[Kyar]

Daily Prompt 18 ------- 446 words

Sᴛᴏʀᴍɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀsᴛʟᴇ!

Holding her breath as tightly to her chest as she could manage, Kibasha's protective arm over her sister, the girls lingered in the shadows of the dimly-lit castle and waited.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

The footsteps faded out, heavy metal armor clanking, grinding ominously as the shadow-faced figure strode past. The guard was ready. It seemed word had spread, and to no surprise of the girls, that the crystals had been found, that there would soon be an attack on the castle. What they didn't expect was that that "attack" would consist solely of two young girls, carefully making their way through the halls in the shadows, slipping into nooks and crannies and praying they wouldn't be caught.

Kibasha clutched the bag, filled now only with weapons, a few healing elixirs, and the crystals themselves. Everything else was left in a safe place outside the castle walls, hopefully to remain for the journey back home. But for now, they needed to travel light. Only the absolute necessities. And to move as quietly as possible was a serious challenge. The guards, each garnishing the same crest on their armor, an unfamiliar, sinister swirl with what almost looked like a crooked smile up one side, burned red against the heavy black plates. They marched with purpose, and there was little hope of mercy from those thundering steps.

"This way," Kibasha waved, her voice so soft she doubted Rita really even heard. But her sister nodded, and the two abandoned their safe place behind a massive vase to scurry down the hall and duck quickly into another nook, clambering in underneath a decorative table and pushing back against the wall as they waited. After a few terrifyingly close calls, they decided it was certainly best not to risk a long run. Short sprints, piece by piece, they could make their way through the castle.

Yushin would never fit here. The thought invaded for just a moment before being tossed aside. It didn't matter. They were here now, and even without him, they were going to do this. Still, Kibasha felt a pang as she thought of their friend, lost in so many ways. Neither of them had any idea whether or not he was even still alive. But that didn't matter. She could hear footsteps. She pressed back against the wall as tightly as she dared, clutching Rita's hand fiercely. The steps approached, but… softer than the others. But the familiar clank of metal plates against one another left no question. She held her breath, sensing her sister doing the same.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Kibasha's eyes widened in horror, staring ahead at massive, oilslick boots. They stopped.

[jianwai]

Sᴛᴏʀᴍɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀsᴛʟᴇ!

It's rather funny that the beasts that attempt to stop them from entering the castle are those that they had fought at the beginning of their adventure; from the beginning to the end, thieving little bubbles of slime slosh forward to stop them, leaving behind a thin trail of acidic slime. Sort of a fitting end to their adventure, although Araxie made the comment that their adventure had yet to end, still so much to do-- invade the castle, combat the demon king or the king of a demon ( they had yet to agree on what it was exactly they were fighting to-- although distracted by slimes, it didn't much matter to any of them. )

Anyways, the slimes-- yes! To fight them was a mimic of the last battle, no need to go into the details and debate of a hammer smashing and a dagger slicing, with an umbrella roasting the ones that tried to piece themselves together.

[neiroh]

Prompt 18

Sozen leads the attack, going though the front door. Imps and goblins skitter towards the team but they can easily get rid of them. But they don't seem to stop coming. They're flooding in from smaller rooms and cracks in the floors and walls.

"Sozen, they're gonna overpower us!" Nerim shouts. He keeps healing his friends but knows that with all the monsters, it's going to be a lot harder to fight them all.

"I realize that. We need to find out where they're coming from and take out the source. Then it'll be possible to get rid of them all," Sozen replies. They search every corner of the castle for the source of the imps and goblins to no avail. "We're just going to have to keep fighting them for now."

"B-but we're going to run out of mana at some point because of these guys. There's no way we can keep this going," Nerim complains.

"Listen, we have to. Maybe we'll find where they're coming from soon," Sozen says. As the words slip from his mouth, an imp the size of a buffalo comes running in. "Alright, get ready to fight this thing. I think we drew it out of it's hiding place and it looks like this is where they're coming from." The team goes into battle with the large imp and is able to stop it so no more smaller imps keep flowing from the cracks.

