Northern Heights Part 5: Dravanian Rhapsody
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A gust of bitingly cold wind kicked up the snow that had settled on the worn sediment of the bridge, the transient matter clouding the Au’ri man from the hulking forms for the briefest of moments, all Baidur needed.
Two vials dispersed the snow powder still lingering in the air as their soared and smashed into the ground at the Dravanian’s feet, a plume of green and red smoke rising up and around the area. As soon as the concoction of gases entered the Dravanian’s respiratory system they began to cough and choke on whatever Baidur had lobbed at them.
Using the window of opportunity he had created, Baidur rushed towards where the Dravanian rangers had been shooting at him, grabbling a crossbow and a handful of bolts, nocking one of them swiftly into the crossbow before firing it off at one of the stunned Dragon’s heads.
The bolt veered off course a little, but hit the body of the leftmost Dravanian in the clavicle, to no apparent effect. Much to Baidur’s dismay, the opposite of the intended effect happened, snapping the Dravanaian out of his stupor, roaring fiercly before he started barreling towards the Au’ra at an alarming pace, the other Dravanian having started to shake off the effects of the poison afflicting him.
“Shi-”, Baidur cut himself off as he dove out of the way of the first Dravanian’s charge, sprawling onto the ground and only able to get to one knee before his assailant was already charging right back at him. With no actual recourse, Baidur steeled himself, scrambling up just in time to grapple with his much larger foe. The Dravanian, much to it’s shock, actually came to a screeching halt, the Au’ra displaying an uncanny amount of strength that was holding the stronger combatant in place, but not for long.
Baidur felt his feet leave the ground as he was picked up and thrown full force into the nearby wall, slamming his back squarely into the now crumbling rock and slumping onto the floor, looking somewhat crooked as both the Dravanian next to him and the other, now recovered Dravnian bore down on him.
“My...back...broke- no, can feel my...legs...shit.”, Baidur gasped out, he fell to his side, reaching to his bag which had been thrown a short distance from him. The Xaela desperately rummaged through the contents of it as he heard the enclousing guffaws of his monstrous opponents. Baidur, to the Dravanian’s shock, followed suit with a pained grunt that resembled a chuckle.
“Haah, you should’ve kicked this away from...me when you...had the chance.”, Baidur breathed, scraping the ground with whatever object he brought out of his bag. The Dravanian’s sunken in eyes widened as much as they physically could as they saw what Baidur had just took out of his bag. The fuse already lit and too close to hitting the primer for anyone to do anything about it.
The explosion wasn’t particularly strong, but at the range it was set off, it threw both Dravanians back, scorching their arms as they defended themselves. As they got back up, dusting themselves off, they diverted their attention to the clearing rock dust and debris to see Baidur, burnt from head to toe but...standing, the sleazy merchant’s silhouette carrying a cracked, empty potion vial.
The ‘clink’ of the vial echoed out, the sound reverberating around the large walls of the bridge, followed by a small burlap sack shooting out from the settling dust and smacking one of the Dravanian’s in the face, causing a sizeable volume of what appeared to be flour to explode out and completely cover both draconic beings in a fine cloud of it. Baidur, now fully visible and rapidly healing from his once fatal injuries took out a tinderbox, lighting a fire and setting a bolt alight, before placing it in the singed wooded chamber of his crossbow.
“Do you know how much that tincture cost?”, Baidurr called out, taking aim at the Dravanians, who were stunned at the miraculous recovery the Au’ra had just undergone, “Six hundred thousand gil! Plus tax.”, the answer rang out with a audible tinge of aggravation, “Shit cost me someone’s arm and another person’s leg and it wasn’t even mine to drink!”, he bellowed out with a now clear to see rage in his eyes.
“That flour, on the other hand, was about 100 gil, but what I’m about to do to you with it...”, Baidur lowered the now flaming crossbow to the stone floor where the powder was slowly settling, “Will be priceless.”
The Dravanian’s weren’t stupid, they knew that the powder they were covered in was flammable and explosive, but they nary had a moment to react as the firery bolt struck the stone and caused a spark, further igniting the flame with all the powder around it, engulfing both of them in a raging pyre that scorched their bodies entirely. The two of them writhed about, roaring in pain and anguish until the searing flame proved too much for even their bodies, and they both fell to the ground, motionless.
Baidur too, collapsed onto his hands and knees, panting and sweating profusely. He pushed himself up and back into the wall behind him, watching the fire he made rapidly die down due to the cold wind still blowing around him. He mustered an exasperated sigh, though such an act caused his chest to hurt, looking around, he saw the still unconscious body of Serene, and with a grunt, the Au’ra picked up his bag and made his way over to the Roegadyn, lifting her off the pile of rubble she was thrown into and getting her into the partial cover of the now wrecked carriage they were driving.
“Idiot was fighting with a concussion and major blood loss, and she still had the gall to berate me? Tch, I hate that I like that part of her...”, Baidur muttered to himself as he pulled out one of the few vials he still had in his pack, “This better be enough for her, otherwise she’s dead.”, he spoke to himself as he tilted Serene’s head back, pouring a light blue concoction into her mouth, the effects manifesting in the cuts and bruises adorning the Roegadyn’s body slowly, but surely fading away. Baidur, grunting in effort, lay Serene down and sat next to her, propping up some of the broken wood of the wagon to support his still aching back.
“Gods I’m not taking another job in Coerthas again...”
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