Tent had waited long enough--this was the best opening he'd had all day. This opportunity to strike would soon slip away if he didn't seize it. Three Stalfos were passing below him, traversing through the crumbling decay of what was once a proud village mere days ago. It was time he passed judgement. ...Now! From his perch hidden in the three, Tent sent a bead of light down to the ground. One of the three monsters perked up, alerting the others--only a split second before the bead exploded in the violent veil of fire that was Din's Burst, roasting him. The other two raised their shields, looking around furiously for this hidden attacker. One finally looked towards the tree--only to see an armored Deku Scrub with flaming fists leap-fall onto him with a tremendous punch, slamming his skull into the ground. Tent tumbled in a chaotic manner across what was now a shattering of bones. A quick glance signaled the first flaming Stalfos was running to the nearby river, the second was dead as a dornail, and the third was hesitating. Fear? Fear. Tent hoped to hell it was fear, because that landing slammed his thigh and shoulder into some pretty awkward bones. He slowly stood, hand burning with flame enchantments, trying to look as insane and wild as he could as he stared down the Stalfos. Maybe the skeleton was furious that his friend just died; maybe it was the fact he was more than twice Tent's height; but the monster lunged towards him with a blade as long as Tent was tall. It was all Tent could do to wobble to one side, deflecting the black with the back of the gauntlet, before spinning his entire body across the blade, towards the Stalfos, and rocketing into his ribcage with a flaming uppercut--sending him recoiling in pain. Tent rapidly looked over his shoulder. The second Stalfos had extinguished its flames. A fourth and a fifth had heard the commotion and were enclosing. A sixth--wait was that a Hylian... girl?--Tent shook his head. It didn't matter right now. Struggling to ignore how stiff his leg was feeling, he charged towards the mountain and waterfall towards the village's edge. He whizzed by the Stalfos as it crawled from the river, before himself water hopping across the river and through the entrance, rolling into the foreboding and appropriately named Skull Dungeon. Maybe he was about to die. Maybe not. The Stalfos couldn't cross the water as easily as he could, so at least he had time to hide or form a better strategy. His eyes quickly scanned the room ahead of him...
Pure terror coursed through Judith's veins as she ducked behind the crumbling remains of a wooden awning, certain that she had been spotted. Her heart hammered in her chest as she assumed the lowest crouch she could manage, whispering frantic prayers under her breath. She waited for several minutes, not daring to make another move lest she draw attention to her position. When at last it became clear that either she had not been noticed or her pursuers were sadistically toying with her, the priestess slowly poked her head around the corner of the rubble, chancing a look at her immediate surroundings. Nothing... nothing except destruction. Judith exhaled. In the distance, beyond the ruined buildings that stood directly in front of her, she could make out the accursed mountain, the source of all this misery. Once, it had been home to an abandoned mine, a forgotten relic of the community's past. Recently, however, an alarming number of Stalfos had taken up residence in the long-empty mineshafts; the local villagers now referred to the haunted cavern as 'the Skull Dungeon...' Or they had, at least, until a veritable army of the undead had spilled forth from the mountain and butchered them. Having arrived only a scant few days ago on an errand for the Cult of Nayru, Judith had mercifully been out of town during the massacre, indulging herself with a walk through the nearby forest as part of her morning routine. That act alone had saved her life, not that it brought her any comfort. When she had returned to see the formerly sleepy hamlet aflame, the priestess had quickly descended into the ruins to search for survivors. She had found none. The inhabitants had been exterminated with a ruthless efficiency only the dead were capable of. To make matters worse, while Judith had been scouring the wreckage, the fiends had come back, encircling the village to cut off any avenue of escape. Now the streets were teeming with skeletal marauders, their patrols so thick that it had taken all of Judith's cunning to slip past them undetected. But what now? Judith knew she could not hide forever. There had been too many close calls over the past hour already to think otherwise. Nor could she hope to outrun the forces stationed around the outer perimeter, for they could give chase without fear of fatigue, unlike her. Even if she could get away, she doubted it would be much use... the undead host could easily expand its ranks by razing the nearby settlements. By the time she could relay the news to Castle-Town, it was quite possible that the Stalfos' numbers would have swelled to such an extent that they would pose a significant threat to the Knights of Hyrule. And with all the strange incidents of late, the royal army could ill-afford to wage war on another front. No... there was only one option. With the bulk of the Stalfos this far afield, the Skull Dungeon itself was probably undermanned. As a student of the arcane, Judith knew that an undead army of this caliber would not have cropped up overnight without magical aid. If she could enter the mine and destroy whatever had animated the Stalfos