World Tree MUSH

    So, with all the time that has passed since the burning of Mist, it would probably be prudent to begin warning other nations of Baron's treachery. The best place to start would likely be Damcyan.
    Starting from Kaipo and heading north through the desert. People in town had mentioned a cave that would cut through the mountains, if one didn't mind getting their feet wet, so Rydia had called several chocobos to make the trek through the deser easier, and released them back into the wild once the party had reached their destination. All that's left is to go through the caves.
    It's chill, damp, and dank. The winding path through the stone leads over rickety old bridges, rotted with time and mold, and the occasional scuffling sounds in the darkness hints that the group isn't alone.
    Rydia tugs her Wolfos fur cloak tighter around herself with a small shiver from the damp chill of the caves and wields a FLASHLIGHT to illuminate the way. A lovely tool that makes light without fire, courtesy of Yumi Tachibana, she finds it better than any torch she could have ever held... Because. You know.
    Fire.
    "For a shortcut to Damcyan, this place is pretty creepy, you know." The small Summoner complains under her breath.

  Back at Snowpeak Garrison, the contractors hired to repair the ruins are waiting for materials, and no work can be done until they have them. Rather than stay and drive them half out of their minds with her own restless energy and pacing, the Princess of Hyrule chose to accompany Rydia.

  For a royal, the Princess of Hyrule can also take care of herself handily. She's an adept rider, and she's gotten pretty good at balancing on chocobos. The birds are charming in their own way. She's dismounted along with Rydia at the onset of the winding cavern; wrapping her mourning cloak tighter around her shoulders. The deep hood hides her features, and the nondescript riding clothing she wears under it looks like it could belong to any commoner travelling the roads.

  "The roads less travelled are often less travelled for a reason," Zelda points out to her young friend, Her eyes linger on the dark passages ahead of them. "Caverns like this are rarely uninhabited. Eyes forward. If there is something here, it would be better to be aware of it before it becomes aware of us."

    When exploring dark and unfamiliar territory, it is often unpleasant. What generally makes things more unpleasant is the unexpected, which can include any number of things. Encounters with unpleasant beasts. Lost footing. Unnatural sounds. But what might really test the nerves of a young Summoner and her company is that of another source of light. This would indicate the presence of someone... someTHING... in the caves.

    That something is an old man, clad in elaborate robes that are fashionable in another part of the world. He is standing by one of bridges, clutching a curled staff by its hooked end. He stands straight, almost proud as he waits for what he expects to be another source of light. For he had suspected that the noise behind him was not creatures but of people about to cross his path. Possibly allies. After all, unpleasant things and people don't come through the same path from whence he had traveled. There is nothing to gain from it.

    Only the foolish or brave have need to enter the underground caverns. Which one he is remains to be seen. When the source of Rydia's light becomes more apparent, she and her companions will hear a voice. Old, rumbling, but not threatening. "You there!" he calls out, tightening the hold on his staff. His other hand remains at his side, clutching a lantern that he has been using to illuminate his path. "Who else casts light in these damnable caverns?"

    Cecil is of course here, because leaving the Queen-Regent and a little girl to head into the dangerous caves, while the point was to warn people of his own nation's treachery. The Dark Knight is fully armored, with his blade out and letting Rydia light the way. Thus far nothing of true challenge had run across their path, but it conserving energy was important.

    "I expect it will be dangerous the further we go," he agrees. "As she said, if it were an easy shortcut, everyone would use it."

    His sword comes up as Tellah makes that shouted greeting, and then lowers only slightly at the lantern and the cantankerous voice. "Travellers, inbound from Kaipo. Are you lost?"

    Likewise anxious for different scenery, Terra has chosen to accompany Zelda and Rydia. Of course, though she might hesitate to admit it in front of the small summoner she's loathe to let her wander off alone. Even with Zelda present she feels worry so it's easier to just not let her out of sight!

    Relying fully on the girl's navigation has gotten us this far so she's not really worried, though when the ride takes us to the entrance to a gloomy cave it makes her frown just a bit.

