Dave grit his teeth and concentrated to feel his core. Grabbing as many strings of darkness as he could, he forced them to meld into coils, making a song vibrate stronger throughout his body.
He struggled against his binding once more, feeling them chafe over open skin, bruising it. Noticing how physical means were futile, he opened his mouth preparing to push the song into his vocal cords, overloading and tearing them apart to strike the vine with a soundwave, only to stop as a shield propped up in front of him.
Following the shield with his eyes, he watched John put his weight against it as the vine struck into it with a sickening thud.
The violent strummings of power calmed down, as his song devolved back into immaterial strands of darkness in his core.
"Ya.. like vines? Kids nowadays.. won't.. remember vines." He rasped out in a delirious attempt at humor, trying to ignore how close he came to death.
A warm light bathed him, making him feel like he was sitting at a fireplace cuddled up in a warm blanket. He sputtered at the thought and felt himself able to breathe again.
"No." "You're like, welcome!" Came two voices as he took deep breaths before getting out of the slackened vines and taking in the battlefield.
Multiple vines and ropes covered the ground, with shallow ditches marring the surface from when they crashed into the ground. Everyone was more or less covered in dust and dirt and Edmund stood, or rather kneeled on the ground frozen, with one arm stretched out towards him and clenched, the other flat pointing towards the ground.
He saw the smug smile on Alexander's face as everyone grouped up. He saw Ray and Rocky looking at him with wide eyes, trying their best attempt to create a puppy eyed look waiting to be praised. He glimpsed some newfound confidence in their demeanor, pride filling them at having done a good job.
He glanced back at Edmund, seeing multiple poison darts sticking out of his neck and connected the dots.
"You did well Ray, Rocky." He said and ruffled the teens hair before doing the same to the bird's feathers. "You all did well, really. I don't think it would have worked out if anyone was missing." He made eye contact with every single person around him. "The shield probably saved my life at the end.." He said as John grunted in, what he guessed was acknowledgement. "And thanks for the heal, it was a.. novel feeling." He mused, noticing how Kelly preened at his compliment as her ears tinted red. "And good job Alex, it's amazing that you were able to turn those nuts into something useful.. talking about useful, we really should finish the plan, I don't know how long the paralysis will last."
"Edmund and John are the only ones left who need to put down the charms." Ray excitedly said. "Chirp!" Rocky supplemented.
Ray and John went up to grab one Edmund's arms as Dave gestured for Alexander to grab the other.
Slightly drunk on their victory, they pulled Edmund towards the last stone. Dave used Edmund's hand to push the charm onto the stone, before wiping away some sweat on his face and turning towards the others.
John put down the final charm.
Dave observed the paper burn away, leaving behind their unique symbols, imprinting them on stone.
The new carvings lit up in different colors as they carved new lines towards the campfire, changing the flame into a pale green hue which rushed over Edmund.
Edmund, still unable to move, did the only thing he could.
Screams and howls echoed across the clearing. Their tones created a creepy duet as two voices overlapped, a low dark rasp and a high pitched anguished cry. A distinct tearing sound rang out as a light shot out of Edmund into the throne. Edmund's body slowly morphed back into his human form, and like a marionette with its strings cut, he unceremoniously crashed into the ground. Dave noted the darts disappearing with the transformation and curiously looked around, to find them stuck in the throne.
Side Objective: Beat the hunter complete.
"Ugh.. is.. what? I'm alive?" The bruised youth garbled as spit ran down his chin. He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position and looked around with glazed over eyes. "You.. you didn't kill me?" He rasped, throat overused and strained by his shouts. Light returned to his eyes before it disappeared, they started filling up with tears. "We.. We killed Edmund the last time, but the game wasn't over.. he just.. went on and on till I was the only one left." He started sobbing. "I ate them.. he made me eat all of them.. this.." The youth started vomiting and curled up into a ball. Sobbing and pained cries perforated the quiet night, with occasional crackling from the campfire."So like.. did we win?" Kelly whispered as she stared at the stirring final boss on the ground. "Of course we did, didn't you see the message? We beat the hunter, end of story. Now we should just relax till sunrise." Alexander proudly declared.
"After you killed him, he just jumped into another person?" Dave whispered as he stepped closer. "You were forced to. It's not your fault." He continued, sitting down slightly away from the downed youth.
"Not my fault.." the youth rasped, clinging to the words as he slowly scratching his upper arms. "Not my fault.." he repeated, his nails drawing blood. "Not my fault.." a deranged edge bleed into his voice as he repeated the words faster and faster.
