CRASH!

Kopius hit the ground like a petulant child; bouncing, skidding, flailing, until–eventually–sliding to a stop. He tried to get up quickly but swayed to one side and crumpled back down. His legs stung terribly from the impact. They didn't appear broken or bent awkwardly. The bottom of his feet felt like someone had whipped them with a hot iron. On impluse he pulled up his profile and looked at his vitals.

Stamina was dangerously low and health had a small chunk missing too. He quickly summoned a Stamina potion and drank it. Tossing the bottle to the side he used his upper body to scootch towards the pit and his dangling friend. His arms were up to the task as Kopius tried to keep panic from slowing him down.

Halfway to Cici and the burning sting on his feet disappeared, allowing him to move a little faster. A moment later his legs felt steady. He baby-walk scurried the remaining distance to find the Bard dangling by a handhold, staring down at the abyss. The big man's head–and smile–turned to look up at Kopius. There was some blood on his mouth, pain in facial features.

"I didn't quite make the jump lad," Cici admitted with a grunt. A few beads of sweat glistened on his dark bald scalp, many others raced down the dome that was his head.

"Maybe next time," Kopius replied as smoothly as his shot nerves would allow.

"I think it's my belly. Weighing me down."

He tested his legs quickly and then braced himself to help Cici get off the edge. Dropping to one knee and using his free hand for added leverage, Kopius leaned down and offered his hand. In a swift motion, Cici clasped onto the extended wrist of Kopius and they secured their grips. With a great strain, Kopius pulled with all his might to help Cici climb the remaining distance. In a matter of seconds the two were standing on the edge of the deep cavity, taking the opportunity to cherish stable ground.

While all this was happening, the redwhips were able to catch up as the two men were standing. The companions were startled–but not hurt by–a stream of acid shot in their direction from high. On the same platform they had both jumped from two pacing redwhip glared down at them.

They both gurgle-roared and jockeyed for position on the ledge; their front two feet, sometimes slipping off the ledge, startling whichever beast did it. It was plain to see that the redwhips wanted to continue their pursuit but the chasm had them stopped. One of them disappeared from sight while the other one loitered above.

Kopius held his arm out like some anarchist standing up to big government and gave it the middle finger.

"What!? You can't jump, bitch!?" Kopius yelled with both hands raised like he just dropped an 8-Mile verse.

"Can they jump?" Kopius asked over his shoulder in a softer voice.

Cici shrugged with a noticeable wince but started to back up.

The lingering redwhip moved back out of sight as well.

"You alright man?" Kopius asked, stepping away from the abyss. "I've seen you climb worse."

"I think I broke a rib or two," Cici answered. He was holding his left side with his right hand like he was trying to keep innards from falling out. The big man did a few tender stretches as if to confirm his hypothesis.

"Here," Kopius offered, a vial of healing potion in his hands. As Cici began to protest, Kopius just shook his head, "Don't even start with me dude. Take it." The big man obliged with a "thanks man" grimace and nod.

Kopius turned back towards the pit they had just jumped, a familiar echo of shattering rocks coming from beyond the high platform on the other side. Had they not just fled from the redwhips, he would be willing to chalk the sound up to normal, everyday mountain avalanche behavior. Given the last few minutes of his life; he knew better.

On cue, the shuffling, shattering, cascading sounds of rock grew in volume until one of the redwhips came charging into view, jumped from the high platform and soared into the air. The thing spread out its six webbed feet and used them to flying squirrel its scary ass across the abyss. Kopius took an involuntary, 'oh-shit' step back and saw Cici go from meagerly sipping his healing juice to frat party pounding it.

The two men, wide-eyed, watched as the monster made its way to their side of the pit. Midway through its flight it appeared to have some issues and started to flounder, spin. The redwhips momentum brought the animals nose down and tail up, the two–three foot long stinger frantically swinging in the air. A glimmer of hope passed through Kopius as he saw the thing wasn't going to make it. He took a voluntary step forward as the second redwhip crested the platform above. This one choosing to remain grounded, an observer; possibly awaiting its companions fate before making its own move.