[Flowerlily]

PROMPT 18
Sᴛᴏʀᴍɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀsᴛʟᴇ!

Eda Cassidy slipped by an army of spiders!

[steamplonk]

prompt 18 // cosmo // Sᴛᴏʀᴍɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀsᴛʟᴇ!


i think he kinda, uh, gave up.
oops.

[credit]

Prompt Eighteen
Featuring ;; Gibson

Gibson laid down at the foot of the gate still laying down. He looked up into the sky pondering how exactly he'd make entry. One possible way would be to use his ring to blast the doors open, but he'd feel guilty afterwards for destroying the overlord's property. Perhaps there was a back route he could take? Gibson shook his head to that idea as well. There was no time. "Oh what should I do..." He stood up and puffed out his chest in a slight fit of confidence. "I'm just gonna walk up to the door and ask politely!" He said as he started walking towards the doors. Gibson was midway when he stopped once again, backing out of the gesture. "I'd probably get kidnapped that way.." he said as he sighed. "Come on Gibson, Think!!" He began to pace back and fourth between the open gates when all of a sudden he jumped. "W-Who's there?!" He screamed. There was no answer. The next thing he knew, the room went black as two dark figures appeared before him. Dragging his body away. Looks like being kidnapped was the best route.

[Cheeb]

xxxxxSᴛᴏʀᴍɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀsᴛʟᴇ!

xxxxxfeaturing desiree, flynn, and elle

xxxxxflynn usually considered themself the unofficial group leader. they seemed to be the brains, especially when paired with desiree's absent-minded cheerful attitude and elle's reluctance to get into any danger. however, all of this meant nothing as the party crept their way through the halls of the castle.
xxxxxthe problem was that flynn didn't have a plan.
xxxxxthe party had simply burst through the front doors of the castle, expecting an immediate fight. they charged in, weapons up, only to be greeted by creaky floorboards and cobwebs lining the walls.
xxxxx"um... what now?" asked desiree. she immediately loosened up, and bailey jumped back into her pocket. it was clear that the sentient demon disguised as a weasel was ready to fight, too.
xxxxxelle immediately began marching down a hallway that trailed off farther than the kalons could see in the dark.. "hey, wait, where are you going?!" yelled flynn, darting after her. elle was slow, so it wasn't very hard to catch her. "it's dangerous here. we need to stick together."
xxxxx"oh. sorry. i was under the assumption that you two would follow me." elle kept walking, desiree and flynn following her, rattling off her thought process as she did. "so, i figured that we'll need to look for either the throne room, or go towards the top of the castle."
xxxxxflynn squinted. "why?"
xxxxxwith a shrug, elle replied, "that's usually the cliche with this sort of thing, is it not?"

xxxxx---

xxxxxas the kalons explored the castle, it seemed as though there was no hope. every room was shrouded in darkness, and they felt like they were running in circles... until, finally, they stumbled across a large, open room with a torn-up carpet running down the center of it. the darkness in the air hid what was further along in the room, but the party could tell that it was the throne room.
xxxxx"we haven't fought any monsters in here yet," said desiree, worriedly. "are you guys really sure that whatever evil we need to defeat will be in here?" she turned to flynn, and gave them her classic sad puppy-dog eyes.
xxxxx"well, there's only one way to find out."
xxxxxthe party charged ahead, yet again ready to fight. however, they were greeted by an empty throne. there was a large claw mark that sliced through its ornate patterns, and it looked like nobody had sat there for quite a while.
xxxxx"...so, they're not here," said elle, blushing. "i suppose my hunch was incorrect. maybe we should find stairs, then?"

xxxxx---

xxxxxthe party had found their first flight of stairs. it was at the very end of a long, winding hallway that took quite a while to navigate, as debris, rubble, and random junk was littered on the floor. as they trekked up, still trying to figure out where the royal family was located, elle felt something hit her in the arm.
xxxxx"not funny, desiree," she grumbled.
xxxxxdesiree's eyes widened. "elle, that wasn't me."
xxxxxit seemed that the party had found the monsters -- or, perhaps, the monsters had found the party.

