The dragon lifted into the heavens, its passengers holding on for dear life. It flapped its powerful wings, trying not to get caught in updrafts caused by the intense heat waves. Looking down, the party spotted the Wolfriders battling several demons.
Ravyson jumped off his dragon. "I'm going in. Frostie, land the others safely, but fast." Swooping down, he removed the Frostbite from its place on his belt.
His feet slammed into the ground as he landed. His landing broke the ground around feet. Pieces of volcanic rock lay scattered around him. The Wolfriders looked at him. "Where did you come from?"
Ravyson shoved the Frostbite into the chest of a nearby demon. "Up." The ice sword began to freeze the minor fire demon. "The others are on the way." He did a flip in the air and swiftly removed the head of another demon.
The leader of the Wolfriders looked around. A man had dropped in out of nowhere, and a dragon was descending from the sky. The number of demons was quickly thinning, especially with the dragon launching ice from above along with a man shooting arrows from its back and another throwing fire.
The demons were quuickly dispatched with the help of the reinforcements. The Wolfriders thanked the newcomers for their help. "Thanks, but who are you?"
OOC: Someone do the dialogue thing and the next part.
OOC: Sidebar, happens as the wolfrider dialogue goes on (whoever does it), so anyone watching would notice.
The tempest of electrical cackling loomed behind the flying dragon, never losing ground, but never closing. Those checking back were bedazzled by the behavior. A storm that moves with you, but doesn't roll in? All the same, as Ravyson parted the group to dispatch demons, the storm too stopped, seeming to follow him now. As the dragon circled above, ridding the foul beasts, Ravyson was preparing to meet the wolfriders, demons fleeing in all directions. It was the mythical beast itself who seemed the most shocked at the next part of the bizarre electric cloud's tryst. Launching ice from above, the dragon was doing well, but demons were still escaping. In flashes and loud, angry burst, the storm swooped and enwrapped the fleeing demons, moving minion to minion. Each lay in it's wake, dead. Some partially frozen, some in several pieces. One or two lay in the path convulsing as if holding the lightning itself. The lightning burst and howled in the blazing hot wind, and resumed its perch above the ground, almost if waiting.
Watching and waiting.
Torlax strode forth across the ground littered with demonic bodies. "Well met, Ravyson. My companions and I are glad for your assistance, but I must ask, how is it that you have arrived on this hellish plane?"
"When your group lost contact with Phaema, our group was sent out to attempt your mission, following the path you had taken. It took many months, but we were able to gather a set of artifacts vital to defeating Apyrel. We have only just collected the last one, and now we are here to finish the job."
"Months?" Torlax was incredulous. "We have been here a few scarce hours, fighting these creatures. If what you say is true, then every second we waste here is dire to the fate of Loebar and the Red Bastion. We must move quickly to defeat Apyrel and return, although the time difference could explain why the fire elemental has not yet succeeded in breaching the Bastion."
Jerreck and the remainder of the Red Bastion Expedition mingled with the Wolfriders, who seemed to have come through the battle with only minor injuries. Cerolt took his place at Torlax's side. "Apyrel, to the best of our knowledge, is but a few miles to the north. He doesn't seem to have any set defenses, most likely because he would never expect many intruders to enter his realm and not be torn asunder by the lesser demons. Be warned, however, as he may assume almost any physical form he chooses here, and defeating any one of them will only prevent him from reforming for a short while. And while we battle him, we must also defend against the same sort of lesser demons we have just defeated. To fully accomplish our task, we must find and destroy is the pool of lava in which his spirit resides."
Torlax examined the three artifacts that the RBE had brought with them. "The sword and shield will be invaluable in defeating his physical form, and we shall see whether the staff is strong enough to destroy his spirit in the pool. But with these tools, our task will no longer be impossible. Let us move with all haste."
The redoubled expedition set forth to their final confrontation with Apyrel.
Reeven fiddled with his bow. "This demon thing- it's more dangerous than Mohab?"
