by Phoenix Grey
When his sight finally returned, Azure saw Lonnell standing in front of Sir Thornton. His staff was raised, held horizontally in both hands, his back bowed against the weight of the statue's two clenched fists bearing down on him. The sound of strain was passing through Lonnell's lips, and he was holding the defensive stance as best he could against a foe who clearly overpowered him.
Sir Thornton fumbled through his bag for a healing potion. Surely, he had to feel weak after losing that much Health so quickly. If Lonnell hadn't been there to defend him against another hit, he probably would have met his demise.
Azure took to his feet, grabbing his sword and dashing around the statue's side. He swung hard, the blade cutting into the statue's hip despite his expectations of it ricocheting and barely leaving a chip behind. This statue seemed softer than the ones before, his sword sinking in about two inches. The statue raised its head and roared before pivoting to face its new attacker.
Holy shit, Azure thought as the behemoth eclipsed him. This motherfucker is huge.
It raised both arms, clenching its hands together into a fist. The action was incredibly slow, so Azure was able to dodge easily enough when its arms descended. Caught unaware from being blinded, Azure could imagine how the attack had done so much damage to Sir Thornton.
While Lonnell made sure that The Asshole Knight was all right, Azure tried his best to keep the statue engaged, studying its attack pattern. With the first miss, it raised its balled hand to its mouth to cast Dirty Move again. Azure wasn't falling for it this time, though. He moved back several steps, shielding his eyes with his arms. Dirt pelted him whenever the statue let loose its mighty breath. Somehow, despite having a solid defense...
You are now blind. This effect will last for 10 seconds.
What in the hell? "You can't dodge it," he called to his comrades, falling back at a blind jog. As long as he could get out of the statue's range, he should be fine. Sir Thornton must be recovered by now, so Azure would count on him and Lonnell to step in and defend.
"If we stay on opposite sides of it, it shouldn't be able to get us all at once," Lonnell said. His logic seemed good to Azure.
Despite putting distance between himself and the statue, it wasn't long before Azure heard grunting and metal clanging right next to him. When his vision returned a few seconds later, Sir Thornton was straining in front of him in much the same position that Lonnell had been when he was protecting The Asshole Knight. The statue had crossed the distance to get to Azure despite its other attackers.
Lonnell was whacking it with his staff from behind. Clumps of the statue fell at his feet. It was clear that they were doing some kind of damage to it. “I think we can whittle it down,” he called, mirroring Azure's thoughts.
"It's a marathon, not a sprint," Azure added.
The statue laid off of Sir Thornton's sword, drawing its hand back up to its face. Sir Thornton slashed it across the stomach and Azure tried to dash out of the area of effect for the spell, but it was no use. A spray of dirt hit him once more.
You are now blind. This effect will last for 10 seconds.
Shouldn't it have turned to attack Lonnell? Azure thought. Perhaps this statue was more intelligent than the ones before it, learning the Adventurers' patterns and adjusting accordingly. Then again, the demon-looking statue had also managed to change its tactics when they had tried running away.
Azure didn't have time to think about it for long. The attack felt like it should have snapped his neck. There was sudden extreme pressure on his head before his face slammed into the ground.
Level 10 Statue of Finborh delivers 50 damage. You have been knocked down.
"Sorry, Azure," Lonnell called to him.
"Ugh," He groaned, peeling himself from the tile. Azure shuffled pathetically away from the sound of fighting, then shakily dug through his bag for three healing potions. It felt like a lot, but he didn't want to let his Health get down too low. Speaking of which, he was quickly running out of Potions of Minor Healing. Hopefully, this battle wouldn't take too much longer. As it was, he only had eleven left. If things kept following the same trajectory, he'd be out before they defeated all of the statues.
Azure's sight returned just in time to see Lonnell's defenses break. His friend took a hit, careening to the side. The statue raised its arms to strike Azure again, but he was able to roll out of the way before its fists slammed down.
"We need to kill this thing," Azure said with urgency, taking up his weapon to attack. When he noticed that they'd all been whittling away at different areas of the statue, another thought occurred to him. "We need to be going for the arms. Remove them, and we remove its ability to attack. Then we can all strike at the same place on the body."
"Good idea," Sir Thornton said before slamming his longsword down on the statue's right arm, cutting in a good several inches. A few more hits ought to severe it. "Hopefully, this fucker isn't ambidextrous. That spell is going to kill us all."
"I'm pretty sure he can cast it with both hands," Lonnell told them just as the statue began to raise his arm to cast the spell again.
"Run!" Azure called out, trying to find some way to avoid the spell.
Somehow, it worked. While the statue had managed to hit Sir Thornton mid-swing, both Lonnell and Azure avoided it...not that Lonnell was actually on the business end of the spell.
"I think it has a range," Azure said as he rushed in to defend Sir Thornton. The Asshole Knight had the statue's right arm about halfway cleaved off. "Lonnell, try to finish off its arm while I block," Azure ordered, using his buckler to shield himself this time while he stabbed up toward the statue's belly.
