#session 22

[demigodforfend]

Twilight of the Demigods: Forfend Edition - Session 22

A second massive arrow whirled down the hallway and slammed into Kairi's leg.

Kairi fell with a yelp, clutching her thigh.

She gripped the arrow and ripped it free.

Blood spilled, but she staggered upright anyway and cut into the large alcove to their left. That was smart. She couldn't be seen or shot again.

Kagoshi followed after her, but he was lacking his usual speed. He was still drained from their last fight with the bowman.

Melzaryn ducked into the alcove to the right.

Forfend followed Kairi and Kagoshi into the right-hand alcove. It pulled a potion off its belt and dumped the contents directly into its chest wound.

Steam rushed through Forfend's chest in a rapid, startled gasp as the cold liquid contacted its core.

Golden steam rose from the spilling ichor.

Stone cracked and groaned as it reformed from the center outward. Forfend's body didn't regenerate fully. The chunk of missing marble in its chest was still very deep, but at least its core was covered again.

Another arrow whizzed through the darkness and crashed into the wall just to Kagoshi's right.

"You fucking missed, stupid!" Kagoshi shouted.

"That was a warning shot," the bowman replied evenly. "The next one goes between your eyes."

"I doubt it," Kagoshi scoffed.

Forfend didn't think now was the time for talking tough. They were at a severe disadvantage and in a great deal of danger.

That said, it also thought the bowman was lying. He didn't seem the type to do warning shots. He shot to kill every single time. He'd just missed due to distance and moving targets, whether he was willing to admit that or not.

Forfend hoped he'd miss a few more shots. Or all of them. All of them would be nice.

The group pressed themselves to the wall. There was another smaller alcove about sixty feet up. If they could get there, they'd be safe again for a moment. After that though, the stretch to reach the bowman was so lengthy Forfend couldn't see the end of it through the inky black shadows.

From what little it remembered about Mortal Bulwarks, it didn't think the hallway would have another alcove until they'd nearly reached the end. They were in for a long and dangerous dash.

"Don't you lose your temper with me," Kagoshi growled at himself.

Forfend glanced him over. He still seemed to be in control of himself.

He dashed out into the open before it could ask what was happening to him.

Kairi whipped around the corner and quickly surpassed Kagoshi.

An arrow crashed into the ground just a little way past the second alcoves.

Forfend hummed nervously. If the bowman wasn't aiming for them, what was he doing?

"Missed again!" Kagoshi heckled.

Melzaryn dashed out into the open and slid into the second right-hand alcove before the bowman got a chance to take aim.

Not to be left behind, Forfend made its way into the exposed hallway. It passed Kagoshi and ducked into the second alcove with Kairi.

Kagoshi growled as it moved past him. He was already flagging. He shouldn't be fighting. He was still well past exhausted.

Forfend touched the medallion on its chest. "Protect him," it requested.

Magic burst into being around Kagoshi and swarmed into a glowing symbol of Fornax over his chest.

An oversize arrow surged out of the darkness and slammed into the symbol on Kagoshi's chest.

The Shield of Faith held, but the raw force pushed Kagoshi back and knocked him to the floor.

The arrow clattered off across the stone floor.

"Fuck you," Kagoshi growled anyway.

"Are you okay?" Kairi called.

"Yeah, it's barely a scratch."

Kairi nodded and sprinted forward. She pressed her back to the far wall of the alcove and surreptitiously peeked from around it.

The javelin-sized arrow the bowman had placed above this alcove suddenly hummed. It burst from the ground, whipped itself in Kairi's direction, and fired.

Kairi pinned herself to the wall causing the arrow to narrowly miss her. It careened into the stone and disappeared in a breath of green magic.

"With the size of these things, I have to wonder what you're compensating for," Kairi yelled up the endless hallway.

Melzaryn darted from his own alcove into the expanse of unprotected space. Silvery blue magic rippled from his staff down around his feet, but didn't seem to have any effect on his speed or provide him any protection. The arcana just looked pent up, hanging on the verge of use.

Kagoshi hauled himself off the floor and ran full tilt forward. He chugged along much slower than normal, but he was bound and determined to keep moving.

He didn't duck into the alcove as Forfend and Kairi had done. He just kept running out in the exposed open.

Between the mystery of whatever Melzaryn was doing and Kagoshi's haggard form, the bowman's next target was a clear choice.

Forfend slid out in front of Kagoshi and planted its shield into the stone floor.

"Godsdammit!" Kagoshi screamed, plowing straight into Forfend's back. "Why?!"

"To protect you from your own mouth and the rest of your bad decisions," it answered.

"I'm going to shit talk this man forever!" Kagoshi argued.

"Then do it from behind a shield!" Forfend insisted.

"That's just as cowardly as his bitch ass!" he snapped, gesturing into the darkness of the path ahead.

