Fantasy ~The Lords of the Magistone~

[Archwell]

Aladrien came running to the survivors aid. He didn't like this not one bit, but it's way better than treading the plains alone. He grabbed his swords, the bells tingling through the forest, drawing attention from some wolves. He then struck one of them, opening way for the fighters to escape. "Quick, this way! I don't know how much I will last, just hurry!" He shouted, while trying to leave the escape route open.


(RpNation trolled me once again, wasn't recieving notifications from this Roleplay. I hope this action is plausible to the current scene, i did it to allocate once again to the scene. Sorry!)

 

[Cookie]

Ari had run far ahead at the first sign of the attack. It was only now that she remembered she was part of a group. She doubled back, slashing and zapping any stray hounds she met along the way.


Upon reaching the clearing, she saw an overwhelming amount of hounds attacking her allies. Analyzing the situation, Ari saw some new faces, one of which was causing a diversion at the other end of the clearing.


Thinking quickly, Ari fired a loud lightning bolt at a small bunch of hounds. Their attention was now divided between the diversions at either side of the clearing. The good news was that the shadow hounds split into two more manageable groups. The bad news was that one of those groups was now headed towards her. Ari took a deep breath and smirked. She spun her knives in her hands and prepared for the onslaught.

 

[SkyGinge]

Skyre swung his winged sword at the first wolf, and then gracefully turned and did the same to the next. In the distance, he noticed several wolves beginning to trail off after foreign sounds, though due to the rush of the battle coudln't quite see why and how this was happening.


"Apparently so," Skyre remarked as he batted another shadow dog away, "seems these things have a little thing for me - I was the one they were chasing first. So if bad luck and track-ability aren't traits you look for in a travelling companion then I guess I'll be seeing you." A wolf scratched his upper leg, the dark claw only managing a small but nevertheless painful cut through his underarmor. "Then again, you leave and who'll be left to save you from shadow dogs again?" Skyre teased, returning her lightheartedness. Witty banter in the middle of a battle. Absolutely brilliant!


Sensing a momentary break in his attackers onslaught, Skyre turned to try and catch her smile just in time to see a particularly athletic wolf lunging over its comrades in clear sight of her head. Thinking fast, Skyre tackled her out of the way, the pair falling through the open door of the hut as the wolf slammed into the woody entrance, leaving a huge dent on the front wall. They landed uncomfortably together on the hard floor, both landing sideways. Before they could even react, the entrance collapsed in front of them, large chunks of smouldering wood raining down on the eager evil mutts that tried to follow through, crushing the creatures. Then Skyre remembered: he had moved the wind cage stopping the prvious fire in order to save Rederik; the fire had therefore began to spread further. The wood around the opening was now blackened, and the stench of smoke filled the air. Worse still, the pair were now seemingly trapped in the house!

 

[Kharmin]

Desiree gently pushed her youthful savior away from her. She sat up and dragged an arm across her face as she pulled her long, blonde hair free from her visage. She regarded the red haired boy with light-hearted blue eyes.


"I usually don't let young men take me home until the fourth date," she grinned. All propriety now lost in the aftermath of the skirmish, Desiree used her staff and stood up.


She took the ends of her hair in hand and struggled to run her fingers through it. "It was nice and washed just the other day," she murmured. "Now look at it." She dropped it with a huff and took a quick inventory of her remaining attire. "What a mess I am. Stephen would be so proud."


Desiree stopped pouting at her appearance and glanced around the remaining walls of the hut. "I can probably blast us a way out of here," she said as she prodded one of the walls, testing its strength. "Doing so will weaken me considerably, though. Do you have any other ideas?"

 

[SkyGinge]

"As if I'd keep a home in a state like this," Skyre indicated to the smouldering mess in the entrance. The walls were beginning to tremble a litte as the fire began to spread. "Stephen?" he asked. "Nevertheless, I'd suggest now isn't the perfect time to be bothered about appearences, considering the current dangerous situation. If it's any consolation then if we get out of this I'm sure there's a river near by in which you can wash it again." Skyre tried to keep his eyes off her current attire, and told himself he definitely wasn't admiring her appearence. Yapping echoed through the windows, where a small crowd of dogs were preparing to charge in.


"I have a small idea, but you'll have to cover me a little." Skyre reached down into the pack at his waist and began to fish around for something, just as the glass shattered with the impact of a wolf's leap.

