I Can't Get the Vampire Rogue to Romance Me

Chapter 100 - Stop Harping On Me

"You!" the head harpy screeched as she pointed an accusatory claw at Evangeline and her party.

"I'm guessing these are the same harpy's we encountered before," Harrowheart noted.

"Back to back, watch each other's flanks, like deer," Hagor said, shifting around to do just that.

"Thank the gods that Valerian saw them first," Harrowheart agreed, shifting to do the same so the three of them had each other's backs.

Above them the harpies began to spiral, flying in some sort of pattern that made sense to them. They screeched and hollored, made insulting remarks and even spat toward the fighters. For the most part, they were ignoring the wagon and its occupants, which was just as well. Artmond had his hands full keeping the horses under control. Valerian had hidden under the cover of his canvas, unable to do much more than he already had. Sigismund was the only one who stood ready, gripping on to the driver's seat right behind Artmond since the restless horses were making the cart shift and roll unpredictably.

The whole time, Evangeline kept her eye on the main harpy. She was larger than the others, with a few pinion feathers that were bright blood red, though Evangeline wasn't sure if they grew that way or were painted.

The harpy leader smirked at Evangeline, her taloned feet flexing with anticipation.

Attack Action: Throw.

It was in that moment, Evangeline threw her knife, or rather Valerian's knife.

Successful Hit.

The blade shot true. The next time Evangeline saw it, the hilt was jutting out of the large harpy's ample chest. She dropped with a screech, hitting the ground hard. As she hit the ground, the harpy's above broke their flying formation with equally startled screeches. Then as one, the dove down on the three vulnerable enemies, screaming in anger and defiance. Holding up her other dagger, Evangeline braced for the attack, but then all around them thorny vines burst up out of the ground. It happened so fast that she flinched away from the sharp barbs now pointing at her as they stretch up higher then she was.

The harpies screams turned to shrieks of pain as they ended up crashing into the thorns. The vines also inhibited their ability to fly, causing several to fall deeper into the clutches of the vines. They were quickly entangled and very angry about it. Feathers shredded everywhere.

The advantages of the thorny vines were also a disadvantage for Evangeline. She found she couldn't move any direction without risking being impaled herself. Above her, one of the harpy's that was in reach was also very caught, thrashing as hard as she could to free herself all while spilling curses that Evangeline barely understood. It also meant that the creature's claws were less than a foot above her head if she stood up straight. Crouching down, Evangeline flipped the dagger in her hand once more so she was holding it by the tip and sighted the short distance between her and the wounded harpy.

Attack Action: Throw.

Again, she waited for that feeling of certainty, then she threw.

Successful Hit.

The dagger buried itself into the harpy and she gave a final squawk of surprise, before slumping over in the vines coiled clutches.

Taking a steadying breath, Evangeline stood up cautiously, just in case the harpy was faking it. She wasn't, but Evangeline couldn't easily pull the dagger she had thrown free. It was now just out of reach.

"Great," she muttered, then gestured to pull up her character stats, scrolling over to her inventory screen. Because of the shielding of the thorns, despite hearing fighting so nearby, she had plenty of time to dig through the filled boxes until she found the +1 dagger, she had acquired at the top of the game. It manifested in her hand as she selected it. "Okay, can't throw this one."

Which was good, because just at that moment, the large harpy she had originally throw Valerian's first dagger at roared as she crashed through the thorns to slash at her with claws.

Pain burned down Evangeline's arm as she failed to dodge the attack. Valerian's dagger was still embedded in the creature's chest, but she wasn't down yet. The fact that the large harpy was overcoming the thorns was nearly as shocking and Evangeline found herself falling backwards, unable to avoid her oncoming attacks. Thorns raked up her back, catching her hair and the exposed skin of her neck and head, though they otherwise only scratched at her gambion harmlessly. What was worse about this position now was she was vulnerable.

Slashing with the knife in her hand, she missed connecting with the talons, but the harpy pulled back a bit all the same.

"I'll kill you and eat your eyes!" the harpy screeched.

That was when Evangeline saw it, the hilt of Valerian's dagger in her chest.

Physical Skill: Acrobatics. Success.

Planting her hands on either side of her head, Evangeline kicked like she was going to do one of those action hero standing spring ups, but instead, she aimed her feet directly for the hilt of the dagger.

She connected perfectly and the dagger disappeared into the harpy's body.

Her thrashing and screeching stopped, her bird eyes in a human face going wide for a split second as she froze. Then she dropped right on top of Evangeline, pinning her to the ground.

Panting for breath, Evangeline simply laid there under the harpy leader's weight.

All around her the thorns disappeared, retreating back into the ground. Which meant the other harpy that had been hanging above her also dropped down on top of her. Evangeline grunted out a cry of pain as she was buried under foul-smelling feathers and heavy bodies.

"Evangeline! Where are you?" Harrowheart called out.

With a mouth full of feathers, she couldn't call out very loud, but Evangeline managed to get a hand into some clear air.

"Here. I'm here!" she shouted, though even she could tell how muffled it was, and waved her hand as much as she could.

Harrowheart's face grinned from ear to ear as she lifted a wing off of Evangeline's face.

"Having a nice nap?"