The griffin skids several yards away, before rounding back with its tail whipping back and forth. With a great sweep of his wings, flower petals of hollyhock scatter into the air all around.
The wind whips around you, beaten into a frenzy by his wings. The perfume of flowers fills your lungs, and as you breathe in deep, you feel the fire in your heart burn you from inside out.
The griffin sizes you up and paws the ground, readying for another strike.
[ His breath comes in gasps as that burn settles in, and he bites down on a startled shout. He's already planned his next move and he can't falter now!
As he turns to face the griffin he's already working as quick as he can on a sketch of.................a pile of meat. A distraction has to be a better plan than a vicious fight, right?
The blood in your veins feels so hot, you can nearly hear it sizzling. There’s power in there, in the passion - churned to rage. But it feels like it could swing wildly out of control at any moment. Overtake you.
Talon's artistic talent has failed him today... ignoring the meat utterly, the griffin is focused solely on the trespasser, the threat to its territory. It pounces again, every fibre of muscle packed behind that leap as it plows into Talon mid-drawing and slashes with its claws.
[ He can see it coming just in time to swap the book for his dagger. Thinking on his feet he braces with the dagger to try to parry those claws, falling back with the force of impact and tucking his legs up in the same motion. There's no avoiding the impact, but with the right timing he can hope to kick straight up into its gut to force it back off.
The power inside you is growing, turning from a buzz to pure electricity. Light crackles over your skin, filling you with a glow from the inside out as your movements become wild, like there’s rocket thrusters built into your muscles.
Destruction comes so easily to you like this. As easy as breathing. You could fight and fight and fight and fight forever and never grow tired.
The kick doesn't take - it only seems to make it angrier. With a growl, the griffin's jaws snap at the arm holding the dagger, sinking its teeth into Talon's wrist hard enough to break bone - not that you can feel that pain through the surge of wild power in your body.
[ He may not be able to feel pain, but he can certainly feel a spike of rage at losing grip of his weapon. He lashes out with a reflexive punch at the griffin's throat, determined to stun it and regain some advantage.
It’s not enough. It’s not enough. You need more power. You need more, because the storm inside you is out of control - it needs purpose, and all you have is the thrill that comes with the crunch of blood and bone, the triumph of complete domination.
What else is power for? It doesn’t matter. You need it.
The sudden throatpunch causes the beast to stagger back, releasing Talon's arm as it whines, choking for breath. Its wings flare out defensively as it tries to recover, an attempt to threaten - to make itself look bigger than it is while it's weak.
[ Even without the flood of storming fury, there's no way he'd let up yet. He takes a split second to assess the situation and hauls himself up, snatching the dagger in his good hand as he rises and lashing out with a deep slash across the griffin's chest.
It's screaming, howling, all that power, fighting for release from the prison that contains it. It hurts. Your skin is nearly translucent from the light inside, burning its way out of you. Who are you but your rage? Your violence? What else are you for?
What are you for?
The slash misses the griffin's chest - it skirts back just in time - but instead, hacks away at the flower stems filling out its wings. The beast yelps pitifully as the vines are torn away and you realize - its violence, its rage is entirely a product of the pain it's in.
[ He narrows his eyes, still furious, but there's a new target. He knows what he's for after all—protecting others. And if this creature is in pain then it's a completely different story.
He charges forward with renewed focus, leaping up at the last moment to launch himself over the beast so he can slash at whatever flowers remain in its wings (and hopefully get a look at its body to see if there are any vines elsewhere)
With that, it feels like your heart is emptying out. Though you look no different, the sudden absence of heat and light makes your skin feel raw, brittle-- burnt. If you were to look down and see smoke trailing off your arms, it wouldn't seem out of place.
You are your rage. You are your violence. It burns, but that devil is every bit a part of you.
Talon shreds the last of the flowers tangled into its feathers in one acrobatic flurry, scattering flora to the winds. In its alarm, the griffin smacks him with its tail - sending him flying - but by then his work was already done.
Bit by bit, the stone form begins to crumble. Starting from the tip of its wings, and spreading across its entire body. Despite the decay, the griffin seems... calmed. Maybe a little nervous of Talon still, but there's a sense of things being right again.
