153. Rain Dance (Part 1)

[Designation: HILDE VINDSDATTER]

[Wayfarer Race: YAKSHA]

[Karmic Level: 60]

[Liminal Karma: 33,687 क]

[ZEALOUS Instrument: STORMVANE]

[Auxiliary: FJADRHAMR]

***

The first thing Serac had to do was forget.

Forget about Zacko. Forget about Renna. Forget about Rathor Tyrsen waiting atop the topmost branch. Just as the 'venue' had been clearly demarcated by walls of fire, Serac too had to compartmentalize, the better to focus on the one and only thing that mattered in the moment.

Her opponent was Hilde Vindsdatter, the Kronvakt's second-in-command and the most senior of its team leaders. As such, the manta-ray Yaksha deserved—no, demanded—every bit of Serac's undivided attention.

Especially since she was already at a massive handicap. Even at the best of times, Serac had rarely fought alone and against a 'quantifiably' superior opponent. Now, she was asked to do exactly that, all without her main Instrument!

Over one week of an uneasy working relationship, the two Wayfarers had learned a good deal about each others' 'kit'. Which was how Serac knew Hilde to be a highly mobile and vertically dynamic fighter—not too dissimilar to the prince the latter so idolized. To track such fluid movement with the barrel of a six-shooter would've been difficult enough. But to then do it with a bulky, unwieldy cinderblock of a forearm?

The women now faced each other across the steeply sloping branch. Their relative positions, appropriately enough, illustrated the gulf in power between them—Hilde with the undeniable upper hand, and Serac the clear underdog. As if to underscore this point, Hilde opened the proceedings, first by passing down verbal judgment:

"We can both plainly see how this will go." The Yaksha spoke with calm authority—the very same with which she conducted the Kronvakt's morning meetings. "You know me, Rakshasa. I have little interest in fruitless violence—and even less in wasting time. If you agree to put your pointless ambitions to rest—and cooperate fully with the terms of your arrest—we could settle this swiftly and peacefully. And depending on your attitude, I might even extend the same 'courtesy' to your Manusya accomplice."

By now, Serac knew Hilde well enough to understand her thought process. The Kronvakt woman—Serac's 'senior' in almost every sense of the word—meant the offer as an act of kindness. Surrender to me while you still have the chance, and I'll make sure you're as well taken care of as the circumstances allow… because you certainly won't get the same treatment from anyone higher up the chain of command.

Serac didn't doubt Hilde's sincerity. She even appreciated the olive branch as a testament to the pair's grudging respect for one another. She did, however, have a problem with just how little Hilde seemed to understand her in turn.

"Swift and peaceful, huh?" she shouted into the heated air, singeing more of her lungs as she did. "Let me guess. I'm to give up my Instrument for good. Lock myself away in some corner of the palace where I'll be made to subsist on gray slop and toil away at some menial task 'til the end of my days. And this is all assuming your rabid arsonist of a prince doesn't burn down the whole Realm first. That sound about right?"

Hilde had listened calmly up until the unsavory characterization of her prince. That was when her otherwise impassive face twitched visibly—the exact effect Serac had intended.

"Well, I've got news for you," the Rakshasa continued. "What you imagine to be a kindness would in fact be my worst nightmare. So, thanks but no thanks; you're gonna have to do better than that. Lucky for you, I've got a few ideas of my own!"

With that, Serac bounded up the slope in a straight line, with nary a feint nor trick to her approach. The manta-ray woman stayed rooted to the spot as she stared wide-eyed, perhaps stunned into inaction by her counterpart's utter lack of guile. And only when the Rakshasa leapt up to throw a wobbly punch with her left, rock-covered fist did Hilde react—an all-too-easy sidestep to avoid the hit.

Serac lost her balance, toppling head-first until she caught her fall with PULVERIZER. A clumsy and inauspicious 'opener' (if you could even call it that!)—one that irritated her opponent into action.

The manta ray answered with her own 'punch'—superior to Serac's in almost every way. Not just faster, stronger, and more precise, but it was also boosted by the magic of her Auxiliary: FJADRHAMR.

Roughly meaning 'feathers of the goddess' in Ancient Pretjordian, FJADRHAMR was the sky-blue gambeson Hilde wore beneath her [Abyssal] chestpiece. It provided padding for her armor, to be sure, but far more importantly, it functioned as a powered suit, endowing her every movement with super-Yaksha strength.

Presently, a closed fist flew at Serac's face with the fury of a diving shark. The target in question knew the destructive force of a FJADRHAMR-powered punch, and as such, she steered well clear of it with a preemptive sidestep. Even so, the ensuing shockwave proved nearly powerful enough to knock her off her feet.

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Not to be outdone, the Rakshasa twisted and uncoiled a counter—with her right fist this time, unburdened by rocks (but therefore much less damaging). Hilde dodged it anyway with a deftly timed pullback, which then set Serac up nicely for her follow-up move: an upswinger with her much heftier PULVERIZER.

Right jab into left hook. It was a classic 'southpaw' technique imparted to her by a NINEFOLD master. She executed it to perfection, showing none of the pretend clumsiness with which she'd opened the fight. Thus, with a combination of guile and precision, Serac drew first blood. A solid PULVERIZER hit right into the chin of—

Not quite! Serac's punch did 'land', but not where it counted. For Hilde wore a standard-issue [Abyssal] chestpiece, only slightly modified to accommodate a pair of pectoral fins. On this occasion, the manta-ray woman managed to extend her pullback, just enough to offset Serac's aim. It forced PULVERIZER to glance against a jade-and-white carapace, yet even that marginal contact was enough to altogether nullify its damage.

