[Rygar]

Yael had barely finished reveling in the blazing carnage when his body shook violently from a bellowing chorus sung by Sadiki. He spun in a rage to see the bard standing in the middle of his cavern, the audacity to have his back turned to the demi-god! He plucked the strings of his lute in a taunting melody. “Any requests? I’ve never played for a boulder with arms… do you even have ears?”

“You’d be wise to watch your tone with me, Elf, else you shall…” began the wizard.

“My tone?! Oh!! Good one Yael, I didn’t think you had it in you!” laughed the bard. “But maybe leave the jokes to me from now on..?”

Sadiki began to walk away which infuriated Yael even more, he charged in a rage and with all his might punched at the bards back. The minstrel blew a few quick notes into his magical piccolo and disappeared into the shadows before the blow landed. He appeared a short distance behind his foe and delivered a few quick strikes with his short swords.

“Tsk tsk tsk… Too slow!” he taunted once again and he rattled his tambourine, sending his magical notes cutting through Yael’s mind. The wizard cringed and spun to strike in frustration, but he only heard the echoes of the taunting piccolo tune. The bard had reappeared up upon the ridge, the wizard wasted no time in running him down, but with another whistle he was just out of reach.

Ameliorate recognized that Sadiki was leading their enemy away from the fallen, she saw her opening and sprinted forward in the shadows…. Finally she would be of good use! With the demi-god distracted she reached Impermeable and brought forth her magical flail and began to whisper her prayers of restoration. The artifact began to glow and its magical energy began to surge forth and bath the ogre in a blue light. She looked into the swirls of mana and began to call his name, through the ether she saw the vast marshlands of the Feerrott. Her vision narrowed to the edge of a small river bed where she saw the Ogre sitting, he turned to look towards the cleric and she grabbed his hands and pulled him through the portal as if he was weightless… and in that instant he had returned to their side!

Meanwhile, Sadiki continued his taunting dance with Yael to buy the cleric time. The wizard conjured bolts of lighting and a maelstrom of fire, yet the beating rhythm of the bards drums provided him enough protection that his skin was barely singed. He had many tricks up his sleeve but he desperately needed reinforcements if they were to defeat the great Elemental.

Ameliorate began to tend the shaman’s wounds to help him recover. “Impermeable, we need your magic to help slow down this creature and tilt the odds in our favor!” pleaded the cleric.

“Me do wut we needz, you trust in Blob!” and he began to cannibalize his own flesh as an offering to his gods for more precious mana.

Sadiki scored many more stinging blows, but Yael stood a moment and gathered himself. “I have played your game for far too long, minstrel. Your shadow stepping days are over…” Sadiki wasn’t so sure about that as he reached for his piccolo, but he felt a tug of magic at his very core that he could not protect against. “You will not evade me!” cried Yael, and Sadiki was transported right before the great wizard! He tried to put his instrument to his lips but Yael grabbed him by the wrist. With a mighty squeeze he reduced the bones in the bard’s playing hand to dust!

“AAARGGGH!!!” yelled Sadiki, never feeling such pain before in his life. He sensed his time was over, so he did not want to give Yael any satisfaction from seeing him broken in spirit. “I… suppose I… won’t be playing in the streets of Freeport tonight…” He clenched his teeth and fought the pain, “It looks like my playing days are over thanks to you… it’s only fair that I return the favor!” With his free hand he swung around his short sword with all his might and lopped off Master Yael’s fore finger that was around his wrist!

Yael screamed mightily and grabbed his hand, a stream of lava pouring forth from the wound. He swung his good hand around Sadiki’s throat and crushed his trachea, but was careful not to break his neck. “You will SUFFER for this indignity! Let this be a lesson for ANYONE who dares to defy me!!” He then proceeded to hold his open wound over the bards mouth and let the molten lava seep down into his throat! He held him up as the bard convulsed from the pain and his body burned from the inside out, then once the twitching ceased threw him to the ground as if he were nothing more than trash to be discarded.

The wizard turned to see who else stood before him and noticed Ameliorate pulling Bardoc’s body from a smoldering pit of flame. He began to cast his powerful spell of summoning to bring her to him, when he was overcome by a crippling magical spell! Carbon and granite built up on his joints, his arms stiffened and felt heavy. He could barely contemplate what transpired when a bolt of frost struck him from behind and caused him to stagger. He turned to see Impermeable standing defiantly, he rubbed his belly as he laughed, “Hee hee hee… ugly rockman slow like Blob now!”

The wizard was flush with hate seeing his previously fallen foe restored and filling him with this odd disease, so wasted no time in heading right for the shaman. He unloaded a heavy right hand directly to the ogre’s gut.

“Ho ho ho” laughed the Blob. “Tickle me more rockman! Me has another present for you!” He once again took his Spear of Fate and dug it deep into the wizard and let loose its powerful magic. Yael staggered and let loose another mighty blow directly at the shaman’s face. His head hung low, but the Impermeable looked up and smiled as half his teeth fell out of his mouth! The elemental continued to pound the shaman, even though his pace was slowed his strength remained and he was wearing down the ogre.

Unexpected to Yael, Impermeable dug his clawed fingers into his wrists and sent a stream of blood to the ground below. “Drink Earth Mother, grant me power…” He harvested more mana and chanted some words in an ancient tongue, he was surrounded by a blue haze and fell into a state of torpor. Yael couldn’t believe what he saw as the ogre’s wounds closed up and stood rejuvenated before him!

“Me too powerful for you now rockman, you weak and slow. Me kill you soon!” taunted the shaman. For the first time the wizard felt a sense of panic, he knew he lost the advantage. He needed to tip the scales in his favor again, but how? He saw Ameliorate begin to cast her prayers on Bardoc’s body and knew he had to act soon, he peered up at the open air above him and then back down at the massive hunk of flesh in front of him.

“Powerful as you are heavy, indeed…” whispered the wizard. “And that shall be your undoing!” He began to chant his words of forbidden magic, and the shaman felt his core begin to shift and feel light on his feet. He looked around and noticed the small pebbles strewn about the cavern floor begin to levitate before him.

“Uh oh…” grunted the Blob, and he heard a sinister laugh from the wizard before he yelled, “AWAY WITH YOU!”

He felt the flow of gravity reverse, and in an instant him and Ameliorate were sent flying high into the sky! The behemoth of a shaman flew nearly to the ridge above in Paineel, and for a brief moment his robust physique eclipsed the sun and blotted all light from the chasm below. The shift reversed and slowly the companions began their deep descent to the rocky floor below. Luckily, the gods had just granted Ameliorate access to her magical spell line of invulnerability and she surrounded herself with her Divine Aura of protection.

The Blob, on the other hand, was not so lucky. His years of gluttony were now his worst enemy as he hurtled towards the cavern floor, the rush of air stung his eyes and his body flab shook violently. He barely caught a glimpse of the wizard below him before his body hit the ground like a meteor, causing a massive crater filled with his liquefied remains! Dust and debris filled the cavern, making it difficult to see.

Ameliorate landed unharmed and thought this cover of darkness would aid her, everyone’s hopes now rested among her, the last remaining member of the Azure Guard. She felt her way over to Bardoc’s body and brought forth her flail and whispered her prayers with a panicked haste. The dull blue aura covered his body, she whispered his name and began to see the snowy Everfrost Peaks. A campfire came into focus and she saw the warrior standing before it. He turned and saw the cleric and reached out his hand, she reached through the portal but at the very moment their hands were about to touch Master Yael summoned her across the chamber! Her spell was interrupted and she was now in the strangling grasp of the wizard, a great sadness filled her as she knew they had failed.