She makes a fight of it

Lux hesitates only for a moment. The odds don’t look good, but she has to fight. If she can take down Athisz quickly, break whatever spell the villagers are under, then maybe she stands a chance…

Yes/No (Even): Lux tries to fight Athisz – does she win? | [1,1] No but...

Athisz is too strong, but Lux’s actions disrupt the ritual, and the portal with it.

Springing back a step, Lux throws her hand out to cast forth a cloud of glittering dust. Sudden light floods the cave, dazzling the unprepared villagers. Her own eyes half-shielded, Lux sees the attendants scatter in confusion – ritual items, pots and pomanders, crash and clatter on the rocky floor.

Athisz recoils back, and Lux dashes in with dagger in hand: keeping low to tackle the towering figure at the knees. Except there are no knees. Too late, Lux realises that the shimmering motes of her spell are not outlining the robed shape she saw before. They’re revealing something else – hidden by an illusion…

Gone, the trailing robe – gone any semblance of a humanoid form, save for the uncanny, hideous face that now glares down, framed by a mob of stringy black hair. Now the long, scaled, serpentine body, uncoiling, poising to strike – armless, legless, but easily powerful enough to crush the life out of Lux’s little body. And it’s too late to stop herself from crashing into it, making no impact except – oof – to wind herself –

In that same moment, the snakelike body of Athisz the Naga wraps itself around Lux, pinning her arms, and begins to squeeze…

Doom increases to 1.

Failure Move: [2] Put Someone in a Spot

Lux must either flee through the unstable portal, or face the wrath of Athisz.

Lux gasps raspily for breath as Athisz’s long tail tightens around her chest. Her quivering breasts bulge upward, squeezed by the growing pressure, straining her top until it tears open, letting them burst out. Tears in her eyes, she grits her teeth and struggles with all her strength – but it’s no good. She sees Athisz’s monstrous face snarling at her, while her lungs burn and her ribs feel the strain.

“Impudent mammal,” Athisz hisses, “I will enjoy teaching you this lesson…”

Any snappy comebacks that Lux might have been able to come up with in better circumstances are far from her mind in this moment. Darkness begins to creep in at the edges of her vision. Of all the stupid ways to die, surely not this –

Then, there’s a flash and a harsh crackling noise from the stone arch. Athisz looks around at it, and hisses with frustration. The portal that had formed has begun to warp and shift, its surface boiling chaotically. Distracted, her coiling grip loosens – just a little –

With the strength of wild desperation, Lux wrenches her arm free and jabs her dagger into Athisz’s scales. The naga flinches, and Lux uses the momentary opening to squirm her way free – just managing to gasp out an invisibility spell as she scrambles for cover. Crawling behind a rock, she cradles her wounded ribs and tries for all she’s worth not to cry out, or even breathe too loudly…