Re: The Battle Majestic (Round 2 - Firestar)
08-11-2010, 05:10 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Not The Author.
"You broke your legs."
"Mm-hm."
The pair had retreated to the antechamber to escape the sheer heat of the caldera.
"Both of them."
"Mm-hm."
Both doors leading out of the chamber had been sealed by the goddess, though these were easily bypassed with a bit of magic.
"Last round."
"Mm-hm."
The pedestal in the center of the room had been toppled at some point, littering the floor with powdery ash.
"And you didn't tell anyone."
"Mm-mm."
The stone slab was chipped in places, and the chamber walls bore signs of charring.
"You then tried to fight a bunch of Amazons."
"Mm-hm."
John was once again seated upon the slab, staring at his legs.
"While your powers weren't working."
"Weren't working well. 'S different."
Despite the move to a cooler locale, his icy splints still riddled the crystalline floor with quickly-evaporating droplets.
"Uh-huh. Then you followed me into a volcano."
"Mm-hm."
Jacob had discarded his sphere of magma earlier, as the drain on his mana reserves was becoming a nuisance.
"Where you decided to fight a fire goddess."
"She looked like she was gonna kill you, okay? I was defending you!"
He leaned against the wall, one hand clasped to his brow in exasperation.
"Fine. I still can't figure why you thought it was a good idea."
"Man, you suck the fun out of everything."
A sigh, and the hand swung out, encompassing the room and its general state of disarray. "What happened in here, anyway?"
"Okay, so I was lying down here, right? And then you left but there was this weird song going around in my head. And sometimes I think out loud, right? Well I was trying to get the song out of my head, okay, and then the pillar burst into flame! Well, the ashes in it did, anyway. Like a torch. Anyway! I kinda tried to blow it out 'cause the room was already too hot, but that didn't work out and the flame kinda turned into a hand and grabbed at me. I tried to freeze it, which kinda worked? But then it was hot and also sharp and still trying to grab me, and I might've panicked a little and, uh..."
The cryomancer shrugged. "...Stuff happened. But I'm fine, really! Well, aside from the legs."
Jacob would likely have made some further condescending remark, but was distracted when the room suddenly decided to start vibrating.
"What's going on?"
"I don't..." The tremors persisted and intensified, accompanied by a rise in temperature. "Ah. Right. Volcano. Shit."
It took him only a few seconds and a couple of tries to tunnel to the volcano's surface. He stepped through the portal, and likely would have kept going had he not recalled one important fact.
"Um..."
Jacob turned back. "...Oh, right. Legs." Force of habit made him throw up an arm as though flinging something over his head. "There. Quarter weight. Push off, you'll sail through; should be easier to walk, too. Now come on!"
The knight was not a man to be kept waiting, particularly not when he was being made to wait on an active, erupting volcano. As such, he left rather hastily, more concerned with his own well-being that that of the diminutive humanoid.
The humanoid in question was not feeling very well. Typically, John's latent cryonic powers automatically corrected for upward changes in environmental temperature, but ever since he'd entered the caldera he'd been having trouble maintaining equilibrium. The abnormally extreme heat, coupled with his sudden weight loss and possibly some of the toxic gasses leaking through recent fissures in the floor, made him feel somewhat light-headed and nauseous. In an attempt to avoid being ill, he pushed himself from the altar less forcibly than he should have, and while he did travel considerably farther than he would have otherwise, he landed just short of the portal leading to his freedom.
I say landed, but by the time Jacob had left his soles were starting to melt, and the floor had only grown hotter since. Almost immediately upon contact with the superheated crystal, John's shoe burst into flames. Naturally, this caused the cryomancer some alarm, and as is typical of one traversing a hot surface or encountering a surprise, took a little hop. Unfortunately, the loss of three-quarters of his natural tether to the earth translated into making such a hop rise several feet above the exit portal and last several seconds longer than would be considered normal.
In his frantic attempts to extinguish his foot and somehow fall more quickly, John failed to realize the floor below him had given way to the incredible buildup of pressure, until a large chunk of crystal jumped up and broke his spine.