They didn't have to wait long as the in-flight redwhip continued to flip before crashing into the sidewall of the deep pit. When its fate appeared sealed to a long fall, the beast's tail flung out from the void like a Balrog whip and embedded its sword-like stinger into the stone ground only a few feet from the edge. For a moment no one and nothing moved. Then, a great pounding sounded from out of the cave, amplified like a woofer in a boombox. The embedded tail began to sway.

"Cut it!" Cici half-yelled, half-groaned. The big man faltered in his back step and fell on his ass, further aggravating his ribs; the potion having not taken full effect yet. Cici still managed to out-stretch his arm and grunt, "The tail!"

Given the short distance from the pit, Kopius could see the reptile-type nature of the tail's skin. It was missing the standard jagged, hard carapace that the rest of the redwhip was covered in, giving it a full flexibility and striking range. That also meant it was unprotected from sharp objects meant to slice things. Kopius pushed down whatever fear he could and hoped his sword's edge was up to the task.

The pounding grew louder and more rhythmic as the ground trembled. The redwhip–still above–stood on its back legs and gurgle-roared as it watched its brethren try to swing free of the cavern. By the back and forth nature of the tail lodged in the ground, it looked to be succeeding.

Kopius, moving in between the pounding strikes to keep balance, approached the embedded tail as quickly as caution would allow. The redwhip was swinging with force, the tail moving away from him as he neared. Once within striking distance, Kopius pulled his longer blade off his back and brought the sharpened blade down in a mighty chop as the tail swung towards him.

The oversized fire hose of a tail sliced with relative ease. Like chopping through a watermelon with a katana; the lacerated tail sent the rest of the redwhip crashing into the side of the pit. It fell, bouncing off one more wall before slamming to the bottom. Redwhip blood sprayed from the severed appendage like a childrens sprinkler toy. The meaty part still attached the stinger flung in random directions, a line of spray catching the side of Kopius's face and getting in his mouth. The boneless appendage still attached to the stinger thrashed a few moments and then the waterworks were no more.

He gagged as the blood spray managed to hit the back of his throat and he swallowed. Kopius kept gagging until he removed his waterskin and spit the remaining funk out. Above, the redwhip on the platform began to aggressively pound the ground and chitter in a way that neither man had heard before. It was unnerving, continuing until the thing retreated from sight. A moment later they could see the redwhip scurrying up the slope towards the nearest spire. Where, to the dismay of both men, it could cross to their side with ease.

A bass-filled boom came from the pit, startling Kopius. He gathered himself and chanced a look over the edge. There, down at the bottom, a tailless redwhip pounded at the side of the pit with tenacity and vigor. Kopius could feel the vibrations from each stroke but little in the way of damage was done. That monster had a Herculean task if it fancied hammering it way out of the pit.

"Lad," Cici said with less pain but more concern, "we need to go. NOW!"

Kopius turned and looked up the slope to see the other redwhip frantically cross the small crack where the crevasse ended at the base of a Spire. It wasted no time charging back down at the two men, bringing a landslide of rocks with it. The redwhips tail kept lashing out like a snake; zipping and striking random empty spaces. It moved so fast at times it all looked like a sleight of hand magic trick.

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"I think it's mad," Kopius blurted out as he attempted to place the sunken, liberated stinger of the fallen redwhip in his inventory ring.

Nothing happened.

He grabbed the stinger and pulled. He tried to jerk, twist, and wobble the object; no matter the angle or leverage nothing was going to dislodge the embedded stinger. Kopius took a quick glance up the hill and saw his time was up. He stopped prancing around the stinger-sword in the stone like Wart and took off after Cici.

Thankfully the two adventurers were finished with the rocky, unstable ground; the jumping was done–for now. The way forward was an old, long untrodden but still established path. A more traditional trail leading through Joatsu. It was flat, for the most part; yet the further they moved into the Spires the deeper they felt to be going. It was gradual; the exception being the jump that was just performed. With only random rocks resting on a mostly dirt floor the barren nature of Joatsu gave the two men some wiggle room–so to speak

At least Mordor had a volcano, Kopius complained to himself while he caught up with Cici.