    "Zelda's right, of course. I'm certain we'll be fine if we remain close." Whatever you can say about her lack of recollection from her past, it seems her skills with a chocobo haven't suffered particularly. She's about as comfortable on the animal as she might be walking. Though dismounting is almost a sad moment for her; as with Zelda's mountain of a horse she's wound up taking a liking to the beasts!

    Anyway, once she's over that brief melancholy from parting with the chocobos, the half-esper rushes to catch up with everyone. She grips her sword, not drawing the weapon but not certain if she should count on the light of Rydia's electric torch. Then someone's calling out from within the cavern!? "Ah? Hello?" She might speak up and identify herself if she were more confident about her own answer, or if naming their identity and business were truly a wise thing to do. But it's just an old man. What could go wrong!?

    Needless to say... Encountering an old man in the caves was pretty unexpected. Tellah's voice calling from further in makes the light in Rydia's hand jerk. Most likely because the girl jolted from the surprise, but judging how she immediately rallies and acts like it had never just happened, it's probably for the best to not call her out on it. She's already shooting a pre-emptive dirty look at the others, anyway, just for deterrent of comments.
    "Well it looks like *other* people use it." She sasses Zelda and Cecil on sheer reflex. Though she doesn't speak up once the others have replied to the sage, she has another question entirely.
    "What the hell's an old man doing here on his own?"
    Rydia of Mist. Asking the important questions that other people don't.

  The princess has been a little distracted through this excursion.

  First on the list is the sensation of Cecil Harvey's sword. The nearness of that darkness-steeped sword makes her teeth itch. It's annoying and distracting. Fortunately the young sovereign is mature enough to mask her irritation, behaving more than civilly with Cecil. After all, it isn't Cecil himself that's bothering her, so there's no reason to be curt with him.

  Second is the flashlight. She's been thinking about the implications of technology like that since she first gawked over it, and has been seriously considering ordering a crate of those things from Yumi.

  And then, there is quite suddenly a light, and an old man.

  At the sound of Tellah's voice, Zelda's bow leaps to her hand somewhere between one word and the next, and she has and arrow fitted loosely to the string. It's more reliable a weapon in these twisting caverns than her rapier, which needs enough room for footwork. Never mind that she's a finer marksman than a fencer.

  Zelda raises her bow, staring out from beneath her hood with the intensity of a hawk.

  She draws to her ear, but she holds her shot. Just in case. One never knows if a stranger is friend or foe in troubled times.

  "We might ask the same of you," she comments, forcing herself to breathe evenly despite the strain of holding the bowstring. The voice of the hooded figure is soft and low; a young woman's, possibly aristocratic given how clear and careful her pronunciation is. "Who are you, and what is your business here, if we may ask? We find ourselves live in troubled times, as you well know. One cannot be too careful."

  She's purposefully ignoring Rydia's utter rudeness. Yep.

    "I am not lost, and neither are you," responds the old man who clutches the lantern. It would appear that he is embracing courtesy at the risk of being outnumbered by the party that has entered the caves. He takes no offensive posture, and does not appear to be casting any spell. It would be a spell, just by looking at him. His attire, his staff, and the overall appearance suggests someone who may have been educated in the ways of the arcane arts. The ostentatious clothes are usually a tip-off.

    "I mean you no harm, and I suspect that in turn you would do me the same courtesy," says the fellow in the robes. He will move closer to the party as they come closer to him, combining the light of the flashlight with the lantern in his hands. Looking at his face will reveal two major characteristics: his eyes are hidden behind a pair of darkened shades and wild white hair that has taken over his head and face. There is scarcely skin left over for ruddy red ears, nose, and cheeks.

    "Stay your weapons, please," he adds, gesturing with his lantern. "My name is Tellah, the Sage of Mysidia." He pauses, intentionally, to see if anyone recognizes the name. His skimming of the crowd suggests he has something of a mixed opportunity. Two women. One man. One little girl holding a suspicious-looking torch-like object. "I am on my way to Damcyan to reclaim my daughter. She was deceived by a contemptible bard, who has absconded with her. I wish to find the both of them, for I sense a dark and foreboding omen."

