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Wow! Everyone’s posts are so good!!!

@this-is-not-an-alien

 I also just about fell over laughing with Liorah grilling Kiark btw.

Thank you so much! I’m glad it was funny. It’s a very in-character thing for her to do😂 I love how you write Ehud and Rosario’s voices! They’re both really voicey, which is something I struggle with. Even if you wrote the whole thing in first person without saying who was speaking, I’d probably know right away whether it was Rosario or Ehud.

Liorah

The arrogant young noble started forward and thrust a sword through the beast’s heart.

I caught a glimpse of the blind girl, already halfway up the wall. Wait, what? The wall?  How did that happen?

I didn’t have the time to register anything but the long, snake-like blob slithering toward it. The bullet was already in the pouch and I swung the sling in a figure-eight in front of me. The familiar whirr calmed me. Before I could release it, the creature dropped to the ground, penetrated by an arrow. The girl with the bow pulled another arrow out of her quiver and loosed arrows in quick succession. She didn’t need my help.

I heard a cry. It was Kiark. Some sort of black blob had dropped onto his head and spread over him. A man in a silver suit hurried up to him and a second later there was an earsplitting bang. I flinched, almost dropping my sling. I pulled myself together and spun around again. A ball of flame tumbled over the ground, with Ehud standing nearby and screaming,

“That…that was poor planning…Help!?”

He’d set it on fire? I didn’t know whether that was extremely idiotic or rather clever. Probably both. Another ear-splitting BANG and the flaming creature dropped. It was the girl who had been arguing with Kiark. She had the situation under control.

“Fall back to the second row and support us as best you can.”

It took a while for me to realize the voice was speaking to me, answering my earlier call for help.

I stumbled backward, firey agony shooting up my leg. I bit my tongue and let out a muffled curse. It was thankfully absorbed into the shouts, growls, and hisses around me. My head pounded with the adrenaline, making my fingers tremble and my legs feel weak. Something whirred past me, stopping before Kiark. He still hadn’t gotten the thing off? Now it was really starting to become a problem. Whoever stopped in front of him seemed to be helping him though. A flash of blue light.

Not far from him, the man in the silver suit dodged some sort of creature. It was something between a huge worm and a massive spider. He backed away, desperate to keep away from the creature. He needed my help.

I let my swing swirl in a steady loop, my wrist twisting in the familiar movement. I let out a deep breath, letting my lungs relax. The motion of the sling, the noise, everything was familiar, everything was right. I let the bullet whip forward. Snap! Woosh! Thud. The lead bullet splattered the creature, spilling green blood. A warm feeling of satisfaction rushed through me, temporarily dulling the pain. A perfect shot.

A cry from behind alerted me. The girl with the bow was surrounded by creatures of all sizes and descriptions, all vicious. Blood streamed from her shoulder and she was trying desperately to fight off all the creatures with a sword. My fingers darted into the pouch at my side, dropping a bullet into the pouch. Crack! Whirr! Thunk! The bullet bored into the side of one of the creatures, and another was on its way before I struck the target. The actions repeated, picking off the creatures one by one.

My mind whirled into the steady rhythm of fighting. It was like a song, so familiar it became a part of me. It was in the clashing of swords. In the tinkle of chain-mail, in the pounding of hoofbeats mingling with my heartbeat, in the thud of a bullet hitting a target. The melody of battle rang all around me, blurring into a symphony.

A voice broke through it.

“Everyone get out of the cave now! Rilyn and Konyar the both of you can seal it, everyone else focus on getting the beasts out here, Wen and Eltar shield the dragons,”

I scowled, rebellion flooding through me. Who was this girl to tell me what to do? I was managing perfectly well, thank you very much. Then I understood. She wasn’t talking to me directly. I had focused so much, I had lost track of the battle on the whole. I cast a quick glance around. It was not going well. The creatures didn’t stop coming and almost everyone was wounded, some more, some less. We couldn’t hold this position for long.

I stepped backward, slowly backing toward the back passages. The pain shot through my leg, unexpected and fierce. It collapsed beneath me and I crashed to the ground. My back thudded against the stone.

Black. Yellow. Slathering jaws and long fangs like knives. It was on top of me, its weight pressing me into the ground. A paw, or foot, or something with long claws crushed into the wound on my leg. Black spots danced before my eyes and a whimpering cry of pain escaped my throat. The clawed feet dug into my arms, pinning me to the ground. The fangs were centimeters away from my throat.

I was going to die.

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Ending on that high note! I can’t wait to see what you all come up with!