 

[Archwell]

Seeing as the survivors got trapped inside of the house, Aladrien began to attack the shadow wolves. He attacked several of them, but the number didn't seem to thin off. "Hey you inside the house! Hurry! Get to safety! I'm trying to kill those damn beasts!" He screamed. Looking for outside, the house didn't have much time left.

 

[Rukatin]

Jerrick has since resorted to setting the dog on his arm on fire and bashing other hounds with it. When it finally disperses into smoke, he slices the one one biting his leg, then turns to the approaching pack.


"That. Is. It. "


Jerrick drops his sword, and curls his fingers around his palms. The flames in the surrounding area shrink and flicker and all of a sudden it gets very cold.


But around Jerrick it gets very hot.


Jerrick throws his hands out towards the pack and whispers one word:


"Burn."


A wave of fire bursts from Jerrick's hands and washes over the shadow hounds. It sets a chunk of forest on fire before dissipating.


Jerrick then collapses.

 

[Kharmin]

Desriee gifted Skyre with a gentle smile at his words and his embarrassment at her shredded attire. Men, she thought jokingly to herself. Seems they're the same at any age. She was used to the looks; she had many suitors when at the university which now seemed so long ago.


She turned her attention to Skyre's waist pack, as he searched inside of it. She was curious as to what he expected to find that would help them from their current situation.


Her focus was torn away by the wolf that crashed through the window. Surprised, she instinctively conjured air in the shape of a crate and with her hand stretched out, palm toward the wolf, she blasted it toward the far wall with more force than she had intended. The force of the air plastered the beast solidly against the wall where it dissipated and left an acrid, black ooze that slowly seeped its way down the wall toward the floor.


The sudden blast of air pressed by Skyre which he sidestepped with ease. The youth stood his ground against the wind and continued delving into his pack.


"Sorry," she said. There was no more time for additional dialogue as more of the wolves fed through the new breach in the hut. In rapid succession, Desiree knocked the first aside with her quarterstaff, used her summoned air to fling another over Skyre's head where it tumbled and vaporized. Thinking fast, she flung her hand toward the broken window, diverted her focus there and sealed it with a pane of air.


The struggle of using so much of her talents in such short order, coupled with her flight and subsequent fighting, had begun to take its toll. Wolves howled as they slammed against her barrier of air and it weakened at each strike.


The wolf that had been knocked aside by Desiree's quarterstaff regained his balance, shook off the dazing blow, and regarded the duo.


"Skyre?" she said though clenched teeth of concentration. "Now would be a good time."

 

[Cookie]

Having handled the wolves that she had diverted towards her, Ari noticed that many of them returned to the hut. They were feeding into a breach in the wall. Ari glimpsed a ginger flash through the hole. Skyre was trapped in there! One other person, a woman, was keeping the wolves at bay, but she would soon be overwhelmed.


And yet, a ways away from the hut, a fighter was collapsed. There were no wolves on him yet, but it wouldn't be that way for long. The forest was on fire behind him and he looked like he might be dead. The smoke from the fire would attract more shadow beasts if they didn't get out of there!


"So many problems, so little time!" Ari said to herself before choosing to check the unconscious warrior. She was sure Skyre and whoever else that was could defend themselves for a while longer.


She ran over to Jerrick's side and checked his pulse. He was still alive, but very faintly. He was quickly losing blood from a wolf bite. Ari didn't have the skill or energy to heal him or even wake him up, so she settled for plan B -- she pulled back her cloak and retrieved a vial of powerful healing potion. She uncorked the stopper and tossed it away, pouring the entire content of the vial into Jerrick's mouth. Not waiting to see if it would wake him, Ari set to work healing his bite wound. "What have you gotten yourself into, Ari?" She said to herself, concentrating her remaining magical energy into a healing Light.

 

[SkyGinge]

Skyre scrambled around a little comically inside his bag, ignoring the blast of wind and not falling over from it - his personal experience with the art had gifted him perfect balance and a resistance and understanding of its effects. After much scrabbling, he finally withdrew a potion that bubbled golden. Content, he turned back to see her sustaining and window of air.


"Ooh, wind magic, impressive!" Skyre mused. "Hopefully I can top that." He quickly downed the potion in one, throwing the empty bottle in the direction of a hound still twitching under the debris. His aim was off however, and the bottle bounced harmlessly off of the wood. With a determined smile, Skyre slotted his goggles over his eyes. Outside, the dog numbers were greatly diminished, either from chasing off in other directions (after people who Skyre didn't know existed yet), or through the efforts of his comrades in battle. A brilliant, flaming light shone outside and Skyre knew the battle was almost over.