"I do not think it is!"

A heavy thwip reverberated through the hall.

A massive arrow burst out of the shadows, gleaming murderously as it arced toward Melzaryn.

The magic around Melzaryn flared. He disappeared into a storm of silver wind just before the arrow hit and reappeared thirty feet up from where he'd started.

"Shit!" came the bowman's frustrated echo.

"Yeah, you missed because you're a bitch!" Kagoshi hollered.

"I've seen drunks with better accuracy than that, shithead!" Kairi followed suit.

"Fuck you!" the bowman roared.

Kairi snickered.

"Learn to hit the broad side of a barn!" Kagoshi yelled.

Kairi followed Melzaryn's lead and rushed into the open.

Kagoshi weaved out from behind Forfend to follow.

Melzaryn sparked his staff with a new round of magic and kept surging forward.

Forfend ripped its shield from the ground and trailed behind them. The other two would outpace it quickly, but Kagoshi was slow enough right now for it to keep up.

Four arrows whizzed from the darkness and scattered themselves across the middle of the hallway a hundred feet or more ahead of the group. Each one glowed an ominous incendiary orange.

Still, there was little choice but to keep moving forward anyway.

"I'm coming to beat your whole ass, motherfucker!" Kagoshi threatened. "And there's nothing you can do about it when I get close either because you're a ranged bitch!"

Melzaryn approached the field of glowing arrows. He tossed his hand out.

A tiny spectral snake of polished silver appeared curled up on the ground on the opposite side of the strange arrows. Its eyes lit up blue.

Melzaryn disappeared with a swirling pop and reappeared so far up the hallway Forfend lost track of him.

The little silver snake promptly followed suit.

The bowman roared, "Godsdammit!"

A hail of orange glowing arrows arced from the darkness and struck the ground ahead of them, seemingly at random.

"You got no bitches!" Kagoshi called out.

"No bitches, no boytoys, not even any friends!" Kairi joined in.

Forfend didn't waste time being confused by their statements. It just kept running.

Even more massive arrows littered the ground, all of them glimmering orange.

Melzaryn had made it past the growing field of arrows, but Forfend, Kairi, and Kagoshi were now in the thick of it.

"I think your aim is getting worse!" Kagoshi heckled, despite being nearly breathless with exertion. "Think you can hit anything before our scrawny little snake man kicks your whole ass?!"

"This is why your mother never loved you!" Kairi shouted.

"Where did he go?" the bowman's voice echoed much more quietly.

Melzaryn gave a sinister chuckle.

"I'll deal with the others first," the bowman said even more quietly, almost sounding unnerved.

A new arc of glowing arrows unveiled from the darkness in a perfect row and blocked the path ahead almost entirely.

Still, they had to keep moving forward. There was nowhere else to go.

They'd soon have no choice but to find out what the arrows would do if they got too close or bumped one.

"Shit!" the bowman suddenly yelled, followed by a bright flash at the end of the hall and an explosion that shook the entire structure.

Dust rained from the ceiling.

Melzaryn giggled, the sound reverberating hauntingly off the walls.

"Fuck him up!" Kairi screamed.

"Get him, kill him!" Kagoshi encouraged.

Forfend was certain Melzaryn could hold his own for a while, but it didn't want to leave him without allies for long. The bowman was not a common archer.

It noticed the far edge of the row of glowing arrows didn't quite meet the wall. There was enough space to skirt through without touching them.

Forfend pivoted to take that route.

"You scared to fire another shot?!" Kagoshi called as he continued straight toward the line of oversize arrows.

A new glowing arrow spun out of the darkness and struck one of the scattered arrows beyond the line.

Orange light flared and ricocheted to the next arrow at lightning speed, and the next after that, and the next, and all the way along the line of them, and then past it into the field of arrows on Forfend's side.

Light zipped until it had touched every single one.

All of the arrows lifted themselves from the ground, selected a target, and launched themselves.

Forfend pulled up its shield, but projectiles struck it from every direction.

Golden ichor trickled from beneath the embedded arrows.

Kagoshi roared.

Forfend lowered its shield to catch a glimpse of him and Kairi.

Kairi had a few arrows that had knicked or pierced her flesh.

Kagoshi, on the other hand, was a pincushion.

The majority of the arrows had aimed at him. Blood poured from head to toe, coating him in grisly red.

He shouldn't be standing. He shouldn't even be alive.

Kagoshi's hair burst into flames and so did every single arrow.

His muscles bulged until they threatened to burst through his suddenly ashen skin. The arrows were forced out of his flesh by the unbelievable growth.

Not-Kagoshi roared a second time, this one causing the very earth to tremble, and sprinted forward with murderous intent.

His heels scorched red, propelling him forward in a ball of crimson fire.

At the end of the hall, a small silvery flash shot cracks through the ceiling and briefly revealed the bowman beneath.

