riverviewlogs | i fight for every life

(Seeing the shield blossom forth, Lucretia, for a wild moment, thinks that Beverly had done it, that she has some kind of power she's never known about. Then she notices the little golden glint at her wrist, and it all falls sharply back into perspective.

The intense relief feels like a flood.)

I'm here! (The distraction has given her more than enough time to get within range, and this time she wastes no time throwing globe of invulnerability over a circle of ground underneath Beverly to encase her in clear magic, keep her from further harm. She had noticed Beverly attempting to reach for something at her hip and she's casting around for it now too, but it's hard to find anything on the ground amongst the thick, high grass.

The monster is pulling itself back onto land, but it's focused on her now. Lucretia's panic has completely disappeared by this point. She's straight backed as she faces the thing down, a fireball exploding to life in her palm. If shit goes south, she can teleport Beverly direct to Taako, get her to raise the alarm.)

Are you okay?

(Wordlessly, she nods, her gazed fixed not on the creature, but on Lucretia. There's a subtle, yet powerful shift in Lucretia's manner that demands Beverly's attention and lends her strength.

Realizing that Lucretia, focused as she is on the creature, can't see her nod, Beverly swallows.)

I'm all right.

(She gets to her feet, uncertain of what she can do to help but determined to stand by Lucretia's side for whatever is about to happen.)

(She'd take Beverly's hand tightly in hers to reassure her if only she didn't need them both. She feels full of adrenaline as the chuul rounds upon the pair of them, lifting a massive claw to strike–

and its attack bounces harmlessly off her shield, which holds beautifully. Lucretia grimaces, staring at it as it prepares another attack. If it wants to wail away on her shields, let it, but they had come to the falls for a reason and she's not about to let this thing ruin their day either.)

What is it? (She wonders aloud, throwing her fistful of fire, watching it explode and eat into the tentacles cloaking its face. The roar of pain and fury it makes is deafening.)

(That is a question she can help with: fortunately, her tricorder did not disappear into the long grass along with her gun and pack. She flips it open, calibrates it, and starts her scan. The roars of the creature are terrifying and she can't help but move a little closer to Lucretia and her fireballs.)

A crustacean. Hard exoskeleton, poisonous tentacles, appears to be primarily nocturnal.

And...

(The chuul lets out another roar of anger as it strikes futilely against their shield.)

Might very well be sapient.

(She glances down at the tricorder for a moment, brow furrowed. Poisonous tentacles? Yuck.

The chuul takes its third strike against the shield and Lucretia's attention snaps back to it. She'd been about to make a shrewd comment about its 'sapience', but her magic won't withstand all the blows in the world if it decides to stand there and brute force its way through.)

Okay.

(She's thinking, thinking. Even though it's a nasty looking thing she has an automatic hesitance to kill it, but then again... if it attacks without provocation like this, it's probably better off not being around in future. Lucretia nods, and takes a step forward until she's standing protectively in front of Beverly. When she speaks, her voice is calm, calculating.)

I'm going to blind it. We'll retreat, leave the shield where it is as a decoy and get ground advantage over it so I can use a delayed blast to finish it off. Don't look directly into the light, keep your head down.

(She lifts her palm to cast sunbeam in a wide, glancing arc. It spreads a little wider than she intended but that only serves to fully catch the chuul in its radius and it shrieks, reeling back from the powerful blast of light.)

Okay, go.

(Beverly isn't too keen on killing it either. Neither her medical or Starfleet ethics approve yet...it doesn't look much interested in talking or negotiations, only in trying to kill them. So she nods in agreement, despite her doubts and takes a step back, ready to run at a moment's notice.

As soon as Lucretia gives the word, she's off, clutching the tricorder tightly. The shriek of the creature penetrates her bones, almost brings her to a stop. But she has to keep going. At the top of the hill she stops and chances a quick glance back to make sure Lucretia is still with her.)

(She isn't. She'd stopped to lay the groundwork of her plan: a small, glowing bead of concentrated power, which she lobs toward the creature almost casually.

What she hadn't been expecting was a retaliation.

Lucretia had assumed the chuul would have been blinded enough not to notice but it whips its unseeing head towards her spell anyway. Lucretia swears under her breath: it can detect magic. Of course. That's why it's here. It must have sensed her, sensed Beverly's bracelet. Everything seems to happen in slow motion: it reaches out with a claw, striking the bead hard enough to send it straight back at her, and Lucretia has at least enough time to throw up a shield of faith, but the bead still strikes the top of it and explodes forcefully, with a lot of heat and noise.)

(Beverly doesn't see the shield. All she sees is the chuul' deadly claw coming down, followed by a ground-shaking explosion. She cries out, a wounded, wordless sound. The chuul turns towards the sound briefly, but the magic surrounding Lucretia still is apparently a more appetizing draw. With no fear for her own safety, driven only by a determined, wreckless anger, Beverly stumbles back down the hill for Lucretia.

She can't lose her, not like this.)

