Why do I do this? Why do I try? What makes me a good fit for this job? I can't protect anybody, I can't do anything.
I failed.
There's nothing else to it. I let them down. And now, they're going to...
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> A cry of anguish peirced through the brisk mountain around, a lone man leaned over the body of another, a hulking mass of a creature sat nearby, its elongated and scaled maw seemingly smirked at them, taking some excitement from the sorrow before it.
>
> "You son of a bitch!" The man rose, blood coating his hands, and pooling around the limp body's outline, staring the beast dead in the eye, cold fury filling the void of his pupils. The beast roared at him, raising its head up high and declaring its assured victory over the runt of a figure below it. A bright flash encompassed the basalt mountainous clearing, and the vision faded...
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No. No no no. I tried! I tried god damn it!
I did all that I could! I! I fucking tried!
This isn't my fault...
No.
This is all my fault. It's all, shit, it's all on me... I couldn't do anything when it counted. I failed, again.
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> "Woah! When the hell will I be able to do that?!"
>
> A lanky figure watched in awe as an older man produced weaponry from thin-air, throwing the projectiles into a large fallen tree trunk, which immediately burst into splinters upon the last thin blades contact, a ripple of heat accompanying the localized explosion.
>
> "In time, in time. Stuff like this will be light work to you in the long run, of that I'm sure." The man turned to look at the younger figure, a bemused smile on his face as he went to retrieve the throwing weapons.
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NEVER AGAIN! NEVER!
The giant beast only had a moment to move, trying to dart to the side but failing, getting slammed with the full weight of the large lizard. Barasov bit deep into its side, whipping its tail around and going for the throat.
Recovering from its shock the beast responded with a stab from its tail, then smashed barasov on a tree trunk, forcing the lizard to disengage to avoid death, a large and grotesque fissure adorned the scales above its front left shoulder.
"No! Bara-!"
"You."
Jace's voice silence all mother's within the forest, cutting over Alkir's cry with ease. The beast turned to face its prey, witnessing the broken, bleeding, and hole-laden figure rising to its feet. He was steady, his footing true, and his fury was palpable. He leveled his gaze with that of the beast, a cold glint in his eyes meeting the fire of its.
"You will not take anything from me. Not today."
It snorted a response to Jace's words, lowering its head slightly and angling to anticipate an attack. It barely even acknowledged Barasov's go for its exposed side, swatting the large lizard with ease, its tail seemingly operating on its own.
Jace kept both his arms at his side. His left hand extended the first two fingers, keeping the rest curled up. His right was fully limp, hanging lifelessly with no indication of moving. For the shortest fraction of time, a flicker of blues and greens fluttered around Jace, going unnoticed by all present. And with its disappearance, Jace had vanished. His glaive had found its way into the beast's throat, Jace was along its left side, and was sunk even past the base of the blade, cutting off its short yelps of pain. Jace pressed his hand against the beast's fur and whispered.
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"Burst..."
A flash of color pulsed outward, carving a chunk of the beast's ribcage and organs out and incinerating them, doing much the same to Jace'a arm, with the ensuing backblast and shockwave sending both fighters tumbling through the brush, Jace's body was covered in thin blue vine-like lines, faintly glowing and pulsing, almost as if his blood itself began to glow. The beast on the other hand was most certainly deceased. Its heart, lungs, and kidneys were reduced to vapor, and a crater marred its flesh, sinking well beyond its spine and extending from the neck to the tail. It was not going to cause further trouble. But again, Jace was not in all that better of a situation.
His breathing had stopped, and although the glow and color of the lines had begun to recede, they appeared to have left gnarly scars in their wake, intricate patterns across his burned body, growing in intensity and thickness towards his right arm, which was severed halfway from the elbow to the wrist, apparently cauterized by the heat of his attack. His heart rate was high, and acrid smoke curled from his body, more evidence to attest to the heat running through his veins.
Thundering footsteps quickly approached him, something softer landed on the ground beside his body, and his semi-conscious brain only picked up muffled and distant noise before completely shutting off to the rest of the world.
I didn't choose you for your weakness. Get up. That oh-so-familiar voice encompassed the void of Jace's mind, surrounding him.
Please. If this is a weakness to you, then I'd sure love to see strength. I'm immortal, not invulnerable. Jace knew he was done. His wounds were pretty bad, not even someone like him could come back from the gaping hole in his chest, severed arm, severe burns, and so on. Astrinar... You know I'm dead, right?
Of course... and I suppose I'll need to recruit a new Saint in your stead, truly unfortunate. Despite the mocking nature of her words, Jace picked up the undertones of resignation and anguish beneath the surface. You know... There are more perks to being contracted with a god...
Flashes of light, fragments of frantic conversations, just tidbits of information, but information nonetheless, filtered through Jace's mind. What do you mean?
Well. She went silent for a moment. Perhaps there is another way to go about things... A better way.
Barasov was facing the downed beast at Jace's side, while Nell and Agni tried to find some way to combat the grievous wounds on the man's body. Their lizard companion didn't move at all, not certain the threat was gone entirely. For good reason too, as rustling within the endless underbrush grew closer and closer to the large corpse. Emerging from the foliage was another one, albeit only about half the size, followed by another, and then a third. Their eyes scanned over their larger counterpart, and yelps of concern emanated from the crowd of beasts that had formed.
Both Nell and Agni turned to face the new beasts, fear flickered in their eyes as the beasts in turn faced them down. Barasov released a rumbling growl from within, angling his legs in anticipation of a charge. Alkir groaned from where he lay, struggling to remove the heavy wood pinning his frame to the ground.
"Run! Both of you! Get back!" His yell of warning spurred the three juvenile beasts into action, the first two charging at Barasov while the third stayed by the larger creature's body. Barasov countered with a snarl, twisting and lashing out at one with the serrated bone of his tail, swiping at the second. The bone tip sliced the top of the first beast's thigh, but Barasov's claws completely missed the agile second, which retaliated with its tail, nicking the lizards attacking arm.
Nell got up and ran to help Alkir, sliding into a crouch at the man's side and lifting on the heavy log. It barely budged, but he kept at it, despite the man's pleas for him to leave. Agni soon joined him, and they both managed to move it a decent way, redoubling their efforts under the noise of Barasov's fighting the fully removed it from Alkir's body, and Nell was quick to hoist the man up and make to leave. Agni protested, saying they needed to get Jace, and Nell didn't answer.
He didn't want to verbalize the truth they all knew to be true.
With its whole body, Barasov tackled the beast that was injured, ripping into its back legs with his claws before being pushed away by the second beast which got in another few stabs with the scorpion-like appendage. The third beast hesitantly left the side of the corpse, moving to join the fight against the large lizard with its two companions. The injured beast collapsed soon after, a triangular dagger in its throat. Agni was standing just beside Jace's body, she hurled a shortsword at the pack and lifted the older man's arm, dragging him in the direction Nell and Alkir had fled after her brief distraction was overcome. Barasov roared a challenge and pounced on the two remaining beasts as the two pairs retreated through the thick woods.
Agni was sent flying several feet, landing in a large cluster of bushes, in a wave of light, a feeling of warmth, just edging on burning encompassed the three individuals. Jace was nowhere to be seen, in his place was an ethereal haze, a mist silhouette standing alone and slowly dispersing. And at its heart, a floating shard bent the light of the forest, as if a pane of glass yet unseen had shattered in that one space.