Thunderous rumbling sounded as the ceiling collapsed on top of him.

"Fuck!" the bowman yelled, diving off his pedestal.

Melzaryn's strange new snake assistant launched two consecutive balls of fire at the fallen man.

The bowman hollered out.

Forfend took in the absolute chaos happening around it and did the only thing it could do. It kept moving forward.

It was finally close enough to see the fight, though not quite close enough to get involved.

"There you are," the bowman's now haggard voice called. He drew back his bow and unleashed an arrow at Melzaryn.

Melzaryn ducked out of the way.

The bowman growled, "Fine!"

He tossed his bow onto his back and pulled two shortswords from scabbards somewhere beneath his voluminous brown robes.

He stalked toward Melzaryn and slashed wildly.

The blades tinged off Melzaryn's faint magical Shield.

Kairi's glimmering wings carried her into the air. Her eyes trailed pink as she soared onward despite her bleeding wounds.

Not-Kagoshi's bulky, thundering form dashed right into an obvious trap laid out just before the Bulwark's final opening.

Massive arrows had been lined up in a perfect pattern probably hours before they'd arrived.

Every single one lifted from the ground and spiraled toward Not-Kagoshi.

Not-Kagoshi tensed his body, lightning arcing across his taut muscles.

The static barrier somehow seemed to repel the arrows. They hovered, struggling in the air just shy of touching Not-Kagoshi's flesh. When they'd finally lost all their spinning momentum, they clattered to the floor.

Not-Kagoshi just kept running.

"Oh, shit," the bowman swore, backing away from Not-Kagoshi's rapid approach.

"Oh, hey, are you here to help me bury this guy and whatever that is?" Melzaryn casually asked, pointing at something Forfend couldn't see.

The bowman grabbed for his cloak.

Melzaryn gripped his arm, lightning coursing from his hand into the bowman's body.

Melzaryn's strange little snake launched two more fireballs.

The bowman jerked his twitching, electrified arm away from Melzaryn and tried to dodge away. He wasn't quite fast enough.

Fire whooshed as it struck him.

He cried out.

Not-Kagoshi barreled into the bowman and lifted him up by wrapping one massive hand around his head. He roared in the struggling man's face and launched him into the nearest pillar.

Blood dripped from beneath the billowing robes as he fell. The bowman's chest lit up so brightly orange it glowed beneath the fabric.

Forfend turned away before he could explode.

The blast didn't come.

The bowman's single visible eye was contorted in pain and concentration, apparently willing the runic light to dim until it finally petered out.

He forced himself upright and ran on faltering legs. He snagged his cloak again and started to call upon its magics.

A new figure swept from behind a pillar at the back of the room and gouged a scimitar straight through the bowman's chest.

Blood poured from the bowman's wound, staining his cloak deep red. He choked and groaned before collapsing to the ground.

Forfend's body went rigid. What had happened? Who was this new assailant? Could it get to the bowman in time to revive him?

Not-Kagoshi's cackling laughter reverberated through the Mortal Bulwark.

"You?!" he yelled.

"Yes, me," the murderer answered, stepping over the corpse. "Hello again."

He strode into the central circle of pillars and inspected a rune carved into the floor.

"After the last we met, some things have changed."

Forfend finally got a good look at the intruding stranger.

He bore dark, burnt robes and malovent eyes. He looked remarkably similar to the cultist beneath Brightcrossing.

No, Forfend realized, he was the cultist from beneath Brightcrossing.

His face was burnt nearly beyond recognition, but his rusty weapon and the murderous twist of his mouth were unmistakable.

The cultist flipped his bloody scimitar in his hand. "Do you know what you stand upon?"

He didn't wait for an answer before driving his blade into the ground.

The stone began to glow an ominous red.

Not-Kagoshi stalked slowly into the middle of the room as though he was guarding the glowing rune. He turned to watch Melzaryn.

Melzaryn warily eyed Not-Kagoshi, but the hulking monster didn't move.

Slowly, Melzaryn brought his staff up and pointed it toward something off in the far corner.

The distinct vwoop of Melzaryn's Vortex Warp sounded.

Duncan, tied and gagged and panicked, popped into existence right in front of Forfend.

"Duncan!" Forfend exclaimed, immediately kneeling to tend to him.

It untied him, pulled the gag from his mouth, and checked him over for injuries or newly bestowed spells.

Everything looked to be in order.

"W-what's going on?!" Duncan sputtered.

"I have you. You will be alright," Forfend promised. "What happened?"

"I was kidnapped! I don't know! I don't know what's happening! I just want to go home!" Duncan clung to Forfend.

"We will get you home. I promise." Forfend placed a gentle hand on Duncan's head. "Stay. Right. Here."

Duncan nodded. "I can do that."

