ToT: Swamp Dragon

The fighting had been going on for over half an hour now, and casualties were beginning to stream in to the medical camp. Fighters stumbled in- or were carried in- suffering all kinds of different injuries. Aveline had just finished reviving a Quilladin who’d had her heart stopped by Gilgamarsh’s Thunder attack, and now she was working on easing a few acid burns from the acidic water.

Cris walked over to her. “We’ve got another group of injured coming in.”

Aveline sighed. “How’s the battle going?”

“We’ve still got a lot of people out there, but Gilgamarsh is beginning to whittle those numbers down.” Cris paused to send a Heal Pulse at a battered Shroomish. “The locals are getting the worst of it. Lot of grass types up against an opponent who oozes poison.”

“I noticed-”

“LOOK OUT!” yelled a Mienfoo standing watch. Aveline looked up to see a blue light headed straight for her. She reflexively used Protect, and the stray Dragonbreath washed over the iridescent force field.

“Lin Lin!” shouted Aveline. A few hundred feet closer to the shoreline. Lin Lin waved in answer. She was already loading the catapult she was operating. A moment later, the massive white salt boulder was sent flying towards the scrap.

Aveline rolled her eyes. “There’s going to be a lot of cleaning up to do after this battle.”

Cris looked at her. “We already knew that.”

“I’m not talking about the goo” said Aveline. “I’m talking about the salt. It could start to kill the plants if we use too much of it.”

“Oh.” Cris sobered up. “One of the patients who was on the decoy team got knocked into the bad water. Apparently, you can already taste the salt. Along with some kind of chemical.”

“Chemical?” Said Aveline, not comprehending for a moment. Then, it hit her. “Oh, you’ve got to be-”

______________________

“You get a salt bomb! And you get a salt bomb! Everybody gets a salt bomb!” Samara was having the time of her life.

She was glad she’d thought to buy the dud potions in bulk. Normally, a flat, wide-open surface like this, against a huge mindless mob of enemies, was the last situation she’d want to find herself in. Unless, of course, she had a bag of explosives.

She tossed another salt grenade at the horde, and watched as six or seven marshoids shriveled up. That was when she happened to look up at the star of the show. Gilgamarsh was glaring right at her. Samara’s brain didn’t register the sparks building up around the huge Goodra. Fortunately, her legs did. She sprang to the side, just barely being missed by a Thunder attack. She kept running, as Gilgamarsh kept firing lightning strikes at her, until she reached the cover she was looking for: a shiny Umbreon surrounded by a faint purple glow. She took cover behind him and yelled: “Custodes! Now!”

Immediately, the two were engulfed in a protective silvery sphere. An instant later, one last Thunder attack smashed into the sphere. When the shield went down, Samara shot a few Ice Shards in response. They didn’t seem to do more than annoy the witch.

As Samara bounded off towards another large cluster of Marshoids, Nox shouted: “You’re welcome!”

As Samara fought closer to the witch, she caught a glimpse of one of the flying combatants. It was Peach, and she appeared to be flying with wings made of white light. She was doing well against Gilgamarsh too, flitting around and harassing him with fire attacks. Until his arm shot out and grabbed her. Her wings dissipated, and she struggled in his grip.

Gilgamarsh started talking to Peach; Samara wasn’t close enough to hear what he was saying (the explosions from the salt bombs did not help matters). They had what appeared to be an argument, and then Peach lashed out with another flash of white light. It severed the witch’s arm, and a dazed Peach struggled free.

Suddenly, a huge pink blast washed over the battlefield. The pus covering the lake started to recede, exposing dry earth and clay underneath. Gilgamarsh, already hurting from the lost arm, writhed in pain.

Samara didn’t see David going for the opening until it was too late.

____________________

David never even noticed the pus receding. The moment he saw Gilgamarsh’s arm falling off, he went straight for the opening. As he ran, he threw a salt bomb at the bleeding stump where the Goodra’s arm used to be. The wound started to sizzle. Gilgamarsh was now screaming.

David sprang up and grabbed on to the wound. With his free hand, he balled his fist up, let an Ice Punch form on it, and started punching the wound as hard as he could. More vulnerable to ice attacks than usual thanks to the Forest’s Curse from Birch, Gilgamarsh convulsed, and David was thrown into the air.

Without missing a beat, David started firing aura spheres at the witch, who didn’t even seem to notice them. He landed on Gilgamarsh’s upper back, drew his knife, and drove it into the top of Gilgamarsh’s head. He then drew his kunai, dipped in paralytic poison, and stabbed Gilgamarsh right under the jawline.

The witch simply tossed his head forward. David was thrown off, and landed in front of the witch. He hit the ground with enough force to break through the pus covering the lake, only to find that the water below was only a few inches deep. He could have sworn the lake was supposed to be much deeper than that…

He didn’t have time to ponder it any further, because at that moment, he was hit dead on with a Dragonbreath. Apart from burning David rather badly, the blue fire vaporized the water around him. And the air was sucked out of David’s lungs.

So, when the flames let up, he breathed in before remembering that the water, now superheated vapor in the air, was acidic.

David’s throat and chest started burning. He gasped, struggled for air, and only got more hot acid vapor. He tried to stand up, and fell to his knees, hands around his throat, before a large red hand that David dimly recognized as Vander’s dragged him away, and the air started to taste normal again. Just before he blacked out, he heard Samara screaming, and saw a torrent of Ice Shards bury themselves in Gilgamarsh’s right eye.

When David woke up, the first thing he saw was Samara and Aveline standing over him, looking both worried and relieved. The first thing he felt was a burning sensation, which turned out to be his skin.

When he spoke, his voice sounded incredibly hoarse: “Did we win?”