Lynnette brandished her two-handed blade. Desmond dodged the next slash smoothly and swept at her legs, but she was ready, bounding back a step and slicing his foot off.
The foot was already sizzling, however, as it rolled to a stop in front of Lynnette’s confused gaze. Helen tackled her to the ground, and the explosion rocked the whole chamber.
Helen’s back and legs smoldered, sundered muscle and snapped bone under shredded cloth, but Lynnette was tucked safely beneath her, dazed and intact. “Please stay back, Lynnette,” she said softly.
Desmond pulled her off Lynnette with his one returned arm. “I thought the guards were supposed to protect the Queen, not the other way around.”
A heavy thud made the walls tremble.
“What was that?” said Desmond.
Helen elbowed him in the nose, making him release her, and she hit the ground flat.
Desmond shook his head and scowled, but another thud made him pause. He looked to Ezmortig. One more thud, and the ceiling gave way on top of him.
Through the rubble, a thick marble slab fell toward Desmond. He raised both sleeveless arms and caught it full on, making the floor crack beneath him.
A black figure was crouched atop the slab, grasping its broad edge with both hands and staring down at Desmond through a metal helm.
“You must be that other reaper’s servant.” Desmond grinned up at him, still holding the marble steady. “Nice entrance.”
-+-+-+-+-
Desmond chucked the slab across the room.
Hector bounded off of it, coated one shoe in iron, and punted Desmond into the far wall, stuck waist deep.
‘Kill the reaper now!’ Garovel shouted.
Hector lunged for Ezmortig, swiping at him with iron-tipped fingers, but the reaper sunk through the floor first.
‘Nice try, bastard.’
Hector growled and looked back toward the others.
Lynnette was helping the Queen up, bloodying her uniform in the process. Helen steadied herself and saw Hector there.
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
I must say, I am impressed by Hector's quick mastery of his power.
ReplyDeleteBahahaha YES I had been wondering what was stopping reapers from just sinking through solid objects.
The limb regrowth speed is shockingly fast. That couldn't have been longer than 20s between having 1 arm vs having both.
"swept AT her legs"
Oh, I definitely wouldn't say "mastery," yet. Kuhuhu...
DeleteAnd both limbs are regenerating at once. The difference between 1 arm and both arms was so quick because they were also cut off in quick succession. So, even though only one limb had been returned when Desmond grabbed Helen again, the other limb had already been regrowing for a bit. And the same goes for his foot.
And FUCK. I really thought I got 'em all that time. Thanks, Kunama.
Hector reminded me of the Juggernaut for a sec.
ReplyDelete"Who are you?!" "I'm the Zombie Knight, bitch! -rams through wall-"
Haha.
DeleteSomeone animate this, id love to watch this over and over a-gain with the song Bad Selection by DeadMau5 playing in the background.
ReplyDeleteYup, Reaper mobility remains a problem as somebody else pointed out...still, I'm with Kunama, he's already using his metal effectively in combat, I'm impressed. You've advanced the portrayal of his gift and his talent for it nicely. It can be difficult preserving an arbitrary sense of realism, which is one of fantasy's unique challenges.
ReplyDeleteLynnette is pretty awesome. Though, I was wondering how she's able to even react against a servant's super speed. I'm of course assuming Desmond went into that potential battle boosted (because why not?). And Desmond is right, that was a good entrance by Hector.
ReplyDeleteThe others that commented on what stops a reaper from just phasing out of the way of an attack, you seem to forget that this is only the second battle we've seen where reapers can get hurt. The first battle had reapers up against Geoffrey, a creature they didn't even know could actually see them, let alone touch and hurt them. Though, it irks me that Garovel didn't phase after he saw Boh get hit but I'm assuming that was for drama's sake. Now this battle has reapers/servants against reapers/servants. Both sides know the deal here. Bob and weave!
It's not quite super speed in the conventional sense. It's just enhanced muscle strength. Makes them able to run faster but doesn't impact dexterity or reflexes. Desmond is technically "faster," but Lynnette is still more "agile," if that makes more sense.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Garovel didn't want to leave Hector without observational support against Geoffrey. It was sloppy of him to get caught like he did, but it was also his first encounter with such an enemy.
Actually it makes a little sense.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, I get the confusion with Geoffrey. That's what I wanted to say to everyone.