Oh, he dearly wanted to pursue that line of inquiry – tugging on life force? But wasn’t she a fire kineticist? Alas, the gourds had other plans, and Edy was waiting for him to step up. He might have been just a little rusty, he had to admit to himself as the second slice didn’t go quite as planned. He’d always preferred to rely on his spells over his sword – if the rapier was out, something had gone very, very wrong – but at one point he’d been fairly good with it. Of course, that was when the blade itself had still held a few enchantments to help him along, and he’d regularly faced foes that could laugh off his magic and needed a more personal touch. The sword was simple metal now, and he was feeling its weight and lack of mystical keenness with fresh appreciation for the youth he’d been at the start of his adventures, barely scraping by…
Luckily his new friend was distracted by the third wave, and Jigano took the opportunity to plant a foot against the honking, flame-winged gourd’s side and push it off his blade. It floundered, hacked half-through, and before it could come around for a second go he chopped its head off as well.
Not so difficult with a dipper gourd or one of the long-necked squashes, but he doubted the larger pumpkins were going to be impressed with a little skewering. Unfortunately, he wasn’t given the choice to find an alternative. Edy flashed her devil-may-care grin and he realized belatedly that she’d rounded up their attackers in a ring of fire. A whistle of appreciation escaped as he walked over to her side, admiring her control – and noting, amidst the four new fruits, a nice-sized little pie pumpkin that would have been quite lovely if it hadn’t had a maniacal leer carved into it, and glowing eyes that seared his soul.
”It would be my honor, lovely Edy,” he proclaimed with a bow and a flourish of his blade. As he rose, a grin on his own face, he twisted to cut down a particularly determined butternut squash that tried to breach the wall. He grunted as the blade hit the hard rind, but this time he was better prepared, and followed through with enough force to free the rapier and whip it back to behead the gooseneck gourd beside it. The low rumbling noise he’d heard earlier seemed to be getting louder, but he was too preoccupied to pay it much attention at the moment. The grain beside them was waving energetically now, though the breeze didn’t seem strong enough to warrant such frenzy.
Regardless, he reached over the wall of fire again to spear the chittering acorn squash on the end of his sword, then lifted it – with no small difficulty - to present it to Edy as it screeched and twisted angrily, impaled by the blade and momentarily harmless as it was caught in place. ”A gift,” he declared gallantly, trying not to show the strain of holding it aloft at such a distance from himself. ”For the finest bartender I’ve met in this crazy place!”
Luckily his new friend was distracted by the third wave, and Jigano took the opportunity to plant a foot against the honking, flame-winged gourd’s side and push it off his blade. It floundered, hacked half-through, and before it could come around for a second go he chopped its head off as well.
Not so difficult with a dipper gourd or one of the long-necked squashes, but he doubted the larger pumpkins were going to be impressed with a little skewering. Unfortunately, he wasn’t given the choice to find an alternative. Edy flashed her devil-may-care grin and he realized belatedly that she’d rounded up their attackers in a ring of fire. A whistle of appreciation escaped as he walked over to her side, admiring her control – and noting, amidst the four new fruits, a nice-sized little pie pumpkin that would have been quite lovely if it hadn’t had a maniacal leer carved into it, and glowing eyes that seared his soul.
”It would be my honor, lovely Edy,” he proclaimed with a bow and a flourish of his blade. As he rose, a grin on his own face, he twisted to cut down a particularly determined butternut squash that tried to breach the wall. He grunted as the blade hit the hard rind, but this time he was better prepared, and followed through with enough force to free the rapier and whip it back to behead the gooseneck gourd beside it. The low rumbling noise he’d heard earlier seemed to be getting louder, but he was too preoccupied to pay it much attention at the moment. The grain beside them was waving energetically now, though the breeze didn’t seem strong enough to warrant such frenzy.
Regardless, he reached over the wall of fire again to spear the chittering acorn squash on the end of his sword, then lifted it – with no small difficulty - to present it to Edy as it screeched and twisted angrily, impaled by the blade and momentarily harmless as it was caught in place. ”A gift,” he declared gallantly, trying not to show the strain of holding it aloft at such a distance from himself. ”For the finest bartender I’ve met in this crazy place!”
