The big lial snapped peevishly at the air as another wave of weakness washed over her, distracted and shaking her head as life and energy sapped from her rocky frame. She sagged and staggered sideways, black gaze going glassy and disoriented at the magic that did what no opponent had managed in years. Movement not far distant caught her attention and she managed a warning rumble, but it trailed off into an evil hiss as she began to back slowly into the lava pool once more, not wanting anymore of whatever was draining her vitality.
As a final act of rebellion, however, she snagged the tail of the first lial in her jaws and dragged it back into the molten rock with her, perhaps to devour at leisure further away.
Tal caught only flashes of her retreat; enough to know that she wasn't coming any closer while he held himself and his spear to a steady forward push. With every thrashing twist the lial - larger than Deimos by a good meter - opened the hole in its own side wider, but the angle of the spear and how far it had already penetrated prevented it from freeing itself.
And between the courier's accurate thrust and stubborn tenacity and its own desperate throes, the vital organs were already pierced. It was only a matter of hanging on while the rest of the beast admitted defeat and succumbed, going still with a final bubbling breath.
Tal didn't give up on the pressure of the spear for another half a minute, breathing hard and swallowing repeatedly past a dry throat, but when he realized that they'd succeeded - and that the other threat was gone - he slowly relaxed and began the process of working the spear back out of where he'd planted it with patient, shaking hands. Boreal landed nearby and eyed the corpse warily, reaching out to bat at its rocky tail with one broad, taloned paw. "Deimos?" he called, looking around a little worriedly for his vanished friend. "Uh... where'd you go?"
As a final act of rebellion, however, she snagged the tail of the first lial in her jaws and dragged it back into the molten rock with her, perhaps to devour at leisure further away.
Tal caught only flashes of her retreat; enough to know that she wasn't coming any closer while he held himself and his spear to a steady forward push. With every thrashing twist the lial - larger than Deimos by a good meter - opened the hole in its own side wider, but the angle of the spear and how far it had already penetrated prevented it from freeing itself.
And between the courier's accurate thrust and stubborn tenacity and its own desperate throes, the vital organs were already pierced. It was only a matter of hanging on while the rest of the beast admitted defeat and succumbed, going still with a final bubbling breath.
Tal didn't give up on the pressure of the spear for another half a minute, breathing hard and swallowing repeatedly past a dry throat, but when he realized that they'd succeeded - and that the other threat was gone - he slowly relaxed and began the process of working the spear back out of where he'd planted it with patient, shaking hands. Boreal landed nearby and eyed the corpse warily, reaching out to bat at its rocky tail with one broad, taloned paw. "Deimos?" he called, looking around a little worriedly for his vanished friend. "Uh... where'd you go?"