in the first place, perhaps they would return to their graves without a fight. Fully aware that this would be a suicide mission, Judith was nonetheless determined to see it through. She had to be strong. She would not sit here and feel sorry for herself... she owed the fallen, those that she had been unable to save, that much. Just as she was about to creep out of cover and make for the next building, however, the priestess heard a near-deafening explosion, followed by the sound of metal on metal. A confused expression crossed Judith's features, which was swiftly replaced by one of anxiousness. What was that? Another survivor? She wished she could go to the brave soul's aid, but she couldn't see the unfolding combat from her current location, and moreover, it had given her the perfect distraction with which to make a move. She would likely be a hindrance in battle, anyway. "Mother Nayru, I beseech Thee... whoever that is, guard them in my stead... Shield them from harm, and may Your blessings be upon us both..." Her prayers complete, Judith darted out from behind the collapsed awning and broke into a sprint, dispensing with any notion of stealth. The battle would hopefully draw the Stalfos away from their posts and out of her way. Speed, not caution, would serve her well. Sure enough, Judith's gamble paid off- she was able to clear the village under cover of the commotion, the sentries that should have impeded her progress having left to investigate the noises. That, unfortunately, was when her luck ran out. No sooner did she think she had a clear shot to the Skull Dungeon when a gaggle of Stalfos materialized over a nearby ridge, their weapons held aloft. Eyes widening, Judith dropped her gaze and dashed as fast as her legs would allow. She had a head start, but it would not last. If she slowed down, it was over. Even now, the clanking of armour and the creaking of bone were getting louder and louder... Finding herself at the edge of the river that separated the village outskirts from the Skull Dungeon in record time and not wanting to waste further precious seconds fording it, the priestess pinpointed the narrowest stretch between the two banks and fired her Ice spell into the water, freezing a small patch in the centre of the river. She then hopped onto the makeshift stepping stone, the ice unpleasantly cool beneath her bare feet, and immediately leaped again before it could give out under her weight, plunging through the waterfall and into the cavern that lay beyond it. Winded and soaked, Judith doubled over to pant, her hair dripping onto the smooth tiles that made up the floor of the Skull Dungeon's entrance. She was so exhausted by her exertions that her weary mind did not even register the fact that she shared the room with another... or that an equally wet Stalfos that had just emerged from the river was coming up behind her.
Adrenaline was pumping through Tent's body, and breaths were pumping through his snout. If this scourge of Stalfos was to be ended, the best course of action would be to obliterate their leader into a fine, burned dust. Failing that, the shortstack warrior would take out as many of his minions as he could... ...Yes, he admitted to himself, it was a suicide mission. It was not his first. If Din's hand allowed it, this would be the far from his last. Either way, there was no death more honorable than serving the will of his goddess to the greatest extent of his physical and mental abilities. Tent had only paused for breath for mere seconds, intent on finishing off the first Stalfos to attempt to follow him... yet, that was not a stalfos. A hylian? With ice magic, even? Was this a trick? Was it a villager? Regardless, she was in the way, preventing him from kicking the Stalfos that was trying to crawl up after him... "Your backside," Tent shouted in warning, as he launched a fiery bead from his hands, under her arm, and right into the monster's face. Contrary to Tent's hopes, it remembered the trick from before and raised its shield at the last moment--protecting itself from the fiery blast that would have surely ended it otherwise. The force against the monster's shield was enough to blast it back into the waters from which it came, hopefully granting it at least a few more seconds--and Tent didn't intend to stick around to blast it a third time. With a glance, Tent examined the woman more closely. Internally, he cursed himself for not having a Lens of Truth... He had been deceived by an Actor's Illusion before, and didn't intend for it to happen again. There was almost no chance some random girl with ice magic was here to help him. Surely this was a trick by some Stalfos mage, but his conviction was not so strong he would outright strike her. "I don't know you are," he spoke quickly, "But I don't have time for you. Help me destroy their leader, or begone." To ensure his back wasn't exposed, Tent momentarily glanced deeper into the dungeon--only to see a robed Stalfos charging up a spell as an axe-wielding skeletal warrior charged forward. How the hell hadn't he heard them?! It was all Tent could do to duck under the climactic swing, nicking the top of his helmet, a split-second before launching upward with both legs to deliver a flaming uppercut... into thin air. The damn thing had already leaped back a safe distance, clearly a master of the jump spell. This fighter was clearly a step above the ones outside... In the momentarily opening he created, Tent glanced towards the Hylian. If she didn't help him right this second, the girl was either going to kill him, or cower in fear. He wasn't sure which would be worse.