(The shield soaks up most of the damage but shatters uselessly, and thankfully her arcane ward takes the rest of it for her. Lucretia is unharmed, but the explosion has left her dazed, with a very loud ringing in her ears that makes concentration a bit difficult.

She staggers out of the smoke, coughing. If the others were here they would have laughed at her for this. Nearly getting blown up by her own delayed blast fireball. How embarrassing.)

Right, (she says, trying to focus, trying to ignore the pounding in her head. She casts cone of cold, an instantaneous spell, and watches ice bloom over the monster's exoskeleton, freezing it momentarily into place.)

(When Lucretia reappears, unhurt and most definitely not dead, Beverly skids to a halt down the path and breathes a sigh of relief. But now what? Clearly, things did not quite go according to plan, yet she doesn't know what to do to help. As the creature freezes, she too, feels rooted to the spot. This feeling of uselessness is unfamiliar and unnerving.)

Lucretia?

(Lucretia gives her head a shake, turning as the monster finally stills. They've got five minutes at best before it breaks free– Beverly is similarly frozen in place halfway up the path. She looks lost. Lucretia joins her, reaches out to take her hand.)

Are you okay? (Sorry if that was a little too loud, Bev.)

I... (She brings her free hand up to cup Lucretia's cheek.) I thought I lost you there for a moment.

Oh.

(Beverly mustn't have seen her shield. Lucretia kisses her apologetically, giving her hand a squeeze.)

I'm sorry, I– it can detect magic, it knew what I was casting even though I blinded it. We should probably get out of here, it'll thaw out soon.

(Beverly looks over Lucretia's shoulder at the creature and barely suppresses a shudder.)

Do you think it'll follow us?

I don't know. It's horrible but– it was only attacking us because it sensed magic, it wasn't being... inexplicably hostile.

(She's reluctant to kill it, obviously.)

If it pursues us after this, I'll put it down. But for now I think– um, we should go, maybe warn the Perimeter Guard.

(Beverly shares in that reluctance. Perhaps they can find an alternative, down the road. For now, though, it's time to get out of here, so she starts back up the hill, not quite running this time, but still moving swiftly.)

We should. If nothing else, they can put up warnings for magic users.

Agreed.

(Besides, Lucretia doesn't want to know if it has a few more tricks up its sleeves. She falls into quick step with Beverly, glancing over her shoulder as they start to put a considerable amount of distance between them and the monster. She can't imagine it would give chase, not after being frozen. It will still be blind when it thaws.

Lucretia's ready if it does, though. She hasn't even used half of her spell slots.)

... The bracelet worked.

And I am very glad for that.

(Now that they're some distance away, the reality of everything that just happened is starting to hit her as looks down at the bracelet that saved her life. If Lucretia hadn't made this for her, hadn't protected her... Reflexively she looks behind them again. It's not over yet and she won't feel safe until they're behind the perimeter walls.

Even though the creature is not there, she picks up the pace again.)

(She nods. Likewise, the weight of what's just happened is starting to settle on her. She came so close to losing Beverly; if she hadn't been wearing the bracelet...

Lucretia shivers. Once they're safe, she thinks she'd very much like to hold Beverly tight in her arms for a long while.

Oh, shoot.)

Did you find your blaster? (She hadn't thought to look for it in all the confusion.)

No, but it's all right.

(She reaches out to take Lucretia's hand.)

I have what's important.

Beverly– (Lucretia nearly stops and throws her arms around her right then, but a low, angry roar in the distance makes her reconsider immediately. She tightens her grip on Beverly's hand instead, and quickens her pace.)

Maybe we can try this again? I was enjoying this until that thing showed up.

(For a moment, her breath catches when she hears that terrifying roar again. All she manages is a distracted murmur of agreement before hurrying towards the gate ahead. Surely they put enough distance between them and the creature by now that it won't catch up.

To her relief, as they draw closer to the wall, she sees a couple of perimeter guards out on the wall, drawn by the strange sounds coming out of the forest.)

(She's not particularly afraid in this instance but she gets it. She keeps hold of Beverly's hand until they can see the wall again, until they're passing back through the barricades and onto the other side. Only then does she let go, but not before giving it a comforting squeeze.

A lot has happened this afternoon. Lucretia doesn't think she's ever cast spells of such magnitude in front of Beverly before.)

... Are you okay?

(As soon as they are through the gate and the barricade slides back in place, Beverly turns to throw her arms around Lucretia. A long sigh escapes her, a release of the pent-up fear. She's admittedly seen worse than the Chuul, been through worse, but a close call on your own life never really gets easier.)

I'm all right, thanks to you.

(She wraps her arms tight around Beverly's midriff and the two of them stand there for a long moment, until Lucretia feels like she can bear to let go. She brushes Beverly's hair back from her face, gives her an automatic glance over for any injuries but she seems fine. Good.)

That was scary, (she admits,) I'm... too used to thinking that death isn't permanent.

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