Chapter 115: A Dragon's End (2)

Dealla first realized what happened as she was lifted off of her feet. The force of the blow was enough to force the wind out of her lungs temporarily as she was carried through the air and landed hard with a thud on the sparsely dotted landscape of grass and dirt. Her body rolled, landing next to a tree as her tail wrapped itself limply around her body. The creature had struck yet again, this time making Dealla its victim. Perhaps it was the paralyzing sensation of being hit but Dealla's mind was now dreadfully clear.

Only her tail had saved her, it's thick protective scales acting as a buffer to the strike. Unfortunately she could no longer feel the appendage, it had gone completely numb, crushed from the impact of the creature's singular blow. Lee'ahn'dra was dead, she'd seen the elf's demise herself just moments ago.

She had only managed to take three more steps before she was attacked as well, leading to her current predicament. Dealla's eyes widened as she realized she was no longer breathing, she thought her ribs may have completely burst. After what seemed like way too long she was able to breathe again and she found this sudden inhalation was the stimulus for another reaction from the lingering predator. It turned its head towards her direction as its body tensed up in preparation to deal the killing blow.

It was instinct which drove Dealla to be silent and lay still, along with the fact that her body was still recovering and most likely in duress. Due to this, the scarce sound, the rush of air filling her lungs was smaller than usual. She watched as the lumbering creature moved its head in her direction and bridged the distance with amazing speed. She knew that her life was forfeit in that instant and closed her eyes. The sound of a thunderous blow came, echoing through the woodland area as Dealla awaited a demise that strangely enough, never came.

The creature struck the tree nearby, causing splinters and chunks of wood to fly in various directions as the tree was nearly brought down. As many wood splinters landed on Dealla's face as she held her breath, careful to use the least amount of motion possible before inhaling. The creature was now directly above her, so close that she could have reached out to touch it's foot -- if she was so inclined.

For several moments she was frozen in both fear and panic, she could clearly see the creature from her vantage point on the ground but it seemed the opposite was not true. After standing motionless like a statue, no doubt attempting to listen for Dealla once more, the creature shifted its weight and peered off into the distance.

*No. Don't come!* Dealla wanted to shout these words as she heard the sound of heavy footsteps in the distance. The only other member of their party was now headed her way and right into a trap. But the words would not come and just as the creature appeared, it left to deal with the incoming member.

Dealla could only reason that the creature's strange behavior was tied to the fact that it couldn't see. She furthermore realized the creature was tracking down each of the party members by a keen sense of hearing. A few seconds later the last indicator of the remaining party member faded out of existence.

[Party disbanded.] The useless alert did little more than irritate Dealla as her mind raced.

*Just.. A few more steps.* Dealla thought to herself as she craned her neck to look in the direction of the shard. Dying inside a shard was not like dying any place else. Just one death would be all it took to lose one's life.

She only had a split second to decide what she would do -- and she chose to gamble big. She got to her feet as steadily and stealthily as she could, which wasn't very considering her tail plopped down against the ground. It was no longer impossible for her to use it, the bones within had likely been shattered even though it looked intact from the outside.

The distance was so short, yet so far away. Dealla was sure that if she tried to run again she would be caught. Thus she could only feint and hope for the best. She unsheathed her longsword as silently as she could then took a deep breath before tossing it at a tree not far from her position. She waited and watched as the blade clanged against the tree and fell towards the ground before she took off. Her body protested in every sense of the word. Dealla was sure that her spine had been shifted a centimeter or two in several places, but she ran nevertheless.

She ripped off her waist pouch and tossed it behind her as she switched directions, a further distraction to shake her pursuer. She shed pieces of armor as she ran, all the while craning her ears as if it would make a difference to hear her impending demise. And suddenly it happened, the creature dashed forth, bridging several meters in an instant with its fist outstretched. The last location where Dealla tossed her chest plate -- but she was only two steps away.

JUST TWO STEPS AWAY -- when she felt the shadow of death lingering over her. The creature quickly picked up on her footsteps and course corrected. The blow struck Dealla like a cannonball, lifting her off of her feet and severing her consciousness all in the same blow.

"When I came to, I was in the chapel, all alone. The creature's blow knocked me out of the shard, that's the only thing I could come up with. Otherwise, I'd have never survived." Dealla said as she finished recounting her tale. The faces of everyone in the room, save Oliver and Vivian all contorted with the same grim expression of disbelief. Agni glanced over at Katrin who had a solemn expression similar to her own. Gates seemed completely disturbed and Gigi's normally permanent smile was non-existent.

The gathered adventurers could scarcely believe their ears as Dealla recounted every gruesome detail of her foray into the realm of nightmares.

"I waited, for hours to see if anyone would return. The longest I could possibly stand before coming to you, Doyenne Vivian." Dealla said as she glanced towards the kitsune teen sitting across from the dragon-kin.

"And bought a butt load of trouble right to our door." Oliver Pagnel said, his arms folded in perpetual displeasure.

"Stop Oliver. This was the agreement between our chapels and we will honor it." Vivian said as she leaned forward in her chair to speak. The Archmage adventurer, elf Oliver Pagnel, waved off her order with one hand, but nevertheless remained silent.

As far as Agni knew these two were the strongest in the Mystic Tower chapel. It was now beginning to dawn on Agni why they might have been called to Vivian's office. After listening to Vivian's explanation, the succubus' suspicions were confirmed.

"Mystic Tower has been tasked with a rescue mission for the missing members of the Guiding Light chapel. It's possible that they may already be…" Vivian cut her eyes towards Dealla briefly as she considered her words, "beyond recovery. If that's the case, we too will make an escape."

"I'd like the people present here to assist with this task in two days time."

"Two days time!? By then--" Dealla was quickly silenced by a lift of Vivian's hand.

"The forty eight hour window is well within rescue parameters. Having been a part of a cleaner chapel myself in the past, there are strict protocols to be followed. I'm sure Tedrin knows these rather well, after all we worked together in the past. Up to four days of rations are always carried. You did well by coming to me today. I can now make arrangements to make our trip as safe as possible."

Dealla looked as if she wanted to protest even further, but she was feeling deathly weak. She'd put on a strong front as she stood to recount her tale but now her energy faded. There was also another reason that Dealla buttoned her lips.

*In two days...I'll be good to go.* She thought, and there was no way she would miss a chance to save Chloe at that time.