Jerreck looked at him. "Much more. His downfall will require all of us to work as a team. It will also need the artifacts we've collected."
"All right then! What happens if I shoot the thing?"
"Probably no effect. It will take more than a single arrow or bolt to stop him. Even if you do, he'll just reform into another body."
Ravyson flew above them on scouting. He strained his eyes to see through the smoke and fire. What looked like large flames were coming towards them from a point only a mile or two away. He swooped low to the ground. "We've got something headed our way. I'm not sure what it is."
The flames grew closer to them. The twenty or so members of the party stopped as they caught sight of the rapidly approaching things. Jerreck frowned as he recognized them. "Firebirds. That's not good. Everybody spread out." The group dispersed at his command. "These things will try to burn you by diving onto you. Watch out."
The firebirds swooped towards the group. There were seven in all. One by one, they decided upon a target. The screeches grew louder, fueled by the proximity of their prey.
Liander clapped his hands. Three beings of fire appeared. Each looked exactly like him, except that they were burning. The fire being that had targeted him slowed its descent, unable to tell the difference in the forms. Liander's muscles tensed, the strain of holding the short-term creatures together growing high. He drew from the plane's power, and it gave him strength. Frustated by the four beings, the firebird decided on one to attack. Landing upon the Liander double, it exploded as it struck the ground. The flames consumed all four forms. Luckily Liander was the farthest from the blast and remained relatively unhurt. He landed on his knees, slightly charred and tired from the spell. Beliana rushed to his side.
Ravyson jumped straight into the air as the hunting bird of flame followed him. Moving faster and faster, the two flying beings flew into the heavens. Stopping in midair, Ravyson let himself drop. He then began to fly staight down, the creature in pusuit. The rush of air seemed to make it more powerful as it flared. But the wind began to snuff it out as they reached the ground. Puling up, Ravyson stopped a mere ten feet from the ground. The firebird, too weak from the flight, continued and hit the ground. Ravyson dropped, blood coming out of his nose and mouth from the sudden change in pressure.
Looking up, he could see that only one other bird remained. It had targeted Reeven, and was closing in fast. The bowman fired several bolts at it, but to no avail. They merely turned into smoke as they passed through. Ravyson jumped up to save his friend. Taking out his blade, he leapt towards Reeven and the firebird. Landing next to the man, he looked up to see the bird diving down to turn them both into a crisp. Ravyson flew towards it, blade in front. The Frostbite was shoved into the head of the bird. It turned into ice and shattered, raining Reeven with shards of ice.
The party looked around. Cerolt was the first to speak. "Is everyone unhurt? We must continue."
Torlax looked at the burnt-out skeleton lying to his right. "No. They took Aevtus." The group lowered their heads in silent prayer for the Wolfrider who had fallen in battle. Then they continued walking to their destination: Apyrel.
OOC: Let's go people! Come on, time's a'wastin'! Someone freaking write! But anyway, what cha'll think?
hahahaha. sorry.
I just noticed the note about time difference.
I see your game. :)
The mortals strode forward slowly, but painfully.
The heat was blistering, but intensifying still.
They fell back on unconscious defenses, but the sweat quickly evaporated, and skin was beginning to blister.
Their legs grew heavy.
The large flames in the distance never seemed to grow closer. They remained on the horizon.
An unearthly hum began, quiet at first, but intensifying with the heat.
The mortals were knocked onto their backs, as a wide jet of flame shot up from the ground in their midst. They scrambled back as the geyser widened, heightened, and formed into a man. A sixty-foot tall man. Apyrel.
Low-pitch, soft, but ominous, with no visible mouth movements "BURRRRRRNN"
kinky
If I could pick any form I wanted....
Standing up, Reeven summed up the situation in a single word. "Crap."
Each member of the party pulled out their respective weapons. The swords, maces, spears, and bows were all in place as the demon paced towards them. Apyrel opened his fiery hands, and fire began to fall from the sky.
