Timing was essential. Elaina knew she would not get a second chance and that moving too early would not get the result she needed to survive this. She bent her knees carefully so as not to let them buckle entirely. Then, with a final lash of its tail, the fiend gained a last-minute burst of speed as it hurled itself from the water and through the air at her.
“*Leim!*” Elaina growled, pushing the refined version of the spell she’d used many times down into her boots. There she gained a surge of strength that cut through the added weight of whatever she was under the effects of and pushed her well beyond its grasp. The magic behind the jump carried her clear across the water to the island of the next pillar as the leaping sarglagon slammed face-first into the stone of the pillar she’d just left. Its own speed and weight caused it to crumple up painfully on impact before it fell to one side, stunned from the blow it had dealt itself.
“That looked like it really fucking hurt,” Elaina yelled to the fiend, a wild grin splitting her face.
“It is nothing,” the surly growl answered, though the mouth didn’t seem to move much to form the words. Instead, they seemed to roll out of its maw between its teeth and off its long writhing tongue, “You think yourself clever, faeling.”
“Actually, I’m a little surprised you fell for that,” Elaina taunted, “But I suppose I must have overestimated you a bit.”
The creature’s body contorted and twisted, creating fierce momentum behind the tail it swung at her. It was another predictable attack that required even less effort to avoid. She fell prone, letting the tail slam into the pillar somewhere above her. She rolled into the water to avoid the backswing of the tail just in time. Then, like a ghastly mockery of a serpent’s motions, the sarglagon slithered toward her, revealing two powerful arms ending in masses of writhing purple tendrils.
Elaina was as surprised as the devil when two wounds suddenly opened in its flank in small dark purple bursts, as though boils or blisters had just popped. The creature let out a hiss of pain as its head whipped around, searching with all four eyes for the source of whatever had just struck it. Somewhere, the two privates were likely repositioning, readying themselves for when she drew the fiend’s attention again. It was disorienting to see a gunshot’s effects without hearing it. There was a kind of snapping motion in the air, but it was nothing like the thunderous report of the weapons when fired.
With the magic still amplifying the strength of her legs, Elaina leaped free of the hip-deep water causing it to explode around her with the force of the spell. The feeling of weightlessness rushed through her as she hung briefly in the air well over the creature’s head. With the sword raised over her head, gripped in both hands, the swordmage came crashing down on the devil with a powerful strike. One of the eyes moved independently of the other three, tracking her movements with incredible accuracy. One of the masses of tendrils slapped her out of the air with a backward swing, sending her bouncing off of one of the pillars and then down to the stone base, where she came to rest.
“O-ow,” Elaina gasped. Just that one act alone was enough to send a tremor of agony through her ribs.
“That looked like it really fucking hurt,” the devil mocked, pleased with the opportunity to throw her words back in her face.
Barely getting her legs under herself, Elaina stood with shaky knees. It was then that she noticed the strange mucus clinging to her down the side of her body that she’d been struck on. Her brow furrowed, feeling the strength of everything on that side of her body beginning to ebb.
“What..” Elaina stammered, “What did you do to me?”
“You’ve countered my weighted aura with your magic,” the devil turned to face her fully now, abandoning its search for the source of the other attacks, “So extra measures are required..”
“Required for what?” Elaina demanded through clenched teeth.
The large fiend closed the gap between them in the span of a breath, seizing her with one of the masses of tendrils to lift her off the ground. Before she could muster the strength to fight back with the blade held in her good hand, it slammed her against the stone of the pillar, causing her skull to bounce off of it roughly. Spots filled her vision, and it took all her focus to maintain the grip on her weapon.
“Allow me to show you,” the sarglagon growled delightedly as the tendrils all seemed to move independently about her torso and face. One of the tendrils slipped between her lips before invading her mouth. The mucus coating the tendril tasted of rancid fish, which would have made her vomit instantly in other circumstances. Elaina could feel the strength leaving her body rapidly as the writhing tendril forced itself down her throat. The other tendrils writhed and gripped at whatever they could, tearing at her waterlogged tunic and pulling it from her body one scrap at a time.