Forfend nodded once and stood, carefully approaching the tense situation ahead.

"So, what's the deal here?" Melzaryn asked. "Who are you attacking? Him? Me?"

Not-Kagoshi didn't respond. He locked gazes with Forfend the second it got close.

"What is happening here?" Forfend haltingly questioned.

Something wasn't right.

Not-Kagoshi was wildly violent. He was cocky and loud. If he wasn't swinging fists, he was gloating or laughing or roaring.

But right now, he was dead silent. He stood like a sentinel.

"Give it a bit," the cultist droned. "It'll be quite the spectacle."

Forfend hummed uncomfortably. "I feel we have had enough spectacles for today."

"Oh, but trust me, this one will be quite fantastic."

Forfend's core spun in dizzying, anxious circles.

The cultist paced around the glowing rune, dragging his scimitar through the stone floor as easily as if it were sand.

Red smoke billowed out of the destroyed statue to the left.

"This, after all, is a Mortal Bulwark," he explained as he continued to trace out the engraved rune. "A gateway between realms, and yet, a barrier."

Red smoke burst from the statue to the right.

"It's meant to protect this realm, but what is it protecting us from?"

Kairi fluttered in and hovered close by, as uncertain as anyone else what to do.

Not-Kagoshi folded his arms and waited.

Melzaryn scooped stones up from the floor and imbued them with magic until they glowed a faint silvery blue.

Forfend stepped up in front of Not-Kagoshi.

It wasn't planning on dealing with him though.

It raised its hand and felt the angry, twisting magic surging from the rune.

Forfend closed its fist.

The magic stuttered.

The cultist snarled. A new blast of magic revitalized the spell as Forfend tried desperately to Dispel it.

They struggled against each other, the arcana stuttering as it was caught between.

The cultist's eyes flashed red.

Forfend's hand was forced open and pushed backwards. It lost its grip on the magic.

The spell continued.

Not-Kagoshi glared down at Forfend and uncrossed his arms. He cracked his knuckles.

"What do you think this Bulwark in particular was defending against?" the cultist asked as he continued tracing out the rune, his sickle gliding impossibly smoothly through stone. "There are many like it all across Rozdarta. All of them blessed by the gods."

He finished his rounds and pulled his sickle from the ground, swirling it in his hands. "After I entered into the Abyss, I saw things."

Red smoke hissed from the statue behind Forfend. The crimson mist was beginning to spread its seeking tendrils out across the ground.

"I saw the truth of the matter," the cultist continued. "Honestly, I'm surprised you don't recognize this place, Forfend, the first demigod of Fornax."

Forfend straightened as much as it was able.

It knew what this place was, but how much more was it supposed to recognize? Had it been here? It didn't know. It couldn't remember.

More blood-colored smoke began to spill from the destroyed statue the bowman had been using as a perch.

"This was made to imprison a particularly potent demon. One I'm surprised you don't recognize, nor sense." The cultist watched Forfend's blank face. "Tell me, Forfend, does this all look familiar?"

Forfend couldn't say that it did. It wasn't sure what the cultist could know that it didn't though. It simply didn't respond.

Kairi flew up into the air and pulled back her bow, unleashing a glittering Guiding Bolt.

The cultist roared as the radiant light struck him, but he still held tight to his ongoing spell.

"You," he spat. "I recognize you. You may try all you wish, Kairi Camilla, but you cannot stop what is coming. Let me ask you: are we all even supposed to be here?"

"You're just a bitch ass whore taking orders from a crazy bastard," Kairi swore. "Fuck off!"

"Vulgar words for a vulgar woman," the cultist sneered.

His eyes suddenly widened. He jerked his head to Kagoshi.

Kagoshi's form shuddered. The flames on his head crystallized and cracked as green strips of grass-like hair replaced them. Tangled branches replaced the crumbling flames wreathing Kagoshi's collar. His skin tone morphed from ashy black to clay brown. His eyes stopped glowing burgandy and dulled to a gentle green.

A familiar snarl replaced his previous impassive hostility. He turned to face the cultist.

"Excellent timing," Forfend praised him. "We are in a great deal of trouble."

The cultist growled. "Persistent and unwilling to see the truth, I see."

"I was always told I'm a stubborn bastard." Kagoshi flexed his hands.

"It is no matter. The question remains: are we all even supposed to be here? Are any of us supposed to be here?"

Forfend had no clue what the man could mean by that. Here as is this Mortal Bulwark? Here as in this plane of existence? Here as in alive?

"Who cares? I'm gonna rip your spine out," Kagoshi astutely answered.

The cultist growled. He tossed his hood back. His robes caught alight and dark magic coursed through his scimitar.

Forfend nudged its way past Kagoshi to get a better vantage point and touched the medallion on its chest.

The scimitar in the cultist's hand began to heat up until the metal was molten red.