Serac might not have landed a clean hit, but she did manage to further enrage her opponent—for better or for worse. Hilde now took the initiative, muscles bulging as she wound back both of her arms. A clear telegraph of her next move, but that didn't make it any easier for Serac to counteract.

[Auxiliary Technique: MOONRISE]

Hilde swung both of her arms—along with her billowing pectoral fins—in an arc, applying first a downward then a forward force as she did. FJADRHAMR augmented each of the motions in turn, generating shockwaves that at once lifted its wielder off the ground and sent her opponent reeling.

Momentarily beset by immense air pressure, Serac was forced to put up PULVERIZER just to stay on her feet. By the time the air currents passed her by, Hilde had already floated high above, positioning herself directly overhead for her signature finisher.

[Auxiliary Technique: SUNSET]

What goes up must come down. The only question was how fast. Hilde the acrobat compressed herself into a loaded coil before kicking the air behind her. FJADRHAMR triggered again, rocketing its wielder into the target below. Hilde dove fist-first, intent on crushing the defenseless head of a landbound Rakshasa.

By now, Serac had observed the [Moonrise]-into-[Sunset] combo enough times to know exactly what to expect. She also knew it was too late to bring PULVERIZER up to block, and even a clean dodge would be all but impossible due to [Sunset]'s AOE component. So, she took a page out of her opponent's book and decided to put her Trinket to work.

Serac dropped to the ground, opening up her body as she did. Not a moment too soon, for just halfway through her intentional 'fall', [Sunset] missed her face by inches and instead connected with the collar of her [Abyssal Plate].

[ABYSSAL PLATE Current Durability: 59%]

The armor did its job, at once absorbing the impact and canceling the accompanying AOE. More importantly, it allowed Serac, even as she fell, to maintain direct contact with Hilde—the perfect opportunity to turn defense into attack. She grabbed and dragged the manta ray by the standing collar of FJADRHAMR. At the same time, she pushed PULVERIZER into Hilde's side—the part that had been exposed to let a fin hang loose.

[Auxiliary Technique: THE GRIND]

[175!]

"Argh!"

The damage went through! And so did the pain, judging by Hilde's familiar (ahem) exclamation. The momentary stagger allowed Serac to roll away, lest she be pinned under the manta ray's much more muscular frame. She nevertheless spun as soon as she was clear, striving to keep herself within melee range. But by then, Hilde had 'taken flight' again, pushing herself off the ground with [Moonrise].

"Big mistake, Rakshasa," she snarled as she hovered mid-air. "Don't come begging me for help when it all goes sideways for you—as it inevitably will."

Anger had a funny way of calming Wayfarers in the heat of battle. Serac counted herself as one such beneficiary of a short fuse, and she had an ominous inkling that Hilde was another. Sure enough, the Kronvakt veteran now 'flapped' her fins to stay in the air. The aim, of course, was to stay out of PULVERIZER's reach—all while the manta ray herself rained destruction upon a landbound Rakshasa.

[STORMVANE Spell: MISTFALL]

Hilde Vindsdatter's most eye-catching features were no doubt her pectoral fins. But for Serac's money, she'd always found the manta ray woman's pair of cephalic fins to be her cutest charm point. Delicate, horn-like projections that curled from the sides of her head, STORMVANE now glowed Zealous-green as they twirled and danced amidst the rippling wind.

It was said that Ancient Pretjordians offered dance and music to please the gods—a form of prayer to call down rain and blessings for a season's harvest. Presently, a manta-ray Yaksha channeled the primordial magic of her ancestors, molding the ripples around her into a large-scale weather effect.

It was the same far-reaching magic with which Hilde had played Rathor's 'shepherd' during their Realmhunt partnership. On this occasion, the ripples she called upon were dominated by flaming walls on two sides and raging air currents everywhere in between. As such, [Mistfall] became something of a misnomer, as it manifested instead as a rain of fire.

[36!], [40!], [31!], [33!], …

[ABYSSAL PLATE Current Durability: 58% -> 57% -> 56% -> 55% -> …]

Oh, this is really bad! As far as Serac was concerned, this fiery version of [Mistfall] might as well have been a persistent DoT effect. She lost health—and her [Abyssal Plate] lost [Durability]—with every 'raindrop' that made contact. And the rain came down thick and fast, too much so for a Rakshasa to run around and keep herself dry—especially when she still had a manta-ray diver to worry about.

Except… Hilde only continued to flap her fins, content to simply hover in the center of it all. Serac immediately understood why. It was the safe, cool-headed option—playing to a skyfarer's absolute advantage over a landbound foe.

Hilde is just going to wait me out. Serac's internal musings grew more frantic as both her HP and [Durability] raced south. And there's literally nothing I can do about it in my current state. Man, I knew I'd be fighting an uphill battle, but I'd hoped it wouldn't be quite so one-sided!

Not for the first time since her botched rescue mission, Serac found herself wishing for a miracle. If an ancient dance could call down a rain of fire, couldn't it also grant an underdog's fervent prayer? Serac lowered her right hand to flex the empty space at her waist—as if her trusty six-shooter might appear there out of thin air.

And then… something miraculous—and utterly unforeseen—did happen. For that was when REVOLVER did, in fact, fall from the heavens and right into Serac's hand.

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