“I’ve been here for some time with very little to entertain myself with,” the creature growled, though now it felt as though its words were worming their way into her mind as easily as the tendrils had her throat. The amulet hummed intensely against her skin but seemed unable to keep the creature out of her mind entirely. “So I think I’ll play with you a while before I let you slip into the waters where you won’t even have the strength to stand, drowning in a few feet of water. Life-saving air so close at hand, yet so far away.”
Elaina’s eyes widened in fear even as they filled with the tears of her spasmic wretching, the mental image of looking up at the ceiling from below the water’s surface filling her mind. It wasn’t conjured there simply by the foul creature’s words. It was somehow forcing the image into her mind. Without the amulet defending her, even in its small way, the idea would have been enough to overwhelm her. Perhaps it may have even convinced her she was already drowning.
The light beside her dimmed as the sword slipped from her grip, hitting the stone platform below with a clatter. Now in the dark, the only thing she could make out was the faint glimmer of malevolent light in the fiend’s eyes. Where were the others? What were they doing? Where was this spell that Resius had talked up so much?
Slimy tendrils wrapped around her now bare breasts, pulling and squeezing roughly at the tender flesh. Another began sliding its way down her torso, searching between her legs. Elaina might have been tempted to submit to the attentions of the foul creature if she thought it might give her a better chance of survival. But it had stated its intentions rather clearly, forcing the mental images of its plan for her into her mind. The hand that had held the sword a moment before began to tremble, reaching for the pouches on her belt. She thought that if she could find a coin, perhaps she would be able to free herself with a coin snap. But, instead, her hand fell across the pouch containing the tube of salt.
Without overthinking it, she pulled the tube free of the pouch she’d stuffed it into and broke it open over the head of the creature. Not only did this illuminate the area again, with the glowing candle stump she had kept inside of it, but it covered a set of eyes on one side of its long skull in a mound of coarse white salt. Neither were appreciated by the fiend, which recoiled in frenzied agony. Salt would have been painful enough in human eyes, but it must have been particularly brutal in the eyes of a creature that made its life in the water.
As the sarglagon threw itself backward, the tendrils that had found their way down her throat and wrapped around her tits were violently pulled free. Without them to hold her against the pillar, she slid down the side of it into a heap at its base. She barely had enough strength to hack and cough as she lay there staring helplessly at the creature, frantically wiping at its eyes. The glowing candle stump slid down the side of its face slowly, coming to rest in some of the mucus of its shoulder.
With a blinding flash and a clap of thunder, a bolt of lightning erupted from the darkness of one of the rows of columns, slamming into the shoulder of the creature precisely where the candle had been. The flesh that had been struck glowed as it made crispy crackling noises. The electricity that ran down through its wet body spread out across the surface of the water, crackling and sparkling briefly before extinguishing.
“M-more magic!” the fiend squealed furiously, “Foul wizardry!”
Evidently, devils weren’t resistant to lightning like demons were? Or perhaps it being an aquatic devil is what made it vulnerable. Resius wasn’t here to explain, but the results spoke for themselves. Before the creature could get its bearings, pounding thunder of rapid-fire gunshots filled the chamber. Just outside the area of light provided by the candle stump, now floating in the choppy water, Elaina could see private Ayotte with his revolver. His hand flew over the back of it in a fanning motion, moving the hammer much faster than pulling the trigger alone could have done. The result was a dense cluster of shots in rapid succession before the weapon’s ammunition was exhausted.
All of the shots together didn’t do as much damage as the bolt of lightning had, but the wound the cluster of shots had opened pained the fiend immensely all the same. Its dark purple blood flowed freely from the ragged hole and down its body into the gloom of the water. Ayotte turned his attention to reloading, creating an opening the fiend sought to capitalize on. It only got a foot or so before a hole burst open high on its strangely shaped skull. Somewhere, Clark was covering his comrade’s reloading from a distance.