    "He could simply have somewhere to go," Terra offers, perhaps unhelpfully. She has just as much reason as anyone here, really, to be mistrustful of strangers but something about the coarseness of the old man's challenge gave her the weirdest sense of frank honesty. She's probably imagining things.

    Still, not so fast to armed challenge as everyone else, possibly to her discredit, she lifts a hand in at least neutral greeting. "Indeed, we only seek passage through these caverns." Do they come out anywhere else? Is their destination already revealed by their presence here? She can't really know that. She'd be lost here if not for her company. "I'm sorry you've had such a difficult time."

    Then her gaze surveys her companions. They must know something she doesn't. "Is..." She hesitates, uncertain, but she really doesn't know how to read if someone's a magic user or not by clothing alone! Her sample size is herself, a little girl, a princess and an evil clown. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

    "Mysidia?" Cecil was content to stay standing at guard. His blade is not pointed AT Tellah, but remains out... merely a precaution against any wandering monster that may come upon the group, than a sign of danger. Spellcasters, he can leave to the others in this group. But that name... the name of Mysidia, at least, does catch his interest.

    "Cecil Harvey," Cecil says, believing honesty is best here. "Former Dark Knight of Baron. I am protecting these women in their journey to Damcyan, and we have ill tidings of what has transpired that should get to Damcyan.

  Long before the others stay their weapons, the Hylian is still holding her bow. Even with her features hidden by a hood, one might still get a sense that there's no malice in her regard; only practicality, and a difficulty in trusting others.

  Slowly, Zelda loosens her bow and returns her arrow to its quiver, slinging the bow back over her shoulder. Curiously, the bow is of peasant make, simple and unrefined; the quiver, visible beneath the much-mended hem of her black hooded robe, looks fit for royalty.

  "You would not be wrong," she offers, in response to Tellah's extension of courtesy. "You understand."

  "I am honoured, Sage of Mysidia." Zelda bobs forward a little, but she notably does not bow. "My name is Sheik. I am, or was, the servant of a royal family in another world, beyond the Vines." 'Sheik' tilts her head, slightly. "Yes. If there is aught we can do to help you, we are willing, since it would appear we are all bound for Damcyan." Zelda gestures, with gloved hands. "Such a dangerous road is safer with company, yes?"

    Though she had been a bit bitey just the moment before, once Tellah introduces himself as a Sage of Mysidia, Rydia sets a gentle hand on Zelda's side, urging the princess to lower her bow, "Peace, Sheik, I think he's some kind of scholar, like Harley."
    She is, after all, too *young* to actually know of the old man's fame, but she's sharp enough to pick up on the term 'Sage' and that Mysidia is normally where powerful magic users hail from.
    Well, it's not like they're a group of brigands out to rob an old man who's alone in a cave anyway, and once Terra and Cecil both admit to the group just passing through the cave as well- and on sheer happenstance to be heading in the same drection, the girl simply tugs her cloak around herself tighter, edging back from Tellah- or more precisely, the old man's lantern, the light mist swirling around her seemingly drawing in on itself to remain closer to her.
    "Okay so we're all headed in the same direction. Can we get a move on a little faster before we get soaked from just standing around?"
    Thus far the group hasn't encountered anything. But there's a strange sloshing in the water around everyone's ankles.

    With the introductions making their rounds, Tellah takes a moment to consider each and every one of those assembled. This requires walking over to the party, his gait surprisingly spry for someone of his age. The cane is used to help him walk, but it seems to be something of a convenience rather than a physical dependence. To further curtail any possibile interpretations of attack, he stops short within ten feet of everyone, but starts to walk in a line so that he can evaluate each of them in turn.

    The first is Rydia, who bears the unusual torch. He hums thoughtfully, then says, "A little Summoner, who has just started to learn some black magic. This is most prodigious. If I didn't know better, I would say that your Eidolon is close by." What's Black Magic? He doesn't explain.

Next is Princess Zelda of Hyrule--or Sheik, as it were. Tellah sniffs once, then nods his head to confirm. "Pleased to meet you, Sheik. I sense some holy magics within you, stronger than I have seen in a long time." A long time for him might be staggering.