Ravyson hit the gem on his sword to bring out the ice dragon that was held inside. The dragon looked at the towering figure and flapped its wings. "A challenge!" The dragon began to roar, the battle flowing in his blood. It spit a spear of ice at the demon.
Apyrel caught the spear in his hand. As it melted, the fire fell more rapidly from the sky. The party was having trouble dodging the free-falling flames. He gathered up a large flame in his hands and threw it at the group of invading mortals.
The group scattered as the fire slammed into the ground. It was now more scorched than before. It also included two more Wolfrider's charred bones. the firedemon laughed at the mortals. "You come into my land to attack me? This is death for you!" He motioned, and several minions appeared from nowhere. "Attack them."
Ravyson leapt into the air. "Stop them! I'll get the big guy." His sword flashing with cold, he flew towards the pillar of fire in the form of a man. The heat began to burn at him, even with his sword dulling the fire with its coldness. He flew through the demon, the ice freezing its head as he passed through it. The extreme cold caused it to splinter and crack.
The jet of flame dispersed. From his vantage point high above, he could see the pit that held the spirit of Apyrel. Between them and the lava pit was nearly a mile. But it would be a very long mile.
OOC: You going to choose each new form for Apyrel? Make something cool, like a dragon. That'd be cool to have the Frostbite dragon go up against it.
The storm had angrily, cracking and hissing, followed the party, killing off lesser demons that tried to sneak in on the party, making sure their path was clear, watching over them. Apyrel was near, they needed every ounce of help they can garner.
-----------------------------------------
As the opening battle with Apyrel began, the storm loomed, and watched. Things were not seeming good. The scant moments of the first encounter toiled endlessly, the dragon rising from the blade, assaulting the mammoth challenging them, all wheeled in slow motion as the storm drew in on the party, closing the gap. In it's centre, a figure enwrapped in leaping flames and surges of energy. He floated gracefully down as the dragon fought the beast Apyrel, descending amongst those remaining in the RBS party. And for a moment, the dragon held Apyrel alone, as all turned to see the storm stop and the figure stand.
*
He stood amongst them, silent invisible energy still swirling and chaotically raging around his body. His hair, well over a foot worth, was cast in silver flames licking at the air above his head, reaching up for sanctuary from this damnable place. His figure, molded, a grandious balance: not slender, but not bulky with muscle, rather heroic.
From chest up, his skin was a burnt char black-brown, gradually fading throughout his torso to the deep red of his lower body. His face was completely blackened, only a slight sign of a mouth could be discerned, and two silver eyes that looked as stars in a night sky. Each of his hands and feet bore lengthy nails, yellowing to a lime color almost. And without warning, he threw back his head and let out a piercing howl.
Stop. Have you ever had a moment, a pure second in time? A frame of life stopping in place as something happens, and a whole new world falls into place? The RBS team did. As the scream sliced the air and rippled along the auditory nerves in each member's skull, a memory awoke.
Scream. A loud, tortured scream. A wild scream. The sound of time ripping apart and space swallowing itself. The sound of death stopping a few moments shy of its task to marvel at the beauty of life. The sound of an unborn child dying and the entire world feeling it. The sound of grief.
The sound had been heard before, and the shriek faded in the distance with his owner, not seen since. It chilled each to the bone as the second cry of lament roared forth. The first was for his wife. This one was for his brother.
And as the echo died down, the amazing form of the once prince, the once vampire, the once half-demon, Levin stood amongst them. He lowered his head and turned it softly, looking over all.
"Looks like you could use some help"
OOC: Late return, but...
/LS\
OOC: Well, I didn't pick the first form for Apyrel, and I'm not really sure who did. The rules of the battle basically go as follows. If you destroy any of his forms he will reappear immediately in a different form, and you will not be able to reach the pool. Once you destroy one of his forms he cannot become that form again during the battle, but he doesn't have a finite amount of incarnations, so he can still basically become anything. To reach the pool, you have to destroy one of his forms using the ice sword. To get close enough to him with the sword and not die, you need to be carrying the shield. He knows about the sword and will be targetting whoever holds it while his demons attack the rest. Once you destroy one of his forms with the ice sword, he will not reform again for a few short minutes, and the way to the pool will be clear. And on account of the fact that he's huge, you'll need someone flying to deal the final blow, either by spell or by dragon, unless you can knock him to the ground somehow. Ready? Let's play.