"Quick, a vine!" Dave shouted as he pulled apart the unsound lad's arms to stop the selfmutilation. A shiver went down Dave's spine as he was forced to think of a broken record, repeating the same thing over and over again.
He had an inkling that he supported people in hard times before, but how did one support someone forced into cannibalism? He pondered in muted horror as John bound the youngsters arms. Taking a deep breath, Dave tried to calm down as he watched the youth teeter back and forth, repeating that it wasn't his fault.
Dave turned back to the group. "Let's recharge some and continue with the next side mission?" He said with a forced smile, trying to mask how badly the incident affected him. Ray readily agreed with hectic nods while Alexander demanded they just wait for the sun to rise.
Dave went to the stone with the symbol of a note carved into it, softly poking it, he noted it wasn't sticky. 'Maybe just clothes?' He mused as he pulled the edge of his shirt to touch the stone. Satisfied that it lost its sticky features Dave sat down and gave another look to the group.
Nobody seemed to notice Evergreen wasn't there. He threw a searching gaze towards the treeline and saw a tuft of white flit through the branches. Looking back over the group his gaze was drawn back to the swaying youngster, pity filling him.
He pulled out his lute and started to strum it softly, in hopes of creating a soothing song. He played gently, trying to hug everyone with his tender tunes as he started humming deep tones, joining the soft harmony, putting his will to help into the song.
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"I objected before and still disagree. Don't tempt fate. Let's just wait for the sun." Alexander said when Dave suggested they break the throne.
"Do we like, need to? Aren't we fine?" Kelly supplied.
"While we don't need to.. did you do any side objectives in the quests before?" Dave questioned. "I mean, they upgrade your final rating and raise the amount of points and boons you get. If you just barely scrape by from game to game, you won't grow stronger while they increase the difficulty. We needed all of us.." he motioned across the group. "To even have a real fighting chance. Imagine if we didn't work together, he would have taken us down one by one.."
Silence descended amongst them, as they quietly pondered how this could have turned out. "I'm not trying to convince you, I just wanted to inform you before I break the throne." Dave sighed as he stepped towards the throne, giving it a powered kick. He felt the stone give as he kicked against it again, watching it gather cracks all over. With a final kick the throne crumbled down into powdery ash as a ghostly shriek washed over them.
Side Objective: Break the throne complete.
"What have you done! You don't know what you just started! This isn't how it should go!" Voices young and old, male and female overlapped into a bizarre scratchy voice, as the brown sludge and black smoke coalesced, drawing mass from the night until it grew into a blubbering dark lump.
"Guys.. I hope you didn't read the murals." Dave said.
"Murals? Murals?! I told you we should have just sat back and reaped an easy reward. Of course we've seen the murals. How the fuck do you think I could even fight that!" Alexander shouted accusingly as he loaded his blowgun with a paralytic dart.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you." John stepped forefront, raising his shield in grim determination.
A happy laugh as clear as a bell sounded out, as the being grew a tentacle and waved it in a circular motion, phasing it through everyone standing. It continued laughing in mad glee, as it saw everyone it hit froze instantly.
"Do many! Do do many!" It yipped in a singsong voice."Do many tasty tasty things!"
A mad cackle echoed across, breaking the beings' reverie. "Tasty? So much food? Had to eat all of it..." Dave turned his eyes to the boy left behind by Edmund's possession. He watched him stand up and realized the monsters fleshy tendril passed over him without touching him.
The youth pushed one leg in front of the other in a slumped gait. The once inanimate vines and ropes coiled around his leg, crawling up his body and melting into his right arm. His hands now freed of the binding, he started scratching his neck with the left. "Made me eat. Not my fault.. ate their flesh. Not my fault.." His rasps slowly gained volume as they morphed into a deranged chuckle. "Your fault." He said, as his eyes showed a moment of clarity.
Wooden spikes, sharp like iron grew out of his back growing protectively above his head, his wooden arm turned into a giant lance made out of plants as he lunged at the black mass. A child's shriek accompanied a mad cackle, as a symphony of wood breaking and flesh squelching echoed across the clearing.
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Dave felt a warm hand touch his cheek as his gaze focused from the youths mad charge towards ruby eyes.
He should have expected it, really. 'The murals were probably some prophecy bullshit and it would come to pass either way.'
He pulled out his lute. 'Instead of brooding I'll just push it all into a song..' He thought and started playing.
