Vox Machina Book 2: Threads of Fate

Chapter 8: To Walking Away

Keyleth slides to a stop as she looks at her frozen barbarian, "Grog?" she calls out, "Look out!" Jason calls out, ramming his shoulder into her as they evade the incoming tentacle.

"He's not dead. I think he's just petrified." Pike cries out as she and Percy were running. "Oh, just petrified? Really?" He snaps at her as the ground underneath their feet was gone as a tentacle shot through.

Just at the archway above them, Zahra and Kashaw were watching the destruction. "Shit." Kashaw saw in shock, but Zahra just frowns. "Would you relax? As soon as they're restrained, I swipe the armor, you unfreeze your new friends, and we get the hell out of here," she informs him.

"Really? And just leave us here to die?" Kyria questioned, and both gasp in surprise as Kyria was standing on the archway with them, her arms were crossed as she was frowning at them. "Thank you for making your intentions so clear to me," she states. "How did you...?" Zahra questions her with shock.

"I'm a fucking Ashari, I've mastered the element of Wind, it wasn't that hard and you two really like to talk about betraying us for the vestige," she informs them, Kashaw just looks away as Zahra blinks at her.

Vax peeks out from cover as he went to throw a dagger, but the fist in his breath catches his attention as he looks over to his side. "What the...?" he mutters and falls back into the trance.

Standing around at the scattered bodies of the dead, he stood to his feet and looks at the shadow in front of him, it was the Champion of the Matron. "Purvan," Vax said in surprise.

Seeing the champion was looking right at him. The champion just raises his sword and dashes right at him. Vax reaches for a dagger but finds he was unarmed.

He looks back and dodges Purvan's sword, he tries to take down the champion but was easily overpowered and went flying towards the tree.

Vax stood to his feet as he looks at the champion, who was moving at rapid speed and charged right at him.

While Vax was trapped in the trance, the others were busy fighting off the beholder. "Come on!" Pike calls out as she swung her light mace at it.

Vex fired her arrows as they launch into the tentacle, "Damn it, it's everywhere!" she calls out. Jason lunches forward, dodging the incoming tentacle, rolling into a slide, and swung his mace, smashing the tentacle to the ground.

"What the fuck is this thing?!" he shouts and jumps out of the way of another, Percy fired at the beholder as it directs its attention onto him.

Keyleth grunts as she sent a wave of ice over the tentacles, holding it would stop it. "Yeah, come on, please. I got him!" Scanlan calls out as the ice breaks "Scanlan's hand!" he sang as Bigby's hand charges down and slams the fist right into the beholder.

The winds shout out, making everyone shield their eyes and waited for the dust to settle. But the beholder roars and shot the tentacles out.

The party quickly moves out of the way, "Nothing's working." Percy calls out. Keyleth looks from the corner of her eye and saw the tentacles were charging right at them.

She jumps in front of Percy and shot up a wall of vines, but the tentacles shot over the wall, making the two look up in shock. The tentacles catches them, slamming them back and they both were turned to stone.

The Take hunters just look at the angered Ashari. "Okay, fine. I'll come clean. You aren't worthy of that vestige. It belongs with the Take." Zahra informs her.

Kyria kept her glare on her. "So what, the plan was to kill us take the vestige and Osysa rewards you for a mission that wasn't yours in the first place?" she questions her.