Chapter 180 - 180- The Mandrake In The Isle
Chapter 180 - 180- The Mandrake In The Isle
"Can't you do a little bit better at aiming? I can only do so much!" The bow complained to him as he ran through the thick fog, aiming shots at the beautiful crimson flowers planted at the mound in the center of the clearing.
"I am no expert at bows!" Adaloun barked. "The fog is too thick for me to see—whoa!" He exclaimed as a fireball went past over his head.
He tumbled on the ground and ran as quickly as he could to hide for cover. The task of destroying the flowers in the middle of the mound suddenly became a very daunting feat for him, a feat that he's closed to failing, especially with Ghwynmyr targeting him with every movement.
Urfaal wasn't the only one attacking him. A few moments earlier, after Urfaal got knocked out cold, Adaloun got attacked by a barrage of fireballs raining towards him. He dodged it and was able to approach the source and when he did, the truth shocked him. Ghwynmyr, his dwarven friend, was behind all the flaming projectiles. He tried calling some sense into him, but just like the othe two, he wouldn't listen or rather, he couldn't hear him. He was instead greeted with an earth spike and another deadly round of fireballs.
He was lucky he had very good reflexes, enough to evade an attack only a fingerling away from his face. But just as before, he knew that this game had to come to an end, and he didn't want his life to end because of it.
Adaloun was able to hide in between two boulders. The space in between the rocks was big enough for him to squeeze in, yet it was small enough for someone to shelter undetected—or so he thought. Before he could catch his breath, Urfaal's strong hand grabbed him by his shoulder, bashed his face against the rock before picking him up and threw him out of his shelter.
He rolled on the cold, dusty floor but before he could recover his balance, another barrage of fireballs went on his way, this time he was a little too late to dodge it. One of the fireballs landed a few footlings away from him. The force of the explosive fiery sphere flung him away.
Adaloun was winded for a moment, but was luckily, alright. He took the chance to stand up and ran away from the chaos to recover as quickly as he could. He was able to dodge another round of fireballs before hiding near some broken pieces of what looked like a pillar.
"How long do you plan on rolling around the ground?!" The bow asked condescendingly. "If this were a somersault contest or something, I swear you could've won!"
"Shut up!" Adaloun frustratedly answered. "Give me time to think! I cannot think clearly with you barking around like that! I can't think straight!" He complained.
"Oh? So, you want your silence?!" It scoffed. "You're wasting your time and their precious lives! Think faster! And no, I won't shut up if you---"
Adaloun jumped out from rocks just in time before Urfaal slammed a big piece of rock directly on his position. He looked at the beastman surprised as how his strength began to multiply more times over.
"This is not good!" The bow's voice shivered. "The fog is getting his body pushed to the limits! That could be the same for them!" It quickly tugged Adaloun to stand up and aimed at the broken pillar.
"Pull my bow string now!" It commanded. "You have a clear shot at your target. Don't worry, will just have to knock him down, once more." It explained.
Adaloun pulled the bowstring and released a concentrated gust of air towards the broken pillar. The powerful arrow was able to hit the stones, blasting them away including his friend. He noticed the fog cleared near the stones area as the arrow landed and that gave him an idea.
"Hey, can you do an even powerful air blast?!" He asked the bow.
"Tch. Of course, I can! Even better than you, using me as a sword against your friend earlier!" The bow pointed out. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" It spat.
After their quick banter, Adaloun pulled the bowstring once more. The bow began sucking up the air around them, creating a massive sphere of air that was beginning to feel heavy around him. When he felt the air weighing down the bow, he immediately released the string and fired it near the center of the clearing.
The air sphere burst and cleared out the white fog within its radius and finally exposed the mound from where it truly lied. Adaloun was able to see the blood-red flowers blooming in the mound, it was a clear shot from where he was.
"There it is!" He said as he aimed the bow towards the mound. "Let's end this!" He fired the magical arrow from the bow, hoping to end it right there.
Suddenly, a huge chunk of earth fell right in front of the mound. The arrow collided with the earth wall and blasted most of it but kept the flowers unscathed. As the dust settled, Adaloun saw Ghwynmyr rushing towards him with Wahakim's scythe on hand.