"You broke your legs."
"Mm-hm."
The pair had retreated to the antechamber to escape the sheer heat of the caldera.
"Both of them."
"Mm-hm."
Both doors leading out of the chamber had been sealed by the goddess, though these were easily bypassed with a bit of magic.
"Last round."
"Mm-hm."
The pedestal in the center of the room had been toppled at some point, littering the floor with powdery ash.
"And you didn't tell anyone."
"Mm-mm."
The stone slab was chipped in places, and the chamber walls bore signs of charring.
"You then tried to fight a bunch of Amazons."
"Mm-hm."
John was once again seated upon the slab, staring at his legs.
"While your powers weren't working."
"Weren't working well. 'S different."
Despite the move to a cooler locale, his icy splints still riddled the crystalline floor with quickly-evaporating droplets.
"Uh-huh. Then you followed me into a volcano."
"Mm-hm."
Jacob had discarded his sphere of magma earlier, as the drain on his mana reserves was becoming a nuisance.
"Where you decided to fight a fire goddess."
"She looked like she was gonna kill you, okay? I was defending you!"
He leaned against the wall, one hand clasped to his brow in exasperation.
"Fine. I still can't figure why you thought it was a good idea."
"Man, you suck the fun out of everything."
A sigh, and the hand swung out, encompassing the room and its general state of disarray. "What happened in here, anyway?"
"Okay, so I was lying down here, right? And then you left but there was this weird song going around in my head. And sometimes I think out loud, right? Well I was trying to get the song out of my head, okay, and then the pillar burst into flame! Well, the ashes in it did, anyway. Like a torch. Anyway! I kinda tried to blow it out 'cause the room was already too hot, but that didn't work out and the flame kinda turned into a hand and grabbed at me. I tried to freeze it, which kinda worked? But then it was hot and also sharp and still trying to grab me, and I might've panicked a little and, uh..."
The cryomancer shrugged. "...Stuff happened. But I'm fine, really! Well, aside from the legs."
Jacob would likely have made some further condescending remark, but was distracted when the room suddenly decided to start vibrating.
"What's going on?"
"I don't..." The tremors persisted and intensified, accompanied by a rise in temperature. "Ah. Right. Volcano. Shit."
It took him only a few seconds and a couple of tries to tunnel to the volcano's surface. He stepped through the portal, and likely would have kept going had he not recalled one important fact.
"Um..."
Jacob turned back. "...Oh, right. Legs." Force of habit made him throw up an arm as though flinging something over his head. "There. Quarter weight. Push off, you'll sail through; should be easier to walk, too. Now come on!"
The knight was not a man to be kept waiting, particularly not when he was being made to wait on an active, erupting volcano. As such, he left rather hastily, more concerned with his own well-being that that of the diminutive humanoid.
The humanoid in question was not feeling very well. Typically, John's latent cryonic powers automatically corrected for upward changes in environmental temperature, but ever since he'd entered the caldera he'd been having trouble maintaining equilibrium. The abnormally extreme heat, coupled with his sudden weight loss and possibly some of the toxic gasses leaking through recent fissures in the floor, made him feel somewhat light-headed and nauseous. In an attempt to avoid being ill, he pushed himself from the altar less forcibly than he should have, and while he did travel considerably farther than he would have otherwise, he landed just short of the portal leading to his freedom.
I say landed, but by the time Jacob had left his soles were starting to melt, and the floor had only grown hotter since. Almost immediately upon contact with the superheated crystal, John's shoe burst into flames. Naturally, this caused the cryomancer some alarm, and as is typical of one traversing a hot surface or encountering a surprise, took a little hop. Unfortunately, the loss of three-quarters of his natural tether to the earth translated into making such a hop rise several feet above the exit portal and last several seconds longer than would be considered normal.
In his frantic attempts to extinguish his foot and somehow fall more quickly, John failed to realize the floor below him had given way to the incredible buildup of pressure, until a large chunk of crystal jumped up and broke his spine.