For all the quickness and alacrity that Cici had displayed over the last week or so the big man lacked speed. At least speed in the sense of a sprint; a head down, arms and legs pumping, all-out, I'm-about-to-pull-a-hammy, sprint. Not that it was a fair comparison between Kopius and Cici, they both seemed to have what the other lacked; in a weird but definitely not homo-erotic way. It was just that, if this was the big man's top speed things were about to get dicey.

The one redwhip had kept pace with Kopius on the uneven rocks. Sure, he had been jumping from platform to platform but with the wide open path ahead there was about to be a foot race. Putting aside the zombie apocalypse logic of only needing to be faster than the slowest person, Kopius silently prayed that Cici had some NOS hidden in that trunk of his.

Echos of rock-on-rock violence ricocheted around the area, sounding like an indoor shooting range during peak hours. By the time Kopius had covered the hundred or so yards to catch Cici, the redwhip had leveled out on the path behind them.

"Are.You," Kopius yelled as he pulled alongside Cici and matched pace. "Fasterthanthis?"

"Thisisit!" Cici shouted between breaths, his eyes focused on the path ahead.

Before Kopius could continue the conversation, the trail ahead dipped down at a steep angle; one they couldn't simply sprint down. Cici stuck out his arm to slow Kopius down, slowed down himself before giving a boost of speed, a hop, and the big guy practically surfed down the sharp embankment, stumbled a bit at the end before continuing on.

Kopius, following suit, did a stutter-step before jumping and then copied Cici's move. He hit the slope and skidded a few feet, using his arms to find balance. Just as he was trying to get up right his front foot buckled forward, catching on something, causing Kopius to ragdoll the rest of the way down the slope. He flipped once, landed mostly on his ass, veered sideways and then bounced-rolled the remaining distance like sawn tree trunks headed to log driving.

He came to a skidding stop after his body was finished assaulting the ground. Wasting no time, he got to his feet. Cici, having seen the tumble, was almost to Kopius by the time he had risen–just in time to feel the shadow of the redwhip pass over both of them, a blotch of crimson soaring through the air.

It landed maybe thirty feet down the path from the adventurers and turned to face its foes. With the slope at their back–too steep to scale quickly–Kopius followed Cici's cue; he armed himself with his long sword and spread out.

The world felt like it stood still. It was as though a giant 'VS' versus symbol was going to appear in the sky to kick off a boss battle with the redwhip. The scene was only missing a few wind induced tumbleweeds and some music preparing them for battle.

In a show of strength, the redwhip skewered a nearby boulder and exploded it in seconds. Steaming pieces of rock flew in all directions. Kopius stood corrected; the scene also needed the smokiness and smell of damnation to bring the whole thing to life.

Health bar would be great right about now, Kopius lamented.

Cici, Celeste at the ready, moved first. The Bard took two running steps towards the redwhip, capturing its attention. Kopius took his own steps, his long sword in a reverse grip, seeking to take advantage of the distracted creature. The redwhip raised and rotated its maul, ready to pummel the first to reach it.

Unintentionally, Kopius was going to reach the monster before Cici. The redwhip dropped its anvil of a hammer down and across, taking a mighty swipe like a big leaguer swinging for the fence. Kopius hit the ground and slid as if he were stealing second base, avoiding the tag. He passed underneath the strike, popped to his feet and looked back in time to see two unstoppable forces collide.

There was a horrendous THUD!!! as a dense noise echoed all around. Cici had come in with a full force swing of his own. Celeste–easily three times smaller than the maul at the end of the pincers–was leading the charge. It sounded like mountains colliding as Celeste and the redwings maul crashed into each other. The force of the blow sent both weapons flying back the way they came.

Kopius, caught in the path of the returning maul, got knocked backward and to the ground. It wasn't strong enough to do any damage but it hurt like an open field tackle without any pads on. He scampered to his feet and glanced over to see Cici using the momentum from the weapons redirection to spin and deal a crunching blow to the monster's forward knee area. The redwhip reeled back in obvious agony, the appendage bent backwards.

