[indent][indent][center][h3]𝐑𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲: 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐱[/h3]
[justify][i]𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 #𝟐𝟒: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 Ä𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐤𝐫𝐲𝐩[/i]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 Ä𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐤𝐫𝐲𝐩, 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 “𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐆𝐨𝐝𝐬” 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐱, 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥. 𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐢𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐀 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐭; 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 Ä𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐤𝐫𝐲𝐩’𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡.[/justify][/center][/indent][/indent]
[color=lightsteelblue]Mr Bait took on his role like a [i]champ[/i]. Lia watched with great delight as he made himself a bigger target with all his shouting, and mana-breaking, and sword-waving. The Old One emerged in no time at all, a massive blobby [i]stretch[/i] that seemed to fill the cavern. The wet sheen of its moist skin rose uncomfortably close toward the ceiling’s shadows, green glistening blue under the mana’s light. The few metres of space left was too small a gap for her liking.

Still, Lia waited.[/color]

[indent][indent][center][justify]𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝟓 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐬* 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟐.𝟓 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐬 – 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭* – 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.[/justify][/center][/indent][/indent]
[color=lightsteelblue]Spindly arms burst out of its blobby skin, their ends sprouting pale hands that unfolded like blooming flowers. Most of the ones near its head reached for Mr Bait with furious abandon. The rest spread themselves out, shoving the Old One’s body along, touching the mana clusters it passed. The bright blue of those crystals faded. Not entirely, but that bright baby blue dimmed to a more maudlin shade.[/color]

[indent][indent][center][justify]𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞, 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐛 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚. 𝐑𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭.[/justify][/center][/indent][/indent]
[color=lightsteelblue]Lia drew out a crossbow bolt from her quiver, tip pinched between two fingers. Its head was refined crystal, unlit and empty of any sort of mana for the moment. She brushed it against her lips in a quick kiss.

‘[b]Get ‘em, tiger.[/b]’

She closed her eyes and blinked open new ones – midnight blue sclera that was lost in the dark, slit pupils dilating to wide white. The shadows of the ceiling lifted, showing her where the stalactites dipped and lifted. Lia aimed and fired. The shot went unheard beneath the din of all the Old One’s frantic rumbling. The bolt arced [i]beautifully[/i], through hanging rock and shadows, towards the incoming Old One. It jammed into the Old One’s head, right where blobby flesh met porcelain mask. Lia took a breath.

‘[b]Trigger[/b],’ she said.[/color]

[indent][indent][center][justify]𝐈𝐟 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 Ä𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐤𝐫𝐲𝐩. 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐃𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.[/justify][/center][/indent][/indent]
[color=lightsteelblue]In a charge of mana, the bolt exploded in a fiery plume of blue wisps and flames. The Old One reared back on its many, many arms. Porcelain shattered and skidded against stone. Abruptly, the rumbling cut out. Lia lowered her crossbow.

A shrill screech broke through the space. She flinched, gritting her teeth. Black smoke rose off the Old One’s face as the mana wisps faded. Lia couldn’t make out what lay beyond the smoke, but the faint flickers of mana blue was unmistakable. The Old One was unmoved from the position it had reared up into, revealing an underside that wasn’t much different from the rest of its weird, blobby body. Its hands, however, swivelled their palms towards the ceiling.

Towards Lia.

She glanced nervously down at Mr Sword Guy. Now would be a [i]really[/i] great time for him to start swinging.[/color]

[indent][indent][center][justify]𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 Ä𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐤𝐫𝐲𝐩.[/justify][/center][/indent][/indent]
[color=lightsteelblue][i]Godsdamned enthomologists.[/i][/color]

[hider=Addendum][list]* 1 trunk = 2 metres
* Enthomologist: A person who studies or is an expert in mythos.[/list][/hider]