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Trapped

"A hidden exit?" Jasper snorted. "How cliche. Where?"

Tsia leaned low over her horse's neck, whispering something in its ear, and it picked up its pace. Its legs flying so swift they were a blur, she shot past him to take the lead, twisting in the saddle as she passed. "Dūrilī said to ride along the ramparts until you reached the upper wall, and then keep riding."

Jasper spurred Dapplegrim on, eager to keep pace with her, but the horse slowed as a commotion behind them caught their attention. An unwitting traveler, goading a slow-moving cart of produce, had crossed the street below, straight through the path of the puḫmaḫḫu. The beast smashed through it, sending an avalanche of goods across the street to which was swiftly added the splattered blood of the partially devoured worker. It roared again, spraying its foul breath and a shower of rocks futilely in their direction, before charging after them. Dapplegrim turned her head back, tugging at the reins with an imploring look, but Jasper just shook his head. "C'mon girl, I really don't think we want to fight that thing." She hesitated for just a moment, her reluctance obvious, but then she obeyed. With a final short, she turned back to the ramparts and redoubled her efforts, her metallic hooves clanging like a gong against the stalwart ramparts as she charged.

Two minutes hard ride led them to the end of the lower city's wall. The ramparts seemed dead-ended into the cliff that the upper city was built upon, a jagged and sheer precipice that rose another fifty feet into the heavens. But of the path Dūrilī had spoken, Jasper saw no sign. There appeared to be nothing there at all, save for a few hundred-thousand tons of earth and stone.

But Tsia was undaunted. Spurring her horse even faster, she charged directly toward the sheer precipice - at least until the last second, that is. At the last moment, her horse reared up on its hindquarters, nearly throwing her off its back as it refused to slam into the cliff.

A moment later, the other four caught up with her. "Uh, Tsia, are you sure this guy wasn't just yanking your chain?" Jasper raised a questioning eyebrow as he stared up at the seamless stone.

"Yanking my chain? What-?" Her curls flew wildly as she shook her head. "Nevermind. No, this is the way, alright. See!"

He flinched as she slammed her hand straight toward the cliff, with enough force that he couldn't imagine she would be spared a few broken bones. But instead of the ominous crack of sinew and bone, silence followed as her palm was buried deep into the heart of the rock. "It's just an illusion." She waved her hand in and out, a victorious grin on her face.

“Kawwwooooorrr.” The wall beneath them shook as the vicious beast creature surged up the stairs onto the rampart, bellowing with rage. It was gaining ground quickly.

Nēs̆u sprung into action immediately. Swinging himself off his steed, he practically threw himself through the wall, dragging along behind him his frightened mount by the power of pure brute strength. Copying him, Tsia and Annatta followed close behind. The willowy princess chose a different method, producing a bribe of sweets that was enough to lure her reluctant filly into tentative steps after her, while the Djinn, who was determined to copy Nēs̆u's feat, drug a kicking and fighting horse through with decidedly less panache than the warrior. Jasper's and Ihra's mounts were a little easier to convince. In fact, Dapplegrim needed no convincing at all. After seeing the other horses pass through the wall, it took nothing more than a nudge for her to follow, with Keresh close on her heels.

"Kawwwoooorrr." The sound faded slightly as Jasper rode through the illusion, revealing what lay on the other side.

The illusion had hidden only a small cleft that sat between the upper and lower walls. It wasn't a large place, but it did offer the salvation Dūrilī had promised. A narrow path branched off of the cleft, plunging downward at a positively frightening incline for nearly a hundred feet before it leveled out on a shallow trail that had clearly been carved into the side of the plateau the city rested upon. Less than four feet wide, the path was completely invisible from above but it was wide enough, if only just barely, for the five of them to pass on their mounts.

The horses thundered down the descent at breathtaking speeds, and onto the makeshift path. Jasper could tell immediately that this was no official entry; whoever had carved the slender path out was clearly a far less-skilled stone mage than the masterful workmen of the city. The ledge was uneven in size and slope, with its edges crumbling in many places and gentle rise and falls that, with a little more speed, would have allowed them to recreate the Dukes of Hazzard. It did absolutely nothing to inspire his confidence. Man I hope this holds.

He held his breath as the five of them begin their race across the path, but aside from a few small tumbling rocks, nothing dramatic happened. Glancing over his shoulder, he kept an eye on the entrance above, allowing himself the small hope that the monster would be fooled by the illusion. Or, even if it sees through the illusions, surely it can't fit on this narrow path, right?

Both hopes were dashed nearly as quickly as they had arisen. The puḫmaḫḫu plowed through the fake wall without even a flicker of hesitation - perhaps, in retrospect, Jasper realized that it really wasn't surprising that a creature with the ability to manipulate stone wasn't fooled by a fake - and it charged straight down the steep ramp, bellowing over and over like a car alarm that just won't shut up. Kawwwooooorrr. Kawwwooooorrr

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Harsh blasts of hot air washed over the group, carrying with them a hail of small stones. The armor Jasper wore was enough to prevent any serious injuries, but much like bulletproof armor, it couldn't save him from the pain of the impact. I'm going to be one walking bruise tomorrow.

