Our Party Will Live On

"We're all going to make it. It's crazy to have this thought while facing a monster with absolutely nothing. I trust this will work."

CRACK!

The swamp wolf scraped the edge of the top of the castle.  Shards of stone flew into the air. Down below, Frigyes and Marigold could only watch in horror.

“Crap, will my magic even make it at this distance?!” cried Frigyes.

Frigyes had tears in his eyes, but wiped them away. Frigyes had the wand pointing to the wolf. However, his arm began to shake, and quickly brought it down.

“That’s it. Let’s just cut our losses and go,” Frigyes ceded.

“And go where? Back to the train station? You’re not going back alive, either by that wolf, or by me. I’m not letting you give up on our partners like that!” yelled Marigold.

She too had tears in her eyes. She watched as the swamp wolf brought its head up at the castle.

“AAAAAAH!”

BAM!

Lev kicked the monster right in the snout. It was unfazed. The wolf opened its mouth, as it was time for the kill!

SNAP!

CRACK!

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“GWAAAAAAAAAAH”

Two screams were emitted at once. The beastly Lev, and the beastly swamp wolf. The wolf, however, isn’t as beastly as it was. The sharp jagged teeth have fallen out suddenly. Blood was pouring out of its mouth.

“TAKE THIS!”

BAM!

SNAP!

CRACK!

“GWAAAAAAAAH”

More of the teeth of the swamp wolf have broken and fallen out. The wolf lost its grip on the castle. As its body flew backward, Lev wrestled with the jaw of the wolf. Both Lev and the swamp wolf were falling down the castle, and down on top of the bastion surface.

“What the hell just happened?!” exclaimed Frigyes.

“Its mouth! It’s bleeding!” followed Marigold. “That’s its weak spot!”

“But, what they hell did the-“

“Enough asking! Aim for its mouth!” interrupted Marigold.

Meanwhile, Kitezh ran down the castle and back to the top of the bastion itself, where she saw the wolf. She looked at its mouth, and saw the blood. It flowed down into the shape of a cannon.

“It took Lev as the bait, but had no idea he was holding the large iron cannon. The swamp wolf can’t detect everything that’s invisible without a sniff first,” thought Kitezh.

Lev was standing inside the jaws of the wolf. He pushed the blood soaked cannon further into its mouth.

“Whooooa!”

The swamp wolf flung its head up. He rocked Lev around as he gripped its jaw.

“Lev, the cannon! Don’t let it fall!”

Lev grabbed the cannon and pushed it further the wolf's mouth.

SNAP!

“AAAAGH”

This time, the wolf snapped at Lev’s hand as he tried to push the cannon into its mouth.

Frigyes and Marigold approached closer to the commotion.

“I can’t get a good aim of its mouth from here. Plus, I don’t want to accidentally torch Lev!” Frigyes told Marigold.

“This is our only chance!”

“I’m not a complete expert with this magic thing, you know!”

“Well, you don’t have a spear either! Work with this!”

Lev thought of the spear. He didn’t need it exactly, but something like like a spear. He spotted some fishing gear near the pier. A metal bucket and fishing rod were all what Lev needed to fight.

“We’ll be able to get that bastard from here,” Frigyes said, as he rushed over to the equipment.

Lev was exhausted from fighting. He lost focus for a moment.

SNAP!

“AAAAAH!”

Lev screamed as the monster bit him again. This time, it was on historso.

“Lev!”

Kitezh yelled as she ran up to him, running straight into the jaws of death that were about to spew something on them.

The stinky breath emitted from the swamp wolf again. It hurled the black sludge like before.

“NO YOU’RE NOT!” yelled Lev. He embraced the cannon, and fought against the force of the vomit. However, he it was a match he couldn't win, as the dark poisons started to coat him.

“AAAAH!” Kitezh yelled a battle cry, but then shut her mouth and began to cough. She was getting splattered by the sludge vomit. She didn't give up, and ran into Lev’s back to help shove the cannon into the wolf's mouth.

The force of the vomit weakened and eventually subsided. However, Kitezh and Lev were both badly poisoned. Completely armorless and in their underwear, they’ve taken a mortal hit.

“Agh.. awa…” Kitezh could not make out the words, as she suffered from the poison. She was so close, yet it all seemed to be the end for her.

SWOOSH!

TSSSSSS!

“GWAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Kitezh brightened her eyes, like she was suddenly revived. She saw a glowing yellow object in the wolf’s mouth, as it flailed its head around in agony.

“I told you I would make that shot!” Frigyes boasted. “With my fire magic, that hot iron bucket worked as a great projectile. And don’t forget my ‘fishing skills’. By flinging the bucket from the fishing rod and burning the string at the right moment, it really makes me feel like a human trebuchet.”

The swamp wolf slammed its whole body on the ground. The cannon was still at its mouth.

Kitezh and Lev weakly got up, but knew they had to use everything to stop it. The two of them grabbed the cannon, and pushed it forward.

“AAAAAH! GHK! GHK!”

They kept pushing and pushing as the wolf began to choke.

“GHK! HHHHHHHK!”

Then, there was silence. The swamp wolf laid limp. The monster had suffocated to death.

Kitezh and Lev collapsed to the ground. Frigyes and Marigold rushed to the top.

“Kitezh! Oh, please don’t be dead!” cried Marigold.

Kitezh could not say a word, but grunted a bit. She cleared the sludge that was covering the visor of her helmet.

“Lev is badly hurt!” yelled Frigyes.

“I don’t have any magic, so I can’t heal you two. All of our items were frozen in the river,” said Marigold.

Frigyes tried to lift up Lev.

“Argh, I’ve got it. You don’t need to help me,” said Lev, as he slowly got into a sitting position.

“Are you serious? That thing was close to ripping you in half!”

“No really, I’m just fine. See? Look at this wound.”

Frigyes inspected the hand where Lev was bitten.

BAM!

CRACK!

“AHK-AHK-GAHK!”

Frigyes was on the ground, writhing in pain.

“Hehehe. I’ve always wanted to do that!”

Lev suddenly gets up. He stretched out his back, cracked his neck, and darted his eyes at Marigold.

“Lev! Why did you do that!? H-How did you get up? You were poisoned!” squealed Marigold.

Lev’s face suddenly changed to an evil grin. It was like he just turned into one of the Demon Lord’s underlings.

“Lev, seriously. This isn’t funny! What are you doing?!”

“Marigold, just step aside. I just want the girl on the ground.”

Marigold hesitated. Her own partner had suddenly gone rogue. She had no way to fight against the beastly man.

“I… won’t…”

“Okay, you’re wasting my time now.”

BAM!

Lev pounded the ground with his fist. The ground began to crack as if there were a lightning strike under her feet. The ground splintered and collapsed.

“AAAAAAAAH!”

THUD!

Marigold laid motionless on the ground on top of all the rubble.

Kitezh tried to get up. She had to escape this horror now.

“Kitezh, I told you already. It was great that I took that quest in the first place. Of course, I would take it first. I was the one who created it myself after all.”

Lev cracked his knuckles.

“You seem sedated enough from that toxic sludge. You were fine with me picking you up several times. Let me do it one more time.”

Kitezh’s eyes widened in fear.

“Wh-Who are you?” weakly asked Kitezh.

“We’ll get to the details later. But for now, you can refer to me as the Shatter Phenomenon!”