He watched as Evergreen charged the grotesque horrors back, her fists and legs glowing in a dazzling red. His songs' soft blue glow intermingled with her red aura, strengthening it, complimenting and growing it, but never merging.
He realized there was no time to hesitate and flexed his coils, coaxing them into a song as he gently pushed it towards his throat. He inhaled strongly before pushing it out in the form of an otherworldly bassy voice, making sure his intonation compliments his melody.
He played as she tore into the being, it's shrieks and screams trying to cut through his song. He pushed more power into his fingers, increasing his songs tempo as the youths' soft sobs and intense laughter flip flopped, melding into his bassy voice.
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'I'm the wild card he said.. I'll show them I am much more than just a reserve.' She thought, a cheeky grin forming on her face as she saw a shadowy limb phase through the group. Stretching her legs and body she got ready. 'I wonder what the prophecy said in detail.. did it show a rabbit kicking the monster's face in? Wait.. does it even have a face?'
She mused as her legs thrummed with power, she jumped from her branch and skipped the distance in the blink of an eye, appearing in front of her partner.
She brought her palm to his face, watching as his body unfroze, his gaze locked onto her.
'Good, he doesn't seem too out of it.'
She watched him pull out his lute, his song being the curtain raiser of the fight.
Turning, she broke into a sprint, not looking back once as she weaved past the mass of decaying flesh, making sure to stay out of sight of it's many eyes. It was fully focused on its front, at the cause of its pain.
Almost at her goal, she grasped deep inside of her, like she had done many times before and felt an unending still body of water. She moved an ethereal hand, causing small ripples across the surface, channeling them through her body into her arms and legs, feeling them get empowered.
She felt his song guiding her, giving her the strength she craved all along. Pivoting on her left leg she jumped into a spin, backhanding the pulsating mass of flesh. She watched it give way as she felt gravity pull her back towards the ground. Twisting her body to face the condensing tissue once more, she dropped down in an axe kick. Her foot crashed through the beast, crushing into the ground as she landed.
'I could get used to this.' A stray thought passed by her, as she got ready to deliver more blows. The monsters let loose a banshee's scream, as multiple eyes bubbled forth on its backside, homing in on her lithe form. Tendril of flesh followed, undulating with sickening cracks of bones breaking, it's mass rearranging. A horde of arms short and long formed while its eyes bubbled back and forth, appearing and disappearing on its limbs.
She didn't watch the monster powerup uselessly, instead deciding to swing her fists and throw some kicks, weaving between the monsters arms. She continued breaking its limbs again and again as two serpentine vines of meat, ending in sharp talons swung out at her.
Giddiness bubbled up in her, as she realized her unending stamina fed into her battlelust. She felt she could continue fighting forever as her muscles burned in appreciation.
The monster's talon lashed out against her legs as she felt her blood pump. Jumping over the fleshy vine, using it as a springboard, she cocked back her fist and punched through the connecting part of the other talon.
The severed limb slammed into the ground with a satisfying thunk, as she continued her assault.
She felt her very being thrum with power, as she ripped into the monstrosity with mad glee, only slowing down as motes of light gathered around it. As if to show it's defiance, the flesh rearranged into tree trunk thick muscle, adorned by unending rows of teeth and screeching at the sky.
She slowly deescalated her fight, dodging gaping maws gnashing their fangs and unending gullets trying their best to get a taste of her.
Her heartbeat raced as motes of light all over the deformed fiend turned into handleless daggers, sharp and loose teeth, fangs and tusks. They continued their glow as she heard Dave's song come to a rushing crescendo, amassing illusory blades and needles. With an unholy screech the song reached its apex, all kinds of weaponry plunging into its flesh, tearing, ripping and disintegrating it.
She watched as the last vestiges of the being melted and dissipated into smoke, as gentle glimmers of sunlight started to illuminate the battlefield. Past the smoke she noticed her partners exhaustion as he slowly slumped towards the ground. Kicking her legs against the ground, she caught him before he collapsed to the earthen soil.
"You did well partner.." She whispered as she noticed he played fingers bloody. His pale complexion and the last hints of glimmering lightmotes made her think of vampires as she gazed into his golden brown eyes. His eyes were foggy as they stared into hers, trying to convey pride and satisfaction. She snuggled him closer with a slight grin, trying to share her warmth as she wrapped him into her cloak.
Congratulations! Game Edmunds jollification main objective complete.