[BRUTES] Prompt 2

Zarod announced the trio as winners of the first competition. Many of the Haedians in her clan dispersed, their issues with Garmr and Herja satisfied by the battle that went on during the contest. However, Zarod wasn’t quite as settled as the rest of her clan. She still felt the group had done a disservice to their clan by attempting to steal from her. Even if it was on the order of Troall. 

“One more round,” Zarod demanded as she approached the three topside reoseans. 

Garmr smiled and agreed without hesitation. While Herja was more reluctant to jump right back into a fight. And truly in character, Alowyn wanted nothing to do with it. However, Garmr spoke before the others could input their opinions so it seemed that the trio was having a three versus one final showdown. 

Zarod gave them a cold smile, “All you have to do is take some rocks from me.”

“Easy,” Garmr answered, again without hesitation. 

Herja dropped her head to the ground as Garmr continued to egg on the haedian leader. She took a breath and then refocused on the task at hand. Alowyn reluctantly stepped next to Garmr to help however she could during this contest. Everyone assumed they would go with the same plan, Herja and Garmr distracted, while Alowyn used her magic to steal the gold nuggets. There was a moment of silence before Garmr charged without warning. 

As Garmr launched himself at the black and red haedian, he let his flesh disappear in the fire of his magic. By the time he reached Zarod, he had a trail of fire down his spine as the rest of his body looked like patches of lava. He attempted to claw through Zarod’s wings, but her agility fingers grabbed his leg pulling him off her and roughly slamming him into the ground. 

Zarod quickly let go of the disoriented vayron to guard against the attack of the next. Herja came at Zarod from above. The move surprised Zarod, but only briefly before she managed to grab hold of Herja’s long braided tail. Herja growled at the pain caused by her tail and pulled away from Zarod. Herja used her magic to fly around Zarod like an annoying fly she couldn’t quite reach. The tactic distracted her but also made the leader very angry. 

While the battle pair distracted Zarod, Alowyn reached for her roots. It was an easy process, especially with all the practice she was getting on this adventure. The roots under them all reacted to her magic quickly. One by one, Alowyn carefully pulled the golden rocks under the ground where they would stay while the fight ensued. The only way Zarod would be able to tell where the rocks had gone would be the holes that appeared around the edges of her rock pile. 

“I know what you’re doing,” Zarod growled at Alowyn when there was a pause in the fight. 

Alowyn swallowed, nervously, “What… What do you mean?”

Zarod’s cold grin turned Alowyn into a ball of shakes and nervousness. She looked for her companions. Herja was clearly exhausted as she heaved breaths like she couldn’t get enough air. Garmr looked unfazed at first glance, but when Alowyn focused she saw the slight shake in his limbs. The fight against Zarod was harder than either of the war vayrons expected. 

“You won’t get help from them,” Zarod taunted. 

Alowyn gave a nervous smile and tried something she hadn’t practiced in a while. She kept her outward appearance nervous and flighty while she willed the plants towards her companions. When the roots wrapped around Herja’s legs, Herja flashed Alowyn a confused look. Alowyn ignored her and focused on healing. This process was tricky, she needed the roots to transfer their energy to Herja. It could be an extremely slow process, or it could be lightning quick. Alowyn hoped for the latter, but without waiting she did the same for Garmr.

Herja was more than confused when Alowyn’s vines wrapped around her legs, but while she tried to keep her vision from tunneling she could tell the vines weren’t holding her in place. They were loosely there and to shock or confuse Herja further she started to feel rejuvenated. The exhaustion left her limbs and she was ready to continue fighting. 

Garmr would have burned the roots when he felt them tangle around his legs. If he wasn’t exhausted he would have spewed his rage at the empyrian for using her magic to stop him. The fury Garmr built up in his mind clouded his judgment. He didn’t notice the roots healing him or their gentle touch. So when the fire in his muscle subsided he attributed it to his own strength rather than healing magic. He launched himself at Zarod the second he felt strong enough.

Alowyn was thankful when she saw Garmr move only seconds after her roots touched him. The healing process was on the quick side. Herja followed closely behind him, and the pair surprised Zarod while Alowyn continued to gather and protect the pile she had. The contest didn’t last long after that because Alowyn had gotten all the rocks from Zarod. 

“It’s over,” Alowyn called. 

Zarod looked around at her pile to see it gone, replaced with several holes in the ground indicating Alowyn’s roots were there. Zarod relaxed and congratulated the group, but before all was done Garmr launched an attack on Alowyn. Zarod was surprised and her surprise grew when seconds later Garmr was strung up by roots. Herja groaned as she realized his rage was based on his construed idea of the roots from earlier. 

“You’re an idiot,” Herja grumbled. 

“She tried to stop us,” Garmr roared, fire spilling from his sides. 

“She healed us,” Herja corrected.

There was a visible deflating of Garmr’s fire as he thought about it. He growled to himself letting the fire extinguish and his pelt reappear. He didn’t apologize, he never did. Though, Alowyn always left him hanging for several extra minutes as a sort of punishment. Several minutes of silence passed before Alowyn dropped him. The group noticed that Zarod hadn’t left like they thought she had. 

“Let’s go again,” Zarod smiled, “One on one.”

[1039]