"Magic potion," he explained his actions, "I was planning on saving it for a special occasion but now seemed appropriate enough. In a second, I'm going to need you to blast out that air shield," he announced. Another bit of debris crashed down behind them and the house shuddered painfully. "But first, you need to hold onto me." He stood legs apart by the window and waited for her to comply.

 

[Rukatin]

Jerrick groans. While the bite on his arm was stopped by chainmail, the other one had bitten though his boot and he was too busy to notice.


The forest fire spreads, keeping the hounds that are caught in it preoccupied.


Jerrick is dimly aware of someone propping him up, and when something is shoved past his lips and then poured into his throat, he reflexivly swallows as to not choke.


He then coughs and sputters as vitality floods his body. The bleeding in his ankle stops and the skin heals over. He gasps as his mental state is filled with sudden clarity. He opens his eyes to look up at Ari.

 

[Kharmin]

Desiree's concentration was tested by her fascination with Skyre's potion bottle. Focus, idiot! she admonished herself and she re-doubled her efforts at her wind shield. She knew that she was reaching the limit of her ability to control the air. Their time was running out as he quaffed the potion.


She looked askance at the young lad's request. Did he really need her to hold on to him, or was this his warped way of getting close to her? She sensed the wolf in the room tensing up to strike. Hells, let him get his jollies then if it'll get us out of here.


She nodded her assent. While keeping her focus on the window, she crossed the small space dividing them and wrapped her free arm around him.


"Tell me when," she said with obvious fatigue in her voice. "We've only got one shot at this."

 

[Effervescent]

As soon as the wind trap dropped, Rederik swooped in to the fight with Naraya close behind. He slashed through an unsuspecting shadow hound through it's midsection and continued on to the next with a fluid thrust. As he mortally wounded, Narayan would finish them off quickly with her powerful jaws that sunk into their necks. They worked in tandem as he tried to work their way back to the entrance of the hut that was now uncontrollably ablaze.


Rederik heard one of them suggest to make for the hut to use as shelter, and he quickly turned to see who had said it. "No!" He called out, though he could not see everyone through the chaos. "We need to get Skyre out of there!"


Just as he finished his sentence, a shadow hound tackled him to the ground, it's paws situated on his chest to prevent him from moving. The only thing protecting him from his face being mauled were his forearms. The strength of the beast pushing forward strained his arms, and he knew he had to position his daggers well before he let loose. Before the hound could gnaw its prey, Rederik's daggers crossed over its jugular, cutting through it deeply. Blackness sprayed over his pale features, and Naraya angrily threw the hound off him with a gutter all growl.

 

[Cookie]

Ari stood shakily. Evidently, the effort of fending off wolves with lightning and healing wounds was more taxing than she had anticipated. She shook her head and quickly gulped down a different potion for magical energy.


She glanced at Jerrick and spoke sharply -- "Get up". Without even lending a hand to the recovered fighter, Ari ran off towards the hut. She needed to finish off as many of the wolves in the back as she could before they realized her presence.


Without a second thought, Ari hit the back wolves with a weak bolt of lightning. The potion hadn't fully restored her magic potential, so she would have to settle for more manual techniques. She sliced two wolves across their backs, channeling electricity through her knives and frying the wolves from the inside. Another lunged at her as the two dissapated. Ari stabbed the beast's underbelly and electrocuted it. Now her presence was known by many of the wolves in the back of the pack. Ari allowed them to press her backwards and away from the hut, slashing and frying wolves as she went.

 

[Rukatin]

With a grunt Jerrick heaves himself to his feet. He scoops up his sword and takes a moment to take a few breaths. But upon seeing his newfound savior being pressed, he charges back into the fray.


The shadow hounds that have their attention on Ari suddenly find themselves being flanked. But Jerrick is more mindful this time, not going to unnesisary lengths to kill the hounds, as he knew the potion is a patch job at best, and he is drained of magical energy.


Jerrick kicks and punches, slashes and stabs, and when he can't get a hound, he leaves an opening for Ari to take.