IC:
Several of the companions watched in awe as Levin descended on the field. Even the lesser demons stood amazed.
Meanwhile, Apyrel had already recovered from his injuries. With a tremendous roar, his head rose out of the center of his fallen body. And then another rose, and another, and another, until nine fierce serpentine heads were arrayed against the companions. From the central one came a staggering burst of flame that crashed into Levin's chest and sent him sprawling back several meters, trailing smoke as he went. "You are in MY realm now, mortal! Your fancy entrance will do you nothing against my might!" And with that the heads, in unison, lunged at the twice-stunned expedition.
Ravyson looked down below him. He heard the anguished cry of whatever it was down there. Apyrel had changed from a man into a hydra before their eyes. As it lunged its heads towards the party, he dropped quickly to help.
Reeven did a backflip as one of the hydra's heads slammed into the ground before him. He shot the head as he ran backwards. The bolts from his crossbows did nothing to it. "Damn! Didn't you just kill the tall guy?"
Ravyson hit the ground, his sword pushing through the neck of the hydra. The cold froze the head straight through, inhibiting the regrowth of the head. The other eight heads looked at him and roared. Ravyson's eyes opened wide. "That's probably not good." He lifted off the ground towards the air.
The heads gained on him as he flew upwards. Just as they were about to catch him, they reached their limit. He stopped above them, safe for the moment. The hydra's heads opened their mouthes. "You cannot escape!" Fire began to stream out of the eight heads.
Ravyson weaved his way through the fire. Looking down, he saw his friends fighting the minions well. The dragon was spitting ice at the hydra instead of the lower demons. They struck its body, but had no overall effect. He began to fly through the heads, holding his sword out. On his first run, two massive heads fell to the ground severed.
He turned for a second run. The five remaining heads continued to spit the fire at him, and it was getting extremely hot. He flew through the heads another time, only getting one. He continued to the ground. Flying to Jerreck, he shouted at him. "The shield! I need it!" Catching it as it was tossed to him, he turned to face the hydra.
OOC: Someone finish up this action sequence. And it was Shadow who chose the first form, I think. The minute between postings is a bit conspicuous. And start getting involved people! Bwa, that's my yelling for the day.
OOC: I'm sorry i'm not posting much lately.. i just.. ran out of steam, feeling i just can't do my characters and the quest justice anymore. I'll need some time off, and then maybe i can return with renewed vigor. I'll hang on 'til the end here though as we've fought long to get to this point. Sorry.
/Jerreck
IC:
Tossing the shield to Ravyson, Jerreck gripped his own, a Silver Shield, in a firmer grip. Covering its surface was a thick film of greyish skin. The group had received it months ago from the old man who had called himself a sage advisor... Jerreck had wondered who's advisor the man had been, but that was something never straightened out. Nevertheless, the greyskin would come to good use now, even if it would happen to be only half as amazing as the old man had claimed.
Lightning Mace in hand, Jerreck surveyed the battle field. Wolfriders and members of his party were battling demons. Raging demons. Their attacks were relentless and there was no end to them. In the end, this was a battle that they could not win. Ravyson was flying back and forth in between Apyrel's heads, and it seemed he had had some success in severing a couple.
Jerreck bellowed across the field, "Liander!!"
The young mage was furiously trying to stay away from little devil-like monsters that were assaulting him and Beliana. Those he could not burn, Beliana dispatched with her blade. As one, they looked up at the call from Jerreck. The ground around them was clear for now.
"I must go with him with the staff, Beliana. Stay here and help the others."
She began to protest, but Liander put a finger over her mouth and kissed her lips softly. "We will get out of here... i promise."