Their joint effort paid off. With two more solid hits, the right arm fell to the floor. The statue looked pissed, immediately raising its remaining hand to cast the spell again.
Unfortunately, they were all in range.
You are now blind. This effect will last for 10 seconds.
Lonnell paid the price as they all desperately tried to shuffle away until they had regained their sight again.
"This guy is an asshole," Sir Thornton complained, taking up his sword to attack the remaining arm.
"It's probably only going to get worse from here," Azure guessed, hoping he was wrong.
Instead of helping Sir Thornton cleave off the remaining arm, he worked on the statue's opposite side, hoping that they could eventually cut the statue in half. Meanwhile, Lonnell struck it from the front, digging his staff deep into the hole that Azure had made in the statue's belly.
Azure was the only one able to make it out of the way when the statue cast Dirty Move again. Instead of focusing on defense, he rounded the statue to finish the job severing its remaining arm. Relief filled him at the thought that it was no longer a threat.
"We should be good now, guys," he told his companions while they waited to regain their sight.
Thankfully, it was as they had predicted. While the statue stomped at them with fierce frustration, it could no longer cast the spell or do any damage with its arms removed. The three men made a circle around it, working on hacking the statue in half.
A few minutes later, their efforts were rewarded.
Defeated Level 10 Statue of Finborh. 90XP rewarded.
"Fucking finally!" Sir Thornton said, but there was no time to celebrate because Gaia had recovered.
Level 10 Gaia delivers 10 damage. You have been knocked down.
There seemed to be no avoiding that particular spell. The second one was dodged by both Sir Thornton and Azure, though. Maybe next time, all three of them would be able to avoid it.
Their pattern of attack worked once more, sending Gaia into retreat when she was struck in the forehead by one of Azure's arrows.
The next statue that moved had the body of a man, built up with muscles. Atop its head were horns that curled back like a ram's, and its legs ended in hooves. The only indication of which of the Gods it could be were the cracks in its skin where orange-red lava appeared to run.
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"This one should cast fire spells," Lonnell informed them.
"I hate fire," Sir Thornton complained.
"I wonder how we're going to kill it," Azure said.
"Keep your guard up. Most fire spells are projectile in nature. Prepare to block." Lonnell raised his staff as if the slender piece of wood could work as a shield against a torrent of fire.
They kept on guard as the statue began to approach. Sure enough, as soon as it was within range, it cast a spell. Flames belched forth from its maw, covering the ground. Azure lifted his buckler just in time to avoid getting blasted in the face. The heat still scorched his armor.
You have been burned for 10 damage. You will take 2 additional damage every 2 seconds for the next 4 seconds.
The status effect from being burned was interesting. Every two seconds, Azure felt a sharp twinge of pain to his entire body akin to when one of his friends had accidentally dropped a lit joint in his shoe when he was a teenager. They were all so high that they'd just stared at it for a good several seconds before Azure registered the pain and went into full flail mode to get it out. Feeling the same sensation throughout his entire body, albeit for only a flash of a second, was miserable. Out of all the status effects that he'd experienced so far, this was definitely his least favorite.
In the aftermath of the spell was a floor littered with fire. There was no getting to the statue due to the lack of a path. Azure felt trapped. To the left and right of him, flames licked up to waist-level. It seemed that the only direction he could move was back, away from the statue.
Lonnell and Sir Thornton had found themselves in a similar predicament. Sir Thornton tried to press on, only to be burned again. It was a dumb move, causing him to retreat and drink a healing potion. He cursed under his breath as he glared at the statue as if his eyes could do damage to it.
Feeling like ranged attacks were their only option, Azure nocked an arrow.
"Don't waste it, fool. We still have two more of these monsters to fight after this one," Sir Thornton yelled at him.
"How do you suggest we get to it, then?" Azure asked him dryly. The statue appeared to have no intentions of moving. Clearly, it wanted them to traverse the fiery plane it had created to come to it.
"Do either of you guys have water spells?"
"Nope."
Sir Thornton turned to look at Lonnell, who shook his head. “Shit,” he seethed under his breath. “We came ill-prepared for this.”
Azure frowned at how quickly what resources they did have seemed to be dwindling. He only had twelve arrows left. Sir Thornton was right, he shouldn't waste them, but they were at a stalemate.
They stood in place for a few more moments before deciding to back off and regroup. As soon as they did, the statue moved forward. Clearly, the fire didn't affect it at all. It stopped a safe distance away, seeming content in the flames. Then it cast the spell again, and the Adventurers had to raise their weapons to block them from being scorched.
You have been burned for 10 damage. You will take 2 additional damage every 2 seconds for the next 4 seconds.
"It's not going to let us out of range," Lonnell surmised before popping open a healing potion and downing its contents.
While the spell didn't do much damage, it was annoying as hell, and it worked to keep them trapped.
"Unless you have a better idea," Azure spoke to Sir Thornton without looking at him as he drew an arrow again. This time, he heard no complaint.
