How to beat a forgemaster

It had taken John quite a bit of explaining to get his companions on board with his plan. It would be risky, but at the same time he was confident that he would be able to pull it off. If they managed to time their moves right. So, after John finally got Ilis to understand her role in this, they started to move. John cast Beast Mastery to morph his hands into Toph’s claws, and soon, he and Toph were digging a hole right under the cave governed by the langtand queen. Jack and Ilis stayed behind near the small alcove in the wall. Jack seemed to be gathering mana, his entire body glowing with blue particles, and Ilis pulled something out of her pocket as she headed back into the tunnel.

It took a little while for John and Toph to dig through the solid rock of the cave, but having an earth powered pangolin made it easier. By the time that John and Toph made it to the other side of the cave, the langtands started to scurry around nervously, the drop in temperature causing goosebumps to cover their pink skin. The man and pangolin popped out behind the alcove the queen had been worshipping the crystal on, readying themselves for the actual start of their plan. John steadied his breathing, then sent a mental signal to Jack. The leopard had been coalescing a huge ice spear above his back, and then with the flick of his tail, Jack sent the spear flying towards the langtand queen. Sensing the projectile flying her way, the langtand queen shrieked angrily, her grotesque body rolling to the side as the spear harmlessly struck the wall behind her. The queen’s eyes zeroed in on the creature with the audacity to launch an attack at her in her own cavern, and with another loud shriek, directed her offspring to attack Jack, only to be stopped in her tracks when a pitiful whine was heard from behind the alcove. Just as the queen’s head swivelled back to the place the sound came from, the last piece of one of the langtand princes could be seen being dragged into the hole John and Toph had jumped out of.

Seconds later, the langtand prince was pushed out of the other end of the cavern by an earthen wall. Jack mockingly yawned at the queen, grabbed the prince by its neck, then turned tail and dashed back into the path leading up to the queen’s chamber. If John had thought that the queen had been angry before, then what happened next was on the scale of a full blown temper tantrum. The queen screeched at the top of her lungs, her feet stomping on the ground causing the tunnel Toph and John were hiding in to partially collapse. The duo set to the next part of their plan as the thunder of hundreds of feet could be heard from just above them. Moments later, the sound of heavy steps followed behind them. When John didn’t hear anything from above, he dared to peek his head out from their hiding spot only to find the whole cavern empty, not a single langtand could be seen. The cave leading up to the throne room had been busted open by the queen’s large frame as she and her offspring chased after Jack. Like zerglings they followed the poor leopard down the tunnels.

“Part one succeeded,” John mumbled as he patted Toph’s head. “Toph, start digging. I’m just going to grab one thing…. Then we can leave.” Toph saluted John, and seconds later the solid rock beneath their feet split open as Toph set her hard claws to work once more, tunneling in a line diagonal to the floor. As she did this, John used his Wild Run ability to climb up onto the tower and without much ceremony snatched the crystal and tossed it into his inventory. After that, he jumped down and once again transformed his hands into Toph’s claws using Beast Mastery, helping his pangolin to dig down into the depths of the cave.

Jack meanwhile was having a merry old time as he dashed through the caverns they had passed just twenty minutes before, in his jaws, he carried a bleeding langtand prince, its pitiful shrieks echoing through the corridor as Jack’s powerful feline hind legs made it a breeze to stay out in front of the monstrous rodents. Where Jack’s paws landed, small spots of ice formed, showing just how much effort the leopard was putting into his escape, rousing both his animal and elemental natures to their fullest.

Ilis was busying herself putting the final touches to her part of the job, placing some of her machines in the corridor when she heard the sound of feet stomping her way. Ilis put down her final trap, and then with a small remote in her hand, she dashed into the forgemaster’s chambers, hugging the wall just left of the entrance as she prepared herself for what was about to come.

Troj-non raised his mechanical head to the exit of his forge, the thundering sound of feet making his cavern shake. He raised his hammer high, continuing to forge his next weapon, when all of a sudden a white leopard shot out of the hole and came straight for him. Before he could good and well make sense of what was happening, hundreds upon hundreds of rodents followed the feline out of the corridor. And then, with a loud explosion, the tunnel collapsed just as the hideous face of the langtand queen came screaming into the forge area.

Ilis, after having pressed her button, tried to be as small a target as she could, readying her wrench as pandemonium broke out all around her. The worst, however, was yet to come. Up till now, the langtand queen’s eyes were focused solely on Jack and the prince. However… The next step of the plan was equal parts brutal as it was devious. Jack ran up to Troj-non, and with the flick of his neck, tossed the prince into the belly of Troj-non. The leopard disappeared right after he was done with his job.

From a freshly made hole in the ceiling, overlooking the two armies blankly staring at each other for just a moment, John grinned. “Part two has also worked. Toph, go bring Ilis up here, would you?”