With that, he ran as fast as he could, dodging bursts of fire and lunging blades from unnamed horrors of the pit. Screams of the dead and dying still echoed in his head as he reached Jerreck, and they were on their way to the pool. They both knew what to do.
Liander held his staff ready, and Jerreck methodically let his mace sing, sweping aside any devils that would stand in their way.
As the final head was severed, Ravyson dropped to the ground. He had killed two demons in mere minutes. His body was aching with the heat. But every second that they wasted was much longer in the real world. He looked over to see how the others were doing. Jerreck and Liander were running the mile towards the pit that housed the spirit of Apyrel.
The air singed their lungs as they ran. Their path was now clear, having only a few demons in the way. Coming from above them was Ravyson. "You've only got a little bit until Apryel is able to reform. Hurry!" Jerreck picked up his pace. Liander tried to keep up, but began to fall behind. Swooping down, Ravyson picked up Liander. "I can fly faster than you can run."
Far behind them, a screech came from the ground. The place where they hydra fell began to ignite. When the flames died down, a dragon spread its wings. Reeven looked at it. "Aww, damn. How come we always got to fight the dragons?"
The Frostbite dragon saw its counterpart and roared. "You are not a true dragon!"
Apyrel opened its new mouth. "This is my realm. You are not the true dragon. But you do not concern me."
Ravyson and Jerreck kept at the same pace. They were within a hundred meters of the lava pit, and the heat was excruciating. Hearing a screech coming from behind them, Ravyson dropped Liander back on the ground. "Make the rest of the way! I'll keep off Apyrel." He turned to see the dragon about to alight on him, but his dragon stopped it in time.
With the two dragons fighting one another above them, the three continued on.
The two dragons grappled in the sky. Apyrel took the advantage quickly and soon Frostbite was reeling from the intense heat that pierced through his aura of cold. Frostbite, on the defensive, made a quick dodge, but not quick enough. Apyrel's mouth opened and shot a bolt of flame through Frostbite's wing. Frostbite roared in pain, knowing that Apyrel could finish him at his leisure. He made one last desperate lunge, only to be batted to the ground by a powerful wing gust. As he lay on the fiery earth, he knew he would not fly again until his wing was healed.
Apyrel had other concerns. He noticed the trio headed for his pool. Roaring his rage, he dove like an arrow for the ground, slammed into it... and vanished.
Gabrosin, the healer of the Wolfriders, ran quickly to the downed dragon. Murmuring prayers to Gaea, he began to heal the wing.
*********
The three with the staff had nearly made it to the pool. Only a few meters further of withstanding the heat and they could end Apyrel forever.
The ground beneath them trembled, and then buckled. They lost their footing and fell. Suddenly, from the edge of the pool, the ground rippled outward, tossing the trio into the air and back several hundred meters. Two giant gouts of flame erupted from the earth, then two more, and another four, dragging with it a monstrous orb of fire. The spider-like form spat cinders at the party as it spoke. "You shall never reach the pool while I stand in your way!" He marched forth from the pool towards the reforming party. With a growl he drove his front legs into the ground and pushed them forward, sending another tremor at the party, knocking them again on their backs. "Face me! Face your doom!" A giant fireball erupted from his mouth, heading straight for the main grouping.
OOC:
Actually, I did write that one (was a little bored), but I wouldn't think too hard on posts that come close together; they mean a lot less than you would expect, especially when you get people like me who check here pretty frequently.
--Shadow
Levin staggered about for a few moments. He knew this time would come, spending the past few weeks in the elemental plane of fire, enduring the flames licking at him from all sides. He had grown accustomed to it, he was adept att using it to his own means, but he was not quite prepare dofr magical fire. So Apyrel's blast had stung deeply to his core and left him, disoriented. Composing himself, he saw fire demons laying around, Wolfriders battle the still standing. Distant, he heard a loud seismic burst and saw three figures before a large form, surely Apyrel. Frostbite lay between them, writhing in pain.
