“Yeah, that’s what I just said.” Palios responded flatly. As he followed jawwu up the stairs.
remember why you’re here.
As he crested said stairs, he observed the three already in conversation with the mask maker. That purple and gold armor, the spiked war hammer, and the legendary mask of Control atop his face could only mean one thing.
Makuta
“It really is you.” Palios stammered. “I figured you would send someone to speak with us Y’know before we actually were able to meet you.”
Makuta gave a glare so flat it made the water’s surface look like a mountain. He glanced down at the hand presented to him, then turned to address the rest of the group.
“For one reason or another you have chosen to accept the call.” He rumbled, almost seeming bored with the idea of talking. “There is no doubt that your party will grow as events proceed, but we shall have to operate with a group this size for the present.”
“I will not mince words or lighten the impact of what you are required to do. Ekimu is missing. There is no indication to where he went or even if he is alive. It is your duty to him and to Okoto to locate him, whatever the cost of doing so may be.” He advanced slightly, his back facing most of the group, while Palios stood by the door. “You will face the possibility and likelihood of death. You will proceed with the fullest knowledge that no one who has entered the dark has exited it alive. And you will find Ekimu.”
“But do not think I will take your ability for granted.” As he finished speaking, the doors to the forge suddenly closed with a violent thud. “You must prove you are capable of working as a cohesive unit in combat. Which is why…”
Makuta threw his hand out to the side, which was followed by a smashing and crashing noise from another room. With a deep and bitter sigh, he uttered some unintelligible word under his breath before flicking his wrist. A massive smithing hammer, purple and black, with dangerous teeth on one end and an energized face, rocketed out from a darkened hall, snapping into his hand and giving him the momentum needed for a dramatic spin into a battle stance.
“You will combat me.”
Palios laughed, cackled, then finally chuckled nervously realization dawning on him. “You can’t possibly be serious. None of us could possibly hope to stand a chance against you for more than five minutes.” But despite his thoughts being laid bare he reluctantly drew his short sword and shield Assuming a combat stance he glanced to the other three waiting for one of them to strike first.
as you wish, Makuta…
Ilya shivered, an unsettled wave of nausea washing through him. He blanched inwardly.
You idiot you idiot you fool you idiot fool you id-
Deputy what? Ilya blanched outwardly, barely registering the Makuta’s short speech.
Ilya blinked. His eyes barely tracked the hammer’s trajectory through the air.
I will combat who?
The hammer slamming into Makuta’s hand seemed to have a physical effect on Ilya; he stepped back, off balance, hit his heel on something, hit the ground, rolled over onto his shoulder, pushed himself up … fumbled at his side for where one of his few concocted potions were.
Jaawu lowered his hand after seeing Makuta’s quite telling expression.
After hearing Makuta’s speech, Jaawu looked at his apparent teammates, and said in a very matter-of-fact way, “You know, I do believe we may be in danger.”
He proceeded to pull out of his bag a slingshot, only to notice he forgot his ammunition. Realizing this, he replaced his useless weapon in his satchel and lifted his fists in a way that made it very obvious he at least intended to use them.
The air around Makuta exploded into a cloud of dust as the Mask maker rocketed forward with incredible speed, bringing his hammer up in a grandiose maneuver and threatening to slam it down on the unfortunate Jaawu if some tactical maneuver didn’t occur right now.
As Makuta shot into the air, a overwhelming, permeated sense of shock that Ilya had been feeling since he first stepped into the room seemed to instantly dissipate. It was replaced by the earlier disdain for the condescending Makuta.
That and fear.
Ilya side-stepped, parallel to the position that the Makuta had been moments before, moving to get behind him.
his hand found a small clay bottle at his side. He thought it was incendiary, maybe acid, but he was moving too instinctively to really make sure. There was no way he could hit a moving target. Or at least, not that moving target. He would throw when he had a chance.
It was at this moment Jaawu knew he wasn’t going to be able to fight Makuta. Survive him? Possibly. But he knew it would be pointless for him to try and actually combat this monster of a fighter, so obviously well trained.
Jaawu inelegantly lunged forward, just barely managing to turn it into a roll forward. He quickly scrambled up and shouted at his teammates, “Do something, you idiots!”
Palios remained in position. we can’t fight him. There’s no way we can fight him. he’s going to take that hammer, smack it against each of our heads and kill us! the Okotan raised his shield in preparation for an attack we could trick him. No doubt he’d be fine with it, in fact I’m pretty sure if we don’t play dirty he’ll complain. Palios scanned the room for something, anything that may be of use against Makuta.
