D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

--- Kat ---

Four and a half hours later, it was Hunter that noticed something strange. She spun in place and readied her gun… at nothing. Kat and the rest of the group paused as they looked over at the spot Hunter seemed fixated on. Seconds passed and Kat started to calm down… until she noticed that Hunter was still tense. "Hunter?" asked Kat.

"For the last few minutes I have noticed an odd shift in the way the water moves," stated Hunter. "I am now confident that something is causing it but I have not yet found any proof of the thing itself. Bower, do you have any ideas?"

"Can't say I do. Nothin' I've ever fought in this type of place could control the water," said Bower.

Hunter frowned but slowly lowered her gun. Just as she was putting it away a giant hand burst from the ceiling. Kat dashed away, pulling bower and Kamiko along for the ride. Hunter was already moving and let off two shots at the giant hand that, moments later, clawed out a large section of the stone floor.

Sadly the bullets did nothing as the hand formed into a bulky humanoid shape made up of flowing water. Hunter flicked her rifle away into her storage ring as she threw some demonic fire at the problem. While she was doing this Kat had picked up Kamiko, and had been going for Bower but he was up and ready to run so Kat decided he was best left alone.

The fire hit the water elemental… and simply fizzled out. The large creature shrank for a moment before restoring itself back to its original size. Hunter started to slither back the way they came when the elemental took another swipe at the group. Kat sent her demonic fire forward as it did so, using a fair bit more energy then Hunter.

Kat's purple flames hit the thing's extended arms freezing it… up to the elbow. The arm fell to the ground shattering but was simply regrown by the elemental not a moment later. Once it was back in fighting form, it charged forward on a small wave at the retreating group. "Hunter any ideas?!" shouted Kat.

"We need to hit the core," stated Hunter. "No, before you ask I do not know where that core is. From a purely visual examination I cannot spot the core!"

The group kept running as Hunter threw more fire out. Their speed was rather awkward. They were limited by Bower, who was by no means slow, but he wasn't quite fast enough to truly gain space ahead of the water elemental. In fairness to him, the soft squishy ground ate up a lot of his momentum making it harder, but that didn't change the fact he was rapidly becoming the weak link.

*Dammit. Do I try to pick him up?* Kat wondered as she threw more fire at the target to little effect. The damned water blob was learning fast. It simply shifted its water away from any fire sent in its direction, allowing the demonic fire to fly past and hit the moss behind it. Kat's mind was whirling as she tried to figure out what the best plan of action was…

But Hunter was already acting. Just after they rounded a corner Hunter stopped in place and breathed in deeply. Kat managed to stop herself in time, though Bower ended up caught against the maximum length of the rope. He was clearly half prepared for it and managed to stand upright but Kat was still worried.

Hunter exhaled a massive amount of fire. A true wall of flames that spread along the moss and coated everything. The water elemental charged straight into it, sizzling all of the way. Even that wasn't enough to put it down immediately, as a giant hand still struck out towards Hunter.

Kat started to undo the backpack with Lily in it in case she needed to help in melee range as Hunter ducked under the blows.

The water rapidly sizzling away as the elemental shrunk. It didn't seem like it was quite enough but then Hunter simply piled on the fire, adding more and more to it until the water elemental shrunk down to nothing. Hunter slumped a bit, taking in big gulps of air as she coughed out a bit of ash, her demonic fire actually burning the particulate in the air itself around her mouth.

Kat was just about to put her backpack on again when the cave walls trembled, a wave seemed to go along the moss before they were squeezed dry and Kat felt her stomach drop. Swiftly reforming itself in front of them was the water elemental. "Hunter are you ok?!" asked Kat.

"No, I spent an excessive amount of demonic energy in an attempt to ensure I got the elemental's core but I seem to have failed. I do not know what is going on. It should not be capable of keeping its core so far away, and even then the damage I dealt to it should have drained the core as it tried to reform. There is something here we do not understand," stated Hunter.

Kat didn't need to be told twice. Kat slipped out of the rope around her stomach and passed Lily off to Kamiko. "You three, if you need to rain, be ready. I'll see if I can do anything," said Kat.

Lily grimaced as she wiggled her way free of the padding inside of the backpack. She knew she wasn't ready to contribute, but there was no sense being trapped in a bag if she needed to act. Kamiko was backing up slowly alongside Bower. Hunter was backing up… but clearly not in time.

Kat grabbed Hunter by the neck, wincing at the need and threw her lamia friend backwards just as another water claw filled the space. Kat barely blinked as her stomach was ripped open by the water. She was ready for it. Flames exploded from her form freezing the water elemental and all of the nearby moss.

Kat sliced her hand across the frozen claw, shattering it and allowing the pieces to leave her stomach so that she could heal. Kat remained wary as she watched their surroundings. She was right to do so, because at the very edge of the iced over area the most started pulsing again as the elemental reformed once more.

"Shit, Hunter you're the expert here, what's the problem?" asked Kat. She knew she was in a lot better position.

"I have several ideas but they are all exceptionally bad. My best guess is that the elemental has someone made the moss itself its core. Not one small section of it, but ALL of the moss in the cave. It's just moving around its mind and soul, while keeping it in range to attack us without getting hurt itself," explained Hunter. Discover stories with m,v l'e|m-p| y r

"Can we even kill something like that?" asked Kat.

"I am unsure. With time, yes, certainly, but it might be better to simply run. We could waste days of our time trying to take out sufficient amounts of moss," stated Hunter.

"Hmm… give me a second," said Kat as she strode forward, being mindful of her demonic energy reserves. For now it seemed like they were fine, she clearly hadn't used anywhere near as much as Hunter had.

Kat waited for the elemental to reform and strike at her before transforming, just as the water reached her. Kat felt her awareness expand moments before it was shattered into little orbs. The water making up her body flying into the moss which quickly tried to absorb the parts she controlled. Kat wasn't going to allow that, she simply pulled herself back together and stared the elemental down.

Kat did try to reach out with her demonic power and take over the water the elemental had… but she got nothing. Zilch. Nada. To her power it was as if there wasn't any extra water around at all. *I suppose it was a bit of a naïve hope to believe I could take control of water from a water elemental, even if it might actually be a moss elemental.*

Of course, while Kat's attempt at taking it over didn't work… it did confuse the elemental. It seemed to freeze up in place, the water swirling in the spot as it did the best impression of a statue it could manage. Apparently seeing Kat turn into water it couldn't control wasn't registering properly in its mind. Seconds ticked by, and still it wasn't doing anything.

*Lily any ideas? I don't know how long it'll remain stunned like this and I don't want to attack in case it retaliates. Hunter's made it clear that killing this thing isn't really on the table. So…*

Lily transformed and said, "Kat transforming seems to have confused the heck out of it. She's fine, but not moving because it isn't… but she has no control over the elemental. She's looking for suggestions,"