| Thaltos bowed his head and covered his face with a hand. His shoulders heaved silently, then he couldn't help himself and raised his head, letting out a full chuckle, then a heart laugh.
"Balthizar...a word to be heeded...never get between me and the Shears of Atropos when they have charge in them."
Thaltos extended both hands and felt for the energy within the weapons. Sensing their hum, he triggered it with a slight effort of will. The weapons buzzed to life, and a whipcoil of sinister electric energy snaked from the blades to latch onto Thaltos' metal arm braces...with Balthizar directly in the path.
The energy only touched him for a moment, but the wracking pain of electrocution left Balthizar only in favor of a much worse sensation--the sickening crunch as the Shears answered Thaltos' call and flew at breakneck speed to his hands...right through Balthizar.
One blade flew a little bit wide, and severed Balthizar's weapon hand at the wrist. Flametongue still in its grasp, the useless ex-appendage went spinning off across the ground. The other blade was more on-center, and ripped through Balthizar's left side, where he had already been sliced by a normal strike, leaving a gaping gash that had to hurt.
The Shears back in his hands, and Balthizar clutching his wounds, Thaltos smirked again and shrugged insolently.
"Just another mere function of the Shears, I'm afraid. I only triggered it in the same manner as you triggered the transformation of Flametongue."
The smile vanished from his face, and he locked himself into an aggressive fighter stance, both Shears leveled at Balthizar.
"Now...submit to the will of the Fates, or die." |