Battling The Bully

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. I thought as my speeding heart matched the pace of my panicked mind. What do we do? What do we do?

I had no intention to fight Bully the Kid. Not only was he the fastest caster on the western half of Moal’aw and stronger than us, but he was also supposed to cause problems for the Heroic Triop down the road. It was his destiny to kidnap Giovanni's brother, Gallileo, in a year and then, after that, help Anak'hati smuggle soldiers into Ter'aquit. His fate was to die on the night of the bomb, being killed in the street by Giovanni himself and causing a crisis of faith in the innocent boy.

But, in the same instant, we were already in the thick of it. He was stirring from his bed as I had my panic attack, and my companions were pushing in beside me. On top of that, Bully the Kid wasn't the type of bandit to just let people go. He was a murderer, through and through, with some of his kills being for fun alone. So, since we had raided his base, killed his gang, and then interrupted his sleep, there was a good chance none of us would get out of the room alive if we didn't act quickly.

First, gag him. Then, restrain him. Finally, kill him. If he gets a hold of his wand, we're all dead.

“Same plan,” I announced as I rushed forward, tackling the rising monster to the wall. "Start shooting, don't stop, and wait for my signal!"

Bringing my arm around, I jammed my entire forearm into the bandit's mouth as my opposite hand grabbed his spell-slinging wrist. With that, I was now up close and personal, realizing just how awful I had made the man-beast smell. Bully the Kid was a five-foot bullfrog, but may as well have been an equally stacked pile of fermenting bull-crap. Having never bathed and often preferring to be coated in a slippery film of ichor, the man smelled of a coastal slough at low tide. Even now, with flesh that I would have assumed to be wet and slimy instead being cracked and dry, he reeked so bad that I longed for the days of the Karryonth nest. But, swallowing back down my regurgitated breakfast, I wouldn't give him the chance to make me regret backing away.

His bulbous eyes, now fully open, locked on mine as I grappled with him. Past my arm, I could see a sinister smile forming on his cracked lips as his teeth, filed sharp at one point in his past, bit down into my flesh.

"GYAH!" I screamed out, feeling the piercing bite rip into me and pouring blood out over both our bodies.

At that moment, a trio of arrows snuck in beside me, connecting where a heart should have been.  But the beast of a man didn’t die. Instead, with a deep inhale, he released a bellowing croak that shook my bones and echoed through the halls of the garrison.

Good thing we cleared the underlings before tackling the boss. Great thinking, me—

Then, with lightning-fast reflexes, he reached over to his wand with the hand I hadn't grappled. Unsheathing it in an instant, I felt the magical tool pulled into the space between us. All it took was a gentle flick for the tides to turn. As the tip of the weapon touched my gut, a forceful blast came forth, knocking me from him.

He’s a silent caster?! I thought as I flew through the air. But that's a Phyllis only—PHYLLIS!

Colliding with the stone wall, my vision spun as I witnessed him release two more flits of the wrist, knocking back Aesandoral and Sharzin. The two impacted against the adjacent walls, hitting their heads and becoming instantly dazed. I watched as Aesandoral struggled to get to her feet, instead tumbling back down to the ground as another blast struck her in the chest, ripping at her clothing and spraying blood out.

"AAHGHH!" She screamed as I watched her body weakly slump over.

“Shame, kids.” Bully the Kid croaked as he stepped from the bed and walked to the center of the room.

He looked between the three of us, his wand held loose in his grip as he swung it around from person to person. The smile I had seen beyond my forearm had grown even more, twisting into a sinister smirk as bulbous eyes blinked.

“You almost had me." He continued with a surprisingly southern twang hanging to his croaking voice. "Very few people know I’m a lot easier to handle when I’m dry—”

His head shifted, looking to the side and turning the large eyes away from me for a second. Taking the opportunity, I kicked myself to my feet and charged forward. Despite my dizziness, I knew I needed to get a hold of his weapon and remove it from him. Unlike elemental casters like Rionriv, Bully the Kid required something to cast through, and if I could wrest control of the wand, then incantationless casting or not, he'd be in trouble.

With three steps, I had nearly made it to him before the wand flicked back in my direction. Instantly, I felt his signature binding magic ensnare me like the worst BDSM binding possible. It coiled around my arms and legs, crucifying me to the air as a magical noose wrapped itself around my neck. My heart and mind raced as I felt the invisible tethers pulling me in every direction. Soon, I would be quartered and, judging by the look on Bully’s face, he knew that.

