It was clear to Eridanus that the others were in no condition to press the fight further. Having called a retreat from the confrontation with the entity called Plague scarcely an hour ago, he was already back on the hunt, alone. Tirloch, Tamashi, and Vrenus were instructed to remain behind and heal their wounds, and to return to the Core to enlist yet more aid. For now, he kept sight of the entity from on high, flying safely out of range.
He wasn’t left waiting much longer, though it was already almost midday. A deep purple figure, nearly black, flew into his peripheral vision, and Eridanus turned his head to regard the familiar shape. “Ravyne!”
Ravyne returned the friendly smile, though markedly more muted. “Eridanus. Having trouble?”
“Taking a short rest while waiting on backup. Are you all that’s coming?”
“I am,” Ravyne confirmed. “Your request for reinforcements missed Vyx and four others by minutes,” he added by way of explanation. “Shall we finish this?” He stared down at the flagging horseman with a grim look on his noble face.
“I’ll try to keep him from bolting,” Eridanus suggested, and before Ravyne could suggest otherwise, he lifted in the air and then dove towards the injured rider.
The rider swung its weapon to deflect, and as before, a sickly green aura sliced through the air from it. Eridanus swooped to dodge it, and flared his teal-and-pink wings to brake and then rise again.
Ravyne, given few other options, dove at Plague’s back, and collided into the figure with an unhealthy sounding crunch. Plague flew from its horse a good several yards, and the green tinted horse skidded to a halt, whinnying in panic. Ravyne swiped at the horse’s head to try and take it down for good, while Eridanus turned back towards the fallen rider.
The rider, despite its robes and body of bone, was more nimble still than Eridanus realized, and was back on its feet within seconds. Another swing of its weapon, and another dodge, and Eridanus found himself practically on top of the rider. He slammed his full weight into the form of robes and rotten bones, and they both went down.
Eridanus felt the vile bite of a blade carve into his stomach, but knowing it couldn’t kill him, craned his neck down to snap at Plague’s head. He felt the hard dome in his maw, under his teeth, felt it begin to give, and then he was thrown off. He hacked and spat once he caught himself on his feet. His teal energy leaked from the deep wound in his gut as though it were liquid nitrogen, both dripping and misting at once.
Finally having dealt with the horse (as much as one might be capable of killing an undead creature without fire), Ravyne joined the fight against Plague proper, who was again getting back to its feet. He dove in and ripped at its sword arm, and managed to tear the joint apart and fling the blade into the meadows with a swing of his head.
Although Plague was twice disarmed, it was not defenseless yet. Sickly green energy glowed in its eye sockets and leaked through the fabric of the robes concealing its ribcage, and the ground itself seethed and roiled. Once-lush flora rotted, and in seconds Ravyne started to feel his own energy being sapped. The evidence of Plague’s power was all more apparent when Eridanus’ leaking lifeforce flowed in thin rivulets through the air toward Plague itself.
Realizing they were running out of time, both kiji steeled themselves, and turned on Plague together. Each of them leapt, and buried Plague under a mess of claws and teeth.