The cultist hissed through his teeth at his blistering hands, but he refused to let go.

He brought the scimitar up and slammed it down into the earth.

A deep reverberating tone like the gong of a great bell cascaded through the Bulwark.

Forfend could feel magic, a sickening combination of malignant and misused divine, sweeping over it in waves.

Every wisp of red smoke rushed inward to the center of the circle.

Forfend nearly stumbled at the force of the wind.

The blood-colored smoke rushed headlong into the crack in the center of the runic circle until it was gone.

As the last tendril disappeared, a memory sharp as a knife embedded into Forfend's mind. Its vision flickered red.

It found itself back in the distant past, its body again metal and strong.

It stood on the edge of the village, splitting its attention between its mortal family hard at work and the distant battle clashing across the stormy red sky like lightning where Fornax undoubtedly fought for his life.

Red and black smoke obscured the Sunderer's form, but the horrid monster wasn't dark enough to hide the brilliant holy light of Cassis's spear or the pale moonlight of Decessus's crescent blade.

Light flashed with every desperate strike. It remembered hoping this would be the final battle, but it couldn't have been. Forfend hadn't survived to see the Sunderer's defeat.

Forfend lost track of time as it stood guard. It didn't know how long it watched the battle with rapt attention.

"Oh, aren't you curious? You're new," a voice startled Forfend from its concentration.

It turned to look down at the speaker.

What it found startled it a second time.

The young human standing before it was so severely emaciated Forfend couldn't understand how he was still standing.

Every single rib shown clearly through his skin. His hips jutted out from an impossibly narrow midsection. His limbs were barely more than skin stretched taut over bone. His face was so sunken the outline of his teeth pressed visibly against his cheeks.

All he wore was a loincloth that dangled from his hips.

He was by far the single most unwell mortal Forfend had ever seen.

It knelt but its words momentarily escaped it in its shock.

The man stepped forward, touching its smooth metal chest. "You're warm. And alive," he marveled.

Forfend found its voice and opened its arms. "You are starving. We have food in the village here. Food and shelter and healers. We will help you."

"You're too kind, Forfend," the stranger grinned. "Too, too kind."

Forfend cocked its head. It didn't know this stranger. How did he know its name?

"Honestly, I had a thought," the man said. "The only thing that satiated me was the flesh of a god. I wonder if yours would be similar."

Forfend hummed its concern, but it didn't want to leave this man. Delusions were common with illness and starvation. He needed help.

Pain suddenly wrenched through Forfend's chest.

It looked down to see the stranger's hand deep in its chest. It hadn't even seen him move.

His fingers tipped at Forfend's core, sending jolts of twisting lightning through its body.

He hadn't plunged quite deep enough or quite centered enough to wrap his hand around the core. Frustrated, he clenched his fist and ripped all the molten stone and metal free.

His jaw split open like a snake's. A rattling inhale pulled the debris of Forfend's body to his mouth, compacting it down with violent metallic grinding until it easily fit within his jaw. He crunched once and swallowed.

Forfend wavered and nearly toppled over. Its other knee hit the dirt and it caught itself on one hand. Golden ichor poured thickly from the gaping wound cut out of the side of its chest.

Fear seized it as the senseless reality of what had just happened tried and failed to sink in.

"Wow, that does taste good," the stranger mused.

He knelt down and cupped Forfend's runic face. "Oh, I know this will hurt," he pouted, false sympathy dripping from his voice.

Forfend wanted to stand, wanted to fight or run or anything.

It couldn't move.

"You're an odd one. Unique, bearing a soul," the stranger considered. "But you are still a Fornaxian and I hear they have fantastic crispy skin."

He dug his thin, bony figures into Forfend's face.

Metal screeched.

Blinding pain wracked through Forfend.

This man, this monster, peeled away its metal covering in one long strip. He devoured as he rended, his impossible jaw puncturing iron with ease.

Forfend felt as though it had been thrown in acid. Its entire body burned and screamed in abject agony.

It could see nothing but burning darkness.

"Delicious," the monster praised, announcing he'd finished. He smacked his lips together.

Forfend's vision came spinning back to it.

Its trembling hands were nothing but molten rock and dripping ichor. Its chest, its legs, its entire body were all just the same. Molten rock and dripping ichor. All its metal was gone.

Ichor pooled beneath its feet faster than it could evaporate away. Its magma musculature drooped, struggling to hold its form. The magic in its core surged in a desperate effort to keep it together.

Forfend stood so much as it was able and staggered backwards. It needed to get away from the village. If this monster could shred it with such ease, he could devour the town in minutes.

Acras.

The monster's name struck Forfend. It couldn't tell if it had known that then, or if it only knew in hindsight.

This was Accipo's brother. This was the god of hunger and rot and decay.