"Well, well, well..." Bully croaked as he flitted his wand my direction.

Punch after magical punch struck at me. I felt my gut being pummeled by the blows that hit past flesh and muscle, striking at my internal organs. With a cough, blood flowed out from my mouth, spraying over the man's face. Giving me an unimpressed look, he shifted his wand up, continuing to flick it my way, as the blows struck my face as though it were a speed boxing bag.

"Iz!" Sharzin cried out as I heard shuffling.

An arrow was released from the rogue, but the caster was ready. Bully flitted the wand to the side, deflecting the shot. With a second twist, Sharzin screamed in pain before being thrown back against the wall. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her getting struck with the same spell I had, her porcelain face becoming more battered and bloodied by the second.

"Wait, your turn, small one." He croaked, flicking his wrist and throwing her across the room to the opposite wall, where she fell quiet.

"Sharzin!" I groaned through the tightening noose around my neck.

"Is that her name?" Bully spoke, as his attention turned back to me, his twisted smile still growing. "You seem to be really comfortable with your lady folks. I wonder how you'd feel watching them get wrung."

My body flexed as I tried to break from the spell. But not only was the darkness closing in around me from the beating I had taken, but I also had no way of contending with Bully the Kid's spellcasting ability. I was completely at his mercy.

“Nice try, kid. But there's no escaping my spell once I have you.”

With that, Bully tapped the wand to the top of his head, and a trickle of slimy water poured over his body. The once-parched amphibian skin quickly absorbed the moisture, giving it a grotesque sheen in the room’s flickering torchlight. His horrendous scent met my nostrils as I watched the putrid water pool at his feet.

"Now that I've had a drink. I think it—"

But before he could continue to monologue, I started to laugh. I watched as his face scrunched, and with a twist of his wand, the tethers holding me in the air grew tighter, making my laugh more strained by the second. But that wouldn't stop me, even as his magic pulled me to my limits.

“What’s so funny?” He asked, pointing his wand menacingly my way. “Acting tough in front of your little ladies? You won’t be laughing once I—”

“You amphibious fool.” I strained to say, my airways tight and on the verge of collapsing. “What have you done? You don’t even know, do you? Your clothes are soaked now, aren’t they?”

He looked down at himself, confused. “Yeah? And?”

“Well, sur-surprise, asshole. There're four of us. Riiii—!”

“There’s whaaaaaaaaaa—“

Jumping from her hiding space behind the door's threshold, Rionriv released the electrical discharge that she had been gathering since we entered the dungeon. Lightning arced from her hands as though they were a tesla coil, striking out and connecting with the arrows buried into the bullfrog’s chest as though they were lightning rods. I watched from up close as the full force of her spell was directed into the core of our saturated enemy, his body quickly frying. By the time the built-up magic had been fully expended from the sorceress, all that remained of Bully the Kid was his charred corpse and the smell of burnt shit.

I tumbled to the ground as the spell holding me disappeared, collapsing into a useless heap of meat shield. As I did, the sounds of Rionriv falling to her knees behind me graced my ears. Unlike those who entered the room, she was not horribly injured, so instead of groaning in discomfort, she released a sigh of relief that sounded as aroused as it did exhausted.

“Whewph!—” She exclaimed, leaning her head against the door and holding a hand to her chest. “Woooow—I held back for so long that that release felt amazing.”

“You go, girl,” I groaned, adjusting myself to see the glowing expression on her face, as well as the heavy, elated breaths causing her bosom to rise and fall. “You blew your load on the boss just like we planned. Aes? Zin? You good?"

"Owww," Aes groaned from her corner. "Yeah. I think."

"Zin?" I asked once more.

"Grrrr—" She grumbled from her corner. "Short rest?"

Resting my head on the stone floor, I exhaled and coughed up more blood from the internal injuries.

"Yeah. Break time." I said softly, touching my hip and channelling a healing spell into myself. "Let’s take a union-fifteen before getting back to it.”

And, with that, everyone released exhausted sighs as we revelled in the success of clearing all the bandits and liberating the first floor. But, we had only just begun the dungeon dive, and after the short-lived break, we'd all be getting back to work with the next task of this level.

Looting everything.