Isher Notra

Chapter 8 - Grýla, the Giant Witch!

"Yer going to supper!"

Grýla swings the wooden ladle, pouring a hot, purple substance in the duo's direction.

Stella slightly recoiled at the sight of the purple rain coming towards them, and the Knight put himself in front of the girl. However, they let lowered their guard when the substance unceremoniously spilled on the ground before them, missing the two by a few centimeters.

The Human looks at the purple mess on the kitchen's floor, which smelled delicious, until something clicks inside her head. "Oh, I get it!"

She might have gotten the pun, but not the actual threat of the jam that Grýla has just spilled. The witch weaved her hands, which were glowing in a bright pink aura, and the substance reacted to her magic.

The purple mess slowly divided itself into a group of gelatinous lumps. Each lump then exhibited a magical rune carved into them, similar to an arrow pointed upwards. The lumps started morphing again, acquiring a humanoid shape and the material that composes them began to harden and adopt a darker shade of color. The rune on their chest glowed in the same pink color as the witch's hands.

"Since my family was so useless..." The witch gloated. "How 'bout I create my own helpers?!"

There were tens of those Gooplings, those were the names that Stella made for them in her mind. One of them tried to swing its fist against the Knight, but he easily dodged it and counter-attacked with a jab in the face. Well, all of those creatures were faceless in reality, but it still counted.

The issue was the warmth that he felt on his fist when it connected with the construct. If he could feel it when he was in his cooldown mode, these creatures must have an insane external temperature. 

He turned to the Human. "Stella, do NOT-"

Stella connected a well-placed kick on a Goopling's chest, right where the glowing rune resided. The creature quickly dissolved into a sizzling purple puddle. The girl howled with excitement towards the battle.

Before the Knight could ask if the Human was okay, he noticed that the Gooplings were quite close to overwhelming them with their numbers. The guard waved at the girl and shouted. "Retreat!"

They retreated a considerable distance, getting very close to the narrow rock path. Good thing is that those constructs were very slow, so there was time to discuss their next move.

"How is your leg? Did it burn?" The Knight asked, concerned.

"It felt a little hot when I hit it with my foot, but nothing else." She explained.

"So the deheater worked even better than I thought!" The Knight spoke proudly.

"So you're the inventor of those things? This little stuff? That bomb?"

"Well, I'm not one to brag!" Stella was skeptical of those words. "But yes! These little trinkets are products of my intellect!"

"Man, you get cooler by the second!" Stella looks at the approaching army of Gooplings. "Time to give them a test drive!" She clenches her fist makes a fighting stance.

"Indeed!" He draws his blaster from the holster and quickly shoots a Goopling in the glowing mark on its chest, quickly defeating it.

The Human gave an approving smile. "A glowing spot is always a weak spot!" 

And so, the duo initiated their attack on the army of jam monsters. Stella managed to fend off against them with relative ease, even defeating a few of them. However, it was the more powerful and more experienced knight that took care of most of them with his ranged blaster attacks and martial arts.