This was something far more powerful than Forfend could hope to handle. The best it could do was try to make certain the village survived.

It backed away, trying to bait Acras towards it.

"Oh, are you running?" Acras tutted and shook his head. He didn't move from where he crouched. "I don't want you to die tired. Look at you, you're bleeding everywhere."

Drool cascaded from his teeth and muddled with the pool of ichor at his feet. He swiped a hand through the golden substance and tasted it.

"Well, fine," Acras decided. If you want to leave, go ahead."

He pointed at his emaciated ribs.

The flesh knotted up and the ribs twisted out of the skin. They took the shape of a snarling hound. It gnashed its teeth.

"If I can't eat you now, I'll settle for them," Acras threatened. "Go!"

The beast developed clawing paws and hauled itself free of Acras's body with the sounds of splitting flesh and cracking bone.

"Satiate my hunger, however temporarily!" he ordered the demon.

The hound grew, its emaciated body bulging and popping until it was nearly twice Forfend's height.

Shaggy white fur sparsely coated its taut flesh. Spines jutted like rocks from its back. Its tail curved up high, the fur giving way to dry skin covered in sores that culminated jarringly into a scorpion's stinger.

Its eyes glowed murderous red.

Sickly yellow-green light emanated from its salivating jowls and through the thin, sunken skin clinging between its stark ribs.

"Come, Forfend, you know you can't run forever," Acras taunted. "You're bleeding."

Forfend lifted a shaky molten arm and channeled its magic.

Its core protested. Nearly every ounce of power it could access was already in use just to keep its body from turning to little more than slag.

Forfend drew on the magic anyway.

Its head dizzied as the world seemed to tilt.

A Wall of Fire burst from its palm and arced out to cut the hound off from the village.

Acras's jaw split. The flames twisted in the air and surged toward him instead. He devoured them effortlessly.

"Delicious!" Acras exclaimed. "Do more, please."

The massive beast bounded toward its family.

Forfend touched its melting hand to its melting chest just beside the gaping hole exposing its core.

Was there anything it could do?

It tugged at the magic dwelling within it.

Pain answered.

The battle at Forfend's back faltered.

A great flash split the horizon.

A silver gleam soared across the sky and crashed into the ground with earthquaking force.

Forfend nearly lost its footing as a shockwave blasted from the crater now at its side.

Acras perked up.

Fornax lifted himself from the earth. A massive dent caved in his chest piece. He looked much worse for wear.

"Now why'd you have to go and ruin the fun?" Acras growled.

Acras's mouth ripped open. He bit into his own flesh, his jaw inverting until it had consumed every piece of his human form.

Nothing but the gaping maw remained. Its fanged teeth crashed together.

A skeletal body sprouted forth, taking towering shape. Acras, now in his massive godly form, hissed.

He was more jaw than anything. His starving body looked and smelled like a rotting corpse. Mold and sores marred every peeling inch of flayed skin hanging off his bones.

"I wasn't done with my appetizer," Acras complained, his voice taking on a new sharp, wheezing undertone.

Fornax turned. He took in Acras's visage and the horrid hound demon dashing for the town. His eyes caught on Forfend.

He froze.

"No, Forfend!" His attention snapped to Acras, rage shaking his body. "What did you do?!"

Fornax slammed his hammer into the ground. Adamantine spikes rivaling the size of mountains lashed out of the earth and impaled Acras, lifting him high into the air.

Fornax roared.

He raised his hand. An adamantine spear formed in the air and dropped into Fornax's hand. He launched it.

The spear slashed through Acras's gaping maw.

Acras grunted. "Good!" he yelled despite his wounded mouth.

He chomped down on the spear and swallowed it.

"Forfend, go! I'll deal with this!" Fornax ordered.

Forfend ran without a second though. It had to catch the hound.

Puddles of lava were left in its wake from each strike of its exposed molten feet.

Its core spun, sparking painfully in its chest.

It wasn't sure if it could call on enough magic to cast a single spell, but it would have to try. It had to help the village.

The memory suddenly stuttered.

Forfend dropped so gracelessly back into its body that it staggered.

"One of many things that should be considered is why the gods perform such actions," the cultist was saying.

The crack in the earth where the smoke had disappeared split, creating an expanding rift.

"An example would be why they would betray creation. After all, the gods are embodiments of all things in reality. Which means that the truth of the matter is that we were never supposed to exist," the cultist asserted.

The rift grew to a fissure.

Two massive white paws snagged the crumbling edges and dragged up the emaciated form of the very same hound demon Forfend had just seen in its addled memory.

It took a short step back as it looked up at the snarling beast.

Its core dropped low in its center.

Fear took hold.

[evildeadfan102]

Stellar Blade Session 22 set.

