Chapter 77: The Scarecrow Striker (Part 2!)

Marvelous, all of Vega’s being, it was. Like an explosion of all the emotions she had welled up throughout her entire life exitted, surrounding and swirling around her. They arrived in the forms of rose petals, tufts of hay, sheets of doodles and drawings, the voices of Ena and Kaliber, along with a triple helix of glowing light.

As if she were being announced by all she was and grew to be. Vega felt like she was more than the humble scarecrow she had thought she was. More than the idiot people called her, and more than what Ani Arma and Runtaii were aiming to reduce her to.

And more importantly, Vega finally stopped believing she was the greatest construct. Vega KNEW she was the greatest construct in all of continents.

Flowing ever still, Vega tilted her stance to face the amazed Runtaii. His mouth open, and his eyes a mixture of fury and envy. Tears fell from her eyes, and the wind blew and took them away. She could think about her origin and her latent powers later. Uvi Jantok needed to be saved.

“...Kaliba?” She spoke to her bird friend, who (totally not shockingly) seemed disturbed by all the magic shit.

“Yes-yes? Friend-friend?” Kaliba cawed.

“Go get Skaldi and Krimm. As soon as they’re done-done with the fire arrows, I need them to get here as soon as they can!”

“Sure-sure?” Asking for the first time, Kaliba sounded actually worried.

“I need their help-help for my idea. Go-go!” She ordered and Kaliba flew as fast as possible. Placing her fingers on the guitar, she felt the Soul Gem starting to beat, like a heart.

Below her was Runtaii and all of his Snake Skins, the people that were robbed of their sentience and reduced to weapons and slaves. How am I going to break them free, Vega thought.

Remembering the Snake Skin, the one from Jinmai, that one that sung with her and ceased, Vega had a plan. A dangerous one, but it was all she had. If the tilt of this battle was to be shifted, she needed to break free every single Snake Skin possible, and maybe then they had a shot.

“...this scarecrow is really something else!” Announcing more to himself, Runtaii raised his spear to the sky. Following this signal, the Snake Skins drawed out daggers and darts. “Show her the might of Galabag!”

Unleashing at the same time, the Snake Skins hurled hundreds of sharp and deadly weapons at her.

“Ha! Then let me show ya the might of my meddle!” Like a speeding bullet, Vega rushed down to meet Runtaii head on. She wasn’t going to go on the defensive, not anymore. Vega wanted to show everything she had to prove, and everything that she had to fight for.

Dodging the darts and daggers, Vega danced around them as she flew down. The pedals and the hay followed behind her, like a trail of a comet. Within a few moments, she landed amongst the Snake Skins and began to work her magic (pun very much intended).

Flipping around like an acrobat, Vega weaved from the Snake Skins attacks. Surrounded by two dozen of them, she slid underneath them, jumped from head to head, and twirled around all of their attempts. She wasn’t going to fight them, all of her rage was completely focused on Runtaii.

Playing her song with ferocious ire, she stirred up all emotion she could find. The pain, the sorrow, everything that the Snake Skins couldn’t express. She would free them, and return their lives.

Runtaii, without any regard for his troops, rushed forward trampling on anyone in his way. Crouching his spear, he aimed for Vega’s center of mass, hoping to split her in two. Here and now, this is where he would have his revenge. Here he would avenge Sabere.

“There’s nowhere to run! There’s nowhere to hide!” He yelled out, mania in his voice. Soon he will have her secrets, her magic.

Jumping over one last Snake Skins, a clearing opened for Vega. She couldn’t quite tell what was happening, but it seemed the Snake Skins were moving not because they were ordered to. Sensing it very closely, she felt the faintest collective fear.

“...How do ya kill what’s not alive?!” Rushing forward, Vega continued to play her song, with the guitar sparking with electric waves. Each string ignited like metal striking metal, and the song echoed throughout the city.

Although many of the defenders did not know where it came from, they rallied and sang along with it.

“Born into godhood, I’m coming for ya and I’ll never stop. Never stop!” Leaping forward, she was carried by the energy and met Runtaii face to face. In fractions of a second, Vega swapped her guitar and spun to strike with her pickaxe. Like a lighting tornado, she devastated where she struck.

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Knocked off his horse, Runtaii fell to the street ground, dazed by the impact. He knew he wasn’t dead, but felt much of his chest plate had been torn straight off. Touching it, he felt the entire left side was gone while the right only clung to his shoulder and waist.

Not too far before him Vega, stanced forward. Runtaii wasn’t sure why she wasn’t attacking, she had him on the ground and at complete disadvantage. However, he noticed something in her limbs.

Cracks in her metallic legs, her arms had thin whiskers of metal scrapped off. Subtle, but noticeable enough injuries. It couldn’t have been his spear, he knew that he missed.

Her face was twisted and she tried to maintain composure. Opening his eyes, he realized what had happened.

Vega was in pain.