With the beast on its hind legs, Kopius caught a glimpse of the underside of the redwhip that brought him a smidgen of hope. Running the length of its belly was a patch of skin strongly resembling that he had seen on the tail. This thin landing strip of flesh would be practically impossible to see otherwise; or strike for that matter. If Cici could land another blow like that, Kopius wondered.

Just as Kopius had inhaled to yell a plan to Cici, he was yanked off his feet. It was so sudden that –at first–he didn't react to the stinger that had lanced through his chest, just under his left collar bone; the pointy end sticking two feet out his back. His front was to the sky as he dangled over the redwhip. Once things had cleared in his mind the pain of it all took over. He went to scream but there was no sound; just a hollow, open mouthed gape of strain in his throat.

The tail bobbed and weaved, likely trying to dislodge him. It moved significantly slower given the added weight but the movement was enough to send fresh wave after fresh wave of grueling anguish. Kopius, reached across for the tail with his right hand, trying to create some form of stability to ease pain. He grabbed a hold where flesh met stinger, all while dangling like a pinata in midair.

He puked from it all. Stomach acid and morning breakfast fell atop the redwhips head. He managed to keep his grip on the tail, though what advantage that afforded him was not currently afforded to him; nor did he know what that might be. He held until he couldn't, and then held some more. A notification window came and went as if the Universe knew he wasn't in any position to read the thing.

{NX: If you cant hold on}

Below, Cici ducked and dodged the redwhips hammer, striking his own blows when the opportunity arose. The Bard moved with more ease now that the stinger was occupied. The big man's eyes went rather large the moment he noticed Kopius dangling above the redwhips head, like a shish kabob ready to cook. He jumped back and away when green acid shot out of the redwhips stinger, possibly in an attempt to explode Kopius like a rock.

Speaking of Kopius, he had felt the skin and stinger become hot and then writhed like it was regurgitating something but his mind couldn't parse the information at the moment. He wasn't able to keep his focus on anything for long. Each movement felt like someone had a dull handsaw gnawing at him from the inside out. The only saving grace being that he had stopped being treated like a ragdoll, the tail choosing to sway side to side.

Before he could pass out–and more an act of defiance rather than self-preservation–Kopius activated the second charge on his healing ring. The brief jolt was like a shot of adrenaline, giving him the briefest of numbed peacefulness.

In that split-second of relief and consciousness he let go of the tail and reached for his short sword on his hip. With all of the backhanded pimp-ness that he could summon, he brought the blade out of its sheath, up and across, slicing the tail off just below the stinger.

If he was going down, he was taking some of the beast with him.

The cut was true and clean. The rest of the tail flung away, spraying blood and bits all around. Meanwhile, no longer attached to the rest of the redwhip, Kopius began to fall. His pain returned; stinger still fully lodged through his body as gravity took over.

At the same moment, the redwhip reeled back in its own pain as it registered the missing appendage. The two wounded warriors were in for a strange fate as the tip of the stinger protruding out Kopius's back and the head of the reeling redwhip came together.

Ding-dang

Followed instantly by a notification flashing in and out.

{NX: Improvised Strike LV3}

There wasn't even a final wheeze from the monster as its own stinger pierced through the hard exo-skeleton and punctured its brain. The redwhip simply collapsed where it stood, never to rise again. Kopius tried to get up but found that he had basically been pinned to the top of the redwhip as if he were a piece of paper and the monster was a cork board.

"Kopius!" Cici shouted, a little panic seeping through. "Where you at lad?"

"Up here," Kopius managed to grunt a reply. His vision dipped in and out of the black.

A moment later, instead of sky, Kopius was looking up at a concerned but smiling Bard. Cici seemed to assess Kopius and his current state of pinned-ness before the big man shook his head. Not that Kopius could protest when Cici put his big boot on his chest for leverage, he would have at least liked a three count before the guy yanked on the stinger. His world went black before the thing was even halfway out.

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