The statue was an easy target considering that it had stopped moving again. Azure doubted that it would try to dodge his arrow, more than likely because it would just ricochet like the others before it had, dealing no damage to the statue. At first, he thought to shoot the statue in the head. Maybe the eye. No creature enjoyed being shot in the eye. Then again, the statue's eyes were made of stone, so how much damage could really be done?
Azure scanned the statue for weaknesses. Perhaps the cracks in its skin where the lava flowed. By the laws of nature, the lava would melt his arrows, but it was still worth a try. Finding a chink in the statue's body where its neck met its collarbone, Azure let the arrow sail. It hit its mark with a thwack, sticking deep. The statue twitched with pain, its expression pinching. Within seconds, the arrow shaft disintegrated.
"I think that actually did damage." Azure couldn't hide his surprise.
"It appears so," Lonnell agreed.
"How many arrows do you have left?" Sir Thornton asked.
"Eleven, only two of which are steel. They might work better, but I still don't think that's enough to take it down."
"Probably not." Lonnell hummed, thinking.
"Shoot it again," The Asshole Knight barked, as if he had authority over the situation.
Azure wanted to roll his eyes. Just moments ago, Sir Thornton had basically called him a moron for wanting to shoot the statue.
The thought of using a Steel Arrow sickened him a bit considering that he only had two left. If this didn't work, he'd have wasted a two-shot arrow on one hit.
"What are you waiting for?" Sir Thornton prodded him on.
Trying not to think on it much more, Azure pulled a Steel Arrow from his quiver and nocked it. This time, he looked for a spot on the statue that might break through to a vital organ―if these statues even did have vital organs.
There was a chasm in the center of the statue's chest where lava flowed most freely. A weak spot. An opening where the heart should be. Azure took aim and loosed.
Critical hit!
The statue folded in slightly, clearly in pain. As soon as it recovered, it immediately cast the fire spell again, despite the fact that the heroes hadn't moved.
You have been burned for 10 damage. You will take 2 additional damage every 2 seconds for the next 4 seconds.
"That sure pissed him off," Sir Thornton guffawed merrily.
"Yes it did," Azure mumbled, eying the statue warily, concerned that it might suddenly go on the offensive.
"At least we know how to kill it now," Lonnell said with a half-smile, playing into The Asshole Knight's amusement.
"Let's just hope I don't run out of arrows first." Though it killed him to do it, Azure drew the last of his Steel Arrows. The first had been lost due to the statue's lava melting the shaft, but it had penetrated a good bit deeper than the Bronze Arrow had. While he would waste his two best arrows, hopefully, it would save him from using too many of his Bronze Arrows. He still needed those for Gaia...if she could ever be defeated. This was starting to get tedious.
Standing like an easy target, the statue didn't bother to block as Azure shot it in the chest again. While he didn't land a critical hit this time, the result was the same. The statue cringed from pain and then immediately spit fire at them.
You have been burned for 10 damage. You will take 2 additional damage every 2 seconds for the next 4 seconds.
Seriously though, how many arrows is this going to take? Am I even doing enough damage to eventually kill it? Azure tried not to let his concerns show as he drew and nocked another arrow.
"Go for a triple bullseye," Lonnell said excitedly.
Aiming at a non-moving target was easy. Azure hit his mark, landing all three arrows right next to each other. This time, the statue doubled over, belching out molten lava onto the floor. It looked like a man bleeding from his mouth.
The fire around the Adventurers died away as the statue fell over and crumbled into a heap of lifeless stone.
Defeated Level 10 Statue of Steoper. 90XP rewarded.
"Way to go!" Lonnell praised him while instinctively turning to pay attention to Gaia, who had recovered. This far along in the battle, they all already knew what to expect.
Azure ducked to avoid the slicing wind, but he still ended up on his backside.
Level 10 Gaia delivers 10 damage. You have been knocked down.
Thank the Gods the ground wasn't on fire anymore, or they would all have been crispy critters. Though maybe the wind would have put the fire out. Who knew?
Sir Thornton drank another healing potion, then they all danced around the entity the same as they had before. After The Asshole Knight struck her across the back with his blade, she cast the hand spell again. Azure was the only one who managed to avoid it. Being ranged made it easier for him to keep a safe distance away.
Before his two comrades had even managed to get back on their feet, Azure had shot Gaia again. The more they fought her, the easier of a foe she became, it seemed.
Both Azure and Lonnell downed another healing potion before the next statue had a chance to move forward and show them its magic. Better to be safe than sorry. All three men liked to keep their Health above the 50% mark, even if it was just by a smidgeon.
The statue that presented itself next was the least humanoid of the lot. It appeared to be made of rock shards, the tops of which jutted out like stalagmites. Conversely, its elbows and backside ended in multiple small icicle-like points. The only human feature was its face, which seemed that of a wise old man with a mustache also made from icicles. In its hand was a trident, its fingers rigid and angular as they wrapped around the weapon.
As soon as it turned to face the Adventurers, it pointed its trident in their general direction, and a white substance swirled in front of the fork. Three separate bolts shot out, hitting each of the three men in the chest.