"Wh- Aah!" Any hope of a respite Judith Vilcaron might have had, however fleeting it may have been, was promptly crushed as a gout of flame sailed past her, the residual heat uncomfortably warm against her flank. Practically throwing herself to the side to give the fire a wide berth, the priestess whirled in time to see her would-be assailant, a revolting Stalfos bearing a sword and shield, be hurtled into the river by the force of the blast. Her first instinct was to send a Magic Bolt right in after him and let the super-conductive water handle the rest, but it dawned on her that it would be unwise to waste her last available offensive spell upon an already-disabled foe, and so she relented. Instead, Judith glanced toward the source of the flames to appraise her saviour, and was immediately dumbfounded by what she saw. Of all things, a Deku encased in armour stood before her, his leaves of a similar hue to his chosen element. Before she could even get a word in edgewise, he bluntly dismissed her, demanding that she either aid him or flee. She opened her mouth to reply, then stopped herself. Honestly, she did not know where to begin with this one. Beyond the Business Scrubs her father occasionally dealt with, Judith had never really interacted with the Deku race... but even she knew that fire was normally anathema to their kind. For him to wield it as a weapon... he must have been a very unique individual, indeed. Furthermore, while she was grateful for his timely intervention, which had admittedly delivered her from certain peril, she was less enthused by his reckless aim. His conjured flames had been altogether too close for comfort. In a bizarre stroke of fortune, the priestess was freed from the awkward obligation of having to answer him by the arrival of two more Stalfos, one brandishing a cruel axe, the other wrapped in a wizard's cloak, surrounded by the unmistakable aura of swirling magical energies. The Deku charged into the fray without a moment's hesitation, leaving Judith to her thoughts. Everything was happening so fast... Summoning all her inner strength, Judith composed herself and remembered what her mentors had taught her. One thing at a time... Focus on the problems in front of you, and you paved the path for future success. There would be time for questions and speculation later. For now, she had to fight! Quickly taking stock of the situation, Judith noted that her newfound ally had engaged the warrior of the skeletal pair, keeping it occupied in hand-to-hand combat. However, the shrouded Stalfos was clearly preparing a powerful spell to turn the tide in favour of its companion, making arcane gestures with its bony fingers... A duel between mages, then. Springing into action, Judith swung her staff, unleashing the Magic Bolt she had been saving. Engrossed as it was on completing its incantation, the Stalfos was an easy target, and the electrical projectile struck home. The collision threw the skeleton off-balance, disrupting its spell, and it flailed helplessly for a moment as the current ran its course. The priestess held her ground, watching as it recovered and spun to face her, its ire now entirely directed toward her. Electing for a more simple spell this time, the undead wizard launched a fireball at Judith with a dramatic sweep of its osseous digits... which was exactly what she had anticipated. Months of practice bouts with her fellow priestesses had ensured that Judith was well-versed in the art of reflecting incoming missiles with her Goddess' favoured spell. Calmly estimating the amount of time it would take for the fireball to reach her, the priestess planted her feet on the ground and braced herself, waiting until the last possible second, then raised her hand. A glossy barrier materialized in front of her palm, its brilliant blue sheen illuminating the area around her. Unable to halt the fireball's forward momentum, the Stalfos gaped as its own attack was bounced right back at it, and swiftly disassembled itself in a desperate bid to avoid being incinerated, its bones noisily clattering to the floor alongside its cloak. Judith had often heard that that there were only two types of combatants, the quick and the dead, and it frustrated her that this particular specimen seemed to be both. Nonetheless, she was up and running in an instant, intending to scatter her opponent's bones before it could reform. If nothing else, she had bought herself some time...