xxxxx(510 words ♥)

[lonk]

prompt 18 | 305 words | roster post | palmer, venita, & rudy

the plan was to sneak in through one of the side entrances that palmer had found, and keep cover in the shadows. it'd probably be easier to not have to fight everything in the massive castle. unluckily for the party, that wasn't the case.
the interior was dark, with occasional torches lit in the halls. the smog from outside seemed to seep in here too, and there were monsters roaming the halls as well. some didn't seem too tough, being similar to some of the first creatures the group had fought back in the village, but some of them were more dangerous.
the first intimidating creature they noticed was disturbingly kalon-like, but made of the same shadowy essence all of the previously encountered were. its arms were long, thick, and ended in claws that were sharper than knives. it walked in a circle down the hall, almost as if keeping watch.
"oh my god!" rudy whispered, panicking. "how are we gonna slip past that thing?" venita shrugged. this wasn't the time for rudy to start freaking out, but he had a good point. they'd definitely be spotted if they didn't move slowly.
palmer closed his eyes, thinking for a moment. "we'll just have to fight it head on. i'll throw out something to freeze it, and ven, make it quick, okay?" the pink kalon nodded.
he stepped out into the hallway, quickly casting the spell to the alarmed monster. its movement slowed considerably, as if time itself wasn't moving as fast. venita drew her sword, and quickly eliminated the creature that posed such a threat. as soon as the hallway was clear, the party let out a sigh of relief.
but when they turned the corner, there was another one, exactly the same as the last. traveling through this castle was going to be long.

[Grian]

prompt 18
pyper, shen mentions of mason

Shen did not just barge right in. and neither did mason or pyper surprisingly. he thought that pyper would barge right in without a care, as she was classified as a tank after all. they sort of snuck in? The front door was wide open and no creature (monsters?) or kalons were around so they were able to just sort of walk in without any problems.
-------
Shen wished that they just had to fight a handful of monsters at the entrance. anything and probably everything would be better then this. he thought in despair before chugging a healing potion, trying not to concentrate on the horrid taste and bitter aftertaste it had. He threw a potion over to pyper and then continued to try and at least freeze the beast that stood in front of them. the bits he froze only lasted a few seconds before the beast broke through the layer of ice. but the ice did slow the thing down for some time, which eventually led to pyper being able to take it down.

[ 176/150 ]

[Mima]

Nameless had come prepared this time. In a graceful arc, he pulled a rope from the pack at his side and tossed it upwards, the lasso at the end landing loosely around the crenellation a couple of stories up on the wall. He pulled the rope taught and gave it a couple more hefts for a test. Thankfully, the brickwork his tool had landed on seemed solid enough to hold his weight for the time being.

Feeling confident, he slowly clambered up the rope, making sure to pause every so often so as not to put too much of a beating on the architecture from swinging wildly. The last thing he needed was to break a piece off and come crashing to the ground. It was slow and steady work, but all in the repertoire for a spy like him. Eventually he made it to the top, pulling himself up over the edge of the wall and onto the walkway below that had been meant for guardsmen. He looked back down at his other two party members, and motioned them to come up and join him.

While the two of them climbed one at a time, Nameless inspected the area more closely. Below him he could still see the unnatural breathing of the shadows that had been brought to life by the curse. He wasn't curious into the details- all he knew was that in every shadow he saw down there, there was that telltale movement. It was absolutely crawling with the creatures. No sense in trying down there.

He peeked to his left and right. Fairly close, there was a spot on the roof of the castle that could be accessed from up here on the wall. Seeing his other two companions making headway on the climb just fine, he instead went to go investigate that. Hopping over to it in one bound, he scurried to a nearby window. This would be useful. With a little leverage he pried the window open, pulling away the curtains as well. The inside of the bedroom seemed... oddly serene, compared to the outside.

When his party managed to get all the way to the top, he only waited a second to motion for them to follow him before ducking inside.


[378 words]