As the blow lifted him, the bounty hunter summoned his chains and shot them down, snapping them to the ground. His forced ascent was slowed to a halt, causing the transformed Kadrin to growl in frustration.
“You're just full of tricks, aren't you? Unfortunately, that won't save you.”
As his sword arm strained to maintain pressure, Kadrin's staff arm waved as a cruel smile crept across his face.
“Burning Thorn.”
An ugly, hazy thorn protruded from the tip of his staff, transforming it into a spear. He brought it forward with a sudden thrust, only to have it miss its mark. Instead of plunging deep into the annoying man's stomach, it tore through his side. A gruesome wound that took a hand's worth of flesh with it. The grinning Kadrin took a perverse pleasure as the hunter clenched his teeth and tried to hold back the pain.
Using the pain and surprise, Jaeger kicked again. This time it struck the elbow of Kadrin's sword, breaking his balance. As his arm collapsed inward, the bounty hunter forced his axe down and hauled with his chains. A furious slash, aimed directly at his target's neck, only to receive a staff strike to his damaged side.
The pain of the blow caused his own to go astray, and instead of taking the man's head, the blade lodged in the bandit's arm. Releasing his chains, the hunter jumped backward after his successful strike, avoiding a nasty riposte. As if on cue, a battle cry sounded behind him, and arrows of ice and water appeared all around Kadrin, surrounding the man in an inescapable dome.
“Now! Hundred Strikes, Icy Hell!”
In a flash, the arrows shoot inward toward Kadrin. From outside, Jaeger watched as one arrow flew in, only to be replaced by another in a matter of seconds. Arrow after arrow was shot forward, and more were manifested, only to be shot forward and the cycle repeated.
On and on it went, at first what Jaeger thought was the sound of arrows piercing flesh became instead the sound of metal clashing against ice, and he knew that whatever this spell was, it wouldn't be enough.
“Your spells are meaningless and your resistance is futile.” Kadrin’s voice called out.
Sivly arrived next to Jaeger, leaning heavily on her trident staff, and began to examine his wounds.
“He's right, my spell won't do much more than trap him, buy time, and even that won't last much longer. Fortunately, that's all it needs to do, she should act soon. Now let me have a look at this.”
She runs her hand over the wound, a shiver running down Jaeger's exposed skin. Murmuring to herself, she waved her hand again, this time cold water pressing against his skin.
“This is really bad, it's not just burned, it's infected. Right now I can't do much more than numb it and leave a patch that will try to draw out the toxins. We need you back in the fight too much to put you down for more.” She reached into one of her leather pouches and handed him a small, squishy berry. “Eat this, it's a medical jelly and will numb the pain. I have to get back, Brad and Troy need me, but as soon as Emilia acts, find an opening and finish this.”
She waits for him to eat it, smiling as he experiences the sweet and cool taste, before patting him on the shoulder and running back into cover. Not a moment too soon.
“ENOUGH!”
Kadrin roared as the ice and water needles surrounding him shattered and melted into nothing. He reappeared, a few new cuts and a look of fury on his face, but otherwise unharmed, and stalked toward Jaeger.
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“I don't know or care what the point of that was, but since you didn't run it, it clearly failed.”
Jaeger lifted his axe and moved forward, finding it easier now that he couldn't feel all the pain and aches. Kadrin grinned and lunged forward. As their blades were about to meet, a new fighter arrived. She slammed into Kadrin's side, knocking the man's sword free and knocking him down.
Emilia mounted the man and rained blows upon him. Blow after blow, each one echoing with a crack or a thud. The bounty hunter watched, unsure if this was the time to act or not, as the woman struck with blows that could topple trees and destroy boulders. Each blow came faster and faster before everything became a blur of fists. Kadrin somehow managed to shield his face from the worst of it.
Then she stopped, rolled off him and snatched something out of the air.
“How?” Kadrin coughed.
Emilia held the man's sword, which had come flying at her back; Kadrin had obviously summoned it. She didn't waste her breath on him, but took the sword, planted the point in the ground, and dropped quickly. Still holding the hilt, she struck at the blade, stressing its flexibility, breaking it in a motion that unleashed a howl of souls being released. As the blade shattered, a malaise rose from its shards and swept over Emilia.
“Fool, do you think you can just smash a relic sword of the decaying ones and suffer no consequences?” Rising unsteadily to his feet, face smashed and bleeding Kadrin spoke. “While it is a shame to lose the captured souls, knowing what you have now is a fine consolation. Rotting Fever, a final gift from my elders to all who would try to destroy us.”
Emilia slowly got to her feet, shivers running through her, but she rolled her shoulders, slapped her arms and focused on Kadrin again. She shook slightly before her legs tensed and she shot at the man. When she reached him, she fired a jab, only to have it deflected. A cross followed, only to be pushed over the man's head; her opponent using his staff to great advantage. She tried more punches, but each came slower and was more easily blocked or deflected than the last. Trying something new, she fired a kick aimed at his knee and was met by his own foot instead. He stopped her movement, overpowered her kick, knocked her off balance, and then blasted her away.
Sliding back, she recovered and ran back, only to be met by spikes rising in front of her. She spun around them, picking up small scratches and wounds in the process. When she finally cleared them, she zeroed in on her target and struck, a powerful uppercut that rocked him. The man's body seemed to explode, but instead of the expected shower of blood and guts, there was a cloud of spores and shattered wood.
She spun around, looking for Kadrin, only to be hit in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She gasped and involuntarily took a deep breath, inhaling the spores. Racking coughs and full-body shakes followed.
“At last. I must say, you are a most hardy specimen. Most people don't survive a direct injection of Rotting Fever, and this is the first time I've had to use a spore body. It is almost sad to know that you will die, you would have made a lovely sister. Oh well.”
Kadrin appeared, a look of mock sorrow on his face, a shimmer revealing his presence. He watched as Emilia struggled to breathe, coughing and shaking.
Emilia struggled, her hands shaking, to free a vial. Kadrin moved toward her, his staff raised.
“You didn't really think I would allow you to heal, did you? After what you did to me?”
The entire fight had lasted seconds, Jaeger trying to keep up, but every opening he saw was quickly taken by Emilia, and he found himself constantly waiting for his moment to act. Until now.
He knew an opening when he saw one and pounced. Leaping forward, he slashed at the man's back, aiming to end this. Only to be met with a staff and a sickening sound as Kadrin's head slowly turned toward him, sans body.
“I told you before, the same trick won't work on me twice.”
Instead of throwing Jaeger free, however, vines rose from his staff and wrapped around the axe. Jaeger tried to pull it free, but let go when he realized it was useless. Stepping back, he tried to summon it into his hand, but found the ability blocked.
Kadrin watched as blood, or something close to it but thicker, ran freely from his face. Before he planted his staff and walked forward, his body cracking as he went through a grotesque change. He grew in size as his body seemed to expand, his torso and legs stretching out awkwardly, leaving him a gangly, gaunt specter. His arms grew even longer, but unlike the rest of him, they also bloated. Veins and lumpy masses manifested throughout his arms. His fingers popped out and grew extra bones, lengthening as they grew claws. His arms were lumpy, ugly, muscular trunks with fingers that ended in jagged, glistening claws.
“No more tricks, no more companions. Only men.”