 

[SkyGinge]

Adjusting his goggles a little, Skyre stared blankly out of the window. He hadn't even considered that his request could be seen as casual flirtation; it was genuinely part of his escape plan. He heard semi-concerned voices shouting outside and knew there was no time to waste.


"Now!"

 

[Kharmin]

Desiree immediately honed her focus and shoved her shield outward with an intense explosion of air. Hounds that had been pressed near the rupture in the wall were either tossed back or instantly annihilated. She turned and weakly shoved the end of her quarterstaff toward the lunging wolf that had remained in the hut with them and impaled it through the throat.


"That's all I've got, Skyre," she managed as she clung to him.

 

[Cookie]

Ari heard Skyre's resounding yell through the commotion. She glanced up, knowing something was about to happen.


A wolf took this momentary preoccupation as an opening and lunged at Ari, knocking her to the ground. It slashed at her face before she was able to stab it in the underbelly. Ari tried to rise, but the beasts were too thick around her. She was pinned to the ground, wolves piling on top of her faster than she could kill them. They snapped at her neck as she stabbed and sliced, but Ari was unable to make any headway through the onslaught. Driven to desperation, Ari resorted to pulling her last ace.


"Get back!" She shouted to Jerrick over the growls of the beasts.

 

[SkyGinge]

"Then here we go!" Skyre yelled. With an almight swing, he thrust his arms forwards, and suddenly the pair were rushing into the air, rising high above the house as they flew through the open window, the building finally collapsing behind them. The dogs that had ben trailing them yapped angrily, but they were too far below them now. Controlling the air around him, Skyre was flying.


It was quite a unique experiance, flight. Arms outstretched and controlled air supporting him and Desiree, it was surprisingly peaceful above the land. The barks and bays of the hellhounds were a distant echo. Skyre changed their direction, turning them around to face the battlefield once more, but most of the dogs were now defeated - the battle would soon be won. Therefore, Skyre continued flying onwards, gliding above the trees a little, a wide smile on his young face.


"Well, this escape dramatic enough for you?" he teased.

 

[Kharmin]

First, the chase through the countryside by the wolves was nerve-racking. Then, the battle by the abandoned hut with the other survivors was frightening. This, however, was absolutely terrifying!


Skyre had managed to control the air and perform flight. Desiree knew of some at the university who had accomplished this exact feat – one that she may have mastered had she not left school. Now, in retrospect the thought – nay, the very act of flying – was more than she could bear.


Desiree clenched her eyes shut and suppressed the urge to retch that rose in her throat. Exhausted from her ordeal, she poured every remaining bit of strength into her grip on the young man. Far below (too far for her tastes!) the shadow hounds bayed and growled at their eluded prey. She dared not open her eyes for fear of plunging to certain death.


Skyre asked her if the escape were dramatic enough. Hells, yes, she thought, but her terror prevented her from speaking. Just put me down, back on the ground in one piece, please and I swear I'll never tease anyone again!


It was her common pact with fate whenever she was in an untenable position. Both she and fate knew, though, that the bargain would not be kept and that soon enough she would find herself begging with the same fervor at the next dire situation.


She clutched tighter to Skyre and in a feeble and subdued voice finally managed to eek out, "Put us down, please."

 

[EinRaikou]

The whole while that the combat was going down, Ein was sticking quietly to himself. Taking down the hounds one by one, knocking back each and every one as their gaping mouths crunched down towards him. The great thing about his speed and versatility was his ability to dodge gracefully, unfortunately without a blade attached to his weapons, and his lower physical strength, is was much more difficult for him to actually kill the beasts, and they continued coming even after they were knocked back.


Ein tried to keep focus on the hounds surrounding him, however he was also concerned for the well being of Ari, who seemed to be getting overwhelmed by the constant onslaught of attacks.


He turned again to check on her for an instant and saw a wolf coming towards her, her attention on Jerrick. With one swift stomp of his foot an icicle, sharp as a stalagmite, dug up through the ground and through the head of the houng. 'She's safe.... Thanks fully' Unfortunately Ein's instant lack of attention was all the wolves needed to get the handle on him. Before he turned himself back around he felt the searing pain of claw marks across the back of his calf.

 

[Cookie]

Ari focused all her energy towards her core. She felt a great charge generating within her, growing with every second she held it. When she felt her body might explode from the electrical force, she released the stored energy into a web of pure electricity that surrounded her. The wolves nearest her vaporized instantly and Aurelia was finally able to stand. She maintained the charge for as long as she could, paralyzing the wolves that survived the initial impact.