    Next is Terra, who actually causes Tellah to lean from one side and the other as if determining something meaningful between two hemispheres. He looks back at Rydia, then back to Terra before he says, "Soon, yes. Soon. But for now, your magic is still most impressive."

    This leaves the Dark Knight himself, Cecil Harvey. Tellah has not received word from Mysidia regarding the atrocities of Baron, but it also doesn't compare to the opportunity that he sees before him. "You, Cecil Harvey. Dark Knight. I will need your assistance," he says curtly. He looks to the rest of them, "We all stand to benefit if we work together to make our way to Damcyan. There is a monster that lurks in these caves, and I believe it is resistant to some magic. I would consider it a privilege to come along with you and together make our way to Damcyan. As the little one said, we must get a move on."

    Following Cecil and then Zelda's lead, the half-esper bows a little, "Terra Branford." Courtesy finally out of the way, she feels like she can relax a touch. She's in good company, we have a clear goal and the water's not that unbearably cold! Yay for boots being juuuust high enough.

    Then she realizes everyone's being regarded somewhat critically by the old man. Something she realizes too late before her turn comes up. Too late to shy away, she simply nods in reply before looking down. Soon? What does that mean? Too self conscious to ask, she occupies herself elsewhere.

    The sloshing of water gets a rueful glance downward from the half-esper. Everyone's moving around just enough that it's really not so weird, so she disegards the noise out of hand. Mention of a monster, though, gets her attention. She turns toward the group, "Then I believe it's settled? With so many of us any lurking creatures may not approach." Little does she know, saying that is basically a guarantee of the opposite.

    "Terra is competent in protection as well," Cecil says, though he mostly knows from reputation rather than personal experience. He hasn't actually worked with the girl before, which has him both cautious and curious. But for now, he's satisfied. "And a Sage of Mysidia would be excellent for support. I will do what I can to conserve your magical power."

    He does know that casting spells can be fatigueing. Which does bring him to wonder, "What sort of magics do you have, Sage? My blade is a sword of darkness, but what fiend could be in this place that would not fall to your magic?"

    Annnnnd Tellah reads the group like an open book.
    Rydia jolts at the old man's assessment as though he had just slapped her across the face, jade eyes widening a fraction when he can make such a correct judgment from such a cursory examination- and to see Zelda for her divinity- and Terra for her oddness only makes the moment all the more of a minor shock for the girl.
    "Mn..." There's a small huff as she clutches her cloak and purses her lips, and decides to get a move on. With the group as large as it is, Terra's assessment is largely correct. Most creatures decide that the party is too much of a risk to attack. Until they reach a series of waterfalls and the exit of the cave.
    "... Am I the only one who feels like we're being watched...?" Rydia muses, voice in a hush.
    The wather slothes again. There might even be the glimpse of something slithering through the murky and dark pools.
    Before several tentacles erupt from the water. There's no warning as they lash, flail, and grab at anyone and anything they can get a grasp upon, and Rydia yelps as one gets around her ankle and hoists her upside down with ease.
    "WHYT!"
    The mists lingering around the girl coalesce into the form of her ghostly white dragon hatchling- and it immediately bites down on the tentacle grabbing her- resulting in a drop and splash back into the water that leaves her sputtering.

"A large and unpleasant one, susceptible to the thunder and... and perhaps darkness," says Tellah with something of an unusual afterthought. Is he guessing? What sort of metaphysical connection between lighting-based attacks and the miasma of darkness could he possible concoct in that mind of his? He gestures to the bridge that he had previously stood by before the troupe had arrived, leading them onward to the nightmare that awaits.
    "My repertoire of magics is nothing of import, Cecil Harvey the Dark Knight. Evocation, conjuration, illusions, enchantments, and transmutation. Toads and tornadoes--that sort of thing," Tellah says with a wave of the hand clutching his cane. He seems unwilling to downplay his breadth of magical ability, despite his body language. "I am but one against the--" he begins, but stops just as Rydia mentions the feeling of being watched. His nose twitches and he immediately looks into the water. His cane is clutched just seconds before Rydia is hoisted up and out of the water.