Another earth-shake. Levin roared as the swirling lightning came around him again. He shot away from the ground with an explosion of power. He tore through the hot air towards the larger battle deep ahead of him. A loud bostful line was barely heard as the arachnid-form let loose a fireball. As it cut through the air, Levin screamed, steering for it.
Less than 10 yards from the party, he crashed right through the ball of flame, despering it to cinders which fell harmlessly on the party. He stood right before the massive fire-demon lord and called out, clutching his left arm.
"Fair blast, fiend, but I too am part demon and an empathic part of the fire plane. I should hope that you can do worse to defeat me." Another fire burst met his words, sending him back a yard. But stand he did, angry and pacing forward still.
Apyrel let an irritated growl out at seeing this and at Levin's words. "Perhaps you are poor of hearing, beast! I said you'd have to have something worse!"
A few feet from the giant form, huge leg stalks streaked down from the sky towards the Half-Demon. Darting about, Levin dodged the legs as they tore into the ground around him. One of the side legs finally decided on a broad, sweeping stroke, and it met home. Levin went soaring back to land a few feet from the party. He groaned in pain as he looked up.
"Ugh.... Look... I don't care how you help... Getting to the pool, engaging in combat.... but if you three keep standing around, I shall consider you part of the problem and not part of the solution... and I will treat you as such. Now get moving."
Without waiting for their response, he rose to his feet with a grunt and flew off back to engage the beast.
Ravyson, Jerreck, and Liander all looked at the strange man who had flown from over them and confronted the demon. With the words of the man, all three went in their respective ways: up, left, and right.
Catching up to Levin, Ravyson tapped the gem on his sword. The injured dragon disappeared, back in its power confine. Levin looked at him, "You also have the power of flight?"
"Yes, not to mention the sword and shield needed to kill this beast."
"That will help in our purpose. Now take the right, I'll get the left." Shooting downwards, Levin slammed into one of the legs of the beast. It roared in pain and swiped at him to no avail. On the right side, Ravyson severed two legs. Apyrel began to fall downwards.
Flying upwards, the two met in the air. "Well done. You have removed his locomotion for the moment. It will do." Levin began to glow an eerie yellow, and the air crackled with power. Energy charged in his hands. He fired a blast of lightning that hit the incapacitated demon. The beast crashed to the ground, destroyed. "This will give us a few seconds until he chooses a new form. You have skill, mortal. I am Levin."
"Ravyson. That was you who was yelling a few minutes ago?"
Levin looked down. "Yes, that was I." He did not say more, and they waited for Apyrel to show his next form as Liander and Jerreck tried to make up for lost ground.
Two bursts of light flew from the ground towards the two flying figures. Moving too fast to dodge, they went into Levin and Ravyson. Another two fired into Liander and Jerreck. At first, there seemed no effect.
A brief flash of light appeared, followed by four figures running towards them from the direction of the pit. Two jumped into the air and flew towards Ravyson and Levin. The other two headed for Jerreck and Liander. As they grew closer, the four recognized them. They were the party themselves, but with fiery eyes.
Ravyson flew towards his double. Instead of a sword of cold, he held a firesword in his hands. They struck each other, striking out at the same time. Parrying one another, they merely danced, neither one capable of scoring a hit.
The other three were having no more luck in fighting themselves. They all knew exactly where the next blow would be, and their doubles blocked each of theirs.
The four forms of Apyrel laughed simultaneously. "You cannot defeat us."
Ravyson laughed back. "Think we can't? Levin, switch!" Levin flew to his place and attacked Apyrel-Ravyson. Ravyson flew to Apyrel-Levin and began to fight him.
(OOC: Dang, I've been too busy the past week to post anything here, and too much has happened. :) Welcome back Levin. End OOC.)