Adaloun was ready to knock Ghwynmyr out with an air arrow when he was blindsided by Urfaal and got tackled down on the ground. The beastman was on top of him delivering some hard blows. His comrade's relentless blows could've killed him if it wasn't for the bow that he used to parry off the attacks.
"Hey! I am NOT a sword!" The bow barked. "Will you stop that?!"
"Will you stop him first?!" Adaloun gritted his teeth. "I have to deal with Ghwynmyr and his about to—" His eyes widened as Ghwynmyr lifted the single-wiled scythe above his head ready to lope off his head.
The bow controlled his hand with lightning speed, hitting Urfaal in the face with its body before hitting the poor dwarf's groins. Both of his comrades fell down and apparently got hurt badly than the other. Adaloun had no time to check on them. It was now or never.
He aimed the bow at the mound once again, but a white flashing light shined, hurt his eyes and temporarily blinded him. Adaloun stumbled and slid on the ground. The bow controlled his hand and tug him hard enough to avoid his head from hitting the rock behind him.
"I-it's Orphella, isn't it?" He said while blinking his eyes, hoping that his vision would return.
"No doubt!" The bow sighed, "We have to hurry! They're bleeding from their eyes already and before you ask, yes, that is a very bad sign!" The bow tugged his hand once again and aimed it at the mound. "I have already aimed your hand at the mound, all you have to do is pull my bowstring and fire away! Simple, isn't it?"
"We should've done this earlier." He said. "Gosh, my vision is still blurry." He pulled the bow string, but before he could release it, a chain of white light wrapped around his hand and tugged him off course.
As he battled the tugging, the beastman and dwarf rushed towards him and greeted him with punches to the gut. Adaloun got winded and before he could react, Urfaal grabbed him by the throat and threw him away from the mound.
Adaloun tumbled as he landed on the ground. Once again, he was out of reach from the mound. With the three of them working against him, he was at a disadvantage. The three of them, retained their abilities and somehow were using them in its fullest potential. It was too much for him to handle, especially without his ability working.
Out of desperation he asked the bow, "Do you have any other abilities aside from air blast? I can't get into the flowers!" He slowly stood up and limped away from his attackers.
It took a while for the bow to answer his question and it sighed when it did, "I do, but only those who know my name could use my fullest potential!" It answered.
"C-could you tell me your name then?" Adaloun begged. He was already at his limit and his injuries were piling up once again, he knew he had to end it by the next move.
"You're not worth it." The bow said. "I cannot—"
"Listen here you twisted fuck!" He gritted his teeth. Adaloun wasn't a guy known for cursing, even he was surprised by the action he did! It was his desperation talking to the bow, "You can be sassy with me later, but now I need to save my comrades! You want to save her, right?!"
"Fine! You're still not worthy in my books!" The bow said. "My name is Papillon, call my name and I shall lend you my REAL abilities! Just this once, I will!"
"Fine. Papillon! I release you! Show me your power!" He called out and raised the bow over his head.
The bow began to glow with a pale blue light. It slowly flexed its body and began to change like a midnight flower elegantly beautiful under the light of the moon. The bow created magical circles above it and began to move the circles around the clearing as if it danced. Finally, the circles locked itself in the center where the mound was.
"Now, say moonlight glitter!" The bow said to Adaloun.
"Moonlight glitter!" Adaloun repeated.
The magical circle expanded, and a hundred arrows made of light descended on the mound, destroying the flower and revealing its real grotesque form. The Mandrake rose up from the mound but was overpowered from the hail of arrows descending furiously over it.
The plant monster screeched before it finally withered and broke the control spell it brought on his comrades. Urfaal, Ghwynmyr and Orphella dropped to the ground vomiting copious amount of the white powder they have inhaled.
Ghwynmyr looked at Adaloun smiling through the cramping pain. "Damn it, lad! That took yah awhile!"
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I would liek to dedicate this chapter to this awesome reader, TheBananaMan for being an avid commenter of every chapter I published. The little thing you did made me do more especially when I learned that someone was truly reading my work! Thanks!
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