Sundered Echo — Roleplayer Guild

Xyden merely nodded in response to Leith, but the moment the small Land-Strider had left, a shiver ran through his fins at the news of the abominations birth. This would make things harder, but it would also mean Marya would be far less able to resist. That was good. He slithered away at the quickest pace he could, rushing to follow the strong smell of Marya and those with her.
When he arrived at the infirmary, he half expected it to be barricaded. All there was was a single, albiet rather large, Land-Strider female dressed in armour and carrying a long pointed weapon of wood and burnt iron. Xyden approached the Land-Strider slowly, so as not to spook the primitive beast, and looked straight into its uncovered eyes. "Why do you block the door... to this place... Land Strider..." He asked as clearly as he could.

Alaira had followed along, and had noticed that some of the medics were unnerved by her presence. Naturally, who wouldn't be intimidated by a nearly eight foot tall woman in full plate? Still, they allowed her to tag along. Likely because they didn't want to argue and she didn't actually seem like she was going to hurt them. In any event, she decided to stand guard ouside. When she told a few of the medics this, they seemed confused. Why would a baby need an armed guard? Anyhow, she hadn't been standing outside for long when an odd sight made itself known. Everytime I think I've seen it all something weirder comes along... She thought. Some kind of fish... snake... man had approached.
Now, the thing that set off alarm bells was this guy was armed and armored, and definitely seemed healthy. Now, seeing as she was in full blown paranoia mode, she naturally assumed this guy was here to murder the baby (Irony). But a warning was in order. "I'm here to keep Lyn safe." She said. With that, she flipped her Lance around and made a quick circular slice at the ground by her feet, the blade sparking against the stone. "Now why does a perfectly healthy-looking snake dude want with the infirmary?" She asked.

Xyden looked the Land-Strider up and down as she flourished her weapon. She was not obeying his commands as she should. He hoped he would not have to do anything more drastic than he already was, but no mere Surface Dweller would stop his righteous task. "My reasons... are my own... Surface Dweller" He almost spat the final two words, as though they were dirty to even say. "Stand aside." He said, drawing himself up to his formidible battle height oh 8'2. He did not brandish his Trident, but he was ready to use it to move the Surface Dweller aside by force if necessary. It wasn't his intention to injure the witless beast, but if he had to incapcitate her, then that was what he would do. His spiked fins were not yet extended to increase his profile, but would be the moment a hostile movement was made.

Alaira merely smirked. This guy thought he could bully her out of the way, cow her into compliance. Wrong! If one thing was for sure, her stubbornness was legendary. "I'll stand aside when I'm dead, fish." She said. However, she knew this guy was no pushover. Furthermore, she was indoors and she had to guard the doorway. This sonuva bitch sure had a laundry list of advantages, that's for sure. However, what was important was getting the first blow. She decided that something to stun the bastard was in order. Or at least wind him. She very quickly flipped her lance around and rushed forward as fast as she could, aiming to jam the blunt end of her lance right into his stomach. There was no going back now.

Xyden hadn't been expecting quite such an overt show of aggression from the Land-Strider, and he was not fast enough to block the strike before it struck his armoured stomach. The impact was quite significant for such a lithe creature, largely because of the weapon she was wielding, and he doubled over somewhat, however his trident was already in motion. rather than strike directly at the woman, his weapon was aimed at her own. His tridents three blades, though primarily designed to inflict large, bleeding wounds, could also easily be used to catch another weapon, and this is what they were aimed to do. at the same time, his free hand rushed to grab the end of the lance that had just struck him.

Well, this'd be a good one, that's for sure! Alaira was beginning to feel the familiar red haze of battle overtake her again, and she welcomed it. It had been quite a long time since the last time she had fought to the death, and she planned to enjoy it. As the blow connected, she was aware that the fish... man... whatever had his trident in motion but she didn't really wanna find out what his target was. She also saw his hand moving and in the split second she had she decided that she probably wouldn't have time to dodge, so she did the next best thing. She was about to do one of her Aeromancy jumps, but not to ascend, oh no. To deliver the nastiest uppercut she could. So that's what she tried to do.