Ayotte took advantage of the time bought for him and finished his reload, leveling the firearm on the fiend and hammering off another full volley. This time the sarglagon interposed its arm between its body and the shots, dark purple bursts of blood erupting from the writhing tendrils. The arm swept out as soon as the shots were done.
“ENOUGH!” the fiend bellowed.
The unusual shudder that Elaina had experienced down her neck before returned as a tremble, but she was unable to act on it. A surge of magic brushed across the surface of her mind a moment before a swell of water swept through the chamber from behind. The force of the wave was enough to lift Elaina off the pillar’s base and sweep her into deeper water. She immediately lost sight of Ayotte but heard him briefly cry out before being submerged. She caught a brief glimpse of the creature diving into the swell, though not in her direction by the looks of it. Then the water rose around her, and everything turned dark, with only a brief glimmer of the glowing candle somewhere casting eerie light through the murk to offer her anything to see by.
Tumbling head over heels, Elaina lost all sense of which way was up. She felt the bare skin of her back scrap against one of the pillars as she was tossed about in the churning water, sending a searing pain throughout her body. She couldn’t move her arms, legs, or head to get a bearing on where she was. She was entirely at the mercy of the might of the water, floating along like a discarded rag doll.
Two hands took hold of her suddenly, pulling her up to the surface just as she began wondering how long she could hold her breath. As soon as her head broke the surface, she gasped, filling her lungs with much-needed air.
“Starting to notice a trend here of you losing your shirt, mate,” Resius said against the side of her face, struggling to hold her up out of the water as it continued to churn violently around them. The wave, or waves, that the creature had conjured had struck numerous pillars creating complete chaos in the waters of the cistern.
“Was starting to think you’d forgotten about me,” Elaina gasped, “had to get your attention somehow.”
“Ah, right. Makes sense,” Resius chuckled, pulling her back against another one of the pillars as he brought an open vial to her mouth, “Drink.”
“It’s your last one,” Elaina protested, but he took the opportunity to shove the contents of the potion into her mouth. Not only did the potion begin to mend her physical wounds, but she could also feel some of her physical strength and stamina returning. Whatever the effect was from the poison, the special cocktail that Lenuta had prepared for them seemed to be counteracting it.
“You’re supposed to be doing that ritual,” Elaina scolded as she got her feet under her and stood, glancing around for her sword.
Resius turned her to face him, handing her the blade that he’d jammed haphazardly into his belt, “I got distracted by some topless ginger romping about.”
Elaina took her sword back with a huff, “I wasn’t romping.”
“Sure, try not to lose it again, eh?” he teased, then pointed further into the cistern, “I’m setting up there with Blackbarn to cover me. But the silence won’t do any good once the spell gets going. He’ll sense it a mile away, so keep him occupied.”
“I thought that’s what I was already doing,” Elaina snorted indignantly, “*Radanta lan!*”
Once again, the blade of Elaina’s sword emitted a bright blue-white light, the structure and edge of the weapon magically enhanced beyond its natural ability. Resius gave her a reassuring nod, which she returned, and the two went back to work.
Elaina rounded the corner of the pillar along the base, eyes searching the water frantically. She wasn’t just looking for the fiend but also for her temporary allies in the mercenary company. As embarrassing as it was to be publicly bare-chested like this again, she was confident that the vile entity trying to drown all of them wouldn’t allow a time-out for her to run back to camp for a shirt.
Despite the light being shed by her weapon, she couldn’t see anything through the foam and murk of the water in front of her. She crept up closer to the edge, trying to get a better look, to no avail. Finally, it occurred to her that perhaps she should try another method. Whatever that early warning sensation was that she experienced, it seemed to be much more effective when she couldn’t see the threat coming for her. Elaina brought her sword over her head, closed her eyes, and exhaled.
