgirl with his massive claws, but she was too fast and he was too injured to catch her. Though his wounds were mending, the enchanted sword had dealt him a grievous amount of pain that addled his mind and slowed him down.

She was coming for him.

He wouldn't be able to do anything about it, as her eyes gleamed with cold malice.

One last time the vorpal blade went snicker-snack! ... And separated Enma's head neatly from the long length of his neck.

"G-gggghhhaaaaaahhh!" The beast let out a final cry, strangled as the sword hewed through scale, muscle, and bone with contemptuous ease. His neck flailed and wings flapped as his body twitched in the last throes of slowly beginning to understand that it was dying...

"She left him dead, and with his head, Mau went galumphing back~." Mau chuffed, pleased with her handiwork as she embedded the point of her blood-slicked sword into the loamy earth as Andy clambered out from hiding and Suvdaa dropped out from another tree.

"... Okay so where did you get a vorpal sword from?" Andy asked, incredulous.

"A what sword?" Suvdaa asked, clueless.

Mau jerked her thumb at the tent behind her.

"The old lady in the cage." She said as though that explained everything.

It explained nothing.