  The princess' head twists around to regard Tellah when he inspects her, something in the tilt of her head suggesting discomfort or annoyance. Caution buzzes along her nerves so loud, some detached corner of her mind wonders if the others can hear it. She does not like scrutiny or undue attention, not at all.

  'Sheik' eases only when Tellah moves away, and despite the hood that covers her face, she still looks like she's bristling in spite of her mostly-still posture. Somebody is made uneasy by having attention paid her.

  "Some," she says, so quiet it's not much more than a mumble, with evident caution. "I was raised by a Priestess of Hylia." In a manner of speaking. It's not a total lie. Just a really twisty pretzel logic one. What kind of training that might entail, she doesn't elabourate.

  Yeah, someone who knows a little divine magic, but only a little. Zelda is totally lying through her teeth, and everyone else here who's seen her wield her powers knows it.

  It's a terrible, wan attempt at an obfuscation and, to some internal chagrin, Zelda knows it.

  "A monster." She tilts her head, faintly. "That would not be beyond our abilities; not as we are now, in our number. I imagine there are few things that can stand against our combined talents."

  She turns, too slow, to respond to Rydia's question. She never gets the chance; she doesn't even have time to scream as one of the tentacles scoops her up by the ankle and dangles her upside-down.

  Zelda twists and writhes like someone possessed, trying to simultaneously bring her bow to bear and snatch a handful of arrow shafts from the two dozen or so arrows currently tumbling out of her upside-down quiver.

  The hood falls back, revealing a young woman of refined features, summer-blue eyes, braided chestnut hair, and long, pointed ears. Some kind of elf, maybe?

  She manages to fumble a shot, but it falls wide.

  Zelda is too proud to ask for help, though. She manages to hold several arrows in her teeth, fumbling one to her string, drawing back to her ear, and releasing.

  It beats just dangling and screaming, anyway.

    All is seemingly going well! Terra picks her way carefully as the group prepares to get moving again. Despite her relative confidence that some troublesome creatures are likely to avoid such a large group, it would seem something really is out there lurking in the water.

    Still, seeing someone else so well versed in magic, despite how it makes her feel to be read so easily, gives her some hope that she'll come to understand herself better someday. It's a nice, if distracting thought and coupled with Cecil's words actually makes her feel rather nice.

    A thought thrust aside as she looks on at the spectacle of Rydia being hoisted by a tentacle. She startles at the sight of it and surges forward for Rydia without a thought! Zelda is likewise dangled but her first thought is for the small summoner!

    Doesn't matter, though. She's snagged too, one leg quite firmly grasped, which she only realizes as she attempts to move- then she falls facefirst into the water.

    Zelda saw how the half-esper is in a friendly spar. Timid, hesitant, easily distracted. Now, her companions are in danger. She's in danger. She splutters and goes for her weapon which is rather unhelpfully pinned against her leg. Does she dare do that other thing...?

    One hand shoves into the water and there's a distinct roar, a puff of steam as she bares her fangs of magic. But the creature is resistant, isn't it? At least there wasn't much open flame.

    Cecil listens, filing away what he hears, but he's trying to keep attention on possible enemies. "Yes, we could likely best any monster in a fair fight, but this is their home terrain. A careless knight is a dead knight." Truer words have rarely been spoken, as it is but a moment later that the creature gets the drop on them after all, via simply having long tentacles.

    Cecil springs into action immediately then, splashing into place between the group and the monster if he can. "Anything you know that can help us out, Sage?" Hey, a Sage is supposed to know lots of things! And Tellah seems old enough that he might. In the meantime, Cecil does what usually works.

    He lifts his shield up for defense, and makes hacky slashy motions with his sword. Though with a lot more finesse.

    "Keep your distance, if you can," says Tellah out loud as he starts to square his shoulders. His feet are shoulder-width apart in the water. He lifts up his lantern and starts to move it to create the somatic gesture necessary for his spell. He starts to tap his cane in the water twice, while the hand holding the lantern ceases to move. He then starts twirling the cane in a slight circular motion, causing electricity to spark and pop near the tip.