Rather than a mere shudder, the feeling came like a nervous tug. A split second later, she felt the weight of the creature’s aura as it grew close to her. The entire reason she had brought her sword up high was so that bringing it down on her enemy would be possible even if she were suddenly weakened. Pivoting only slightly to the left, Elaina’s eyes shot open as she brought the gleaming blade down in a vertical strike. Through a surge of water coming at her, she felt the blade strike something solid and then pass through it. A writhing chunk of tendril from the devil’s arm came free of the water momentarily before it abruptly cut off its attack and pulled away.
The piece of writhing flesh fell to the stone at her feet, the stump sizzling despite being soaking wet. Resius had been right when he said her natural inclination toward light in her spells would serve her well down here. It just turned out the trick was being able to land a blow.
“Wretched faeling!” the sarglagon shrieked, “death by drowning will be quick death compared to what I’m going to do to you now!”
Behind her, she felt a strange buzzing of magical energy. She couldn’t hear the words, but she knew by the feeling that Resius had begun his ritual. The fiend in front of her noticed it as well, its four baleful yellow eyes all turning in the direction of Resius in what looked like... horror?
That wasn’t what she had expected, but it was a definite morale boost. The creature’s gaze went quickly between her and the source of the magic it was sensing several times before it finally decided to abandon her and investigate the more significant threat.
“Leaving already?” Elaina taunted, sliding along the pillar to follow its movement, “We were just getting to the fun part!”
The sarglagon didn’t take the bait and ignored her entirely as it dove back into the water to move in Resius’s direction. With a powerful beat of its tail, a surge of water was sent back at her, and she had to brace against the side of the pillar to keep from being swept off. The moment her mouth was free of the water, she formed the jumping spell in her mind and rushed forward, “*Leim!*”
Hurling through the air, Elaina landed at the base of the next pillar, nearly losing her footing due to how slippery it was. She could see Resius again, the magic he was using emitting its own eerie light. Something about it felt unsettling, but not in a way that felt unwholesome. Instead, it had a vastness and depth to it that felt like staring down from a precipice into a vast chasm. He had removed his shirt and cut himself. Gods, how he had cut himself. He had traced patterns in blood all across his chest and down his arms. Ancient arcane symbols the likes of which she didn’t recognize. His eyes were closed, seemingly oblivious to the fiendish threat closing in on him as he continued to chant.
“*Egredere, lumen in sanguine meo, et munda omnia immunda*,” he said in a low rolling growl, and each time he repeated it, the power emanating from him would swell. Elaina swore that the blood was beginning to shine and glimmer as he brought his hands together, almost like a prayer.
With the magic still running through her, Elaleapedeapt once more. This time she was aimed squarely at the pair of wing-like fins, she could see protruding from the water. Though she came up a little short, the downward strike of her weapon still cut a searing line out of the creature’s flank. She was plunged back into the water due to her jump, the blood of the sarglagon mixing in with it as it thrashed about. She thrust blindly into the raging torrent of water, feeling the blade slide along its flesh again but failing to actually impale it. Still, she was wounding it enough to pry its attention from Resius.
Elaina felt the tail of the fiend move up between her legs before it suddenly launched her from the water into the open air. Unusually aware of her surroundings and capable of seeing perfectly well with the light of her weapon out of the water, Elaina drove the blade into a pillar she sailed past. Normally the sword would not have been able to do much more than scratch the stone, but enhanced as it was by her spell, it was able to dig into it a few inches or so and arrest a bit of her momentum. The torque from the stunt sent a little pain through her arms, but she considered it a small price to pay to stay in the fight.
The swordmage slid awkwardly down the side of the pillar to land roughly at the base before she wrenched her sword free of the stone. The devil turned on her, throwing its tendril-covered arm out in her direction and working some magic of its own. A blast of pressurized water, like a miniaturized horizontal geyser, came hurling through the air at her, threatening to sweep her back off the pillar and back into the dark water.
