The Riamo went for Maria first. Ezra leaped in front of her and hurled a nail. It expanded just as the Riamo closed its mouth, lodging between its jaws and forcing them open.
Rion went to fire a blast directly into the pink maw, but before he could, Ezra's nail flexed and, with a horrid snap, broke into two, the halves flying off and crashing into the walls.
"No way—." Before Ezra could finish, the Riamo slammed its head into his chest, sending him sprawling as he coughed and spat up vomit.
"You son of a!" Maria screamed as she started playing her harp desperately, frantically. The Riamo almost seemed to smile as it approached. It was clearly slowed by the music, but it showed no signs of stopping. Maria's heart seized.
Suddenly, three blasts of flames flew at the Riamo's face, one meeting its eye. The beast screeched as Rion darted underneath its head.
"Keep playing!" he shouted to Maria as he fired three more flames into its chin. He was running low on magic, but he couldn't hold back. He had to end this now!
—
Ezra pushed himself off the ground with all his strength. Every inch of his body ached, and he could hardly breathe. He looked to Rion, relentlessly firing at the Riamo. Then he looked at Maria, playing her harp so quickly that her fingers had begun to bleed.
Just then, as if it had been faking the entire time, the Riamo burst through the smoke of Rion's fireballs and charged at them faster than ever before, its teeth bared.
Ezra felt sick. He'd gotten them into this situation, hadn't he? They were going to die because of him. His village was going to suffer because he had failed.
Was it all for naught...
Ezra clenched his hammer tight.
"No," he muttered. "NO!" Who cared if he failed? Death was just that—death. If he was going to fail, then he'd fail fighting to the very end, fighting as the Lost Keep's captain!
Ezra charged and threw a nail behind himself. He swallowed, then did the unthinkable and jumped. Time seemed to slow before the nail burst upward, propelling him more than ten feet into the air.
"GRAHHHH!"
The Riamo turned toward the scream, but it was too late. Slowed by Maria's music, Ezra drove a nail into the Riamo's skull with every ounce of strength he had. Miraculously, it stuck. As Ezra landed atop the beast's head, he managed to hold on, hammering the nail deeper and deeper with every swing.
The Riamo howled in agony, thrashing wildly, but Ezra refused to let go.
As the Riamo inched closer to the edge, Ezra screamed,
"RION, BLAST IT NOW!"
Rion swallowed.
"But—"
"NOW!"
Rion watched Ezra struggle atop the beast. Their eyes met, and Ezra...
...smiled.
Rion clenched his fists and raised both hands.
"UNDERSTOOD, CAPTAIN!"
He poured nearly every last bit of magic into his palms, caring little for what happened next. He felt them burn with heat, ripple with power, and then, with a scream, he unleashed everything.
"GRAHHHHHHHHH!"
Dozens of smaller fireballs tore into the Riamo relentlessly, bursting, popping, smoking, and seething. The Riamo could no longer scream, only let out weak, dying gasps.
Finally, with one final fireball, one last strum of Maria's harp, and one last strike against the nail, the Riamo tumbled off the stone path.
Ezra looked back at Rion and Maria, offering one last smile before falling alongside it. He thought back to his family, to his villiage, to the short yet oh so precious time he'd spent with Lost Keep.
"I—." He whispered something but was cut off as the roar of the wind swallowed him up.
But, something wet suddenly seized his hand, wrenching his arm painfully.
"Argh! What the—!"
His breath caught as he opened his eyes. A sphere of water held him suspended over the abyss. Just above him, Rion floated in the same manner, breathing heavily.
"You... what... but how!?" Ezra was stunned.
"I figured you'd pull something like this, so I saved a little magic during that last attack." Rion exhaled. "You don't get to die a heroic death on my watch. That's my role."
Ezra smiled, then burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! What the heck? Who decided that?"
Rion shrugged.
"That's a damn good question."
The two looked at one another, their gazes filled with admiration.
"Let's get out of this cave," Rion said.
Ezra nodded.
"Let's..."
(And thus, Lost Keep's adventure continues…)