Kawwwooooorrr. Jasper braced himself for the oncoming blasts, as he risked another glance behind him. The ledge was barely wide enough to accommodate him and a horse, so how the hell was the creature still following them?

Illuminated in Selene's bright rays, he finally saw the creature in its entirety. The puḫmaḫḫu looked like someone had taken a giant earthworm, a saber tooth tiger, and a centipede and thrown them into a blender. Most of its upper body was covered in a dark, grey shell whose composition he could only guess at, but its multitudinous legs sported black, shaggy hair. Large fangs bracketed both the top and bottom of its mouth and a stubby, furry tail perked up from its rear that was entirely at odds with its otherwise terrifying exterior. Easily exceeding thirty feet in length, the beast was relatively skinny for its length, but it was still far too wide to easily fit on the narrow ledge.

That wasn’t a problem for it, however. As soon as the puḫmaḫḫu reached the start of the makeshift ledge, it flipped onto its side. Long, sharp claws sprang forth from beneath its shaggy fur and dug deep ravines into the side of the cliff. The beast's pace didn't even slow as its charge transformed into a writhing, pendulous motion that Jasper could only compare to the slithering of a snake. If anything, the new form of locomotion was faster, and the creature began to rapidly gain ground on them.

Crap. He bent low over Dapplegrim, bracing himself as another rock blast washed over them. Nēs̆u’s horse screamed in pain as one of the rocks smashed into its leg, but it kept running, and a moment later, a giant wall of wind erupted from Tsia’s hand, flinging the rest of the rocks back towards the beast. The rocks bounced off the creature’s bony armor uselessly, but it flinched from the unexpected spell, allowing them to regain a few feet of ground before it resumed its pursuit.

As they thundered round a tight corner, Dapplegrim's hooves just barely staying on the path, Jasper saw their goal appear before them. The great promontory on which Dūr-Ēkal had been built had been slowly arcing back toward the bulk of the mountain, and a few hundred feet away, the narrow ledge came to an abrupt end, leading to a drop off of a solid thousand feet to the valley below. The only way forward was a narrow, arching bridge of stone that connected the ledge to the bluffs that faced it. There, on the other side, a small clearing had been carved out in the woods with a winding path that led further into the wilderness.

Almost there. As if responding to his thoughts, the puḫmaḫḫu surged forward with a fresh burst of speed. It caught up to them in a matter of seconds, but rather than leaping upon him, and tearing him off his horse, it simply rushed right past Jasper. It passed them all in turn, ignoring the volleys of arrows, poisoned daggers, and the blades of wind, the group launched its way, all of them ineffectual against its armored carapace.

It’s trying to cut us off, Jasper realized. He dug his heels into Dapplegrim, urging her forward even faster as he tried to reach the small bridge before the puḫmaḫḫu could get there, but it had already left him in the dust. With renewed effort, Tsia managed to enhance her blades enough to notch a few small scores in the creature’s armor, but it was little more than an inconvenience to the monster. Its legs moving in a blur of motion, the puḫmaḫḫu threw itself into the air, flipping back over end before landing directly in front of them with an earth-shaking impact, blocking the end of the path.

Kawwwooooorrr. Jasper flinched as the beast's roar caught them dead-on, a larger-than-usual flurry of rocks beating them black and blue. Pulling hard on the reins, Dapplegrim slid to a stop in a cloud of dust, with the others gathered around him.

His fingers were already twisting with a spell, but it went uncast. To his surprise, the puḫmaḫḫu, now that they were trapped, made no move to attack them. Instead, it settled down on its haunches, gazing at the group with an expression that Jasper would have almost called smug if it didn’t seem absurd to attribute emotions like that to such a beast.

Is it waiting for the guards? The realization filled his mind with both desire and opportunities. We just have to kill the beast before the guards arrive, he decided, but that was a resolution easier said than done. The puḫmaḫḫu had shrugged off Jasper's fire spells like they were nothing, and his spectral whip would require him to close the range. Even that didn't seem downright suicidal - especially on this tiny ledge where there was certainly no place to dodge - he doubted it would work anyway. The whip needed to draw blood to summon the ghosts, and he doubted it would be able to get through the creature's thick armor. That left only one real option - fiery charge. Will it work?

Jasper eyed the beast uncertainly. Sure Fiery Charge had ignored the Seraph's fire immunity, but he wasn’t certain the puḫmaḫḫu actually had such a trait; if his armored panels were formed from some sort of stone like they appeared to be, the beast's 'immunity' might be nothing more than stone's natural resistance to fire. And if I close the gap with Fiery Charge and it doesn't hurt the beast, I'm screwed. He swallowed hard, as the image of the beast's enormous fangs snapping him in half much as they had the poor farmer flashed through his mind, but his hesitation lasted only a moment.

This was his group, his friends - his responsibility. He had to save him. Not giving himself time to second guess his decision, Jasper spurred Dapplegrim straight at the beast as his hand writhed with the spell. Guess I'll know in a second.