    The sparking and popping at the tip of his cane quickly begins to move in the direction of the mass of tentacles within the water. There is a moment where the sound is not so much heard as it is felt as a booming thunderclap fills the air, followed by a slash of lightning into the abhorrent beast.

  Zelda sets her jaw, stoically trying to fit another arrow to her string and fire while dangling upside-down. The image is probably not very dignified, but right now, she's beyond caring. All that matters is that she put enough arrows into the tentacle wrapped around her ankle, because she's starting to feel funny from being held upside-down.

  Also, aiming like this is kind of a bitch.

  She glances up, which is to say she looks toward the ground, where Tellah's cane sparks and pops near the water and--

  "Yeearghhhh--!"

  --the thunder is incredibly, painfully loud. Also, that lightning is incredibly, painfully bright. It's enough to get the tentacle to release her, though, and as the thing whips around and away from her ankle, the cavern floor rushes up to meet her; knocking the wind out of her and dazing her after being dropped from so high.

  Zelda will just be down there for a few seconds, because wow, those colours are pretty.

    In the initial surprise of the tentacular ambush, water splashes everywhere. Rydia sits herself up, soaked to the bone and looking like a particularly unhappy kitten as she scrambles to her feet.
    "-Whyt, back off! Catch Z- Sheik and Terra if they fall!" She orders her Eidolon. But then the rest of the beast makes itself visible.
    Rising from the deeper parts of the pool, the giant squid-monster's large conical head emerges from the water, as it leers with a wide mouth of razor sharp teeth.
    And then everything is chaos. Cecil's blade cuts into the slippery, rubbery, flesh, setting the tentacles squirming in pain, Zelda's arrow embeds in the beast's head, and the sudden flash-boil of water to steam scalds and cooks a portion of the beast- without triggering Rydia, to boot. Small bonuses.
    But then the Sage takes to the fore. Rydia has largely rallied, herself, and stumbles on after. "HEY. Hang back, old man, unless you wanna break a hip." ... Says the seven year old girl. At least before Tellah begins to cast his spell-- thunder claps and lightning surges from the Sage's staff, slamming the Octomammoth hard and making it writhe in agony- likely dropping Terra and Zelda as it begins to try whipping everyone with its tentacles again.
    ... Right, he had said it was weak to lightning. "... Okay nevermind." Uttered as she rushes to Zelda's side once the beast releases her. The white glow from Rydia's palm isn't much, but it is a healing spell nonetheless, to help get the Hylian princess back on her feet faster.

    Terra gets dragged through the murk and muck a bit before she's lifted rather unkindly from the water! Seems the thing has less of a release reflex than she was hoping for!? Though her attack did seem to harm it somewhat. A plus, certainly.

    Then Tellah delivers a devastating stroke of lightning. Happily, she doesn't suffer any ill effects beyond a short drop back to the cavern floor. She lands in a heap but at least manages to break her fall with the help of Rydia's misty eidolon. "Th-thanks!"

    Then she storms over, drawing her weapon to bat away at a slashing tentacle with that curved edge before releasing a wave of healing magic over the group, lessening its effectiveness but helping to shore everyone up from the surprise attack. If only by a small bit.

    "Wh-why is that thing in here!?" It's huge, she wants to complain. What could is possibly want, she wants to ask. She knows, everyone knows and she can only play rear guard and healer without causing a panic.

  For a few seconds Zelda can only see stars. When the cave does resolve itself around her, it's to the sight of Rydia kneeling over her and working her own healing magic. Zelda blinks hard, pushing herself to sit up and shake her head vigourously to clear it.

  "G-Goddesses," she slurs, "that thing... it hits like a dodongo. I'm fine; let me up. We need to put it down. Help me get my arrows."

  Now that she's not upside-down, aiming should be easier. Zelda scrabbles to retrieve a few, nocking one to her bowstring and drawing back to her ear again. The point of the arrowhead wavers uncertainly, before she releases; but even dizzy and compromised as she is, her aim is still impressive. This is someone who spends a monstrous amount of time firing arrows at targets.

  Rydia's healing magic is potent stuff, though, and things are slowly easing back to normal for her. Her next arrow is a little more certain of itself, and the next barely even wavers.

