My priorities had shifted a bit, while I did indeed still want some tasty Essence, I really wanted that fluid repulsion enchantment. So, when my Boss barreled out to the fight, amid cheering which filtered down from above, he charged directly at the large man, Josh. This must have surprised them; I think they expected me to go for Dale as per usual.
Raile crashed into the defiantly held tower shield, easily bending it. This was a weak, shoddy substitute for the one he had lost in here previously. Josh shouted in pain as the metal crumpled around his arm, forced away a few feet before he tripped and sprawled flat on his back. Raile bounced forward as blows began raining onto him, his massive weight landing on the sundered shield held up for protection. The tortured metal began caving in as Raile furiously attacked the only exposed area, Josh’s feet.
Clamping down, Raile shook his head like a dog tearing into steak, but he was knocked away with a powerful blow from Craig. Trying to preserve Josh, the blow had sent Raile away from Josh’s head, actually helping me pull the boot off. Thanks Craig! With an audible snap, Raile broke Josh’s leg as he was launched away, the boot flying into the distance.
I devoured the boot and the enchantment it held with a moan of pleasure, filing the information away for later use. Wow, does Craig make tasty enchantments! So much Essence! Raile returned to the battle, attempting to maul the man on the ground, but being body blocked by the others. Dale pulled Josh onto his good foot as Raile bounced high and started descending like an avalanche toward the place Josh had lain. Unable to dodge fully out of the way, both Dale and Josh went flying. Josh’s head slammed into the wall, where he slumped to the ground unconscious.
This was going far better than expected! Now two tasty people were on the ground for me to squash, while Raile had taken almost no damage yet! I bounded in, ready to finish them. I jumped, my temporary body angling to flatten Dale when an arrow slammed into the armor of the head I was inhabiting. The force didn’t penetrate, but it did knock my/Raile’s skull forward, creating an awkward landing that pushed my head into the wall, next to Dale.
He stared into Raile’s eyes as I struggled to regain control, luckily his stick wasn’t small enough for him to swing and do damage in this confined space. Thinking I had the upper hand, I was shocked when Dale reached into a pocket and withdrew a gleaming dagger that he slammed into the eye next to him! That bastard! He had never had a dagger before! Vindictively, I angled Raile in his death throes so he would land on Dale, hopefully crushing the life out of him. As Raile’s corpse landed I could hear the breath explode from Dale’s body alongside a meaty *crunch*, which made me rather cheerful. Maybe this battle wasn’t a waste!
The others worked quickly to lever Raile’s body off of Dale, showing a non-breathing adventurer. Hans jumped over and pushed on Dale's chest a few times while furiously screaming. I am fairly certain the screaming did the trick, forcing Dale to take a breath in subliminal fear. While he coughed explosively, I sadly watched all of that Essence get away. Drat. They moved to Josh, who moaned as they removed his helmet.
“You ok, big man?” Hans probed, patting Josh on the arm.
“Yah.” Josh groaned, slowly getting up. “Powerful protection run on that helmet. Shoulda squashed me like a bug.” He spat out a bit of blood, gesturing at the giant Basher. He looked over at Dale and frowned. “How’d you kill it, lad?”
Dale was still trying to get his mind off of nearly being killed. “I, uh… I had a dagger on me, I was able to stick him before he got back up.”
“I didn’t teach you to use a dagger! Is it new? Do you have a new teacher you like better?” Hans feigned hurt at the thought of another man teaching him how to use a knife.
“No! Ha… Just nearly got stabbed this morning and decided to take a trophy.” Dale wheezed. He handed the dagger over so Hans could see it.
Craig looked up from the dead Basher, “Dale, you didn’t penetrate its brain, how did you kill it?”
“Craig.” Hans had a serious tone in his voice, which made everyone look at him. A serious Hans made everyone nervous. “This is a Demonologist blade.”
“Are you certain?” Craig inspected the blade as well. “I see no infernal Essence on it...?”
Hans shook his head, “infernal Essence doesn’t hold well in Inscriptions, it pulls its energy from its victims to power itself. I am... unsure what this Rune does, but we should get it to a Spotter immediately.”
Hans turned toward Dale, “The life Essence in that Boss Mob was ripped out. Good job with those reflexes, but you should never use an unknown weapon, especially one with an obvious Inscription like this.” He held up the dagger, it was plain to me that the twisted pattern nearly screamed its hatred for life.
“I didn’t even think about it.” A downcast Dale kicked at a loose rock, “I was so caught up in today…”
I was watching that dagger. A new Inscription was something I dearly wanted to eat. Especially if I wouldn’t have a chance later, them giving it away and all. I had planned on giving them just standard loot, but I wanted a distraction. I generated a shower of silver coins to catch their attention, and dropped a massive metal tower shield behind them when they looked toward the money.
The resulting boom, clatter, was enough for them to jump, badly startled. Jumpy aren’t they? At the same time as the noise, a Glitterflit I had been directing smacked into the hand Hans was holding the dagger in, sending it flying. The distractions provided me with a brand new dagger and Inscription which I would be sure to study. Only Hans saw a flash of gold as the Glitterflit sped into hiding again.
“Son of a-” Hans began shouting.
“What happened?” Steve whirled around as a joyful *Whoop* sounded from Josh.
“It’s beautiful!” Josh stated, voice somewhere between a whisper and a scream. “Look at this pattern! These Runes are immaculate! I can’t wait to use it!” He was holding the inscribed, massive shield with his non-mangled arm, the other bent at odd angles which he ignored. “So pretty!”
“Something took the dagger!” Hans tried to warn the group.
“Can I keep it?” Josh was asking, looking around at the others wildly. “Please?”
“None of us could use it, Josh.” Craig moved toward him, speaking softly. “It is all yours, ok? How about we head back now?”
“So I can keep it?” Josh again begged.
“Of course you can.” Craig promised soothingly, looking into Josh’s eyes. “I think you have a concussion, my friend.”
“No, it’s a shield.” Josh assured him, holding it a little higher.
“I know it is, how about you look at it for a while?” Craig turned toward the group, “We need to go, an injury to the brain is one I do not feel... ready... to heal.”
“A moment please.” Steve gathered the fallen coin, looking for any other dropped things. What a greedy adventurer! I had no intention of giving them anything else. After all, I had not regained any of Raile’s lost Essence thanks to my new knife. “Let’s be off.” Hans nodded as he finished his search.
They turned to go, so I dropped a rock near the hidden stairwell. They turned, weapons drawn, to look at the disturbance. Hans flew forward, hoping to catch whatever it was off guard, and so was the one to find the stairs.