Eva used the extra time granted to build up another large ball of fire. Twisting it and condensing it, a basketball sized handful of fire compressed to a baseball.
She took an extra moment aiming.
One worm opened its mouth to release another bucket of green goo. That is when Eva struck.
Her aim was true. The moment the ball of flames disappeared down the worm’s throat, Eva released all control of the fire.
The bits and pieces splattering over its comrades could have been art.
The other worms, unfortunately, shrugged off the scattered acid without the slightest scalding. The dog-type bugs had no such immunity. The bug closest to the exploded worm all but vanished in a cloud of green goop. Unfortunately, the dullahan-bear fighting it was right up in close melee.
It could fight without a head perfectly fine, but losing its upper body was apparently too much.
That extra moment had been a moment too long. A splattering of acid landed square on Eva’s shirt.
Using her claws, Eva tore the damaged garments clean off her body before the acid could eat through enough to cause more than cause bright red spots on her skin.
“One left,” Eva shouted. Technically two, but the one was still coughing up acid rather than spraying it across the battlefield.
As soon as the final splatters of acid from the latest volley hit the ground, Eva’s lieutenant dropped from the second floor down to the ground.
A leg of one of the overturned desks snapped off under his weight. He snatched it up and broke into a full sprint.
Eva leaned around her barrier and started flinging as many fireballs as she could, not caring about aim or fire strength. Just so long as she kept the acid spitting worm’s attention off of her lieutenant. So far, it wasn’t working very well.
The worm opened its mouth, aiming straight at the lieutenant.
The constant pelting of flaming pebbles did have an effect on the remaining bug-dog things. Two of them managed to get distracted long enough for the bears to gain a small advantage. Both bears body checked their opponents. One went splaying across the ground with a loud screech. The other held its ground.
The final dog was fighting her injured bear. Fighting might be too kind of a word. The bear was spread across the ground, being picked apart by the sharp overhead talons of the dog.
At least it was too stupid to run and assist its comrades.
Eva’s lieutenant managed to slide behind one of the more intact desks just as the droplets of acid turned the surroundings into pockmarks. He didn’t wait half as long as he should have before resuming the charge against the worm.
With a few well-placed fireballs. Eva successfully disrupted the worm’s next attack just long enough.
The lieutenant sprung into the air. He brought the long shaft of wood straight down onto the worm’s head.
It went straight down to the ground, still squirming.
With a hard kick to the flat end of the wood, the lieutenant drove the stake down into the ground, pinning the worm’s head.
He wasn’t finished yet.
Even though Eva had been the one to teach them, all of the vampire-cats managed to use far more potent flames than Eva. And the lieutenant put those flames to good use.
After a constant stream of fire, there was nothing left of the worm but charcoal.
The fight wasn’t done. There was one worm left.
It reared up like a cobra and slithered towards its downed comrade.
Eva stepped straight to her lieutenant’s side, interposing herself between the vampire and the coughing worm. It might not be able to spit any longer, but it was coated in the acid.
Using her claws, Eva raked straight from its open jaw to the floor. The worm split open, releasing a pungent, caustic odor.
As her arm dragged through the worm, her back protested. She let out a short cry, accidentally inhaling some of the stench.
Eva stepped away, back behind her line of dullahan-bears, gasping for breath. A pain drew her attention to her fingers. The exoskeleton had warped. Like plastic stuck in an oven set too hot. The shiny black sheen had worn off to a pitted black.
Pitted in the spots where it wasn’t still covered in green acid.
Igniting her hands, Eva burned off the remaining acid. As soon as it was gone, she stepped again.
Breathing in the fumes couldn’t be healthy.
Appearing in the air above one of the dog-bugs, Eva immediately set to work taking it apart.
It was the bug attacking her most healthy bear. Might as well keep the best alive for later.
The sharp nails making up her toes gouged into the bug’s back with her entire weight behind the blow. She felt as well as heard the bones snap. The audible crack filled her with a certain satisfaction. Not wanting to take chances, Eva reached out and broke the upwards arms of the dog with her good hand.
The dullahan-bear used the opportunity to claw off the face of the bug, ending its futile struggles.
Looking around, Eva made a quick gesture to the bear in front of her, sending it to assist the other bear in beating down the one bug that had fallen. How, exactly, it interpreted her commands without a head was something she was going to chalk up to the theater-demon.
The bug that had been mauling the remains of the initially injured bear was missing.
A burst of flame at her back pulled her attention.
There was the missing bug.
Charging right through the steady stream of fire coming from her lieutenant.
The bug barreled over him, interrupting the flames, before Eva could step.
“Lieutenant!” Eva shouted.
Again, she teleported above the bug, landing on it with a crunch.
But not before its arms plunged into the floor–through her lieutenant’s chest.
Eva reached down and snapped the bug’s neck, ignoring any pain in her back. With a kick, she sent the carcass flying off of her lieutenant.
He was a mess. Two arm-sized holes reached clear through his chest. Part vampire or not, that wasn’t something that could be shrugged off. A decent amount of thick blood dribbled out of his mouth.
Kneeling down, Eva picked up his head, cradling him in her lap.
“Sorry, c-commander.” He let out a sputtering cough. “I failed you.”
Eva felt a knot in the back of her throat. “No,” she said. “You took out that worm. You helped organize my troops. I would never have reached as far as I have without you.”
The lieutenant gave a faint smile. He reached up with a bloody hand and dragged a streak down Eva’s cheek.
His smile disappeared with a look of horror. “Behind you,” he said, slumping in her arms. His hand dropped to the ground with a resounding thud.
“Rest well, lieutenant.” Eva gently set him against the ground.
Wiping away the single tear sliding down her cheek, Eva stood and turned.
The giant beetle stood stock still, staring at her. Gray splatters dotted its elytra. Probably the only remnants of the goblin contingent. Somehow, it had managed to move up right behind her without making a sound.
It let out a roar. The sound reverberated through the air, sounding as if a hundred of the beasts were shouting in unison. Spittle flew everywhere, some of it landing on Eva’s cheek.
Eva balled her fists. One hand pressed against her cheek, scraping away the slime.
And then, Eva returned its roar with a shout of her own.
It would pay.
Stepping to its back, Eva tried to slam down her foot with as much force as she could muster. She sent a spiderweb of cracks across the armored plate, but failed to penetrate.
Undaunted by its resilience, Eva ignited her fist. She manipulated the fire, twisting and compressing it as she had for the recently exploded worm. Using her good hand, Eva pried up the elytron covering one of the beetle’s wings. She dropped her fireball inside as soon as she made enough space.
And promptly stepped away.