Xyden felt the familiar feeling of a weapon being caught solidly between the prongs of his trident and as he began to twist his trident to ensure his control, he took the time to grab the end of the weapon solidly with his open hand. The grip was jarred when the land-strider executed a fairly unorthodox attack, rather than dodging away or trying to struggle for her weapon, she rushed in to make an unarmed strike against him, apparently also employing magic. The unarmed strike struck him on the point of his chin, craning his neck upwards as he rolled with the blow as best he could. He did have complete control of the Lance, however, and he pulled it close and began extending his tail towards it. It would likely be damaged beyond use if he could get his coils around it.

Alaira was propelled into the air without incident, but she had lost her grip on her weapon, the bastard had caught it! Well, it was time to give him a choice. She quickly grabbed onto his head, and was preparing to snap it. Though he would likely very easily get her off of him, it might mean she could shift his focus enough to save her weapon. Though she likely wouldn't take this measure if she was thinking more rationally, she wasn't thinking rationally, and decided to pump a bit of electricity through her hands, into his head. Now, what would the fish do, she wondered?

The Surface Dweller probably thought that by going above him, she would gain some kind of advantage. Against another of her kind, that might be true, but Xyden was used to fighting in htree dimensions, and it was infact easier for him to think of his opponents threat range in such an area. Nonetheless, he had let her too close for comfort, and he prepared to execute a vertical strike to force her to move. His tail slithered towards the weapon even as his hands let go of it, and it was caught in the begining of his coils. He would proceed to slide it up his tail until it had several coils around it and then constrict, but for now there was a more pressing issue.
The trident began its ascent, but rather than the elegant, aimed vertical strike it would have been, it turned to a wild jab as electricity coursed through his skull, causing a kind of pain he'd not felt since fighting the worst of the inferno-fish in the depths. It hurt severely, but the largest effect was surprise - he'd not expected such an attack from a Land Strider. He'd have to treat her more like the denizens of the deep now, lest he be struck down by understimating his foe.

Alaira felt his arm move, so that likely meant she was goingto get stabbed if she lingered. She let go, but as she fell the trident caught a glancing blow through the plates on her armor, giving hera nasty gash. If that attack was just a little more precise it would have speared through bone and ruined her arm. Quickly, she rolled and yanked her weapon away from his tail as she jumped back. What was with this guy? Such might blows delivered but it barely seemed to have an effect. At least, no lasting effects. "You will not harm a hair on her head, you hear me! I'm gonna tear out your heart and use its juices to season the steak I make outta your corpse!" She roared, as she rushed back in. This time, she was planning to slide by him and maybe tear out some of the webbing between the spines on his back.

Xyden caught the smell of land-strider blood the moment his trident cut into her flesh. "You... are beaten." He said. He didn't want to injure her more than he had too, there was no good reason to kill her, it would be unjust. "Stand Aside." Was all he said in reply to her screaming. She didn't do it though, instead rushing close and towards his back with her weapon pointed. He wasn't swift enough to dodge entirely, and the bladed lance cut into his webbing between the spines on the fins, tearing it until it deflected off one of the metal spines. He let out a wet hiss in pain from the strike, but his tail was already in motion, rising from the ground and rapidly moving towards her legs even as he twisted his body to face her. For such an attack, some measure of vengeance had to be taken.

Alaira didn't have time to celebrate her scarring of the Naga, as she felt her leg get caught by his coils. She quickly tossed her weapon down the hall, far enough so that he couldn't reach it, but she'd be able to reach it faster if she got free. She knew she as only otherwised armed with a dagger, but she wasn't close enough fr a good surpise attack with it. Although, there were some short spikes on the knuckles of her left gauntlet. They couldn't do much in he way of actual wounding, but pain, scarring, disfigurement, sure. Her goal with her next strike (She assumed he would dodge to the side) was to hit the side of his face and dig into it's flesh, in the hopes that the surprise would get him to loosen his grip.