Traug batted another lesser demon away and conjured a tiny lightning bolt to smite the thing. Then he looked around to see how the others were doing. He suddenly realized that everyone else had moved further into the fire plane and he had fallen behind again. He ran towards the others, conjuring gusts of wind to speed him up. As he got closer, he noticed Reeven having trouble with the demons and his arrows burning up before they could reach the demons. Traug ran over to him, panting, and said "Hellos!! Not worry, *huff* Traug find you guys again, *puff* me help.*wheeze*" Traug caught his breath and began to chant, and Reeven's boltcase began to glow faint blue momentarily. "Theres. Now your arrowies should hurt da burny people. But da magick won't last very longed." Traug said. Then another demon charged at him and he blasted it back with a gust of wind, then began to pound on it with his fists. He yelped out a little "Ahh!" "Ouch!!" or "Nnrggg!" every time he struck the thing until it finally died and stopped burning. He blew on his hands a few times then found another demon to fight...
~ /\/\ist Phantom ~
Traug, Troll Mage
/\/ecronis, Lord of Undead
§hard, Sword Mage
Levin fought feverishly with Apyrel-Ravyson, pouring his heart out, but the more he fought, the more he lost ground. The others were having similar problems: they were at a stalemate fighting themselves, because their cloned forms knew their moves. But the advantage there was that each could hold their clone at bay because of the same fact. But now, they had to not only fight their comrades, but stronger, faster versions of them. Traug had arrived, and his words were low, but still noticable. All the Apyrels looked peripherally at the troll-mage. Each were displeased with the fact that the numbers were now on the side of the RBS party. Levin looked over to see Ravyson was doing as poorly against Levin's clone as he was against Ravyson's. But as they grew slightly distant, Apyrel-Levin balled up in midair, energy crackling around him.
"NOOO!" Levin flew off like a comet towards his clone, who he recognized was about to release one of him most powerful attacks. He arched low to the ground as Apyrl-Ravyson was quickly in tow. He swooped up to the mimic form of himself as it raised its hands with red electricity crackling around them. Ravyson's eye grew wide as the being prepared to throw the attack.
But there was interruption. Levin's shoulder drove hard into Apyrel-Levin's lower back, Knocking him forward. The arc of hell fire leapt from his hands downwards instead of at Ravyson. It struck Apyrel-Liander in the chest as he battled his original. Apyrel-Ravyson continued towards Levin but winched in pain momentarily, as did Apyrel-Jerreck. Each's original noiticed and lunged forward to strike.
Levin called to them "Remember, he's still one being, get them now, because hurting the other two hurt them as well!" The blade in Ravyson's hand sliced deep through his clone's shoulder, into his chest, while Jerreck's mace drove into the skull of his twin. the form forms fell to the earth and melded together into a blob like conglomeration. Ravyson called to his friends "To the pool, NOW!"
They were nearly there, but a new form began to rise before them.
Traug bellowed "You peopleses go to da pooly, Traug stop burny things!!!", and then ran over to Apyrel-Liander and clubbed it with his fists. As it spun around to strike him, he uttered a few mystic syllables and breathed out a gust of freezing mist. The demon-thing recoiled and shuddered with cold for a moment before hissing ferally and slashing at the troll with burning claws. Traug stumbled back and fell on his rump, then began to roll around on the ground to extinguish the flames on his tattered clothes. The demon-thing laughed and lunged at the prone troll, pouncing on Traug and clawing at him. The troll gave out a little yelp of surprise then flung the creature off of him. He then uttered a few arcane phrases and made quick gestures with his free hand, the other grasping his small staff. The pinecone-shaped emerald on its tip glowed, and then Traug visibly grew another two feet tall and his muscles bulged. He gave out a roar and pounced on the demon-thing in retaliation, beating it with his massive fists until it seemed to dwindle away and snuff out. Black smoke drifted from the ashes and flew off to join the new form taking shape near the pool. Traug's spell faded and he shrank bank to normal size. Then he noticed his cloak on fire again and began to roll around some more to snuff it out.
As Traug finished off the fourth clone, Apyrel's new form solidified, standing in between the expedition and the pool...