Darkness doesn't linger. It retreats all at once, like a curtain yanked back too soon, exposing Kafka to the harsh light of reality in a flash of agony.
She gaspsâsharp, high in her throatâbody jolting with the sudden return of sensation. Air saws into her lungs. Her chest feels like it's burning from the inside out, and her back arches instinctively as if to escape it. The floor beneath her is too real. The pain too sharp.
âOh,â she wheezes, voice rough. âIâm still alive.â
The weight of her limbs settles next. Her fingers twitch and brush something cool beside her. She blinks, vision swimming, then slowly pulling into focus. Her phone. Its screen glows weakly in the shadows, blinking like a distant lighthouse beacon.
She groans quietly, rolling onto her side with deliberate care, every breath a blade. She needs a second. Just a secondâto register her bearings, to blink sweat and ash from her lashes, to assess.
The others? Still standing. The battlefield? âŠChanged.
The rift at the far end of the room pulses with new energy, a tide drawing back before a greater wave. The scorpion and the beast are gone. Kafka exhales slowly, biting back a wince. She knows it means theyâre due to fight another round.
And then, with another pulse from the room, her lingering aches and pains are healed. She sighs and grabs the phone, lifting it to her mouth and murmuring into it as she pushes herself back to her feet. She sends the voice message and slips the phone back into her pocket, smiling at the others.
âSorry, team,â she says, tone dry. âMy death appears to have been greatly exaggerated.â
Their next opponent, a massive creature, lumbers forthâbrown, black, and earthen, with a tree like a crown erupting from its tail. Kafka's head tilts.
âIs that⊠Torterra?â She squints. No. Close enough, though. Her thoughts drift to Silver Wolf, knowing the gamer would have loved to fight a gargantuan Pokemon, but the battle begins before she can even think to take a picture.
Kafka: 10/10HP 3SP rolls 6 energy.
The fight becomes a blur.
The others strike in unison, magic and steel carving away at the dragonâs form. The air vibrates with the weight of it. Kafka hangs at the edge of the dance, darting in only when she spots a weakness, a pause, a twitch in the tail or neck. Her bullets find their markâbut splashback licks at her allies too.
She takes the risk anyway.
Whatâs a gamble without a little pain?
Kafka: 10/10HP 3SP uses Elemental Burst: Twilight Trill on Shadow Of Azhdaha: 204/320HP.
Aggravate triggers! [-3HP x 1.5 = -4.5HP] Shadow Of Azhdaha: 199.5/320. Shocked applied.
Aggravate Effect: -1.5HP, Shadow Of Azhdaha: 198/320HP.
Shocked triggered! -4HP, Shadow Of Azhdaha: 194/320HP.
The electricity laced in her bullets finds its mark, triggering another aggravated reaction, sending ripples of lightning across the beastâs thick hide. It bellows, furious, and turns toward her with surprising speed for something so massive.
Kafka bracesâbut the impact never lands.
Shadow Of Azhdaha: 194/320HP counterattacks with Earthen Skull.
[Roll: 9 = Hit! -1.5HP, Kafka: 10/10HP 1.5SP]
[Roll: 16 = Hit! -1.5HP, Kafka: 10/10HP 0SP]
Stamen of Khvarenaâs Origin stacks:Â 2/3
Seamless Shield destroyed! -2HP, Shadow Of Azhdaha: 192/320HP. Dendro applied.
Baizhuâs shield flares around her, taking the brunt of the hit before shattering spectacularly in the dragonâs face. She spins out from the edge of it, breath short, momentum scraping the soles of her boots against the stone.
âThanks again, healer,â she calls, barely catching her balance.
But the dragon isnât done.
It rears back and slams both feet into the ground with a fiery snarl, a tantrum of molten fury. The arena quakes. Kafka staggers, footing lost as the tremor rattles through her spine.
Shadow Of Azhdaha: 192/320HP uses Kingâs Rebuke on Kafka: 10/10HP 0SP.
[Roll: 10 = Hit! -2HP, Kafka: 8/10HP 0SP] Pyro applied. Mark inflicted.
Stamen of Khvarenaâs Origin stacks:Â 3/3
Seamless Shield regenerated! -2HP, Shadow Of Azhdaha: 190/320HP.
Baizhuâs shield reformsâbut she doesnât have time to retreat. The dragonâs skull crashes into her side like a battering ram. This time the shield bursts like glass, and the force hurls her back.
Kafka: 8/10HP 3SP takes 2 damage from Mark. Kafka: 8/10HP 1SP.
Shadow Of Azhdaha: 188/320HP uses Earthen Skull on two random targets.
[Roll: 20 = Crit! -3HP, Kafka: 6/10HP 0SP]
[Roll: 7 = Hit! -1.5HP, Kafka: 4.5/10HP 0SP]
Seamless Shield destroyed! -2HP, Shadow Of Azhdaha: 186/320HP.
She hits the floor hard, breath knocked from her again, blood hot in her mouth. Pain sears along her ribsâdeep now, too deepâand she curls instinctively, panting. Her vision pulses at the edges again. She rolls onto one knee with a hiss.
Kafka: 4.5/10HP 0SP takes 2 damage from Mark. Kafka: 2.5/10HP 0SP.
Kafka: 2.5/10HP 0SP is no longer Marked.
âNot bad,â she says, staggering upright.
@creationkissed @eudaimcnia @originsrebirth