Xyden did not dodge the females punch, rather he moved straight towards her, pulling her closer with his tail as it slithered rapidly up her body, constricting slightly as it went. Nothing she could do would stop him now that she was in his coils. He brought his trident up around behind her head and reached for it with his free hand. He weathered the strike to his face, though he could smell his own blood having been drawn. he began to prepare the venom in his fangs for a bite that would end the fight, but he wouldn't try such a risky strike until he had more of an advantage.

It was at this point a crazy idea formed in Alaira's head. This guy was so ridiculously goddmn durable on the outside, wouldn't he be a lot weaker on the inside? Even though she managed to strike him right square in th face, it didn't seem to affect him much. Sure, there was that fishy smell, likely his blood, but it did little to assure her that he was wounded all that much. She didn't have any way to cut him open though, the coils were to high for her to draw her knife. However, she noticed he had opened his mouth a little, and without thinking her arm shot out and she shoved her hand in his mouth "Nighty-night!" She shouted as she pumped every last damn bit of electricity she had left into him.

Xyden was shocked at the audacity the woman had, to shove her hand into his mouth. He remembered too late that she was like a devilfish with her attack and before he could relieve her of her arm with an aimed bite he felt electricity surge through his body. It was incredibly unpleasant for him, and had his muscles not all been constricting at once, he might've screamed. As it was, his jaw snapped shut because of the effect the electricity had, his envenomed teeth finding a soft spot in the armour and sinking slightly into the flesh. Unfortunately for alaira, the rest of his body constricted too, and while it disabled his arms, his coils, now wrapped around the woman, squeezed as tight as they could around her.

Alaira might've regret her most recent course of action had it not been for the immense pain clouding everything. Not only did some kind of poison make its way into her arm, but his coils had apparently unanimously decided to crush her lower body to powder. She screamed, not the usual kind of scream, a pitiful scream. This wasn't mere pain, this was agony. It was over shortly, but it felt like centuries. She couldn't move her legs, she was exhausted beyond measure,and that venom was coursing through her veins. She was released, and fell against a wall. Before he left, she managed to ask one question, in between coughing up blood. "W-w... Why-y?..." she barely managed to rasp out.

Xyden looked down at his fallen foe through a vision clouded by pain and the aftershock of the electric attack. Despite it all, he regretted that she had been so injured in this fight, as he could tell her legs were in unnatural positions. Before she lost consciousness, she managed to ask him one question. Why? She deserved to know after what he had done to her. Even though his tongue felt like sand, he couldn't smell a thing and his mind was clouded, he did his best to answer. "The abomination... must... be destroyed. It is... the law." With that, he left her to her agony and shook himself waiting a moment to regain his senses before entering the infirmary to complete his task. He turned back to her then, for just a moment, unsure if she would hear him at all, and spoke. "You should have... stood aside... This could have been... avoided."

So Alaira's fears were true. She wondered through the pain for a moment, if something similar had happened when she hersef was born? Yet, she wouldn't be able to stop him. She had failed. Lyn would die because she wasn't strong enough. She felt a tear or two stream cross her face. And then, he spoke to her again. She felt angry, she wasn't sure she had ever felt this angry. "A-and -Cough- l-let you... M-murd-der an inf-fant?..." She managed to say. She felt that she wasn't much longer for the conscious world. [b]"I-i'd rather... D-die..." She said, before turning her head and coughing more blood onto the stonework. "L-lyn... I'm so... Sor..." She tried to say, but that was all the strength she had left, and she fell unconscious.

Xyden didn't turn back to her as she uttered a few more words with her last few agonised breaths of consciousness. Instead, he waited for her to stop. Once she had, he said softly, largely to himself "It is what... must be done." He didn't know if he was trying to convince her unconscious form or himself.

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