Not the emotional pain, but the type of pain of snapping bones. The amount of magic that was following through Vega was manifesting itself in multiple ways. The roses, the floating and the light. But most dangerously, a sense of pain that she had never dealt with before.

“What’s wrong scarecrow? Can’t handle the stress?” Runtaii ran forward, holding his spear to sweep Vega’s legs. Slicing along the ground, he managed to actually catch her off guard.

“Woah!” As she fell, Vega quickly did a handstand and flipped away. The pain was fainter, but still very much present. Never did she expect magic to give her a sense of pain.

Staring down at her injuries, she took a few moments to savor the sense. The aching, the coldness of her limbs, the shock of it. Vega understood she wouldn’t break if she tried such a powerful strike again, however she might end up too shocked to even react.

Strangely, Vega enjoyed the pain. Alive, was the word she chose to describe it. Magic, all of it hadn’t been mastered and she wouldn’t get a chance to ease into her abilities. And yet, she appreciated the fact she would be able to learn it, if she were to survive.

“...Hmm. I will not-not rest until you’re dead!” Gripping tight onto her pickaxe, Vega lunged at Runtaii, who too ran to fight her. While Vega made a flurry of swings, Runtaii deflected them and waited for another opportunity to trip her up.

The Snake Skin weren’t far behind, aiding their enslaver by taking up what little space Vega could swing into. She didn’t want to hurt them, seeing that they too were victims of Runtaii and Ani Arma. And if she wanted this fight to go back into her favor, she needed to figure out how to get them on her side.

She needed to give them a choice.

“Amir, move!” Shoving him out the way, they both narrowly fell just under the were-hyena’s charge. Jaws snapping just near his head, Bolato’s ears were ringing, faintly. He wasn’t sure if it was because the were-hyena or all the chaos that had been happening today.

While the rest of Runtaii’s forces went with him, the hyena stayed, wanting to finish off the two before joining the rest. Its spotted fur stained with blood, and teeth surrounded by foam and bubbles, a terrible sight to behold.

But for the two, Amir and Bolato weren’t going to be its meal. The hyena was more strong and agile, but they were far more cunning.

“~Shield, I’ll deal with this beast.~” Getting behind Bolato, Amir readied his javelins. He knew he couldn’t penetrate the hide of the hyena, seeing the blade marks make only shallow cuts. He wasn’t going to stab it, he was going to blind it.

“This damn thing is huge! Hmm… and needs space to charge. Over here!” Pointing with his sword, Bolato instructed Amir to back up into a small stairway. They were–hyena followed, climbing up the steps and eyed the two with its awful eyes.

“~Come on you cur! Face the might of man. Face the fury of a father!~” Amir goaded loudly, waiting for the exact moment to throw the javelin.

Howling like a rabid dog, the were-hyena went full pelt towards the two. Cutting the distance in mere moments, the hyena opened its jaws wide and leaped into the air.

The instant the hyena leaped at them, Amir pulled back his arm and pushed forward with all his strength, throwing the javelin so hard it whistled in the air. As the hyena was one foot away from Bolato’s shield, the sharpened point of the javelin broke against its skull.

Sliding away and on its side, the hyena was dazed by the hit, although with blood coming out from the center of its head.

“...let’s do this!” Hesitant but not freezing, Bolato charged forward with Amir just behind. The Tripolian threw an additional javelin to prevent the were-hyena from recovering quickly, but it only left a scratch.

When the hyena staggered to its feet, Bolato stabbed and stabbed, bashing with his shield to keep it off balance. Most of his stabs never even broke the hide, however it did allow Amir to make an attack for its eyes.

Taking one dagger and making one nasty slice, Amir caused a gushing of blood and pained howl. Immediately the hyena knocked the two off their feet in its rage, and snarled as it licked the blood off its face.

“...hah. Come on! You want some back?” Bolato rose, waving the beast forward. The were-hyena sort of laughed, like it couldn’t believe they had actually hurt it. Stepping back up, Amir stepped to Bolato’s side, ready for the hyena to attack again.

Narrowing its eyes, the hyena charged at the two, and Amir and Bolato ran up the stairs and into a closed off alleyway. Hidden in the darkness, they heard the hyena sniffing, trying to sense them. But it gave up looking and continued running in the streets.

“We can’t let that thing get away. Damn it!” Bolato peered his head out, trying to see if the hyena was still around. Feeling a tapping on his shoulder, he turned to see Amir with an odd worry on his face. Beating his chest twice, Amir signalled to him that they had left someone behind.

They had left Florato behind in the frenzy. Even if it was an accident, even if they were trying to save their lives, the fact they had left someone they care about vulnerable filled Bolato with guilt. He had to make it right.

“...damn. I’ll distract the beast, you go get her!” Bolato didn’t know if AMir would get the message, but the reassured look in his eyes assured him that he understood. The two split apart, each going to fulfill their own objectives.

This time, they both knew they had to put it down that beast or else the ones they loved would be in danger.