Day 139
@Pikabolt @Sellenair @Amberfox @pancakeswithabs
Roll: 88
Lore + Deathstreak
Emperor flip: The restraints lost 1 life
Restraint roll: Nothing happened
Search flip: Kaden left
rng picked: Kylas, Kora, and Crested
Kylas lost 2 lives
Crested lost 2 lives
Kora lost 1 life
Crested and Kora are now dead
Doesn't matter much because the locke is now over! The restraints lost all their lives, which brings an end to the locke!!!
Normally, this would be a loss. However for lore reasons I was hoping they'd wake up so it was a nice win for my lore (lol not so much the dragons).
Sabotage dealt the final blow to the restraints holding the emperor down. The beast was still drained after the effects of the Shade-magic but the damage done was still great. Familiars and dragons alike raced through the prison to get out or get to their stations—trained to hypothetically deal with a situation like this.
While they'd been evacuating the other levels in advance to this event, many of the prisoners within the lower cells still found themselves crushed beneath rubble or worse, met with the rotting maws of one of the emperor's heads. Their screams went unnoticed in the chaos.
Ribos, free of his prison as the walls crumbled down, fled blindly. His son Talamir and grandson Aravi nowhere in sight. The mirror didn't know if they were safely in their cells on the floors above or if they'd been transferred to another makeshift prison days earlier. The idea they'd already been killed did cross his mind but he couldn't waste time trying to find an answer.
This was his one chance to get free. It wasn't how he saw his escape going but it would have to do. Ribos almost made it too... until he felt a heavy, furry body slam into him. The mirror wheezed as a large paw was planted on his chest, his primal eyes focusing on the two red eyes glaring down at him between tufts of shadowy fur.
"Where do you think you're going?" Kai snarled.
Ribos hated how his heart leapt to his throat at the sight of the gaoler. He despised how this dragon who'd kidnapped him as a hatchling was once again holding power over him. A snarl rose in his throat and he lashed out with his sharp claws, though they did little against the thick coat of fur that tangled around his digits.
The mirror fought and thrashed about, wishing nothing more than to tear apart the dragon before him—the desire for revenge is what had landed him in here to begin with.
"Kai!" A bubblegum-pink mirror ran over; Ribos knew he was one of the higher ranking guards—Ulysses.
"He was trying to escape." The gaoler defended himself, as if his claws hadn't felt like they were ready to puncture down through Ribos' scales.
Ulysses stared at his adopted son before shifting his gaze down to Ribos. The prisoner didn't know the whole story between the two, but he did know that unlike the hulking fur-ball on top of him, the guard wasn't going to cause him undue harm. "Restrain him, he'll be put with the others... Don't think this means they'll lighten your sentence."
"Didn't think it would." Kai obeyed his father, somewhat to Ribos' disappointment, and he found himself being bound and dragged to safety.
So much for actually escaping.
***
Elsewhere, Cosmos was hurrying with his own prisoner to escape. The low-ranking guard didn't know exactly what was going on but he could feel the building trembling and hear something monstrous below.
"It could be faster to let us go." Eclipse spoke slyly, one of his head turning to stare down at the tundra. "Yes, after all, the others have already left you behind."
"And let you escape? I don't think so. We have time." He did, however, pick up his pace.
They pair hurried through the halls, nearly making it to the exit before it crumbled shut. Cosmos skidded to a halt and stared fearfully at their blocked path. There were other exits, but he didn't know if they'd make it in time nor if they'd be blocked as well. He built up his breath, knowing the best option would be to break through.
Another rumble shook the building and his first attack missed its mark. Cosmos stumbled before letting out a shout that was cut off immediately as his collapsed to the ground. The rubble that had knocked him out thankfully rolled to the side instead of landing on him, though his horns had both snapped.
Eclipse's heads glanced at each other before one grabbed the unconscious guard by the scruff. His other head wasted no time in blasting the wall with his own magic attacks. The aberration dragged the tundra to safety, uncertain where to go but heading in the general direction the other footprints seemed to lead.
***
"Is it ready?" Khaadgrim turned to look at the large guardian and her co-founder.
"Lucifi is in position." Cerberus spoke, his gaze falling to the tundra luring two of the heads after him.
Compared to the emperor, the second in command was barely a speck. Fortunately, the beast didn't seem to care. Onyx, as the least decomposed head, still held enough memories to hold his grudge against the tundra and his father, Eurfryn followed suit. The two other imperials trapped with the beast tugged to continue their upward advancement before finally going along with them.
It wasn't over just yet though. Khaadgrim glanced at the shade-dragons they'd restrained down here with them. Those who weren't fully possessed looked terrified, though the rest didn't seem to react outside of their typical aggressive behavior.
Other gaoler guards held their ground as well, magic pouring from their maws as they awaited the signal to form the base restraints that would channel the shade's power. Khaadgrim readied her own icy magic, her eyes all focused on different directions to keep everyone safe.
"Now!" Sugar Meadow gave the order and the collapsing building lit up with elemental magic.
The emperor's roars reverberated through her body, as if the monster was trying to liquify her insides. The shade dragons hissed and snarled as the switch was pulled to drain their energy and channel it into the beast. As the light dimmed again, the gaoler could see the full power the shade held now that it wasn't being limited like during the test stages.
The emperor's cries turned to something pained as the beast twisted and withered under the new restraints. One by one its legs gave out... then it's heads drooped and fell to the dirt. Dead eyes dimmed and closed—for those that still possessed eyes and eye lids—as they drifted back into sleep.
While the emperor was settled now, the destruction it had caused still remained. Khaadgrim knew it would be a while to rebuild but they'd constructed this from the ground up before and they could do so again. It was rounding up those who escaped that would take even longer. Getting their records together and sorting through the deaths, new locations, and escapees was a lot of paperwork for the two wardens.
Not to mention they likely would never know who destroyed the last bit of the restraints. While cleaning up they'd find Crested's body near the old power switch for them. Given the scout was even in the prison and so far from where she should've been the blame had been placed on her. Not that anything could be done about it now; she'd payed with her life.
The new power switch wouldn't be so easy to disable unless someone wanted to go through the guards and then become touched with the shade. Khaadgrim still disliked using such darkness but had to admit, it was effective.