[ Talon staggers as he lands, startled by the abrupt shift in his own heart. It's an unsettling feeling—an unsettling thought, familiar as it might be.
He grits his teeth, looking up to stare the griffin down uneasily, dagger half-raised. It...seems like the fight's over, but... ]
Slowly, the rest of the griffin crumbles to pieces - revealing a person's form trapped within it. Humanoid, but not quite human. There was still a spectral, ghostly quality to its form, glowly blue with horns that curve over its head, tough scaled skin and bony appendages that twist over its collar and elbow.
In some strange way, you know that this is Nero. As inhuman as it was, as overflowing with demonic energy... it was his devil.
It doesn't say anything - in fact, it probably couldn't speak. But now freed, it floats over to Talon, without aggression.
[ Talon lowers the dagger to his side, no longer threatening but still not sheathing the weapon. He regards the demon curiously, circling round it curiously as it approaches ]
So...are you okay now? Do you even understand me like this?
The demon regards Talon curiously too - and circles him as well... actually, it might be mirroring you? Maybe it doesn't understand. Maybe it's just instinct, powered by the urge to try and copy something it doesn't even understand.
Then its glowing, spectral body dissolves into light - which all rushes into Talon's book, absorbed like all the statues before it.
Something shifts from under the rubble, before a new pillar of light shoots up, spilling out from a portal to the next level.
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Re: LEVEL ???
The griffin sizes you up and paws the ground, readying for another strike.
Re: LEVEL ???
As he turns to face the griffin he's already working as quick as he can on a sketch of.................a pile of meat. A distraction has to be a better plan than a vicious fight, right?
Unfortunately he's pulled 2 red tokens. ]
Re: LEVEL ???
Talon's artistic talent has failed him today... ignoring the meat utterly, the griffin is focused solely on the trespasser, the threat to its territory. It pounces again, every fibre of muscle packed behind that leap as it plows into Talon mid-drawing and slashes with its claws.
Re: LEVEL ???
Draw: 2 blue tokens ]
Re: LEVEL ???
The kick doesn't take - it only seems to make it angrier. With a growl, the griffin's jaws snap at the arm holding the dagger, sinking its teeth into Talon's wrist hard enough to break bone - not that you can feel that pain through the surge of wild power in your body.
Re: LEVEL ???
Draw: 1 red ]
Re: LEVEL ???
The sudden throatpunch causes the beast to stagger back, releasing Talon's arm as it whines, choking for breath. Its wings flare out defensively as it tries to recover, an attempt to threaten - to make itself look bigger than it is while it's weak.
Re: LEVEL ???
Draw: 1 red ]
Re: LEVEL ???
The slash misses the griffin's chest - it skirts back just in time - but instead, hacks away at the flower stems filling out its wings. The beast yelps pitifully as the vines are torn away and you realize - its violence, its rage is entirely a product of the pain it's in.
Re: LEVEL ???
He charges forward with renewed focus, leaping up at the last moment to launch himself over the beast so he can slash at whatever flowers remain in its wings (and hopefully get a look at its body to see if there are any vines elsewhere)
Draw: 1 red, 1 blue ]
Re: LEVEL ???
Talon shreds the last of the flowers tangled into its feathers in one acrobatic flurry, scattering flora to the winds. In its alarm, the griffin smacks him with its tail - sending him flying - but by then his work was already done.
Bit by bit, the stone form begins to crumble. Starting from the tip of its wings, and spreading across its entire body. Despite the decay, the griffin seems... calmed. Maybe a little nervous of Talon still, but there's a sense of things being right again.
Re: LEVEL ???
He grits his teeth, looking up to stare the griffin down uneasily, dagger half-raised. It...seems like the fight's over, but... ]
Are you actually done?
Re: LEVEL ???
In some strange way, you know that this is Nero. As inhuman as it was, as overflowing with demonic energy... it was his devil.
It doesn't say anything - in fact, it probably couldn't speak. But now freed, it floats over to Talon, without aggression.
Re: LEVEL ???
So...are you okay now? Do you even understand me like this?
Re: LEVEL ???
Then its glowing, spectral body dissolves into light - which all rushes into Talon's book, absorbed like all the statues before it.
Something shifts from under the rubble, before a new pillar of light shoots up, spilling out from a portal to the next level.
Almost over