- Colosseum Arena -
It felt as if Vect's body was being pulled in every direction and his blood replaced by lava.
'What's happening to me? This is worse than anything I've felt during our training,' Vect doubled over and gasped, smoke billowing out of his mouth.
(Kill.)
(Erress, is that you?)
(Burn.)
Vect tried to focus on this new voice, but his body had other plans. Parts of his clothing was beginning to catch fire and then quickly extinguish.
(Maim. Burn. Kill.) The voice grew louder with each word. (Destroy.)
(Get out of my head.) Vect felt a sharp pain in his chest that caused him to yell out.
(You are so far above them.) The voice finally began to become more coherent. (Like insects to a god.)
"Shut up! Go away!"
Jack came running up to help his friend who was clearly in pain. "Hey you ok? Come on, I'll help you to a healer," Jack reached down to take Vect's arm, the heat radiating out from him causing some pain to Jack.
"Don't touch me," Vect roared and his arm lashed out, backhanding Jack off his feet. "Jack? I...I...," Vect tried to apologize for lashing out, his gaze falling on his outstretched arm. The skin was completely overtaken by obsidian black scales. "What is this? What's happen- gah," Vect felt another jolt of pain race down his arm as it rapidly grew. The arm expanded as it changed, his nails lengthening into black talons. When it finished its rapid growth the arm was easily twice the size of his other arm. Black scales quickly spread across his body until he was almost covered, save his face and a bump on one side of his forehead grew out into a horn that swept backwards.
"Help..me," Vect pleaded in a much deeper voice as a row of spikes suddenly grew along his spine.
By this point Vesper, Neisha, and Beverly had come to Jack's aid.
"What's happening to him," Vesper asked.
"I'm not sure, but we need to separate Erress's vessel from him," Jack groaned slightly as he got to his feet.
Just as Jack finished his sentence a large figure darted past them and charged towards Vect. Vect roared at the approaching figure and swung his transformed arm. Salazar rolled under the attack, the momentum from the large appendage throwing off Vect's balance and causing him to stumble. With one swift motion, Salazar grabbed hold of the slowly receding vessel and pulled.
It didn't move and Salazar felt a hand wrap around his neck as a deep voice began to laugh. He looked up to see a pair of menacing yellow eyes staring at him.
"Pathetic," 'Vect' growled, his blond hair slowly changing to a bright red starting at the roots.
As the hand tried to pull him away, Salazar tightened his grip on the vessel. Using both feet Salazar kicked off of Vect's stomach, the action knocking him loose from the hand's grip and pulling Erress's vessel out of the elf's chest. The dragon-human landed a fair distance away, heart beating weakly in his hand.
(Thank you.) Erress whispered weakly.
(What's happening to him Amron?) Salazar asked.
(Not sure, but I don't like this feeling I have. You should probably crush her just to be sure.) Amron answered like he was board.
(Still hold a grudge that she killed you I see.)
He turned toward the transformed elf who was clutching his head with his smaller hand and wildly swinging the other around.
"Get out of my head," Vect screamed.
"No, I WILL have this body," 'Vect' shouted and drew in a deep breath and launched its breath weapon at the group. Beverly quickly summoned a wall of earth that spared them from the dark fires. The ground began to rumble and the now even larger hand broke through the earthen barrier, knocking several of them away before it grabbed Jack by the chest and slammed him against the arena wall. With the barrier gone everyone could see that Vect's body had grown bigger, his still out of proportion hand able to wrap around Jack's torso.
"Damn you all," the hand tightened causing Jack to scream in pain.
"Jack," Beverly called out.
"Give me the heart or he dies," the monster demanded, holding out his smaller free hand.
"I can't do that," Salazar responded coldly.
"Then he will die slowly."
"No he won't," a familiar voice corrected.
Shaman Gratz slowly floated down to the ground and stepped closer to the creature, "let the lad go."
"I don't think so," the monster's grip tightened slightly but then it loosened. "Be silent! This is my body now," it roared.
Then it opened its hand and let Jack fall to the ground. "Now," it spoke in Vect's original voice.
Gratz nodded and his staff began to glow brightly. "Druidic Cleansing," he jammed the staff into Vect's stomach, causing the creature to roar in frustration as bright light enveloped him. Once the light began to fade scales fell off of his body and Vect reverted back to his original body. Vect sighed, obviously exhausted and collapsed. As the group gathered around the unconscious elf, a bright light drew everyone's attention to the sky. A large magic circle was slowly being drawn in the sky above where the monsters came from.