She was only able to keep the magic up for a few seconds before she collapsed to her knees. The surviving hounds would recover quickly from the paralysis, but Ari couldn't attack them. She couldn't move anymore. "Get them! I can't move" she uttered urgently to Jerrick or anyone else who was still able to fight.


Aurelia felt the pain from all the wounds the dogs had inflicted. She felt the blood flowing from the cut on her face and a dozen other places, she felt bruises from the impact, she felt what was quite possibly a broken rib, and she felt pathetic for not being able to do anything about it. She'd played her last card, the wild card. It took everything she had and left her paralyzed.


It'll only last a few minutes, she reminded herself, but it was the first time she'd ever overexerted her magic to that extent. But if anything were to attack her, she would be entirely defenseless and as good as dead. And even if nothing did, she could still bleed out. Ari had no idea how bad her injuries were as she was unable to look.


As her head began to feel light from blood loss, she was vaguely aware of the hut collapsing along with the greater part of the shadow hound pack. Ari felt a pang of insult to injury as she realized that Skyre was flying --actually flying-- above the scene whilst she was rooted to the ground. At least the wolves were mostly dead. The few that were left were weakened, but still dangerous if they recovered.


"Someone help..." Ari said weakly, certain that nobody could hear her.

 

[SkyGinge]

Skyre, on the other hand, loved the action of flight. Ever since he had been a little boy, it had been his highest dream to by able to fly, to enjoy the freedom of the skies amongst the birds whilst admiring Valia's pictureque landscape from above. In fact, it had been the main driving force for his decision to study wind magic. But of course, sustaining the wind so securely took a massive toll on his magic energy, and thus he could only manage small flights. The pair passed gracefully over a few forest trees, the clearing resting still clear in the horizon behind them, and due to his views Skyre had totally expected her to enjoy the flight as much as him.


So when he heard her feeble responce, Skyre was very disappointed. He had even planned a bit of a air-show, taking advantage of the rush of magic energy granted to him by the potion, but now that would all have to fade. He was polite as always, and so proceeded to smoothly decend next to a nearby stream, a clear, pure brook that sparkled a light translucant blue against the setting sun. It was not too far from the clearing, but already the echoing sounds of growls and barks had began to fade. Skyre landed gracefully at the waters edge and straightened up, waiting for her to release her hold on him.


"It's very perculiar for a wind magician to be afraid of flying,' Skyre commented, though not in a disrespectful tone.

 

[Rukatin]

Jerrick crashes through the Shadow hounds surrounding Ari. He hauls her into a fireman's carry with one hand, While his other swings his sword and cuts whatever hound is within range. "Just hang on!" He charges forward again, carving a path through the shadow hounds with his Bastard sword.


He runs into the burning section of the forest, trying the throw the last of the hounds off and using the remnants of will the was bestowed upon him by the potion Ari gave him to keep him and his charge from being burnt. Along the way he sheathes his sword and grabs his pack his his now free hand as he runs by it.


He looks through the passing foliage to where Skrye is flying and angles his path in his direction. He takes a brief look over his shoulder to see if any other survivors are fallowing.

 

[Kharmin]

Desiree's hands trembled as she finally released her near-death grip on Skyre. Her breathing came in shallow gasps as she dropped her quarterstaff and collapsed on the ground. She shook her head at the youth's gentle comment.


"I..." she started as she continued to struggle to catch her breath. "I ... had ... no idea ... it would be ... like ... that." She looked up at Skyre who could see traces of tears that had streaked down her dirt and soot stained face. Her blue eyes held less life in them than he would have recalled from their first meeting.


She groped for her quarterstaff and used it as a crutch to regain her feet. Her demeanor calmed as her breathing returned to normal.


"It was ... unexpected," she said by way of explanation, but her voice betrayed her inner fear. "Perhaps I will try it again sometime, should the opportunity present itself."


She placed her hand gently on Skyre's shoulder and looked at him with blue eyes that slowly regained their allure. She took a deep, cleansing breath, exhaled and offered a slight, warm smile, "Thank you for saving us."


Desiree released her grip on his shoulder, sighed again and managed her way to the edge of the water. She leaned her quarterstaff against a tree, eased herself down by the brook and proceeded to wash her face, uncaring that her hair cascaded down and was gently caught by the water's current.