In the time it took Jaawu to speak, Makuta had recovered from his failed attack and swung again, this time towards Jaawu’s back. The window to dodge was even smaller now, but at least Jaawu was correct: those in the room really should be contributing to his effort to not be crushed into paste.
The great furnace in the center boiled and glowed, its heat almost intolerable to be directly next to. And yet against the lip of the structure was a pair of crude metal tongs, obviously having been previously used to hold masks when heated.
They could be reached. But by that point, Jaawu might be in need of greater help than furnace tongs could provide.
As the Makuta turned to strike for a second time at Jaawu, Ilya finally made his move.
Fear seemed to course through his veins in place of his blood, and things seemed to move impossibly slowly. Ilya’s wide eyes clocked his arm, traced around it, followed it as it jerked backwards; arcing up, over, forward.
Hurling the clay bottle, filled with chemical and alchemical compounds concocted over long hours, towards the Makuta.
Tongs! What am I supposed to do with tongs? Palios decided now would be his time to attack, with the other jungle Okotan throwing his bottle at the mask maker, it might provide a suitable distraction for him to strike. Palios tightened his shield around his arm, sighed and begun his charge towards makuta.
There was an explosion of powder as Makuta began his swing, the clay bottle making perfect contact with his mask and instantly erupting into a dense cloud of orange smoke, illuminated by the glow of the furnace.
And directly after, the hammer cut through the haze as the follow-through followed through. Jaawu would need to think fast.
So far the charge went interrupted - however, no burst of speed would allow him to reach the mask maker before the attack met its mark. He’d be able to avenge the strike, hopefully.
Jaawu thought back to the one thing that had always helped him in life, the one thing the he had always fallen back on: his strength. So, in that moment he did the first thing that came to his mind, and he tried to catch the hammer on it’s way to turn him to goop.
Jaawu’s strength was impressive, but nothing compared to Makuta.
His attempts to catch the incoming hammer head softened what might have been quite the bruising blow, his chest compressing from the impact and he himself sliding across the floor until his back collided with the base of the forge. Makuta took two swift steps forward and-
And then something peculiar happened.
As Palios rapidly closed the distance between himself and the mask maker, he might have noticed the figure abruptly stop his approach towards Jaawu and look around wildly. As he was approaching from the back, he was unable to witness what Ilya and the others likely saw: a thin orangeish film pass over his eyes which blurred the pupils.
He was blind. The effects of the strange mixture lobbed during the fight.
Palios slammed directly into Makuta’s back, knocking the mask maker to his knees and causing him to drop the hammer to keep himself from falling on his face. If any time was perfect for a group attack, it was now.
…However Palios may not be able to repeat such a maneuver, as one inhale of the remaining cloud suddenly shrunk his vision to a pinhole in the center of an otherwise impenetrable void.
Palios felt something hit his chest, knocking him down, but not with enough force to be that of an injury. He had hit Makuta, he had actually landed a blow on him, alas there was hope after all! it mattered not now that he too was blinded, but that just confirmed that Makuta Also shared his plight from the potion. “Acceptable losses,” he thought as he silently corrected himself to a kneeling position, lest he make a sound and alert Makuta to his whereabouts.
Katau had been watching the exchange the whole time, and it was now that he decided to make his move. The strange mixture had appeared to blind Makuta, so he started heating up the ground underneath Makuta with his sword.
Jaawu was mildly annoyed that he hit the wall. It brought back bad memories. But his main issue was that his chest hurt quite a bit. Nothing in his body was actually damaged, but it still was quite painful.
He usually tried to think the best of people, but this Makuta guy was starting to get a bit annoying, with the entire attacking thing and all. Like, it made sense, but there was ways to prove their usefulness that involved less violence.
Jaawu looked at the others and their current attempts to get the upper hand on Makuta and decided to just stay where he was for a minute. They seemed to be handling themselves just fine, and he needed a minute with his injury and all.
Makuta slowly turned his head from side to side. For a moment his mask glowed, and his eyes appeared to regain their luster, but a sinister expression slid across Makuta’s face and they clouded over again.
The brick beneath him was beginning to heat up. Standing, Makuta quickly backpedaled to avoid the heat- and backed directly into Palios.
Palios too noticed the increase in heat and had begun to reach out with his arm for something to help him stand up when he felt something collide with his shield which in turn produced a loud clang, Armor.
Karz! I’m dead! I’m dead! I’m so dead! The panicked Okotan did the first and most illogical thing that came to his mind, Strike, and strike he did. Turning his shield sideways and aiming a blow with all his strength towards the back of what he assumed were Makuta’s legs.