Phase Six (All According to Plan)

Liv held her breath, wishing she could switch out the clip in her rifle for something decent against armor, so she could at least go down fighting. As the Gnolls edges closer and closer to her hiding place, however, a loud crash from behind them suddenly caught their attention.

The Gnolls whirled around to look as Fuu came dashing out of the treeline and onto the path, slashing branches out of her way with an elegant movement of her blade.

"Six of you? That's quite a number. Lets see if you're skilled enough to make it count for something" Fuu said as she took on a defensive stance. The Gnolls quickly rushed her, while Liv sprung into action, ejecting the clip from her rifle and replacing it with a single, well reinforced round she pulled from one of her many pouches. Within moments, she had the rifle raised, poised to fire straight into the skull of one of the armored Gnolls.

A short distance away, Emmaline quickly realized that Liv was no longer supporting her, with no clear sight of her friend, Emmaline could only assume something had gone wrong. Luckily, there were only a few Gnolls remaining, and Emmaline could easily handle that many alone, especially while they were busy trying to cross a river.

She quickly began charging energy. She was too drained from all the running and fighting to repeat her earlier performance, but she was confident she would be able to take out at least two of them near instantly.

When Emmaline released her fire blast moments later, she was proved correct, as two of the three approaching Gnolls toppled backward into the river. The final Gnoll, though injured, was still alive, and was nearly on top of her.

"Well looks like you finally managed to get me alone, sweety-- now what are you gonna do with little old me?" Emmaline taunted, letting flames trickle down her arms into the form of a whip. She lashed out as the Gnoll rushed her, and the final Gnoll quickly fell to the ground, a burning heap.

Becky reached her friends just as Liv released the first round from her rifle. The bullet pierced straight through the heavy helm the Gnoll wore, turning his brains to mush and dropping him instantly. The other five closed in relentlessly, and Fuu was **** to give up ground. It was hard to know for sure is she would have been able to hold off all five of them, but Becky didn't plan on leaving it up to chance.

Reaching into her medicinal pouch, she pulled out a vial of powerful acid, stepping out of the bushes to heave the substance directly into the middle of the group of Gnolls. The vial hit on directly, shattering on his chest and sending drops of acid onto each of his companions. He cried out in horror as the corrosive liquid ate through armor, then flesh, then bone.

The other Gnolls were still howling in pain as Fuu stepped forward. With a series of quick slashes and a single shot from Liv, the last of the Gnoll threat was extinguished.