[sailingfireshipz]

It looks like they having a scene at the loft! Sooo hopefully that means they sorted their shit out and at least will talk

Lol yeeeees but my dear friend @stellariders brought me back to reality that this scene appears to be before work & when have they ever had a productive conversation before shift cough cough 12x13? So now my hope is that they have another one after shift because I need them on the couch talking this shit out!

[christiangeistdorfer]

looking at the 1984 dallas grand prix and christ. the fact that both lotus managed to have the front row grid WITHOUT A SECOND QUALIFYING SESSION is nothing short of amazing

[br1ghtestlight]

underrated gene outfit tbh. he's serving

[theace0fhearts]

Simon Henriksson Soul Link START

What a choice of starters...

Let's go gamers!

[evilkaeya]

wdym they beat fyodor with silly gay acting

[vodka-and-ocs]

did i not post that one ? i guess i'm posting it now

[thegaycousin-upgrade]

HAPPY 8 YEAR ANNIVERSARY @thebrightsessions!!!!!

This podcast means so much to me and it has legitimately saved my life. I made some fan art that’s not THAT Good but I tried so.

@thelaurenshippen @briggonsnow

[varjopeura]

.

[eidolonpost]

moya hughes | world police & friendly fire

[my eidolon heats anything it touches to exactly 100ºF]

we go through a lot of rats here. a lot of rats. its grisly, really; i hate to see them die like this. but it's important work, and... we can't exactly use people anymore. not again. anyways, i raise the rats. keep the babies nice and warm. raising them... i do love that.

by the way... if you are clarissa's friends... why didn't she come with you?

[importantdestinydefender]

So I currently have fallen down the DnD rabbithole (as I am playing my ever first campain) and I have volunteered to draw the characters of my party (and a pic for the dm).

Right now I have started the three illustrations/sketches of our Undead Half-Elf Cleric, High Elf Druid and the one for my middle aged human ranger (he in a midlife crisis lol). I am at the sketch stage where I decide on hair-, skin-, and eyecolour and yall:

I apperantly accedantelly made Jesus... (Except the eyes lol)

Why does he look like this??? How did i do this?? HUH???

Also if you would like to help me decide on colour, have the others... I do like the first one the most but tried to branch out more.

[duckapus]

(So you know how this

is a Thing in the Disgaea series? Wanted to do something with that in the SMG AU but make it Not A Joke.)

While relaxing at home, Shantae hears a knock on her lighthouse's front door, "Coming!"

As she walks over, she wonders who could be visiting this late in the evening. It probably wasn't either of her SMGs, seeing as they'd already had an incident involving Ammo Baron and an unusually large Egg (the capitalization there is important) and filled their Wacky Misadventure quota for at least the next few days. And her canon friends all usually had their own things going on at home right about now.

Well, no more time to speculate. She opens the door with a hopefully-not-too-wide smile (Avatar-grade GMod physics are a real bitch sometimes), "Good evening! What can I...do...uh..."

She's stunned speechless by who she finds; a very tall, very attractive woman who is also very clearly Laharl! She does her best to look up at them, and then very quickly further up when she underestimates the height difference. 'Ohhh, mother have mercy do NOT oogle your genderbent mean demon friend We Have Sexy Zombie Girlfriend at Home.'

For their part, Laharl looks uncharacteristically nervous, or at least is uncharacteristically not hiding their nerves behind either aloofness or rage, "Hi Shantae. If you're not too busy I was hoping for some magic advice?"

'Okay, friend needs help. That I can work with.' "Of course! Come on in."

The two head inside and into the living room, with Shantae settling into a chair while Laharl takes the couch.

"So, what kind of advice where you looking for?"

"Well, uh...I'm guessing you've noticed I look different right now?"

'Different is certainly right.' "Well, I wasn't gonna say anything but...wait, I think I remember this from your games. Did you get stuck like this again from a SMG adventure or something? 'Cause I definitely know a few tricks to make a transformation revert."

There's a flash of...relief? embarrassment? something across their face before they go back to nervous, "Oh, you know where it's from. That makes things easier. And ah, no, dispelling it isn't the problem, I actually changed on purpose this time and I already know the counterspell. I was actually wondering if you know how to modify a transformation."

'Huh, okay then.' "Yeah, I've done that before. Not sure how compatible our magic systems are, but I can at least tell you what works for me. So, what kind of changes are we looking for? Hair color, shoe size, you wanna add wings or a tail?"

"Ah, nothing that drastic, I really just...just want it to feel...more like "me," I guess..." Despite how much taller they are than usual, they quickly curl in on themselves as they say this, suddenly seeming smaller than she's ever seen them.

'Oh...ohhhh.' "This...isn't the first time you've used this form on purpose, is it?"

"...No. I ah, I don't use it very often, there's a lot about it that's honestly a bit much, especially given...well, if you've played the games you probably know about a particular phobia of mine?"

"Yeah...That. That boss fight really hit different after I actually met you."