  Zelda will fire as many of these things as she has to until the monster stops being a threat. That, or she's going to run out of arrows. Either is a reasonable likelihood.

    Old? Break a hip? How impudent! Tellah adjusts his glasses, having cast aside his lantern to the water. The flame fizzles out, but for some reason the cave still seems alive and bright with all of the activity. "It truly is an Octomammoth," he calls out to those who are willing to listen to him. Willing to listen to the old man whose shoulder is rapidly developing a chip. "And we've weakened him!"

    He tightens his hand on the cane, pausing only to feel the refreshing aura of a healing spell cast by Terra. Thank the spirits for small favors.

    "Dark Knight, give it what for! Watch out for the tentacles!" the Sage of Obvious states aloud while conjuring up another spell. The same somatic component. The same ball of electricity. As it passes by Zelda, Terra, and Rydia, they'll no doubt feel the hairs on their back standing up. As for the creature, well, there is that thunderclap again.

    A quick slash cuts into it, and then Cecil ends up staggered as a different tentacle sneaks in under his shield, thumping against the armored knight to nearly send him sprawling. But hey, this is his job, right? The Dark Knight grunts, lifting sword to try to parry, and readying for another attack-

    The Thunder spell slams into the octopus-like monster, and it gives Cecil a brief breather, long enough to hear the call to assault the beast with whatever he can. That's quite a lot. The Octomammoth is too strong for the dark blade to just slay it in one hit, but that doesn't mean it's immune to the power.

    "Right!" He ducks aside briefly to open up a window for Terra to hurl a spell if she wants, then brings his sword down in a vicious overhead slash! The wave of dark energy radiates outward, enveloping both the body and many of the tentacles, while Cecil grunts as it eats away at his life force.

    In truth, Rydia's healing magic is nothing to write home about. Terra's, even if split amongst the group is more effective than the child's base knowledge of first aid spells. But the small Summoner helps Zelda back to her feet.
    Cecil and Terra both take to the fore with their blades while arrows pepper into the beast and make it into a slimey porcupune while the two press the monster, forcing its tentacles to converge defensively. But the more they slash and chop, the more the beast actually begins LOSING tentacles as they start hacking through limbs. It sloshes and flails as the water turns red, Cecil's dark blade seeming to suck the very life out of the creature and weaken its thrashing. Before Tellah's spell unleashes another devastating electrical surge into the beast.
    The Octomammoth jerks and jolts, convulsing uncontrollably, the remaining tentacles flailing wildly. It slams the rocky cave wall and ceiling overhead, causing chunks of stone and debris to fall as it withers and sinks- and causes a brief thrillingly horrifying momentary cave in.
    When it comes to an end, however... The cave exit out to Damcyan... Has a lot of rocks blocking it.
    "... Well I guess we're not going to get to Damcyan THIS way." Rydia says, dejected.

    You would think that he would be delighted by the end of the Octomammoth. But instead, Tellah's feet slosh in the waters as he makes his way toward the cave-in that doesn't allow anyone to continue on their path to Damcyan.

    "It would take an explosion to rid ourselves of these rocks," he says, twisting around to look at his companions. The Dark Knight that has hacked and slashed at the beast. The girls that have been flipped by tentacles. The dejected Rydia.

    "I could not have done this without your help," he says, trying to find the silver lining. "That could not have been done alone," he tells them. "Thank you for leading me along here."

    For all the swinging of her sword, the running and leaping and severed bits of mutant squid, the end of the fight has quite an unrewarding outcome. Terra frowns as the thing is buried and in all likelihood destroyed, though it was a threat to life and limb her heart isn't quite hardened against the rammifications of violence. It makes her thankful for her abilities, suddenly.

    As Tella laments the cave in, Terra trudges in the swirling, rippling water to fetch Cecil and offer a bit of a magical balm to ease what she suspects might be the effects of whatever was transpiring between the dark knight's sword and the beast. "Here." With a look back to Tellah, she simply shakes her head. "I'm sorry. We'll... Surely we can find another way!" To get where we all apparently need to go?