Ragnarok

Chapter 55 - Clash

Tyrion rocked back on his heels as Svarog's great war-beast lunged at him with a blazing forepaw. The beast's fiery body was hot enough to overcome even the spells protecting him, and its blow hit as hard as though it were made of solid stone beneath its coating of flames. It lunged at him again, and he swung his great axe in an attempt to deflect the blow. Then Svarog himself swung downwards with his blades, and Tyrion knew he couldn't react in anywhere near enough time to save himself.

He braced himself for impact, just as a golden blur suddenly appeared in front of him. Vladimir took a defensive stance as one by one, the giant's swords collided with his greatsword, and somehow the golden-helmed Russian was able to successfully hold all four at bay. Svarog's face seemed to twist into a smile of grim amusement, holding Vladimir's blade down with the two swords on his right, while raising the left pair up into attacking position.

Before the boss could finish its swing, a series of frozen projectiles darted through the air, each of them exploding into a hail of sharpened crystals. The great beast bellowed in pain, staggering backwards a step. Its master seemed fairly nonplussed, at least until the storm of ice was followed by a trio of lightning bolts, and from there by a direct strike to the face by Thorin's Mjolnir. As the hammer bounced off and began to swoop back to its master, Tyrion took that moment to step forward into the snarling, blinking face of the great beast, and swung his massive axe with all his force directly between the beast's eyes.

With a sickening crunch, the beast's skull cracked wide open, spraying boiling-hot blood out of a grevious wound. With a surprisingly high-pitched whimper, it pitched forward, the flames that surrounded it swiftly dissipating and leaving behind a blackened pile of ashes. Svarog bowed his head for a moment, as if in honor of the fallen beast, then reared himself up to his full height and bellowed in anger. Tyrion was nearest, so he was the first to suffer the giant's wrath. Four blades scythed down, and the great warrior staggered backwards as two of them met their mark, slicing through his armor and shredding the flesh and blood underneath.

"Fall back, Tyrion!" shouted Kitara, already chanting a healing spell to get their tank back on his feet. He struggled to do so, his wounded virtual body struggling against his own attempts to force it to retreat. Roaring, Svarog lifted his four blades once again, ready to return the deathblow Tyrion had delivered to his fiery pet. Instead, Lilith and Gosta chose that moment to charge forwards, knocking aside Svarog's furious strikes while they bought time for the wounded Tyrion to retreat further behind the battle line. Cool blue water was already flowing over the gaps in his armor, hissing slightly when it touched the warrior's seared flesh, glittering with healing power as it sealed his wounds shut once again.

"I'm not sure how much effect we're having on this thing," Gosta called back, spinning his staff in a whirlwind blur. He managed to deflect blow after blow, while striking more than a few of his own, but if Svarog was effected by them, he gave little indication.

"He's just putting up a tough front," Avril assured him, suddenly darting in from behind and carving a deep slash across Svarog's back. The four-armed giant snarled and whirled to thrust one of his blades at her, but she was already moving past and the distraction allowed her allies to get in several good hits of their own. "I'm keeping an eye on his life aura, and it's been dropping steadily as we've been chipping away at this thing's hide. Keep pouring on the damage and this big guy will fall over just like his little riding dog."

Tyrion was watching from midway across the bridge, near the end of their battle line. His health gauge was still almost half depleted, and it seemed to creep up in slow motion as he kept flicking his eyes back and forth between the battle and his own health. Then he saw Svarog land a series of vicious blows to Gosta and Lilith, sending the Swede stumbling back with a cauterized slash across his well-muscled chest, and sending Lilith hurtling to the far side of the bridge with a single powerful kick from his enormous boot. It looked like soon he'd be sharing the healing circle, if they all lasted long enough to enjoy it.

As Gosta retreated back up the bridge and Lilith dug herself out of the rubble she had landed in, Hiro and Vladimir moved up to hold the line. Svarog was relentless with his attacks, his blows seeming to increase in speed as he finally began to show signs of damage, his coal-black skin now cracked with glowing red lines that oozed a blood-like substance down his back. It was all that Hiro and Vladimir could do to hold the giant's attacks at bay, and for a moment, the two sides came to a standstill. The giants on the bridge's far side had become a non-factor almost as soon as the battle had began, preferring to cheer on their leader rather than get within the range of those deadly flame-swords.

In a sudden rush, Thorin flew high into the air, being dragged behind his own hammer as usual. Svarog snorted, evidently believing that one of his opponents had fled. What he failed to notice was Thorin's trajectory; what at first seemed to be a vertical leap, was in fact a very high arc. An arc that ended with Thorin plummeting back towards the ground, gripping Mjolnir in both hands and bringing it down in a thunderous crash upon the giant figure's massive skull. The monstrous warrior staggered, blood pouring down his face, then simply flopped over to one side and plummeted off the edge of the bridge. Thorin leaped nimbly off the corpse before it could tumble him over the edge as well, landing between Hiro and Vladimir, who nodded their thanks.

The giants on the other side of the bridge had gone eerily silent. Tyrion grimaced and prepared to move if they decided to renew their attack. Instead, the giants began to turn around, individually at first and then in larger groups, and start walking back the way they had came. This area, at least, had been pacified. Tyrion let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, and grinned over at Gosta. "Looks like that earned us a breather. Sit back and enjoy the healing spell, friend ... we might not have many more moments of calm here in this quite literal hellhole."