"Right, so this?" they gesture to their chest, "Does not work for me. Plus it just generally feels like some...some stupid exaggerated fanservicy parody of me. Which makes sense since that's all it was really supposed to be but like, come on!"

"Trust me, I get it. But, you're using it anyway?"

"Yeah, well...at certain points being mildly uncomfortable like this is still an improvement over my boy form."

"About that, I've been using 'they' for you in my head since you got here since I wasn't really sure what was going on. Would you prefer 'she,' or..."

Laharl finally fully relaxes at that, her presence once again filling the room like it usually does, "Yes, please do."

"No problem. Now, to start off, we'll probably want to get you down to your usual age...wait, are you older right now? 'Cause it kind of seems like it, but with how much is different I'm not sure."

She tilts her hand in a 'so-so' gesture, "Kind of? It's-so I'm guessing you know how I got this form the first time?"

"Flonne's angel world flowers, right?"

"Exactly. Now for most of the demons affected it just messed with their internal magic in some way and caused minor physical changes, but I'm half human, so it outright suppressed my demon half. Not enough to interfere with my power level, thankfully, but it made it so I was technically only about forty percent demon. And since humans have far shorter lifespans than demons and my human half specifically came from my mother, the result was me going from a teenage boy to a woman in her early twenties."

"Huh. That's actually kinda neat. And in that case dropping your age is definitely the right starting point. Thankfully I have plenty of experience with that thanks to my Monkey form. So, how you want to start is-"

This goes on for the better part of the evening, and by the time the sun goes down Laharl has a form she can feel much more comfortable in.

After putting the finishing touches on the new and improved Girl Laharl, the demonic Avatar looks out one of the windows, "Oh, I didn't realize how late it was. I should probably be getting back to-" she gets up to leave, only to suddenly feel dizzy and lightheaded, "woah, uh..."

Shantae quickly shoots up and helps her stay steady, "Oh my gosh I am so sorry! I forgot how much of a workout someone's first time messing with transformation magic like that is!"

"It's-I'm fine! Just stood up too fast I think." typical Laharl stubbornness. she really is feeling more like herself, "I can still get home just fiIIIINE!"

Aaand once again Shantae saves her from faceplanting when she stumbles and trips over nothing, "Oh no, I am not letting you try to make a portal back to your castle when you can barely walk! I can call Etna and let her know you're crashing here tonight."

"Fiiiine..." she...is she actually pouting? 'Oh dear mother, sleepy Laharl is adorable!'

After getting laid down on the (actually alarmingly comfortable, like where did she find cushions this soft on her peanuts salary?) couch, she once again drops her usual attitude, looking up at Shantae with completely undisguised affection, "Hey, uh, thanks for...everything you did to help me tonight."

"Anytime." as she grabs a blanket for her guest, she adds "And I do mean that. Anytime you need help, with this or anything else, you can come to me, got it."

"Got it."

"And thank you for trusting me enough to tell me about all this." She crouches down so they'll be at eye level, even if Laharl's are already half-closed, "I know how hard it can be to come out to someone."

"Mmm, 'course I trust you. You're family." And with that she's out like a light.

Shantae...actually chokes up a little at that. With her parents out of the picture since before she can remember, and Scuttle Town being...well, Scuttle Town, she can count on her hands the number of people she'd honestly have called family before all this Meme stuff, especially since Seven Sirens and the other four half-genies hadn't existed yet when the pods dropped, and she knows full well that Laharl's own complicated family-related hangups are far worse. So for her to say that so openly and honestly, even while half asleep...

On some sort of impulse, she leans down and brushes Laharl's hair out of her face gently enough not to wake her, "I swear, I'll do my best to live up to that," With that said, she gets back up, opens her command box...and takes a picture of the sleeping Avatar before sending it to Etna.

>Hey, Laharl wore herself out and needed a place to crash, so dw when she's not back til tomorrow.

>HOLY SHIT SHES SO FUCKING CUTE!!!! i gota send this 2 Flonny n the Gs

>thx 4 helpin hr btw, none of us r shapeshifters so we coldnt do jack

>*thumbs up*

'Hell yeah, I got this sister thing on lockdown.'

[songofwizardry]

it is october of 2023 and i am watching gravity falls for the first time. living my best life tbh

[krismatic]

I’ve never done a comic dub before, but I thought I’d try my hand at it! This video comprises of pages 1-7 of Twin Runes by Akanemnon. enjoy :)

[skramztwinkly]

writing my notes for therapy tomorrow. genuinely like "im soooo jealous of your friend group :/ you guys always have fun together :/ you have the same sense of humor :/ you take candid pictures of each other :/ and talk about your weird psychosexual obsessions together :/ my friends dont have psychosexual obsessions i feel like im perpetually stuck in a middle school cafeteria"