Elves + Labyrinth = ridiculous 80s movies! Wait.

[freedom_is_grey]

After having put on Liranan's spiked collar and carefully painted kaddis on Liranan -- just in case something terrible happens in the Labyrinth, Ysalwen straps her sword and staff to her back, shoulders her pack, and heads downstairs to pick up Quentin.

Presumably he's already waiting.

Comments

[freedom_is_grey]

When kelp begins dangling from the ceiling, Ysalwen knows something is up.

"I -- really hope there's not a lot of water above us, just waiting to flood this chamber."

Um.

[heatherandsteel]

Quentin gulps and looks up, "Let's keep walking."

[freedom_is_grey]

"I quite agree."

And this, of course, is exactly when a wave of water smacks into them from the left.

"Andraste's ass."

[heatherandsteel]

"Maeve's tits," He takes a breath and sends a please don't let us die to the Luidaeg as he reaches for some of the kelp.

[freedom_is_grey]

A field of slightly pulsing purple force springs up around them, pushing the water away and leaving them in a bubble of air. Damp air, but still.

Ysalwen lowers her hand.

She is paler than usual.

"I -- can't actually hold this up forever. Thoughts?"

[heatherandsteel]

"Where did the water come from?" There must be an opening of some kind that they could move through.

[freedom_is_grey]

"Nowhere I can see," Ysalwen says, peering out through the purple light and into the sea-wet dark.

"But there's -- I'm not sure I'd call it a current, but certainly the water is flowing. Which -- may be good for us or may be terrible. I can't tell yet."

Her mouth twists, curving up at one corner.

"I'd almost rather there were living things moving around, though."

At this point, soggy and dog-smelling Liranan howls. It sends chills up the spine, and may even freeze the unprepared in place for a moment.

It also seems to have summoned --

Are those fish people? Really?

[heatherandsteel]

At the howl, Quentin grips the kelp with one hand and reaches for his sword then stares before taking a long swallow,

"Hello, could you tell us where we are?"

[freedom_is_grey]

The look Quentin gets might be best described as what do you think we are, telepaths?, even filtered through scales and protuberant lidless eyes.

Then one of the fish people pokes at the force field with a stick. Or, more accurately, gently wafts a stick at the flashing purple wall and watches it hit and gently bounce away.

The fish person behind that one points up.

Ysalwen follows that gesture, looking up and up and --

"I'm sorry. I can't see anything."

The first fish person actually sighs. Bubbles come out of their mouth and everything.

It's oddly impressive.

Liranan, meanwhile, wags his tail and headbutts Ysalwen in the stomach. Gently.

"Oh. Right. Quentin? I'm guessing we should both take deep breaths right about now."

Maybe they won't die here today!

[heatherandsteel]

He's used to Merrows and other creatures that can talk and says, "Right, sorry."

Then he takes a breath, still holding onto the kelp, he really wishes the Luidaeg were here.

[freedom_is_grey]

It is not Quentin's fault that he cannot understand sub- and super-sonic clicks and whistles. The fish people try not to judge.

And then Ysalwen closes her eyes, clamps her hand on Liranan's muzzle to give him his cue, takes her own deep breath, and drops the barrier.

Sweet Maker, but that is a lot of water.

And fish people hands are very -- strong and slippery-feeling, at least in the direction of their scales.

That seems like a fine thing to concentrate on as they go shooting through the dark, faster than either Quentin or Ysalwen or Liranan could swim alone.

[heatherandsteel]

Quentin keeps thinking about what Toby said about going to the Undersea, which isn't that comforting. He hates not knowing what's going on behind what he can see which at the moment isn't much. Things keep brushing by them, nothing snagging but they're not alone in the dark.

When it feels like he can't hold his breath any longer they're pushed up into a space with light from glowworms and the hands are gone.

[freedom_is_grey]

So are their packs.

"Well, so far as tithes go, I've had to deal with worse."

Comparatively.

"Liranan, can you smell a shore anywhere? I can't quite -- "

It always takes a moment for eyes to adjust to new faint light sources.

[heatherandsteel]

He scrambles out of the water onto the slippery cave and listens, "Everything comes with a price, and yes, that one wasn't too bad. I think I can feel a breeze somewhere."

There's a sound that could be a waterfall or something roaring.

[freedom_is_grey]

"If it turns into a gale, I reserve the right to say 'I told you so'," Ysalwen mutters, but not too unpleasantly.

"I think wringing out the worst of this water might be a fine idea. And -- maybe trying to warm up a bit first? Dying of the ague seems rather -- silly, all told."

[heatherandsteel]

"That's fair,"

Quentin looks around for something that's dry enough to burn along with a way out as he tries to get the worst wet out of his clothes. Again there's a sound which echoes oddly in the cavern.

[freedom_is_grey]

"Or -- "

Liranan howls suddenly, the sound echoing around the cavern they're in.

"Or maybe not. Um."

[heatherandsteel]

He starts to say something but from a patch of darkness something with claws and a whipping tail heading for him.

Quentin's the one that smells like food and he works to draw his sword as the tail rakes across him.

[freedom_is_grey]

"Quentin!"

Ysalwen dives to the left, pulling her staff off of her back and starting to cast a spell.

"Liranan, distract!"

Liranan snarls, launching himself at the clawed beast much as he would launch himself at a dragon. Overwhelming it and attempting to worry at its neck and throat seems like a good idea.

And then Ysalwen hits it with a misdirection hex, glowing black lines of writing that smash into its side and dissipate.

Hopefully it will have a harder time hitting Quentin again. Fumbling is so ungraceful.

[heatherandsteel]

He has his sword out and can taste his own blood on the air as the tail keeps moving.

When he sees Liranan attacking, he stands up, crouching and tries to cut off the tail which is still moving quickly with sharp scales.

[freedom_is_grey]

Liranan howls again, startling the beast enough that it freezes in place for a few key moments.

And that, of course, is when Ysalwen's spell hits it, turning the beast with claws and teeth and lashing tail into stone.

"It's not permanent," she calls to Quentin. "So you'll probably want to keep hacking at it while it's stuck there."

[heatherandsteel]

When her spell hits, Quentin stares before working to hack off that tail, "Right."

[freedom_is_grey]

"I'll try not to hit you with anything that I throw."

Lightning bolts are friendly, right?

And ice-lances?

[heatherandsteel]

Under the stone, the creature starts to shift and Quentin turns his sword to use the hilt to break off everything sticking out of the tail.

That way he'll do some damage without losing all the sharpness of his blade, "I'll dodge."

[freedom_is_grey]

"We'll fix that once we're done here. I've learned a trick."

Liranan is poised to leap on it once it turns back to flesh, and Ysalwen --

Well.

Ysalwen is going to alternate firebolts with ice lances for the foreseeable future.